Former LA Galaxy boss Ruud Gullit will make his return to football after signing on as manager of Russian Premier League side Terek Grozny.The 48-year-old has not managed since quitting the Galaxy in 2008, but has signed an 18-month deal with Terek, who finished 12th in the Russian top flight last season.
“I’m very happy with my contract of a year and a half. Next weekend I will join up with the team and we will begin preparing for the season,” Gullit said.
“I look forward to getting back into it and this is a beautiful, great opportunity for me.”
Gullit has reportedly been set the target of a top eight finish with the Chechen club, but could face a challenge settling into life in the war-torn Russian province.
The Dutchman made his name as a player with AC Milan, winning three Serie A titles and two European Cups during his time at the San Siro.
He has since gone on to manage some of the biggest clubs in Europe, including Chelsea, Newcastle and Feyenoord, before moving across the Atlantic to take the reins at MLS franchise Los Angeles.
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Gullit will not have an easy start to his time in Russia, with Terek scheduled to face defending champions Zenit St Petersburg in their season-opener on March 10.
Fresh from promotion to the Premier League, Southampton are now reported to be preparing a £3.5million bid for England goalkeeping starlet Jack Butland from Birmingham City, reports the Daily Mail.
Butland, 19, is currently with the England squad at the European championships having been called up following John Ruddy’s broken finger.
The ‘keeper is a hot prospect for England, despite yet making a senior appearance for parent club Birmingham City, having impressed on a season long loan spell at League Two side Cheltenham Town.
However, the Saints are reportedly facing some stiff competition from both Spurs and Manchester City, in their hopes to secure Butland’s signature prior to the start of the new season.
35-year old Kelvin Davies has been the undisputed first choice at St. Marys for the last few seasons, making 270 appearances since joining from Sunderland in 2006. By capturing Jack Butland, Saints boss Nigel Adkins will be hoping there will healthy competition for the Number 1 shirt.
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Whilst Butland concentrates on the European championships starting in Poland and Ukraine tomorrow, Adkins will no doubt be watching in the unlikely event the 19 year old is called upon.
Manchester United chief executive David Gill has indicated the club could yet sign one more player before the transfer window closes.English Premier League champions United have already strengthened heavily since winning a record 19th championship in May, spending heavily on goalkeeper David De Gea, defender Phil Jones and winger Ashley Young.
Inter Milan playmaker Wesley Sneijder and Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri have both been linked with moves to Old Trafford during the close season.
And while manager Sir Alex Ferguson suggested earlier this week there would no further acquisitions, Gill claims United remain active in the market.
“We’re looking at one more player to bring in,” Gill said.
“Nothing’s happening – nothing imminent – on that at the moment, but we’ll see what happens when we get home (from the tour of America).”
“There’ll be 31 days of the transfer window to see if anything develops. But I’m not working on anything at the moment, in that respect.”
Gill said United would only be looking to sign a ‘world-class player’, fuelling more rumours that Netherlands international Sneijder could yet join the club.
“The important thing to understand, and Alex has made it clear, is that we need someone who’s going to improve the quality of the squad,” he said.
“We’ve got a great squad and to get into that squad you need to be a world-class player.”
“There’s no point, if you can’t get the players you want, in buying someone for the sake of buying someone.”
A transfer for Everton’s Steven Pienaar to Tottenham Hotspur seems to be a done deal, either going through this January transfer window for £2million or on a Bosman transfer in the summer for free. At first glance that looks a really good deal for Spurs. Pienaar is a good football player and one that I personally rate at more than £2million given the current market of player transfer fees.
Yet is it really a worthwhile purchase for Tottenham? In my mind not really as he is exactly the kind of player they have in abundance in White Hart Land; slight, deft, skilful are the characteristics I would use to describe Pienaar and the majority of Tottenham’s current midfield. At the moment as things stand I can’t see him getting into the Tottenham first team. He is too similar to, but not as good as, Luka Modric, Rafael Van der Vaart, Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon. Unlike the possible signing of David Beckham, he doesn’t really bring anything greatly different that the squad doesn’t already have either in terms of style or experience.
So far this season that Tottenham midfield quartet midfield has been decent to say the least as well as consistent. Pienaar on the other hand, although generally I am a fan of his, simply hasn’t been performing consistently as well. Although no-one really has at Everton, bar Tim Cahill and possibly Coleman, hence the position they currently find themselves in the league.
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I still don’t think it would be the best deal for Tottenham even if they were to accept that Pienaar was not a first choice eleven player and use him as a squad player to play when he regains his form of the previous season and replace anyone of that midfield quartet, as he is rather versatile, when they’re injured or not playing too well. As I feel Niko Kranjcar is perfectly suited to do this role and is already at the club. To take a look back and see how few games he has played over the last few months I believe gives an indication of how little Pienaar would play were he to arrive, and why therefore he is a player that would be surplus to requirements.
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It is mainly the presence of Kranjcar that leads me to believe Pienaar would be a pointless signing for Spurs. I believe Kranjcar should remain the first midfield creative to replace any of these four. I feel he has been hard done by this season, considering how much he contributed last time and this signing would only hasten his exit out of the White Hart Lane door and with Pienaar hardly flying at the moment it would not be much if any improvement. Ultimately I think Kranjcar carries more goal potential, with a fearsome strike and there is simply no room for both of them at the Lane along with all the other attack minded midfielders Tottenham have.
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A neutral football fan will look at the final standings of the 2011/12 Npower League Two table and see that Plymouth Argyle finished in 21st place with 46 points.
This, to a neutral, will probably seem like an underachievement for the club as they only escaped relegation by two points.
But to The Pilgrims and their fans, it represents one of, if not the biggest achievement in the clubs 125 year history.
We started this season by no means sure we would finish it. Successive relegations had seen us plummet from the Championship to League Two, and we had been in administration for over half a year by the time the season started; none of us knew what to expect from this campaign.
1207 of us travelled to Shrewsbury to watch a very young Argyle squad that had only three faces in it from the last campaign kick off the season. An unfamiliar and almost makeshift Argyle team battled away in the Shropshire sun before the home side took the lead midway through the second half, which was the way it stayed until the 90th minute when captain Carl Fletcher slammed home into the top corner in front of the travelling Green Army.
It was to be the only high, and point, of the first nine league games, a period in which we were also dumped out of the Carling Cup and Johnstones Paint Trophy at the first hurdle. Our players also threatened a strike due to the fact they had not been paid for ten months. Thankfully the administrators paid up a small amount and the strike did not go ahead.
After a 2-0 defeat at Southend, a 10th defeat on the trot, Peter Ridsdale replaced manager Peter Reid with captain Carl Fletcher. In Fletcher’s first game in charge against Macclesfield we won 2-0, it was the first victory of the season and things started to look up as we drew against Accrington and beat Dagenham in the coming month. I won’t even go into the result at Oxford United on a Tuesday night though.
On the 29th of November 2011 we travelled to Cheltenham for what would have been a normal game, except it wasn’t. It was our first match under the ownership of the new chairman James Brent. After ten months of uncertainty, administration and the real chance the club would fold, we were saved. The first of two battles was won; avoid liquidation.
Anybody that thought we would suddenly shoot up the table though, was wrong. One point from the first nine games was catastrophic and we were faced with a monumental task to secure our football league status.
It was to get worse before it got better. A humiliating defeat at the hands of our Devon rivals Torquay United proceeded Argyle being knocked out of the FA Cup by non-league Stourbridge. Despite being saved from liquidation we were now the laughing stock of the country, and it hurt, it really hurt.
Funnily enough though, things really did start improving straight after the Stourbridge game. Just four days later we thrashed a hapless Northampton 4-1 at Home Park to set us off on a five game unbeaten run that included a 3-2 win over Bristol Rovers on boxing day when we had been 2-0 down at half time.
2012 started with back to back defeats as Torquay completed the double over us and we lost at Crewe. We then beat Burton and snatched a late, late equalizer against Crawley to move us out of the relegation zone for the first time since the 13th of August.
We dropped straight back in a week later as we lost 1-0 at Port Vale thanks to what was a truly dreadful performance at a freezing cold Vale Park. And then came a result that shocked everybody. With 5 minutes to go in a home match against Southend we were trailing 2-0 and seemingly heading to defeat.
The game ended 2-2. I have no idea how we did it, but we scored twice in the last five minutes to demonstrate the great team spirit Carl Fletcher had installed in his players.
A 4-0 win over Accrington was sandwiched between draws against Barnet, Dagenham and Macclesfield as we become increasingly tough to beat. An Onismor Bhasera goal less than 20 seconds into our game at AFC Wimbledon helped hand us victory in between losses to Gillingham and at Rotherham as the season started to draw to a close.
We shocked eventual league runners up Shrewsbury at Home Park as we won 1-0 before drawing with Bristol Rovers and Northampton. We defeated Bradford by the same score line in a key game at the bottom before travelling to Edgar Street to play Hereford. Had we been relegated we would probably look at the Hereford game and think about what could have been. We dominated the first half and took the lead through an own goal before Nick Chadwick spurned an easy chance and Simon Walton missed a penalty. The game ended 1-1 when really we should have been out of sight by half time.
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A 1-0 win over Aldershot in dreadful weather conditions put us on the cusp of safety before we were all disappointed as we conceded 5 minutes from time at the league champions Swindon to deny us a point. The next game, a 1-1 draw with Oxford, secured our football league status and completed the great escape. The second of two battles was won; avoid relegation out of the football league.
So despite all that has happened it has been a season to remember for Argyle fans. We looked dead and buried from the start, but thanks to a great group of players and managerial staff we have survived. Our chairman has indicated he aims to get us promoted next season, weather that is a realistic ambition or not it is too early to tell but anything is better than what we have been through. The most important thing is we will be playing league football next season, and not competing in the dreaded Blue Square Premier – the graveyard of football league clubs.
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FIFA president Sepp Blatter has blasted the latest doping revelation involving North Korea at the Women’s World Cup.The number of players from the country who have tested positive to a banned substance at the Women’s World Cup has risen to five after three more players failed drug tests.
The North Korea squad was tested after the group match against Colombia following failed tests by Song Jong-Sun Song and Jong Pok-Sim.
Now a further three players have tested positive, although FIFA said they wouldn’t disclose the players’ names nor the banned substance.
“As the proceedings are still in progress, FIFA will not disclose the names of the three players whose test results have produced adverse analytical findings, in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code,” a FIFA statement said.
Blatter told a news conference he was stunned by the results.
“This is a shock,” Blatter said.
“We are confronted with a very, very bad case of doping and it hurts.”
However, North Korean officials are blaming traditional steroid-laced Chinese medicine from musk deer glands which they claim they used to treat injuries to players who were alleged to have been hit by a lightning strike.
“The North Korean officials said they didn’t use it to improve performance,” the head of FIFA’s medical committee, Michel D’Hooghe, said.
“They said they had a serious lightning accident with several players injured and they gave it as therapy.”
An important week ahead for Tottenham as Harry Redknapp sends his side over to Twente with the task of winning their Champions’ League group. Top spot will ensure that the North Londoners will miss out on facing the big guns in the knockout stages and subsequently give them a greater chance of progressing to the quarter finals.
This week at FFC we have seen a mixed bag of Spurs blogs which includes, one deal that Levy must sanction; is Crouch the right fit at WHL and controversial move could save Tottenham millions.
Plus we have taken a look at the best Tottenham stories on the Web this week.
Ciao Giorgia – Davide’s lady puts Premiership WAGs in the shade
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The cost of football to the modern day fan
Make or break time for title contenders
Tottenham’s title talk – inspired ambition or foolish nonsense?
Top TEN most ‘annoying’ sayings in football
The one DEAL that Levy must look to sanction in January
Would this prove the most hated Tottenham deal in years?
FIVE Reasons behind Tottenham’s Champions League success
Is he really the right fit for Tottenham Hotspur?
Controversial move perhaps, but it could save Spurs millions
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Click here to see the Best TOTTENHAM BLOGS around the Web this week
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For some, it’s a brutal interrogation. For others an itch that can be easily scratched – Dear Mr Levy
If It’s Transfer Gossip You Want… – Who Framed Ruel Fox?
A slow news day – Spurs Musings From Jimmy G2
Arry’s £8M Target – Harry Hotspur
“Spurs play primitive football and are extremely naive” – Dear Mr Levy
Chelsea and QPR players will not go through the usual pre-match ritual of shaking hands before their Premier League game on Sunday, due to legal proceedings.
John Terry is due to stand in court for reportedly racially abusing Anton Ferdinand in the reverse fixture between the sides at Loftus Road, which ended in a 1-0 win for the hosts.
With a disdain between the players and clubs still apparent, the Premier League have backed the continued ritual of the handshake, but waived it in this case.
“The Premier League position on the pre-match handshake convention remains consistent,” a statement published on Sky Sports reads.
“In all normal circumstances it must be observed.
“However, after discussions with both Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers about the potential and specific legal context in relation to John Terry and Anton Ferdinand the decision has been taken to suspend the handshake convention for Sunday’s match.”
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The British Olympic Association (BOA) last week said a “historic agreement” had been reached with the English Football Association over fielding teams at the 2012 Games. Great Britain were Olympic football champions in 1908 and 1912, but haven’t appeared since 1960 (though it attempted to qualify as recently as 1972). Good news then. It seemed differences had been sorted out, and a compromise found.
Or not. A collective statement from the other nations denied this was the case.
“No discussions took place with any of us, far less has any historic agreement been reached,” it said.
“We have been consistently clear in explaining the reason for our stance, principally to protect the identity of each national association. With that in mind, we cannot support nor formally endorse the approach that has been proposed by the Football Association.”
Their view is straight-forward. Football is autonomous for the home nations. The four countries have their own leagues and their own international teams. The Olympics is not considered a major football event, but people might use it to tell the four associations that they have to compete as Great Britain in other tournaments.
Maybe their stance is shaped by the presumption that the team would be a largely English one anyway. But what really annoyed them was the fact that the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Ireland FAs conceded some time ago for the right of the BOA to choose an Olympic team consisting of English players, but the BOA announcement last week appears to say that an agreement had been reached to choose players from all four nations. No such agreement exists, and it seems never will.
So what will the FA do? Pick just English players, or pick from all four nations and risk the wrath of other FA’s? Or perhaps just wait for players like Bale to publicly declare their availability and desire to play?
The squabble is an old one, that has rumbled on for many a year. Before London was chosen to host the Olympics, the BOA thought a British football team would be a good way to galvanize support for the bid, and provide an extra chance of a medal.
And yet as squabbles elsewhere constantly erupt over the difficulty in getting Olympic tickets, it seems that the biggest sport in the world will be the one that has the least appeal and the possibility of empty seats next year. It is a different debate however as to whether football should be there at all, but there is little doubt that despite what our football associations may say, this is a huge deal to a lot of players. Cameroon’s victory in 2000 is proof of that. But then when have the men in suits ever had the remotest idea of what players and fans think?
FIFA have said unequivocally that this will not change anything, so it seems the home nations’ distrust is misplaced. However, Sepp Blatter has sung to a very different tune in the past , saying in March 2008:
“If you start to put together a combined team for the Olympics, the question will automatically come up that there are four different associations so how can they play in one team,” he said.
“If this is the case then why the hell do they have four associations and four votes and their own vice-presidency?
“This will put into question all the privileges that the British associations have been given by the Congress in 1946.”
Blatter is of course here to stay for another four years, but wouldn’t be able to merge the Home Nations without huge support and an almighty struggle. These are football associations that existed long before FIFA did. Jack Warner has called for a GB team, but he is gone. This is one fight FIFA is very, very unlikely to pick.
The fact is I imagine other countries would prefer for the nations to stay separate. A Great Britain team with the likes of Bale and Ramsey would be stronger, after all. And what’s more, it hard for the Welsh to argue about autonomy when Swansea will play in next season’s Premier League, or the Scots to argue the same when Berwick Rangers play in the Scottish League, and rumours persist about Celtic and Rangers coming to play in England.
Some agree with the stance of the non-English FA’s. Gerry Hassan in the Guardian called the decision a farce.
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“The existence of a Team GB isn’t just a threat to the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish and their place on the global stage of world football, but the English, too. This could be a threat to all of us, our separate histories, traditions and teams, and for what?”
A total overreaction in my opinion – this is a football tournament for two weeks next year, not devolved parliaments, Bannockburn or the future of western civilization as we know it. A bit of perspective is needed. A one-off event, well almost anyway. It’s almost as if the four nations merging for every other sport in the Olympics doesn’t matter – but how is football different? The answer – it isn’t.
In some respects, what the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Ireland FA’s think on the matter is irrelevant. If Gareth Bale wants to play in the Olympic team next year, then he can – they can’t stop him. More likely to stop him is his club, as we all know club managers will not want their players burnt out in the summer months – just look at how Jack Wilshere was pressured to pull out of the U21 squad last month. The competition runs from 26th July-11th August, though the early games are preliminaries. Thus players who play in the semi-finals and beyond will walk out of the Olympics and straight into a new domestic season.
Seeing a British team would be enjoyable in my opinion, and a novelty. Rugby teams manage to amalgamate the home nations. And as the host nation, Britain has an obligation to compete in every Olympic event (unless not of the required standard of course). I tend to look at things simply – many have tried to make this a political issue when at the end of the day it is about putting together a football team for a fortnight, and competing for a few medals. I will watch every England match keenly, as a fan of football, sport in general, and a follower of all Olympic events. I look forward to it greatly, whatever team is put out, and I will bet you the players will too, along with millions of other fans Though don’t get too excited just yet – the manager will probably be Stuart Pearce.
The club verses country row has exploded again this week after Steven Gerrard’s hamstring injury during England’s 2-1 defeat to France. Liverpool claim they had an agreement with the FA and Fabio Capello that Gerrard would only play a maximum of an hour in the friendly. However the Liverpool man was substituted with five minutes to go after injury. The game was effectively over with twenty minutes to go, so why did Capello feel it necessary to keep Steven Gerrard on the pitch?
Fabio Capello can use as many excuses as he wants, but the agreement was in place between the F.A and Liverpool. There was scope to substitute Gerrard during the game but the Italian chose not to take this action. It was not like Gerrard or England were even playing that well. Capello can use as many excuses as he wishes in relation to this, Liverpool are right to be furious at him.
In defence of the manager, it was a difficult night for Fabio Capello and England because of the players that he was without for the game. Jack Wilshere was unavailable and the injuries sustained to Gareth Barry and Rio Ferdinand forced Capello’s hand to a certain extent. Would England have been humiliated in the second half if Gerrard was taking out of the inexperienced midfield. The answer is probably yes, but that is no excuse for Capello to have kept the midfielder on the pitch. If Capello was concerned with his options from the bench, why did he pick such an inexperienced side. Capello can’t expect one senior player to carry the burden of his selection. Gerrard’s injury was not Capello’s fault – it could have happened at any time in the game – but by leaving the player on in a game that was effectively over, was highly irresponsible.
The strong reaction from Liverpool is totally understandable. Darren Burgess, part of Roy Hodgson’s coaching department expressed his feelings on his Twitter page.
‘Unbelievable from all associated with England and English FA with regards to SGs injury. Completely ignored agreement and past history. Completely amateurish and now we pay for their incompetence. Absolutely disgraceful.’
The angry response can be understood in the context of Liverpool’s season so far. They seem to be getting it together and moving up the table and then an injury to their best player. For Liverpool, Gerrard is their most important asset, and an asset that will get them out of trouble. To watch the game, and see your player get injured twenty minutes after England has agreed to substitute him must be infuriating to watch. Liverpool have lowered their stance on this issue but are still clearly angry at the FA and Fabio Capello.
Although Liverpool have backed down on their initial anger and have accepted Capello had to break the agreement, you feel that this might just be a diplomatic stance to escape any punishment for the Twitter rant. The issue surrounding this injury is Gerrard himself. He loves playing for England and has been England’s best performer in 2010. Has his own determination to prevent defeat got the better of him on this occasion. His attitude to play for England is exceptional, and England fans appreciate it, but after this injury will Liverpool expect the England captain to put their club first.
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