Attacked Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Chris Kirkland has revealed his fury at not just his attacker but also that fact that his family had to see him in that light, according to reports.
Kirkland was attacked by a moron who leaped onto the field after Leeds United scored an equaliser against Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night and it seems the initial blow was not the sole concern for the former Liverpool ‘keeper.
“I am OK now, but I was really shocked at the time,”
“I was gutted at losing the goal – I had kicked the ball away and was deflated. Out of the corner of my eye I saw this Leeds fan coming towards me.
“I thought he was going to give me some abuse. Then he laid right into me. It felt like I had been hit by a baseball bat. He caught me a cracker.
“Then I am on the floor and thinking, ‘Has that really just happened?’
“The game went on and at the final whistle the adrenaline drained away and the emotions came out.
“I had my wife at the game, my daughter has seen it too. But this is not about me. I hope coming out and speaking means that something will be done by the authorities before something really serious happens either to a player or to fans.
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“It is a sad time for football. There are people out to cause trouble. That guy has only gone to the game for that reason. It’s not about football any more, it’s terrible.
“You want families to go to games but I’m not sure you can do that anymore. There is too much going on, too much abuse.”
With a permanent boss finally appointed, Chesterfield are looking to climb the League 2 table on the back of a new style of play and an improved training culture. But is fitness really the answer? asks Will Strauss
For the third time this season, Chesterfield FC has a new manager. Having dispensed with the services of John Sheridan and subsequently given his assistant, Tommy Wright, a go, the club has now appointed former Accrington Stanley manager Paul Cook on a two and a half year deal.
Cook seems like a decent enough appointment: he is enthusiastic, forthright and had a decent playing career with the likes of Wolves and Coventry. His managerial record, so far, isn’t up to much though (unless you happen to hold the League of Ireland in particularly high esteem). But the former Southport and Sligo Rovers boss does have a reputation for getting his teams to play exciting attacking football and that will go down well with most people in this particular corner of North Derbyshire.
Cook is said to have got the job partly because of the progressive style of football that his Accrington team played against the Spireites in a 4-3 reverse earlier this season and partly because of his enthusiasm and attitude towards training. A theory confirmed by owner Dave Allen last week.
“Footballers are paid as full-time footballers but I don’t see many of them training too much and that is the culture [Paul] is going to bring to the club,” he said. “We’re going to have a different culture down at Chesterfield. They’ve got to embrace the Di Canio method. [Swindon] train six days a week. They’re superfit. If you’ve got talent and you’ve got superfit you’ll start to win games. If you’ve not got so much talent but you’ve got superfit you’ll be better than you were if you weren’t superfit won’t you?”
A Bit Of Previous
Sound point though this may be, it doesn’t really say much for the previous regime or for other clubs around the country.
On that very point Allen said: “[Currently the players] go in two hours on a Monday, two or three hours on a Tuesday if they’re not playing, have Wednesday off, train Thursday, train a little bit on Friday, play Saturday and have Sunday off. It’s not enough.”
Results in the last 18 months would suggest he could be right. In being relegated from League 1 last season Chesterfield lost more than 25 points from winning positions – most notably shipping late goals against relegation rivals Scunthorpe and Wycombe when well placed to pick up more points than they eventually ended up with.
It could be suggested that this was down to an inability to ‘go the distance’ fitness wise. It could also be argued that it was down to a number of other factors such as confidence, decision-making and communication.
Equally, in our most recent league game, a horrific single goal defeat at home to bottom-of-the-table Barnet, I would say (from my less-than-lofty position in the West Stand) that some of the players were looking a bit ‘leggy’. There was no drive, no thrust and an inability to ‘go again.’ Our best players were two youngsters, Tendayi Darikwa and loanee Chris Atkinson, and the evergreen Terrell Forbes. The rest were simply not at the races. The consequence? Having created enough chances to win two games of football, we conceded another late goal and lost 1-0.
Survival Of The Fittest
The upshot of all this is that the team, under Cook, is now doing extra training each week and even the odd bit of pilates.
Anyway, all of this got me thinking. Do the fittest teams always do well over a season? On the one hand, Swindon (the team praised by Allen) are certainly doing OK in League One. While on the other, Oxford United (one of Swindon’s local rivals), with their newly appointed strength and conditioning coach and their pre-season ambition to be the “the fittest, the fastest and the strongest in League Two” are just one place and one point above the Spireites, a team now considered to be quite the opposite.
Let’s look at another example. Older readers will appreciate this.
When Liverpool were winning things under the great Bill Shankly, Roger Hunt, the England centre forward, said that the secret of their success was that they “were the fittest team in the country”. Those players won the league in 1964, 1966 and 1973 (albeit in an era when smoking, drinking and eating steak before a game was almost universally encouraged).
What does science say about it? Well, apparently very few people have successfully studied the connection between fitness and winning. But there is some evidence.
Thomas Karapatsos, the editor and founder of Soccer Mastermind, reports* on a study involving 320 male players from three different English leagues. He says the research concluded that: “team performance and success was not directly related to the level of fitness. Other factors such as player’s technique, tactics, formations, psychology, mindset and injuries need to be evaluated.”
Go back to 1999 and there is further evidence. In their report ‘Physical Fitness, Injuries, and Team Performance in Soccer’**, six Scandinavian sports scientists set out to investigate the relationship between physical fitness and team success.
Weak Relationship
Testing 306 players from 17 teams in the two highest divisions in Iceland they found that: “the relationship between team average performance on the various [fitness] tests and team success expressed as final league standing was generally weak.”
Instead, they concluded that incurring fewer injuries during a season equates to a higher league position (really? hold the front page!) and, more interestingly, that the higher a team can jump (yes, jump) the better they’ll do (which goes some way to explaining how well Stevenage and Sheffield Wednesday did last season).
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‘This does not mean,” they add, ‘that a team with superior fitness would not have a definite advantage when playing an opponent with less physically fit players. [But] the ability to transform this fitness advantage to a real performance advantage would depend on a number of other factors, such as motivation, and technical and tactical skills.”
I’m not entirely sure what any of this proves. I personally think that Cook and Allen are right: the first team squad does look like it needs to train more. But hopefully this is not just about fitness or about how far and how fast they can run but also with a view to avoiding injury, rehearsing set-plays and working better as a unit.
Well I certainly hope it is. As science seems to think that improved oxygen intake levels alone are not going to be enough to get Spireites up the table.
As well as writing about his first love, Chesterfield FC, Will is currently generating articles for Dencroft, the concrete garages company.
Former Arsenal defender Nigel Winterburn believes that Arsenal will be plunged into crisis should they fail to beat their North London rivals this weekend.
Winterburn has insisted that only a victory in their Premier League clash at The Emirates will be a satisfactory result for Arsene Wenger’s side, and three points will go some way to re-establishing some momentum to their season.
The Gunners have only secured two victories in their last seven outings and are languishing 11 points behind the current Premier League leaders Manchester United.
Both sides are sitting in seventh and eighth places respectively and will be looking to secure a positive result to push up the table towards the coveted top four places.
“I thought this season that Arsenal would be stronger than last season, even though they lost Robin Van Persie. I like the togetherness of the squad,” Winterburn told Alan Brazil’s breakfast show on TalkSPORT.
“My one slight worry was where they would replace all those goals. They would need [Olivier] Giroud to start scoring straight away and would also need the midfield players around him to possibly to get into double figures. And it just hasn’t happened like that.
“From a positive start, it’s now turning into a bit of a crisis already. They really need a positive result [against Tottenham] and a positive result means a win”
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Arsenal face Tottenham this Saturday lunchtime and will be hoping to replicate their 5-2 win they achieved over their rivals at The Emirates last season, where they produced a sensational comeback, after conceding 2 early goals.
Champions Manchester City and stubborn Stoke City are the only two teams in the Premier League that on average, concede less than one goal per game. While the defensive backline of clubs up and down country has come under fire recently, I would argue that the man between the posts should take his share of the blame. It’s certainly worth asking why so few clubs possess a prominent goalkeeper in the prime of their career?
Take Manchester United for example, a side undergoing their routine, awkward transition between two reliable goalkeepers. At 22 years of age, David De Gea boasts undeniable potential but is raw to core, whereas his colleague Anders Lindegaard is six years his senior but has limited experience at the summit of European football. Sir Alex Ferguson has chopped and changed repeatedly this season, with both men apparently allergic to the number one jersey.
In the wake of their chaotic 4-3 victory over Reading last week, the United boss described it as “agony” and the “worst defending of this season”. A goalkeeper can only be as good as the defence in front of him and the tinkering in both departments has surely hampered rather than helped their title bid.
The defensive frailty is a real concern for those in the red half of Manchester, having already shipped 21 goals this season, three more than struggling Sunderland. Just one side in Premier League history has gone on to win the championship after conceding as many after fifteen games. Unsurprisingly, it was the Red Devils in 1996/1997, but the average for the league’s eventual winners is a mere 11, the current total of fierce rivals Manchester City.
Speaking of Roberto Mancini’s side, even the seemingly faultless Joe Hart has found himself thrust under the intense glow of the media spotlight. Journalists have been queuing up to lambast England’s ‘saviour’ for nurturing an inflated ego, which has allowed errors to creep into his game. However, I would argue he is simply a victim of his own and indeed the nation’s painfully high standards.
Outside the top two, is there a sole candidate that has been consistent, assured and won more points for his team than he has lost? Perhaps such a thing can’t exist within the rigours of modern football. By my calculations, there are only six definitive first choice keepers that find themselves in the optimum 27-32 age bracket. Cech, Reina, Al-Habsi, Foster, Federici and Vorm should by definition, present the perfect blend of experience and physical maturity.
And yet the standout names on that list – Chelsea’s Petr Cech and Liverpool’s Pepe Reina – have both suffered a severe dip in form this season. Neither shot-stopper installs the same degree of confidence or air of authority as years gone by, with only 11 clean sheets between them all season. Perhaps I am being over critical but at 30 years of age they should be at the peak of their career, not sitting at the top of a very slippery slope, encouraging the whispers that they’ve entered a state of decline.
At present, West Brom’s Ben Foster is arguably the leading light in the division with Swansea’s Michel Vorm hot on his heels, although he has been confined to the treatment table in recent weeks. Wigan’s Al-Habsi and Reading’s Adam Ferderici on the other hand are strange characters, one minute sublime and the next surreal, as infuriating as they are dependable for their managers.
The majority of shot-stoppers are either too juvenile – De Gea, Szczesny and even Krul – or a matter of weeks away from being ushered into a retirement home – Friedel, Jaaskelainen and Schwarzer. There is a growing sense that while the Premier League can showcase some of the best attacking talent in the world, it can’t do the same at the other end of the pitch.
There is another angle to this subject which points to the lack of English options in the Premier League, with only John Ruddy providing any real competition to Joe Hart. Ben Foster’s retirement and Rob Green’s resignation to the bench at Loftus Road means Roy Hodgson has had to dip into the lower leagues. However, England U’21 goalkeeping coach Martin Thomas insists he is working with the best batch of ‘safe hands’ for nearly a decade.
Alongside the already renowned Jack Butland, Hull City’s Ben Amos, Middlesbrough’s Jason Steele and Norwich City’s Declan Rudd have thrived on the international scene.
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“It’s not only those four, there’s also other lads like Alex Smithies of Huddersfield and Wes Foderingham who’s at Swindon,” explained Thomas.
“The best part of around 65 goalkeepers, a majority who are English and under the age of 26, are playing in the Football League every week. All you hope is they can do well enough to take the next step and eventually work up to the Premier League.” (FA)
Perhaps then this is simply a transitional period, similar to when teams enjoy phases of success before enduring a rebuilding process. The return of the formidable goalkeeper could be just around the corner, and then we’ll be forced to complain that we don’t see enough goals.
West Bromwich Albion defender Jonas Olsson publicly criticised players who dive, after replays showed Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla simulating in the box against the Baggies last weekend.
However, the defender was rather philosophical in his criticism, noting that due to the omission of in-game replays, referees have “a difficult job.”
He continued by stating, “If it’s a dive the focus should be on the person diving as well [as the defending tackle],” and by doing so it would create an impartial atmosphere for the foul – or dive – to be reviewed.
Olsson’s comment refocuses the debate by highlighting a ref’s intrinsically obstructed responsibility – devoid of video evidence – and then pointing the blame at the simulating players in question.
“I don’t like people diving. I’m not very objective either being a defender. Most of the time I like this league because of the fair play it contains,” he said before expressing his admiration for officials in light of a job without “the privilege of watching replays.”
Earlier in the year Arsene Wenger went further to suggest that a deterrent for diving should be legislated for by the FA. “If an obvious dive is punished by a three-match ban, the players would not do it anymore. I would support it. It has to be obvious diving.”
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Cazorla’s dive came in the first half and stands as an obvious example of a player gaining the upper hand in an underhanded way.
Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill is keen on bringing former Everton midfielder Tim Cahill to the Stadium of Light on loan in January according to Sky Sports.
The New York Red Bulls star enjoyed eight successful years in the Premier League with the Toffee’s before being shipped off to the MLS.
The former Millwall midfielder had hoped for a return to Goodison Park on loan during the January transfer window but will settle for a move to the North East with O’Neill extremely interested.
Cahill was somewhat of a goal machine for Everton but Marouane Fellaini has certainly taken over his position now so a loan move to Sunderland would see far more game time for the Australian international.
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With the MLS out of action for a few months the likes of Cahill, Thierry Henry, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane are all set for two month loan spells in the Premier League.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has played down a need to spend big during the January transfer window.
The Frenchman has been urged by the club’s fans to bring in top players in a bid to boost their Premier League fortunes after a stuttering start to the season.
With club announcing new sponsorship deals and having received substantial fees from transfers, it is believed that money is in place to draft in fresh faces.
However, Wenger feels that additions are not needed and that he has a strong enough squad to compete:
“It has become more difficult for one simple reason: We have a good squad.” He is quoted by The Mirror.
“I know we swim against the stream a bit because people don’t believe that. I say we have a very good squad.”
The Gunners have been linked with a number of players in recent weeks, including the likes of Wilfried Zaha and David Villa.
Although Wenger admitted that he needs to strengthen his squad, he hinted that arrivals will have to wait until Theo Walcott’s contract situation is resolved and key players have returned from injury:
“We have some improvements to make and we know exactly where. In January it is difficult to find the players that are really better and can give something special to the squad.
“The number is right. We have a good balance.
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“We are working very hard. First of all we want to sort out the injuries we have, and we are trying very hard to close the deal with (Theo) Walcott.
“Once we have done that, we will certainly do something else. At the moment I cannot tell you more.”
Arsene Wenger has spoken out about drug testing and his concerns that anti-doping tests are not strict enough in football.
The Arsenal boss believes that the Anti-Doping system is flawed in football because it is not strict or thorough enough which enables players to escape detection, according to The Sun.
“I don’t think we do enough. It is difficult to believe you have 740 players at the World Cup with zero problems,” he said.
“UEFA’s doping control do not take blood, they only take urine. I have asked many times for that to change.”
John Fahey, president of the World Anti-Doping agency has backed Wenger on his opinion. He believes that footballers should be tested more regularly for EPO-a blood boosting drug. Fahey believes that by introducing biological passports for sports stars like in cycling and tennis, that it will eliminate drug issues. Biological passports will show up any changes in body chemistry.
“I saw some examples recently in tennis, where senior players were saying they were not tested terribly regularly. I would say tennis can do more, as can football,” said Fahey.
“I simply say this about football — they are not testing enough for EPO. They can do more and we encourage them to do more.
“While testing is a good deterrent factor and may be an effective way of catching people, I would argue the athlete biological passport is a very effective tool. Why isn’t football using it?”
In response, a spokesman for the FA reiterated their drug testing policy and reassured that everything was working as it should be. The FA run their own extensive drug testing programme and confirmed in a press release that they: “operate one of the largest and most comprehensive drug testing and education programmes in the world. This includes both urine and blood tests, while the FA regularly tests for EPO. We also conduct blood testing for Human Growth Hormone and run a blood-profiling programme.”
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FIFA have confirmed that they will be collecting blood and urine specimens to start building biological profiles of all the participants in the Confederations Cup and World Cup 2014.
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When Liverpool sacked Kenny Dalglish last summer and brought in Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers as replacement I think everyone in the football world was a little shocked, even the fans were a little concerned that Rodgers wasn’t the best choice of manager to replace King Kenny at that time.
The Merseyside club struggled in the Premier League last season and they finished eighth which was their lowest league position since 1994. Even though they won the League Cup and got to the final of The FA cup, their poor league form led to the sacking of Dalglish when the season finished. Rodgers was unveiled as the new manager at Anfield on the June 1st after meeting with Liverpool owners to establish a long-term plan at the club and he has wasted no time in putting that into action.
His long term plan is to:
Buy two or three players over the next few transfer windows to avoid one big spend this summer, enabling Liverpool to recover some of their financial losses Dedicate more focus on developing the youth team so they don’t have to spend huge amounts strengthening the squad Introduce a different tactical approach and style of play which leaves no weaknesses within the team – he is a fan of fast-paced football and a tika-taka type of play and feels he can introduce this at Anfield Rebuild the defence Introduce younger players to the starting XI
Over the last eight months there has definitely been a visible change in the way Liverpool have played. They have suffered injury problems but yet they have still managed to keep in good form and they have definitely played better this year than under Dalglish. They are currently seventh in the league and if the results go in their favour they could still very much be in the race for European football next season.
One of the biggest changes fans will have noticed is Liverpool’s performances against the clubs lower down the table and results have improved immensely compared to last season. They achieved high scoring results against Norwich (5-2), Fulham (4-0), Wigan, QPR and Sunderland (3-0) and there was a distinct change in attitude of the players in these games – they are no longer playing assuming they are going to win – instead they play for the three points.
He bought young fresh talent in the form of Nuri Sahin, Fabio Borini, Oussama Assaidi, Samed Yesil, Daniel Sturridge, Joe Allen and Phillipe Coutinho who are all under the age of 24, and introduced academy product Raheem Sterling to the squad this season which has rejuvenated the tired look that Liverpool possessed last year. The young players are all fast paced which fits into Rodgers proposed change in style of play with extra attention to the attacking aspect of their game.
The Reds boss admits he spent more than he wanted to in the last two transfer windows and admitted even though it was a necessity he doesn’t want to spend that amount again. He has been given £20million to spend this summer and a fair bit of that will be strengthening up the defence after club legend Jamie Carragher retires in May.
In doing some research on whether fans thought Brendan Rodgers could achieve success in the next 2-3 years with his long-term vision, I asked Simon Donegan, a long term fan of The Reds what he thought.
“Rodgers can do it, but will the fans give him time? The old Liverpool had it right throughout the club at all levels. The last few managers have spent too much.
“The future is with the youth and money is needed to extend the ground. Clubs like City, Chelsea and Manchester United will not be allowed to operate with their debts the way they are, if UEFA get their way.
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“It is important we get that right again. Brendan has got to get a squad that believes in him and will play for him. There is still some deadwood to move out. I am going to have to be patient because he still has a lot to learn.”
Brendan Rodgers has been one of the most discussed managers in football this season and it is easy to see why. They might not be winning every game and they still have some way to go but Rodgers has certainly made a difference this year. If he continues with his philosophy then it’s easy to see Anfield rocking again in the coming years.
Callum McManaman is struggling with an ankle injury ahead of the Norwich game and faces a race against time to be fit.
McManaman initially picked up the injury during the FA Cup victory over Everton at Goodison Park and was also forced off during the victory against Newcastle last time out.
Boss Roberto Martinez has now revealed he is a big doubt for the crucial clash against the Canaries this weekend and he will be monitored over the next couple of days.
“Callum’s been carrying an injury to his ankle, which caused him to be substituted against both Newcastle and Everton,” Martinez told reporters.
“Our major concern now is making sure he’s fully fit and able to take to the field against Norwich.
“He hasn’t trained with the rest of the team yet, and the next 48 hours will be crucial.”
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Latics are three points adrift of safety going into the game and Martinez can ill afford any more injury problems at a crucial stage of the season.