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[h=2]Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur, Premier League, 1.30pm Sunday 26 February[/h] [h=1]Tottenham's ascent leaves Arsenal with bitter lessons to learn[/h] Foreboding is in the air at the Emirates with Arsène Wenger forced to play catch-up with their north London rivals



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Daniel Levy, the Tottenham chairman, played the transfer window with a hard business nose and the dividends have been paying out on the pitch for his club all season. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images

Usually around this time of year Arsenal supporters begin examining the fixture list to determine when they might celebrate a tradition that has become known as St Totteringham's Day. That is the point in the football calendar where it becomes arithmetically impossible for their local foes to finish above them in the league. Whatever they may be thinking as they head for the Emirates this weekend, however much foreboding fills the air, with unease about Arsène Wenger's thinking and Stan Kroenke's style of ownership back on the agenda, it is lost on nobody that St Totteringham's Day may be cancelled for the first time in Wenger's 16-year reign.
The last time Tottenham ended a Premiership campaign with the upper hand in north London, Arsenal endured a season when their manager, a proven winner who had turned the club around, fell dramatically from grace. It was 1995 and George Graham was sacked as a result of the bung scandal. Arsenal finished in mid-table. Spurs did a little better, ending up seventh but still way behind Leeds, Nottingham Forest and the champions that season, Blackburn Rovers. A newborn baby then could have grown up to the age of consent and become a parent in the time since Tottenham last looked down on Arsenal.
Will anybody explain the significance of this development to Mr Kroenke on Sunday as he pays a rare visit to the home of his long-distance franchise? The visiting supporters have waited long enough for such a twist in neighbourly relations that they will be raring to mention it. Over the other side of the aisle in the directors' box, the Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy can survey the scene with a sense of serenity he has seldom enjoyed since he began a painstaking, and often painful, game of catch-up.
Among the group who have represented England in the Champions League in recent seasons Tottenham's business model, with a home-grown, hands-on chairman who works closely with his manager and is involved in his club's affairs 365 days a year, is an anomaly. It is a throwback. Tottenham are backed by the finance of Enic, the company controlled by the billionaire Joe Lewis, but in the running of the club, overseen by Levy, Tottenham remain based on a traditional operation. It is interesting that they are enjoying their most productive spell at a time when Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, under foreign ownership, are no longer set up to function in the same way.
Levy's stock has not always been so high. The experiment with a director of football concept was problematic. The constant changing of management (seven in his first seven years as chairman), with a few clangers such as Jacques Santini and Juande Ramos in the mix, did not give the best impression. But a series of excellent decisions more recently, starting with the moment he hired Harry Redknapp, has had a transformative effect.
Last summer he played the transfer window with a hard business nose and the dividends have been paying out on the pitch for Tottenham all season.
In playing hardball to keep Chelsea's hands off Luka Modric, arranging the loan for Emmanuel Adabayor, securing shrewd deals for players such as Brad Friedel and Scott Parker, Levy has backed his manager wholeheartedly.
In many ways it is reminiscent of the model Wenger enjoyed when Arsenal flourished. He had strong football men behind him who were as steeped in the English game as they were in business. David Dein and the late Danny Fiszman did not always see eye to eye but they worked tirelessly to provide Wenger with the support needed off the pitch. The board were close-knit and, in their own ways, as obsessed by it all as Wenger. They viewed financial matters as important only to serve sporting aspirations.
They were visible in the stands every time Arsenal played, be it the main show, the reserves or the youths. They were the team behind the team.
When Kroenke dropped into Arsenal's AGM in October, at the end of a five-minute speech he joked: "You had better get used to seeing us. Because we will be around." His is a distinctive interpretation of "around". The last game he attended was almost four months ago.
In the American's absence Ivan Gazidis is the face of the current Arsenal board. The chief executive appears to have a difficult job in mediating between the business side and the sporting side and Wenger does not always seem in tune with his messages. While Gazidis has announced some good news with a price freeze for season-ticket holders, Wenger expressed sympathy for the costs loaded on to supporters in an environment where Arsenal struggle to keep up with the wealthiest. "We are far behind the top teams wages-wise but what is true is that our fans pay the price for it," he said. During the week stories emerged of a transfer war chest for the summer but Wenger knocked such stuff back as "not true".
Tottenham offer stability and unity behind the scenes at a time when Arsenal have issues in that area. With Alisher Usmanov hoovering up a few stray shares last week, the "cold war", as some fans have dubbed it, between the American and Uzbeki shareholders is an ongoing struggle. Until such time as it is resolved it is difficult to see Arsenal selling a clear vision for the future.
With former players queueing up to urge Wenger to revamp the team, Lee Dixon has described this as the "most important derby" his old manager has faced. More important than semi-finals? More important than winning the title at White Hart Lane? More important than his first derby match, which came when he had a mere five Premier League matches under his belt and needed to win over a sceptical public – and team – having arrived from Japan? Incidentally, consider how many of the team who won Wenger's first derby back in 1996, before he had really got hold of the team, would walk into the current side: Lukic, Dixon, Bould, Keown, Adams, Winterburn, Vieira, Platt, Merson, Bergkamp, Wright.
The current squad needs more surgery than did the one Wenger inherited. The marketplace makes that difficult. But at the very least the importance of a good summer has been amply demonstrated at both Spurs and Arsenal. Somehow Wenger and his board have to come t ogether and make a better fist of it next time.
 
[h=1]Stuart Pearce has grown up but is he really ready to manage England?[/h] Although the Psycho caricature is outdated, the manager's CV does not suggest a man qualified to lead England at Euro 2012


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Stuart Pearce has let it be known that he would like to manage England at Euro 2012. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/Reuters

A few years ago Stuart Pearce was interviewed by one of the broadsheets and, probably with good reason, not exactly delighted when he found they had inserted his London twang throughout the copy. It was like reading the transcript from an episode of Steptoe and Son. The time he was arrested for climbing up traffic lights on Wembley high street? "I've 'ad me moments. But I've learned from 'em, see?" The day Brian Clough asked him to mend a faulty kettle? "Couldn't fix it, though, 'is element 'ad gone."
Nobody, interestingly enough, has ever done this with Harry Redknapp but, then again, Fleet Street has seldom fluttered its eyelashes at Pearce in the way it does the Spurs manager. The closest Pearce got to a love-in was his first six months as Kevin Keegan's successor at Manchester City, when he turned a losing team into a winning one. Redknapp was managing Southampton at the time and doing so badly Portsmouth's supporters had started referring to him as Agent Harry.
As it turned out, Beanie the Horse was not a particularly lucky mascot for Pearce and when he was sacked a couple of years later City had not managed a league goal at home from New Year's Day until the end of the season.
Dennis Tueart released his autobiography last autumn and it confirmed what we probably already knew, namely that Pearce was fiercely devoted but made basic errors of judgment and "never had a full grasp of transfers and recruitment". Tueart, a director at the time, admitted the club were trying to replace him well before they did. The chapter on Pearce was called "Treading Water". Redknapp, in contrast, could fall into the Thames and come up with a salmon in his top pocket.
A lot of the goodwill for Pearce seems to have lapsed in the following years judging by the general reaction when he made his pitch to manage England at Euro 2012. "They [the FA] know exactly what I want to do," the caretaker manager said. "If they need me, I'll do it with pleasure."
Which was straying a long way from the public opinion polls. The longest-running caretaker in London was Harold Pinter's in the 1960s and, put bluntly, most people would rather it stay that way. The reason is simple: English football has gone past that stage when it is seduced by men who clench their fists and roar the words to God save the Queen. Management needs more than that, as Bryan Robson, Terry Butcher and many others can testify. More ice, less fire. This is why Gary Neville has decided it is not for him but can see a day when Ryan Giggs manages Manchester United. Neville used to sit next to Pearce on England duty. "He scared the life out of me the first time we warmed up at Wembley. 'This is our ****ing turf, my ****ing turf,' he kept snarling."
It brings to mind a Uefa Cup run at Nottingham Forest in the mid-90s when Pearce would stand at the dressing-room door and scream: "We're English, remember we're English" – an interesting slant given the team included a Dutchman, a Norwegian, a Scot and a Welshman.
A couple of months from turning 50, he is more of a thinker now. He may have squeezed in references to 1966, Euro 96 and Afghanistan in one sitting with the press on Thursday, but there is more to him these days than the old caricature. Pearce has been trying to re-invent his image for years. "It can be awkward," he explained to me once, "when I go out for dinner with my wife and, on the other side of the restaurant, they get to their feet and start chanting 'Psycho! Psycho!'"
What can be said is that he will put everything into it because that has been the rule ever since he started working as an electrician for Brent council, playing non-league football with Wealdstone, and worked his way up without ever falling for the rich man's trappings. Pearce was still fixing toasters in the season he won the first of his 78 England caps. He advertised in the Forest programme: "Stuart Pearce, Electrician. Repairs and Maintenance. All work guaranteed – 0602 847224". When money started to flood the game it was Pearce's black Ford Capri stubbornly parked among the Porsches. If you dislike the way modern-day footballers threaten to drown in their own egos, there is plenty to admire about Pearce's absolute refusal to budge. "An electrician one day and a footballer the next," he said week. "I'm still the same person."
The jury is still out on whether Pearce is a good manager. His only mitigation at City was that, for the most part, they were skint. Yet that just made it worse when Pearce splurged £5m on Georgios Samaras, the Greek striker who became known as "Tragedy". Pearce reached a semi-final in his first European Championship with the England Under-21s and lost the final in his second, but last year's tournament revealed a team with an alarming lack of cohesion. Whatever Redknapp decides, this is not the record of a manager who should be putting himself forward for Euro 2012.
Pearce's squad for the Holland game on Wednesday is a courageous one, though, and he cannot be accused of short-termism. It would have been easy, after all, to rely on the old guard when the opposition is officially the third best international side. Instead Pearce has set his mind on experimentation, bringing in younger players and knowing that if it all goes wrong there will be another red cross on his CV, maybe this time in permanent marker. Nobody can accuse him of playing safe.

[h=2]Two more small steps towards equality[/h] It has largely gone unnoticed but Terry Connor's new role at Wolves, following the appointment of Keith Curle at Notts County, means the number of black managers working in the top four divisions of the English game has doubled in one week.
Until now, there was Chris Hughton at Birmingham City and Chris Powell at Charlton Athletic. "For too long young, talented black coaches have been overlooked when top-flight jobs have become available," Danny Lynch of Kick It Out told me. "The reality is we have more genuine talent, ready and waiting, fully qualified and with bags of football experience."
Everyone who cares about this issue ought to be encouraged when there has hardly been much else in the form of good news for football's anti-racism campaigners this season.
However, let's not be fooled into thinking it is anything more than it is. This is the highest number of black managers there has ever been in England, but four out of 92 is still a desperately poor ratio.
 
[h=2]Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur, Premier League, 1.30pm, Sunday 26 February[/h] [h=1]Arsène Wenger, like Arsenal wins over Tottenham, cannot go on forever[/h] The Arsenal manager knows there is now more than just pride at stake when the north London rivals meet



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Arsène Wenger knows an Arsenal victory over Tottenham will go some way to restoring fans' faith in him. Photograph: Craig Brough/Action Images

Arsène Wenger was at a low ebb on Friday. His heavy cold embodied the subdued mood at a faltering club about to meet Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates. In modern times, the fixture has often been about pride alone, but the days are gone when the visitors sought something so small as a mere, isolated win over Arsenal.
Tottenham, third in the table, will have hopes of maintaining or extending the 10-point lead over them. Whether they achieve that or not, the scrutiny of Wenger and his employers will continue. Supporters understand the value of prudence but also believe that the virtue is being taken too far.
The "Arsène Knows" sign could have been decommissioned a long time ago. While fans may resist vilifying him in the near future, he is the cause of as much frustration as Stan Kroenke, the American who holds the majority stake in the club. The latter may attend the encounter with Tottenham, even if the mood in the Emirates has an undertow of animosity towards the owners as well as the visitors.
Followers of Arsenal have, all the same, just begun to express dissent. They may still be glad of possessing costly season tickets that start at almost £1,000 considering that there is a waiting list of 40,000. Nonetheless, those who can attend the games do not feel so very privileged any more.
Their tone still tends to be quizzical rather than mutinous towards Wenger but that could be changing. "Everyone will mention him and Sir Alex Ferguson," said Andrew Mangan, editor of arseblog.com, "but Ferguson is there because he has kept on winning things." It seems that a knack for disappointment has been honed at Arsenal.
Defeat in last season's League Cup final did not seem so very astonishing despite the fact that opponents Birmingham City had taken the silverware on the way to relegation. It sometimes feels that Arsenal are dogged in their capacity to fall short. Whatever is said of the League Cup, it could have stopped the constant references to Arsenal lacking a trophy since the 2005 FA Cup.
On that occasion the side first survived the final against a dominant Manchester United before prevailing in a shoot-out. The sense that this is now a distant event is underpinned by the realisation that the match was staged at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
There is no seething mob confronting Wenger even now and while he should be spared that after all the wonders once accomplished, a scepticism is on the rise that can undermine a manager in its own fashion.
"The idea of him staying forever isn't as obvious as it was," says Mangan, before attempting to understand Wenger's circumstances and intentions. "Is it wilfulness or stubbornness or is there something going on in the background that he is covering up? It would be sad if it ended in acrimony."
Wenger could regard himself as unlucky when, for instance, his side reached the final of the Champions League, only to appreciate that the game was a lost cause because the opponents were a Barcelona lineup hailed as among the greatest teams in history.
That was a day when Arsenal were hopelessly disadvantaged, but there are accusations that the club also confounds itself. Wenger is poised when justifying his situation. Only Blackburn and Wigan have a worse defensive record in away games in the Premier League. The Arsenal manager's response is not so very comforting for fans.
"We conceded eight at Man United and four at the beginning of the season at Blackburn," he said. "So overall I feel since then we have stabilised our defence." Followers of the club would wonder why such debacles had even been feasible. The loss of four goals without reply to Milan in the first leg of the last 16 tie in Champions League did not suggest that all ills have been cured.
The quick-witted Wenger also referred to the fact that his club had at least got to the knockout phase, leaving everyone to ponder the Manchester clubs who are out of the competition and busy instead in the Europa League. Who can blame him? Opportunities for oneupmanship do not come often enough for Arsenal.
He has been criticised by people such as the former Arsenal manager George Graham. Wenger can cite ill-fortune as in the serious injury to the centre-half Per Mertesacker, who was bought in the summer. Then again, he is probably not as great a loss as that suffered by United when Nemanja Vidic's season was ended by cruciate damage.
The Frenchman tries to ignore the remarks of Graham and others. "I fight for what I can master," Wenger said. "It's a waste of energy and of time to speak about people who have opinions. They are entitled to have an opinion, that I respect. It does not mean this person is necessarily right. We live in a world where you have to accept that. I can completely live with that. That is not the most important for me. The most important for me is that we turn up with a good performance on Sunday."
It is part of the punishment of a manager in difficulties that everything he has ever done becomes open to re-examination. Wenger was asked, for example, if he might not have signed the excellent Gareth Bale who went to Tottenham instead. "We had full-backs at the time. We had Clichy, we had Cole. After we were more keen on [Theo] Walcott, Walcott was a lot of money."
Arsenal did pay Southampton £5m for him in 2006, with Tottenham stumping up the same amount for Bale when too he arrived, also from Southampton, a year later. Wenger also praised the fact that Redknapp has taken the former Arsenal forward Emmanuel Adebayor on loan from Manchester City.
"He's done well," Wenger remarked of Redknapp. "Having said that, if the player was allowed to play as well against Man City, maybe they would have a more realistic approach. I was always against the case that you can loan the player and he cannot play against you. He should be allowed to play against you as well."
It was an odd argument since Arsenal have no contractual connection at all to Adebayor and perhaps it reflected unease in Wenger over his general situation on the approach to the north London derby. The often ironic Wenger was almost emotional about the test to come this weekend.
"It's vital for us," he said of the scene anticipated at the Emirates. "Arsenal v Tottenham is a passionate game," he said, "you expect that. It's only a passionate game if your fans stand behind you and give absolutely everything like the players will do."
He will prize the devotion of those onlookers as well as the sacrifices made to afford the season tickets, but it was notable to hear Wenger take such a populist stance. He often seems above the fray. On this occasion, the emotion that simmers within Wenger will almost certainly surge to the surface in a game that will go some way to determining Arsenal's season.
 
[h=2]Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur, Premier League, 1.30pm, Sunday 26 February[/h] [h=1]Arsène Wenger, like Arsenal wins over Tottenham, cannot go on forever[/h] The Arsenal manager knows there is now more than just pride at stake when the north London rivals meet



Ars-ne-Wenger--007.jpg
Arsène Wenger knows an Arsenal victory over Tottenham will go some way to restoring fans' faith in him. Photograph: Craig Brough/Action Images

Arsène Wenger was at a low ebb on Friday. His heavy cold embodied the subdued mood at a faltering club about to meet Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates. In modern times, the fixture has often been about pride alone, but the days are gone when the visitors sought something so small as a mere, isolated win over Arsenal.
Tottenham, third in the table, will have hopes of maintaining or extending the 10-point lead over them. Whether they achieve that or not, the scrutiny of Wenger and his employers will continue. Supporters understand the value of prudence but also believe that the virtue is being taken too far.
The "Arsène Knows" sign could have been decommissioned a long time ago. While fans may resist vilifying him in the near future, he is the cause of as much frustration as Stan Kroenke, the American who holds the majority stake in the club. The latter may attend the encounter with Tottenham, even if the mood in the Emirates has an undertow of animosity towards the owners as well as the visitors.
Followers of Arsenal have, all the same, just begun to express dissent. They may still be glad of possessing costly season tickets that start at almost £1,000 considering that there is a waiting list of 40,000. Nonetheless, those who can attend the games do not feel so very privileged any more.
Their tone still tends to be quizzical rather than mutinous towards Wenger but that could be changing. "Everyone will mention him and Sir Alex Ferguson," said Andrew Mangan, editor of arseblog.com, "but Ferguson is there because he has kept on winning things." It seems that a knack for disappointment has been honed at Arsenal.
Defeat in last season's League Cup final did not seem so very astonishing despite the fact that opponents Birmingham City had taken the silverware on the way to relegation. It sometimes feels that Arsenal are dogged in their capacity to fall short. Whatever is said of the League Cup, it could have stopped the constant references to Arsenal lacking a trophy since the 2005 FA Cup.
On that occasion the side first survived the final against a dominant Manchester United before prevailing in a shoot-out. The sense that this is now a distant event is underpinned by the realisation that the match was staged at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
There is no seething mob confronting Wenger even now and while he should be spared that after all the wonders once accomplished, a scepticism is on the rise that can undermine a manager in its own fashion.
"The idea of him staying forever isn't as obvious as it was," says Mangan, before attempting to understand Wenger's circumstances and intentions. "Is it wilfulness or stubbornness or is there something going on in the background that he is covering up? It would be sad if it ended in acrimony."
Wenger could regard himself as unlucky when, for instance, his side reached the final of the Champions League, only to appreciate that the game was a lost cause because the opponents were a Barcelona lineup hailed as among the greatest teams in history.
That was a day when Arsenal were hopelessly disadvantaged, but there are accusations that the club also confounds itself. Wenger is poised when justifying his situation. Only Blackburn and Wigan have a worse defensive record in away games in the Premier League. The Arsenal manager's response is not so very comforting for fans.
"We conceded eight at Man United and four at the beginning of the season at Blackburn," he said. "So overall I feel since then we have stabilised our defence." Followers of the club would wonder why such debacles had even been feasible. The loss of four goals without reply to Milan in the first leg of the last 16 tie in Champions League did not suggest that all ills have been cured.
The quick-witted Wenger also referred to the fact that his club had at least got to the knockout phase, leaving everyone to ponder the Manchester clubs who are out of the competition and busy instead in the Europa League. Who can blame him? Opportunities for oneupmanship do not come often enough for Arsenal.
He has been criticised by people such as the former Arsenal manager George Graham. Wenger can cite ill-fortune as in the serious injury to the centre-half Per Mertesacker, who was bought in the summer. Then again, he is probably not as great a loss as that suffered by United when Nemanja Vidic's season was ended by cruciate damage.
The Frenchman tries to ignore the remarks of Graham and others. "I fight for what I can master," Wenger said. "It's a waste of energy and of time to speak about people who have opinions. They are entitled to have an opinion, that I respect. It does not mean this person is necessarily right. We live in a world where you have to accept that. I can completely live with that. That is not the most important for me. The most important for me is that we turn up with a good performance on Sunday."
It is part of the punishment of a manager in difficulties that everything he has ever done becomes open to re-examination. Wenger was asked, for example, if he might not have signed the excellent Gareth Bale who went to Tottenham instead. "We had full-backs at the time. We had Clichy, we had Cole. After we were more keen on [Theo] Walcott, Walcott was a lot of money."
Arsenal did pay Southampton £5m for him in 2006, with Tottenham stumping up the same amount for Bale when too he arrived, also from Southampton, a year later. Wenger also praised the fact that Redknapp has taken the former Arsenal forward Emmanuel Adebayor on loan from Manchester City.
"He's done well," Wenger remarked of Redknapp. "Having said that, if the player was allowed to play as well against Man City, maybe they would have a more realistic approach. I was always against the case that you can loan the player and he cannot play against you. He should be allowed to play against you as well."
It was an odd argument since Arsenal have no contractual connection at all to Adebayor and perhaps it reflected unease in Wenger over his general situation on the approach to the north London derby. The often ironic Wenger was almost emotional about the test to come this weekend.
"It's vital for us," he said of the scene anticipated at the Emirates. "Arsenal v Tottenham is a passionate game," he said, "you expect that. It's only a passionate game if your fans stand behind you and give absolutely everything like the players will do."
He will prize the devotion of those onlookers as well as the sacrifices made to afford the season tickets, but it was notable to hear Wenger take such a populist stance. He often seems above the fray. On this occasion, the emotion that simmers within Wenger will almost certainly surge to the surface in a game that will go some way to determining Arsenal's season.
 
[h=1]EXCLUSIVE: Ashley Cole is NOT leaving Chelsea[/h] Published 22:30 25/02/12 By Paul Smith


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Ashley Cole is staying with Chelsea.
After being dropped from the starting line-up for last Tuesday night's Champions League defeat at Napoli, there had been claims that the Blues would sell their *England left-back.
But Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has intervened to make it clear that Cole must stay.
The 31-year-old international was back for yesterday's 3-0 win over Bolton.

Abramovich was at Stamford Bridge to watch the game and saw the recalled Frank *Lampard score in a man of the match performance.
Cole may be approaching the veteran stage of his *career, but remains one of the best left-backs around.
Any suggestion that Cole is for sale would spark interest from around the world when the transfer window opens in the summer.
Chelsea 3-0 Bolton: Daily Mirror match report
 
[h=1]Arteta: Blame the players NOT Wenger for our problems[/h] Published 22:28 25/02/12 By Steve Stammers


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Mikel Arteta has absolved Arsene Wenger of any blame for the inconsistency that has plagued Arsenal's season.
Manager Wenger has been under fire from certain sections of the fans who have questioned his selection policy and also his signings in the two transfer windows.
But Spanish midfield player Arteta – a 10 million capture from Everton in August – insisted:"It is us who are to blame, not the manager."
Arteta revealed that the players had conducted more than one inquest into the last two results – especially the 4-0 Champions League hammering they took in the San Siro against AC Milan ten days ago.

"That was a disaster," said Arteta who knows there is now added pressure to secure a morale-boosting win against bitter rivals Tottenham in this afternoon's Premier League clash at The Emirates. A game he described as "massive."
"In Milan we collapsed," he admitted. "It was very frustrating. We talked after the Milan game. We were frustrated and we were gutted. You get upset with yourself after a result like that. We knew we can't keep doing this or that. Mistakes had to stop.
"As for the manager, I owe him a lot. He gave me the chance to join this club. The way he has been talking to the group of players has always been positive. I have no doubts that he loves Arsenal. He tries really, really hard to make us successful. Sometimes it is our fault that we don't win – like we don't out the ball in the net or make a mistake. It is everyone at the club who is involved. Everyone is affected."
Arteta, speaking at an EA Sports FIFA Street event, also pointed to the list of injuries with which Arsenal have had to contend this season. "I just want to see us judged when we have everyone fit and we have the first 17 or eighteen players available. Players have to play out of position on many occasions."
Among the long-term casualties have been Jack Wilshere, Bacary Sagna, Kieran Gibbs, Andre Santos and, more recently, Per Mertersacker.
But he stressed the bond between the players is strong.
"We know that we we have to get our heads up and fight again. The team was really down after we lost in Milan and then went out of the FA Cup. But there is a good spirit in this team. We fight for each other. We have a difficult game against Spurs and we know what that means to the fans. But it is also a good one where we can try to rebuild our confidence. Yes, they have good players like Luka Modric and Scott Parker. But we have good players as well.
" Losing ? We are not even thinking about that. What we want to do now is win all the games that are left and win a place in the top four to play Champions League football next season."
The 10 best North London derbies of the Wenger era (video special)
Dawson pleased to have Adebayor on his side for derby
Ljundberg Exclusive: Arsenal to to attract world class players again
 
[h=1]EXCLUSIVE: Harry wants Spurs staff to join him with England[/h] Published 22:30 25/02/12 By Paul Smith


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Harry Redknapp will raid Tottenham for his backroom staff when England come calling.
The people's choice to be the next *England boss will seek reassurances that he can bring in his own coaching team.
Redknapp, 64, wants to take Kevin Bond and Joe Jordan with him to England and safeguard their immediate futures. The Spurs boss will also move swiftly to ensure that Stuart Pearce, the *current caretaker England coach, will have a pivotal role in the future England set-up.
Redknapp sees Pearce – in charge of England this Wednesday – as a vital *component in his backroom team if the White Hart Lane boss is invited to take charge of England's *European Championship campaign.

Loyalty to his long-term assistants is key to his *appointment as the next England boss.
 
[h=1]Fowler Exclusive: Time for Suarez to start paying Kop back[/h] Published 22:29 25/02/12 By Simon Mullock

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Robbie Fowler has told Luis Suarez that it's pay-back time.
The ex-Liverpool and Cardiff striker will be an interested observer when two of his former clubs clash in the Carling Cup Final at Wembley today.
And he will be paying particular attention to Suarez, given the Uruguayan forward's ugly brush with racism this season.
Fowler, 36, believes that lesser men than Kenny Dalglish would have crumbled under the weight of criticism piled on his shoulders for the unstinting support he gave Suarez in the aftermath of his *race-row with Manchester United's Patrice Evra.

And he now says that the time has come for Suarez to start putting the pride back into the Liverpool No.7 shirt he *inherited from his manager.
"Suarez owes a big, big debt of gratitude to Kenny Dalglish," said Fowler. "No-one knows for sure what actually *happened between *Suarez and Evra apart from the two players themselves, but Kenny really put himself in the firing line by standing up for his player.
"Different people have different opinions on whether he was right to defend Luis the way he did.
"But I can tell you from my own experience that when you feel like the whole world is against you, the man you turn to for support is your manager.
"I am sure that Kenny has left Suarez in no doubt about how he is expected to behave when he's wearing the Liverpool shirt.
"You could tell by the apology made by Kenny when Suarez *refused to shake Evra's hand at Old Trafford a few weeks ago that he felt his player let him down on that occasion.
"But Kenny would have done most of his talking behind closed doors.
"That's the Liverpool way."
Fowler added: "I got myself into a few scrapes when I was a Liverpool player and when I look back now I accept that I should have handled certain situations differently.
"I remember when celebrating scoring a goal against Everton by pretending to snort the lines marking the penalty area.
"It was a spontaneous reaction because the Everton fans had been singing *something about me that I wasn't happy about and being a local lad I let myself get too caught up in the heat of a Mersey derby.
"It was a stupid thing to do, really, and I got fined by the club and banned by the FA for my troubles.
"But our manager Gerard *Houllier was *brilliant. He took me to one side and *reminded me that as a Liverpool player I had certain responsibilities.
"In public, there was no criticism. Only Gerard's total support.
"I'd like to think that I repaid him by doing the business for Liverpool on the pitch – and that's what I'd love to see Luis doing for Kenny."
Fowler produced a man-of-the-match display. He scored a goal and converted in a nerve-shredding penalty shoot-out – before lifting the League Cup as captain in 2001 when Liverpool beat *Birmingham at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
After spells at Leeds and Manchester City, he briefly *returned to Anfield under Rafa Benitez before moving to Cardiff for a season that saw the Championship club reach the FA Cup Final.
Fowler regrets that his stay in the Welsh capital came to an end when Blackburn gave him the opportunity to return to the Premier League and his native north-west.
"I know the Cardiff fans don't remember me with too much fondness because I was injured for most of my time there and then decided to move to Blackburn for family reasons," said Fowler.
"Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but one of the regrets I've got is that I didn't stay at Cardiff for *another season.
"They were *already a club geared towards playing in the Premier League and since then they have moved to a magnificent new stadium.
"It says everything about how far Cardiff have progressed that they could end up playing much more important games than the Carling Cup Final this season because they are well placed to reach the play-offs again.
"In fact, this is probably a bigger game for Kenny Dalglish than it is for Malky Mackay."
Fowler added: "Liverpool will be massive favourites at Wembley and the game could shape the rest of their season.
"The two Manchester clubs and *Tottenham are out of sight at the top of the Premier League, but if *Liverpool win the Carling Cup then the momentum will be with them for fourth place at a time when both Chelsea and Arsenal look like they are going backwards.
"It isn't just Luis Suarez who must stand up and be counted at Wembley.
"Kenny has spent a lot of money bringing Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson, Stewart *Downing and Charlie Adam to *Anfield and the pressure will be on them as well.
"It can be a culture shock when you move to a club like Liverpool *because suddenly the pressure is on you to win every single game.
"There's no hiding place.
"It can take some *players time to settle, while others never get used to it."
The Best XI League Cup finals
Dalglish warns Liverpool to show Cardiff respect
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View from Anfield: Why history is the key factor for King Kenny View from Cardiff: Miracles can happen, so dream on
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[h=1]Fergie: Giggs and Scholes are United's 'greatest ever'[/h] Published 22:30 26/02/12 By Neil McLeman


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Sir Alex Ferguson hailed Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes as Manchester United's greatest-ever players after the ageing pair scored in the win at Norwich. Fergie said: "Given the career Ryan has had, to score the winning goal with the last kick of the game, he deserved that.
"Scholes and Giggs are the best players this club has ever had.
"We knew it was an important game and it's not easy coming here. Every time we've come down we've had to battle.
"That was the case again. We needed all our experienced players and Scholesy and Ryan in particular.

"I have to say we were lucky today. I thought we were lethargic, too casual on the ball.
"Without Ferdinand, Evans and De Gea, we would have been down.
"They were brilliant the three of them."
Norwich boss Paul Lambert said: "That was a huge performance by us."
Norwich 1-2 Man United: Daily Mirror match report
Giggs: Scoring goals just keeps getting better with age
Rooney and Cleverley ruled out of Holland friendly

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[h=1]Wayne Rooney and Tom Cleverley ruled out of England squad[/h] • Rooney missed victory at Norwich with throat infection
• Darren Bent also ruled out of friendly with Holland




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Wayne Rooney missed Manchester United's victory at Norwich with a throat infection. Photograph: Ian Kington/AFP/Getty Images

Wayne Rooney and Tom Cleverley have joined Darren Bent in pulling out of Stuart Pearce's England squad for the friendly against Holland on Wednesday.
Gareth Barry is also a major doubt after a hamstring injury and a back spasm kept him out of Manchester City's 3-0 win over Blackburn.
Rooney has been suffering a throat infection that forced him out of Manchester United's 2-1 win over Norwich City as well as last Thursday's Europa League tie against Ajax. Cleverley has sustained an ankle injury and could be out for up to three weeks. "Very disappointed not to be joining up with the England squad tonight," said Cleverley on Twitter. "And again, it isn't a recurrence of the injury, it's the other leg."
Pearce must now re-evaluate his plans as he tries to balance playing an experimental side with making sure England are in a strong position to tackle the World Cup finalists. The caretaker manager would almost certainly have started with Rooney in attack but his illness, combined with Darren Bent's ankle injury sustained in Aston Villa's game at Wigan Athletic on Saturday, means a possible new-look strike partnership of the 22-year-old Daniel Sturridge and the 21-year-old Daniel Welbeck, with Fraizer Campbell in reserve.
Cleverley, earmarked by Pearce to win his first cap, now has only two international games at the end of the season, against Norway and Belgium, to gain some experience before the start of Euro 2012.
"They'll be out," Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, said of the two players. "Wayne has still not recovered from his throat infection, so hopefully we'll get him ready for next Sunday, when we have a big game [against Tottenham Hotspur]."
Rooney, who is banned for the first two games of Euro 2012, missed the friendlies against Spain and Sweden and Pearce was concerned about the striker not playing an international for the best part of a year.
Pearce was planning to name his replacements last night.
 

[h=2]Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham Hotspur[/h] [h=1]Arsène Wenger confident 'perfect' Arsenal can still catch Tottenham[/h] • 'Arsenal are alive more than anyone thought'
• Victory puts Gunners within seven points of Spurs




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The jubilant Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, believes his squad can still secure automatic qualification for the *Champions League after thrashing rivals Tottenham 5-2 on Sunday. Photograph: Robin Jones/Digital South

Arsène Wenger believes Arsenal can still overhaul Tottenham Hotspur and secure automatic qualification for the Champions League after describing his side's comeback to thrash their north London rivals as "perfect".
Arsenal trailed by two goals as half‑time approached, with frustration welling up among the home support, only to rally and run riot after the interval. The 5-2 victory allowed them to leapfrog Chelsea back into fourth place on goals scored and move to within seven points of third-placed Spurs, whose miserable afternoon was completed by the late dismissal of Scott Parker. The England midfielder will now miss the visit of Manchester United on Sunday.
Asked if his team can still catch Spurs, Wenger said: "It is still possible, if we keep our run going. Why not? Before the game people were saying it was 'impossible' but I always thought it was possible and it would be down to consistency. Everybody in the Premier League can lose points. They have a different schedule to us but, if we continue to play like that, then why not?
"People will see now that Arsenal are alive more than anyone thought before the game. The performance today showed spirit. From the technical side, and with the drive of the whole team and style that we want to play, everything was perfect despite a very bad start. Spurs started well in the first five minutes, but it was all us for the next 85 minutes. We were 2-0 down but refused to lose the game and kept going."
Arsenal registered five goals in 28 minutes here and must conjure a recovery that spectacular – and improbable – against Milan next week if they are to retrieve their 4-0 deficit from the first leg of their Champions League knockout tie at San Siro. Wenger allowed himself a chuckle at that prospect. "We will try.
Unfortunately it's now an international week and some of our players will play on Wednesday, Saturday we're at Liverpool, then Tuesday against Milan. The Africa Cup of Nations just finished and I couldn't start with Gervinho today because he's tired, and yet he must go away now for an Ivory Coast game. It is an impossible schedule."
Harry Redknapp, a prospective future England manager, shared those frustrations which, he fears, could thwart his attempts to inspire an immediate recovery from his side. "People are disappearing off all around the world to play internationals," he said. "We've got people going to Mexico, and one to New Zealand, with Manchester United next weekend. It's a crazy build-up to a massive game.
"But we've got to come back, like we did earlier in the season [following losses to both Manchester clubs]. We need to bounce back and recover. We seemed to buckle after they scored their first, which isn't like us. We don't do that often. It's going to be tight, but we're in a great position. We're still seven points clear of Arsenal and Chelsea and, if we can finish third, that's a great season for us."
 
[h=1]Transfer news, rumours and gossip from Saturday's papers[/h] Published 10:54 25/02/12 By Football Spy


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The transfer window may be shut, but managers up and down the country are already plotting for when the next one opens, and we've got all the gossip from all the papers right here.
Transfer stories from today's Daily Mirror
Milan and Juventus make RVP top summer target
Arsenal star tells Hazard: Snub Spurs and join us instead

Spurs winger joins Brimingham on loan
Watford scoop Liverpool's Ecco
West Brom boss: We still dig Gardner
Busy Warnock plots double swoop
Stories from other papers and websites
Ashley Cole wants a summer move to Barcelona after falling out with Andre Villas-Boas (Star)
Liverpool are battling Newcastle for Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita (Metro)
Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey will join Middlesbrough on loan after tomorrow's Carling Cup final (Mail)
Arsenal missed out on signing Gareth Bale, going for his then-Southampton team-mate Theo Walcott instead (Mail)
Newcastle want Norwich duo Andrew Surman and Russell Marti (Shields Gazette)
Fulham could lose long-term target Dieumerci Mbokani, the Anderlecht striker, to Genoa (Talksport)
QPR are planning a huge summer clear-out (Mail)
Liam Ridgewell is urging West Brom to make Ben Foster's loan from Birmingham permanent (Birmingham Mail)

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[h=1]Blackburn tell Samba: Don't let the door hit you in the bum[/h] Published 22:00 24/02/12 By Alan Nixon


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Blackburn sold *unsettled skipper Chris Samba to *super-rich Russians Anzhi Makhachkala – and claimed he will not be missed.
Samba was cleared to leave before Russia's transfer deadline closed last night, with Rovers agreeing a fee of £9million that could rise to £12m.
The big centre-half has been either ‘injured' or unavailable for over a month after Blackburn refused to sell him in January.
And as manager Steve Kean prepared for life without Samba, his new No.2 Eric Black claimed the club could do without their strong man.

Black said: "I have not been able to consider Chris Samba as a player in my time here, it doesn't alter my thinking. The only players you are worried about are the ones who can affect things on a Saturday.
"These guys have done exceptionally well for the club and deserve their places. And they will retain them for a long time if they continue."
Samba's exit will help Rovers financially as the club battles to reduce its debts.
Samba told Sky Sports News: "They have brought in Eto'o and Hiddink to transform the club.
"I know Anzhi is a little club that wants to become a very big one."

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[h=1]West Brom boss: We still dig Gardner[/h] Published 21:30 24/02/12 By James Nursey


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West Brom may return for Sunderland midfielder Craig Gardner in the summer.
The Baggies failed last month with a bid to take the unsettled ex-Birmingham ace back to the Midlands on loan.
Gardner, 25, is now finally established in the Sunderland side, and has scored three goals since joining for £4.7million in June.
But Baggies boss Roy Hodgson, whose side host Gardner and Sunderland this weekend, said: "The idea was first mooted because he was homesick.

"I don't know whether he still wants to come back to the Midlands.
"If he does, I'm sure we'll be interested in him."

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[h=1]André Villas-Boas admits to fears that Chelsea will sack him[/h] • 'Let's see if Roman Abramovich wants a change at the club'
• Manager concedes he has failed to revive Torres's career




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André Villas-Boas has said he would have time to complete his Chelsea 'project' but now the manager is not so sure. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

André Villas-Boas has publicly expressed fears for the first time that he could endure the same fate as his predecessors and be dismissed by the Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, before he is given the chance to implement his long-term plans.
Villas-Boas was prised from Porto last summer, at a cost of £13.5m in compensation, and charged with initiating a radical overhaul of an ageing squad which had been overseen by four permanent managers in as many years. That process appeared to require time with Villas-Boas confident, until recently, that the club's hierarchy appreciated the scale of the task in hand, only for a slump that saw four wins in 14 matches prior to Saturday's victory over Bolton Wanderers eroding the owner's faith.
The 34-year-old has previously stressed a belief that he would be granted the time – denied the likes of Carlo Ancelotti and Luiz Felipe Scolari, whose tenures were ruthlessly cut short by Abramovich – to implement his three-year "project". Yet, in an interview conducted by the Lisbon-based radio station TSF last Thursday but broadcast on Monday night, that stance appeared to shift. "We are now in the exact same moment as last year," said Villas-Boas, referring back to the last few months of Ancelotti's spell which were played out with the manager effectively reduced to the role of dead man walking. "It is an exact copy but with a less experienced coach [in charge].
"I know that, in the Abramovich era, we have the worst results but I think I have felt the confidence from the owner. Let's see if he wants a change in the club or not. The pattern of behaviour of the owner has led to a downfall [of managers] in similar situations, or even 'better' situations. What will be his reaction? It will be one of two: either a continuation of the project and full support from above; or a continuation of the cultural pattern that has happened before. We don't know. We don't know if it'll be tomorrow or in two years from now. It'll depend on what is the understanding of what is happening at the moment."
There has been interest on some level in the short-term appointment of either Rafael Benítez or Fabio Capello, experienced managers who are readily available, as a replacement for Villas-Boas should he be sacked with Chelsea's season threatening to unravel. The club are out of the Premier League's top four on goals scored and the threat of failing to make the Champions League for the first time in the Abramovich era is very real – they are 3-1 down from the first leg against Napoli.
There has been grumbling discontent, too, among senior members who have spent time out of the team amid fears they are being steadily phased out of the club. Frank Lampard admitted at the weekend that his own relationship with Villas-Boas had "not been ideal" and the England midfielder joined Michael Essien and Ashley Cole in being omitted from the starting lineup for the Champions League defeat in Naples last week.
Villas-Boas, who praised the achievements of Abramovich's ownership as "unbelievable" and suggested there is an interest in Porto's Brazil forward Hulk as he considered the team's further development, has conceded his approach has not gained universal approval within the dressing room, but claimed in the interview that "there is no lack of support from the players here".
Villas-Boas, who stressed he remained committed to Chelsea and would not be seeking a summer return to Porto, pointed to his plans to reshape his squad by hinting at summer departures for Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou, who have been fringe players this term, and admitted he had failed in his attempts to revive Fernando Torres' career. The £50m striker has not scored in the Premier League since the visit of Swansea in September and the manager concedes he had been "lost" in the months since.
"We have been through the Torres situation before with [Andriy] Shevchenko and [Mateja] Kezman," he said, referring to other expensive forwards who have failed to flourish at Stamford Bridge. "But Torres's problems may have also come from a change of philosophy at the club."
 
[h=1]Five things we learned from the Premier League this weekend[/h] Gareth Bale is more dangerous playing wide and Frank Lampard should follow Ryan Giggs's example and accept a lesser role



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Gareth Bale has drifted infield in Tottenham's last four away games – they have not won away since December. Photograph: Chris Radburn/PA

[h=2]Tottenham need their width back[/h]No one likes a success story. They just build you up so they can shoot you back down again. Gareth Bale found that out the hard way last season when, like most young players, his level dipped after his wonderful performances on the left wing for Tottenham Hotspur. The player who scored a hat-trick against Internazionale at San Siro, destroyed Chelsea in April 2010 and was constantly linked with mega-money moves to Italy and Spain was suddenly on the end of various unkind comments when he was marked out of matches by Everton's Phil Neville and Manchester United's Rafael da Silva. It was a natural reaction to the hype machine, with people so frustrated by the excitement around Bale that it eventually became fashionable not to like him, meaning he ended up in a black hole of being both over- and under-rated at the same time.
It's happened to Wayne Rooney, it's happened to Cristiano Ronaldo, it will happen again and, of course, the truth always lies somewhere in between. Bale's detractors last season had the makings of a point, though, because most of his best matches were in the Champions League, against sides who were unsure about how to handle him. Although Bale won the PFA Player of the Year award, it was not unreasonable to point out that his form tailed off as the season progressed and that several journeymen defenders were comfortable against him. But that is just part of growing up: learning that it cannot go your way all the time.
Bale is unlikely to beat David Silva to the award again this year, even though his brilliance has been more sustained than last year, the winger helping himself to 13 goals in all competitions and providing seven assists in the league. However, he is increasingly in danger of losing sight of what makes him such a special talent. Bale – and, by extension, Tottenham – is surely at his best when taking on terrified right-backs, using his pace and power to beat them, before either shooting or crossing with his brilliant left foot. After all, this is a player who single-handedly destroyed the reputation of the world's best right-back, Maicon, over the course of the two matches against Internazionale. Yet against Arsenal on Sunday Bale was rarely to be found up against Bacary Sagna, instead drifting inside and to the right in a bid to see more of the ball.
Clearly this is a conscious decision by Harry Redknapp, who must feel Bale could hurt teams even more in the middle. That may not turn out to be true. In each of Tottenham's last four away games, Bale has constantly drifted infield; they have not won away from home since Bale scored twice at Norwich City on 28 December. At Manchester City and Liverpool he constantly picked up the ball in the middle, only to find himself crowded out; it is questionable whether he has the quick feet, movement and vision of, say, Silva to excel in this role and the upshot of Redknapp's tweaks is that Spurs have lost the shape that makes them so devastating. Even League One Stevenage were able to handle Bale the playmaker in the FA Cup. It becomes even more of a problem for Tottenham when Aaron Lennon is not in the side, because Niko Kranjcar, never the quickest, also comes inside; they have badly missed Lennon's searing speed on the right and against Arsenal, they were a confused mish-mash.
Redknapp's detractors often claim he is too tactically naive to manage England. His response is that good players, not tactics, make a team. But only in their best positions. JS
[h=2]Lampard should follow Giggs's example[/h]A goal and a fine display against Bolton Wanderers? Well then, England's Frank Lampard is back and nasty foreign man André Villas-Boas was a fool for leaving him out of the Chelsea side against Napoli. Maybe not. A top English player is always going to have his media cheerleaders who will root for him when he's taken on by a foreign manager, especially one who's in his first season in England. Scoring against Bolton does not necessarily mean Villas-Boas is wrong to think that Lampard's best days are behind him and the Portuguese could point to a string of irrelevant displays from the midfielder before Saturday to illustrate his point.
Yet there is an inherent stupidity to the battle between Villas-Boas and his senior players – if only they would realise, they are essentially all striving for the same goal: Chelsea winning. Clearly Chelsea must freshen their squad and it is part of Villas-Boas's mandate to bring in fresh blood, yet the natural consequence of that is not necessarily freezing out the older players. As they proved against Bolton – Didier Drogba got the second goal – they can still be useful, just not every week. Getting older means you can play less, you get injured more and you recover more slowly, but it does not have to herald the end, as Ryan Giggs demonstrated by scoring a last-minute winner for Manchester United at Norwich City on his 900th appearance for the club.
Lampard has been at Chelsea for more than 10 years and should be looking to see out his career at Stamford Bridge, instead of leaving under a cloud. Perhaps it is down to Villas-Boas, whose man-management is also in question, to convince the players to accept a lesser role, while still retaining their seniority in the dressing room. If it's good enough for Giggs and Paul Scholes, it's good enough for Lampard. JS
[h=2]Premier League chairmen could be worse[/h]As rumours swirled on Saturday evening that the wife of Bournemouth's co-owner Maxim Demin had given the Cherries' half-time team-talk during their 1-0 defeat by Milton Keynes Dons, the BBC Radio 5 606 phone-in managed to get hold of the Bournemouth chairman Eddie Mitchell. "His wife came to the ground today, she's not very football intelligent," he began, "but she asked me if she could come and watch the players come into the tunnel and wish the players all the best. They came into the tunnel but obviously we were 1-0 down, they were a bit pissed off." She was then permitted to pop into the dressing room instead. "She wished the boys the best in the world," said Mitchell. "However anyone else has interpretated [sic] that is up to them."
So would you let a season ticket holder, who travels the country supporting the team, into the dressing room to wish the players luck, wondered host Mark Chapman? "That's a load of bollocks," came the reply. After a stern telling off, Mitchell rambled barely coherently on, finishing with: "We're a family club, we believe in expressing our gratitude to anybody who's got a penny or a pound to spend on this club, and because we've been, well I won't say, but ****ed in the past …" Three strikes and out. As Chapman intervened to cut him off, a plaintive "We ain't gonna be any more, mate" was all that could be heard from the venerable Cherries chairman. JA
[h=2]Diakité follows orders[/h]Samba Diakité's astonishing debut for Queens Park Rangers in the west London derby with Fulham ended after only 33 minutes when the Mali international was given his second booking for his second foul on Bryan Ruiz. In his time on the pitch Diakité gave away six free-kicks, for a brace of fouls on Andrew Johnson and Clint Dempsey and the two on Ruiz which led to his dismissal. Each one was greeted by the player's animated incredulity that he had been penalised.
After the game Mark Hughes defended his player. "In fairness to Samba he was doing exactly what I asked him to do," Hughes said. "He was asked to be aggressive. Obviously he's new to the Premier League and he doesn't understand how it's refereed." It was a bold line for Hughes to take but surely he does not expect anyone to believe that the French league, where Diakité made 41 league appearances for Nancy, is more lax than the Premier League? In 20 games this season before Saturday he had already been booked eight times.
Understandably, given the damage an early substitution on debut would have on a player's confidence, Hughes did not replace his No2 after his spate of rash challenges but he might have changed the instructions given how close to the wind they made the midfielder sail in his 33 minutes of action.
"I don't think there was a reckless challenge made in the whole game," said Hughes. "There were mistimed challenges, which is why Diakité was sent off." That can only be right if "mistimed" is a managerial euphemism for "late". The challenges that got him sent off were late and irresponsible. If Hughes felt he could not get out the big curly finger to take Diakité off he could at least have used it to summon him over and tell him to stop being so impetuous. RB
[h=2]Blackburn roll over in front of the fire[/h]The only thing as predictable in the Premier League these days as a Manchester City home win is the 'Steve Kean Out' protests that accompany each and every Blackburn game. On Saturday at the Etihad we got both. Unfortunately for Rovers' beleaguered manager the performance against City was one that did nothing but give ammunition to his detractors.
In their yellow and black kit, which made them look like a walking, talking, (sometimes) running version of the Sky Sports News breaking news ticker, Blackburn showed about as much enthusiasm as a dog who has found a nice spot in front of the fire after a long walk.
Kean may argue that, if Blackburn were to try and take on City, they would get beaten by four or five so their best option was to sit deep and somehow hope to emerge with a 0-0, but their display was so abject that there must be another way. After all they didn't do too badly at Old Trafford in December .
Sir Alex Ferguson has defended Kean from the aggressive element of criticism that has led the Blackburn manager to believe he needs a personal bodyguard, but even he must have looked at Saturday's performance and wondered why they could not roll over so easily against United.
That is not to take anything away from City, who could beat only what was in front of them, but even they looked bored by the final 20 minutes. Once again David Silva, Sergio Agüero and Mario Balotelli excelled while the cross (courtesy of Aleksander Kolarov) and header for Edin Dzeko's third was a thing of beauty.
Even the Blackburn fans might have appreciated that, provided they were not too distracted by the subject of their ire standing helpless on the touchline. EF
 
[h=1]Ryan Giggs, Stanley Matthews and the art of growing old gracefully[/h] If Matthews 'conjured a universal affection and admiration', the Manchester United veteran is his natural heir



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Manchester United's Ryan Giggs celebrates scoring the winning goal against Norwich on his 900th appearance. Photograph: Chris Radburn/PA

Geoffrey Green died in the spring of 1990, at the age of 78, just a few months before Ryan Giggs celebrated his 17th birthday by signing professional forms with Manchester United. So the great football correspondent of the Times never saw a Welsh prodigy whose gifts he would certainly have adored and celebrated in rich prose that vibrated with enthusiasm. But he did have a Ryan Giggs of his own.
"Stanley Matthews in his day conjured a universal affection and admiration," Green wrote in his autobiography. "If a full-back treated him brutally – or tried to – even a home crowd would turn against their own man. Everyone wanted to protect Matthews – not that he needed it. He knew full well how to look after himself. Yet to the man on the terrace he remained one of the nation's crown jewels and had to be preserved."
Who has not felt, to some degree or other, a similar protective feeling about Giggs? In his teenage years, when his curly hair was still as black as Welsh coal, he played with a zest and an innocence that could cut across club loyalties. And even now the spark refuses to die. The injury-time winner with which the 38-year-old marked his 900th match for United on Sunday, a stealthy run followed by a deftly angled touch of the left boot, carried the hallmark of his very best work.
Twenty years after his youthful exuberance and Eric Cantona's sheer foreignness defined the burgeoning box-office appeal of the new Premier League, Giggs is still going strong. He is unlikely to match the achievement of Matthews, who was 50 years and five days old when he made his 758th and last club appearance in February 1965, but he will be on duty again next season, ready to answer the call whenever his manager needs the influence of his accumulated wisdom on team-mates who were not yet born when he first put on a United shirt.
Perhaps, in football terms, 40 is the new 50. Matthews was famous for looking after his fitness but he played the game at "a walk or a slow shuffle", in Green's words, relying on an ability to mesmerise defenders, and was able to trade on his original tricks until the end. In a very different age, one that prioritises speed and strength, Giggs has learnt to adapt his game to the changes in his body, modifying his function within the team and compensating for slowing limbs by putting a premium on intelligent anticipation.
United's other goal against Norwich was scored by Paul Scholes, who is a year younger than Giggs and returned to the side this year after a failed attempt at retirement. On Sunday night Sir Alex Ferguson called them "the two greatest players in the history of the club", which is some statement when the history in question includes such figures as Duncan Edwards, Bobby Charlton and George Best.
Their goals came on the day their contemporary and former colleague Gary Neville wrote a thoughtful column in the Mail on Sunday about the influence on United's players five years ago of a presentation of the techniques used by the MilanLab, the operation at Milan's training centre where the work of chiropractors, kinesiologists and dietitians prolonged the careers of Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta, Pippo Inzaghi, Clarence Seedorf, Cafu and others – including, for a couple of winters, David Beckham.
The best player in Italy at the moment is Andrea Pirlo, currently 32 and inspiring Juventus's challenge for the championship. Pirlo joined the Turin club after 10 seasons with Milan, and he is making his former employers look silly for their refusal last summer to offer him anything more than a one-season contract. His 2,251 touches in 23 Serie A matches this season put him ahead of every other player in Europe's top five leagues, a remarkable 147 of them coming during the 3-1 win over Catania a couple of weeks ago.
He began his career playing in the hole behind the strikers, as a classic No10. It was while on loan at Brescia that he first dropped deeper, into what is now known as the quarterback role, and when Carlo Ancelotti arrived at Milan, Pirlo offered to do the same thing in order to solve the problem of the club's superfluity of No10s.
"I had my doubts," Ancelotti wrote in his very entertaining memoir. "I was afraid that Pirlo might create problems in terms of timing, because he likes to take the ball and keep it. A safe with a slow combination. I wasn't overly confident in this new approach, but I listened to him and gave it a try. I was astonished. He started playing with beautiful simplicity, and he became an unrivalled player." A few years and two European Cups later Ancelotti wanted to take Pirlo with him to Chelsea, and you have to wonder what might have happened had the coach got his way.
The right kinds of physiology, metabolism and dedication are what it takes to make a player as valuable at 32 as he was at 22. In the case of late-period Giggs and Pirlo, perhaps even more precious: not just to their managers and coaches but to spectators who are being presented with memories that, like those of Matthews cherished by Geoffrey Green, are slow to fade.
 
[h=1]Lessons to be learned: What England hope to find out against Holland[/h] Stuart Pearce sets out his case for the full-time manager's job while inexperienced players see a chance to impress



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Micah Richards hopes for a successful return for England after being overlooked by Fabio Capello. Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty Images

[h=2]1 Can Stuart Pearce cut it as an international manager?[/h]The four-man Club England board are yet to contact individuals, or clubs, over the vacant England manager's position though to some extent Stuart Pearce will enjoy a high-profile audition of his own here. The interim coach has already been given the green light to tweak aspects of the team's preparations for Euro 2012, even pinpointing a potential training base for the squad in Spain ahead of the pre-tournament friendlies against Norway and Belgium. He would hope to travel with the senior setup to Poland even if he is overlooked for the top position. Regardless, this is his moment, the chance to send out his own England team. It is one he will relish and, should his team flourish, his reputation can only be enhanced.
[h=2]2 Can Micah Richards re-establish himself at this level?[/h]The Manchester City player was marginalised under the previous regime, with Fabio Capello clearly unconvinced by his defensive capabilities. Yet, if Richards would have expected to earn a 13th cap at some stage given he was a favourite of Pearce's at club and Under-21 level, the withdrawal of Glen Johnson on Tuesday night suggests that is now a certainty. Pearce's admiration for the player is clear enough. "His form has been outstanding," the interim coach said. "It is not easy to keep your place in the City team with the money they have spent. He deserves to be here." Richards is, however, a player who needs to restore his reputation at this level after the frustrations under the Italian. Muster a performance of quality tonight and he could yet find reward with a place in the squad for the tournament.
[h=2]3 Can England's revamped back-line can cope when confronted by real quality?[/h]Spain had been denied with Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka excelling at centre-half last November, so England can clearly show solidity without John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, yet this is likely to be a test of the next generation and of the strength in depth. Phil Jones and Chris Smalling have rarely featured for Manchester United at centre-back, but see their futures in the middle. Gary Cahill, hardly a regular at Chelsea yet following his move from Bolton last month, will be tested at this level without Terry at his side. Some combination of those three will presumably start against the Dutch, with Richards another option if required in the centre. This will be an education.
[h=2]4 Is Steven Gerrard still the driving force at international level?[/h]It is 14 months since Steven Gerrard featured on this stage and the Liverpool midfielder, even with energy drained by 120 minutes of football in Sunday's Carling Cup final, is eager to return to the fold. His selection seems intertwined with the fate of the captaincy and it feels vaguely implausible that he might feature for up to an hour here and not wear the armband. Why risk unsettling him when Pearce, or his successor, may end up having to rely upon the 31-year-old in the summer when far more will be at stake? The hope is he will be fit and bursting with his trademark leggy energy, inspiring the youngsters around him in the process, for the time he plays on the pitch. His presence will be reassuring, regardless.
[h=2]5 Are these credible candidates to fill in for Wayne Rooney and Darren Bent at Euro 2012?[/h]The onus will be on Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge, the latter apparently so frustrated on the right of Chelsea's attacking trident, and even possibly Sunderland's Fraizer Campbell to prove they can lead the line for the national team in Poland and Ukraine, with this a high-profile occasion to display their pedigree. That none has a senior international goal to his name is worrying, but Welbeck and Sturridge, in particular, have long been mooted as this team's future. Impress against the Dutch and further opportunities will beckon. If not, then Peter Crouch, Bobby Zamora and Jermain Defoe, waiting in the wings, will feel there is still time to earn recalls. The credentials of Andy Carroll, too, may not be ignored for too much longer.
 
[h=1]André Villas-Boas comments leave Chelsea officials unimpressed[/h] • Chelsea manager admits he is not confident of his position
• Club hierarchy believed to be unhappy about remarks




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André Villas-Boas admitted he is unsure of his position at Chelsea – a revelation that has not gone down well at the club. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

The Chelsea hierarchy have been left unimpressed by comments made by the manager, André Villas-Boas, in an interview with a Portuguese radio station and his position has effectively been rendered even more vulnerable as a result.
Villas-Boas's piece with the Lisbon based TSF, broadcast on Monday night, included the admission that he was unsure whether he would be granted time by the owner, Roman Abramovich, to implement any long-term plans at Stamford Bridge. Just as damaging, apparently, were his observations on Fernando Torres's travails since his move from Liverpool for a British record £50m last January. The comparisons he drew with the lack of impact made by Andriy Shevchenko and Mateja Kesman at the club were deemed unhelpful.
The fall-out from what might otherwise have been perceived as a brutally honest interview was being digested yesterday as reports emerged from Spain, with excruciating timing, that the former Chelsea manager José Mourinho was in London looking at properties. The two-times European Cup winner is expected to depart Real Madrid in the summer and has made it known publicly of his desire to return to the Premier League. Villas-Boas worked as opposition scout during his compatriot's glittering spell at the club, but the pair have rarely spoken since the protege departed Mourinho's coaching staff at Internazionale to pursue his own managerial career with Académica in 2009.
The 34-year-old had previously been insistent that he benefited from the backing of Abramovich and would be allowed to pursue a three-year project aimed at rejuvenating Chelsea. However, a run of four wins in 14 games prior to Saturday's dismissal of Bolton Wanderers has eroded that faith. The London side trail Manchester City by 17 points in the Premier League and are currently out of the top four on goals scored, while trailing 3-1 from the first leg of their Champions League knock-out tie against Napoli with the return to come next month.
There has also been grumbling discontent within the squad, with senior players feeling marginalised as they are used more sparingly under the Portuguese. The observations on Torres hardly helped given that one of Villas-Boas's principal tasks upon his appointment last summer was to coax form from a player whose impact had been negligible since his eye-catching mid-season arrival from Anfield. Torres has scored only three Premier League goals in his 13 months at the club, and none since the visit of Swansea City on 24 September.
"We've been through this Torres situation before, with Kezman and Shevchenko," he said. "We continue to work on his motivation, his specific movements on the field, and his trust. There is only one atmosphere which will make him regain his trust, and that is a competitive atmosphere. For me, there was a key moment for Torres: his sending-off against Swansea. He was playing well and he was motivated at the time, he had returned to goals [scoring], also in that match. But he was sent off and got a three-match ban. There was also an international match in between, so he did not play for Chelsea for one month.
"I do not know how much that affected him, but when he got back, we had two disappointments in terms of results, and he returned to this disbelief in himself, and that may have been when he lost his understanding with the group and that way which made him feel well with the group."
While much will depend upon the team's immediate results, starting with Saturday's trip to West Bromwich Albion, and their fate in the Champions League tie against Napoli, Chelsea have already taken steps behind the scenes to draw up contingency plans should Abramovich decide to dispense with his manager of eight months. The likes of Rafael Benítez and Fabio Capello have been sounded out on some level, though it is understood neither would be willing to take up the reins merely until the end of the current season when the likes of Mourinho or Pep Guardiola may be more readily available.
 
[h=1]Arsenal on alert as Robin van Persie misses Holland training with injury[/h] • Arsenal striker sits out session due to groin problem
• Dutch striker a doubt for England v Holland friendly




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Robin Van Persie sat out the last part of Holland's training session with a groin injury. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Robin van Persie has given Arsenal a scare in their challenge to secure Champions League football after being forced to sit out the last section of Holland's training session at Wembley before Wednesday night's friendly with England after feeling pain in his groin.
The Dutch striker has become pivotal to the club's hopes of success this season after he scored 33 goals in all competitions in what has so far been his first injury-free campaign since joining Arsenal in 2004.
Following Arsenal's 5-3 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates on Sunday in the north London derby the club was aware that the forward had a "very mild injury" in his groin when he joined up with Bert van Marwijk's squad. The KNVB, the Dutch Football Association, claimed that it was agreed the forward would cease training if he felt any discomfort which he duly did when a game took place after taking part in a full warm-up.
Van Persie is said to have felt a pain in his hip and so retired from the session as a "precaution". However his participation against England must now be in doubt. Van Marwijk would risk a major fall-out with the Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, should the coach start the 28-year-old only for him to break down during the course of the match.
Van Marwijk, though, is considering picking Van Persie in his XI. "I am optimistic that he will play. We will have to wait and see but I don't think it's too serious."
During the international window in November Wenger successfully recalled Van Persie before the striker was due to play in the friendly with Germany after he played in a 0-0 draw against Switzerland. But the 59-year-old Dutch manager, when asked if there had been any conversation between Wenger and him about proceeding with caution when deciding on Van Persie's involvement against England said: "No."
Given his importance to the Arsenal cause and Van Marwijk's willingness then to pull him out of the Germany match in November the situation may change. Then the coach said: "Arsène asked me if I could please not play Robin in both games. I had a good talk with Wenger and we decided that Robin would play only on Friday. After that we would send him back to London. I won't use Robin against the Germans."
Arsenal travel to Anfield on Saturday for the early-kick off to play Liverpool, one of their rivals for a top-four finish. With Wenger's team currently in fourth, victory for Kenny Dalglish's side would draw them to within four points of Arsenal, so the manager would be loth to see him risked against England. The Holland captain, Mark van Bommel, suffered a knee injury in the same training session as Van Persie and is also a doubt.
 
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