Everton are reportedly set to extend manager David Moyes’ contract in the new year, as the Scottish coach looks to increase his time on Merseyside further.
Moyes will have been in charge at Goodison Park for ten years come March, and despite his current deal not expiring until 2013, the Toffees’ owners are keen to have their main man at the club for the foreseeable future, The Independent reports.
The Scot is currently the highest earner at the club, taking home £65,000 per week, and a similar figure is expected to be offered to keep Moyes from moving on.
Despite Everton’s obvious and well-documented financial problems, Moyes has made no suggestion of any desire to leave Goodison, and the Scot has built a close-knit squad over the last number of years.
The news comes following Everton’s 2-1 extra time time win over West Brom on Wednesday night, in which captain Phil Neville scored a 103rd minute winner.
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Everton now take on Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, as they look to build on their midweek win.
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Aaron Ramsey has stated that the 1-0 Champions League win over Marseille in midweek has the potential to kickstart Arsenal back to life, and that the players’ confidence is returning.
The Emirates outfit had a shaky start to the campaign, but have put in better performances of late; the Welsh midfielder scored an injury time winner at the Stade Velodrome on Wednesday.
With Stoke the next opponents for Arsene Wenger’s men, Ramsey is confident that his team have put their inconsistency behind them.
“The confidence is returning, no question. We’ve not had the greatest of starts but hopefully now we’ve turned a bit of a corner and we’re getting a few wins on the bounce,” he told Mirror Football.
“I feel it’s important to keep up the momentum and hopefully get another win over the weekend which will give us more confidence and belief.
“We need to take it into the league because we’ve done well in Europe so far. Hopefully we’ve got a few wins on the bounce so we just want to keep the momentum going.
“It was a great moment for me personally in Marseille and a great one for the club. We’re in a great position in the Group now and hopefully we can continue and finish the job off in Europe,” he concluded.
Arsenal have only lost one of their last six games, and with a number of home games on the horizon will look to string together a better run of form.
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It’s been a bugbear for many for a while now. You see, Fabio Capello just doesn’t understand. He isn’t English, he doesn’t grasp the English mentality, he doesn’t instil the fighting spirit that had previously driven our national side to decades of glory. The majority of our national sports journalists are unequivocal in the belief that the next England manager must be English – and judging by the comments of David Bernstein in the past, it seems that the FA agree.
Only, it seems that the rules are quite flexible – they are there to be bent. I was watching the Sunday Supplement on Sky at the weekend, and the selection of journalists in the studio were discussing the next England manager.
Broadsheet journalist Paul Hayward pushed for an English successor to Capello – or British. Apparently, it’s the same thing. He continued by quoting Gareth Southgate, who believes that international football should be the players and managers and supporters of one country against the players and managers and supporters of another country. Martin O’Neill was touted, as he was “effectively” English, having spent his whole life in English football (it would be pedantic of me to mention his five years as Celtic manager, or time out of the game).
Sorry to disappoint, but Martin O Neill is no more English than Fabio Capello. Maybe he understands what it takes to be an England manager more than Capello, who knows? Maybe he understands the mentality of your average England player, knows more about the passion involved, the words needed to inspire. Maybe. But then maybe Arsene Wenger does too, and he couldn’t be called upon due to his place of birth (not that he would be anyway).
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There’s no right or wrong in believing that an England manager should be English – some believe, like Southgate, that all parts of the set up should be the nationality of the country they are managing/coaching/cleaning the kits for. Southgate went as far to claim the bus driver should be English too – I would hope that comment was tongue in cheek. If that’s your view, then fair enough. It’s not mine, but each to their own. Brian Woolnough commented on the Sunday Supplement that the fans wanted an English manager – I’m not sure how he knows this, but there you go. Funny though that there seems little outcry at foreign coaches managing other England/British teams, often leading them to glory – our phenomenal track cycling team, our cricket team, our Olympic-winning rowers. Is it unacceptable for them to be coached by foreigners, or do we ignore this because they tended to be rather successful?
The fact is that England players have to be English – the manager doesn’t. So why not utilise this and get the best man for the job? That doesn’t necessarily mean throwing millions of pounds at someone, I can agree that was foolish of the FA, but it does mean you get a much greater choice. After all, the choice of English managers is pretty pitiful – if the nailed-on successor to Capello is a man with one FA Cup to his name, then don’t expect world domination to follow. This preconception that getting an Englishman back at the helm will right all the wrongs is laughable, and ignores the fact that Eriksson and Capello have the best records of all English managers since 1966. Capello might not be the answer, but if he isn’t it’s not because he was born in the north-east of Italy. Redknapp might be great at talking to people (usually through a car window), and every Sun journalist will simultaneously orgasm should he get the job, but it’s unlikely the players will perform any better. Hayward argued that the £50m thrown at the last two England managers had proved foreign managers to be a failed experiment – poppycock. The money might have been wasted, but their lack of “success” cannot be used as a reason to return to an English manager, when they have performed as well as their English predecessors (Capello rather outperforming his predecessor, Eriksson doing likewise).
The FA is right to wait until after the summer to choose a successor. The truth may be linked to them wanting a manager who is due in court on tax evasion charges on January 23rd 2012 (having just left hospital with a heart problem). It wouldn’t look good to be courting him now would it? Also, England still has a manager, and public discussions over a successor could be construed badly, though Capello has made no secret of the fact he is going, so you could argue the FA has the right to look now, which they probably are very subtly.
But English it will be. Let’s give it a go – get Redknapp in, get David Beckham as his patriotic sidekick, let’s regain our passion for the national side, let’s give youth a chance, play to our strengths, let’s use that bulldog spirit. And then let’s go out on penalties in the quarter-final as usual – because the view that England must have an English manager is a perfectly fair one, but let’s not kid ourselves that it will solve all our problems.
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As we approach another week of European football, with the Champions and Europa League set to hit our TV screens between Tuesday and Thursday night, some questions have to be asked of UEFA’s introduction of a 5th and 6th referee in European football and their completely cack-handed approach to implementing this system – so it works for the good of the game.
The first and obvious question is are these extra officials actually contributing anything to actually achieving the correct decisions being made? The simple answer is no! Despite the introduction of more assistants, Captain Hook could count on his available fingers, the number of times these waxwork dummies have actually been seen to assist the boss in helping to achieve their chief objective to ‘ensure that the Laws of the Game are upheld, informing the referee of incidents of any kind that he may otherwise have missed, particularly in key areas of the field like the penalty area and its surroundings’ – since their introduction to the Europa League group stages in the 2009/10 season.
The second is why do they not have flags? Mind boggling really, given the bright shiny flag is such a tried and tested method of attracting attention. Instead, the hapless incumbents of these positions are given, what appears to be a toned down version of an old fashioned police truncheon. No wonder, they’re not making any decisions! I for one would be just plain embarrassed to wave such an implement in a stadium full of fans, who have never been known for their fondness towards officials. This said, they do have wireless communication through to the referee in the middle. So perhaps the lot of them just suffer from stage fright or are mute? Alternatively UEFA might just be entrusting a little crowd control on them as something to do with their underused batons?
Last, but by no means least, why this season have they started to stand on the opposite side of the goal that they originally stood on? Apparently, the official line from UEFA is because referees like to run the diagonal. Do they really? How nice for them; when their job is to run anywhere on the pitch necessary to get a good viewpoint of the game – they are being paid to officiate. In order to ‘ensure that the Laws of the game are upheld’. Even more baffling, when you consider the promotional video UEFA released, which shows them standing in their original position.
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So can we assume, that they no longer see more and the now we see exactly the same video is on its way?
They have a system of multiple referees in American Football and it appears on the surface to work in a much better way. Why? Simple, they actually do what they are there for. Every time they see an incident, they throw their flag on the field of play. Well it’s not actually a flag and more of a yellow hanky, with a knot tied in it, but you get my point – they’re paid to do a job and as such endeavour to do it.
The more cynical amongst us might suggest, that UEFA and football authorities in general have no or little interest in getting the decisions right in football. A game, where at the highest level in the Champions League the stakes are now so high. The very cynical might think this is because it still leaves some scope to ensure the status quo is maintained at the expense of the smaller clubs playing in Europe.
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Football has been a professional sport for a very long time now. The most popular sport on a global scale by a long way, yet the standard of officiating is still light years behind that of Rugby Union, which has only been professional since 1995. How can this be in a world so driven by technology? We are constantly given stats to tell us how far a player has run in a match and the such like, yet, there is firm resistance from the powers that be to actually make sure the decisions taken on the pitch, which affect our beautiful game on every level are the right ones.
UEFA chose to go down this route of extra officials instead of technology. The evidence so far, with the arse-about-face way it has been implemented is screaming from the rooftops, is that it’s a bad one. It is a system that could possibly work, but while the extra officials continue to be seen to remain marginalised and not do the job they’re paid to do, it never ever will!
Andre Villas-Boas has claimed that despite not getting Chelsea to the desired level at present, he will not require the services of Guus Hiddink to assist him at Stamford Bridge. The Dutchman was linked with a move back to West London in a Sporting Director capacity, but Villas-Boas said he will solve the recent slump with his current staff and players like he always does.
Elsewhere in the news Mancini rules out replacing Tevez; Redknapp defiant over Defoe, while Tim Krul’s debt to the Dutch master.
Villas-Boas says he doesn’t need Hiddink’s help at Chelsea – Guardian
Mancini rules out replacing Tevez – Daily Telegraph
Gaitan still on the radar as Ferguson looks to fill midfield hole – Independent
Scudamore rules out ‘Rooney rule’ – Guardian
It is not the end of an aura! Anfield is still special, insists defiant Dalglish – Daily Mail
Redknapp: Defoe will not leave Spurs – Guardian
Tottenham defender Kaboul is top target for Italian giants Juventus – Daily Mail
Arsenal hope Gervinho can add finishing touch – Guardian
Wolfsburg to make £4.5m January swoop for Arsenal midfielder Rosicky – Daily Mail
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Reported Arsenal transfer target Lukas Podolski has ruled out a move away from Bundesliga side Koln in the January transfer window, as he has Euro 2012 in his sights.
The Germany international has been linked with a move to a bigger club after impressing domestically this season, with Arsene Wenger thought to be interested in the attacker.
Despite this, Podolski looks set to stay with his current employers until at least the summer.
“I have always said that I have not been dictated by the pressures of time when deciding my future,” he told reporters.
“I do not believe in lightning strikes, I must be clear. I believe that I will see everything in the summer.
“With Koln, I hope to get as high as possible. I want to exceed the number of goals I scored last season.
“With the national team, I want to play in the European Championship in Poland, my homeland.
“We are among the favourites and our dream is to win the trophy. We cannot hide,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Poldolski’s agent has stated that his client will not leave Germany this January.
“A move is all but impossible”, Kon Schramm told The Guardian.
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“Koln has priority right now; we have time for everything else in the summer.”
It’s not a new debate nor is it one to do strictly with football, or money, but just why is it that English players, in large, refuse to travel abroad and make their home in other countries?
I thought about this whilst reading Ruud van Nistelrooy’s response to David Winner’s fascinating book about Dutch football, Brilliant Orange. Van Nistelrooy said:
“As a Dutchman reading it, it’s a kind of mirror. It shows you things about yourself you’ve never seen before.”
Although van Nistelrooy is one individual and not representative of the whole, the mere fact that a Dutch footballer has read a book outlining theories on why his nation may perform like they do on the pitch is a welcome break from the tabloid pages most invariably find themselves in.
Succumbing to a generalisation I think it is absolutely fair to say English players don’t exhibit the kind of cultural versatility that players from Europe certainly possess. Taking a loosely football related argument as an indicator of the chasm between the breadth of adaptability on show at this World Cup alone we can take Germany’s match against England. When the final whistle blew we can safely assume that it was the German players who approached the English, speaking English. I don’t see John Terry offering a conciliatory ‘guten tag’ to Bastian Schweinsteiger had the roles been reversed. And with some of the Dutch, Spanish, German and French players able to give press conferences in two, sometimes three, languages I’m left wondering why we can’t replicate a similar standard of diversity.
This isn’t to uniformly blame the current English players in our league; they are more products of a longstanding tradition that we don’t travel well. Why is this? The first reason is that English has been the desirable language of business for a long time (although that’s now being gradually challenged). Another reason is that in the past five or six years especially we’ve had a strong showing in Europe, which confirms to many (albeit in this country more than others) that the Premier League is the best league in Europe. These are strong reasons to remain in England but what about the years where English football was by far a distant second to Spain and Italy?
A persistent and undeniable inability to want a move onto new shores, elsewhere in Europe, is very much an English failing. Talented foreign players constantly flood into England and increase their chances of becoming better footballers, often ousting promising homegrown talent in the process, but this is hardly their fault. A distinct complacency (perhaps even a fundamental lack of curiosity or belief) certainly exists amongst our players, both established and promising. It’s always beneficial for a proportion of our players to attempt life outside the Premier League; it gives them a chance to hone their match intelligence and general adaptability (something evidently lacking at this World Cup), on the pitch, culturally and socially. We definitely understate just how difficult it is for young foreign players to make it in this country (there is a dangerous habit of viewing young players as adult footballers, which is completely unfair, in our media). If we take Alex Song’s experiences as an example; he was born in Cameroon, grew up in France and moved to Arsenal in his late teens:
“Coming to Arsenal at the age of 17 was more difficult than going to Corsica at 13. There, I had someone [François Ciccolini, a youth team coach from the Corsican club Bastia]; when I came here I didn’t have anybody, I didn’t understand the language, the food was very different and I had no confidence. I lived in a hotel and when training ended I would go to my room and spend all of my time on the phone. To leave everybody you know in France and come to a new country, that is not easy. But it got better because I realised I had the boss [Wenger]. He would speak to me all the time at training and that gave me motivation.”
Aside from the very personal and individual struggles that Song overcame to make a success of his talents his story is indicative of the kind of hardship foreign players can endure, though far from easy, for the sake of what they love doing; which is playing football. That Song has potentially taken the place of a less able, less willing, less determined homegrown player should not be an issue for us, which is why merely citing foreign influence as the major contributing factor of the English failing is a parochial stance – it does not paint the whole picture.
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I can’t explain what keeps our players caught in their home countries for all their playing careers, even to the detriment of their progression as professionals. Even the successes (Paul Lambert, Chris Waddle, David Beckham, Steve McManaman) are more exceptions that prove the rule. It’s a cultural and educational problem too, not simply footballing; sport merely reflects, not causes, the endemic issues within our culture.
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He was undoubtedly one of the Premier League’s best players last campaign with Arsenal, but Samir Nasri is finding that with a big money move to Manchester City, has come big questions over just where he fits within Roberto Mancini’s short and long-term plans. Does he even fit at all?
Nasri has indeed managed 25 starts in all competitions for City this term but has had to be content with six appearances from the bench; a role he didn’t fulfil during his time in North London. Part of one of the Premier League’s largest squads, Nasri was always likely to be competing with fellow star-studded names for a starting berth; understandably so, following Sheikh Mansour’s investment in the club’s revolution.
But three-quarters of the way through his debut season at the Etihad, and arguably the summer signing with the least impact, Samir Nasri is still not at home in his new Manchester surroundings, questioning was it ever the right move?
Let us retrace our steps back to the summer whereby a clutch of clubs were purring at the thought of adding the Frenchman to their ranks following the best season of his career whereby he struck 15 goals in all competitions for the Gunners.
It is not disputable that any club back then would have been criticised in their attempts to land the unsettled Arsenal star, but by employing the wisdom of hindsight, it is clearly evident that Nasri’s talents are being wasted in Mancini’s side.
Nasri spoke this week aiming another shot at his former employers:
“Sometimes it’s good to win ugly. You don’t always have to play good football to win”.
But you gain the overriding notion that Nasri is talking about the team philosophy and not of his own individual preferences. After all, he has had to be content to play second fiddle to the hard working exploits of James Milner in the ‘big’ games this season.
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Nasri was the artistic and creative force in the Gunners ranks last term and someone who they have struggled to replace. Aside from his jibes, how Arsenal would love to employ his attributes alone back into their underachieving side.
The Frenchman often played in a more attacking role at Arsenal as a playmaker if you will. Here, Nasri’s aesthetic qualities were abundant for all to see, but at City, Mancini prides more of his game plan upon solid defensive work and lightning counter attacks. Nasri has never been much of a tracking back player and Mancini’s Italian mentality surrounding being hard to beat is in stark contrast to the attitude employed at the Gunners.
Perhaps, this explains James Milner’s preferred choice in the team given his grit and hard-working qualities up and down the flanks, as opposed to Nasri’s flair and sparkle, deemed much more appropriate from the bench.
Of course, one of Nasri’s reasons to leave North London was his desire to win trophies and the Frenchman may just do that at City this season, but it would all be achieved through a bit-part role, in contrast to the consistent roles Kompany, Yaya Toure and Aguero play at the Etihad.
At any big club, the mark of quality is the strength of the squad, but you learnt during his time at Arsenal that Nasri was on the way to becoming one of the world’s top talents. Playing consecutively and in Arsenal’s style, which was a match made in heaven, truly made the Frenchman stand out. Laurent Blanc was ready to build the France squad around his qualities but his moves to do this may prove a little premature.
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Nasri’s impressive season inevitably saw him headhunted by a new club this summer, but he is finding out quickly just like Torres and Carroll before him that the team philosophy just doesn’t seem to match up with that of his own.
It remains to be seen whether Nasri is to really grasp his chance at City and stamp his own mark on an efficient team this term. The gut feeling is that he was most definitely an ‘Arsenal’ type player. He is still not at home at City.
Is the best yet to come from Nasri or should he have stayed at Arsenal? Join the debate @ http://twitter.com/Taylor_Will1989
Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel has stated that he believes his side can achieve a treble this season by winning the FA Cup, Carling Cup and qualifying for the Champions League.
With the Merseysiders set to face Cardiff in the Carling Cup final and in the fifth round of the FA Cup, the commanding centre back is talking up the Anfield club’s trophy chances.
“At the start of the season our targets were to qualify for the Champions League and to win some trophies,” he told Mirror Football.
“Now we are in the Carling Cup final, still in the FA Cup and close to the top four – our targets are still reachable.
“It’s up to us to ensure we qualify for the Champions League. When you look at our games with the teams who are in those positions at the moment I don’t think they are that much better than us.
“We’ve had close games with (Manchester) City, (Manchester) United and Spurs and we beat Chelsea. I believe we can get there.
“We just need to focus on the next game and try to win that. Then, when all the games are played, we’ll see how many points we have at the end,” he concluded.
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As results go, yesterday’s victory at promotion-chasing Sheffield United can only be hailed as one of Oldham’s greatest in recent seasons.
An injury-ravaged side, made even worse when it was confirmed that Robbie Simpson, scorer of an exquisite goal at Anfield in January and who has been a reassuring presence amongst a group of players whose average is 21, had broken his toe and would miss the trip to Bramall Lane.
While he may deny so, Oldham manager Paul Dickov would board the coach for the trip over the Pennines with an uneasy feeling. Pondering how best to avoid a repeat showing and result such as the one in Oldham’s previous away match – a 5-0 loss to MK Dons – all Dickov could do is produce words of encouragement.
At half-time, the brittle away side were 2-0 down. Against a side who boasted a phenomenal home record – the best in League One – the omens bore stark similarities to the ones present at the MK Arena.
A midweek draw at home to Colchester felt like two points dropped, although it added some momentum after victory against Tranmere three days earlier. Four points from those two home encounters meant Oldham had done the important thing and secured points before this tough trip to Sheffield. However, the next 45 minutes could potentially define Oldham’s season. After weathering some early second-half pressure, in which United hit the post, Dickov’s young flipped the entire match on its head, and set about securing their best league result this season.
A quick-fire double, sandwiched in-between United’s Matthew Lowton being sent off, had Latics level, and unimaginably in control of a match that looked doomed at the interval. The match then turned into an attacking melee; both sides, to each of their credit, looked only for a winner. Danny Wilson, United’s manager, even threw on strikers Will Hoskins and James Beattie with five minutes to play.
But right at the death, Latics snatched a memorable winner, as United completely lost all discipline. Rueben Reid, making his first appearance since September, had only the keeper to beat when he was pulled back by Harry Maguire. Maguire was given a straight red and Oldham was awarded a penalty in what had turned into total chaos for United. Shefki Kuqi sent Simonsen the wrong way and gave the Latics a last-gasp victory.
Such character when all seemed lost is something Dickov has to take a lot of credit for. While the Scot has his faults and has made errors, his belief in his young stars has produced a confidence that they can compete, no matter the opposition. Having been totally outplayed against MK Dons, his players have once again responded in the most positive way. Seven points from three matches has moved Oldham away from the grasp of the bottom four teams, and now with two more home matches in the next seven days they can propel themselves into the top half of League One, but results will be secured only if the application is correct.
Should they perform like they did in the second-half on Saturday it is difficult to see how Scunthorpe or Yeovil, who are both undergoing resurgence in form and results, will cope.
The rest of March, with its incredibly stamina-testing schedule, consists of some difficult fixtures, but none more so than Sheffield United. Oldham has done the hardest job, but their next task is to follow up this terrific result with victory on Tuesday.
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My bet is that by the end of the month, the league, excluding the top five, will look very different to what it does now. If Dickov’s side can take the pace and gain momentum as the month wears on there is still the chance of a late assault on the Play-offs. It’s as likely as Charlton surrendering the title, but as long as the maths is possible there is always a flicker of hope.