Champions League Review

Arsenal succumbed to their worst defeat in Europe as they went down 4-0 at the San Siro.

Arsene Wenger today admitted his side is probably out of Europe following their 4-0 thrashing against Ac Milan. Ac Milan taking the lead through former Tottenham midfielder, Kevin Prince Boateng whose half volley came of the bar and in to give the Italian club a 1-0 advantage after just 15 minutes. Ac Milan extended their lead on 36 minutes when Zlatan Ibrahimovic's cross was headed in by Robinho. Arsenal's night got from bad worse soon after half time, Robinho given time and space to fire a low shot under Szczesny for 3-0. Arsenal’s backline were a mess with Johan Djourou bringing down Ibrahimovic in the area for a penalty. Ibrahimovic stepped to slot past Sczesny to complete rout and give Milan a real chance of advancing to the round of 16.


Zenit defeated Portugese side, Benfica in the first of leg of their tie 3-2. But Benfica took the lead when Zhevnov spilled a Cardozo free kick right into the path of Pereira for 1-0. It took just 7 minutes for the hosts to draw level Hubocan delivery met wonderfully by Shirikov whose strike beat Artur to make it 1-1. Zenit then played some tricky football to build up to the lead after 71 minutes. Kerzahkov back heeling to Bystrov whose ball towards Semak was turned in with back heel for 2-1. If Zenit head out in the next game they will have Zhevnov to blame with him failing to deal with a simple shot by Gaitan parrying it straight into the path of Cardozo who fired the equalizer for Benfica. Benfica might have thought they had stolen a draw from Russia until Shirkov exploited Artur by capitalizing on his poor goalkeeping, tucking the ball into an empty net. The Russian are far from sealing the deal and Benfica are not bad off going to the second leg with some pivotal away goals.

Respect! The FA don't know the meaning of the word.

In the last few years the F.A has encouraged football fans to respect the referee but I would beg to differ. 
  

There have been many ad campaigns from the F.A advocating that fans should respect referees because their job is 'hard'. With the most famous ad being the one featuring Ray Winstone shouting at the ref in a Sunday league game. But after the standard of refereeing I have seen this season is amazes me how the F.A still continue to expect respect from the fans. With, referee's failing to spot obvious fouls or being bias towards a particular side. with incidents such as the Pedro Mendes no goal after his shot passed the line by miles, referee Mark Clattenburg said 'no goal'.  But that was Manchester United and every decision goes their way. Another notable incident was in the world cup 2006 when Graham Poll dished out 3 yellow cards to Croatian defender, Josip Simunic until sending him off in the Croatia v Australia game. The incident was huge embarrassment to Graham as well as to English refereeing.

It still also baffles me how the most popular sport in world still has failed to obtain technology however with the ancient Sepp Blatter in charge of Fifa I don't see it coming fast. Football needs to catch up with likes of rugby and the NFL in America that both use video refereeing and microphone's as our age old system in football is not enough for the modern game. The current system favors cheats and prevents honest sides points something that needs to stop. It still leaves us saying what if, If Lampard's goal had been given to make 2-2 would England have done better in the World Cup, things we will never know because of poor refereeing judgment.

So come on football get your act together and get technology, honest teams are getting cost points and it's becoming a joke. Sepp Blatter needs to realize this is the beautiful game and his Fifa board is ruining it by failing to use technology within the game.

Who will be Leeds' next manager?

After Ken Bates sacked Simon Grayson following the 4-1 defeat to Birmingham City at Elland Road questions are being questions are being asked about who will take the vacant sit in the Leeds dugout.

Leeds are again looking for a new manager as Ken Bates got rid of his fourth manager in Simon Grayson. The sacking was a result of Leeds' poor run of form that see's them sit well outside of the playoff places however Ken Bates expected success without spending money making it seems as the little old ken needs to realize you have to dip your hand in your pocket once in awhile for a chance of gaining success. A few managers have been in the running, Neil Warnock has been the main contender and if he was to take the club into hands it would seem promising for all Leeds fans although it would questionable whether if Leeds were to gain promotion to the Premier League would they stay there as Neil Warnock's inability to manage in the top flight has cost him dearly as manage being the reason in why he lost the job at Qpr. Former Cardiff boss Dave Jones is also in the running and it would seem a breath fresh air for Dave Jones following his frustration managing Cardiff failing to gain promotion to the Premier League on several attempts. Leeds fan would be keen for Dave to take the role as his vast experience of the Championship could be vital if Leeds were to mount a promotion challenge. Despite Sven Goran Erikson best efforts he will not manage Leeds after his application was rejected by Ken Bates, Bates said that Neil Redfearn the current caretaker manager will get three games to prove his worth. Anyhow Leeds fans won't be too concerned about Sven not getting job, they may be relived after he still couldn't mount a real title challenge with the talented squad he conjured up with Leicester resulting in him losing his job earlier this year. Current caretaker manager, Neil Redfearn could also be in the running for the job however following Leeds 2-1 defeat to Brighton at home it seems unlikely and it he will not be the Leeds fans first choice as they will want a manager with vast experience to lead them to the days of the Premier League. Whoever takes the Leeds job will have a difficult job trying to please the fans who have suffered only misery in the last 10 years and they will have long way to match the greatest Leeds manager, Don Revie.

Capello resigns, what now?

Capello’s resignation from the England managerial post was announced yesterday and dominating today's sporting headlines, so what now for England.

The resignation of Fabio Capello was thought to be over his comments on Italian television of the captaincy being taken away from John Terry, a decision Capello disagreed. The resignation came as a shock to a fair few English football fans, it was clear he was going to leave after the upcoming European Championships in Poland/Ukraine however this early leave was unexpected and it has left us wonder who will take the post.

The immediate candidate that comes to mind is Harry Redknapp, who the Fa have chased numerous times for the job in the past and he won't come easy as he will be keen on retaining his job at Tottenham trying to consolidate a Champions League place. However we shall not rule out on him possibly taking up both roles and the FA could persuade him to take the post for Euro 2012.

Two managers have already ruled themselves out, Alan Pardew, Newcastle gaffer told the press he is happy at Newcastle after being 3rd favorite to take the job. However, most fans wouldn't have expected him to take the post as he hadn't had the best track record before taking his post at Newcastle. Another manager that ruled himself out was new Sunderland manager, Martin O'Neill. Who has an impressive managerial record however most England fans would realize he has only took the Sunderland job a couple of months ago and he will not be keen on leaving.

Another manager in the running is the Real Madrid manager, Jose Mourinho aka the 'special one'. The manager who had an impressive time in his days in the Premier League helping Chelsea win two titles in his 3 year stay on England. And he would be good choice for the job however like a lot England fans it would be nice to see a fellow countryman lead us on the European stage. It is also doubtful Mourinho will be willing to leave Real Madrid. So I think the 'special one' we can rule out.

The current temporary manager, Stuart Pearce is also in the running, a manager who is only really used to managing the u21 set up so is rarely managing. He also managed, Manchester City however his record wasn't particularly impressive and although many England fans want an English manager it is felt Stuart will probably not be the answer.

We all know who we want (apart from Tottenham fans), we want wise old Harry Redknapp to lead our country and give us the crazy hype that comes with every England manager that we will one day rule like in 66' and win the Euro's in the summer.

Gabon V Mali

Gabon play their first African Cup of Nations quarter final against a side that hasn't reached the knockout stages since 2004. 
  
Hosts, Gabon comfortabley won all their group games to clinch a quarter final place against group d runners up, Mali. It will be expected to be a difficult tie for the hosts and the on form Pierre-Emrick Aubameyang will be hoped to perform miracles for the Gabonese. The Malians nearly crashed out of the tournament going down 1-0 to Botswana in their final group game however Sediyou Keita managed to complete a turn around curling an effort into the far corner from the edge of the box to send the Malians through to face the hosts. And Mali will be much reliant on the star man who plys his trade in Spain for top club, FC Barcelona. I fancy Gabon to take this as they have shown more class in the tournament so far and the Malians only narrowly beat a poor Botswana team.

No more Parmo's for Tarmo!

Middlesbrough annouced today that Tarmo Kink's contract has been terminated.

The Estonian Striker will be searching for a new club in Europe as his contract was terminated by the Teessiders after an agreement with Tarmo. Tarmo will be hopeful he can retain first team football, after never being favoured whilst Tony Mowbray has been in charge. The Estonian striker will be missed on Teesside with some fans feeling he didn't get a chance playing only 22 times and scoring 4, most notably a freekick against Burnley, in his 1 and half year stay on Teesside. However Tarmo will be remembered on Teesside mostly for his name rhyming with the local delicousy 'The Parmo' and his willingness to shoot from just about anywhere he could.

Ivory Coast 'overrated'.

Simply beacuse they have Premier League stars, many pundits have tipped them to lift the African Cup of Nations.

They haven't shown us much in the way of brillance so far in this years African Cup of Nations, relying on a solitary goal from Drogba to win their first game against Sudan and an own goal from, Bakary Kone of Burkina Faso to give them a 2-0 win in their second. They have seemed slow so far in the tournament, not providing the free flowing football a lot of them produce at their European clubs. It seems they have only took victories due to the poor sides they have been playing. In additon, many big names for Ivory Coast have failed to make an impact such as Gervinho who has been merely dissapointing with his typical poor shooting ability that affects him regulary. Drogba has been decent but far from amazing not getting hardly a sniff in their game against Burkina Faso and 'influencial' midfielder, Yaya Toure who reguarly makes an impact for Manchester City being one of the best midfielder in the Premier League, has failed to make a real difference in any of the Ivory Coast's first two fixtures.

Yes, they have qualified for the knockout stages but their performances have no been up to the stantards of 'Champions'. It has only been in the light of Senegal performing poorly and getting knocked out that has influnced nobody to scrutinize the Ivory Coast. But, there have been many better sides than Ivory Coast such as Equatorial Guinea, the co hosts, who beat Senegal 2-1 to make it to the quarter finals. Equatorial Guinea have shown keeness to attack, cause problems for the oppostion and possibly if they meet Ivory Coast in the quarter finals it could be shock on the cards from the co-hosts. Only time will tell if the Ivory Coast can up their game in order to fufill their potential of being 'Champions' if they can make it thorugh the knockout stages playing at a far better stantard than they have been so far then it is possible they can lift their first title since 1992.

Brady's Revenge?

It is in no question that people are labelling the upcoming Superbowl 46 as a chance for Tom Brady and his Patriots to inflict 'revenge' on the Giants for Superbowl 42. When his 16-0 Patriots lost to the 10-6 Giants, who had reached the Superbowl via the wildcard round. But the real question is, can the Patriots finally lift the Superbowl after 7 years or will Manning lead the Giants to another Superbowl victory and beat his brother in Superbowl wins. Well the Patriots are certainly not the same side they were in Superbowl 42, with the likes of Randy Moss and Laurence Maloney being key parts of the Patriot attack at the time. However 'Patriot football' is still based mostly on the passing aspect of the game with the likes of Rob Gronkowski and Wes Welker being key parts of the current Patriot offense.

With both sides only just scraping through the AFC and NFC Championship games, Patriots going through due to a Billy Cundiff missed field goal and the Giants heading through on a Lawerence Tynes field goal. We can be sure the Superbowl shall be a close affair. However again the Giants have scraped through the playoff's starting off with a Wildcard win against a decent Falcons team, then shocking many NFL fans with a thumping 37-20 win over the almost perfect Packers. They also relied on a fumble from 49er, Kyle Williams to win the NFC Championship game as it  allowed the Giants to drive foward and set up a Lawerence Tynes field goal, which he drove home from 31 yards. Sending the Giants into pandemoinium to the fact they were heading to the Superbowl. The Giants also were a side,  I didn't think would make the Superbowl this year due to their recent failure's to make the playoffs and the fact that Manning has never really proved he can be a consistent quarterback, then again he is opening the eyes of lot of NFL fans to realise he can be a decent quarterback. The Patriots on the other hand , fairly breezed through to the AFC Championship game with a crushing defeat on the Broncos (45-10). However the Ravens proved to be a different prospect causing problems both offensively and defensively and the Patriots had to really rely on the poor accuracy of Ravens kicker, Billy Cundiff to end the Ravens Superbowl dream and send the Patriots thorugh to  Indianaopolis for Superbowl 46. Really out of the two teams featured in the Superbowl, the Patriots were always the side people thought would make it ,with many tiping a 'Patriots v Packers' Superbowl. This has been due to Brady knocking on the door of the Superbowl pretty much for the past few years.

This game does look like it will go the Patriots way on 'paper' with Brady being the more superior of the two quarterbacks and the Patriot offence looking stronger than ever and it seems evident that it should be 'Brady's Revenge'. Although many of us are aware that anything can happen on any given sunday and we all remember last time the sides met in a Superbowl. However having said all that I still do think it will be a Patriots victory of 28-10.

Who will win the Championship?

With 20 games to go the question is who will get their hands on the Championship trophy at the end of April. 

There are a few teams in the running for title with Southampton, West Ham, Cardiff City and Middlesbrough being the main contenders after 26 games. West Ham were intial favourites at the start of the season, following their relegation from the Premier League. Their 'Premier League type' squad was enough to have any betting person putting their money on the Hammers. But to be fair with the likes of Carlton Cole, Mark Noble and Matty Taylor it would be stupid not to back the London side. Although after 26 games, it would be still foolish to rule them out of the running for the title, after winning their opening 2 league games in 2012 there is a high possibility the Hammers could lift the title. And I would favour them to take the title, afterall the keyword in the Championship is 'consistency' and West Ham look as though they are picking up some sort of conistency, if they continue to stay unbeaten in 2012 it is highly likely they could make an instant Premier League return.

Southampton, meanwhile are the current league and are were only promoted from League 1 last season. Doing a 'Norwich' of last season, Southampton sit top of the Championship on goal difference. Will the south coast club take the title? Well with an impressive attack boasting 50 league goals and excellent home form it would be wrong it leave them out of it. However their recent results have shown they can be broken and defeat, as they had lost 2 league games on the bounce, to Bristol City 1-0 at home and to Brighton 3-0, away. Although they gained their first 3 points of 2012 with a 3-0 win over Forest at the City Ground, with Morgan Schneiderlin getting the pick of the goals with a long range strike. I much expect Southampton to fall off the pace slighty possibly gaining a Premier League entrance via the Playoff route.

The Welsh side, Cardiff City are again in the running after failing to make it out of the Championship following a Semi Final playoff defeat to Reading. Cardiff, now lead by Malky Mackay after the sacking of Dave Jones, are still one of the top sides in the league. With the likes of Scottish forward, Kenny Miller being the top scorer for the side with 8 League goals. It is their home form however that has kept them in the running winning 5 of the last 6 at home, only losing to fellow promotion chasers, Middlesbrough. However last time out Cardiff were held to a 0-0 draw by relegation strugglers , Doncaster Rovers. A result that was not needed for Mackay's mean but luckily, Middlesbrough lost 2-0 to Burnley meaning Cardiff remained in 3rd place. I can see Cardiff finally gaining promotion, if they continue on their rich form it will surely see another Welsh side embrace the Premier League.

Middlesbrough are also in the running, the Teesside club led by Tony Mowbray are punching well above their fans pre season expection, sitting in 4th in the Championship after 26 games. However anyone watching Middlesbrough at the end of last season will realise this is not that unsual, after the side went from 19th this time last season, to finishing 12th in the end. Middlesbrough, although have struggled to get going in 2012 losing their first two league games, 3-0 away to Blackpool and 2-0 to Burnley at the Riverside. But this will not discourage any Middlesbrough, who will be hoping their new signing, Lukas Jutkiewicz or Lukey Juke from bottom side, Coventry. Can answer their goal pray's as the only thing lacking from the Boro side is goals. You may ask how they are still in the postion they are with a lack of goals? Defence is the answer only conceding 25 goals, the second lowest in the league behind West Ham. Middlesbrough have also been without key midfielder, Nicky Bailey who suffered a knee ligament injury against Peterborough on New Years Eve. Most Boro fans will claim the losses to Blackpool and Burnley were down to the loss of Nicky Bailey. I much expect Middlesbrough to remain well in the running with Lukas Jutkiewicz solving their problem in front of goal and the return of Nicky Bailey sometime in Febuary will encourage any fan to remain optimistic until the season is over.

Juke Joins!

Lukas Jutkiewicz today put pen to paper on a  four and half year deal to Join Middlesbrough. 

The young striker who has played for Swindon, Everton, Plymouth, Huddersfield, Motherwell and Coventry, today completed  his move to join Middlesbrough in a deal that could see him at the riverside till 2016. The forward who has scored 9 league goals for Coventry this season will hope to boost the Boro attack that has been lacking in goals of late. Jutkiewicz was intially signed emergency loan deal on Saturday, Which meant he made his Middlesbrough debut against Burnley, coming on as a 57th Minute subsistute for Richard Smallwood.  Jutkiewicz however will not be able to play Middlesbrough next game with Coventry due to a 'Gentlemen's agreement' between the two clubs. But he should be ready for the massive Fa Cup match up at the Stadium of Light to play Sunderland.

Shortly after the move he told the Middlesbrough website he has ambition for Middlesbrough to reach the Premier league, a feat the Boro fans hope to come true. Saying "In its recent history Middlesbrough have been in the Premier League and that's where I want to end up myself. Hopefully I can help out in any way I can''

Can middlesbrough gain promotion?

Most Boro fans would agree that Boro are punching high above many fans expectations by currently sitting 4th in the npower championship. 'Messiah', Tony Mowbray has given a the teesside club a new start in the championship from the dark days of Gordan Strachan and his stingy way of playing nothing other than his trusted four four two formation. Middlesbrough have picked up 45 points from 25 league games and are currently sitting, nice and high in 4th place.

However Boro haven't got this far by scoring a shed load of goals, it has been their scrooge like defense that has only given up 23 goals, the lowest number in the league. The main problem for boro has been the lack of goals, while southampton and West ham have managed to wrap some big wins, while boro have struggled to hit the net. Although, Mowbray hopes this to change when it is reported that young coventry foward, Lukas Jutkiewicz could be heading to teesside for 2 million pounds. The foward has bagged 9 league goals for a struggling side and could be a vital signing that could posess a poetent theart for many champioship defence's.

Boro also have a massive cup tie against bitter rivals sunderland to look foward to that will broadcast live on Itv 1 on sunday 29th January kicking off at 1.30 pm . Boro will hope to give the premier league outfit a difficult afternoon and it will be paticulary intresting to see many of the boro players, play in one of only one or two derby games. As the last time the sides met was three years ago in a premier league match in which sunderland the sides drew 1-1 at the riverside.

Will the Steelers struggle next season?

As a steeler fan, I hope they will continue to be a dominant force in the nfl next season however the recent defeat against Denver made it evident that pittsburgh will not have it all the same. The strong and powerful, Steelers defence has been under pressure from many nfl experts and paticulary went underfire from former nfl defensive tackle, Warren Sapp who claimed the steelers defence was ''old and slow'' But this comment was made prior to the 2011 season and the steelers ranked as the top defence during the 2011 regular season. What  Sapp seemed to forget was that many in the steelers d are still quite young and fast such as the explosive linebacker, Lawerence Timmons and defensive end's Ziggy Hood and Cameron Heyward.

The Steelers will hope quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger will return much more ready and fit for the 2012 season after he suffered much of the 2011 season riddled with injuries. The Steelers qb however still managed to clock up a decent year throwing for 4,077 yards. The Steelers should also be a great outfit on the passing with great recievers such Antonio Brown, Mike Wallace and Emmanuel Sanders who have all proved themselves as being elite recievers in the current competitive nfl league. With all three clocking up a fine amount yards for the steel city side.

The Steelers should remain a very competive side in the league next season despite the unfortunate loss to Denver in the wildcard playoffs however they will need to strengthen both the cornerback and offensive line after the Corners looked all at sea against the ''poor'' throwing of Broncos Qb, Tim Tebow. The line will need to improve after giving away 42 sacks and ranking in with the 24th offensive line in the nfl 2011 regular season.

Coventry heading down?

It is becoming incresingly clear that championship side, Coventry City could loose their championship status come the end of april and it has become more apparent following the news that Lukas Jutkiewicz is posied to join fellow championship side, Middlesbrough. However Coventry have lined up a ready made replacement by getting man city foward, Alex Niemly on loan. Although following a poor loan spell at Middlesbrough, Nimely will hope to revitalise the coventry attack and provide goals to help Andy Thorn's side attempt to avoid the drop.

The most underfire at the ricoh currently are the board, sisu, who have plunged coventry into the bottom half of the championship and the theart of adminsration has lured around. Sisu have regualry felt the anger from the fans after it was displayed in many protest at the recent home games this season. It is sad to see such a great being treated in such a way and being neglected to rot near the bottom of the lower reaches of english football, many coventy fans can hope that maybe they can lift themselves up and follow the footsteps of sides like Norwich and Southampton.