Harry Redknapp who is known from coming up with a headline or two recently said, “In the future there will be no English managers coming in the EPL.” I’m not here argue that nor I’m I looking to kick dirt on Rafa Benitez coaching future at Liverpool but what if Liverpool do sack him? Now I know what your saying, hey Liverpool isn’t a top four side right now. Yes, I know but they are one of the four major clubs in England even if they are down in the standings right now.
Now if your Liverpool and your searching for a new coach do you go the European route where the likes of Rafa Benitez, and Gerard Houllier have had success but in the end an EPL title is still missing or do you hire an English manager. It would be refreshing to see an English manager coaching a big club in England and you know who I think should be considered?
Tony Pulis
That’s right, Tony Pulis. He has taken a club who traditional hasn’t be a division one club and has them punching above their weight for the second season in a row. Sure the long ball approach isn’t pretty but he is working what he is has. I’d doubt Pulis would tell Gerrard to kick up 40 yards and hope Torres gets under it. Tony Pulis may not be a sexy name like Mourinho or Guus Hiddink but given a chance he may just be the right man for the job.
Been gone for a couple of days so I’m catching up on some stuff. Here we go.
Arsene Wenger is like a Mayor who has been in office for way too long. After awhile you just get use to that person holding office and you vote for him regardless of recent performances. Arsenal quite simply bugs me, they bug me because in a lot of ways they get running a football club right but as times change so should Wenger. The game evolves and I’m sorry I don’t see Wenger keeping up. Wenger can’t blame the Chelsea and Manchester United’s of the world for throwing crazy money around because no one spent 10 million during this transfer window. Wenger needs to look at himself here and Arsenal fans need to ask this question to themselves, Do they want to support a club near the top of the mountain but a long shot to ever climb to it’s peak or do they want a winner again? Another year of false hope and broken promises. Maybe Arsenal can win the EPL or Champions League but nothing on Sunday showed me they are even close to a truly elite club.
It’s easy to sit back after the game and point out flaws, I understand this but why in the world was Arsenal playing a 4-6-0 against Manchester United. If Arsenal has a lack of depth at the striking position due to injuries and form whose fault is that? Wenger could of addressed this in the transfer window but again didn’t and it cost them. 4-6-0 while unnatural can work against a mid to lower table club who is trying to pack the midfield but against Manchester United they were able to soak up any pressure Arsenal could bring to them.
- Good job Nani with his recent performances for Manchester United. It’s one thing playing well against Hull, it’s another to tap dance around Arsenal all game long. Now if only Ricardo Quaresma could find his form the world may truly be off it’s axis.
- Dumb football fans I’m fine with, passion in life is a good thing even when it comes at the cost of using better judgment. My worry is far too often people who would mess up a cup of coffee are in charge or have a large say in football matters. How in the world can Confederation of African Football president Issa Hayatou twist the knife by expelling Togo from the next two African Cup of Nations is beyond me? What kind of a heartless human being is this? The players were almost shot to death in Angola, I really can’t blame them if they want to leave the country A.S.A.P after wards.
- Congrats to Egypt for winning their third straight African Cup of Nations title. Didn’t mention much about it on my site because the games weren’t shown here and you can only get so much by reading about it instead of watching it.
- How do you feel if your an A.C Milan fan right now. It’s bad enough you took it on the chin against Inter the previous weekend but now Inter fans can mock loaning out of favour Amantino Mancini to their bitter rivals. Granted Mancini can be a useful player and I’ll always remember his Champions League goal against Lyon a couple of years ago but you don’t see Chelsea taking on a player rotting on Arsenal’s bench. A.C Milan is like the younger brother who is now wearing clothes his older brother no long cares for.
- Wait wasn’t Robbie Keane boyhood club Liverpool? How many clubs should one person support? Let’s hope Robbie Keane does better with his other boyhood club than he did during his short stay at Liverpool. Smart move by Tony Mowbray bringing Keane in a six month loan deal. It won’t make a lick of difference in the standings most likely as a 10 point lead for Rangers even with one more game played is a massive amount of points to be up by in the SPL but it does change the mood around Celtic Park. This move allows Tony Mowbray to buy some time as Robbie Keane should bring a level of excitement to the club instead of Celtic fans having to look way up in the standings.
- Everyone who has read this site knows I love Pedro Mendes so it’s no shock I love him going back to Portugal too play for Sporting in the hopes of making the World Cup. Mendes is a rarity in football, he is a total team player who didn’t moan when he didn’t get a fair crack at Tottenham for example but when he does play all Mendes does is make a team better. He won a Champions League with Porto, his goals kept Portsmouth up in the EPL when he first arrived there (too bad Portsmouth don’t have any money as they could use him again.) He leaves Portsmouth with an FA Cup medal in hand. Goes to Rangers and his goal against Celtic early last season was a key reason for the balance of power in Scotland to tip from Celtic to Rangers.
- The Adam Johnson signing for Manchester City is a win win for everyone involved. This signing reminds me a lot of the Joe Cole signing from West Ham to Chelsea many years back and it’s exactly the type of player Manchester City should be after. Forget about players from Real Madrid right now, none of them take Manchester City seriously. A player with talent like Johnson should look at Manchester City being a big challenge as for him it’s going to a big club. Middlesbrough should be happy with the nice transfer fee as it allowed Gordon Strachan to buy every Celtic player he could.
- I’m still fuming at this whole John Terry story. Believe me I’m not a moralist, I know I’m going straight to hell for some of the stuff I’ve done but even I’m upset at John Terry. Tiger Woods for example I couldn’t care less about, the only person Tiger Woods needs to be sorry too is his wife. Everyone else he hasn’t hurt at all. The media are just trying to take there pound of flesh off Woods because he has always controlled his image, almost like a robot over the years. John Terry is different, it’s like an unwritten code you don’t sleep with a friend’s girl. Break or no break it just shows what a selfish human being Terry is. There should be no way Terry should have the honour of wearing the arm band for England. I don’t care about his status with Chelsea. Too me clubs like Chelsea are corporations, me cheering for Chelsea is like me cheering for Wal-Mart and while I’m far from English I’d be offended if Terry was still captain of the English national team. There is no higher honour then to be given a captaincy for your country. You are wearing the hopes and dreams of millions of English fans on your sleeve. A man with a certain amount of character should be given this honour, not someone like Terry who clearly thinks only of himself and little of the effect his actions have on his love ones, friends, teammates, employer and country.
With the Glazers apparently tapping out on the Asian market, something about a bomb being planted in a Jakarta hotel would do that. Manchester United will now take their preseason show on the road with Toronto one of the rumoured stops. It would be the first time in five years that Manchester United have been to North America and their first time in history coming to Canada. Wonder if someone will ask Sir Alex Ferguson if he has any regrets not immigrating to Canada if his football career didn’t pan out?
Nothing official I can link too but below are the rumoured cities so far.
High court overturns superinjunction granted to England captain John Terry
Another controversial superinjunction was overturned today as the England captain John Terry emerged as the footballer who obtained a gagging order preventing the publication of allegations about his private life.
Lawyers for Terry succeeded in applying for a high court injunction on Friday last week, having learnt that a Sunday newspaper – believed to be the News of the World – planned to write about his private life.
You know something is up when John Terry gets his lawyers involved to squash a story by the News of the World. Hopefully for John Terry his wife doesn’t take a golf club to his grill but something tells me this won’t be pretty when the story breaks.
UPDATE And now we know why. John Terry threw it former teammate Wayne Bridge girl friend. All class and great stand up guy John Terry is.
Dynamo’s Holden Signs With Bolton Until End Of Season
U.S. International is off to the English Premier League.
On trial with Bolton for the last few weeks, former Houston Dynamo midfielder Stuart Holden was given a permanent deal by the English club that will last until the end of the season.
“There is an incentive for Stuart to try to get himself in the team,” Coyle said to Sky Sports. “He’s had a little thigh knock for the last three or four days which has curtailed his training a little bit, but he did ever so well in the first week and he comes looking to push his career on.”
I’m a fan of Stuart Holden. He is an industrial type of player out there that will give it his all. Those are the types of players who tend to do well in English football. Plus American players have found a lot more success playing in England than other places in the Europe. From Bolton’s perspective the six month deal is a curious one. What if Holden plays well for Bolton then helps lead the U.S into the knockout round of the World Cup? You then have a pretty valuable asset. Under this short term contract you can sure Holden would walk if he shines during the World Cup.
Paraguay striker Salvador Cabanas is in serious condition after being shot in the head during an attack in a bar, Mexico City’s attorney general has confirmed.
“He was shot in the head,” prosecutor Miguel Angel Mancera, told the news channel Televisa. “According to an initial report it [the bullet] was a shot from a firearm with a frontal entry point and without exit.”
I remember when Steven Gerrard got arrested I said nothing good can happen to you in a bar when your famous. Let me add to that, nothing good can happen to you in a bar at nearly 6am too. Part me is wondering what kind of night Sunderland target Salvador Cabanas was having. The other part of me is still in shock over this news. What an awful story to read about. It must be a miracle Cabanas wasn’t killed on the spot, hope he is able to pull through this tragic event.
In another interview, broadcast on ESPN Radio in Argentina, Carlos Tevez has again lashed out at Gary Neville, calling him a ‘’sock-sucker” and branding him a ”moron” for his lack of respect in his pre-match comments about the striker ahead of the Carling Cup semi-final.
Reading Carlos Tevez quotes below made my day. Pure gold. Only thing missing was 2pac’s Hit em up playing in the background.
Speaking in a radio interview in his native language on ESPN Argentina’s La Oral Deportiva show, Tevez said: “My celebration was directed at Gary Neville. He acted like a complete sock-sucker [boot-licker] when he said I wasn’t worth £25 million just to suck up to the manager. I don’t know what the hell that idiot is talking about me for. I never said anything about him.
I can now picture Gary Neville talking about Cristiano Ronaldo if Real Madrid and Manchester United were to play and saying something to the effect of “The gaffer was right to sell Ronaldo and bring in Antonio Valencia.”
Gary Neville shouldn’t be talking about other players, period. He isn’t a starter anymore, he couldn’t back up what he said about Tevez on the pitch and with that being the case he should of gave a standard boring answer. Part of me feels some of the foreign players on Manchester United also had a chuckle when they heard about Tevez’s comments.
Can’t wait for the second leg of this Carling Cup tie.
The script was written perfectly for Manchester City as Carlos Tevez struck twice against old club Manchester United to leave the Blues on the brink of their first domestic final since 1981 after a 2-1 win.
Gary Neville comments on how Manchester United was right to part ways with Carlos Tevez was foolish yesterday and proven even more so today. The thing I most enjoy about Carlos Tevez is most foreign players view a club as just an employer. With Tevez you can tell he wishes to create a bond with the club and fans. You could tell that with his brief time with West Ham where he was loved by the supports and vice versa. In his first season with Manchester United again Tevez created a bond with his selflessness and hard work. Then everyone knows what happens with Manchester United bringing in Dimitar Berbatov.
Sir Alex Ferguson can’t admit to this mistake at the moment but I’d be shocked if one day he didn’t own up to the fact Dimitar Berbatov was a luxury Manchester United didn’t need and Carlos Tevez was one of the key reasons to their success the previous two years.
If Gol TV wishes to send me press releases I’d be honoured to post them. The press release is for GOL TV in the U.S but most of the sporting events are also covered by GOL TV Canada, who I’m not on their radar…..yet.
GOLTV TELECASTS 2010 COPPA ITALIA & COPA DEL REY
All-Soccer Network Telecasts Final Round Coverage of National Cups Featuring Europe’s Top Teams from the Italian and Spanish Leagues
MIAMI – Jan. 19, 2010 – GolTV, the nation’s only bilingual channel delivering the most sought-after international soccer coverage, will telecast the 2010 Coppa Italia and Copa del Rey quarterfinals kicking off on
Jan. 20. The all-soccer network will deliver live and premiere coverage of Italy and Spain’s prestigious national cup competitions featuring several of Europe’s top soccer club teams and superstar players.
First, GolTV will head to Italy for the first quarterfinal match of the Coppa Italia. GolTV’s exclusive Coppa Italia coverage will feature live matches starring Italian powerhouses Juventus, Lazio and Milan. The network has secured the TV rights to the remainder of the Coppa Italia through the final match on May 5.
Then, GolTV launches its Copa del Rey coverage with two exclusive live matches from the first leg of the quarterfinals on Jan. 21. Because the cup champions automatically qualify for the playoff round of the 2010-11 UEFA Europa League, the Copa del Rey is a key event for Spanish clubs and sparks fierce competition. GolTV will follow Copa del Rey contenders through the semifinals on Feb. 3 – 4 and 10.
Wednesday, Jan. 20
LIVE – Fiorentia vs. Lazio at 3 p.m. ET
Thursday, Jan. 21
LIVE – Racing de Santander vs. Osasuna at 2 p.m. ET
LIVE – Atl. Madrid vs. Celta at 4 p.m. ET
All dates and times listed are subject to change, a current programming schedule is available online at www.goltv.tv.
