http://www.guardian.co.uk/football Latest news and features from guardian.co.uk, the world's leading liberal voice en-gb &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:14:02 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds 15 http://image.guardian.co.uk/sitecrumbs/Guardian.gif http://www.guardian.co.uk/football http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/fabio-capello-wayne-rooney-england/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/10330?ns=guardian&pageName=Fabio+Capello+says+Wayne+Rooney+will+play+for+England+in+Switzerland%3AArticle%3A1448243&ch=Football&c3=Guardian&c4=Wayne+Rooney%2CFabio+Capello%2CEngland+football+team%2CEuro+2012+%28Football%29%2CFootball%2CSport&c5=Euro+2008+Football%2CFootball+World+Cup%2CPremier+League&c6=Dominic+Fifield&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1448243&c9=Article&c10=News&c11=Football&c13=&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FWayne+Rooney" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">• Striker's private life is his own problem, says coach<br />• Captain Steven Gerrard backs Rooney to shine again</p><p>The pragmatist in Fabio Capello revealed itself tonight. The England coach confirmed that Wayne Rooney will start tomorrow evening's awkward Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland, having stressed that allegations surrounding the striker's private life are "his problem".</p><p>Capello has scrutinised Rooney's demeanour in training sessions at London Colney and, last night, at the St Jakob Park stadium and has spoken to the Manchester United striker after allegations were published in two Sunday newspapers. There had been concerns within the coaching staff regarding Rooney's state of mind but the manager has been reassured by the 24-year-old's response. Rooney has insisted that he is ready to play.</p><p>The Italian stressed to Rooney the need to keep private and professional issues apart and he is confident the striker will perform as well as he did last Friday, in the 4-0 Group G victory against Bulgaria.</p><p>"He will play," said Capello. "I monitored him during training and he was good and focused on the game. I think he forgets any problems he has while he is on the pitch. We've spoken – private things – and it's important he plays. You have to separate, to divide, your private life from your job. You have to be strong to divide the two: living the job really well and finding solutions to the problems [off the pitch] are two different things. My job is the first part. The other part is his problem. I am the manager. They are the players. We have to separate the different moments but I spoke with him and he said he wanted to play against Switzerland and that he is focused."</p><p>Capello has left himself open to accusations of double standards, given his dismissal of John Terry as captain earlier this year, after revelations over the defender's private life, albeit that those stories had an effect on an international team-mate, Wayne Bridge. Asked what the difference was between the two cases, the Italian fell short of simply pointing to his team's trickiest test in the group and said: "John Terry played all the games after what happened. It was only the armband [that he lost]. I felt it was important to do that. He is still like a captain of the England team.</p><p>"Rooney is an important player for England, for the young people and for all English people. But I have read that things like this happen in other parts of the world too. In France. In Germany. This is England. At the moment, we have to be focused on the game and not on other things. But I have to be ready for everything in my job."</p><p>Rooney was enthusiastic in training at St Jakob Park last night, staying behind after the session to practise his shooting as he looks for a first international goal in a year. The Switzerland manager, Ottmar Hitzfeld, had suggested that it would be impossible for Rooney not to be troubled on some level by the newspaper stories. "I'm no psychologist but of course, such a thing will weigh on a player's mind," Hitzfeld said. "But a coach isn't going to pass on a player of his calibre."</p><p>The striker's team-mates are convinced that he is in the right frame of mind to play. "I spoke to him at lunch about the game and he seems OK and ready to play," said the England captain, Steven Gerrard. "I haven't spoken to him about the allegations. Who am I to talk about things like that with Wayne? He's his own man. It's his private life. But if you have an issue off the pitch, you're in a situation where you have to 'park it'.</p><p>"Sometimes football can be a release from it. Once the game has started you're focused on what happens on the pitch, not what's going on off it. I played some of my best football when I was going through my court case last year [the Liverpool midfielder was cleared of affray]. Wayne was one of the major reasons why we won&nbsp;against Bulgaria the other night and we'll be looking for more of the same from him here."</p><p>Capello's only dilemma is over a partner for Phil Jagielka in central defence, in the absence of Michael Dawson, who was injured against Bulgaria. Bolton's Gary Cahill, who won his first cap by replacing the Spurs centre-back on Friday, trained alongside the Everton defender last night. Capello seems not to favour a recall for Matthew Upson or Joleon Lescott, who has played with Jagielka at club level.</p><p>"I have to choose between the three centre-halves," said Capello. "Jagielka is the 'driver' of the back four. The marshall. But I have chosen the other three after monitoring them in the Premier League this season, and now I must decide which one will play."</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/wayne-rooney">Wayne Rooney</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/fabio-capello">Fabio Capello</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england">England</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/euro2012">Euro 2012</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/dominicfifield">Dominic Fifield</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/wgKvgQkWoJmI9XeLvKT5kz4v-wk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/wgKvgQkWoJmI9XeLvKT5kz4v-wk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/wgKvgQkWoJmI9XeLvKT5kz4v-wk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/wgKvgQkWoJmI9XeLvKT5kz4v-wk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Wayne Rooney Fabio Capello England Euro 2012 Football Sport The Guardian News http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/fabio-capello-wayne-rooney-england Mon, 06 Sep 2010 22:00:45 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/dirk-kuyt-liverpool-holland-injury/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/88693?ns=guardian&pageName=Liverpool%27s+Dirk+Kuyt+out+of+Holland+Euro+2012+tie+with+shoulder+injury%3AArticle%3A1448150&ch=Football&c3=GU.co.uk&c4=Euro+2012+%28Football%29%2CHolland+football+team%2CLiverpool+FC+%28Football%29%2CFootball%2CSport&c5=Euro+2008+Football%2CFootball+World+Cup%2CEuropa+League&c6=Andy+Hunter&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1448150&c9=Article&c10=News&c11=Football&c13=&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FEuro+2012" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">• Forward suffers damage in training with Holland<br />• Liverpool fans warn RBS of possible mass boycott</p><p>Liverpool have been warned they could be without Dirk Kuyt for several weeks after he damaged a shoulder in training with Holland this afternoon.</p><p>The 30-year-old is believed to have sustained the injury when landing awkwardly as he stretched for a cross – although some reports have claimed he was attempting a bicycle kick – and was immediately ruled out of tomorrow's European Championship qualifier at home to Finland. He then returned to Liverpool's Melwood training complex for an assessment by the club's medical department and is expected to discover the extent of the problem tomorrow, although Bert van Marwijk, the Holland coach, gave a pessimistic early opinion.</p><p>"He will probably have a few weeks off and at 4pm today he will step on to the plane to Liverpool," Van Marwijk told the Dutch media.</p><p>Kuyt would represent a significant loss to Liverpool ahead of games against Birmingham City, Steaua Bucharest in the Europa League and Manchester United on Sunday week, and adds to Roy Hodgson's worries during this international break. The Liverpool manager's appeal to Vicente Del Bosque to rest Fernando Torres from Spain's Euro 2012 qualifier in Liechtenstein and against Argentina has gone unheeded, with the striker travelling to Buenos Aires for tomorrow's friendly. Del Bosque did, however, substitute Torres in the 58th minute against Liechtenstein, shortly after the 26-year-old's second goal in the 4-0 win.</p><p>Liverpool supporters, meanwhile, have intensified their campaign for Royal Bank of Scotland to pressure Tom Hicks and George Gillett into selling the club by calling for a mass boycott of its services and companies should the bank grant the co-owners another refinancing deal next month.</p><p>The club chairman, Martin Broughton, is engaged in attempts to find a buyer for Liverpool before 6 October, when Hicks and Gillett are scheduled to repay debts of around £282m to RBS. Supporters are threatening to move their business from RBS if it continues to assist the Americans beyond the deadline, and the "LFC RBS Black Monday" group has today launched details of the potential boycott on Facebook, Twitter and fan forums.</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/euro2012">Euro 2012</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/holland">Holland</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/liverpool">Liverpool</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/andyhunter">Andy Hunter</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/nvYAs1MlC0DZ-kXbDsScD7NvvHk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/nvYAs1MlC0DZ-kXbDsScD7NvvHk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/nvYAs1MlC0DZ-kXbDsScD7NvvHk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/nvYAs1MlC0DZ-kXbDsScD7NvvHk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Euro 2012 Holland Liverpool Football Sport guardian.co.uk News http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/dirk-kuyt-liverpool-holland-injury Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:31:04 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/ireland-andorra-euro-2012-qualifier/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/13774?ns=guardian&pageName=Ireland+warn+fans+not+to+expect+a+goal-fest+against+minnows+Andorra%3AArticle%3A1448206&ch=Football&c3=Guardian&c4=Republic+of+Ireland+football+team%2CEuro+2012+%28Football%29%2CFootball%2CSport&c5=Euro+2008+Football%2CFootball+World+Cup&c6=David+Hytner&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1448206&c9=Article&c10=News&c11=Football&c13=&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FRepublic+of+Ireland" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">• Giovanni Trapattoni says Andorra will be obdurate opponents<br />• 'If you look at their games they have changed completely'</p><p>Even by old-school Italian standards, the caution has seemed a little excessive. As the Republic of Ireland prepared to face Andorra, one of the lowest ranked teams in the world, in the first competitive fixture at the rebuilt Lansdowne Road, it was articulated by the assistant manager Marco Tardelli.</p><p>"I remember that Andorra scored against Ireland before at Lansdowne Road," the Italian said, somewhat sagely. When the shock over the breadth of Tardelli's Irish football knowledge had subsided, an image that had been largely blotted out was given fresh life.</p><p>Ildefons Lima's 32nd-minute goal in April 2001 gave Andorra the lead in a World Cup qualifier against Ireland before rapid responses from Kevin Kilbane and Mark Kinsella restored order. Gary Breen completed the scoring in the second half to give Ireland a 3-1 victory. Mick McCarthy's team went on to qualify for the finals in Japan and South Korea, the last time that Ireland appeared at a major tournament.</p><p>Nobody gives the part-time players of Andorra a prayer in this latest meeting. The team from the tiny principality on the border between France and Spain are ranked at 201 out of Fifa's 207 teams, below Timor-Leste and the US Virgin Islands; they have lost their last 25 competitive fixtures and only three times in their 14-year history of qualification campaigns have they managed to avoid defeat. Their sole victory came at home to Macedonia in October 2004.</p><p>The Ireland manager, Giovanni Trapattoni, in a typically theatrical pre-match press conference, threw a couple of imaginary haymakers to show that his team needed to get on top of Andorra with a high-octane start before finding the knockout punch. But, like the captain Robbie Keane, he was keen to keep a lid on expectation levels.</p><p>"The media and the fans think, 'It is a small country', but it's difficult," Trapattoni said. "If you look at their games they have changed completely in their attitude. Now, there is much more pressing.</p><p>"A friend of mine, another manager, said to me: 'Be careful. Andorra's worry is not to concede many goals, to stay back.' There isn't a team without experience. France lost at home to Belarus. Italy were 1-0 down to Estonia at half-time. There aren't any sure games."</p><p>Lima's goal in Dublin nine years ago did not create the same levels of infamy as, say, the one that San Marino's Davide Gualtieri scored against England after 8.3 seconds of the World Cup qualifier in November 1993, a tie that England eventually won 7-1. But Ireland have had chastening experiences against the minnows, most recently, when they needed an injury-time goal from Stephen Ireland to squeeze to a 2-1 away win over San Marino in February 2007.Ireland have not won a competitive fixture under Trapattoni by more than a single goal and the challenge against Andorra is to put that right. The reserve defender Paul McShane suggested that he would take a 1-0 victory but it would surely register as a disappointment if Ireland could not win by two or three goals.</p><p>Trapattoni's pragmatism is deeply entrenched. He has resisted calls to start Manchester United's Darron Gibson in central midfield, preferring the more prosaic charms of Derby County's Paul Green. The Italian has said that Gibson lacks the bite of a player at a more humble club as he is used to United strutting to victory. Poor Gibson. Not talented enough to play for his club; too talented to play for his country.</p><p>Trapattoni will start with the team that won 1-0 in Armenia on Friday night and there will be no deviation from the tried and trusted approach. "It's always difficult against the so-called lesser teams and we'll need patience," Keane said. "Everyone expects us to score goals but the most important thing is the three points."</p><p></p><p><strong>Ireland</strong> (4-4-2, probable) Given; O'Shea, Dunne, St Ledger, Kilbane; Lawrence, Green, Whelan, McGeady; Doyle, Keane.</p><p><strong>Subs from</strong> Westwood, Murphy, Cunningham, McShane, Foley, Kelly, Gibson, Keogh, Fahey, Long, Sheridan.</p><p><strong>Andorra </strong>(4-5-1, probable) Gomes; Rubio, Silva, Lima, Bernaus; Pujol, Vieira, Moreno, Martinez, Ayala; Gomez.</p><p><strong>Subs from</strong> Pol, Sonejee, Jimenez, Andorra, Mejias, Escura, Lorenzo.</p><p><strong>TV: Sky Sports 4, kick-off 7.45pm</strong></p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/republicofireland">Republic of Ireland</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/euro2012">Euro 2012</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/davidhytner">David Hytner</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/pSttCjoJcBkwlV7boXCwt6sPLRc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/pSttCjoJcBkwlV7boXCwt6sPLRc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/pSttCjoJcBkwlV7boXCwt6sPLRc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/pSttCjoJcBkwlV7boXCwt6sPLRc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Republic of Ireland Euro 2012 Football Sport The Guardian News http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/ireland-andorra-euro-2012-qualifier Mon, 06 Sep 2010 20:04:50 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/sep/06/question-england-switzerland-defence/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/21876?ns=guardian&pageName=The+Question%3A+Can+England+overcome+Switzerland%27s+record-breaking+defence%3AArticle%3A1448169&ch=Football&c3=Guardian&c4=Switzerland+football+team%2CEuro+2012+%28Football%29%2CSport&c5=Euro+2008+Football%2CFootball+World+Cup&c6=Jonathan+Wilson&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1448169&c9=Article&c10=Feature%2CBlogpost&c11=Football&c13=&c25=Sport+blog&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FSwitzerland" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">Ottmar Hitzfeld is unlikely to spring any tactical surprises but Fabio Capello's side must be ready for a war of attrition</p><p>Switzerland beat Spain this summer and set a record for the longest spell without conceding a goal in World Cup finals matches, 559 minutes stretching back to 1994, but while that had the rest of the world grudgingly nodding in approval at the solidity of their defence, in Switzerland there was frustration at flaws at the other end of the pitch. After all, it does not really matter if you beat the side who go on to be world champions if you then cannot score the goals required against Honduras to progress.</p><p>A 1-0 win in a friendly against Austria last month took Switzerland's goal tally to four in nine games and led their manager, Ottmar Hitzfeld, to speak of the need to find "a new philosophy" in the build-up to Friday's friendly against Australia. They drew 0-0 and Alexander Frei, the country's record scorer, was booed by the home fans. Frei has scored five times in his last two games for FC Basel but, after missing a penalty on Friday, it is 363 days since he, or any Swiss forward, scored for their country.</p><p>The ethnic make-up of the Switzerland side is changing rapidly, as the children of immigrants – particularly from the former Yugoslavia and Turkey – become available, but the ethos of the national side seems barely to have changed since Karl Rappan, himself an immigrant from Austria, developed <em>catenaccio</em> there in the late 1930s, dropping a midfielder behind his defensive line to compensate for his amateur players' relative lack of fitness when they faced professional teams from elsewhere in Europe.</p><p>With Switzerland, Hitzfeld had been a resolute 4-4-2 man with the only issue being who should partner Frei. Blaise Nkufo was the preferred choice in the first two World Cup games, the 1-0 win over Spain and the 1-0 defeat by Chile, which gave the front pair a combined age of 65. Eren Derdiyok, the mobile and combative 22-year-old Bayer Leverkusen striker who scored against England in Fabio Capello's first game in charge, was given an opportunity in that final game against Honduras but missed a host of chances.</p><p>Frei has made clear his preference for operating as an out-and-out striker but on Friday he played in the hole behind Derdiyok and Albert Bunjaku. It was not a great success and an out-of-sorts Derdiyok was withdrawn at half-time for the Basel wing-back-cum-winger Xherdan Shaqiri, as Switzerland switched back to an orthodox 4-4-2.</p><p>It seems probable that Hitzfeld will revert to what he knows best tomorrow. "Total attacking to end the goal drought wouldn't be the right thing," he said, hinting that his side will settle for the system that thwarted Spain – two banks of four sitting deep to frustrate England, with Frei linking to a front man, either Derdiyok or Bunjaku. "If you give England room then they're extremely dangerous. I think they've learned from their mistakes during the World Cup when they suffered counterattacks. We always go into a game to win. We have to find the right mix between the Spain game, when we defended very well, and switching swiftly into attack."</p><p>For England, the problem will at least be familiar; deep-lying banks of four have long been the default for Premier League teams looking to frustrate opponents. That is bad news for Wayne Rooney who, on top of everything else, is likely to have two holding midfielders – probably Gökhan Inler and Pirmin Schwegler – sitting in front of the back four in the space he exploited so well against Bulgaria.</p><p>Jermain Defoe's pace, similarly, is likely to be less of an issue if Switzerland sit deep and make England try to pass their way through them (and if Spain struggled to do that, then what hope do England have?).</p><p>This is a game in which England could have done with Peter Crouch to offer the sort of aerial threat that would make Switzerland wary of dropping too deep. Although Rooney showed on Friday that he is probably at his most useful for his country operating behind a front man, rather than as the principal striker as he is for Manchester United, it may be his aerial ability that proves of most use tomorrow.</p><p>With both sides playing a similar 4-4-2, it is unlikely to be anything other than an attritional battle, a war of patience. That may draw yet more criticism for Capello, but a goalless draw would be a perfectly decent result for England against such parsimonious opposition.</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/switzerland">Switzerland</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/euro2012">Euro 2012</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jonathanwilson">Jonathan Wilson</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/q8xusmU6xp29cXiqeZBvbgLOc54/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/q8xusmU6xp29cXiqeZBvbgLOc54/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/q8xusmU6xp29cXiqeZBvbgLOc54/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/q8xusmU6xp29cXiqeZBvbgLOc54/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Switzerland Euro 2012 Sport The Guardian Features Blogposts http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/sep/06/question-england-switzerland-defence Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:57:01 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/aston-villa-gerard-houllier-manager/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/88121?ns=guardian&pageName=Gerard+Houllier+to+tell+French+federation+he+is+joining+Aston+Villa%3AArticle%3A1448287&ch=Football&c3=GU.co.uk&c4=Aston+Villa+%28Football%29%2CSport&c5=Premier+League&c6=Louise+Taylor&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1448287&c9=Article&c10=News&c11=Football&c13=&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FAston+Villa" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">• Houllier will notify employers he is taking Villa manager's job<br />• Uncertainty surrounds the future of Kevin MacDonald</p><p>Gérard Houllier remains on course to be unveiled as Aston Villa's new manager by the end of this week. The Frenchman is due to meet French federation officials on Wednesday morning when he will inform his employers of his impending departure for Villa Park.</p><p>Although a deal with Houllier has been agreed, matters have been stalled by his need to speak to the federation, where he is technical director.</p><p>Meanwhile the Frenchman's representatives are scrutinising the former Liverpool manager's contract. Once the lawyers are happy, his installation will be confirmed, with an announcement thought most likely to be made on Thursday.</p><p>Villa are keen that Houllier has time to work with his squad before next Monday's Premier League trip to Stoke City.</p><p>Uncertainty surrounds the caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald's new role. Villa are anxious not to alienate Macdonald, who has impressed Randy Lerner, the club's owner, since stepping into the post vacated by Martin O'Neill's shock eve of season resignation.</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/aston-villa">Aston Villa</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/louisetaylor">Louise Taylor</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/q3yzmxQuorlv5c7DzN0RH2c6-Vs/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/q3yzmxQuorlv5c7DzN0RH2c6-Vs/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/q3yzmxQuorlv5c7DzN0RH2c6-Vs/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/q3yzmxQuorlv5c7DzN0RH2c6-Vs/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Aston Villa Sport guardian.co.uk News http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/aston-villa-gerard-houllier-manager Mon, 06 Sep 2010 22:11:24 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/blackburn-rovers-prospective-owner-debt/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/45945?ns=guardian&pageName=Blackburn+Rovers%27+prospective+owner+accused+of+leaving+a+trail+of+debt%3AArticle%3A1448214&ch=Football&c3=Guardian&c4=Blackburn+Rovers+%28Football+club%29%2CBusiness+%28Football%29%2CFootball%2CSport&c5=Not+commercially+useful%2CPremier+League&c6=Andy+Hunter&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1448214&c9=Article&c10=News&c11=Football&c13=&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FBlackburn+Rovers" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">• Ahsan Ali Syed allegedly owes unpaid rent and council tax<br />• Businessman expected to complete due diligence this week</p><p>Ahsan Ali Syed is expected to complete the due diligence process into his proposed £300m takeover of Blackburn Rovers this week amid allegations he has several unpaid debts in the UK.</p><p>The Bahrain-based Indian businessman hopes to purchase Rovers from the Walker Trust by the end of this month having signed a one-month exclusivity period to study the club's books. Syed told the Guardian recently that he owned "more than 130 companies and publicly my assets are worth more than £8bn", and promised Blackburn's manager, Sam Allardyce, a £100m transfer budget should he gain control, but he was unable to complete due diligence before the original target of last week's transfer deadline.</p><p>It has since emerged that Syed's investment company in Bahrain, Western Gulf Advisory, was forced to cease trading by the country's Minister of Industry and Commerce due to an investigation into its "source of funding". The 36-year-old says he is cooperating fully with that process and his bid to buy Blackburn is unaffected as that is led by his Switzerland-based company, Western Gulf Advisory-AG.</p><p>A report by the BBC's 5 Live Investigates team has accused Syed of leaving a trail of unpaid debt when he lived in England between 2001 and 2005. These include a failure to settle a £61,500 county court judgment made against him in 2007, unpaid rent of approximately £7,800 on a London flat he vacated in May 2005 and unpaid council tax totalling £932.25. Syed was listed as a director of two UK companies – All Star Foods and Grovebridge Investments Limited – which were dissolved when no returns were submitted to Companies House.</p><p>The businessman did not cooperate with the BBC investigation and his spokesperson unavailable for comment today but Rovers did respond to concerns over their potential new owner: "The club has been for sale for some time and, for it to remain competitive in one of the world's toughest sporting competitions, we accept that new investment is required. Equally, the trustees of the late Jack Walker, who are being professionally advised, and the club's board of directors are acutely aware of the responsibility involved in passing the club to a new owner. We are custodians of a club with a proud heritage dating back to 1875 – a founder member of the Football League."</p><p>Blackburn would make no further comment on Syed's interest but its trustees, who have run the club since Walker, its former benefactor, died in 2000, have appointed the investment bankers Rothschild to conduct the sales process. Rothschild will carry out its own investigations into Syed's financial background, or that of any prospective owner, before the Blackburn trustees and directors allow any deal to advance to the Premier League's Owners and Directors Test.</p><p>A means and abilities test also obligates a prospective new owner to demonstrate they have funds to sustain "the club for the year ahead" and the Rovers board intend to scrutinise the motives behind any takeover as they look to safeguard the club's future.</p><p>Syed's exclusivity agreementwith Blackburn is close to expiring and a decision on whether he will proceed with an offer for the club is expected in the coming days. Other parties have expressed interest in buying Rovers recently, including Saurin Shah, a Mumbai businessman, and at least one other group, although Syed's interest is the most advanced.</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blackburn">Blackburn Rovers</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/business">Business</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/andyhunter">Andy Hunter</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/cWhpWSMz-DN-qjjesIgdhf4a4bQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/cWhpWSMz-DN-qjjesIgdhf4a4bQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/cWhpWSMz-DN-qjjesIgdhf4a4bQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/cWhpWSMz-DN-qjjesIgdhf4a4bQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Blackburn Rovers Business Football Sport The Guardian News http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/blackburn-rovers-prospective-owner-debt Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:22:38 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/ryan-shawcross-arsene-wenger-vendetta/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/30236?ns=guardian&pageName=Ryan+Shawcross+accuses+Arsene+Wenger+of+holding+personal+vendetta%3AArticle%3A1448076&ch=Football&c3=Guardian&c4=Stoke+City+%28Football%29%2CArs%C3%A8ne+Wenger%2CFootball%2CSport&c5=Premier+League&c6=Press+Association&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1448076&c9=Article&c10=News&c11=Football&c13=&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FStoke+City" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">• Wenger had accused Stoke defender of 'rugby tactics'<br />• 'He's obviously got something against me. It's just weird'</p><p>Ryan Shawcross has accused the Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, of holding a personal vendetta against him.</p><p>Wenger criticised the Stoke City centre-back in February after his challenge left Aaron Ramsey with a broken leg. Then, after Stoke's match at Tottenham Hotspur last month Wengerclaimed both Shawcross and team-mate Robert Huth had repeatedly fouled the goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, describing their methods as "rugby tactics".</p><p>"He's obviously got something against me. It's just weird," said Shawcross. "He seems to have a problem with Stoke, our manager and certain players. Criticism doesn't bother me, unless it's a false accusation like this one.</p><p>"It's just disappointing he came out and said something that wasn't needed. He could have said there was a problem week-in, week-out in the Premier League, but he shouldn't have named individuals."</p><p>Shawcross added in The Sentinel: "I don't mind people having their opinions but if it's not a game involving his players then I don't see the point of bringing up me and Huthy. I've watched the video again and at no point did I go anywhere near Gomes.</p><p>"I didn't think I had, but I didn't want to say I hadn't touched him before looking at the video to make sure."</p><p>The Stoke manager, Tony Pulis, was also furious at Wenger's remarks and wrote to the Premier League and Football Association to complain. However, the FA decided against any punishment.</p><p>Wenger had said: "You cannot say it is football any more. It is more rugby on the goalkeepers than football. When you see the way Shawcross kicked Heurelho Gomes, how Robert Huth pushed Gomes in the goal, you cannot say that is football any more."</p><p>That prompted Pulis to respond: "The club is desperately disappointed with the comments which Wenger has come out with, especially the comments about Shawcross. We think they are out of order and you don't expect it from a person of Wenger's esteem. What he said about Ryan was very, very poor and the football club will take that matter up. The club will deal with it in the right and proper manner."</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/stokecity">Stoke City</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/arsene-wenger">Arsène Wenger</a></li></ul></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/385XYPTs6J6Gob9MEe5bVoopyZw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/385XYPTs6J6Gob9MEe5bVoopyZw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/385XYPTs6J6Gob9MEe5bVoopyZw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/385XYPTs6J6Gob9MEe5bVoopyZw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Stoke City Arsène Wenger Football Sport The Guardian News http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/ryan-shawcross-arsene-wenger-vendetta Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:17:50 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/bebe-manchester-united-champions-league/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/8745?ns=guardian&pageName=Bebe+named+in+Manchester+United%27s+Champions+League+squad+after+all%3AArticle%3A1447915&ch=Football&c3=GU.co.uk&c4=Manchester+United+%28Football%29%2CFootball%2CChampions+League%2CSport&c5=Champions+League%2CPremier+League&c6=Press+Association&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1447915&c9=Article&c10=News&c11=Football&c13=&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FManchester+United" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">• Player's name missing from originally published list<br />• Uefa confirms he had been included by United</p><p>Manchester United's latest signing Bebé has been included in the club's 25-man Champions League squad despite it appearing that he had been left out when the original list was published on Saturday night.</p><p>United submitted their list to Uefa last week, with Owen Hargreaves among the names excluded. It seemed Bebé had also been omitted, little more than a month after United had paid Vitória Guimarães £7m for the Portugal Under-21 player who had been a free agent at the beginning of the summer.</p><p>But today Uefa has confirmed the player's full name, Tiago Manuel Dias Correia, does appear on the list and he will be available for next Tuesday's match against Rangers at Old Trafford.</p><p>A more probable debut, however, may be in the Carling Cup tie at Scunthorpe United the following week, although even that cannot be taken for granted given Sir Alex Ferguson's recent comments that the player needed to increase his fitness levels.</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/manchester-united">Manchester United</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/championsleague">Champions League</a></li></ul></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Becvs9gSewjyR_IzESGI4UoX7UI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Becvs9gSewjyR_IzESGI4UoX7UI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Becvs9gSewjyR_IzESGI4UoX7UI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Becvs9gSewjyR_IzESGI4UoX7UI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Manchester United Football Champions League Sport guardian.co.uk News http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/bebe-manchester-united-champions-league Mon, 06 Sep 2010 11:50:20 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/07/fa-england-argentina-2018-bid/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/66994?ns=guardian&pageName=FA+seeks+Argentina+fixtures+that+could+help+England+2018+World+Cup+bid%3AArticle%3A1448218&ch=Football&c3=Guardian&c4=FA+%28Football+Association%29%2CFootball+politics%2CWorld+Cup+2018+%28Football%29%2CEngland+football+team%2CArgentina+football+team%2CFootball%2CSport&c5=Football+World+Cup%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CPremier+League&c6=Matt+Scott&c7=10-Sep-07&c8=1448218&c9=Article&c10=News&c11=Football&c13=Digger+%28series%29&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FThe+FA" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">• Matches lined up to celebrate FA's 150th anniversary in 2013<br />• Argentina federation president is on Fifa executive committee</p><p>England look set to mark the Football Association's 150th birthday celebrations in 2013 with a friendly match against Argentina.</p><p>The fixture is understood to be part of a planned double-header against the South Americans, with the first fixture taking place on 9 February 2011. That would nominally be the away leg of the two matches, but it is due to be played at a neutral venue in Europe. A similar arrangement five years ago saw England beat Argentina 3-2 in Geneva.</p><p>The deal, which is still the subject of discussion, has been on the table since April. An announcement about talks was made to the Argentinian press while the international chairman of the England 2018 World Cup bid, David Dein, led a delegation there, meeting the Argentinian football federation president, Julio Grondona. Argentina's opportunity to share in one of world football's most important commemorations has positive implications for England's bid. Grondona is a member of the 24-strong Fifa executive committee that will select the host nation for 2018.</p><p>Since launching its bid, England have played a friendly against Trinidad & Tobago, whose special adviser, Jack Warner, is an executive committee member. England will also play Thailand in June – the Thai association's president, Worawi Makudi, is also a member of the committee.</p><p>Shared heritage might suggest that Argentina would be closest to Spain and Portugal's bid but should that fail, England will be well placed to pick up Grondona's support.</p><p></p><h2><strong>Uefa problem for City</strong></h2><p>Delegates at the European Clubs Association congress in Geneva today were given a talk about what Uefa's new financial fair-play rules mean. Hopefully Manchester City's chief executive, Garry Cook, below, was listening carefully. Ballooning wages and amortisation charges relating to eye-watering transfer fees could derail City's attempts to break even – give or take €15m (£12.5m) a year – which from 2013 will be a prerequisite for playing in&nbsp;the governing body's competitions.</p><p>A proportion&nbsp;of City's revenues may also&nbsp;be disallowable. Under the new Uefa rules, sponsorship and commercial&nbsp;incomes from companies connected to&nbsp;a&nbsp;club's owner must be set&nbsp;at market&nbsp;rates.</p><p>Most of City's sponsors are related parties. The shirt sponsor, Etihad, is based in Sheikh Mansour's Abu Dhabi and 70% of Ferrostaal, an industrial-services company, is owned by Abu Dhabi.</p><p>The telecoms firm Etisalat has its headquarters in the United Arab Emirates. Aabar, a hydrocarbons firm, had as one of its founding investors the Abu Dhabi Investment Company, and Abu Dhabi Tourism is ... you get the picture.</p><p>So unless City's independent sponsors – Umbro, Thomas Cook, Jaguar, Malmaison, Heineken and the local&nbsp;radio station Key103 – are between them able to produce enough income to&nbsp;cover the club's inflating&nbsp;cost base, regualar European football may prove to be an unreachable promised land.</p><h2><strong>Boro head for North Korea</strong></h2><strong> </strong></p><p>Middlesbrough Ladies are heading to Pyongyang, with the assistance of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. A club statement said: "This is a unique visit as it is rare indeed for overseas football teams to visit North Korea." The last English club to be represented in Kim Jong-il's homeland were Notts County whose then director of football, Sven-Goran Eriksson, arrived in October 2009 with one of the club's then directors, Nathan Willett. The trip was not un-controversial. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/feb/12/sven-goran-eriksson-notts-county-interview" title="As Eriksson told the Guardian in February">As Eriksson told the Guardian in February</a>[SUBS PLEASE INSERT LINK IN WEB VERSION: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/feb/12/sven-goran-eriksson-notts-county-interview], he made promises about helping out with North Korea's pre-World Cup training requirements, which he says Willett's actions led to being broken. Middlesbrough Ladies will hope Pyongyang has forgotten its last brush with English football.</p><h2><strong>Harris's board game</strong></h2><p>Daniel Harris, the 50-year-old medical-company owner who subscribed to West Ham United's recent £4m share issue, has been given a place on the club's board. Fans might be relieved to hear that Terry Brown – the club's controversial former chairman, who with Harris invested in 3.8% of the club's shares through the recent equity placing – has not.</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/fa">The FA</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/footballpolitics">Football politics</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/world-cup-2018">World Cup 2018</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england">England</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/argentina">Argentina</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/mattscott">Matt Scott</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/cgEQ6gpMf_q-dbedcA3D2NKBRJM/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/cgEQ6gpMf_q-dbedcA3D2NKBRJM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/cgEQ6gpMf_q-dbedcA3D2NKBRJM/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/cgEQ6gpMf_q-dbedcA3D2NKBRJM/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> The FA Football politics World Cup 2018 England Argentina Football Sport The Guardian News http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/07/fa-england-argentina-2018-bid Mon, 06 Sep 2010 23:06:46 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/craig-levein-defends-scotland-tactics/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/79579?ns=guardian&pageName=Defence+is+Scotland%27s+best+way+forwards%2C+says+Craig+Levein%3AArticle%3A1448032&ch=Football&c3=Guardian&c4=Scotland+football+team%2CEuro+2012+%28Football%29%2CFootball%2CSport&c5=Euro+2008+Football%2CFootball+World+Cup&c6=Ewan+Murray&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1448032&c9=Article&c10=News&c11=Football&c13=&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FScotland" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">• Manager angered by criticism of 4-5-1 formation in Lithuania<br />• 'If I do not get results then I will be out on my arse anyway'</p><p>Craig Levein has launched a vigorous defence of his tactical approach with the national team, the Scotland manager pointing out that he will not bow to pressure from pundits or supporters to adopt an attacking style.</p><p>Levein has been angered by criticism of his side's 4‑5-1 formation during the scoreless draw in Lithuania on Friday. The manager, known for his pragmatic tactics with club sides, claimed that a back-to-basics method is necessary to revive his country's ailing fortunes. "I just think there is a general carping going on," he said of the comments. "It does not bother me. I am quite open [about] what I am trying to do. If I do not get results then I will be out on my arse anyway."</p><p>Whatever else will be said of Levein's tenure, it promises to be colourful. Within the space of four days the match referee in Lithuania, the Lithuania team, the Liechtenstein FA and now his own detractors have been publicly berated.</p><p>"There are reasons for saying that the way to get results is through solidity," Levein added. "We've had notions in the past where we are going to play people off the pitch, but if we are going to get anywhere over a period of time then we have to get the absolute best out of all the players. There is work to be done and this is the way I do things.</p><p>"I assume the people who gave me the job thought this was what was needed to be done. If they want somebody to come in and get the team winning 5-0 in every game, then I am not sure if José Mourinho is available. I'm not making any excuses or apologies for what I am trying to do here. This is what I think is the best way of getting results." Levein believes there is a wholly unnecessary fixation on the importance of systems and tactics. Liechtenstein, ranked No141 in the world and who suffered a 4-0 defeat at home to the World Cup winners and European champions Spain on Friday evening, visit Hampden Park – a game that will ironically see Levein revert to 4-4-2 – and the manager feels that the work ethic of his players is more important than which formation they play in.</p><p>"We have this fascination with the 4‑4‑2 system; that all it means is that 4-4-2 is attacking, and that if you don't play 4-4-2, then you're not attacking," he said. "I don't know where it comes from. If you look at international football, and even club football throughout the world, nobody plays with two strikers."</p><p>Levein was, in fact, content with his team's showing in Lithuania. There, he made the bold move of dropping James McFadden — an icon for the Tartan Army — and leaving the prolific Kris Boyd amongst his substitutes for the entire game.</p><p>"Everybody assumes that if you put James McFadden, Charlie Adam, Kris Boyd and Graham Dorrans in your team then you are going to win," Scotland's manager explained.</p><p>"People say, 'well, it's obvious- if you put all these guys in your team then we are going to win the game.' But you are more likely to lose the ball.</p><p>"The counter-argument is that one of the reasons why Lithuania only had one shot on target all night was because of the work-ethic of my whole team."</p><p>If all eyes may be on Levein's methods tomorrowevening, some attention should be diverted towards Darren Fletcher. The Manchester United man will win his 50th cap and in doing so he becomes the 26th player to enter Scotland's international hall of fame. There will be no memento of the achievement in the midfielder's household, however.</p><p>"It's a nice moment when you reach these milestones," said the Scotland captain. "To be honest, my primary concern is the points and winning the game rather than me winning my 50th cap. I don't keep any of my medals on display. My mum has them all. I'm not one for having things on display and if you came to my house you would have no idea I was a footballer. There are no strips or medals, or anything like that."</p><p>Fletcher also stuck to Scotland's party line over the perils of treating Liechtenstein lightly. "Any time you expect a comfortable win it doesn't happen that way. You have no divine right to win any football match," he said. "We'll go to win the game. We are expected to win so the pressure is on us, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's a given. If you go in with that attitude, you can get a bad result."</p><p><strong>Scotland starting XI (4-4-2): McGregor; Hutton, Weir, McManus, Wallace; Brown, Fletcher, McCulloch, McFadden; Boyd, Miller.</strong></p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/scotland">Scotland</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/euro2012">Euro 2012</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/ewanmurray">Ewan Murray</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RBPv1_dLP8-j_0MYQhmHE3YF9s0/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RBPv1_dLP8-j_0MYQhmHE3YF9s0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RBPv1_dLP8-j_0MYQhmHE3YF9s0/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RBPv1_dLP8-j_0MYQhmHE3YF9s0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Scotland Euro 2012 Football Sport The Guardian News http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/craig-levein-defends-scotland-tactics Mon, 06 Sep 2010 20:59:43 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/03/you-are-the-ref-scholes/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/83824?ns=guardian&pageName=You+are+the+Ref%3A+Paul+Scholes%2C+Manchester+United%3AArticle%3A1446464&ch=Football&c3=GU.co.uk&c4=Football%2CSport%2CLaws+of+football%2CManchester+United+%28Football%29&c5=Not+commercially+useful%2CPremier+League&c6=&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1446464&c9=Article&c10=&c11=Football&c13=You+are+the+Ref+%28football+series%29&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FLaws+of+football" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>Click to enlarge, and debate the strip below the line. </p><h2>Keith Hackett's verdict</h2><p><strong>1) </strong>Stay calm and think clearly. First, disallow the goal, because a team cannot change a penalty taker once he has been identified. Second, show yellow cards to both the team-mate who took the kick and the identified penalty taker for unsporting behaviour. And third, award a re-take, with the kick to be taken by a properly identified player. Time has not run out – you extended stoppage time to allow for the conclusion of the penalty. <em>William Lai wins the shirt for this question. </em><br /><strong>2)</strong> You can only award a penalty if you or your assistants saw a holding offence. But stop play either way. Having inspected the shirts, order the whole team – not just these three players – to replace their shirts, and check them carefully. There might be sponsorship implications, but that's not your problem. Restart with a penalty if you saw any holding, or a dropped ball if not. Report the facts after the game to the appropriate competition. <em>Thanks to Justyn O'Hara. </em><br /><strong>3) </strong>Yes: because you had signalled for the corner to be taken, the player has effectively kicked the replacement ball out for a goal-kick. Speak to the player about his angry reaction too, and use his captain to get him to calm down if need be. <em>Thanks to Daniel Brett. </em></p><h2>Competition: win an official club shirt of your choice</h2><p>For a chance to win a club shirt from the range at <a href="http://clkuk.tradedoubler.com/click?p=18796&a=1446133&g=512634">Kitbag.com</a> send us your questions for You are the Ref to <a href="mailto:you.are.the.ref@observer.co.uk">you.are.the.ref@observer.co.uk</a>. The best scenario used in the new Observer YATR strip each Sunday wins a shirt of your choice from <a href="http://clkuk.tradedoubler.com/click?p=18796&a=1446133&g=512634">Kitbag</a>. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/aug/12/1?gusrc=rss&feed=football">Terms & conditions</a> apply.</p><p>For more on the fifty year history of You Are The Ref, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/aug/07/football.ref">click here</a>.</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/laws-of-football">Laws of football</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/manchester-united">Manchester United</a></li></ul></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ggIee57vQwzmbRLmp4kXIKEw77U/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ggIee57vQwzmbRLmp4kXIKEw77U/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ggIee57vQwzmbRLmp4kXIKEw77U/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ggIee57vQwzmbRLmp4kXIKEw77U/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Football Sport Laws of football Manchester United guardian.co.uk Editorial http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/03/you-are-the-ref-scholes Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:05:00 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/competition/2010/sep/02/win-champions-league-tickets-arsenal/print <p>Tickets to see Arsenal v SC Braga in the Uefa Champions League could be yours</p><br/><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/nD7ThUJ6OKHao9r0PMtgv54C8s8/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/nD7ThUJ6OKHao9r0PMtgv54C8s8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/nD7ThUJ6OKHao9r0PMtgv54C8s8/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/nD7ThUJ6OKHao9r0PMtgv54C8s8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Arsenal Champions League Football guardian.co.uk Editorial http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/competition/2010/sep/02/win-champions-league-tickets-arsenal Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:24:58 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2010/sep/02/classic-youtube-federer/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/87323?ns=guardian&pageName=Classic+YouTube%3A+Federer%27s+inbetweener%2C+fuming+managers+and+cheating+gre%3AArticle%3A1446212&ch=Sport&c3=GU.co.uk&c4=Football%2CSport&c5=&c6=&c7=10-Sep-02&c8=1446212&c9=Article&c10=Blogpost&c11=Sport&c13=YouTube+archive+%28Sport%29&c25=Sport+blog&c30=content&h2=GU%2FSport%2F" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">Also featuring college football classics, a very risky overtaking manoeuvre and a driver on his fag break</p><p>1) The college football season kicks off tonight. The Oregon Ducks will be hoping their opener goes better than last season when running-back LeGarrette Blount <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGTYiCqzpcw" title="">decided to lay out an opponent with a straight right</a>. Blount narrowly escaped a season-long ban, issued a full apology and was later drafted by the Tennessee Titans, where <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUG2SqGuutQ&NR=1" title="">he has not entirely avoided further fisticuffs</a>. While we are at it here are a few classics from last season: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVDVX9QmUqg" title="">Fresno State 53-52 Illinois</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUuQ5ain6fQ" title="">Arizona 41-44 Oregon</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOvKF5AQ0Sw&feature=related" title="">Central Michigan 27-26 Michigan State</a>.</p><p>2) The Luton Town manager Richard Money <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdADVAUcOos" title="">took exception to fans abusing his players</a> at the weekend and was forced <a href="http://www.dunstabletoday.co.uk/luton-sport/Repentant-Money-apologises-to-fans.6501600.jp" title="">into a Blount-style apology</a>. Harry Redknapp apologises to no man though. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJBsI7RAuvk&feature=player_embedded" title="">He just tells them to eff off</a> (SyCo and MoxyCoxy spotted this about five minutes after we had seen it, so they shall have their spotters' badges).</p><p>3) Still, Harry was not quite as exposed by that question <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAvoYsWQMQ0" title="">as Neymar was by this tackle</a>.</p><p>4) Is this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzFgGcfgjZ0" title="">the riskiest overtaking manoeuvre of all time</a>?</p><p>5) Roger Federer pulled off <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hju2ZPVxE9w" title="">this ludicrous between-the-legs winner</a> at last year's US Open. He did it again at Flushing Meadows this week, only <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZnC6jcRQRg" title="">this time the shot was better</a>.</p><p>6) There has been some disillusion on this blog in the past few weeks about the prevalence of faked videos. One of the most infamous is the clip in which <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIWeEFV59d4">Kobe Bryant jumps a speeding car</a> (over 4m views and counting). But <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slxBNCzUmuM&feature=related" title="">could it be done in real life?</a>.</p><h2><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2010/aug/26/classic-youtube-sports-clips" title="">Our favourites from last week's blog</a></h2><p>1) Ways to entertain yourself <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8gu9mTkjq4" title="">when the safety car comes on</a>.</p><p>2) The Chicago Bears showed that it is not just (British) football teams <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJNC3dgreaU" title="">who can produce awful pop music</a>. But for the most gut-wrenchingly terrible team song of all time, you have to delve <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utsHE5xWges" title="">into the world of the Glasgow Diamonds</a>.</p><p>3) If you are going to put your money on a greyhound, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp0Gqa9HHKk&feature=related" title="">put it on a greyhound smart enough to cheat</a>.</p><p>4) What <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM6LLv6hIow" title="">Wayne Rooney would have liked</a> to do to Cristiano Ronaldo after the winking incident at the 2006 World Cup.</p><p>5) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FRSXVzv7aY&" title="">When showboating goes well</a>.</p><p>6) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI_N5T3pmxQ">Aaron "Wheelz" Fotheringham lands the first double backflip in a wheelchair</a>. You wouldn't eat those Skittles he chucked on the floor, mind.</p><p><strong>Spotters' badges</strong> OhMonsieur, dontgetmeimasnowman, mattiogo, rowingrob, escartin, moxycoxy, TheCorporal, stubnitz.</p><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/WtCJAMl4xFonAKvoDEQeLvs0rmA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/WtCJAMl4xFonAKvoDEQeLvs0rmA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/WtCJAMl4xFonAKvoDEQeLvs0rmA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/WtCJAMl4xFonAKvoDEQeLvs0rmA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Football Sport guardian.co.uk Blogposts http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2010/sep/02/classic-youtube-federer Thu, 02 Sep 2010 06:59:12 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/gallery/2010/aug/31/gareth-bale-tottenham-the-gallery/print <p>The Tottenham player stars as a monkey, an ape and Jimmy Neutron. Now we want your takes on <strong>Andy Carroll</strong></p><br/><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/xDjslxub0ykvElSXHuv6rkcElhQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/xDjslxub0ykvElSXHuv6rkcElhQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/xDjslxub0ykvElSXHuv6rkcElhQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/xDjslxub0ykvElSXHuv6rkcElhQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Tottenham Hotspur Football Sport guardian.co.uk Editorial http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/gallery/2010/aug/31/gareth-bale-tottenham-the-gallery Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:00:00 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/01/players-memorable-performances-cant-remember/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/14815?ns=guardian&pageName=Which+players+have+made+memorable+performances+they+can%27t+remember%3F%3AArticle%3A1445499&ch=Football&c3=GU.co.uk&c4=Football%2CSport&c5=&c6=John+Ashdown&c7=10-Sep-01&c8=1445499&c9=Article&c10=Feature&c11=Football&c13=The+Knowledge&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2F" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">Plus: Capital cities without top-flight clubs; Burton Albion: record breakers?; and why do PSG have a pram on their logo? Send your questions and answers to <a href="mailto:knowledge@guardian.co.uk" title="">knowledge@guardian.co.uk</a>. And you can now follow the Knowledge on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/TheKnowledge_GU" title="">twitter.com/TheKnowledge_GU</a></p><p><strong>"After Daniel Agger's admirable performance against Arsenal last weekend after being knocked on the head, it made me wonder: what's the most memorable performance by a player who couldn't remember it?"</strong> enquired Bill Maclachlan last week.</p><p></p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/mar/04/football.newsstory" title="">Lilian Thuram had what he described as his "Miles Davis moment"</a> in the 1998 World Cup semi-finals. Having played Davor Suker onside for Croatia's opener, the France defender scored twice in the second half, his first international goals, but his brain seemed slightly scrambled:</p><p></p><p><blockquote>'I still have no recollection of what happened and, even though I try, I can't put it together. I needed [coach] Aimé Jacquet and the other players to tell me that we had won, and that we were in the World Cup final.'<br /><br />Jacquet himself told me that he thought Thuram was in 'some mystical state'. This was confirmed by Marcel Desailly who, when he went to congratulate Thuram, asked him: 'What is going on? Who are you?' 'I didn't know who I was or where I was,' Thuram says now.<br /><br />His first goal came within a minute of Suker's and reinvigorated the French. The second, on 70 minutes sent France into the final and from there, on into history with victory against Brazil. No less a figure than President Jacques Chirac described the Croatia match as 'the most beautiful day in the history of French sport'.<br /><br />Thuram remains dazed by his achievements on that semi-final night. 'It was what I call my Miles Davis moment,' he says. 'Footballers can be like artists when the mind and body are working as one. It is what Miles Davis does when he plays free jazz - everything pulls together into one intense moment that is beautiful. He doesn't have to think about it; it's pure instinct.'</blockquote></p><p></p><p>Then there's the case of VfL Bochum's Stanislav Sestak. "During the 2007-08 season, Sestak injured his head after a crash with Karlsruhe's notorious hard man Mike Franz quite early in the match," writes Christian Schneider. "Nevertheless, he continues playing and even makes the score 1-0. However, during the break, he confesses that he can't remember scoring the goal - he's still not substituted. Karlsruhe score twice, but <a href="http://www.myvideo.de/watch/2909810/2_2_VfL_Bochum_vs_Karlsruher_SC_Goals" title="">the match ends 2-2 after a Bochum player scores with a header</a>. Who? Sestak, of course."</p><p></p><p>Some players have suffered their memory loss in the act of scoring. "There is a famous story about Gus Poyet playing for Spurs against West Ham at Upton Park," writes Leo Brownstein. "He was knocked out heading a goal in a 1-0 win but when he came round, he berated the ref for not giving Spurs a corner as he had no recollection of the actual goal."</p><p></p><p>And English players have not been immune. "In 1952 Nat Lofthouse was knocked unconscious by the Austrian goalkeeper in scoring his second goal of the 3-2 win for England," writes Mike Lever. "It was only when he returned to the dressing room he found out he had actually scored twice. From which came his nickname 'The Lion of Vienna'."</p><p></p><h2>JUST CAPITAL</h2><p><strong>"Berlin currently has no representative in the German Bundesliga," </strong>notes Stephen Glennon. <strong>"What's the longest period of time that a capital city has had no team in the corresponding country's first league?"</strong></p><p></p><p>Along with Canberra (nine years from 1986-1995) and London (16 years from 1888-1904), two capital cities stand out: Bonn and Brasillia.</p><p></p><p>First, to South America. "Brazil went 12 seasons without its capital represented by a club in the top flight, from 1986 (after Brasilia FC was relegated in 1985) to 1999 (when Gama competed in the top division)," writes Paulo Padilha. "Additionally, if you consider that Gama comes from the Distrito Federal, the state Brasilia is in, but is actually in the satellite town of Gama, you would have to look at the 2000 season for a club actually from Brasilia competing for the national title. There is, however, an extra catch there because in 2000 the top league was the aptly named Copa João Havelange, a bloated monster that, due to some litigation, included all four divisions from the previous season as 'one division' split into various groups (essentially the previous year's divisions), with the groups formed from the lower divisions sending their winners into the play-offs. Brasilia FC participated that year, but in what would have been the third or fourth division (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copa_Jo%C3%A3o_Havelange" title="">the Wikipedia entry only scratches the surface on that season</a>). You'd have to fast forward to 2005 to find Brasiliense in the official top flight, officially representing the capital city. So there you go, Brasilia stayed 18 seasons out of Brazil's top division."</p><p></p><p>That's nothing, though, compared to with Bonn. The capital of West Germany never had a team in the Bundesliga – a period of 27 years from 1963 to 1990.</p><p></p><h2>ON THE UP</h2><p><strong>"John Ashdown, in his excellent recent blog on Burton, stated that their run of 11 successive seasons of improvement (with one aberration) might be a record. Surely it can't be?"</strong> wrote Andrew Pechey last week.</p><p></p><p>Accrington Stanley can currently match Burton's record. Since their relegation from the Unibond Premier in 1999, Stanley have improved year on year with, like Albion, just one season of stagnation – and even then it can be argued they go one better than the Brewers, failing to improve on their 10th-place finish in the Conference 2003-04, but winning more points in finishing in the same position in 2004-05. Currently the club's forward momentum is gradual – in the past three seasons they have finished 17th, 16th and 15th in League Two.</p><p></p><p><em>Know of a run better than Accrington's or Burton's? Then let us know at the </em><a href="mailto:knowledge@guardian.co.uk" title=""><em>usual address</em></a><em>.</em></p><p></p><h2>KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE</h2><p><strong>"The Paris St Germain logo has what can only be a pram under the Eiffel Tower - why?" </strong>asked Tom Haslam back in 2005</p><p></p><p>The pram is actually a cradle, as several of you have picked up on, but you're on the right lines Tom. "The badge does indeed combine the silhouette of the Eiffel Tower with a cradle and the fleur de lis, or lily," explains Tim Pike.</p><p></p><p>"Obviously, the Tower represents Paris, while the cradle and fleur de lis are the symbols of the quiet suburban town of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, where PSG train and are headquartered (about 15 miles west of Paris). A similar design features on the town's crest, which you can see here.</p><p></p><p>"Saint-Germain is nicknamed 'le berceau de Louis XI' (the cradle of Louis XIV), as the town happens to be the birthplace of the Sun King (in 1638, fact fans), hence the cradle. The lily is also a longstanding royal symbol in France.</p><p></p><p>"The pram is an emblem for Paris," adds Stéphane Di Cesare. "More exactly, it was the emblem of the 'Water Merchants', a merchants' guild in Paris in the Middle Ages." So now you know.</p><p></p><p>For thousands more questions and answers take a trip through the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/series/theknowledge" title="">Knowledge archive</a>.</p><p></p><h2>Can you help?</h2><p></p><p>"Some fans of my hometown ice hockey club are trying to implement a boycott after the trade of the star goalie and as a protest against what they perceive to be a lack of local talents in the team," writes Mike de Mascouche. "They are not talking about boycotting the club's shop or even the arena, but the owner's other interest, the Molson brewery. Are there examples of football fans boycotting the owner's firm in protest of a club's decision?"</p><p></p><p>"Some friends of mine are considering creating a club team in a recreational league in New York City," writes Kyle Hill. "We reckon that if all of them are as good as they claim to be after a half dozen beers, they'll be the best side in the world and could prove it by winning every trophy on offer up to and including the World Club Cup: 1) Winning their league and a regional FA tournament in their first season, thereby qualifying for the next season's US Open Cup; 2) Winning the next season's US Open Cup (in October of year two), and qualifying for the Concacaf Champions League (starting in August of year three); 3) Winning that tournament (in May of year four), and qualifying for that year's edition of the Club World Cup (in December). By my calculation, it's possible to be the best club in the world within 46 months and only 56 matches (30 league/regional, nine US Cup, 14 CCL, three CWC). Pretending this is even remotely rational, are there any examples of where a local pub side, created from nothing, can qualify through to the World Club Cup faster or easier?"</p><p></p><p>"In these modern times of ball boys throwing on a different ball when one goes out of play, which ball does a hat-trick hero keep at the end and where do the others go?" ponders Jon Trickett.</p><p></p><p>"Through the use of the internet I am deperately trying to prove to my friend something which I am certain of - that a player around about 5-10 years ago, when signing for their new club, possibly Middlesborough, had contractual agreements set in place that they could not fly to space," writes Andy Simpson. "Can anyone shed some light on this?"</p><p></p><p>"Following the transfer to Kilmarnock of <a href="http://www.kilmarnockfc.co.uk/articles/david-silva-kilmarnock_85937_52642" title="">David Silva</a> and <a href="http://www.kilmarnockfc.co.uk/articles/mohamadou-sissoko-udinese_85937_39312" title="">Momo Sissoko</a>," writes Iain Rooney. "I was wondering: What other instances have there been of famously-monikered players and have they managed to emulate the glory of their more celebrated namesakes? (For example, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Platini_Mesquita" title="">Michel Platini</a> currently plays for CSKA Sofia...)"</p><p></p><p>"I met Gary Taylor-Fletcher - an ardent Red - en route to the 2007 Champions League Final in Athens," writes Gaz Kendall. "Injuries permitting, he'll be lining up for Blackpool against Liverpool in the Premier League on 2 October. But what is remarkable – and perhaps unique – is that in scoring the Seasiders' first Premier League goal on the opening day against Wigan, he completed the set of having played and scored in the Isthmian League, the Conference, League Two, League One, the Championship, Premier League, FA Cup, and League Cup... all since the year 2000. Is there a player who has scored goals spanning a greater gulf of class than Isthmian to Premier League and everything in between in such a short space of time?"</p><p></p><p>"Driving past Colchester United's ground the other day I remarked to myself how close it was to the A12 - seemingly less than a goal kick from the road. Also, the stands are not the biggest, and it's not a 'bowl' stadium, so I reckon it's very possible to kick a ball out of the ground on to the A12," writes Philip Genochio. "So two questions: Has a ball yet been kicked out of the ground on to the A12, and can any other stadium lay claim to being closer to a major road?"</p><p></p><p>"If one day, FC Luch-Energiya Vladivostok reaches the Champions League or Europa League, we could witness a European fixture played very close to China," writes Emre Ozturk. "I want to know: what is the furthest a team has had to travel in a European competition?"</p><p></p><p><strong>Send your questions and answers to </strong><a href="mailto:knowledge@guardian.co.uk" title=""><strong>knowledge@guardian.co.uk</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/johnashdown">John Ashdown</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Q2HtHsypTCj2y5n58WoZv5bV27c/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Q2HtHsypTCj2y5n58WoZv5bV27c/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Q2HtHsypTCj2y5n58WoZv5bV27c/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Q2HtHsypTCj2y5n58WoZv5bV27c/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Football Sport guardian.co.uk Features http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/01/players-memorable-performances-cant-remember Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:06:07 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/football-league-blog/2010/sep/06/football-league-new-crests/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/92862?ns=guardian&pageName=The+crest+of+a+wave%3F+%7C+John+Ashdown%3AArticle%3A1447815&ch=Football&c3=GU.co.uk&c4=Cheltenham+%28Football+club%29%2CMorecambe+%28Football+club%29%2CChesterfield+%28Football+club%29%2CFootball%2CSport&c5=&c6=John+Ashdown&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1447815&c9=Article&c10=Blogpost&c11=Football&c13=&c25=Football+League+blog%2CSport+blog&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2Fblog%2FFootball+League+blog" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">New badges – a sad trend that distances football from its historical roots, or a necessary exercise for all forward-thinking modern clubs?</p><p>The summer saw three Football League teams ditch their old club crests in favour of flashy new ones. Cheltenham Town swapped their old heraldic crest for one depicting a graphical robin:</p><p>"This was our most contemporary idea. We wanted one that represented the optimism of the club," said Guy Douglas from the badge designers flb. "In the annals of history, most of the robins have been still, waiting. This is flying upwards and moving forward. We hope it's a catalyst."</p><p></p><p>Chesterfield meanwhile matched the club's move to the new b2net stadium with a change of style:</p><p>According to the club the new badge "retains the heritage of the football club by continuing to incorporate heraldic interlinked lettering set in a shield, which was originally displayed on the player's shirts in 1945".</p><p>And Morecambe scrapped their old design, complete with "Beauty Surrounds, Health Abounds" motto, for a bolder take on the club's nickname:</p><p><br />"In the end they [the club's board] went for designer, Robin Zahler's very simple, clean shrimp crest," said designers Fat Creative, "one we all loved as it looks so bold and immediately identifiable and works on team shirts as well as across a range of the club's products."</p><p>Club crests have never been a static part of football – Morecambe, for example, have previously featured shrimps on their badge, before adopting the ship-and-red-rose design the best part of 20 years ago. Indeed the evolution of badges is, to those of us that way inclined, rather fascinating (a quick search brought up badge histories for <a href="http://www.chelseafc.com/page/HistoryDetail/0,,10268~1328582,00.html" title="">Chelsea</a>, <a href="http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/the-arsenal-shirt-badge" title="">Arsenal</a>, <a href="http://www.wafll.com/leeds-united-badges.html" title="">Leeds</a> and <a href="http://www.oxkits.co.uk/club_badges.htm" title="">Oxford</a>). The fear is that all those wonderful and varied badges may begin to become homogenised, losing their individuality and becoming shield-shaped disconnected brand logos that look nice on a pencil case or official £7.99 oversized mug but say nothing about a club's heritage. The bold graphical approach does seem to be <a href="http://www.designfootball.com/logo-design" title="">the style of the time</a>.</p><p>So new badges for Morecambe, Chesterfield and Cheltenham – a sad trend that distances football from its historical roots, or a necessary exercise for all forward-thinking modern clubs?</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/cheltenham">Cheltenham</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/morecambe">Morecambe</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/chesterfield">Chesterfield</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/johnashdown">John Ashdown</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/x-e0U0nM6PqeFPNZTMD2XWWQtrc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/x-e0U0nM6PqeFPNZTMD2XWWQtrc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/x-e0U0nM6PqeFPNZTMD2XWWQtrc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/x-e0U0nM6PqeFPNZTMD2XWWQtrc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Cheltenham Morecambe Chesterfield Football Sport guardian.co.uk Blogposts http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/football-league-blog/2010/sep/06/football-league-new-crests Mon, 06 Sep 2010 10:49:00 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/sep/06/fabio-capello-england-crucial/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/13868?ns=guardian&pageName=Fabio+Capello%27s+only+concern+must+be+to+guide+England+to+a+crucial+win%3AArticle%3A1448226&ch=Football&c3=Guardian&c4=England+football+team%2CFabio+Capello%2CFootball%2CSport&c5=Football+World+Cup&c6=Kevin+McCarra&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1448226&c9=Article&c10=Comment&c11=Football&c13=&c25=Sport+blog&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FEngland" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">The England manager has more important things to dwell on than his adopted nation's obsession with scandal</p><p>Fabio Capello is not the type to dream of being an honorary Englishman. Any renewed sense of himself as an outsider may stem from the undisguised resentment he feels over the contempt for his side and their pratfalls at the World Cup. He is not entitled to a grievance after the inane efforts in South Africa, but the country he serves surely feels more foreign than ever to him, particularly in these days of the Wayne Rooney furore.</p><p>He could always blame the player's alleged actions rather than the press coverage ahead of tomorrow's Euro 2012 qualifier with Switzerland. You tend to imagine him grumbling about a country gripped by such an exposé. Capello would also, of course, be a fool to dwell on the subject because each nation has trends and habits in its culture that bemuse others. All that can truly count for an England manager is the impact on the player himself.</p><p>From time to time we have all been caught up in the myth of a man submerged in a game that he can play with brilliance. The legend arrived fully-formed in October 2002 when, as a 16-year-old, Rooney struck Everton's late winner high into the corner of the Arsenal net. He was besotted with a game that loved him just as ardently.</p><p>That could never last. Lives become silted with complication even for people who do not exist under what must seem like surveillance by the rest of the world. Rooney, of course, is under the same obligation as anyone else to deal with the consequences of his own actions, whatever they may have been. If England are in luck, he will now revel in being offered his escape on to the freedom of the pitch.</p><p>Capello, of course, will hardly believe that the jolt of newspaper coverage is an unexpected blessing. Nobody could ever before have heard him sound like the soulmate of one of his predecessors, but for a moment he was a counterpart to Sven-Goran Eriksson, who would adopt a pitying tone when referring to the prurient reporting of his private life. "It's England," said Capello resignedly.</p><p>He was merely sympathising with Rooney and his own private life has been a disappointment to scandal aficionados. It is his professional image that he has to safeguard. Capello still wrestles not just with weak results at the World Cup but also by the insubstantiality of the displays. In Basle, he once more asserted that every single one of his players is in better shape now.</p><p>No one disputes it, but European teams could generally have complained that they went to the World Cup in haggard condition. Spain, the eventual victors, had key men whose efforts for Real Madrid, Barcelona and others must have depleted them. They rose above their exhaustion when England could not. For the sake of his own peace of mind, Capello, right, must crave Euro 2012 for the chance it offers to prove that he can adapt fully to this line of work.</p><p>The calendar invites him to deal briskly with a group that contains just four other sides. Half of the eight England fixtures will be dealt with by the time the full-time whistle sounds in Cardiff on 26 March. All the same, the days ahead would look tortuous if Capello's team were to flounder in Basle. It is hard to say how great the risk of that will be.</p><p>Switzerland, like England, are under the command of a football grandee. If the Champions League were the tie-breaker in separating the two men, Ottmar Hitzfeld would edge out Capello because he has led two clubs, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, to the prize. It was in Switzerland that Hitzfeld learned the managerial trade so there was a logic in his taking over from Köbi Kuhn in 2008.</p><p>When Spain were defeated 1-0 in the World Cup finals it no longer looked so sentimental a project, even if that result devastated his own side far more than the opposition. Switzerland did not score another goal and were eliminated in the group phase. The temptation is to think of them as obstinate but limited.</p><p>Capello rejects so simple a view and was resolute in giving a more nuanced account of Hitzfeld's side. With players such as the dynamic Stephan Lichtsteiner on the right, there is immediate speed when a possibility to play on the break presents itself. Tottenham had a foretaste of that approach, though not of Lichtsteiner himself, who plays for Lazio, when they went 3-0 down to Young Boys in Bern last month, before collecting themselves to score twice. The return at White Hart Lane was won 4-0 in last month's Champions League qualifier.</p><p>If there is an analogy, Capello could reason that England should take care and let the innate superiority of his players take its toll as the night proceeds. Certain factors, all the same, complicate the issue. It would, for instance, be sensible for the visitors to pin back the opposition. England, after all, will not want to encourage prolonged examination of their own back four.</p><p>Phil Jagielka, a 28-year-old with only five caps, has been converted into an object of admiration and trust. The applause is overdue but the dependence is startlingly sudden. The issue lies in who may best accompany him. Matthew Upson did not make the bench on Friday but there may be sense in calling on him when the apparent alternative is Gary Cahill, who made his debut as a substitute against Bulgaria.</p><p>Circumstances are awkward, but England's position in the groupwill be formidable if the team rise above them.</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england">England</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/fabio-capello">Fabio Capello</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/kevinmccarra">Kevin McCarra</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/T9GLwAQJmcqH52cp881wkWmWGSk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/T9GLwAQJmcqH52cp881wkWmWGSk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/T9GLwAQJmcqH52cp881wkWmWGSk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/T9GLwAQJmcqH52cp881wkWmWGSk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> England Fabio Capello Football Sport The Guardian Comment http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/sep/06/fabio-capello-england-crucial Mon, 06 Sep 2010 22:00:44 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/sep/07/france-bosnia-belarus-laurent-blanc/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/54978?ns=guardian&pageName=France+head+for+Bosnia+convulsed+by+horror+over+defeat+by+Belarus%3AArticle%3A1448280&ch=Football&c3=GU.co.uk&c4=France+football+team%2CEuro+2012+%28Football%29%2CFootball%2CSport&c5=Euro+2008+Football%2CFootball+World+Cup&c6=Simon+Burnton&c7=10-Sep-07&c8=1448280&c9=Article&c10=Blogpost&c11=Football&c13=&c25=Sport+blog&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FFrance" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">Things might not be as bad as Laurent Blanc's team think after their opening loss … but they may be about to get worse</p><p>You've got to say, it looks pretty bad. After the World Cup, and the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jul/23/france-laurent-blanc" title="">showpiece short-term banishment of the entire offending squad </a>by the new-broom manager Laurent Blanc, France expected a new dawn on Friday night. They got a 1-0 home defeat by Belarus. And so it is that they play Bosnia-Herzegovina tonight with a big black cloud hanging overhead.</p><p>Asked how his team managed to get themselves beaten by a limited, defensive Belarus side who offered almost nothing in attack before their 86th-minute goal, Blanc said: "They came looking for a stalemate but when they saw that they could open up gaps they said, 'Why not?' and they scored."</p><p>Just like that.</p><p>The French press found defeat as hard to swallow as English cheese, with headlines reading "Catastrophic!", "What a slap!" and "The Nightmare Continues!" In L'Equipe, Emmanuel Petit identified a few areas in which the France squad are lacking. "This team has no initiative, character, personality or talent," he wrote.</p><p>Speaking to press on Saturday, Blanc said: "The disappointment is overwhelming. You expect to have some problems over the course of qualifying but the problems are all evident from the very first game. When you have the opportunity to kill the enemy, they must be killed."</p><p>How long, he was asked, will it take him to construct a winning team? "I have no answer," he said. "It might take months but it also might never happen."</p><p>The downbeat atmosphere was understandable but perhaps excessive. There were excuses for Friday's failings. Patrice Evra, Jérémy Toulalan, Franck Ribéry, Yoann Gourcuff, Samir Nasri, Hatem Ben Arfa, Karim Benzema and Lassana Diarra missed the game. Nicolas Anelka has another 17 matches of his mammoth post-World Cup suspension to go – and would arguably not have made himself available in any case.</p><p>Then three strikers got injured. Loïc Rémy lasted little more than half an hour; Louis Saha came on in the 69th minute and was injured in the 77th; and Guillaume Hoarau, promising but profligate, finished the game with a bruised shoulder. He will not play tonight.</p><p>Yet even with all these problems, France's performance against Belarus was not that appalling. Against very defensive opponents they were dominant, though Vitali Rodionov missed a great chance towards the start of the second half. The French had eight shots on target to one and 12 corners to two. Most teams have games like these: defeats that are just victories in fancy dress, rogue results from matches that would almost always be won. Almost always.</p><p>Though France have Benzema back to face Bosnia-Herzegovina, what they most need is to rediscover their self-confidence, or just their self-respect.</p><p>"Under these circumstances we cannot say we are going to Bosnia to win," Blanc said. "After what happened on Friday we need to remain humble."</p><p>"We messed up," said the defender Philippe Mexès, "but what's done is done. It's a huge blow for us but we've got to get this out of our system fast and start over."</p><p>Bosnia, who beat Luxembourg 3-0 on Friday, have no issues with their confidence.</p><p>"If there's ever a good moment to take on the French, it's now," said the midfielder Miralem Pjanic, who scored their second goal against Luxembourg and who plays in France, for Lyon. "This is one of the best teams Bosnia have ever had and we've been playing with the same players for two years now. France are missing lots of players. It's our chance and the stadium will be full to bursting."</p><p>You could argue that given the nature of Friday's defeat, France should not be as distraught as they evidently are. It could be worse, after all – and by tonight it may well be.</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/france">France</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/euro2012">Euro 2012</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/simonburnton">Simon Burnton</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/VQ62DmutTEQuxGHg-gj_swFJY5k/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/VQ62DmutTEQuxGHg-gj_swFJY5k/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/VQ62DmutTEQuxGHg-gj_swFJY5k/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/VQ62DmutTEQuxGHg-gj_swFJY5k/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> France Euro 2012 Football Sport guardian.co.uk Blogposts http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/sep/07/france-bosnia-belarus-laurent-blanc Mon, 06 Sep 2010 23:07:44 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/robson-houghton-english-thailand-india/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/50173?ns=guardian&pageName=Robson+and+Houghton+make+it+an+English+affair+as+Thailand+beat+India%3AArticle%3A1447985&ch=Football&c3=GU.co.uk&c4=Football%2CSport&c5=&c6=John+Duerden&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1447985&c9=Article&c10=Feature%2CBlogpost&c11=Football&c13=&c25=Sport+blog&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2F" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">There was no English manager picking the team at Wembley this weekend but there were two on show in Bangkok</p><p>It may not have been an Englishman picking the national team at Wembley this weekend but had you headed to Bangkok on Saturday to watch Thailand's 1-0 friendly win over India, you would have found two English managers marshalling the technical areas at the Yamaha Stadium.</p><p></p><p>Bryan Robson's Thailand deservedly defeated Bob Houghton's men in front of a crowd of around 10,000. The hosts played some tidy football but needed a moment of class from Sarayoot Chaikamdee in the 73rd minute. Both sides missed enough chances to ensure that the benches were treated to some choice Anglo-Saxon expressions but at full-time, the tracksuited Robson warmly shook hands with the more formally dressed Houghton.</p><p></p><p>The previous day in the lobby of the Radisson Hotel, they had sat together and swapped tales of Bangkok, Delhi and other Asian destinations. There are many on the CV of the well-travelled Houghton, the former Fulham midfielder who led Sweden's Malmo to a 1979 European Cup final defeat against Nottingham Forest. Even as cosmopolitan a manager as the 62-year-old, though, can find it hard to shake off certain national stereotypes and in the pre-match press conference an Indian journalist asked if fans would see an English-style game.</p><p></p><p>"Some of the less well-informed [observers] overseas always assume that if you are a English coach then you want to play like Wimbledon," Houghton said. "It would help if the national team was successful as after the World Cup as people chase the successful styles."</p><p></p><p>That is especially true on a continent that may love the Premier League but is less enthusiastic about English managers. Robson's exploits as a player give him an advantage over most of his countrymen, including Peter Reid – who he succeeded in September 2009. "The main thing was my connection with Manchester United, it makes it easier with the players," Robson said. "They give you respect straight away because they know you because of your international career and because you have played in the Premier League."</p><p></p><p>Playing there is a dream of many an Asian player. Houghton is doubtful that any of his current crop is ready for England's top tier, though the one-time Queens Park Rangers target Sunil Chhetri was impressive in Bangkok, but Robson believes that the Thai national team contains a couple who could make the switch to the Championship at least. "If I go back to my last job with Sheffield United, I would say that the Thai international players here, technique-wise, are better. Control of the ball, the passing and the movement is very good."</p><p></p><p>That much was evident against India as the Thais, never easy to beat on home turf, built from the back and stroked the ball around nicely before struggling, as they always tend to do, in front of goal. Robson believes that there are other weaknesses that need to be addressed. "On the defending side and the physical aspect then they fall a lot short of Sheffield United," he added. "Part of the problem is the development of the power and the size of the Europeans and Africans compared to the nations around here."</p><p></p><p>Houghton agrees. "The average height of the players in the 2006 World Cup final, of the 22 players that started the game, was around 6ft 1in," he said. "Our average height was 5ft 7in. So we have had to work hard to find one or two bigger ones. We found one or two only. When an Englishman says that in India, everyone says: 'you see, he wants to play the long ball'. That's not true as Baichung Bhutia and Sunil Chhetri would always play for us and they are 5ft 6in but you can't play 11 that size. People forget that Thierry Henry is 6ft 3in."</p><p></p><p>Also not high is India's Fifa ranking, the Bhangra Boys sitting 34 places below Thailand in 138th and a long way behind the likes of South Korea and Australia. How far behind the latter two they are on the pitch will be seen in January in the group stage of the 2011 Asian Cup. It's India's first appearance in the tournament since 1984 and Houghton knows that playing the continent's best could be a double-edged sword.</p><p></p><p>"There is a view that it will be good for Indian football as it will put ourselves in the spotlight and we will play against teams that have just played in the World Cup," he said. "Or it could show people where we really are and that might set the game back. We really are in the infancy of trying to become a football country."</p><p></p><p>Thailand are a little more mature as this display demonstrated but have yet to break out of south-east Asia and become a continental power. If Robson can do that, it would be his greatest achievement but for one night in Bangkok at least, two Englishmen served up an entertaining evening.</p><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/johnduerden">John Duerden</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/rGX-igNTGSYWK9lyYb7xp8If-vQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/rGX-igNTGSYWK9lyYb7xp8If-vQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/rGX-igNTGSYWK9lyYb7xp8If-vQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/rGX-igNTGSYWK9lyYb7xp8If-vQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Football Sport guardian.co.uk Features Blogposts http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/robson-houghton-english-thailand-india Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:52:11 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/04/jamie-carragher-liverpool-testimonial/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/83077?ns=guardian&pageName=Jamie+Carragher%3A+%27Souness+not+Ferguson+knocked+Liverpool+off+the+top%27%3AArticle%3A1447372&ch=Football&c3=Guardian&c4=Jamie+Carragher%2CLiverpool+FC+%28Football%29%2CFootball%2CAndy+Burnham%2CSport&c5=Not+commercially+useful%2CEuropa+League%2CPremier+League&c6=Andy+Hunter&c7=10-Sep-04&c8=1447372&c9=Article&c10=Interview&c11=Football&c13=&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FJamie+Carragher" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">Jamie Carragher's passion for Liverpool is undimmed after 14 years – now he's trying to help recover their class and dignity</p><p>Jamie Carragher owns two restaurants in Liverpool and hopefully his next culinary step will be to host Come Dine With Me. The company and conversation would not be eclectic – his obsession with leading managers would produce a guest list limited to such names as José Mourinho, Sir Alex Ferguson and Fabio Capello – but the concoction would be unforgettable.</p><p>"There is still a mystique about these people for me," he says. "The likes of Ferguson and Mourinho, I could talk to them all day if I had the chance." Which raises the question of what the Liverpool defender would ask the Manchester United manager if the opportunity arose?</p><p>For once, Carragher pauses to consider a response. His eyes sparkle when it comes. "I'll tell you what I would say to him. I'd say he never knocked Liverpool off their fucking perch. That's nonsense that. Graeme Souness did that. United were competing with Norwich and Aston Villa for their first title. They weren't competing with Liverpool, were they?" Why Carragher remains a prized interviewee requires no explanation.</p><p>Fourteen years after breaking into the Liverpool first team as a goalscoring midfielder, or so we thought, the 32-year-old stages his testimonial at Anfield this afternoon. He has invited an Everton XI to provide the opposition and Michael Owen to face the wrath of the Kop by swapping United red for Liverpool's.</p><p>Both have caused a stir, though proceeds do go to his charitable 23 Foundation. The choices are unsurprising, however.</p><p>Owen is a lifelong friend, Everton are the team he loved, and he has never become the PR-moulded, bland character we now expect – but abhor – of our Premier League stars. It is the reason Anfield identifies with Carragher more than any other player of his generation and why, despite a wish to retain a low profile ahead of his big day, 10 journalists are waiting when he walks into the press room at Liverpool's training ground.</p><p>Fourteen years of opening up with searing honesty, yet he still retains a capacity for revelation. Only when discussing the testimonial guest list does it dawn on Carragher that his mother, Paula, will watch him play today for only the second time in his life. Not the second time in a career that has yielded every medal bar the Premier League championship – his whole life.</p><p>"It's just never been the done thing in our family" is the explanation. "She didn't watch me as a kid. My missus doesn't go to the match either. It's a waste of a ticket. To my mum, I'm James. I suppose she's kept me grounded. She still lives where we always lived and she does the normal things like going to the Asda. It's funny, she went shopping the other day to the Lidl, which is the cheap one, isn't it? And one of the girls on the till went: 'What are you doing in here?' She can't go back now. She said she only went in to get a bit of fruit."</p><p>Andy Burnham MP is also expected at Anfield, and his presence suggests Carragher's claim to be interested only in "Liverpool football club and my family" is not entirely true. The Bootle-born defender donated £10,000 to Burnham's Labour leadership campaign, having been impressed by the then culture secretary's efforts to release internal documents on the Hillsborough disaster, though Carragher proclaims only a passing interest in politics. "I watched Tony Blair's interview with Andrew Marr the other night and I'll watch Newsnight, but that's about it. I like Tony Blair. But [donating to Burnham] was because he is a local fella and I vote Labour and hopefully that would give him a good push. I like seeing people from round here doing well and it would be great if someone from round here was leader of the Labour party.</p><p>"He's an Evertonian, though, isn't he? I think he's coming to the match with the leader of the council. It probably looks good for them as well, doesn't it? I read Piers Morgan's book on holiday and he was never out of Downing Street."</p><p>Any fan of Blair must place an importance on image and Carragher is no exception, although only in the context of the club he serves. Proud though he is of his achievements at Anfield, and of a career of dramatic highs and lows on a collective and personal level, the defender admits the recent image of Liverpool FC is one that pains him.</p><p>"I care about the club because I'm a supporter as well," he says. "It does bother me if things aren't as they should be. I think a lot about the future of the club, the direction it's going in, the way it is run and how it is perceived from the outside. There are some things that Liverpool should be doing in a certain way, the correct way. We should be a little bit different, and we need to get back to that.</p><p>"I'm not just talking about winning games, but the way we do things and the way we conduct ourselves. The class and dignity this club was renowned for. It's the way Liverpool used to be seen by people and we should be aiming to recreate that."</p><p>Carragher's use of "class and dignity" is instructive. Those are the same words David Moyes used to describe Everton when responding to the former manager Rafael Benítez's description of his Merseyside rivals as "a small club". George Gillett and Tom Hicks have brought financial turbulence to Anfield and supporters on to the streets. Though Carragher refuses to mud-sling – "I'm not getting into why we lost that, but we do need to get back to it and I think we are" – it is clear he believes the American co-owners are not entirely responsible for Liverpool's recent soap opera.</p><p>"I just think that over the last few years people didn't like Liverpool. Other managers didn't like us, we were always getting criticism in the press, obviously we were not doing well on the pitch so that comes with it, but everything was just negative Liverpool all the time.</p><p>"We've had situations like Martin O'Neill and Steve Bruce criticising Liverpool and they were right. We shouldn't be getting involved with stuff like that. Everyone else should look at Liverpool and say they have dignity, class. I mean, like the way people look at Arsenal. They do things right and you think they conduct themselves in the right way. I think we have been a club who were like that and we need to get back to that, to do things right. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose; that's football. You can't win all the time. But you can still behave in a way where people respect you."</p><p>Though it goes against the grain for Carragher, a testimonial demands reflection and the vexed issue of what next? His son, James, is already at the Liverpool academy and while a step into management has always appeared natural, a reluctance to leave Liverpool does not make it a foregone conclusion. "If it was just me and the missus then I wouldn't mind seeing the world or different parts of the country, but I'm very big on my kids being settled with their family," he says. "I want to be a manager, it wouldn't scare me, but I also think you could be sacked in six months and you'd have to take the kids back to school with your tail between your legs."</p><p>He is, however, unequivocal about what he will not miss when the time finally comes to hang up the No23 Liverpool shirt. "People go on about how much players earn in the Premier League but once you've bought a nice house and car, what else is there to spend it on?" Carragher asks. "There is pressure, and I would never complain about that, but as players we put pressure on ourselves all the time. That's one thing I won't miss when I finally stop playing. It was my wife's birthday party last Sunday but I knew I wasn't going to enjoy it if we didn't beat West Brom that afternoon. It was on my mind from the moment the whistle went. All through the game, I'm thinking: 'We've got to win it, we've got to win it.' "</p><p>Six hundred and thirty five appearances for Liverpool and still yearning for victory. That says it all.</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/jamie-carragher">Jamie Carragher</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/liverpool">Liverpool</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/andyburnham">Andy Burnham</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/andyhunter">Andy Hunter</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ce077tOuw5_oiv6Ul6FJjoSF-dI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ce077tOuw5_oiv6Ul6FJjoSF-dI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ce077tOuw5_oiv6Ul6FJjoSF-dI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ce077tOuw5_oiv6Ul6FJjoSF-dI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Jamie Carragher Liverpool Football Andy Burnham Sport The Guardian Interviews http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/04/jamie-carragher-liverpool-testimonial Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:06:49 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/aug/30/serie-a-week-one-round-up/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/29444?ns=guardian&pageName=Ghost+goals%2C+grand+unveilings+and+a+sacking+before+the+season+even+begin%3AArticle%3A1445064&ch=Football&c3=GU.co.uk&c4=Serie+A+%28Football%29%2CAC+Milan+%28Football+club%29%2CEuropean+football%2CFootball%2CSport&c5=Not+commercially+useful%2CChampions+League&c6=Paolo+Bandini&c7=10-Aug-30&c8=1445064&c9=Article&c10=Blogpost&c11=Football&c13=&c25=Sport+blog&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FSerie+A" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">Serie A returned to action with a big new arrival, harsh treatment in Bologna and a Hulk-like Sinisa Mihajlovic</p><p>For a round of fixtures that brought only 15 goals, Serie A's opening weekend was certainly eventful even if some of the games were not.</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/aug/30/zlatan-ibrahimovic-barcelona-david-villa" title="">Zlatan Ibrahimovic did rather well in that regard</a>, taking his seat among the directors and dignitaries at San Siro for one of the weekend's more entertaining games – his new Milan team-mates <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG4LHU5Zqz4" title="">put four past newly promoted Lecce without reply</a>. In the seats either side of the Swede, his agent Mino Raiola and Milan's vice-president, Adriano Galliani, glowed with satisfaction. A seat further down, Silvio Berlusconi glowed with what one suspects is hundreds of Euros worth of fake tan.</p><p></p><p>"I am incredibly happy," Galliani declared before the match, and well he might after sealing a transfer that defied all expectations. Barcelona gave up €45m plus Samuel Eto'o to secure Ibrahimovic one year ago, yet Milan will pay nothing to the Catalan club this season – when the striker is technically on loan – then only €24m, in instalments, after that. The Swede agreed to take a pay cut from €12m to €8m a year, although bonuses could take him back up towards the former figure.</p><p></p><p>Critics may still consider that a large sum for a player does not address an area of particularly great need, but supporters can counter that Ibrahimovic's 16 goals during a supposedly disappointing 29 La Liga games for Barcelona was more than any of Milan's strikers managed last year. Before that he managed 57 in 88 Serie A fixtures for Inter.</p><p></p><p>Ibrahimovic's declaration that "I won't leave Milan until we've won everything" prompted more than one pundit to joke that he could be there some time, but such cockiness is not totally without foundation. It should be remembered that he has finished top of whichever league he has been playing in for the past seven seasons.</p><p></p><p>Certainly the fans have been won over, a banner in the Curva Sud reading: "Summer transfers: many youngsters and one great champion … the right mix for becoming a great champion once again. Thank you." Another was unfurled with the message: "At Milanello, at San Siro and at the club. Welcome back president." It was a far cry from July, when Berlusconi was heckled by the club's fans when he showed up at a training session.</p><p></p><p>Ibrahimovic's arrival was followed by a cryptic suggestion from Berlusconi that Milan are "ready to move" if one other target, widely assumed to be Robinho, becomes available and cynics have been quick to note that this flurry of activity follows a difficult spell for the Italian prime minister. The Alleanza Nazionale leader Gianfranco Fini pulled out of Berlusconi's centre-right coalition just before the summer break, sparking talk of an early election. It would not be the first time the Milan owner has sought to use football for political ends.</p><p></p><p>But success on the pitch, at least, is attainable. Mlian's first team yesterday featured six players in their 30s, four of whom were 33 or older, but they are not alone in boasting an ageing side. A study over the summer showed Serie A to be the second-oldest league in Europe, after Cyprus, and the team Inter started with against Atlético Madrid in the European Super Cup had an average age of over 30.5 years. Deficiencies at full-back and the inexperience of the manager Massimiliano Allegri make a strong Champions League run unlikely, but a title challenge is not out of the question.</p><p></p><p>Indeed, while it would be foolish to read too much into one weekend's results – especially when Milan were facing such compliant opposition – the <em>Rossoneri</em> certainly looked a far better bet than the other supposed candidates. While Milan were rejuvenated by a healthy Alexandre Pato and a leaner-looking Ronaldinho, Juventus seemed utterly unimproved by close to €60m of new signings.</p><p></p><p>If Juventus' 3-1 defeat away to Bari was met with shock and anger last season, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5f_Yd-ztXo" title="">this year's 1-0 loss</a> – their first opening-day reverse since 1982 – brought only resignation. There were six new faces in the starting XI, and a further two brought on before the end, but the performance was all too familiar. With both teams lined up in a 4-4-2 there was no question of Juve having been outwitted; they were simply outplayed by a team with more energy and more ideas. In the end Juve managed two shots on target to their hosts' eight.</p><p></p><p>Almost all the new signings were underwhelming. Fabio Quagliarella looked every bit the man who had not had a chance to train with his team-mates; Milos Krasic and Simone Pepe failed to get behind their opposing full-backs and Marco Motta, just as in his Roma days, is the defender who just won't defend. At the back Leonardo Bonucci and the goalkeeper Marco Storari escaped without particular blame, but that's about the best that could be said.</p><p></p><p>The new manager Luigi Del Neri had the twin excuses of players needing time to gel and being tired from Thursday's Europa League win over Sturm Graz, although he refused to bring up an even greater grievance – the sale of Diego. After Del Neri had insisted all summer that the Brazilian was a key part of his plans, the club's decision to sell him to Wolfsburg this week looks like a massive folly. A team already short of creativity could ill-afford to lose a player who showed flashes – albeit only intermittently – of real talent last season.</p><p></p><p>Juve may yet be active in the remaining two days of the transfer window, with reports today that they will move for Milan's Marco Borriello, likely to be the odd man out after Ibrahimovic's arrival. Not that they'll be the only ones spending big – as Bari's goalscorer Massimo Donati explained at full-time. "I want to show you a text sent to me by my friend Paolo," he said, before holding his phone up for reporters. "Teletext said you wouldn't play," read the message. "But I bet on Bari to win 1-0 with a goal from you anyway. Nice one!"</p><p></p><p>But if it was a disappointing weekend for Juventus, it was a worse one for Franco Colomba, sacked by Bologna just two days before their opening game against Inter. Sergio Porcedda, the team's new president, claimed Colomba had complained too much about the club's transfer dealings and failure to bring in more experienced players. The former Parma, Chievo and Torino manager Mario Beretta is favourite to take over after he was sacked by PAOK in July – after less than a month in the job.</p><p></p><p>That just leaves our ghost goal – 'scored' by Edinson Cavani during Napoli's 1-1 draw at Fiorentina. His header from an Andrea Dossena cross after just seven minutes crashed down on to the line but was incorrectly deemed to have crossed it by the referee Andrea Gervasoni. On the sideline Sinisa Mihajlovic looked ready to burst, Hulk-like, from his too-tight shirt, but managed to restrain himself before helping his team regroup to claim a more than merited draw.</p><p></p><p>"They got it wrong and they know that," Mihajlovic said. "It wasn't a goal, but in football these things can happen." For Serie A this season it seems the acrimony can wait till week two.</p><p></p><h2>Talking points</h2><p></p><p>• Roma were scarcely more impressive than Juventus as they laboured to a 0-0 draw with Cesena. Perhaps it was the absence of a real crowd – just 18,600 made it into the stadium as Ultras staged a protest against the <em>tessera del tifoso</em> outside – but the <em>Giallorossi</em> lacked energy and invention against a spirited but limited opponent. Claudio Ranieri finally has the one signing he wanted all summer, the centre-back Nicolás Burdisso, but with Adriano out for a month there is little alternative up front to the listless showing of Mirko Vucinic and the bad-tempered one of Francesco Totti.</p><p></p><p>• Sebastian Giovinco more than lived up to billing on his Parma debut, setting up Valeri Bojinov's opener against Brescia <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKKPK4kozQo#t=30s" title="">with a delicious chip over the defence</a> and generally causing all sorts of bother as he orchestrated play in the final third. Sterner tests await, but once again the <em>Ducali</em> seem to have made shrewd investments this summer.</p><p></p><p>• Sampdoria shook off their Champions League hangover with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2uL_xT0wZ0" title="">a 2-0 win over Lazio</a>. Samp's manager Mimmo Di Carlo said when he arrived that he would stay faithful to the 4-4-2 that got the team fourth place but, after the play-off defeat to Werder Bremen, he seems to feel more free to try his own ideas – moving Stefano Guberti up behind the attack to give himself more of a diamond midfield. So far, so good, as Guberti got the second.</p><p></p><p><strong>Results</strong> Bari 1-0 Juventus, Chievo 2-1 Catania, Fiorentina 1-1 Napoli, Milan 4-0 Lecce, Palermo 0-0 Cagliari, Parma 2-0 Brescia, Roma 0-0 Cesena, Sampdoria 2-0 Lazio, Udinese 0-1 Genoa</p><p></p><p><a href="http://guardian.touch-line.com/?Lang=0&CTID=13" title="">Latest Serie A table</a></p><p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/interactive/2009/jan/08/serie-a-highlights" title="Watch Serie A video highlights">Watch Serie A video highlights</a></p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/serieafootball">Serie A</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/acmilan">Milan</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/europeanfootball">European football</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/paolobandini">Paolo Bandini</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Hd67cJmbwrt0vAUlT9ht0eufnxU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Hd67cJmbwrt0vAUlT9ht0eufnxU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Hd67cJmbwrt0vAUlT9ht0eufnxU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Hd67cJmbwrt0vAUlT9ht0eufnxU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Serie A Milan European football Football Sport guardian.co.uk Blogposts http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/aug/30/serie-a-week-one-round-up Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:05:27 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/sep/07/hugh-muir-diary-news-of-the-world/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/81683?ns=guardian&pageName=Hugh+Muir%27s+diary%3AArticle%3A1448245&ch=Politics&c3=Guardian&c4=Politics%2CUK+news%2CGary+Lineker%2CNews+of+the+World&c5=Press+Media%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CTV&c6=Hugh+Muir&c7=10-Sep-07&c8=1448245&c9=Article&c10=Comment%2CFeature&c11=Politics&c13=Diary+%28politics+series%29&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FPolitics%2FGary+Lineker" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">The News of the World should have a care. Gary's got principles</p><p>• With so few willing or able to relinquish their lucrative positions on a point of principle, the world of sport owes a huge debt to the former England legend and face of Match of the Day Gary Lineker. He marched away from his column on the Mail on Sunday four months ago, you may recall, after the paper printed lurid, unhelpful stories about the private life of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/lord-triesman" title="Guardian profile: Lord Triesman">Lord Triesman</a>, the then chairman of the Football Association and leader of England's bid to stage the 2018 World Cup. The story was an assault clearly timed to destabilise the England bid, his people said, and Gary, as an ambassador for the campaign, was not going to stand for it. Off he went to Wapping, and the News of the World. Which since his arrival has shown itself to be a true supporter of the England cause as Capello's men prepare for vital qualifying matches in the European championship. On 8 August, the day Lineker's first column appeared, the front page said "Peter Crouch beds £800 teen hooker". And yesterday another fillip for the team as they match up against the Swiss in Basel, later today: "Cheating Roo beds hooker," it said. Both stories may eventually galvanise the team and perhaps they will unite the disparate elements in the dressing room. Rooney will indeed be in the starting lineup, we learn. But the News of the World should have a care, if it is going to continue like this. On a point of principle, its new star columnist may have to go somewhere else.</p><p></p><p>• Yes the News of the World should have a care, especially now Labour MPs are fuming about the very idea that someone might have been listening in on their voicemails. Yesterday we tried to remind ourselves of the paper's previous website story headlined "News of the World cleared by PCC over hacking claims". The darndest thing. It was no longer there.</p><p></p><p>• RTE Sport in the Irish Republic should have a care, too. For "Rooney available to play away from home" is not the sort of headline anyone wants to see. Unnecessary. Mischievous.</p><p></p><p>• A key day for our footballers, then. And a significant day for our MEPs, all of whom will be forced for the first time today to clock in electronically for a debate on the state of the European Union. If they don't clock in, they will not be able to claim any allowances. Political group leaders in Strasbourg say they are fed up with TV shots of empty seats in the parliamentary chamber and conclude that the best way to get the attention of the stragglers is to jeopardise their earnings. As a comment on the state of the European parliament, what more is there to say?</p><p></p><p>• To little too late, perhaps. For who can forget the antics of our dear friend the former Ukip talisman and subsequent benefit fraudster, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6975627.stm" title="BBC: MEP is jailed for benefit fraud ">Ashley Mote</a>. Once, under the watchful gaze of his elected colleagues, he entered a committee meeting at the European parliament and signed the attendance book, thus guaranteeing his right to claim. Before the ink was dry, he left.</p><p></p><p>• A tale of two elections now, for there once was an irritant called Ken, and when the Labour party decided that it didn't want him as its candidate for mayor in London, its brightest minds got together to prevent him winning the nomination. But something didn't work out. Ken, as we know, won the mayoralty. Served two terms. Time passed and lessons were learned, but maybe not the right ones: for on Saturday, east London politician <a href="http://sps2ksrv.towerhamlets.gov.uk/MeetYourCouncillor/MemberDetails.aspx?ID=6" title="Lutfur Rahman">Lutfur Rahman</a>, having resorted to m'learned friends and the likes of Operation Black Vote to force Labour to allow him into the contest, romped home to win the nomination to become the party's mayoral candidate in Tower Hamlets. And the title of our tale: another fine mess.</p><p></p><p>• But it's not all bad, for Labour is doing quite well without a leader. And last week, party researchers won the annual parliamentary rounders match, beating their counterparts in the governing coalition 7-0. Some see great significance in this: not just the scale of the party's victory but also the fact that the coalition team was completely lacking Liberal Democrats. The beginning of the end? The end of the beginning? Who knows? Still, a win is a win.</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/gary-lineker">Gary Lineker</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/newsoftheworld">News of the World</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/hughmuir">Hugh Muir</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/UgyugzTjGUC94BrTJu3Za8baYcw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/UgyugzTjGUC94BrTJu3Za8baYcw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/UgyugzTjGUC94BrTJu3Za8baYcw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/UgyugzTjGUC94BrTJu3Za8baYcw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Politics UK news Gary Lineker News of the World The Guardian Comment Features http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/sep/07/hugh-muir-diary-news-of-the-world Mon, 06 Sep 2010 23:15:44 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/quiz/2010/sep/04/football-quiz-switzerland/print <p>Today's questions beat Spain. Ergo, they are world champions.</p><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jacob-steinberg">Jacob Steinberg</a></div><br/><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RC-YR4f1rTqz7yveIX3ThZuU-N4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RC-YR4f1rTqz7yveIX3ThZuU-N4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RC-YR4f1rTqz7yveIX3ThZuU-N4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RC-YR4f1rTqz7yveIX3ThZuU-N4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Switzerland Football Sport guardian.co.uk Editorial http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/quiz/2010/sep/04/football-quiz-switzerland Mon, 06 Sep 2010 23:05:44 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/steven-gerrard-england-switzerland/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/22263?ns=guardian&pageName=Steven+Gerrard+returns+to+Basle+with+England+to+avenge+nightmares+past%3AArticle%3A1448235&ch=Football&c3=Guardian&c4=Steven+Gerrard%2CEngland+football+team%2CFootball%2CSport&c5=Premier+League&c6=Dominic+Fifield&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1448235&c9=Article&c10=Feature&c11=Football&c13=&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FSteven+Gerrard" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">The England captain will tomorrow play at the stadium where his career almost came undone in 2002</p><p>The focus will be drawn inexorably towards Wayne Rooney but the England striker is not the only talismanic son of Merseyside with a point to prove this evening at St Jakob Park. This is an unlikely setting for the nadir of an otherwise glittering career but Steven Gerrard endured arguably his worst moment as a Liverpool player in this arena. He has his own demons to banish.</p><p>The England captain will still be able to picture the scene vividly. Almost eight years ago, Gérard Houllier's side had travelled to Basle needing victory to secure their passage to the next phase of the Champions League only to ship a trio of goals in the opening half-hour against unfancied opponents. The visitors went in at half-time teetering on the brink of elimination. A hapless Gerrard, his own form long since shambolic with his parents' divorce playing on his mind – a fact of which the management was unaware – had done nothing right and was duly replaced at the interval by Salif Diao.</p><p>His dismissal to the showers was abrupt, though the midfielder, then 22, sat fuming as Houllier addressed those charged with mounting a second-half recovery. There was a curt "fuck off" to Joe Corrigan when the goalkeeping coach attempted to console him, with team-mates too embarrassed to look Gerrard in the eye.</p><p>At the time he was livid. In hindsight, he can recognise the worth in Houllier's shock treatment.</p><p>"The divorce was an excuse, I was just terrible," he said today when reminded of the episode. "You have to blame it on something when you play like that. The players go back out 3-0 down and you've put in a bad performance. I was sitting in the dressing room on my own having been taken off in one of my first Champions League games. It's a low point, let me tell you.</p><p>"It was probably one of the worst performances I've put in. I totally deserved to be whipped off at half-time but it helps you become the player you are. You learn from the experience, from the highs and lows in your career, and that was certainly a low."</p><p>He has thrived in the years since, yet the humiliation inflicted at St Jakob Park had been Houllier's last attempt to wrest Gerrard's career back on course. The manager had grown increasingly desperate having already attempted the softly softly approach as his player's form deteriorated in the autumn of 2002. There had been quiet chats in his office and set-piece opportunities for Gerrard to explain the ructions at home that had left the midfielder's mind spinning. He had preferred to stew in silence.</p><p>It was Houllier's patience that snapped in Basle, the Frenchman following the substitution with a brutal assessment of the youngster's lack of focus in the immediate aftermath of a 3-3 draw and elimination. "I hope he doesn't believe everything that is written in the press about him, but he seems to be a good reader," he told the travelling press corps on the morning after the night before. "That is when you start going downwards. An athlete must always think: 'I have got to improve. I want to be better.'</p><p>"When you are an accomplished player you go down quickly at this level. I am frustrated with Stevie. He was not at the races against Basel. When you have a talent that is going unfulfilled you get frustrated. I don't think he can say I haven't been supportive with him. But once a player starts to believe everything that is written about him and thinks 'I am king of the world', there is difficulty and danger."</p><p>The outburst prompted Gerrard's father, Paul, to visit Melwood and confront Houllier to explain the family problems that had contributed to his son's apparent distraction. "Things like that happen to you and you become a better player from them," said Gerrard. "But I'm the player I am today from learning and recovering from my lows, rather than dwelling on my highs. I came out stronger for that experience."</p><p>The venue, and the presence of Alexander Frei, the Swiss forward who spat at Gerrard after a clash in the sides' meeting in Coimbra at Euro 2004, should provide motivation enough for what lies ahead tomorrow evening.</p><p>The Frei incident was caught by television cameras, with Uefa eventually sanctioning the Swiss. "At the time I was obviously upset with what he did," said Gerrard. "But it's six years ago, I don't hold grudges and he's apologised since, so we move on." After tomorrow, victory permitting, so too will Gerrard.</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/steven-gerrard">Steven Gerrard</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england">England</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/dominicfifield">Dominic Fifield</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/HvrnOEFz5d4SuhxQHUGBfsKpANk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/HvrnOEFz5d4SuhxQHUGBfsKpANk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/HvrnOEFz5d4SuhxQHUGBfsKpANk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/HvrnOEFz5d4SuhxQHUGBfsKpANk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Steven Gerrard England Football Sport The Guardian Features http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/steven-gerrard-england-switzerland Mon, 06 Sep 2010 22:00:45 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/chris-hughton-newcastle-united-contract/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/55314?ns=guardian&pageName=Chris+Hughton+still+hopeful+of+contract+extension+as+Newcastle+manager%3AArticle%3A1448285&ch=Football&c3=GU.co.uk&c4=Newcastle+United+%28Football%29%2CFootball&c5=Premier+League&c6=Louise+Taylor&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1448285&c9=Article&c10=News&c11=Football&c13=&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FNewcastle+United" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">• 'Where I want to be is manager of Newcastle United'<br />• Hughton's deal runs out at the end of this season</p><p>Chris Hughton is hoping to sign an extension to his contract as the Newcastle United manager this autumn but will not attempt to force the club's hand.</p><p></p><p>Hughton's deal runs out next summer and there are suggestions that negotiations over a new, improved agreement have stalled but a manager much admired within football remains sanguine.</p><p></p><p>"At the moment I'm just getting on with the job," he said. "Yes, my contract is up at the end of the season but my priority is just to get on and do the best job that I can and let other things take care of themselves.</p><p></p><p>"From my point of view where I want to be is manager of Newcastle United. That is where I am and I would like that to continue. But the most important thing is to get the results because I am also conscious that, as managers, we can go through bad periods. Things can change very quickly in football so all I want to do is concentrate on the job at the moment."</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/newcastleunited">Newcastle United</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/louisetaylor">Louise Taylor</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/l0_tcsYSRmjBhPWu3IX_bFy-lWo/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/l0_tcsYSRmjBhPWu3IX_bFy-lWo/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/l0_tcsYSRmjBhPWu3IX_bFy-lWo/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/l0_tcsYSRmjBhPWu3IX_bFy-lWo/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Newcastle United Football guardian.co.uk News http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/chris-hughton-newcastle-united-contract Mon, 06 Sep 2010 22:00:10 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/rafael-van-der-vaart-tottenham/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/72538?ns=guardian&pageName=Rafael+van+der+Vaart+says+Liverpool+were+interested+in+signing+him%3AArticle%3A1448278&ch=Football&c3=GU.co.uk&c4=Tottenham+Hotspur+%28Football%29%2CSport&c5=Premier+League&c6=Press+Association&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1448278&c9=Article&c10=News&c11=Football&c13=&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FTottenham+Hotspur" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">• Midfielder claims Bayern interest was 'not concrete'<br />• 'I had a good feeling about going to Tottenham'</p><p>Rafael van der Vaart has said Liverpool were interested in signing him this summer but has backtracked on suggestions Bayern Munich also wanted him.</p><p>Van der Vaart last week completed a surprise transfer deadline day £8m move to Tottenham Hotspur from Real Madrid.</p><p>Harry Redknapp, the Spurs manager, had suggested Bayern had bid £18m for the Holland midfielder but this was denied by Real and Van der Vaart said last week that the German club had not made a "concrete" offer.</p><p>The 27-year-old now says Bayern were not interested but that Liverpool had wanted to sign him.</p><p>He told Sky Sports News: "Liverpool were interested, Bayern were never interested, but you have to have a good feeling and this manager gave me a good feeling and I am really happy to be going to Spurs."</p><p>Van der Vaart revealed his international team-mates who already played for Premier League clubs were pressing him to join them in England.</p><p>"They were telling me that I should come to England; now I am going to be playing in England and am very proud," he said. I am going to be playing against Dirk [Kuyt], Nigel [De Jong], [John] Heitinga, so it's good."</p><p>He added: "I will give it my best and hopefully I will play a lot of games and will be important for the team. I hope to score goals, make good some good passes and give them [the fans] some fun."</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/tottenham-hotspur">Tottenham Hotspur</a></li></ul></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/iC3brLx3eBaQujPClA9ARPi-QjI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/iC3brLx3eBaQujPClA9ARPi-QjI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/iC3brLx3eBaQujPClA9ARPi-QjI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/iC3brLx3eBaQujPClA9ARPi-QjI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Tottenham Hotspur Sport guardian.co.uk News http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/rafael-van-der-vaart-tottenham Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:41:36 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/everton-injuries-manchester-united/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/93966?ns=guardian&pageName=Louis+Saha+and+Jack+Rodwell+doubtful+for+Everton+game+against+Man+Utd%3AArticle%3A1448281&ch=Football&c3=GU.co.uk&c4=Everton+%28Football%29%2CManchester+United+%28Football%29%2CFootball%2CSport&c5=Europa+League%2CPremier+League&c6=Andy+Hunter&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1448281&c9=Article&c10=News&c11=Football&c13=&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FEverton" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">• Louis Saha lasted only 10 minutes for France against Belarus<br />• Jack Rodwell suffered ankle injury in match against Aston Villa</p><p>Everton's attempt to claim a first league win of the season when Manchester United visit Goodison Park on Saturday could be hindered by injuries to Louis Saha and Jack Rodwell.</p><p></p><p>Saha limped off only 10 minutes into his international comeback for France against Belarus in Paris on Friday with a knee problem.</p><p></p><p>Rodwell suffered an ankle injury in the recent Premier League defeat at Aston Villa that prompted his withdrawal from England Under-21 duty.</p><p></p><p>Everton have yet to discover the extent of both injury problems but the pair are major doubts for the United game.</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/everton">Everton</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/manchester-united">Manchester United</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/andyhunter">Andy Hunter</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3rjAdjp-vEp-p5K6rrrJ2AUv6nQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3rjAdjp-vEp-p5K6rrrJ2AUv6nQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3rjAdjp-vEp-p5K6rrrJ2AUv6nQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3rjAdjp-vEp-p5K6rrrJ2AUv6nQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Everton Manchester United Football Sport guardian.co.uk News http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/everton-injuries-manchester-united Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:28:34 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/jack-wilshere-england-under-21/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/15534?ns=guardian&pageName=Jack+Wilshere+kept+in+dark+over+prospects+of+England+Under-21+recall%3AArticle%3A1448185&ch=Football&c3=Guardian&c4=England+Under-21s%2CFootball%2CSport%2CStuart+Pearce&c5=Not+commercially+useful&c6=Louise+Taylor&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1448185&c9=Article&c10=News&c11=Football&c13=&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FEngland+Under-21s" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">• Wilshere was kept on bench for England's win in Portugal<br />• Stuart Pearce fears player lost focus in wake of arrest</p><p>Stuart Pearce has refused to guarantee Jack Wilshere a starting place in the England Under-21 side for tomorrow's vital European Championship qualifier against Lithuania at Colchester.</p><p>England need to win if they are to have any chance of reaching the play-offs for next summer's finals in Denmark and Wilshere is arguably the most gifted individual at Pearce's disposal, although the Under-21 coach retains nagging concerns about the Arsenal midfielder's off-field travails.</p><p>Wilshere was left on the bench for the 1-0 victory in Portugal last Friday after Pearce said the 18-year-old had "taken his eye off the ball" following his recent arrest in the wake of a late-night fracas in London's Kensington High Street.</p><p>Wilshere, who made his senior international debut as a substitute during last month's friendly against Hungary at Wembley, was bailed but has clearly been affected by the incident.</p><p>"Leading into the Portugal game Jack was swapping phone calls with his agent and one or two people in regards to newspaper articles," said Pearce. "We just did not feel it was right to start him."</p><p>Since then, however, the situation has improved. "I have seen a touch more focus," said Pearce. "Jack's attitude has been very good. We think his focus has been much better. But it's difficult for a young man. There are a lot of pressures on young players and it's my job to read these situations as best I can."</p><p>Wilshere will be kept waiting to learn whether he has earned a recall. "I will let the players know the team on the day of the game and seven or so will be disappointed," said the coach.</p><p>Pearce, a former England left-back, accepts that it is his responsibility to not only deal with the emotional fallout of team selection but help England's junior players cope with the repercussions of increased press interest in what they get up to in their social and private lives.</p><p>He believes managers have a duty to do much more than merely coach, pick sides and plan tactics. "We have to be available all the time for the players," he said. "Their wellbeing is vitally important." Not that he is a soft touch. "At times, managers have to be sympathetic but, at others, they have to be stern and make tough decisions," he added. "The team is much more important than the individual."</p><p>While Pearce wrestles with his own dilemma regarding Wilshere's selection, Fabio Capello is left to hope allegations about Wayne Rooney's private life will not detract from the striker's performance during the England senior team's Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland in Basle tomorrow night .</p><p>Pearce appreciates the parallels. "You have to make sure individual players have got a focus and it will not detract from their performance," he said. "If, in your own mind, it is clear that will be the case, you select the likes of Wayne Rooney, who is an outstanding talent. If you feel it won't and someone else is pushing for a place, then you put someone else in."</p><p>He has attempted to motivate his charges with a visit to Colchester army barracks, where England's players and staff met a brigade due shortly to be deployed in Afghanistan on a six-month operation, before competing with each other in a series of tests conducted in a battle simulator. The winner was Carol Day, the Under-21 team co-ordinator.</p><p>"From the 39 people on the coach, Carol, the only lady on board, got the top marks, so that doesn't say much for the rest of them," said Pearce. He can only hope Wilshere and company perform better on the pitch tomorrow night.</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england-under-21s">England Under-21s</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/stuart-pearce">Stuart Pearce</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/louisetaylor">Louise Taylor</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ER5UAI4ZFVDug-svZeM9t0jewBY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ER5UAI4ZFVDug-svZeM9t0jewBY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ER5UAI4ZFVDug-svZeM9t0jewBY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ER5UAI4ZFVDug-svZeM9t0jewBY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> England Under-21s Football Sport Stuart Pearce The Guardian News http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/jack-wilshere-england-under-21 Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:46:03 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/the-fiver-wayne-rooney-england/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/23017?ns=guardian&pageName=The+Fiver+%7C+Tabloid+Wayne%3B+and+Cheese-Chasing+%7C+Barney+Ronay+and+Sean+In%3AArticle%3A1447805&ch=Football&c3=GU.co.uk&c4=Football%2CSport&c5=&c6=Sean+Ingle%2CBarney+Ronay&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1447805&c9=Article&c10=&c11=Football&c13=The+Fiver+%28series%29&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2F" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst"><a href="http://gu.com/p/2gx44/tw">Click here to have the Fiver sent to your inbox every weekday at 5pm(ish), or if your usual copy has stopped arriving</a></p><h2><strong>A QUICK ONE</strong></h2><p>For the first time in a largely wasted existence spent scurrying about its crawlspace feasting off greenfly and woodlouse and peering dimly at the discarded headlines below through a smudged set of opera glasses, the Fiver finds itself in complete agreement with corporate trainer behemoth Nike.</p><p>As the news emerged this morning that fag-smoking white-robed lounge lizard Tabloid Wayne would be flying to Switzerland with England - despite allegations of his bedroom excitements with a painted lady who looks oddly like fag-smoking white-robed lounge lizard Tabloid Wayne in a curly wig - only Nike and the Fiver itself seem prepared to stand shoulder to shoulder and yawn and shrug and look rather unimpressed by the whole furore. "This is a private matter for [fag-smoking white-robed lounge lizard Tabloid] Wayne and his family and we have no further comment to make at this time," a Nike spokesman announced today, hurling an entire packet of shelled peanuts into a warehouse full of empowered Vietnamese co-workers.</p><p>And so it would ultimately seem to be. Wayne Bridge has no reason to feel moist-eyed with fury about anything here (and the same goes for Kieron Gibbs, Leighton Baines, Stephen Warnock and every other unconvincing second-choice left-back as-yet un-implicated in a Wazza Stole My Painted Lady Bride-style love triangle). In reality it is only Tabloid Wayne himself who will have to face the righteous marital wrath of his journalist bride Coleen.</p><p>There are only three small things that bother the Fiver about this whole sorry, unpleasant-mental-image-conjuring farrago. First the smoking: every alleged extramarital anecdote seems to involve the go-slow weed, right down to news that Wazza paid £200 for a pack of Marlboro. Second the fact his entire unexpected form-dip and World Cup washout could have coincided with him being terrified the News of the Screws was about to tell the world about his private embarrassments. While on its back pages castigating him for his mysterious form-dip. Nice one News of the Screws.</p><p>And, finally, there is the parable of his ever-changing painted lady fancies. Is there maybe a parallel here? The youthful Tabloid Wayne just goes out and expresses himself, true to his street-tastes and street-whims, and surprises us at being alleged to have had entirely individualistic liaisons with an elder lady. Meanwhile the modern-day Tabloid Wayne, streamlined and sanded down and pumped with big-club know-how, is now reported to have instead plumped for an entirely predictable mid-class call-girl type, fitting himself into the system, performing effectively, but ultimately finding himself constrained by his environs into a vaguely depressing predictability ...</p><p>The Fiver isn't sure. All that's certain is that he will play tomorrow night after completing "a full session" in Basle this afternoon, one that also included a man called Watford's Scott Loach, who in keeping with his cinematic surname hopes to bring a brand of peeled-eyeball street-level grimy realism to the England back-up goalkeeping position. Come to think of it he could do worse than start with a certain fag-smoking white-robed lounge lizard.</p><h2><strong>QUOTE OF THE DAY</strong></h2><p>"Stunning individually designed detached mews style property situated within this prime central Gosforth location" - estate agents Rook Matthews Sayer manage to avoid the words 'mock' and 'Tudor' in describing <a href="http://bit.ly/ctVkpU">Nobby Solano's repossessed property near Newcastle</a>.</p><h2><strong>HOU, ARE YOU?</strong></h2><p>Géd Houllier was back at Anfield for Jamie Carragher's testimonial on Saturday, those 'Here's Johnny!' eyes spinning faster than the prime minister's press secretary during the phone hacking scandal. The Frenchman's lips, however, offered precious little. How little? Try multiplying the contributions of Bernard Diomede and Sean Dundee during their spells at Liverpool under Houllier, and dividing by zero.</p><p>But despite 'a source close to Villa' telling the Daily Heil: "Mr Houllier is the first choice but there are still finer details to sort out", he is now overwhelming favourite to become the next Aston Villa manager. Certainly his odds tumbled faster than a <a href="http://bit.ly/oQqM7">cheese-chasing Chinese gymnast</a> after he coquettishly told France Football "the club took the initiative" and, as things stand, you would have to stick £1,000 on him to win £300.</p><p>So what can the Villans expect? The manager who led Liverpool to the Euro Vase, FA Cup and League Cup treble in 2001? Or the one who never looked quite the same after undergoing emergency heart surgery, and upset several of his senior players before leaving in May 2004? Judging by his tanned lean-mean-grilling-machine appearance on Saturday, Houllier looks ready to rumble. But whether fans will appreciate the inevitable flux of second-rate Ligue 1 players winging their way to Villa Park remains to be seen.</p><h2><strong>£66 HAT-TRICK OF FREE BETS WITH BLUE SQUARE</strong></h2><p>Click <a href="http://bit.ly/bHC9Hc">here</a> to find out more.</p><h2><strong>FIVER LETTERS</strong></h2><p>"Following the news linking Ryan Giggs to the soon-to-be-vacant Wales managerial position, will he just be taking charge of the competitive fixtures?" - Adrian McKernan.</p><p>"Re: Kieron Jones (Friday's Fiver letters) asking 'is anyone else tired of the Fiver's lack of patriotism?' No" - Sebastian Pennells.</p><p>Send your letters to <a href="mailto:the.boss@guardian.co.uk">the.boss@guardian.co.uk</a>. And if you've nothing better to do you can also <a href="http://twitter.com/TheFiver">tweet the Fiver</a> now.</p><h2><strong>BITS AND BOBS</strong></h2><p><a href="http://bit.ly/cMNL3A">Syria have turned to Sheffield United</a> (17th in the Championship) in order to boost their World Cup qualifying hopes. As you do.</p><p>Despite being absent from the original list released last week Bebé is in Manchester United's Big Cup squad after all, according to Uefa.</p><p>Republic O'Ireland defender Darren O'Dea has returned to Ipswich after being ruled out of tomorrow night's Euro 2012 qualifier against Andorra through knee-knack.</p><p>And Peterborough United have announced plans to turn the Moys End at London Road into <a href="http://bbc.in/ckToAX">what appears to be a giant cantilevered greenhouse</a>. "People are fed up with talking. We need to start delivery of the ground," bugled Andrew Edwards of Peterborough City Council.</p><h2><strong>STILL WANT MORE?</strong></h2><p>AC Jimbo and co are on hand with <a href="http://bit.ly/dcikk9">the latest edition of Football Weekly</a>.</p><p>Martin Kelner writes perfectly reasonable, fair and accurate blog about Adrian Chiles. Posters get knickers in right twist. <a href="http://bit.ly/cjyL9P">Join the "bandwagon of hate"!</a></p><p><a href="http://bit.ly/aL33pX">Can a giant Shrimp on a club crest ever be a good idea?</a> John Ashdown asks all the big questions on the Football League blog.</p><p>After a hasty sacking and two defeats in a week, <a href="http://bit.ly/92NAfj">Southampton fans are already fearful of another wasted season</a>, writes Paul Doyle.</p><p>And the latest revelations about Wayne Rooney's private life are neither the concern nor the responsibility of Fabio Capello, <a href="http://bit.ly/9wxKQi">reckons Richard Williams</a>.</p><h2><strong>SIGN UP TO THE FIVER</strong></h2><p>Want your very own copy of our free tea-timely(ish) email sent direct to your inbox? Has your regular copy stopped arriving? <a href="http://gu.com/p/2gx44/tw">Click here to sign up</a>.</p><h2>CAMPARI WAS A BAD CHOICE</h2><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/seaningle">Sean Ingle</a></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/barneyronay">Barney Ronay</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/NE-uhpEHSFph4AcQ4jO1wHm3Wy8/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/NE-uhpEHSFph4AcQ4jO1wHm3Wy8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/NE-uhpEHSFph4AcQ4jO1wHm3Wy8/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/NE-uhpEHSFph4AcQ4jO1wHm3Wy8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Football Sport guardian.co.uk Editorial http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/the-fiver-wayne-rooney-england Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:12:17 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/wayne-rooney-england-switzerland1/print <div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.4/59800?ns=guardian&pageName=Wayne+Rooney+to+play+for+England+against+Switzerland%3AArticle%3A1448084&ch=Football&c3=GU.co.uk&c4=England+football+team%2CWayne+Rooney%2CFootball%2CSport&c5=Premier+League&c6=Agencies&c7=10-Sep-06&c8=1448084&c9=Article&c10=News&c11=Football&c13=&c25=&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FEngland" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">• Fabio Capello confirms selection<br />• 'He told me he wanted to play and he will play'</p><p>Fabio Capello has confirmed that Wayne Rooney will start England's European Championship qualifier against Switzerland tomorrow night.</p><p>The Manchester United forward has been under intense scrutiny since Sunday's newspaper allegations concerning his private life and the England manager had intimated that he would have to assess the player's psychological fitness but has now concluded that Rooney is in the right frame of mind to play.</p><p>"He told me he wanted to play and he will play," said Capello on Monday afternoon after the squad had arrived in Berne. "He will also be in a good situation tomorrow. I hope the performance of Rooney tomorrow will be the same as at Wembley. We are focused on the game, not about the private life of the players. We are here to play this game and train very well."</p><p>The England head coach said that once Rooney had informed him he was ready to play his mind was made up. His only selection dilemma, now, he said, was deciding which of Matthew Upson and Gary Cahill would partner Phil Jagielka in central defence.</p><p>Steven Gerrard, the England captain, said he expected Rooney to have a "big game" and that sometimes the best place for a player to be when their private lives were under scrutiny was on the pitch. "He's got an issue off the pitch but that won't stop him playing well tomorrow night."</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england">England</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/wayne-rooney">Wayne Rooney</a></li></ul></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/lzUc9b7V4bGgVoH23r5kJWxRB30/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/lzUc9b7V4bGgVoH23r5kJWxRB30/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/lzUc9b7V4bGgVoH23r5kJWxRB30/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/lzUc9b7V4bGgVoH23r5kJWxRB30/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> England Wayne Rooney Football Sport guardian.co.uk News http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/06/wayne-rooney-england-switzerland1 Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:22:10 GMT