New QPR manager Harry Redknapp has confessed that he is interested in bringing former England captain David Beckham back to the Premier League.
The midfielder is set to leave MLS giants LA Galaxy at the end of the current American season, with his lucrative content due to expire.
It has been speculated that he may move to Australia in a bid to expand the A League’s global status, but rumours are now circulating that QPR may be interested.
Redknapp admitted that he would be open to signing Beckham and that he believes he would be able to contribute despite being 37-years-old:
“I’m sure he could still play in the Premier League,” he is quoted by SkySports.
“He is a top player and a fantastic person.
“We had him at Tottenham training and he was amazing around the place, absolute class.
But, he also acknowledged that no official plans are in place:
“I haven’t discussed it with the chairman (Tony Fernandes) at the moment so we’d have to look at that.
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“But David could still certainly be a great asset to anybody, showing people how to train, how to look after yourself. His professionalism is second to none.”
Beckham enjoyed a successful spell with Manchester United between 1993 and 2003, before joining Real Madrid in a big money move.
He left the Spanish capital after four years moving to the USA as the first Designated Player in MLS history.
Former Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong wants Mario Balotelli to join him at AC Milan.
The controversial Italian striker has been liked with a move away from the Premier League, with manager Roberto Mancini rumoured to be frustrated by his poor form and off-field distractions.
De Jong left the Etihad Stadium during the summer to join the Serie A giants, and would welcome his former team-mate should he elect to move:
“I have read about Mario coming to Milan in the papers,” he is quoted by SkySports.
“Let’s see what happens. It is always nice to have great players in the team.”
He also defended the striker against criticism for his temperament:
“Balo is great but he must feel good to do his best.”
The Dutchman went on to insists he is happy in Milan despite rumours that he was struggling to settle at his new club:
“It took me longer than I expected to settle here but I’ve only been here for two months,
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“Every game I try to do better. Everything is new for me here, the coach is looking for the best game plan and I have to adapt.
“Recent results show that we are on the right track with the 4-3-3.
“I like Italian football even if the stadiums are empty.”
Liverpool go into this Wednesday’s fixture in resurgent form after an impressive 3-0 win over rock bottom QPR.
They will be hoping though that 2013 delivers a lot more in the Premier League than 2012 did. The Reds still remain reliant upon Luis Suarez and the Uruguayan was up to his usual mischief at Loftus Road last time out delivering two goals.
Brendan Rodgers missed that game through illness and would stay away more often if it proved to be somewhat of a lucky charm.
The January transfer window is set to signal some new arrivals at Anfield but they will be looking to get the best out of what they have got as they still ambitiously eye up the Champions League places.
Martin O’ Neill will be slightly disappointed that his team could not build on their 1-0 over the Premier League Champions on Boxing Day last time out at the Stadium of Light.
They got beaten 2-1 by Tottenham Hotspur but the re-emergence of form of Adam Johnson will certainly be a boost to the side.
Steven Fletcher is the main man though and every time he has scored Sunderland have yet to lose a game, and will hope he can get on the scoresheet here.
Jose Enrique (hamstring) was taken off early during Sunday’s 3-0 win over QPR, so Stewart Downing is expected to fill his spot at left back, after impressing there when he’s been in that position this season. Martin Kelly (knee) remains on the sidelines but Brad Jones (illness) could return to the bench.
Wes Brown (knee) is expected to not be able to travel to Anfield, while John O’Shea (hamstring) failed to make the distance in the 2-1 loss to Tottenham on Saturday and is likely to miss the game alongside club captain Lee Cattermole (knee).
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Luis Suarez has scored in three of his four Premier League appearances against Sunderland and will be hoping to rattle in another goal or two here.
Prediction: Liverpool 0-0 Sunderland
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Rennes’ Yann M’Villa says he is ready for a switch away from the Stade de la Route de Lorient this January, piquing the interest of Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, according to Sky Sports.
News of the midfielder’s desire to leave, once again, has sparked further speculation linking him with a move to the Premier League, with North London his likely destination.
M’Villa, a France international, has long been the centre of speculation relating to a potential move to England.
Comments like those of Marcel Desailly, who mentioned in April 2012 that the player is “better even than Patrick Vieria,” proved only to strengthen rumours of his many possible moves to the physically demanding Premier League.
The player, 22, who many see as ready for a move away from his homeland, could make the switch this January.
“I am at Rennes at the moment so let’s see what happens,” M’Vila reiterated.
“If the club receive a good offer and I like the destination then I will go, there is no doubt about that.
“Until that happens, nothing can be said.”
A switch to England is certainly likely with Spurs being strongly linked with the player in the past and Arsenal seemingly in need of a player possessing greater physical attributes than they currently have in the centre of midfield.
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No approach has yet been made but M’Villa’s comments look set to reignite this discussion throughout January, intensifying talk of his Ligue 1 defection.
’ hopes of hijacking Loic Remy’s transfer to Newcastle have taken a turn for the good, after Marseille confirmed they have accepted their bid for the striker.
On Sunday, reports suggested that Remy’s move to Tyneside was nearing completion, but it is now understood that Rangers and another unnamed club have seen their bids of around £8.6 million accepted.
Marseille sporting director Jose Angio confirmed QPR’s interest and said the decision now rests with the player, with the club believed to be able to offer the Frenchman far more in wages than the Magpies.
“The coach of QPR has a good reputation,” Angio told RTL radio. “Remy will talk with them as he discusses with two other clubs. For Remy there is not just Newcastle, we also have an agreement with QPR and one other club. It is up to Remy to decide. I don’t think Remy has shut the door on QPR as is being said everywhere.”
Rangers boss Harry Redknapp had attempted to sign Remy earlier in the window, and was seen in the crowd when Marseille took on Guingamp in the French Cup. However reports also claimed Remy had rejected the manager’s advances after the game, preferring a move to Tyneside.
The news follows earlier comments from Hatem Ben Arfa and Mathieu Debuchy, welcoming their potential new teammate to Newcastle.
“He’s made the right choice. When he’s confident he’s a great forward. He’ll enjoy playing in England,” Ben Arfa said.
Meanwhile full-back Debuchy confirmed that Yohan Cabaye had spoken with Remy on Sunday evening about a possible move to the north east.
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“I’m still living with Yo[han] [Cabaye] and Remy telephoned last night.
“Remy asked Cabaye for news of the club and wanted to know how things work and how things are going at Newcastle.”
This could be a considered a meeting of two managers destined to find themselves out of work once the season comes to a close. Roberto Mancini’s fate has been the subject of intense discussion since Manchester City’s shock defeat at Southampton two weeks ago left them cast adrift from Manchester United at the top. The Italian appears to be on borrowed time at the Etihad Stadium and knows delivering the Premier League title is the only possible solution to holding onto his job. But by the time they kick off against Chelsea on Sunday they could be 15 points behind United, who play QPR a day earlier. Should they manage to wrestle the title away from their local rivals it would count as an even greater accomplishment to the one that saw them pip their greatest foes to the post last season. A repeat of their limp display on the South Coast last time out will almost certainly hammer another nail into Mancini’s coffin.
Much like his Italian counterpart Rafael Benitez is another manager expected to meet a grisly end at the campaigns conclusion. Chelsea’s interim boss was an unpopular appoint amongst the clubs support but in a strange twist could end up delivering two trophies to Stamford Bridge. Despite turning in below-par performances against Brentford in the FA Cup and Sparta in the Europa League the club are still in with a genuine chance of winning both competitions. Whether that will be enough to save Benitez from Roman Abramovich’s axe remains to be seen. Stealing second spot from City would go some way to convincing the Russian billionaire to refrain from giving him the boot and victory at the Etihad Stadium would reduce the gap to a solitary point.
Team News
Vincent Kompany could sit out a fifth successive game if he doesn’t shake off a calf injury, while Gareth Barry is struggling with an ankle knock.
Rafael Benitez may recall Demba Ba, Ashley Cole, Eden Hazard, Branislav Ivanovic, David Luiz and Frank Lampard after they sat out the Europa League win on Thursday.
What the managers said…
“It’s difficult to win all 12 games in a row in the Premier League but we will try. Our target is to win the Premier League, not to finish second. We want to try to win trophies. Sometimes it’s not possible, but it’s important our team is always there on the top and fights for the title. Sometimes we can do a mistake or sometimes the other team could be better than us. This is possible.” Roberto Mancini insists Manchester City aren’t playing for second place (Manchester Evening News)
“We have to go there with confidence and if we are close we can fight for being in the top two. And if not we have to fight for being in the top four. The priority is to win; if we win this game we will be closer but if we cannot we have to keep fighting. What I can see now is a team with confidence, we are confident we can beat City or anyone if we do things in the right way. The race for the top four will go on until the end of the season. Our last game is against Everton so I’m sure that, until the end of the season, we will be winning games or losing games or whatever but it will be very tight, very close. I think that one game can make a big difference so until the end it will be difficult for everyone.” Rafael Benitez believes Chelsea can finish in the top two if they beat Manchester City (BBC Sport)
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Pre-Match Statistic: Five of the last eight competitive meetings between the two sides have been won by Manchester City
Prediction: Manchester City 1-2 Chelsea
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Reading boss Nigel Adkins will welcome back Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak for Saturday’s clash against Arsenal.
Adkins takes charge of his first game at the Emirates Stadium and will be delighted to have Pogrebnyak available after he served a three-match ban following his sending off against Wigan.
Fit-again trio Jimmy Kebe, Adam Federici and Danny Guthrie are also in contention to make the starting line up so Adkins has plenty of options, but Jason Roberts is still out with a hip injury.
Everyone seems to have returned safe and well from international duty, and although Adkins has not had much time to prepare for the game, he still thinks they are capable of getting a result.
“Our spirit can take us a long way,” stressed Adkins. “We’ve got a great game coming up and we’re going to relish that.
“It’s an interesting challenge, some players won’t get back until Thursday afternoon. It’s a great challenge to pull all that together, but Andy and I are really looking forward to it.
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“Reading have good players who fight for each other. We’re going to scrap for every point. Forget about the future, we’re concentrating on the here and now and giving ourselves every opportunity against Arsenal.”
In the modern game, the role of a manager has drastically changed. From the days of being involved in almost every aspect of the club, you are more likely to find a new managerial appointment being described as a ‘head coach’ rather than a ‘manager’, and thus with it the indication that their role will be sufficiently limited to their efforts on the training ground and on match days, with little or no influence upon the business side of things.
Although it makes sense in the current climate of Premier League club’s becoming business and financial institutions in their own right, which operates and determines success almost completely independently to results on the pitch, my underlying concern is that the seperation of monetary issues and footballing issues has in effect taken the power of the transfer market away from those who need it most – the managers.
Whereas in the past, it was not unusual for managers to rely upon the knowledge of their coaches and their own scouting network to provide them with acceptable transfer targets, creating a consensus which would also be discussed in financial terms with the chairman, it appears more and more that the actual influence a manager has altered from having the final say, or at least their say carrying considerable weight to an overall decision, to little or no say, despite the fact that ultimately it will be the manager or head coach who will bear the full brunt of responsibility for a team’s failings.
The most promenant example which comes to mind is the story of Manchester City this season. Whilst perhaps Roberto Mancini deserves his fair share of due criticism for not getting the best out of his star-studded cast throughout their almost non-existent title defense, and similarly, at the start of the campaign, the Citizens failed to adapt to the Italian’s impractical use of a 3-5-2 formation, some blame has to be attatched to the club’s backroom officials for failing to bring in new recruits of a high enough standard in the summer.
Whilst Manchester United bought Robin van Persie, in a £20million deal that essentially handed them the Premier League title, Sporting Director Brian Marwood oversaw the purchases of Jack Rodwell, Scott Sinclair, Matija Nastasic, Javi Garcia and Maicon. Whilst perhaps the three youngsters are prospects of the future, Javi Garcia has had a rather unceromonious and average inaugural season, whilst Maicon appears to be firmly into his twilight years.
[cat_link cat=”premiership” type=”list”]
The fact is, none of these players, excluding Nastasic, possess the current ability to be holding down a regular first team place, or keep the likes of Yaya Toure and David Silva, or even Gareth Barry, on their toes in fear of losing their slots in the starting XI, whilst no additions were made up front, despite Mario Balotelli’s future being in doubt for some time, and the Italian finally imploding his own City career by January.
Mancini has openly discussed how he has felt let down by those in control of the club’s transfers in press conferences this season, as reported by the Daily Mail. The Italain stated at the end of the summer after being quizzed by reporters about a lack of transfer activity; “These questions you should ask other people. I don’t know what I can say. After three or four months… nothing. You should talk to Brian Marwood for this.’Not me. Talk to Marwood please… No I’m not happy. I don’t want to say anything at the moment. For me we have a good team. But we need to continue to improve.”
Despite his glaring indication of disappointment, it is Mancini’s job which is currently being scrutinised and held up for review in the British media, and no doubt also behind closed doors.
It’s a similar story at Newcastle; this season, the Magpies have shifted from the Premier League’s overachievers to the top-flight’s most underperfoming team.Although I am not a fan of Alan Pardew, and I believe many of the club’s poor showings this year can be attributed to his failings as a manager in terms of tactics, motivation and understanding of his opponents, he has been by no means helped by Mike Ashley and Graham Carr – whom share a power vacuum over transfers which excludes the former Charlton and West Ham boss – who brought in just one summer signing in Vernun Anita, despite Newcastle having one of their most hectic and fixture-filled seasons to date with their qualification and involvement in the Europa League.
But, considering the finer details, perhaps it is more understandable. Even Alan Pardew’s biggest fan would admit that his knowledge of European football, and thus his pool of sourcing new signings, is sufficiently lacking, with the majority of his purchases at former clubs coming from the lower tiers of the English leagues.
Similarly, despite being offered an eight year contract by Mike Ashley, it would take a brave man to bet on Pardew seeing out its full tenure, and separating transfers from footballing duties at least creates some longevity and stability in the club’s overall transfer policy, which counteracts the managerial merry-go-round of hiring and firing that has encompassed English football in recent years.
As well as the culture of managerial appointments being an underlying factor in removing transfers from a head coaches’ sphere of influence, another is the rise in power of the modern owner. Whereas in the past, owner’s may have had the power to veto specific transfers on grounds of it being financially impractical, it has now become the norm for owners and chairmen to be directly involved in sourcing players, with the most obvious example being Roman Abramovich.
The club’s inability to hold on to a manager for more than a matter of months has given the Russian billionaire free reign in terms of bringing in players, which has no doubt been a factor in Fernando Torres’s torrid £50million move to Stamford Bridge. Whilst to a businessman and a football fan, the move may have made sense, in practical terms the Spaniard was never the perfect fit for a team based around organisation, physique and stability. Furthermore, he was never Carlo Ancelotti’s signing, and he was never Andre Villas-Boas’s signing, he was the owner’s signing.
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I fear their recent purchase of Andre Schurrle will suffer a similar fate. Despite it being just two months away from the end of the season, by which time Chelsea should have appointed a new manager to replace the outgoing Rafa Benitez, the club’s officials have brought in a new recruit, without even considering the implications for their new head coach. It may be quite simply that he is not preferred by the future Blues boss, and thus, the club will face another battle between success on the pitch and actual financial investment; the same dilemma which lead to Torres becoming horrendously over-played, despite his poor form.
In the modern game, there are several deviations from the past that due to the rise in the business side of the game, one most accept, despite presenting relatively little business sense or defying the traditional logic of how a club should be run. However, whereas in some cases, the seperation of transfers and first team duties can be of benefit, due to the limited attributes of a particular coach in terms of their prowess in the transfer market, overall I believe it has sufficiently weakened the position of managers in the Premier League.
It limits them from installing their own vision upon the club, and furthermore, presents the opportunity for a rift to develop between a head coach and club officials, such as Sporting Directors. It can create a contrast in views that if left unresolved can result in a team’s eventual demise, and I believe it contributes more to the hire and fire culture than it does alleviate the risk from an owner’s perspective. More trust should be given to managerial appointments in the transfer market, or else they must stop being held fully accountable for their team’s failings.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is hoping to sign highly rated Brazilian defender Douglas on a free transfer this summer, according to the Daily Mail.
Douglas is out of contract at the end of the season and is not expected to sign a deal at FC Twente, leaving him able to talk to clubs about a free move when the transfer window opens.
Newcastle were close to agreeing a £4million for the Brazilian last summer but the central defender opted to stay in Holland for one more season to allow his contract to run down.
Liverpool are desperate to replace the retiring Jamie Carragher and have been linked with a whole host of defenders in recent weeks including Swansea’s Ashley Williams and Tottenham’s Steven Caulker.
The Reds will not splash the cash this summer, unlike recent years, and the free signing of Douglas would be the perfect switch for the club and the player.
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Mark Schwarzer claims he must be the number one goalkeeper at Fulham next season if he is to sign a new contract at the club.
The 40-year-old Australian international goalkeeper will be out of contract at Craven Cottage at the end of next month, but has contradicted boss Martin Jol’s claims that a new contract offer is on the table waiting to be signed.
Schwarzer said: “I am out of contract and as of yet I have had no official offer of a new deal, contrary to reports.
“I still want to play in the Premier League and still believe I have the ability to do it.”
And, while the former Middlesbrough custodian would be open to staying with the west Londoners, he also insisted that he wants to be the first-choice keeper in order to fulfil his ambition of playing for his country at next summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil.
He added: “The bottom line is I have to find a club that believe in my ability as a goalkeeper. I still have the hunger to play at the highest level and I want to go to another World Cup.
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“If that means I need to go elsewhere then I will move elsewhere.”