Arsenal visit Reebok Stadium on Sunday knowing anything less than a win against Bolton would all but end their Premier League title hopes.Arsene Wenger’s men have let too many points slip in the second half of the season, and in their most recent game they were held to a 1-1 draw against Liverpool at the Emirates – a result that saw them fall to third place on the table, six points behind leaders Manchester United.
Aside from that performance, they have been held to draws at home this year by Blackburn (0-0), Sunderland (0-0), Newcastle (4-4) and Manchester City (0-0).
Although they are unbeaten in the league so far in 2011, draws have been the thorn in Wenger’s side – with five from their last six games.
Owen Coyle’s Bolton side enter Sunday’s clash with little to play for, sitting comfortably in mid-table but with a Europa League berth well out of reach.
They will, however, be eager to eradicate the memory of their dismal showing in Sunday’s 5-0 FA Cup semi-final loss to Stoke at Wembley.
In their only other encounter this season, Arsenal cruised to a 4-1 win at the Emirates on September 11 in a match that saw Bolton defender Gary Cahill dismissed just after the hour mark for a crude challenge on Marouane Chamakh.
Wenger’s squad is remarkably healthy for this time of the season, with only long-term casualties Thomas Vermaelen (Achilles) and goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski (shoulder) certain to miss out.
Coyle has a few more problems from the treatment room to concern him, with impressive midfielder Stuart Holden ruled out for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury and full-back Samuel Ricketts also unavailable.
The Pigeon Detectives are back with their third studio album. We spoke to frontman Matt Bowman about his love of Leeds, being friends with Alan Smith and why he’d steer clear of having a pint with Joey Barton…
Ideal song for teams to walk out to?
Anything that makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck, something that gets the blood flowing. At the minute The Pigeons walk out to Beastie Boys ‘Sabotage’ and that does the trick!
First match you went to see?
Middlesbrough vs Wimbledon with my dad. Leeds vs Crystal Palce was my first Leeds game.
Do you have any celebrity football friends?
I’m friends with Alan Smith (Leeds United, Manchester United, Newcastle United and England). We grew up in the same village of Rothwell.
Why it’s better being a rockstar than a footballer
We can abuse out bodies with drink, food, lack of sleep and general partying. The lack of early morning training sessions is a bonus too!
Which current player would you most like to have a pint with?
Luciano Becchio – he speaks hardly any English but seems like a decent lad and you can tell he loves Leeds, which is good enough for me.
Which current player would you least like to have a pint with?
Joey Barton – he’d probably just want a tear up after a couple of shandy’s!
Recorded at Brooklyn Recording Company, the new album ‘UP,GUARDS AND AT ‘EM!’’ is out now on Dance To The Radio and will be available here
You can win a copy of the Pigeon Detectives’ new album Up, Guards And At ‘Em! by answering this simple question…
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How many members of the Pigeon Detectives are there?
A) 3
B) 4
C) 5
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Everyone has been hailing the success of the Reds Academy over the last few months with the emergence of players such as John Flanagan and Jack Robinson. For other youngsters though, this summer, rather than being the start of their Anfield careers, could see the end of their time on Merseyside.
Nathan Eccleston – After being an integral part of Liverpool ’s FA Youth Cup team in 2009, partnering Lauri Dalla Valle, Eccleston quickly moved up to the reserve team last season, and then made his senior debut under Rafa Benitez in the Carling Cup against Arsenal. To give him more first team experience, he was sent out on loan to Huddersfield Town, but after a Red card, he was used sparingly as a substitute. He became more involved in first team affairs under Roy Hodgson at the start of this season, appearing in the Europa League, but was again loaned out to Charlton where he made 8 starts and 13 substitute appearances, scoring 3 goals. Will he get any opportunities in the Red of Liverpool next season?
David Amoo – The winger/forward moved from the youth ranks of Millwall in 2007, and quickly settled into Liverpool’s U18 team. He scored 12 goals in the 2008/09 season as he helped the Reds to their third FA Youth Cup final in four years. Known for his electric pace, he moved up to John McMahon’s reserve side last season, and continued impressing, although it was felt he could still score more goals. He played Liverpool’s first match in the Europa League this season under Roy Hodgson against FK Rabotnicki, but the lack of first team opportunities meant he was given the opportunity to go out on loan to Hull City. He mostly was used as a late substitute at Hull but he did score a spectacular goal against QPR and stated afterwards:
“It was all about being patient to get my chance in the team. I spoke to the gaffer [Nigel Pearson] and he said to me just do what you’ve been doing in training and you’ll get your chance and I’m delighted to have got it. Regarding my future, we’ll see how it goes. It’s up to the coaches and they’re the ones who see me every day. But I am enjoying it at Hull. I’ve just got to work hard and I’ve really had a good time here.”
Perhaps another season out on loan for Amoo then.
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Daniel Ayala – The Spaniard defender was poached from Sevilla a few years ago, and a start for the Reds first team against Stoke at the start of last season led many to believe he would be the first defender to breakthrough into the first team. Since, he has seen Martin Kelly, John Flanagan and Jack Robinson get game time while he has got first team experience during two loan spells at Hull City and Derby County. Unhappy with how Hull treated an injury Ayala sustained, former manager Roy Hodgson vowed not to send another player on loan to Hull again. From January onwards, Ayala found himself on loan against relegation threatened Derby, helping the club keep Championship status for another season.
Chris Mavinga – The French defender accused Roy Hodgson of favouring home-grown youngsters back in August:
“I was disappointed [not to feature in first team]. I thought that with this success [European under-19 Championship] and what I produced on the training ground I would have the opportunity to train with the first team and play bits of games. Roy Hodgson, who replaced Rafael Benitez, is changing the organization of the club as he tries to encourage English players against foreigners, unlike the predecessor. He clearly stated he wanted to remake Liverpool as an English club. It is a choice I must respect.”
He was subsequently sent out on loan to Racing Genk, where he hasn’t always featured regularly. He has only made 4 appearances all season but yet there was speculation that he could make the move permanent in the summer. We will have to wait and see on this one.
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Stephen Darby – The right back has seen his chances greatly diminished by the rise of Martin Kelly and John Flanagan. He spent last season out on loan at Swindon Town, where he impressed while helping the Robins to the playoffs. He was snapped up by Paul Ince’s Notts County this campaign and there was talk of making the move permanent. The departure of Ince, and his return to Merseyside after the end of the season, makes such a move now doubtful. Still, it is likely he will depart Anfield this summer.
FootballFanCast.com WORLD Exclusive, Robbie Savage’s Face in a Baby Scan
Penarol and Cerro Porteno have both qualified for the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores after aggregate wins on Thursday.Chilean club Universidad Catolica won the second leg of their quarter-final 2-1, but Penarol advanced 3-2 on aggregate courtesy of a late goal from Fabian Estoyanoff.
A 2-0 first-leg victory to Penarol over Catolica gave them the advantage before their second-leg match at Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo, but they quickly went a goal down when Fernando Meneses opened the scoring after just 17 minutes.
The goal buoyed the hosts and Catolica quickly embarked on a search for a second goal, which came with 21 minutes to play thanks to substitute Roberto Gutierrez which levelled the tie on aggregate.
Everything was to play for as the match entered the final 10 minutes but instead of the hosts grabbing a third, and a potential tie winner, it was the Uruguayan club who clinched the tie thanks to Estoyanoff’s goal in the 85th minute.
Cerro Porteno of Paraguay snared a slender 1-0 home win over Mexican side Jaguares which was enough to send them to the semi-finals.
The first-leg ended in a 1-1 draw and with a valuable away goal behind them, Cerro Porteno had the advantage entering the final 90 minutes.
They sealed the tie in the 70th minute when defender Pedro Benitez opened the scoring, before Jaguares’ Ismael Fuentes was sent off in the dying stages for a second yellow card, and the tie ended 2-1 in favour of the Paraguayan outfit.
Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri could be on his way out of The Emirates and on his way to Manchester United if the player doesn’t agree a new contract, according to The Guardian.
The French international is moving in to the final year of his contract and manager Arsene Wenger is reluctant to lost the 23-year old for nothing next Summer.
Nasri moved to Arsenal from Marseille for £15 million in the Summer of 2008 and has enjoyed a fine season scoring 10 league goals and making the PFA Team of the Year. Arsenal are reported to have offered the player a new five-year, £90,000 a week deal but Nasri feels his chances of winning titles might be increased elsewhere.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is rumoured to see Nasri as a potential replacement for Ryan Giggs and he could be the first player to move between the two clubs since Mikael Silvestre in August 2008.
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Nasri would command a fee or around £10 million but Wenger would be reluctant to sell him to bitter rivals United, particularly amid reported interest from Real Madrid. The Frenchman could be one of several high-profile departures from Arsenal with the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Andrey Arshavin and Gael Clichy all linked with moves away from the club.
Celtic manager Neil Lennon has signed a one-year contract extension with the Glasgow giants.The Northern Irishman took over from Tony Mowbray in March last year, signing a six-month rolling contract in June last year.
His side claimed second in the Scottish Premier League behind rivals Rangers as Lennon endured a tumultuous time off the pitch.
But the 39-year-old said he was happy to sign a 12-month rolling contract with the club on Monday.
“I am absolutely delighted to agree this new contract with the club,” Lennon said.
“I have had 10 great years connected to Celtic and I hope to enjoy many more. Clearly this is down to me and I will be doing everything I possibly can to ensure we bring our fans more success.”
“I have been speaking to (CEO) Peter (Lawwell) over the past few weeks and we are both delighted to move forward together. We have sat down, looked at last season and now we look ahead.”
Lennon said he and Lawwell shared similar ambitions with the club, wanting to win trophies and provide entertainment for the fans.
Celtic chairman John Reid said Lennon had impressed the board, particularly during a tough off-field period last season.
“We are very pleased to be able to announce this new contract for Neil,” he said.
“Neil has proven himself as a football manager with great talent and someone who we are delighted to have in charge.”
“For more than a decade, Neil Lennon has shown tremendous commitment and dedication to Celtic. Last season was a particularly difficult one for Neil, but he came through this period with tremendous credit.”
“This is testament to his real strength of character and fortitude, qualities which I know he will use again as he aims to build on this season and bring the club even more success.”
Lennon’s tough season was marred when he was attacked by fans on the touchline during Celtic’s clash against Hearts on May 13, while bullets were addressed to him in a mail package and sent to the club.
Celtic finished a point behind Rangers in the race for the Scottish Premier League title but they did win the domestic cup.
Here is my list of the ten worst rules in football. This week, we are looking to the future at Footballfancast.com. Amidst all the opinion of which players are going to be the next big thing, I thought about how the game might be different over the next ten years because of the rules. In 2015 new FIFA fair play rules will come into play. These will look to curb overzealous club spending and try and stop clubs running at a loss.
The effects will surely be large scale. Here I look at ten other rules that I would like to see changed in the not too distant future.
Click on Gianfranco Zola to look at the top ten rulings that need to change
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The transfer of English teenager Dale Jennings from Tranmere to Bayern Munich has been by far the most surprising deal of the summer. Jennings’ jump from League One to the former European Champions is a fantastic move for the striker but have the Premier League big boys missed a trick in letting Jennings move abroad?
By moving to Bayern Munich Jennings has seemingly missed a step of a usual aspiring footballer’s development. Jennings impressed with Tranmere last season in only his first senior campaign. Such form would normally earn the player a move to the Premier League or a top Championship side where they can continue their development before hopefully forging a successful international career and possibly a move to a top European club. But have Bayern simply jumped the gun or have the Premier League missed out on one of England’s best up-and-coming talents?
The 18-year-old played 32 times for Tranmere last season, scoring six goals. It is not a fantastic goal record for a striker in the lower leagues but impressive after you consider it was Jennings first year as a first-team regular. Apart from Bayern, the only other team reported to be strongly interested was West Ham. But if the German side have seen enough in Jennings to sign the relatively inexperienced striker, why haven’t Arsenal, Chelsea or Manchester United been sniffing around?
Jennings left Liverpool’s academy age 15 and then failed to get into the youth set-ups at Everton and Derby. These rejections meant he ended up at Tranmere where the first team opportunities last season gave him a chance to mature and develop his talent week on week. Although the fee is officially undisclosed it is thought to be around £1.7million, a bargain if Jenning’s potential is matched in the years to come. Teams across the Premier League have been focusing on developing young English talents yet they have let one slip away without a fight.
But maybe a move abroad to a well respected club like Bayern is just what the young striker and England need. There is very little chance Jennings will figure at all for the first team next season, he is more likely to end up in their youth ranks. But Bayern have a history of building world class talents through such routes (previous graduates include current German internationals Philipp Lahm and Thomas Müller). Jennings can also take heart from Owen Hargreaves. Whilst the former Manchester United midfielder is now without a club, he emerged through Bayern’s youth ranks and enjoyed a successful spell with Bayern which included Bundesliga and Champions League success.
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But maybe Bayern have taken too much of a risk with Jennings? His goal record in his first season isn’t prolific and he is yet to represent England at any level.
However Jennings does at Bayern, I wouldn’t expect to hear his name in the English press for a while whilst he tries to forge a career at Bayern. But if he does repay the faith the Germans have shown in bringing him to the Allianz Arena, then the Premier League big boys may end up kicking themselves for missing out on a potential England star of the future.
If you want to read more of my bite size, 160 character views and thoughts follow me on Twitter @jennyk5
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The fact that Darren Bent has not even come close to signing for one of the league’s top teams is a mystery to me. This is no flash in the pan or one hit wonder we are talking about. Here is a player that has constantly reached double figures in the league season after season. So why exactly are the top managers not willing to snap up a proven goal scorer?
Arsenal would have been a perfect fit for Bent as they are a team that creates numerous chances during each game. However yet again Arsene Wenger takes another gamble on an unproven foreign import in the £10 million signing of Gervinho. Of course Van Persie will be a mainstay at the emirates for years to come but he is prone to injury and is unlikely to last a whole season.
So who is there to take the goal scoring burden? Bendtner? Chamakh? Even new boy Gervinho is not considered as an out and out striker. Arsenal are in need of someone to stick the ball in the back of the net on a regular basis and I see Darren Bent as an ideal solution.
However in the modern game we know it seems in vogue to have strikers that have more to their game than knowing where the goal is. Managers prefer a player that can build up play, by dropping back into midfield and adopt more of a playmaker role i.e. Wayne Rooney . Or even the workhorse type player, hell-bent on chasing every stray ball into the corner. Bent will give you neither of these attributes. But this is not to say the role of a simple goal poacher is any less important to a team and I think is actually a rare commodity to find in a player nowadays.
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An interesting aspect to bring up regarding a player’s goal scoring exploits is looking at the quality of the opposition the goals were scored against. When looking at Peter Crouch ’s impressive England goal ratio, the thing that stand out most is the majority were scored against so called smaller nations i.e. Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago etc. but this argument does not wash with Bent’s career goals, having scored against some of the best defences in the League of many occasions. Most recently scoring a brace against Arsenal at the end of last season.
Having finally secured his place in the England starting 11, I see Bent being vital to any hopes the nation has of being successful at Euro 2012. In my opinion he is the natural replacement for Michael Owen and the potential partnership with Rooney looks promising.
On a personal note and as an Aston Villa Fan it’s a great feeling to have a player in the team who is easily capable of scoring 20 goals a season. A feeling that I and many villa fans have not has since a young Dwight Yorke graced Villa Park. (And to a lesser extent Juan Pablo Angel) Unfortunately the cynic in me thinks that being English works against Darren. Fans want to see exciting flair players with exotic names on the team sheet. Maybe El Darren Bentino would be more of an exciting prospect.
By the way if Mr Wenger does happen to come across this article, please ignore these deluded ramblings of a mad man and keep your hands of our Darren!
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Queens Park Rangers owner Tony Fernandes has confirmed that the newly promoted Premier League club are interested in signing David Beckham from LA Galaxy.
The veteran midfielder is out of contract at the MLS outfit in November, making him a free agent, and the Loftus Park side want to bring him back to London.
Fernandes, who recently took over the ownership of the club, confirmed that he would like to see Beckham at Rangers.
“I think having someone like David in the club would be great. Was always in my thoughts. Let’s see,” he stated on his Twitter page.
Fernandes is known to be a shrewd businessman, and his investment has already funded moves for Joey Barton, Anton Ferdinand and Shaun Wright-Phillips.
However, the Air Asia chairman also has links from within entertainment company AEG, who own LA Galaxy, and is using this to start the negotiation process.
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The former Manchester United man has previously stated that he would not return to the Premier League unless it was to Old Trafford, but despite this may be intrigued by one last chance to play in the top flight in England before his career ends.
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