Gordon McQueen’s chalkboard is no more sympathetic to the embattled Steve.
James Lawton has had enough and calls time on second-choice Steve.
Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor has been kicked off the Togo national team. The last time Adebayor went head-to-head with coach Stephen Keshi the coach was fired. Keshi has returned and this time Adebayor has gone.
Gabriele Marcotti on the long road that is Euro 2008 qualifying.
It looks as if Marseille will not be sold after all.
It will be interesting to see whether SM has the guts to shake things up, which SGE didn't. For whatever reason, the current England setup isn't working (actually, you could argue that Lampard in the centre and Gerrard on the right has never worked). Now we have Lennon playing on the wrong wing to accommodate this -- here's big clue there's a problem. The manager's distorting the setup for the team to fit one or two of his players, which is rarely the right way to go. Clearly against Andorra he has a great chance to try something new -- drop Lampard, play Gerrard in the middle and Lennon on the right. Start Downing, and see whether he really can perform at top level (I have doubts, but let's give him a real shot). For some reason Lampard never has been a standout for England, so he would be my sacrifice. Meanwhile, if we can score 2-3 quick goals, I'd like to see him get people like Barry on to the field in the second half.
Up front, things won't click until Rooney gets a real partner. For Man Utd this year, he's playing sensational stuff, alongside world-class players like Ronaldo, Larssen, Saha and Solskjaer. Right now, unfortunately, England doesn't have a partner for him -- maybe when Owen gets back...
Q1.l think an arsenal take over is really on the cards, it might niot happen as early as some reports suggest but rumours that some russian guy and a whole lot of dubai guys will not go unchallenged.with the money the share holders want and all the all the stadium liabilities , l really can not see the american guy as a possible bidder, because anyone to take over arsenal should be prepared to lose and then gain in the long run.what your take on that?
Q2 l think ade is made to look like a villain , but l think the guys who run african soccer embezzel quite a large sum of money and to have players not paid for two years is a shame.l think the problem would occur even with england but because they take care of that its under control.if any civil servant can go on strike why can't footballers.l really think african football really has to change in administrations
I am going to try and mention this on the show tonight but in case I don't......The Canadian Under 20 is being billboarded as "The Hyundai men’s U-20 national team presented by Yahoo! Canada." Does anyone else out there squirm at that one? A national team's identity has been sold to a corporation ..or in this case two corporations.
The first instance I had heard of was a few years ago in the NFL (sorry to bring up American football). As most teams were selling off the naming rights to their stadiums, it is against US law to re-name a historic landmark, including Fenway Park, Yankees Stadium and to get to my point Soldiers Field in Chicago. So the Bears, to get around this and still get corporate money, re-named the official team name to the Chicago Bears presented by Nextel. But, I think with re-naming a national team (with two corporate sponsors no less) is a new low that I didn't think people could reach. One question though, has Canada sold itself to corporate sponsorship. The name suggests that Canada should now be referred to as Yahoo! Canada. If so, I'll have to get a new atlas with the updated name.
You know Bobby I agree with you concerning the naming of a national team, but after attempting to watch the NCAA BB tournament anything is better than a 3 minute commercial break every 8 minutes of action in the 2nd halves of these games. I truly can't watch, I change the channel and when I come back there is another commercial, so for me anything is better than that. Truly ridiculous. I just hope the new american interest in the world's game does not as with most everyting else end with our changing it. I cringe at the thought of splt screens during the games for budweiser commercials or worse breaks at free kicks and corners.
-Apparently I am not the only one who sees similarities between Scholesy and Deco, will SAF forever get the better of my man Wenger? How on earth is Carrick worth more than Deco, maybe Wenger has a point that English talent is exhorbitantly priced?
-Adebayor should say good riddance to the Togo selection. Not worth getting hurt or killed for.
-If England are going to play long balls into the box please bring back the man who is the best in the world at that particular skill, and strkers over 5'8".
I understand your comment about Adebayor, but if you sign a contract, and the contract says "You will earn X if you do Y," and you do Y, you deserve X. He and his teammates are legally bound the money. Adebayor earns good money in the Premier League, but what about some of the Togo reserve players who are owed their money, who make very little wages in the African leagues, who can take that money and support their families (and their family's families, etc).
The good thing is that Adebayor netted two goals in the recent win, giving him some leverage in the situation going forward.
Ade should not be blamed. I'm from a not so rich nation, Kenya and the same thing has been going on. The problem with countries like Kenya and Togo is that some of the government officials try to get in and get the profits that the team reaps if it successful. When a Kenya made the African Cup in 04 for the 1st time in like over 10yrs the players were not paid anything the gov't came in and tried to get a share of the money, then they did the same when Fifa or some other large org' gave the Kenyan League some money to make the league better but once again the gov't entered into the mix and the money got lost nothing was done and thats why Kenya ended up getting suspended. This players deserve something because they put hard work in rep' their countries and the country makes good profits from them making this big tournies, like davard said the players who don't play in big clubs get hurt to but they can't stand up and be hard in the same way someone like Ade can.
Henry14 not all African countries have bad gov's running the game please don't generalize because of one nation you don't hear such problems from countries like Ghana, Egypt, Cameroon e.t.c.
buffy please don't defend Rooney. Just because he doesn't have a good partner next to him doesn't mean he should go for almost 3yrs without scoring. A great player adjusts to playing with the players around him. Even Adebayor isn't playing with world class striker but he is scoring.
I don't think Arsenal will be sold because of the influence of Wenger. He clearly seems to be against foriegn take overs so I don't think he would like to see Arsenal been bought.
One, Rooney is not a prolific striker. He creates goals and scores some too (for club level only these past 2 and a half years), but he never was prolific. I think people saw him explode as an 18 year old in Euro 2004 and just expected that from him all the time. He benefits from a more goal-scoring partner like a RVN or an Owen (or even Crouch at the international level). Meanwhile, it seems like a goal hungry striker is a dying breed (where's the next Owen, Shearer, Fowler, etc.?).
Two, without J. Cole England doesn't have a flair player that can do the unpredictable to unlock defenses. So, to counter-balance, they needed disciplined wingplay to add another option in attack. With Gerrard on the right and Lennon on the left (so he would have to cut inside on his right foot), the team going forward was way too narrow and predictable.
Third, McLaren is just plain not an offensive minded or a bold manager. I think his dream in life is to win every game 1-0. And no matter what he says, he simply won't try new options. He's too afraid for his job to try something outlandish like drop Lampard...though now with the media outcry he might now do just that. England needs a manager who wants to win, not one who doesn't want to lose. Look at Klinsmann, he was constantly criticized by the German press, but he stuck to his guns and got his team to over-achieve (and score plenty of goals in the process).
gunner44 wenger has no decision in weather the club is sold or not, it is just upto the shareholders and if they get a good bid because that is the whole point of buying shares.the guys are businessman first before supporters.l do not see 2007 ending without a takeover
Regarding Adebayor and his salary demands of the Togo federation...he's actually fighting on behalf of the rest of the squad, most of whom don't earn very much at all. These guys haven't been paid their promised wages in a very long time. It's not as if Ade needs the money, what the national federation pays him is nothing compared to his Arsenal wages. It's about promises made to the entire squad which still have not been fulfilled-and the guy risks his life by making these complaints.
Unfortunately, Wenger doesn't have much control over who sells and buys the club-tho he may try to wield what limited influence he has. I would truly hate to see Arsenal sold-it's the last remaining top flight Prem club owned by longtime authentic English fans of Arsenal.
As to Rooney...this is a guy who hasn't scored internationally in over 2 years...sorry, he's just incredibly overrated. And people accuse Henry of bottling it all the time. Rooney and the entire England national squad are far more guilty on that score.
the wholew idea of acquring shares is to make a profit from , as with the liabilities, such as the 520m bonds arsenal have dividends are not going to be the best thing anytime soon so they will rely on share price rising and that is how they make money.would not fault any if they decided to sell
Bobby
Im late in writing this but your comment about Portuguese reporters "falling down" was amazing and im curious if you got a letter from the Portuguese associated press? or were you simply fined by FSCFA for disparaging remarks?
With the television contract now signed by the EPL and the mess in Italy do you see the EPL becoming the highest paying league in Europe? and is that why we began to here all the rumors about a weekely player salary cap?
Bobby, what's your opinion of one, Landon Donovan? It frustrates me to the core that he can play as brilliantly as he did Sunday, but when he's needed most he folds up. His lack of heart & commitment to stick it out in Europe is another sore subject & NOW comes the news that he doesn't want to play in ethier the Gold Cup or Copa America this summer so he can stay & help the Galaxy! With all the great young talent the US has now, why must they continue to force him down our throats as the "Golden Boy" of US footy? Any opinions? Thanks!
I highly doubt the 'Portuguese associated press' are chasing down Bobby after his humorous comment. Hilarious question, Dave.
Correct me if I'm wrong (anyone), but isn't the EPL the highest paid league already? Also, there's always Liga, which has many of today's highest paid players. Still, I think the EPL has more overpaid players.
I wonder, where does the Bundesliga rank in terms of all of this?
Bobby, I think it is simply stupid, that not one but TWO large well known corporations bought the rights to the Canadian mens under 20 team. It really is sad that whether it is sporting teams, sporting venues or sporting events would sell their soul to large corporations for a quick cash spurt. What is next?
Bobby a few quick questions
1. What is your favourite and lest favorite play by play soccer commentator right now?
2. With the Copa America this summer, what do you think are the best hopes for Mexico and the United States at this tournament?
3. Do you think that Jose Mourinho is acutally done like dinner at Chelsea and move in years end to Real Madrid CF?
According to a few polls I've seen on AS and MARCA, Madristras don't want Mourinho at all. They'd prefer to see Schuster, del Bosque, or even Benitez take over after Capello leaves Madrid. Marca itself hasn't had any major articles about Mourinho-- on the other hand, they've had quite a few on Schuster.
Last edited by atleti_female on March 28th at 5:28 AM.
When Steve Mclaren was appointed head coach,Jimmy Greaves wrote "If you watch Mclaren during a game,he just sits on the bench clutching a piece of paper in his hand and shouting COME ON ,most people do that at the dog track".
Perfect!!
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