New signing Nikola Zigic believes he can help fire Birmingham City into Europe after joining the Blues in a £6million deal from Valencia.
The 6ft 8in tall Serbia striker has penned a four-year contract at St Andrew's before heading off to the World Cup after being impressed by the ambition of a club which finished ninth in the Premier League last season.
"I have always wanted to play in the Premier League and to get the opportunity is a fabulous thing. It will be a super experience and I am thoroughly looking forward to it," he told the club's official website.
"I have been watching the Premier League for many, many years. I think being involved with it will be tremendous and I'm thoroughly looking forward to it.
"I did hear through various sources the club were interested in me and what really swayed me to come over was the potential of playing for such a big club in the Premier League and the potential of playing in Europe.
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"It was an opportunity I couldn't really turn down."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
England’s World Cup defeat at the hands of Germany could just be the wake-up call that this country needs to stop neglecting grassroots football and ensure that more English talent starts coming through.
Ironically a German said that England weren’t producing talented players two weeks before this match. Legendary defender Franz Beckenbauer said:
“I am not sure if the England coach Fabio Capello can still change much there. The English are being punished for the fact that there are very few English players in the Premier League as clubs use better foreign players from all over the world.”
After the weekend’s game you feel that Der Kaiser may well have a point especially as Germany’s side included a lot of young and talented players like Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller; it makes you wonder just where are England’s youngsters? Part of the problem does seem to be because of the big influx of foreign players in the Premiership. Most nations have the league’s big teams contribute towards their squads yet only 11 players out of the 23 came from last year’s big four. Surely there has to be some young talented English players coming through at those clubs? Manchester United have let a lot of their talent youngsters go in recent years when they should have been given more of a chance at club. Ryan Shawcross is an example and he has proved himself as a talented youngster at Stoke, yet he would have thrived even more at Manchester United and could be a more accomplished defender had they not let him go.
However the problems behind England’s youth don’t just lie at a senior level, it goes all the way back to grassroots football. The country still doesn’t have a regional centre of excellence and if one was in place then all the young English talent could be pooled together. The facilities for youngsters’ Sunday league games are dire, and with five-a-side centres offering a more casual and eye-catching experience a lot of people are turning to them instead. A lot of teams also focus their scouting abroad and bring in players from other countries which in turn push out the English players. The FA seems to struggle to properly invest in grassroots football and the main reason behind it could be because of how costly Wembley stadium turned out to be.
As for current youngsters coming through the ranks none of them are getting regular game time for the top four clubs. The youngster who appears to get the most game time for the biggest club is Jack Rodwell of Everton and David Moyes needs to be commended for putting faith into his youngsters. Unfortunately the likes of Arsene Wenger and Martin O’Neill don’t seem to want to give youth a chance, in the instances of Jack Wilshere and Fabian Delph respectively.
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Unfortunately the English national side is not going to progress until teams stop buying so many foreign players and give the young English ones a chance. Otherwise if the influx of foreign players keeps increasing we will see more and more Emile Heskey’s turn out for England, rather than Wayne Rooney’s and nobody wants to see that!
So we’ve seen the best and worst of another World Cup and I’m left needing a hobby to fill the vacuous hole. For no other reason than mourning, here’s my team of the tournament (in a rough 4-2-3-1ish formation):
Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas
He looked a shade below par last season and began the World Cup in similar fashion. But he proved his worth in some crucial moments: a penalty save against Chile and his stop against Arjen Robben in the final.
Left Back: Fábio Coentrão
On many occasions he provided Portugal’s attacking thrust and linked well with Ronaldo when both on the left side. His attacking instincts did not hinder his defensive responsibilities and he was Portugal’s best player.
Centre Back: Carles Puyol
He is a testament to Spain’s ability to cut it at both ends of the spectrum: they’re aesthetic and they’re functional. His partnership with Pique perfectly encapsulates the need for complementary characteristics (one is ball-playing, technical and responsible for recycling possession whilst the other, you feel, is willing to sprint into cavalry fire). His header in the semi final was a memorable moment and highlights our media’s inability to grasp the idea that this Spain team can get the job done both ways: intricately and absolutely directly.
Centre Back: Arne Friedrich
A lot was made of Germany’s ‘suspect’ defence before the tournament but Friedrich quietly impressed and even scored against Argentina. I didn’t know much about him before the World Cup but his consistent performances have been a pleasant surprise.
Right Back: Philipp Lahm
Taking over as Captain from the injured Michael Ballack only helped Lahm’s performances. He is as reliable as they come and displays an obstinate refusal to lose the ball – I was continuously surprised at the consummate ease of his play in possession. His attacking inclinations are known and became especially apparent in Germany’s demolition of Argentina.
Centre Midfield: Bastian Schweinsteiger
Much like Lahm, Schweinsteiger has grown into a player of the absolute highest calibre. His evolution from promising winger to accomplished deep lying midfielder has equipped him with a breadth of skills. But more than his qualities as a footballer, Schweinsteiger possesses the personality of a leader and seeing him captain Germany in their final match of the World Cup against Uruguay was a special moment.
Centre Midfield: Xabi Alonso
Behind Villa I thought he was Spain’s best performer until the final (we won’t know how much de Jong’s assault affected him physically). His distribution is not an unknown quantity – amongst the best passers in world football – but what I found interesting was his importance to the progress of Spain’s attacks through midfield; what I mean by this is his willingness to spread play directly with pace and a greater sense of direction (the cross field passes to Ramos a case in point). And whilst Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets allow for a similar style of short interplay, Alonso offered another dimension to the quartet. Alonso was the first pass Busquets looked for and he became the fulcrum between defence and attack, often responsible for supplying passes (primarily to Xavi) higher up the pitch. But none of this is to imply possession and consistency isn’t his prerogative; what’s startling is the Spanish central trio’s pass completion rate.
Attacking Midfield left: David Villa
Coming in high off the left led to Villa’s goal haul at this World Cup. What’s interesting is that though his own performances were match winning, the ramifications of deploying Torres proved too costly for Spain’s overall cohesion. Centrally it is much harder to isolate players and penetrate like he could on the left but his movement crucially allowed space for Xavi and Iniesta to manoeuvre. This World Cup showed a stubborn and desirable trait of delivering when your team most needs it and of Spain’s first 6 goals, Villa scored 5 and assisted the other.
Attacking midfield centre: Wesley Sneijder
Strangely I don’t think Sneijder had as good a tournament as many are making out. Of his 5 goals, 3 were fortuitous…but 5 goals is more than enough reason in terms of output and conversion. I’ve picked him more for his remarkable (and decisive) ability to execute; some of his through balls over the past month have been truly miraculous and it is unfortunate for him that Robben could not convert the most important one in the final.
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Attacking Midfield right: Thomas Müller
After the Champions League final I heard a lot of negativity about the ‘skinny guy up front’. Thankfully Müller showed just why writing off 20-year-olds is one of the most rash and illogical streaks our media suffers from. To finish as top scorer at a World Cup at such a young age is a huge achievement and he’s taken over from Klose as the new German with an affinity for scoring on the biggest stage.
Striker: Diego Forlan
Football remains in a sphere of its own with stories like Forlan’s. As we all know, the national press has a habit of being quite insular and unforgiving; Forlan left England without leaving a mark and even his repeated goal scoring feats with Villarreal and Atletico Madrid (European Golden Boot winner for both clubs) weren’t enough to cast off his tag as an English flop. But to catch the eye of the watching world on the biggest stage and collect the Golden Ball award is too much. Poetic.
Three days into his Newcastle career and Sol Campbell has had to defend himself against a small section of the Geordie fans. Labelled as ‘fat belly’ on a forum after a somewhat unflattering photo was published of the defender training, Campbell branded the fans involved as ‘pathetic’. Campbell was also honest however, in admitting that he wasn’t in prime condition:
“I am a naturally big guy, but I cannot rush my conditioning, otherwise trying too much too quickly could result in injuries. Of course I can understand the manager wants me to be in the side, but the season starts in just two weeks and I really need three to four weeks to get back to peak fitness.”
It is far too early to write Campbell off. There was a stage earlier in the summer where it appeared that the former England international seemed to have a straight-forward choice between another year at Arsenal or a move north of the border to Celtic. How concrete either offer was from each club is now irrelevant because by moving to St James’ Park he has a chance to get something he couldn’t have got from the other clubs: regular football at the highest standard.
Whether Campbell can play 40 games over the course of the season is unlikely, but Steven Taylor’s injury – out until November with a dislocated shoulder – means that Chris Hughton’s capture of Campbell is an even more shrewd bit of business. After Campbell’s (limited) time at Notts County, there was a serious concern about whether he would actually play again; the move itself was a surprise, and the way and speed in which he left only heightened the confusion. It is safe to say no one expected he’d be back at Arsenal come January, but considering the lack of football and conditioning, he made an impressive comeback and a valuable contribution at the Emirates. Campbell has been away on his honeymoon, his reasoning for the lack of fitness, and has vowed he’ll be back in shape. If he managed to do it with nearly five months out of the game, a matter of weeks should not be a concern to any wary fans.
What Newcastle have over most other newly promoted teams to the top flight is that their players have Premier League experience, a valuable commodity and one that Campbell will add to. Even in the Keegan era, when Newcastle were competing for the title, and measly and water-tight defensive unit was never the club’s forté, and having Campbell to orchestrate the defence will be a massive assurance to the players around him.
The decision to join Newcastle shows that Campbell is still ambitious, and confident in his ability that he can perform consistently at a high standard. The abuse he got I’m sure is not shared by the majority of Newcastle fans, and Campbell is no stranger to handling criticism: he will still be the target for Spurs fans, and it wasn’t long ago that he was the victim of homophobic chanting while playing at Portsmouth. By admitting that he is not as fit as he wants to be, Campbell has shown that he’s not trying to fool anyone, he is as aware as anyone that there is work to be done. The taunting regarding his fitness may have a little truth in it, but it’s a bit hasty and won’t help the situation, especially as it is towards a player that could potentially be a key figure in Newcastle’s season.
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With the PL season nearly upon us, let’s see the WAGS that will be keeping the players on their toes. Click on image to VIEW gallery
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Real Madrid head coach Jose Mourinho has called time on his club's hopes of being able to sign Chelsea's England left-back Ashley Cole.
The 29-year-old has been linked with a move to the Santiago Bernabeu for some time, but former Blues boss Mourinho has admitted that there is no chance of Cole moving to Spain.
He told the Sunday Times:"Carlo Ancelotti was very, very clear and that's the best way in football.
"He killed the story by saying 'no money can buy Ashley Cole, Ashley Cole needs to stay'.
"I think Ashley thought about leaving for personal and professional reasons. We thought about him because he's a good player who I enjoyed working with.
"But when a coach says no, it's no and we have to accept that."
Meanwhile, Mourinho has also explained the reasons behind not trying to pursue the signing of Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard.
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The Portuguese added:"Steven is part of Liverpool history, he belongs to Liverpool Football Club.
"He is so important for them that the price is not a price for a 30-year-old player."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
For Sunderland, everything is in place. Looking around the league and seeing financial struggles, manager/chairman tensions, player revolts and alike amongst their opponents, the view from the Stadium of Light can be considered somewhat rose-tinted.
In Ellis Short they have financial stability and backing. In Niall Quinn, there is a chairman who genuinely cares for the club and has its interests above his own. And in Steve Bruce they have a good manager, who is savvy in the transfer market, has the Sir Alex Ferguson breeding and appears to have excellent man management skills.
It’s a big city, with a fan base to match and an impessive stadium. In the three years since they were last promoted to the Premier League they have averaged over 40,000 in attendances (only the big four – if they still exist – Newcastle and Man City have averaged more). In those seasons, they have finished 15th, 16th and 13th respectively, and now that Bruce has got a core of his own players, it surely time that a top half finish beckons. Anything less than equalling last season’s finish is unacceptable.
The problem for Sunderland is that the club is amongst a number of clubs in a similar position; Birmingham, Fulham, Stoke and Blackburn can all lay claim to outdoing each other this season. Of those clubs listed however, Sunderland arguably have the greatest facilities and infrastructure to be in a position to push on.
Bruce has been busy this summer to strengthen the squad. Titus Bramble, Marcos Angeleri, Simone Mignolet, Ahmed Al Muhammadi (who has been a personal highlight thus far), Danny Welbeck and Nedum Onuoha have all arrived, not to mention the last day capture of Asamoah Gyan – big things will be expected. But the sales of Lorik Cana and Kenwyne Jones have surprised; both important players last season have moved on, the latter to a rival.
When a club comes up from the Championship, the only aim is survival. If that is achieved then the aim for next year is, nine times out of ten, survival. It is only after those two years of establishment and consolidation that a club really can start building. This is that time for Sunderland. After Roy Keane and Ricky Sbragia, Bruce appears as though he is in for the long haul. Having spent over £25m last summer, and invested again this time around (although the sale of Jones reaped a healthy £9m), Bruce can have no excuses about a lack of support or backing.
Improvement, even if it may be bit by bit, will always go down well with supporters; as long as you are heading in the direction you can be forgiven for how long it may take to get there. The Stadium of Light has become a difficult place for clubs to come to, and few relish it, if any at all. The away form however, is a more pressing concern. Only two wins on the road last term is a statistic that simply has to be improved upon. The only away game so far has been at West Brom, where for large parts of the game they were dominated: these are the fixtures where a club the size of Sunderland should at least be taking home a point.
Steve Bruce must deliver success; the grey area surrounds the constitution of what that success is. A top half finish (and dare I say a small cup run) would keep everyone associated with club in good spirits. From the outside, the Bruce/Short/Quinn axis really looks as though it works, and eventually expectations will rise. There is a solid foundation, and the rate of the build should now be on the up.
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A welcome addition to the Premier League’s Wag arena – Click on image below to view gallery
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Former Spurs boy Rohan Ricketts’ shares some of his ‘off the pitch’ memories…
The banter was hilarious. Robbie Keane and Jamie Redknapp great people to be around. They would love to wind each other up by secretly sending prank texts from the other one’s phone. Robbie would text Louise Redknapp pretending to be Jamie and then Jamie would get revenge by texting the Ireland manager from Robbie’s phone.
Of course there’s also all the usual stuff you have to put up with like someone cutting up your brand new Armani suit and putting sh*t in your shoes. But sometimes the wind-ups aren’t always so obvious.
When I was at Barnsley, Andy Johnson had a phobia of cotton wool so we put loads in his jeans. When he came back after training he put his hands in his pockets and started freaking out and having a bit of a seizure. He got so mad that he threatened to bring in a dead rat because he lived in a farm house and had some big ones kicking about.
I remember one player at Spurs who had slept with this girl who was in the public eye and she wasn’t the best looking. When the boys, especially Robbie Keane, found out about it they never stopped hammering him about it. They even got her number from his phone and started calling her up.
You do get some guys who are goody two shoes – a bit more sensible than the rest. They get ripped to pieces every day with banter and if they’re not strong they end up wanting to leave the club. Sometimes it gets too much because players don’t stop. Players are like hunters who can smell their prey – if they sense weakness they’ll kill you.
At Spurs there was one player who used to get hammered because the others didn’t rate him. They’d banter about his bad touch and that he was ‘stealing a living’. They’d make out they were only joking but you know never a truer word said in jest. It got really bad one Christmas party and I don’t know if it affected him but he left Spurs pretty soon after.
I’ve met some players that are so crazy you do wonder where they’d be if they weren’t playing football. There was this one guy who kept me laughing the whole time. Once we went on tour and out of nowhere he ran across the hotel lobby and did a two footed tackle on a plant pot in and smashed it to pieces. He was only wearing his flip flops!
Then there was this other bloke was at Tottenham who was ruthless. We were on tour one time and he needed to go to the toilet but his roommate was in there so instead he shat on the floor . Then he put a £50 note on it and left the room. I used to ask him what he was going to do at the weekend and he’d always say something like: “Get drunk, get into a scrap and end up in a cell. Bob’s your uncle, I’ll be back in Monday morning.” He knew he was going to get arrested before he was even drunk!
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I’ve seen players fight each other in the dressing room. I remember after one game a really big name star was talking to younger player who called him a ‘****** ****’. The star just smacked the kid and busted his nose up for being too mouthy. In terms of physical size they were as big as each other but the big name player is a star and in his mind that made him King Kong…
Rohan’s full diaries are available at Sabotage Times
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is keeping his fingers crossed that the injury picked up by Darren Bent while on England duty proves not to be too serious.
Bent will miss Tuesday's Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro with an abductor muscle injury.
The in-form striker was set to partner Wayne Rooney up front in a rare England start and had admitted to being "gutted" and "angry" at his untimely injury setback.
Bent had impressed Fabio Capello after scoring seven goals in nine club appearances this season.
His availability is now a concern for Black Cats boss Bruce ahead of Saturday's Premier League encounter with Blackburn Rovers.
"Benty's had a scan and England have confirmed he won't play any part tonight," Bruce told his club's official website.
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"We're hoping it's not too serious but Darren's still with England at the moment so we won't put any time-scales until our own medical team have had a chance to assess the injury."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
West Brom boss Roberto di Matteo admitted his team had caught Manchester City at exactly the wrong time as Roberto Mancini's side produced one of their best displays of the season to beat the Baggies 2-0 at The Hawthorns on Sunday.
City had lost their last three games in all competitions and the pressure was increasing on boss Mancini, who was able to welcome Carlos Tevez and Nigel De Jong back in to his side following injury.
Mario Balotelli scored both City's goals before being sent off, while Albion had Youssouf Mulumbu dismissed in the closing stages.
Di Matteo said after the game:"There is never a good time to play a team like City because they have so many good players. It's a shame we found them in good form.
"I think it's fair to say City were very good and we need to give them credit. They never let us settle into the game – especially in the first half.
"We tried to press them but they were good and moved the ball around in a one-touch style. They had good possession and quality players on the pitch. They were coming off the line, rotating and they just had quality on the ball.
"Balotelli showed sheer power and strength to hold off our defender on their second goal and it was difficult for our boys.
"In the second half, we managed to get closer to them and we put them under a little bit of pressure.
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"We were a bit unfortunate in hitting the post and crossbar.Maybe, if we'd got one goal back, it would have lifted the crowd and ourselves a little bit more and given us a better chance.
"In terms of Youssouf's second yellow card, there was no doubt about it. But he wasn't aware he had received a yellow card for the first one. That's why he was surprised."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger praised striker Marouane Chamakh after his double strike secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory at Wolves.
The summer signing struck in the first and last minute at Molineux to take his tally to eight goals in 17 games since his switch from Bordeaux, with Wenger full of praise for the 26-year-old Morocco international.
He commented:"He was not sharp against Newcastle and I only played him for an hour after he had been sick for all the previous week.
"I thought he would be sharper tonight. If you look back since the start of season, he has been decisive in many games.
"We went early into the lead and the victory was so important for us tonight that the focus was more on defending and keeping the result safe.
"If you look at the game, we had many chances, but I must say you have to give credit to Wolves.
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"They are good defensively, they are good at winning the ball back and they always looked dangerous. They will give problems to anyone in this league."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email