Hodgson has very few friends at Liverpool (Wilson), why Carragher cant be fast-tracked as a football coach (Lawton) & Spurs target a Beast
Quote of the day: If Liverpool had 10 players like Carragher, then they would never win anything. Carragher, for me, is nothing. Hes like a make of ketchup or mustard to a normal person, not important. I played for Liverpool for two years and Carragher never spoke to me. Thats life, some people are like that. We didnt have a team at Liverpool. We had the English somewhere and the French boys somewhere. If its like that, you can do nothing together. Carragher is just a guy who loves to talk. But Carragher doesnt sell papers, Carragher doesnt sell shirts. When I played at Liverpool, Carragher could have talked to me then but he didnt. He was jealous of me thats why he talked about me. Because when I came to Liverpool I earned more than him and I was a bigger name than him. I took my country to the World Cup and to the finals of the African Nations Cup. So Carragher cant criticise me because, to me, he has done nothing with his life. El-Hadji Diouf.
Runner-up: That is up to Wolfsburg. But at the moment it looks like I am staying. I dont want anyone to get the wrong impression: I very much enjoy playing for Wolfsburg. But I also have a dream. I want to play in the Champions League every year. Edin Dzeko.
Prediction of the day: I no longer see anybody winning the Premier League outside of Manchester United or Chelsea. Hopefully it will be United I know I can become a better player and my aim now is to get on the list of nominees for next years Ballon dOr. Luis Nani.
Todays overview: Just before it all goes quiet for Christmas, were served with a busy Thursday in the back pages.
The hot topics included the FAs new chairman appointment (and why it wasnt David Dein), discussion of Benitezs rumoured return to Anfield and the ! implicat ions the gossip has for Roy Hodgson, the continuing problems at Blackburn, and debate over whether Jamie Carragher should be fast tracked into coaching.
Also, as the end of the year approaches reviews are also popular. Jonathan Wilson delivers a quality article on tactics in 2010, while Paul Doyle picks his worst Premier League team of the year. Looking forward, Terry Venables predictions wholl win the Premier League.
Transfers come into sharper focus also this Thursday. Louise Taylor looks at the bigger picture of how much activity we can expect in England this winter, while in the gossip Citys pursuit of Dzeko, Villas ins-and-outs, Spurs striker shake-ups and West Hams shopping list are all chewed over.
Matt Scott scans over Bernsteins CV. Nine years as a City director, including five as chairman, gave Bernstein experience of three levels of English league football. His first full season as chairman saw the club relegated to the third tier; in each of the next two his club won promotion. But his biggest legacy as chairman was to negotiate the clubs tenancy for the Commonwealth Games stadium at Eastlands, which secured strong foundations for the club. It is through these roles that Bernstein has forged a very respectable reputation in the English game.
Why didnt David Dein get the job? According to Jeremy Wilson Dein, the former Arsenal vice-chairman, had been widely regarded as the frontrunner for the job but, although it is understood that he did put himself forward, the nomination committee came back with only Bernsteins name. His track record both in business and football were particularly highlighted, although Deins higher-profile and relationship with ! some boa rd members may have counted against him.
Sam Wallace also concerned himself with Deins failure to scoop the job. David Dein paid heavily for his unpopularity with key figures in English football yesterday when his candidacy for the Football Association chairmanship was rejected in favour of the much lower-profile former Manchester City chairman David Bernstein.
Henry Winter takes a cautious approach to Bernsteins appointment. Just imagine the reaction from Zurich to Nyon at hearing that somebody called David has been appointed chairman of the FA. Dein? No. Sheepshanks? No. Gill? No. So who? Bernstein. Who? Everyone should wish the 67 year-old well as he becomes the FAs latest chairman, although any welcome proffered Bernstein must be a guarded one. He must prove quickly he is his own man, an independent thinker detached from his supporters within the FA, none of whom inspires particular confidence.
David Conn applauds appointment before laying don the huge agenda which needs to be tackled. The appointment of such a skilled, decent man pleasantly surprised many in football today, but part of David Bernsteins challenge as FA chairman will be to convert his undoubted feel for football, that intangible instinct for what is right, into a positive programme for the games reform and rejuvenation.
In a secondary article David Conn fleshes out the reforms which Bernstein needs to implement. The prime challenge is to forge a clear identity as footballs governing body, balancing the wealth at the top with the needs of supporters and the game at large. The Premier League bitterly resists regulation by the FA and, as an ex-Premier League club chairman himself, Bernstein must act robustly, not appear subservient to the big clubs.
Almost purposefully leaving room for innuendo and doubt, Andy Hunter chugged Roy Hodgson has dismissed the availability of Rafael Bentez as a threat to his position at Liverpool and does not believe the club would consider rehiring a manager they sacked with a 6m payoff only six months ago Rumours of an Anfield return for Bentez have been fuelled by the fact he was at home on the Wirral when sacked by the European champions.
Similarly, Rory Smith claims Benitez wont return to Liverpool for technical reasons. A return to Anfield for Benitez, in truth, remains a distant prospect, not least because the terms of the Spaniards departure from the San Siro are likely to include a clause forbidding him from managing another club in the next six months.
Paul Wilson then chips away at Hogdsons Liverpool standing. What is even odder than Rafas choice of getaway location and stranger than some of his pronouncements about milk and sugar mountains in recent months is that a sizeable proportion of Liverpool fans would have him back in a flash Hodgson, it will be seen, has very few friends at the moment. Almost every Liverpool fan wants to see the back of him and ultimately in this situation, even if it is widely suspected that Liverpool fans have been spoiled in the past and have no right to expect success all the time, when the people speak as one the people usually get their own way. Ladbrokes is offering 12-1 on Benitez to return to Liverpool in the next five years.
Turning on Benitez, Rory Smith then accuses the Spaniard as lacking timing skills. That, perhaps, is Benitezs greatest failing. Timing. Unlike Mourinho, he does not know when to arrive and when to quit. He left Liverpool a year too late, a year after he might have walked into the Bernabeu widely respected around Europe. He came to Inter at the only time in the! ir histo ry when there was no work to be done, or work that anyone could achieve. It is a mistake he must not repeat, whenever he chooses to re-enter the market, if he wishes the arguments to subside, if he wants his legacy to be anything more than debate and doubt.
Rocky Rovers: Blackburn bosses attempted to instill some stability at Ewood Park on Wednesday by making a decision on their manager, but immediately the decision appears to be blowing up in their face.
Andy Hunter detailed how Blackburn Rovers new owners, the Venkys Group, have risked further internal division at Ewood Park by appointing Steve Kean as manager until the end of the season. The surprise announcement has left the chairman, John Williams, considering his future at the club less than a week after he issued a public appeal for unity.
Looking to redress the balance, Rory Smith writes that Blackburn may have more money to spend than first thought. Though Desai had previously insisted 5million would be available to spend next month, it is thought that sum may now be boosted after injuries to several key players. The VH Group is believed to have pledged 30million in total over the next six transfer windows in an attempt to realise its vision of making Blackburn a top-six side.
James Lawton picks apart that notion this Thursday. It is absurd to project him, as now seems to be the case, as the poster boy of a new drive to press some of our most distinguished old pros into national service as recruits to a new England coaching elite. You do not recruit coaches. They recruit themselves You cannot be fast-tracked as a football coach. You have to go out and do it and keep on doing it in the belief that you have som! ething t o offer, something that marks the success of unbreakable characters like Harry Redknapp and Neil Warnock and Ian Holloway.
In contrast, and ignoring all of Lawtons salient points, Jamie Redknapp gushes in classic cliches that Carragher would be a fantastic coach. There is no modern player quite like Jamie Carragher. Go to Anfield when he is playing and listen during those quieter spells of a match and you will hear what I mean: a footballer managing a game on the pitch It is a brilliant idea by the FA to offer to fast-track him into their elite coaching programme and to groom him for the future. If we cannot produce an England manager who is English, we need to look at the system. Sir Trevor Brooking is right about that.
Reviews of 2010: The ever-excellent Jonathan Wilson explores how tactics developed during the last 12 months. The World Cup is no longer a bellwether. That, perhaps, has been the most shocking aspect of the year; the realisation of just how far international football lags behind club football. It used to be that the World Cup served almost as a conference at which delegates arrived from all round the world and exchanged ideas: Brazil suddenly sprang 4-2-4 on the world at the 1958 tournament, for instance The main lesson of this summers tournament, though, was that 4-4-2 has been superseded by 4-2-3-1 as the universal default, something that has been apparent in club football for several years.
Paul Doyle names his worst Premier League XI for 2010, which basically allows him to slag off a series of over-paid footballers. The signing of the season, lest we forget, was supposed to be Joe Cole. Many folks tipped him to spur a title charge by Liverpool and why not, after all, he is better than Leo Messi. Well that hasnt quite worked out, has it? Sent off on his Anfield debut for a reckless lunge at Laurent Koscielny, Cole missed a penalty in his next outing and then he plateaued At centre-back, Richard ! Dunne ha s had some pungent performances this season.
2011 Predictions: Terry Venables admits to being a flip-flopper as his picks his Premier League favourites. It is not often I change my mind but I have done so when it comes to predicting this seasons Premier League title race. In August, I tipped Chelsea to retain the title. But now I believe that Manchester United will be crowned champions I expect the three clubs currently in the drop zone to be playing in the Championship next season, so Wigan, Wolves and West Ham will be relegated.
Big Picture Transfers: As the winter transfer window creeps ever closer top opening, its fashionable in the papers to issue a complete Premier League who do they need list. The Guardians is here, the Telegraphs is here and The Suns is here.
January Sales Jinx: Acting as a debby downer, Louise Taylor uses the unhelpful journalist attributes of common-sense and reason to doubt whether many sales will happen this January. Traditionally, it is the time for managers to panic buy and for unwanted squad players to find themselves pocketing golden goodbyes before swapping footballs Mayfair for its Old Kent Road equivalent. This season, though, no one is quite sure how much will actually be spent A lot depends on how clubs react to the impending introduction of Uefas financial fair-play rules The credit crunch had thoroughly dampened a previously overheated market and, 12 months on, it is hard to assess quite how far it will bounce back.
The Telegraph torpedo West Hams pursuit of Robbie Keane because of the players financial demands, but they claim Wayne Bridge is in sight of an Upton Park move. The paper also reports that Edin Dzeko thinks a move to Manchester City or Chelsea in January transfer window is unlikely.
Staying with Dzeko, the Daily Mail slap a 38m price tag on the forward. Also in the paper we learn that David Bentley will move to either Fulham or Aston Villa, Everton after the favourites to sign Stephen Ireland while the Toffees are duking it out with Villa for David Wheater, Hamburg want Jo, Hoffenheim and Cologne are eyeing Chelseas Patrick van Aanholt with Jeffrey Bruma linked to PSV, Alex McLeish is weighing up a 1.5m move for Boca Juniors striker Pablo Mouche, while QPR are sensationally linked to Adrian Mutu.
The Mirror keeps the gossip flowing starting with news that Manchester City have made a 7m move for Espanyol defender Victor Ruiz. The tabloid also say that Tottenham are tracking Julio Baptista, while over in the Express Spurs are linked with Christopher Samba.
The Star splash with news that AC Milan are after Vincent Kompany, while West Ham are on the verge of agreeing a loan move for Manchester City misfit Emmanuel Adebayor.
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