Everton manager David Moyes has admitted that he would be keen to sign veteran England midfielder David Beckham on loan from Los Angeles Galaxy if he opts for another spell back in Europe.
The 35-year-old has headed to the San Siro for stints with AC Milan in the last two seasons and Moyes is ready to move if Beckham decides to complete a hat-trick.
"I would hope that if David wanted to come he would pick up the phone and call me," Moyes said.
"If he wanted to come back to the Premier League he would only need to phone me or Phil Neville and we would be here for him.
"He knows how to get hold of Phil and he knows how to get hold of me.
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"We would have to look into it financially, but if he came and said to me I would like to come and play I would have to go to the chairman and ask if we could do it – if we think we can make it work by selling enough shirts!"Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Manchester United defender and England captain Rio Ferdinand isn’t just content with being a Premiership footballer, he also wants to pursue a career in the media. Here’s Rio showing off his interviewing skills and posing the questions to pop star and renowned West Ham fan Pixie Lott in an interview for his mag, #5 Magazine. One thing Pixie and Rio share in common is their love of Twitter, and you can follow both of them on FootballFanCast.com’s Tweet Central. Check out the video below…
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Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish is frustrated after failing to bring a striker to St Andrews before this weekend’s trip to Old Trafford.
Ireland striker Robbie Keane reckoned Blues were never serious about signing him, indicating the club’s pursuit of the much travelled forward was all for media exposure.
And Turkish club Bursaspor convinced Scotland striker Kenny Miller his future lay with them instead of joining his old boss at Birmingham.
McLeish wanted at least one of the deals done this week and though given the opportunity the former Scotland manager did not question Keane’s doubts that City never really wanted to sign him.
“We’ve already lost out on a couple this week in Keane and Miller,” he explained.
“We wish the two guys well in whatever they do and we’ve just got to move on and look at the other names we have on the list.”
“It is always frustrating this time, this transfer window, and this one has proved to be the case yet again.”
“As far as I’m concerned, I asked our board if they could get Robbie and they tried for him.”
“That is up to them. They handle the financial side. We work together on that on the basis that I identify the players and they do the finances.”
There are a few areas that McLeish would like to strengthen but a striker is the priority.
“If I could get one quality goalscorer that would be excellent,” McLeish explained. “I do believe there are goals in the players that are here because we have created chances and I believe they will score goals.”
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McLeish is relishing pitting his wits against his old Aberdeen manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
He said: “We know Old Trafford is a very difficult place to go and win but it is a great challenge for the players. It is not worth getting out of bed in the morning if you don’t think you can go and do something.”
Think drama, think controversy, think tragedy, think of a Saturday night spent with Ulrika Johnson and grown men rolling around in spandex and what do you get? No, not a selection of Stan Collymore’s neurosis from the best part of 1999, but a snapshot of one of the most colourful characters to have graced English football in the last 30 years, John Fashanu.
Readers of a certain age will remember Fashanu, or ‘Fash’ simply as the guy who hosted Gladiators next to Ulrika Johnson, having only to contend with scripted outbursts from a 45 year old man masquerading as a wolf. To a generation of Wimbledon fans, however, it was Fashanu who was a key component of the ‘Crazy Gang’ ethos that kept the Dons in the top flight of English football through the late 1980’s and through the early years of the Premier League era.
The early years of Fashanu’s career threatened to drift the British born Nigerian into obscurity. A frustrating spell at Norwich City, Fashanu’s first club, was followed by less than inspiring terms at Lincoln City and Millwall. In 1986, at the age of 24, Wimbledon, then a promotion chasing second division side acquired the young striker for £125,000.
As the ‘Crazy Gang’ team spirit at Selhurst Park was slowly fostered, Fashanu found a consistent level of goal scoring form as his new club were promoted to the top flight and quickly became a fixture of the first division.
Fashanu’s only silverware came as a result of one of the biggest FA Cup upsets in the history of the competition, when in 1988, Wimbledon beat league champions Liverpool, 1-0 to secure the club’s first and to date, only trophy.
From that point Fashanu acquired a cult following, and following two international caps for England in the summer of 1989, became revered as a hard working, physical target man. His goal scoring exploits in the early seasons of Premier League football attracted a bid from Aston Villa, the now 32 year old making his move to Villa Park in the summer of 1994.
Injury curtailed his spell at Villa, the forward limping out of the game, and presumably out of the limelight in early 1995. It was his involvement in the match-fixing scandal, brought about by an expose in The Sun that propelled the retired Wimbledon target man back into the public consciousness.
The legal dispute arising from the allegations, took more than two years to conclude. Fashanu was finally found not guilty of conspiracy to corrupt, after two trials at which a jury was unable to find a verdict. Fellow defendants Bruce Grobbelaar and Hans Seggars were also acquitted.
Nevertheless, the legal wrangling ultimately cost Fashanu his slot presenting Gladiators on ITV- the platform having introduced the controversial figure to a whole new generation of television viewers.
After leaving Gladiators behind, Fashanu spent several years in the wilderness. Having been dealt the financial blow of having a defamation settlement from The Sun slashed by the House of Lords, tragedy struck, when Fashanu’s estranged younger brother, Justin, committed suicide in 1998.
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A revival of sorts began when the former England international was welcomed back to ITV to appear on I’m a Celebrity: Get me out of here!’ Finishing runner up in that year’s competition, a return to the small screen beckoned. However, after fronting his own show; ‘Fash’s Football Challenge’ Fashanu dropped off British television screens for good.
Recent years has seen a stint presenting the Nigerian version of ‘Deal or No Deal’, a strangely apt reflection of the man’s career. Had the banker offered Fashanu what he has enjoyed and endured over the last twenty years when a struggling young player at Norwich back in the early 1980’s, I suspect he might have just taken it.
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South Korea coach Cho Kwang-rae was a proud man after watching his side finish their Asian Cup campaign undefeated in third place.
Speaking after his team’s 3-2 win over Uzbekistan in the third-place play-off at Al Sadd Stadium, Cho said he was satisfied he had played his part in guiding the Koreans in playing an attractive and effective style.
Ji Dong scored twice and Koo Ja-cheol netted another as South Korea held on to secure their spot in the 2015 Asian Cup to be held in Australia.
“We haven’t lost a game at the Asian Cup. The penalty shootout defeat against Japan was my fault. I want to say thank you to all the players who sacrificed for the team, they never gave up with excellent fighting spirit,” Cho said.
“I believe that we could have won the tournament but when it comes to penalty shootouts, not many people can predict the result.”
“This tournament gave us a lot of opportunity to show the world the new possibilities of Korean football.”
“I believe we’ve changed the way we play. It’s a much better way so I want to keep working on this progress to better Korean football.”
Cho said his side were able to control their midfield game in their Cup campaign, but he wants the side to bookend their neat play in the middle with precise finishing and solid defence in future tournaments.
“Throughout the Asian Cup, I found the players were able to pass the ball through midfield much quicker than before so that aspect I was quite satisfied about,” he said.
“I would like to improve on what we’re doing, be faster in front of goal to make us much more effective and also strengthen the defensive organisation.”
Uzbekistan boss Vadim Abramov credited his team’s mental toughness after they recovered from three goals down to almost snatch a draw as Alexander Geynrikh’s double either side of half-time drew them closer.
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The result was a vast improvement on their 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Australia in the semi-final as they achieved their best result at Asia’s premier soccer tournament.
“Their psychology, I don’t know why the players made so many mistakes but after our goal and half-time, I told players we have a chance, we have 45 minutes to use all preparation for this tournament and then players in the second half played much better and we had a chance to draw,” Abramov said.
“I think the reason was that we did not have belief in our self in the Australia game. In that game we played well but our defensive line made too many mistakes. We had more possession but it was too easy for Australia to score.”
For the past few transfer windows Manchester United fans have unleashed our inner transfer muppet hoping that another huge name is brought into the club.
United’s team isn’t perfect and there are areas that need attention but even when we are linked with players we don’t need we salivate and rub our hands together only to be disappointed when we hear Sir Alex Ferguson say:
‘There is no value in the transfer market.’
I won’t lie, I for one have been disappointed at times when hearing this but after the madness of deadline day no one can deny that he is, as per usual, right.
Darren Bent going from Sunderland to Aston Villa for £18m rising to £24m was crazy in itself but then with Chelsea bidding £50m for Fernando Torres and Liverpool in turn looking to pay £35m for Andy Carroll you start to think these clubs should be kept as far away from the transfer market as possible.
There is no denying Fernando Torres is a fantastic player, we’ve experienced this numerous times but anyone that denies he isn’t the same player he was a year or two ago is in denial. He looks to me to have lost a yard of pace or so and coming off a less than spectacular season and summer showing at the World Cup a £50m bid seems more than excessive.
Chelsea are looking to flex their financial muscles and reaffirm that they are still a force to be reckoned with in the league but at the same time are allowing Liverpool to put them over the barrel and the fact that it was revealed that they had bid for Aguero and Godin last week makes it seem that this is impulsive and desperate.
The Andy Carroll situation seems even worse.
£35m + add ons for the young striker seems crazy. Carroll has looked good in his début season in the Premier League and he does look like he will be a player but paying that much essentially for potential seems reckless. I have heard it said this is Liverpool signalling their intention to return to the big time but this smacks more of desperation than a signalling of intent. People pay for potential all the time, we have done it ourselves a few times but not at that price and whilst Newcastle fans may not want him to go Mike Ashley will be over the moon that he has forced Liverpool to pay so much!
Add to this a rumoured £14m for Blackpool midfielder and the situation becomes even more laughable!
This is a dangerous game being played here by clubs like Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool as they spunk excessive amounts of cash on players at a whim but it is also one that adds credence to Sir Alex’s utterances. Don’t look at this as a disgruntled United fan bitter because his team isn’t getting in on the act, a bit of perspective is necessary and when you look at the fact David Villa joined Barcelona in the summer for £34m the fees being thrown around look even worse.
The transfer window brings out the muppet in fans all across the country but it appears it does so even more for the people who are meant to be in charge at football clubs.
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Good thing we have a man in charge who can keep his head when those around him are losing theirs!
Edin Dzeko hit a quick-fire double as Manchester City cruised into the last 16 of the Europa League with a 3-0 victory over Aris Salonika.The January transfer window signing from Wolfsburg, who lead a potent strikeforce alongside Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli, hit two smartly-taken goals inside the first 12 minutes.Yaya Toure netted a deflected third from long range with a quarter of an hour to go as the Sky Blues eased through to set up a clash with Ukrainian side Dynamo Kiev.City were ahead after just seven minutes when Nikos Lazaridis failed to control Aleksander Kolarov’s long clearance and Dzeko kept his cool to roll a shot into the corner of the net.The Bosnian made it 2-0 four minute later when he cut back onto his left foot on the edge of the box to fire a low drive beyond the despairing dive of Michalis Sifakis.The Aris gloveman then juggled a 30-yard free-kick from Balotelli and Pablo Zabaleta fired inches wide with a fierce drive from the edge of the box as City threatened to cut loose.Dzeko should have completed his hat-trick on the stroke of half-time when he beat the offside trap and tried to round Sifakis but the the goalkeeper saved smartly at his feet.Attacking towards their noisy and colourful 4,000-strong away following, Aris started the second half better but could only test Joe Hart with a weak shot from Raul Bobadilla.Midway through the half, Tevez created another golden opportunity with a neat pass to Balotelli but the Italian’s rifled effort pinged back off the inside of the post.The third finally came in the 75th minute when Kolarov’s corner was cleared to Toure, whose 25-yard drive deflected off the luckless Lazaridis and into the corner of the net.
Was there contact in the box? Did Smalling get the ball or the player? Well by answering these two questions you should come to the conclusion that ultimately despite the harshness of the decision it was a penalty and it was perhaps one of the few decisions that Atkinson got right on the night.
If it was up to me on a personal basis, I would’ve yellow-carded Zhirkov for going down too easily and looking for it, but objectively with the laws as they stand, an attacker who goes down after a movement by a defender towards him and not the ball will result in a foul and as Smalling made a movement towards Zhirkov, it was only going to end one way.
Smalling will learn from his mistakes and whilst this week was a rude awakening after a faultless rise to the first team since he joined, no one can argue he looked out his depth at Stamford Bridge even if he was upstaged by the other phenomenal new defensive talent on the pitch.
Now many will no doubt point to the loss of the midfield battle as the prime factor behind United’s collapse in the second half but these stats tell a story of their own.
In the first half it was the Nani & Evra show on the left flank, aided by the movement of Rooney and Hernandez drifting to the left and wreaking havoc against the defensively indisciplined Anelka and the tad cumbersome Ivanovic. Evra was receiving an awful lot of the ball and the aforementioned stats just mention the times he passed the ball, he was actually dribbling and touching the ball quite a fair bit more.
As expected his final delivery wasn’t quite up to it but nonetheless his mere presence on the overlap and his ability to take on men was telling and no doubt benefited Nani who could cut in with the full knowledge there was an option on the outside if he should wish to take it. So everything seemed to be hunky-dory in the first half and Evra was putting in a stunning performance, which begs the question what on earth led to him producing such dire stats in the second half?
Well one possible explanation and perhaps the most logical is that once we scored we sat back on the lead and prevented our full backs from getting forward with their usual gusto, another is that such was Chelsea’s rage at going a goal down that through sheer will of force they pinned us back and our midfield were unable to feed our full backs with the same frequency in the first, as is so often the case the truth perhaps lies somewhere in the middle.. we dropped off a tad but once it had been realised that this was an error, Chelsea were relentless and the momentum knocked the stuffing out of United’s attacking endeavours.
A very even Midfield Battle and surprisingly there were no major differences in the stats in the first half in comparison to the second for either of the midfields the other night, although Ramires put in a heck of alot more effort of the ball in the second, tripling his number of tackles made and intercepting alot more often.. in tight games like these between top teams, quite often just one individual with that little bit more fire in his belly and that evtra dosage of quality can make the difference.. yesterday Ramires stepped up his game after half time and it was perhaps the telling contribution.
Carrick was much better (to be honest he is generally better against Chelsea than most would think), quicker on the ball, braver in the tackle and had purpose with his passing. Scholes was efficient as he so often is and Fletcher despite the ambiguous passing stats produced a Kuytesque performance on the right flank making sure the ball stuck like glue when recieving possession, fired in a fair number of crosses and challenged Ramires in the off the ball stakes. For Chelsea Essien was good without ever being brilliant, Lampard was excellent when running with the ball and put in a fair effort off it and Ramires was the glue which held it all together.
For both sides there are weaknesses however in this department which need resolving in time for next season and its a similar problem… both lack a young vibrant creative midfielder and thus both sides can come across very functional and one dimensional on the ball relying on their full backs or forwards to create out of nothing rather than feed them with a constant supply of through balls and clever passing… prepare for a United v Chelsea midfield tranfer battle in the summer for a Fabregas-esque player…
4. Where both sides go from here?
Despite the loss I would still fancy United for the title and that is regardless of whether or not they win at Anfield. As for Chelsea I believe this win has papered over cracks that will again rise to the surface against the rest of the Premier League, teams who possess more energy in midfield than United have and can exert more pressure on them over 90 minutes. It is an ageing side and whilst they’re more than capable of achieving one-off results I do not believe they have it in them to produce a sustained resurgence and retain their title. What would help Chelsea is trying to find a way to incorporate Drogba in the side, he’s a talisman even if his legs aren’t what they used to be.
In Europe simply put I’d be surprised if either side make a definitive impact and I believe their respective weaknesses will prove costly, that said in United’s case I genuinely believe with the right line up they can be a match for anyone over two legs and as long as they don’t face Barcelona in a Final, then anything could happen. As for Chelsea if they are to win it then it will probably be down to that one man Machine David Luiz…
Continue to the NEXT PAGE…
5. Opposition One2Watch: David Luiz
David Luiz Match Statistics: 1 Shot, 1 Goal, 4 Interceptions, 22/29 Successful passes, 6/7 Tackles Made, 4 Clearances, 1 Block.
Mentioned the lad briefly in the ‘Rival Perspective – Chelsea v Liverpool’ blog and stated how in such a short space of time he’d done enough in his little cameo to suggest that Chelsea have a considerable talent on their hands, not to mention having seen him feature a fair few times for his previous club, one couldn’t help but be impressed with predominantly his defensive attributes.
He’s just what I’d call a ‘Total Footballer’, a dream player in your 5 a-side team, running up and down the pitch filling in at every position and performing each role with expert precision. It’s ridiculous how good he is for his age and the fact he relishes the physical nature of the premiership should frighten the life out of any striker willing to take him on.. he has it all.
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Reads the game exceptionally well, good pace, strong in the tackle, brave in the air, brings the ball out of defence well, good off the ball movement, powerful shot, fantastic technique and it seems he is now well-versed in the defensive dark arts… is there anything this kid can’t do, he’s a bargain at £20+ Million. The likes of Luiz and Smalling provide neutrals with great optimism for the future of the game and I for one can’t wait to see how their development pans out as they genuinely look like they can be world class.
Fantastic game, 2 excellent goals and one controversial penalty… a sending off and some goalkeeping heroics from Edwin Van Der Sar. Not to mention several referreeing howlers, so a game for the neutral basically and it was exhilerating to witness a Chelsea v United game that lived up to the hype in terms of spectacle and more importantly quality. It is often said in silly scorelines, ‘That’s what the Premier League is all about’ blah blah.. seriously folks, the match at Stamford Bridge was the real deal and a game which was a proper football match and hopefully a sign of things to come in the business end of the season.
Newcastle United’s finances for the year ending June 2010 have been released and following their season in the Championship, unsurprisingly Newcastle’s revenues took a major hit and in turn losses increased. While the figures that were submitted to Companies House are interesting, especially those that show more that one million people visited St James’ Park, what has stood out to me is the money that owner Mike Ashley has invested into the club. In those 12 months alone, Ashley injected £42 million into Newcastle United, so is it time that Newcastle fans gave him the benefit of the doubt and appreciate the financial stability that he has brought to the club?
I know this won’t be a stance that many Newcastle fans will be willing to take given some of the decisions he has made during his time at the club. I for one have been continually frustrated by the good work Ashley has been doing being ruined time and time again by, in my opinion, needless errors – the replacing of Chris Hughton with Alan Pardew the latest example of this. However, there is no disputing that Mike Ashley has made a huge financial commitment to the club and has used some of his business acumen to ensure that, at the very least, the financial future of Newcastle United is looking more rosy.
You only need to look at the examples of Leeds United and more recently Portsmouth to see the problems posed by relegation from the Premier League and how precarious some club’s financial position can be. There is no doubt, that while Freddy Shepherd’s time at the club brought much excitement to the north east, spending millions on players season after season clearly wasn’t financially viable in the long term and when Mike Ashley took control of the club they were in a mess and on the road to financial ruin. Ashley has turned this around and while the journey hasn’t been a smooth one, Newcastle are in a better position because of the steps he has taken.
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Newcastle chairman Derek Llambias has outlined the position the club found themselves in 18 months ago. Llambias has said that “Relegation presented a considerable challenge for us financially,” which is something of an understatement. He went on to say that “It has been a significant achievement to keep our overall loss at a level similar to the year before despite the impact of relegation, and our ability to do this has been helped immeasurably by the continued financial support of Ashley” and while this might sound like they’re blowing their own trumpets, I believe that they’re entitled to do so.
In total, Mike Ashley has lent Newcastle £139.8 million in the form of an interest-free loan. In the 12 months in question alone, he reduced bank borrowings by £25 million and thus lowered the amount of money effectively being thrown away each and every month in the form of interest on the loan. He is also on the way to changing the whole ethos at the club, from spending big money on players and paying extortionate wages to searching out young talent on the cheap and developing those starlets.
Then we come on to the Andy Carroll issue. This has been discussed extensively already so I don’t want to go over old ground but I just have one point to make – as much as I’d have loved to keep Carroll, selling him for £35m plus a percentage of any further fees was the right business decision to make, however frustrating it was to not be able to bring in a replacement before the January window slammed shut. I don’t expect Newcastle to spend all that money in the summer and don’t think it’s necessary either, as long as a couple of decent players are brought in then I’ll be relatively happy, and the signs look relatively promising given the money already spent on scouting missions.
I think we should give Mike Ashley the benefit of the doubt and cut him some slack. While I won’t make any excuses for some of the ill-advised decisions he’s made, he’s put his money where his mouth is and has ensured Newcastle are on a solid financial footing. Newcastle should now be in a position where they don’t need to sell the likes of Cheik Tiote and Jose Enrique this summer unless astronomical bids come in and it would thus be foolish not to take the money. Granted, Ashley hasn’t made things easy for himself, but his financial achievements should be recognised and not just glossed over in favour of the Ashley bashing that has popular backing.
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I want to finish with another Llambias quote about Ashley: “Quite honestly, Newcastle United would not be here without him, it is as simple as that.” I’m not sure about that and it definitely isn’t that clear cut, but the guy deserves some credit, even if you give it to him through gritted teeth!
Queens Park Rangers extended their lead in the Championship after Swansea were the only team in the chasing pack to win on Saturday.Hogan Ephraim’s 46th-minute goal at the Keepmoat Stadium gave QPR a 1-0 win away to Doncaster Rovers.Neil Warnock’s team are now nine points clear of second-placed Norwich after they could only draw 1-1 away to Hull City.Zak Whitbread put Norwich ahead 26 minutes in at the KC Stadium, but veteran Nick Barmby equalised for Hull in the 72nd minute.Swansea City are one point behind Norwich after their 3-2 win at home to fellow top-six side Nottingham Forest.Scott Sinclair’s opener and a brace from Fabio Borini guaranteed all three points for Swansea, with Kris Boyd’s effort and a late consolation from Paul Anderson not enough to salvage a draw for the visitors, who remain sixth.Leeds United, one point above Forest in fifth, suffered a surprise 2-0 loss away to third bottom Sheffield United. Cardiff City in fourth place also dropped points with a 3-3 draw away to Millwall – Steve Morison’s 87th-minute equaliser snatching a share of the spoils for the hosts at the New Den.Nathan Ellington struck the winner four minutes into injury time as bottom side Preston North End beat Coventry City 2-1 while second-from-bottom Scunthorpe United went down 2-0 away to Ipswich.Crystal Palace twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at home to Derby County, while Middlesbrough also fought back from a goal down to beat visitors Watford 2-1. David Nugent’s first-half goal proved to be the winner as Portsmouth beat Leicester City 2-1 away from home.Brett Pitman and Nicky Maynard were on target as Bristol City saw off the visit of Burnley 2-0, while Mathieu Manset scored the only goal of the game in Reading’s 1-0 win away to Barnsley.