Any hopes that Harry Redknapp may have had to try and land Newcastle defender Steven Taylor look set to be dashed.
The Magpies are thought to be close to tying him down to a new deal, with his current contract set to end in June.
Taylor was transfer listed during the summer as contract talks hit an impasse but reports claim Newcastle have offered the defender improved terms to remain at St James' Park.
It has been claimed the club have offered Taylor over £40,000 a week to remain at Newcastle in a bid to fend off interest from Spurs and Everton, who are thought to be eager to sign him as a free agent in the summer.
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Tottenham face Birmingham City at St Andrews on Saturday afternoon hoping to keep their bid for a top four place on track. Spurs are currently in fifth place, one point behind Manchester City in fourth.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Liverpool fans have finally seen the back of Roy Hodgson and King Kenny has been installed as caretaker boss until the end of the season. The move from the outset appears to be a no brainer, and supporters will be hoping his appointment will bring a much needed upturn in results to the football club.
At FFC we have seen a mixed bag of articles which includes John Henry’s major dilemma; signing is a gamble too far for Liverpool, while Ajax ace should be the Reds’ transfer priority in January.
We also look at the best Liverpool articles around the web this week.
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VIDEO: The GREATEST Premier League goal ever…you decide!
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If Liverpool sign one player this January…make it him
The players who Liverpool’s future depends on
Would signing be a gamble too far for Liverpool?
Top TEN Transfer Window guarantees this January
A huge decision rests on the shoulders of John W Henry
NESV facing up to transfer dilemma this January
Who is Andres Villa-Boas – the man Liverpool fans will like to see replace Roy
Roy’s replacements – the runners and riders for Liverpool hotseat
TEN things we learnt about Liverpool in 2010
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Best of WEB
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Top 10 Managers of the Decade.. Rafa’s 9th … Roy’s 92nd – Live4Liverpool
At least Dalglish understands Liverpool – Guardian
One Foot in the Past and One in the Future – This Is Anfield
TheTomkinsTimes: Hodgson has no one to blame but himself – Tomkins Times
449,000 Reasons why we are not as bad as the media portray – Live4Liverpool
A New Year, An Old Story! – Kopblog
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Gabriel Obertan – Manchester United’s most divisive player? Either you view him as one for the future or an all too prevalent present nuisance. The young Frenchman’s contributions thus far have shown that he has little else to offer beyond his pace. His first touch is poor, he does not take up good positions and his passes often go astray.
Obertan joined Manchester United back in the summer of 2009 from Bordeaux. He has only ever featured sporadically in the United teamsheet and has become accustomed to coming off the bench towards the end of the game.
At this point it’s likely that Obertan’s defenders will be keen to point out that he’s just 21-years-old. This is true, but do United have space in their squad for a player at this stage in his development?
Obertan has represented his country at under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-21 level. He has yet to make the step up to the senior squad and despite the current state of French football, seems some distance away from doing so.
At least the young winger knows he is still some distance away from making a lasting impact at Old Trafford. He recently told the Press: “It is frustrating sometimes on the bench, but I know I am improving. I would not swap places for anything in the world.”
Frustrating, no doubt, but if he doesn’t start impressing, he’ll have to make do with the limited game-time he’s currently getting at Old Trafford.
United may be in the driving seat this season in terms of the Premier League, but if they want to be Champions then they will have to start performing week in and week out. The first team to find consistency in the League this season will be the team who eventually wins it. Gabriel Obertan is an obstacle to United finding this consistency.
In United’s recent game against West Brom (a tetchy 2-1 victory), Obertan featured and was more of a hindrance than he was a help. His decision-making was consistently poor . He has an unfortunate habit of dawdling on the ball and the timing of his crosses was way off. As a result a number of possible goal-scoring opportunities went missing.
Despite my concerns, there may be a comparison to be drawn between Obertan and the Anderson from a season or two ago. I was more than happy to tell anybody I would meet that Anderson lacked the requisite quality to make it at Old Trafford and that Ferguson would do well to move him on as quickly as possible,
I shouldn’t have been so hasty in my judgment. As a player Anderson has come on leaps and bounds and is starting to assert himself as an important player in United’s midfield. With time, I wouldn’t be surprised if Obertan went on to do exactly the same thing.
We can’t expect Obertan to go from chump to champ overnight. He needs a regular run of games before we can start to determine whether he has a future with the club. If he gains the fans’ and manager’s confidence alike who knows what he’s capable of.
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With this in mind if United can maintain their title challenge and offer Obertan games to help his development, then we ought to give the young lad a chance.
Fight for glory in the present whilst building for the future? Maybe United can have it all.
For more football debate and discussion feel free to follow @ThePerfectPass on Twitter.
There were plenty of metaphorical pats on the back for Rio Ferdinand last week when during the Spurs v Manchester United match he told Rafael not to wave an imaginary yellow card at the referee, as this sort of behaviour was not tolerated. Foreign players with British clubs have been berated by team-mates before when doing this, as happened with Fabrizio Ravanelli and Mikel Arteta in their first seasons in the Premier League.
It seems that in this country, waving an imaginary card at the referee is akin to serial killing or questioning a woman’s knowledge of the offside law.
This is nothing new. In October 2005, the Daily Mail ran a campaign to rid the game of this “evil”.
Players will be told to cut out the imaginary card-waving to encourage referees to book a rival as part of the drive to rid football of the problem.As Sportsmail’s campaign to punish the perpetrators drew support from all parts of the game yesterday, the FA Premier League is taking steps to address the issue.
Referees’ chief Keith Hackett will ask PFA chairman Gordon Taylor when the pair next meet to remind his members of their responsibilities, not only to the game but to each other.
Hackett will also stress to Taylor that refs already have the power to book players for waving an imaginary card and that the pre-season agreement for more respect towards officials from players and managers is being compromised.
Graham Barber, who retired as a Premier League referee in 2004, said: “I’d like to feel that if cautions were introduced, it would act as a deterrent with clubs telling their players to stop doing it. But if this was introduced, it would be up to everybody – clubs, players, managers and the media – to support referees.
Former West Ham striker Tony Cottee also backed the campaign. Now a Sky Sports pundit, Cottee said: “Those players who do this should be booked. Absolutely. I’ve been saying it for two or three years since it came into England. Action is long overdue. When a player waves an imaginary card, the referee should say: ‘Yes, it is a yellow card, but it’s for you’. It’s just unacceptable, trying to get a fellow pro into trouble. It’s the referee’s job to decide whether a foul deserves a yellow card.”
In 2006, there was talk from UEFA of ensuring a similar clamp-down. That paragon of virtue John Terry has moaned in the past about Barcelona players doing it.
An article in When Saturday Comes touched on the same theme last year.
There is nothing that annoys football commentators more than seeing players wave an imaginary card after they have been fouled. Jonathan Pearce, Peter Drury and co seized on such displays during the World Cup with weary despair. Some of the things imported into British club football from abroad in recent times are tolerated – over-elaborate stepovers and wearing undershirts displaying messages for God are just about acceptable – but the card mime is beyond the pale.
Of course the card waving is gamesmanship, just like stealing a few yards at a free-kick or claiming a throw-in that you know is for the opposition. But you can see why it developed when teams get away with blatant thuggery as Holland did during the final.
The thing I don’t get is this: a large percentage of players spend games trying to con the referee – why does this particular action get so much attention?
Is it the horror it provokes at trying to influence the referee? Or the idea that there is nothing lower than trying to get a fellow professional dismissed, or at least punished with a yellow card?
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The waving of the card is just one of a hundred ways that players will try and influence the referee or his assistants during a match, other methods often involving out and out cheating.
In every match we see gamesmanship throughout. Where’s the uprorar about leaving a trailing leg? Commentators will be apoplectic about waving a yellow card, but it’s considered “professional” to “win” a free kick.
Or appealing for throw-ins or corners when the player knew they touched it last. This must happen thirty times a game. What about feigning injury (my personal pet hate)? Or specifically feigning injury as a time-consuming tool? Or the goalkeeper taking the goal kick on the far side of the goal to waste those extra few seconds. Taking two minutes to take a throw-in. A player knowing they’re going to be substituted and wandering over to the far side of the pitch so it takes so long to walk off the pitch most of the crowd have lost the will to live.
Or how about moving the ball forward at a free kick whilst the referee isn’t looking? Or similarly, edging the wall forward a few inches at a time. And so on, and on, and on.
Like diving, there is this conception that card-waving is a trait brought into the English game by those nasty foreigners. Maybe that is why it is raised on a pedestal. All the tricks of the trade we Brits have already mastered are not seen as bad.
Spitting has a similarly bad reputation – now spitting at or on someone is pretty gross, no doubt about it, but I’d prefer to be spat on than elbowed in the head or be scythed down by a leg-breaking challenge.
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The answer may also lie in our eyes – what we see is greater than what we later hear. By which I mean that the waving of the card is a very visible sign of a player trying to influence the referee and get an opponent punished. It is seen as worse than the player telling the referee he should book him.
When Wayne Rooney was sent off for sarcastically clapping a referee, it emerged that referees had been instructed that this was seen to be worse than being swore at by a player as it was a more visible sign of dissent. And thus, so is the waving of the imaginary card, but referees don’t seem as keen to clamp down on this.
Referees of professional games are themselves professionals, and should be making decisions without being swayed by the actions of the players after the event. The waving of the card shouldn’t matter in changing the outcome of anything, but admittedly it is naïve to think referees are not swayed by the reactions of players.
The “card mime” is not something I like to see – I don’t applaud it or remotely support it, but to me it’s no worse than a hundred other things going on in a game. Perhaps if other offences were seen in similar light, the next time a United player dives Rio Ferdinand will give him a piece of his mind. I wouldn’t hold your breath.
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West Bromwich Albion forward Peter Odemwingie is hoping to be fit for his side’s trip to Manchester City on Saturday.
The Baggies leading goalscorer was trodden on in Albion’s draw against Wigan Athletic on Tuesday, but said it was a minor concern for manager Roberto di Matteo.
“Unfortunately, someone stepped on my ankle in the first half,” Odemwingie told the Birmingham Mail.
“I will get some treatment and hopefully it will not swell up and I will prepare for Saturday.”
“It is always interesting to play against a big team. I know it is a big stadium. I haven’t played there so I am hoping there will be no difficulties with my ankle.”
“City are a big club. It will be nice to play against them and we remember the last game we lost there so I’m hoping we can at least get a point from them.”
City boss Roberto Mancini has already confirmed striker Mario Balotelli not be rushed back for the clash at Eastlands, while Adam Johnson remains on the long-term injury list with a knee problem and Micah Richards is doubtful with an ankle complaint.
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The Blues won the reverse fixture at the Hawthorns 2-0 in November courtesy of a Balotelli brace, and City also took the spoils the last time the two sides met in Manchester when the then Mark Hughes-led City won 4-2.
Albion have scored just once in their past five away fixtures in the Premier League since their 4-1 drubbing of Everton at Goodison Park in November.
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp believes Tuesday’s clash with Blackpool is just as important as Spurs’ Champions League tie with AC Milan.Redknapp takes his side to Bloomfield Road looking to claim a victory that would take them five points clear of Chelsea in the race for fourth place.That would be enough to ensure Champions League qualification for next season, which the former Portsmouth manager feels is as important as continued success in this season’s competition.And with Italian giants Milan due to visit White Hart Lane for the return leg of their last 16 tie next month, Redknapp has told his men not to get ahead of themselves by focusing on making the Champions League quarter-finals.”In a way Blackpool is more important,” said Redknapp. “We have had a good run, and now we have to go to Blackpool, and then Wolves next week.””People looked at the fixtures (in February), with four of our five games away from home, and people said this would be a defining point in our season.””So far we have won all four so we have to keep going now. Certainly we have a big chance of getting Champions League football again next year and that has to be a priority for us.””We have to come down (after last week’s victory against AC Milan). From the San Siro to Blackpool, that’s what football is about. It will be a tough game, we know that.”Redknapp also hailed Blackpool counterpart Ian Holloway and believes his fellow Englishman should be named Manager of the Year if he keeps his club in the Premier League.”They have been a breath of fresh air,” said Redknapp as he heads to face a Blackpool side that have not won in six games and are just two points above the relegation zone.”Everybody looked at them at the start of the year and said they would be lucky if they got 20 points, and they have passed that.””They have a big chance of staying in the Premier League, and if he keeps them up he should be Manager of the Year.”But Redknapp will have to do without midfielder Rafael van der Vaart, who has a calf strain, while there are problems in defence with Vedran Corluka and Alan Hutton both sidelined through injury.
Sporting Braga inflicted Kenny Dalglish’s first loss in Europe as Liverpool manager, winning 1-0 in their round-of-16 first leg on Thursday.The Portuguese club took the lead in the the Europa League encounter courtesy of an Alan penalty in the 18th minute, after Liverpool defender Sotiris Kyrgiakos conceded a spot kick for a mis-timed tackle on Marcio Mossoro.Dirk Kuyt started alone up front for Liverpool on the back of his hat-trick heroics against Manchester United in the English Premier League on Sunday, but the Reds were at their most dangerous when 35 million-pound signing Andy Carroll was substituted on after 57 minutes.Midfielder Joe Cole had a penalty appeal turned down soon after Carroll’s entrance, before a Kuyt volley drew a quality save from Braga’s goalkeeper Artur.Carroll, wearing number 39 on Thursday to help UEFA officials differentiate between the Geordie and former Liverpool number nine Fernando Torres, provided an aerial threat that looked to break open the Braga defence.But the consistent long balls from the visitors failed to create enough chances, with Carroll often finding no friends to lay the ball off to, allowing the home side to read the play with ease.Braga backed off later in the second half, seemingly content with their one-goal advantage, and Liverpool could not produce a vital away goal prior to their second leg next Thursday at Anfield.
This season’s been something of a mixed one to say the least, despite the fact the team we all love are sitting pretty in the three main competitions, it seems there’s been more than a few causes for concern.
Throwing away leads, poor away form, Wayne Rooney, central midfield and dropping my phone down the toilet on my birthday have all been reasons to be less than totally cheerful about how the last eight months.
Don’t get me wrong, this season could potentially be one of the most successful we’ve ever had and as someone who remembers the 5-1 at Maine Road -barely- it’s easy to forget just how lucky us United fans are sometimes.
Chicharito, Chris Smalling, the evolution of Nani, Wazza’s derby winner and Dimitar Berbatov adding goals to his game have all been big positives in a season, normal – or should that be less enlightened fans- would be more than happy with.
All the negatives and reasons for regret pale in comparison to the number of times United have made me thank the football gods my dad took me to Old Trafford as a child- mind you living in Manchester what team was I ever going to support? It’s not as though I’m from Stockport.
Any United fan worth his salt- whatever that means, does it mean the salt in your body or kitchen, I’ve never fathomed that expression and will endeavour to cease using it from now on- can’t have failed to notice as always there’s room for improvement in certain areas.
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Over the past few months on this site, I’ve tried to heap the praise more often than I have raised the questions, but there are times when one must ask “is this good enough?”
The question that’s been bugging me for several days, is one that was raised via the joyous social network site twitter- where Rio Ferdinand does most of his best work.
I was at a Legends tournament at the Soccerdome, where thanks to the poor pay that goes with freelance journalism, I still cover a few shifts at, watching Paul Simpson score a wonder goal against a Tesco team which contained Jason McAteer when I received the following tweet “@Gagz7: @jaymotty I tweeted the other day and asked can you tell me the last time United scored from a free a kick?……No answers so far!”
Being bored with watching middle aged players I barely respected in their prime I wandered off to ponder this question for some time resisting the urge to google.
My answer after almost half an hour of deep thought, interjected with being amazed at how small Georgie Thompson is in real life and how Quinton Fortune is a lot stockier than I remember, I admitted defeat. I couldn’t remember one successful United free kick all season.
In fact as I mused over this further one more thing occurred to me, even from penalties United haven’t been that great this season, with only Sir Ryan Giggs proving infallible from 12 yards. Then there was corners, this may sound like I’m drifting from the initial point but how many times have United scored from corners this season? Three? Four? Whatever the tally, there’s no denying that The Reds are far less lethal from corner kicks than they used to be and if I’m completely honest, many of the corners I’ve witnessed this season have been frustratingly bad.
When you’re a side that attacks as often as United does, you’re always liable to earn free kicks around the box, corners in abundance and more than your share of penalties. Yet unlike in the days of a certain Portuguese legend who went from completely useless to the best free kick taker the world had seen since Posh’s husband was in his prime, there is now no real dead ball specialist at Old Trafford.
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Nani has flattered to deceive a few times, Ryan Giggs has always been decent without ever raising his standard above that while Owen Hargreaves is about as likely to take a free kick for United this season as Norman Whiteside is.
United simply do not have a player who can place the ball on whatever spot the referee indicates and convert that into a goal at least some of the time. Don’t get me wrong I understand it’s grossly unfair to expect any players to reach Ronaldo like standards but some sort of excitement when we get a free kick 20 odd yards from goal wouldn’t go amiss.
Nor would someone who could beat the first man at a corner on a regular basis. It’s actually this way of thinking that’s making me believe Blackpool’s Charlie Adam may not be the bad shout I once thought it was. Adam’s corner taking is superb as he demonstrated not just against us but also against West Ham, where he scored directly from one.
Although Adam hasn’t scored from a free kick this season he has in the past least of all the Play-Off final and there’s no doubt he’d get a lot more opportunities to try his luck at United with them than he does at Blackpool.
Although it would be quite frankly crazy to buy a player just for his penalty taking expertise, five scored this season is not to be sniffed at and could be a useful asset if Rooney, or Giggs weren’t willing or available.
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I’ve grown to admire Adam this season for more than just his dead ball ability, his conduct towards the United youngsters in the recent reserve game was above and beyond. More than that though is Adam’s ability to spread the play around and willingness to look for a killer ball, a trait that only Paul Scholes seems capable of at United.
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There’s also the price tag, around £10 million is the most popular price being bandied about which if true could represent something of a bargain, after all, at a time when James Milner, David Luiz and Darren Bent all cost twice as much, I think it’s not the awe-inspiring price it fee it once was.
Adam’s lack of pace seems to be the main argument for his detractors- in fact you could say it’s his only failing but let me ask you: does Michael Carrick possess any real pace? No. That’s not needed if you have other attributes which Adam does.
Adam has the luxury of having players around him at Blackpool that are capable of doing the necessary running and that could be the case at United. I was disappointed Adam and Darren Fletcher didn’t get the chance to play together for Scotland in the recent win over Northern Ireland as it would be a chance to see how they work together- albeit against lesser opposition.
Adam may well not be the ‘marquee midfield signing’ everyone at United is hoping for, but if Sir Alex were to buy him, I’d actually be pretty chuffed.
A midfield trio of Fletcher Adam and Tom Cleverley for certain games doesn’t sound to bad to me.
Am I chatting rhubarb yet again or echoing your own thoughts? Feel free to comment below.
Read more of Justin’s articles at the excellent Red Flag Flying High
It was a night for the home teams as both Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania strengthened their Euro 2012 qualification campaigns with wins.While France top the Group D table with 12 points, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania and Belarus all maintain hope of reaching the tournament’s finals in Poland and the Ukraine.
Albania has not qualified for a major tournament since 1964, but have given themselves a good chance of breaking the drought after edging Belarus 1-0 in Tirana.
Rapid Vienna striker Hamdi Salihi struck the match-winning goal in the 62nd minute after good build-up work from Altin Lala, with the victory keeping Albania in third and just goal difference from their second-placed opponents.
Bosnia-Herzegovina remain in touch with Belarus and Albania following a come-from-behind 2-1 victory against Romania that keeps them a point in arrears.
Stuttgart forward Ciprian Marica handed the visitors a 29th-minute lead in Zenica, but Vedad Ibisevic equalised 18 minutes after the break.
With the game edging towards a 1-1 draw, Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko struck in the 83rd minute to hand his side all three points.
The winners have the upper hand in the qualification race, having played one game less than fellow aspirants Albania and Belarus.
Dwayne De Rosario could not quite inspire New York Red Bulls to a win on his debut, while Portland picked up their first-ever MLS point.Dane Richards handed visitors New York a 47th-minute lead after getting on the end of De Rosario’s pass – his first touch for his new club – but the game was to finish 1-1 when Cam Weaver equalised just three minutes later.
Canadian international De Rosario joined the Red Bulls on Friday from Eastern Conference rivals Toronto FC and was only afforded a spot on the bench for his new side’s trip to Houston Dynamo on Saturday.
He watched an often dour first half from the sidelines, but was involved immediately after his injection for Moroccan midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy.
Recruited to fill the playmaker role in New York’s midfield, the 32-year-old instantly endeared himself to his new club’s fans by providing the defence-splitting pass for Jamaica striker Richards to score.
The advantage lasted just three minutes, however, when Weaver’s deft chip beat Red Bulls goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul.
It stayed that way for the remainder of the game, despite Richards, Luke Rodgers and designated player Thierry Henry going close for New York and Brad Davis shooting wide for Houston.
Elsewhere, the Vancouver Whitecaps came from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 at home Kansas City.
Forward Teal Bunbury struck a brace early in the second half and Sierra Leone striker Kei Kamara also netted to put visitors Kansas 3-0 up by the 63rd minute.
Atiba Harris pulled one back on 72 minutes for the Whitecaps, but they still looked destined for defeat before two stoppage-time strikes from Brazilian forward Camilo Sanvezzo salvaged an improbable point.
The Portland Timbers gained their first point in Major League Soccer with a 1-1 draw away to the New England Revolution.
Rookie Stephen McCarthy put the Revolution ahead with his first goal in MLS, before Jack Jewsbury levelled on 38 minutes to earn a draw for the Timbers.
Toronto FC drew 1-1 at home to Chivas USA, with Alan Gordon equalising for the hosts after Alejandro Moreno put Chivas ahead after just two minutes.
In the later games, the LA Galaxy survived the 52nd-minute dismissal of Chris Birchall to topple Philadelphia Union 1-0. Striker Leonardo got the decisive goal from a David Beckham free-kick.
San Jose and Seattle traded goals before both sides had to settle for a 2-2 draw, continuing the Sounders’ winless start to the season.