Sunderland fans are not happy with Chris Coleman’s comments about their home form.
Speaking after yet another home defeat on Tuesday, Coleman seemed optimistic about the game at QPR this weekend solely because it isn’t at home.
“We have another game in 4 days, maybe it is good it is away from home because we do not perform here,” the Welshman said.
Coleman’s side showed all their worst qualities against Villa on Tuesday night, allowing Lewis Grabban to score from a failed clearance before letting James Chester nod home in first half stoppage time to double the lead.
The hosts showed little signs of life before conceding the third goal, prompting shouts of “you’re not fit to wear the shirt” from the home fans.
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Three-nil did not flatter Aston Villa, and the home form simply cannot continue if Sunderland are to stay up. The Black Cats have won just twice at home in the league all season.
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The final home game of the season is against promotion favourites Wolves, but Preston, Sheffield Wednesday, Norwich and Burton Albion all make trips to the Stadium of Light before then. While none of these are easy fixtures, they are certainly winnable.
Sunderland fans have been reacting to Coleman’s comments on Twitter, and they are not best pleased…
Garry Monk took over as Swansea City manager last season after the departure of Michael Laudrup.
He was seen as a temporary solution to stabilise the club whilst a more permanent solution was sought. Since then, however, he has gone on to make quite a name for himself in a short space of time and looks like he fits well into life as a Premiership manager, with statistics suggesting he is doing a better job already than his Dane predecessor.
Last Saturday’s gritty draw at Sunderland took Swansea to ten points — a quarter of the way to the initial target of 40 — after only six league games. At the same stage last season, Laudrup’s side had only seven points on the board. And the season before that when Brendan Rodgers was in charge of their first season in the top flight they had five points at the same stage of the season.
Much is made in football about how vital managerial experience is before taking on a Premier League team with favour being shown to those who have been in management for a long period of time than a young, newly retired ex-player taking charge of a former club.
On the whole, this opinion tends to be correct given that in recent seasons, those who have not long hung up their football boots and gone straight into managing a Premiership team do not tend to be very successful.
Alan Shearer had a spell in the Newcastle hot-seat as emergency cover but could not stop them from being relegated. Gianfranco Zola had a very bad spell in charge of Premiership outfit West Ham with a severe lack of managerial experience and was was very soon out of his depth, failing to hold on to his job. Paulo Di Canio was another young manager who came into Premiership football too quickly and was soon out of his depth with Sunderland.
So what sets Garry Monk aside from the rest? Much has to be said of the romance associated with a former player taking charge of his beloved club, with mixed results. Billy Bonds, a much loved legend and hero at West Ham, was turned on by the fans after a poor managerial spell, which shows even the most loved of players might not have the same luck as a manager.
One has to admire Monk for his passion and grit. He displays a determination to succeed that is infectious throughout his whole club and is reflected by his players. Swansea remain aware of their real club status among the bigger boys in the Premiership with no illusions of grandeur, yet they play with a lot of confidence and gusto, often showing a winning mentality and a lack of fear that is rare to see from the so-called “smaller” sides.
Monk has the black and white colours of Swansea running in his veins after a ten year playing career for the Swans. He was established as a long serving player who had seen the club rise like a phoenix from the ashes, on the brink of extension to the giddy heights of the top flight of English football.
He saw it all and was involved heavily in most of the ups and downs at the Welsh side. This is what sets him apart from the rest. This new managerial position is more than just a day job to Monk, it is his passion, his life and his soul. Having seen the struggle to get the Swans up to where they are now, with a solid base of great football, stable finances and a decent squad to build on, he is determined to prove the doubters wrong and take his club up to the next level.
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Some people will always pencil Swansea in to the relegation favourites pigeon hole despite the fact they have steered clear of any type of serious relegation dog-fight since their arrival three seasons ago.
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We can all agree that the job of refereeing a football match is a difficult one; a task that will only get trickier the higher up the football ladder you climb, while coping with all of the external pressures must take a very thick skin. It is not an enviable task in the slightest, yet there have been several big Premier League games this season which have been ruined by poor officiating, with many match officials choosing to rule by the letter of the law rather than taking into account the mitigating factors which had led to the incident.
Having sympathy for the nearly impossible job that referees up and down the country have each and every weekend and slamming them for the poor decisions they make would seem to be a contradictory stance to take, but it’s one that the vast majority of us fall into. Obviously, you get plenty of former players in the studio on TV with an even looser grasp of the laws than most fans, with Jamie Redknapp in particular only believing it counts as a deliberate handball if you happen to be looking at the ball at the exact time of the infringement, which is baffling to say the least.
The benefit of hindsight is often being used as a stick to beat officials with, as if after Graeme Souness has seen a touch and go decision from eight different angles can confidently claim that the referee has ‘had a shocker there’. This retrospective school of thinking has quickly altered and distorted the way we view incidents, but the men in black out on the pitch get just one chance to view an issue and split-seconds to make a judgement call. By its very nature, simply due to the pace of the game, mistakes will be made, and often. Calls of bias or ‘unfair treatment’ are commonplace among the managing fraternity as a tool to distract attention elsewhere rather than focus on their own deficiencies.
Nevertheless, aside from the sort of close calls which it often takes several angles and umpteenth viewings to come to any sort of definitive decision, there are those which are so obvious that even in real time, from a stand a considerable distance away from the pitch, look simple to adjudge, but are given a baffling decision.
For example, Gareth Bale has already been booked three times this season for diving. Of the three incidents, two of them were perhaps fouls on the Tottenham winger, with one just a flat-out poor decision which saw the call go against him simply down to his theatrics. He has a reputation as a diver now, and rightly so after his swan lake impression for a penalty against Arsenal last season, but some officials appear to be letting that influence their judgements.
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There are several grey areas with this, because ‘simulation’ does not just take into account diving. For example, during the dull 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and Manchester City last month, Mario Balotelli was cautioned for diving by Chris Foy after he grabbed the ball 30 yards from goal and charged towards the edge of the box, before seemingly flinging himself into David Luiz’s elbow to try and earn a free kick in a dangerous position.
What exactly was Luiz supposed to do differently in that situation? Balotelli had already made his mind up to make a deliberate attempt to ‘earn’ the free kick. Nevertheless, the outcry that the Italian was then booked was hysterical to say the last. According to the Laws of the Game: “A player must be cautioned for unsporting behaviour if (he) attempts to deceive the referee by feigning injury or pretending to be fouled.” While a booking may have been harsh, the decision was correct. The context was that the situation was pre-judged, therefore can be considered cheating as such and under the bracket of simulation.
However, turn your attentions back to a different encounter at Stamford Bridge just a few weeks previously, the 3-2 game between the hosts and Manchester United, and Mark Clattenburg came to a very different conclusion. There was contact on Torres, and while the Spaniard went down easily under Jonny Evans’ challenge, the decision to similarly award him a second yellow card for simulation, completely ignoring the pace and tempo at which the match was being played, let alone the context of the scoreline, magnitude of the teams involved and what impact it would have on a huge game and he was clearly wrong. Surely it would have been better to award the free kick but not the yellow for the sake of the rest of the match as a spectacle?
Two broadly similar incidents of a player anticipating contact and using it to their advantage, both players were handed a yellow card, yet for some reason it just feels wrong. It’s contradictory to complain about the inconsistency in refereeing when tribalism and partisanship is at the very heart of the game, leading observers such as myself to complain about the very consistency we so crave.
It’s idealistic to think that games of importance will not be marred by poor decision-making in the future, with Liverpool on the receiving end of some truly terrible calls with concerns to penalties awarded for and against them this season. These things do not balance themselves out over the course of a season, that is little more than a well-worn and quite frankly tired cliche.
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The argument often put forward is that ex-professionals need to get more involved with refereeing the game, but for anyone that’s watched Soccer Saturday or Match of the Day will tell you, they rarely ever know the rules themselves (I’m looking at you here, Paul Merson). They confuse experience with knowledge. Plenty of them aren’t fit to be pundits, let alone match officials. The current system has its flaws, and idealists will always crave consistency or cry wolf when it doesn’t benefit them.
Decisions will always go against your side and sometimes the problem is the rule itself rather than the official in question (red card for every last-man offence, yellow card for removing your shirt during a goal celebration, the lack of definition over two-footed challenges). With that in mind, while following the Laws of the Game to the letter is important for the vast majority of incidents, like the two mentioned above, sometimes coming to the same conclusion is not necessarily the right result. It’s a tricky job pleasing us all, eh?
Leeds United fans in the Transfer Tavern will want to see a number of transfers happen this summer following the arrival of Marcelo Bielsa as manager.
The Chilean was appointed last week as the new man in charge of the Elland Road outfit and the locals will be hoping his name and experience can help take the Whites back into the Premier League.
The Yorkshire outfit know that they will need a number of additions this summer in order to have any chance of making that a possibility and have been heavily linked with a number of attackers as they look to add to their firepower.
Matej Vydra is one of the names that has been mentioned over the past couple of weeks and a number of the locals have been wondering whether anything could happen for the Derby County man.
According to Phil Hay, who is the chief football writer for the Yorkshire Evening Post, there has been some progress, however, it does appear there could still be some way to go.
It is believed the wage demands will not be a problem for the Czech Republic international but rather the transfer fee, with Derby asking for around £11million to let the deal happen.
Landlord’s Verdict
The Leeds fans in the Tavern will be encouraged that there has been progress about a deal with the prolific goalscorer as they look to add an attacking threat to their game.
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Vydra was crowned the league’s top goalscorer with 21 strikes to his name and the locals will want to see him doing his thing at Elland Road in the very near future.
As reported by The Scottish Sun, a former FC Zenit stalwart expects the Russians to be able to overcome the challenge of Celtic in UEFA Europa League action this evening.
What’s the story?
Aleksei Igonin made over 150 appearances for the Russian outfit between 1998 and 2003 so is more than familiar with the expectations of the visitors to Celtic Park.
However, the retired player’s belief that Zenit can deal with what Celtic have to offer perhaps highlights an over-confidence in the Russian camp that the Hoops can exploit after kick-off.
As quoted by The Scottish Sun, Igonin said of tonight’s encounter:
I have no doubts the Scots will endlessly load high balls in from the wings in their own half. So it is important Zenit stand up to this onslaught early on. But I am certain Zenit will score at least once. Aleksandr Kokorin is in great form, but the best player at the moment is Emiliano Rigoni. He is a constant danger on the right wing and is capable of producing dangerous crosses. He is key to Zenit getting through.
It’s clear that Igonin may not have seen much of Celtic in action recently given his belief Brendan Rodgers’ will be loading high balls forward and perhaps it’s a misconception that plays into the Hoops’ hands.
Will Zenit be ill-prepared for Rodgers’ possession-heavy approach to football, something he has refused to compromise regardless of the level of opponent so far in his Celtic career?
Zenit’s dangers
One thing Igonin is certainly right about is the key men that Celtic will need to stop if they’re to have hope of progressing to the last 16 of the competition.
Aleksandr Kokorin, who has scored at Celtic Park before with Dinamo Moscow, is showing a lethal touch this season with 18 goals in all competitions. That’s especially true in European competition where he’s netted eight times in just nine appearances.
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The other big danger is Emiliano Rigoni, who averaged a goal every 77 minutes in the Europa League group stages this season, netting six times in total and also providing two assists, both of which came away from home.
The pair scored 11 of Zenit’s 17 goal haul in the last stage, a team total that was more than any other side in the competition.
Can the Hoops defence raise their game and stop this deadly duo?
Roberto Martinez says that the Europa League is an exciting challenge for his Everton side and one that will help his players to progress.
After narrowly missing out on a spot in the Champions League, the Toffees are gearing up for the continent’s second biggest club competition, with German side Wolfsburg set to take to the turf at Goodison Park tomorrow night.
While a number of managers – including Jose Mourinho in the run up to his side’s recent game – have slated the Europa League for it’s demanding Thursday night fixtures and long trips, Martinez is at the other end of the spectrum in regards to the tournament.
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The Spaniard says that it’s honour to be involved in games against big sides and that the extra fixtures and new challenges will help his squad to build on the development they made last season:
“We are very excited, we have been working hard for 12 months to achieve this opportunity.” He is quoted by The Mirror.
“The Europa League is a great competition. It’s where we need to be, testing ourselves. The only way to fulfil our potential is by playing games, like the one we are going to have tomorrow.
“The draw has been really kind in bringing two phenomenal football teams of the quality of Lille and Wolfsburg to Goodison.
“It’s a phenomenal challenge for us.
“But that’s what we want at Everton. That’s the expectation we want to bring to ourselves. We embrace playing in Europe and it’s what we need to fulfil our potential as a squad.
“I know the potential here is huge and in order to fulfil that, we have to play games like this one we are going to be facing tomorrow.”
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Everton are in Group H alongside Wolfsburg, Lille and Russian side FC Krasnodar.
Two games played and two games drawn is probably the best start for a new manager.
Nobody gets unreasonably high expectations and nobody gets on your back either. So after a last minute equaliser at Bristol City, Michael Appleton can get back on the training pitch again knowing that things are going just fine.
After a frantic start as Blackpool manager, coming in so soon after Holloway’s departure and just days before his first game, Appleton seems to have settled well and we saw his first tweaks to the side on Saturday.
Two changes were forced due to injuries to Taylor-Fletcher and Matty Phillips, but another change was not forced and was perhaps the most telling. Neal Eardley made way for Ian Evatt, with Baptiste moving to right back. For many, Eardley is a scapegoat at Blackpool so his absence wasn’t too surprising. But bringing Evatt back and moving Baptiste out wide was a shock. Baptiste has been considered Blackpool’s best centre half for the last few years, even picking up the North West Championship Player of The Year last week, but Appleton either likes what he has seen of Evatt, or has marked the right back slot as a problem area and trusts Baptiste to fill in there.
Either way, it seemed to work as Blackpool limited the home side’s chances to almost none and would have kept a clean sheet but for a much disputed penalty award. For what it’s worth, I thought that although it was a soft penalty to give, it is one you see given as the player goes down easily under an unneccesary challenge from the keeper.
Thankfully, things were evened up in the 90th minute as the referee then awarded Blackpool a soft penalty of their own as a Bristol City defender was adjudged to have handled a cross, and Tom Ince converted to bring a point back to the seaside.
With both penalties cancelling each other out, we could call this a 0-0 rather than a score draw. And I think that is exactly what Appleton was looking for. A clean sheet. A base to build on and give the defence some confidence. That was the first and most important thing that the new manager had to do.
In truth, although he has taken charge of a great bunch of talented players, aside from that Appleton has been left with a bit of a mess really. Ian Holloway obviously wasn’t committed to the job this year and has left behind a strange work ethic and a lot of players who are unhappy to be left in the shadows.
Ian Evatt has had a few things to say this week which shed some light on just what was going on at Blackpool recently. He has stated how the club had ‘become stale’ under Holloway and highlighted how little defensive work was done in training. In fact, how little actual training was done. He said “We hadn’t really done much training in the last couple of months. We had numerous days off, anything from two to five or six at a time. We are an honest bunch of lads who just want to work hard. At times we weren’t doing that. That’s probably why we had the bad spell.”
That’s a pretty revealing interview and goes some way to explaining why things went from fantastic to average so quickly under Holloway. As fans, we knew about the repeated days off, and during a bad spell it became a source of frustration, but nobody knew that the situation was as bad as it was. Six days off at a time is utterly ridiculous for a set of professional players. Initially, I thought Holloway was being a nice, understanding manager by allowing players to recharge, but as it went on and the holiday days multiplied, it became obvious that the manager was actually giving himself time off to visit his family or, as it appeared, other clubs.
But with a new manager comes a fresh start and the players seem to be enjoying having a new man around. A new training regime that consists of, well, training to start with, but also defending. This new way of work includes higher-intensity training to work on fitness and also keeping an eye on what the players eat afterwards. Although these things sound pretty standard, they were obviously lacking and hopefully the new manager can help bring a bit of discipline back to the camp and start an upturn in fortunes.
After just one full week in training his side managed to go a full game without conceding from open play, so it obviously had an effect. And he has a rare second full week in a row to work with the players some more and find the right balance between a solid defence and the attacking flair that this side is known for.
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It’s not yet known what Appleton’s remit is yet. Would we be happy with a steady top half finish, or does he pick up where we started the campaign harbouring dreams of automatic promotion?
We will find out soon enough but the first win or loss will be crucial as it will shape the views of the fans. For example, a win on Saturday will mean we are unbeaten under Appleton, yet a loss would mean we are without a win. Two very different sounding options resting on the first non-draw of Appleton’s reign.
But that is all for the future. For now, Michael Appleton has started to turn things around at Blackpool and has made a good start on his first objective of fixing a leaky defence and bringing back some hard work to the training pitch.
Newcastle United fans have voted overwhelmingly in favour of signing Chelsea winger Kenedy instead of Andros Townsend after they were linked with moves for both players recently.
The Guardian reported last week that the Magpies were interested in a £20m move for Crystal Palace winger Townsend, with The Evening Chronicle quoting a similar fee for Kenedy this summer.
That figure would make either player Newcastle’s record signing, but the St James’ Park side know they need to spend significantly in the transfer window if they’re to build a squad that can improve on their 10th placed finish last term.
Both players have spent similar amounts of time at the club, but for Newcastle fans there is only one choice when it comes to who they should sign, and it isn’t 26-year-old Townsend.
A massive 92% of respondents to a poll we published at the weekend believe that they should make a move for Kenedy instead of the 13-cap England international.
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Every so often, football clubs post tweets looking back at past wins or major transfers.
Today, Arsenal’s social media team posted a throwback picture of Thierry Henry’s goal celebration against Real Madrid.
The Gunners became the first English team to win at the Bernabeu thanks to the Frenchman’s strike in the first leg of their last-16 clash in the Champions League.
The win was made even more dramatic as Henry found the goal in the 93rd minute of the encounter against the star-studded Galacticos.
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The retired striker is a well-loved figure at Arsenal as he helped the team win two Premier League titles, three FA Cups and scored 228 goals during an eight-year spell at the North London club.
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Fastforward 12 years from that match against Real Madrid, and Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal team are now competing in the Europa League having failed to finish in the top four last season.
Fan reacting to the Twitter post expressed sadness that the glory days are far behind them.
It’s time for the footballing world to weep a collective tear, as perhaps the greatest World Cup of all time has come to a bitter-fought end. In case you’ve had your head stuck in a vase for the last 24 hours, Germany beat Argentina by a 1-0 scoreline in the final yesterday evening.
But we at Football FanCast are not prepared to relinquish the memories of Brazil 2014 just yet. Perhaps we are too needy, perhaps we are seeking closure, perhaps we simply can’t accept reality, but resultantly, we’ve conjured up this list of the FIVE World Cup finalists Manchester United would love to – and realistically could – sign this summer.
So join in our reminiscence of an event that happened less than a full day ago while also discussing Louis van Gaal’s summer transfer plans.
[ffc-gallery]CLICK ON ANGEL DI MARIA TO REVEAL
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MATS HUMMELS
Following the bosman departures of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, Manchester United have been linked with Germany international Mats Hummels yet again this summer:
The 25 year-old was one of the stars of Brazil 2014, netting Mannschaft’s second goal of the tournament as well as the winner against France in the quarter-finals:
It caps off a campaign of continually strong form for the commanding centre-back, as detailed below:
The 33-cap international is famed for his ability to play out of the back and link-up with midfield, often leading to comparisons with Mannschaft legend Franz Beckenbauer, best represented by these attacking and passing statistics:
Here’s a vid showing Hummels’ impressive all-round game:
//www.youtube.com/embed/BitBv8B48UQ
The Metro claim talks to bring the defender to Old Trafford have already reached ‘advanced stages’, but other sources speculate interest from Barcelona could stand in the way:
ANGEL DI MARIA
//www.youtube.com/embed/G-nxcCsvDUQ?rel=0
Amid their desperate need for better quality out wide, Manchester United are reportedly considering a bid for Real Madrid’s Angel Di Maria:
The Argentina winger missed the World Cup final through injury, but netted this vital winner against Switzerland in the round of 16:
And only two players completed more dribbles than the Los Blancos star at Brazil 2014:
At club level, a surprise transition to more central role saw the 25 year-old finish up as La Lia’s top creator last season:
Whilst he also claimed the Man of the Match award in last term’s Champions League final.
The Express alleged a £48million bid last week, but recent speculation suggests United will be trumped to Di Maria’s signature by PSG:
SAMI KHEDIRA
Real Madrid appear prepared to offload Germany international Sami Khedira this summer and Manchester United have emerged as one of the more interested Premier League parties:
The 27 year-old missed the World Cup final after picking up an injury in the warm-up, but remained a vital performer for Die Mannschaft throughout the tournament, as detailed below:
And netted his country’s fifth against Brazil in their famous 7-1 semi-final victory:
Here’s some of the former Stuttgart star’s highlights for Real Madrid:
//www.youtube.com/embed/LfHD8yuihyQ
Khedira would certainly address Manchester United’s absence of quality in the middle of the park, but recent speculation suggests he’s about to join Arsenal:
BASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER
Another Germany midfielder known to be on the Old Trafford radar is Mannschaft centurion Bastian Schweinsteiger, following rumours earlier this summer that Pep Guardiola wants to axe the Bayern Munich veteran.
The Bavarians boss allegedly views the 29 year-old as too slow for his side’s new-found tica-taca style. But a Bundesliga, Champions League and now World Cup winner, Manchester United are more than prepared to take him off Guardiola’s hands:
The powerful midfielder put in a committed and bloodied performance during the World Cup final…
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…where he made four tackles and over 100 passes. There’s no doubting Schweinsteiger’s quality, just take a look at his Top Five Bundesliga goals:
//www.youtube.com/embed/gvkLo5-5TN8?rel=0
But the £25million-rated midfielder, despite allegedly enjoying a good relationship with Louis van Gaal, could be put off by a lack of Champions League football at Old Trafford.
MARIO GOTZE
Mario Gotze may have just scored the winning goal in a World Cup final, and quite a sterling effort it was. But things aren’t going quite so well at current club Bayern Munich, with the attacking midfielder struggling to impact following his controversial move from Borussia Dortmund last summer.
In May, he made his disappointment over a lack of first team football – Gotze made just 20 starts in the Bundesliga last season – public, and potential suitors across Europe are hardly in short supply. Manchester Evening news claims the Red Devils have revived their interest in the 22 year-old:
The Germany international is an impressive young talent, just take a look at some of his career-best strikes:
//www.youtube.com/embed/sZJkUFstMpc?rel=0
And despite struggling for game-time last season, Gotze still enjoyed strong form, as detailed below:
Capable of adopting virtually any position in attack and widely regarded as one of European football’s hottest prospects, the former Black-Yellows star would be a sensational addition for United.
But whether he’s prepared to quit on Bayern Munich after just a single season remains to be seen.