Rickie Lambert hopes if he continues to score goals he will get opportunities to play for his country.
At times in Southampton’s 3-2 loss to Manchester United Lambert bullied Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic. The 30 year old has also scored against the two top Premier League clubs already this season.
The frontman who has served a long apprenticeship in the Football League before grasping the opportunity to play in England’s top division, is refusing to be disheartened by England’s decision not to replace injured striker Andy Carroll.
Last season’s Championship top-scorer discussed his chances with The Daily Mail, “Maybe not right now but hopefully in the future.
“That’s my dream. That’s everyone’s dream. It’s a serious ambition. I just want to improve every single day at this club.”
The target-man in a similar fashion to former strike-partner at Rochdale, Grant Holt has worked his way to this opportunity establishing himself at Macclesfield, Rochdale, Stockport County and Rochdale, before Southampton gave him the launching to play at the top level.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Lambert added, “I’ve always believed in myself it’s not a different game. You still try and score in the same goals and you still play with a round ball it’s not too much different.”
Tottenham have the opportunity to extend their 8-game unbeaten run when stuttering Aston Villa travel to White Hart Lane on Sunday.
Andre Villas-Boas has been doing his utmost to silence his critics, and last weekend enjoyed arguably his finest moment in English football so far, as his side picked up a win over Manchester United at Old Trafford – the club’s first since 1989.
AVB fielded a strong team for the midweek draw with Panathanikos, but changes are set to be made for Sunday’s clash.
Villa have been the model of inconsistency this season, drawing 1-1 with West Brom last time out having beaten Manchester City 4-2 at the Etihad the game before.
Emmanuel Adebayor has recovered from a hamstring problem and will challenge the in form Jermain Defoe for the lone striker role.
Brad Friedel is expected to start in goal once again, despite France captain Hugo Lloris producing another good performance in Europe on Thursday.
Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Younes Kaboul, Jake Livermore, Kyle Naughton and Scott Parker are all out injured.
Aston Villa remain without Stephen Ireland and Richard Dunne through injury, but Lambert’s biggest decision will come in attack.
The Scot must decide whether to start Darren Bent against his former club, after the striker came off the bench to rescue a point against West Brom last time out.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
He was reportedly unhappy at being left out of the starting line up, and is desperate to feature against his former employers.
West Brom manager Steve Clarke has insisted that his side will return to form against Southampton, report The Metro.
The Baggies have enjoyed a fine start to the Premier League campaign, picking up 14 points from their opening seven games beating the likes of Liverpool and Everton along the way.
However, the Midlanders have slipped to defeats to Manchester City and Newcastle of late, leading some to believe their bubble may have burst.
But, Clarke believes his team will find their form as they host Southamption on Monday:
“It’s going to be something different for us. We are suddenly in a situation we haven’t found ourselves in before, having lost a couple of games,” He said.
“People maybe are looking at us a little bit so there is a question to be answered.
“But the lads have played well, that’s the message we have tried to give the players to take forward into the next game.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
“We have told them that if they continue to play as they have against two really good teams, and as long as the performance level stays the same, then the results will follow.”
Clarke took charge of the club last summer, switching from his role as assistant manager at Liverpool.
James Collins is ready to make a big impact at West Ham, after joining from Aston Villa for his second spell at the club.
Collins made his debut against his former employers in the 1-0 victory at Upton Park and was delighted with his own performance, nullifying the threat of Darren Bent.
Kevin Nolan scored the decisive goal five minutes before half-time to give the Hammers a perfect start to life back in the top-flight, but confusion unfolded as the linesman raised his flag, only for referee Mike Dean to overrule the decision as the resulting flick- on came from Villa’s Ciaran Clark.
Collins told the London Evening Standard: “It did help knowing Darren so well and the way he plays. I knew that he wouldn’t take the ball much in front but that he is such a threat over the top so we tried to stop that happening and seeing he had only one shot on goal, I suppose it worked.”
The Welsh international faces stiff competition in the centre-back position, with James Tomkins eager to re-claim his place in the side after being ousted by Collins.
Collins added: “I watched Winston (Reid) and James Tomkins last season and saw how well they played in the Championship. Obviously James was disappointed not to be in the starting line-up against Villa but the three points are all-important.”
Collins re-joined the Hammers for a fee of £2.5 million last month- a shrewd piece of business by Sam Allardyce at a club whose spending is restricted by the £10 million still owed to Sheffield United over the Carlos Tevez saga.
Bu the East Londoners’ business in the transfer market appears to be far from over, as Razak Boukari is on the verge of a move to Upton Park from French side, Rennes.
The Hammers’ interest in the Togolese international means a move for Wolves’ midfielder, Matthew Jarvis appears to be unlikely.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
The Championship side are reportedly holding out for £10 million, while West Ham are only prepared to bid as high as £9 million.
The world of football transfers can be fascinating. For an extended period of the year, fans dedicate multiple hours each day trawling the internet or waiting for that yellow banner on Sky Sports News, in an attempt to discover just who their club are in negotiations to sign.
Many moves down the years have collapsed, frustrating managers, supporters and players, and while some of these issues ultimately benefit all those involved, there are a fair few cases of the ‘one that got away’. Whether it be wage demands, stubborn chairmen or a sudden sense of realisation, a number of promising moves have broken down, which would surely have changed the landscape of British football as we know it
This list looks at 15 transfers that never quite came to fruition for various reasons.
Click on Kaka below to get the ball rolling
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Dwight Yorke has branded Manchester United’s decision to sell Danny Welbeck to Arsenal for £16m over the summer a “disgrace”.
The Red Devils sanctioned the deal just hours before the transfer deadline close during the last window after Louis van Gaal had deemed the England international to be surplus to requirements.
The Dutchman had secured moves for Radamel Falcao and Angel di Maria, leaving his attacking options plentiful, which freed the 23-year-old for the switch.
WANT MORE? >> Manchester United transfer news | Arsenal transfer news
Welbeck has since impressed for the Gunners, with his hat-trick against Galatasaray taking his tally in north London to four – more than any player in the United squad this season.
And after watching other England internationals such as Adam Lallana and Luke Shaw command fees of £25m and £27m respectively, Yorke feels that his old side’s decision was a poor one:
“£16m – that’s a disgrace,” he told the Manchester Evening News. “When Lallana and Shaw have gone for £25m and £27m, that’s pathetic.
“That’s why I cannot understand the market. He had to be a loan deal – especially with Falcao not signing permanently.
“You could let Danny Welbeck go on a year’s loan, get some money and have that option. He’s worth more than £16m in today’s market. Shaw and Lallana – they’re worth that much more than Danny Welbeck?
“I don’t think so. Not with his pace and power.”
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Welbeck netted 29 goals in 142 games for United, which is a record Van Gaal suggested was not befitting of a player in a team of such stature.
Fill out our survey and win a pair of PUMA EvoPOWER boots as worn by Mario Balotelli, Cesc Fabregas and Marco Reus!
Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world’s leading questionnaire tool.
Ever remember those guys in your school who’d simply support Manchester United on the basis ‘that they won the most cups?’ This new found love for the most successful team in the land had nothing to do with passion, geographical location or even that United played the best football, but pure and simply glory supporting. When asked to name the starting XI, most people could only come up with ‘Ermm Beckham? Giggs? Ermmm..does Steven Gerrard play for them? He wears red?’
However, in terms of annoyingness regarding choice of football clubs, nothing can be more frustrating than seeing a celebrity declare their love for ‘insert name of random English club here.’ Be it for a publicity stunt, or genuinely supporting their chosen side but in the most irritatingly public manner possible, choosing an English team has become a new fad among celebrities. It’s slightly less controversial than adopting African babies, but highly infuriating for the real fans who spent their time wondering why these so-called fans don’t actually put some of their millions into the club they support. Here are 15 celebrities that make the prawn sandwich brigades look like a set of die-hard hooligans.
Click on Will Ferrell below to get the ball rolling
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso’s reluctance to sign a new contract at the club has set reports in motion about a possible return to Liverpool in the summer, but what are the chances of such a transfer coup coming to fruition for a player who enjoyed five successful seasons on Merseyside?
The 31-year-old Spain international currently has a contract at Madrid which runs through until the end of next season, but with manager Jose Mourinho’s future up in the air, he remains reluctant to commit himself until things become clearer about what path the club intend to take in the future. With the side currently 13 points behind rivals Barcelona in the league, in what has represented a pitiful defence of the title they won in such style last season, not only is a potential change in manager on the cards, but a freshening up in the squad in what promises to be a period of great upheaval if they fail to triumph in the Champions League this term.
In what looks certain to be a quote that will be revisited more and more the closer we draw to the end of the season and the summer, Alonso told the BBC in February: “With Brendan, Liverpool are building a project. They need to be patient. We all want to see Liverpool fighting for the Champions League places. I still follow the Premier League and I still feel very attached to Liverpool and I follow them. I consider myself a Liverpool fan.”
The midfielder’s Anfield exit in the summer of 2009 wasn’t brought about by the need to test himself on a bigger stage, after all, Liverpool had just seriously challenged for the Premier League title losing out to Manchester United by just four points and a couple of Federico Macheda shinned last-minute winners. The club were competing in the Champions League each and every year and in Javier Mascherano and Steven Gerrard, the club had perhaps the best midfield trio in European football outside of Catalonia.
The departure was all but sealed, as everyone knows, by Rafa Benitez’s clumsy pursuit of Aston Villa man Gareth Barry – a move which doesn’t look any more sane with the passing of time. It should be noted, though, that of Alonso’s five years at Anfield, only his first and last touched the heady heights we have come to remember him for; one when trying to impress in a new league and the other when trying to force a move through elsewhere in what has been a convenient re-writing of history to suit the man-love agenda. He has been hugely missed and by just how much has only become easier to quanifty the more time passes, but he’s definitely stepped up a level in terms of consistency while in Spain, certainly more so than he ever managed while at Liverpool.
Alonso moved to Liverpool because of Benitez, but after offering him around anyone that would have him, only Arsenal’s reluctance to offer anything above £15m (has Arsene Wenger made a bigger mistake in the market in the past five years?) stopped him from moving elsewhere in the top flight. Equally so, Alonso wanted to move because of Benitez, rather than a need for a new challenge and a desire to move back home. His one-time mentor had fallen out with him over his desire to be by his wife’s side at the birth of their first child on the eve of a crucial Champions League game and it never recovered and Alonso’s form fluctuated during the 2007-8 campaign before he was made available for transfer, with injuries taking their toll on his form.
When that is put into context, it makes the idea that Alonso fancies a return to Anfield all the more understandable and a reported £80k-a-week contract has been put on the table, while the fee ranges from £12m to £8.5m depending on where you look. What is clear, though, is that Alonso’s departure signalled the end of Liverpool as a top four force, with his ability to control and dominate possession in the middle of the park being sorely missed ever since.
[cat_link cat=”liverpool” type=”list”]
The narrowly avoided financial disaster of the final days of the Hicks and Gillett ownership saw the side fail to capitalise on a second-placed league finish in 2009 and they refused to invest for another push that summer which saw them subsequently finish seventh the following campaign, sack Benitez, appoint the patently out-of-his depth Roy Hodgson and being forced into selling Mascherano to Barcelona. It’s a state of affairs the club have still struggled to fully recover from and they hovered between eighth and sixth in the league ever since.
Despite his deal at Madrid being worth £130k-per-week, Alonso has spoken of his surprise when he watches top flight matches and how quick the pace and flow of the game is; with time hardly on his side, he could be equally reluctant to dive straight back into a league that he has been absent from for four seasons, even taking into account the significant wage drop. However, with Joe Allen struggling so much this season, Brendan Rodgers will be in the market for an experienced midfielder in the summer, even if he hadn’t bet on setting the bar so high.
Considering the midfield is such a central area of Rodgers possession-based philosophy, it’s remarkable what a mess he’s made of it this season, from playing out of form players (Allen), to unfathomably dropping those in form at times (Jordan Henderson) to just simply playing them out of position altogether (Nuri Sahin). The way he’s chopped and changed points to a manager struggling to pick his best trio or even knowing what they are, while failing to consistently deliver on his message that the side are capable of controlling a game for prolonged spells and Alonso could certainly help in that regard, even if the tempo of the league could ensure a bumpy first few months back.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
As with many sub-plots that have developed over the past few months, plenty rests on the future of Mourinho and whether he chooses to extend his stay in the Spanish capital beyond the end of this season. If he leaves, Alonso may be seriously tempted to look elsewhere too and Liverpool would understandably provide a comfortable and familiar environment to see out the final days of a fantastic career and what better way to try and convince Luis Suarez to stay for another year at the same time, by signing a truly world-class midfield operator in what would represent a real signal of intent and ambition.
Harking back to the initial question and whether the deal is likely, it’s too early to tell at this stage, but he fits the style, the system and already loves the club which ensures they remain right at the front of the queue. If I were a betting man, I’d put it on Alonso staying at Real Madrid until his contract expires, turning down the two-year extension and then perhaps returning to a young and vibrant Real Sociedad side, the place where he started his playing career. His Basque roots will always ensure a stronger emotional pull than his Scouse credentials, but the ball remains firmly in his court and he’s never been a player who has terms dictated to him, rather a principled individual in control of his own career, something which could potentially be a determining factor that could count in Liverpool’s favour ahead of a proposed romantic and sensational comeback to the top flight. It’s a long shot, but I wouldn’t completely rule it out.
Liverpool were one of the more active clubs in the top flight during the January transfer window, with Brendan Rodgers adding two fresh faces to the squad in the form of Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho, but have the club, somewhat quietly, started to invest heavily in players again?
Ever since Fenway Sports Group (FSG) took over the club, the financial outlay on transfer has been consistent, large but always with the crucial caveat that net expenditure was reasonable, therefore curbing any great excess on their end. Of course, this doesn’t factor in the astronomical and at times downright bizarre large wages handed out to young players with little or no competition for their signature in sight, and while we can all agree the policy put in place during the flawed Kenny Dalglish and Damien Comolli regime was a flawed one, it was at least definable.
Nevertheless, since Rodgers took over the club in the summer, over the two transfer windows he has presided, the club have now spent approximately £48.8m while recouping just £8m in the same period for a net spend of £40,8m. This figure is more than the previous campaign which came in at £35.35m and the one before that which saw them make a £5.1m profit despite bringing in both Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez for a combined figure of £58m, with any dealings that year somewhat distorted by the £50m received from Chelsea for Fernando Torres, a sum that only the Carroll transfer can rival in terms of gross financial mismanagement. Every player has their price, but let’s at least get the right player in the first place to start with, eh?
This season, Rodgers has brought in Oussama Assaidi for £3m, Fabio Borini for around £10m when you include add-ons, Joe Allen for £15m, Sturridge for £12m and Coutinho for £8,5m. It seems that FSG during the latest window have done their best to grant the manager with more money to invest simply because they let him down so badly in the summer.
Rumours persist that the Nuri Sahin loan signing, which came with a £2m loan fee, and was subsequently ended just six months into it so that he could return to former club Borussia Dortmund, was not Rodgers idea in the first place, but former director of communications Jen Chang’s, with the Assaidi move and his subsequent lack of first-team action coming under the same theory.
The former Swansea manager spoke in the summer when Carroll was allowed to leave on loan about ‘operational issues’ at the club, with confusion reigning over whether a director of football was being brought in or whether it would be transfer by committee. This period also saw FSG reject paying anything over £3.5m for Clint Dempsey who then moved from Fulham to Tottenham for the reasonable amount of £5m, with Sturridge slipping through the clubs finger at the eleventh hour. This has seen the club look desperately short of attacking options during the first half of the campaign and Suarez practically have to carry the side all on his own at times, so why the drastic change in tack since then? And is there even a clearly defined policy in place?
It would seem so, and when you take a look at the ages of the players concerned that Rodgers has signed, or not as may be the case with Assaidi, a pattern has emerged. Coutinho is just 20, Sturridge is 23, Allen is 22 and Borini is 21, yet what they all also have in common is that they have all represented their country at international level despite their tender age to the collective tune of 18 caps.
The policy of buying British potential has been replaced by a more sensible global approach of purchasing young, hungry and potentially world-class talent before they reach their peak and by choosing to shop outside of the top flight a little more, you simply get more value for money, with Coutinho looking a tad on the cheap side for a player with his burgeoning reputation.
This relatively heavy level of investment is a direct consequence of the good job that Rodgers did in reducing the heavy wage bill in the summer, though, which was one of the biggest tasks he was given when handed the job. Carroll has move out on loan with a potential £17m deal in place at the end of the season at West Ham, Charlie Adam, Maxi Rodriguez, Dirk Kuyt, Craig Bellamy, Doni, Alberto Aquilani, Fabio Aurelio and Joe Cole have all been shifted out the exit door since. Wages are the main draining force on big clubs these days, not transfer fees.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
The fact that he has been allowed to spend so much this month with very little return into the club can best be seen as a combination of guilt on FSG’s part for the bungling in the summer and gratitude for completing the task in hand way ahead of schedule. Young players demand less and want less, and it’s no coincidence that Rodgers has chosen to rely so heavily on youth during his time on Merseyside.
When you factor in the ever-changing nature of what constitutes the club’s league ambitions this term, Liverpool still retain an outside chance of pinching a top four place if they can maintain their consistency between now and the end of the season, but the longer they spend away from the lucrative riches of the Champions League, the more it will hurt the club’s coffers in the long run. Their spending has slowly but surely crept up to a more ambitious level again and you sense they need to start winning more to make that gamble worthwhile. It’s far from reckless, even by the standards recently set at the club, but it’s a noticeable change in tack as they attempt to bridge the gap on those above them.
Manchester United have invited 15-year-old Lars Troense Langgaards over for a trial with one eye on signing the Danish defender.
The youngster was spotted by United scouts playing for Denmark’s Under-16 side at the Aegean Cup in Turkey this January and has also been watched by academy director Brian McClair.
He is currently on the books of Danish Superliga side AGF Aarhus where he plays for their Under-17s and will be accompanied to his trial by the club’s sporting director Brian Steen Nielsen.
“It’s clearly going to be a great learning experience that Lars can use in his further development,” said Nielsen.
“He has been developing rapidly since joining AGF, and is now being rewarded with this chance.”
Nielsen has been impressed by United’s handling of the situation from the time that he was made aware of their interest in the schoolboy, who signed a three-year youth contract with the club last year.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
“Right from the first contact Manchester United have acted very professionally. They have had several scouts and their academy director over to follow Lars and I had a meeting with them about the test training [period]. They have done a thorough job, and we have therefore said thanks for the invitation.”