Liverpool have been granted an extension in deciding whether or not to build a new stadium at Stanley Park by the local City Council.
The Reds have already been given planning permission for a new home, but are yet to fully commit to the venture, as the proposed costs are higher than first expected.
The Fenway Sports Group, who own the club, are still tossing up whether or not to move their side to a new ground, or stay at Anfield and look to increase capacity.
The deadline for the decision was initially the end of September, but The Daily Mail reports that Liverpool City Council have granted them more time to make their mind up, as negotiations continue.
Due to the sky high cost of building a new arena, an investment partner is needed to harbour some of the costs of building the stadium, with the naming rights granted in exchange.
Kenny Dalglish’s team would have to sign a 999-year lease on the proposed site in Stanley Park, but have stated that they will not rush the important decision.
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Referee Phil Dowd was the pantomime villain in Saturday’s Midlands Derby after he controversially Aston Villa’s sent Chris Herd off as West Brom snatched their first league victory at Villa Park in 32 years.
Goals from Jonas Olsson and Paul Scharner gave Roy Hodgson’s side a well deserved 2-1 win after Darren Bent had given the home side the lead from the penalty spot. However Herd’s red card 10 minutes before half time was the main talking point with many feeling his altercation with Olsson in the penalty area wasn’t worthy of such punishment. It proved to be the difference as Albion claimed their second consecutive win and made it four game unbeaten. 10-man Villa, on the other hand, have lost their last two and will feel they deserved more after sacrificing the lead Bent had given them from the penalty spot. They started the game strongly and should have opened the scoring only for Bent to fire his shot over from eight yards after collecting Barry Bannan’s mis-hit shot. The diminutive Scotland midfielder was next to try is luck flashing a volley just wide of Ben Fosters goal as Villa pushed for the opener. They should have been down to 10-men on the quarter hour mark after Alan Hutton’s two footed lunge on Shane Long saw referee Dowd produce only a yellow with the Irish striker leaving the field on a stretcher. It got worse for the Baggies moments later after Steven Reid’s hesitation saw him bring Gabriel Agbonlahor down in the area allowing Bent to convert from 12-yards.
The goal woke West Brom up as they finally started to play some football before they were handed a spot kick of their own in controversial circumstances. Olsson and Herd tangled off the ball as they waited for a free kick to be taken with the Swede going to ground prompting Dowd to send the Villa man off much to their supporters bewilderment. Captain Chris Brunt stepped up but embarrassingly sliced his penalty wide of the goal as the hosts breathed a huge sigh of relief. They couldn’t hold on though and were pegged back just before the half time whistle when Olsson towered above the Villa defence to head home Brunts corner to the derision of the home fans.
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Their man advantage started to pay dividends and Scharner lashed home what ultimately turned out to be the winner acrobatically lashing home a corner from the left. Despite their efforts Villa struggled to rescue the game and tired quickly leaving them open to attacks on the break. They almost conceded a third when Peter Odemwingie was played in but the Nigerian mis-kicked in front of goal as the visitors held on to claim a memorable win over their Midlands rivals.
West Brom take part in their second Midlands derby within the space of a week as they make the short trip to an Aston Villa side who were thumped 4-0 at Manchester City seven days ago.
The Villan’s were unbeaten prior to their trip to the Etihad Stadium and will need to set themselves up a lot better than they did last Saturday with boss Alex McLeish unhappy with his sides ‘comedy cuts’ defending. You could be forgiven for thinking Villa were up against a City side in superb form but the truth is they made it too easy for the hosts and will need to up their concentration levels against Albion. Lets not forget it was their first defeat of the campaign and an unbeaten run of seven games has silence a few of the Holte End regulars who were unhappy after McLeish’s appointment following his stint in the Birmingham dugout. The Scot has certainly made them harder to beat and is finally getting some end product from Gabby Agbonlahor who has four goals to his name already this season. Derbies are Villa’s specialty too having lost only of their last 11 at home – a 1-0 defeat to Wolves in April. They haven’t suffered back-to-back league defeats in 16 games so the omens are good for the home faithful. Their cause will be helped by the return of defender James Collins who looks set to return and partner Richard Dunne who will be making his 500th club career start.
Roy Hodgson’s Baggies have started their season in reverse to their Midland’s rivals having lost four of their eight games winning only two. Their latest conquest came last week against Wolves at the Hawthorns and relieved some of the pressure on Hodgson’s shoulders. The former Fulham boss has been unable to replicate the success he endured at the club towards the end of last season but that 1-0 win seven days ago went a long way to getting the club back on track. Peter Odemwingie was the match winner last week scoring his second goal of whats been a disappointing start to his second year as a Baggie. Injuries have hampered his progress so far but he looked back to his best forming a potent link up with Shane Long. The Republic Ireland striker has hit three goals from seven shots on target this season but will have a hard job penetrating Villa’s watertight defence. In fact this will be West Brom’s 100th away Premier League fixture but they’ve only tasted victory 11 times away from home. The return of Zoltan Gera and Steven Reid will put a smile on Hodgson’s face and the pair could play vital roles in their chances of coming away from Villa park with maximum points.
Key Players
Gabriel Agbonlahor – Whatever McLeish has done to Agbonlahor it certainly is a miracle. He is fast becoming Villa’s key player with his exciting displays and lung bursting sprints being combined with a final product. The Villa striker has been in clinical form scoring half of the sides goals already and his pace will be key to overcoming West Brom this week.
Peter Odemwingie – After a stuttering start to the campaign Odemwingie looks to be getting back to his best and his goal against Wolves last week was expertly taken. His runs off the shoulder of defences and penchant to be in the right place at the right time will be an important factor if the Baggies are to unlock a stern Villa defence.
Prediction: 2-1
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Aston Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor is the only player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index’s top ten NOT from Man Utd, Man City, or Chelsea. He is the 8th ranked player and 3rd ranked striker (behind Rooney and Aguero) Agbonlahor also has a 67% shots on target rate (more than Rooney, who has 59% on target) West Brom’s Peter Odemwingie scored his second goal of the season last weekend and rose 16 places to 102nd in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index Odemwingie’s two goals have come from 12 attempts at goal with 67% of shots on target
‘We are in transition.’ The phrase that seems to have become the excuse for all managers after a period of bad performances and indeed results. Wenger has been using it for the last 6 years at Arsenal, and now AVB and Chelsea have become the latest to wheel out the most overused excuse in football.
Now don’t get me wrong, you cannot have constant success all the time – eventually the spine of a team will ages, and new players will have to be brought in, which inevitably becomes a transitional time, and for one, maybe two seasons this is fine, and both fans and owners need the common sense to understand and respect this.
However, multiple seasons down the line, the same excuse quite frankly cannot wash. Wenger has used said excuse for years now, and whereas immediately after the departures of Campbell, Henry Bergkamp and the like, not to mention the emergence of the ‘young guns’ this was acceptable, and people would have happily given the Gunners a couple of seasons to develop and progress as a team, six years and zero trophies later – arguably going backwards – this simply cannot be the case anymore.
Now they are going through a period of so called transition again with the departures of key players and the arrival of new ones, but how long can this cycle go on for without Wenger coming out and offering a real explanation for the perceived lack of success?
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Some teams are genuinely having a season of transition – look at Chelsea – AVB has to contend with the entirety of his spine ageing at the same time, and all losing that extra bit of pace that made them so special – and in Abramovich he has an owner who has as much patience as Joey Barton does with the cast of TOWIE. Now I am not suggesting allowing AVB the next ten years to build what resembles a winning team, but a couple of seasons of patience will do Chelsea no harm in the long run.
Likewise with Liverpool, under the ill-fated reign of Hodgson and before that the end of Benitiez’ time in charge, Liverpool were simply not good enough, and using the excuse of ‘transition’ could not be tolerated. However, at this minute in time, under King Kenny, they are slowly rebuilding a team worthy of challenging for major honours, and patience is required – but said time will not last forever, and eventually fans will expect progress to be made.
One of the teams who dispel the ‘transitional’ excuse are United, who have been reinvented multiple times under the 25 year reign of Sir Alex Ferguson, who has the uncanny knack of knowing when it is time to move players on or bring new blood through. Yes, they may go a couple of seasons without trophies or a title, but no more than that and Fergie would never attempt to excuse poor performances season after season by trying to say that the team had lost their spine and were trying to rebuild. One season maybe two, certainly not more than that.
Do not misunderstand me – I am not trying to advocate trigger happy owners sacking managers after one season without a trophy, I am simply trying to make the point that aside from blaming the referee, the most overused and pathetic excuse in football is to claim a team is in a transitional phase – at least sometimes it really is the referee’s fault!
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The Premier League is littered with talent everywhere you look, though of course it is and has always been defined by its star names. Where would we be without Rooney, Gerrard, Terry, and the rest who light up the stage week in, week out. These are the players we read about every day, and who get all the limelight and plaudits for their efforts on the football field.
In this era of Premier League mega-stars it is easy to forget about the other few hundred players in the league (excluding David Bentley), who work just as hard and make vital contributions to their sides. There is a load of unsung heroes out there on the field every week who put in just as much effort-if not more-as the top names yet don’t get anywhere near the same amount of recognition. Why these players don’t get the recognition they deserve is a mystery. Some probably don’t get the credit they deserve as their vital contributions are within unglamorous sides who aren’t in the big four. Other players simply shun the media limelight and mega stardom, as they are only interested in playing football and putting the team before themselves.
These players are the type who would be the first on the team sheet every week, yet they don’t get the plaudits like a Drogba or a Fabregas. They are just as critical and most are the heartbeats of their sides, who would be much poorer without them. Some have made vital contributions that have saved their sides from dropping out of the division, others have propelled their sides to achieve greater things than expected, yet they barely get mentioned in the same breath as the big stars of the league. It’s time to pay tribute to the Premier League players who don’t get enough recognition.
Click on Dempsey below to see the top ten
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It began last night, and lasts for roughly three weeks. It is the period of the year when I cast envious glances at Premier League supporters up and down the country – come the weekend, I will even be jealous of Blackburn fans (now I’ve got your attention haven’t I!) It is – wait for it – the beginning of the Winter Break.
The closest I am going to get over the festive period to watching my beloved Los Blancos is the re run of the last El Clasico kindly provided by sky any time. Now for anyone who watched the game – this isn’t really something I fancy doing alongside eating more selection boxes and mince pies than should be allowed.
Of course, from a reasonable person’s point of view, the winter break may seem like a good idea, and players and managers in recent years have shown a willingness to introduce it into the English game – it gives players a much needed break and the chance to spend Christmas with their families at home – or in the modern footballer’s case, the Bahamas – and then allows them to push on through the last half of the season, especially for top clubs playing a huge amount of games.
The idea is that it will help prevent injury and allow the English clubs to reach the latter stages of all competitions without players suffering from fatigue and still be in a position to compete with their European counterparts who are privileged enough to have a winter break.
This however is slightly flawed logic –Fulham reached the Europa League final and played a 60 game season, and at least one English club has been present in the Champions League last stages for the last few years. In fact, United had reached three out of the last four finals before becoming Jim Ronsenthal and Channel 5’s most valuable asset this year.
Even more than that, the 2008 final was an all English affair between United and Chelsea, and in the years where United failed to win the competition it was very little to do with the fact they did not have a winter break like conquerors Barcelona, and more to do with the fact they were embarrassingly outclassed.
Perhaps then the reason for the winter break is to help teams in the Summer’s international tournaments, with the break allowing fixtures to be more spaced out and although the season may have a later finish time, the idea is players are more relaxed and rested come either the Euro’s or World Cup.
Well sorry to burst that bubble, maybe I have been a supporter of England for too long and have become cynical, but we could have a year’s winter break and still not win an international tournament. Likewise I am fairly sure the ever efficient Germans could qualify for the latter stages without one and the scintillating Spaniards would still be in the final despite a break coming into the equation.
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Don’t get me wrong, I fully understand why players and managers push for a winter break, and if you would have asked me this a month ago before the harsh reality of watching England’s value brand equivalent to the Special One in AVB had set in, I may been slightly more in favour of three weeks off over Christmas and New Year. Another three weeks without La Liga however, and I will even be missing Barcelona – it is then I know things have gotten really bad, and I become about as bigger fan of the winter break as I am of low fat mayonnaise – it’s just not mayonnaise!
Here is a selection of players whose services, in my view, Newcastle United should have retained for longer than they did. There are a range of different players who wore the famous black and white stripes at one stage in their career. I personally have witnessed the talent on show from all of these great players and have compiled a list to present a case for each player. Newcastle United have always been the nearly men in their time in the Premiership – they have missed out in two FA Cup finals, one semi final, and they have finished second place in the Premier League on more than one occasion. The 1995-96 season will always be looked back upon with deep regret as the year the Magpies blew a 12 point lead at Christmas. The past could have turned out very differently if Newcastle had kept hold of some of the names I have in store. There are players who don’t make the list who were sold towards the end of their careers, and while they were great servants I believe it was the right time to let them go, Philippe Albert is one such example.
Click on Gazza below to see the Top TEN
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Compiled by Tom MacGregor
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Newcastle midfielder Yohan Cabaye has been charged with violent conduct by the FA, and faces a spell on the sidelines if an appeal is not successful.
The France international has been accused of kicking out at Brighton’s Egyptian defender Adam El-Abd in the Tyneside club’s 1-0 elimination from the FA Cup on Saturday, and hasn’t been given much time to appeal the governing body’s decision.
“Newcastle United midfielder Yohan Cabaye has been charged with violent conduct following an incident in the FA Cup fourth round tie against Brighton Hove Albion,” an official FA statement reads.
“Cabaye was involved in an incident involving Brighton’s Adam El-Abd during the FA Cup tie at the Amex Stadium on Saturday 28 January.
“Cabaye has until 6pm on Tuesday, January 31 2012 to respond to the charge,” it concluded.
If the FA’s decision is upheld Cabaye can expect to most likely miss three games through suspension.
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Runaway League 1 leaders Charlton Athletic travel to Dean Court on Saturday, looking to maintain their unbeaten run in 2012, the only side within the football league with this status intact. Following crushing wins over Stevenage and Chesterfield in the past 3 days respectively, they currently lie 13 points ahead of 2nd placed Sheffield United and 15 points clear of 3rd placed Sheffield Wednesday.
Few would have predicted that with 21 new summer recruits Charlton would have found this league so easy, and with 13 games still to go some may now say that 100 points is up for grabs. Brighton fell just short last season after they lost their final two games to finish the season on a very respectable 95 points. With the Addicks 16 points clear of what Brighton were on at this very stage last season, you feel it would be inevitable to achieve the feat. However during the week it was thought Chris Powell had told his players to still keep their feet firmly on the ground. I’m sure he will not want to be reminded of the nightmare he had the backend of last season, winning just two of their final 19 games. One thing is for sure his Charlton lads will have to be at their best this weekend, when they come against a decent Bournemouth side, still not out of the playoff mix. It also means a return to their former clubs for both left-back Rhoys Wiggins and midfielder Danny Holland’s.
Coinciding with this fine run of form for the Addicks is the recent revisit to goal scoring form for Bradley Wright-Phillips. Before Saturday’s game against Stevenage he had not scored in 14 games since netting the only goal in a 1-0 win over Brentford back in November. However he followed that effort against Stevenage with his first ever senior hatrick against Chesterfield to take his tally to 18 goals for the season. Despite his lack of goals Charlton have still not fallen apart and this surely demonstrates how strong the squad Powell has put together is. It appears that his rough patch is now over and Charlton fans can hope he can add to his 18 goals over the final few months of the season as the countdown to promotion gets closer and closer.
Saturdays opponents are 10th placed Bournemouth who are just five points off a playoff spot, although they have played two games more than 6th placed Stevenage. Among their ranks include former Addick Harry Arter who despite showing promise never made it at the Valley. It appears that he has found his feet at Bournemouth and the central midfielder is Bournemouth’s 3rd top goal scorer with 6 goals. The Cherries also recruited Matt Tubbs from Crawley Town. Tubbs, who has a massive 141 career goals from 262 appearances, will be a real threat but surprisingly after scoring on his debut he has not found the net since. Let’s hope this continues on Saturday as we look to extend our lead at the top. 100 points doesn’t feel too far off now.
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Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba’s health has continued to improve, with his carers admitting that he can now get out of bed and has started to eat.
The former England under-21 star collapsed in an FA Cup clash with Tottenham, and was rushed to hospital after a heart attack.
However, Muamba is edging towards recovery and has made progress over the last couple of days.
“Fabrice Muamba remains in intensive care at The London Chest Hospital where his condition is serious but stable,” said a statement released by Barts and The London NHS Trust and Bolton Wanderers Football Club.
“He continues to make encouraging progress in his recovery.
“Over the weekend, he has been able to sit out of bed for a short time, watch television and has begun to eat.
“However, he will need to continue to be closely monitored by the medical team at The London Chest Hospital for some time.
“His family requests that he receive no more visitors for the moment, outside of immediate family and members of Bolton Wanderers Football Club,” it concluded.
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