Blackpool manager Ian Holloway believes that midfielder Charlie Adam is good enough to play for one of the Premier League's so-called 'big four' in the future.
The 25-year-old Scotland international has been a star performer for the Seasiders in the last year and a bit and Holloway expects the former rangers man to depart for a bigger challenge at some point.
He commented:"As long as Charlie keeps his mind on football, which he will do as he loves playing and I keep picking him because he trusts me, then there's not going to a problem.
"Whatever happens, happens. It's out of my hands.
"I've got some brilliant players, I want them to be successful and being successful is looking after your family and earning the right amount of money your play deserves. If I can't give them that, then they'll go with my blessing.
"There will be a time when Charlie needs to go – unless we're in a position where Charlie should play – which I think is one of the top four teams.
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"I honestly believe he is that good. I think one of them will buy him one day.
"If not they might nick him, because we have a bit of a technicality – if that happens, what can I do? Nothing, so we get on with it."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
A weekend of shock results and poor performances has had a lot of managers on the defensive in the past 24hours over their tactics and formations. Chelsea crashed to 3-0 drubbing at home to Sunderland that saw Ancelotti claim it was the worst performance he had known since he became Chelsea’s manager, while Arsene Wenger was crowing at the Champions like showing his Arsenal side displayed at Goodison Park.
Elsewhere there has been plenty of comment on Fabio Capello’s shock inclusion of Jay Bothroyd; calls for Villa’s young starlets to be given their opportunity with the national side, while Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed that one day he fancies a return to the national side.
Johnson hits out at ‘boring’ Hodgson – Guardian
Wenger reveals “regret” over Bothroyd departure – Mirror
Villa stars just Fab for Capello – Sun
Bothroyd: I dreamt of England call-up – Daily Telegraph
I miss Manchester United! Ronaldo hints he’d love Old Trafford return – Daily Mail
Dani Alves prefers Chelsea over Manchester City as he enters crucial Barcelona talks – IM Scouting
Mancini defends tactics after City blank – Guardian
We’re in Di wide-awake club – Sun
Wenger has big plans for Bendtner – Daily Telegraph
Gallas has perfect chance to win over Spurs doubters with return to Emirates – Daily Mail
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Today’s Mirror reports that Liverpool are readying themselves to make a £15 million bid to pluck Ashley Young away from Aston Villa. Hodgson and his chief negotiator Damien Comolli are said to be working diligently behind the scenes and hope that they can persuade the NESV to provide them with the funds necessary to see the project through.
Manchester United and Tottenham are also said to be keen on the winger, but could Hodgson tempt him into a move to Merseyside?
It’s easy to see why England’s top brass are tracking Young with such interest. He has been a stalwart for Aston Villa over the last couple of seasons and still has his youth, pace and intelligence. He is part of England’s new breed and is likely to keep developing. Although his start to the current season hasn’t been quite as electric as the way he ended the previous season, he has still managed to impress.
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The Mirror gives no sources and it may simply be that the article is a complete crock. What grants it a thin veil of plausibility is Young’s refusal to sign a new Villa contract. Earlier this year he told the Press, “I know they want to get it done now but my current deal still has a year to run after this season and I feel there is plenty of time to talk next summer.”
Of course, this set a lot of tounges wagging. Could this be Young making himself a better proposition for clubs when it came to the transfer window? With only a year left on his contract and no commitment to Aston Villa made by Young thus far, Villa might be prepared to sell should the right offer come in. £15 million may just be enough.
Could Young be on his way to Liverpool – RATE THIS RUMOUR
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AS Roma won their fourth-consecutive derby on Wednesday, beating rivals Lazio 2-1 in their Coppa Italia quarter-final.The Lazio players copped a pre-match barrage when Roma supporters launched rocks at the team bus upon arrival at the Stadio Olimpico, but the first on-field blow came when Roma forward Marco Borriello netted from the penalty spot in the 53rd minute.
It took Lazio just five minutes to find the equaliser, with Brazilian midfielder Hernanes slotting home from the spot to ensure a tense final half-hour.
Romanian defender Stefan Radu was the villain for Lazio in the 77th minute, with his defensive howler allowing Fabio Simplicio to stroll in and side-foot a shot past goalkeeper Tommaso Berni.
Elsewhere. Sampdoria loan signing Federico Macheda scored in his side’s penalty shootout victory over Udinese, after extra-time at Stadio Luigi Ferraris finished 2-2.
In his first start at the Serie A club after joining on-loan from Manchester United, the Italian teenager opened the scoring in the 32nd minute when he got on the end of a Giampaolo Pazzini pass before chipping over Udinese goalkeeper Emanuele Belardi.
It looked like Macheda’s strike would be enough for victory, but Chilean Mauricio Isla snared a 90th-minute equaliser for the visitors to send the game into extra-time.
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Udinese took their momentum into the game’s final stages, scoring in the 92nd minute when Argentine German Denis was allowed space in the box to head his side in front.
Sampdoria went down to ten men when Daniele Dessena was shown red for dissent, but Pazzini made the most of his side’s penalty late in extra-time to send the match into a shootout – with the home side triumphing 5-4.
Let’s play a game of guess who. First clue: I am a Belgian footballer who played in France and Belgium in the 1980s and 1990s. Second clue: I am best known for the court case, and the subsequent ruling, which bears my surname. Third clue: I have had a bigger impact on the modern game than any chairman, manager or player. Got it yet? I am Jean-Marc Bosman.
If you haven’t heard of him on a first name basis, there’s a fairly good chance that his surname rings a bell. In 1990 following the expiration of his contract, Jean-Marc Bosman fancied a move from FC Liege to French side Dunkirk . In an attempt to stop him leaving, FC Liege slapped a large transfer fee on the player and thus priced Dunkirk out of a move. The legal dispute which followed became known as the ‘Bosman Ruling’.
In a continuation of Football FanCast’s week of reminiscing about football in the 90s, here is a look back at the law which would ultimately change football in England, and the rest of Europe, forever.
For those of you familiar with the fuss surrounding a player who runs down his contract so he can ‘leave on a Bosman’ but can’t quite remember what football was like before the days of super high salaries and player power, the transfer procedure was much more club-focused, yet still rather complicated.
In the early part of the twentieth century a player had to request a transfer in order to move clubs, but if his current side refused to let him leave then that was pretty much it – in essence, clubs really did own their players. Then in around 1960, a player called George Eastham challenged this law in front of the High Court who ruled that the transfer system in place was an unreasonable restraint of trade. The transfer system changed in that a player could now leave for free if his contract had expired, unless he had been offered a new deal in which case a fee would have to be paid. So the freedom imposed was still very limited because the teams’ decision to rehire a player would always keep him at the club. This system remained until the late seventies when the clubs’ power over their players lessened slightly further. A player could still leave a club for free when his contract ran out, but now his club had to offer him a contract with terms equal to or greater than his current deal in order for a fee to change hands. However the biggest change was that the player now had the choice of whether or not to accept the new deal or move elsewhere. Crucially though neither the player nor his agent could initiate a transfer, the interested buyer had to approach the club in order for negotiations to begin. If a transfer fee couldn’t be agreed by the clubs then the matter would be decided by a tribunal.
This was how the footballing world stayed until 1995. Then on the 15th of December of that year the ‘Bosman Ruling’ was passed by the European Court of Justice, this meant that free movement of players between clubs and EU countries was now possible, and crucially a player could now talk to other teams when his contract had expired and move without a fee changing hands. The following day the Daily Express ran with the headline ‘Foreign Invasion’, and the Daily Mirror used the ominous: ‘The rule that will change the face of soccer forever’ – an uncannily accurate assessment of things to come.
Continue to PAGE TWO…
As a result of the case, all of the power was now in the hands of the players and the subject of large weekly wages was quick to come to the fore. With no transfer fee being paid, clubs were now able to afford to pay their players huge wages, so it was often in the best interests of the player to run down his contract, move on, and earn more money elsewhere. One of the first big cases of an English player using this rule to his advantage was the controversial move of Sol Campbell from Tottenham to Arsenal in 2001. Despite being offered a new contract and assuring Spurs that he wanted to stay, Campbell saw out the duration of his contract before deciding to move to Arsenal and earn a reported £60,000 a week plus bonuses – a sum which saw him become one of the world’s best paid footballers at the time.
The fear that this rule would make the rich richer and the poor poorer was initially rubbished, but optimism soon turned to realism as business and money started to rule proceedings. It was thought that lower-league clubs could use the new rule to their advantage by signing their best players to long-term contracts which would mean that they could demand a good transfer fee for their stars. However as money became tighter, smaller clubs couldn’t afford to tie players down to long-term contracts so they were increasingly forced to sell their best young players for a minimal transfer fee in fear that they could soon lose them for nothing. As former UEFA top-dog Lars-Christer Olsson explained: “Those clubs who had access to all the money started to rob the smaller clubs, not just to get stronger themselves but to weaken the opposition”. This meant that money which before would be paid between clubs in the form of transfer fees (thus keeping money in the game and strengthening the footballing infrastructure), was now money was going straight into the pockets of players and agents.
As previously stated, the new Bosman rule allowed freedom of movement for players between European countries. Previous to this ruling, many leagues in Europe imposed a quota as to the amount of foreign players each team was allowed to field (a rule allowing only three foreign players per team was also imposed by UEFA in European competition). But the Bosman rule meant that this was no longer allowed and clubs could now field any number of European players in their team. In England this has undoubtedly increased the quality of the football in the Premier League, but it became clear that this would also have a negative impact on lower-league clubs. While small clubs used to rely on transfer fees for their best players to keep them afloat, the new ease with which teams could sign foreign talent meant that local players were overlooked in favour of signing a cheaper, foreign alternative.
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Jean-Marc Bosman got nothing from the court case which dragged on for over five years other than an entry on ‘www.famousbelgians.net’. He was 25 years-old when he started his legal proceedings and spent much of this time without a club and with no income. He ended up bankrupt and with a collapsed marriage and ironically never benefitted from the rule which he fought so hard to put into place.
There were many golden moments in English football during the 90s, too many to mention here, yet it would be the ruling of a court case in Luxembourg that would change the mentality and infrastructure of the beautiful game for the foreseeable future. Jean-Marc Bosman could never have known what impact his desire to play for Dunkirk could have had, but it’s an impact that we’re still feeling today.
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Tadanari Lee always believed he would be the hero for his side after scoring the winning goal in Japan’s 1-0 win over Australia in the Asian Cup final.
The Blue Samurai needed extra-time on Saturday to claim Asia’s most coveted soccer trophy for a record fourth time courtesy of Lee’s superb volley in the 109th minute.
And the 25-year-old could not hide his delight at his dream coming true to lift his side to victory after being substituted on.
“I feel super. I could not play for such a long time and I had to keep on waiting, believing that there would be a chance for me,” Lee said.
“I could score a goal in the end and I’m really happy. I kept talking to myself, saying ‘I’ll be a hero. I’ll be a hero’ before I went onto the pitch.”
“I’m really happy that I was able to stand on this pitch. I really want to thank everyone. We’ll have to work hard as the Asian champions and I want you, the fans, all to support the Japanese national team.”
Winning manager Alberto Zaccheroni said he had always backed his substitutes to lift the side when they needed it most.
“I knew he (Lee) would do it. What is great about this team is that players, who started on the bench, could produce results on the pitch,” the Italian said.
Australia coach Holger Osieck admitted a number of gilt-edged chances, including opportunities for stars Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill, needed to be converted if they were to leave the Khalifa Stadium with the Asian Cup.
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“We had our opportunities and what is always encouraging is the way we play and we create opportunities,” Osieck said.
“However, it is crucial to convert them and later on in the game it backfired and that is a problem. We had to be more clinical in our finishing and it’s not enough to win a game if you don’t score.”
“We have seen a very exciting game between two very good teams. You can imagine we are disappointed, we definitely had our opportunities but unfortunately we couldn’t convert.”
Spanish superstar Raul returns home on Tuesday when his Schalke side visit Valencia in a Champions League round of 16 first-leg match.
The 33-year-old has scored 10 goals for Schalke this season to help them into 10th place in the Bundesliga after ending a 16-year love affair with Real Madrid last July, and said he was looking forward to heading home.
“This game is special for me, because it is the first time that I have returned to Spain in eight months since I moved to Germany,” he said.
“I am delighted with the reception, and the fans have shown me a lot of love. I thank them for that.”
“A Champions League knockout game is always special, and this one is against a great team in Valencia and with a fantastic atmosphere. I am really up for this game, and I hope that we get a good result and are able to seal the tie in two weeks time.”
“I’m here to play a great game, and to play in a great stadium. I will try to do the best I can for Schalke and enjoy the game.”
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“I hope that everything goes well, and that we are able to score a lot of goals. I think that the tie is very even.”
“I am confident that we can hurt them, and the objective is to win and score goals to set up the second leg.”
Real Madrid dropped two more points in their fading La Liga quest after they were held to a scoreless draw by Deportivo La Coruna.Jose Mourinho’s side created several gilt-edged chances yet could not convert, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Emmanuel Adebayor both striking the woodwork in the final 15 minutes.It was a very fortunate draw for a home side who were on the back foot throughout the match, but Deportivo somehow managed to keep out a rampaging Real and deliver a body blow to their title credentials.Mourinho’s men are seven points behind Barcelona in the league standings fter the Catalans dismantled Mallorca 3-0. Lionel Messi scored a delightful lobbed header in the rout, while David Villa and Pedro also netted for the visitors.Espanyol broke a run of four league losses with a comprehensive 4-1 victory over Real Sociedad.Sevilla and Atletico Madrid played out a 2-2 draw at the Estadio Vicente Calderon, with Atletico twice coming from behind to salvage a point. Relegation candidates Sporting Gijon and Real Zaragoza failed to boost their survival chances after playing out a 0-0 draw at Estadio Municipal El Molinon.
We are guaranteed to hear a number of football cliché’s during the season from the old classics “it’s a game of two halves” to “he’s got a good touch for a big man.” But one of the most common has to be “this is one of the best Premier League seasons ever” usually said by one of the pundits on Match of the Day when they’ve run out of superlatives for a particular team or player. However, the current Premier League season has been more unpredictable with the top four now becoming a genuine FIVE and currently only 10 Points separating 7th from 18th positions. So is this one of the best seasons we’ve seen in the top flight? Or is it simply one of the worst?
The Good
Over the years we have seen the Premier League title race battled out between the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal with Chelsea and Liverpool joining in the last decade. However, with Liverpool dropping out of the top four last season and replaced by Tottenham Hotspur, plus the transformation at Manchester City has seen a genuine top 5 at the top of the league.
It has brought a fresh approach to the Premier League with extra competition for the Champions League spaces, whereas in the past there was almost a gap forming between the top four and those making up the numbers outside of it (although the likes of Everton have tried to break through). The rest of the league table remains rather close with the unpredictable results this season, there is no club(s) who are doomed at the bottom of the league and are the seasons whipping boys.
It has been helped by the three teams that were promoted from the Championship last season, Newcastle United, Blackpool and West Bromwich Albion all showed a more positive approach to their first seasons in the league which has saw them all record one or two surprising results, especially the likes of Blackpool. This season has been one of the highest for goals and draws this year which suggests that games are more competitive which makes better entertainment, or this it a lack of quality?
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The Bad
Despite their unbeaten form this season Manchester United have not looked as good as previous United sides that have led at the top of the table. Their away form this season has been questionable but with the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal failing to show a consistent winning form, United are still leading the pack.
Possibly players are suffering from a World Cup hangover. In previous EPL seasons we have seen the likes of Wayne Rooney, Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba light up the season with their fantastic performances and goal scoring prowess. However, a look at the current Top Goal Scorers table shows you all three of those players are missing. Even Andy Carroll is 4th and he didn’t even finish in the top 5 top scorers in the Championship last season.
Although the close gap between the top half of the table and the relegation zone will be adrift come the end of the season, it also shows that there has been a change in quality this season. Whilst teams expected to finish in the bottom half of the table have got better, the teams at the top have got a little worse making the League very mediocre.
Entertainment
When Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid from Manchester United, Barcelona playing some of the best football ever seen and Spain dominating International competitions there was a feeling that the English Premier League is dropping in quality and that La Liga in Spain is the new hub of football.
However, despite this the EPL has seen Manchester City spend an awful lot of money to make them a competitor for the top four and attracting players like Mario Balotelli and David Silva to England. Whilst Tottenham have added Rafael Van der Vaart and have made a great impression on their Champions League debut.
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Although there has not been the high quality the Premier League is used to displaying, there has been more entertainment and drama. With the potential for the Title to be decided on the last day of the season, plus the Champions League places, as well as the Europa League places….Oh, and the several teams that could drop out of the division. I am personally excited and anticipating a thrilling end to this season because that is why I watch football.
West Ham manager Avram Grant believes his side is peaking at just the right time in its bid to avoid the relegation trapdoor.The Hammers made it two English Premier League wins in succession after toppling Stoke City 3-0 on Saturday, with strikes from red-hot loan forward Demba Ba, defender Manuel da Costa and fit-again German midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger guiding their side out of the relegation zone and into 17th on the table.”We have momentum at the right time,” Grant told ESPNsoccernet after the game.”We will not score three goals every game, that’s for sure. Nobody is doing this.””I believe in this football, I believe in attacking football. You need balance, and we’re getting the balance better and better every game. But we have many players forward that can score now.”Ba scored his fourth goal in Hammers colours as part of a three-pronged attack alongside Carlton Cole and Frederic Piquionne.The forward almost joined Stoke before failing a medical in January, and the Hoffenheim loanee came back to haunt Tony Pulis’ men by putting West Ham in front after 21 minutes.”I’m very happy that they (Stoke cancelled the deal),” Grant said.”Nobody knew about Demba before I wanted to sign him. Even Stoke and Everton and other teams that wanted him, I don’t think they knew who he was. At the end of the day, he came to the team that wanted him from the beginning.”Pulis, however, was not keen to dwell on what could have been if the club had pushed on and signed Ba, saying of the club’s medical staff: “You never criticise people for doing what they have to do in good faith. The medical side said what they had to say and you get on with it.””Up until the two goals, especially the first one, I thought we were well in the game. If anything, we probably had more control of the game.””Then we gave a silly goal away and they scored again from a set play, which is disappointing from our point of view. From then on, they deserved to win it.”