West Bromwich Albion manager Steve Clarke has urged his players not to get carried away despite their impressive start to the 2012/13 Premier League season.
The Baggies are currently third in the league table with seven points from three matches, just two points behind leaders Chelsea. This has been West Brom’s best start to the English top flight for 34 years, but Clarke wants everyone at the club to keep their feet firmly on the ground. He told the club’s official website:
“I think everybody is pleased with the start. What’s good, though, is that even though the players are pleased with the start, nobody is getting carried away. We understand there are many tough games to come. We’re just focused on the next game and trying to get a positive result down at Craven Cottage. The good thing about it here is that it’s a good experienced squad. All the experienced players understand how difficult the Premier League is. Their feet are firmly on the ground.”
The Baggies have recorded two clean sheets and conceded only one goal in their opening three Premier League fixtures, with Arsenal the only side in the Football League who have yet to concede. Clarke has taken time out to praise Gareth McAuley, whose impressive performances alongside Jonas Olsson at the heart of defence have helped improve the Baggies’ defensive record since joining on a Bosman 14 months ago. He continued:
“Gareth has really stepped up to the mark. He’s risen to the challenge, which is something that comes better with experience. He understands and respects the fact he’s got a talent in football. There’s a lot of players like that, who just come in, do their job and try to do the best they can everyday in training and everytime they are picked to play in a match. It’s a great gift. It’s also fantastic for me as a head coach when you’ve got players like that.”
West Brom travel to Craven Cottage to face Fulham on Saturday.
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West Ham United have received some bad press over the past six days, but they have now been praised for their rapid response in tackling the incident at Tottenham last Sunday.
A small group of supporters were heard chanting anti-semetic chants near the end of their defeat at White Hart Lane and the club has already banned an individual, while others were arrested.
The club issued a recent statement claiming they will continue to hunt down the individuals involved and punish them. Meanwhile their actions have been praised by Kick It Out.
Lord Herman Ouseley, Chair of Kick it Out said: “Kick It Out is encouraged by the swift action taken by West Ham United in the wake of Sunday’s fixture.
“Clubs have the power to show leadership and set an example for the vast majority of its supporters to follow in instances like this. Here, they’ve done exactly that.
“Kick It Out has seen first-hand the appetite the club has in embracing anti-discrimination initiatives, with David Gold and James Tomkins both acting as campaign ambassadors in 2012. By doing this they’re helping to send a message as to what is and what isn’t acceptable.
“It is clear they feel abuse of this kind won’t be tolerated and, in a period where the issue is high on the agenda, this approach is something we applaud.”
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The future of Everton manager David Moyes remains up in the air at least until the end of the season, with initial noises out of Goodison Park arguing that the 49-year-old could be interested in taking on a new challenge if the side don’t break their silverware duck this term, but where would the club even look if he did actually follow through and leave?
Stability is a precious commodity in football and something every club craves, whether as some sort of soundbite after just sacking a manager like Venky’s puppet Shebby Singh used when explaining Michael Appleton’s recent departure or as the ultimate long-term goal behind a period of transition – a state which plenty of teams such as Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea are thought to be going through right now.
However, when the club has been formed solely in one man’s image, like Arsenal and Manchester United have been with Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson, change can be an extremely difficult thing to comprehend. Everything from the balance of the squad which is catered to a particular style of play, youth-system and scouting network is geared around the man in the dugout and their power grows the longer they stay in the role, so after over a decade at the club, the job of inheriting Moyes’ squad and improving upon his legacy while keeping in mind the fiscal discipline required to keep them competitive and it’s a post few would take with relish.
You only have to cast your eyes at the bookmakers to see that nobody really has a clue what will happen should Moyes depart for pastures new – Wigan boss Roberto Martinez is the favourite at the moment across the board, but with the Latics stuck in the relegation zone and with eight games of the campaign left to play, will they really want to appoint a man fresh from taking a club down into the Championship? If they go down, the genial Spaniard’s stock falls rapidly and while he may deserve a crack at a bigger job, playing a passing game without the necessary players to carry it off successfully, often applauded by many neutrals, doesn’t constitute the sort of management that’s keep Everton where they are for the past few years.
Current assistant manager Steve Round is broadly seen as the second favourite, but he may be seen as a decent continuity appointment, ensuring Moyes’ legacy is preserved, and having been number two in the England job, he’s used to the sort of scrutiny that would come with making the step up. Nevertheless, the flip side of that coin is he could be seen as a massive gamble in his first managerial job and history is littered with people that made good coaches but have struggled to bridge that gap, with Carlos Queiroz perhaps the best example.
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You simply can’t imagine an old-fashioned club such as Everton would go abroad for a new manager, particularly keeping in mind that the new man in the job will have to scrap ti make ends meet. While the Premier League has the prestige and the club has the pedigree, in terms of a financial package and operating budget, many may choose to bide their time and wait for something that leaves them a bit more wriggle room.
Of course, both Gus Poyet and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer are carving out decent reputations for themselves at Brighton and Molde and would represent a similar appointment to the one that Kenwright made by bringing Moyes in from Preston in 2002 – an up-and-coming young manager with fresh ideas and they’d command the respect of players due to their playing achievements in the top flight. They are foreign, but they are both household names and familiar with the league and what the club stands for. The last thing the supporters want is a fish out of water type appointment like Tottenham have been guilty of far too many times in the past with Christian Gross, Jacques Santini and Juande Ramos.
Mark Hughes has a history of managing clubs of the rivals he played for, but having turned out for Everton towards the end of his playing career as some sort of horrible holding man, which at the time was bizarrely termed as ‘using his experience’, he could buck that trend at Goodison Park. His stock has never been lower than right now after the disastrous job he did at QPR, but when there’s not much money to spend, like he had at Blackburn and Fulham, he can work wonders, it’s just when he’s given leeway with transfers that he can come to seem like a clueless kid in a sweet shop like at Manchester City and Loftus Road. It doubtless wouldn’t be a popular move, but he has his merits and would jump at the chance to restore his reputation, seemingly destined never to get a crack at a top four job again now.
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Lokomotiv Moscow boss and former Croatia head coach Slaven Bilic can also count on a past affiliation with Merseyside during an injury-hit three-year spell between 1997-2000 after moving from West Ham. He left in controversial circumstances, though, being given a million-pound payoff, representing around half of the balance remaining on his lucrative contract which still had 28 months to run, after being told he could find a new club. This bitter end to a frustrating period towards the end of his career, with the 44-year-old never shy of a word or two and he may be seen as too hard to handle and control for the naturally cautious Kenwright.
Aside from the usual customers (Alan Curbishley is at 33/1 shock of shocks, just like he is for every vacant post), any move Kenwright makes will oversee a radical shift at the club as opposed to the gradual and at times leisurely pace of evolution that’s gripped Goodison Park the past few seasons. My hunch if Moyes should depart would be for either Solskjaer or Martinez, with Poyet a decent outside shout, but the task of replacing the Scot successfully is something the odds simply can’t tell you.
Sometimes in life, we all go through spells craving something that we simply cannot live without. Be that money, beer or a certain someone, there is always something that makes us tick a little bit better than without it. But in the case of these gentleman, that comes in the form of a, err, profesional footballer.
Indeed, whether Brendan Rodgers craved Joe Allen for his midfield dynamism or simply someone to knock back a few glasses of Rioja with on the River Mersey, he decided he simply had to pay £15million to get him to move from Swansea with him. But he is by no means the first, or likely the last manager, to crave one of his old boys.
Here are ten, player-manager relationships that were so good, they simply couldn’t wait to seek each other out in an orgy of transfer fee based excitement. Some have tasted success together, others have tasted long-standing mediocrity together and some find life so hard without the other, they sign them four times and counting in their career.
Click on Joe Allen below, and feel the love for yourself
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Are you not feeling the love with any of these top ten picks? Or are you a supporter of a club who paid over-the-odds for one of their chums to come to your club? Tell me what you think on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and get involved with the talk.
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Manchester United and Chelsea are both keeping tabs on young Lille defender Lucas Digne, according to The Daily Mail.
The 19-year-old left-back broke into the Ligue 1 side’s first-team last season, and has impressed with standout performances for Les Dogues so far this term.
The teenager has represented France from under-16 to under-19 level, and is adjudged to be one of the most promising prospects in the game in the country currently.
Both Premier League giants sent scouts to watch Digne play for Lille against Rennes on Friday, and were suitably intrigued to provide positive reports on the energetic full-back.
Chelsea are looking for long-term options at left-back with Ashley Cole in the last year of his current deal and ageing, with Ryan Bertrand marked as the England man’s successor.
United meanwhile signed Alexander Buttner in the summer to provide competition for places for Patrice Evra, but are still considering strengthening in this area.
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As a player, there can be nothing more devastating than the realisation that your stint at the summit of the beautiful game is over. The passion and hunger may still burn bright but as athletes fall the wrong side of 30, their body enters a state of decline and their ‘touch’ and ‘shooting boots’ become more elusive with each passing weekend.
Some players bow out from the sport gracefully while others frantically gather up thier wage packet like an anxious squirrel preparing for winter. The start of the new season has provided evidence that certain players are nearing the light at the end of the tunnel and should perhaps look to step down a division to prolong their already lengthy career.
Click on Rory Delap to reveal the players who are a shadow of their former selves
Emmanuel Adebayor has been a failure everywhere he’s been. Not because he’s a terrible footballer, but because the early promise shown at each of his clubs quickly fizzed out into nothing but a fair bit of frustration and plenty of derision.
He doesn’t really care, though, and maybe that’s the problem. Adebayor gets on with his job as a modern day athlete with that mischievous grin on his face – and not in a good way – while his advisors, who do their own job rather poorly, pull the strings on his turbulent career.
Adebayor had all the makings of one of the best strikers in the Premier League, perhaps even in Europe. It’s that hybrid of pace, unmatchable strength and scoring ability from a whole host of angles that so many clubs are looking for. He was close to unstoppable in 2007-08 when Arsenal finished third in the Premier League, dropping out of the title race at the final hurdle.
Following that, the influence of those around him came to the fore, as Adebayor demanded something more for what he had done for only one season – either a new contract or a move to AC Milan. It would set the trend for the rest of his career in the bigger leagues of European football, with that chapter likely coming to a close as Besiktas move in to take him off Tottenham’s hands.
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Though even at Spurs, his first good season spent at White Hart Lane on loan was an act to secure himself a contract for the following season. His second year with the club mirrored that of his “second” year with Arsenal following the 30-goal campaign. He did very, very little, only to later confirm his ability to conjure something brilliant when there were doubts as to whether he still had life left in him: the goal against Villarreal in the Champions League and the performance at Stamford Bridge.
He should have been the next in line to carry on from what Didier Drogba set at Chelsea. Both very similar in terms of build and athleticism, while on his day Adebayor was unplayable, ironically much like Drogba was when playing against Arsenal.
But we shouldn’t be so surprised. The sports world is littered with athletes who could have been so much more but chose an alternate route. It’s a combination of the money in the game and the ease at which players can force moves elsewhere if they’re not happy for one reason or another. In the specific case of Adebayor, it’s the player’s reluctance to learn from previous mistakes. He’s never truly had a club he could call home, as during his spell with Manchester City, he went on loan to Real Madrid for six months – a period in his career that is easily forgettable. Sure, he did ok, but to what end? He got the short-term security he was looking for with Tottenham the following season, and then decided – or was advised – that something a little more concrete was needed for the season after that.
What is slightly amusing, though, is the player’s belief that he still warrants high-end wages, something akin to a star player at a Champions League club. Again, he hasn’t been a Champions League calibre player for many seasons, and it has nothing to do with lack of ability. If Besiktas have the funds to push through on this deal then fine, it’s a good deal for both parties. Incidentally, Adebayor may bemoan the lack of European football next season due to Besiktas’ participation in a match-fixing scandal, but that’s the bed he’s made for himself. Plus I don’t really think he’s too bothered.
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Is Adebayor deserving of his current position in football, having failed to maintain a high level in the game?
Liverpool have been linked with both Ajax playmaker Christian Eriksen and Shakhtar Donestk forward Henrik Mkhitaryan over the last couple of days, but is this a sign that the club are planning to make a statement or two of ambition in the summer, or a signal that contingency plans are being prepared for the departure of Luis Suarez?
The club recently announced that net debt increased by a third from £65.4m in July 2011 to £87.2m in May 2012, which has seen many concerned that this could have an impact on their ability to compete for the brightest talents in Europe when the campaign finishes in the transfer market.
Manging director Ian Ayre dismissed the £22m rise in debt as a sign that the club were simply getting their house in order behind the scenes: “The accounting period we are talking about followed on from the fact we did a refinancing of our (banking) facilities, which gave us £120m facility over three years. As part of that £120m there was around £40m of stadium debt; debt that has existed on various projects we have worked on to find a solution to improved capacity.” He went on to cite that the club were still making payments on several players including Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson, while they had to fork out £9.5m in the summer for manager Brendan Rodgers and his backroom staff.
With a top four slot slipping away this term, which was to be expected in a period of gradual transition under a new coach trying to implement a new style, despite the club’s wage bill being radically reduced, what is clear is that the longer the club remains out of the Champions League, the more it will impact on their ability to attract top players and keep hold of world-class talents like Suarez. Should the Uruguayan stay next season, he will be doing the Merseyside outfit a massive favour, because he could pretty much name his price to any club in the world after the outstanding year he’s had.
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The future of Suarez looks likely to be one of those tiresome transfer sagas that will dominate the back pages all summer, that is until he inevitably signs a massive bumper pay deal and stays for one more season before swanning off to either Germany or Spain. It’s a predictable situation that will continue to happen as long as Liverpool fail to establish themselves in the top four, while the aforementioned debt rise will play a part.
Rodgers refused to believe that the club’s budget will be compromised too much, though, telling reporters: “If you look where the club was at four years ago and where it is now it is a different place. Of course there is still debt there but I think next year’s results will show further improvement on that. In terms of me building the squad I’ve already got the assurances it won’t affect anything.
“I think you have to give massive credit to the board and FSG because they took on an astronomical amount of debt – almost £400million – so where it is at now in their short period of time here is a huge credit to them while still supporting the investment of the team.
“They have made every promise and every commitment to me that every single penny they have will go into generating the squad and making it better. We won’t be able to do it like some clubs and throw out masses each year but that is something as a club we are looking to standardise here while still growing the club and bringing in quality players and that won’t stop in the summer.”
The club’s heavy business during the January transfer window also has to be considered, with both Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho costing approximately £20.5m and it would be surprising if Rodgers was given anything more than £15-20m to spend on new players before departures. Any deal for Eriksen would likely take up the vast majority of that budget just in the same way that Joe Allen did last summer.
The recruitment of former Manchester City scouting duo Dave Fallows and Barry Hunter in September has already seen a shift in policy from the summer and bodes well for the future and it seems that Liverpool are seriously targeting Eriksen, with Ajax director of football and former Arsenal winger Marc Overmars admitting to De Telegraaf on Friday: “We have the list of the scouts of foreign clubs who have been here recently and Liverpool has been a regular visitor.” Meanwhile, reports have emerged that a two-man delegation was sent to keep tabs on Mkhitaryan.
The main sticking point aside from budgets will be convincing either or both of Eriksen to trade guaranteed Champions League football with Ajax and Shakhtar Donetsk for what at the moment looks at best to be another year in the Europa League. Prestige is the most important currency going in football and Liverpool haven’t got the biggest line of credit around.
The 21-year-old Denmark international would be something of a transfer coup should they convince him to trade the Netherlands for Anfield and he could really excel in that role at the tip of a midfield three which Joe Allen has struggled at times in and Jordan Henderson, who has impressed since the turn of the year, has seemingly failed to earn the full faith of Rodgers. Jonjo Shelvey is still regarded as a raw talent and Steven Gerrard has been moved deeper, while Coutinho has been earmarked for one of the two wide roles, so it certainly fits from a positional perspective and the biggest single move the club can make to convince Suarez to stay is to bring in a better calibre of player.
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When it comes to Mkhitaryan, the Armenian international is possibly the most like-for-like replacement that could be pursued should Suarez leave at the end of the season. He’s comfortable in both a deeper-lying role and as he has shown this year, playing as an out-and-out striker, which will be a versatility that appeals to Rodgers, but the club are unlikely to be able to afford both Eriksen and the Shakhtar man, so it’s a case of either or, but it could just as equally be a contingency plan for Suarez, which is a wise move to ensure they are not caught short.
Liverpool have progressed under Rodgers this season, but when it comes to spending, there is simply not a limitless tap that will be turned on as soon as the transfer window opens again, so the debt and the good business done in January will have a huge say on the budget he is handed.
The club look to be targeting the sort of players capable of playing in the Champions League and bridging that sizeable gap between the top four and the top eight where they currently find themselves stranded in, but a lot rests on the shoulders of Suarez and his future, whether that be in terms of the shape and quality of the side, or the nature of their summer business and the players they are able to sign.
QPR could be in a worrying financial position after they reported a loss of £23million for the 11/12 season.
When the Hoops got promoted in 2011 they took a huge risk to guarantee they remained in the Premier League, doubling their wage bill from £29.74million to £58.46million and spending £25million on transfer fees in their first season back in the English top flight.
These figures don’t include any of the players that were bought in during the last two big spending transfer windows, outlays that will be added onto next year’s figures.
Tony Fernandes who owns 66 per cent of the club, lent the Loftus Road outfit a further £38.7 million last season with his fellow shareholders, something which has increased their net debt to £90million, according to The Sun.
If QPR get relegated in May they could be in serious financial trouble, with £20.5million from the latest transfer windows being added on to their debts the loss of Premier League money that would inevitably follow the drop. Clubs that are relegated will receive ‘parachute payments’ of £16million for the first two seasons which will shrink to £8million after, but the club will still have a huge wage bill – putting them in real danger of financial disaster.
The club have refused to comment on the latest figures, but when they announced the losses, Fernandes appeared to dodge the obvious strife his club finds itself in.
“When, alongside my business partners, I purchased a majority shareholding … my goal was to turn QPR into an established Premier League club. This remains my focus,” he said.
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Liverpool, West Ham and Aston Villa have also announced substantial losses for last season and they face a battle to sort out their finances before they start to see the consequences on the pitch.
West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster insists that the team are not getting carried away despite moving up to fifth position in the Premier League.
The Baggies beat Southampton 2-0 at the Hawthorns to go to within goal difference of the Champions League positions following a solid start to the campaign.
However Foster is adamant the team are remaining grounded despite their lofty position:
“It’s a cliché but we are really not getting carried away we are taking each game as it comes and we will just see where it goes,” He SkySports after the game.
“For the majority of the table I think there are 14 odd teams probably hoping to get to the 40 point mark and take it from there and we’re no different”
“We will get to that 40 point mark as soon as possible and see what games we have left.”
Two goals from striker Peter Odemwingie were enough to decide the game and leave the Saints rooted to the foot of the table.
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The Nigerian broke the deadlock with a deflected 25-yard effort to give his side the advantage heading into the half-time interval.
He then doubled both his and the teams tally in the 60th minute, heading in a pin-point cross from Shane Long.