All posts by h79snht.top

So… he doesn’t help us qualify, he retired 3 years ago, his side has their worst season in club football for 16 seasons and he declared that he wasn’t all that fussed about representing his country in his autobiography and yet now he has a chance to go to the World Cup. How on earth does that work? Are England really struggling that much for defenders? Many people argue that Carragher is versatile. And? So what? He’s not the only versatile English defender – what about Micah Richards? He was always available throughout the qualifiers and he can be considered to be versatile.

What about Matthew Upson? How must he be feeling? He helped the country get to the World Cup in the first place! While Jamie Carragher was sitting at home with his feet up, Matthew Upson was out there working hard to make sure that his country got to South Africa. Why? Because playing in a World Cup is the most important thing to some people and it is these people who should be contenders to be picked. Naturally there are going to be ‘guarantees’ to go to South Africa. Players like Rooney, Lampard and Ferdinand etc can consider themselves picked already but others, like Upson and Richards, have had to work as hard as they possibly can just to even be considered. Sadly for the pair – it was to no avail. The position went to somebody who didn’t even want it.

Don’t get me wrong. I respect and like Capello. But here it looks as though he’s just like every other England manager. If your name is big enough then you’re in the squad. If England require a holding midfielder and an attacking midfielder – sadly it won’t be a case of: ‘Sorry, it’s either Frank or Stevie for the attacking role.’ It’ll be ‘Well we’ll put Frank in there and then we can try and cram Stevie in somewhere else like Left-Midfield. We can’t not pick him – it’s Gerrard.’ Yes Fabio. You can ‘not pick him.’ In the exact same way that you can rely on English players from clubs outside of the ‘Big Four’. If Carragher played for West Ham – begging him to come out of retirement wouldn’t have even been an option.

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When we go out in the Quarter-Finals and everyone is walking around the country feeling very glum and confused as to how the mighty England didn’t manage to ‘bring it home’, I ask them to look Greece’s win in the Euros in 2004. What do you see? Do you see a strong team of players, or a team of strong players? And yes – there is a difference.

Written By Stephen Rudd

Huddersfield Town boss Lee Clark has rubbished speculation linking him with the vacant managerial position at Premier League Fulham.

The 37-year-old spent more than five years as a player with the Cottagers, but says that he is fully focused on the job in hand at the Galpharm Stadium.

He told the club's official website:"I've spoken to the chairman this morning and he has had no contact from Fulham, our chief executive has had no contact from Fulham and I have had no contact from Fulham.

"Most of the time I don't comment on speculation, but there has been absolutely no contact from Fulham and I don't want people to become unsettled.

"It came as a genuine surprise to me when I saw the story on television this morning, but I take the same attitude towards it that I do when our players get linked with clubs from a higher division.

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"It's a good sign that these clubs are interested because it means that we are doing things right here. I'm completely focused on getting things ready for the new season with Huddersfield Town."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has pleaded with the club's faithful to get behind new signing Titus Bramble.

Bruce, who worked with the central defender at Wigan Athletic, has brought him to the Stadium of Light from the Latics, but he is concerned that the Black Cats supporters will be unhappy with the recent acquisition.

Bramble endured a mistake-riddled spell with north east rivals Newcastle United earlier in his career and, despite his connections with the Magpies, Bruce is confident he has what it takes to be a big hit on Wearside.

"Look, I thought long and hard about signing him, long and hard because I knew it might be a difficult one for Sunderland fans and for him," Bruce said to Sunderland Echo.

"But the great thing is that the lad's got plenty of bottle – he wanted to come here, he wanted to play for me and Sunderland, and I feel sure that Sunderland fans will recognise that and give him a fair crack of the whip.

"At the end of the day, Sunderland fans want the same as me and the same as Titus Bramble, which is success for this club."

"If Titus shows – as I think he will – that he can make us better, then I don't think supporters will have a problem accepting him.

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"The easiest thing would have been not to sign him and to avoid any hassle, but I think he's a player who can genuinely improve us.

"He had a difficult start to his top-flight career. I think the move to Newcastle was too soon for him, it was too big a club at too tender an age and he's had his work cut out to shift the image of himself he created there."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

The relationship between Martin O’Neill and Randy Lerner could be considered one of the best in the league but James Milner’s proposed move to Eastlands has forced O’Neill to admit he is not the sole authority at Villa Park.

Due to the amount of money in football in this day and age, the relationship between chairman and manager is scrutinised on a regular basis. Player transfers are often the bone of contention, a wrestle between keeping key players and business instinct to sell them at the right price.

O’Neill admits “”It is really in the owner’s hand at the end of the day” (Daily Telegraph)

This surely begs the question as to whether Lerner should have a say on the sale of players at all.

This is a footballing matter and perhaps it would be wise to let O’Neil decide whether selling Milner would be a good move for the club.

Milner was key for Villa last season and his versatility would be a credit to most Premier League sides meaning the decision (whoever that will rest with) to sell him would be a big blow if Villa have their sights on reaching the Champions League next season.

Whilst it is clear O’Neill wants Milner to stay, perhaps the quality of the squad would benefit from the 30 million pounds that the young England midfielder is arguably not worth.

Manchester City are set to have a clear-out of some extremely good players in wake of their summer spending and the likes of Stephen Ireland, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Craig Bellamy have all been linked as part of the deal for Milner.

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By seemingly passing the buck to Lerner, O’Neill may soon be searching for a replacement for his winger after detailing that “Whatever they come up with, we will go with. I am not going to be running around dictating. If you own a football club, you can do what you want with it” during their pre-season exploits in Portugal.

It may be concluded that whilst O’Neill hangs desperately onto the bleak hope of keeping such an integral part of the set-up at Villa Park his opinion is overshadowed by Randy Lerner’s business acumen, selling a player for far more than he has yet proved to be worth.

One of the most pleasing aspects behind England’s recent back to back wins against Bulgaria and Switzerland were the performances of Phil Jagielka. The Everton centre half looked at ease throughout at the heart of defence, and while he may just be considered a stop gap until the likes of Ferdinand and Terry return, his displays show there is a little more strength in depth than previously anticipated.

Jagielka’s international career looked all but over after he suffered a cruciate ligament injury in 2009 just before Everton’s FA Cup final appearance. Jagielka had a great campaign in 2008/9, but to most, it looked like it was nothing more than good form as opposed to continued excellence. This injury looked to have not only ruled him out of the FA Cup final, but of Fabio Capello’s future plans.

A year is an extremely long time in football, but Jagielka has been fortunate that many of his rivals for a starting spot in the England side have fallen by the wayside either through injury, lack of form, or in Joleon Lescott’s case at least, ill-advised moves.

Against Bulgaria, Jagielka looked far more at ease with the occasion and the opposition than the nervy Michael Dawson and against Switzerland he marshalled the backline to decent effect. Dawson undoubtedly had a good back end to last season which resulted in him being called up to the World Cup squad in injured captain Rio Ferdinand’s stead, a deserved call up certainly, but so far this season the Spurs centre half has been poor to say the least.

Jagielka, in contrast, towards the end of last season upon his return was patchy, and although that is to be expected after such a long lay-off, it seemed he was the right player at the wrong time with concerns to a World Cup place. Still, he couldn’t have done any worse than Matt Upson could he?

He does however offer the England defence a rare and precious commodity that they haven’t had for some time, pace. Ferdinand used to have it in abundance but with numerous thigh and back related injuries; he is obviously on the wane in that department. Terry has the turning circle of a cruise ship liner, Matt Upson could never be considered sprightly and Ledley King, while he retains excellent acceleration over short distances, much like his other injured team mate Jonathan Woodgate, is extremely injury prone and his international career looks all but over sadly. Whereas Gary Cahill has to be considered one for the future rather than the now and Joleon Lescott can’t get a game at centre half for his club Man City.

The status quo will most probably be restored by the time England play Montenegro at home in October, with the likes of Terry and Lampard waltzing back into the starting line up, but In Jagielka’s case at least, seeing him depart from the eleven will be wholly unjustified as his performances have been calm, composed and really quite excellent.

I have never thought that Terry looks at ease at international level, which is strange, as in terms of quality at least, it most certainly ranks below the Champions League nowadays, but with England lacking a Michael Essien figure in front of him to terrorise the opposition midfield, with only a limp Gareth Barry performing the enforcer (I think I can hear laughs at the back) role, he is a lot more exposed and his sometimes fatal weakness becomes more evident and most importantly, more regularly.

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His ascension has been somewhat fortuitous this time whereas last time it was undoubtedly deserved, on the back of some truly exemplary club form, most notably the complete and utter shackling of Fernando Torres in an FA Cup tie, but Jagielka looks to have taken his chance with both hands this time, and to be honest, he does deserve a little bit of luck after what he’s been through, even if his starting eleven place may not last for long and hopefully he’ll add to the 6 England caps in the future that he currently holds.

Written By James McManus

James Milner is hoping Wayne Rooney remains with the England squad ahead of their Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland.

Two Sunday newspapers made a series of allegations concerning the private life of the Manchester United striker and reports claim he could pull out of the squad for Tuesday's encounter in Basel.

The Football Association claim the entire squad will travel to Switzerland on Monday for their second Group G game.

Rooney was one of the key players during Friday's 4-0 opening victory over Bulgaria after setting up all three of Jermain Defoe's goals.

Milner was speaking at a press conference ahead of the trip to Switzerland at which he revealed just how important Rooney is to the England side.

When asked how the United striker had trained since the newspaper allegations broke, he replied:"He did the full session. We had our full training session and back to football is what we're here to do.

"I think you want the best players out on the field and he's obviously one of them. He showed that the other night.

"He's a top, top player and we want to put out the strongest team possible."

Meanwhile, Milner has backed Rooney to cope with the pressure he now finds himself under.

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The Manchester City midfielder added:"Things are always said in the paper, good things, bad things, about the England team when results are going well and when they're not going well.

"You have highs, you have lows, and it's down to us to make sure only thing that matters is on the field, come together and make sure we get the result.

"Winning football matches is the only thing that matters."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Wayne Rooney will be out of action for up to three weeks, according to Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

Rooney was left behind when the Red Devils flew out to Spain for Wednesday's Champions League encounter with Valencia.

The striker had struggled to shake off an ankle injury which led to his substitution in the second half of Sunday's Premier League draw with Bolton Wanderers.

Rooney's injury was not thought to be too serious, but Ferguson revealed at his pre-match press conference that the England striker is likely to be sidelined until mid-October.

He will now miss Saturday's league trip to Sunderland and also England's Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro on October 12.

"It will be two to three weeks," said Ferguson. "But it depends because Wayne has done quite well with his recovery from injury in the past."

Rooney has scored just one goal in five appearances for the Red Devils this season and Ferguson suggested last weekend that he was struggling to cope with the pressure that recent revelations about his private life had brought.

Meanwhile, Ferguson also confirmed that veteran midfielder Paul Scholes will be sidelined for around ten days with a calf problem.

However, Rio Ferdinand looks set to return from his knee ligament injury against Valencia as Ferguson looks to strengthen a defence which has leaked ten goals in seven games during his absence.

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"It's a decision I'll take tomorrow," he said"He's had plenty of training and a couple of reserves games. He also played against Rangers and Scunthorpe but he's been out for five months.

"That's why I didn't risk him on Sunday against Bolton. I felt that would be a physical challenge so we decided to stick with Nemanja Vidic and Jonny Evans, who have done very well for us.

"I have no complaints about their performance levels."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce believes Titus Bramble has silenced his critics during his brief time on Wearside.

Bruce raised eyebrows when he returned to former club Wigan Athletic to sign the error-prone defender during the summer.

He paid £1million for the former Newcastle United centre-half but has been impressed by his performances for the Black Cats.

Bramble was named man of the match in Monday's goalless draw with Blackburn Rovers.

"There were a lot of things said and written about Titus which I thought were unjust," Bruce told the club's official website.

"I hope the people who had those opinions and voiced them will take them back and say fair play to him.

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"As I said at the time, Titus wanted to come back and play and the way he's playing at the moment is how he played for me for 18 months at Wigan.

"I'm delighted because he has matured. If there's any centre back in the Premier League playing better at the moment I've yet to see him and that's the biggest compliment I can pay him."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

The two steals of the summer transfer window have to be Manchester United’s signing of Javier Hernandez and Tottenham’s last minute deal for Real Madrid’s Rafael van der Vaart. The two this season have offered their clubs something new and their fans couldn’t be happier. For Manchester United to get the deal for Hernandez done before he lit up the World Cup was a great piece of business. For Tottenham to attract a player of the proven class of Rafael van der Vaart showed to us that the club are not resting on their laurels –  and will keep improving his squad to compete in the Champions League and to continue to finish in the top four on a consistent basis.

Gary Neville has heaped praise of Javier Hernandez after his terrific display earned United three points away at Stoke on Sunday. Hernandez has looked in good form since his £7million transfer. He scored rather fortuitously in the Community Shield against Chelsea, netted his first league goal last week against West Bromich Albion and a futher two on Sunday against Stoke City.

Neville speaking to the Independent on Tuesday spoke highly of the Mexican talent. “He’s got the right attributes and his talent. At this club you get rewarded if you work hard and he deserved his goals against Stoke. He will score lots and lots of goals for this club. He is one of the most exciting young prospects we’ve had for some time.”

For a true Manchester United legend like Gary Neville to speak so highly of the youngster is special praise indeed. Its what Hernandez has brought to Manchester United that has attracted so much attention. He has terrific movement, he is always alert and always looking to get in behind a defence. His knack for scoring goals has been highlighted as well. When Sir Alex Ferguson said he an unearthed a natural goalscorer in April many were dubious. However Hernandez has shown his willingness to take chances. His back header against Stoke was an example of a player trying everything to score a goal for his team. If he had headed it properly, Thomas Sorensen may have saved it – it was the surprise element that caught everyone off guard. Manchester United have an unearthed a great talent and the Mexican looks like he will go from strength to strength at Old Trafford.

[divider]

Manchester United may have one of the best young talents in the Premier League right now – but some would argue that Tottenham have the most technically gifted player in the Premier League. Raphael van der Vaart has been different class since he joined Tottenham. In the summer, managers were complaining that there was little value in the transfer market. However, Redknapp has found value all right – signing the Holland international for £8million. Who needs a massive takeover when you have a manager with the negotiational skills of Redknapp. To not only persuade Real Madrid to let van der Vaart leave but to convince the player himself to join. A truly wonderful footballer is now gracing the Premiership and it is no suprise the impact he has had on Tottenham.

After the injury to Jermain Defoe, Spurs fans may have been worried about where the goals would come from in both the Premier League and the Champions League. However, the combination play between Peter Crouch and Rafael van der Vaart has been excellent and the two are forging a good understanding. His impact on the team has been sensational. Domestically, he has scored four goals in six games as well as one assist. His goals have come at important, game changing times also. The equaliser against Everton on Saturday, both goals against Aston Villa and the equaliser against Wolves that set Tottenham up for victory. In Europe he has played in two Champions League matches scoring one and assisting one.

Rafael van der Vaart didn’t have the greatest time at Real Madird but now it seems he has found the right club. Tottenham will build the side around him, something Real Madrid didn’t do. Tottenham’s signing of van der Vaart at £8million could be one the best signings in Premiership history – we will have to wait and see how he progresses. He is without a doubt the signing of the season so far, and if his form continues Tottenham can be very confident of moving forward in the Champions League and finishing in the top four come the end of the season.

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Fancy playing your mates every week in a Premium Fantasy Football game?

Chris Hughton may not have admitted it before kick-off but a victory in last weekend’s Tyne-Wear derby has gone a long way towards securing the Newcastle boss and new deal at St James’ Park.

The constant, somewhat unwarranted speculation around Hughton’s future masked what has been a very decent start from a Newcastle side relying on more or less the same personnel that took them down two years ago. Kevin Nolan’s hat-trick is not the only good news the Newcastle captain has received this week; a court has granted tearaway striker Andy Carroll permission to stay in a hotel as he awaits trial for assaulting a former girlfriend.

On the blogs this week, we ask if former manager Kenny Dalglish has identified the problems surrounding Hughton’s contract saga and Elliot O’Reilly winds the clock back and discovers what happened to one time Newcastle striker, Mirandinha.  Also this week, there is analysis of how the same band of disinterested, poorly motivated players that flopped out of the top flight 18 months ago are now back, hungry for the challenges of the Premier League.

There are also some cracking contributions as we scour the best of the web.

Featured Articles

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The Premier League’s New Comic Strip #2

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Who needs more big money signings at Newcastle?

Does Kenny underline the real problem at Newcastle United?

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Are Newcastle hanging him out to dry?

Top ten most controversial Premiership moments

TEN things that we have noticed from the Premier League this season

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Click here to see the Best NEWCASTLE BLOGS around the Web this week

Best of the Web

We are not getting carried away with seventh place- The Newcastle United blog

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Face it Brucey- derby day hammering was in the post- Blog on the Tyne

Four battles that must be won at The Emirates. – NUFC Blog

A month of Saturdays: October 2010- Black and white all over

Are Newcastle fans now more realistic? – NUFC Blog