We pit our prediction wits against footballing folk and see who wins the spoils.
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Robert Pires will probably spend more time per day in a car than at Villa Park.
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Carlo Ancelotti made it three wins from three with a comfortable win over Burnley.
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You could never accuse David Gold of mincing his words at Birmingham City. The Blues co-owner has a reputation of shooting from the hip, and he’s becoming increasingly incensed by the antics of their former manager Steve Bruce. It’s fair to say that the former Manchester United captain hasn’t featured on Gold’s christmas card list recently, especially as legal action is now being threatened. [Read the rest of this entry »]
In addition to Gareth Barry, there’s lots of speculation over Rafa Benitez’s supposed transfer targets. However, one player that the Spaniard was definitely interested in bringing to Anfield was none other than [Read the rest of this entry »]
It’s clear that many of the Gunners squad are still carrying the mental scars incurred last season, when they let a sizeable lead at the top of the Premier League slip during the months of February and March, to leave the club potless by the end of the campaign. Arsenal players such as William Gallas, Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie will attempt to help their countries win Euro 2008 to try and compensate, with the latter especially frustrated by the previous domestic campaign.
The Daily Mirror reports that the striker is keen for the Dutch to continue their good form after thrashing Italy 3-0, rather than have a few dazzling displays and then nothing to show for it, a la Arsenal last season.
“We played some great football and it reminded me of the football we play at Arsenal because we have an amazing counter-attack at the Emirates as well,” said the 24-year-old frontman.
“But at Arsenal this season it was so frustrating. We deserved to win at least something for the football we played, but we lost a little bit of momentum at one stage – away at Birmingham, for instance, when we lost two points.
“Those weeks in February and March were quite tough and that was when we lost it. It was a small period but it’s a thin line between winning or losing.
“For me, I can put that right a little bit by winning with my country. This is the chance for me to end the season on a big high, because I’m desperate to win something, to play in a final and win it. We want to show you can win a big title like this playing great football.”
Sadly, there are going to be some disappointed players this summer, with Germany, Spain, Holland and Portugal all laying claims to the Euro 2008 crown after decent opening game performances. Perhaps at least one or two Arsenal players can experience success, rather than being the bridesmaid.
Perhaps a little unwisely, Alex McLeish claims that the broken leg suffered by Eduardo in February had a negative effect on Birmingham City, and was part of the reason why they were relegated from the Premier League – as well as not being very good.
The Express and Star report that Big Eck acknowledges that the horrific injury to the Croatian put a severe dent in the Gunners’ season, although cites the incident as a turning point for Martin Taylor and the rest of the Blues team. Quite whether anyone will have a degree of sympathy for this club is open to question, especially given the emotionally-charged accusations that followed immediately after the challenge.
He said: “It was a factor here at Birmingham City, absolutely. Martin Taylor had played very solidly for a few games in the Premier League.
“He was affected as much as Arsenal FC were and we were affected by losing him.
“When he came back I didn’t think Taylor was quite himself. He played against Wigan and it wasn’t the Martin who had been playing before the Eduardo incident.
“Our other centre-half, Liam Ridgewell, must have played with five different partners last season. The one thing you see with the good teams, like Manchester United, is that their back four is pretty much the same.”
Most Arsenal fans were delighted to see the back of Birmingham City last season and won’t be wishing them a speedy recovery from relegation to the Championship. Especially as Eduardo was denied this and played no further part in the Gunners’ season, nor Euro 2008 for Croatia.
The Sun has uncorked yet another of its top Ten lists, this time the Top Ten Signings of the Season. The top three were:
1.Fernando Torres
2.Roque Santa Cruz
3. Anderson
But we’re not too concerned about what The Sun thinks, what is your top 3 Premier League signings this season?
It’s one thing getting Birmingham promoted and then keeping Wigan afloat in the Premier League, it’s another thing managing some of the best players in the world and pitting your wits against Europe’s finest. Steve Bruce has demonstrated his managerial ability over the past couple of seasons and has the chance to prevent Manchester United from winning the title on Sunday.
However, surely there are others nearer in line to the throne if Sir Alex Ferguson decided to call it a day at the end of the season (although knowing the tenacious Scot, he might last another ten seasons at the helm!)? Sky Sports report that Wigan chairman Dave Whelan won’t stand in the way of the former Sheffield United, Huddersfield, Crystal Palace and Birmingham manager if the Red Devils come calling. Not that Bruce should be holding his breath…
“When United come to choose a new manager, if they go for Steve Bruce you have no chance of standing in their way,” Whelan said in the Daily Star.
“I wouldn’t contemplate doing so if United came for Steve. I would be delighted for him and sorry for the club.
“If Sir Alex wins another European title this year – which I hope he does – he may decide he has had enough.”
If SAF does step down in the summer, who do you think should replace the great man? Many have touted Carlos Queiroz, Fergie’s right-hand man as the natural successor, while some people make a claim for Mark Hughes, another former United great. Whoever takes the reigns will have a tough act to follow!
Steve Bruce steered Birmingham back into the Premier League last season, although he didn’t stick around very long at St Andrews this campaign. Instead, the uncertainty over the club’s ownership saw the former Manchester United player leave the Midlands and take charge at Wigan, whom he’s managed to keep afloat with games to spare.
Not that it was a clean break between Bruce and his former club last autumn. Far from it, there’s been a spat between the two parties which have run over the past few months, becoming increasingly bitter in the process. The Wigan manager was forced to pay back some of the upfront cash he received from City for image rights, something that clearly rankles with him when asked about his former employers and their current predicament at the foot of the table.
Bruce said: “I will be sorry for the players, staff and fans if they go down. Anyone else at the club? No, that’s it.”
Miaow! Sky Sports report that Brum’s co-owner David Gold is not taking these comments lying down, snapping back in customary fashion. Do you think he and David Sullivan take turns to verbally volley with their former employee?
When quizzed recently “Steve has consistently made attacks on the board. Does he hold all seven of us responsible including Jack Wiseman, who is 90, or just some of us?
“At the moment an old man thinks he is responsible along with the rest of us and he’s not.
“So come on Steve, show some courage. Name names. Anything else is cowardly.
“It’s time he told everybody what it is we’ve done wrong. The truth is we have done nothing to be ashamed of. We treated him generously and acted more than properly.
“He should sit down with people other than ‘yes men’ and take proper counsel and he will then learn that we have acted more than fairly.
“We reduced substantially what we were owed on his image rights and told him to pay £300,000 over three years because we have shareholders to think about. There’s about £30,000 left to pay which shouldn’t make too much of a dent in the huge bonus he’ll get for keeping Wigan up.”
Indeed, there’ll be a Brucie bonus and a half coming from Dave Whelan after the Latics manager kept them in the Premier League for the third season running. However, you might not be able to put a price on watching Birmingham get relegated for their ex-gaffer, especially as he won’t have to visit St Andrews next season!
It’s possible that Sky may have missed a trick by not showing Portsmouth v Fulham on Sunday, especially as the Cottagers’ chances of survival (along with Birmingham and Reading’s) rest in their own hands. However, the Sky Sports website reveals that they’ll be televising the matches from the JJB Stadium, Stamford Bridge and St Andrews instead – which game will you be watching?
Sunday’s title showdown is in danger of being a complete anti-climax, especially if Manchester United tear into Wigan from the off as they did against West Ham last Saturday. The ITV website reports that Michael Ballack expects the Latics to put up a decent fight, although it was only a fortnight ago that Steve Bruce was reporting a smooth operator that goes by the name of Sir Alex Ferguson had been calling him up.
“The pressure is on and I hope Wigan are proud enough to give everything in the last game and we have to beat Bolton.
“United have everything in their hands, but we are relaxed now. We did our job. We will give everything to beat Bolton at home and we will see what they do.”
Goodness me, the German captain is really getting into this fighting talk malarkey. One minute he was out of favour with Mourinho, now he’s leading the calls for United’s opposition to give it their best shot! Let’s also hope that the Wanderers play with pride at the Bridge after essentially guaranteeing their Premier League safety against Sunderland.
The match being televised at St Andrews could also be pretty dull, although the Sky cameras are likely to have some gratuitous shots of football fans in tears, with Birmingham extremely likely to be relegated after their 2-0 defeat at Fulham. Watch out for small children sobbing their hearts out – and a few grown men too!
After all, his team looked pretty pretty shabby against Middlesbrough on Saturday, another team who looked like they needed the points more than Pompey. Sky Sports reports that Harry Redknapp is adamant that his team aren’t going to go through the motions against Fulham, alhough exactly how heartening that is for fans of Birmingham and Reading remains to be seen.
Redknapp told Sky Sports: “I will field a full strength side as I owe that to other people in a relegation battle.
“I wouldn’t do that – it is not fair, I wouldn’t want someone to do that to me so I won’t be doing that.
“It will be a tough game against Fulham. I know some people say you have to look after yourself maybe, and if I get injuries they will say I shouldn’t have done it but next week I will be putting out as good a team as I can field.
“They have had a flyer, they have done what we did two years go – everyone wrote us off and everyone wrote Fulham off and now they are right back in the race and it will be a very difficult game again next week but I will make sure we are up for that game – I will make sure of that.”
In a way, fielding a full-strength team may be to Fulham’s advantage anyway. After all, if Redknapp played a bunch of fringe players, they might be more likely to play their socks off in an attempt to get into the reckoning for the Wembley final against Cardiff. Perhaps the first-teamers will be more likely to shun a few tough challenges and make sure they are fit for one of the biggest games of their footballing career.
They’ll be dancing in the streets of Hanley and Newcastle-under-Lyme after Stoke City bagged themselves the second automatic promotion spot on Sunday. The Potters have done magnificently this season, coming from behind on several occasions to land wins or draws against Championship opponents and it’s hard to argue that they don’t deserve their place in the Premier League next season.
Quite whether they’ll stay there for longer than a season is another matter. Many have commented that this season’s Championship has been bereft of quality, with West Brom winning the league with the lowest points total for over two decades. Not that the Baggies or Stoke care at this particular moment in time, with the BBC reporting Tony Pulis, the manager of the latter, in a bullish mood.
“I have to say a special ‘thank you’ to the chairman. Peter showed a lot of character to buy this club and spent a lot of money on it.
“This is a great day for this club and an opportunity for us to build and push on for next year.”
However, the fun starts next week when Pulis and Coates have to start planning for next season. With just eleven points on the board this season, Derby County have demonstrated how promotion to the top flight can go terribly wrong and while the Rams will be much richer for their season in the big time, it’s obvious that the promoted three will be desperate not to disgrace themselves in such a manner.
The new boys will take heart from Sunderland’s efforts this season, a team who were floundering in mid-table of the Championship when Roy Keane took over and have now completed a successful season of consolidation in the Premier League. Birmingham too have shown that the gulf between the teams at the bottom of the top flight and the top of the second division isn’t that great, while the Baggies and Potters will also be confident of finishing above at least one other team – the one who is promoted through the play-offs and has less time to prepare for the new campaign.
There’s an almighty scrap at the top of the Championship to determine who will be playing Premier League football next season, which teams will the likes of West Brom and Stoke City be replacing? The bookmakers still don’t give Fulham much of a chance, despite their heroic comeback at Manchester City last weekend. A victory against fellow-strugglers Birmingham on Saturday would mean that their top flight safety could potentially be in their own hands!
Surely Reading fans are a touch on the concerned side, considering their team’s inability to score, let alone win a game. OK, so they managed a creditable 0-0 draw at Wigan last weekend, although the decision to bring back Leroy Lita from his loan spell at Charlton smacked of desperation, while the Daily Mirror report tension in the camp ahead of Saturday’s game against Spurs. The Royals record signing won’t play for his ‘stupid team’ anymore apparently.
“It is not clever at all to suspend your own players, it is stupid,” said the 24-year-old. “The sanction is heavy – two weeks!
“I cannot understand their attitude. I refused to play with the reserves and they said: ‘Okay let us meet on Thursday’.
“But in the meantime I received a letter saying I am axed.
“They are not courageous enough to tell me things in the eyes, man to man, in five minutes.
“I am an adult, I can recognise when I make mistakes. I can also admit to people when I am wrong. The team needs all their players for the last two games.
“For sure my future is not with Reading.”
Not exactly what you need when you’re teetering on the edge of the drop zone, although perhaps this will galvanise the rest of the Reading squad, who face a last-day trip to Derby after the weekend game against Spurs. Bolton are in action at home to Sunderland and will at least have the comfort of the Black Cats having nothing to play for after their 3-2 win over Middlesbrough last weekend.
They have just two matches to save their Premier League bacon, and if Birmingham fail to get anything from Saturday’s match at Fulham, it’s possible that relegation will be out of their hands. Alex Mcleish saw his Blues team storm into a two-goal lead against Liverpool on Saturday, before being pegged back to a 2-2 draw, a result which keeps them in the bottom three.
According to Liverpool and ex-Brum winger Jermaine Pennant, it didn’t have to be this way. The Daily Mail reports that he reckons City would be safe if they had kept hold of Steve Bruce as manager. After all, the Wigan boss has done extremely well at the JJB Stadium instead, steering the Latics away from the drop zone with several games to spare.
Pennant said: “If they go to Fulham and get a result I am sure they will get out of it, but without a shadow of a doubt they have missed Steve Bruce.
“He got the club up and did well for Birmingham. Now he is doing it for Wigan because they have scrapped their way out of it.
“Birmingham miss him and it will prove costly because getting a new manager halfway through the season when you are in a tight spot is a massive upheaval.”
After Bruce left the club, Blues co-ower David Sullivan stated that they were better off with McLeish at the helm and had done very well for themselves. These words could come back to haunt him, especially with the public spat that has ensued between the Birmingham board and their former manager in recent months.
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