Chelsea players have had a request to wear t-shirts in support of their club skipper John Terry refused by the club.
Liverpool players were criticised after their t-shirts worn during the warm-up in their last game had slogans in support of Luis Suarez who has been banned (pending appeal) for eight games for alleged racism. And that’s the reason his colleagues still feel there is something to say as it is still only alleged racism.
The festive programme kicks off in the EPL on Monday with 14 teams taking to the field to run off the turkey.
Traditionally when you look at the Premier league fixture list at this time of year, the schedulers have taken their time to make sure that teams (and more so fans) don’t have to travel too far. It is also hoped that the added spice of a local derby might also get more fans going to the games. This happens right throughout the English leagues.
For fans of American Sports, even at the college level, there is usually only one prize.
The players and teams in the major leagues may win their division and their conference but it means nothing if they don’t win the ultimate prize and lift the Championship trophy. In England the phrase ‘We can concentrate on the league’ is a very familiar one and can be used in one of two ways.
Almost every team looks over their shoulder this time of year, and not at the teams around them in the league, but at the clubs who are coming to try and sign their prize assets.
The harsh realities are that most clubs are defenceless against the big boys and that an offer will get tabled that the smaller clubs are forced to accept. West Ham are a classic example of this when you look at the talent they have sold to other clubs in recent years. The list is a who’s who of football with many players still in and around the England squad (they include):
Bottom of the Premier League with just nine points from 15 games and things don’t get any better for Owen Coyle.
Gary Cahill is expected to leave for greater things this January with Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham rumoured to be after the England international’s services. And as Cahill loosk to be leaving Coyle is left with a big hole to fill in his defence and his squad.
In English football history two teams have in the past gone unbeaten throughout a league season. The team in most recent memory is the Arsenal side of 2003/04.
That Arsenal side registered 26 wins and 12 draws for the campaign and played almost double the games the previous invincible side (Preston North End 1888/89) had played.
So far this season Manchester City are looking to emualte these two sides with a record of played 14, won 12 and drawn just two. So there is still a very long way to go with 24 hard fought games remaining for them to achieve such notoriety.
It is reported today that Mick McCarthy has his eye on two Arsenal youngsters to boost his side’s campaign this term. A campaign which despite a good result recently, is still a fight to avoid relegation.
The win against effectively a managerless Sunderland side at the weekend put daylight between the old gold and black and the bottom three. Now four points off the drop Wolves will hope to pull away from danger. They will most likely have to wait until after Saturday however, as their trip to Old Trafford will surely be a fruitless one.
The rumour in the British press Monday is that Fabio Capello may leave Wayne Rooney out of his Euro’ 2012 squad if his three game ban isn’t reduced.
I have to think this is a poor attempt at filling column inches. Either that or Capello is suffering from temporary insanity.
England managers have taken a gamble on including injured players in their squads in the past in the hope that the player will be fit for the later stages of a competition. This decision is one that you could potentially debate as there may be a fully fit player who misses out because of that decision. But you can never really argue that with England because they have never had a pool of talent big enough to argue the case.
Blackburn Rovers fans jeered and booed Steve Kean On Saturday despite a 4-2 victory over Premier League new boys Swansea City.
Apart from demonstrating their displeasure during a win, the most unusual thing was that they also greeted a a goal celebration with boos. Four goal hero Yakubu ran over to his manager to hug him after scoring for Rovers and the fans showed their disquiet at this. It wasn’t the goal or the player however that caused the jeers, it is the dislike the fans have for their manager.
Owen Hargreaves looks set to sign for Manchester’s other club Manchester City after struggling with injury in recent seasons. Despite the lack of regular first team football Mancini seems set to take a punt on the holding midfield player.
Ferguson obviously isn’t able to promise Hargreaves what he wants to keep him at Old Trafford, but what can City offer him that United cannot? Can Mancini offer Hargreaves the promise of first team football? He doesn’t seem to be able to offer any of his current squad that luxury. The England midfield star might be being signed as a signal to United that City consider themselves a bigger club, and may be an act of one-upmanship.
