Bolton Wanderers chairman Phil Gartside believes Owen Coyle is good enough to succeed in one of the game's top jobs.
Coyle has guided Wanderers to just one defeat in their first seven matches of the campaign after earlier in his career presiding over Burnley's unlikely promotion to the Premier League.
Gartside admitted:"Working with Owen is a pleasure. He's different to what we've had before. He's a young manager who wants to learn and I'm sure we'll have many years together. He's a good guy to work with.
"If he did get those kinds of accolades, then it means he's done really well at Bolton. I hope he does really well and, in five years' time, people are talking about him for other jobs because that means he's done really well with us.
"Owen deserves success because he's a hard-working guy who wants to learn and, if he thinks there's somewhere beyond here, not forgetting he turned Celtic down to come to Bolton, I still think we've got a number of years before he takes over at Barcelona or Real Madrid.
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"He could win championships every year with them but I think we're a long way from that."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Harry Redknapp’s trial over tax evasion charges continued on Thursday, with the Tottenham boss stating that he was insulted by claims that he was lying.
The Spurs coach is under investigation amid claims that he opened a foreign bank account to hide bribes from British tax authorities during his time as manager of Portsmouth.
Despite evidence piling up against Redknapp and former chairman Milan Mandaric, the tactician has continued to plead his innocence to prosecutor John Black QC.
“You think I’ve put my hand on the bible and told lies? That’s an insult, Mr Black, that’s an insult,” he said according to The Guardian.
“Everything I’ve told you has been the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.
“Bring the bible up here again and I will put my hand on it. I’m the most ungreedy person you have met in your whole life, Mr Black. Ever. Ever,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, The Daily Mail state that Redknapp’s trial is set to roll into next week, and the manager is in danger of missing his team’s game against Liverpool on Monday night.
Redknapp is believed to be ready to board a plane straight after the court proceedings to make it to Anfield in time for kick off.
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Inter Milan coach Leonardo has paid tribute to Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o after his goal was enough to put them in the Coppa Italia final.Already 1-0 up over Roma after the first leg of the semi-final in Rome, Inter returned to the San Siro on Wednesday and went a goal ahead when Eto’o was picked out by a Houssine Kharja cross and fired a low shot home.
Marco Borriello scored for Roma with six minutes remaining to ensure a few anxious moments down the stretch, but Inter hung on to secure a berth in the final against Palermo on May 29.
Leonardo credited Vincenzo Montella’s side, but reserved special praise for Eto’o.
“It was so difficult,” Leonardo said. “The first half was played at a slow tempo and after the break we created the chances that allowed us to control and take the lead.”
“This squad worked hard and it was not easy. Eto’o understood the moment the team was going through and has had a marvellous season, as he works for the team.”
Despite many observers seeing Inter’s season as a disappointing one, after they lost their Serie A title to AC Milan and suffering a Champions League quarter-final exit at the hands of Schalke, Leonardo believes a cup win will not ‘save’ their campaign.
Inter have already claimed the Italian Super Cup in August and the Club World Cup in December, but those victories were achieved with Rafael Benitez at the helm.
“Our season does not need saving,” he said. “It has been a tumultuous campaign for the squad with a change of management, so we have to take that into account.”
“I have a rapport of mutual respect with the President and he has always been close to the side, even in difficult moments.”
Montella, meanwhile, felt his side was unlucky to be denied a place in the final and was bemused by the lack of stoppage time allowed.
“There are regrets and we tried until the last second of stoppages,” Montella said.
“Considering there were five substitutions, I’m surprised the referee only gave three minutes.”
“We were unlucky tonight and it’s a pity to lose like this, as we did not deserve to go out. We really wanted to play the final at the Stadio Olimpico.”
Whilst on a European trip, the team met a group of local children suffering from cancer. Presents were given out, photos taken, autographs signed. On a pre-season tour, time was spent with local children at a school that had a rooftop pitch bought by the club, saving the children endless trips across the city to play football, a move that reduced the headmaster to tears.
The club backs a charity that promotes facilities for children with disabilities to exercise together. It has also raised money for children with autism and learning difficulties. Its five chosen charities this season received up to £25,000 each to help reach their aims.
One player recently explained on the club website about his work in The Congo with orphaned and abandoned children. The club’s senior goalkeeper has an annual charity fundraiser with his wife in aid of cancer charities. This is not a PR stunt for one football club, my football club, the one that have killed football, the one that sent a wreath to my friend‘s funeral a couple of months ago. Didier Drogba campaigns on health issues in his home city of Abidjan, and intends to build a hospital as the first major project for his foundation. Many footballers have used their influence to great effect in their home country, whether by sponsoring a charity or by linking their names to a project, but none has ever stopped a country tearing itself apart as many argue Didier Drogba did for Ivory Coast.
Drogba, by requesting that the 2008 African Cup of Nations qualifiers match against Madagascar be played in Bouake, the stronghold of rebel forces, may well have played a pivotal role in bringing about peace in the country.
In 2005, Paul Fletcher wrote an article on the BBC website about the power of football in Africa. He commented on how football has the power to create unity out of division, joy from sadness and bring welcome respite from a continent bursting with life but burdened by problems.
After Senegal reached the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup skipper Aliou Cisse reflected: “During the tournament our people lived through some wonderful times, despite the social, economic and political problems in our country.
“During the World Cup there were no more religious or ethnic problems, everyone was pulling in the same direction.”
Months later Cisse lost 12 members of his family in the Joola ferry disaster that killed 1,000 people.
What’s more, football is a source of pleasure and entertainment for millions unable to indulge in leisure pursuits out of the financial reach of many in Africa.
And on and on. Closer to home, Stephen Ireland and many others work closely with the Francis House Children’s Hospice.
Simon Taylor, head of corporate social responsibility at Chelsea once said “every club experiences the same thing that we do, in that their projects are not given the coverage they deserve – but that’s not why we do it.”
Chelsea recently launched the Chelsea Foundation, an independent charity which it estimates already reached more than 800,000 people a season. Chelsea helps to raise more than £1.5m a season for charity. Almost every Premiership club has a foundation, and all have at least one charity partner. Birmingham City for example have a partnership with two cancer trusts, while Arsenal helped raise £820,000 for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital.
Continued on Page TWO
In 2007, the Premier League launched Creating Chances, an initiative that supports the work clubs do for good causes. Their audit shows the Premier League and its clubs have invested £111.6m into charitable projects over the past three years.
Rob Green climbed Kilimanjaro. Craig Bellamy’s work in Sierra Leone has finally received some coverage, and £650,000 of his own money. Mikael Silvestre set up a foundation that builds schools in impoverished parts of the world. Ryan Giggs is a Unicef UK ambassador. The FA has done extensive work in Africa. And on, and on, and on. I could go on for days listing the good work clubs do – not just the charity work, but how they benefit the wider community. I’m sure you get the picture.
The work I have mentioned is the tip of the iceberg. Merely a grain of sand on a very large beach. In 2007, there were in total 210,867 teams registered in the U.K. This number includes pub teams, Sunday League, etc., but charity drives reach right to the lowest levels. God knows how many professional football clubs there are globally, all an integral part of the community they serve.
But this wouldn’t be a blog of mine without me bringing it round to attacking those nasty journalists. And that’s essentially what made me write this. The normal news is depressing enough – war, famine, global warming, hosepipe bans, Robbie Williams re-joining Take That. Where will it all end?
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Perhaps sport coverage could cheer us up. Here’s a thought – instead of writing knee-jerk reaction columns and made up transfer speculation with huge headlines so that they don’t have to write as much or mention as many unnamed sources, why don’t the likes of Custis, Woolnough, Howard, the other Custis, McDonnell and co. get off their arses, do some actual research, and write just for once about the good side of football, for there is so much good created by football off the pitch. So instead of endless dreary rhetoric about football being dead, of Wayne Rooney HAVING A CIGARETTE, Yaya Toure’s wage details or Peter Crouch’s stag-do itinerary, tell us about the good work going on around the world because of English clubs, tell us more about.
But I guess it isn’t sensationalist to report on a charity set up for refugees in Somalia – so what’s the point eh? You see, one of the many benefits of sport is that it gives vulnerable children a concrete alternative to drugs and violent crime – two issues that Honduras struggles with, where 25,000 children have gone through a successful childrens league, helping them better their lives.
But to be callous, so what, to the man in the street? I mean, there’s a reason I know so much more about Wayne Rooney’s nocturnal activities than Jamie Carragher raising £1 million for charity via his testimonial last week. But do we want to read about charity and good deeds on our morning break, or read about a footballer wrapping his car round a lamp post? I am being naïve of course, in my idealistic little world – people want the second option – to read the sensationalist stuff, and the papers provide the service. As Sir Humphrey Appleby said in Yes Prime Minister…………. “The only way to understand the Press is to remember that they pander to their readers’ prejudices.”
The readers want to see a couple of tits at the front, and read a couple at the back.
But maybe I am doing tabloid readers a disservice – maybe they do want more from the newspaper, and maybe they would embrace more diverse articles, and a bit more depth. And maybe, just maybe, they might actually like to read stuff that’s actually true.
Liverpool winger Stewart Downing has reportedly been arrested for assaulting an ex-girlfriend in a nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The England international was spotted on a night out in Yarm, near Middlesbrough on Saturday night, and was allegedly involved in a fracas at around 1am on Sunday morning.
Reports in The Daily Mail indicate that he hit his former partner in an argument in the Cross Keys club, and was later picked up by police.
Local authorities have confirmed that an arrest has been made, but would not release the name of the man in question.
“Police were called to an incident at a pub on Yarm High Street,” an official police statement reads.
“A 27-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of assault and a 32-year-old woman has also been arrested on suspicion of assault.
“Both are in custody and inquiries are ongoing,” it concluded.
The scandal is the last thing that the Anfield club need after the recent controversy over Luis Suarez and new racism claims in the Merseysiders 5-1 win over Oldham in the FA Cup on Friday night.
Downing has struggled to make an impact at Kenny Dalglish’s side since an £18 million move from Aston Villa in the summer.
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Picking the ten best moments of the season so far is never an easy thing to do. ‘Best’ is such a subjective word to use in football, what I might have loved, you might have hated. So here are my most memorable moments. The media have a massive influence in such things as memorable moments. It is no wonder that the most memorable moments surround the top teams as the media give more coverage to such games. That’s just the way it is.
But the best games are not necessarily top of the table clashes. A game like Manchester United v Liverpool might be a massively hyped up game, but it will often stagnate into low scoring match. The most memorable games, for me, are high-scoring, upsets or comebacks.
What follows are the moments that when I think back on the season, come to mind first of all. I have tried to take my Tottenham hat off and include moments for all fans. Some are iconic goals, others fantastic results. Either way they are moments that I thought of first when I reflected on this season of English football.
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Click on Torres below to see the Top TEN
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Stoke City boss Tony Pulis has played down suggestions that he would be interested in taking on the Wales manager's job.
Current national team boss John Toshack is expected to announce his resignation, after six years in charge, while Pulis was born in Newport and has been linked with the post in the past.
However, the 52-year-old does not think now is the right time for him to take the role on, although he has not ruled out the possibility in the future.
When asked about the job, he replied:"It is worth it? One day, if someone offered me the job it would be a great honour to manage my country.
"But to work in such an intense situation as a manager of a Premier League club, where every day there are new things to do, and then to take it away from you at the age I am I'm not sure it's for me.
"I think John Toshack has done a smashing job in respect of bringing young players through.
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"A lot of good young players have been integrated and they now have quite a bit of experience at international level so there will be a time when someone will slip into that job and it will be a good job.
"Whoever takes over there are some good players in Wales and, if you can get a good start and a few results, the confidence will come back."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Wayne Rooney has dismissed talk that he will be leaving Old Trafford, amid rumours of an apparent bust-up between him and Sir Alex Ferguson. Some newspapers sources suggest that the pair of them are at breaking point, despite the denial from Rooney and the football club itself.
Elsewhere in the news Adeyemi claims he suffered racial abuse at Anfield; Thierry Henry can’t wait for Arsenal return, while Fernandes denies freeze on transfer funds at Loftus Rd.
Adeyemi suffers alleged ‘racial abuse’ at Anfield – Guardian
Rooney dismisses Old Trafford exit – Daily Telegraph
How Roberto Mancini fell in love with Manchester – Independent
Cahill could be at Chelsea by Sunday, says Coyle – Guardian
Ferguson claims Touré may play despite call-up – Guardian
Thierry Henry: Arsenal return ‘unreal’ – Daily Telegraph
Liverpool in for £8.5m Colombian international striker Martinez – Daily Mail
QPR enter race with Spurs for Blackburn’s Hoilett – TalkSport
Get ready for Suarez Mk II! Arsenal line up move for £10m Anderlecht hitman – Daily Mail
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Fernandes denies freeze on transfer funds -Guardian
Sevilla goalkeeper Javi Varas is refusing to give up hope of his club stealing a Champions League spot from La Liga rivals Villarreal.Villarreal occupy the fourth and final Champions League qualification spot on the Spanish table with 54 points, eight more than Sevilla in fifth place.
With just seven games to go it would seem Sevilla’s chances are all but shot, even more so given their mixed form of late.
Sevilla have won two of their past five league games and still face a visit from Real Madrid and potentially tricky trips to Espanyol and Osasuna.
But Varas believes the club can still engineer a miracle – beginning with their trip to relegation-threatened Getafe on Saturday.
“I think that the team are able to win the remaining seven games,” Varas said.
“If we win them all, then Villarreal will have slipped up. We need them to slip up a further two times.”
“There is still a long way to go. We have to win at Getafe and then we face a situation that isn’t in our hands. We don’t know what Villarreal will do – only ourselves.”
Sevilla scraped into the Champions League by one point last season only to fall to Portuguese runners-up Braga in the playoff round.
The club made it through the group stages of the Europa League but were bundled out by another Portuguese club, Porto, in the round of 32.
With the new Football League season having kicked off at the weekend and the Premier League hot on its heels, football fans and betting aficionados will have two main options when it comes to following Saturday’s developments on television. Sky’s Soccer Saturday and the BBC’s Final Score are both shows which preview the day’s action before making use of videprinters and punditry to keep you updated with all the goals and developments across the leagues. But who reigns supreme in the peculiar concept of producing second hand football?
The image of Soccer Saturday as the wealthier relation has been enhanced by the decision to broadcast the show in HD. It is an impressive set worthy of such digital clarity, boasting florescent lights and logos. The smart, clean appearance of the set extends to the host Jeff Stelling and his regular panel of pundits, of varying ability, who will all be suited. This should not give the lasting impression of a stilted atmosphere as the Countdown host will break the ice with a well-timed pun or a self deprecating swipe at his beloved Hartlepool. Jeff Stelling is the clear selling point of this six hour marathon show. He is a consummate professional and his knowledge of the game including the most obscure statistics is unrivalled. As is his ability to plough through all the goals with a speed, accuracy and consistency which borders on the autistic. His delivery and pitch adds to the drama, captivating the audience. Expect more humour from the in-house pundits usually consisting of Paul Merson, Matt Le Tissier, Phil Thompson and Charlie Nicholas. They enjoy some friendly banter whilst making their predictions and opine about who is ‘different class’ this year. Just don’t anticipate perfect pronunciations of Laurent Koscielny or Diniyar Bilyaletdinov.
However do not expect much better from the dozens of pitch side reporters either. Dean Windass who used to struggle with his feet now does so with his words as an eventful match will overwhelm him. That sensation is well-known to Chris ‘unbelievable Jeff’ Kamara who habitually fails to distinguish between red cards and substitutions. Such comedic interludes can come as welcome relief once your betting selections have gone awry. The show is never at risk of descending into farce as Stelling jovially keeps order whilst correlating results from umpteen divisions even down to goal difference.
It is a rather more low-budget, cosy affair as you switch your attentions to the Beeb’s Final Score. Greeted by Gabby Logan or Mark ‘Chappers’ Chapman with a few pundits stationed on a curved sofa, the dress code is firmly smart casual. A headache inducing screen-saver background constantly displays the names of sides throughout the Football League. As the presenter zips through all the developments on the videprinter the pundits are concentrating on the Premier League action. This is Final Score’s distinct difference from its rival where their studio pundits focus on a game each. Garth Crooks and journeyman Steve Claridge keep you abreast of every Premier League game in tandem. As they cast their scrutinising eyes across the top division there is greater opportunity for debate and disagreements. Whilst it is usually cordial, the opinionated Crooks and Claridge will occasionally ruffle the less forthright Lee Dixon and Mark Bright. Disagreements were in abundance when Carlton Palmer used to appear alongside Crooks and events such as Adebayor’s provocative goal celebration polarised opinion brilliantly.
Final Score purports to provide comprehensive coverage of all teams across the division, sending out twenty reporters to football grounds on a Saturday. Double that and you may start to get close to Soccer Saturday’s output. Live cameras and a reporter were even in attendance for Stevenage’s encounter with Macclesfield at the weekend. Despite Sky’s greater financial investment in their football results show it is Stelling’s continued presence which secures their advantage. The ease, skill and speed at which he updates the viewer is astonishing. It just may be worth checking to see if Garth Crooks is having one of his days on Final Score though.
With the PL season nearly upon us, let’s see the WAGS that will be keeping the players on their toes. Click on image to VIEW gallery
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