All posts by h79snht.top

Chelsea manager Andre Villas Boas has defended striker Fernando Torres following his horror miss against Manchester United, and feels his side are still title contenders.

The Spanish forward has been the subject of criticism due to uninspiring performances since his £50 million move from Liverpool in January, and despite scoring in a 3-1 defeat on Sunday, missed a second clear-cut chance.

Torres rounded Reds goalkeeper David de Gea in the 83rd minute, only to slice his effort wide of the post; but the Portuguese coach has come to his defence, comparing the miss to Wayne Rooney failing to convert a penalty in the game.

“You have to be fair that the best world strikers have both missed great opportunities. It happened to Fernando but it happened to Wayne Rooney, too,” he told reporters after the game.

“But, yes, a 3-2 score at that period of the game would give us a mental edge for the rest of the match.”

The victory has extended United’s unbeaten run to five matches, and Sir Alex Ferguson’s men are now top of the league, five points clear of Chelsea.

Despite this, Villas Boas has still backed the Stamford Bridge club to be in the title run come the end of the season.

“What I can say is that last year we started very well and unfortunately it didn’t happen towards the winter period,” he told Sky Sports.

“This way at the moment we are five points behind Man Utd but we could say we wouldn’t expect Man City to lose points at Fulham, so this Premier League is unpredictable.

“We always consider ourselves title contenders and will have to get three points straightaway against Swansea because it gives us a good mental reaction to a defeat. And it’s important for us to continue to believe in our work.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

“They are in a good position now but it is very, very early. Nothing that would happen here will mean anything in the Premier League table, and today, not that I want to overemphasise it, you had Man City going to Fulham and Fulham getting a point.

“Arsenal lost and Liverpool lost, so all five contenders are there and anything can happen. The most regular has been United but we showed we are up to the levels of the champions – it is just this time this game didn’t go our way but we will be up there competing for the title and I am glad Sir Alex corroborates in this opinion,” he concluded.

[ad_pod id=’unruly-2′ align=’centre’]

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has admitted that Emmanuel Adebayor must take a pay cut if he wants to secure a permanent deal at White Hart Lane.

The Togolese striker is currently on loan for the season at the North London club from Manchester City, and has scored three goals in four consecutive Spurs’ victories in an impressive start to his time with Redknapp’s men.

Despite the fact that he seemingly has no future at the Etihad Stadium and would be available at a cut-price transfer fee, Redknapp has admitted the forward will need to take a drop from his current £150,000-a-week wages.

“If Emmanuel maintains his current form I would love to keep him but his wages are going to be a major stumbling block, that’s for sure,” the coach told The Sun.

“I have no idea how much we are paying towards his wages at the moment as the chairman [Daniel Levy] deals with those issues but I suspect they are massively subsidised by City.

“The only way we can realistically get a deal done is if Emmanuel is prepared to take a substantial pay-cut and put his football before money,” he concluded.

Spurs continue their march towards Champions League football with a trip to St James’ Park on Sunday.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

By Gareth McKnight

[ad_pod id=’unruly-2′ align=’left’]

Hearts held champions Rangers to a 1-1 draw on the opening day of the Scottish Premier League season.Ally McCoist’s men needed a second-half equaliser from Steven Naismith to pick up a point in front of their home fans at Ibrox on Saturday.

Uganda international David Obua had given the visitors the lead on 16 minutes when he headed in a corner from full-back Danny Grainger as Hearts looked set for an upset.

But forward Naismith levelled 13 minutes into the second half, placing home a cross from Sasa Papac to earn Rangers a point.

Elsewhere, Motherwell recorded an impressive 3-0 win over Inverness CT.

First-half goals from Steven Hammell and Jamie Murphy set the hosts on their way at Fir Park before midfielder Keith Lasley sealed the win with less than 15 minutes to play.

Hammell’s deflected shot found the net on 25 minutes for a rare goal before a pass from Nicky Law put Murphy through to make it 2-0 moments later.

Lasley put in a third in the 77th minute in a comprehensive win for Stuart McCall’s team.

In the day’s other game, Aberdeen and St Johnstone played out a 0-0 draw.

Aberdeen midfielder Ryan Jack was sent off for a late tackle on Murray Davidson after 65 minutes but the visitors could not make the most of their numerical advantage.

Harry Redknapp has revealed that Tottenham have not offered him a new deal to remain at White Hart Lane. Reports in the papers this week had suggested that Daniel Levy was set to offer Harry a bumper pay rise and a £50m transfer kitty to ensure that the North Londoners can challenge for the title next season. This is all news to the Spurs boss who remained very coy about his future and links to the England job.

This week at FFC we have seen a mixed bag of blogs that includes Spurs most important deal in the summer; is Scott Parker fit for the long term, while the FA are right to take the softly-softly approach.

Best of FFC

Tottenham Would Be Mad To Appoint Him…Wouldn’t They?

Right to respect Tottenham by taking the softly-softly approach

Spurs Most Important Summer Deal?

Do Tottenham really need a big name?

Is Parker fit for the long-term?

WAG Weekly – Tottenham and Man United beauties fight it out

Scott Parker: Captain Marvel?

Tottenham keeping tabs on Rovers ace

Spurs and Newcastle on alert as Ajax ace talks up Premier League move

[divider]

Best of WEB

[divider]

Spurs in crisis meltdown: Demonstration planned – Dear Mr Levy

Problems pile up for Harry. – Spurs Musings From JimmyG2

Time To Hold Our Nerve –Tottenham On My Mind

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Chesney Wishes Europa League on Spurs – Who Framed Ruel Fox?

Levy Needs To Fire Arry TONIGHT – Harry Hotspur

Daniel Levy To Offer His Best Player £3.5M Golden Handcuffs – Transfer Tavern

[divider]Quote of the Week[divider]

“If people want to say I’m diving they can, but at the end of the day I’m trying to get out of the way and save myself and my career, you’ve just got to try to be a bit clever about it. I’ve got a few people sent off this year by doing that. When you have got people flying in at you all the time, it’s not really diving, you’re just trying to get out of the way of the challenges. If you stand there you’re going to get a whack. At the end of the day I would rather dive than get hurt.”

“I suppose you can take it as a compliment. They think it’s the only way they can stop you. But the best players just get on with it. If they get knocked down, they just get up again until it really hurts,” Bale speaking out against accusations that he goes down to easily.

[divider]Match Highlights[divider]

With only a few weeks left in the transfer window it would seem that Sir Alex has finished his summer spending, but has he gone far enough? There are no doubts that he has brought some very talented youngsters to the club, in his record breaking summer of spending. Fergie was given the biggest transfer chest of his 25 years at the club, £100million, to create his final, great side. Over the summer he has brought in Ashley Young-£16m-Phil Jones-£16.5m-and David de Gea-£18.3m-who are all bright young prospects, but they aren’t the finished articles, so will these signings alone be enough to replace what they have lost and propel them to a 20th league title?

It would seem as if United are still lacking a replacement for the retired Paul Scholes. Wesley Sneijder has been rumoured, but time is ticking on the transfer window, and it remains to be seen whether that will go ahead. Perhaps Sir Alex has a cheeky last minute deal up his sleeves that will surprise us all. The young players they have signed are undoubtedly quality, but surely they need more top quality players of the likes of Sneijder, to stay ahead in the league and narrow the gap between them and Europe’s finest. Bringing big names to the club is not without risk though, there is always the possibility of an expensive flop-i.e. Juan Sebastian Veron-which is why it proves to be cautious in the market, however they do need a world class signing to take them that step further in Europe.

If they don’t get anyone in to replace Scholes, then what options do they have? They could move Ryan Giggs into the centre, or even Wayne Rooney, although that could be a waste of his talents in front of goal. Perhaps they will bring in one of the youngsters at the club like Tom Cleverley. Scholes is a huge player to lose, his retirement marks the end of an era, so replacing him will be a difficult challenge. Perhaps Fergie is testing the water with his current squad. Should they struggle in midfield in the early part of the season, he might then look to strengthen in January, maybe with a bid for Arsenal’s Samir Nasri, whose contract will be expiring next summer which could affect his price-tag.

[ad_pod id=’unruly-2′ align=’right’]

Man City and Liverpool have spent big over the summer and are likely to provide tough threats to United’s crown along with Arsenal and Chelsea. It seems like the players United have signed are built for the future and will come into their own over the next few years, along with the wealth of talent in their reserve and youth team’s. This side will be at its peak in the next few seasons, but United still should have enough quality to put up a strong defence of their crown next season.

As well as trying to stay ahead on the domestic front, Sir Alex will be determined to meet the challenge set by Barcelona, after the demolishing that they suffered in the Champions League Final at Wembley. The gap between the sides was huge and no clearer in evidence than in the centre of the park, United seem to need a player of massive ability to close the gap between the sides. However, it is difficult to see how any team can compete with a side that has been such a long time in the making, with its foundations running back to 1992. Barcelona themselves, have spent big, making additions-notably Alexis Sanchez who it was rumored United where interested in-to continue to improve their squad. They are undoubtedly the best team Fergie has faced in his 25 years at United, and he will want to bow out having given absolutely everything in the challenge to take them down. Of course it would be naive to focus solely on Barcelona, they need to concentrate on winning week in and week out, and not be obsessed by the challenge and the benchmark that Barca have set in Europe.

One things for certain, Fergie will not rest until United are at the pinnacle of world football once more. He has spent big on the creation of his last great side, but is it enough to stay ahead of their domestic rivals or to reach the bar set by Barcelona?

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Let me know your thoughts below or follow me on Twitter @LaurenRutter

[ad_pod id=’footballfancast_article_mpu’ align=’none’]

Chelsea manager Andre Villas Boas has confirmed that skipper John Terry will not be available for Tuesday night’s trip to take on Swansea, but hopes to have him back in contention for this weekend’s game against Manchester United.

The England defender is suffering from a recurring knee injury, and the Portuguese coach has admitted that Terry will not play against the Welsh outfit at the Liberty Stadium.

“It’s just a bone oedema that he has been carrying for some time since he collided with a post, if I am not wrong against Portsmouth, and this stops him a little bit,” Villas-Boas told Chelsea TV.

“It’s nothing serious, but something to keep an eye on. He has had an MRI before and he should be okay for Man United.

“We have a lot of positions covered of course, because of our squad, we have Gary [Cahill] and David [Luiz] available and competing and hopefully we can make the right decision,” he stated.

The Blues have problems in midfield also, with Ramires picking up a knock, joining Frank Lampard and Jon Obi Mikel on the sidelines.

“It’s unfortunate for the team, Rami is one of the most used players of the team with excellent individual performance and always helping the team to get results,” Villas Boas continued.

“With what could have happened, it’s just good news that he will be out for a short amount of time. Hopefully he will be available for the Napoli game, and hopefully before.

“On another front, Mikel will be out of the game and Lamps still out of the game.

“Frank’s rehabilitation is going well, we are trying to reintroduce him gradually to the first-team activities.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

“Frank felt that it was still a little bit soon to come back and went on to work with the physios, so hopefully after Swansea we will get him ready for the Man United game,” the tactician concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

[ad_pod id=’unruly-2′ align=’left’]

Chelsea forward Daniel Sturridge has stated that he is happy at the club, and has praised under-fire manager Andre Villas Boas for helping him to develop as a player.

The young forward has played a key role for the Stamford Bridge this season, has admitted he is enjoying regular football and is eyeing silverware.

“The manager has helped me a lot. He’s playing me a lot so I can’t complain. I’ve not had a Chelsea manager do that for me before,” he stated to Sky Sports.

“It’s helped me so much because previously I’ve not had a chance to play week in and week out, except when I was on loan at Bolton.

“To play at one of the best clubs in the world and start every week is a dream come true. I love playing for Chelsea. Some of the stuff I’ve read about me asking for a contract is not true.

“I’ve not spoken to the club to ask for a new contract, or told them I’m unhappy. I’m just doing a job. Working hard.

“I’m not worrying about my contract. I’m committed to Chelsea.

“A successful season now would be winning the FA Cup or the Champions League. If we could do one or the other it would be great.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

“I think we’ve got to get some sort of silverware, and to get in the top four, to qualify for next season’s Champions League,” he confessed.

By Gareth McKnight

[ffcvideo file=”tfcb5″ type=”mp4″ image_type=”jpg”]

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has stated that the signature of Scott Parker in the summer was a personal victory for him, as some board members were opposed to his addition at White Hart Lane.

The England international joined Spurs from London rivals West Ham for a fee in the region of £5.5 million, and has been a major factor in four straight league victories for Redknapp’s men.

Despite Parker winning the FWA Footballer of the Year award last term, a number of Tottenham executives were against his signature due to the midfielder’s age.

“The hardest signing for me was Scott Parker,” Redknapp told The Telegraph.

“It wasn’t a deal that the club were crazy about, and I could see their point of view. Scott had a four-year contract at West Ham and he was on big money, by our standards. Tottenham don’t pay the wages that Chelsea or Manchester City do, so there would be quite a gap.

“There was a feeling that bringing in Scott, 31 years of age and with no sell-on value, could be a problem. I argued that it was what he could give us this year and next that could make the difference. Daniel [Levy] backed me on that,” he stated.

Tottenham have a tricky away game against Newcastle this weekend at St James’ Park, who have also had a strong start to the campaign.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

By Gareth McKnight

[ad_pod id=’unruly-2′ align=’left’]

Sunderland and Blackburn have been put on red alert after Papa Demba Cisse admitted he wants to leave Freiburg, the Daily Mail understands.

£12.5 million rated Cisse scored 22 goals in the Bundesliga last season and has already struck four in three games in the current campaign heightening interest from the Premier League.

The Senegalese hit man has declared his is ready to move to a bigger club despite having three years to run on his deal in Germany.

Cisse said: “I want to leave. Yes I have a contract but I really want to try playing at a different level.”

Despite a summer spending spree that included the £13 million acquisition of Connor Wickham Black Cats boss Steve Bruce still wants to bring another striker to the Stadium of Light.

Bruce has been prompted into targeting a new front man after two embarrassing defeats to local rivals Newcastle and Championship side Brighton in the space of four days.

Rovers manager Steve Kean is also in the market for players with striker David Goodwillie the only new face at Ewood Park this summer.

With a week left of the transfer window both clubs will have to move swiftly if they are to secure the strikers signature.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

However they’ll both have to wary as Freiburg are likely to instigate a bidding war in an attempt to drive up the price.

[ad_pod id=’unruly-2′ align=’right’]

Italian football hasn’t had a great decade. Corruption, debt, plummeting crowd attendances and a subsequent decrease in league status have plagued a period in Italian football that won’t leave many feeling nostalgic. Champions League victories for Inter (2010) and Milan (2003, 2007) and the brief tenure of Jose Mourinho spiced up life in Serie A for moments in an otherwise uncompetitive era. We can look to our Mediterranean counterparts with a vague sense of sympathy and superiority but the reality is that in this country that we are not a million miles away on many of these issues. Italy is there to serve as a warning for Premier League clubs, in the same way that the Bundesliga should stand out as a positive example. The fate of our league rests with a few laws and attitudes and we would do well to pay heed to the situations in nearby countries.

Whilst corruption may be endemic in football it seems to be arguable that the Premier League is relatively clean cut in comparison to Italy and Turkey, however the other issues are more pressing.

Club debt

The debts of Serie A clubs can be seen as a metaphor for their national economic crisis. For years they have simply borrowed and spent too much whilst doing little to increase their actual revenues. The combined revenue of the top three Italian clubs for last season (as stated in Deloitte’s Football Money League) was €166m which was significantly less than that of Spain’s top three (€295m). English clubs too have a long way to go before they reach the commercial heights they should be. Only Man Utd is anywhere near to reaching its potential but they still lag behind the Spanish giants by around €50m. The astronomical debts of Chelsea, Man City and Man Utd don’t really bare thinking about in comparison to their revenues and although they have wealthy backers the FFP rules will make for uncomfortable times at the top of the English game. Club debt at the end of 2010 reached over £2.5b for the Premier League clubs alone, a figure that has surely risen in 2011 due to increased club spending from clubs such as City, Chelsea and Liverpool (The Guardian). Italy’s combined debt for all three of its top leagues was recorded in 2010 as €2.9b (World Soccer), and they think they’re having a crisis.

[ad_pod id=’unruly-2′ align=’left’]

Attendance

Attendance in Italy has been a real problem recently with the average for the league at just over 23,000 for this season, a drop from last seasons tally (ESPN). Although England’s is considerably higher at around 34,000 this figure too has fallen from last season despite the presumed increase in popularity for teams like Man City. Teams like Arsenal and Man Utd make a considerable amount of their money from their stadiums but if we look at the risks we face in domination from the top few clubs whose spending power vastly outstrips the rest of the league then we can see a startling similarity to the reason Italian football is experiencing low crowds. This has been perpetrated by the unequal television rights distribution that was only changed back to collective selling two years ago. People like Liverpool’s Ian Ayre should take a look at Italy and their forced abandonment of individual television rights before they start clamouring for it.

Obviously there are huge differences between the Italian and English leagues; the pace and style of the football here is considered to be more entertaining hence its worldwide appeal. However that doesn’t mean that there aren’t warning signals for us to heed coming from Italy and other nations whose leagues are infested with unmanageable debt and a lack of competition. Instead of waiting for FIFA or UEFA to take action perhaps it is time the Premier League attempted to combat the rising and unsustainable spending in our league.

Follow me on Twitter @H_Mackay

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

[divider]

 FREE football app that pays you CASH

[ad_pod id=’qs-2′ align=’left’]