From the monthly archives:
February 2008
The only fitting tribute to Juande Ramos - folk music
A YouTube member and Spurs fan iffyvoice has put together a rather spiffy musical tribute to the fast-growing Tottenham legend that is Juande Ramos. A cup final and a thrashing of Arsenal in season only deserves one kind of tribute…folk music:
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Spurs are handing Ramos £40m? Who would you buy?
We have all heard the conjecture about the masses of money available to Juande Ramos now that he appears to be moving Tottenham in the right direction.
Now here’s your chance to spend the millions as you think the boss should. You could fill a telephone directory with the names linked with a move to White Hart Lane, a great deal of them from Spain (seemingly because of Ramos’s former management and connections there) and some already plying their trade in the Premier League. Various rags reported that Spurs have handed 40 million to Ramos to spend this summer, although that figure is almost certainly just made up based on previous spending, but who cares.
Here are a sample of some of the names already floating around. Daniel Alves, Diego Milito, Stewart Downing, Johann Elmander, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Hatem Ben Arfa, Karim Benzema, Freddi Kanoute and Deco. That’s just for starters.
But enough of the speculation. Who would YOU buy with the reported £40m war chest?
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Obafemi Martins commits crime against humanity (well, Geordies)
Anyone who doesn’t know Kevin Keegan is a Obafemi Martins! Surprised?? Well, when you get to know that at the time of the appointment of tthe Toon legend as the new manager of Newcastle United, the Nigerian international had no idea whatsoever who Keegan was, you would certainly be amused. At least, I was!
The former Inter Milan striker has admitted that it was only after talking to his Geordies team mate Geremie that hecame to fully appreciate who Keegan was and why there was so much of fanfare and hype at his appointment as the leader to shepherd the Newcastle flock. Martin remarks:
I honestly didn’t know anything about him. But I quickly learned things and realised what an important person he was.
It was Geremi who told me all about Kevin Keegan. He rang while we were both out in Ghana - Geremi was with Cameroon - to say that Keegan had been this great player and what a good manager he was for Newcastle.
When I got back we had to introduce ourselves to each other. I had an ankle injury but Keegan told me he wanted me back and fit to help the team. I told him I wanted that, too.
Now Martins certainly knows who Kevin Keegan is. And moving onto more serious matters, Martins speaks about a new contract with the club:
It should be sorted out in the next two weeks. I want to stay here because I love the fans and they love me. I can imagine playing for Newcastle for many, many years. I have settled in well, the area is cool and I’m happy.
A new five-year contract is on the cards it seems but Martins does have to improve to be a regular for Newcastle since there is supposed to be a massive revamp of the side in the summer with a plethora of new faces slated to be imported to St. James’ Park.
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Alan Hutton, potentially some kind of glory hunter
It has only been weeks since Alan Hutton signed for Tottenham Hotspur from Rangers but he already has a silverware to boast of.
In only his third appearance for Spurs, Hutton notched up the Carling Cup when Spurs beat Chelsea at Wembley last weekend and he is also in line to win the UEFA Cup with Spurs.
And not only that, Hutton could also have the Scottish Premier League title to celebrate at the end of the season should Rangers conquer Scotland. After all, Hutton featured for Rangers in the first half of the season and is eligible for a medal should Ranger win it.
All this makes Alan Hutton very, very happy and makes him remark:
It would be a bit weird to get an SPL medal, having not played for Rangers for the second half of the season.
I suppose they would send the medal in the post to me. It would be strange. But, of course, I’ll accept the medal - who wouldn’t? I certainly won’t be sending it back.
If Tottenham win the UEFA Cup, then I can’t really feel part of that either because I won’t have played in any of the games. You want to get involved and you want to play, so it’s tough.
It would ridiculously strange should Hutton indeed do the personal treble. And you know what? He has every chance under the sun of doing that!
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Newcastle relegated? Pssh!
Newcastle United haven’t beaten anyone in quite a while and new manager Kevin Keegan is still winless in his second stint with the Toon. Yet he insists that the Geordies can cope with the pressure get to the 40-point mark and avoid relegation this season.
KK says:
We need to get to 40 points. I think 40 will be enough, although I may be proved wrong even on that.
But we are just in the early stages of rebuilding here and this instant quick-fix thing was never going to happen.
I have seen improvements on the training ground, definitely, but those improvements as yet have not gone on to the pitch - where it really matters.
Newcastle are too good to go down *cough* and Keegan probably will bail the club out of this one, if only just. We’re still not sure of KK’s credentials as a successful manager in the modern game or whether he’ll fall back into his “great motivator, crap at everything else” reputation.
Time will tell, assuming they don’t get relegated.
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Rafa Benitez agrees he’s been a bit crap in the league
A couple of days ago Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard sensationally admitted that even winning the UEFA Champions League wouldn’t compensate for Premiership woes and that frank admission pretty much summer up what Liverpool want at the moment: a league title. And the man imported from Valencia in the summer of 2004 to do exactly that still hasn’t brought the club to anywhere near.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is bold enough though to admit his own frustration at blowing their title hopes again this season and agrees with his skipper’s assessment:
Everyone at Liverpool shares Steven’s sentiments, there is no question about that.We wanted to be further up the table and the fact that we are not is a disappointment to everyone.
But the important thing now is to concentrate on what we can still do. We are still in the Champions League and our record in that competition is one that most other clubs would envy. And we are still confident of finishing in the top four, which would obviously mean we would qualify for next season’s Champions League again.
Yet should Liverpool win the Champions League again this season, it woud be the second time in four years that they have done so under Benitez and would also be the third time that the Merseyside featured in the final in the same period of time. And something tells you that should the Reds indeed conquer Europe this season, then the fans as well as the players would smile.
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Don’t worry, Diatta will save the Messiah
Sky Sports reports that Newcastle United are closing in on Senegal defender Lamine Diatta with an intension of signing the player for until the end of the season. Diatta was with the Turkish giants Besiktas until very recently but bought himself out of his contract and is now a free agent.
A free agent without a club and with truck loads of experience after having featured for the likes of Marseille and Lyon among others. Newcastle United manager Kevin Keegan is desperate to stop his team’s slide down the table and towards the relegation trapdoor and is on the lookout for a defender for short term solution.
But would Diatta help? Of course he has experience of playing at top clubs in Europe and is a strong player but can he become the Messiah for the Geordies? Has anyone even heard of him?
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Juventus and Arsenal are best friends forever
A couple of days ago it was reported that Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini could heading to Turin ad Juventus in the summer when his current contract with the Gunners expires and it was also speculated that the player might as well have signed a pre-contract agreement with the Italian giants.
But now it is being reported that all such rumours are without any basis. Juventus’ sporting director Alessio Secco has dismissed such press talks and has said:
There is nothing true. He’s a really good player, but we have never looked at him. Our chief officer has contacted the Gunners to reassure them. It’s a gesture that was needed considering the good relationship there must be between two big clubs like Juve and Arsenal, and that has been appreciated.
So can the Arsenal fans rest in peace? Maybe, maybe not. After all, Flamini shall become a free agent in the summer until a contract is agreed soon and after a stellar season there will be no shortage of suitors.
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Steve Coppell is scared, so very, very scared
After suffering 8 successive defeats in the English Premier League, Reading are battling relegation and are one of the most likely sides to drop down into the Championship at the end of the season. Although they have a capable enough manager in Steve Coppell, the harsh naked truth is that the team is simply not performing as it did last season.
And this is a worrying factor for Coppell who has admitted that the Royals could lose their Premiership status at the end of the season should results not improve dramatically. He says:
I’m in sh***y waters! It is a lot smellier than muddy waters - and it is clingy.Something has got to change. The difference between our reserve team and our first team is not a lot. There is not a great deal of daylight between 20-odd players in this squad. I’ve been waiting for a victory so that the first-team players can distance themselves to give them some authority - but that has not come. I’m at liberty to change all 11 if I feel the need.There have been calls for Leroy Lita to be recalled to The Royals’ starting line-up, however, Coppell has stated the striker has had chances and not taken them. Leroy has had chances this year, but he hasn’t scored either.I’ve had a lot of conversations with players who believe they should be playing and this will be an opportunity for them. I erase personalities from situations like this. I look at past performances and use my gut feeling.
Last season Reading were the surprise package and much was expected this time around. Too bad that they have lost much of their momentum and weight since the summer. Can they avoid the drop to the second tier of English football this time? Let’s wait and watch.
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Ben Foster is back with his truck loads of ambition!
World, watch out: Ben Foster is back! After 9 months of cruelly watching football from the surgeon’s room, the Manchester United goalkeeper is back and is raring to head back between the sticks.
He underlines his ambition to become Man United’s number one goalkeeper before long and also states that Danish great Peter Schmeichel was his idol while he was growing up.
Foster says this about his childhood hero:
Schmeichel was the one when I was growing up that everyone looked to and he is my goalkeeping idol.
If I have half the career Schmeichel had at United, I will have done pretty well. I try and model a few things on the way he played. I like his authority on the pitch and commanding style.
Everyone respected him so much - any opposition player coming through on goal thought twice about what they would do and you want to put that doubt in players’ minds.
Now to his battle against the long term ankle injury:
I had to have a full reconstruction of the ligament and they used a donor tendon. The surgeon thought that would give the best results but it takes a bit longer to knit in and that is why it was eight months rather than the usual six.
I haven’t got a clue who it came from but it feels good again - that is all I know. The surgeon assured me it was a good one - not from some 90-year-old woman whose tendon is ready to give way at any moment!
But if I can get in there, then you start looking further afield and if I can get into the England squad again then brilliant.
And finally to his ambition:
Last season playing week-in, week-out in the Premier League was massive for me and I handled myself well and got my England debut.
I felt like I could go back to United and really push for a starting place this season so the injury was very disappointing.
I think Fabio is going to be looking at all the English players though and how you play counts, not reputations, because he left David Beckham out.
Last season, the 24-year old was on loan at Watford for whom he was the best player. Foster is certainly a brilliant custodian who needs to play more and more regularly for him to succeed.
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