CaughtOffside » Israel

He may struggle to get a regular game at White Hart Lane but Croatian midfielder Niko Kranjcar is still doing what he does best for his national team as he proved in this Euro 2012 qualifier in Tel Aviv. The Tottenham man netted a penalty and then combined with Spurs team-mate Luka Modric to net a neat finish to make it 2-0 against Israel who then pulled a goal back late on.

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Israel 0-1 Croatia (Kranjcar)

Israel 0-2 Croatia (Kranjcar)

Israel 1-2 Croatia (Shechter)

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Manchester City in for £5m Chelsea defender: Good move by Scolrari

jakepjohnson — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:06:06 +0000

Manchester Ciy boss Mark Hughes has confirmed that he has made a move to bring Chelsea’s Israeli centre-back to Eastlands for a reported £5 million.

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Tal Ben Haim, who arrived at Stamford Bridge from Bolton in 2007, is keen to cement a more regular starting berth. Hughes has confirmed that he is interested in the player to compete with Micah Richards and Richard Dunne for the two centre-back places, while hoping to use Ben Haim’s European experience to help his team through their forthcoming UEFA Cup campaign:

We have made a bid. Discussions are taking place.

Ben Haim endured a frustrating season under Chelsea bosses Jose Mourinho and Avram Grant, as he clashed with Grant and failed to break through the central choices of John Terry, Alex and Ricardo Carvalho, making only 13 appearances for the Blues. He is thought to welcome any move from Manchester City, as he looks to move to a team in European this coming season.

The move would be one that would benefit Chelsea as well. They paid nothing for Ben Haim and would stand to gain £5 million, as well as get rid of a £40,000-a-week reserve defender. Scolari is most probably going to continue with the pairing of Terry and Carvalho in the centre, with Alex as backup. Ben Haim would continue to sit on the bench. The deal looks to benefit all three parties.

While on the subject of transfers, Hughes also stated that, as well as Ben Haim, he was looking at a number of other targets to strengthen his squad:

Hopefully that will be among a number of deals that we conclude before the transfer deadline.

Among those deals looks to be a move for a goalkeeper. With Joe Hart having such an excellent season, bar the 8-1 Middlesbrough debacle, Andreas Isaksson decided to leave the club for PSV Eindhoven, leaving only Kasper Schmeichel as competition:

We have two outstanding young keepers, but I think it’s important that we try to bring an experienced one in beside them as well.
We’ll continue to try to pursue that, but I don’t think there is much that is likely to happen in the next few days.

Stories of Hughes reuniting with ex-Blackburn keeper Brad Friedel were shattered by the American’s move to Aston Villa, whereas rumours about a move for Fulham’s Antti Niemi are begining to surface.

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Portsmouth bring in Chelsea youngster

jakepjohnson — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:05:01 +0000

Harry Redknapp has been looking to boost his squad ahead of Portsmouth’s first assault on European opponents, and has finally sealed a deal to give his side more firepower.

Israeli teenager Ben Sahar has joined the Fratton Park outfit on a six-month loan deal from Stamford Bridge. Having previously been on loan at teams like Qpr and Sheffield Wednesday, the 18-year-old will have to step up to compete in the Premiership and the UEFA Cup.

He now joins players like Jermaine Defoe, David Nugent and Kanu in jostling for the striking berths on the South Coast:

I’m ready for the challenge of being part of such a big club, like Portsmouth.
I want to be part of it and to show that I deserve to be here.

Although only having Championship and Carling Cup experience in England, Sahar has been a fully-fledged international since 17, and recently played against England. This means that he has faced some tough, talented, experienced opposition before, putting him in good stead for the UEFA Cup, a competition which Sahar admits was key in his move:

It was a factor. We have seen Portsmouth are a great team who can win trophies.
They are now in Europe and that will be a big challenge as well.

How much we can expect from a teenager who only scored 3 goals in 21 Championship games last season is yet to be seen, but much has been said of the player who has yet to show his true potential. Perhaps he can do it at Fratton Park, but to expect him to explode would be foolish. I remember Jérémie Aliadière being talked up a lot at 18…

Ex-Chelsea boss on a midnight train to Georgia

stresster — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:56:29 +0000

Talk about a fall from grace. One minute you’re in a high-profile managerial job, next thing you’re managing FC Twente. Anyway, enough about Steve McClaren as our story concerns Avram Grant, another manager who finds himself looking for a lesser post, after being axed by Chelsea at the end of last season.

The Daily Mail report that the Israeli has been offerered the chance to manage the Georgian national team, with his potential employers being impressed by his work as Israel national coach and Chelsea gaffer.

Nodar Akhalkatsi, president of the Georgia Federation, confirmed he wanted Grant to take charge of their forthcoming World Cup qualifying campaign, saying: ‘I have spoken with him and offered him the job.
‘We have monitored his work with the Israel national team and Chelsea, and feel he is a good coach. We will speak again soon.’

We can’t imagine the Georgia FA being able to pay the big bucks that Grant enjoyed at the Bridge, although it might matter little to the Israeli, who has become a very rich man after his short stint in charge of Chelsea. Still, it’s hard to see him doing a great deal with this footballing minnow.