Newcastle United’s Alan Pardew is concerned about the threat of Rory Delap’s long throw as his team prepare to take on Stoke City.
Pardew has identified 12 key areas his side must address ahead of the English Premier League match at the Britannia Stadium.
And he has warned his players they must rise to the physical demands of Saturday’s clash.
“It’s a big statistic that they score from throw-ins,” Pardew said. “Rory has an unbelievable throw and you have to cope with it.”
“That’s the good thing about the Premier League, you have different flavours, and this one tests your character.”
Newcastle go into the game in 10th place on the Premier League table and are closing in on the 40-point mark that will ease their fears of relegation back to the Championship.
“We’re not really concentrating too much on the points tally, just Stoke,” Pardew said.
“We’re not concentrating on anything but them. They can make it very difficult.”
“The pitch is small which means the set pieces are more accurate.”
“That’s something we have to cope with. We have to make sure we cope with it and concentrate on our own strengths.”
“We have to hope we don’t get too distracted from it.”
Newcastle come into the match on the back of a two-week break, while Stoke are on a high after reaching the last four of the FA Cup at the expense of West Ham.
“It’s been a productive two weeks in terms of people getting some rest,” Pardew said.
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“Our injury issues aren’t behind us but it has eased a little bit and we’re looking forward to the game.”
“When you have two weeks off in the Premier League it can be difficult to focus, so we’re trying to make sure the players are ready for what will be a tough game.”
Pardew hopes Joey Barton will return from a thigh injury but Jose Enrique and Jonas Gutierrez are doubtful with hamstring problems.
“We think Joey has a good chance. Jose Enrique looks very doubtful and Jonas looks doubtful but Nile Ranger is fine.”
West Bromwich Albion boss Roy Hodgson sung the praises of his players after they won 3-2 at Sunderland on Saturday.Hodgson’s dream run as Albion manager continued as he went unbeaten for the seventh match in succession and saw his side enter the top half of the English Premier League table.
West Brom trailed twice but second-half strikes to Youssouf Mulumbu and Paul Scharner wrapped up a terrific away win, which left Hodgson glowing.
“I thought the players showed enormous character and ability in the second half to come out again and I thought, quite frankly, we were good value for our 3-2,” Hodgson said.
“Today was a very important victory, because it’s not easy to come to the Stadium of Light at any time and win matches.”
“And when you’re fighting for your life at the bottom to win, it’s even better.”
But despite sitting 10th on the table, Hodgson says his side are not safe from relegation.
“We’re not over the line, 39 points isn’t over the line,” he said.
“But it’s a lot happier position to be in, with 39 with six to play rather than 31 or 32 with six to play, which some of our rivals have got at the moment.”
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce lamented his side’s defensive errors and the fact they could not hold onto their 2-1 lead.
“We had a disappointing 20 minutes after taking the lead twice,” Bruce said.
“When you take a 2-1 lead at home you should be good enough to stay on and take the three points.”
“Defensively, we’re all over the place. That’s the big situation. We were rock solid there up until the turn of the year and now we have to score three or more goals to win a football match.”
“We have to go back to the training ground, keep working at it and get our defensive shape back.”
The result means Sunderland have won just one of their last 11 matches in all competitions and Bruce admits his side will have an uphill battle to turn around their form.
“It’s a big disappointment and we’re up against it at the moment. The only thing we can do is batten down the hatches, keep going and come out fighting,” he said.
“We’ve got to keep on going. All we can do is keep plugging away.”
Last week, The FA announced the tickets prices for this season’s FA Cup Final. Eyebrows were raised as the highest priced tickets smashed through the £100 barrier for the first time. Prices for the most expensive tickets to English football’s end-of-season showpiece will cost £115, an increase of 22% on last season. I say that eyebrows were raised – the tabloids described it as causing “outrage” from supporters, naturally.
This is the first rise in prices for four years, as the FA pegged their top ticket prices at £95 for the first four FA Cup finals after Wembley re-opened in 2007. The cheapest tickets this year are £45, up £5 on last year.
In many of the newspaper articles about the price announcement, there is a quote from an FA spokesman, who said: ‘Our ticket price structure is in line with other major sporting events held in the country every year. Prices for this weekend’s semi-final ties have not changed despite the increase in VAT.’
And he is partly right – the semi-final tickets were very fairly priced in my opinion, ranging from £30 to £60. But this just makes it even more galling to hear the prices for the final.
The prices are not fair. The FA has a responsibility to the fans of the game, the fans that keep the game in existence, and the fans that they are supposed to represent. They should be well aware of the current economic climate, of the increasing financial burden on football fans, and they should act accordingly. As they say on their website: “Football Is The Nation’s Game”.
The Champions League final prices are even worse, but this doesn’t excuse the FA Cup prices. And only this week, Michel Platini has apologised for the extortionate prices and £26 booking fee. And so he should, though this is little comfort to all the people that have already purchased tickets.
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So this is football. Rip off the fans at every available opportunity. I’d be a very naïve person not to have already known this, this is what football has become now at the top level, and there is little we can do except vote with our feet. But the fans of two clubs who have not been to a final in at least 30 years are not going to boycott the game. I’d have paid £200 to go, and I don’t have much money.
It’s not just the ticket price that will leave your wallet bare. If you want to eat or drink once you are there, you may want to re-mortgage your house before setting off. If you want to park in the official car-park, it’s probably best that you sell your house and move into a hostel.
Many who attended the semi-finals won’t be going to the final of course. This showpiece event allows less fans of each club to attend than in the previous round because of the allocation of seats elsewhere. The FA dish out 23,000 tickets to ‘full member’ clubs at all levels across the country, whilst a further 17,000 seats are designated for corporate ‘Club Wembley’ members. Manchester and Stoke City’s allocation is about 6,000 less than they were given for the semi-final.
Here’s that FA spokesman again, quoted in a Manchester evening news article on the allocation:
“The final is our showpiece event and we use it to reward those who have contributed to football, be it parents, volunteers or coaches. The 17,000 Club Wembley members are those who fund the stadium and who have allowed it to be built. I would say 25,000 is a fairly good allocation. I would say the complaints are louder this year because we have two teams who have not been to a final for a long time.”
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So there you have it – the FA don’t hide the fact that their actions are often guided by the desperate need to pay off their £800m white elephant of a stadium.
It’s hard to argue against allocating tickets to the football “family”, though a blossoming black market trade for tickets from this allocation will soon spring up. But to stop 17,000 fans seeing their team in what may well be the first cup final of their lifetime is harder to defend, a situation that has arisen because of years of incompetence and bad planning that the fans will pay for years to come – and not only by paying over the odds, but via the other consequences of the new stadium, such as four north-west teams travelling 200 miles to play a football game to help pay off their association’s debts, and at the same time devaluing the achievement of reaching a Wembley final. I’m just surprised they haven’t sneaked the quarter finals into the Wembley schedule yet. Give them time.
Aston Villa assistant manager Gary McAllister has targeted three wins out of three to ensure his sides’s Premier League survival.McAllister will take charge of the side for the third time at home to Wigan on Saturday in the continuing absence of manager Gerard Houllier, who was recently in hospital with heart problems.
Villa have already crossed the magical 40 point barrier and are six points clears of the relegation zone, but MacAllister said they cannot afford to take any chances.
“Everybody is looking at the numbers at the bottom of the league and asking what the magic number is going to be to stay up,” he said.
“I do not know but we have got nine points to play for. That is our target and we have got to be looking to win all three games.”
“Going to The Emirates to play Arsenal is obviously going to be difficult and we have an in-form Liverpool side yet to come here so there are some good games left for us to be involved in.”
The club’s long-term managerial position is not set in stone, but McAllister said he was just focusing on the immediate future.
“I’ve got a job to do and my concern certainly in the games before Gerard had a little bit of a problem was that we had enough points to pull away from the bottom,” MacAllister said.
“Now it is just purely getting Villa as high up the table as we can with the nine points left.”
“The main focus is purely the club and getting it into a better position than it’s in at the moment.”
“The key thing is that everything here is in place for the club to move forward. Everything that they do is second to none and there’s a touch of class about the place.”
Midfielder Stephen Ireland has returned from a loan spell at Newcastle, but is missing with a thigh strain and is McAllister’s only injury problem.
Aston Villa have experienced a forgettable season this Premiership campaign and the supporters won’t look back fondly on the 2010-11 season. Villa currently find themselves sitting in 13th place, a far cry from the previous three seasons where the club have achieved top six finishes. A month ago there was a very real danger of relegation for the Villians, however some key victories look to have ended any fears of the club going down. If there is one positive to come out of this season it is the capture of England International Darren Bent. Bent is one of the most gifted natural finishers in the country and his seven goals have proved his worth. Randy Lerner splashed out 24 million to bring Bent to the club at a time when the fans were on his back. After a poor start under Gerard Houiller, large sections of the Villa faithful were questioning Lerner’s decision to appoint the Frenchman and they were calling for Houiller’s sacking.
However, Randy Lerner’s second in command, non executive Director, Charles C Krulak, has revealed some honest home truths on how the board have to take a share of the blame for this season’s failure. An article in the Guardian has picked up on Krulak’s suggestions on a supporter message forum, where Krulak lays the blame at the feet of the board. While he doesn’t go as far as blaming Martin O’Neill’s departure for the clubs failure, it’s clear he feels that O’Neill’s departure should shoulder some of the blame. I tend to agree with Krulak as any club that loses a manager of O’Neill’s pedigree is going to suffer initially. O’Neill is blessed with great man management skills, and he brought a large amount of the current squad to the club. When a new manager comes in and has different philosophies and training methods it can affect the players. This was evident in the case of Richard Dunne who had a public bust up with Gerard Houiller.
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Villa’s form against their local rivals has been a major point of concern for the fans and Krulak takes this on board. “All of us are well aware of the disappointment of the fans and the heat that they take when we lose to our rivals, and lose in the manner we saw.” Villa have lost to all of their local rivals this season and to make things worse, not only did they crash out of the Carling Cup at the hands of Birmingham, but they also had to watch their arch rivals lift the trophy.
The first step to getting the supporters on side will be keeping hold of their popular winger Ashley Young. If Young is to leave in the summer there is sure to be outrage among the supporters who won’t see any positive signs in selling, arguably, their best player. I’m sure Randy Lerner will do all he can to keep hold of Aston Villa’s prized asset this summer and I think the Villa are in good hands under Lerner.
Lerner has shown he is willing to support his managers financially and he seems a very humble man who undoubtedly has the club’s best interests at heart. Lerner and Krulak are well aware that the club are in a predicament. They know that whilst they are willing to take the praise when things are going right, they need to accept the criticism when things are going wrong. This candid admission from the American owners may go some way to endearing them to the fans, but the only way for them to fully regain the admiration of the fans is for them to see progression next season.
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The season is all but over and all that remains to be seen from Arsenal fans’ point of view is whether they automatically qualify for the group stages of the Champions League by finishing third or whether they are overtaken by FA Cup winners Manchester City and finish fourth thereby triggering a potentially difficult qualifying campaign for Europe’s elite football competition.
All of the football talk, in terms of the Gunners, will now focus on the plans for the summer with a majority of fans now calling for changes to be made. A 6% increase in ticket prices (blamed, almost humorously, on high transfer fees) has been a slap in the face to the Arsenal faithful and most will be praying for Arsene Wenger to change his philosophy and spend the money required to get the players that the squad so desperately needs.
But we know all of this. We’ve heard the same talk at the end of every season since 2006. Wenger never spends money, so what is different now? Is there hope for the fans that they might finally get what they’ve been screaming out for?
Let’s start with Wenger himself. His position has never been questioned… up until now. His excuses are starting to wear thin and his stubborn dedication to his football philosophy has not paid dividends and, to be honest, it doesn’t look like it ever will. Wenger has been proven wrong a few times this season and Arsenal fans are starting to wonder if the genius they once adored is turning into the man behind the curtain; pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes. Maybe Arsenal have been happy to ‘make do’ for the past few seasons.
I dug out this interesting quote from only a month ago and it shows how far Arsenal have fallen in the space of four weeks.
“We are second in the league. Is that a disaster? There are teams who invest 10 times more than us, and they are behind us. If we are disappointed at the end [of the season] then OK. Why do you say it’s a disaster when we are second in the league? Do the 18 clubs behind us have a fantastic disaster?” – Arsene Wenger, 9/4/11
I remember thinking at the time that Wenger being content with second showed a lack of grit and determination that I like to see in a football manager. Sure, he was being realistic but there seemed a subtext of defeatism lingering in those words. Wenger was trying to convince us that second place wasn’t a disaster, how is he going to do next week if he has to defend fourth place?
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I’m not one of the ‘sack Wenger brigade’. He IS a talented football manager and HAS kept Arsenal competing at the top for years when the club was in financial difficulty. The club owes a huge debt to him. But Arsenal aren’t in financial difficulty anymore, quite the opposite, they are one of the most financially stable sports teams in the world.
Wenger will cite players like Torres costing a fee of £50 million and use it as a vindication of his tight pursed approach. And this is the problem; Arsene Wenger seems to only see things in extremes. Fans don’t want you to spend in excess of £40 million on a player, Arsene, but they would like you to spend around £20 million on a top class centre back; a position that is in dire need of strengthening and surely worth the money.
To get down to it, the sad truth about football in the modern age is that it’s all about money. Maybe ironically though, this might be the very factor that causes Wenger to invest in his squad this summer.
Wenger has pleased the Arsenal board throughout the years because he has consistently got them into the Champions League without spending a lot of money. This makes good business sense. However, if the Gunners do finish fourth this year it will be a wakeup call to the board. Manchester United, Chelsea, and, especially, Manchester City will invest heavily in players this summer. And given their recent progression it is hard to imagine those teams not dominating the top three come the end of next season. That will leave only one Champions League spot left and if Kenny’s revolution at Anfield is backed with cash by the board, or Tottenham realise how much they miss the Champions League, invest in some new players and keep their stars, will Arsenal still be able to compete if they don’t adapt? It’s a tough question.
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Arsenal’s position in the top four has been challenged for the past few seasons with teams like Man City, Tottenham, Everton, Aston Villa and Liverpool threatening to force them out. I‘d never been worried about it, I always knew Arsenal; had the quality to persevere. Next season, without significant personnel changes? I’m not so sure.
The Champions League is big money and money that the board will simply not do without. It is this simple fact that might force Wenger’s hand in the summer. Next season will be the biggest challenge to Arsenal securing Champions League football since the mid 90’s and the cost of missing out on the competition in 12/13 will surely be greater than the price of a few decent players this summer. It’s just simple business sense.
Aston Villa has turned their attentions to Roberto Martinez to fill the managerial shoes at Villa Park. It is believed that Steve McClaren was also in the running, but a fans backlash saw Randy Lerner and his team look elsewhere.
In the papers this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that include Liam Brady predicts new Arsenal signings, Martin Jol looks to snap up Robbie Keane, while Sunderland launch a triple raid at Old Trafford.
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Villa turn their focus on Martínez – Guardian
Premier League at a loss despite record £2.2bn revenue – Daily Mail
Brady predicts new Arsenal signings – Guardian
£16million Jones was won over by Fergie factor – Mirror
Jol looks Keane on a reunion – Sun
Henderson and Jones lead English revolution – Daily Telegraph
Ashley Young and Villa scrap meeting over new contract – Mirror
Blow for Pearce as crocked Gibbs is forced to withdraw for Under 21s – Daily Mail
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Revealed! The three men Redknapp wants for Spurs – Mirror
Sunderland launch £12m swoop for United trio Brown, Gibson and O’Shea – Daily Mail
Brazil is preparing itself for one of its biggest derbies, as Flamengo and Fluminense meet in Rio de Janeiro this weekend.The fixture is known as the Fla-Flu derby and brings together the 2009 champions and the current Brazilian Serie A title holders.
Ex-Portugal midfielder Deco should be fit for the weekend’s clash, after recovering from an injury picked up against Corinthians.
But Abel Braga will be without his frontman Fred, the striker is on international duty with Brazil in the Copa America.
In his absence Fluminense have scored only seven goals in their opening seven games.
Vanderlei Luxemburgo and Flamengo have no such problems – they boast the most profilic attack in the league, scoring 16 times already this season.
Ronaldinho and Deivid are in red-hot form, scoring six goals between them in the last two games.
With 99 years of tradition and just a point separating the teams, this weekend’s derby is set to be an enthralling affair.
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has stated his desire to bring both Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri to Eastlands.The Italian believes Argentina forward Aguero could be the ideal replacement for the unsettled Carlos Tevez and has not been shy in announcing his interest in Arsenal’s Nasri, either.
Atletico Madrid star Aguero put football’s biggest clubs on alert after revealing his intentions to leave the La Liga club, and is set to make a decision on his future after playing for Argentina in the Copa America.
Atletico’s rivals Real Madrid look to be City’s biggest competition in securing the 23-year-old’s signature, with the player reportedly open to a move within Spain or to England.
Mancini believes Aguero would be a perfect fit at the English Premier League club: “At the moment I am waiting because if we lose Carlos, Aguero is a player that can play for Manchester City because he is young, because he is a good player like Carlos, he can score a lot of goals and can play with Mario (Balotelli), with Edin (Dzeko),” Mancini told Sky Sports News.
“It is probably yes, (we will make a bid). I think in this moment we only have to wait.”
The former Inter boss also made no secret of his desire to bring in France midfielder Nasri as he continues to stall on a new contract at Arsenal.
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“Samir is under contract with Arsenal. Also, for Samir it depends on many things,” Mancini said.
“I hope that we can buy because we need other players and I hope that this player can arrive before the end of the month.”
Juventus and Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini says his team-mates are impressed by new head coach Antonio Conte.Conte, who led Serie B side Siena to the top-flight in the last campaign, was pegged to take over at the Stadio Olimpico following Luigi Delneri’s sacking in May.
Delneri was axed after Juve finished the 2010/11 season with a whimper, winning just one of their last six games and finishing five points shy of the Europa League places.
Chiellini, who has made nearly 170 appearances in six years for the Old Lady, believes the injection of fresh ideas will serve Juve well as they look to return to challenging for the Scudetto, a trophy that has eluded the club since 2003.
“The first impression is positive. He is a very clear coach, convinced of his ideas, he knows what he wants,” Chiellini said.
“We are working very hard to do 100 percent what he wants. We still have a lot of time ahead, and we will improve day after day, and match after match, but he proved he is convinced, competent and above all, clear.”
The 26-year-old also predicted Juve would show signs of improvement in the coming Serie A season without the distraction of a European campaign.
“It’s true we are a new group, but it’s also true we are a group to discover and we can have pleasant surprises too,” he said.
“The fact we won’t play in international competitions will help us give something more in the championship, as it happened in (Claudio) Ranieri’s first year (in 2007/08).”
“We are working and we must keep working with this intensity and the same desire to do well, after these two unhappy seasons.”