Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert is looking to trim the wage bill by allowing midfielder Stephen Ireland to leave the club this summer, according to the Daily Telegraph.
The former Manchester City playmaker has not featured for Villa in the Premier League since last December when the Midlands club were beaten 3-0 by now relegated Wigan.
Lambert has made it clear that he is looking to young players during his time at Villa Park and despite nearly being relegated last season, the former Norwich boss is sticking to that tactic.
Fellow older heads Darren Bent, Shay Given and Alan Hutton have all also been given the green light to end their Aston Villa nightmares this summer.
Ireland is costing Villa £60,000-per-week at present and the other departing players are not far short of that leaving the big spending Villains with some extra funds to spend this summer once the wage bill is trimmed.
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Aston Villa are set to bid £4 million for Genk striker Christian Benteke.
The Belgium international stands at 6′ 5″ and could be brought in to partner Darren Bent.
Villa boss Paul Lambert is set to make a move for the 21-year-old in the next 24 hours, though The Sun claims there is also interest for the Belgian’s signature from league rivals Fulham.
It’s reported that following the West Midlands’ club’s miserable start to the Premier League season, owner Randy Learner is willing to finance three signings before the end of the transfer window.
With other senior striker Gabriel Agbonlahor injured, there is huge pressure on Bent to regularly score for the Villains – who have netted just once in their first two league meetings.
Another attacking option could ease the pressure on the England international; so far unproven strikers Nathan Delfouneso and Brett Holman have partnered Bent.
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The 28-year-old did score his first goal for Lambert last night in a much-needed 3-0 win over Tranmere in the League Cup, though adding another away at Newcastle United this weekend will prove much tougher.
Mohamed Salah has been showered with praise throughout the season, and it is easy to see why given the influential and dynamic displays for Liverpool.
The Egyptian international has scored 43 goals in all competitions, which is a remarkable tally when considering that he generally plays out wide as part of the attack.
In the first leg of the Champions League semi-final between Liverpool and Roma at Anfield, Salah stole the show.
The Chelsea reject scored twice in a thrilling 5-2 victory, but he was unable to make a similar impact when he returned to the Stadio Olimpico to face his former club on Wednesday night.
As shown above, the 25-year-old registered just one shot on target during the entire match, and he struggled to say onside having been caught off three times.
It was an uncharacteristic performance from Salah as he cut a frustrated figure and in the end had to rely on his attacking teammates to get the job done.
The Egyptian, who has been capped 57 times by his country, did not seem as sharp and he was off the pace slightly, which could indicate fatigue, or perhaps it just was not his day.
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Salah has failed to score in his last two outings in all competitions, but fans will be hoping he finds his shooting boots in time for the showdown against Real Madrid in Kiev.
Liverpool lost the match 4-2, but goals from Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum meant that the team progressed into the final 7-6 on aggregate.
With Steven Gerrard hanging up his boots at not only Liverpool, but also the Premier League, we are losing one of the great footballers who have helped to sculpt the league into what it is today. In the last few years, we have said goodbye to Gerrard, Giggs and Scholes.
As things stand you could argue that John Terry is the only remaining Premier League great who is still playing in England. Terry is probably the last remaining Premier League star who has been part of its backbone for so long, yet has remained consistently good. Love him or hate him – and believe me, many do – you cannot deny he was and is still important to the league.
Rio Ferdinand is up there in this category, but his team have been relegated now. It is genuinely sad to think that a player of his calibre is now no longer in the top flight, but when he signed for QPR, what did he expect? They were relegation candidates from the get go; they always are. They constantly struggle within the Premiership and never seem to learn their lessons from previous campaigns. They absolutely deserve to be playing Championship football next season, but sadly they’re taking Rio with them.
Frank Lampard was one of the greats, but he will be off playing in the MLS at the end of the season. Lampard extended his stay in the Premier League through a loan deal at Manchester City, NYCFC’s sister club. And with that, he burned all his bridges (no pun intended) with Chelsea. So he is yet another to have left the Premiership behind.
There are plenty of great players in the league, who will arguably go down in history but cannot be considered a ‘Premier League great.’ Such as Wayne Rooney, for example. We cannot hand him this accolade, I feel, as he is still under 30. But that is in no way undermining his incredible talent and everything he has achieved thus far. He is of a newer generation, who is ultimately replacing the greats of the league.
We are lucky to have witnessed such a magnificent footballing era, but it is evident it is coming to an end. Will there ever be another like it?
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It’s been less than 12 hours, but Luis Suarez’s bite incident with Branislav Ivanovic seems already predestined to enter the Premier League’s Hall of Shame. In the same week the Uruguayan was nominated for the PFA Players’ Player Of The Year, the latest of his misconducts has put the Liverpool striker in the eye of the storm – blurring his league merits in the process. But, is his behaviour reason enough for Suarez to lose, scandals apart, a well deserved award?
Just minutes after the PFA announced the shortlist of nominees for the Player Of The Year award, hundreds of polls in several media, websites and football forums were asking the fans who their favourite was to succeed Robin van Persie as the best Premier League footballer this season. The Dutchman, also nominated this year, Gareth Bale or even Michael Carrick were the most demanded names, while the Premier League top scorer and Liverpool hero took a secondary position. No doubt, his personality and manners on the pitch have an impact on people’s assessment of his footballing virtues.
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The sad reality is that if we merely stick to football reasons and try to choose the winner judging exclusively ‘who has been the best Premier League player this season’, the answer should be Luis Suarez. Having a bad temper on the pitch is not something that eases the always difficult task of sticking ball in the opponent’s net, and he has done it on 23 occasions this season – and there will be no more after he receives the appropriate punishment – similary, no adding to his 10 assists.
Only van Persie matches his numbers – 21 goals, 13 assists – and will probably beat them by the end of the season, but the club circumstances should not be overlooked when conceding individual awards, and it is here where the Uruguayan takes the lead. No other player – Gareth Bale would be the closest one on this aspect – has had a bigger importance to his club. Therefore, while van Persie has been the finisher of the indisputably best team in the league, Suarez has made his way through to the top of the scorers’ table in a team that lies in 7th position in the league. A true reflection of this is the percentage of goals they have scored for their respective teams: 37.7% compared to RVP’s 28%.
Regardless of his numerous controversies, Suarez has been one of the best players, if not the best, this season, and the nomination is simply admitting it whether we like him or not. Gary Lineker claimed via Twitter after the game that the striker should be withdrawn as a Player Of The Year contender. Doing that would be ruling out every one of his 23 goals for a bad gesture that was not related to any of them – if anything, to the 23rd, as he should have been sent off. The award recognises the best player of the season, and every player should be eligible to win it. His punishment should come from the FA and from his club, but never affect the merits he has earned by scoring goals and being a vital component of his team.
Is Suarez going to win the PFA award, then? Of course not. Dives, brawls, bad gestures to fans and racial scandals seem a way to heavy burden to shrug off. Biting an opponent is the straw that breaks the camel’s back and could cost him his future at Liverpool, but the PFA honour was lost long ago and it’s perfectly understandable.
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After all, Robert De Niro would have never won an Oscar if he had bitten, kicked, punched or racially abused the judges.
“Winning isn’t everything,” says Tom Fox, the Arsenal commercial officer. And that is all we needed to confirm that Arsenal are no longer a football club, but rather a business who use the sport as a device to grow financially.
Maybe that’s not always the best way to paint the picture; plenty of clubs, whether they’re football teams or clubs of other sports, drive to become stronger financially. But the need has always been to invest in order to grow on a number of different fronts. It just seems to make very little sense to sell a losing club as a fantastic model for which others should follow.
Where does Theo Walcott come in? Well like every season gone past, and starting with the year Ashley Cole moved to Chelsea, the club have seen little value in rewarding and keeping it’s best players. I’m firmly of the belief now that the Walcott ship has sailed and the player will be off come the end of the season. ‘Its not about winning’ is just a method to paper over the impending disappointment of losing another player for whom many supporters can identify.
Yes the player has been frustrating for so long, but there are very few fans who want to see the player leave. At the other end of the scale, many, many fans want to see the player as a regular member of the starting XI following his good performances up until this point.
Tom Fox is one of the many names currently at the club who have no idea how to run a football club or what it means to be a football club. How much of Arsenal’s identity will be preserved with people openly talking about winning being a secondary to something else? It’s almost as if the club are drawing the landscape for the future, yet one that doesn’t feature the trophies that helped elevate Arsenal’s status in English football.
Naturally, Fox, Ivan Gazidis and Richard Law’s job descriptions are likely to be rife with terms that keep the club’s finances in check, and that just sums up where we are with Walcott.
Arsene Wenger seems determined to keep the player, although it’s difficult to say how much influence he has over the matter of the final wages offered.
There is no ambition other than to sit on as much cash as possible—from the board’s perspective, not Wenger’s—even if it means the best players move on. There’s no concern for strengthening your closest rivals while you continue to decline.
Gazidis came from the MLS and Stan Kroenke owns franchises in America, but do any of them know how to properly run a football club? It’s all about working to a wage structure that is unrealistic of what the club needs: Champions League football.
It worked for so long because players were in place from a previous regime, but slowly and without remorse, the current figures at the club have helped to disband a squad who were the only alternative to the heavy spending of clubs like Chelsea. Now that Walcott and soon Bacary Sagna remain the final few to be forced out the door—because I’m not convinced either of them want to leave—where do the club go next?
There seems to be absolutely no method to the madness, at least from a footballing perspective. Perhaps that is why there is such an emphasis on the club retaining Wenger, for he appears able to keep the club at the highest level. It’s maximum revenue from competitions and match days, but extremely little spend when in comparison to others. At some point or another, the well will run dry and the club will have no answers.
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On the pitch, Walcott is one of the team’s most dangerous players. He makes the team come alive and helps them raise the tempo, something which is absolutely key for the style of football they play. But he’s so much more than just an important figure in the squad. It’s players like Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who you want representing your club. Yes there’s the English factor and the sense of connection with the fans, but it’s also the role models and the players who know how to speak in front of the camera.
None of that is taken into account, and yet the club think they’re standing in a reasonable position when offering £75,000-per-week. Theo Walcott may not be worth £100,000-per-week or just shy for his abilities on the pitch, but everything that adds up including the morale at the club is so important. Yes he is worth more than the reported wages he’s been offered, but the club do not see it that way and they never will.
As reported by The Sun, Rangers have opened talks with Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard about taking over as manager of the Ibrox side this summer.
What’s the story?
Currently a youth coach at Anfield, former Reds captain Gerrard has never managed a senior side at this point of his career, making him a surprising candidate for the Rangers manager job.
However, it certainly appears he’s in the running with The Sun reporting today that he is already in talks to become boss of the Ibrox side at the end of the season.
The paper say those talks are ongoing and that a potential deal is close, with Director of Football Mark Allen leading the negotiating party.
Can he be the one to inspire the Light Blues to major honours like every supporter craves?
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Difficult first job
Although Gerrard clearly has a fantastic playing career behind him, won multiple trophies and demonstrated his excellent leadership skills on a weekly basis as captain of Liverpool, the Rangers manager’s job is still a massive one to take as your first.
Gerrard would be coming into a high profile, high pressure situation, in a league he doesn’t have experience of, against an elite coach that he formerly had a relationship with in Brendan Rodgers.
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It’d certainly capture the imagination of supporters and the media, but it also has the potential to go massively wrong for both Gerrard and Rangers themselves and perhaps the club should be seeking a man who has the experience and managerial knowledge needed for such a task.
There’s a chance that Gerrard can be as good a manager as he was a player, but he’s simply untested, and the next Rangers appointment is too important to treat as an experiment.
Tottenham will most likely fail to make the Champions League places and a summer clearout is highly expected. Numerous well known players will face the chop and Brazilian Paulinho should be at the top of that list.
When Gareth Bale left for Real Madrid in the summer of 2013 Spurs needed to find a prolific goal scorer to make up the deficit.
Spurs went on a huge spending spree signing the likes of Roberto Soldado, Erik Lamela and former Corinthians midfielder Paulinho in a bid to rejuvenate the squad.
The 26-year-old cost the North London club just under £17million and was highly rated at the time as a box-to-box midfielder who had strong defensive qualities and was good from set pieces. But in his two seasons Paulinho has failed to make any real impact.
Last year he made 28 league starts for the first team while that has dropped to just two for 2014/15.
The Brazilian has obviously lost the faith of his new manager and if he does survive the window then he’ll probably have a similarly frustrating season as his last two. So is he to blame for his poor performances or has he just suffered from the lack of cohesion and consistency at White Hart Lane since his arrival?
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In Mauricio Pochettino’s first year as Spurs boss he has had a decent season notching up confidence-building wins against Arsenal and Chelsea. It would be unfair to expect the Argentine to get this ragtag group of players to break into the top four when at times there were roughly seven teams competing to do just that.
The Lilywhites have suffered much uncertainty in recent times owing to the quick hiring and firing that has resulted in two new managers arriving at White Hart Lane in the space of a year. And now that the club seem happy with Pochettino this summer he will likely be allowed to further stamp his mark on the underachieving squad which certainly does not look good for Paulinho.
Although the club has lacked stability Paulinho still hasn’t been good enough and a move in the summer is probably his best option. His lack of impact is likely to reduce his chances of moving to a big team and instead he may need to just get away from the Premier League and work on rebuilding his reputation. At his age he still has time to salvage his career but he will need to find a club where he gets to play more regularly that he has.
It is hard to believe it now but when the midfielder joined he was actually a record signing for the club and supporters were excited to have such a player among their ranks. Now he is surplus to requirements with Christian Eriksen dominating his central role. There is a similar situation for Paulinho at international level with the Brazilian squad. He has failed to make it into Dunga’s starting XI and with the Copa America on the horizon he is unlikely to feature at all for them.
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Things are getting worse for Paulinho at both domestic and international level and after two seasons without really producing much, Pochettino and Spurs should not let him stick around for a third try.
Mick McCarthy has made a name for himself by being a manager that is great at grinding out results. His style may not always be entertaining or exiting but he prides himself on making every side he takes over hard to beat, which could be the key to Ipswich’s survival.
The criticism of the former Wolves boss all started at the end of February after a goalless draw away at Huddersfield. Before the game, McCarthy admitted that he would take a point and the Ipswich manager focused on shutting down the opposition’s creative players rather than looking to create chances for his own side. This made for an extremely boring 90 minutes of football but a more than valuable point away from home.
Some Tractor Boys fans were even more upset after McCarthy then announced that he would be happy with a point away against struggling Peterborough United. Again the side made sure they were solid at the back and did not take many risks going forward in this match. Although Ipswich were the better team in that clash, gaining a point away from home was another example of McCarthy’s philosophy in use.
Of course both games against Huddersfield and Peterborough were potentially winnable and you couldn’t criticise the manager if he saw them as games he wanted to win. However when you are in a relegation dog fight you have to be very careful about what philosophy you take.
Mick explained after the Peterborough game that regardless of the opposition’s league standing, he will go into every away game looking for a point. He said himself that in the games against the struggling sides it is more important to prevent them from getting three points rather than to try gain three.
This approach seems logical, especially as McCarthy went on to explain that he will set his team up to try and win every home game until the end of the season.
The answer to those questioning the manager’s tactics is simple; as we are not in the relegation zone it makes much more sense to deny the teams around us rather than risk giving them three points. Yes Ipswich will need the occasional win and not just draws to keep them in the Championship, but they stand a much better chance of getting those wins at Portman Road.
The clubs that are currently sitting in the relegation zone have to go out and try to win every game, because their situation is desperate. That is the approach that some Ipswich fans want to see from their side. However, taking that high risk high reward strategy should always be a last resort.
The likes of Barnsley, Peterborough, Wolves and Bristol City may take this approach and it may well pay off for at most one or two of them. If one of those teams starts picking up three points from almost every game then it isn’t a problem with Ipswich sitting 20th in the league table.
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Things may get more desperate if another team goes on a great run and McCarthy may well have to change his philosophy, but for now he is doing everything right.
On their day Ipswich can play extremely well at home too, beating the likes of Middlesbrough and Leicester at Portman Road is no easy task. If they can keep on grinding out away draws with the occasional win at home then they will secure their place in the Championship for next season.
Southampton manager Mark Hughes confirmed in his pre-match press conference for the vital Premier League clash against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Thursday night that Mario Lemina and Sofiane Boufal will miss out through injury and illness respectively, but Saints fans feel that there is more to their absence than meets the eye.
Considering the talent the duo clearly have, they have been two of the south coast outfit’s most disappointing performers in what has been a difficult season for the club, and both have found it difficult to gain a spot in the starting XI under Hughes in the last few matches, with Lemina struggling in the 3-0 defeat against West Ham United in which he came under heavy critcism from fans on Twitter for his display.
Now the pair will miss what looks to be a must-win game for the club against the Foxes and former manager Claude Puel, and the St Mary’s faithful feel that their absence perhaps is down to their attitude, rather than injury and illness.
Southampton supporters were quick to have their say on the two players via social media, and while one said “I think it’s code for the fact that they’ve been told not to bother coming back in”, another said they are “obviously not up for the fight”.
Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…
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