UK Football

photo: michael.kjaer

Alan Shearer may already be making a positive impact on Newcastle United as Michael Owen has come forward to say that he will sign a brand new contract with the Toon Army at the end of this season if Shearer is given the position permanently.  And Mike Ashley is hopefully listening, because Michael Owen has been fantastic for the club…well, most of the time anyway.  Owen may be getting old, but he’s still got plenty to put in as Newcastle’s leader on the pitch, and his old friend Shearer is just the man to manage him I say.

Gary Neville is set for a Manchester United resurgence after having been out of the squad since late January with a groin injury.  Neville played an hour for United’s reserve team on Monday, meaning Neville could be fit for Sunday’s clash with Aston Villa.  Which could be a huge let off for Ferguson, considering United’s been without a real right back for months now, as both Rafael and Wes Brown are still out injured.

John O’Shea has been decent in his role as temporary right back, but let’s face it, O’Shea should play on the left or in the center, because he leaves pretty sizeable gaps on that right side, due in large part to the fact that the Irishman is better with his left foot.  Not to mention perhaps United will stop leaking goals with the captain back in the squad.

photo: carltonreid

Alan Shearer has been announced as interim replacement manager for Joe Kinnear, who is recovering from heart surgery, at Newcastle United.  And I really can’t determine whether this is the right move for Newcastle, or if this is another Mike Ashley move that’s doomed to failure.  On paper hiring a completely inexperienced manager, despite what they accomplished as a player, and one without even a UEFA Pro License at that, is a stupid decision.  Especially considering Newcastle only have 8 matches to turn their form around, or else they face relegation from the Premiership.

My only worry is that Ashley will mess up his second chance at crowd pleasing by letting Shearer go in some unfavorable fashion, the likes of Keegan, that almost caused Ashley to sell Newcastle.  Because given how faithfully Newcastle supporters back their club, Ashley may need to make a quick escape if Newcastle get relegated.  

photo: scartinho

Newcastle United’s chairman Derek Llambias and owner Mike Ashley have basically finally admitted that parting ways with Keegan was a tremendous mistake, especially because of the fallout suffered from Newcastle supporters.  Kevin Keegan was the Magpies messiah to supporters, and why Llambias and Ashley would ever let someone with that sort of overwhelming support be pushed out of the club, cannot be understood.  Especially over something so stupid as not giving the club manager a say in transfers in and out of the club.

Derek Llambias in an obvious attempt to cool the rage Newcastle supporters have been showing through pre-match protests at St. James’ Park said this of Keegan’s departure, “The reaction was so big it was naïve on our part we didn’t realise how big it would be.

“Kevin is the messiah. He is a great guy, I promise you, Kevin was where we wanted to go.”

I don’t think that’s going to quiet any Newcastle supporter, and from Derek Llambias, that’s just not enough of a message of intent to fix the many problems at the club.  Saying you made a mistake by letting one of your club’s biggest heroes be thrown out with so much bad blood left over, is a little more than a ‘naïve’ action.

Fernando Torres is out with injury again, and I still blame Rafa Benitez for having played him too early from his initial hamstring injury early on this season.  Although the current injury is a previously uninjured ankle, I can’t imagine forcing him to play a full match, running at full burst on the pitch before he was fit, was in any way good for the Spanish striker’s health.

Maybe now Rafa will learn his lesson?  Especially with talk of Gerrard returning this weekend, you can’t tell me it’s not too early for him to return from a hamstring injury.  With decisions like these, and with the contract negotiations having dragged on for years, maybe it would be best for all parties if Rafael Benitez parted ways with Liverpool.

I think it’s time.

Joe Kinnear is looking to make his return to managing Newcastle United after having to take an absence to undergo heart surgery.  Kinnear has his sight fixed on April 11th’s fixture against Stoke.  Although considering Kinnear’s history of heart problems, and the fact that the same sort of ailment pushed him out of management in the first place, I’m not so sure Kinnear should even return at all.  Managing a football club is an incredible strain on your ticker, whether through the stress of winning or losing, or yelling at the officials for making bad calls during a match.  And while I understand someone not wanting to let go of that world once they’ve been a part of it, your health has to come first, and I’m just not so sure that Kinnear is healthy enough to run a football club.

It’s not fair to Kinnear or Newcastle to have a manager that is unable to commit himself one hundred percent on account of illness.

The ruling on Mikel Arteta’s injury means the Everton midfielder will be out for at least six months, confirming speculation that the Spaniard would be unavailable for the rest of the season.  David Moyes will be hard pressed to find a replacement, especially with a squad that has had so much trouble through injury and finding consistent goal scorers.  But I don’t think he’ll worry too much, as Everton have found a way to win when it counts, despite having a squad that seems lacklustre compared to last season.  Although I still think selling Andy Johnson was a stupid move, I say it all the time, and here I am saying it again.

photo: Mr. Phillip Chambers

Steven Gerrard will be out for at least three weeks following a scan which revealed that the Liverpool captain has a torn hamstring following Liverpool’s exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Everton 1-0.  But I honestly don’t think that Liverpool will miss Steven Gerrard as much as you would think, because Rafa Benitez’s system relies on his skipper too much.  When Liverpool play without Gerrard they flow better, and everyone gets involved in the attack to compensate for Gerrard’s absence in midfield, making the team better.

Otherwise every player on the pitch in red look to Gerrard to bail them out of any scenario, and he may be captain fantastic, but he’s not that good.  Sometimes I think Benitez would do well to include Gerrard in his rotation system, so the manager can see that he has a talented club, and Gerrard at times can hold them back.

photo: thetelf

Shay Given now starting his term at Manchester City had a few critical comments to make about the Newcastle regime, and the shortcomings that lead to the Republic Of Ireland keeper’s decision to leave.  Given was quoted as saying, “There are a couple of things they could have done to keep me, but I think in the end they just wanted to take the money.

“I just felt that after the service I gave the club, then the regime at Newcastle could have handled the whole thing a bit better.

“They made me do things I didn’t want to do and this was an opportunity to further my career and pick up more silverware.”

Given is a fantastic keeper, and Newcastle will miss him sorely, as I believe the rest of their campaign this season will reflect.

David Beckham desperately wants to stay at AC Milan, and AC Milan are willing to pay for him to do so as they apparently made the LA Galaxy an offer, which I’m guessing was probably rejected considering Beckham is MLS’ star boy.  David Beckham isn’t hiding his desire to depart from the Galaxy, as seen in this video from Setanta Sports:

http://www.setanta.com/uk/Videos/football/2009/02/05/Becks-I-want-to-stay-in-Milan-video/

But no worries to AC Milan fans that want David Beckham to stay, or for England supporters that want to see Becks compete in a league worthy of his talents, Beckham apparently has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave November 30th on a free transfer.  Which makes me question, why don’t the Galaxy sell him while they can make some money in the process, instead of seeing Becks leave in November and having nothing to show for it.

Beckham is hitting brilliant form once again, and I would hope for the sake of his career he does everything to convince the Galaxy to let their captain go.

photo: Mark Freeman

Salomon Kalou’s goal celebrations from Wednesday’s match are being investigated by the FA, for what the Football Association calls a ‘handcuff’ gesture by Kalou.  Supposedly this is a shout out to recently freed activist Antoine Tiemoko, and the FA apparently disagrees with such a thing.  My point, who cares?  If Salomon Kalou want’s to call attention to some political issue he thinks is relevant, in a goal celebration, let him, I can’t be bothered to be offended by such a trivial thing.

Worthy of note is Kalou’s dismissal of the accusations, stating that the ‘handcuff’ gesture was in actuality a reference to his own strength for having scored both goals in Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough.

Manchester City have failed once again in their attempt to sign Roque Santa Cruz from Blackburn, despite tabling a very respectable £18million+ offer, Blackburn are apparently smart enough to not throw away their greatest talent.  That or they believe Santa Cruz to be in the £30million transfer level, and Allardyce has them holding out for more cash.  Either way, looks like Santa Cruz is stuck at Blackburn at least until the end of this season.

Speaking of Blackburn Rovers, El-Hadji Diouf is reportedly close to signing for the club.  Which is a move again that I don’t understand, for Blackburn it’s brilliant, they get a good player who failed to peak at Sunderland and who will be a worthy attacking replacement for when Santa Cruz does inevitably leave.  But why are Sunderland again in the habit of selling their big names.  I understand they had a few disciplinary issues with Chimbonda, but that doesn’t seem like enough reason to have sold him.

And I think the same thing of Diouf, yes he’s failed to score at Sunderland, but that doesn’t mean he won’t.  Sometimes it takes a player a long time to get settled at a new club, but that’s no reason for Sunderland to sell one of their best talents.  But I guess Ricky Sbragia has a plan, and he’s carrying it out to the fullest.

Finally, Bolton sold Kevin Nolan to Newcastle, a good pick up for Kinnear, but Newcastle shouldn’t be spending too much money at the moment, especially considering Shay Given has just officially handed in a written transfer request to depart from the club.  It’s not going to be cheap buying another keeper of Given’s quality.

photo: thetelf

Newcastle United manager Joe Kinnear is very upset over Manchester City’s bid for keeper Shay Given.  Manchester City offered £5million for Newcastle’s 12 year veteran keeper, which seems like a small amount when compared with a bid like £100million for Kaka, but how much does Newcastle really expect for a goalkeeper?  I understand Shay Given has been a vital part of the club for 12 years, but goalkeepers just don’t fetch a lot of money unless they’ve achieved practically legendary status.

Shay Given is a good solid keeper, but I think Newcastle will be lucky to get £10million at the most for him.  Kinnear of course couldn’t waste an opportunity to run his mouth, and was quoted as saying about the event, “Irrespective of all the money I keep hearing, they’ve only offered £5m, not a penny more.

“We think it’s personally insulting to probably the best goalkeeper in the Premier League.”

I think that’s a statement with two goals.  One of which for Kinnear to maybe anger City and force them to make a higher bid next time.  And the second, to perhaps convince Given to stay on at Newcastle, despite his desire to leave the club.  But Newcastle need to face the facts, you can’t keep a player at a club if they don’t want to stay, so Kinnear would be better off spending his time looking for an affordable replacement.

Newcastle suffered another blow to the club with the injury of Joey Barton.  The bad tempered midfielder broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot, which will require surgery to repair.  Meaning Joe Kinnear will be without Barton’s services for at least 8 weeks.  A big loss to the club, as Barton is that battling midfielder every club needs.  It’s hard to replace a ball winner with as much tenacity as Barton.

Paul Robinson has had his red card rescinded for his horrid challenge on Manchester United’s Park, during Tuesday’s match.  And I call that a crap decision by the FA.  On the replay you clearly see Robinson dive at Park, both feet come off the ground, and Robinson leads with his knee straight into Park’s abdomen.  Robinson purposefully leapt into the challenge two footed to have more of an impact on the player, showing intent to injure.

If that isn’t a red card offence, I don’t rightly know what is.

photo: Reto Stauffer

Kaka has officially turned down Manchester City’s obscene offer of £100million, which would have meant a £500,000 a week deal for the Brazilian, and I respect Kaka’s decision. I find it incredible that Kaka has so much commitment to AC Milan and is of such a level headed mind set that he can turn down a boat load of money, for the best interests of his club. Jermaine Pennant will join Portsmouth on loan from Liverpool for the remainder of the season, in a deal that Pompey desperately needed. No doubt Pennant will find his stay at Pompey permanent come seasons end, and I don’t see why Pennant wouldn’t want a permanent deal, as playing more often for Portsmouth has to be better than being overlooked at Liverpool.

And finally, Joe Kinnear and Phil Brown have been charged over their conduct during an FA Cup replay on January 14^th. Apparently the two are children that can’t stop fighting with each other on the touchlines, instead of being professional and coaching their respective sides. The two have until February 3^rd to respond, and Joe Kinnear, in another showcasing of his inability to keep his mouth shut, said “He (Brown) came across. He was having a rant, more than anything.

“He didn’t actually say anything to me, he was having a rant at (Newcastle assistant) Chris Hughton and he wasn’t saying too many pleasant things to him.

“I just said ‘enough’, that’s all I said. I don’t know what the trouble was with the ref.”

photo: Nigel Wilson

Well, I’m going to have to change my tune about Liverpool apparently, considering their conviction to stay top of the league this season. The route of Newcastle, at St. James Park no less is the most clear statement of intent I’ve seen from Liverpool in some time. And they did it all without, as I would call him, pretty much useless striker Robbie Keane. Keane spent the entirety of the match on the bench, and Liverpool dominated a talented Newcastle side for 90 minutes anyway, looking better in attack than they ever have with Keane or even Fernando Torres on the pitch.

Newcastle looked pathetic under the constant Liverpool pressure which saw the reds net 5 before all was said and done, and sure Newcastle got one back, but is that even a consolation goal at that point. The Geordies got completely thrashed, that’s all there is to it. Kinnear has one or two things to think about now, and Chelsea having again dropped points with a draw, need to do some serious damage control or they could find themselves out of the title race in no time.

I would draw your attention to the fact that United always finish strong, and being three games behind Chelsea, theoretically United can already overtake them, and step within one point of Liverpool. Scolari had things so easy at the beginning of the season, I’m beginning to seriously wonder if the Brazilian has the managerial chops to help Chelsea out of the hole they’re digging. Too many draws has been Chelsea’s problem the last two seasons, and they’re setting up for another troublesome record this year if something doesn’t change soon.

And considering Chelsea drew level with Fulham 2-2, my point about Chelsea needing to spend money on defenders and not attackers seems much more valid now eh?

photo: FvS

Sir Alex Ferguson has said that Manchester United will not purchase any new players next month when the transfer window opens. And I agree with that decision, as United is spoiled for talent, and considering the global economy crisis, who can afford to go further into debt. Especially when that shirt sponsor money you should have been able to count on went bust.

Ferguson had high praise for his players in his statement, saying “I do not think there will be any January transfers, I am happy with what I have got.“We are probably going to bring back a couple of young players who have been on loan. That may just give us extra protection.