Bob Houghton has resigned as India coach after allegations of racism were dropped by the country’s football federation.The Englishman, 63, was the subject of an investigation by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) following claims that he made a racist remark to a match official during a friendly against Yemen last October.
Houghton, who coached Swedish club Malmo to the 1979 European Cup final, described the allegations as ‘nonsensical’.
“The AIFF feels that in the absence of any definitive and concrete evidence the allegations against Mr Houghton cannot be sustained and therefore the AIFF agrees to withdraw all charges and allegations made against him,” the statement said.
“However, Mr. Houghton, for his personal reasons, does not wish to continue working in India and in his position as the head coach of the Indian football team.”
Houghton, who took over India in 2006, was contracted until 2013 after agreeing a new deal last year.
His tenure was marked by public disagreements with AIFF officials over the state of football infrastructure in the country and he had been tipped to walk away on several occasions.
Some sources have suggested that the federation agreed to drop the charges in exchange for Houghton’s resignation, with the arrangement reportedly suiting both parties.
In recent years, there has been nothing more compelling than sitting down on transfer deadline day in anticipation of your club bagging a late bargain – but this term most fans will be contemplating a lack of activity with most clubs refusal to be drawn into panic buying prevalent when compared to previous windows.
Aside from the lavish activity at Eastlands throughout this summer, the financial climate dictated that other clubs were more withdrawn when the clock neared 6 o’clock on Tuesday.
Whilst some have succeeded in the window, ask fans of Arsenal or Everton and they will tell you it has been a hindrance, forcing many to question whether it would be best to shut the transfer window at the start of August so that players can settle in before the season commences. The pros for having the window are obvious: when the window shuts there is little distraction throughout the season and players cannot try to engineer a move away or unsettle the ranks.
But more and more we see clubs playing hard ball with prices of players, inflating them in the hope a club will bow to their demands in a desperate bid to bolster their squad before they are stripped of the chance – until January at least. A failure to conclude business on the final day has become the norm due to toing and froing as agents try to get the best deal for their clients and manager’s frustrations continue to grow.
Roberto Martinez was highly critical of the window saying: “Nobody knows – it’s the nature of the transfer window. I think it’s ridiculous to be in the start of the campaign playing competitive games and the window isn’t even closed. We are allowing the players to be distracted and we’re not helping them in a business that’s really high pressure.
Before adding: “The players are not well looked after because of the rules of the transfer window.”
With this notion comes the flip side, Ian Holloway was desperate to add to his Blackpool side before the window closes and called it slams shut on him “a restriction of trade” and should Arsene Wenger have to wait until January to secure the services of a goalkeeper?
The likelihood of the calls for it to be scrapped will fall on deaf ears and without the window; it would be a tame affair and would not generate anywhere near as much excitement as it still does and although I have sympathy will Holloway’s need to add, the transfer window means that clubs can instead focus on football rather than whether their star striker is going to leave should it remain open. If clubs do not want to do business on the last day because they feel it is not right for the club then it is their choice. It does encourage panic buying but again if managers are lured by this it is nobody’s fault but their own if the players move does not work out.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General 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.
It is my belief that the current system works and although it is not favourable for some clubs and it will continue to excite when clubs are less wary of the current financial predicament which has affected everyone: including football.
The agent of Juventus winger Milos Krasic has stated that both Tottenham and Chelsea are keen on securing his client’s services during the January transfer window.
The Serbia international had a spectacular start to his career in Italy after joining from CSKA Moscow back in 2010, but has seen first team opportunities something of a commodity since Antonio Conte became coach in the summer.
With the wideman eager to play more regularly, Dejan Joksimovic has revealed that Krasic has a number of suitors, two of which come from the Premier League.
“In the next few days Milos will talk with (Juventus director, Giuseppe) Marotta to understand what the club plans for him – offer him another chance, sell him or loan him out,” he agent told Calcio Mercato.
“There are clubs interested him in – like Chelsea, Inter Milan and now Tottenham and Fenerbahce.
“There are also three Russian clubs in the running that I cannot name.
“Milos doesn’t want to return to Russia so soon and there is the possibility that, with some assurances, he could remain at Juventus – even if I believe that he should change team,” Joksimovic concluded.
By Gareth McKnight
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General 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.
Sao Paulo kept the pressure on Campeonato Paulista leaders Palmeiras with a 4-1 win away to Noroeste on Sunday.Visitors Sao Paulo took the lead through a penalty from goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni 35 minutes into the match at Estadio Dr Alfredo de Castilho.
Midfielder Marlos doubled the lead on the hour mark, before forward Dagoberto made it 3-0 on 76 minutes.
Defender Halisson pulled one back for the hosts two minutes later, but substitute Ilsinho struck in the 90th minute to restore the three-goal advantage.
The win keeps Sao Paulo second, one point behind top-of-the-table Palmeiras.
Noroeste are one point from safety in 17th place.
Corinthians lost ground on the top two after going down 2-1 at home to Sao Caetano.
The mid-table visitors led through goals in each half from forward Eduardo, the first from the penalty spot just nine minutes in.
Paulinho got a goal back for the hosts on 80 minutes, but they were unable to take anything from the game.
The defeat sees Corinthians fall six points behind Palmeiras.
Sao Caetano are up to eighth.
In other matches, fourth-placed Santos also dropped points in a 0-0 draw away to Americana.
Linense defeated Bragantino 2-1 at home, while Oeste came from behind to beat visitors Ponte Preta by the same scoreline.
Next on our list of potential England stars in the making is Manchester United and England U-20 international midfielder Matthew James.
James is a product of the famous Manchester United academy at Carrington. He joined the club at a tender age and has been progressing rapidly through the ranks at United. James made his first academy appearance as a fourteen year old back in 2005 when a young James played for the U-18 side. The next season saw James gradually work his way into regular contention, appearing eight times for academy manager Paul McGuinness’ U-18 side before establishing himself as a regular in 2007. The 2007-2008 season also saw James make his first appearance for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reserve team where the talented youngster was to become an integral part of the team’s future success.
During his time in the reserves, James established himself as one of the premier midfield talents in the country in the 2008-2009 season where his combination of passing, vision, technique and long-range shooting helped to fire United to second place in the Premier Reserve League North.
[youtube 3iUaxL1T2lI]
One of James’ main strengths is his versatility, as he is able to play in defence as well as in his preferred position in midfield. James’ style of play has seen him being compared favourably to Paul Scholes due to his devastating long-shots and a keen eye for a pass. These attributes can be seen in a number of performances James turned in for the United reserves with James scoring a searing long-range drive against Preston along with an exquisitely measured through ball for Federico Macheda to score against Newcastle (starting 0:29 in the second video).
These qualities were not to go unnoticed by Sir Alex Ferguson who called James up to the senior side, naming the young midfielder to the substitutes bench for United’s final day victory against Hull City in May 2009. His impressive performances in the reserves earned James a professional contract and he was given the number 43 shirt for the 2009-2010 campaign.
Last season saw James join Championship club Preston North End on loan in February 2010 along with fellow United teammate Danny Wellbeck until the end of the season. James excelled in the Championship, scoring a debut goal against Sheffield United and going on to make eighteen appearances for the Lillywhites. This season sees James rejoin Preston on a season long loan where he has featured in three of Preston’s games so far, scoring once in the League Cup in Preston’s 5-0 win against Stockport.
[youtube 84MxNIXZoSU]
In addition to his club career, James has also had an illustrious international youth career becoming a regular fixture in the England youth team at various different levels. James was a perennial inclusion in the U-16 and then U-17 side which he captained, before progressing to the U-19 set up in 2009 being part of the team which reached the European U-19 Championship Finals that year. James was given the honour of captaining the U-19 side against Russia in September 2009, an honour he held during this summer’s European U-19 Championship held in France.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General 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.
Matthew James is a player that has an exciting future in the game. His second loan spell at Preston North End is an opportunity for James to gain some valuable first team experience to help aid his development into a possible Manchester United and England starter in the coming years.
Like my article? Follow me on Twitter or subscribe to my RSS feed.
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp would never consider quitting the game despite his health concerns according to Kevin Bond, and will make his return against Aston Villa on Monday night.
The 64-year-old has recently undergone an operation on his heart to unblock two coronary arteries and has been absent for the White Hart Lane side’s last two fixtures.
Despite being recommended to stay away from football for five weeks Redknapp will return against Villa, and Bond feels at no point would the trainer have considered retirement.
“There was no way Harry was going to quit after his heart operation,” Bond stated to Sky Sports.
“There is pressure but he’s been doing it for a long time and has learnt to live with that pressure. He loves it and would be lost without it.
Redknapp has admitted that he feels stronger and healthier than ever, and is keen to see his side get three points on Monday night.
“I feel fine, I feel really good. In fact, I’ve got more energy than before,” he admitted.
“I certainly feel better than I did three weeks ago and I’m looking forward to getting back to work. I can handle the stress of a football match. I’ve been used to doing it for so long now that I’m sure I won’t have a problem.
“If I keel over, the doctors will be right behind me, I’m sure,” he concluded.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General 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.
Spurs go into the game looking to make it eight wins from nine games, and can move up to third place with a victory.
1. Status Quo – With the season reaching squeaky bum time, Manchester United pulled out their party piece run-in trick of grinding out late goal wins in games they looked hardly capable of scoring in, gently applying some much needed oil to their behinds in the process (a metaphorical continuation I instantly feel cheaper for going with). Having started with the constantly impressive Javier Hernandez, whom Mark Lawrenson noticed “never ever, ever stops moving” like some kind of deadly transvestite shark, it was his replacement by the equally calculating dead eyed predatory instincts of Dimitar Berbatov that finally swung the pendulum United’s way (another metaphor I’ve never understood, as a pendulum’s constant, indecisive conclusionless motion is precisely what makes it a pendulum). A recklessly snap joint decision by Jonny Evans and Stuart Holden to try and scissor each other in mid-air might have ended the American’s season, and earned a red card and suspension for the former, reducing United’s injury hit squad to 2 natural defenders and a cardboard cut out of Owen Hargreaves for their trip to West Ham next week.
[ad_pod id=’fox-mpu’ align=’right’]
2. Keep on Runnin’ – Whilst United were revelling in the execution of their annual party trick, Arsenal were wallowing in the prospect of pulling off their yearly bottle job at the arse end of the season (a turn of phrase that paradoxically couldn’t be both less and more apt for them) before just about holding it together despite the latest effort to bolster their own in house comedy keeping howlers Christmas video. Manuel Almunia may not stand as statuesque as Wojciech Szczesny, being a full inch shorter, but did his best to stand as still as one during a “down your throat” Steven Reid header before his triangle button became inexplicably stuck and he raced pointlessly out of his goal, straight into Sebastien Squillaci and like some ghastly Benny Hill tribute sketch played by Sacha Baron Cohen playing Bruno playing Hill, gifted Odemwinge a tap in second. The Gunners displayed a deal of champion’s spirit to haul back level courtesy of an Arshavin goal and a Van Persie foul, but couldn’t find a winner. Apart from on their bench, where Jens Lehmann pyramided his fingers and cackled like a bond villain returning from an earlier presumed death intent on world domination. Mwa ha ha ha.
3. Luiz Luiz, Oh baby.. – At Stamford Bridge Chelsea suddenly realised they were back in the hunt for something or other and overcame Manchester City with even less help than usual from their £50m marquee signing Fernando Torres. The real star of transfer deadline day has emerged as David Luiz who’s taken to Premiership football like a duck to pancakes. The Brazilian now has 200% more goals for Chelsea than Torres and looks a nailed on cert to establish himself amongst the top defenders in the league. With the Da Silva twins over at Old Trafford also making strides, Brazil’s back line for their own World Cup in 2014 is threatening to look suspiciously like a bad Led Zeppelin tribute band. Or possibly some kind of ill planned Starsky and Hutch convention where everyone’s turned up as Starsky. It’s also ominously likely to bring back that tired old football cliché about how effortlessly better the Brazilians are at football than everyone else, a trope rather unhelpfully compounded when tough tackling defensive midfielder Ramires effortlessly slalomed his way through City’s defense to slot home a sambarific second. Why couldn’t Elton John have adopted a Brazilian baby?
Continue to the NEXT PAGE…
4. Cum on Feel the Noize – As one 20-odd million pound player was taking the spotlight away from a ludicrously over expensive teammate, another was doing the same at the Stadium of Light where human chipmunk and long lost relative of Dave Hill from Slade Luis Suarez, continued to reaffirm his already widespread (and assumed) reputation as the best of Liverpool’s January acquisitions. After taking the lead from a penalty no one could decide the merit of even after numerous replays and exhaustive Redknappian literally’s, Suarez wriggled his way onto the nearside touchline before lashing the ball home from an unfeasibly tight angle. The inflated and squashed Claire Balding impersonator that currently masquerades as Steve Bruce was understandably unhappy with referee Kevin Friend’s decision to award the opening spot kick in the area despite initially whistling for a free kick outside, but as with all decisions in life, it’s always advisable to seek a second opinion. Preferably from someone twice as far away as you are. That’s why I never trust on scene reporters milling around in front of stuff. They never know anything. The story is always bound to have been broken 20 minutes earlier on Twitter. We should just scrap assistant referees altogether and replace them with a Twitter version. They could be called Twiterees and be forced to communicate solely in banal text speak and a limited amount of characters. Lolz.
[ad_pod id=’unruly’ align=’left’]
5. Oranges and Lemons – Blackpool continue to do everything right and everything wrong at exactly the same time in every game, leaving them as the only competition for the most entertaining season DVD with Arsenal’s in-house comedy keeper howlers 10/11. They remain fantastically enjoyable to watch but such is their worrying dependence on skipper Charlie Adam that his inevitable summer departure could see them capitulate completely from a side where everyone just looks like they work on a building site, to a side where everyone plays like one too. I really really don’t want them to go down though. There aren’t nearly enough good orange things in football. Not since Holland went dirty and Wes Brown got rubbish.
Other Things I Noticed: Roberto Martinez seems to have grown back his hair. Alex McLeish looks like a peeled orange. Aston Villa have gotten worse since losing James Milner, and so has James Milner. Stoke have now used up their entire non-set piece goal quota in one game and Louis Saha’s hair has finally stopped exploding after seven months. It’s now just singed, but still looks rubbish.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General 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.
You can follow Oscar on Twitter here, http://twitter.com/oscarpyejeary where you can observe him communicating solely in banal text speak and a limited number of characters. Lolz
Newcastle United have signed Nottingham Forest defender James Perch on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee, despite the club stating in May that there will be no money spent on transfers this summer.
A statement from the board on the club’s website read:
“It is clear to the board that no organisation can be successful, until the financial position is stabilised. The board have therefore structured a five-year plan in which the ultimate goal will be to ensure that the club is run at a ‘break even’ manner by the year 2015-2016.
The first team squad that won the Championship this year will form the basis of the team for next season in the Premier League. There is no plan for new capital outlay on players.”
Since that statement has been made nothing has changed at St. James’ Park, the club have received no investment and no player has been sold. It is a strange scenario and although the board have perhaps pulled the wool over their fans eyes a little, the club have clearly decided it’s best to play their transfer cards close to their chest ahead of what is going to be a big season for them.
Clubs have often found that by stating your transfer intensions that it has a negative effect and the selling clubs tend to take advantage of the situation and knock prices up. Newcastle being coy and doing business under the radar is a smart move by the board as they look to stabalise the club’s finances and not to mention ensure that Chris Hughton has the tools required to keep Newcastle in the Premier League. Whether or not Perch will be of significant quality remains to be seen, as he doesn’t have any top flight experience, but perhaps Hughton may have pulled a masterstroke, only time will tell.
Manager Chris Hughton didn’t give any indication on the club’s transfer funds and simply said about the deal:
“James is a player I’ve admired for some time and it’s great we’ve been able to secure his services. I’m certain he’ll prove to be a great addition to our squad.”
Some supporters may not be bowled over by the signing and perhaps feel a little confused in seeing the club spending having previously claimed that there would be no outlay, but I’m sure all will be forgiven if Perch plays his part in ensuring Newcastle have a solid return to the Premier League, especially given the turmoil that has gone on at the football club in the past couple of years.
What do you make of Newcastle’s actions?
Message me on Twitter with your thoughts
Click on image below to see the ITALIAN babes at the World Cup
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General 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.
Samir Nasri’s stock has never been higher than this summer following a great season at Arsenal. The Frenchman was mooted as the missing link to both Man Utd and Man City’s title hopes this campaign. His creativity, movement and quality in the final third are without question. However, what may be, though, is his role in Mancini’s plans, which since the debacle away at Bayern Munich, has been reduced to one on the periphery.
The Bayern Munich game appeared to mark a watershed moment for Mancini for several reasons. While not choosing to ignore the moment that hogged the headlines (and still does) with Carlos Tevez’s apparent refusal to come on as a sub, two sub-plots have also come to light.
Kolo Toure was unfathomably restored to the first-team line-up despite a six-month absence in the place of Joleon Lescott. An error so great that it threatened to put paid to any hopes City had of qualifying out of a difficult group, with the Ivory Coast defender’s ring rustiness notable. The other being that this was the final point in which Nasri’s name became a guaranteed starter on the team-sheet.
Nasri made his debut at White Hart Lane on the 28th August in a 5-1 demolition, with the new signing blending into the squad fantastically well setting up three of the goals in the process.
Against Wigan he came off the bench with half an hour left to play and was integral in increasing the 1-0 deficit. He started the next two games against Napoli and Fulham, with Adam Johnson coming on as a late sub for him both times, before starting their next league game, the 2-0 win at home to Everton.
However, since the Bayern game, in the eight games that have proceeded it, he has started just four of them – against Wolves in both the league and the Carling Cup and against Villarreal in the home and away ties in the Champions League.
He came off the bench after 27mins against Blackburn away from home, was an unused sub against Aston Villa at home, he came off the bench with the job already done against Man Utd with the scores at 3-1 and 15mins left on the clock and was an unused sub against QPR.
[ad_pod id=’unruly-2′ align=’left’]
Since the Bayern game, by which time he had settled into the side superbly and was a regular, he has seen just 347 minutes of football in the next eight games across all competitions. Only 177 minutes have these have come in City’s last five league games. His role has rather unquestionably been reduced, but why?
The recent resurgence of James Milner may have something to do with it. Milner offers industry and a degree of creativity. His all-action style has been ideally suited to difficult league ties against the likes of Aston Villa and QPR.
Whereas the Bayern game may have marked a watershed moment, the real turning point came with Mancini’s preference for Milner over Nasri for the 6-1 humbling of fierce rivals Man Utd at Old Trafford. The shock result of the modern Premier League era.
It appears as if Nasri has now become the first name on the team-sheet for the Man City B-team. Through no real fault of his own and in part because others have grasped the opportunities afforded to them, he has fallen down the pecking order.
Aguero and Silva’s places in the starting line-up appear untouchable. Gareth Barry and Yaya Toure remain for the time being important parts of the Man City machine. There appears to be two spots up for grabs in the long-term – in which four players (Milner, Balotelli, De Jong and Nasri) have to fit into.
Nasri has swapped regular football at Arsenal where a trophy didn’t look like coming any time soon, for a crack at a higher level and a much better chance of silverware. The result has been that’s he’s fallen from a leading light of the Premier League to an also-ran of it’s best side. In an instant, he’s gone from a lead to a supporting actor.
Many felt that Arsenal could ride the blow of Cesc Fabregas’s departure as long as they kept hold of Nasri and installed him as their creative hub. His transfer to City marked a re-aligning in the pecking order – City had finally pinched a player that Arsenal had wanted to keep hold of. Whereas once, he was a jewel in the crown, now he’s little more than a pearl on an admittedly priceless necklace.
Man City do have a large squad filled to the brim with top-class internationals. Mancini will inevitably have to rotate many of them in an attempt to keep the whole squad happy, but it’s noticeable that there have been no injuries in this unusually long sequence of intermittent bench-warming.
Nasri has set up six league goals so far this term, second only to his City team-mate Sergio Aguero. Only at a club such as City would this sort of form fail to guarantee you a starting place. With Mancini’s charges facing a run of Newcastle (H), Napoli (A), Liverpool (A) and Arsenal (A), it will be interesting to see how much he’s involved, for it could hold the key to his Man City future and the nature of the role he has to play in it.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General 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.
Martin O’Neill will head to an arbitration tribunal to resolve a disagreement over his departure from Aston Villa.The 59-year-old left Villa Park in August after four years as manager at the English Premier League club, and the two parties have so far failed to come to an arrangement over the terms of his departure.A statement from the League Managers Association said that because the dispute could not be solved through mediation, it now must be heard by the body’s arbitration tribunal.”It has not been possible to resolve the dispute concerning the termination of employment,” the statement read.”Premier League managers’ contracts contain a clause requiring the parties to mediate their differences in the event of a dispute and, if the dispute cannot be resolved at mediation, that the case moves forward to the Premier League Managers’ Arbitration Tribunal.” “The tribunal is ideally placed to resolve disputes of this nature, combining the skills and experience of prominent individuals from football and the law.” It is not the first time the tribunal has been required to resolve cases like O’Neill’s dispute with Villa.One-time West Ham boss Alan Curbishley and former Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan both had their constructive dismissal claims against the clubs upheld in 2009.