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[h=1]Rejuvenated Parker back in England fold[/h] 34




Post categories: football
Phil McNulty | 19:23 UK time, Wednesday, 5 October 2011


Podgorica, Montenegro
Scott Parker is old-fashioned in the purest sense of the term – even his precise side parting and the habit of never wearing his shirt outside his shorts conforms to the image of a figure from a bygone age.
As he enters the room with a firm handshake for every member of the media, Parker gives the impression of man who applies traditional values in his personal and professional life.
And that approach has been rewarded as England prepare to take on Montenegro here in the heat of Podgorica on Friday night, needing one point to confirm their qualification for Euro 2012.
Fabio Capello may be pondering his selections in defence and attack, but one decision that should not be giving him a sleepless night is placing Parker in the centre of England's new-look midfield.
Last season's player of the year Scott Parker has now set his sights on establishing himself in the England team. PHOTO: GETTY

Parker has rebuilt his England career from the wreckage his rejection for the World Cup in South Africa, seemingly changing Capello's mind along the way as well as being named Footballer of the Year despite West Ham United's relegation last season.
He was acknowledged as one of the better performers at England's pre-World Cup training camp in Austria last year, but did not make the plane and it appeared he would be forever unfulfilled at international level.
The suspicion lingered that Capello felt Parker was not quite international class, that he did not move the ball quickly enough in possession to be of useful service to England at elite level.
Parker took his disappointment before focusing on giving it a final shot at convincing Capello of his worth and more specifically deciding to "give it a rip" in a 45-minute appearance as a substitute in the friendly win in Denmark in February.
Capello took the hint and Parker is now flourishing, particularly in the qualifying wins in Wales and Bulgaria, where his ability to form a solid base in midfield has protected England's defence and allowed their attack to flourish.
And after making an outstanding start at Tottenham following his move from West Ham United, these are heady times for the 30-year-old who has always been highly-regarded by his fellow professionals.
If England avoid defeat in what is expected to be a hostile atmosphere in The City Stadium on Friday, Parker will be in sight of representing his country at a major tournament, a chance which looked to have gone when he was ignored for South Africa.
He says: "I went to the pre-World Cup training camp and thought I did pretty well but I knew it would be difficult for me because I didn't play in any of the qualifiers. I knew the manager had his team. I probably would have gone along with the same thing had I been in his position.
"Injuries occurred and I thought maybe I would have a chance but it wasn't meant to be. Coming away from the initial disappointment I thought it was going to be hard for me to get another chance.
"There hadn't been a lot of opportunities for me under Mr Capello so I thought it was going to be difficult but I'm glad that I said to myself that I'm going to get my head down and see what happens. Thank God it has turned around and I seem to have got my chance."
Parker is in the unusual position of being one of the older members of England's squad and yet part of the new generation because of his lack of previous opportunities. He regards this as the perfect combination of a player without the baggage of previous failures and yet with the experience to make his influence count.
He said: "I understand things a lot better. I can deal with disappointment a lot better and all of that makes me a better player as well as a better person. You realise in football that there comes a point when age takes its hit on you but I think I'm a better player now.
"I understand that when age hits you and you can't run any more it is a big issue but I certainly feel that I can deal with things a lot better and I'm a better player."
And he accepts that Capello's decision to pitch him on as a second-half substitute in England's friendly in Copenhagen was probably the make-or-break moment for his international career.
"I had to take that chance against Denmark," said Parker. "I had been in the squads a few times under his management and never really got a chance and probably went there wondering whether I would get on.
"Half-time came and he put me on. My attitude was to go and give it a rip and see what happens. Obviously I impressed the manager a little bit to get a start against Wales, which was massive for me. From then on it has gone well.
"I probably didn't think I would figure but I've realised over the course of my career that football can change quickly. It's changed for me and now I need to stay as focused as I can and keep performing as well as I can."
England will train at The City Stadium on Thursday evening as Capello formulates his final plans, with speculation rife about his selections at right-back and up front.
Everton's Phil Jagielka has been touted as a possible solution at right-back with Chris Smalling injured, but the 29-year-old has never looked comfortable in this position and struggled in the Wembley defeat against France last November.
Capello must weigh up his experience against recalling Manchester City's Micah Richards – who is another who seems to have to fight to convince his coach – or give a first cap to Spurs youngster Kyle Walker.
Manchester United's Phil Jones is also in the mix, but Capello is an admirer of Jagielka, the man he called "The General" after victory in Switzerland.
Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck is another to win favour with Capello, but the attacking trio of Wayne Rooney, Ashley Young and Theo Walcott appeared perfectly built for these types of fixtures in the away win in Sofia.
It is unlikely there will be any doubts about Parker's place, despite Frank Lampard's recent renaissance at Chelsea – proof that even the single-minded Capello can be swayed by strength of character and performances.
 
[h=1]Fabio Capello accepts he must take rough and smooth with Wayne Rooney[/h] England manager backs star but qualification joy has been tempered by striker's temper




  • Wayne Rooney tries to help Miodrag Dzudovic to his feet just as the referee is about to show the red card. Photograph: Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar

    Last time it was the warm-up. This time it was the countdown that had Fabio Capello doing his Vesuvius impression on the touchline. First the countdown to half-time, which saw England surrender a comfortable position and a two-goal lead to let Montenegro back into the game, then the final countdown that saw them down to 10 men and defending desperately. England usually wait until the finals before they actually start tossing aside their qualifying form and playing as if they cannot wait to get home; this time they have handicapped themselves nine months in advance with Wayne Rooney's impending suspension.
    "He made a silly mistake but I think it will be a really good lesson for him," Capello said. "He will be OK for the Euros. We have forwards such as Jermain Defoe and Daniel Sturridge who can fill in if necessary, but I still trust Rooney absolutely to be important for us in Poland and Ukraine. When he's at the top of his game he is the sort of player who can really make a difference, he is the best player in the team, but he can be difficult to understand. You can't predict everything he will do in a game, he can do something fantastic and he can make a silly mistake."
    Most of that is true, though it remains open to question whether Rooney is capable of learning from his mistakes. He has made enough in the past without changing his ways, within just the space of this qualifying cycle this is the second time he has incurred a suspension through lashing out, and even Capello now seems to be shrugging and accepting he has to take the rough with the smooth. The referee, Wolfgang Stark, said: "It was a straight red card and I had no hesitation. Everyone saw what happened and Rooney knew by his reaction. He accepted my decision without dissent and walked straight off the pitch. I will submit my report about the sending off but after that I have no more input into the process."
    When Rooney picked up his last ban in Cardiff he gave himself the day off against Switzerland at Wembley to take advantage of the summer transplant window, next summer it could be the nation tearing its hair out if Uefa give him two matches and England make a stuttering start to the finals. Perhaps that is an overly pessimistic view, though there was something depressingly familar about England finding themselves worried about the future even in their moment of qualification success. More depressing still, it wasn't even all Rooney's fault.
    "It is really important to be focused all the game," Capello said, not for the first time. "At half-time I said to the players they played really well for 35 minutes but the last 10 minutes they didn't play like professionals. They played too relaxed." That is quite a kind word to describe a team that won three corners in the first five minutes, were two goals up by the half hour yet were clinging on with 10 men by the end. It was probably a good thing Montenegro were playing the percentages and fixing their sights on the play-offs, and definitely a good thing the game did not last another 10 minutes.
    "We got off to a great start and it was disappointing to let them in so close to the end of the first half," John Terry said. "But overall we set out to win the group and we did that. The sending off was just one of those things, we probably wouldn't be in the position we are without Wayne anyway. Thankfully, it has not cost us, other than missing one or two games when we get there, but without Wayne we wouldn't be where we are now. Hopefully no one jumps on him because he has been in great form."
    People jumping on Rooney is not the real worry, the problem tends to be the other way around, though Terry makes a fair point when he says the Manchester United striker is too convenient a scapegoat. Even before Rooney's dismissal England were struggling in a shockingly poor second-half display, the number of passes going astray and wrong options being taken was a contributing factor in his growing frustration.
    Capello had said he wanted leaders on the pitch but some of his most experienced players were below par, with Ashley Cole having one of his least impressive games in an England shirt, Terry and Gary Cahill not quite forming a solid defensive unit at the back and even the usually reliable Scott Parker and Gareth Barry looking ordinary at best. Ashley Young was the one bright light until his withdrawal, and if the introduction of Frank Lampard and Stewart Downing was meant to tighten things up, it didn't happen.
    Capello and Terry lavished praise on Phil Jones, making a difficult debut out of position at right-back in the most demanding of circumstances, though one sensed they were seizing on one of the few positives the game offered other than the result. Jones has the quality and confidence to be an England regular for years to come, but he was caught out positionally a couple of times as might be expected, could count himself lucky not to have conceded a penalty and was simply a member of a generally unconvincing back line rather than a towering influence. The one thing Jones has in his favour is his age, because if England can no longer rely on even Cole to put in his normal, immaculate shift, it adds another question mark to the list of senior players – Lampard, Terry, Rio Ferdinand etc – for whom next year's finals may be a tournament too far. Jack Wilshere cannot prove his fitness soon enough, especially as Steven Gerrard has yet to show he is fully recovered from injury and ready to reclaim a place.
    Speculating that a fully functioning Gerrard might be a better bet to play in the hole than Rooney in the now preferred 4-2-3-1 formation was one of the few causes for optimism in Podgorica, and even that was tempered by Rooney's temper. Capello did his best to sound upbeat, though not too much should be read into his backing of an indisciplined player. He simply doesn't have that many options, and now sounds like a manager who, in Sir Alex Ferguson's phrase from a few years back, can see the finishing line. He is not thinking of breasting the tape, just crossing the line. He has just described a national team he has supervised for the last three years as unprofessional, and for a coach of his high standards it doesn't get much worse than that.
    Now England have to play the world champions, just for the fun of it, at Wembley where they have been so dismal of late. Once again, Capello was unable to hide his true thoughts. "We are contracted to play Spain," he said. "We played them away and this is the return. I would prefer to play against another team. It will be interesting."
    For a coach who is supposed to have a poor grasp of English, Capello seems to have mastered the art of understatement.

 
[h=1]Newcastle United's French scouting policy is no laughing matter[/h] The recruits identified by Graham Carr, father of the comedian Alan, offer Mike Ashley the chance of the last laugh



  • Cheik Tioté, left, and Yohan Cabaye are two of the six francophone players spotted by Newcastle's chief scout, Graham Carr. Photograph: Lee Smith/Action Images

    When Newcastle appointed the dad of a well-known comedian as chief scout it must have looked like another joke on Tyneside. Instead Graham Carr, father of Alan, has surpassed even Arsène Wenger in his knowledge of emerging French talent and has inspired the recovery at St James' Park.
    Newcastle, fourth in the Premier League table and unbeaten in nine games in all competitions, are in danger of giving prudence a good name. So addled by salary inflation is the English game these days that voluntary wage caps are seen as an act of self-immolation. Sick of funnelling money to big names, the owner, Mike Ashley, turned away from Dennis Wise in matters of recruitment and towards a Geordie obsessive whose 49 years in the game include stops at Tonbridge, Dartford and Bradford Park Avenue.
    Alan Carr jokes that when he told his dad he would not be joining him in football and would instead be heading for the stage he offered to explain through "expressive dance". With the family tradition broken (Graham's father played for Newcastle), the chief scout headed back to Europe, where he has recruited seven French players, among them the creative midfielder Yohan Cabaye and 19-year-old Mehdi Abeid.
    Graham Carr worked for David Pleat at Spurs and scouted for Sven-Goran Eriksson before coming home to end the club's Wise years in February 2010. Ashley has tried many a punt in his time as Newcastle owner, from bringing back Kevin Keegan to hiring Alan Shearer for eight games to overloading the place with advisers with brackets after their titles to renaming the stadium after a website to clearing out Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton and José Enrique.
    Those evictions were expected to bring the death agony of Ashley's reign, with Newcastle sliding back to the Championship while the £35m earned from Carroll's sale to Liverpool remained unspent. A maximum wage of £45,000 a week or thereabouts was greeted as an admission of defeat by a self-made man who had been stripped of his reputation for shrewdness in the piranha pool of football finance.
    From fourth spot, Newcastle now look down on Liverpool as well as Spurs, the visitors to St James' next Sunday. To proclaim wins over Sunderland, Fulham, Blackburn and Wolves as a return to the David Ginola-Andy Cole-Peter Beardsley era would be stupidly premature. Adversity will strike Alan Pardew's side at some stage in this season and then we will assess their true calibre.
    For now, though, they are entitled to slide off the hook of ridicule that has held them through Ashley's many experiments. In defending their club against "southern" critics some Newcastle fans have acquired quite a persecution complex. They assume all scrutiny is hostile when much of it is directed at mismanagement from above rather than the team or the congregation.
    Over many months now a fresh breeze has blown in with Cabaye, Hatem Ben Arfa (back from serious injury), Sylvain Marveaux, Gabriel Obertan, Chiek Tioté, Abeid and Demba Ba, the Senegal striker who was born in the Paris suburb of Sèvres. Leon Best also continues to improve in a squad where Fabricio Coloccini and Alan Smith are the last of the big-earners from the money-spraying years.
    The goalkeeper Tim Krul says "everyone is fighting for each other" - a nice change from the time when everyone was merely fighting each other. He cites Pardew's policy of tightening the back of the side as the catalyst. But basic coaching falls apart in the end without a sufficient quality of incoming player.
    This is where Carr comes in. "We won't just watch a player once. With someone like Cheik, it was the result of four years watching him," he said in a rare interview. "I'd first seen him playing for Roda against Arsenal in 2006 - they were hammered 4-0 I think, but you could tell he was going to be a good player. He never stopped running.
    "So you keep an eye on him and track his progress, which is where we are with plenty of other players. People will all look at Arsène Wenger and say he's got the French market covered, but we've got a good handle on it, believe me. The same is true of other countries too. The key is to react quickly – that is what will get us our targets. That and the fact that Newcastle United is a big, big draw overseas."
    In a world where scouting and recruitment have become highly corporate and legalistic endeavours there is something reassuring about Alan Carr's journeyman player of a dad delivering to the tortured Ashley the solution he was groping for and failed to locate in what you might call the Xisco years. "Being a Geordie and having supported Newcastle gives me a bit of an advantage, I think," Carr told the local Sunday Sun. "You look at some players who are talented, but you just have to say: 'They're not a Newcastle United player.'"
    Poor Wenger: even his title of French oracle is under threat. But having found them, Newcastle will now have to keep them, and somehow square that need with wage constraints.
    [h=2]Second chance may be a cheat's charter[/h]Chop through the legalese and you end with the Olympic 400m champion from Beijing being free to defend his title in London next year, despite being banned for 21 months in the interim for using a banned steroid.
    LaShawn Merritt blamed a "penile enhancement" product for his positive test and then erected an appeal that prompted the court of arbitration for sport to wreck the International Olympic Committee's system of penalties for cheating. Whatever the legal justifications for attacking the IOC's Rule 45, rapid rehabilitation is now built into the game, so that drug-using athletes can swallow and inject with no fear of missing the next Games.
    So leniency increases, and performers can now tailor their cheating to a four-year cycle without risk of Olympic banishment. Even more depressing is the contrition industry, where choreographed apologies are intended to draw sympathy from us, the spectators: the people who were conned in the first place.

 
[h=1]Euro 2012: Five lessons Fabio Capello can learn from World Cup failure[/h] The England manager must be be more flexible with his tactics this time around, as well as giving youth a chance



  • Fabio Capello must ensure speculation over his own future does not become a distraction once again at Euro 2012. Photograph: Stevo Vasiljevic/Reuters

    [h=2]1. Avoid a repeat of the claustrophobic training camp in Rustenburg[/h]England and Fabio Capello appear to have learned from their experiences in South Africa, where their choice of base – the isolated, if plush, Royal Bafokeng complex on the outskirts of Rustenburg – prompted the familiar complaints of mind-numbing tedium from his squad. Instead, Franco Baldini will be dispatched to Poland and Ukraine this week hoping to secure a hotel in a major city centre, most likely Krakow or possibly Warsaw, where his players should at least get a flavour of the tournament they are gracing. As the FA's chairman David Bernstein insisted last week, England intend to be "good tourists" in future tournaments. That will not ensure they play more coherently, but it should at least deny the team the complaint of feeling bored.
    [h=2]2. Find a replacement for Wayne Rooney[/h]The striker's dismissal in Montenegro will rule him out for at least the first group match, and probably the second, in Poland and Ukraine and will prompt Capello to experiment in his search for a replacement. Arguably, England played without their talismanic forward in South Africa - his form rendered him unrecognisable at the World Cup - and duly endured an ignominious tournament. At least Ashley Young has proved he can flourish as the central creator in a 4-2-3-1 formation and, if he is still to be convinced, Capello might now be able to reincorporate Steven Gerrard smoothly into the role. The hope will be that the Italian does not merely revert to the rigid and restrictive 4-4-2 which so stifled England in 2010. He has the personnel to cope. Now he must give them a chance to prove themselves.
    [h=2]3. Stick to his guns with youth[/h]The weeks building up to the tournament in South Africa, when Capello finalised his squad, were unfathomable. There was an attempt to lure Paul Scholes out of international retirement, an inquiry that was abruptly knocked back. Capello's pursuit of Jamie Carragher, who had not played for his country for three years, proved more successful but was equally surprising. Then there was a recall for Ledley King, a player whose knee problems ensure he rarely plays twice in a week at club level. This time around, and even with time ticking down on the manager's tenure, Capello must surely stick with the youngsters and those unscarred by past failures. This squad selection has to look forward to the 2014 World Cup finals, rather than back to the fading talents of the 'golden generation'.
    [h=2]4. Don't let speculation over his own future act as a distraction[/h]England's pre-tournament training camp in Austria in 2010 was littered with talk of Internazionale formalising their interest in Capello as soon as the finals themselves were out of the way. At the time, the Italian's stock was at its highest, prompting the Football Association, unwisely as it turned out, to remove a clause in his contract that would have allowed both parties to go their separate ways after the tournament. This time around, and with talk of Anzhi Makhachkala's apparent interest in the Italian already circulating, the manager has to focus solely on the finals rather than where his own future lies. Similarly, the FA cannot be distracted by a search for a successor. That has to wait until after Poland and Ukraine, when a more appealing selection of candidates will surely be available anyway.
    [h=2]5. Have a proper break before the tournament itself[/h]Capello has already conceded that his intense training regime at altitude in the week-long camp in Austria prior to the World Cup, coming as it did at the end of a draining slog of a domestic campaign, was a mistake. Instead, the Italian is more likely to give his players a complete break of up to 10 days before assembling his squad for the finals. The Italian had admitted he was "surprised" at the level of exhaustion which went on to undermine performances in South Africa. "I learned a lot from the World Cup," said Capello. "What happened there, with the physical situation, surprised me. They were really, really tired where, before, we had played well and fast. It's important we learn from that when we plan what we will do in the future. The players need to go on holiday to make sure they are absolutely fresh."Dominic Fifield

 
[h=1]Wayne Rooney is told a Euro 2012 starting spot is not guaranteed[/h] • Fabio Capello will use him as a substitute in friendlies
• 'He needs to work to return to England's first XI'




  • Kevin McCarra
  • The Guardian, Monday 10 October 2011 Article history
    Wayne Rooney was sent off for violent conduct in the 2-2 draw against Montenegro and Uefa will decide on Monday whether his ban should be increased to two games at Euro 2012. Photograph: Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar

    Wayne Rooney will be consigned to the shadows of the England squad for the next eight months. Following the forward's red card in the 2-2 draw with Montenegro last week Fabio Capello has decided to use him purely as a substitute until he has served his suspension at the Euro 2012 finals in June. Uefa will decide on Monday whether the attacker is to be banned for one match or two.
    "Without the sending-off of Rooney we would have won," the manager said as he set out the consequences of the second dismissal in the player's international career. "Sometimes he will come on at half-time. But not from the start; he will not start. We need to prepare the first XI who will start in the Euros." Sardonic humour lightened the mood only slightly when Capello added: "He will be fresh."
    There was a warning, too, that Rooney should not assume he will cease to be a mere substitute at the finals. "I have got a lot of forwards at this moment, really good forwards," Capello said. "In my life as a manager I have put on the bench a lot of players."
    The only comfort for Rooney came in the fact that the manager will take him to Euro 2012 but Capello was still at pains to emphasise the alternatives and handed out more compliments than usual. "Danny Welbeck [of Manchester United] played 15 minutes [against Montenegro] and played really well and it will be interesting when we play against Spain [in the friendly at Wembley on 12 November] that these new players will start."
    Rooney will not be involved in that fixture at all. Another friendly, against Portugal, is anticipated three days later, so long as those opponents are not in the Euro 2012 play-offs. Capello is keen to experiment with team selection and tactics. He wants to study the emerging talent of young strikers such as Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge.
    His investigations will continue into players with the power to act as a target man. Andy Carroll and Bobby Zamora come into that category. In addition Jermain Defoe, an entirely different type of centre-forward at Tottenham Hotspur, has caught his eye again even if he was not in the party for Montenegro.
    "Sturridge and Defoe, these two," said Capello when asked after last week's draw about strikers in his thoughts. "For this game I selected five players. I wanted to see Zamora, Andy Carroll [in training]. This was Andy's third or fourth time with us. Zamora is an interesting player and we need to see him play against some important teams. We will do that.
    "I saw the game that Defoe played against Arsenal [in a 2-1 win for Tottenham Hotspur] and he played really well, ran a lot, pressed a lot. Sturridge is the same. I need to find the solution for the first game, or two games, that Rooney will not play. And if we find that solution, he needs to work to return to the first XI."
    In reality, of course, Capello cannot dismiss from his mind a player of Rooney's calibre. Prior to the red card the forward had been involved in the build-up to both England goals. Afterwards it was the dismissal and its consequences that got the attention. If Uefa is consistent, Rooney could miss the first two group games at Euro 2012.
    A less vindictive offence by Andrey Arshavin in a qualifier with Andorra led to that suspension at Euro 2008. The Football Association still hopes that Rooney will miss only the first England game.
    Cynics might assume that the player is enough of a star for Uefa to be lenient. Capello's intention of marginalising Rooney until June could be the greatest punishment of all. It is almost feasible that the forward may by then be worrying about his place in the starting line-up.
    Rooney has had an eventful career but he is in curious territory. Although he does not need to justify himself with goals, it would be significant for England if someone in such a central role posed a more direct threat.
    Despite two goals against Bulgaria in Sofia last month, he has now scored only three in his past 18 appearances for England. No one foresaw that trend when he was finding the net freely in the early part of Capello's tenure.
    It is possible the manager is genuinely interested in seeing how the side performs without him on the field.
    Rooney has not taken part as a substitute for his country since the 2006 World Cup finals when an ankle injury limited his involvement against Trinidad and Tobago.
    At the moment any pain is being felt in his mind. Capello was infuriated by the needless red card against Montenegro when Rooney lost control of himself because he had lost control of the ball.
    The manager had been sure that the player's temperament was unruffled despite the arrest of Rooney's father as part of a police inquiry into allegedly suspicious betting patterns, although the Montenegro management felt it may have played a part in his subsequent sending-off.
    Capello's trust in the forward's professionalism was misplaced and the memory of the debacle will linger in the Italian's mind.

    [h=2]Four to the fore in England's thoughts[/h] Danny Welbeck Manchester United
    Fabio Capello was unusually bold when predicting before the cancelled friendly with Holland that the forward was going to be "a very important player for England and Manchester United". Welbeck benefited from his loan spell at Sunderland last season and has scored five times for United in this campaign
    Daniel Sturridge Chelsea
    A period on loan at Bolton accelerated his development. Despite being suspended at the start of this season, the 22-year-old has made progress. With the competition so keen for the centre-forward berth at Chelsea, Sturridge has shown flexibility by learning how to pose a threat by cutting in from the right
    Kyle Walker Tottenham Hotspur
    The right-back is so far uncapped, but Capello keeps taking an interest in him. Although Walker's desire to overlap makes him popular with spectators, several loan spells have also helped him become a more rounded player. He does face tough competition, with Glen Johnson of Liverpool and Manchester United's Chris Smalling, converted from centre-half, among the challengers
    Jermain Defoe Tottenham Hotspur
    The 29-year-old is no newcomer but Capello referred to him unprompted last week, despite the fact that he was not in the squad. Defoe did score the goal that brought England's only win at the 2010 World Cup, against Slovenia.

 
[h=1]David Haye has quit ring, says British Boxing Board of Control[/h] • Board's secretary reveals he was contacted by email
• Haye had said he would retire on his 31st birthday




  • Guardian staff
  • guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 11 October 2011 01.29 BST Article history
    David Haye, left, lost his world heavyweight title to Wladimir Klitschko in what may prove to be his last fight. Photograph: Lee Smith/Action Images

    David Haye appears to have quit boxing after it was reported last night that the former world heavyweight champion has handed in his fight licence.
    Haye, who lost his title to Wladimir Klitschko in July, turns 31 on Thursday and always insisted he would not continue to box past his birthday.
    Although there has been no official confirmation from Haye, the British Boxing Board of Control secretary, Robert Smith, told the Sun: "I received an email on Monday advising me Haye would not be carrying on.
    "The Board will discuss it on Wednesday but there is no way we could go against his wish not to renew his boxing licence. Without it, he can't fight."

 
[h=1]David Haye has quit ring, says British Boxing Board of Control[/h] • Board's secretary reveals he was contacted by email
• Haye had said he would retire on his 31st birthday




  • Guardian staff
  • guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 11 October 2011 01.29 BST Article history
    David Haye, left, lost his world heavyweight title to Wladimir Klitschko in what may prove to be his last fight. Photograph: Lee Smith/Action Images

    David Haye appears to have quit boxing after it was reported last night that the former world heavyweight champion has handed in his fight licence.
    Haye, who lost his title to Wladimir Klitschko in July, turns 31 on Thursday and always insisted he would not continue to box past his birthday.
    Although there has been no official confirmation from Haye, the British Boxing Board of Control secretary, Robert Smith, told the Sun: "I received an email on Monday advising me Haye would not be carrying on.
    "The Board will discuss it on Wednesday but there is no way we could go against his wish not to renew his boxing licence. Without it, he can't fight."

 

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naona kadri siku zinavyo enda watu watakuwa wanajichukulia pointi kwenye mwili wake bora aache tu kupigana..
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[h=1]Liverpool threaten breakaway from Premier League's TV rights deal[/h] • Current deal sees top-flight clubs share billions of pounds
• Liverpool's managing director Ian Ayre raises alternative




  • Andy Hunter
  • guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 11 October 2011 22.30 BST Article history
    Liverpool's captain, Steven Gerrard, in action against Manchester United, two clubs who couid benefit from a TV deal change. Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian

    The deal that shares television's billions equally between Premier League clubs is facing its biggest threat to date after Liverpool announced they would lead a challenge for overseas TV rights to be sold on a club-by-club basis.
    Liverpool's managing director, Ian Ayre, has insisted the break-up of the established broadcasting deal, worth £3.2bn in total to all Premier League clubs for 2010‑13, is "a debate that has to happen", with the Anfield club in favour of the Spanish model that allows Barcelona and Real Madrid to negotiate individual contracts that dwarf their domestic and European rivals.
    Since the Premier League's foundation in 1992 its success has been largely based on the principle of collective selling, where each club no matter how lowly can expect a fixed share of TV deals with "merit" awards for finishing positions as an add‑on. Changing this model would risk revolt from the smaller clubs who stand to lose most, and thus threatens the league's very structure.
    At present, the Premier League sells domestic and overseas broadcasting rights collectively and more than doubled international revenue in its last negotiations, from £625m for 2007‑10 to £1.4bn for 2010‑13. With the Premier League shown in 212 countries and having 98 broadcast partners around the world, it is expected the next deal will show a similar increase, with overseas rights potentially worth more than domestic for the first time.
    Ayre believes the Premier League's four biggest global draws – Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal – deserve an increased share from 2013, with overseas broadcasting having a greater influence on the Anfield club's financial future than a new stadium. "Personally I think the game-changer is going out and recognising our brand globally," said the Liverpool managing director. "Maybe the path will be individual TV rights like they do in Spain. There are so many things moving in that particular area.
    "What is absolutely certain is that, with the greatest of respect to our colleagues in the Premier League, but if you're a Bolton fan in Bolton, then you subscribe to Sky because you want to watch Bolton. Everyone gets that. Likewise, if you're a Liverpool fan from Liverpool, you subscribe. But if you're in Kuala Lumpur there isn't anyone subscribing to Astro, or ESPN to watch Bolton, or if they are it's a very small number. Whereas the large majority are subscribing because they want to watch Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal.
    "So is it right that the international rights are shared equally between all the clubs? Some people will say: 'Well you've got to all be in it to make it happen.' But isn't it really about where the revenue is coming from, which is the broadcaster, and isn't it really about who people want to watch on that channel? We know it is us. And others. At some point we definitely feel there has to be some rebalance on that, because what we are actually doing is disadvantaging ourselves against other big European clubs."
    It would require 14 of the Premier League's 20 members to vote in favour of a new commercial arrangement. Though Sir Alex Ferguson recently described the collective deal as "fair", albeit while insisting clubs deserved more from overseas rights, and La Liga's system has attracted widespread criticism, Ayre believes the status quo jeopardises the financial might of the Premier League.
    "If Real Madrid or Barcelona or other big European clubs have the opportunity to truly realise their international media value potential, where does that leave Liverpool and Manchester United? We'll just share ours because we'll all be nice to each other? The whole phenomenon of the Premier League could be threatened. If they just get bigger and bigger and they generate more and more, then all the players will start drifting that way and will the Premier League bubble burst because we are sticking to this equal-sharing model? It's a real debate that has to happen."
    Liverpool insist their radical proposals are limited to overseas broadcasting, although success on that front could set a precedent domestically in the long term, and the club plans to raise the issue at the next Premier League meeting. Ayre's frank admission comes almost one year on from Fenway Sports Group acquiring the club from Tom Hicks and George Gillett in the high court and, along with broadcasting revenue, another major financial decision to be resolved by the American owners remains whether to construct a new stadium or redevelop their current home, Anfield.
    Liverpool's managing director insists the club are pursuing "a parallel course" on both options, with planning regulations complicating the redevelopment of Anfield and the financial benefits of a new-build uncertain, although Ayre admits the latter option is only viable with a naming rights deal. "We have been in discussions here and in other parts of the world with a small group of people that we have narrowed down that we are targeting for naming rights. That is an absolute catalyst to building a new stadium. The economics just don't stack up without it.
    "When will the decision be made? It'll only be when we reach an answer with both. It's hard to put a time on it. If you put a deadline on the naming rights, then you start to marginalise the deal. We aren't desperate. We think we have an amazing proposition as one of the biggest clubs in the world. I don't recall any football club of this size with this international reach that's ever done a naming rights deal. It is quite unique in that sense. Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United haven't. Nobody in football has done this at this level. It's new ground and it will take what it takes."
    Ayre, along with the former Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton, ex-chief executive Christian Purslow and Fenway Sports Group, remains the subject of a £1bn lawsuit filed by Hicks and Gillett over the events surrounding their departure last October. "It's an unwanted and unwelcome distraction. That's their prerogative but we remain extremely confident that we did the right thing," he said. The Liverpool MD offered his resignation to John W Henry following FSG's victory in the high court, and admits the five-times European champions could have entered administration had Hicks and Gillett retained control.
    "Certainly the bank had the power to call in the debt and at the time there wasn't anyone ready to take on that debt. So I guess the answer to that [would Liverpool have gone into administration] is yes. It's hypothetical but based on where we were and based on the circumstances at the time that was a very real threat. That was the case in the final hours. That was one of the other routes we could have gone down."

 
[h=4]Series: Rumour Mill[/h] Previous | Index

[h=1]Football transfer rumours: Javier Hernández to Real Madrid?[/h] Today's flim flam can take it or leave it




  • Is Javier Hernández on his way to Real Madrid? Photograph: Jon Super/AP

    Like a dog barking at aeroplanes in the sky there is something so futile about a sensational inter-window tabloid transfer scoop – something so cosmically pointless that the Mill is tempted to sit back and watch, applaud, enjoy the show for a bit, before walking across to clip this morning's Sun around its raggedy ears and tell it to ssshh before it makes the neighbours turn their lights on and peer out through the bedroom curtains in pointed irritation.
    "Taking The Pea," The Sun woofs on its back page, a very good headline that manages to combine in one phrase a sense of fearful outrage and the EXCLUSIVE news that Real Madrid want to sign Javier Hernández for £30m. Hernández, who waggles every single one of his limbs in a frantic circular motion when he runs, is currently on £25,000 a week. Madrid want to pay him six times that much and also put him up in a glass and steel, city centre penthouse with a camomile carpet and furniture made from truffle shavings while contractually guaranteeing that the balmy Iberian wind will tousle his hair every evening on his panoramic balcony. The move would represent an immediate profit of £24m on a player who has had one very good season and looked a tiny bit off this time around.
    At the same time it would raise several uncomfortable basic points about what this is all for and why bother sourcing players and selling them on if every summer is marked by debt-servicing sales that are, essentially, an admission of economic limitation. José Mourinho "could make his move in the January transfer window". Or next summer. Or never. Who knows?
    The Sun also reports that oil billionaire's regional development vehicle Anzhi Makhachkala want to bring Ashley Cole to troubled Dagestan: "Russian mega-spenders Anzhi are ready to offer the 30-year-old £200,000 a week." Cole would compete for a left-back berth with the 38-year-old Roberto Carlos. Anzhi also want to sign Nicolas Anelka, Robin van Persie, Neymar, Eusébio, Cruz Beckham, the embalmed corpse of Michael Jackson, the French Alps, the colour blue, the number seven and the emotion "fear".
    Arsenal are excited about the 22-year-old Toulouse winger Aymen Abdennour. The Tunisian is available for £3.5m. He won't, though, make that much difference. David Bentley's loan deal at West Ham is over. He needs surgery on his knee. And Junior Hoilett is prancing about refusing to sign a new contract at Blackburn Rovers because he thinks a few decent performances in the Premier League means he can switch partners at the drop of a hat and secure a more lavish deal elsewhere from some cash-rich panicky middleweight. He is, of course, right. Spurs are "monitoring" the situation, say the Daily Mail.
    According to the Daily Mirror Cole isn't about to sign up for the evil empire after all: he's joining the rebel alliance at Barcelona. The Catalan do-gooders are "plotting a swoop" for Cole who, at £12m, is cheaper than Gareth Bale. Apparently Barcelona have also been "eyeing Bolton's Gary Cahill", who is a major target for Chelsea next summer. Yes. That Gary Cahill.
    Popular forbidden biblical fruit Eden Hazard could be leaving Lille next summer if his agent, who is called John Bico, has anything to do with it. "He has shown from the beginning of the season that he is able to play for any of the big clubs, including Real Madrid," Bico said yesterday, his eyes revolving like fruit machine cylinders. "Zinedine Zidane has always praised him but that, on its own, will not be sufficient," he added, holding up a large empty sack with "£££££" stencilled on the side.
    Liverpool want to sign "Swiss hot-shot Nicholas Hunziker", who plays for Basel and scored a hat-trick for Switzerland's youth team the other day. Before anybody gets too excited, Hunziker is only 15 years old. Napoli are also after him.
    In the Daily Mail, Arsenal are attempting to ward off assorted yahooing oil-cowboys by offering Van Persie a new contract. And Real Madrid could "swoop" for Manchester City free market anarchist Carlos Tevez in January. Tevez will cost £40m, require £250,000 wages, and will inevitably end up causing loads of trouble and upsetting everybody else. Which for a player who is quite good but not – you know – that good, scarcely seems worth it. Diego Maradona's Al-Wasl have ruled themselves out of the running for Tevez. Which is a shame because they probably deserve each other.
    Arsenal are on the verge of signing the 17-year-old Real Madrid "starlet" (dictionary definition: a young female actress) Jose Rodriguez. Rodriguez, who was player of the tournament at the World Club Championship, has already been schmoozed around north London. He could sign in the summer and – if he's any good – return to Madrid about six years from now after an interminable and destabilising annual transfer saga.

 
[h=1]Anguished Groundskeeper Willie-esque radging; and glossolalia[/h] Click here to have the Fiver sent to your inbox every weekday at 5pm, or if your usual copy has stopped arriving


  • Barry Glendenning and Paul Doyle
  • guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 11 October 2011 16.34 BST Article history
    Fernando Torres and the Spanish national football team visit the Volvo Ocean Race Alicante race village. Photograph: Volvo Ocean Race/Getty Images

    [h=2]FIFE GET OVEREXCITED[/h]If they're drunk enough, pretend it's raining and gaze upon the imposing and picturesque Castle of Santa Barbara towering above Alicante in a certain way, Scotland's football supporters and players might well be able to convince themselves that they're playing in Edinburgh tonight. The crucial edge this virtual home advantage provides could make all the difference in a Euro 2012 qualifier the Scots simply must win or draw or lose if they are to finish second in their group.
    The good news for Scotland is that they are facing Spain, the best team of scampering hypnotically metronomic tippy-tappy ball-pingers on the planet, which means their fans have already conceded any hope of getting a result and can focus all their energies on hoping Lithuania do a number on the Czech Republic. The Scots must match or better whatever result the Czech Republicans (© RTE pundit John Giles) get in Vilnius to finish ahead of them, which ostensibly means Johnny Czech needs only a point to advance at the expense of Craig Levein's men.
    "I wonder why Scotland haven't finished second in the group already because they are a good team. It's not something we can understand after that match in Scotland," said Sergio Ramos, referring to the Scots' heroic 3-2 defeat at Hampden Park last year. The Fiver can only conclude the lank-haired Spain full-back didn't hear the anguished Groundskeeper Willie-esque radging about "cheating eastern European numpties and bawbags" emanating from the same venue some months later when a controversial penalty earned the Czechs a point they didnae deserve.
    The news that already-qualified Spain are likely to rest several regulars for tonight's match provided some grounds for optimism for some Scotland fans; optimism that evaporated completely when it was explained to them that this didn't actually mean the Scots would only have to face five or six players. Indeed, those rested will be replaced by players almost if not as good as them, and the bad news for the Scots is that, as fringe players in a squad with a limited number of Euro 2012 berths up for grabs, they'll be desperate to impress. With Scott Brown out and Barry Bannan, Craig Mackail-Smith and Darren Fletcher all rated doubts through knack, Scotland could be forced to rest several regulars of their own, but at even what passes for full strength in Scottish fitba these days, their best hope of reaching the play-offs tonight would appear to rest 1,654 miles away.
    • Join Barry Glendenning from 7.30pm for live MBM coverage of Spain 5-1 Scotland.
    [h=2]QUOTE OF THE DAY[/h]"Six hours before kick-off at Anfield and before I can even think about the game, I have to get to a petrol station. After getting into the car, I turn the engine on and look at the fuel gauge. It is almost full. I still need petrol, though, so I head to the same garage that I always go to when Liverpool are at home, a small filling station on Queens Drive that is almost exactly halfway between my home in South Liverpool and the stadium. I get there, open the petrol cap and begin to refuel. I am only at the pump for 20 seconds or so and the tank is full so I go in to pay. The cashier gives me a bit of a funny look. To be fair, I cannot blame him. I have just pulled on to his forecourt, queued up for five minutes behind other motorists and all for £8 worth of petrol, just so my tank is full to the brim. He does not know it but I do the same thing before every home game. It is one of countless rituals I have to perform to make sure I am in the right frame of mind to play for Liverpool" - don't all rush out at once for Pepe Reina's new autobiography.
    [h=2]YEREVAN OF LOVE[/h]Giovanni Trapattoni would be an ideal panellist on Sky's Soccer Saturday. With his gushing enthusiasm, manic movements and occasionally inspired glossolalia, he would be a highly entertaining describer of matches you can't see. Hell, he'd probably even bring a uniquely thrilling vibe to minute-by-minute commentaries on the world's leading minute-by-minute website. The key thing to remember, of course, is that when following a match in which Trapattoni is involved, it's best to choose a medium where you can't see the action. Or lack thereof. Because since taking charge of the Republic O'Ireland 16,796 years ago, Trapattoni has served up shows so face-meltingly bleak that the estate of GG Allin is said to be impressed.
    But, but, but Trapattoni has got results. 0-0 primarily, but another such scoreline tonight would be enough to rule plucky Armenia out of the Euro 2012 running and send hordes of Irish people dashing to the nearest anaesthetist at the prospect of another harrowing play-off. Thus, like a latter day Molly Malone who's fed the flip up of c0ckles and mussels, Trap will tonight set his stall out for a bore draw. That much was made clear by his team selection, which, with Robbie Keane knacked, includes Simon Cox rather than Shane Long because Cox is more apt to bolster the midfield and help suffocate those pesky Armenians.
    And yes, the Armenians are pesky. Despite starting the campaign as 105th best team in the world, below Qatar, Vardan Minasyan's exciting young troupe arrive in Dublin as one of the most surprisingly in-form countries on the continent. They've scored 11 goals in their last three matches and boast the sort of speed and intricacy that Trap has devoted the last few years to eradicating. They're slightly dodgy in the air at the back but that will only matter if Ireland go forward. Tonight, then, Ireland are likely to need Richard Dunne to re-enact the Flann O'Brien tribute that he put on in Russia, where he repelled attackers with the timely deployment of thighs as thick as a horse's belly, narrowing to a calf as thick as the belly of a foal, and a backside large enough to halt the march of men through a mountain-pass.
    • Join Paul Doyle from 6.30pm for live MBM coverage of the Republic O'Ireland 0-0 Armenia.
    [h=2]DOUBLE YOUR MONEY WITH BLUE SQUARE![/h]Open an account with online bookies Blue Square, placing a bet of at least £5 and they'll give you a free £10 bet, win or lose! (Terms Apply) Register now.
    [h=2]FIVER LETTERS[/h]"Regarding Fifa holding the World Cup finals in Norn Iron at Moneymore Recreation Centre (yesterday's Fiver). They would be much better holding it just a few miles up the road in Coagh; it has an all-weather pitch and everything, as well as a sort of hotel and numerous fast food outlets. In fact, the mighty Norn Iron have previous in this field as this explains - Patrick Cullen.
    "Australia just beat Oman in a 2014 World Cup qualifier. Despite the remaining group games not ending until February 2012, the result is good enough to ensure that Australia progress from this qualifying group to the next qualifying group. Please STOP FOOTBALL: I haven't even finished paying off my flamin' credit card from the last World Cup yet" - Nick Livesey.
    "Re: Googling Jamie Moralee (yesterday's Fiver letters). I have just Googled 'passim', which I think represents an even lower point" - Graham McGarry.
    Send your letters to the.boss@guardian.co.uk. And if you've nothing better to do you can also tweet the Fiver.
    [h=2]BITS AND BOBS[/h]Somehow a deal involving West Ham, Boris Johnson and the Olympics has become a farce after ministers and the legacy company scrapped talks for the club to take over the stadium after 2012. Instead, the Hammers may now try to rent the ground.
    After England announced they would be "good tourists" at Euro 2012, expect Wayne Rooney, Ashley Young and EBJT to be spending their days taking in the Branicki Palace before enjoying a plate of flaczki now the side have confirmed they will be based in Poland during the tournament.
    South African shaman S'bonelo Madela says the country's national side will lose all their matches unless he is paid the R90,000 he says he is owed for providing the "magic" that allowed the team to beat France in the 2010 World Cup. "We are going to open a criminal case against this guy," responded South African FA vice-president Mwelo Nonkonyane.
    And USA! USA!! USA!!! midfielder DaMarcus Beasley has revealed how Jurgen Klinsmann channelled the spirit of David Brent in steering the team to victory over Honduras last weekend. "It was quiet. And then Klinsmann went over to the iPad machine and turned on the music. That's the kind of coach he is. He's very cool. He's fun," hollered the jewellery magnate.
    [h=2]STILL WANT MORE?[/h]Sachin Nakrani went on a crash course in the various permutations from tonight's final round of Euro 2012 qualifiers and came up with this cut-out-and-keep guide. [Warning: do not try to cut your computer screen.]
    Paul Doyle went on a crash course in Armenian football and came up with this piece, but left out some exciting information about apricots and chess. [Warning: do not try and play chess with apricots – it doesn't work.]
    Kevin McCarra went on the ultimate crash course in Scotland (he's Scottish) and came up with this piece on why there is a familiar sense of hope and dread surrounding tonight's game against Spain. [Warning: contains gloom.]
    And several people with Photoshop went on a crash course in sticking tutus, hot pants and (even more) fake tan on Robbie Savage and came up with this week's Gallery. [Warning: contains photos of a tanned Robbie Savage in a tutu and hot pants.]
    [h=2]SIGN UP TO THE FIVER[/h]Want your very own copy of our free tea-timely(ish) email sent direct to your inbox? Has your regular copy stopped arriving? Click here to sign up.
    [h=2]YOUR TEAM HERE[/h]
 
[h=1]Liverpool were "on the brink" and could have gone bust under Hicks and Gillett[/h] Published 22:30 11/10/11 By David Maddock

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...-Gillett-says-MD-Ian-Ayre-article810468.html#


Liverpool's top brass have admitted for the first time the club could have gone bust.
This week marks the first anniversary of the takeover at Anfield by Fenway Sports group, that finally released the club from the grasp of Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
And speaking about those momentous times, which saw an historic battle in the high court, MD Ian Ayre has revealed the extent of the danger to their very existence that Liverpool faced.
Liverpool MD Ian Ayre interview: "Kenny Dalglish has brought everyone together"

The club, he says, was "on the brink", and could so easily have gone under because of the massive mountain of debt the previous owners had piled on.
"Certainly the bank had the power to call in the debt and at the time there wasn't anyone ready to take on that debt. So I guess the answer to that is yes, the club could have gone into administration," he confessed.
"Based on where we were and based on the circumstances at the time that was a very real threat. It's not what anyone wanted. It wouldn't have been a better solution than where we ended up but it was a very real threat.
"That was the case in the final hours. That was one of the other routes we could have gone down."
It seems an incredible admission that a club the size of Liverpool, with a global reach matched only by the likes of Manchester United and Real Madrid, could have arrived at such a position.
But estimates of the complicated debt structure Hicks and Gillett had placed on the club suggested that Liverpool owed anything up to £450million... with that figure rising on an almost daily basis.
Eventually, the court case, driven by the club's principal creditor the RBS, snatched Liverpool back from the American duo just before disaster struck, but in his assessment of the turbulent past 12 months, Ayre makes no bones about the precarious position such a massive club found itself in.
"There are lessons to be learnt for all football clubs, because we really were on the edge," Ayre revealed.
"What you had was a domino effect of things. Debt was going up and the cost of servicing the debt was beyond what we felt was reasonable.
"Obviously we had a very negative reaction from the fan base which was starting to hurt the commercial revenue. The debt servicing became even harder because the revenues became smaller. If you can't invest in the team, as we've seen the fall out is no European football etc.
"I don't think I've ever really wanted to dare to dream where we would have got to but it didn't look good and that was reason why Martin, Christian and myself and the others involved felt we had to find the right solution. There was no preconceived idea of who that was, just the right solution to solve all those problems."
While the depth of Liverpool's disaster has only just been truly revealed, Ayre is confident the worst is now behind the club, and the good days are about to return under careful new owners.
"It was a disaster that we have recovered from. We are now where we should be and heading in a better direction and in a better shape and set up as a business to perform and deliver," he insisted.
"If you really think where we were 12 months ago, it couldn't be more different. We've managed to get it back that quickly, when it could have had a lot more lasting damage - where we are today, I don't think we could even hoped to be this far ahead 12 months ago."


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kwa hiyo hizo timu ndogo zitakuwaje sasa kama wakubwa wanataka mgao mkubwa zaidi..
 
[h=1]Manchester City target TWO Napoli players[/h] Published 22:30 11/10/11 By Neil McLeman

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/tra...msik-and-Ezequiel-Lavezzi-article810688.html#


Manchester City have admitted they want to sign Napoli stars Marek Hamsik and Ezequiel Lavezzi.
But the revelation by first-team coach Fausto Salsano will infuriate the Serie A club who are in the same Champions League group as City.
Roberto Mancini has said he tried to sign Hamsik and Napoli striker Edinson Cavani during his time at Inter Milan.
But now his right-hand man Salsano has said the interest remains strong for the Slovak midfielder and Argentine striker Lavezzi – two of the brightest stars in *European football.

"Manchester City are watching Napoli very carefully," Salsano told a Naples radio station. "I can confirm Mancini's interest in Hamsik because I have been to watch the Slovak.
"Marek has become a very important player with the right experience. Lavezzi, on the other hand, is a devastating player who can hurt you one-on-one. Hamsik and Lavezzi are players we like because our aim is to do great things."


​
 
[h=1]Chelsea need to sign Modric in January, says Gullit[/h] Published 21:00 11/10/11 By Neil McLeman




Ruud Gullit has claimed Chelsea still need to sign Luka Modric in the January transfer window.
Andre Villas-Boas' club failed in a £40m bid to land the Croatian midfielder in the summer and Spurs are now offering him a new deal.
But despite losing only one match under their new Portuguese manager, Gullit claimed: "The player Chelsea still need, for me, is Modric.
"They have great players all around the pitch but he has something Chelsea doesn't have at the moment. He is creative and dominates the passing game in the midfield - he could be like Xavi or Iniesta are to Barcelona.

"I was surprised Tottenham didn't accept £40m because they are known to sell their best players for good offers. I think Chelsea will try to sign Modric again in January and maybe this time they will get him."
 
30, 000 JF posts and still going strong..............

Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal are all circling round Plymouth teenager

Published 22:30 11/10/11 By John Cross




Plymouth teenager Matt Lecointe is set to become the next big Premier League target - and give his hard-up club a cash lifeline.
Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal are all in for the 16-year-old right winger who has made ten appearances already despite his young age.
Lecointe has been attracting a host of top flight scouts and all of the clubs are likely to begin a battle to snap him up as quickly as possible.
Plymouth-born Lecointe has been compared to Arsenal sensation Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain because of his style and age.

Lecointe would also command a fee likely to help Argyle who have been battling to stay in business as they look to complete a takeover having already had various Football League transfer embargoes placed on the club.

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[h=1]Muntari ready for a move confirms agent[/h] Published 12:14 11/10/11 By MirrorFootball

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/tra...derland-midfielders-agent-article810392.html#


Inter Milan midfielder Sulley Muntari is considering a move away from the San Siro, according to his agent.
The 27-year-old has been out of favour and has only played 36 minutes of Serie A football this season from the bench, while not featuring at all in the Champions League.
Muntari has been linked with a switch to Napoli, but his agent Marco Odisio is not ruling out a move overseas after Muntari looked to leave Italy in the summer.
"Before the beginning of the season Inter have made some choices that probably didn't include Sulley," Odisio told www.radiocrc.com.

"He was in great shape, he has not been included in the Champions League list because of some choices made by the club."
Muntari has played in England before, starring for Portsmouth in 2007-2008 before his move to Inter, then spending the second half of last season on loan at Sunderland.
"In June he had the opportunity to move to an English club, but finally this possibility has vanished," added Odisio.
"Sulley really wants to play, he was quite upset about missing the possibility to move to England because he wanted to play abroad.
"Today he seems like a player that Inter are not considering."
Odisio did not confirm if Napoli had expressed firm interest in the Ghana international, but revealed an offer would be seriously considered.
"(There has been) nothing concrete," he added. "Of course we are happy about these rumours and if there would be a real interest I am sure that he would evaluate the possibility to move to Naples.
"At the moment we are evaluating some offers made by foreign clubs, but Napoli would be an interesting alternative".


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