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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Middlesbrough managed to restore some of their credibility as play-off contenders on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Derby County. The result at Pride Park marked the end of a miserable run of nine games without a victory for Boro and gave a much-needed boost to our promotion ambitions.
Curtis Main made the three points ours with an unstoppable shot in the 80th minute after a perfect Barry Robson pass. The former Darlington striker has made a string of impressive appearances from the bench this season and the nineteen-year-old is definitely one to watch for the future. Jason Steele did his fair share of work at the other end of the pitch, keeping out a number of Derby goal-scoring threats to preserve our clean sheet. The final outcome of the match and the inclusion of Faris Haroun in the team, for the first time in eight games, was no coincidence at all. The last time the Belgian midfielder played was also the last time Boro won, on March 6 against Barnsley. The energy and work rate he offers has been missed recently and his return from a hamstring injury will stand us in good stead for the concluding three fixtures.
Boro have crept even closer to those coveted play-off spots with the win, thanks to results elsewhere going slightly in our favour. Promotion rivals Brighton were hit for six away to West Ham and Birmingham dropped points in a 2-2 draw with struggling Bristol City. The only real problem was Cardiff City winning again, keeping them two points adrift of us. It looks like it will be battle between the Bluebirds, Boro or Brighton for that final sixth play-off spot and you would think we are all in with a good shout.
Cardiff obviously hold all the cards at the moment but with tough home games against Derby and Leeds to contest, they could quite easily drop points. Brighton have slightly easier fixtures in the form of Watford and Barnsley, but a home clash with fourth-placed Birmingham next weekend will be crucial. Boro are quite lucky as they have recently relegated Doncaster Rovers to play at the Riverside on Tuesday night. Doncaster were doomed to League One on Saturday, following a remarkable game with fellow relegation candidates Portsmouth. The home side led 3-2 in the 90th minute but two goals in added time gave Pompey the win. Morale will be at an all time low for Donny and we need to capitalise on this, inflicting further pain to the Championship’s bottom club.
Our biggest test, arguably of the season, will be at the weekend when second-placed Southampton are the visitors. The Saints, who are aiming for the league title, well and truly turned us over at St Mary’s in October so if we somehow got a result then the boost for our morale and play-off chances would be huge.
In a league like ours, morale and team spirit are going to be the deciding factor during these final few fixtures. Brighton boss Gus Poyet will need to lift his side after their crushing 6-0 defeat whereas Cardiff are in great form and full of confidence, which is worrying. It was obvious that morale has been an issue at Boro, with the general consensus amongst club and fans alike being that our play-off hopes were almost over. The team were leaving the field after 90 minutes with their heads down, whilst giving a half-hearted acknowledgment to the fans for their continued excellent support, especially evident at Hull last week. This was a huge contrast on Saturday at Pride Park when Boro were full of life and must have felt like a promotion-pushing side again, which we will hopefully carry into Tuesday’s game.
Boro went on a run of four straight wins during the final games of last season, largely down to high morale under Tony Mowbray’s influence. We finished with a convincing 3-0 win over Tuesday’s visitors Doncaster on the final day of the season. It meant that Boro crept into the top half of the league on goal difference, having spent part of the season in the relegation places. This was a great end to a poor season.
Our just rewards for having a strong season this time round would be to repeat last season’s final fixture form. The difference this year being that we creep into the play-off positions, rather than just the top half. I’m unsure as to whether my nerves can take the stress and pressure that is bound to come over the next couple of weeks but it is going to be a thrilling climax, provided we fans have a little blind faith.
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With one win down there are just three to go. Pride is restored, morale is lifted and we are still in with a shout. Up the Boro.
Usually, in the build up to a major football tournament, as a nation we like nothing better than to get behind our team. England shirts are in every sports shop, flags hang from houses and every England fan begins to believe that maybe, just maybe, this will be the year where they can finally end that 46-year trophy drought.
This time around, things seem a bit less encapsulating. England aren’t exactly expected to set the European Championships alight this summer. Some even doubt whether they’ll get through the group stages. It seems England fans are resigned to failure, and another wait for a chance at a major tournament.
So what can be done to spread a bit of optimism around the country? Well, what better than an awe-inspiring video that becomes a viral hit?! Arsenal and England legend Ian Wright has been trying to do his bit, with his ‘What if?’ advert for Absolute Radio. It can’t help but raise the question: what if England did manage to pull something out of the bag at Euro 2012?
The video reflects on famous moments in England’s past and illustrates the kind of perseverance England will need if they are to be successful in Poland and Ukraine this summer. Should we turn to Wrighty for inspiration in his quest to get everyone backing England again?
This video is sure to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and have you roaring for England!
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England may not always have been the most common home for many South American’s but it is testament to the league’s growing strength that the continent’s best and brightest aspire to test their mettle in the Premier League. Luis Suarez, Sergio Aguero and Ramires are just a selection of recent new additions who call the southern hemisphere home. The sheer size of South America creates a diverse number of players, many of which are unique and differentiated due to their surroundings.
The amount of players ready to cross the Atlantic is such a young age comes as they are offered huge responsibilities in the first team and on many occasions it can be sink or swim. The wealth of talent exported to Europe over the years has been extensive and clubs such as Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal all now watch the continent like hawks, and here we take a look at the potential talents that have been warranting such attention.
Click on Oscar to unveil the top 10
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Who from South America has caught your eye? Let me know on Twitter.
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As John W. Henry spent a day or two sipping coffee with Roberto Martinez, it would appear that he was always longing for a cappuccino with Brendan Rodgers. It seems that the Northern Irishman was always on the Fenway Sports Group’s mind as they led the Wigan boss up the proverbial garden path. But amongst the recruitment process for a new manager, it is interesting to see that a certain Paul Lambert never really emerged as a front-runner for the Anfield post. Why wasn’t the one time Borussia Dortmund midfielder never taken seriously?
It’s fair to say that compared to Rodgers and Martinez, Paul Lambert and Norwich City’s media profile isn’t quite as high in stock. The brand of football that Rodgers had Swansea City playing this season, has been remarkable; his philosophy of possession based football and short, sharp passing, has taken all the plaudits and rightly so. The famous statistic that had Leon Britton as Europe’s most accurate pass master in January, really is testament to the work Rodgers has done at the Liberty Stadium.
Again, Roberto Martinez saw Wigan through an outrageous run of form towards the home straight of the Premier League season, which stole all the headlines. Back-to-back wins against Manchester United and Arsenal, preceded the 4-0 hammering of high flying Newcastle- all executed against a backdrop of flowing, attacking football. For a team that looked dead and buried by Christmas, it’s no wonder Martinez was interviewed for the Liverpool job. Let us not forget that Martinez laid many of the foundations for the man that seemingly beat him to the post, during his time as Swansea boss.
And then there’s Paul Lambert. Perhaps it’s a sign of the times that when a promoted team such as Norwich manage to comfortably finish 12th, to such timid fanfare, that the Premier League really has had a mad season. Norwich certainly didn’t thread 532 passes at home to Arsenal like Swansea did and they may not have put together a run quite as stunning at Wigan, but Lambert has arguably done a better job than either Rodgers or Martinez.
On a sunny afternoon back in 2009, Paul Lambert, then manager of Colchester United, travelled away to his current employers on the opening day of the League One season. Lambert walked into Carrow Road with modest aspirations for the season ahead. Just over 90 minutes later, he walked out after inflicting the heaviest home defeat in Norwich’s history, in an unbelievable 7-1 victory. Ten days later, he jumped ship to take over the Norwich side that his Colchester team had ripped to pieces and the rest is history.
To put Lambert’s achievements into context, you need to analyze the players used throughout Norwich City’s journey. The likes of Grant Holt, Wes Hoolahan, Marc Tierny and David Fox all played for both Norwich and Colchester on that fateful day- all have since played their part in comfortably securing Premier League safety. Much of Lambert’s squad today have all racked up plenty of time in the Football League and even his signings, such as Bradley Johnson and Jonny Howson, have originated outside of the English football’s top tier.
Lambert has his own philosophies and principals in the transfer market and his approach of looking outside the Premier League and shunning more proven talent, has paid massive dividends. The performances of more costly players with supposed Premier League ‘experience’, such as Roger Johnson and Scott Dann this season, only serve to galvanize Lambert’s credentials. But maybe that’s where the problem lies.
Paul Lambert is his own man and he exudes the sort of steely, no-nonsense approach in the mold of his countrymen, like the David Moyes and Sir Alex Ferguson’s of this world. He didn’t muck around when Norwich came calling and it would seem he’s followed a similar path in the light of a call from Villa Park. But the only problem he’s likely to have with Randy Lerner, is the size of the transfer war-chest. At Liverpool, this might not have been the case.
Despite the imminent appointment of Brendan Rodgers, there are still plenty of murmurings of installing a new Director of Football at Anfield. Regardless of the debate about that particular role, the Fenway Sports Group will want the middleman. They ploughed a lot of money into their prized investment and well and truly got their fingers burnt last season, regardless of who takes full blame out of the Comolli/Dalglish partnership. It is hard to imagine the new man at Anfield receiving full, autonomous control there. And that is where perhaps Lambert falls short.
Brendan Rodgers is made in County Antrim, but bred straight from the continent, managerially. A disciple of Jose Mourinho following his time taking charge of the Chelsea reserves, his matchday preparation, organization and penchant for possession would all suit a Spanish team down to the ground. The role of the Sporting Director would dovetail perfectly with Rodgers. It is difficult to imagine Lambert feeling quite the same about that or the politics and some of the baggage that seems to come with managing Liverpool.
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But Liverpool’s loss may well be Aston Villa’s gain. Lambert will bring an exciting, direct brand of football to the crowds at Villa Park and after Alex McLeish, you can bet he’ll be backed to the hilt. If the board back him as well as the support, who knows how far he can take them. No one is saying that a team that were lucky to avoid relegation last season are likely to finish above Liverpool, but write Lambert off at your own risk. Like his Norwich team or Champions League medal, he has a habit of producing the unexpected.
What do you think about Paul Lambert? Underrated or not in big Brendan’s league? Get involved in the discussion on Twitter, follow @samuel_antrobus and hit me with your views.
One of the strangest transfer rumours this summer, quite possibly the oddest since then Bolton centre-half Gary Cahill was linked with a move to Barcelona, has seen Liverpool striker supposedly targeted by AC Milan. The club’s new boss Brendan Rodgers remains open to the possibility of allowing Carroll to depart in time for next season on loan, but what that be tantamount to career suicide, for both the player and the manager?
Andy Carroll has flattered to deceive for the majority of his 18-month stay at Anfield so far, since his staggering £35m move from Newcastle in January 2010. If you’re bored of the mention of the exorbitant fee by now, you’re not alone, but no Carroll story is complete these days without a brief nod to the lunacy of the price paid. However, this fee can often distort people’s views when talking about Carroll – he’s unlikely to ever fully justify being the joint-tenth highest transfer of all-time, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t a decent player and capable of more.
Lest we forget, he scored in an FA Cup semi-final, FA Cup final and at Euro 2012 over the past few months as an out-of-sorts Liverpool side slowly but surely began to play to his strengths. By all accounts, he’s lost his taste for the nightlife recently too, a factor that so worried Fabio Capello and saw him dumped from the international scene just when it looked like he was going to be the long-term focal point for the national side. My point is that there is clearly a player there, a very good one too when on form and there aren’t too many like him about – to casually cast off such an unusual and clearly threatening talent would seem an extremely odd move for Rodgers to make.
The whole talk about Carroll leaving the club on loan this summer came about when Silvio Berlusconi’s son, Pier Silvio, stated he liked what he saw of Carroll at Euro 2012 and urged his father to ratify a move, if it suited the club financially. Here’s what he had to say: “This is a new era for Milan. We will continue to get younger while maintaining the culture. Milan still has its superstars. As a future target I’d like Andy Carroll. I must admit that, for his body build, and after seeing his header in the Euros, I would like to have Carroll at Milan” with reports indicating from Italy that Berlusconi Snr is ‘seriously considering; taking his son’s advice.
This led to Rodgers stating just a few days ago: “It’s something I would have to look at, I have to be honest. Andy’s always going to be linked with clubs, whether he was here or not. He knows exactly where he stands, but I have had no enquiries about him. There are many things to going on loan. Is it going to be beneficial for the club, that’s the most important thing? Sometimes a player going out on loan – in general, not just Andy – can benefit the club in the long term. It gets them game experience and they come back a better player, a more confident one. Certainly more so than if they’ve been sitting on the bench for the majority of the season. I’m not going to sit here and say I will never let anyone go on loan, then come in here in two weeks and a player’s gone, and you’re saying ‘you said you wouldn’t let them go’.”
This would seem to indicate that Carroll is not in Rodgers’ first-team plans for the coming campaign, despite his marked improvement towards the back-end of last season. Assuming that Rodgers adopts a similar 4-3-3 formation that he did last season with Swansea, this may mean that he wants Luis Suarez to take the central role that Danny Graham played for most of last season for the Welsh outfit.
The 39 year-old Ulsterman likes his number nine to be both strong on the ball and mobile off it, but do you really want Suarez playing with his back to goal for most of the game? Is that not a monumental waste of his creative talents? Carroll may not be as mobile as Graham, but he’s certainly better in the air, can bully defenders more and his work-rate has come on in leaps and bounds the past few months and with the right service, he’s a serious goal threat.
It may be the temptation to play it long which is hindering Carroll’s cause. England with Peter Crouch in the side suffered from this very same disease. Crouch isn’t particularly great in the air, but whenever a defender or midfielder was pushed for space and time on the ball, they’d play the easy ball further forward to Crouch, hoping he’d do something with it. Crouch’s strength was on the deck, but that didn’t matter and it was just an example of those players passing on responsibility of actually doing anything of note when in possession – a collective lack of ownership over their own and the team’s performances.
Perhaps rather than what Carroll is actually capable of, Rodgers fears that having such a big target man and useful outlet will prove too tempting to ignore for some of his new side and could compromise his new passing ‘philosophy’ at Anfield. However, there must still be a case for keeping him at the club as a useful plan B even if he’s not going to be a regular guaranteed starter under Rodgers.
Liverpool are hardly blessed with strength in depth up front either at the moment. Dirk Kuyt has left the club after six years and moved to Fenerbache in Turkey, while Craig Bellamy cannot be relied upon to either play or perform consistently due to a chronic knee complaint, which leaves just Carroll and Suarez. Even if the club do complete a deal to bring Fabio Borini to the club over the course of the next few days, there’s no pressing nor convincing argument to allow Carroll to move elsewhere in the short-term.
Alberto Aquilani has been moved about on loan to both Juventus and AC Milan over the past two seasons while the club had to put up with inferior replacements such as Jay Spearing and Christian Poulsen and they are in danger of letting the same thing happen all over again with this Carroll situation.
The giant Geordie is far from the complete player and there are still technical deficiencies in his game which may hinder his long-term future under Rodgers, but I thought the entire point of bringing in a new young and vibrant manager with a fluid set of principles was that he would get the best out of the existing talent at the club, rather than give up on it before a ball has even been kicked in anger. Is it not his job to find solutions to problems such as this, rather than simply getting rid of them altogether?
It’s clear that Rodgers is not under the same pressure to play the likes of Carroll, Downing and Henderson as Kenny Dalglish was, but he’s simply far too useful an option to simply let go to Sam Allardyce’s West Ham or wherever next season. How is Carroll expected to learn and adapt to a new style of play at Liverpool if he isn’t even there in the first place? Rarely when players are loaned out do they come back and prove themselves, especially when they are somewhat proven already and have cost the sort of figure that Carroll did.
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If Rodgers wants to sell, then that’s another matter entirely, but Carroll’s stock has never been higher during his time at Anfield, and a loan move merely signifies that the player has no real sell-on value. He may not quite fit the system or the style of play, but even as just a hugely expensive plan B, Carroll deserves another season at Liverpool to prove himself.
Do you think Carroll should be given another chance at Anfield next season?