Wolves manager Mick McCarthy reckons Aston Villa can be dragged further into a relegation battle ahead of his side’s trip to Villa Park on Saturday.Wolves are 19th on 29 points but Villa are just two points off the bottom three and McCarthy hopes to increase the pressure on Gerrard Houllier’s men.”Fighting is ingrained in the club and the teams I have,” said McCarthy.”We have nine games left – key games. I can’t do anything about the others games. Villa Park is a fabulous stadium – it’s a great place to play and it is a huge Premier League game.””They are four points in front of us – we can drag them closer to us.””If we stay where we are we are going down but I don’t think that will happen. It is the 22nd of May that counts.””We’ve played well over recent weeks and if you are judged by recent form are form against Spurs was good.”Richard Dunne and James Collins have been fined by Villa for their drunken escapades during a recent break but McCarthy believes Houllier’s side will not be affected by the events leading up to the match.”Football clubs, despite the madness that is going around sometimes pull really good performances out of the hat,” he added.”Whatever has happened I am sure it has been resolved.”Stephen Hunt is back in training but not ready to return to the first team squad, along with Dave Edwards and Ronald Zubar who are also missing.Michael Mancienne, Michael Kightly and Dave Jones return for McCarthy’s men.
This weekend the FA Cup semi-finals take centre stage, as Manchester United, Man City, Bolton and Stoke make the trip down to Wembley from the north-west to battle it out for a place in the final. The Manchester derby is the tastier of the two ties, but for Owen Coyle and Tony Pulis there is a great opportunity to have a crack at some domestic silverware.
In addition to the FA Cup, there are plenty of Premier League fixtures to enjoy, with lots still to be decided at the bottom of the table. There’s a classic six-pointer between Blackpool and Wigan at Bloomfield Road, while West Ham could do with three points against Aston Villa at Upton Park. The stand-out Premiership fixture of the weekend takes place on Sunday, as Arsenal take on Liverpool at The Emirates Stadium.
The race to get to the Premier League is also hotting up, with Swansea and Reading just two of the promotion contenders in action. Here’s how the country’s newspaper journalists think the matches will pan out…
Man City v Man United: It’s a cup tie, so the cliche is “anything could happen”. It’s a derby, so the next law of cliches states “the form book goes out the window”. In reality, United are playing superb football and City are struggling. Predicting anything other than a United win right now would be a brave gamble.
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Shaun Custis (The Sun)
Home Team
Away Team
Bolton
V
Stoke
H
Man City
V
Man United
A
Birmingham
V
Sunderland
H
Blackpool
V
Wigan
H
Everton
V
Blackburn
H
West Brom
V
Chelsea
A
West Ham
V
Aston Villa
H
Arsenal
V
Liverpool
D
Burnley
V
Swansea
A
Reading
V
Leicester
H
West Ham v Villa: Villa got a morale boosting win over Newcastle but The Hammers just have to win this one. Home win.
Continue to the NEXT PAGE for more predictions…
Andy Dunn (News of the World)
Home Team
Away Team
Bolton
V
Stoke
H
Man City
V
Man United
A
Birmingham
V
Sunderland
H
Blackpool
V
Wigan
A
Everton
V
Blackburn
H
West Brom
V
Chelsea
H
West Ham
V
Aston Villa
H
Arsenal
V
Liverpool
D
Burnley
V
Swansea
H
Reading
V
Leicester
H
Everton v Blackburn: Everton looking for bragging rights in the city and to get beyond Liverpool. I think they’ll be too much for Blackburn. Home win.
Martin Lipton (The Mirror)
Home Team
Away Team
Bolton
V
Stoke
H
Man City
V
Man United
A
Birmingham
V
Sunderland
H
Blackpool
V
Wigan
A
Everton
V
Blackburn
H
West Brom
V
Chelsea
A
West Ham
V
Aston Villa
D
Arsenal
V
Liverpool
H
Burnley
V
Swansea
A
Reading
V
Leicester
H
Bolton v Stoke: Massive game for both clubs, with European football as well as a Cup Final on offer to the winners. Stoke will be the bludgeon, Bolton the rapier. But more goal threat may shade it for the Trotters.
West Brom v Chelsea: Carlo Ancelotti’s stars will be smarting from their Euro exit to Manchester United so I expect a backlash at The Hawthorns and a set-back for Albion in their fight for Premier League security.
Glenn Moore (The Independent)
Home Team
Away Team
Bolton
V
Stoke
H
Man City
V
Man United
D
Birmingham
V
Sunderland
H
Blackpool
V
Wigan
H
Everton
V
Blackburn
H
West Brom
V
Chelsea
D
West Ham
V
Aston Villa
H
Arsenal
V
Liverpool
H
Burnley
V
Swansea
A
Reading
V
Leicester
H
Arsenal v Liverpool: Liverpool were excellent against Manchester City but have been less impressive away from home while Arsenal are regaining form.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has launched a remarkable reaction to jibes from Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho.The Spanish powerhouses will clash in the third El Clasico in as many weeks in the first leg on their Champions League semi-final Wednesday.
This time, it seems, it is personal.
In his pre-match press conference prior to their leg at the Bernabeu, the normally reserved Guardiola responded brutally to Mourinho’s claims that the Barca boss was a consistent critic of referees.
The 40-year-old former Barca defensive midfielder said he tolerated Mourinho’s loose lips during the season.
But once the whistle blew to kick-off their semi-final tie, Guardiola believed that was when the real battle will begin.
“Tomorrow … we will play a match on the field. Outside of the field, he (Mourinho) has won the entire year, the entire season and in the future. He can have his personal Champions League outside the field. Fine. Let him enjoy it, I’ll give him that,” Guardiola said.
“But this is a game. When it comes to sport, we will play and sometimes we will win, sometimes we will lose. We are happy with smaller victories, trying to get the world to admire us and we are very proud of this.”
“I can give you an immense list of things (that Barcelona could complain about) – 300,000 things. We could remember Stamford Bridge (when then-Chelsea boss Mourinho criticised referee Anders Frisk and opposition Barca boss Frank Rijkaard) and another thousand things but I do not have that many people working for me, secretaries and referees and people writing stuff. So tomorrow … we will take to the field and we will try to play football as best as possible.”
“In this room (Real Madrid’s press room), he is the chief, the f—— man. In here, he is the f—— man and I can’t compete with him. If Barcelona want someone who competes with that, then they should look for another manager. But we, as a person and an institution, don’t do that. I could talk about (Olegario) Bequerenca (the referee from Barcelona’s semi-final first leg with Inter last season), about the offside goal from Diego Milito or the penalty of (Dani) Alves, but I don’t.”
“If you think after three years, that I always moan, always make excuses and always complain, then there is nothing I can do about that.”
Mourinho – at his official press conference earlier on Wednesday – had previously baited his coaching counterpart by claiming that Guardiola criticised referees, regardless of whether they were right or wrong.
“Now there is a third group (of coaches), which is only (Guardiola), that criticises referees when they get decisions right. There is a new meaning to (football) now,” Mourinho said.
“In his first season, (Guardiola) lived the scandal of Stamford Bridge, last year he played against a 10-man Inter (Champions League semi-final). Now he is not happy with refs getting it right. I am not asking the referee to help my team. If the referee is good everyone will be happy – except Guardiola. He wants them to get it wrong.”
The bitter converse between the two team leaders will ensure the final two El Clasicos this campaign will undoubtedly be the most memorable.
Lille moved seven points clear at the top of Ligue 1 with a 2-1 victory at Saint-Etienne, while Paris Saint-Germain drew at home to Nancy.League leaders Lille trailed after just five minutes when Emmanuel Riviere struck for the home side at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, but parity was restored moments later when Tulio De Melo netted his fourth goal of the season to make it 1-1 after just 15 minutes.
Riviere won a penalty for the home side some three minutes later, but Bakary Sako could not restore the advantage as Lille goalkeeper Mickael Landreau went the right way to deny the spot kick.
Midfielder Rio Mavuba then ensured the points for the away side with a sweetly hit strike from outside the box on 69 minutes, moving Rudi Garcia’s Lille one step closer to their first title since 1954.
Second-placed Marseille play their game in hand at home against Brest on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain’s chances of playing Champions League football next season took a dive after they could only manage a 2-2 draw at home against lowly placed Nancy.
PSG led 2-1 at half-time after Mevlut Erding and Zoumana Camara struck either side of a Landry N’Guemo penalty for Nancy.
But substitute attacker Youssouf Hadji ensured the spoils were shared with a headed finish on 68 minutes.
The draw left PSG in fourth and a point from third-placed Lyon, who also have a game in hand.
Birmingham City winger Sebastian Larsson believes his club’s status in the Premier League is almost guaranteed.But the Sweden star, who scored his third goal in four games with the equaliser against Wolves in Sunday’s derby, is taking nothing for granted.
The draw for 10-man Blues kept them four points clear of the drop zone on 39 points and protected their five-point advantage over Wolves.
“We’re not thinking that way, that we’re safe,” Larsson told the Birmingham Post.
“But I am extremely confident about what we are going to do for the rest of the season and that we will get the points we still need. I don’t think we’re going to go down.”
“But we can’t count ourselves safe, not at all. We’re not going to be relaxed, we’re going to keep going and work hard to pick up the points we need.”
“We’ve got a bit of a lead, there are a few teams below us, and only three games left now.”
“We hoped we would have beaten Wolves and that would have been it.”
“But it’s one game less, we’ve picked up another point and we should be fine if we keep working hard, we shouldn’t be in any trouble.”
Birmingham manager Alex McLeish said he was disappointed that midfielder Craig Gardner was booked for retaliation and had no complaints about a second yellow card for diving which meant City played the last half an hour with 10 men.
“I was more annoyed at the first yellow card Craig got. Reacting to the tackle, it put him under pressure and he was then treading on thin ice,’’ McLeish said.
“The simulation, he went down. He had been booted two or three times before that and maybe he was diving out of the way.”
“We don’t condone the diving element and the referee acted correctly.”
Birmingham travel to Newcastle on Saturday, host Fulham at St Andrew’s on Sunday, May 15 and visit White Hart Lane to tackle Spurs on Sunday, May 22.
I’m feeling depressed today. I’m seriously wondering if I can bring myself to splash out next week to renew my season ticket. I said I wouldn’t engage in public naval contemplation about me and Arsenal this time last year but I just can’t help myself.
Some of my depression and sullen aspect is to do with Arsenal. I’m still very angry about the ticket price rises. We don’t need them and it takes the pressure off the club delivering improved commercial income which is where new money needs to come from. I certainly will struggle to find the additional £130 by next Thursday with all the other calls on my declining income. The board just isn’t justified in imposing the increases in a time of economic hardship. I’ve clearly mistaken them for people who care.
The mega-money struggle for the club’s future is also getting right on my wick. Alisher Usmanov has now upped the ante on Stan Kroenke, offering £14,000 a share to Stan Kroenke’s offer of £11,750 a pop. Sorry, mine’s still not for sale. There is a worrying trickle of the eight percent or so of shares to Usmanov now that can be seen by looking at the PLUS Markets website. Usmanov now has to instantly notify each additional share purchased during the period of Stan Kroenke’s offer which is mandated by City takeover rules. I hope any shareholder who wants or needs to sell offers their share to Arsenal Fanshare first.
I’ll be honest. I wish I’d never heard of either Kroenke or Usmanov. The fact that I have is directly the responsibility of the board and former board members David Dein, Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith and the late Danny Fiszman. I said when the board created 9.9% of new shares in the club and sold them to Granada TV (now ITV plc) that there was a danger that they’d created a Trojan Horse in the ownership structure. I take no pleasure in saying that I turned out to be right.
The board had the opportunity to do something special. Something uniquely Arsenal. Instead they chose to enrich themselves. This hasn’t benefitted the club by one penny. They did what so many others have done at big English clubs. They cashed in. We’re now in the ironic position of relying on an Uzbek naturalised Russian multi-billionaire to keep the club public and stop an American billionaire Stan Kroenke from taking the club down the path already trodden by Manchester United and Liverpool. As long as Usmanov hangs on to his 27.37% and slowly rising stake then Kroenke can’t take the club private and do what he will with it financially.
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There is a chance though that Usmanov’s further purchases may dry up the remaining available shares to such an extent that public trading on the PLUS market is no longer viable due to a lack of shares. That wouldn’t mean that Arsenal Fanshare couldn’t continue. It would mean that this would be by the grace and favour of Messrs Usmanov and/or Kroenke. Not a position I want us to be in.
My preferred option for Arsenal Fanshare was always to buy new equity in the club. This would mean my and every other AFS member’s contributions going directly into the club’s working capital rather than to existing shareholders. That hasn’t come to pass yet. I hope that it does.
In the meanwhile we reliant on billionaires who live in Moscow and Missouri thousands of miles and many time-zones away for the future direction of the club. This is good because? There are those who believe that Usmanov is the man for Arsenal because of his tens of billions. Not me. I want Arsenal to build on strong sustainable financial foundations. Not the whims and caprices of men with no previous connection with Arsenal. Usmanov constantly protests that he loves Arsenal. I suppose it’s conceivable but frankly I doubt it. It strikes me more as an ego-driven trophy purchase, just like many rich men take beautiful trophy wives whom they trust so much they insist on detailed legal pre-nuptial agreements.
Usmanov was given a pardon for alleged offences for which he was imprisoned, serving six years of an eight year sentence on charges of fraud and embezzlement when Uzbekistan was a constituent republic of the old Soviet Union. The pardon was issued by the newly independent Uzbek government which has literally boiled opponents alive. Usmanov may or may not have been guilty of the offences for which he was imprisoned. I wouldn’t take the word of a politically directed Soviet court that he was guilty. Neither would I take the word of the Uzbek government that he was innocent and worthy of pardon however. We’ll likely never know the truth.
My other cause of my agitation is more general. I find the empty, materialistic, self-absorbed, ego-driven lives of so many of the game’s current crop of professionals profoundly depressing. I’m no saint. I enjoy material wealth too. I’m not addicted to empty consumption however. I like to stimulate my mind as well as my bank balance. Driven on by the spivs that leach on all too many top players they constantly circumnavigate the globe in search of ever more lavish financial rewards.
I blame nobody for improving themselves financially but is it really important to be earning £160k a week rather than £100k? Does it make the players happier? I doubt it. It is a short career and players are entitled to do the very best for themselves. I’m just not so sure I want to continue contributing to people who earn millions a year and often put it to no good use for themselves or others.
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Greed has become rampant in football. I hate it. Just look at the recent news at Queen’s Park Rangers. Ticket price rises of forty to sixty percent. The club’s response to protests? Tough. If you don’t want your seat, somebody else will have it. Never mind if you were there when Rangers lost to Vauxhall Motors in the FA Cup in 2002. Never mind if you followed QPR in the old Third Division. We don’t give a monkey’s. Show us the money or piss off!
All in all, I’m tempted to become an armchair Arsenal fan and watch the odd match live when it suits me, and take in some Barnet and AFC Wimbledon games. I’m fed up with my loyalty being ruthlessly exploited for every last penny in my pocket.
Article courtesy of Vic Crescit at Arsenal Insider
After winning his fourth English Premier League title with Manchester United, Park Ji-Sung has turned his attention to charity work.Park retired from international football following South Korea’s third-place finish at the 2011 Asian Cup in January.
And the 30-year-old now intends to dedicate some of his energies to the first site of his ‘JS Foundation’ in Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam.
As well as speaking to youngsters from the area from June 13 -16, the midfielder arranged an exhibition match to raise awareness for his new initiative.
“After many twists and turns, we can hold a charity match,” Park said.
“Vietnam and the Vietnamese helped us a lot to hold this event. We are going to hold the first match. (I am happy) to proceed (with) this event.”
Park’s JS Friends team took on one of Ho Chi Min City’s biggest clubs in Navibank Saigon FC.
His side included former Japan international Hidetoshi Nakata, countrymen Lee Chung-Yong and Park Chu-Young and North Korean star Jong Tae-Se.
Park’s team were beaten 4-3 in the inaugural encounter of what he hopes will be an annual event.
Birmingham City owner Carson Yeung has been released on bail following an investigation into money laundering back in Hong Kong. The Blues fans must be wondering what the hell is going on at their football club, following the recent shock at seeing Alex McLeish cross the divide and take the reins at rivals Aston Villa.
In the papers this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that include David Gill slates the FA for their victimisation of Manchester United; Peter Hill-Wood tells Nina Bracewell-Smith to stop her complaints about the Arsenal board, while Manchester City set to test Everton’s resolve with a move for Leighton Baines.
*
Yeung released on bail – Sky Sports
Gill slates FA for Man Utd ‘victimisation’ – Guardian
Villas-Boas: I know I’ll be sacked if we don’t win – Mirror
Barcelona lodge new £35m bid for Arsenal captain Fábregas – Guardian
Arsenal chairman tells Bracewell-Smith to ‘stop complaining’ after Twitter blast – Daily Mail
De Gea eyes European success – Daily Telegraph
Lee shown the door at Liverpool with Clement and McAllister lined up – Daily Mail
Pedroza claims Spurs switch – Sky Sports
Tottenham enter race with Manchester City for French sensation Niang – Daily Mail
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Fergie confident over Nasri raid – Sun
City to test Everton with part-exchange offer for Baines – Mirror
Juventus will appeal the Italian Football Federation’s (FIGC) decision to allow Inter to keep their 2006 Serie A title.Inter were retrospectively awarded the title after it was stripped from Juventus after the 2006 Calciopoli match-fixing scandal, in which the Turin club was caught trying to influence referees and referee selection to effect the outcome of matches.
However, a report from a federal prosecutor earlier this month accused Inter of also having illegal contact with referees, and Juventus lodged a request with the FIGC to leave the 2006 title vacant.
But the governing body announced on Monday that there was ‘no judicial basis for the revocation’ of the 2006 Scudetto from Inter, a decision which Juventus said smacked of double standards.
“The decision of today’s Federal Council confirms a completely different treatment for similar situations,” Juventus said in a statement.
“The petition submitted 14 months ago by Juventus allowed for a deep examination, unfortunately not followed by any acceptance of responsibility by the sports bodies involved, who instead dismissed their political role as governance.”
“It is understood that, in order to protect their millions of fans, as well as the shareholders and employees, Juventus must pursue the right and proper verification of facts while looking for treatment equality.”
“Therefore, the club’s lawyers have been given the mandate to identify the best protection instruments in administrative and international law.”
“Since today’s decision is far from providing equality and justice, Juventus want to assert all the internationally applicable rules at every relevant office.”
Reports in Italy suggest Juventus will appeal against the FIGC’s decision by taking their case to the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI).
The Calciopoli scandal led to Juventus being stripped of the league titles they had won in 2005 and 2006, as well as being relegated to Serie B and deducted nine points.
Fellow Serie A clubs Fiorentina, AC Milan and Lazio were also deducted points for their roles in the scandal.
Former European footballer of the year Matthias Sammer believes Bayern Munich will return to the summit of German football this season.Sammer won virtually every honour in the domestic game as a player and later a manager, and is now the technical director of the German Football Association (DFB). He also helped Germany win the European Championships in 1996.
And he thinks that now the Bayern squad has been assembled they must be considered favourites for the title.
“Basically Bayern Munich is one of, if not the favourite for the title,” Sammer said.
“Especially because almost every player is able to take part in the preparation. The physical condition is basic for being strong throughout the season.”
“At the moment everything seems to be very positive. But never the less, the prize will only be handed over next year”
Part of that new squad is Jerome Boateng who ends an unhappy spell in the UK to return to Germany.
Boateng joined Manchester City from Hamburg in 2010 but after making just 16 appearances for City, he has returned to Germany to link up with Bayern.
Despite failing to impress at City, Sammer has faith in Boteng’s ability.
“He needs time after his knee injury, he needs to rebuild, even though he is fully fit again, you shouldn’t forget that he has missed a few games,” Sammer said.
“He is very good at passing the ball, he is fast and he is the type of player that sets himself up with high aims, and with all I’ve been reading about Munich, everything will match.”
“As soon as he gets adapted and integrated, he will be a very strong player for Munich.”
Bayern start their Bundesliga campaign at home against Borussia Moenchengladbach on August 7.