Tag Futebol

It is official. After a successful eight years at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have announced on their official website that Didier Drogba will leave the club when his contract expires in June. The powerful Ivorian amassed an impressive 154 goals in 341 appearances for the Blues, etching himself into Chelsea folklore for years to come. But having shown he can still provide the difference in recent weeks, why have the club taken the decision to allow him to leave the club?

Drogba signed from Marseille for £24 million in the summer of 2004 and instantly became a key part of the Chelsea team that charged to their first league title in 50 years under Jose Mourinho. His domineering attitude and powerful presence gave defenders nightmares and the striker went on to accumulate another two Premier League titles, four FA Cup and three League Cup winners’ medals as well as a Champions League trophy as recently as last Saturday.

His goals propelled him into the hearts of the Chelsea fans but some of his on-field antics won just as many critics during his time in England. Accused of going to ground to easily and a petulant manner, even the most ardent Blues fan will admit to had been frustrated by the Ivorian’s occasional shenanigans. At times he appeared to be among the best in the world but he could just as readily be seen as a sullen striker, unwilling to perform when things did not go his way, and this season has perhaps displayed that more than any.

There was a bright sense of optimism around the club in August 2011 as Andre Villas-Boas began his new job as manager of the west-London club. Charged with the intention of displacing the ageing core of the first team in John Terry, Frank Lampard and Drogba, Villas-Boas found himself outmuscled in a changing room that lacked support for the implementation of change. Drogba found himself on the fringes of the team and his frequently negative body language failed to hide his discontent at this new role within the club.

The Portuguese manager failed to manage the transition positively and was shown the door in February. His replacement, Roberto Di Matteo, turned the fortunes around by reinstating the previously marginalised players. Chelsea managed to end the season on a high, winning both the FA Cup and Champions League with Drogba keeping up his record of scoring in every final he played in for the club. Yet the club now find themselves back at square one; relying on the influential players that they sought to remove. They have now decided it is time to let the influential striker go, and it appears to be justified.

Despite being key to winning the double this season, Drogba equalled his worst goal return in a Premier League season as he netted a measly five times. That is fewer than joint top scorers Daniel Sturridge and Lampard as well as fellow striker Fernando Torres. While his ratio of goals to games in Europe this season was better by far with six goals in eight appearances, it pointed to a decline in the consistency of the striker’s performances.

Of his five league goals this term, just one came against a team in the top half. While Drogba may be able to pull out a fantastic performance when it is required, the evidence suggests that he can no longer maintain the game-winning performances that made him a fan favourite on a regular basis

Drogba was inspirational in the 2009/10 double-winning campaign when he scored 29 league goals, but he has since failed to come close to such figures. As one of the club’s top earners, the harsh reality is that you are expected to perform at your best every week, not only on the big occasions. Whilst such experience is vital in achieving success Drogba has become somewhat of a luxury item; expensive to keep but ready to perform when needed most. However, it is simply not feasible for the club to retain such a lavish player and at 34-years-old his time is now up.

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His presence at the club will no doubt be sorely missed and he will not soon be forgotten. It may not have been his finest season as a whole in the Blue of Chelsea, but the original remit for the club’s season was to phase out the ageing members of the squad and so despite his FA Cup and Champions League heroics, Drogba departed.

Do you think Chelsea were right to let Drogba go? Let me know on Twitter.

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Rangers have announced the signature of Spanish midfielder Juan Manuel Ortiz for an undisclosed fee. The 29-year-old moves from Almeria, who were relegated from La Liga in 2010/11, and becomes new manager Ally McCoist’s first signing.

The Ibrox boss stated his delight at being able to add the Spaniard to his squad, and feels the former Atletico Madrid youth player can add versatility to the Scottish side’s squad.

“I think the fact he can play a number of positions was a big thing. He will probably run Steven Whittaker close. He can play a few positions, he is quick and he has played a few games at the very top level,” the former striker told the club’s official website.

The player however ends a four year spell at the Andalusian outfit, and revealed that he spoke with countryman and ex-Rangers defender Carlos Cuellar before the move.

“When the chance came up to come to Rangers, I spoke to Carlos about it and he only had good things to say. He told me the club is massive and that he was very, very happy here, so he told me it was a move I should make,” he stated.

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Meanwhile, ex-Rangers striker Kris Boyd, now with Middlesbrough, is weighing up a move to Turkish Super Lig side Eskisehirspor, and is expected to fly to Turkey at the end of the week to negotiate a potential transfer.

Avram Grant may be excused for having a face like the Grinch over his turkey this Christmas Day. He will be fully aware that only one side has avoided the drop having being bottom on Christmas Day, and whilst his side are not the no hopers of Premier League turkeys from seasons past, there are some major issues to be resolved heading into 2011.

The Hammers do have some cash to spend in January, and from that point of view they have been linked with some big Premier League names. This fixture, however, may be key in establishing how many of West Ham’s transfer targets take the plunge and make the move to Upton Park.

In comparison, the pressure on Fulham boss Mark Hughes has been minimal thus far. Whilst his side are only a handful of points better off than Grant’s men, there is an air of goodwill around Craven Cottage, and the former Manchester City manager will be given time to rebuild after last season’s exploits.

Both teams need the points, but with Fulham being the league’s stalemate specialists, I expect both sides to draw a blank in this Boxing Day game of charades.

Prediction: 0-0

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You can get odds of 7/1 on a 0-0 draw

So here it is, the final game of what has been a quite phenomenal season for Reading Football Club.

Reading fans will be travelling to St.Andrew’s in great numbers on Saturday, with over 4,000 tickets sold and as traditional for Reading fans on the last away game of the season it will be “inflatable’s day” adding to the carnival like atmosphere that should be created.

With Birmingham guaranteed a spot in this season’s playoffs and Reading of course already having secured the title, there may not seem a great deal to play for either team.

However, Birmingham have dropped to 5th in the table, meaning they would play at home in the first leg of the playoffs and away in the second. This is always seen as a negative, so expect Birmingham to be desperate to win, overtake Blackpool and secure 4th spot, meaning home advantage in the crucial second leg of the playoffs.

Reading will of course also be looking for the 3 points on Saturday; Brian McDermott is not the kind of manager to make wholesale changes for any game, despite having nothing to play for. With Jason Roberts suspended following his red card against Crystal Palace, Adam Le Fondre is the likely replacement, although Benik Afobe may be brought in to replicate Roberts pace and power. However, do not expect many more changes to the team that played Palace, if any.

Both clubs should be pleased with their seasons and hopefully both sets of fans should be in good spirits which should lead to a great atmosphere and a great game!

Birmingham are coming off the back of 4 straight draws and will be looking for a win to gain some momentum heading into the playoffs. The game earlier in the season between the two teams saw Reading come out 1-0 winners at the Madejski thanks to a Noel Hunt winner in the 75th minute.

Reading will also be keen to finish the season on a high, following our fabulous run. It will not be an easy game of course, with Birmingham boasting a very good home record having only lost once this season on home soil. This will not phase Reading however, who have recently won at arguably the hardest away grounds in the league in Upton Park and St Marys.

Reading fans should be happy that everything is already sewn up and not having to rely on a result in what is sure to be a competitive game on Saturday. Fans should take the opportunity to enjoy the game and give our players the full support and appreciation that they deserve before they embark on what is a huge summer for the club!

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Thoughts? Contact me on twitter @JackPeedell

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It’s that time of year again. With no domestic football to worry about or comment on, and no international football until the autumn, attention inevitably turns to the clubs’ summer rebuilding plans, and the maddening transfer merry-go-round, as the infamous transfer window will soon open once more for business.

A transfer window is effectively the period when clubs can register a player into the club through FIFA. The window was introduced much more recently than I thought, in response to negotiations with the European Commission, stemming from growing concern at Commission level about spiralling transfer fees. In response Fifa devised a worldwide transfer system, including instruction for domestic leagues. The restriction of transfers had begun.

The system has been used in many European leagues anyway, before being brought into compulsory effect by FIFA during the 2002–03 season. It was only brought into full effect in the lower leagues in this country during 2005. The Football League was massively against its introduction, fearing it would further hit lower league clubs already struggling after the collapse of ITV digital. Eventually they succumbed.

So the rule is that there must be two windows, a longer one (maximum twelve weeks) in the break between two seasons and a shorter one (maximum one month) in the middle of a season. The specific periods depend on the league’s season cycle and are determined by the national football authorities. The Russian authorities tried (and failed) for a third window, because of the way their league is set up next season (it will be 18 months long!).

Of course, the windows do not prevent movement of footballers completely. Free agents can be signed by a club at any time in the season, if they had been released by their previous club before the end of the transfer window. A club can request to sign a player on emergency basis, e.g. if several goalkeepers are injured at the same time, as Manchester City did only last year, causing considerable outrage.

Like any change to the fabric of football, be it transfer rules (see also the Bosman rulings), play offs or even points per win, there will be those for and against the change. Any system has its pros and cons. So what are the pros?

Well, it has been argued that it has limited clubs buying their way to success (or out of trouble) towards the end of a season, by stopping clubs with ample resources purchasing extra players to get them out of a “pickle”. This way, with set periods when purchases can be made, means that clubs have to plan more carefully, and work with what they have. Some have argued that this also gives more youngsters a chance of first-team action, as managers cannot splash the cash to cover an injury crisis or a run of bad form – they must work with what they have.

What’s more, it does protect (smaller) clubs who have some in-demand players. As they cannot be snapped up by predators at any time, there is a certain relief to be had that come September 1st or February 1st their players cannot be poached in the immediate future.

And the cons?

Well firstly, is it fair? We live in the European Union, with free trade, movement across borders, and increased workers’ rights. Is it acceptable to restrict trade for a whole industry for the majority of the year? Should clubs not be able to purchase as they see fit? After all, the clubs with bigger spending power will continue to spend more, whatever the system in place – nothing has changed in that respect.

It brings on a fire-sale mentality, and often means that rather than clubs planning well and working out what they require for the season, clubs actually purchase too many players, knowing that they have a limited time to do so. This was Steve Coppell’s argument, when he spoke out against the windows in 2008, frustrated at the endless speculation in the press about many of his Reading squad.

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And if the introduction of transfer windows was designed to stop spiralling transfer fees, it certainly hasn’t worked. If it was designed to curb the spending power of the big clubs, it has failed too.

The main problem for me though is the January transfer window. Thirty-one days seems like a long time to sort out the odd deal or two, but it never seems long enough for a lot of clubs. And for teams whose season isn’t going quite as planned, it induces panic. Even for those that are doing well, it induces the feeling that perhaps some strengthening should be done whilst they have the opportunity. The end result is unnecessary buying and inflated transfer fees. There is little value much of the time in a January transfer window. Good for a selling club perhaps, but potentially catastrophic for those doing the buying.

And it seems that many people underestimated how much panic buying would happen in January transfer windows. When the BBC covered the introduction of the window all those years ago, they quoted the infamous football agent Eric Hall, who said: “I don’t think there will be any winter madness on the transfer market, with only about 10 to 20 players moving at the most. So it won’t affect people and clubs that much.”

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The fact is it does affect clubs. Even in the summer window, there is a period of panic as the deadline approaches.

The greatest downside of transfer windows must be the tedious succession of transfer rumours throughout the summer period and throughout January, which leads to a raft of wind-up merchants on football message boards who are “in the know”. They can never say too much, but their brother’s girlfriend works with someone whose uncle is a kit supplier to the reserve women’s team at Arsenal, and he said that the club are definitely signing Miroslav Klose, and before you know it, someone has spotted him at the airport, or sneaking out of the back entrance of the Emirates, or in an estate agents in Highbury. Of course these rumours would exist without two transfer windows, but the windows intensify the scurrilous rumours and petty wind ups, especially as the deadline approaches, and deadline day is full of these fictional sightings, made-up whisperings and fabricated enquiries.

And there is always one story that runs and runs throughout the summer, until every fan has lost the will to live. As a Manchester City fan, I hope Carlos Tevez remains at the club (though I doubt it), but whatever happens, I pray to god that it is sorted soon – if I have to endure another three months of will-he-won’t he rumours I may have to go and hibernate in my garage until September. But if it is sorted soon, the press will turn to Cesc Fabregas instead, or maybe Samir Nasri, or Didier Drogba, or……

The window can be a guilty pleasure, especially deadline day – you never know if something truly surprising is about to break (though more often than not, it doesn’t). But on the whole, I cannot agree that transfer windows are a good thing. Not only are they a restraint of trade (an important consideration for smaller clubs and the lower leagues), but they cause panic buying close to the deadlines that creates swamped squads in some instances, and insufficient squads for those that were forced to sell late in the day. The limited period to deal leads to more bad buys, and a lack of reasoned planning in my opinion. You cannot have an all-year transfer window, and the current system is certainly not without its merits, but perhaps the system would work better if the transfer windows covered a greater period of the year.

Article written by Howard Hockin

Everton manager David Moyes has allowed youngster Jack Rodwell to team up with the England Under-21s squad, despite not being fully-fit.

He has not featured for the Toffees since injuring an ankle in the defeat to Aston Villa on August 29, but after being named on the bench for the previous three games, Moyes believes it will do him some good linking up with Stuart Pearce's young lions ahead of next week's game with Germany.

With a Premier League clash against Arsenal at Goodison Park next up, the Scot has also suggested he may be ready to make a return.

"Today is the first day I have actually thought, 'Yes, you're looking better'," he said.

"He's said this morning he is feeling more confident in his ankle, so I'm happy for him to go with the under-21s.

"With a bit of luck he might get a bit of that game, which will help him improve his fitness and give him some match time.

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"He is closer, he has got a chance of starting this weekend. I don't think in the last couple of games he was, but he is now just about there."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Aston Villa have backed under-fire boss Alex McLeish, despite admitting that the situation at the club is currently less than ideal.

The Villa Park outfit are not yet clear of relegation danger, and after losing to Bolton on Tuesday night remain in 15th place on 36 points.

Despite only seven league wins this term, chairman Randy Lerner and chief executive Paul Faulkner have released a statement in support of the Scottish coach.

“Right now everyone connected with Villa is hurting badly,” the statement on Villa’s official website starts.

“A win was in sight against Bolton after a strong start and the tenacity the team displayed, although ultimately we weren’t able to hold on for the points.

“We very openly acknowledge the frustrations of Villa fans and share in them completely. What matters to us and the board at this moment is how we, as a club, handle adversity and the pressure it brings.

“Our horizon is the next three games and we continue to be in control of our own destiny. Young players side-by-side with more senior players are fighting hard for the club.

“They are now preparing for West Brom followed by Spurs and Norwich.

“We will continue to support and rely on our manager and the squad and therefore give them our full support. We are totally conscious, as is everyone at the club, that this is a very trying time for those who love Aston Villa.

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“We know that the team will continue to fight through every minute of the remaining games and we hope Villa fans will continue to show their great support,” it concludes.

By Gareth McKnight

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It would be perhaps be a step too far to call the Premier League anti-competitive, but you could have a fair bet that the top six in the Premier League next season would be Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool – but it remains to be seen in which order those teams will finish; but it would be a surprise if a different club appeared in those top six places.

Teams that may look to break into the top six would be Everton, Fulham and if they can make the right managerial appointment Aston Villa may fancy their chances. However, do they really stand much of a chance especially given the impressive squads of the current top six? Chelsea looks set to return to their old ways and spend big during the summer and we all know that Manchester City will do likewise; but Manchester United are also looking for a big spend as they bring in replacements for players like Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs. Arsene Wenger will be reluctant to spend big – but they will also feel they need to bring in some new quality.

Liverpool’s £35m capture of Andy Carroll show that they are unlikely to penny pinch in the summer and even if Tottenham don’t spend big they already have an impressive squad and any players that leave will be replaced with quality.

The table below shows the 2010 breakdown of the current top six clubs financial breakdown:

Club

Turnover

Gate/Match-Day Income

Commercial Income

Wage Bill

TV Income

Arsenal

£382m

£94m

£31m

£110m

£85m

Man Utd

£286m

£100m

£81m

£131m

£104m

Man City

£125m

£18m

£53m

£133m

£54m

Chelsea

£213m

*

*

£174m

Unknown

Tottenham

£119m

£27m

#

£67m

£52m

Liverpool

£185m

£43m

£62m

£121m

£80m

*Chelsea’s figure is basically combined between Match-day Income and Commercial income and totals £213m comprising of football activities, hotel/catering, corporate hospitality, other commercial and merchandising.

#Tottenham’s number is £42m and comprises of sponsorship/hospitality, merchandising and other commercial income.

Now it is clear that these clubs are making a lot of money and makes it very difficult for other clubs to break in and in particular the income Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal enjoy from match-day and commercial income. It also should be noted that 5 of the top 6 clubs have a wage bill in excess of £100m, suggesting that clubs need to pay a certain amount to build a successful club.

If I then go back to the three clubs of Aston Villa, Fulham and Everton that may be most likely to break in based on how they finished last season and their previous records in the Premier League.

From a purely financial point to view Aston Villa are the best placed of the three clubs. Fulham and Everton face a significant financial shortfall from the current top six.

Here is another table shows the facts from 2010:

Club

Turnover

Gate/Match-day income

Commercial Income

Wage Bill

TV Income

Aston Villa

£91m

£24m

£14m

£80m

£52m

Everton

£79m

£19m

£10m

£54m

£50m

Fulham*

£77m

£11m

£11m

£49m

£42m

*Fulham also gained a further £11m as a result of being involved in the Europa League.

This really does show that it will be a big challenge to break into the top six next season for any of these clubs. Clearly the transfer spending will be significantly smaller than the big six and it will be very difficult for them to compete.

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens with the financial fair play rules and there are indications that clubs will look to spend big this summer – because it’s likely to be their last chance to do so. But let’s not make the mistake to assume that it will make a fairer financial situation for everybody. Yes, there are positives such as it should restrict massive transfer fees – but what is considered within the means of Manchester United is entirely different than what is within the means of Fulham.

The brand and the income of Manchester United is simply too strong and whatever rules come in the reality is the team will always make huge amounts of income and be able to spend significant amount of money in the transfer market and let’s keep in the mind they already have a superb squad and facilities.

With the possible exception of Aston Villa the teams out of the top six cannot hope to compete on a financial basis. So their best hope of putting together a challenge is by playing the game smart. First of all that means having a top quality manager who will build the team in the right way, but will also not have problems from the board interfering with transfer policy.

Next investing in the youth system is going be very important to develop future star players and giving them the best chance of developing. So it will be important to both invest in the best facilities but also develop a world-wide youth scouting set-up to try and find the very best youngsters and get them into the youth set-up; a policy that will be useful to do anyway to help satisfy some of those home-grown rules.

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However, even by doing that it is still going to be very difficult because of the financial gulf and also the bigger clubs may also look to implement similar ideas and may have the advantage of also being able to bring in big-money signings. But the other problem that smaller clubs are going to have is keeping the squad together, which is an important part of the strategy; If players must be sold then the money will need to be reinvested into the team to continue the progression.

By doing these things then the likes of Fulham may have a chance but you have to feel it is a fairly slim one.

* Financial information courtesy of David Conn’s article -In sickness and in wealth: a guide to the latest accounts at England’s top clubs – click here to view

If you liked this content please join me on Twitter to continue this debate.

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Manchester United fans are a forgiving lot, well this is according to Gary Neville. In his column for the Sunday Times of Malta, Neville has taken it upon himself to assume the feelings of the United fans and believes that the vast majority will forgive Wayne Rooney for his recent shambolic conduct. Rooney has managed to ascertain an increased amount of money in his contract, whilst simultaneously creating a sordid affair that leaves onlookers dismayed and confused. Surely it could have all been dealt with privately and with a certain degree of decorum? Whereas now the fans are being told that they will forgive Rooney by Neville, but I think this is more of a rallying cry and pleading with United fans than anything else.

With a newly signed five-year contract sealed for all parties involved, how are Manchester United fans to react? Do they have a certain degree of gratitude that Rooney felt the club just about meet his immense amount of ambition or do they renounce and revile the player altogether? Gary Neville writes: “The main thing is that after a difficult week the best outcome was reached for all parties. He has apologised to the fans and everyone else connected with the club so we have to put it to bed now.” Is that the end of it? No further repressed feelings of irritation or resentment will be held by any one of the players at United who were deemed inferior by Rooney. This is only speaking of the players, what of the fans? Do they completely absolve Rooney of all of his misdemeanors?

What can be confidently said is that time is short and football is a fickle business. For if Rooney reasserts himself as the goal scoring force we saw last season, it will go an innumerable distance towards winning the favours of everyone at the club. This is what Neville holds true to by stating that, “While there will always be fallout from an incident like this, as soon as we get back to playing football and Wayne gets back on the pitch it will all be forgotten about.”

Let us construct a parallel reality in which Rooney doesn’t recapture his previous form and continues upon this terrible vein of form he presently finds himself. He will no doubt incur the wrath of opposing supporters nationwide and, I believe to be fairly safe in saying this, United fans will lose patience with a player who won’t have justified the money being paid him. There seems only one reality that Rooney must use all of his powers in order to fashion; otherwise a troubled future lies ahead.

“He has always given 100 per cent when he has pulled on a United shirt, and that is the overriding factor. No-one can doubt that he loves playing football for this club and I have no doubt the fans will support him through the rest of his career here.” These sorts of statement, including the aforementioned ones, can come across as peremptory. They seem to suggest knowledge of the fans that can be, beyond all reason, affirmed. Does it align with your instinct or thoughts concerning the player?

But enough of my thoughts and perspective of Neville’s faith in Manchester United fans, how do you feel about this saga? Will United fans be so easily forgiving and fully back Rooney? Or has the time come that just because you’re a highly talented sports professional doesn’t mean you can disrespect fans without being reprimanded? Are fans superfluous when it comes to matters of this regard? All of your thoughts are welcome below.

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Last week was one to forget for Liverpool and Kenny Dalglish. The Reds forfeited a two-goal lead at Loftus Road and went on to lose 3-2 to QPR, before following that up with another Premier League defeat at Anfield against lowly Wigan Athletic.

Liverpool might have already won the Carling Cup this year as well as making the semi-final of the FA Cup with a tasty Merseyside Derby against Everton at Wembley on the horizon, but the Reds have greatly underachieved in the league and currently lie in 7th place in the table, 13 points off the top four.

Dalglish has got his work cut out to turn things round and it looks like he’d like to get his boots back on and play for the Reds as he tries to get the ball off Wigan manager Roberto Martinez. Can you provide a funny caption for this picture?

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Leave your suggestions in the comments section below…

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Last week’s winner: David Regan – click here to see all entries