Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has quashed speculation linking him with a move for Benfica left-back Fabio Coentrao.
Rumours continue to circulate about a possible transfer to Real Madrid for Ashley Cole but Ancelotti has reiterated his desire to keep the former Arsenal star at Stamford Bridge.
When asked about the Coentrao rumours, Ancelotti said: "It is not true, totally rubbish."
However, the Blues boss has confirmed that he expects the £18million capture of Benfica's Brazil international Ramires to be sealed shortly, adding:"Ramires is, until now, a Benfica player. When he is here, I can speak about him, not now.
"I don't want to speak about Ramires. When Ramires signs a contract for Chelsea, he will sign. This is the same for other players. I read a lot of names in the newspapers."
Michael Ballack, Joe Cole and Juliano Belletti have all left Chelsea since the end of last season, while the only high-profile arrival has been Yossi Benayoun, and Ancelotti admitted:"For us, after a fantastic season, it was very difficult to change this squad.
FootballFanCast General: Subscribe and never miss what matters Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
"We were totally agreed to maintain this squad. To put some young players in this squad from our academy, this was our aim. After a fantastic season, we could repeat the same season this year with these players.
"I think that the teams that can win the title will be the same as last year, including, obviously, Man City, because they've bought fantastic players."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
When talent is wasted through ill-discipline, laziness, lack of application and direction football fans are not particularly forgiving. In contrast there can be no greater shame than seeing a gifted player’s career cut short or disturbed through injury. Below are ten players who were forced into premature retirement or have seen more of the treatment table than the pitch.
Martin Laursen
The former Aston Villa centre-back retired from football last year after sustaining a knee injury in January 2009. Faced with a major operation and a long period of rehabilitation the ex-Milan player who had previously suffered with knee injuries decided to hang up his boots. He had been at Villa Park for five years and was the club captain.
Dean Ashton
Soon after turning 26, West Ham striker Dean Ashton announced his retirement from football. He had failed to fully recover from an ankle injury suffered during an England training session in 2006. After returning the following season he scored 11 times and earned another England call-up. But the superb finisher experienced a reoccurrence of the ankle injury at the start of the 2008/09 season and never played again.
Jonathan Woodgate
Speculation is rife that Woodgate will be forced to retire unless he undergoes surgery on his injured groin. The former Madrid defender who has battled against injuries throughout his career has not featured for Tottenham since November last year. The player who has visited specialists across the world in an attempt to solve his groin problem is not expected to be named in Harry Redknapp’s 25-man squad.
Owen Hargreaves
Another injury ravaged player set to be a victim of the Premier League’s new rules is Manchester United’s Hargreaves. Sir Alex Ferguson is said to be greatly concerned over his chances of recovering from a career threatening knee condition. The midfielder who was sorely missed at the World Cup has made one substitute appearance for the club since undergoing double knee surgery in December 2008 and January 2009.
Kieron Dyer
The West Ham United winger who signed from Newcastle in 2007 broke his leg shortly after moving south to east London. He has recently been dogged by a series of hamstring injuries and co-owner David Sullivan suggested he was a player who may have to accept retirement. Having made only his eighth start for the Hammers on Saturday, he will be hoping to prove his critics wrong.
Continued on Page TWO
Matt Murray
The Wolverhampton Wanderers keeper had to accept retirement from football earlier this week. This followed an unsuccessful battle to return to playing after rupturing his patella tendon. Mick McCarthy believed the 29-year old could have been an England regular.
Ledley King
The Tottenham stalwart continues to struggle with a long-standing knee problem which has restricted his playing time. The defender previously came close to retirement but has managed to assuage his persistently troubled knee. King is put through less combative training techniques and is often rested when games come thick and fast. Due to his immense talent it is a situation tolerated by Spurs and their fans.
Jamie Redknapp
FootballFanCast General: Subscribe and never miss what matters Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Another chronic knee complaint forced the former Liverpool and Tottenham captain Jamie Redknapp to retire in 2005. Dr Richard Steadman, whose books are full of crocked footballers, told the midfielder that his career was over. Injury had also ruled the player out of the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.
Darren Anderton
Players who have graced White Hart Lane are propping up this list and perhaps the most infamous is the man labelled with the nickname, ‘sick note.’ Anderton played for a host of clubs, most notably Spurs but was beset by a range of injuries. Despite groin and Achilles trouble he made over 30 appearances for England. The unlucky midfielder retired two years ago, finishing his career with Bournemouth.
Michael Owen
After sustaining a ruptured hamstring in the Carling Cup final last season, Owen dismissed suggestions that he is cursed by injury. The former Liverpool, Madrid and Newcastle forward has vehemently rejected his injury prone tag. The label has stuck for the goal-scorer who bizarrely ruptured his anterior cruciate knee ligament against Sweden at the 2006 World Cup.
Former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier has refused to rule out a return to the Premier League with Aston Villa.
Houllier, who left Anfield in 2004 following six seasons in England, has been linked with a director of football role at Villa Park.
The Frenchman would reportedly oversee a new-look coaching system at the Midlands club which would include current caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald remaining in charge of first-team affairs.
MacDonald has been in interim control since Martin O'Neill resigned on the eve of the new season.
Houllier was back in England on Saturday after helping manage the Reds during Jamie Carragher's testimonial game against an Everton XI at Anfield.
Speaking afterwards, the current technical director for the French Football Federation refused to rule out a possible move to Villa Park.
FootballFanCast General: Subscribe and never miss what matters Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
"Never and always are two words you can't use in football," he said.
During Houllier's six-year reign on Merseyside, Liverpool won a UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup treble in 2001.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Everton have been here before – utter bemusement. This is the same group of players that beat Chelsea and both sides of Manchester at the back end of last season. Five games into this term however have only yielded two draws and three defeats. There have been no wholesale changes at Goodison Park, and key players have pledged their respective futures to the club. Everton have a team capable of challenging their contemporaries for the fourth Champions League spot (assuming correctly or not that the first three are occupied by Chelsea, United and Arsenal), and yet they are consistently let down by their sluggish start to campaigns.
Three defeats in the league already this season, three in the first five last season, and four in their opening six of the 08/09 season, mean that for all their virtues, they are constantly playing catch-up with Tottenham, Man City and Liverpool.
Only Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson have had longer tenures at their clubs than David Moyes amongst the current crop of top flight bosses. Part of the reason that Moyes has remained in his job in such a trigger happy industry, is that he does an incredible on job on a relatively limited budget. He has never had the money to spend that the clubs around him have enjoyed, not Tottenham, and certainly not Man City. This is not to say they are penniless, but there is little room for financial gamble or error, however, their starts are not down to financial restrictions. Despite all this, Moyes still manages to put together and team healthy in both graft and guile.
The signings from the lower domestic echelons of players like Tim Cahill, Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka have been moulded into a sides with the bigger Fellaini-style purchases. And any team that can boast Tim Cahill, Steven Pienaar and Mikel Arteta in their midfield should be winning the majority of games that they play, regardless of the strikers (or sometime lack of them) ahead of them.
As sure as I am that Everton will start slowly in a campaign, I am as equally sure that they will wake up from their slumber and click into gear. At their best, they are a match for virtually anyone in the league, they have proved that. I have already documented the three defeats in their first five games of last season; in the same season, they only experienced three defeats in their last 25 games.
Witnessing the two injury-time goals against Man Utd I was filled with total elation, a fan a neither side, it was just thoroughly enjoyable to watch. Surely the kick-start to Everton’s season? Another home game to follow, against Newcastle, looked like one that they could push on from. And yet their performance was abject and stunted.
FootballFanCast General: Subscribe and never miss what matters Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
If Everton continue to start seasons in the fashion they have become accustomed to, they will continually hit a ceiling where they can only progress so far. They are six points off the pace of City and Spurs already, and that could make the difference come the end of the season. With all due respect, home games against Wolves and Newcastle should be six points for a team with Everton’s aspirations. It is not as if we can even say that Everton are missing a key ingredient; I can’t put my finger on one specific thing, because so much seems to be in place. I don’t have the answer, but believe that David Moyes is a good enough manager, and Everton are a good enough team, to solve the problem. The consistent high league finishes by Everton are to be commended, but if they are to have any opportunity of getting back to the heights of the 80s, then the stagnant starts have to stop.
Get updates on my articles by following me on twitter.
For some years now Sir Alex Ferguson has been resolute in his refusal to talk to the BBC, until now it has not cost him or the club, but the enforcement of new rules in the Premier League mean that his silence could potentially cost the club just under £1 million over the course of the season. The new rules compel employees of clubs to talk to broadcasters of the Premier League, and by not talking to the BBC Ferguson is in breech of the rulses. The club’s hierarchy have given their full backing to Ferguson in this respect, but will it be the most pointless £1 million that United have ever spent?
Sir Alex Ferguson’s wall of silence against the BBC stems back from a program broadcast 2004, which alledged that Ferguson’s son Jason, then a football agent, had very close links to Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson has since refused to speak to the BBC, accusing them of being arrogant and demanding an apology for the program, something he has yet to receive. Whilst there has been no punishment in the past for Ferguson’s actions, there will be this season and the club could face fines of up to £25,000 each time he snubs the BBC for an interview. Ferguson though, has no intention on breaking his silence and the club have backed their manager to the hilt, perhaps not surprising given his reputation Old Trafford.
In what seems like straitened financial times for Man Utd however, this seems like a complete waste of the club’s finances. It may not be an absolutely huge amount of money, but surely it would be better spent on the academy, or developing some young talent at the club. It leaves no doubt over who is in charge at Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson is the top man and the clubs board know this, but some might say they are being far too conciliatory to a man, who despite all his successes, is still an employee at the club. You imagine for instance, if Ian Holloway refused to speak to the BBC, Blackpool would not be too happy about paying out regular fines.
The whole situation just seems to be very immature. It is not just Ferguson, the BBC might want to consider taking a look at themselves, whatever was behind their documentary, be it truthful or not, would it not just be so much easier for them to issue an apology? It really does seem like sorry is the hardest word. Ferguson is hardly covering himself in glory either, he has shown a great deal of stubbornness and he clearly intends to continue in this manner despite the fines his club are going to receive.
It is irritating when you are watching Match of the Day and you don’t get to hear the opinions of Sir Alex Ferguson. You might have hoped that the system of fines that are going to be implemented this season would have persuaded him to start talking to the BBC again, but that does not seem like it is going to be the case. Manchester United seem more than ready to accept their punishment, and it may be a while before we see Ferguson on the BBC again.
FootballFanCast General: Subscribe and never miss what matters Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
If you liked this article please follow me on Twitter. Subscribe to my RSS feed.[unruly src=” http://video.unrulymedia.com/wildfire_13768701.js”]
For a man that is known to speak a lot of hot air Robbie Savage has come out today and spoke rationally and reasonably. Savage brings our attention to the black clouds currently looming over Newcastle manager Chris Hughton’s head. Hughtons future seems uncertain considering other managers are being linked with his job and the board have only issued a short statement eluding that Hughtons situation will be clarified in the New Year.
Savage proclaims that “Newcastle’s treatment of Chris Hughton is out of order.” I would have to say that I agree with the former Wales international. Newcastle “United are ninth in the table and have scored more goals than anyone outside the top three. Their manager is turning Andy Carroll from a raw-boned kid into a man,” all the while showing real signs that he is the correct man to secure Newcastle’s Premier League status for another season.
The doubt that surrounds Hughton is completely unjustifiable. Hughton has done a fantastic job with United, taking a club that was in total disarray back to the Premier League at the first attempt is know small feat. A quarter of the season has come and gone and United also find themselves in the top half of the league. It seems obscure to think that Hughton is in any danger of losing his job.
Following the teams 4-0 loss to Arsenal in the Carling Cup the United board did release a short statement saying that “Chris is our manager and will remain our manager; it is our intention to renegotiate his contract at the end of the year.” Call me stupid but does this technically just mean that he is effectively being put on a two-month trial for his job. “What a joke. No wonder the bookmakers suspended betting on him being the next Premier League manager to go.”
[divider]
This weekend Newcastle host bitter rivals Sunderland at St. James’ Park and it is thought that if the result is not a positive one for Hughton then he faces the axe. It’s a sad state of affairs when a young, gifted manager is sacked after two negative results. Robbie Savage and I are not alone in our thoughts, Steve Bruce Sunderland manager explains that “management, it is never easy, and what he has done at Newcastle, for someone who has never managed a club before, is outstanding.”
Hughton is gaining support right left and centre and as an outsider looking in it would certainly appear that Hughton maybe in the process of being hung out to dry. You would expect that having achieved what he has at Newcastle that common sense would prevail and the softly spoken Londoner would be left to carry on doing a great job. Common sense and football however do not always go hand in hand and you would hope that if Hughton was sadly to lose his job that there would be correct and valid reasons.
If you like what I’ve written why not follow me on Twitter
FootballFanCast General: Subscribe and never miss what matters Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Netherlands midfielder Rafael van der Vaart has praised Spurs boss Harry Redknapp for keeping things simple.
The 27-year-old has made a flying start to his White Hart Lane career, scoring seven times in 12 appearances, having decided to leave Real Madrid to kick-start his career.
Van der Vaart told The Sun:"Harry is a very special man, that's why I already feel at home at Spurs. It feels like I'm back on the street.
"There are no long and boring speeches about tactics, like I was used to at Real Madrid.
"There is a clipboard in our dressing room, but Harry doesn't write anything on it. It's not that we do nothing – but it's close to that."
Meanwhile, Spurs have been boosted by the news that England striker Jermain Defoe has returned to full training well ahead of schedule.
FootballFanCast General: Subscribe and never miss what matters Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
The 28-year-old has been sidelined since late August after suffering ankle ligament damage during the European Championship qualifier against Switzerland and had initially been thought to be facing a three-month absence.
However, he may yet be ready to feature as a substitute in this weekend's North London derby against Arsenal.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Chelsea head coach Carlo Ancelotti has urged his players not to be too downhearted after a 1-0 loss at Birmingham City led to their lead at the top of the Premier League disappearing.
The Blues have now lost three of their last four league games, but Ancelotti sees no reason to get carried away by a mini-slump.
He commented:"I've already said to the players 'don't lose confidence because you played good football.' The result is frustrating but they deserved to win.
"The team didn't play well against Sunderland and this result is not good, but we didn't deserve to lose.
"We didn't win because we were unlucky and because (Birmingham goalkeeper) Ben Foster played a good game.
"We have to take confidence from the way we played. It is just the result that was disappointing.
"It is a strange Premier League this season. There are a lot of opportunities for teams to close the gap at the top. We are losing opportunities but so are other teams.
"It is a more difficult competition this season because more teams believe in themselves.
FootballFanCast General: Subscribe and never miss what matters Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
"A month ago I said when we were doing well that there would be difficult moments ahead. This is one of them.
"But if we keep playing like that then we will win games."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
There is nothing like watching an exciting youngster in the Premier League week-in week-out and seeing them develop at a rate of knots. Every year some youngsters fall by the wayside, while others take the Premiership by storm, and it is the latter that we’re concentrating on here. To be given the FootballFanCast.com Premier League Young Player of the Year award for 2010 you have to be a youngster who has already fulfilled a great deal of their potential, yet you feel there is still more to come from them and this is what makes them such exciting talents. They have to have experience beyond their years and already be in contention for international honours. Which Premier League youngsters have you been impressed with this season? Here are the nominees for the FootballFanCast.com Young Player of the Year for 2010…
A welcome win and three points for Avram Grant sees West Ham drag themselves out of the bottom three, for the first time in months.
It wasn’t pretty, but West Ham fans won’t give one iota as it was a vital victory against one of their fellow strugglers, and it could provide the Hammers with the confidence boost and belief they desperately need. It is now 8pts in four games for Avram Grant’s men, which has brought a huge sigh of relief among the West Ham faithful.
So how do West Ham’s fans feel about today, and what are the five things we learnt about West Ham this afternoon?
[divider]
FootballFanCast General: Subscribe and never miss what matters Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
[divider]
Holy Crap – it’s live fantasy football! Become part of Chelsea v Aston Villa and play Picklive for FREE Watch and bet live – spices up any game!