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.
Martin O'Neill is unsure where James Milner will be playing his football this season as reports suggest Manchester City are ready to launch another bid to sign the Aston Villa star.
Milner said last month that he was keen to join City who have already had one offer for the England international rejected by O'Neill.
Villa have put a £30million price-tag on the former Leeds and Newcastle star's head, while O'Neill has confirmed he has spoken with chief executive Paul Faulkner about the matter.
"I only had a brief conversation with Paul today, and it was the briefest of briefs," O'Neill told Sky Sports News."I don't think there's any more news to tell.
"I don't really know if Milner will stay. I don't think at this stage I'd be in a position to give you a definitive answer. Naturally I've said before that, almost everyone to a man, would want James to stay at the football club."
Milner has injured his back in training and O'Neill continued:"It's a problem really because we've been unable to get it sorted out for these couple of days.
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"He had some back spasms, but he didn't have those when he arrived here, it was just in training the other day, so it was best not to have him involved."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has applauded his backline for their performances so far this season, and feels his defenders and goalkeeper have been a major reason behind the Tyneside club’s excellent start to the campaign.
The St James’ Park club are one of only two unbeaten sides in the English top flight this season, and currently sit in third place after winning seven of their first eleven games.
Similarly, the Geordies have the best defensive record in the league, conceding only eight goals this term, and Pardew is full of praise for his rearguard.
“There have been a lot of goals in the Premier League. There are some fantastic players and sometimes, as much as you can defend and have all your disciplines in place, someone can produce a bit of quality to unlock it,” he told Mirror Football.
“Fortunately for us, for whatever reason, that hasn’t happened too often – and long may that continue.
“Our resilience and defensive quality are getting us over the line,” he concluded.
Newcastle have a difficult run of fixtures coming up over the next month that will really test their ambitions this season, starting with a trip to take on league leaders Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium after the international break.
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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!
Sheffield Wednesday have moved quickly to allay fears that they are about to plunge into administration even though they have been served with a winding-up order by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
The Owls, who have still to pay a PAYE balance of £550,000, will appear at the High Court on 11 August.
However, the League One club have played down the threat, issuing a statement that read:"Sheffield Wednesday would like to inform supporters that their club is not about to be wound up, nor is it about to enter into administration.
"We have been involved in dialogue with HMRC for a number of weeks. As such we have been somewhat surprised and disappointed by their decision to seek a winding-up order at this time.
"We understand that HMRC is taking a tougher line in general with football clubs, but feel their actions are disproportionate and will raise unnecessary speculation as to the financial position of the club.
"We can inform supporters that the club, working in partnership with the Co-operative Bank and their advisors, will seek to settle this matter as soon as is practical.
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"Furthermore, during a period of change this summer, the bank has been an integral partner for Sheffield Wednesday.
"We will continue to work together to create the best environment possible for the club to move forward, including ongoing dialogue with potential investors that will seek to secure the long-term financial health of the club."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Most football fans spend the off-season tracking, at least loosely, the transfer dealings of their favourite team. There’s always one player – a Wesley Sneijder, or a Sergio Aguero – whose situation takes the entire two months to resolve, and who eats up a large portion of your summer with endless column inches and rumour bulletins dedicated to them. But at the same time as we get excited about who’s coming in, there’s often a player many fans want to see going the other way.
It may be for any one of a wide variety of reasons. Perhaps the player is, despite several years of good service to your club, no longer capable of contributing to the first team. Perhaps he’s a foreign import who hasn’t gelled with the squad, or adapted to English football; or perhaps the manager gambled on a signing who has turned out to be a dud. Whatever the reason, you want them out.
In the gallery below, FFC brings you a collection of the ten players in the Premier League right now who have most outstayed their welcome. Time be moving on, fellas.
Click on Wayne Bridge below to see the top 10
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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.
Germany captain Philipp Lahm accused England of lacking respect following their World Cup exit.
England's World Cup campaign ended in total humiliation in the first knockout round as they suffered their worst-ever finals defeat, being comprehensively beaten 4-1 by Germany in Bloemfontein.
Two goals from Thomas Muller and further strikes from Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski sent the Three Lions packing and afterwards Lahm was not surprised by the outcome.
"Maybe England were not prepared for this game as they should be," said the Bayern Munich full-back.
"Maybe they underestimated us because our players are not as famous as the England players.
"The reason their defence could not handle our players was because we have very good strikers.
"We knew that we would have chances on the break if we let England attack.
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"It was very important for us to be good on the defence because we always have the quality to get forward.
"We can play short, quick passes and we have a good team. It is a young team, but it is a good team."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has explained the scandal involving his supposed theft of a doughnut from Tescos, which he claims was not the reason he did not play against Norwich at the weekend.
The 19-year-old was accused of walking out of the supermarket without paying for the dessert, but De Gea has explained what had happened.
“Nothing really happened. Me, my cousin and a friend from Spain went to the shop, we were hungry and took the doughnuts,” he told The Sun.
“We were going to buy more things. I realised I didn’t have my wallet so I went out to the car to get it. Nothing more.
“They thought that I was leaving without paying so I tried to explain to them but my English is still not very good and we were there for a while.
“In the end a Spanish girl arrived and we understood each other and in the end they ended up apologising to us,” he explained.
The Spaniard watched from the sidelines as Anders Lindegaard took the field against Norwich on Saturday, but the Tescos incident did not play a part in this decision according to De Gea.
“Absolutely not true. They’re not going to drop me for a doughnut. The manager is the one that decides. He rotates players a lot and when he thinks it’s the right thing to do, he leaves you on the bench,” he concluded.
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De Gea and Lindegaard are battling it out to be United’s number one on a more regular basis, with a trip to Anfield next up for the Premier League champions.
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.