Martin O’Neill is considering punishing his Republic of Ireland international James McClean after his foul-mouthed tweet criticising his international manager.
The two are set for discussions today after McClean’s public criticism of Giovanni Trapattoni’s selection policy.
McClean has spoke over the phone to his club side manager but will discuss the matter further with the Ulsterman today when the Sunderland first team reconvene after the international break.
O’Neill said: “It did happen out there. That’s not absolving ourselves of responsibility, but it was on international duty and he did phone me to apologise.
“We’ll have some discussions with him, but I can’t really say about disciplining him until he gets back here.”
It is not the first time the 23 year old has been in trouble regarding the social network site, the ex Derry City midfielder received death threats after mocking Northern Ireland fans on Twitter.
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Now McClean is set to take a permanent break from tweeting to concentrate on his football, Sunderland’s boss added, “I think he has to learn. He wouldn’t be the first player to be disappointed to be left out of a team.
“This time last year James wasn’t under consideration for anything. It’s been a great rise and now he just has to settle down, which I think he will do.”
Reading manager Brian McDermott says he is not concerned over his side’s poor start to the Premier League campaign because he feels his players have more to offer.
The Royals, promoted to the top-flight at the end of last term, sit rock-bottom of the fledgling table having taken just one point from their opening four games. Defeats by Chelsea, Tottenham and West Brom mean Reading’s season is yet to ignite but McDermott is refusing to get downhearted over the slow start. He told Sky Sports:
“If after our last two games every single one of our players had played to the maximum level and we’d got beaten the way we got beaten, I’d be concerned. I can’t honestly turn round and say to you that at Spurs too many played to the max level, and I can’t against West Brom either. From the players’ point of view they’ll know there’s so much more to come and I know there’s so much more to come.”
McDermott is reluctant to dwell on the opening four results and prefers instead to look at how he can prepare his side for their upcoming games, with a Capital One Cup trip to QPR next on the agenda on Wednesday night.
“I had the self-same thing last season and the season before. You have to get the right formula, you’ve got to get the players to gel.”
Despite being yet to register a win with his side in the league this season, McDermott says he is enjoying the experience of top-flight football. He added:
“I’m loving the challenge of the league. It’s a fantastic league. I’m enjoying every single moment. I’m not enjoying the results at the moment, but they’ll change.”
It never seemed appropriate to write off Tottenham so early in the season. Yes, there were obvious flaws to certain areas on the pitch and in the club’s transfer activity. But was all the premature hysteria just further evidence of an agenda many have against Tottenham’s new manager?
Liverpool have been subjected to similar criticism this season, written off with little hope of securing a promising position in the league come May. They seem to be enjoying it, and I really don’t need to highlight who “they” are. But even with good starts at other clubs around the Premier League, surely everyone knows that a club like West Brom is not going to secure a higher position than Tottenham. Why then is there such little reference and acceptance to how young the league season is at this stage?
I made the point recently that the title race only starts to become relevant around Christmas. Adding to that, how long will it take the rest of the league table to take realistic shape? Andre Villas-Boas certainly didn’t get the players he targeted in the transfer market, but he’s a football manager and evidently one with plenty of knowledge of the game.
How foolish was it to write off a manager whose job it is to steer the ship and make something positive with what he has? And that’s not even to suggest that the Portuguese manager is working with very little. He’s picked up an excellent and versatile defender, one of the most highly praised midfielders in the league—although that description could be applicable to either Moussa Dembele or Gylfi Sigurdsson—and a forward who scored well over 20 goals in all competitions last season. It’s the manager’s job to find ways around the obvious problems he’s faced this early in his Tottenham career. It’s also the job of the media to take a little more care with how they approach circumstances such as this.
Spurs are sitting in fifth place ahead of this weekend’s fixtures, two points ahead of the much praised Arsenal and off the back of a surprise and impressive win at Old Trafford. For all the good that Arsenal have done recently, when last did Arsene Wenger’s side go to Old Trafford and take three points, and in such a manner? When was the last time Spurs returned to London with a win in the bag following a trip to Manchester United?
Will there be ever-lasting praise for Villas-Boas and that win? Talk of it certainly won’t outlast the heavy criticism he’s faced and continues to hear each week. The Hugo Lloris gossip won’t go away, but how else should the manager deal with the situation? He’s wrong if he benches Brad Friedel and he’s wrong if he benches the France captain over the steady hands of the veteran. But it’s needless gossip that somehow found a way to entrench itself on the front pages.
Are Tottenham playing bad football? It’s hard to say because plenty see Barcelona and Spain’s methods on the pitch as boring or even negative. But Spurs are doing well and are only feeling the effects due to a new manager and the adjustment to his system, as well as late activity in the window. Those first few games were essentially their preseason, but was that ever flagged up in the continuing criticism of the manager?
The media’s best mate is now gone and out of a job, where will they get those diamond quotes that sell stories? AVB doesn’t fancy all that business, and fair play to him. He’s a manager who’s trying to take the club forward and repay the trust sent through from Daniel Levy. The loss of Luka Modric gave plenty of fuel to the assumption that Spurs would fail this season; where would they go without direction from the midfield and without a win in their first few games of the season? Were there genuinely people who could say Tottenham would never win a league game all season? It’s not so much a laughable stance to have but it’s a childish one and further points to the media desperately trying to stick anything on Villas-Boas.
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Would those be the same who suggested Arsenal would finish mid-table last season? The Gunners’ start was horrific last year, but surely their finish should be enough to warrant a little more time in the final verdict on how Spurs would do this season.
Arsenal couldn’t have picked a better time to let the world know exactly how much money they had in their pockets. As Matt Law put it earlier this week, “the drinks are on you, Arsene.” The thing is, the club were never going to be in great danger by releasing it’s financial information at this time; Arsene Wenger was simply doing too well for sections of support to sharpen the knives. But is it enough?
I don’t think Arsene Wenger has a real problem this season unless he makes one for himself. Those situations where January rolls around and the club are in desperate need for a player but they decide to sit on that £50million for an even rainier day. The club are not beyond another real injury crisis and the need for some action. But right now, there really isn’t any reason for supporters to question the club.
The contract situation with a number of players is something that still grates many supports. How can the club find themselves in this situation once again? But there’s a real difference in Wenger’s stance over this Theo Walcott saga. Yes, the player is free to walk at the end of the season, but have we ever been made to believe that Walcott holds all the power in this ordeal? Wenger’s not having anymore of it, nor is the club. They’ve been ransacked and significantly weakened by clubs and want-away players in the past, but not this time around.
The other real point of action which has forced many of the boo-boys away is the business the club have done over the summer transfer window. The thing about Arsenal is that many supporters know the club won’t pay big money for players, and that’s fine. Fans do, however, want to see the club take a gamble and pull the trigger when there’s a good offer on the table, an offer that resembles a Spanish international available at a bargain price. How many fans would have been sweating on the deal for Santi Cazorla being called off at the last minute by the manager? That’s the real problem and the reason for much of the dissent. The club don’t need a £40million midfielder when there’s one just as good available for a third of the price, but the supporters need the club to make those deals and make the squad stronger.
It also bodes well that the team have scored 12 goals in their last two home games. The goals aren’t a massive problem for the Gunners, despite the calls from outsiders that Olivier Giroud would fail to step up. Patience is needed with him and fans understand that. The performances of the team also looks to be greatly improving on what we saw last season, but that’s a another plus for the manager. Wenger is acknowledging the shortcomings of certain areas on the pitch and is addressing them. Could the club really have gone into another battle with an army who had nothing to fight with? It becomes sickening and it’s hard to understand. But those fears have been laid to rest, at least for now.
There will continue to be supporters who are not entirely trusting of the modern Arsene Wenger and miss the partnership he had with David Dein. This new Arsenal is one that crumbles under pressure, has nothing left in the tank at the business end of the season, and at times has lacked real quality across the pitch. A fair assessment of the current squad? Absolutely not. The team have strengthened and are taking a no nonsense attitude against players who are attempting to hold the club to ransom.
But it only takes a string of bad results for the wounds to open up again. However, I’m not entirely convinced that the dissent will be spread throughout the fan base. To reiterate, the club have taken steps to move forward and adapt to the loss of their real attacking strengths of last season. That’s all that fans wanted to see, not the club sitting back telling everyone it’s ok and then revealing profits that would be applauded at any other club. Are they applauding because Arsenal are such a well run club, or because the team are no real threat to the big teams in England and Europe?
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Arsenal crashed to a 2-0 defeat to Bundesliga club Schalke at the Emirates Stadium in the week, which meant that the Gunners still have plenty of work to do to qualify for the knock-out stages of the Champions League.
Arsenal were not helped by the fact that manager Arsene Wenger had to watch the match from the stands on Tuesday night as the Frenchman completed his touchline ban handed out by UEFA for his actions last season.
While Wenger was in the stands, England manager Roy Hodgson took the opportunity to have a quiet word with him. What were they talking about? The potential return of Arsenal and England midfielder Jack Wilshere perhaps?
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Steve Clarke wants his West Brom side to get over this weekend’s defeat by Newcastle and channel frustrations into their next match against Southampton.
The Baggies were beaten 2-1 by Alan Pardew’s Newcastle side in their Premier League match this weekend during stoppage time. However, though he feels the team’s current point tally is unfair and cruel, Clarke believes his players have to start looking forward to their next fixture.
He said: “We’ve now got to dust ourselves down, look forward to the next game and try to take our frustrations out on Southampton. With a bit more luck, we could have more points than we have. In fact, we should have even more points,”
“To be stuck on 14 points after these last two games, it’s cruel. It’s not fair. But we have to move on, in football we’ve always got the next game. I think it will be difficult to get the players’ heads up at first. We’ll let them sulk for a couple of days. They deserve to do that. But by the time the next game comes round, on Monday week, we’ll be ready. I’ve got a good dressing room. I’ve got men in there. They understand that sometimes you don’t get what you deserve from a game. We’ve just got to take the frustrations of the last two weeks and channel it into the next game.”
Steve Clarke has admitted how deciding to pick Romelu Lukaku for the game over Shane Long was tough, saying how he has “really good forwards at the club.”
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Manchester United defender Phil Jones is set for his first start of the season during the Red Devils’ Champions League clash with Galatasaray.
The 20-year-old has endured a lengthy period on the sidelines following back and ankle injuries.
Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed that he is planning to use Jones now he is sure the England international is back to full fitness.
“It’s a big day for Phil. He’s been out all season but has done enough training to make sure his fitness is okay,” Ferguson told SkySports.
“They’ve all been different types of injuries and because he is young, he’s still to develop physically. He’s only 20 years of age so there’s plenty of time for him.”
The Scot also confirmed that Nick Powell will feature and that he has no worries regarding his lack of experience.
“Most of them will have experience of big games and big crowds,
“Obviously for Nick Powell it’s completely different – he’s played in front of 76,000 as a substitute but this will be his first European away game.
“It will be a big day for him but he has the temperament, which is important.”
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Fergie saw his team eliminated from the competition in Turkey 19 years ago during an intimidating game at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium, but he does not fear a repeat result this time out.
“We’ve been here a few times since and we’re getting used to the Turkish fanaticism and enthusiasm. It’s no issue for us,” he added.
Athletic Bilbao and Spain international striker Fernando Llorente looks set to spark a mad transfer scramble for his signature in January after it became abundantly clear that he wouldn’t even consider signing a new deal to extend his stay at the Basque outfit. But with plenty of Premier League clubs in the mix, such as Tottenham, Manchester City and Arsenal, which club would suit him the most?
The 27-year-old forward has found himself marginalised by club boss Marcelo Bielsa this season, with the club somewhat reasonably trying to make plans for the player’s inevitable departure and he seemed to all but end any hope of a dramatic turnaround last week. The forward turned down the offer of a new contract during the summer after stating that he wanted to leave, but Athletic refused to negotiate with interested parties and this has seen last season’s top scorer relegated to the bench; Llorente has started only once in La Liga this season, scoring just one goal as a result.
“I am going to leave on 30 June. I want to develop as a player and try something new. It isn’t about money because the offer the club made was irresistible.
“The media have not helped with the negotiations and it is one of the things that has generated the bad atmosphere around me out on the pitch. This has encouraged me not to renew my contract; this and many other things.
“I took the decision when I went out for the first Europa League game at San Mamés [in August]. Most of what has come out in the press is lies and this has turned people against me. This has meant when I run out on to the pitch people whistle at me. There is a sector of the crowd who do not want me but I feel loved by the majority,” the sought-after frontman said.
Far too often we demonise players for displaying a hint of ambition; Robin van Persie in the summer was labelled a ‘money-grabber’ for leaving Arsenal to join a much more successful club. Sure, a raise in wages is a bonus when moving to a bigger club, but it’s winning silverware that was his main motivation. The same could be said of Llorente, after he was offered over €5 million per annum to sign a new, long-term contract to stay at Athletic, a deal which would also see him benefit from one of Spain’s lowest tax bands, but he turned down their ‘irresistible’ offer in the pursuit of a move to a larger team.
Tottenham are the first name that immediately springs to mind given their long-standing interest in the player. Chairman Daniel Levy has shown this summer that he’s not afraid to lead negotiations on behalf of the club and you sense that the Luka Modric and Gylfi Sigurdsson deals were out of the hands of Andre Villas-Boas.
Jermain Defoe has been in superb form this campaign, flourishing in an unlikely lone striker role for the most part to the tune of 13 goals in 22 games across all competitions, with nine of those coming in the league, while the Portuguese boss has shown a willingness to stray away from his preferred 4-2-3-1 in recent weeks, with Emmanuel Adebayor coming into the team and performing reasonably well, picking right up where he left off last season.
A frantic January trolley-dash back in 2010 saw the club bid £25m for Llorente in January, having also tried to sign a host of other forwards from La Liga, including Giuseppe Rossi and Sergio Aguero, while Roberto Soldado was also a target that summer, so the club remain in the hunt for a world-class forward, something the Spaniard has the potential to become.
The team’s style of play would appear to suit him well too, with the counter-attacking set-up that Villas-Boas has installed, which press high up the pitch very similar to that of Bielsa’s Athletic side which did so well last campaign and saw him strike a career-best of 29 goals. The service of both Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon is in theory fantastic, but they will need to adjust the area where they put their crosses in, looking to exploit Llorente’s strength and power in the air, rather than along the floor which is their current go-to ball at the moment. He stands a better chance of success at White Hart Lane than anywhere else in England in my eyes and the timing behind the switch looks better than any of the other options in the top flight to boot, making the move a realistic possibility.
There is a suspicion that Llorente’s lack of pace could hinder him playing for an expansive side that likes to dominate possession slowly from midfield rather than quickly on the break down the flanks and his movement can be lumbering at times. Arsenal’s summer transfer business, bringing in both Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud, would appear to be something of a stumbling block to any future pursuit, with Wenger sure to keep faith in the Frenchman in particular after a patchy start to life in England.
Elsewhere, with Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini so willing to criticise his strikers of late, rather than the flow of chances and lack of creativity from midfield, there is a genuine feeling that the reigning champions could be interested in Llorente, with Balotelli’s form collapsing this term, no longer making him worth the indulgence after a disappointing showing in the Manchester derby.
Nevertheless, he does have a similar style of play to Edin Dzeko, in the fact that both are fairly slow, clinical finishers, who thrive on the service provided and the busy pairing of Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero has served the side well so far this season and Mancini would be absolutely mad to break them up on a consistent basis. Even if Llorente does offer a viable plan B, the rigmarole of moving out one player and bringing in another one of similar quality looks a strange move, but the Italian coach does have form with this sort of thing, having moved on Adam Johnson and Nigel De Jong and replacing them with Scott Sinclair and Javi Garcia this summer.
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Barcelona remain an option, although Tito Vilanova has struggled to integrate both Alexis Sanchez and David Villa into his side with any real success this season and Llorente would have to admit that he’s very much a back-up player before even moving, with Juventus seemingly right at the front of the queue.
The Premier League remains a more attractive proposition to players than Serie A does, but Juventus offered half of Llorente’s €36 million release clause last summer and their interest is concrete and their need for a forward of top drawer calibre both obvious and well-documented if they want to raise their game to the next level and became a major player in the Champions League again. The Italian champions are the front-runners for the Spaniard and could seal a £7million deal in January, with Athletic reportedly keen to get some sort of return on the player rather than lose him for nothing in the summer.
The urgent nature behind the need for a deal to be struck is what makes a move to both Manchester City and Arsenal seem more unlikely, but Tottenham would be loathed to miss out on yet another top target; they need to end their run of failing to do essential business in January sooner rather than later and while a replacement for Modric is still the highest priority, you sense that Llorente would jump at the chance of a move to a club in England, with Villas-Boas’ side on the cusp of becoming a top four force.
Liverpool have added themselves to a number of Premier League clubs believed to be chasing Lyon winger Michel Bastos in January, according to Sky Sports.
With the winter window looming and Brendan Rodgers linked with several names in a bid to strengthen his Liverpool squad, Brazilian winger Bastos is supposedly the latest player to be wanted at Anfield.
Lyon currently sit joint top of the Ligue 1 table behind leaders Paris St Germain only on goal difference, and the winger has been an integral part of their success so far this season in which they have also been paired with Tottenham Hotspur in the last 32 of the Europa league.
Bastos is versatile, adept at playing both left midfield and left back which will also be an attraction for Rodgers with Stewart Downing reported to be nearing closer to the end of his career at Liverpool after failing to impress since signing for £20milion in 2011.
The Reds chief will also be keen to relieve some of the pressure on promising 18-year-old winger Raheem Sterling who has enjoyed an excellent breakthrough season, playing nearly every minute of every league game so far.
Bastos has scored 5 goals this term for Lyon and has also attracted interested from the likes of Tottenham and Newcastle as well as the Anfield club.
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Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers moved to address the lack of attacking strength and depth during the January transfer window with the acquisitions of both Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho and with the club’s form improving since the arrival of the former Chelsea forward, the side appears to be moving in the right direction, but is there a worry that the squad now appears to be too top-heavy?
Before I start, let me just say that no, I am not Goldilocks, which is the trap I am in danger of falling into here but this is more a musing on what lies ahead in the future for the club with concerns to their attacking talent. Every man and their dog knew that Liverpool were desperately short of striking talent before January and horribly over-reliant on Luis Suarez to provide the main thrust of their intent and goals, but with Fabio Borini having returned from injury, rumours that Tom Ince is set to follow in the summer and that it is beginning to look increasingly unlikely that West Ham will fork out the £17m required to take Andy Carroll to Upton Park at the end of the season, has the reverse now happened and the club have too many players to choose from?
Strength in depth is what separates the good from the great and after losing 2-1 to Manchester United at Old Trafford last month, Rodgers had this to say on the difference between the two clubs: “We are 24 points behind Manchester United but we are not 24 points behind in quality. The difference is down to the squad. Once we close the gap in the squad I have great hope we will be able to challenge. Today’s an example of that.”
Every manager wants two players for every position and United serve as a prime case in point, but that doesn’t mean the players like it all that much and keeping them all happy is a tricky problem and one that Rodgers will not have dealt with until now. Up front they have Javier Hernandez, Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Danny Welbeck. In midfield when everyone is fully fit they can choose from Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverley, Anderson, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Nick Powell and Phil Jones. When you take a closer look at Manchester City’s squad, it’s little wonder, both in terms of quality and the quantity of personnel that they currently sit nine points behind their rivals at the top of the Premier League.
[cat_link cat=”liverpool” type=”list”]
Nevertheless, a knock-on effect of such a frightening strength in depth is that certain players, usually younger, less established ones can get left worryingly by the wayside, with Welbeck’s lack of first-team action this season somewhat stalling his development. Are Liverpool in danger of treading a very similar path?
It’s worth noting that Jonjo Shelvey, perhaps one of the brightest spots to take from the first six months this term, which left the club with just one recognised senior and fit striker in the squad, hasn’t started a game since the Boxing Day defeat away at Stoke 3-1, while Raheem Sterling hasn’t started any of the last three league outings. Both may appreciate the rest having shouldered the burden for so long, but their roles have already been reduced and that looks set to continue once Philippe Coutinho, comfortable in both their positions, has fully adapted and returns to full match fitness. Meanwhile, Oussama Assaidi has become a forgotten man and Suso has barely made an impact in the last month, hardly helped by Stewart Downing’s return to form.
The reliance on Suarez until January was further exacerbated by the club’s inability to bring in a replacement for Carroll in the summer, with moves for both Sturridge and Clint Dempsey falling through. Of course, once the England striker returns from his year-long loan spell away, a home will likely be found for him at Newcastle, but the injury that saw Fabio Borini sidelined for three months has also seen him fall way down the pecking order.
This has seen the 21-year-old forward, who only joined the club in the summer from Roma for a fee in the region of £9m, linked with a return to Fiorentina in Serie A recently. This led his agent, Marco De Marchi, to tell firenzeviola.it: “I have never been contacted by Fiorentina and I have nothing to suggest they are interested.Fabio is happy to play for Liverpool, one of the most prestigious clubs in the world, and is happy with his experience in the Premier League.
“A return to Italy? Fabio is 21 years old and has already changed teams five times. He is tied to Liverpool until 2017. If the reported interest from Fiorentina is true, then we should thank them as they are a club that has focused on the nurturing of young talent, but I haven’t discussed this with Fabio. He is just back from an injury and his season starts now. His mind is wholly focused on Liverpool.”
Nevertheless, despite the strong denial, can anyone really imagine a future where Borini is a key figure in this Liverpool side? The deal looked an odd one in the summer, with Rodgers simply seeking out players he has worked with before as some sort of comfort blanket and affirmation of his methods, but the youngster faces a real uphill battle to force his way into the starting eleven now and you sense he may have missed his window to establish himself already. That’s the thing with sides in transition, and as Gylfi Sigurdsson, another summer singing, has found to his cost at Tottenham this term, blink and you’ll miss your chance and become surplus to requirements.
While the deal to bring Tom Ince back from Blackpool never materialised last month due to Karl Oyston’s bizarrely strong demands considering his relatively weak negotiating position, he looks set to seal a permanent move at the end of the season when his contract expires and Liverpool will have picked up a promising player for absolutely nothing, which will swell the ranks even further.
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Interestingly, with Jamie Carragher confirming his retirement at the end of the season now, Liverpool look short of talent and numbers at the back, when just a few months ago the complete opposite was true.
Keeping in mind Rodgers’ firm commitment to passing football and his 4-3-3 formation, with upwards of 10 players competing for three spots and the un-droppable Suarez and flourishing Sturridge in tow, the man at the helm faces some difficult choices in the summer ahead, for where he could once plead poverty, he know boasts an embarrassment of riches and keeping them all happy could prove more of a headache than it’s worth.