Bacary Sagna will be on the sidelines for around three months, as Arsenal have confirmed the full-back broke his leg against Tottenham on Sunday.
The full-back fell heavily in the 68th minute of The Gunners’ 2-1 defeat at White Hart Lane and had to be stretchered from the pitch.
With Sagna due to represent France in the upcoming international fixtures against Albania and Bosnia, the French Football Federation have confirmed the seriousness of the injury.
“The doctor of the France team, Fabrice Bryand, was informed by his Arsenal equivalent of a fracture to the right fibula of Bacary Sagna,” the statement reads.
“The player was hurt during his club’s 2-1 loss against Tottenham on Sunday. The defender will be operated on and is not expected to be available for three months.”
The news will be another blow to Arsene Wenger’s already struggling side, who are currently without Thomas Vermaelen, Jack Wilshere, Johan Djourou and Abou Diaby due to injury.
Youngster Carl Jenkinson replaced Sagna at the weekend, and now looks set to fill in at right back until the more senior man returns.
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Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Patrice Evra will play against Liverpool in the FA Cup on Saturday.
The meeting of the two Premier League heavyweights is the first time the sides have gone head to head since Luis Suarez racially abused the France international back in October, with a heated atmosphere expected at Anfield at the weekend.
Despite reports that the full back would sit out the trip, Ferguson has confirmed he will play, and feels he is a great choice for captain whilst Nemanja Vidic is out injured.
“I don’t see why there is any need for that, to be honest,” he told Mirror Football when asked if Evra would be rested.
“I think one of your players who has been playing all the time should be in the forefront to be captain, and that was the case with Patrice.
“He’s a very popular player with a good personality, which is important to have if you’re captain of a club like ours. He’s very friendly and has got a good humour about him, but he’s also quite a determined lad.
“Rio would have been captain if he hadn’t had all those inconsistencies in terms of his injuries.
“Patrice has got different qualities to Rio. He’s not as voluble, but certainly influences a lot of things, and his own team performance, for instance, is very good,” he concluded.
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Junior Hoilett’s days at Blackburn Rovers may be numbered as negotiations have reportedly ‘broken down’ or ‘stalled’.
The main sticking point seems to be a release clause that Blackburn want written into the new contract, similar to the £16.5m figure in Phil Jones’ that was activated by Manchester United in the summer.
The club claim that the player is close to signing a new deal at Ewood Park and deny he has turned any offers down.
But Hoilett and his advisers say they are not prepared to accept this new amendment. And that is the real crux of the issue; the player is out of contract in the summer and does not want to tie himself on a long term deal to a team that could well face a relegation struggle if he can just walk away at the end of this season.
As always, Tottenham are ‘monitoring the situation’. He is a versatile player with pace and power who can play on either wing, but given Spurs attacking options, the 21-year-old could face considerable bench time. If he did make the switch to White Hart Lane it is likely that the Canadian-born midfielder would be used as an impact player, and if he was picked up on a free he could well be worth a gamble.
But should a player who has only had one impressive season start looking for a move away? Blackburn especially will be hoping for some loyalty from a player they nurtured through their ranks into the Premier League.
Newcastle were linked with Hoilett in the summer, but Keane was able to persuade him to stay, unsurprisingly their name has resurfaced again.
Blackburn Rovers say they remain ‘calm’ over contract talks and that they are unaware of any firm interest from elsewhere.
The fortunes of both player and club are intertwined; If he can commit to the club and show he has the stomach for a relegation fight then Blackburn have a chance of staying in the Premier League, if their star player drags his heels fearing relegation then they may well be doomed already.
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Read more of Christopher Dyer’s articles at the excellent Transfer Tavern
Football chairmen hold a position of great power and therefore great responsibility yet it is amazing how often they abuse this power and ignore their responsibility. If you think Mike Ashley is a bad chairman, he’s not a patch on some of the spectacular meddlers to grace the boardrooms (and changing rooms) of Britain. A quick look around the leagues of British football brings up more tales of relentless interference, selfishness and stupidity than the premiership has kiss and tells.
There are two types of terrible chairmen. The first is the meddler. Some of these men are under the dangerous illusion that owning a football club suddenly qualifies them as a professional manager. Others just do what they want because they can. It’s their money and they’ll be damned if someone else gets to play with it.
The most high profile meddlers in British football are Flavio Briatore and Vladimir Romanov. Briatore has now relinquished his role as Q.P.R boss but was known to have dabbled in team selections and once ordered a substitution by phone from Malaysia. Romanov, the current chairman of Hearts, is currently working with his 9th manager since gaining ownership of the club in 2004. His involvement in team affairs is common knowledge with a succession of managers forced to fax their team selections to him on Friday morning and then field whatever team Romanov faxed back. He has essentially just worked his way through a string of puppet managers, unsurprisingly without great success.
Of the chairmen who actually took on the title of manger, here are two particularly fine examples: P.E. teacher and sports science enthusiast Michael Knighton nearly led Carlisle United to back to back relegations before he came to his senses and hired Nigel Pearson to rescue the club. And American Football coach Terry Smith led Chester City to a triumphant relegation fielding three captains at once in the process. One for offense, one for defense and one for midfield he reasoned.
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The other type of terrible chairman is the financial liability. The most famous of course is Peter Ridsdale. As Leeds chairman he gambled on Champions league success that wasn’t achieved and left the club with a debt of £103 million. Miraculously he stayed in the game and in 2010 left Cardiff with a debt of £66 million. Probably time to retire Peter.
In the lower leagues there have been numerous examples of unsavoury owners running clubs into the ground. However there has only been one example of the owner burning it to the ground. In 1995 Doncaster chairman Ken Richardson hired two men to burn down the main stand for insurance purposes. One of the men left their mobile phone at the scene and Richardson was sentenced to 4 years in prison.
It is surprising how many fraudsters and disreputable people manage to get their hands on football clubs. Anton Johnson owned two clubs (which is illegal), Rotherham and Southend, in the early 80’s and was found guilty of financial malpractice at both!
In a world where some Chairmen pick the team every week and burn down the stadium, the Premiership looks blessed with a fairly hands-off and honest bunch. The only problem the top tier chairmen really face is debt. Let’s hope they’ve learned from Ridsdale’s mistakes.
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Paul Scholes has never been one to speak to the press with any regularity. He was, throughout his Manchester United career, notoriously difficult to get hold of. Even Inside United, the club’s official magazine, would struggle to pin Scholes down for more than ten minutes, noting in its goodbye article to him that the midfielder would often schedule his interviews ten minutes before the start of training. Scholes wasn’t being stand-offish, selfish or rude; he is simply a very shy and retiring man who seems genuinely uncomfortable in front of a camera or a microphone.
Even after his greatest games for United, Scholes wouldn’t utter more than a couple of sentences to the TV reporters trying to squeeze a quote out of him. After watching Scholes rifle home the 40-yard thunderbolt that knocked Barcelona out of the 2007-08 Champions’ League, propelling United up for the final and setting himself a personal date with destiny after being suspended in 1999, I remember Scholes’ entire interview. “Yeah, wasn’t a bad hit… great game… lads did well.. looking forward to the final.” That was about it.
So it comes as some surprise to see Scholes featuring in this Sky Sports story, discussing the Carlos Tevez saga. (It also comes as a massive shock to find out he once made the same “mistake” as Tevez, albeit over a League Cup game, back in 2001.)
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In this interview, Scholes’ opinion, characteristically difficult to identify, appears to be that Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is making a mistake by excluding the Argentine from his first-team squad, on the basis that it would help the team. Perhaps that should come as little surprise, given that Scholes saw Sir Alex Ferguson time and again make decisions for the team’s benefit that flew in the face of logic and popular opinion – the sales of David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Roy Keane; the promotion of youngsters like Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo to the first team before many believed they were ready. Ferguson was rarely wrong.
On this occasion, though, Scholes’ pragmatism may well be incorrect. His line of thinking is obvious – if it benefits the team, Tevez should play; if it doesn’t, he shouldn’t. He points out that Tevez has been starved of football in recent weeks and that that will obviously have contributed to the striker’s sour mood. Tevez’ former teammate during his turbulent final months at Old Trafford, Scholes has experienced this situation first-hand.
But he is missing the point. Tevez has alienated himself from the City squad. He has inevitably offended and let down the very men with whom he should be closest – his teammates. He has infuriated his manager and the City fans; and to make matters worse, Tevez is refusing to apologise to the club and doesn’t appear to believe he was in the wrong.
Scholes may be right to suggest that City would be a better side with Tevez in their squad than without him. But, much as this will disappoint the former England international, this is not just about the football. It is about the club, its morals and its future. And Tevez is good for none of those.
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Stiliyan Petrov is going to enlist the help of Geoff Thomas as he looks to overcome Acute Leukaemia. The former England and Palace midfielder was diagnosed with the disease back in 2003 and has successfully fought the illness in the past nine years and can provide the Bulgarian with all the advice he needs to overcome what will be a tough six months ahead with various treatments.
Elsewhere in the news Sir Alex Ferguson has hailed the influence of Wayne Rooney on this United team; Jamie Carragher has called for more time for Kenny Dalglish to turn things round, while Juan Mata is convinced that silverware is in the offing for Chelsea.
Headlines
Sir Alex Ferguson has hailed the growing maturity and influence that Wayne Rooney is having on the Manchester United side – Guardian
Stiliyan Petrov has revealed that Fabrice Muamba has become a source of inspiration to him as he looks to fight Acute Leukaemia – Guardian
Arsene Wenger has accused some of his players for showing a poor attitude and hopes the defeat at Loftus Rd will serve as a wake-up call for his Arsenal team – Guardian
Jamie Carragher has pleaded with the Liverpool doubters to give Kenny Dalglish time to turn around the football club – Daily Telegraph
Juan Mata is convinced that Chelsea can win some silverware this season after an upturn in performances in recent weeks – Daily Telegraph
Harry Redknapp hopes the likes of Swansea aren’t a passing fancy and other clubs will continue to follow their style – Independent
Mario Balotelli was booed by his own supporters as he clashed with teammates at the Etihad Stadium – Daily Mail
Gary Neville has revealed that titles are won in the head at this stage of the season – Daily Mail
Tottenham are favourites to land Argentinian defender Julian Velazquez from Independiente – Metro
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Lukas Podolski has reportedly turned down Manchester United in favour of £11m move to Arsenal – Sun
Sir Alex Ferguson is fearful of Lionel Messi given the Argentine will only get better in the future – Mirror
Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish has admitted that his side are in danger of being dragged into a relegation scrap.
The Midlands club are currently sitting in 15th, five points above the bottom three, and the Scottish coach is concerned that like the team could be pulled back into the relegation battle.
“I don’t think I have ever not been worried this season,” he told Mirror Football.
“We have to look to get to at least 40 points. That is the target I’d be giving to the players and get to that target as quickly as possible.
“I think we could have been better with some of the points we have thrown away.
“But we have been weakened by injuries. Birmingham were also definitely significantly weakened after winning the Cup final – losing about five or six key players.
“That does make your job much harder without doubt. But I care, I am conscientious and try and leave no stone unturned.
“I am a deep thinker about things. I am concentrating on winning enough games to make sure Villa is OK,” he concluded.
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Villa are currently without long-term absentees Richard Dunne, Darren Bent and now captain Stiliyan Petrov.
Daniel Sturridge and Frazier Campbell are the latest players to be victim of racial abuse and both matters are being investigated by the FA. Campbell received an offensive tweet, while Sturridge faced abuse from supporters in Chelsea’s recent game against Genk. It is spiralling out of all control and is a massive blow to the Kick It Out campaign who have worked tirelessly to stamp racism out of the game.
Elsewhere in the news Arsene Wenger feels Arsenal can improve; Michael Owen faces a six week layoff, while Carlos Tevez remains AWOL in Argentina.
NEWS
Wenger feels Arsenal can improve
Sturridge the latest victim as Racism rears its head again
Venky’s dismiss talk that Blackburn are to be sold
Owen faces six week layoff
Terry focussed on England
Arsenal star on Real Madrid’s hit-list
Ancelotti urges Milan to raid Chelsea
Tevez still AWOL
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TRANSFER TALK
Barca coy on Bale interest – Sky Sports
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Liverpool join United and Real in hunt for Brazil’s latest wonder-kid Rodrigues – Daily Mail
Ancelotti urges Milan to grab Chelsea star – Mirror
Newcastle ready to make £2m swoop for in-form Scotland striker Rhodes – Daily Mail
There’s a lot of misinformation in the world, especially in football. Rumours, speculation and tabloid apologies hidden on page 27 two years after a story – it’s hard to know what’s true and what isn’t sometimes. But more prevalent are the generally held beliefs about certain aspects of our game. Here’s some beliefs I consider to be untrue. So that means that they are.
The Championship Is The Hardest League To Get Out Of
Surely it’s as easy/difficult as any other league? After all, three teams have to go up, so how can it be harder? It would only be harder if every other league had four or five teams going up. For this reason, the Conference is probably the hardest league to get out of, as fewer teams go up. Of course it depends on where any particular team’s journey has taken them prior to being in the Championship. Those teams relegated from the Premiership stand a better chance of getting out of the Championship (via promotion) because of the parachute payments they receive. If you’re promoted from League One, then you’ll probably be looking to consolidate. But then this is true of any league really – those that have come from the division above will probably have the better players and resources for a promotion push. Not that Southampton are struggling that much to try and get out of the Championship this season….
Tottenham Hotspur are the great entertainers
No, no, no. Nyet. Nien. Non. Nae. No. Of course it depends on your definition of “entertainers”, but the fact is that for the last two seasons they have scored fewer goals than Manchester City in total, and also split down have scored fewer goals at home and fewer goals away. They have conceded more too, both in total, and home and away, so maybe this counts as part of being great entertainers. Their record against the rest of the “Top 6” is terrible, their goal difference is 27 goals worse than Manchester City’s, 16 worse than Manchester United’s, they’ve scored fewer goals than “struggling” Arsenal. And yet journalist after journalist proclaims that they are playing the best football in the country.
There’s no doubt they are an entertaining team, due to their pace, and width, with a number of flair players who are comfortable on the ball. They are great entertainers – they are not THE great entertainers.
Decisions even out over the season
They don’t. It’s random. By pure chance your team’s decisions may even out – but the odds suggest they won’t, one way or the other. There’s no magical being, no football god that looks over matches to make sure teams get justice after a wrong-doing. There’s a devil in Sepp Blatter looking over us, but he doesn’t like the one thing that could even things out, namely video technology.
The various myths of the co-commentator (due to a fragile grasp on the rules of the game)
These are all wrong: contact means it must be a penalty; raised hands mean a red card; the referee should apply common sense; red cards ruin games; handball means a penalty; last man, so has to be red; he got some of the ball, therefore can’t be a foul.
Steve Bruce is a (remotely) good manager
Or many of the various other managers that come off the Old Trafford conveyor belt. Playing under Alex Ferguson does not naturally mean you’ll be a great manager. It does mean that various chairmen will think you are though, and continue to employ you whatever your track record. See also Bryan Robson and Roy Keane, to name but two.
Manchester United are stronger over the second half of the season
Well strictly speaking, there is some truth in this. But not as much as you might think. Since football began in 1992, United have averaged 40.5 points in the first half of seasons, and 42.3 points in the second half of seasons. So there is an increase in the second half, but it isn’t much really, under two points.
What this tells us more than anything perhaps is that they are consistent. And as much as they may or may not improve at the “business end” (yuk) of the season, it may be as much a case of them keeping going whilst those around them often falter (I’m looking at you Kevin Keegan). Of course you must also factor in points lost due to dead rubbers at the end of seasons, so there is an improvement, but it’s not a huge swing in form.
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Continued on Page TWO
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Good player on Youtube = good player in real life
With skilful editing, even Two Pints of Lager And A Packet of Crisps can look good on Youtube. OK, maybe that’s stretching things, but Georgios Samaras certainly looked the part.
Denis Law’s backheel goal relegated Manchester United in 1974
It didn’t – they were going down anyway, due to results elsewhere – but that doesn’t scan as well, sadly.
The Leeds side under Don Revie were a dirty side
A friend who would know far better than I (a kind way of saying he’s much older) says they were very much maligned, and not as dirty as often made out. The Chelsea side of that era however…..
Revie’s team were lazily labelled “Dirty Leeds”, a tag that still stirs resentment in Yorkshire. “It was amazing that Leeds kept a reputation in the rest of the country as a very hard team,” says Lord Harewood, the club’s president to the Telegraph’s Henry Winter in 2009.
“They tackled hard. They played to win but they were also tremendously good footballers. There were very few better players around than Allan Clarke. Or Johnny Giles. Or any of them really. Don resented the notion that Leeds were a dirty team. They were tough but not dirty. “
The Premiership Is The Most Exciting League In The World, Ever!
As the excellent Arsenal v Spurs match reached its climax, Gary Neville said: “You just don’t get games like this in La Liga, Serie A.”
Ah yes, the myth of the most exciting league in the world. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. It probably isn’t.
Either way, this season, Real Madrid have come from behind to win 6-2, 5-1, 4-2 and 4-1, AC Milan came from 3-0 down to beat Lecce 4-3, Juventus came from 2-0 down to draw 3-3 with Napoli (thank you football365.com). And the day before Neville’s comments: well, there was the small matter of Lyon 4 PSG 4. PSG equalized in the 90th minute by the way. The co-commentator was heard to say, “You wouldn’t get this score in the Belgian leagues….”
Newcastle fans love a number nine.
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I’m sure they do. But then so does everyone else. Have Newcastle fans really worshipped their star strikers more than any other club in the country? No, of course not.
The North East is a hotbed of football
I’m sure it is – but no more than some other parts of the country. There’s quite a lot of interest in football in our capital city too, and the middle section of the country, and I hear that there’s a mild smattering of good football in the north-west of England. Some of the fans are quite passionate about it too. But not as much as in Middlesbrough obviously.
Away goals count double
They really don’t. Ever.
Mario Balotelli
Mario Balotelli never let off fireworks in his bathroom (his friend did). He didn’t really drive round Manchester dressed as Santa Claus, handing out presents. He hasn’t really had 2000 parking tickets either. He probably hasn’t done a lot of things you think he has, crazy as he might well be. So the next time you see a crazy story about him, be it paragliding over Old Trafford dressed as Bananaman, or driving his car up the spirals at the Etihad stadium for a laugh (in reverse), statistically there is only a 27% chance it actually happened.
If Celtic and Rangers were in the Premier League, they’d struggle to stay up
They wouldn’t because they’d suddenly be a lot, lot richer, and as we all know, money brings success. Though considering Rangers’ current plight, maybe I’m being a bit presumptuous. Celtic and Rangers are potential cash-cows, but suffer somewhat because of poor television and commercial deals because they are big fish in a small pond. In a bigger pond they’d probably double their income in no time, and whist it would take time to build the team up and compete, I have little doubt they would be competitive in the Premier League before too long. Their home records would be pretty handy too.
And finally of course – ManchesterCity have killed football.
Manchester United have been rocked by an injury blow as captain Nemanja Vidic has been ruled out for the rest of the season. The Serbian ruptured his cruciate ligament in their Champions League defeat to Basle and the injury will undoubtedly force Fergie’s hand in the January transfer window.
Elsewhere in the news Dalglish slams the FA for double standards; Mancini eyes the double for City, while Jack Wilshere gives his backing to Arsene Wenger.
News
Milan still hopeful of Tevez deal
Dalglish slams FA for double standards
Manchester United suffer injury blow
Roberto Mancini targeting double
Wilshere gives his backing to Arsene Wenger
Coyle can handle Bolton criticism
Jol rules out Fulham bid for strike duo
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Transfer Talk
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Wiel fight you all the way for Gregory – Sun
Villa target Newcastle’s Guthrie – Mirror
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Tottenham lead Arsenal in chase for £10m Ajax defender Vertonghen – Daily Mail
Hammers out to Nic Chelsea star – Sun
Arsenal eye cut-price deal for Chelsea exile Alex – Daily Mail