Controversial Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez has stated that he wants to stay at the club, and any problems that he has had previously are now in the past.
The Argentine attacker went AWOL earlier in the season and was the subject of transfer bids from AC Milan, Inter and Paris Saint-Germain in January.
Despite this, the South American forward has committed to the club and has long-term goals in mind.
“There’s been a lot said and written this season but that’s in the past,” he told the Manchester Evening News.
“Everybody at the club shares the same goal, Roberto (Mancini), me, the other players and all the staff.
“I’m an ambitious person, I want to work hard and win things with City. That’s all that matters to me as a player and a person.
“This club has been building something special for the past few years. It was the project and the dream that made me come to City in the first place.
“I’ve been here since the start of that project and I share the same vision as Sheikh Mansour.
“He has always been brilliant with me and I want to repay his faith and stay here as long as it takes to make the project a success,” he confirmed.
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Tevez played a part in City’s 1-0 derby win over Manchester United on Monday night.
Fulham have been drawn to face Faroe Islands outfit NSI Runavik in the first round of Europa League qualifying.Monday’s draw in Nyon, Switzerland, revealed Martin Jol will lead Fulham for the first time in the first leg at Craven Cottage on June 30, before heading to the Runavik Stadium a week later.
Fulham were handed a European place courtesy of UEFA’s Fair Play League.
Fellow English Premier League outfit Stoke City, who were FA Cup runners-up, will enter the tournament in the third round.
English Championship side Birmingham City and Premier League club Tottenham, who finished fifth in the league, enter at the play-off stage.
Elsewhere, Welsh side TNS will face Northern Irish club Cliftonville, while St Patrick’s Athletic take on Icelandic outfit IBV.
The winners will need to progress through two more qualifying rounds before the playoff stage, which will decide who reaches the group stage.
In Champions League second round qualifying, Belarusian side BATE Borisov will play Northern Ireland’s Linfield.
League of Ireland champions Shamrock Rovers take on Estonia’s FC Flora Tallinn, while Welsh champions Bangor City meet HJK Helsinki.
The first legs will be played on either June 28 or 29 before following up on July 5 or 6.
If you read the papers in the aftermath of Man Utd’s boringly simple win over Rangers at Ibrox, then Wayne Rooney is about to pillage Blackburn, score seven goals and walk away with the severed head of Sam Allardyce. He’s not, but you could be mistaken for thinking as much from the over the top reaction to his getting on the scoresheet for the first time since the beginning of murmurs about his imaginary ankle problem. His decisive penalty got the bulk of the attention, but in truth, the vast majority of his display was typical of the out of touch, untidy and overly eager to impress Rooney we’ve season over the last few months.
There’s no doubt that Rooney will return to form at some stage, but at present he’s going through what every player who’s spent the last few weeks doing nothing in Dubai will go through. Blackburn should have little to fear from Rooney at present and despite Man Utd somehow remaining undefeated so far this season, thoughts of the visitors claiming a point @ 9/2 from their trip to Old Trafford aren’t without foundation.
Obviously it’s not going to be easy, but plenty of sides have shown that with discipline and organisation, United can be foiled – even West Brom managed it. There’s uncertainty in the defence and Rovers are well equipped to exploit it. Morten Gamst Pedersen has been in fine form in recent weeks and he’s done some real damage at Old Trafford before. He’s unlikely to match the brace he got in Blackburn’s last victory in the red side of Manchester – although it’s a 75/1 shot if you think otherwise – but he can still have a huge influence on the game. His pinpoint delivery from set-pieces will give United’s fragile defence plenty to worry about and it’s worth looking at the main sources of Blackburn’s aerial threat. Christopher Samba is 9/1 to score a goal at anytime or if you’re feeling a little braver, 25/1 to score the first goal of the game.
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Of course United will pose a major threat, even if Wayne Rooney looks about as sharp bean bag sofa and don’t be surprised if he grabs a goal just to confound our grim appraisal of his midweek performance. He’s 3/1 to be first goalscorer and although it won’t make you rich, the fact that we’ve dissed him probably guarantees it’ll happen.
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Looking at Correct Score options will depend on how you few United’s performances this season. They’ve undoubtedly been dogged, but rarely impressive. If you’ve got a 6th sense [presuming you’ve already got five – apologies if you don’t] for when United are about to hit top form, then something like a 3-0 win @ 7/1 feels like something that could happen. If you fancy United to draw their 8th game of their Premier League campaign, then something like a 2-2 Draw @ 19/1 will have some appeal.
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As the dust now begins to settle on the 2011-12 league campaign, supporters have the opportunity to reflect, recharge and contemplate the situations their clubs find themselves in. And for Tottenham Hotspur fans, the sheer furore of the league’s climax, left little time to take breath and breathe in the bigger picture. But this summer isn’t going to be quite the lager stained, England fuelled frenzy of excitement that it could have been for Spurs supporters.
Beneath the pain of missing Champions League football and the pats of commiseration on the backs, not all Tottenham fans feel as unlucky as other supporters might think. For some, there is one man that is right at the fulcrum of the disappointment and that man is Henry James Redknapp.
Before engaging in the sort of harsh critique that is so often unfounded when picking on a football manager, it is important to not get too shortsighted. Harry Redknapp took over a Spurs team who were four-points adrift at the bottom of the Premier League in 2008 and were down a certain creek without a paddle. Whilst it is still difficult to believe that those players really would have ended up as relegation fodder, Redknapp took the same group of players that were utterly hopeless for ten months under Juande Ramos and, albeit with a few additions down the road, guided them to a fourth-placed finish one season later. Make no mistake, what he achieved in 12-months was a remarkable feat.
And success in the league didn’t come as a fluke, either. The brand of football that Harry Redknapp has employed at White Hart Lane, has rightly been lauded over the past three years. Of course they’re not quite Barcelona, but the way Spurs have kept it on the deck, playing the quick, puck like passing, is the brand of football Spurs fans want to see. Events down the road at Upton Park put that one into perspective.
Also, in an era where many foreign managers in the game lack a certain degree of warmth and association, Redknapp has the sort of old-school persona that is a dying breed in today’s world. Many fans enjoy that and embrace it.
But there is also a tendency to look past some uncomfortable truths. Despite their awful start, the team that Redknapp inherited in 2008 was a pretty gifted bunch- Modric, Bale, Lennon; the list goes on. One cannot assume any other manager would have definitely attained such success, but he had a squad that was more than capable of mounting a top-four challenge. The achievements of Martin Jol a couple of seasons before, serve to dilute Redknapp’s feat. In a league that was arguably stronger in 2006, Jol managed to attain fifth with a team that included the likes of Lee Young-Pyo and Teemu Tainio. Redknapp managed to go one better, but not without spending millions that Jol wasn’t afforded. Spurs fans knew that fourth place wasn’t impossible.
And the crunch is, that despite reaching some unimaginable highs (a la Inter Milan), Tottenham’s evolution since 2009-10 under Harry Redknapp, simply has not fulfilled all of it’s burgeoning potential. The look of the league table at the end of season never lies and it tells us quite frankly, that Tottenham have been the fifth best team in the land for two-years running. During that period, Spurs have capitulated in the second-half of the season twice and the responsibility for that falls straight with Redknapp.
He isn’t completely wrong when he moans about player performance and tells the fans they should be grateful with fifth. Of course, Spurs fans haven’t had it so well in years and they appreciate that too. But the riches and the tastes of Champions League football invigorated the fans into the belief and the desire that makes football what it is. The first XI at White Hart Lane carries genuine potential. Why should they settle for fifth when the squad is capable of third?
And this is part of the Redknapp problem. For two years now, an astute, effective style of play, that has achieved good results for the first part of the season, has been sussed out. In 2010-11, it was the knockdowns from Crouch to Van der Vaart and this past season, it’s been the intricate play around the edge of the box. When teams have parked the bus, Redknapp has had no way of moving it out the way and as a manager, that is his responsibility. Moaning about the strength of the squad holds no gravitas; again, it’s Redknapp’s responsibility to ensure the bench is capable of changing a game and it hasn’t been for three years now.
It’s not just the games away at teams like QPR, Blackpool and Stoke that have harmed Spurs over the past two seasons; scores of chances but a failure to take three points. It’s the record against the big boys. As success dawns, aspirations change. Forget the odd refereeing decision here and there, Tottenham should have beaten Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea far more than what they have over the past two years- they certainly have had enough chances and the players are definitely good enough, It’s just that Redknapp has been outsmarted by the Ferguson’s, the Mancini’s and often the Wenger’s of this world far too many times. Is it hard to believe that any of the three just mentioned, would of achieved more with this Spurs team than Harry Redknapp?
Perhaps it ultimately depends on what you want from your football club. The issues Liverpool and Chelsea have faced recently, suggest that stability is an important thing. But this really is a crossroads for Spurs, this really is the real deal. When was the last time they had a team with players like Luka Modric, Gareth Bale and Rafael van der Vaart? As a certain Danny Blanchflower once said, “the game is about glory.” It’s not about settling for a point at Villa Park when third place awaits. That’s the difference.
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Every club eventually reaches the end of a cycle. Even the greatest of all in recent times, Barcelona, recognize this. Pep Guardiola hasn’t left because the fans are sick of him and it’s definitely not through a lack of success. Sometimes, for all parties, a change is needed. With small murmurings about Redknapp and the Chelsea post, maybe the end of his Tottenham cycle wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.
Think now is the time simply for a fresh face to fulfill the potential at White Hart Lane? Or do you laugh in the face of my Redknapp critique? Get involved in the discussion and fire away on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus
This week, Michael Mancienne has agreed to join Hamburg from Chelsea having made just two Premier League starts for the club that developed him since the age of nine. The former England Under-21 defender has played most of his career on-loan, but now at 23, looks set to cement his place in a squad for the first time. It is believed that former technical director at Stamford Bridge, Frank Arnesen, who is currently working at the German club as a sporting director, identified Mancienne initially and has succeeded in convincing him that a move abroad is suitable.
We will have to wait and see how the move affects his young career, but which players currently performing in the League Mancienne will now call home should Premier League bosses be looking at with just a month remaining before the transfer window reopens? The Bundesliga has been widely-lauded for its excitement this season and crowned its fourth different champion in five years, Borussia Dortmund, just over a month ago; the club’s first title since 2002. Their manager, Jurgen Klopp, is confident he can retain his star assets, despite midfielder Nuri Sahin already agreeing to join Real Madrid, and believes his side are equal to no other apart from Barcelona. “You can perhaps only leave BVB for five other teams in the world, if that. Outside of Barcelona, where everything is perfect, there is nowhere as attractive as Dortmund,” he claimed.
Mario Goetze, who at 18 years-old controlled the Dortmund midfield with effortless class this season (33 apps, 6 goals), is almost certain to attract attention from England’s big boys. In fact, he announced his admiration for the recently crowned Premiership champions in March, saying: “Who would not dream of playing with a club like Manchester United?” Speed and creativity are perhaps his greatest attributes, features that are arguably absent in the centre of United’s midfield following the retirement of Paul Scholes and the continual insipidness of Michael Carrick, but Arsenal are also rumoured to be interested along with recently crowned kings of Europe, Barcelona, so an intriguing transfer battle awaits.
Moving further up the pitch, World Cup goal-scoring sensation, Miroslav Klose, is assessing his options with his contract set to expire imminently. Even though he was forced on to the periphery by the since sacked Louis van Gaal, and scored just once in 9 starts in the Bundesliga last season, Klose still represents decent business for whichever club he chooses to join. He is already faced with a plethora of suitors including Lazio, AC Milan and, ahem, Norwich, so the decision is firmly in his own hands for the time being. He is currently 32 years young but is unquestionably one of the most feared goal-scorers of the past decade and retains a deadly poacher’s instinct; something Harry Redknapp may consider having seen his Spurs strikers falter continually last term.
But if Premiership managers are looking for established quality rather than precocious talent or a veteran to steady the ship, then they need look no further than 26 year-old Lucas Barrios. The Paraguay striker netted 21 times and made ten assists in 41 appearances for Dortmund last season and was arguably the individual who contributed most to their successful League campaign. He first came to prominence playing for Colo Colo in Chile where he amassed a staggering 37 goals in 42 appearances before sealing his move to Germany. It was Barrios’s innate ability to interchange and play from either flank that made him the ideal candidate for Dortmund’s system with his appetite for goals being more of a bonus to an already diverse skill set. He will of course be keen to ply his trade for the first time in the Champions League next year, but is likely to be swayed by one of the more esteemed European Cup contestants should serious offers be made.
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Travel: The journey to Old Trafford is one that many people make in order to see Manchester United in Premier League action. The address you’re heading for is Old Trafford Stadium, Sir Matt Busby Way, M16 0RA, Manchester and it requires drivers to take a route along a number of motorways and you can fill up with Castrol Magnatec Oil or Castrol GT before you set off or at a number of service stations along the way.
From the South: When exiting North London your first task is to merge onto the M1 at Watford and begin the first stretch of your journey. There are a few service stations along this stretch of the M1 including ones at Toddington between J11 and J12 and Northampton at J15a where you can tuck into a spot of breakfast. Then at junction 19 of the M1 you need to exit onto M6 towards Coventry as you enter the Midlands. There are a number of services along this stretch of the M6 including ones at Keele between J15 and J16 and Knutsford between J18 and J19, which you can visit if you need to fill up with fill up with Castrol Magnatec Oil or Castrol GT or have a toilet break.
You have now covered most of the distance but need to make your way into Manchester and will need to leave the M6 at Junction 19, just after the Knutsford services, and take the A556 in the direction of Manchester Airport. Then continue onto the M56 to Manchester, passing the Airport, and follow the signs to the M60 (Leeds/Liverpool). Leave the M60 at Junction 7 (A56 Chester Road) and follow the signs for Manchester United onto Sir Matt Busby Way.
Parking: Car parking is limited near Old Trafford, but there are a number of car parks in the vicinity of the stadium for a fee. For secure parking, try the Official Manchester United Car Parks which surround the stadium or the Official Match Day Car Parks to the south of the stadium, including the Centrica Building, Lancashire County Cricket Club and Trafford Town Hall. Old Trafford Cricket Ground costs £5, while Salford Quays Lowry Mall, which is another option, is a ten minute walk away from the stadium and costs £3.
Pubs: If you’re looking to meet up with fellow fans in a local pub it is worth bearing in mind that the three pubs nearest the ground, The Trafford, Sam Platts and The Bishops Blaize, generally won’t let you in if you wear away colours. The Quadrant pub, which is a 15 minute walk away in the direction of the cricket ground is a good option. The Bridge at Sale, which is 2 stops from Old Trafford on the Metro is another choice open to you. If neither of these take your fancy head to the Manchester United Stadium Guide for more options.
The Match Experience: You can pick up the Official Programme – United Review for £3, while the Red News Fanzine also contains all the latest Manchester United news. In addition to programmes, there are a few stalls where you can buy football shirts and memorabilia. To find out exactly where you’re sitting visit the Manchester United Stadium Guide to see an Old Trafford ground plan. Within Old Trafford you can tuck into the usual footy grub, with beer available to wash your pie down!
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After the Match: Once the 90 minutes are up the area around Old Trafford is really busy as you’d expect so it is worth staying for a while to avoid congestion. You can either visit one of the pubs identified or If you do have to make a fairly sharp departure be prepared to sit in a few traffic jams on your way back down South along the M6 and M1 into London, once again visiting the service stations along the route to take regular breaks and fill up with fill up with Castrol Magnatec Oil or Castrol GT.
When you make it home you can see how players’ performance matches up with the Castrol Index.
It’s almost impossible not to succumb to the negative stereotypes associated with the ‘Essex lad’ when gazing upon West Ham co-chairman David Sullivan. The passion and devotion he harbours for the Hammers whilst commendable, often leads to inexcusable, biased remarks that would put Kenny Dalglish’s favouritism towards Liverpool to shame.
His most recent interview with fellow West Ham fanatic Iain Dale exposes a very graphic overview of recent events at the club. Not only does he disrespect a number of former players but also he inexplicably specifies various wages and transfer fees – some that have nothing to do with West Ham.
The level of detail in the information Sullivan willingly chooses to reveal is the sort of thing you’d blush at reading in an autobiography several decades after the event.
“I’m told he’s got a £7 million get-out at Newcastle and he gets half the money over that. They keep denying it but I think you’ll see in the summer he will leave Newcastle or he’ll get a monstrous rise to stay there.”
I think Sullivan can cross Alan Pardew off his Christmas list after he revealed the details of the transfer that saw Demba Ba trade East London for Tyneside last summer. The relatively insignificant sum of £7m is apparently all that is required to release ‘the smiling assassin’ from his contract at Newcastle, which will surely have pricked the ears of several top-flight managers across Europe.
Of course, Sullivan is not the only perpetrator when it comes to voicing forthright opinions in the world’s press, but his comments do raise the issue as to whether individuals should be punished for their wily and often devious declarations regarding individuals outside their own club.
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp often finds himself lured into the clutches of the media because he has established an honest and open relationship with journalists. His unwelcome tag as a ‘wheeler dealer’ immediately makes him the focus of attention whenever a player’s future is bought into question. Unfortunately for Redknapp he can’t help but find himself on the end of such statements like, ‘I can’t talk about other teams players as that wouldn’t be fair but…’
Harry’s most recent public pursuit of former Blackburn defender Chris Samba is an all too familiar example that serves only to fill column inches whilst inciting the fury from supporters up and down the leagues.
‘I like Samba, he is a good player, I wouldn’t want to say it’s an impossibility. At the moment he belongs to Blackburn but he’s a good player.’
However, despite Redknapp’s often brazen and shameless approach, he can perhaps be forgiven because there doesn’t seem to be an ulterior or underlying motive to his actions. Redknapp is simply an unguarded individual who wears his heart on his sleeve and essentially tapes his transfer shortlist to his forehead. His heartfelt style of management coupled with his rapport with the press means his comments don’t evoke the same backlash as they would coming from the mouth of Sir Alex Ferguson or Roberto Mancini.
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In Spain this issue mutates into an entirely different beast. The presidential election system means potential transfer targets are used as political pawns to gain the affection and more importantly votes of the local fan base. Current president Sandro Rosell fronted Barcelona’s dishonourable pursuit of Cesc Fabregas and along with a host of Catalan stars set about unsettling the player to basically force through a transfer. Stories of stolen photographs, the ‘shirt prank’ at the 2010 World Cup coupled with Xavi’s claims that the player was “suffering” at Arsenal are all strong cases of people overstepping the mark. The fact that these tactics went unpunished will mean that this may become a familiar format in all future major transfers.
Sir Alex Ferguson is often regarded as the connoisseur of mind games, with his subtle yet cunning observations seemingly enabling the United boss to get his own way. However, his infamous and somewhat bizarre courtship of Steven Defour perhaps highlights the correct way to conduct such pursuits. After hearing of Defour’s metatarsal injury in 2009 Ferguson wrote a letter of sympathy to the then Standard Liege captain that stated he would continue to ‘follow’ Defour’s performances and that he would remain ‘in contact with Standard’.
It’s worth pointing out that this was conducted above board, as the letter was sent directly to Liege and passed through all the official channels. Fergie was also said to be shocked upon discovering that it had been released to the Belgian media but whether this was an intentional part of his plan remains unclear. It does however offer an example of an inventive and perfectly acceptable means of contacting a player.
There’s also the relatively modern phenomenon of ‘tapping up’ players to consider, from the infamous Cashley Cole saga to the more recent incident involving Newcastle United and French club Sochaux, whereby Mail striker Modibo Maiga told L’Equipe,
“I want it to be done with Newcastle. I want to leave – it is necessary that the president agrees to negotiate. I met everybody, they want me and it is not any club. England is a dream. I want to go.” (Guardian)
Clearly a deal was already in place with only the blessings of the ‘selling club’ needed to complete the transfer, but surely during negotiations it should happen the other way around. It’s understandable to contact the player in advance to register their interest but there appears to be no boundaries to prevent conversations escalating further.
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Should managers or indeed chairman who publically declare interest in transfer targets be punished in the same way as those who speak to the player’s representatives without their parent clubs permission?
Leave your comments below or join me on Twitter @theunusedsub where I’ll be sending messages of support to Tom Cleverley in the vain hope that he’ll look to regain his match fitness on loan at Selhurst Park
Brazilian-born midfielder Marcos Marquinhos is set to make his debut for Bulgaria in the crucial Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro next Saturday.Marquinhos, the CSKA Sofia playmaker, has been playing in Bulgaria since 2006 but has only just gained his passport with national coach Lothar Mattheus the driving force.
Bulgaria, fourth in Group G behind England, Montenegro and Switzerland, have little hope of qualifying for next year’s finals in Poland and Ukraine.
Marquinhos will be the second Brazilian to play for Bulgaria after defender Lucio Wagner, from Rio de Janeiro, played for the country from 2006 to 2009.
Wagner played for Levski Sofia for seven seasons.
Mattheus admitted the Balkan team’s fate is no longer in its hands, as it is dependent on other results.
“Victory away to Montenegro in early June would be a first step in the right direction. If we miss out on the Euro, we’ll turn our focus to the next major target, the World Cup in 2014,” he said.
The task was made more difficult recently when Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov quit international football.
“Berbatov doesn’t play for Bulgaria anymore, so there’s no point speculating whether it would have been better with him in the team,” Mattheus said.
“The reality is that all my players give it their best shot.”
Mattheus will also be without suspended Terek Grozny midfielder Blagoy Georgiev for the game in Podgorica that Bulgaria must win to retain any realistic hope of qualifying for next year’s finals.
England and Montenegro are joint top of the group on 10 points from four games. Switzerland are third and Bulgaria fourth, both with four points from as many matches.
Bulgaria fly to Corsica on Sunday for a four-day camp.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Nikolay Mihaylov (Twente Enschede), Vladislav Stoyanov (Sherif Tiraspol)
Defenders: Ivan Bandalovski (CSKA Sofia), Stanislav Manolev (PSV Eindhoven), Ivan Ivanov (Alania Vladikavkaz), Yordan Miliev (Levski Sofia), Valentin Iliev (Steaua Bucharest), Nikolay Bodurov (Litex Lovech), Petar Zanev (Litex Lovech), Rumen Trifonov (CSKA Sofia)
Newcastle United striker Leon Best is closing in on his first Premier League appearance following an injury-plagued start to the season.
The 24-year-old Republic of Ireland international ruptured ankle ligaments on the eve of his first season in the top-flight and has yet to make an appearance for the Magpies.
"I've had an injection at the back of my ankle and I was out running on Tuesday for a little bit," the former Coventry City striker told the club's official website.
"The injury wasn't on my mind at all and now I'm aiming to train sometime next week."
Best, who arrived at St James' Park in February, had scored two goals in pre-season before being sidelined by injury.
"I was devastated because I'd started pre-season well and scored a couple of goals, but you just have to get on with it," he added.
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"These things happen in life and you've got to keep on going. I'm still here and still breathing, so I've just got to put it behind me and get fit again.
"I still need to prove myself and I've not done it yet. Hopefully, given the chance, I will do."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Chelsea have been handed a boost ahead of Saturday’s London derby with Tottenham, as John Terry is set to shake off a knee injury to play.
The England international missed Roberto Di Matteo’s men’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester City in midweek due to the knock, but Sky Sports have stated that he has recovered sufficiently to feature against Spurs.
With Tottenham now in fourth place and five points ahead of Chelsea in the race for the Champions League qualification places, Terry’s defensive partner Gary Cahill is eager to close the gap come Saturday.
“Arsenal are having decent form and Spurs have been hit the last few games,” he told reporters, covered by Sky Sports.
“It is hard to keep that momentum going throughout the season. Spurs have been absolutely fantastic but it is tough to keep it going every single game week in, week out.
“You’ll always have a blip in the season and maybe theirs has come now.
“We’re at home, where we have some confidence now and we are looking to get the positive result we need.
“We have built some momentum of late and the camp is positive at the minute,” he concluded.
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The crucial fixture at Stamford Bridge kicks off at 12.45pm on Saturday.