Fulham’s penchant for drawing games they ought to win has left them in the relegation dog-fight. The late equaliser against Wigan last weekend was absolutely crucial in keeping the Cottagers out of the drop zone, and the players will know that home fixtures like this will decide whether they remain a top-flight outfit next season.
Stoke have been excellent in recent weeks. An away defeat to Manchester United aside, they have taken their chances, and are now properly settled in the top-flight. I was surprised to see Tony Pulis allow Ricardo Fuller to leave the Britannia this week, the former Southampton striker has been instrumental for the Potters during their three-year stay in the Premier League. It is an indication of the strength in depth at Stoke that previously unused Champions League winner, Eidur Gudjohnsen can come in and do a job.
Fulham’s resources are a little more stretched, and a return to goal scoring form for Andy Johnson will be a major boost for Mark Hughes as he looks to turn solid performances into much needed wins.
Prediction: 1-1
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Aris Thessaloniki defend a 40-year unbeaten record at home in European competition when they welcome Manchester City in Tuesday’s Europa League action.
The Greeks have gone undefeated in 24 European games at their Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium, turning back the challenges of such clubs as Chelsea, Benfica and Atletico Madrid.
But if they are to extend that remarkable record, Aris will have to handle a City side smarting from a 2-1 league defeat to arch rivals Manchester United on Saturday, Wayne Rooney’s stunning overhead kick delivering a hammer blow to Roberto Mancini’s title hopes.
With the English Premier League dented for the Eastlands outfit, the Europa League is the biggest prize on the horizon for Mancini, and so far his troops have been impressive in the tournament.
They head into Tuesday’s round of 32 first-leg fixture with only one defeat so far in the competition – a 3-1 loss in Poland to Lech Poznan – but will be without Italian striker Mario Balotelli, who is still recovering from a knee complaint, and Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong.
Aris, meanwhile, have been in disappointing form so far in Greece’s Super League, sitting in eighth place and 29 points behind leaders Olympiakos Piraeus.
Their Europa League form has been solid, however, with wins over champions Atletico Madrid (twice), Rosenborg and a draw with Bayer Leverkusen seeing them into the last 32.
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Despite the January departures of Spanish wingers Javito and Toni Calvo, and Tunisian international midfielder Mehdi Nafti, manager Giannis Michalitsos has succeeded in putting together a competitive squad.
Argentine striker Raul Bobadilla arrived on loan from Borussia Monchengladbach, Mexican striker Nery Castillo is a loan acquisition from Shakhtar Donetsk, while Japanese marksman Daisuke Sakata was signed from Yokohama F Marinos.
Call me the ultimate football pessimist, but I would like to try and bring a little order to the English game. After listening to a certain new football show hosted by a couple of ex pundits, it suddenly dawned on me that football fans have started to lose the plot a little bit. In the wake of some outrageous reactions to events on the field, I question – where has our perspective gone?
Allow me to clarify. As recently as two days ago, I heard some Everton fans phoning in to talkSPORT questioning whether David Moyes had come to the end of the road as manager. A successful nine years in charge meant the caller wasn’t as harsh as asking the Scot to be sacked, but replaced that with saying, “maybe Moyes has taken Everton as far as he can.” Bless him, he’s trying to the old ‘cruel to be kind’ trick. After all, he was obviously looking out for Moyes, right? Wrong. If somebody could tell me a manager who would be prepared to take over from Moyes and do a better job than him, I’ll give up writing and admit to what many of you may think, that I know very little about anything at all. The fact is Moyes has done a terrific job on a very small budget. Yes, he’s made some poor signings but who hasn’t? You could even question his decision making, but again I’d argue that he wouldn’t be the only one to get things wrong now and again. If we put things into perspective, (there’s that word again) Everton are having a bad season – by their standards. These standards didn’t exist until Moyes was on the scene. If you look at how small their squad is, you could even argue they have been punching above their weight for quite some time.
Secondly, I would like to invite you all to turn your attentions to the man everyone loves to hate at the moment (apart from Chelsea fans): Fernando Torres. A Liverpool fan phoned in and proposed the idea that instead of wondering why such a talented player is struggling to find form at his new club, maybe, just maybe, Torres is now playing to his level because he’s not actually a world-class player. He was even likened to Andriy Shevchenko. Am I the only one who finds this ridiculous? A month ago, scoring or not, the Spaniard was a hero at Anfield but now he’s just an average Joe? I’m not calling people with this opinion fickle, but well, actually I am – it’s incredibly fickle.
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It’s been proven on several occasions that signing players in January doesn’t make for a great start. Signing somebody in the summer on the other hand, allows for a pre-season and some time to get to know your team-mates, on and off the pitch. Torres has gone to Chelsea, unfamiliar with the faces and the way they play. It takes time – Edin Dzeko is experiencing the same problem at Man City. Cast your minds back to when Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic first joined Manchester United. They were ripped apart, especially in their first game at Man City. If I’m right in recalling, Evra was dragged off at half-time to spare further embarrassment. They haven’t turned out too bad now, have they? I wonder how Torres’ doubters would react if the striker fired them to their first ever Champions League win. Probably with the old anecdote “I always said he’d do a job for them.” Whatever the case, I’d put good money on the former Anfield idol being back to his best soon. Maybe not this season, but certainly come August.
Now I come to the most recent of events. Arsenal overcame a brilliant Barcelona side the other night, and for that, I congratulate them. But can I remind everyone that it is only a job half done. In fact, with that all-important away goal, I’d still have the Catalan giants as favourites. So it’s more a job quarter done, really. They always score at the Nou Camp, meaning Arsenal have to do the same. It’s still an uphill task, and that’s being generous. I take nothing away from the result, but I’d also like to point out a couple more things. If Arsenal are as good as everyone says they are, why are we all so excited that they beat Barcelona? Arsene Wenger would have us believe that they can win the Champions League outright, so surely they would need to beat the best?
It’s a radical approach I know, but stick with me on this on. Maybe, we trust David Moyes to continue to maximise the minimal potential at Everton and let him bring his side back up the Premier League where they now belong. Why not give Torres a little longer than two games before we allow him to go and play ‘heads and volleys’ with Shevchenko and Adrian Mutu on that football scrapheap. And as far as Arsenal’s ‘great’ victory is concerned, call me a pessimist but can we wait until they’ve actually made it into the next round at least, before we start comparing them to the all-time best football team?
I don’t mean to rain on the parade of English football, but I feel that someone should provide a forecast at least before the heavens open and catch us all off guard. The Premier League has never looked so good, and the success our teams are having in Europe is great to see. But before we all go buying t-shirts with ‘Tottenham v Arsenal – Wembley 2011’ on, can we all just gain a little perspective?
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Want to join me in bringing people to their senses? Follow me on Twitter @Joino
Real Sociedad’s hopes of a European berth have taken another blow after they fell 2-1 at Deportivo La Coruna in Monday’s lone La Liga match.Sociedad have taken just one point from their past three league outings, following a 1-1 draw at home with Levante and a 4-1 loss at Espanyol, and came undone at the hands of an improved Deportivo at the Riazor, who stretched their unbeaten run in La Liga to six fixtures.Substitute striker Riki, who was introduced in the 13th minute to replace the injured Nouioui Lassad, looked lively in the first half and produced a brilliant finish to put Deportivo ahead in the 41st minute.Diego Colotto nodded a free kick towards Riki near the penalty spot, and the Tunisian turned and fired an acrobatic volley beyond Sociedad custodian Claudio Bravo.There was more pain to come in the second half as Adrian stretched the hosts’ lead in the 57th minute, the former Spain Under-21 international threading his shot through Bravo’s legs after being put into the clear by Michel’s sublime through ball.Socieded forward Imanol Agirretxe kept the contest lively by pulling a goal back for the visitors in the 65th minute, but their efforts to find an equaliser were thwarted by Deportivo goalkeeper Aranzubia.Deportivo rise to 13th on the table, four points clear of the drop zone with 11 games left in the season, while Sociedad remain ninth and five points adrift of the Europa League places.
Newcastle eased their relegation worries but intensified Wolverhampton?s with a 4-1 win at St James? Park.The home side had the first chance after just five minutes after Joey Barton was fouled by George Elokobi in his own half. The midfielder picked himself up to float in a deep free kick that Mike Williamson headed towards the bottom corner only for Wayne Hennessey to palm the ball away.
Hennessey was in the right place at the right time again, as Barton found Kevin Nolan with another free kick but the captain?s header was directed straight at the Wolves stopper.
Hennessey was finally beaten on 22 minutes after Williamson’s free kick from well inside his own half was flicked on by Ameobi to find Kevin Nolan, who ghosted between both centre halves and poked the ball through the goalkeeper?s legs.
Newcastle doubled their lead just before half-time when Peter Lovenkrands crossed from the left and Ameobi rose highest to power home a header.
The hosts had a pair of chances to kill the game off after the interval. Barton’s shot from six yards was deflected wide, and Lovenkrands hit the post from a tight angle after going around Hennessey.
Lovenkrands did not have to wait much longer to get his name on the scoresheet, however. Fabricio Coloccini did well to steal the ball on the halfway line before feeding Barton, who crossed for the Dane to complete the move.
Wolves found a way back into the game on the hour mark, with England winger Matt Jarvis crossing for Sylvain Ebanks-Blake on the edge of the six yard box to steer past Steve Harper.
But it was a case of too little too late, as Newcastle added insult to injury with a fourth goal in injury time by Jonas Gutierrez.
With all the foreign superstars scattered among Premiership clubs it’s refreshing to see young British footballers being thrust into first team action throughout the league. There’s no better baptism than having the opportunity to pit your wits against the likes of Gerrard, Terry, Vidic and Fabregas. It’s exactly what a young professional needs in his quest for a successful career. More and more gifted young players are coming off the academy conveyor belts throughout the league and, as far as Newcastle United are concerned, the latest addition to this trend is Shane Ferguson.
Ferguson, now a full Northern Ireland international, started his career at his hometown club Derry City, before joining Newcastle’s youth academy in 2007 as a 16 year old. Ferguson made his first team debut last August in a League Cup encounter with Accrington Stanley. He has only featured four more times since then, most recently as an impressive substitute in place of Jose Enrique against Everton and Stoke. With the Spaniard’s participation in the impending fixture with Wolves in doubt Ferguson could yet be called into action for the crunch clash on Saturday. Once more, Enrique’s future at the club is currently in limbo amidst rumours he is waiting until the Magpies assure their Premiership status before entering negotiations on a new contract. It is also rumoured that Kenny Daglish is monitoring Enrique’s situation; Ferguson’s time may well be nigh.
Regardless if Ferguson steps into any potential breach left by Enrique this summer, going on his latest cameo performances he appears to have the ability to materialise into a fan’s favourite in the North East. Ferguson produced the only real memorable moment of any significance as far as Toon fans were concerned in the 4-0 drubbing at The Britannia. He announced himself to the Geordie faithful with a superb dribble in which he deceived three Stoke players before placing his shot into the grateful arms of Asmir Begovic. If the young Irishman can reproduce moments of magic of that ilk on a regular basis then his prospective future in the famous black and white stripes appears bright.
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Former Newcastle left back John Beresford was part of Kevin Keegan’s entertainers in the ’90s and he knows the attributes required to be a success at St James’ Park. In an interview with The Evening Chronicle Beresford was optimistic about Ferguson’s potential. He was quoted as saying “Shane’s got pace and movement, he works the ball and likes to take people on, one-on-one. With all of that at his disposal I think he could go a lot further in the game.” Whether or not you rate Beresford’s opinion as credible or not is a matter of choice, but what is true is that Ferguson has caught the eye on Tyneside recently and he may well be one to look out for.
Newcastle’s academy isn’t distinguished with producing an array of stars, and when placed alongside academies such as West Ham’s and Manchester United’s it is outshone. Andy Carroll, Shola Ameobi and Steven Taylor are the only notable products of the academy in the last decade that I can recollect, this isn’t a great return and one the club may well need to address. So does the early promise shown by Ferguson represent a change to this habit? Well that remains to be seen. Ferguson has only represented the first team on five occasions so we can only speculate on whether or not he will progress into a first team regular.
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In my opinion the early promise of one player isn’t enough evidence to suggest that there is a high calibre of top quality youngsters waiting in the wings at Newcastle. Nor does it confirm or deny that Shane Ferguson will have a bright future at the club, or indeed in the game. What is evident is that the youngster has raised a few eyebrows on Tyneside with his performances and any future he has in the game is down to his own hard work, commitment and desire.
The first episode of The Football FanCast is now LIVE! Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock and Gary ‘Philishave’ O’Reilly present a brand new weekly podcast that brings a whole new sound to football.
Drawing on their vast experience as ageing ex-players who were quite famous for a while, Ruddock and O’Reilly hold a magnifying glass over the important issues in the game, such as whether a kick in the shins is more painful than giving birth, and the mysterious movements of Phil Neville.
With guest appearances from stars of stage and screen, the Ruddock and O’Reilly podcast adds up to a half hour of unmissable football stuff.
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Our first show features special guest Dan Hipgrave, guitarist with the recently reformed Toploader, whose new single ‘A Balance to All Things’ is released on 6th June.
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If you have any questions for the team email them to [email protected]
Listen to the first show right now as Dan discusses Tour antics, Razor reads poetry and there’s some footy thrown in too!
Eredivisie strugglers Willem II won for the first time in eight matches as they stunned AZ Alkmaar 2-1 on Saturday.Having conceded 17 goals in their last three matches, John Feskens’ squad entered the game with little confidence against an AZ side who sit fourth and are battling it out for a place in Europe.
But an early goal was just what Willem II needed, with Andreas Lasnik’s fifth-minute effort giving the hosts an early lead.
Kolbeinn Sigthorsson equalised for AZ on the half-hour mark, but Lasnik was determined to be the difference, turning provider for Evgeniy Levchenko to score the winner after 62 minutes.
AZ defender Hector Alfredo Moreno was sent off in the dying stages as Willem II celebrated just their third win of the season.
Mads Junker made it five goals in two games after he snared a double in Roda JC’s 5-1 win over NAC Breda.
Junker joined Jimmy Hempte and Morten Skoubo as first-half scorers for the victors, although Joonas Kolkka pulled one back for NAC on the stroke of half-time.
But Junker’s second – from the spot – was then followed by Anouar Hadouir’s goal 11 minutes later which sealed the win, with Roda JC having now scored 19 goals in their last five matches as they have risen to fifth on the table.
In other matches, strikes from Everton and Willy Overtoom gave Heracles a 2-0 home win against De Graafschap while a late Ruud Boymans equaliser ensured VVV Venlo shared the points with Heerenveen in a 2-2 draw.
My columns seem to be as sporadic as Arsenal’s form so far. So I’ll be polite and cognisant enough to request your forgiveness in advance for my impending hypocrisies.
However, it is extremely difficult to bask in the glory of Sunday’s unexpected and ill-timed victory without highlighting some extraordinary events that took place on the fastest growing area for unsolved mysteries, the Emirates football pitch.
Championship winners Newcastle gave the impression the chairman received inspiration for youth development from the early 90′s film California Man when they came to town. Featuring a thawed out caveman in a forward position, whose instructions were to idly slump around the penalty area hoping Joey Barton (whose party tricks include stubbing lit cigars in people’s eyes as the midfielder himself has admitted to) could land the ball on his hairy head. The Geordies returned from the capital with all three points. We have seen newly promoted West Brom turn up and make us look like Premier League newcomers, and given that a team, who remained undefeated throughout the course of a season and were then dubbed ‘The Invincibles’, the unthinkable happened on the 20th of November when Spurs stole a victory from the jaws of defeat, you could understand why this team may be alluded to as ‘The Unmentionables’.
The laws of science and theories of logic continued to be defied on the 105 x 68 metre long lawn with the players unable to defeat Leeds, yet shocking current La Liga champions Barcelona. More recently, three consecutive draws at our home ground against varied opposition would have Sherlock Holmes scratching his head and wishing to return to his bee farm.
Many journalists and pundits claim to have the answers to all of these mysterious events, but their ripostes are as inaccurate as they are somnolent.
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Sunday afternoon saw the world’s first live broadcast of a spirit possession as Arsene Wenger sent on Andrey Arshavin inhabited by the ghost of Andy Linighan. Where exactly did those half a dozen, precisely timed, sliding tackles come from?
This season I have half expected to wake up in the morning and sit down for breakfast only to be rudely interrupted by the Russian’s mug-shot on my milk carton. He’s been missing for such a long period. Between our qualified Fashion Designer, Gael Clichy, and any number of midfield players, a mini Bermuda Triangle had started to appear in Islington. Having gone missing for so long some conspiracy theorists claim that these players will turn up in countries such as Italy and Spain after the summer wearing the colours of other clubs, although they are eternally grateful for Arsenal’s role in their personal development, it is time they moved on to win trophies.
It’s an underwhelming, and ultimately, an exasperating feeling that is becoming all too familiar to Gooners worldwide. Despite this, any talk of overhauling the squad are at least premature and more probably further from the truth than Szczesny’s kicks are further from a red shirt. Until any activity occurs and we have some evidence disclosed, all this talk is that of Apocalyptic folk reading from ancient and unidentified Maya text ignoring previous attestation and instead living for crisis.
So while Mulder and Scully would have hours of fun studying a montage of Arsenal’s very own X-Files, and former professionals will continue to get paid for recycling the same tiring blurbs, would it surprise anyone if we were in the same position next year?
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I’m not sure what my point is in all of this. I know I had one to begin with but once I get going, what starts as a well planned piece, very quickly deteriorates into a one sided ramble. Something goes wrong between my brain producing thoughts and those ideas being processed in Notepad. I guess it’s another case for the crew of Fringe. Till next time…
Article courtesy of Gavin Connolly at Gunnersphere
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Listen to the latest episode of our award nominee podcast – The Football FanCast. – Featuring Razor Ruddock, Gary O’Reilly and King Jacks! Don’t forget to help Razor and O’Reilly become award winners in the 2011 EPL Awards
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger looks set to make Blackburn defender Christopher Samba his first signing of the Summer, according to the Daily Star.
The Congolese international has enjoyed a successful spell at Blackburn since his move from Hertha Berlin in January 2007 and played in 36 of Rovers’ League games this season.
Arsenal were also heavily linked with the player in January and Samba had been stripped of the club captaincy following his response to the rumours. With a January approached in the region of £6 million rebuffed, Wenger looks like making an increased offer of around £10 million.
Arsenal have struggled defensively this season with Belgium captain Thomas Vermaelen missing most of the campaign through injury and a commanding centre back is apparently high on Wenger’s shopping list.
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Chelsea and Spurs were also rumoured to be watching the player earlier in the year but, with neither to make a move yet, it seems Arsenal could be leading the race for his signature.