Leicester City are planning an audacious bid to bring David Beckham back to England reports the Daily Mail.
The Championship side, managed by Beckham’s former England boss Sven Goran Eriksson, are ready to splash the cash to bring him to the King Power Stadium.
Eriksson is keen to be re-united with the LA Galaxy midfielder and the clubs billionaire Thai owners King Power are just as eager to bring him in.
They want Premier League football and are prepared to fund Beckham’s £200,000-a-week wages for six weeks when the MLS season comes to an end.
A businessman close to King Power said: “This time the Raksriaksorn family are going all out to get Sven to bring Beckham to Leicester. Even they have been overwhelmed at how big Leicester have become here in Asia.
“They are keen to maintain the momentum and, of course, grow the club.
“Sven is in touch with Beckham, the funding is in place and they hope a deal can be done that will suit both parties. It will be good for everyone.”
The Leicester boss’ relationship with the 36-year-old is still strong and chairman Vichai Raksriaksorn believes Sven can persuade him to make the move.
“We want to get into the Premier League simply because I would love to see the team get promoted, because we are a big team.” He said.
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“We have a clear vision that we are trying to take the club to the Premier League.”
Whether Beckham is prepared to move to Leicester remains to be seen but its know he likes to maintain his fitness in the MLS off-season playing for AC Milan and training at Arsenal and Tottenham with Harry Redknapp attempting to sign him last season.
Scotland have recorded a 1-0 win over Lithuania in Euro 2012 qualifying, but Northern Ireland’s campaign hit a new low with a 4-1 defeat in Estonia.
Craig Levein’s side still have an outside chance of making the playoffs, and bounced back from the disappointment of being pegged back in the last minute against Czech Republic on Saturday by getting three points on Tuesday night.
Rangers midfielder Steven Naismith got the winner after 50 minutes, sparing captain Darren Fletcher, who missed a penalty in the first half.
Without the likes of Scott Brown, Kenny Miller and Charlie Adam, Levein will happy with the result, and his side have an outside chance of making the playoffs.
Scotland still have away fixtures against Liechenstein and Spain to play, and realistically need to win both to stand a chance.
Northern Ireland meanwhile were not as lucky, as a poor performance will have disappointed away fans in a 4-1 defeat in Tallinn.
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Two goals in each half by the home side secured the victory for the Eastern Europeans, with Nigel Worthington’s men’s only ray of light an own goal in the first half to give them hope.
The side from Windsor Park are now playing for pride in their remaining games, as they host their conquerors Estonia in their next game, before travelling to take on Italy in October.
After watching Liverpool’s resurgence last season from the treatment bench, you could forgive Steven Gerrard for feeling quite apprehensive ahead of his expected return to the Liverpool team.
Following the signings of Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson, Stuart Downing and the improved form of Lucas Leiva, some Liverpool fans have even questioned where the legendary King of the Kop now fits into the side. It is true that Liverpool were far more productive on the pitch after Gerrard got injured last season and the ambitious team have now signed and developed some talented younger match winners in his place. Last season Dalglish managed to turn around a team of underachievers into one that finished in 6th place in the league all without their inspirational captain who has been out of the team since March.
It is a notion that borders on the sacrilegious to say that Liverpool could sell Gerrard, but it stems from the club’s willingness to sell their valuable assets like Fernando Torres in the last year. Looking back that appears to be the right decision after receiving £50m for a player who has only scored twice since he left Anfield and replacing him with the brilliant Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll which is looking like an inspired decision by the owners.
However even if the owners decided against all odds to sell Gerrard, who would pay big money for 31-years-old who is rarely fit for a full season? The likes of oil-rich Anzhi Makhachkala have been linked with a big-money move for the midfielder and they would be willing to pay him £13m a year. Despite this paper talk it seems likely that Gerrard will turn down the chance to add sizeable sums to their pension funds and finish his career at his beloved Anfield but will he still play such an influential role in the side in the next few years?
It may well be the case that the Steven Gerrard of old, who attempted to pull off the spectacular rather than finding a colleague in a better position, does not fit in Dalglish new-look side and formation. Despite this I still think he has a role to play in the team.
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Liverpool’s inept performance in central midfield against Tottenham at the weekend demonstrated where Gerrard is still required and he could now feature in a deeper holding position which would permit him to dominate games again while allowing the bright young talents to go ahead of him to go and play. It seems the natural development for an injury prone player who came into the starting eleven at a youthful age and probably won’t have the legs to keep on running forever.
Liverpool manager’s in the past had built the Liverpool team around the match winner Gerrard but Dalglish will be reluctant to change his successful formation to fit in the captain and instead he may have to slot into the current set-up. Although I think he could still play in the second striker role behind Luis Suarez which had been so effective before with Torres and this is something that Kenny will be considering especially with the poor recent form of Andy Carroll.
Gerrard is certainly going through a transitional period on the pitch and after a long lay-out with his groin injury it will be interesting to see where he plays and if he is back to his imperious best tonight. I think he could take steps to lengthen his career at Anfield by retiring from the international team this season which seemed to have worked for Paul Scholes at Manchester United. Scholes had still been one of the most consistent performers after he changed his role where he sat deeper in the side so he could orchestrate United’s play. Gerrard could take on a similar role alongside Lucas, providing the platform for the youngsters in front of him to play without restraint.
Of course Gerrard will still be the gifted midfielder who can take games by the scuff of the neck and inspire his Liverpool side but this sort of natural change in his game will help him stay fit while also give him the chance to become the driving force behind success at Anfield for many years to come.
Let me know your thoughts and give me a follow on twitter @aidanmccartney for more discussion about the beautiful game.
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Everton have beaten off stiff competition from Tottenham and Bayern Munich to land 15-year-old midfielder George Green from Bradford in a £2 million deal according to BBC Sport.
The Toffees are believed to have held off their Premier League rivals and the European giants to sign the highly rated teenager from the League Two minnows.
Academy boss Alan Irvine is delighted that the club have managed to land Green and is looking forward to working with the youngster and helping him realise his potential in an Everton shirt.
He will become a full time part of their youth setup next summer and despite being touted as a future star Irvine insists he has a lot of hard work to do on the training ground.
He told the BBC: “He has got good potential but at the moment that’s all it is. He has got a lot of work to do.”
“George is a young player who was attracting interest from a number of clubs. We’re happy to have him and we’re looking forward to working with him here at the Academy.
Bradfords head of football development Archie Christie admits Green is destined for the top and could emulate former Goodison Park favourites Paul Gascoigne and Wayne Rooney.
He said: “This is one of the highest deals ever for a 15-year-old from a League Two club. But George is the best I’ve seen in his position at his age. He could become another Wayne Rooney or Paul Gascoigne.”
It’s been reported that the Premier League side will pay an initial £300,000 with the deal also including bonuses for appearances, new contracts, international appearances and a sell-on-clause.
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It’s clear that in such fiscally uncertain times as these, disposable income is at a premium. With Premier League clubs threatening to lose touch with the common man on the street and price hikes the de rigour, are fans starting to stray away from the terraces in favour of the cheaper comforts of home?
Sunderland remain the prime example, with former Chairman Niall Quinn’s vociferous opposition to fans choosing to watch the club’s games on TV as opposed to at the ground notable by it’s acerbic tone last February.
Quinn stated: “My belief is a significant number of these people are taking the easy option of spending their money in the pub watching their team as opposed to supporting their team and helping to create a better atmosphere at the stadium. Our attendances are down for a couple of reasons and the economic uncertainty right now is a factor.”
The ground capacity of the Stadium of Light is 49,000, yet the club’s average attendance this season is 37,890. This average was boosted somewhat by the crowd that gathered for the Tyne-Wear Derby against Newcastle on the second game of this season that saw 47, 751 turn out to see Newcastle’s 1-0 win.
Since then, Sunderland have had a further three Premier League home games against Chelsea (36,699), Stoke (32,296) and West Brom (34,815). With three out of the club’s four home games this season drawing crowds of 12,000 or more under capacity, it’s clear that there’s certainly something amiss.
Does Quinn’s assertion that economic uncertainty is a motivating factor hold up when you compare attendances across the rest of the Premier League?
Over at Aston Villa, the club boast a stadium capacity of 43,786 at Villa Park yet the average attendance this season has been just 32, 022. The clubs home games this season have seen Villa Park awash with empty seats after the Blackburn (32,319), Wolves (30,776) and Newcastle (34,248) games.
While economic uncertainty is certainly a factor in small attendances, there’s certainly a correlation between the two aforementioned clubs over the perceived underachievement of their team on the pitch and the fans displeasure at the management at the helm.
Alex McLeish is a deeply popular individual around Villa Park, and while, for now at least, they appear to be holding back, it’s clear that it’s a marriage doomed to divorce from the start. At Sunderland, Steve Bruce’s problems have been well documented as he begins to resemble a clueless manager clutching at straws in an attempt to halt a slide that runs right back to February last season.
Blackburn’s attendance under the tumultuous reign of beleaguered boss Steve Kean has seen attendances in freefall. Everton are coming up way shorter than usual and Wigan’s average attendance, as ever, struggles to maintain the interest normally associated with Premier League matches.
The spread of disaffection is not solely confined to the middle and the north of England, though, as newly promoted London-based outfit QPR are also struggling to sell-out their home ground Loftus Road.
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QPR’s former owner Bernie Ecclestone attempted to cash in on the club’s promotion to the Premier League be dealing a 40% hike on ticket prices to fans earlier in the summer. The most expensive season ticket rose £300 on last season to £999. The cheapest adult season ticket came in at £549, compared with £379 at nearby Fulham. It even prompted the resignation of Vic-Chairman Amit Bhatia after he stated his disapproval at increased ticket prices.
New owner Tony Fernandes, in an attempt to appease the club’s fan base, has promised to cut ticket prices by 25%, which when consider that they had already been raised in real terms by 57%, it is still a significant hike.
Loftus Road’s capacity is 19,148, yet they average an attendance of just 16,038. Since Fernandes’s takeover, while it is still early days, the attendance rose by just 496 people the home game against Aston Villa after he came to the helm from the previous home fixture against Newcastle.
The greatest example of the fans displeasure at the astronomical nature of ticket prices at the club came when just 4,755 turned out for QPR’s lacklustre 2-0 home defeat to Rochdale in the Carling Cup second round last month.
It’s worth noting, though, that the slump has not affected some of the larger clubs in the league – the likes of Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs, as you would expect, are all still doing well with concerns to attendance figures as they buck the trend.
The gulf in class on the pitch has rendered the Premier League uncompetitive at times. This, of course, is a big turn-off for fans. There appear to be a lot of deeply average teams in the league this season and the relegation battle could comprise of up to as many as ten teams – hardly something to motivate a fan to continue paying top whack.
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The monetary factor coupled with the regression of certain sides to perform to their capabilities has meant that there is a real sense of apathy about the current campaign. For most sides, languishing in mid-table is nothing to get excited about. When it’s just as easy, as Niall Quinn testified to, to watch the game from the comfort of your own home at a fraction of the price. While this continues to be the case, Premier League grounds will continue to bear the mark of tough financial times.
The Premier League is often said to be the most entertaining league in the world, but with the price of survival far outweighing the strength of most club’s ambition at the moment, supporters are wisely preferring to save their pennies. Football is part of the entertainment business and if clubs continue to strangle and squeeze every last penny they can out of their fans, then attendances will continue to fall up and down the country.
Andre Villas-Boas will not change his attacking principles in light of Saturday’s defensive collapse: “Attacking football is part of the British culture, not my culture. It should be the pride of English football and I think it is. So we shouldn’t turn things around. Everyone is praising a strong, attacking team like Man City and we are exactly the same.” Whether it proves the right philosophy remains to be seen, but having lost 3 games out of the opening 10 the Chelsea boss needs to find the right balance and quick.
Elsewhere in the news an Indian consortium is looking into a possible Everton buyout; Roberto Martinez already feeling the pressure, while Newcastle United fans praised as a major factor in the Magpies excellent start.
News
Everton buyout explored by investors
Gerrard to find out extent of new injury
Newcastle United fans the reason for excellent start
Moyes makes move to bring Pienaar back to Goodison – People
Mario Goetze eyed by Arsenal as Wenger plots January bid – Metro
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Kolo considers quitting City over image rights row – Mirror
Man City misfit set for Baggies switch in January – Mirror
City ‘consider swapping Carlos Tevez for Ezequiel Lavezzi’ – Metro
Martin O’Neill’s first transfer dealing as Sunderland manager could be to recall popular striker Asamoh Gyan from his loan spell at Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates according to the Daily Mirror.
Gyan surprisingly left the North East on a season long loan deal in September that saw Sunderland pocket a record £6million for their help. Gyan’s wages have also rocketed since his move and that could be a stumbling block for the Black Cats to deal with.
The Ghana international regularly comments on Sunderland using his Twitter profile and wished O’Neill the best after his appointment. Bringing Gyan back to the Stadium of Light could prove to be a cheaper option than bringing in a new striker altogether and O’Neill is considering the option after Nicklas Bendtner, Connor Wickham and Ji Dong Won have failed to impress up front this season.
O’Neill has spoken about Gyan: “Yes, absolutely I will address it. I have to talk to Niall [Quinn, Sunderland director] about exactly where we stand on that. But yes, again, his position will definitely be looked at.
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“He started off brilliantly, then things tapered away a little bit. I don’t know the lad at all. Again, he got off to a great start so the potential is there, but I will have a look at it.”
When great players leave your club after years of successful service, you console yourself by thinking not only about all they’ve given you over the years but also what they may still have to offer in a capacity other than on the pitch. Liverpool fans dreamed of a successful return from Kenny Daglish after his playing days and they got one. Newcastle fans dreamed of a successful return from Alan Shearer and they at least got his return. Arsenal fans dream of a return from Thierry Henry, or Dennis Bergkamp or perhaps even Patrick Vieira. Not all good players make good managers, even if they were excellent captains and born winners, Tony Adams is testament to that. However there really is no substitute for the experience that players that have been around and won top competitions have.
Being a success in football is about more than just having the natural physical quality, the mental side to the game is just as important. Players need to know, or need to learn about what it takes to go that extra mile and be champions before they will win big competitions. This has perhaps been one of the criticisms of Arsenal in recent years, that they don’t have enough proven winners in the squad. Their faults seem to be more in the mind than natural, physical deficiencies in their game. This leads us to the question: did Wenger make a mistake in not bringing Patrick Vieira on board when he had the chance. The talismanic captain, who epitomized the early Wenger years at Arsenal with his power, pace and exceptional passing abilities, now resides at rivals Manchester City as the Football Development Executive. In his role he not only helps to identify and attract talent from outside the club but helps to develop the younger players at the club in a behind the scenes role.
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Many Arsenal fans presumed, when the Frenchman accepted the role at City, that he had simply been offered more money by the Manchester club. However he recently revealed that he had never been made an offer at all by Arsenal. There are, admittedly, perhaps too many ‘positions’ behind the scenes at a football clubs these days. Arsenal in particular have been wary of appointing a director of football, to suggest that anyone would decide the direction of the footballing side to the club except for Wenger would be a farce. However in bringing back former players, and former successful players at that, Wenger really could have added what is potentially the missing ingredient at Arsenal. He has tried it in the past to some extent. Jens Lehmann and Sol Campbell both made short term returns, Mikael Sylvestre was also brought in for his experience and both David Beckham and Thierry Henry have trained with Arsenal during the off-season of the MLS. However none of these solutions were permanent and you can’t help but feel that individuals should have been brought in to address the situation as Manchester City did with Vieira.
This is arguably one of the benefits to Henry being brought in. He will no doubt, having won every competition under the sun, add priceless experience to a team that is all but bereft of such things. However this shouldn’t necessarily satisfy Arsenal fans, and it doesn’t satisfy me. What if Arsenal had had ex players in advisory positions for the last five years? Would they have crumbled as they did in 2007/08 towards the end of the season? Would they have lost to Birmingham in the Carling Cup final last year and endured the abysmal end to the season that they did last year? Perhaps they would have, however you are inclined to believe that if they had either brought in ex players in these roles or even provided hugely experienced and influential players such as Gilberto Silva with contracts in to their thirties then it would have been greatly, perhaps incomprehensibly, beneficial for the club.
Follow me on Twitter @H_Mackay
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Mario Balotelli came off the bench to score an injury time penalty give Manchester City’s title ambitions a major boost as they beat Tottenham in a pulsating encounter at the Etihad Stadium.
A drab and goalless first half came to life after the break as City raced into the lead with two goal lead courtesy of quick fire strikes from Samir Nasri and Joleon Lescott only for Spurs to peg them back almost immediately. Jermaine Defoe halved the deficit within 90 seconds before Gareth Bale levelled proceedings to complete an astonishing turnaround in 10 frantic second half minutes. With the game poised on a knife edge the visitors sat back as Roberto Mancini’s men poured forward in search of a winner. It was left to Balotelli to provide it in the fifth minute of added on time stroking home from the spot after he’d been fouled by Ledley King. Harry Redknapp was incensed that the Italian was still on the pitch after his innocuous stamp on Scott Parker went unnoticed by referee Howard Webb as Spurs’ title challenge took a massive hit. The league leaders, on the other hand, stretched their lead over rivals United to six-points ahead of the Red Devil’s trip to Arsenal later in the day.
It was an important win for City and in particular Mancini who was under pressure following Redknapp’s comments earlier in the week stating the Italian boss could face the sack if the title wasn’t delivered to the Etihad in May. He certainly won’t be happy with the way his side played in the first half as Tottenham tried to make the most of their early dominance. The speed of Bale down the left and he would have been celebrating an assist if his low whipped cross had been converted by Defoe at the back post. Still, the hosts were always dangerous whenever they managed to attack and Sergio Aguero should have given them the lead but could only fire wide from six-yard before Scott Paker scuffed a 20-yard stroll wide at the other end. Silva then fizzed a low strike wide of Brad Friedel’s post after good work from Aguero before the Argentinean saw an effort of his own saved well by Spurs’ veteran keeper. That was as good as it got in a cagey first forty five minutes with no one anticipating the storm that was brewing as both teams came out after the break.
Nasri was the man to finally break the deadlock 10 minutes after the restart blasting home after being found by a precision pass from Silva in the games first real moment of quality. Within three minutes the advantage was doubled as Edin Dzeko flicked a Nasri corner on to Lescott who pounced to bundle the ball past Friedel and put City in control. It looked as if the Spurs supporters were in for a repeat of the 5-1 thrashing they suffered at White Hart Lane back in September but to their credit Redknapp’s men showed incredible resolve to haul themselves back into the game. Barely 90 seconds after the hosts’ second goal the North Londoners were back in it as Defoe seized upon a mistake from from Stefan Savic to latch onto Younes Kaboul’s long ball, round Joe Hart and roll into an empty net. It got even better just after the hour as Bale bent a delicious first time effort into the top corner after being teed up by Aaron Lennon who has skipped inside Micah Richards far too easily. The visitors then opted to sit back as the league leaders attacked with vigour in search of a winner with Mancini throwing Balotelli into the mix with just minutes after the equaliser. It didn’t take the Italian long to court controversy as Parker blocked his 20-yard striker before appearing to catch the midfielder with his boot in the aftermath as Spurs appealed vehemently. Defoe then narrowly missed out on connecting with Bales fizzing cross before Balotelli tumbled in the box under a challenge from King to fire home from 12-yards to bring the contest to an exhilarating conclusion.
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There’s nothing quite like seeing a player progress through the youth system and do the business on the main stage. Emerging from the wilderness of grass roots football to compete with the best in the world in the Premier League. The inclusion of young Anthony Forde over the last month or so has once again helped whet the appetite of Wolves fans, who keenly wait the arrival of the next ‘wolf’ off the production line.
Although there may be plenty of talent in our youth set-up, very rarely has it shined through in recent years. Wayne Hennessey is the latest to be classed as first team, after he was thrown in at the deep end back in 2007. Covering for an injured Matt Murray, the young Welshman was handed his debut in the play-off semi-final against West Brom – a game Wolves lost 3-2. Since then, bar a few spells where he found himself out of the team to the likes of Marcus Hahnemann, Hennessey has become a regular name on the team-sheet.
Since Hennessey, there has been little to talk about down at the Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground in terms of gems. Although there has been plenty of talk of international appearances and youth tournaments, none of it has been transferred onto the Molineux turf.
There was once a time when we heavily relied on our youth system as a way of putting together a team every Saturday, and many of those players have gone on to experience hugely successful careers. I’ve had a look around and picked out some of the best ‘cubs’ to have mixed it with the best.
Robbie Keane – Arguably the best product of our youth system, it is no secret that most Wolves fans would love to see the Irishman back in old gold and black. With combined transfer fees pushing past the £70 million mark, captaining his country, and a career spanning the globe, Keane has become a very recognisable name in football and done his Wolverhampton roots proud. That said, it might be difficult for Wolves fans to see him donning the Aston Villa shirt for the next couple of months.
Joleon Lescott – There was always an agreement in the stand that Lescott was destined for great things – and he has not disappointed. After leaving to join Everton, he went on to join mega-bucks Manchester City for a transfer fee that only we could dream about spending on a player. Now a regular member of the England squad, what we wouldn’t give to have Lescott back at the heart of our defence to help bring a bit of structure back to our infrastructure.
Matt Murray – Regarded by fans and the media alike as ‘the best goalkeeper England never had’, the giant goalkeeper was one of the best to ever hold the number one jersey at Molineux. Despite having his career cut short by injury, there is no doubt that the play-off final hero would have gone on to achieve great things at Wolves, and maybe beyond. Happily, Matt has put his injury problems behind him and is carving out a successful career both in the media with Sky Sports, and at Wolves as a Community ambassador.
Lee Naylor – An example of ‘local lad done good’. Although only spending one year in the English top flight with Wolves, Naylor picked up plenty of silverware during his time in the SPL with Celtic. Two SPL titles, a Scottish Cup, and an SPL Player of the Year award – Naylor definitely made an impact. Naylor is also one of very few graduates, along with the likes of Keane and Lescott, to have competed against Europe’s elite, having played in the Champions League .
While we have been quite lucky in producing players such as this, Wolves fans must be wondering when the next superstar will come out of Compton. The internationally-capped Jonny Gorman is yet to make a league appearance for the club, while Zeli Ismael was once predicted to be the ‘first £100 million player’. Yes, it may be much harder to break into the first team in the Premier League with such a high level expected of players.
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But why not give a player a chance? Forde has shown over the last few games that he is in no way out of his depth and has not looked out of place in the first team. This is a promising start and I for one hope we see more youngsters given the opportunity to shine. Ten minutes here and there, the odd cup game, a couple of loan spells all of it can help. Just remember, every superstar has to start somewhere, and that next superstar could be cleaning Roger Johnson’s boots as we speak.