Bolton striker Marvin Sordell took to Twitter to report that he was racially abused, along with numerous team mates, at Millwall on Saturday, as reported by the Daily Mail.
Sordell also said that the Police would have heard everything but decided to do nothing about it as the two clubs and the FA are set to investigate the claims.
“It’s 2012 in England and people are still shouting racial abuse at a football game!?” Sordell said on Twitter.
“Chungy, Pratts, Benik and I had all sorts of things said to us. The police were standing yards away and did nothing …”
“Funniest thing is, if had come on and scored and gave them some back, I would be the one who got fined.”
Millwall released a statement last night declaring that they would be looking into the claims as a matter of priority.
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“Millwall and Bolton Wanderers are investigating allegations made by Bolton player Marvin Sordell that he was subjected to racial abuse by an individual whilst warming up as a substitute during Saturday’s Championship clash at The Den.
“The two clubs remain determined to do everything in their power to ensure that racist behaviour will not be tolerated.”
QPR manager Mark Hughes has stated that Samba Diakite’s red card was a key factor in his side’s 2-1 defeat to West Ham on Monday night.
The Loftus Road club fell behind to an early Matt Jarvis strike, before Ricardo Vaz Te struck a second before half time.
Despite Adel Taarabt pulling one back for the hosts, QPR are still looking for their first win of the campaign and are rooted to the bottom of the table.
African midfielder Diakite replaced Ji-Sung Park on 55 minutes, but was dismissed 20 minutes later after two bookable offences; Hughes feels that the sending off was decisive.
“We were very poor, certainly first half where we were second to every ball, didn’t really get anywhere near the level that we need to get near to get positive results in the Premier League,” he told Sky Sports.
“First half we were just off the pace for whatever reason. Second half we made a better fist of it.
“In fact when Adel scored a great goal that got us a little bit of momentum and at that point I could see us getting a second goal.
“But obviously the sending off has completely killed that momentum and that point it was very, very difficult for us.
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“We’re desperately disappointing on the basis of the first half performance because we’ve been much better than that,” the Welsh trainer confessed.
Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas has told Emmenuel Adebayor that he will have to wait for first-team football.
The Togo international started Saturday’s Premier League tie against Chelsea on the bench as Jermain Defoe was chosen to lead the line.
The man signed on a permanent deal from Manchester City in the summer has been growing frustrated by his lack of playing time this term, leading to speculation that he may look for a move away from White Hart Lane.
However, AVB has insisted that the centre-forward will have to be patient and wait his turn:
“Obviously, every player wants to play, at the moment we are using the structure of one striker and Defoe has been doing extremely well,” Villas-Boas is quoted as saying by The Metro.
“I think Ade has done extremely well in the games where he has come in for the squad, certainly he is in contention for games where we play with two strikers.
“At the moment we haven’t found the comfort in that formation yet, but in the future when we use it, when we rotate the strikers, he will be back in contention.”
The 28-year-old was a key first-team player under former boss Harry Redknapp last season, which tempted the club to secure a £5m permanent deal.
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However, AVB’s system appears to favour the skills of Defoe whose mobility make the team a greater threat on the counter-attack.
As money continues to spiral out of control in the game we love, a BBC survey suggests that we the fans are bearing the brunt of clubs’ desires to treat us as consumers rather than devoted followers.
We all know that following a team is a highly emotional business; whether you’re supporting a team desperately trying to stay in the Football League, or a side attacking on all fronts to bring home silverware, it is one hell of a ride.
But the price involved has escalated, as the BBC shows, meaning clubs run the risk of alienating a good deal of their core fanbases; with some unwilling to pay the inflated prices for tickets.
Chelsea and West Ham are among the worst offenders in the Premier League, with the cheapest ticket at both clubs costing £41 and £36 respectively; pricing many fans out of attending matches.
Meanwhile despite offering a comparatively reasonable match day ticket for £26, Arsenal fans will have to shell out anywhere between a staggering £985 and £1,955 for a season ticket.
It has led to calls from Liberal Democrat president, Tim Farron, for fans to switch to supporting non-league clubs to boost community football while putting pressure on the bigger teams to lower their prices.
Despite being a sound suggestion in theory, the majority of fans are unlikely to suddenly drop their club in favour of supporting someone else; and it is alleged that football clubs are seemingly wise to this fact, knowing they can carry on exploiting fans’ loyalty and continue to get away with it- giving connotations of an evil villain chuckling loudly to himself.
On paper these seem to be alarming trends and statistics, but after reading the views of so-called long-suffering Gunners fans highlighted in the BBC survey, much is included within the ticket, such as seven extra cup games in the FA Cup and Champions League. Prices for League Cup games are also exceptionally low at just £5 each.
It would also be unfair to suggest that no value for money can be found; with half of Premier League clubs offering season tickets for under £400. It seems that the striking disparity of prices between different clubs that is causing grievance.
But we should not become too downbeat after reading the survey, as it largely fails to take into account what is included in these prices.
This is especially the case when looking at the example of my local club, Brighton & Hove Albion, where season ticket prices range between £425 and £625; but they are the only club to offer fans a policy of paying monthly instead of forking out the full price in one lump sum.
The ticket also includes free use of public transport; a saving of up to £6 a match over the 23 games in the season-something not to be sniffed at.
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The fan experience at the Amex is certainly a positive one overall, but there is always room for improvement, especially as one-off match tickets can cost as much as £39 for a supporter sitting in the west stand lower section of the ground.
The BBC survey certainly makes for intriguing reading, but one needs to delve much further into a football club to see whether fans are genuinely being ripped off or if these are merely assumptions made on superficial details.
Arsenal’s two most recent outings, one in the Premier League and one in the Champions League, served up another reminder of how fragile this club can be. 2-0 up in both games yet surrendering two points to scrape a draw. It’s what we’ve come to expect of Arsenal: no direction, no initiative to seize the day and very little in the way of inspiring performances, both on and off the pitch.
The problem with Arsenal, and as I’ve mentioned previously, is that there’s an overwhelming reliance and belief that tomorrow will be ok, that things will work themselves out and patience is the key to success. Not only is that a foolish vision to have with any sport or even business, it’s reckless and a little embarrassing. To suggest a club as big as Arsenal can’t take matters into their own hands and have some say in the outcome of more than just results on a football pitch is bordering on disgraceful.
The club is entrenched in the mentality that losing or losing out is ok. It’s not just about results on the pitch (although that is extremely high up the list of priorities) but the club never seem to have a back up plan, something different in mind when the club fail in their pursuit of Juan Mata or can’t find any passage through to the Manchester United goal. The view always seems to be about problems being resolved on their own, and if that’s not the case then it’s always someone else’s fault: referees, two games in a week, the weather, the wealth of other clubs.
It’s a worrying state with the club because it’s not as simple as just rectifying one issue and then waiting for the rest to fall nicely in line with a truly successful model. Yet at the same time, every problem at Arsenal is interlinked and connected in such a way that one light bulb going out in the circuit forces every other bulb to go out, too.
Arsenal’s problems are as clear as day to even the most uneducated of sports fans, however it’s infuriatingly difficult to see how or, more importantly, why it has come to be.
The stadium move was spoken about as a new dawn for the club and for it’s success on the pitch, but it has acted as nothing but a hindrance over these past six years. We’re told that the manager has no funds to really strengthen the squad, and that is someway believable. But the follow-up serves something from the other end of the scale that the manager really doesn’t want to indulge in the madness of the transfer market, obliging those who have set the bar so high and letting everyone know that it’s ok. Even at this stage, fans know a lot more about that club and the workings of it, but the root cause of the problem remains clouded.
Arsenal have never been about strengthening, reinforcing, putting up a real fight; rather it’s just a case of replace and make do. Yet the additional tag onto the end of that thought is that the club’s name and history will see it through. That’s the view in the transfer market, citing that Arsene Wenger as manager and a history full of trophies is enough to entice the best players to the club regardless of pay or what may be on offer elsewhere.
There doesn’t seem to be any alarm bells ringing at boardroom level at this stage, either. The club appear to be down and out of the title race, are well out of form in comparison to teams like Everton and West Brom, and yet there’s still the view that the manager, who does have his own shortcomings, will guide the team to fourth regardless. What happens to the club when that doesn’t come to be? What if Arsenal and Tottenham’s roles were reversed last season and the club finished fourth and ended up in the Europa League due to Chelsea’s success? There’s never any thought for situations such as that.
The decisions from the manager are baffling, such as strictly putting the idea into his players’ minds that an off-form Mikel Arteta should be taking the game deciding penalty ahead of a striker who’s just bagged two goals and is enjoying his best game in an Arsenal shirt. What about the choice to select Johan Djourou as the club captain, even for what was supposed to be a low key League Cup game? Where’s the desire to frighten the opposition, to give the rest of the squad some belief and take matters into your own hands?
In comparison, Manchester United know exactly what they want and know how to get it. They don’t care that the signing of Robin van Persie might “kill” Danny Welbeck or Javier Hernandez, because frankly why would any big club with great ambitions take on such a stupid outlook on sports? They didn’t just put together summer tours of the far east, America and Africa a year or two ago and began patting themselves on the back for an enterprising and ambitious, albeit extremely late in the day job. They also wouldn’t knowingly entertain another team with the view that their own brand of football will win the day come 90-minutes. There’s a winning mentality at clubs like Manchester United that can see them to victory from a two goal deficit rather than a fortunate point after being comfortably ahead.
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Arsenal are resting on their laurels and past successes with the view that those successes will continue to bloom in spite of what others do. There’s a laziness to the club that runs through the boardroom and their lack of action to the manager and those coming through the academy.
Arsene Wenger might have his hands tied, but we’ll never really know. What fans do see are the mistakes that remain each season and even after previous scapegoats and poor performers have moved on. The problems the club have on the pitch now were obvious and ever present during the days of van Persie and Cesc Fabregas, too.
There’s no accountability, no competition and no punishment for costly mistakes. But most concerning and disappointing is that there doesn’t seem to be any pride in the club from the very top. Embarrassments are common place with Arsenal, from those on the pitch to a chairman who is unfit for public speaking. Financial Fair Play might change Arsenal’s fortunes to some degree, but even that won’t solely make up for a lack of leadership and fight from inside the club.
Southampton’s summer signing Gaston Ramirez has admitted that he would be open to a move back to Italy in the future and that Fiorentina would be his preferred club, as reported by Sky Sports.
The Saints paid Bologna a club record £11.8million for the Uruguayan this summer and the talented midfielder is starting to come good at St Mary’s. However, with Southampton clearly facing a relegation battle this season, Ramirez is clearly already thinking about his long term future.
“In Bologna I was fine, but now I think about Southampton,” Ramirez told Tuttomercatoweb.
“Coming back to Italy? In England I discovered a fantastic football.
“But in life never say never, in Italy, as well as in England, there are many important teams.
“Me to Fiorentina? It would be nice, they are playing very well and I like coach (Vincenzo) Montella.
“In every game the team are having fun, they have great quality. Why not? I’d come back in Italy, I like it and I was fine there.”
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Peter Crouch was quoted in the papers morning that with no front teeth and a brace in place that it was a good job he was married as he looks a bit of a mess at the minute. It was also he who famously gave the answer “a virgin” – when asked the question ‘What would you be if you weren’t a football?’
The Stoke City striker is married to arguably one of the most beautiful woman in the country, who unlike many other WAGs has a successful career in her own right and breaks the mould that they are simply money grabbers happy to bleed their partner dry. Indeed Rafa van der Vaart said that his Mrs was actually more famous than him, while it is hard to dispute that Helen Flanagan has been getting more air-time at this moment than her Manchester City boyfriend Scott Sinclair.
WAGS come in all shapes and sizes and the Premier League’s player lounges has see some absolute beauties mingle through them over the years. The following list is a collection of the best England’s top division has witnessed over the years.
Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert is adamant that star striker Christian Benteke will not be sold in January.
Excellent recent form has put Europe’s major clubs on alert as the deadly striker is single handily keeping Villa above the relegation zone.
The Belgian international moved to Villa Park for £8million from Genk in the summer and took a few weeks to settle into Premier League life. However a stunning individual display at Anfield last week along with another six goals in 16 appearances have made him a fans favourite with the claret and blue faithful.
Benteke’s fellow Villa striker Darren Bent has been on the fringes of Lambert’s recent Villa squads and it is widely expected that he will move on in January, leaving Benteke to lead the line.
Lambert has reiterated that he needs to keep his key players in order to progress up the table and achieve his long term goals.
“There’s no point in us even being here if it’s a case of bringing people in and then letting them go,” Lambert told talkSPORT.
“What’s the point in that?
“We’re trying to build something here which can take a few years and you need good players with you to achieve that.
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“There’s no point in them coming for half a season or a year and then we let them go.
It’s hardly as if Benoit Assou-Ekotto is particularly easy to miss at the best of times at Tottenham Hotspur. But if there was ever any danger of the 28-year-old’s recent return to the team going unnoticed, then his typically blunt comments upon regaining full-fitness suggested that he’s certainly not lost any of his bite.
Ever the master of subtlety, the former Lens man certainly wasn’t mucking around when it was put to him whether fellow full-back Kyle Naughton offered much in the way of competition for the left-back berth.
“He’s not a real left-back,” mused Assou-Ekotto following the 1-1 draw with Manchester United last month.
“I don’t think he has the same left foot as me, so I’m not worried about that [being kept out the team].”
“I’m not worried because obviously I can do stuff with my left foot that he can’t do.”
To the neutral, such observations may well seem like the comments of a potentially volatile dressing-room ego, but for those who have followed his journey in North London, it’s simply par for the course.
Similarly to his now infamous comments about football not being his passion, Assou-Ekotto’s recent quips are more brutal honesty than callous disregard. After all, as a right-footed fullback playing on the left side out of necessity as much as anything else, of course Naughton can’t produce the sort of magic on his left as the cultured Assou-Ekotto can.
He’s certainly not pulling any punches, but following his near on four-month absence with a knee injury, it appears Assou-Ekotto means business upon his return to Andre Villas-Boas’ side. Although while statements of intent and no-nonsense attitudes are all very well, he needs to back it up with the performances, to boot.
And although supporters can’t realistically expect instant results after such a long spell of time on the sidelines, the former-Lens man is going to have to hit the ground running sooner, rather than later.
Spurs’ 2-1 FA Cup defeat to Leeds United last Sunday didn’t represent a realistic barometer for the side’s collective defensive efforts this term, but it certainly gave Villas-Boas some real food for thought.
Given Steven Caulker’s age and Jan Vertonghen’s status as a debutant in this league, it’s perhaps understandable that the pair aren’t looking like quite the defenders they were earlier on within the term. Yet while supporters can perhaps afford their central defensive unit a spot of patience, the same might not be able to be said for the club’s fullbacks.
The lack of depth at both right-back and left-back berths has been something of an Achilles heel for the club so far this season and although their lack of depth has been affected by circumstance as much as self-infliction, it’s something which must be addressed soon. Assou-Ekotto’s return could well be the remedy that helps them shuffle the pack for the better.
Alongside Younes Kaboul, Assou-Ekotto’s injury after three league games this season was the loss that sent the house of cards tumbling down. With no real, out-and-out left-back available to the club following the ex-Lens man’s injury, Villas-Boas was forced to push his central defensive rock in Jan Vertonghen out to left-back. As well as weakening the side through the middle, it also weakened the side out wide.
Yet the long-heralded solution of wheeling out Kyle Naughton at left-back has perhaps left the side with more questions than answers. Vertonghen may be no natural left-back, but it’s been difficult to see at times whether Naughton has really been anything nearing a step-up. Considering the ex-Sheffield United product is a right-back by nature, supporters have been keen to give him the benefit of the doubt.
But in returning to the side, Assou-Ekotto could potentially offer a short-term solution to the right side of defensive affairs, too. Kyle Walker’s troubles this season have been well documented, but for all his struggles to replicate his stunning form of last-season, there’s been little in the way of a ‘Plan B’ for Villas-Boas to utilize.
With Naughton now free to move back over into his natural position, now could be the time to take Walker out of the side. Whether Naughton has what it takes to pose a realistic threat to Walker in the long-term, only time will tell.
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Although if Spurs are going to continue their push for Champions League qualification, they’ve got to start shoring things up at full-back and that has to start with a return to form for Benoit Assou-Ekotto. From what we’ve seen so far since his return, the Cameroon international is understandably a little rusty and after four months out, supporters would be naïve to expect an instantaneous return to form.
Yet while craving more than simply a return to full fitness might seem like it’s asking a lot from the man known as ‘Disco Benny,’ now’s the time for Spurs’ eccentric left-back to really stand up and be counted. Before he picked up his injury, Assou-Ekotto’s performances hardly set the world on fire and despite enjoying a generally good term last season, his form gradually seemed to erode away as the weeks went on.
Supporters need to see a fully fit Assou-Ekotto, but also a focused, mature and error-free left-back return to the side. He can’t shed the flair and the ball-playing nous, but with the club crying out for stability and experience in their back four, they can’t be treated to much more of the bizarre decision making, the cheap loss of possession and the other self-indulgent elements that adorn his game.
Tottenham Hotspur need Benoit Assou-Ekotto firing on all cylinders during the second half of the season. And perhaps to a lesser extent, for the sake of his White Hart Lane career, the player requires the same thing, too.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will make an ambitious attempt to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford in the summer, according to the Daily Star.
Ronaldo scored against the Red Devils in the first leg of Real Madrid’s Champions League last 16 tie in the Spanish capital last week but did not celebrate.
The Portuguese star still has a soft spot for Ferguson and Manchester United so a return to the Premier League would certainly appeal to the forward who is reportedly unhappy in Madrid as the club are hugely underperforming this season.
Jose Mourinho looks like he may quit Real this summer, leaving Ronaldo with another reason to return to England where he become one of the best players in the world.
It is thought that United will offer £55million for Ronaldo at the end of the season and the Premier League leaders will look to offload the likes of Nani and Antonio Valencia to make way his return.
[cat_link cat=”manchester-united” type=”grid”]
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