Tag Archives: Football Manager

Who Wouldnt Want Giggs In Their Team?

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Since being unveiled as the new Wales manager yesterday, Gary Speed has wasted no time in re-opening the lines of communication with the veterans that former incumbent John Toshack systematically put out to pasture – insisting that the door is open should ageing stalwarts like Ryan Giggs, Simon Davies and Robbie Savage wish to overturn their respective international retirements.

Speed is well aware that his crop of burgeoning youngsters may benefit from playing alongside some experienced heads, and is already planning to hold talks with Giggs over returning to the national side:

“I am sure I will be ringing around. There are a couple who have already rung me to be honest. ‘Sav’ (Savage) has rang me. I’m not sure about Ryan yet, but who wouldn’t want him in a team? I’m sure others will be in touch.”

36-year-old Savage has already publicly declared himself available for selection after being alienated by Toshack – declaring in his Mirror column:

“I’m available to play for Wales again and if Gary Speed thinks it’s the right thing for me to come back then I will do. I think I’m playing well enough to be part of Wales again.

“But I know Gary and he won’t pick people for the sake of giving his old mates a last hurrah. If he says, ‘Sav, it’s over’ then I’ll respect that and I’ll still be a big advocate of him.”

If a Wales call-up will help reduce the amount of ‘screen time’ that Savage is currently enjoying, then I’m all bloody for it.Tweet

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Now Big Sam gets the sack from Blackburn Rovers

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Just like the sacking of Chris Hughton at Newcastle United last week, the news that Big Sam Allardyce has been given the boot from Blackburn Rovers beggars belief.

It appears that the new Indian owners at Blackburn want to put their mark on the club with immediate effect and despite promises of funds to spend in January they have now decided that Allardyce is not the man for the job.

Rovers are currently in 13th position in a Premier League where five points either way would put them either in contention for a European place or drop them into the relegation zone.

Blackburn lost out to Allardyce’s former club Bolton at the weekend  in a 2-1 defeat and have won only two out of their last five games,, but overall this season have made a good show of themselves, barring the recent 7-1 thrashing at Old Trafford.

Allardyce says he is shocked and disappointed to be leaving the club and despite the news he still wishes the club all the best in the future.

It is understood that first team coach Steve Kean will take temporary charge until a new manager is found.

Quite what the owners of clubs like Newcastle and Blackburn expect is hard to fathom, both were doing as well as can be expected of them in my view and sacking a manager at this time in the season rarely serves any other purpose than to unsettle the team and fans for the remainder of the term.

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Will Ancelotti Survive If Abramovich Chooses To Shuffle?

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It’s fair to say that everything in the Chelsea garden isn’t exactly ‘coming up roses’ at the moment, with the tangled tubers of power and influence seemingly beginning to undermine authority at Stamford Bridge once again, a pattern we’ve seen repeated several times during the club’s recent history.

Coupled with the inescapable fact that the playing staff have been going about their business half-cocked for the last few weeks, a healthy dose of staff upheaval has seen relations become ever-so-slightly frayed betwixt the administration and the ownership of late – with manager Carlo Ancelotti cutting a bemused figure throughout before finally admitting that he’d ‘be the last to know’ should any major changes be brought about by his Russian proprietor.

However, after watching helplessly as his assistant Ray Wilkins was unceremoniously replaced by a semi-qualified scout a fortnight ago, Ancelotti has reportedly been informed by his immediate superiors that he will be allowed a say in the process of attempting to find a successor to sporting director Frank Arnesen – who, earlier in the week, announced that he will be leaving Chelsea for pastures new come the end of the current season.

One of the possible like-for-like candidates already being mooted to ease into Arnesen’s imminent void is former Barcelona technical director Txiki Begiristain – though there are rumblings that owner Roman Abramovich may choose to scrap the position (or at least ‘down-grade’ it, thus syphoning away any executive power) which would, in essence, allow the Russian to become even more directly influential in terms of the day-to-day running of the club.

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Hughton Newcastle Contract Surely Not Toon Far Away?

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Chris Hughton could be forgiven for feeling smug recently, given the recent form of a rejuvenated and spirited Newcastle side. If we turn back the clocks by one month things were certainly very different. Hughton was subject to a torrent of abuse from some fans, as well as the media circulating rumours of a return for Joe Kinnear!

Before we focus on recent events however, lets look back to the beginning of last season, where a depleted Newcastle side were still licking the wounds left by such a turbulent a torrid time in the Premier League. August 2009 brought change for Newcastle. Chris Hughton began his reign as Caretaker Manager in sparkling form. A string of successive wins rejuvenated the Magpies fans, who started to believe in a quick return to the Premier League. Hughton was rightly given the job on a permanent basis and the rest is history!

The statistics don’t lie; and they show that Hughton has the best win record since Kevin Keegan’s first spell in charge at the club. The majority of football fans will know how many faces have been and gone in that time. The likes of Souness, Allardyce, Roeder and Kinnear add to a list of Newcastle Managers that have seriously underachieved. Another thing worth remembering about managers at the club in recent times is the amount of money they have cost the club because of cancelled contracts. In my opinion this has made Hughton’s job a hundred times harder. Financially he has had almost nothing to work with, something that is shown in the fact that Newcastle spent less money than Blackpool before the season started.

Newcastle’s recent 5-1 demolition of rivals Sunderland put Magpie fans on cloud nine. An astute tactical approach to the match saw Sunderland simply unable to deal with Newcastle’s attacking prowess. So what do you think should happen now?

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Taylor backs Redknapp as next England boss

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Fabio Capello has already confirmed he will retire in 2012 and there is a growing sentiment from both inside and outside the FA that the next England coach should be a local, as is increasingly the case in the top nations in international football.

Graham Taylor agrees with that notion and he sees Tottenham manager Redknapp as the best candidate of the English crop when it comes time to pick Capello’s successor.

“I have always believed that the job should go to an Englishman,” said Taylor, who led England for three years in the 1990s. “That’s not being disrespectful to Fabio or to Sven-Goran Eriksson. I just believe that the top countries in international football, players, staff, supporters pit their wits against other nations and the man in charge has to be from that country.”

Redknapp was touted as a possible successor to Capello this summer after he beat off competition from the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool to bring Champions League football to White Hart Lane for the first time in almost half a century.

The former Portsmouth boss, who has seen the likes of Gareth Bale, Tom Huddlestone and Michael Dawson flourish under his command, would be interested in the job while Liverpool’s Roy Hodgson and current Under-21 manager Stuart Pearce would stand a chance of getting the post if the FA decide to go English. Taylor, who was 46 when he took the England job, believes 63-year-old Redknapp has enough experience to make him the right man for the post.

“I’m sure if you asked everyone who should get it then they would go for Harry Redknapp right now,” Taylor said. “For me he is at the right age. If someone asked me to look back on my career I’d say I was too young to take that job. I think Harry would take it. He is an Englishman capable of doing the job.”

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