All posts by h79snht.top

Ahead of the Euro 2012 qualifier between Wales and England at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday, former Wales international Chris Coleman has been talking about the future of Welsh football, and why it is definitely on the up…

Wales have two outstanding young players in Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey. Could they head a ‘Golden Generation’ of players for Wales over the next few years?

Well, if there is to be a golden generation around the corner then Bale and Ramsey will be at the head of it. I’m sure there is though, because we have been waiting and waiting for it, but some of these players are not 19 or 20 anymore, they are 24 or 25 now. They’ve got to step up to the plate. It’s no good just talking about Bale, Ramsey and Craig Bellamy, the other player have got to step up. They need to have some pride in pulling on the Wales jersey and turning up for every game.

If you look at the last half a dozen games, if you can show me another country which has had more players pull out then I would be incredibly surprised. Wales are having about a dozen withdrawals every game, and you can’t have that, I’m not putting that all down to injuries and suspensions, no way. Whether players had a problem with the previous manager or not, as a player you still turn up and do your best because playing for your country is one of the highest accolades you can have in your career. I just feel that because we were having a bad time with Wales, putting that red jersey on has been watered down a little bit by certain people, which disappoints me. If you can’t get your best squad together on a consistent basis, the results are not going to be good, especially for a small country like ourselves.

So, first and foremost, let’s make sure we have our best players playing every game, because that’s when we can start climbing the rankings. That’s when we get a bit of pride and confidence back.

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Which other Welsh players should we watch out for aside from Bale and Ramsay?

I have been very impressed with Andy King, the Leicester midfielder. Sven-Goran Eriksson has been getting the best out of him. I saw him a few years ago and I thought he was a good player. He plays that central midfield role very well, either in a flat two or as part of a three pushing forward and trying to run in behind the striker. He times his runs into the box very well.

Joe Ledley left Cardiff and went up to Celtic where he has performed well. He’s a good midfielder with a great left foot and I actually think that he’d have made a big impact at a Barclays Premier League team.

At the back, Ashley Williams of Swansea is a very good player, and obviously he plays with James Collins of Aston Villa at centre-back. I think those two complement each other very well.

We’ve got some good players, we really have, if we can get them all together and if they are all fit. There is not a lot of pressure on them for this game because England are expected to win, but we have a couple of players in there who can do a bit of damage ourselves.

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How much would a Welsh side (or possibly two) being in the Premier League boost the Welsh game as a whole?

I’m a die-hard Swansea City fan, a born and bred Swansea Jack. But also I am a football enthusiast and I love football and I love my country, so I’d like Swansea and Cardiff to get there. I really would. Obviously, if it were a toss-up I would want Swansea to get there, but I would love the pair of them up there. It would give welsh football a massive boost. The Barclays Premier League is the best and most publicised league in the world, and it would be a tremendous step forward for Wales as a football nation.

Visit the Dugout www.yahoo.co.uk/dugout for new interviews every week with England’s top football managers

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This article may be perceived by many as an easy swipe at a still target, but let me assure you readers, I’ve felt this way for quite some time. Steve Bruce stated today that he was the right man to lead Sunderland forward in the future, but after daring to delve a little deeper into Bruce’s muddled team selection and transfer policy while at the club, it’s fair to say that the only thing keeping Bruce in a job at the moment (in my opinion) is his relatively high standing within the game, all of course, garnered during his time as a player, as a manager, however, Bruce leaves a lot to be desired.

Sunderland at the moment look to be a club in absolute freefall. On form, they are currently the worst team plying their trade in the top flight, with just one point and seven defeats from their last eight league games. The main mitigating factor in Bruce’s defence has been the at times crippling injury list which he has had to work with. But this article isn’t solely about the dismal run the club are currently on, but whether Bruce remains the best man for the job.

Bruce stated that: “Eight games ago, I was the best thing since sliced bread – in some people’s eyes – and within eight games, now all of a sudden people want me out” before going onto add “It is what it is, managing in the North East. But I still don’t regret it, I am still confident I am the right person for the job.”

Now an eight game winless run, in a league as difficult to read and close as this year’s Premier League is always likely to render you in trouble. Sunderland have gone from a side challenging for a European place, to one which is now just six points off of 18th placed West Ham and in real danger of being sucked into a relegation dogfight.

One thing to extrapolate from Aston Villa’s troubles this season has been their relative success since the acquisition of Darren Bent and his former club’s troubles since his departure. With Bent at the club, Sunderland managed to gather 34 points from 23 games, since he left for Villa they’ve only accrued 4 points from 9 games. Aston Villa on the other hand have added a much needed 15 points from 10 games, whereas prior to his arrival it was 22 points from 22 games.

As of now, Villa now stand just one point behind Sunderland in the league, despite the troubles of Houllier’s spell at the club. Should Villa leapfrog Sunderland in the league and go onto finish ahead of them in the league at the end of play, then there will be no greater vindication of Bent’s move than that. With the price of relegation ever more costly, the £24m Villa shelled out on Bent in January is starting to look like something representing value for money.

Asamoah Gyan has proved a successful signing, yet he cannot be relied upon in the same way to deliver a consistent stream of goals in the way Bent was during his time on Wearside. It’s fair to say that they’ve felt his loss a lot more keenly than they had ever previously anticipated.

Bruce thinks he remains a divisive figure among Sunderland fans due to his Geordie heritage, however, I think this would prove to be nothing more than a useful deflective tactic of the manager to use when under pressure. In a league as competitive as the Premier League, where hopes are dashed and reignited on an almost weekly basis, would Bruce still be in a job were it not for his standing within the game as a player?

Also, when looking at the Sunderland squad, it’s difficult to define quite what a Steve Bruce player is. Baring the smorgasbord of nationalities, which make a mockery of the petulant tantrum by Marcos Angeleri earlier on in the campaign, Bruce has no definable quality that he looks for in a player which makes entrusting him with the task of rebuilding the squad in the summer all the more worrying. The squad lacks a coherent plan behind it and the shape of the first-team line-up looks like an ever-changing scenario, even without the bad run of injuries that they‘ve had.

During his time at Sunderland, Bruce has received significant backing from messrs Short and Quinn, yet there has been little progress made to represent value for money in the faith emplaced in Bruce in the transfer market so far. The side still looks short of width and pace as well as a leader or two among the ranks.

Such is the paucity of quality within the bottom rungs of the Premier League, that Sunderland should be just about safe come the end of the season. They have a modest run-in in which they should be able to pick up the points required to ensure their safety, yet there has to be real concern around the hierarchy of Sunderland football club that Bruce’s time at the club is spent and that in order to rouse the troops going into a new campaign, fresh ideas and methods are needed at the helm.

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Under Bruce‘s management, Sunderland remain a Premier League side (just about) lacking direction and in search of an identity; it is because of this that Bruce deserves to go, not because of his Geordie roots or the eight game winless streak that he will inevitably point to as reasons for discontent on the terraces. His failure to arrest the club’s slide and the downturn in performances on the pitch is an indication of a wider, larger problem at the club and one that I very much doubt Bruce is capable of turning around.

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Despite reaching a Champions League quarter final and still challenging for qualification again through their league position, Tottenham’s forwards of Jermain Defoe, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Peter Crouch have only managed 31 goals between them in all competitions. With constant speculation that Harry Redknapp will be looking for a new striker in the summer transfer window, who represents the best option?

Lisandro López

Known as ‘licha bianca’ (the one who wears you down), López was seen as the ideal replacement for Karim Benzema after the Frenchman’s move to Real Madrid, and the Argentinian forward duly obliged in filling his predecessor’s boots. López can either be deployed as a lone striker, wide on the left or behind an orthodox centre-forward; the former Porto’s man versatility would be a key asset in Tottenham’s side, allowing Harry Redknapp to partner him with any of his current mis-firing forwards, should they still be there after the summer.

Asamoah Gyan

A favourite amongst fans for his obvious love for the game, is truly a real entertainer and arguably one of the signings of the season. The Ghanaian international thrived in the early stages of his Black Cats career, forming an understanding with fellow forward Darren Bent, however, since the Englishman’s departure to Aston Villa, Gyan has only added two goals to his tally (with one of them being against Spurs). My point is that Gyan is without a doubt a real talent, but the Black Stars striker needs a fellow competent forward alongside him, something Spurs do not have. They are looking to sign an attacker who can lead from the front and score goals consistently, not another supporting striker.

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Didier Drogba

We all know the talents of the Ivorian forward, and rather surprisingly he is rumoured to be available for transfer despite still overshadowing £50 million signing Fernando Torres. Drogba would be the perfect solution to all of Tottenham’s attacking troubles, with an eye for goal, a powerful presence in the attacking third and vast amounts of experience; the only slight hesitation ‘Arry may have about signing the Chelsea man is that at the age of 33, Drogba has two seasons left in him at most and despite his age, the reported figure for the former Marseille man is £13 million, just £2 million shy of the supposed fee for the much younger López.

Diego Milito

Any forward that averages just over a goal every two appearances over his entire career would be a player any manager would want. Last season Milito was voted UEFA Club Footballer and Attacker of the year; the Argentinian had a fantastic year, but ignoring accolades, is he the man to lead the Lilywhites front line? The Argentinian is a fantastic forward, with the ability to score all sorts of goals, including the big match winning goals against the likes of Arsenal, and with rumours rife of the prolific forward being available for a mere £5 million many of Europe’s elite will be surely sniffing around the San Siro. Milito, it seems, ticks all the boxes for the striker that Tottenham need.

Giuseppe Rossi

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The Italian has been linked with Tottenham for at least 12 months now and despite having had a successful spell with Villarreal, Rossi still has his doubters after a very poor spell with Manchester United; perhaps he has just found his level at La Liga? Coupled with the inflated price required to sign the former Parma man (after he signed a contract extension last year), and also the fact that he plays in much the same role as Van Der Vaart, a deep lying attacker, means that the Italian really isn’t the best option for Spurs.

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Mirror Football is reporting that WBA manager Roy Hodgson is ready to offer Chris Brunt a bumper new contract in a bid to kill off interest in the player from Liverpool and Aston Villa. Hodgson is keen to tie West Brom skipper Brunt down to a longer contract and prevent his exit from the Hawthorns this summer.

Liverpool’s director of football Damien Comolli is a huge admirer £8m rated midfielder – who was made West Brom captain by former Anfield boss Hodgson earlier this year. Aston Villa is targeting the 26 year old as a potential replacement for Ashley Young at the end of the season.

Brunt really made a name for himself in the lower leagues with Sheffield Wednesday and in the earlier part of his spell with West Brom. Brunt has since proved himself to be a highly accomplished Premier League footballer and also won over 20 caps for Nothern Ireland.

However, Hodgson has recommended a new deal for Brunt – who has two years remaining on his current deal. Hodgson said on the issue “At the moment, we have spoken internally about plans and ideas, but if it was up to me I would not want to make wholesale changes.”

West Brom are also keen to tie down leading scorer Peter Odemwingie  and defender Abdoulaye Meite to longer term deals.

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It has been on the cards for a while, but Chelsea wasted no time in axing Carlo Ancelotti soon after their final Premier League game of the season, which the Blues lost 1-0 to ten man Everton at Goodison Park.

The club’s official statement read:

“Chelsea Football Club can confirm that Carlo Ancelotti parted company with the club today (Sunday, 22 May).

The owner and board would like to thank Carlo for his contribution and achievements since taking over as manager in July 2009, which included winning the Double for the first time in the club’s history.

However, this season’s performances have fallen short of expectations and the club feels the time is right to make this change ahead of next season’s preparations.

Carlo will always be welcome at Stamford Bridge, where he will be given the reception and respect his position in our history deserves.

Chelsea’s long-term football objectives and ambitions remain unchanged and we will now be concentrating all our efforts on identifying a new manager.

There will be no further comment until that appointment is made.”

There has been much debate between fans leading up to this moment, but regardless of which side of the fence you fall, I think it’s best to remember Carlo’s legacy as being last season’s double win and wish the Italian all the best for the future.

Whether or not it is the correct decision remains to be seen, but Chelsea will now seek a replacement (they have likely got someone in mind already), who would you like to be the next man in charge at Stamford Bridge?

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Juventus coach Gigi Delneri says he will not be pressured into resigning should his side miss out on a European position next season.The Bianconeri’s 1-0 loss to Parma on Sunday left Delneri’s side requiring a minor miracle on the final day of the season if they are to finish in sixth and qualify for the Europa League.

Juventus trails sixth-placed Roma by three points and will need to defeat third-placed Napoli and hope Roma fails to pick up any points at already relegated Sampdoria.

The odds are heavily stacked against Juventus playing any European football next season, but Delneri remains defiant in the calls for him to resign after the club’s poor run.

“Why should I resign? I won’t even consider such a thing,” Delneri said.

“I do my work as best I can and I don’t think there’s any need to talk about a resignation. I have a contract, then it’s up to the club to decide what they want to do.”

“This season has been filled with many errors and strange situations. At this moment, being out of Europe, it feels tough. We’ll try to do well in the last game against Napoli and see what happens.”

Delneri was making no excuses for his side’s poor showing against Parma.

“Today we had lots of young players on the field and it’s also difficult for them to face up to a game like this,” he said.

“Parma were aggressive and we did very little to avoid defeat, so there are no excuses. Let us not clutch at straws here. There are no excuses.”

Veteran midfielder Andrea Pirlo has defended his decision to join Juventus from Serie A champions Milan, saying he needs a new challenge.Pirlo spent 10 years at the San Siro, enjoying a successful stay with Milan in which he won two Scudettos and two Champions League titles.

But at the end of the 2010/11 season the 32-year-old decided it was time to move on, knocking back a new contract with Milan to sign for Juventus.

“They were 10 fantastic years with Milan. I won everything that we could win, but after 10 years I felt I needed a new challenge and going to play for Juventus is definitely a fascinating challenge and obviously something I want to do well,” Pirlo said.

“I am happy with the choice I made and we’ll just have to see what happens on the pitch.”

“That will tell us if it was the right choice for me to change team, and if Milan did the right thing to let me go.”

Pirlo also said he would love to see Juventus beat Barcelona to the signature of Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi.

“Obviously it would be great to have Guiseppe Rossi at Juventus because he is a great player and he proved that in recent years,” he said.

“Any club would be happy to have him. Let’s hope he will get to play for a great team.”

Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner has not ruled out a return to the embattled organisation, citing ‘unfinished business’.Warner, also the former president of CONCACAF, stepped down from both positions in June after allegations of bribery against him, which were dropped after his resignation.

But he said on Monday, during his visit to the Port-of-Spain in his role as Trinidad and Tobago Works and Transport Minister, he had not ruled out a return to FIFA.

“I will not say no because you can never tell what the future holds,” he told the Trinidad Guardian when asked if he considered FIFA a closed chapter.

“There is some unfinished business which I will have to finish in both FIFA and CONCACAF at the appropriate time and who knows, I may go back.”

It comes after newspaper reports said CONCACAF general secretary Chuck Blazer warned Warner about certain issues relating to the meeting between him and then FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam on May 10 and 11.

The pair was accused of bribery relating to the FIFA presidential election following the meeting and Bin Hammam withdrew from the running, leaving incumbent Sepp Blatter to be re-elected unopposed.

As a result of his resignation, the charges against Warner were dropped.

FIFA said: “As a consequence of Mr Warner’s self-determined resignation, all ethics committee procedures against him have been closed and the presumption of innocence is maintained.”

Warner’s resignation ended almost 30 years of service with FIFA and said he would reveal more about the organisation in future.

“The only expert on the FIFA in this country is me and in the fullness of time I will tell this country what FIFA is and what FIFA is not,” he said.

FIFA will further investigate a meeting of Caribbean football officials which led to Mohamed Bin Hammam being banned from football for life.Football’s governing body have sought information from all Caribbean Football Union (CFU) member associations about the meeting in Trinidad and Tobago on May 10-11.

It was during that meeting that Bin Hammam was alleged to have offered bribes to Caribbean football associations in exchange for votes in his later-abandoned FIFA presidency bid.

He was found guilty of corruption and banned for life by FIFA’s ethics committee on Saturday. Bin Hammam says he will appeal.

FIFA said in a statement: “FIFA has sent a letter yesterday 25 July to all CFU associations, asking the associations, their presidents, and any of their members with knowledge of anything that transpired during the meetings held on 10 and 11 May in Trinidad and Tobago, to provide and report all relevant information in their possession within 48 hours.

“Truthful and complete reporting will be considered in mitigation by the ethics committee when deciding on potential sanctions.”

“Any person who has relevant information but does not come forward during this 48 hour period will be subject to the full range of sanctions.”

“Following this 48 hour period, the FIFA Ethics Committee will be asked to open the necessary ethics proceedings,” FIFA said.

Roberto Mancini has been a success at Manchester City. Last year he delivered that long-awaited piece of silverware in the form of the FA Cup and sealed a Champions League spot and a chance for City to test themselves against the European elite. Mancini did a lot of this with a cautious, safety-first approach that earned him as many critics as it did fans. But last year’s glories are now in the past and Mancini must set his sights on the Premier League trophy. To do this the Italian has recognised the need to loosen the shackles and really go on the attack for the ultimate prize.

Ahead of the new season Mancini has highlighted the need for more attacking play at City and his desire to score “10 or 15 more goals than last season”. Mancini is right to target more goals and the signing of Sergio Aguero, who regularly found the net during his time in Spain, is an obvious answer to that problem.

Despite the abundance of money spent on more attacking flair over the last few years (David Silva, Adam Johnson, Carlos Tevez etc..), defence was often the key to City last season. Playing with a lone striker, Mancini would often deploy holding midfielders to shield the backline. This tactic is fair enough but he often approached the big games against title rivals with the attitude of not losing. Sometimes City came away with a hard-earned point (0-0 draws against Arsenal and Manchester United that made the neutral fan want to tear their hair out in boredom) and sometimes the tactic failed. But it is the team that takes risks that wins the title, how many times have we seen United burst forward with attacking intent (despite leaving the defence momentarily exposed) to claim a late winner and more crucial points?

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But is this a risky move, why change a system that isn’t really broken? Yes City didn’t successfully challenge for the title last season but no one can doubt that under Mancini the team are developing. In a style often compared to that of grinding out a result in Serie A, Mancini often earned crucial points that may have been lost if City had opened up to attack and left themselves exposed at the back. Whilst he has bought in that attacking flair, he also has many strong defensive minded players at his disposal. Mancini is right to utilise these sorts of players (Nigel De Jong, Gareth Barry etc..) when they were faced with an attacking threat. When Mancini faced the title rivals last season Mancini pinpointed the need not to get overrun and beaten in games often labeled as ‘six-pointers’ in the race for the title.

We got the first glimpse of Mancini’s approach this season when his side faced rivals Manchester United in the Community Shield last weekend. City went on to dramatically lose that game in the final moments but few could have anticipated City taking a 2-0 lead. Despite being outplayed by United, City showed fresh intent to try and take the initiative and only defensive mistakes denied them success at Wembley Stadium.

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Despite the fact that Mancini has admitted the need for more adventure in City’s play, I wouldn’t be surprised to see his old ways creep back in when times get tough next season. The manager needed to reconsider his approach for the new season if City were to challenge for the title but the Italian should not throw away all of his principles that have brought recent success to the blue side of Manchester.

Should Mancini be more attacking next season? If you want to read more of my bite size, 140 character views and thoughts follow me on Twitter @jennyk5