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Football / T&T Youth Program?
« on: July 10, 2008, 05:36:30 PM »
Does anyone know who is in charge of our national youth program?
June 04, 2024, 04:15:12 AM
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Football / We’re not racist-guess no one is? daaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!
« on: May 11, 2008, 11:26:48 AM »
We’re not racist, say the club whose manager claims: The fans won't let me sign a black player
By ROB DRAPER - More by this author »
Wednesday's night's UEFA Cup final in Manchester is in danger of being overshadowed by a race row after Dick Advocaat, the respected Dutch manager of Russian side Zenit St Petersburg, claimed that his club do not sign black players because their fans would not accept it.
Advocaat made his allegation in an interview with a Russian magazine as his team prepared for their final against Rangers in the City of Manchester Stadium.
Advocaat said: 'I would be happy to sign anyone, but the fans don't like black players. Quite honestly, I do not understand how they could pay so much attention to skin colour. For me there's no difference between white, black or red. But they care.'
Zenit, who are run by Russian oligarch Alexander Dyukov, the head of oil company Gazprom, deny having an all-white policy and point to the presence in their first-team squad of different nationalities and religions. The only non-white faces, though, are two South Koreans.
Now Zenit have been accused by Lord Ousley, chairman of the Kick It Out campaign, the Football Association's anti-racism pressure group, of hiding behind their fans' views.
Lord Ousley said: 'The problem with a lot of “eastern bloc” football clubs is that they are complicit with racism by hiding behind what fans say they want. It's damaging to a European competition if a club is being restricted in this way.
'A lot of club chairmen in England in the 1970s and 1980s would have said that their fans didn't want black players and would boo them. But clubs have to be brave. You can change the culture, say that you're going to sign the best players, regardless of race. If clubs aren't prepared to do that, they are being complicit with racism.'
The arrival of the Zenit team this week will coincide with Prime Minister Gordon Brown hosting an event for another campaign group, Show Racism the Red Card, which works alongside Ousley in fighting racism in football.
UEFA expect 10, 000 Zenit fans to make the journey to Manchester and an FA spokesman said: 'We would expect fans attending any game — whether or not an English team is involved — in this country to respect players from every culture.'
Whether Rangers' black players receive such respect remains to be seen. But, according to Advocaat, Zenit's fans will not accept the sort of talented players he wants to sign if they are 'dark-skinned'. Advocaat, who has worked with black players during a coaching career that has included four years at Rangers and two periods as the coach of the Dutch national team, said: 'The fans are the most important thing that Zenit have.
That's why I have to ask them outright how they'll react if we sign a dark-skinned player.
'Frankly, the only players who can make Zenit stronger are darkskinned. Look at the Brazilians who play for CSKA Moscow, for example.
But for us it would be impossible. If they don't agree with me, I will not do it. I don't want to buy a player who won't be accepted by the fans.'
Despite Wednesday's high-profile occasion, UEFA, the governing body of the European game, say they will not investigate Advocaat's claims because they insist the interview has been misconstrued.
William Gaillard, special advisor to UEFA president Michel Platini, admitted that his organisation had had no direct contact with Zenit but added: 'This is not an issue we are tackling at this stage. We understand there was a mistake in the translation of the interview.'
However, that suggestion has been rejected by the journalist who conducted the interview for Pro Sport magazine.
'We spoke in English and I have a recording of the interview,' said Yuri Doud yesterday.
'Advocaat was the first to say there was a problem, but we all know it is there at Zenit.'
Jonathan Wilson, an expert on Russian football and author of the book Behind The Curtain — Travels in Eastern European Football, says that 'uniquely among Russia's top clubs, Zenit have never fielded a black player'.
Wilson accepts that Zenit have made steps to counter racism and have an official policy of equal opportunity, but he insists that their fans reflect the reputation St Petersburg has as one of Russia's most far right cities.
'While the club condemns the racism of some of their fans, they take pride in how Russian their team is,' said Wilson.
'Seven of the likely starting 11 in Wednesday's final, including their two real stars, Andrei Arshavin and Konstantin Zyryanov, are Russian.
By contrast, when CSKA won the UEFA Cup in 2005, they had six Russians in their line-up but their two most prominent players were Vagner Love and Daniel Carvalho, who are Brazilian.'
The failure to crack down on Zenit's racist fan culture may already have had fatal consequences. On the night Zenit faced Olympique Marseille in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals, Ghanaian university student Justice Adjei, 20, was stabbed 36 times by a gang of white youths.
'They attacked to kill but the victim survived,' said Aliou Tunkara, the president of St Petersburg's Africa Union. 'Every time Zenit play a team involving blacks, racial attacks in the stadium turn into violence on the streets.'
The attack took place before kick-off and no direct link has been established to the club's supporters.
But another African student, Maira Mkamam, was stabbed six times in the chest and stomach last November on the night that Zenit won the Russian championship as fans celebrated throughout the city.
UEFA's disciplinary commission are currently considering allegations by Olympique Marseille of racist abuse directed at their black players by Zenit fans.
Marseille's president, Pape Diouf, said: 'All the witnesses agree there were acts of racism against some of our players. My first feeling is contempt. We will use all our means to defend our players. I feel disgusted.'
A Zenit statement after the Marseille game rejected suggestions that the club were institutionally racist.
The club and players have taken part in programmes designed to fight racism and Zenit have displayed an anti-racist banner at their stadium this season.
They also condemned fans who racially abused Brazilian Antonio Geder, the captain of Russian club Saturn, in March 2006. But the city of St Petersburg has a reputation for racist attacks.
While UEFA's public stance against racism is unequivocal, with numerous initiatives and grassroots work to fight discrimination, the fines imposed by their disciplinary commission have often seemed paltry.
In 2003 Patrick Vieira, then at Arsenal, accused UEFA of 'hypocrisy' after fining clubs just a few thousand pounds when he experienced a particularly gruesome night of racist abuse at a Champions League fixture in Valencia.
In response, UEFA fined Vieira £2,300 for criticising them.
Since then UEFA's disciplinary commission have imposed marginally stronger punishments. The Serbian FA were fined £17,000 when their fans racially abused England's black players at an Under-21 tournament last season.
Now, with Zenit St Petersburg poised to play on English soil, Europe's football rulers face further pressure to hold clubs responsible for the racist views of their supporters
By ROB DRAPER - More by this author »
Wednesday's night's UEFA Cup final in Manchester is in danger of being overshadowed by a race row after Dick Advocaat, the respected Dutch manager of Russian side Zenit St Petersburg, claimed that his club do not sign black players because their fans would not accept it.
Advocaat made his allegation in an interview with a Russian magazine as his team prepared for their final against Rangers in the City of Manchester Stadium.
Advocaat said: 'I would be happy to sign anyone, but the fans don't like black players. Quite honestly, I do not understand how they could pay so much attention to skin colour. For me there's no difference between white, black or red. But they care.'
Zenit, who are run by Russian oligarch Alexander Dyukov, the head of oil company Gazprom, deny having an all-white policy and point to the presence in their first-team squad of different nationalities and religions. The only non-white faces, though, are two South Koreans.
Now Zenit have been accused by Lord Ousley, chairman of the Kick It Out campaign, the Football Association's anti-racism pressure group, of hiding behind their fans' views.
Lord Ousley said: 'The problem with a lot of “eastern bloc” football clubs is that they are complicit with racism by hiding behind what fans say they want. It's damaging to a European competition if a club is being restricted in this way.
'A lot of club chairmen in England in the 1970s and 1980s would have said that their fans didn't want black players and would boo them. But clubs have to be brave. You can change the culture, say that you're going to sign the best players, regardless of race. If clubs aren't prepared to do that, they are being complicit with racism.'
The arrival of the Zenit team this week will coincide with Prime Minister Gordon Brown hosting an event for another campaign group, Show Racism the Red Card, which works alongside Ousley in fighting racism in football.
UEFA expect 10, 000 Zenit fans to make the journey to Manchester and an FA spokesman said: 'We would expect fans attending any game — whether or not an English team is involved — in this country to respect players from every culture.'
Whether Rangers' black players receive such respect remains to be seen. But, according to Advocaat, Zenit's fans will not accept the sort of talented players he wants to sign if they are 'dark-skinned'. Advocaat, who has worked with black players during a coaching career that has included four years at Rangers and two periods as the coach of the Dutch national team, said: 'The fans are the most important thing that Zenit have.
That's why I have to ask them outright how they'll react if we sign a dark-skinned player.
'Frankly, the only players who can make Zenit stronger are darkskinned. Look at the Brazilians who play for CSKA Moscow, for example.
But for us it would be impossible. If they don't agree with me, I will not do it. I don't want to buy a player who won't be accepted by the fans.'
Despite Wednesday's high-profile occasion, UEFA, the governing body of the European game, say they will not investigate Advocaat's claims because they insist the interview has been misconstrued.
William Gaillard, special advisor to UEFA president Michel Platini, admitted that his organisation had had no direct contact with Zenit but added: 'This is not an issue we are tackling at this stage. We understand there was a mistake in the translation of the interview.'
However, that suggestion has been rejected by the journalist who conducted the interview for Pro Sport magazine.
'We spoke in English and I have a recording of the interview,' said Yuri Doud yesterday.
'Advocaat was the first to say there was a problem, but we all know it is there at Zenit.'
Jonathan Wilson, an expert on Russian football and author of the book Behind The Curtain — Travels in Eastern European Football, says that 'uniquely among Russia's top clubs, Zenit have never fielded a black player'.
Wilson accepts that Zenit have made steps to counter racism and have an official policy of equal opportunity, but he insists that their fans reflect the reputation St Petersburg has as one of Russia's most far right cities.
'While the club condemns the racism of some of their fans, they take pride in how Russian their team is,' said Wilson.
'Seven of the likely starting 11 in Wednesday's final, including their two real stars, Andrei Arshavin and Konstantin Zyryanov, are Russian.
By contrast, when CSKA won the UEFA Cup in 2005, they had six Russians in their line-up but their two most prominent players were Vagner Love and Daniel Carvalho, who are Brazilian.'
The failure to crack down on Zenit's racist fan culture may already have had fatal consequences. On the night Zenit faced Olympique Marseille in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals, Ghanaian university student Justice Adjei, 20, was stabbed 36 times by a gang of white youths.
'They attacked to kill but the victim survived,' said Aliou Tunkara, the president of St Petersburg's Africa Union. 'Every time Zenit play a team involving blacks, racial attacks in the stadium turn into violence on the streets.'
The attack took place before kick-off and no direct link has been established to the club's supporters.
But another African student, Maira Mkamam, was stabbed six times in the chest and stomach last November on the night that Zenit won the Russian championship as fans celebrated throughout the city.
UEFA's disciplinary commission are currently considering allegations by Olympique Marseille of racist abuse directed at their black players by Zenit fans.
Marseille's president, Pape Diouf, said: 'All the witnesses agree there were acts of racism against some of our players. My first feeling is contempt. We will use all our means to defend our players. I feel disgusted.'
A Zenit statement after the Marseille game rejected suggestions that the club were institutionally racist.
The club and players have taken part in programmes designed to fight racism and Zenit have displayed an anti-racist banner at their stadium this season.
They also condemned fans who racially abused Brazilian Antonio Geder, the captain of Russian club Saturn, in March 2006. But the city of St Petersburg has a reputation for racist attacks.
While UEFA's public stance against racism is unequivocal, with numerous initiatives and grassroots work to fight discrimination, the fines imposed by their disciplinary commission have often seemed paltry.
In 2003 Patrick Vieira, then at Arsenal, accused UEFA of 'hypocrisy' after fining clubs just a few thousand pounds when he experienced a particularly gruesome night of racist abuse at a Champions League fixture in Valencia.
In response, UEFA fined Vieira £2,300 for criticising them.
Since then UEFA's disciplinary commission have imposed marginally stronger punishments. The Serbian FA were fined £17,000 when their fans racially abused England's black players at an Under-21 tournament last season.
Now, with Zenit St Petersburg poised to play on English soil, Europe's football rulers face further pressure to hold clubs responsible for the racist views of their supporters
6
Football / Bangura out of order
« on: April 15, 2008, 05:56:38 AM »
Football ace Al Bangura is love cheat who lied to stay in Britain
By Douglass Wight
AN African footballer who won a heart-rending campaign to stay in Britain is today exposed as a LIAR and a LOVE RAT.
Watford star Al Bangura claimed he'd be MURDERED along with his partner Yabom and baby if he was deported back to troubled Sierra Leone.
The 19-year-old's plight moved the nation and, after a battle led by Sir Elton John, the Home Office granted him a work permit until 2010. But Bangura was LYING when he said he had lost touch with all his family in West Africa and a secret sect wanted to kill him. And we can reveal while he was parading pregnant Yabom, 21, for cameras during the campaign last year he was CHEATING on her with lover Latoya Douglas.
Latoya, 19, stormed last night: "He was in so much danger in Sierra Leone he was planning to take me there on holiday.
"And his mum wasn't missing—he was in touch with her and wired her £50,000 so she could build a house. She even kept track of his performances for Watford.
"He's manipulated the sytem and played everyone for a fool."
Pretty student Latoya fell for Bangura in 2005. She had no idea he had a partner until she saw him on TV with Yabom at his appeal. "He told me she was just part of a story he made up to get sympathy at the immigration hearing," said Latoya.
"I'd been with him for two years and had no reason not to trust him. Stupidly I believed him."
Bangura—who claimed he'd been trafficked from Sierra Leone at 15 to become a sex slave in the UK—dumped Latoya in January when Yabom found some of her underwear. The lover said: "She rang me, called me a bitch and said she was the mother of his baby. Then I knew the truth.
"Now people need to know the truth about Bangura—that he manipulated his story to win public support. What he's done is terrible."
By Douglass Wight
AN African footballer who won a heart-rending campaign to stay in Britain is today exposed as a LIAR and a LOVE RAT.
Watford star Al Bangura claimed he'd be MURDERED along with his partner Yabom and baby if he was deported back to troubled Sierra Leone.
The 19-year-old's plight moved the nation and, after a battle led by Sir Elton John, the Home Office granted him a work permit until 2010. But Bangura was LYING when he said he had lost touch with all his family in West Africa and a secret sect wanted to kill him. And we can reveal while he was parading pregnant Yabom, 21, for cameras during the campaign last year he was CHEATING on her with lover Latoya Douglas.
Latoya, 19, stormed last night: "He was in so much danger in Sierra Leone he was planning to take me there on holiday.
"And his mum wasn't missing—he was in touch with her and wired her £50,000 so she could build a house. She even kept track of his performances for Watford.
"He's manipulated the sytem and played everyone for a fool."
Pretty student Latoya fell for Bangura in 2005. She had no idea he had a partner until she saw him on TV with Yabom at his appeal. "He told me she was just part of a story he made up to get sympathy at the immigration hearing," said Latoya.
"I'd been with him for two years and had no reason not to trust him. Stupidly I believed him."
Bangura—who claimed he'd been trafficked from Sierra Leone at 15 to become a sex slave in the UK—dumped Latoya in January when Yabom found some of her underwear. The lover said: "She rang me, called me a bitch and said she was the mother of his baby. Then I knew the truth.
"Now people need to know the truth about Bangura—that he manipulated his story to win public support. What he's done is terrible."
7
Football / Police abuse Former Ivorian Football Player!
« on: April 11, 2008, 08:18:48 AM »
Former star Pokou beaten by police
First Published: Apr 10, 2008
Former Ivorian football player Laurent Pokou, seen here at his home in Abidjan, shows his injuries after he claims he was "savagely beaten" by the police during a routine control in Abidjan.
Former Ivorian star Laurent Pokou said Thursday he had been "savagely beaten" by the police during a routine control in Abidjan.
"After my vehicle papers had been checked the policeman asked to see my driving licence. I wanted him to hand back the other papers first and that's when it all started," said Pokou, the 61-year-old's face bearing the scars of Sunday night's incident with half a dozen police officers.
"They forced me to the ground and kicked me violently, treated me like a common criminal," said Pokou, saying he ended up badly bruised.
After obtaining a medical certificate he added he would be making a complaint.
Pokou was a star striker with ASEC Mimosas and the Ivorian national side across the 1960s and it was only this year that his 14 goals in the African Cup of Nations - six in 1968 and eight more in 1970 - was beaten as Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o took his haul to 16 in this year's event.
http://www.wldcup.com/news/2008/04/20080410_47916_soccer_news.html
First Published: Apr 10, 2008
Former Ivorian football player Laurent Pokou, seen here at his home in Abidjan, shows his injuries after he claims he was "savagely beaten" by the police during a routine control in Abidjan.
Former Ivorian star Laurent Pokou said Thursday he had been "savagely beaten" by the police during a routine control in Abidjan.
"After my vehicle papers had been checked the policeman asked to see my driving licence. I wanted him to hand back the other papers first and that's when it all started," said Pokou, the 61-year-old's face bearing the scars of Sunday night's incident with half a dozen police officers.
"They forced me to the ground and kicked me violently, treated me like a common criminal," said Pokou, saying he ended up badly bruised.
After obtaining a medical certificate he added he would be making a complaint.
Pokou was a star striker with ASEC Mimosas and the Ivorian national side across the 1960s and it was only this year that his 14 goals in the African Cup of Nations - six in 1968 and eight more in 1970 - was beaten as Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o took his haul to 16 in this year's event.
http://www.wldcup.com/news/2008/04/20080410_47916_soccer_news.html
8
Football / Adebayor & Drogbar
« on: February 10, 2008, 08:04:25 PM »
Whos is the better center forward between Drogba and Adebayor?
9
Football / FIFA World Player of the Year!
« on: January 15, 2008, 08:35:40 PM »
Prior to 1993, can anyone remember if an english born player was ever FIFA world player of the year
10
Football / Anson Dorrance Settles Sexual Harrasment Law Suit
« on: January 14, 2008, 03:47:03 PM »11
Football / Coincidence?
« on: December 23, 2007, 03:29:36 PM »
Is it a coincidence that the three most powerful positions in T&T football (outside of the Special Assistant position) is currently being held by ex Maple players? The positions being referred to are the technical director position, the national team head coaching position and the TT Pro League Chief Exec position.
Is this sheer coincidence or is there something more sinister happening here, being motivated ones behind the scenes that can no longer step forward themselves?
Is this sheer coincidence or is there something more sinister happening here, being motivated ones behind the scenes that can no longer step forward themselves?
12
Football / Nigerian players not among Africa's best?
« on: December 13, 2007, 08:25:08 PM »
Is this a fair assessment of Nigeria Football?
Nigerian players not among Africa's best
By Olukayode Thomas
ANOTHER evidence that Golden Age of Nigeria is over was provided yesterday at a press conference where the nominees for the African Footballer of the Year were named.
Of the five nominees, none is from Nigeria. In the 1990s, Nigeria almost dominated the award. More than half of the nominees then normally come from Nigeria.
Earlier in the month, BBC Sports also named five nominees for its African Footballer of the Year award without a Nigerian. Mali and Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria's foes at next month's Ghana 2008 Nations Cup produced three of the five top nominees short-listed for this year's GLO-CAF awards slated for Lome, Togo, on February 1, 2008.
The list announced by the Communications Director of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Suleiman Habuba, included reigning African Footballer of the Year, Didier Drogba of Cote d'Ivoire; and Mali's duo of Fredrick Kanoute and Mamadou Diarra. The two Malians play in Spain, with Kanoute of Seville emerging the second highest goal scorer behind Fernando Torres last season.
Togo's Emmanuel Adebayo and Ghana's Michael Essien also made the list of contenders for the prestigious award. It is the second consecutive time that Adebayor, who plays for Arsenal in England, is appearing on the list of top five African footballers. Adebayor got onto the list last year after inspiring a modest Togolese national team to the Nations Cup in Egypt and World Cup in Germany.
Essien, the Chelsea of England midfielder, was runner-up to Drogba at the final awards ceremony in his home city of Accra last year. On the list of nominees for the BBC award are Essien, alongside his Chelsea colleague, Drogba; Adebayor, Kanoute and Camerounian Samuel Eto'o of Barcelona, Spain.
Suleiman said the nominations were made in conformity with the highest standards of transparency and merit. He praised Globacom for providing a platform to celebrate African football, noting that "while we are yet to have nominees form the domestic African league, the support of Globacom for national leagues will in the near future yield dividends as players from thedomestic league will get nominated."
Globacom's Executive Director for Legal Services, Gladys Talabi, said that delivering on the promise to raise African football to greater heights and touching lives on the continent are the company's desire. According to her, "when in 2005 the CAF accepted our bid to sponsor the annual African Footballer of the Year Awards, Globacom made a solemn promise to raise the bars in the quality of the awards' organisation.
"We promised to touch lives in Africa, especially that of
the African youths who find expression for their talents through football. Three years down the line, we look back today with pride and a sense of accomplishment that the CAF Awards has become a premium event in world football calendar.
Nigerian players not among Africa's best
By Olukayode Thomas
ANOTHER evidence that Golden Age of Nigeria is over was provided yesterday at a press conference where the nominees for the African Footballer of the Year were named.
Of the five nominees, none is from Nigeria. In the 1990s, Nigeria almost dominated the award. More than half of the nominees then normally come from Nigeria.
Earlier in the month, BBC Sports also named five nominees for its African Footballer of the Year award without a Nigerian. Mali and Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria's foes at next month's Ghana 2008 Nations Cup produced three of the five top nominees short-listed for this year's GLO-CAF awards slated for Lome, Togo, on February 1, 2008.
The list announced by the Communications Director of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Suleiman Habuba, included reigning African Footballer of the Year, Didier Drogba of Cote d'Ivoire; and Mali's duo of Fredrick Kanoute and Mamadou Diarra. The two Malians play in Spain, with Kanoute of Seville emerging the second highest goal scorer behind Fernando Torres last season.
Togo's Emmanuel Adebayo and Ghana's Michael Essien also made the list of contenders for the prestigious award. It is the second consecutive time that Adebayor, who plays for Arsenal in England, is appearing on the list of top five African footballers. Adebayor got onto the list last year after inspiring a modest Togolese national team to the Nations Cup in Egypt and World Cup in Germany.
Essien, the Chelsea of England midfielder, was runner-up to Drogba at the final awards ceremony in his home city of Accra last year. On the list of nominees for the BBC award are Essien, alongside his Chelsea colleague, Drogba; Adebayor, Kanoute and Camerounian Samuel Eto'o of Barcelona, Spain.
Suleiman said the nominations were made in conformity with the highest standards of transparency and merit. He praised Globacom for providing a platform to celebrate African football, noting that "while we are yet to have nominees form the domestic African league, the support of Globacom for national leagues will in the near future yield dividends as players from thedomestic league will get nominated."
Globacom's Executive Director for Legal Services, Gladys Talabi, said that delivering on the promise to raise African football to greater heights and touching lives on the continent are the company's desire. According to her, "when in 2005 the CAF accepted our bid to sponsor the annual African Footballer of the Year Awards, Globacom made a solemn promise to raise the bars in the quality of the awards' organisation.
"We promised to touch lives in Africa, especially that of
the African youths who find expression for their talents through football. Three years down the line, we look back today with pride and a sense of accomplishment that the CAF Awards has become a premium event in world football calendar.
13
Football / Liverpool Stars in Fear!
« on: December 13, 2007, 06:59:31 AM »
COPS are stepping up security around the homes of Liverpool soccer stars after Steven Gerrard became the SIXTH Kop idol to be raided.
A masked gang plundered Gerrard’s Merseyside mansion while he was in France playing for the Premiership giants in the Champions League.
His wife Alex Curran, who was threatened by the thugs during the robbery, said: “It was terrifying - a horrendous experience. I'm still traumatised by the whole thing. Fortunately we are all OK”
Alex said she feared for her small children during the confrontation.
She added: "Lilly and Lexie were my biggest concern. Thankfully, they're fine as they managed to sleep through the whole thing.
"I'm still feeling really shaken up and too traumatised about the whole thing to talk about it too much. I just don't want to relive it all.
"Fortunately we're all OK, Now it's all in the hands of the police.
"We've already got a lot of security here at the house. But we'll definitely step it up after this, so please God, nothing like this happens again."
The raid raised fears crooks are scouring fixture lists to target aces’ homes when they are away in Europe.
Now police and team bosses plan extra security to guard players’ relatives and possessions.
The club is even set to employ MINDERS to stay at the stars’ homes while they are away.
Spokesman Ian Cotton said last night: “We were shocked to hear of the robbery.
“Our first concern is for the welfare of Alex, Steven and the family.”
Other Reds victims targeted over the past 18 months are striker Dirk Kuyt, ex-goalie Jerzy Dudek, defender Daniel Agger, goal poacher Peter Crouch and keeper Pepe Reina.
A masked gang plundered Gerrard’s Merseyside mansion while he was in France playing for the Premiership giants in the Champions League.
His wife Alex Curran, who was threatened by the thugs during the robbery, said: “It was terrifying - a horrendous experience. I'm still traumatised by the whole thing. Fortunately we are all OK”
Alex said she feared for her small children during the confrontation.
She added: "Lilly and Lexie were my biggest concern. Thankfully, they're fine as they managed to sleep through the whole thing.
"I'm still feeling really shaken up and too traumatised about the whole thing to talk about it too much. I just don't want to relive it all.
"Fortunately we're all OK, Now it's all in the hands of the police.
"We've already got a lot of security here at the house. But we'll definitely step it up after this, so please God, nothing like this happens again."
The raid raised fears crooks are scouring fixture lists to target aces’ homes when they are away in Europe.
Now police and team bosses plan extra security to guard players’ relatives and possessions.
The club is even set to employ MINDERS to stay at the stars’ homes while they are away.
Spokesman Ian Cotton said last night: “We were shocked to hear of the robbery.
“Our first concern is for the welfare of Alex, Steven and the family.”
Other Reds victims targeted over the past 18 months are striker Dirk Kuyt, ex-goalie Jerzy Dudek, defender Daniel Agger, goal poacher Peter Crouch and keeper Pepe Reina.
14
Football / Another Black Manager Overlooked in England!
« on: December 03, 2007, 10:40:13 AM »
I read these few lines earlier and wondered what this forum would say on the issue, have your say.
“Another Black manager in England who was a legend as a player and a winner, is overlooked for a White manager who has failed at the big time.
Paul Ince at MK Dons is ignored for the job at Derby as Paul Jewell is given it today.
The only saving grace was that it is a dead end job as Derby are doomed for relegation so Ince would have been considered a failure.
Additionally, Birmingham hire Alex McLeish who failed to get Scotland to the Euro 2008 Finals.
All the discussion about failed managers getting second and third opportunities, while England struggles to play a game barely resembling possession football just illustrates that English football is heading for a collapse and the racism that pervades prevents coaches of color giving the English game an opportunity to think outside the box and try something different.
Sadly, what happens in England is then mimicked worldwide.
“Another Black manager in England who was a legend as a player and a winner, is overlooked for a White manager who has failed at the big time.
Paul Ince at MK Dons is ignored for the job at Derby as Paul Jewell is given it today.
The only saving grace was that it is a dead end job as Derby are doomed for relegation so Ince would have been considered a failure.
Additionally, Birmingham hire Alex McLeish who failed to get Scotland to the Euro 2008 Finals.
All the discussion about failed managers getting second and third opportunities, while England struggles to play a game barely resembling possession football just illustrates that English football is heading for a collapse and the racism that pervades prevents coaches of color giving the English game an opportunity to think outside the box and try something different.
Sadly, what happens in England is then mimicked worldwide.
15
Football / Why FC Dallas?
« on: November 29, 2007, 07:32:20 PM »
The TTProLeague announced its realtionship today with FC Dallas, my question is why FC Dallas? Was it because they are available through Shaka? What would our players benefit from a relationship with FC Dallas? Why is an entire league forging a relationshi[p with a club? why why why?
16
Football / Becks Axed!
« on: November 20, 2007, 07:42:38 PM »
The MLS can kill your career?
Becks axed and Robinson goes too as ruthless McClaren backs England's reserves
By MATT LAWTON and NEIL ASHTON - More by this author »
Last updated at 23:11pm on 20th November 2007
Comments
David Beckham and Paul Robinson have been dropped for England's crucial European Championship qualifier against Croatia at Wembley tonight.
It is the first time Beckham has been in an England squad but not in the team since the 1998 World Cup.
And Robinson has played every competitive match since replacing David James in September 2004.
But Steve McClaren faces the sack if he fails to guide England to next summer's European Championship with at least a draw this evening and he has opted instead for Scott Carson and Shaun Wright-Phillips.
Gareth Barry is also selected as a holding midfielder ahead of the injury-plagued Owen Hargreaves, but the selection of Carson and Wright-Phillips in a 4-5-1 formation represents the biggest surprise.
Goalkeeper Carson, as predicted by Sportsmail yesterday, will be making his competitive debut, while England players had expected Beckham to start, guaranteeing that he will win his 99th cap.
McClaren refused to make his team public yesterday, only telling his players last night.
The England boss noted how Beckham — who has just returned from a two-month absence from injury — struggled with his fitness in the Austria friendly last Friday and he also decided he could not afford to see the error-prone Robinson make another costly mistake.
McClaren said: 'There's a risk in everything. But a manager has to be pragmatic and realistic and sometimes big decisions have to be made.
'We've got a job to do against Croatia. I've made a decision.'
The suspended Rio Ferdinand, who has been asked to join the squad in the dressing room, has urged England fans to support McClaren and his players.
The central defender said: 'Get behind the team and hopefully we'll do the job. Then you can start analysing and dissecting the team on the way to the tournament.
'We're not through yet and it's going to be a tough 90 minutes.'
Becks axed and Robinson goes too as ruthless McClaren backs England's reserves
By MATT LAWTON and NEIL ASHTON - More by this author »
Last updated at 23:11pm on 20th November 2007
Comments
David Beckham and Paul Robinson have been dropped for England's crucial European Championship qualifier against Croatia at Wembley tonight.
It is the first time Beckham has been in an England squad but not in the team since the 1998 World Cup.
And Robinson has played every competitive match since replacing David James in September 2004.
But Steve McClaren faces the sack if he fails to guide England to next summer's European Championship with at least a draw this evening and he has opted instead for Scott Carson and Shaun Wright-Phillips.
Gareth Barry is also selected as a holding midfielder ahead of the injury-plagued Owen Hargreaves, but the selection of Carson and Wright-Phillips in a 4-5-1 formation represents the biggest surprise.
Goalkeeper Carson, as predicted by Sportsmail yesterday, will be making his competitive debut, while England players had expected Beckham to start, guaranteeing that he will win his 99th cap.
McClaren refused to make his team public yesterday, only telling his players last night.
The England boss noted how Beckham — who has just returned from a two-month absence from injury — struggled with his fitness in the Austria friendly last Friday and he also decided he could not afford to see the error-prone Robinson make another costly mistake.
McClaren said: 'There's a risk in everything. But a manager has to be pragmatic and realistic and sometimes big decisions have to be made.
'We've got a job to do against Croatia. I've made a decision.'
The suspended Rio Ferdinand, who has been asked to join the squad in the dressing room, has urged England fans to support McClaren and his players.
The central defender said: 'Get behind the team and hopefully we'll do the job. Then you can start analysing and dissecting the team on the way to the tournament.
'We're not through yet and it's going to be a tough 90 minutes.'
17
Football / Mike Berry & Others Charged BY FA.
« on: November 15, 2007, 11:27:23 AM »
Luton and agents hit with charges
The FA's investigation into Luton began in March
The Football Association has issued more than 50 charges in connection with alleged breaches of rules at Luton Town, after an extensive investigation.
The charges relate to player transfers and contract renegotiations between July 2004 and February 2007.
The club, former chairman Bill Tomlins, ex-finance director Derek Peter and current directors John Mitchell and Richard Bagehot have been charged.
Six licensed players' agents have also been charged.
The investigation, which began in March this year, found that payments made to the six agents, totalling around £160,000, by the club's holding company Jayten (also known as J10) Stadium Limited were not disclosed to the FA on the required forms.
The six agents have been charged with knowingly accepting payments from Jayten for their services to the club in securing the services of players.
In addition, it has been alleged that services for the benefit of a Luton player, totalling approximately £7,000, were paid for drectly by Jayten but were not disclosed on the player's contract.
The full charges are as follows:
Luton Town have 17 charges, relating to payments to agents for nine specific player negotiations which were allegedly made through Jayten, rather than through the club as required by FA rules.
The Hatters have also been charged with provision of misleading information to the FA, not holding representation contracts with the relevant agents for the above negotiations, and dealing with two unlicensed agents (both through Jayten and directly).
Former chairman Bill Tomlins has been handed 15 charges. It is alleged that he was directly involved in 19 of the rule breaches listed above (except negotiations with two unlicensed agents which were not conducted through Jayten).
Former finance director Derek Peter is alleged to have approved payments made by Jayten in relation to the nine player negotiations.
Current directors John Mitchell and Richard Bagehot are charged with failing to report the alleged rule breaches to the FA when they became aware of them.
Licensed players' agents Sky Andrew, Mike Berry, Mark Curtis, Stephen Denos, David Manasseh and Andrew Mills are each charged with failing to ensure that payments to them were made and disclosed through the proper channels, and failing to enter into representation contracts with the club for specific services rendered in relation to to above negotiations.
All parties have until 30 November to respond to the charges.
The FA's investigation into Luton began in March
The Football Association has issued more than 50 charges in connection with alleged breaches of rules at Luton Town, after an extensive investigation.
The charges relate to player transfers and contract renegotiations between July 2004 and February 2007.
The club, former chairman Bill Tomlins, ex-finance director Derek Peter and current directors John Mitchell and Richard Bagehot have been charged.
Six licensed players' agents have also been charged.
The investigation, which began in March this year, found that payments made to the six agents, totalling around £160,000, by the club's holding company Jayten (also known as J10) Stadium Limited were not disclosed to the FA on the required forms.
The six agents have been charged with knowingly accepting payments from Jayten for their services to the club in securing the services of players.
In addition, it has been alleged that services for the benefit of a Luton player, totalling approximately £7,000, were paid for drectly by Jayten but were not disclosed on the player's contract.
The full charges are as follows:
Luton Town have 17 charges, relating to payments to agents for nine specific player negotiations which were allegedly made through Jayten, rather than through the club as required by FA rules.
The Hatters have also been charged with provision of misleading information to the FA, not holding representation contracts with the relevant agents for the above negotiations, and dealing with two unlicensed agents (both through Jayten and directly).
Former chairman Bill Tomlins has been handed 15 charges. It is alleged that he was directly involved in 19 of the rule breaches listed above (except negotiations with two unlicensed agents which were not conducted through Jayten).
Former finance director Derek Peter is alleged to have approved payments made by Jayten in relation to the nine player negotiations.
Current directors John Mitchell and Richard Bagehot are charged with failing to report the alleged rule breaches to the FA when they became aware of them.
Licensed players' agents Sky Andrew, Mike Berry, Mark Curtis, Stephen Denos, David Manasseh and Andrew Mills are each charged with failing to ensure that payments to them were made and disclosed through the proper channels, and failing to enter into representation contracts with the club for specific services rendered in relation to to above negotiations.
All parties have until 30 November to respond to the charges.
18
Football / Coppell: Wenger is hurting English football-Cry Cry Baby!
« on: November 09, 2007, 06:56:41 AM »
Why someone always has to be blames?
Coppell: Wenger is hurting English football
Last updated at 11:10am on 9th November 2007
Comments
Steve Coppell has stuck the boot into Arsene Wenger for failing to nurture English footballers who play with the same flair as his foreign stars during his 11 years at Arsenal.
Coppell claims Wenger's reliance on foreigners is "dangerous" for the long-term health of English football.
Worried: Coppell has his concerns about Wenger's policies
The Reading manager is the latest Premier League boss to single out the Frenchman over the lack of home-grown players in his Arsenal side.
Earlier in the week, Sir Alex Ferguson endorsed FIFA's plans to limit the number of foreign players in Premier League teams and suggested Arsenal would "protest the loudest" against it.
Ferguson's view was echoed by Coppell, whose side host Arsenal on Monday night, even though the former Crystal Palace boss has benefited from Wenger's English cast-offs in recent years, through players like midfielders James Harper and Steve Sidwell.
"I just think long term it is a dangerous game," said Coppell.
"I admire so much the football they [Arsenal] play, it is most pleasing on the eye, but you would hope that, given the fact that he (Wenger) has been there 10 years, he could create English players who could play that way.
"That would obviously enhance the national team."
Coppell firmly believes the current system needs to be addressed, highlighting the amount of talented youngsters discarded by big clubs in recent years.
"It's a cottage industry,” he said. "The ones not good enough for the first team are very profitable byproducts and are sold on.
"It has been of benefit to us but I always have one eye on the English national team and I think there should be a number of English players in every squad, every Saturday — we are in the English Premier League after all.
"You would have to start with a really low number. It is sad to see but one is a fairly regular number of English players in teams.
"It is inevitable that this is going to affect the England team over a number of years."
Coppell: Wenger is hurting English football
Last updated at 11:10am on 9th November 2007
Comments
Steve Coppell has stuck the boot into Arsene Wenger for failing to nurture English footballers who play with the same flair as his foreign stars during his 11 years at Arsenal.
Coppell claims Wenger's reliance on foreigners is "dangerous" for the long-term health of English football.
Worried: Coppell has his concerns about Wenger's policies
The Reading manager is the latest Premier League boss to single out the Frenchman over the lack of home-grown players in his Arsenal side.
Earlier in the week, Sir Alex Ferguson endorsed FIFA's plans to limit the number of foreign players in Premier League teams and suggested Arsenal would "protest the loudest" against it.
Ferguson's view was echoed by Coppell, whose side host Arsenal on Monday night, even though the former Crystal Palace boss has benefited from Wenger's English cast-offs in recent years, through players like midfielders James Harper and Steve Sidwell.
"I just think long term it is a dangerous game," said Coppell.
"I admire so much the football they [Arsenal] play, it is most pleasing on the eye, but you would hope that, given the fact that he (Wenger) has been there 10 years, he could create English players who could play that way.
"That would obviously enhance the national team."
Coppell firmly believes the current system needs to be addressed, highlighting the amount of talented youngsters discarded by big clubs in recent years.
"It's a cottage industry,” he said. "The ones not good enough for the first team are very profitable byproducts and are sold on.
"It has been of benefit to us but I always have one eye on the English national team and I think there should be a number of English players in every squad, every Saturday — we are in the English Premier League after all.
"You would have to start with a really low number. It is sad to see but one is a fairly regular number of English players in teams.
"It is inevitable that this is going to affect the England team over a number of years."
19
Football / Mourinho Apoligizes?
« on: November 08, 2007, 02:07:29 PM »
Mourinho 'pulled ears of schoolboy, 12, who said he was not the best'
Last updated at 15:20pm on 8th November 2007
As the manager of Chelsea he heard far worse on the football terraces. But a schoolboy's taunts have finally pushed Jose Mourinho over the edge.
The self-proclaimed 'Special One' flew into a rage when his 11-year-old daughter told him about playground jibes that he was not "the best", it has been revealed.
He found the culprit, a 12-year-old schoolboy, and held him by the hair while he "pulled" his ears, the Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha reported.
Mr Mourinho, 44, was then summoned before the headmistress and made to formally apologise to his tearful victim and his family.
Shocked witnesses said the drama unfolded when the former Chelsea boss went to pick up his daughter Matilde from her £6,500-a-year bilingual school in Setubal, near Lisbon, yesterday afternoon.
One told how he watched Mr Mourinho grab Pedro Antonio and hand out his unorthodox dressing-down, and said he was left "speechless".
Isabel Simao, the headmistress of St Peter's School, said it had followed a row between the boy and Matilde Mourinho.
She said: "From what I can gather it was just a typical children's row with children's words. She claimed her dad was the best but the boy said he wasn't. It was as simple as that."
But Mrs Simao was forced to step in after seeing Mr Mourinho's furious reaction.
"I saw Mr Mourinho grabbing the child's arm,' she said. "There was no physical assault in the literal sense of the term. Pedro cried a bit at first and seemed frightened but we calmed him down.
"I asked him several times if Mr Mourinho had punched or kicked him and he denied it. But I knew that Mr Mourinho had also grabbed his hair, as the child has long hair.
"He was upset about what happened, he is after all a 12-year-old boy, but he accepted the apology."
Mrs Simao said she called Mr Mourinho and the boy's family to a meeting before the school board and said the world famous football manager presented a formal apology to the boy, his parents and the school.
Simply the best?: Not according to 12-year-old Pedro
She said: "We treated it like we would any other incident and called a meeting to tackle the problem. Mourinho said he was sorry for what had happened and he apologised to the boy and his parents. Everything was sorted out in the end."
Mrs Simao said Miss Mourinho had told the school board that Pedro had insulted her father, but that the boy had denied saying anything offensive.
A friend of Mr Mourinho, his former spokeswoman Eladio Parames, told Correio da Manha that the boy had insulted Matilde, but refused to comment further.
The Special One has had a difficult few months. After he was sacked by Chelsea in September he said he wanted to spend more time with his family and would wait to be offered a manager's job with another world-class team.
Then last month it was claimed that he had a lengthy affair with Elsa Sousa, while he was manager at Leiria, before his time at Porto and then Chelsea.
Mr Mourinho's agent yesterday refused to comment on the school row.
Pedro Farrim's father Antonio said: "It is all perfectly resolved. I have nothing more to declare. For me, the matter wasn't even that important. I repeat – the matter between me and Mr José Mourinho is resolved."
Last updated at 15:20pm on 8th November 2007
As the manager of Chelsea he heard far worse on the football terraces. But a schoolboy's taunts have finally pushed Jose Mourinho over the edge.
The self-proclaimed 'Special One' flew into a rage when his 11-year-old daughter told him about playground jibes that he was not "the best", it has been revealed.
He found the culprit, a 12-year-old schoolboy, and held him by the hair while he "pulled" his ears, the Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha reported.
Mr Mourinho, 44, was then summoned before the headmistress and made to formally apologise to his tearful victim and his family.
Shocked witnesses said the drama unfolded when the former Chelsea boss went to pick up his daughter Matilde from her £6,500-a-year bilingual school in Setubal, near Lisbon, yesterday afternoon.
One told how he watched Mr Mourinho grab Pedro Antonio and hand out his unorthodox dressing-down, and said he was left "speechless".
Isabel Simao, the headmistress of St Peter's School, said it had followed a row between the boy and Matilde Mourinho.
She said: "From what I can gather it was just a typical children's row with children's words. She claimed her dad was the best but the boy said he wasn't. It was as simple as that."
But Mrs Simao was forced to step in after seeing Mr Mourinho's furious reaction.
"I saw Mr Mourinho grabbing the child's arm,' she said. "There was no physical assault in the literal sense of the term. Pedro cried a bit at first and seemed frightened but we calmed him down.
"I asked him several times if Mr Mourinho had punched or kicked him and he denied it. But I knew that Mr Mourinho had also grabbed his hair, as the child has long hair.
"He was upset about what happened, he is after all a 12-year-old boy, but he accepted the apology."
Mrs Simao said she called Mr Mourinho and the boy's family to a meeting before the school board and said the world famous football manager presented a formal apology to the boy, his parents and the school.
Simply the best?: Not according to 12-year-old Pedro
She said: "We treated it like we would any other incident and called a meeting to tackle the problem. Mourinho said he was sorry for what had happened and he apologised to the boy and his parents. Everything was sorted out in the end."
Mrs Simao said Miss Mourinho had told the school board that Pedro had insulted her father, but that the boy had denied saying anything offensive.
A friend of Mr Mourinho, his former spokeswoman Eladio Parames, told Correio da Manha that the boy had insulted Matilde, but refused to comment further.
The Special One has had a difficult few months. After he was sacked by Chelsea in September he said he wanted to spend more time with his family and would wait to be offered a manager's job with another world-class team.
Then last month it was claimed that he had a lengthy affair with Elsa Sousa, while he was manager at Leiria, before his time at Porto and then Chelsea.
Mr Mourinho's agent yesterday refused to comment on the school row.
Pedro Farrim's father Antonio said: "It is all perfectly resolved. I have nothing more to declare. For me, the matter wasn't even that important. I repeat – the matter between me and Mr José Mourinho is resolved."
20
Football / The making of a Superstar.
« on: November 08, 2007, 11:42:30 AM »
Would like to get some input on what, outside of share ability, that you feel makes a football player reach the height of Pele, Ronaldinho, Maradona and others. For example, during the days of Pele, some would argue that guys like garrincha may have been better and was more worthy of the God like status that Pele enjoyed. Also, there are guys in today 's game, as well as recent times, such as Seedorf, Platini, Juninho, Ardiles, Riquelme, to name a few, that are great players but cannot or has not break that ceiling to influence the game such as Ronaldinho and others has. Does it have something to do with marketability, behaviour, team, league what? Would like some feedback. Now keep in mind that I am aware that there are many more players that I could have listed, but I chose to name the ones I did and this is not about who prefer which player.
21
General Discussion / What Next For Jack?
« on: November 05, 2007, 08:11:24 PM »
After the cut axx tonight, what next for Jack?
22
Football / United Beware!!!!!!!!!!!!
« on: October 29, 2007, 12:04:31 PM »
ARSENE WENGER has told Alex Ferguson that Arsenal will be an even more potent force when they clash on Saturday.
Cesc Fabregas earned the Gunners a draw yesterday to leave them level at the top with Manchester United.
Arsenal boss Wenger said: “We came through a big test here and as a result of this performance we will go into our next match at the Emirates feeling much stronger.”
Steve Gerrard gave Liverpool a seventh-minute lead before Fab grabbed a point with his late strike.
Wenger added: “I was very, very pleased with the team performance and the attitude we showed after going a goal down so early.
“Everyone said this was our first big test, and it was.
“But the character we showed will do a lot for our confidence and belief.
“There is a long way to go but we showed we have the talent to fight all the way for the championship.
“That is why I feel we will be even stronger after this.”
Kop boss Rafa Benitez cursed his luck after losing Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso.
Both men were making injury comebacks but Torres’ thigh problem flared up while Alonso complained his metatarsal was hurting.
Benitez said: “It is the same injury for Torres, but perhaps not so bad, and Xabi says he could feel the metatarsal again.
“We will have to see how it is then but it does not look good.”
Cesc Fabregas earned the Gunners a draw yesterday to leave them level at the top with Manchester United.
Arsenal boss Wenger said: “We came through a big test here and as a result of this performance we will go into our next match at the Emirates feeling much stronger.”
Steve Gerrard gave Liverpool a seventh-minute lead before Fab grabbed a point with his late strike.
Wenger added: “I was very, very pleased with the team performance and the attitude we showed after going a goal down so early.
“Everyone said this was our first big test, and it was.
“But the character we showed will do a lot for our confidence and belief.
“There is a long way to go but we showed we have the talent to fight all the way for the championship.
“That is why I feel we will be even stronger after this.”
Kop boss Rafa Benitez cursed his luck after losing Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso.
Both men were making injury comebacks but Torres’ thigh problem flared up while Alonso complained his metatarsal was hurting.
Benitez said: “It is the same injury for Torres, but perhaps not so bad, and Xabi says he could feel the metatarsal again.
“We will have to see how it is then but it does not look good.”
23
Football / Fifa abandons World Cup rotation-Let the bidding begin.
« on: October 29, 2007, 10:20:14 AM »
Fifa abandons World Cup rotation
A number of strong contenders are expected to bid for 2018
Fifa has dropped its policy of rotating the World Cup between continents, opening the way for England to bid to stage the tournament in 2018.
The Football Association said the news was "very encouraging" and said there was a strong case for England to bid.
Chief executive Brian Barwick said: "It is exactly what we were hoping for and we will now discuss a timetable for a potential bid."
A number of other strong contenders are expected, including China and Russia.
Countries belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding tournaments are barred from applying.
For 2018, that would rule out bids from Africa or South America, with South Africa hosting the tournament in 2010 and Brazil poised to be confirmed as 2014 hosts this week.
Would you like to see the World Cup in England?
Barwick added: "We have already received tremendous support from prime minister Gordon Brown and the government, and we all recognise the importance of government support in any bidding process.
"We realise there will be strong competition involved in any bidding process, but we know that England has fantastic stadiums, a unique tradition and passion for the game and also a very strong infrastructure already in place.
"If we do bid, and England is awarded the 2018 World Cup, I'm sure it would be brilliant for English football and the whole country."
BBC Radio 5 Live's sports news correspondent Gordon Farquhar said Fifa thought it had made a "tactical mistake" in its rotation policy in that the continents were deciding internally who their candidates should be.
"It worked OK for Africa because there was competition but for South America, they all stood squarely behind Brazil and that was the only candidate put forward.
"I think there's a concern that when you do that you don't get the best possible outcome because you don't have candidates competing against one another."
With four continental bodies able to bid for 2018 (Asia, Oceania, Concacaf and Europe) Farquhar believes there will be a 2018 bid from Australia.
"Who knows, there is the prospect of the US or even Canada, Jamaica or Mexico coming forward from Concacaf," he added.
More money for FIFA VP?
A number of strong contenders are expected to bid for 2018
Fifa has dropped its policy of rotating the World Cup between continents, opening the way for England to bid to stage the tournament in 2018.
The Football Association said the news was "very encouraging" and said there was a strong case for England to bid.
Chief executive Brian Barwick said: "It is exactly what we were hoping for and we will now discuss a timetable for a potential bid."
A number of other strong contenders are expected, including China and Russia.
Countries belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding tournaments are barred from applying.
For 2018, that would rule out bids from Africa or South America, with South Africa hosting the tournament in 2010 and Brazil poised to be confirmed as 2014 hosts this week.
Would you like to see the World Cup in England?
Barwick added: "We have already received tremendous support from prime minister Gordon Brown and the government, and we all recognise the importance of government support in any bidding process.
"We realise there will be strong competition involved in any bidding process, but we know that England has fantastic stadiums, a unique tradition and passion for the game and also a very strong infrastructure already in place.
"If we do bid, and England is awarded the 2018 World Cup, I'm sure it would be brilliant for English football and the whole country."
BBC Radio 5 Live's sports news correspondent Gordon Farquhar said Fifa thought it had made a "tactical mistake" in its rotation policy in that the continents were deciding internally who their candidates should be.
"It worked OK for Africa because there was competition but for South America, they all stood squarely behind Brazil and that was the only candidate put forward.
"I think there's a concern that when you do that you don't get the best possible outcome because you don't have candidates competing against one another."
With four continental bodies able to bid for 2018 (Asia, Oceania, Concacaf and Europe) Farquhar believes there will be a 2018 bid from Australia.
"Who knows, there is the prospect of the US or even Canada, Jamaica or Mexico coming forward from Concacaf," he added.
More money for FIFA VP?
24
I will use England since we are currently experienceing the debacle surrounding Martin Jol firing ... and recent mistreatment of coaches such as Jose Maurinho, along with the many others can be sited. Is there morality in English football or football on the whole? Has morality lost it's way in English Football or has it lost it's way in world football?
25
Football / The Little Devil (The New Boss)
« on: October 21, 2007, 07:07:16 PM »
Barcelona’s ‘Flea’ is the latest Argentinian to carry the New Maradona tag, and hopes to live up to it against Rangers
Ian Hawkey
Tired and a little jet-lagged after their 12-hour flight from Caracas, Barcelona’s Argentine internationals smiled, signed autographs and then sighed to themselves as they walked out of El Prat airport on Wednesday and saw the 150-metre queue for taxis. Gabriel Milito, the sturdy central defender, dutifully took his place at the end of the line and wondered what had become of his travelling companion. Leo Messi had slipped under the barrier at the front of the queue. He then strode up to the first cab on the rank, leaving bemused businessmen and tourists wearing an expression familiar to a growing number of opposition full-backs.
In the past few days Barcelona’s footballers have been issued with a new code of conduct, although in it there is no regulation about queue-jumping in public places. Besides, Messi can get away with just about anything in this city. The rules about good behaviour have been issued with a view to making sure some of the older footballers in the squad remember how much sleep they should be getting. A few fiesta-lovers are under stern scrutiny. Not Messi, who is regarded within Barça with awe. He has been the best player in La Liga so far this season and it is hard to think of a forward anywhere in such form.
His goal for Argentina in Venezuela was his ninth of the season. For Barcelona, they have been coming often in pairs and with a panache that keeps them clear in the mind’s eye for weeks afterwards.
Messi plays in a team in which it is easy to be distracted: by Thierry Henry’s acceleration, Samuel Eto’o’s finishing, Ronaldinho’s dummies, Deco’s shimmies or Xavi’s precision over long distances, but it has been hardly possible to take your eye off Messi for the past six months. At the moment the 20-year-old is far closer than Ronaldinho or the injured Eto’o to being their talisman.
It is barely two years since Messi began to make hard men gawp. Barcelona were playing Juventus in a preseason friendly, before a good crowd and a knowledgeable opposition coach, Fabio Capello, who watched this small, wiry, mop-haired teenager and asked: “Where on earth did this little devil spring from?”
That there is something diabolic about Messi is a shared view. On the ball he is confrontational, a provocative dribbler, of whom it is often observed by colleagues and by conquered defenders that what classes him beyond most tricksters is that there seems little difference in his speed when he has the ball compared with when he does not.
Others who aspire to the same control and range of manoeuvres, such as the Brazilian Robinho, point out how close Messi keeps the ball to his feet, even when dribbling at pace. Inevitably he gets fouled a great deal. He wins free kicks and penalties and makes the odd enemy for it. The former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho thought Messi had a touch of devil in him on the night at Stamford Bridge when his full-back, Asier Del Horno, missed most of the defeat against Barcelona because of a red card for a clattering challenge on Messi. Mourinho called him excessively theatrical.
Messi scores goals full of theatre, dramatic goals, finishing off virtuoso runs, such as the slalom that began just inside his own half in a cup tie against Getafe last spring. Or the wonderful lob he arched over the Mexico goalkeeper during the Copa America in July. The Getafe goal drew comparison with the one scored by Diego Maradona against England at the 1986 World Cup – the brilliant one, not the handball. So similar were the runs and the turns and the distance travelled by each soloist that a diagram of one could be superimposed on the other with very few differences.
Messi, the “little devil”, also scored a goal with his hand towards the end of last season, evoking the same comparison. He is barely taller than Maradona, although built very differently, and he appears to be taking it in his stride that the dazzling dribbles, the light feet, the preference for his left foot and the ardour he excites from Argentina’s football support have obliged him to occupy the thankless position of being the latest New Maradona. Messi has barged his way to the front of that queue, which has included Ariel Ortega, Pablo Aimar and Carlos Tevez. Old Maradona always blesses these successors, but with Messi he is more enthusiastic than with some. “Maybe he’ll be even better than me,” said Maradona this month.
“One day, I’ll be able to say I played with Messi,” declared Henry with a self-deprecation that he doesn’t always give willingly. The Barça head coach, Frank Rijkaard, a man given to sparse phrases, comes over all lyrical about Messi. “He’s a pearl,” says Rijkaard. “It’s a pleasure having him in the team and just watching him in every game. Right now, you cannot compare anybody with him, and not just because of the form he has been in, but for the things he does. His youth is obviously in his favour, because at his age, you are always capable of learning and improving, although he has been the real thing as a footballer for some time. There are a lot of very good players, but Messi is one of the really special few because of the things he can do, and how he does them. He’s also a very likeable person, who makes you warm to him. He’s a great colleague to have.”
Rijkaard can specify the progress: Messi seems to have become more two-footed even in the past six months; where a marker could anticipate with some certainty that he could cut inside from his position on the right of Barça’s forward line, it is no longer guaranteed. Messi shows himself for the ball more willingly and with more intelligence than a year ago. Rijkaard recognises him as a big-game player too. So does Capello, for whom the unknown devil of 2005 became the scorer of a glorious hat-trick the last time Barcelona played Real Madrid, Capello’s Madrid, in March.
Rijkaard did not judge him the man for the big occasion 18 months ago, when Messi, recovering from injury, made the party that went to Paris for the Champions League final but did not make the bench. The teenager responded with mild indignation, by some accounts, and will come to be remembered as a significant absentee in a victory that celebrated Barcelona’s preeminence in club football over the past three years, a win secured on the night by Eto’o and Henrik Larsson. Larsson might not have left Barcelona so quickly had he not detected that the hierarchy among the club’s strikers had been radically altered by Messi’s stratospheric rise from the youth team; nor would have talented winger Ludovic Giuly, who departed in the summer.
The able Eidur Gudjohnsen now finds himself seventh in the pecking order of forwards. Messi is just about first, Eto’o – out injured until next month – probably second, Henry third and Ronaldinho . . . well, Ronaldinho has been dropped or substituted more times than he has played 90 minutes this season. And in Messi’s slipstream are a pair of teenagers, the Mexican Giovanni and the Serbian-Catalan, Bojan Krkic, who owe something to the confidence spread by Messi’s prodigiousness for their elevation to the first-team squad.
Barcelona made Messi as much as Argentina did. He arrived there as a 14-year-old with problems: a deficit in his metabolism that had set back his growth and for which hormone treatment had been prescribed. Barça took him on and paid for the treatment - expensive, but a wise investment.
One of his youth coaches relates how the young Messi, in an intake that included Cesc Fabregas, would sit on a wooden bench with his 15-year-old contemporaries, the only player whose feet did not touch the ground. He is still a titch, still known as The Flea, but the boy is swiftly becoming a giant of his sport.
Ian Hawkey
Tired and a little jet-lagged after their 12-hour flight from Caracas, Barcelona’s Argentine internationals smiled, signed autographs and then sighed to themselves as they walked out of El Prat airport on Wednesday and saw the 150-metre queue for taxis. Gabriel Milito, the sturdy central defender, dutifully took his place at the end of the line and wondered what had become of his travelling companion. Leo Messi had slipped under the barrier at the front of the queue. He then strode up to the first cab on the rank, leaving bemused businessmen and tourists wearing an expression familiar to a growing number of opposition full-backs.
In the past few days Barcelona’s footballers have been issued with a new code of conduct, although in it there is no regulation about queue-jumping in public places. Besides, Messi can get away with just about anything in this city. The rules about good behaviour have been issued with a view to making sure some of the older footballers in the squad remember how much sleep they should be getting. A few fiesta-lovers are under stern scrutiny. Not Messi, who is regarded within Barça with awe. He has been the best player in La Liga so far this season and it is hard to think of a forward anywhere in such form.
His goal for Argentina in Venezuela was his ninth of the season. For Barcelona, they have been coming often in pairs and with a panache that keeps them clear in the mind’s eye for weeks afterwards.
Messi plays in a team in which it is easy to be distracted: by Thierry Henry’s acceleration, Samuel Eto’o’s finishing, Ronaldinho’s dummies, Deco’s shimmies or Xavi’s precision over long distances, but it has been hardly possible to take your eye off Messi for the past six months. At the moment the 20-year-old is far closer than Ronaldinho or the injured Eto’o to being their talisman.
It is barely two years since Messi began to make hard men gawp. Barcelona were playing Juventus in a preseason friendly, before a good crowd and a knowledgeable opposition coach, Fabio Capello, who watched this small, wiry, mop-haired teenager and asked: “Where on earth did this little devil spring from?”
That there is something diabolic about Messi is a shared view. On the ball he is confrontational, a provocative dribbler, of whom it is often observed by colleagues and by conquered defenders that what classes him beyond most tricksters is that there seems little difference in his speed when he has the ball compared with when he does not.
Others who aspire to the same control and range of manoeuvres, such as the Brazilian Robinho, point out how close Messi keeps the ball to his feet, even when dribbling at pace. Inevitably he gets fouled a great deal. He wins free kicks and penalties and makes the odd enemy for it. The former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho thought Messi had a touch of devil in him on the night at Stamford Bridge when his full-back, Asier Del Horno, missed most of the defeat against Barcelona because of a red card for a clattering challenge on Messi. Mourinho called him excessively theatrical.
Messi scores goals full of theatre, dramatic goals, finishing off virtuoso runs, such as the slalom that began just inside his own half in a cup tie against Getafe last spring. Or the wonderful lob he arched over the Mexico goalkeeper during the Copa America in July. The Getafe goal drew comparison with the one scored by Diego Maradona against England at the 1986 World Cup – the brilliant one, not the handball. So similar were the runs and the turns and the distance travelled by each soloist that a diagram of one could be superimposed on the other with very few differences.
Messi, the “little devil”, also scored a goal with his hand towards the end of last season, evoking the same comparison. He is barely taller than Maradona, although built very differently, and he appears to be taking it in his stride that the dazzling dribbles, the light feet, the preference for his left foot and the ardour he excites from Argentina’s football support have obliged him to occupy the thankless position of being the latest New Maradona. Messi has barged his way to the front of that queue, which has included Ariel Ortega, Pablo Aimar and Carlos Tevez. Old Maradona always blesses these successors, but with Messi he is more enthusiastic than with some. “Maybe he’ll be even better than me,” said Maradona this month.
“One day, I’ll be able to say I played with Messi,” declared Henry with a self-deprecation that he doesn’t always give willingly. The Barça head coach, Frank Rijkaard, a man given to sparse phrases, comes over all lyrical about Messi. “He’s a pearl,” says Rijkaard. “It’s a pleasure having him in the team and just watching him in every game. Right now, you cannot compare anybody with him, and not just because of the form he has been in, but for the things he does. His youth is obviously in his favour, because at his age, you are always capable of learning and improving, although he has been the real thing as a footballer for some time. There are a lot of very good players, but Messi is one of the really special few because of the things he can do, and how he does them. He’s also a very likeable person, who makes you warm to him. He’s a great colleague to have.”
Rijkaard can specify the progress: Messi seems to have become more two-footed even in the past six months; where a marker could anticipate with some certainty that he could cut inside from his position on the right of Barça’s forward line, it is no longer guaranteed. Messi shows himself for the ball more willingly and with more intelligence than a year ago. Rijkaard recognises him as a big-game player too. So does Capello, for whom the unknown devil of 2005 became the scorer of a glorious hat-trick the last time Barcelona played Real Madrid, Capello’s Madrid, in March.
Rijkaard did not judge him the man for the big occasion 18 months ago, when Messi, recovering from injury, made the party that went to Paris for the Champions League final but did not make the bench. The teenager responded with mild indignation, by some accounts, and will come to be remembered as a significant absentee in a victory that celebrated Barcelona’s preeminence in club football over the past three years, a win secured on the night by Eto’o and Henrik Larsson. Larsson might not have left Barcelona so quickly had he not detected that the hierarchy among the club’s strikers had been radically altered by Messi’s stratospheric rise from the youth team; nor would have talented winger Ludovic Giuly, who departed in the summer.
The able Eidur Gudjohnsen now finds himself seventh in the pecking order of forwards. Messi is just about first, Eto’o – out injured until next month – probably second, Henry third and Ronaldinho . . . well, Ronaldinho has been dropped or substituted more times than he has played 90 minutes this season. And in Messi’s slipstream are a pair of teenagers, the Mexican Giovanni and the Serbian-Catalan, Bojan Krkic, who owe something to the confidence spread by Messi’s prodigiousness for their elevation to the first-team squad.
Barcelona made Messi as much as Argentina did. He arrived there as a 14-year-old with problems: a deficit in his metabolism that had set back his growth and for which hormone treatment had been prescribed. Barça took him on and paid for the treatment - expensive, but a wise investment.
One of his youth coaches relates how the young Messi, in an intake that included Cesc Fabregas, would sit on a wooden bench with his 15-year-old contemporaries, the only player whose feet did not touch the ground. He is still a titch, still known as The Flea, but the boy is swiftly becoming a giant of his sport.
26
Football / National Football Teams!
« on: October 12, 2007, 11:42:04 AM »
Why system snd style does the Trinidad & Tobago national teams play ... do we use the same system and style with every team or is that left up to each coach?
27
Football / Footballer Going Cheap.
« on: September 13, 2007, 07:52:13 PM »
At the end of every season hundreds of players are discarded by their clubs to face an uncertain future. Glenn Moore reports on how the rejected cope with spending the summer waiting by the phone
Published: 05 September 2007
Andrei Voronin, Mark Viduka, Steve Sidwell, Geovanni. It is amazing what you can pick up for nothing these days. Except, as every manager knows, these free transfers are not free at all, not when they are commanding wages approaching £100,000 a week.
Look a little lower down the leagues, though, and there are footballers going cheap. These are players whose availability has nothing to do with Marc Bosman; they are the rejected, the old-fashioned "free transfer". The cull comes every year. At the end of last season around 750 players, from naïve youngsters to cynical old pros, were "released". The list featured eight former England internationals, including Robbie Fowler, Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole. All found new clubs. Another notable name, Jerzy Dudek, is now warming the bench at Real Madrid.
So much for the famous few, what of the masses? The Professional' Association keeps a register of available players. This list numbered 196 yesterday. It suggests nearly a quarter of the released will not find work within the game. Football may be the dream career for so many young boys, but it is also a brutal industry.
In June The Independent spoke to one of the casualties, Rhys Weston. A former pupil at the FA School of Excellence, Weston played for Arsenal, was capped by Wales, and made more than 200 appearances for Cardiff City. That is more than most aspiring footballers will ever achieve, but his dream had soured. When we met he was an out-of-work 26-year-old footballer wondering about his future, having been released by Port Vale. "It does make you take stock a little bit," he said then. "You know you won't play football for ever, but normally you don't think about the future until you get to 30."
Weston's concern was multiplied by family commitments. In his quest for work he had spent seven of the previous 12 months living away from home, in addition his stepson, Connor, was about to start senior school.
"If only I had another profession to fall back on, the way I've been feeling about football the last six months, I'd jack it in," he said. "The first thing I will initiate when I get a contract is a business management course. I don't want to be looking over my shoulder again, nicking a year here, a year there, trying to drag it out as long as possible.
"It's not desperation stakes yet but, if it comes to the end of July and I'm still going down the gym on my own every day, maybe then it will be time to start panicking."
Fortunately for Weston it did not come to that. In July he was given a one-year contract by Walsall and is now their right-back. His love for the game has been rekindled – he spent Sunday, his day off, watching Aston Villa v Chelsea at Villa Park with his son.
It was the start of a big week. On Monday the family moved up from Cardiff; yesterday Connor started his new school. "Kay [his wife] and I had a long discussion. It is not healthy living apart for another year," said Weston. "We're renting for six months to see how it goes. I've been told if we're doing OK, and I'm doing OK, there will be a contract review at Christmas.
"This is a good location, geographically. We can get to a lot of clubs in an hour, and if things don't go well we won't need to move again, or change school."
And what about that business management course? "I sent off the enrolment form on Monday. Classes start later this month. They are Monday and Wednesday nights, so I might have to miss a few because of matches, but I intend to give it a go."
The day after Weston was at Villa Park, John Ward was there. As manager of Cheltenham Ward relies on free transfers to build a team, so he was watching Villa's reserves play Fulham's reserves.
"It was not for this season, most of the lads are too young, but there are boys you want to be aware of in case they don't progress," said Ward yesterday. "Martin O'Neill and Lawrie Sanchez [respectively managers of Villa and Fulham] have both brought in a lot of players so it will be difficult for these lads to get a first-team place. Some of them will be released and we may be able to pick them up.
"I say to them, 'We can't pay you the thousands you might want, but I can offer you the second chance'. We tell them we won't stand in their way if an opportunity comes to progress – we've sold three players to Championship clubs in the last six months.
"Michael Townsend is an example. He was released by Wolves and came to us. He's now 21 and he's played 85 times in our first team as a centre-half. That's a difficult position for a young player and I doubt he would have played that many games at a higher level. Now he's at the stage where Championship clubs will look at him and think, 'He's not bad'. Being released is a big blow psychologically for these lads," added Ward. "Townsend was a Midlands lad, Wolves were his team. You have to lift him mentally. The first six months he did not play for us, we just worked with him on the training ground.
"He's now confident, he knows what he can do. You need patience and I'm fortunate here in that the board are happy to give me time to develop players."
Ward knows the pressure of being "freed". It happened to him. "I left Lincoln for Watford when I was 28. Two years later they said to me, 'That's it'. It was a blow. I thought I'd get another year. I was married with three kids, we'd moved down from Lincoln, which was my home town. We then had to move again. As well as the professional aspect it has an effect on your family. I'm always aware of that when talking to players."
It is the youngsters, those with stars in their eyes but insufficient gold dust in their boots, who suffer most. "Five out of six players who come into the game at 16 are out of it at 21," said Gordon Taylor, the PFA's chief executive. "That's an 85 per cent fallout rate which is not a good take-up for any industry.
"Steve Coppell once described [club youth systems] to me as 'like turtles laying eggs on the beach – they lay dozens because they know most of them are not going to make it'.
"Lads come in with such high hopes. The PFA works to educate them, and try and offer them further education, but when a kid has been dreaming of being the next David Beckham it is a big thing to accept there is a new life he can make outside football."
So spare a thought for those who find themselves rejected, especially those released by a League One club such as Cheltenham.
"There's not many places to go after us," admits Ward. "We try and find them other work in football, like a good non-League club. It is about the person as well as the player."
'It's been a good move for me. I'm playing'
For some footballers a free transfer, and the change of environment it brings, can rejuvenate a career. Julian Gray, once a promising youngster with Arsenal and Crystal Palace, had drifted out of favour at Birmingham City, making only two starts as they won promotion last season. This summer he joined Coventry City under his old Palace manager, Iain Dowie, and now is an ever-present with the Championship leaders.
"It's been a really good move for me," said Gray yesterday. "Now I'm playing, week in, week out, whereas last season I just didn't play that much football at all. It was very hard to train all week and then not feature on a Saturday, travelling to the games and not being part of them. I'd had enough of doing that."
Gray, 27, added: "Steve Bruce [Birmingham City's manager] offered to take up the option to extend my contract, which was good to hear, but if I hadn't played when the team was in the Championship the chances of playing in the Premier League were even less. I'm ambitious and I'm not going to achieve those ambitions if I don't play.
"Some people said, 'You are giving up the chance to be part of a Premier League club', but that wasn't the point, for me. They also say that I must be pleased to have been involved in a promotion team but, although I was in the squad, I don't really feel I made a contribution. It was a relief to leave in the end.
"I believe in my own ability, so it wasn't really a case of worrying whether or not another club would want me. Clubs know what I'm capable of doing and I had a lot of offers. I took my time about making the right decision and spent most of the summer considering them. I wanted to make sure I went to the right place. If I had joined a League One club, then it wouldn't have bothered me if I knew I would enjoy playing there.
It wasn't until the second week of pre-season that I made my decision.
"Not having to move was a bonus. Coventry is just 20 minutes down the road and I didn't have much upheaval, but the main reason I moved was Iain Dowie."
[/sup
Published: 05 September 2007
Andrei Voronin, Mark Viduka, Steve Sidwell, Geovanni. It is amazing what you can pick up for nothing these days. Except, as every manager knows, these free transfers are not free at all, not when they are commanding wages approaching £100,000 a week.
Look a little lower down the leagues, though, and there are footballers going cheap. These are players whose availability has nothing to do with Marc Bosman; they are the rejected, the old-fashioned "free transfer". The cull comes every year. At the end of last season around 750 players, from naïve youngsters to cynical old pros, were "released". The list featured eight former England internationals, including Robbie Fowler, Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole. All found new clubs. Another notable name, Jerzy Dudek, is now warming the bench at Real Madrid.
So much for the famous few, what of the masses? The Professional' Association keeps a register of available players. This list numbered 196 yesterday. It suggests nearly a quarter of the released will not find work within the game. Football may be the dream career for so many young boys, but it is also a brutal industry.
In June The Independent spoke to one of the casualties, Rhys Weston. A former pupil at the FA School of Excellence, Weston played for Arsenal, was capped by Wales, and made more than 200 appearances for Cardiff City. That is more than most aspiring footballers will ever achieve, but his dream had soured. When we met he was an out-of-work 26-year-old footballer wondering about his future, having been released by Port Vale. "It does make you take stock a little bit," he said then. "You know you won't play football for ever, but normally you don't think about the future until you get to 30."
Weston's concern was multiplied by family commitments. In his quest for work he had spent seven of the previous 12 months living away from home, in addition his stepson, Connor, was about to start senior school.
"If only I had another profession to fall back on, the way I've been feeling about football the last six months, I'd jack it in," he said. "The first thing I will initiate when I get a contract is a business management course. I don't want to be looking over my shoulder again, nicking a year here, a year there, trying to drag it out as long as possible.
"It's not desperation stakes yet but, if it comes to the end of July and I'm still going down the gym on my own every day, maybe then it will be time to start panicking."
Fortunately for Weston it did not come to that. In July he was given a one-year contract by Walsall and is now their right-back. His love for the game has been rekindled – he spent Sunday, his day off, watching Aston Villa v Chelsea at Villa Park with his son.
It was the start of a big week. On Monday the family moved up from Cardiff; yesterday Connor started his new school. "Kay [his wife] and I had a long discussion. It is not healthy living apart for another year," said Weston. "We're renting for six months to see how it goes. I've been told if we're doing OK, and I'm doing OK, there will be a contract review at Christmas.
"This is a good location, geographically. We can get to a lot of clubs in an hour, and if things don't go well we won't need to move again, or change school."
And what about that business management course? "I sent off the enrolment form on Monday. Classes start later this month. They are Monday and Wednesday nights, so I might have to miss a few because of matches, but I intend to give it a go."
The day after Weston was at Villa Park, John Ward was there. As manager of Cheltenham Ward relies on free transfers to build a team, so he was watching Villa's reserves play Fulham's reserves.
"It was not for this season, most of the lads are too young, but there are boys you want to be aware of in case they don't progress," said Ward yesterday. "Martin O'Neill and Lawrie Sanchez [respectively managers of Villa and Fulham] have both brought in a lot of players so it will be difficult for these lads to get a first-team place. Some of them will be released and we may be able to pick them up.
"I say to them, 'We can't pay you the thousands you might want, but I can offer you the second chance'. We tell them we won't stand in their way if an opportunity comes to progress – we've sold three players to Championship clubs in the last six months.
"Michael Townsend is an example. He was released by Wolves and came to us. He's now 21 and he's played 85 times in our first team as a centre-half. That's a difficult position for a young player and I doubt he would have played that many games at a higher level. Now he's at the stage where Championship clubs will look at him and think, 'He's not bad'. Being released is a big blow psychologically for these lads," added Ward. "Townsend was a Midlands lad, Wolves were his team. You have to lift him mentally. The first six months he did not play for us, we just worked with him on the training ground.
"He's now confident, he knows what he can do. You need patience and I'm fortunate here in that the board are happy to give me time to develop players."
Ward knows the pressure of being "freed". It happened to him. "I left Lincoln for Watford when I was 28. Two years later they said to me, 'That's it'. It was a blow. I thought I'd get another year. I was married with three kids, we'd moved down from Lincoln, which was my home town. We then had to move again. As well as the professional aspect it has an effect on your family. I'm always aware of that when talking to players."
It is the youngsters, those with stars in their eyes but insufficient gold dust in their boots, who suffer most. "Five out of six players who come into the game at 16 are out of it at 21," said Gordon Taylor, the PFA's chief executive. "That's an 85 per cent fallout rate which is not a good take-up for any industry.
"Steve Coppell once described [club youth systems] to me as 'like turtles laying eggs on the beach – they lay dozens because they know most of them are not going to make it'.
"Lads come in with such high hopes. The PFA works to educate them, and try and offer them further education, but when a kid has been dreaming of being the next David Beckham it is a big thing to accept there is a new life he can make outside football."
So spare a thought for those who find themselves rejected, especially those released by a League One club such as Cheltenham.
"There's not many places to go after us," admits Ward. "We try and find them other work in football, like a good non-League club. It is about the person as well as the player."
'It's been a good move for me. I'm playing'
For some footballers a free transfer, and the change of environment it brings, can rejuvenate a career. Julian Gray, once a promising youngster with Arsenal and Crystal Palace, had drifted out of favour at Birmingham City, making only two starts as they won promotion last season. This summer he joined Coventry City under his old Palace manager, Iain Dowie, and now is an ever-present with the Championship leaders.
"It's been a really good move for me," said Gray yesterday. "Now I'm playing, week in, week out, whereas last season I just didn't play that much football at all. It was very hard to train all week and then not feature on a Saturday, travelling to the games and not being part of them. I'd had enough of doing that."
Gray, 27, added: "Steve Bruce [Birmingham City's manager] offered to take up the option to extend my contract, which was good to hear, but if I hadn't played when the team was in the Championship the chances of playing in the Premier League were even less. I'm ambitious and I'm not going to achieve those ambitions if I don't play.
"Some people said, 'You are giving up the chance to be part of a Premier League club', but that wasn't the point, for me. They also say that I must be pleased to have been involved in a promotion team but, although I was in the squad, I don't really feel I made a contribution. It was a relief to leave in the end.
"I believe in my own ability, so it wasn't really a case of worrying whether or not another club would want me. Clubs know what I'm capable of doing and I had a lot of offers. I took my time about making the right decision and spent most of the summer considering them. I wanted to make sure I went to the right place. If I had joined a League One club, then it wouldn't have bothered me if I knew I would enjoy playing there.
It wasn't until the second week of pre-season that I made my decision.
"Not having to move was a bonus. Coventry is just 20 minutes down the road and I didn't have much upheaval, but the main reason I moved was Iain Dowie."
[/sup
28
General Discussion / Funny Football Site!
« on: September 04, 2007, 12:54:28 PM »
Like this site is being run by dictators ... they move and or delete threads without any indication or reason as to why or where it will be placed. I am recommending all moderators to be given post with TTFF ... they will fit the jobs fine.
29
Football / Jabloteh Head Coach!!
« on: September 04, 2007, 10:47:54 AM »
I would like to get some feedback on something I have observed since visiting this site. Jabloeath Head Coach has been coaching at the professional level for while in Trinidad & Tobago and is arguably one of the most successful coaches at that level. He has provides an extraordinary number of players to our national team, which suggest whatever development process they have in place is working. In addition he has created opportunites for a respectable numbers of players to try-out and or play in Europe, which one can argue helps our national team ultimately. That is a brief overview of my understanding of what Terry is doing in Trinidad, if I am wrong please correct me. But the main question here is this, everytime the coaches name comes up, there is a negative response to him, can anyone specifically say why the mention of his name attracts such negative feedback?
30
Football / ARE FOOTBALL CLUBS A MORAL VACCUMS?
« on: August 28, 2007, 05:17:31 PM »
Lee Hughes faced the world yesterday for the first time since his release from prison, pleading for a fair chance to resume his career as a footballer.
The former Coventry and West Bromwich striker, now Oldham's latest recruit, sat stony-faced as the beam of publicity shone on him.
Lee Hughes said he regretted his mistakes
Hughes was released a week ago, little more than half-way through a six-year sentence for causing death by dangerous driving and fleeing the scene of the accident after his £100,000 Mercedes crashed into a car near his home in Meriden, west Midlands, in 2003, resulting in the death of father-of-four Douglas Graham, 56.
Both club and player tried not to be drawn into the moral argument over whether Hughes, now 31, should walk straight into a job paying £80,000 a year.
Before being whisked off to watch his new team in Carling Cup action at Turf Moor last night, he did, however, appear contrite as he admitted his time behind bars had given him plenty to ponder.
"I've served the sentence laid down by the law," he said. "Nothing I can do, or say, will change what has happened. I've hated myself. Three years is a long time in prison. I've had a long time to think about what went wrong in my life. I've had to live with myself.
"I keep saying 'sorry', but I know it's not good enough. People probably won't believe me, but if I can be a better person by helping people not to make the mistakes I made, then I will.
"I've now got the opportunity to rebuild my life. I have made dreadful mistakes. It's affected my immediate family and children — and I will never forgive myself for that. I've been away from them for three years. It hurts like hell to see them unhappy.
"Football is not the most important thing here. It's people's lives. I've let my family down."
Football clubs are moral vacuums and it will surprise nobody in the wider world to learn Hughes had to weigh up a number of offers as he counted down the days to his release.
He chose Oldham partly because they gave him the chance to uproot and totally rebuild his life away from the Black Country.
The area once meant everything to Hughes, the former roofer who lived his dream when he left non-League Kidderminster to play for West Bromwich, the club he supported as a youngster.
All that changed with his £5millionmove to Coventry and he was unable to shake off some of the more unsavoury characters who attach themselves to high-profile footballers, culminating in his decision to drive home after a Saturday night out, one that cost Mr Graham his life.
Hughes's eyes used to laugh all the time. They were sunken and dark yesterday.
However, some small element of good may come from his incarceration. He has volunteered to work in the community — it was not a pre-requisite of the deal he agreed with the League One side — as he steels himself for the inevitable abuse from the stands.
He is eligible to play this weekend for Oldham even though he was sent off in his last match for the prison team at HMP Featherstone, near Wolverhampton.
But Athletic manager John Sheridan has had little time to assess his fitness.
Hughes said: "In going some way to facing my responsibilities, I've met with a relative of the man who died. I know there are going to be difficulties that lie ahead.
"It has always been my intention to do some community work centred on the mistakes I've made, in the hope that it could go some way towards preventing another tragedy."
Sheridan admitted that he is going to have to keep a special eye out for Hughes's welfare.
He said: "I've spoken to one or two of his former managers.
"I'm not here to have an opinion on what happened in the past — although I know loads of people will have.
"It's going to be difficult for him. It's going to be difficult and awkward for everyone. But if he can get back to what he was, then I will be delighted."
The former Coventry and West Bromwich striker, now Oldham's latest recruit, sat stony-faced as the beam of publicity shone on him.
Lee Hughes said he regretted his mistakes
Hughes was released a week ago, little more than half-way through a six-year sentence for causing death by dangerous driving and fleeing the scene of the accident after his £100,000 Mercedes crashed into a car near his home in Meriden, west Midlands, in 2003, resulting in the death of father-of-four Douglas Graham, 56.
Both club and player tried not to be drawn into the moral argument over whether Hughes, now 31, should walk straight into a job paying £80,000 a year.
Before being whisked off to watch his new team in Carling Cup action at Turf Moor last night, he did, however, appear contrite as he admitted his time behind bars had given him plenty to ponder.
"I've served the sentence laid down by the law," he said. "Nothing I can do, or say, will change what has happened. I've hated myself. Three years is a long time in prison. I've had a long time to think about what went wrong in my life. I've had to live with myself.
"I keep saying 'sorry', but I know it's not good enough. People probably won't believe me, but if I can be a better person by helping people not to make the mistakes I made, then I will.
"I've now got the opportunity to rebuild my life. I have made dreadful mistakes. It's affected my immediate family and children — and I will never forgive myself for that. I've been away from them for three years. It hurts like hell to see them unhappy.
"Football is not the most important thing here. It's people's lives. I've let my family down."
Football clubs are moral vacuums and it will surprise nobody in the wider world to learn Hughes had to weigh up a number of offers as he counted down the days to his release.
He chose Oldham partly because they gave him the chance to uproot and totally rebuild his life away from the Black Country.
The area once meant everything to Hughes, the former roofer who lived his dream when he left non-League Kidderminster to play for West Bromwich, the club he supported as a youngster.
All that changed with his £5millionmove to Coventry and he was unable to shake off some of the more unsavoury characters who attach themselves to high-profile footballers, culminating in his decision to drive home after a Saturday night out, one that cost Mr Graham his life.
Hughes's eyes used to laugh all the time. They were sunken and dark yesterday.
However, some small element of good may come from his incarceration. He has volunteered to work in the community — it was not a pre-requisite of the deal he agreed with the League One side — as he steels himself for the inevitable abuse from the stands.
He is eligible to play this weekend for Oldham even though he was sent off in his last match for the prison team at HMP Featherstone, near Wolverhampton.
But Athletic manager John Sheridan has had little time to assess his fitness.
Hughes said: "In going some way to facing my responsibilities, I've met with a relative of the man who died. I know there are going to be difficulties that lie ahead.
"It has always been my intention to do some community work centred on the mistakes I've made, in the hope that it could go some way towards preventing another tragedy."
Sheridan admitted that he is going to have to keep a special eye out for Hughes's welfare.
He said: "I've spoken to one or two of his former managers.
"I'm not here to have an opinion on what happened in the past — although I know loads of people will have.
"It's going to be difficult for him. It's going to be difficult and awkward for everyone. But if he can get back to what he was, then I will be delighted."
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