Place any bet your like and get £25 worth of free bets!

Tottenham Tickets Available from Tixdaq.com

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp, never one to shy away from speaking his mind, has in the past made comments which have divided popular opinion.

But his latest outburst – criticising Spurs fans for appearing to boo their side off after an underwhelming draw at home to Sunderland – has most people on his side.

Redknapp questioned what the White Hart Lane faithful had to moan about, claiming “Anyone who enjoys watching football has to enjoy how we’re playing.”

And it certainly seems odd for such a swift about-turn in emotions less than a week after a Champions League win over Internazionale which made the footballing world sit up and take notice.

This is not the first time a Premier League manager has seen his side subjected to booing after one or two sub-par performances in the middle of an otherwise-reasonable run of form.

Rafa Benitez famously saw his Liverpool side subjected to boos after a goalless draw with West Ham in 2008, despite that result taking them top of the Premier League.

How long ago those days seem now – one wonders whether those members of the Anfield crowd that December evening might wish to take back their cries of disgust.

Of course hindsight is 20:20 and people could come up with just as many instances where what they believe to have been justified booing having a positive impact on the team, which brings me on to my next point.

In an age where fans are consistently vocal in their criticism, be it of their own team, their own or their opposition’s players, referees, and even football’s governing bodies, why should the fans themselves be untouchable.

This is not a call for Wayne Rooney-style barracking of fans in the face of arguably-justified discontentment. Rather it is a suggestion that we ought to acknowledge the relationship between a team and its supporters should not always be one-way.

On a personal level, I do not believe it is ever appropriate for fans to pay money to watch their team and then boo them off the pitch. This belief is founded on the concept that it is – with few exceptions – counter-productive, diminishing any positivity or momentum garnered by previous results.

Consider how rarely a team is cheered of the pitch (I don’t mean a polite round of applause or even a brief standing ovation from those fans who could be bothered to stay until full-time, I mean really cheered off). The idea of incentivising victory with the promise that a side will merely escape censure is hardly conducive to a consistent run of form.

I was at Alan Curbishley’s last game as West Ham manager, where the team was booed off at half-time while trailing at home to League 2 Macclesfield Town (please don’t accuse me of being a bitter West Ham fan, though). This was despite the club sitting fifth in the Premier League, after finishing comfortably in mid-table the previous year and winning their season opener against Wigan.

It is difficult to see how morale or performances will be boosted by such an approach, beyond providing fans with mild self-satisfaction and a release of tension, and the same can be said of Steven Gerrard’s comments ahead of the England’s friendly with Hungary that he “probably would boo…we deserve it.”

These are not perfect points of comparison when one considers the varying form which preceded these two ties, but this element arguably only serves to reinforce the ridiculousness of Tottenham supporters’ actions last night.

Their team is one home win away from making the Champions League knockout stages with a game to spare, having earned a deserved victory over the reigning European champions the previous week. In addition, Redknapp led his squad to fourth place in the league ahead of a significantly more expensive Manchester City outfit. I won’t even get started on how far they have come since the days of Juande Ramos.

What’s more, for an hour of the Sunderland game a depleted Tottenham side were bossing the game, and but for a questionable non-award of a penalty might have been out of sight before Sunderland woke up.

When fans complain about players throwing their toys out of the pram (incidentally often expressing their dissatisfaction through the medium of booing said player), such complaints are generally greeted by recycled arguments about the players having a ‘duty’ to their fans.

Fair enough, the fans are the ones who pay their wages so may feel they are owed something in return, but should the fans themselves not be required to show at least some minimum level of courtesy and gratitude beyond purchasing tickets and replica shirts?

Booing during a dismal run of form characterised by what fans deem pathetic performances – whether you consider that just or not – is one thing. But booing during one of the most exciting periods in your club’s history, after a performance full of fight but merely failing to produce the desired result? That, my friends, is madness.

To read more from Tom Victor visit his excellent blog Pele Confidential by CLICKING HERE

Join the Best Football Manager game now, Its Free!

Bet on Liverpool to win the Europa League and get £25 worth of free bets!>

Join the Free CaughtOffside Fantasy Football League and Win £20k! CaughtOffside Fantasy Football League – PIN Number 1312

Gerard Houllier’s appointment as Aston Villa’s new manager on a three-year contract has highlighted the growing complexity and difficulty of selecting a Premier League manager. Choosing a new man to pick the team, train the players and generally steer the club in the right direction is clearly always going to be a big decision, but these days things are complicated further by numerous additional roles. Houllier for example has just left the French Football Federation from the mysterious role of “technical director” to the national team and due to Randy Lerner’s apparent liking of caretaker manager Kevin McDonald’s coaching style there was talk of Houllier taking a similar role at Villa at one time, with McDonald handling the coaching of first-team affairs. Villa fans, whatever their views on Houllier, ought to be counting themselves lucky that they have at least appointed a manager and not adopted an incomprehensible system, inspired by continental clubs, that has produced only failure when tried in the Premiership before.

Personally I think it’s a shame Villa didn’t appoint Alan Curbishley and give an obviously capable and talented English coach a chance with a decent sized club. Curbishley had a torrid time with the board room at West Ham and deserves a more stable environment in which to try and manage a top club. However it remains to be seen whether Villa’s moneymen are content, given the circumstances under which O’Neil left the club and the telling words in the club’s statement which suggest Houllier was a candidate willing to compromise about lack of funds: “Two of the key qualities in our search for the new manager were experience of managing in the Premier League and a strategy for building on the existing strengths in our current squad, and Gérard Houllier comfortably satisfies these criteria.” I certainly find it odd that Villa should turn to Houllier given his exile from the English game since his departure from Liverpool. Articles reporting the appointment emphasize Houllier’s glittering CV, but much of his experience is with French clubs a long time ago. Since Liverpool he has returned to his French comfort zone and can hardly said to have been successful in whatever it was he was asked to do as “technical director”, given the French’s disastrous World Cup. As manager Raymond Domenech got the barrage of blame but Houllier had a role and it was hardly part of a successful set up.

Indeed whenever I have seen them enacted systems involving a “technical director” or “director of football” do not seem to bring success. Certainly in the English game it would seem from the evidence that clubs who put their faith in a talented coach over a long period of time stay at the top of the game, such as Arsenal and Manchester United. When Chelsea tried a system involving “sporting directors” or something similar, “the special one” clashed with both Frank Arnesen and Avram Grant, with disagreements between Jose and Grant eventually leading to the Portuguese’s departure. Following this Chelsea entered a period of decline, allowing United to reclaim dominance and they have only recovered to wrest back control since trusting two excellent coaches in Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti to run things their own way. “Technical Directors” or their equivalent always appear to be the owner or chairman’s spy, breathing down the neck of the manager and meddling with his transfer budget to create conflict and a climate of paranoia at clubs that does not breed a the unified vision and team spirit necessary to win trophies. Equally though the system has not worked well at clubs at the opposite end of the league, those in need of new impetus to avoid relegation. Dennis Wise was handed a role at Newcastle United by hands-on owner Mike Ashley that did nothing to revert the Toon’s slide to the Championship, but grabbed plenty of dramatic headlines. Portsmouth too experimented during their topsy-turvy period of ownership and poor performances, to no avail.

Like many people at the moment I have succumbed to curiosity and bought Tony Blair’s memoir, A Journey. In the first chapter he touches on the opposition he met from the Civil Service for bringing special advisers into the affairs of state, but makes a convincing argument that modern governments need such expertise on hand immediately to deal effectively with situations. I imagine the fascination with “technical directors” stems from a similar realization that the modern game of football requires a variety of top level experts. However Blair’s memoir also makes it clear that he and he only was leader, he felt that individual burden and we’re all aware of the complications between him and Gordon Brown over who should be leader that eventually ended his time in office. Football clubs today still require a leader, someone who has the final say and whose vision should always be behind day to day decisions. “Directors of football” and other such roles may have their place, but particularly when the person appointed to such a role has a high profile they cease to be an adviser and ally to the manager but become an inspector and internal threat to his authority. Too often these positions are merely waiting rooms for the next manager, from which the “technical director” shall opportunistically spring as the pressure rises. Even if the person taking such an advisory position has no ambition to take over as manager, the culture of the game in this country has not changed sufficiently for the manager to be unconcerned by such an appointment. In an age where foreign managers and all the communication problems that come with them are commonplace, it is surely better to at least keep the management structures of a club simple and have the best man at the helm, supported by staff of his own choosing. This man should then be judged on the way he deals with the various pressures of the modern game and whether he gets results; not constantly assessed internally by an observer that adds unnecessary weight to the burden of management.

Read more from Liam Trim at his excellent blog by CLICKING HERE!

Join the Best Football Manager game now, Its Free!

Bet on Manchester United to win the Champions League Join Betfair and get £25 free!

Join the Free CaughtOffside Fantasy Football League and Win £20k! CaughtOffside Fantasy Football League – PIN Number 1312

Alan Curbishley’s hopes of landing the Aston Villa job have been boosted after talks with the club.

Villa owner Randy Lerner returns to Birmingham today to weigh up his options on who should replace Martin O’Neill.

US businessman Lerner spent three days holed up at a London hotel with Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner interviewing candidates.

And Curbishley, who played for Aston Villa from 1983-1984, is believed to have met with them.

Curbishley,52, is out of work since leaving West Ham two years ago and previously spent 15 years establishing Charlton in the top-flight.

Villa chairman Lerner wants someone with Premier League experience as caretaker Kevin MacDonald is not their preferred option.

But potential moves for Everton’s David Moyes and Fulham’s Mark Hughes face huge hurdles with neither man in a rush to quit.

Curbishley’s fellow out-of-work bosses Gianfranco Zola, Gerard Houllier, Sven Goran Eriksson and Gareth Southgate are also very keen.

Curbishley told a Mirrorfootball podcast earlier this summer he would “love” the Villa job.

He said: “Anyone would be interested and I am, for sure. They are a massive club.

“I know a lot about them having played there and I would love it.”

Villa are fourth in the table after winning two of their first three League games despite O’Neill quitting five days before the start of the season.

But Villa crashed out of Europe under MacDonald following a shock loss to Austrian club Rapid Vienna and lost 6-0 at Newcastle. (The Mirror)

So Alan Curbishley is the latest in a long line of names to be linked with the Aston Villa manager’s job.

David Moyes, Mark Hughes, Gianfranco Zola, Gerard Houllier, Sven Goran Eriksson, Gareth Southgate and Alex McLeish have all also been linked. It is not surprising to hear of some top names being interested, as the team have an exciting squad and the job seems a good prospect.

Who do Villa fans want to see in the hot seat? Would you be happy with someone like Curbishley? Or would you like to see Kevin MacDonald given more of a chance?

Bet on Manchester United to win the Champions League Join Betfair and get £25 free!

Join the Free CaughtOffside Fantasy Football League and Win £20k! CaughtOffside Fantasy Football League – PIN Number 1312

Last Thursday, in his club’s Europa League play-off against Rapid Vienna, Nigel Reo-Coker was given the captain’s armband. This marked some achievement for a player all-but frozen out by Martin O’Neill, but four years ago the young Englishman would have been looking for far more than the captaincy of an inexperienced Villa side at this stage of his career.

Indeed his career trajectory can be viewed as a lesson to young stars with the world at their feet. Not everyone will be given a second chance.

Reo-Coker made the step up to the Premier League with consummate ease, playing a big part in West Ham United’s promotion after joining from Wimbledon and bringing his stirring performances to the top flight. After captaining the Irons to a very respectable 9th place in their return to the top division, he was called up as a standby for Sven-Goran Eriksson’s England squad ahead of the World Cup in Germany.

And that’s when things started to go downhill.

With the increased media attention that comes with an England call-up, it was perhaps inevitable that the transfer rumours would start flying. Suggestions that Arsenal were interested in the then-22-year-old seemed to distract Reo-Coker, who saw his form and commitment dip in the following campaign. It was intimated that the East London club rejected a bid without consulting their captain, although even now it is impossible to say whether such unconfirmed speculation was the key to what followed.
Here we had something of a chicken and egg situation. Did the smell of a big move cause Reo-Coker to throw his toys out of the pram, or had he merely grown tired of life at Upton Park and decided to jump at even the merest sniff of an exit.

Either way, the exit was not forthcoming, and his form stank of someone waiting for the next chapter in his career to begin. Toothless displays filtered through the whole West Ham team, leading to Alan Pardew’s sacking in December. The heavily-publicised signings of Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez cannot have helped, relegating a number of West Ham’s young-stars to the status of bit-part players, but if Reo-Coker wished to go about his business quietly and professionally he could not have asked for a better opportunity.
Instead he came to epitomise the ‘Baby Bentley culture’ so despised by Pardew’s replacement Alan Curbishley, only finding refuge in the England under-21 squad alongside Ashley Young, Gabby Agbonlahor and Gary Cahill. It was thought, therefore, that a move to Villa Park to join the trio would help rejuvenate Reo-Coker’s career.

But that was far from the case. He has only managed 73 league appearances for Villa, netting once (against Tottenham in his debut season), and a public fall-out with Martin O’Neill saw him frozen out of the first team for much of the season. His appearance against West Ham last week was his first in Villa colours since January.

In the meantime, Reo-Coker’s England prospects have disintegrated. While former under-21 team-mates Young, James Milner and Joe Hart all got a run-out at Wembley against Hungary, he was watching at home. There may still be time for him to resurrect an international career which looked dead and buried not that long ago, but even if another call-up comes his way there may be a feeling that it has come several years too late.
While a footballer’s career is said to be shorter than most, that is no reason to run before you can walk. Nigel Reo-Coker may well get a second chance. Others will not be so lucky.

To read more from Tom Victor visit his excellent blog Pele Confidential by CLICKING HERE

Join the Best Football Manager game now, Its Free!

So who’s going to replace Adams in the Portsmouth hotseat? Early betting suggests that Alan Curbishley and Avram Grant are the two favourites, with the latter having already been employed as a technical director of football at Fratton Park. The Times reports that Adams has been sacked, but just who should be his replacement?

“This has been a very difficult decision and Tony has worked tirelessly to arrest the slump in form,” a club statement read. “He is rightfully highly-respected within the football world and played a major role in our FA Cup triumph last season. We would like to thank him and John and wish them well in the future.

“The owner and the board feel they have been as supportive as they can during a period where results have been poor. The team has played well but too many points have been dropped from winning positions. “

Alan Curbishley is currently the 7/4 favourite to be next Portsmouth manager, which is no surprise when you recall he kept West Ham afloat two seasons ago. Pompey need someone experienced who can turn things around quickly. Avram Grant might not be a popular choice, although he seemed to do reasonably well at Chelsea and has strong connections with the club’s owners. Who do Pompey supporters want to see in charge for the rest of the season?

Get a free £10 bet on the Premier League by joining William Hill now.

While Adams will take charge of the team for the match against Liverpool on Saturday, this could be his last game, irrespective of the result. The Guardian report that Portsmouth have allegedly made contact with Alan Curbishley this week, and are waiting to hear back from the former Charlton and West Ham manager as he considers whether to put himself through the rigmarole of another relegation scrap.

Alan Curbishley has become the front­runner to replace Tony Adams as manager of Portsmouth after he was reportedly approached by the club’s executive chairman, Peter Storrie, for the post this week.

The former West Ham United and Charlton Athletic manager is said to have met Storrie in the wake of Portsmouth’s 3–1 defeat to Fulham at the weekend and be thinking over whether he wants to take the job. He has been out of work since leaving West Ham in September 2008.

Portsmouth fans, do you think that this would be the right appointment for the club at this moment in time? Curbs did a solid job in charge of Charlton and he wasn’t doing an awful lot wrong when he got the axe at West Ham early this season. Should Adams be given a few more games to prove his worth, or are the club right to act so decisively?

Get a free £10 bet on Portsmouth by joining William Hill now.

The BBC today carry the words of agent Kia Joorabchian (remember him?), who has been heavily involved in transfers at West Ham. According to him, Curbs made a number of dodgy signings which convinved the powers-that-be that he couldn’t be trusted in the transfer market.

“I think from the day Curbishley entered the club, he made most of the decisions with regard to the incomings of Luis Boa Morte, Nigel Quashie, Dyer and Ljungberg,” added Joorabchian.

“I wasn’t deeply involved at that time but it was pretty clear cut that he was very much involved in those.

“I think the board realised that there were a lot of mistakes made during that period when Mr Magnusson was in charge.

“Not to put blame on either of them but the salaries that were being given and the players that were being brought in were probably not the board’s idea of taking the club forward.”

It was well-known that Curbishley performed admirably at Charlton for several seasons, without having much money to spend at The Valley. Therefore, while he joined West Ham as an experienced manager in most departments, perhaps he was culpable when it came down to the players brought in?

Why it’s none other than Slaven Bilic, which makes sense on two counts. Firstly, he used to play for West Ham and secondly, he’s done well as manager of Croatia, including two victories against England and a place in the Euro 2008 quarter-finals. Have the Daily Mail just looked at the odds and made the below up, or do you think he’ll be the man to replace Alan Curbishley?

Slaven Bilic will be approached to take over at West Ham following Alan Curbishley’s dramatic resignation.

Former Hammers central defender Bilic, now preparing Croatia for World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and England, is the overwhelming choice of chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson and chief executive Scott Duxbury.

It sounds as though the manager is keen to become the Hammers gaffer at some stage:

Bilic, 39, said: ‘I always said that, if I come back to English football, I want it to be as manager of West Ham, but I have a contract with Croatia until 2010 and intend to honour it.’

Obviously, West Ham can’t hang around for two years to bring Bilic in, but given he earns a relatively low salary for managing his national team, can he be prised away from his current job and installed as the new man in the hotseat? Do supporters want him?

Why not discuss this topic on the COS Forum thread?

The once-tipped England boss has apparently grown disillusioned at the club’s transfer policy, which had led to the recent sales of Anton Ferdinand and George McCartney. The Hammers tried to justify the sales on their website, stating that they were “right for the club” and “based on our best long-term interests”.

But we all know it had nothing to do with that!

Curbs joined the Hammers back in December 2006. After looking certain for relegation, the diminutive former Charlton boss led West Ham to seven wins out of their last nine games, beating Blackburn, Everton, Bolton, Wigan, Arsenal, Middlesbrough and a last-day spectacular 1-0 win at Manchester United, to keep West Ham in the Premiership.

Before the start of the Premier League 2008/09 season, there was increasing speculation about his future at the club. Many bookies had, in fact, tipped him to be the first to go. With the situation at Newcastle Utd unclear and the club claiming “Keegan was not sacked”, it remains to be seen who the bookies pay out on.

Curbishley will no doubt now have a holiday in the sun, whilst West Ham edge closer to Premiership free-fall. Enjoy yourself Alan. The West Ham fans will be in turmoil now.

The BBC report that the former Charlton manager was getting disillusioned with West Ham’s transfer policy, which is little surprise when you consider the dealings that were taking place above his head (now where have we heard that before?).

A statement on the club’s website read: “We can confirm we have accepted Alan’s resignation as it is in the best interests of both parties.”

The statement continued: “We wish Alan all the success in the future. A shortlist of candidates is being drawn up and an announcement will be made in due course about the new manager.”

West Ham also moved to justify the summer departures of Ferdinand and McCartney to Sunderland, stating that the sales were “right for the club” and “based on our best long-term interests”.

Curbs can clearly do without such decisions being taken out of his hands, perhaps we’ll see him pop up in the Championship at some stage. Who should now replace him as manager, and will they have their hands tied with regard to transfer activity as well? Slaven Bilic is the bookmaker’s favourite, although you can’t imagine the Croatia boss would want to manage a team unless there was money available to strengthen. Hammers fans, are you happy or sad to see the manager leave the club?