Liverpool FC: The new Leeds FC?

Liverpool fans woke up this morning knowing their team is in dire straits after an insipid performance at home to a Blackpool team who knew they could win since boss Ian Holloway told anyone who would listen the previous week that his team were going to “go for it” at Anfield.

Pepe Reina has conceded seven goals in his last three Premiership games

And go for it they did. It could have been worse than a 2-1 defeat for  Liverpool. But after the game, was Ian Holloway ready to brag as was his right at pulling off one of the club’s most remarkable results? No. Instead he spoke as though he were sad to see the demise of the club. Referring to Torres’ injury and the ownership issues, Holloway was overly generous to the team his players had just beaten, aside from patches in the second half, with ease.

In fact he had these words to say: “To see the best striker in the world limp off after a few minutes, I can’t tell you what that did for us. His mere presence is awesome so to see him come off played into our hands and helped us.

“This is not far off the home of football – these supporters have seen some of the best football over the years and in my era as a player there was no better team in the world. The boys made me so proud and for that set of supporters to clap us off that is all I wanted – that was what my dream was last night.”

Odds on Hodgson to be sacked have been slashed to just 4/1

As for Roy Hodgson, the headlines this morning have the Liverpool boss saying his team are in a relegation dogfight. For now, that is not true and what Hodgson did say was that these are bleak times for the club. He has not spoken a truer word since taking over.

When Leeds were relegated in 2004 they had gone through managerial upheaval with first David O’Leary’s departure, followed by Terry Venables and Peter Reid. Star names such as Ferdinand, Woodgate, Bowyer, Keane and Kewell all departed the club as they slide from near Champions League glory in 2001 to relegation just three years later.

Three years ago Liverpool lost the Champions League final to AC Milan. It would be their last chance of silverware to the present day and beyond. Liverpool ran Manchester United close in the Premiership in the 2008-2009 season, but were always playing catch-up, albeit securing their best Premiership points finish. But ownership issues began to come to the fore and Liverpool sold Xabi Alonso, failed to sign Gareth Barry, and so began the inevitable decline of manager Rafael Benitez’ reign.

Marlon King gets a ‘get out of jail free’ card

Coventry City have announced the signing of former Wigan forward Marlon King following the striker’s release from prison less than two months ago.

The term striker is something that could easily be applied to King’s private life, given that he served jail time for breaking a woman’s nose in a nightclub after striking her in the face when she rejected his advances. That King was out celebrating his wife’s pregnancy at the time made the situation all the worse. That the woman he attacked was 20 years old made it worse again.  That King should be given another high-profile football contract with Coventry City despite having a string of previous convictions before his arrest for assault last year, is shocking.

One of the worst examples of a pampered footballer who doesn’t like to hear the word no, King has been re-employed by his former manager at Watford, Aidy Boothroyd, who says King was a “model professional” during their time working together.

How Coventry fans will receive the striker is another matter. The game that claims to embrace all types of fans, across the globe, has much to learn. Games like rugby and in Ireland, GAA, have fans of opposing teams, children, women and men watching in the stands side by side.

In many ways football can’t be compared to these sports in that it is far bigger, appeals to a wider audience but is, most importantly, a business. Coventry are in a league where they need to compete for players, hand-me-downs from the Premiership who can get them back to the coveted league but aren’t wanted by the top teams. In that sense you can feel some sympathy for Boothroyd who wants a good player to help his team.

Maybe the league should step in and say, this man can’t be a role model for young fans. Can’t be a pin-up for girls after what he did to the 20-year-old last year. What happens when he is antagonised by rival supporters, or even his own. King is a man who has been given chances again and again. This is one time he should be told no.

Three talking points from the weekend

1. Man United’s priority is not getting back Wayne Rooney, but sorting out a defence that is lacking in cohesion.
   All the hype surrounding Everton’s remarkable comeback against Man Utd on Saturday focused on the absence of Wayne Rooney. Although it was a surprise and bound to create extra tabloid fodder, that it remained the headline at the end of the game was a disappointment. Both teams deserved more. Everton started superbly and by scoring two goals in injury time did to United what no team has done for almost ten years, cancel out a two-goal deficit with Sir Alex Ferguson’s team.
   Both teams attacked with creativity and imagination, the game flowing from end-to-end, but United’s weakness lies in an unsettled defence. Patrice Evra’s wild attempt at a clearance led to the first goal, while Johnny Evans is struggling alongside Vidic at centre back. Neville is no longer a first choice, but Brazilian Rafael appears to have lost favour with Ferguson for the time being.
   

   Johnny Evans is struggling to fill Rio Ferdinand's boots

   However, up front, Berbatov played well, stretching the Everton defence at every opportunity and taking the third goal with the confidence of a 40 goal-a-season striker. Rooney was hardly missed, while Nani delivered two superb crosses for the goals. Unlike the media love-in for Scholes, I didn’t feel he had a great game. Everton restricted his presence going forward by having Cahill and Fellaini as their attackers, both tough-tackling midfielders.

2. Don’t believe everything you read in the media about players’ form or confidence:
   If Fernando Torres wakes up this morning and feels a little harshly treated by the media, well it’s because he’s been a little harshly treated by the media. Football writers around the country sat in stunned silence as Jamie Redknapp lambasted Torres for his first-half performance at half-time in Liverpool’s 0-0 with a superb Birmingham side.
   

   Reina shows off his Safe Hands

   The same writers then took their lead from the Sky pundit as newspapers criticised the man they claim is not right, still unfit, looks like he “doesn’t care” was another oft-repeated quote. This then the same Torres that got the winner against West Brom the previous Liverpool game and got two for Spain the following week, admittedly against Liechtenstein, but the two were good goals and Spain only managed four.
   The same writers were also slamming Pepe Reina after his mistake against Arsenal on the opening day. And they were asking questions as to whether he retained the confidence of his teammates. Well he made some of the best saves you’ll see this season (as he did against Arsenal too by the way) to show that form is exceptionally temporary, class is permanent. Oh and Torres will come up against Vidic next Sunday. If that doesn’t boost his confidence I don’t know what will.

3. The league table is lying.
   Fair enough, Chelsea and Arsenal deserve to be up there. No-one is about to begrudge Blackpool their spot, but the likes of Everton shouldn’t be in this position after four games. Outstanding commitment and skill, Moyes’ men will start climbing the table very quickly with a decent run of games put together. West Ham are another team who deserve better than the zero points they currently have. With some tough games already behind them and a manager whose demeanour doesn’t exactly scream “give me some time because I’m loveable”, it’s been a tough start but the table is all topsy-turvy right now and we are going to boldly predict West Ham will finish in the top ten. Boom. Please keep reading the blog, I regret nothing.

Switzerland V Rooney (England) preview

Gerrard has been keen to support Rooney and will hope they can continue their good start to qualifying tonight

It’s all eyes on Wayne Rooney tonight as the England man targets success on the pitch after a nightmare 48 hours on the front pages of the tabloids.

The Man Utd forward has seen allegations of encounters with prostitutes surface for the second time in his career so far with his marriage in the spotlight after a series of lurid allegations were made against him. We’ve all read them so we won’t go into them again here, instead we’ll look at how Rooney might respond.

The eyes of the world will be on the forward with pundits from the US already comparing Rooney’s story to that of golfer Tiger Woods last year who has seen his form fall dramatically since a series of women came forward with similar allegations of his infidelity.

Rooney hasn’t had the easiest year, berating the England fans for their reaction to the team’s 0-0 World Cup draw with Algeria and sarcastically clapping after being substituted in the recent friendly against Hungary. His goal trail dried up at the tail end of last season too, however after a penalty against West Ham and an excellent showing against Bulgaria on Friday, Rooney could be forgiven for thinking he had turned a corner.

England's star man will hope to silence his critics on the pitch tonight

How he responds tonight will be interesting to see. The temperament of 17-year-old Rooney seemed to be gone for the most part until returning in recent months. Rarely booked, the forward had a superb season last year and was being hailed as an exemplary model footballer who had turned his career around under Alex Ferguson at Man Utd.

Ferguson vs the BBC: Round Two – fight

Today’s Daily Express says that Manchester United have confirmed Sir Alex Ferguson will refuse to talk to the BBC after Manchester United’s clash with Fulham tomorrow afternoon. This is despite new FA rules which state that clubs, not managers, will be fined on a sliding scale for refusing to give post-match interviews to national broadcasters.

Thus, theoretically, Manchester United will be fined at least 37 times from now until the end of the season due to a decision by Ferguson to stop talking to the BBC six years ago. However it is the club that will face the punishment, not the manager.

History:

Ferguson took the unusual step of failing to talk to the BBC six years ago after a BBC documentary from 2004, Father and Son, which portrayed his agent son, Jason, as somebody who exploited his father’s influence and position to his own ends in the transfer market. Jason Ferguson was never found guilty of any wrongdoing but Sir Alex Ferguson claimed at the time he would never speak to the BBC again. To-date he has kept that promise.

Man Utd severed their ties with Jason Ferguson's Elite company in 2004

He said (at the time): “I think the BBC is the kind of company that never apologise and they never will apologise. They are arrogant beyond belief. They did a story about my son that was whole lot of nonsense. It all made-up stuff and ‘brown paper bags’ and all that kind of carry-on. It was a horrible attack on my son’s honour and he should never have been accused of that.”

Rule changes:

However this weekend the rules change and as part of an attempt to give further access to football stars by the FA, in a style befitting of American sport where players and managers are obliged to co-operate to a far greater degree, managers will be compelled to talk to the media after games and clubs will be fined on a sliding scale for each non-appearance.

The new rules could also force Ferguson to speak to the written press. For the last seven years he has been the only manager in the league to consistently refuse to talk to newspaper reporters after Premier League games, only giving interviews to Manchester United’s in-house television station MUTV. Under the new rules it is also mandatory for the manager or a senior member of the coaching staff to give a press conference.

Ferguson Vs the Man Utd fans

However the real question is this: how will Manchester United fans react to a situation where Ferguson is bringing fines on to the club despite the anti-Glazer protests amid fears the club is in financial turmoil?

Surely Alex Ferguson is the only manager in England who would believe it is his right to act as he pleases regardless of the consequences. Ferguson has complained in the past of being unfairly treated by the FA and yet here he is giving them every reason to come down hard on his every action or word.

The Manchester United fans are concerned that the owners are racking up enormous debts for the club while at the same time borrowing for personal gain against the club’s assets. Can Ferguson really continue to hold a grudge against the BBC and rack up dozens of fines for the club over a personal feud?

It is probably fair to say that Ferguson has every right to want to punish the BBC. How many of us could say we would settle at no further communication for a programme that attacked a member of our family?  However Ferguson’s job is as a manager of a football club. He does an excellent job, will be remembered as the best coach in the history of the game, but he risks alienating himself from genuine Man Utd supporters of over his boycott.

It is also worth noting that in any media outlet, there is generally a very thick divide between sports and news. A Panorama investigation is unlikely to hold much sway with Match of the Day‘s production team, unless its reporters decide to make the (stupid) decision to ask those involved, for example Ferguson, Harry Redknapp or Sam Allardyce (all of whom featured in the programme). Therefore while Ferguson is boycotting the BBC for a news programme, he is denying football fans the chance to see a top manager and understand his selection and thought process.

Football chiefs and Manchester United fans would have every right to be concerned if Ferguson refuses the BBC’s microphone on Sunday evening. For football’s sake and for the fans, the top manager at the biggest club in the country should be forced in front of the reporters and those cameras. And if he refuses, at least make him pay the fine himself.

Blackburn to become the tenth foreign-owned Premiership club?

Blackburn Rovers have become the latest club to be subject to a bid from potential new owners.

It has been reported that Indian entrepreneur Ahasan Ali Syed, the head of Bahrain-Swiss based investment firm Western Gulf Advisory, has made a formal approach to the club’s advisors. Blackburn currently have debts of around £20 million and 36-year-old Syed is proposing wiping out Blackburn’s debts and investing heavily in the club to help turn around its fortunes under manager Sam Allardyce.

Syed is reported to have approached Blackburn’s advisers, Rothschild, and is set to launch a £300 million takeover bid that would lift the club back towards their title-winning status of 1995. WGA have a non-disclosure agreement about the talks but a company spokeswoman told The Sport Briefing: “I can confirm that we made a formal approach to buy Blackburn Rovers.”

Blackburn declined to comment on any potential takeover, saying the matter was in the hands of Rothschilds, although the report added the club was “interested in the approach”. Blackburn meanwhile have said they were in talks with a “number of interested parties” about a possible takeover, according to chairman John Williams. “There have been a number of interested parties for some time and discussions are ongoing,” said Williams.

If the bid were to come to fruition it would mean Blackburn becoming thetenth English Premiership club to be under foreign ownership after Arsenal, Aston Villa, Birmingham, Chelsea, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Sunderland.

Bolton showing some pre-season promise

Ivan Klasnic has made Bolton his permanent home

Bolton have completed the signing of Ivan Klasnic on a free, two-year contract.

Klasnic becomes boss Owen Coyle’s fourth signing of the summer after Martin Petrov, Robbie Blake and Marcos Alonso. The Croatian striker mutually agreed to terminate his contract with Nantes last week and has now moved back to the club where he played on loan last year and scored eight goals from 27 appearances in the process.

The signing will please Owen Coyle who said at the start of the summer that he would love to take Klasnic back and having secured some valuable additions already, is shaping up for a good first full season in charge. Coyle said: “I’m absolutely delighted to get Ivan back. He is a proven goalscorer and someone who has played at the top-level. Last year he was obviously on loan but I’m now thrilled that he is our player for the next two years. He was desperate to come back and join us and I’m delighted that we have to come to an agreement where everybody is happy. It’s a terrific piece of business because if we wanted to buy him last year then it would have cost £2m.  Along with Martin, Robbie and Marcos we have strengthened our squad with real quality players.”

Fabregas tugs at the heartstrings in Barcelona video

A video has made its way online of Cesc Fabregas welling up with emotion as he once again reiterates his desire to play for Barcelona. Appearing in front of a crowd of more than 2,000 people in his hometown of Arenys de Mar, north of Barcelona, Fabregas was presented with a medal in honour of his World Cup triumph and was shown a clip of his schoolboy era at Barcelona. After watching the video Fabregas struggles to keep his emotions in check and tells the crowd that he “hopes to see them more often and closer.”

Watch the video:

The crowd, who called for him to return to Barcelona, cheered throughout the video as pictures of Fabregas in Barcelona youth teams appeared on a large screen, with Fabregas circled in each. Fabregas, addressing the crowd, then wipes tears from his eyes in front of his adoring home town.

The video will increase the speculation that a deal will be reached between the London and Catalan clubs, coupled with the news that Barcelona are to submit another bid of around £33 million and that Arsene Wenger has said Fabregas will play no part in pre-season training due to his fitness levels. The Spanish star is due back in training on Thursday. Sources have told media outlets in England that he will not request a transfer out of respect for Arsenal and his “father figure” Arsene Wenger.

However the likelihood of a deal looks set to increase now, as it becomes plain to see that Fabregas sees his future with his schoolboy club.

The news Liverpool fans have all been waiting for

The potential new owner of Liverpool, Kenneth Huang

Various media outlets are reporting that Chinese businessman Kenneth Huang has tabled a formal offer to buy Liverpool’s debt and thus take control of the club.

And the news gets even better for Liverpool fans: American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett (Jr) could be left without making a cent in profit. According to the terms of the bank’s loan to Liverpool, the pair are obliged to sell up by RBS if the offer is found to be in the club’s best interests. However they are also obliged to listen to any bids that come through the club’s American co-owners. The Guardian reports: “Gillett is said to have told RBS that he is in negotiations with the Syrian businessman and former international football Yahya Kirdi. Sources suggest the offer is unlikely to come to anything, and is being used in an attempt to prise more money from Huang.”

Huang was linked to a takeover of the club less than a year after Hicks and Gillett got involved(in 2007) but was put off by the asking price which is believed to have halved from the £650 million figure quoted then. However he has now appointed a British media relations firm to represent him “in respect of his interest in Liverpool Football Club”.

Banners protesting at the current owners have become commonplace at Anfield

And the news gets better for Liverpool fans. Media sources are reporting that Huang is keen to secure ownership of the club as soon as possible in an attempt to provide Roy Hodgson with much-needed transfer funds before the window closes on August 31. A source close to Huang told the BBC: “A deal has to be done before the transfer window closes. Huang has made a firm proposal. The club’s board has to sanction the sale and it could be sewn up in days.”

Hicks and Gillett have been a target of protests from the Liverpool fans after a disastrous three-year spell at the helm of the club. Fans say they have failed to back the club financially and deliver on promises they made at the time of the takeover. Before Liverpool’s game against Manchester United last October, hundreds marched around Anfield protesting and calling for the owners to leave.

The duo have also fallen out with each other and former manager Rafael Benitez whose decision to leave was thought to be primarily due to his poor relationship with the pair. Sources say there are no viable alternatives to Huang’s offer and any attempts to bring them to the bank are in an effort to secure more money from the Chinese businessman.

A few facts about Kenneth Huang (with thanks to www.live4liverpool.com):

• Had the unique honour of becoming China’s first graduate to work in the New York Stock Exchange in the 1980s
• After graduating in 1984 with a BA degree from Zhongshan University in Guangzhou, his hometown, he moved to study in the US at Columbia University before moving to New York to complete his Masters degree at St Johns.
• One of his crucial partners in America was with Les Alexander, owner of the NBA Houston Rockets, with whom he helped to bring Chinese Basketball superstar Yao Ming to the NBA team. Huang bought a 15% stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers leading to speculation in the US that Ming would link up at Cleveland with then Cleveland all-star Lebron James.
• Huang has exceptional contacts in the Far East and has brought lucrative sponsorship deals from China to the US and vice versa.
• News of his potential takeover is attracting headlines worldwide already from US sports websites to France football must L’Equipe.

The deal could also be crucial in bringing in new players to challenge for the title and keep the likes of Fernando Torres’ future on Merseyside. However, Liverpool fans have been here before, and will remember the optimism that swept through the club when the current owners were brought in.

Is this the start of a bright new dawn Liverpool fans? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.

Transfers: The ‘C’ word.

Paddy Power have suspended betting on Fernando Torres leaving Liverpool and joining Premiership rival              Chelsea. The firm announced they were withdrawing the market after a flurry of betting in the past day. Torres had moved from 10/1 to 6/1 and finally down to 1/3 to join Chelsea before the market was suspended.

The speculation intensified after British radio station TalkSPORT announced that they had “two reliable sources” that a deal has been agreed between the clubs. When Paddy Power have suspended betting in the past it hasn’t always been followed up by confirmation of  a deal (as in the case when betting was suspended on Franck Ribery joining Liverpool last summer). However betting was suspended the day before Joe Cole joined Liverpool in a surprise move earlier this month.

But this brings me to the dreaded ‘C’ word. You’ve heard it boldly stated on the radio, splashed all over the newspapers, even repeated by footballers agents. Yes the word ‘could‘ has to be the most popular reason for abandoning the current transfer window policy in England so the transfer speculation madness can all end.

This player could join this club in a deal worth a staggering….so-and-so could join so-and-so within the next fortnight…sources are reporting that blah blah blah could be blah blah blah.

Transfer speculation used to be one of my favourite times of the season. The idea that your squad could have a new number nine. Shock moves between rival clubs. Weighing up every teams new squad versus their old one and seeing who would make progress and who had regressed. Now though it’s become farcical.

Football is big business (as mentioned here many times before, obvious statement I know). You can see a link to football news on most English newspaper’s websites so you can bypass the ‘news’ and head straight for the footie. But the appetite for football has exploded so much that papers have to fill more and more column inches so every day Man City are on the verge of signing someone new. And even if they’re genuine transfer deals. Every day there’ll be some pointless addition to the story, like ‘Balotelli is no longer convinced’ or ‘Balotelli must go so Benitez can fund a move for Mascherano’ or ‘Mancini says he can get the best out of Balotelli.’

It’s gone insane. So when James Milner is described as having ‘amicable’ talks with Martin O’Neill like it’s big news you can’t help but wish the transfer window was done away with so there wasn’t this constant pressure for stories. Why wouldn’t O’Neill have ‘amicable’ talks with the man he has helped turn into an England star? When did O’Neill slam his atitude? When did Milner say he wanted to join Man City?

In truth, to be fair, managers are so cagey with the press that it becomes hard for the press to get answers. When Roy Hodgson says he doesn’t know where Torres’ future lies you can’t help but be skeptical when he said something similar about Joe Cole only for the midfielder to sign within 48 hours. Still, let’s have a bit more analysis lads, rather than the normal ‘sources say’ nonsense. The sources could be wrong after all.