Friday's Fun Packed B*ll*x
Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 8:27 amTevez goes on about United (again)
CARLOS TEVEZ says he does not deserve the abuse he gets from Manchester United fans because of the loyalty he showed to them.
In fact, the Argentine believes it was United who failed to show him loyalty.
Tevez's new club Manchester City face their fierce rivals United in what he describes as England's 'classico' in the semi-final of the Carling Cup. The last game between the two saw Tevez, 25, booed every time he touched the ball. He said: "Obviously I was disappointed, because I don't think I deserved to be treated that way. When I was there, I was a hard-working and loyal player who gave my all."
Tevez spent two years at United as part of a loan agreement costing £6million and helped them to successive titles and the Champions League. There was a verbal agreement with his co-owner and agent Kia Joorabchian that the deal would be made permanent for a further £26m. But despite assurances over the last year of his loan, United never put an offer on the table - although boss Alex Ferguson did ask him to stay after the Champions League final defeat to Barcelona in May.
The club simply felt he was not worth the extra money. Tevez said: "After the final, Ferguson tried to get me to sign permanently but I told him I was moving on. "My contract was terminated on the day of the Champions League final, so there was no time for negotiations. And my heart was already set on a move elsewhere."
Tevez revealed Fergie has not spoken to him since then, even after the dramatic September derby at Old Trafford which United won 4-3 with Michael Owen's injury-time winner. The Argentine scored the first goal in a 3-0 quarter-final triumph over Arsenal on Wednesday to set up January's home-and-away semi. Tevez said: "Obviously it's going to be a 'classico' and I'm very happy to be playing United. I played there for two years and now I'm going to have to play against many of my friends once again."
Despite the way he feels he was treated by United and the abuse he received from their fans, Tevez insists he will still not celebrate if he scores. He said: "Obviously I'd be delighted to beat United and reach the final but I still have respect for the club. "I won't celebrate if I score. I don't want to rub their noses in it."
City face table-toppers Chelsea at home tomorrow and will be in buoyant mood after the victory over Arsenal - despite a run of seven league draws. Tevez said: "It has given us the perfect lift before playing Chelsea. "We'll go into the game full of confidence and believing we can beat them."
And in http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... nited.html
[youtube]De2PY3uj0ls[/youtube]
MORE HANDSHAKE BOLLOX FROM SAVAGE
Arsene Wenger's Arsenal kids were no great shakes in the Carling Cup against Manchester City but that doesn't excuse the manager's out-of-character lapse in sportsmanship. Refusing to shake Mark Hughes' hand was an act not befitting of one of the greatest managers we've ever seen in English football and a man for whom I've always had the utmost respect... even if he might nor feel the same way about me!
I've been accused of setting a bad example on several occasions in my career and sometimes I've been guilty. But for someone as brilliant as Wenger to spurn the shake sends the wrong message not just to kids but to other managers. I've spent long afternoons having lumps kicked out of me by the likes of Patrick Vieira, Dennis Wise, Roy Keane and Steven Gerrard, and giving a bit back to them too. Yet at the end there's always been a handshake.
I've been part of teams which have shipped six goals to Arsenal but stopped to shake their players' hands at the game. Like going over to applaud your own travelling fans when they've paid good money to see you heavily beaten away from home, it's one of football's unwritten rules. Arsene was clearly annoyed by the incident in which Sparky left his technical area and went in front of Arsenal's to get the ball back into play quickly as City pressed at the end of the first half. I laughed when he confronted my old gaffer and received a dismissive wave of the hand in return – I've been on the end of that wave a few times myself!
But I wonder Wenger's out-of-character reaction has something to do with the physical way Sparky's Blackburn took his side on a few years back when I was at Rovers. I believe it was our right to do it - in the same way it was Arsenal's right to use their resources to spend millions more in transfer fees and wages than we could have dreamed of. It's ironic then that the boot was on the other foot on Wednesday as Wenger's outmatched kids picked up several bookings for cynical fouls against City's expensive talent. It was clearly a game too far for the young Guns and Wenger threw away any chance he had of winning a trophy by deciding not to put some of his big hitters on the bench.
The 5,000 Arsenal fans at Eastlands can't have got much out of the experience and you wonder if they share their manager's view that the Carling Cup is an irrelevance. When you support a massive club which hasn't won anything since 2005, I'd have thought any trophy at all would become important. But then Wenger has forgotten more about football than I'll ever know and you have to admire a man who stands by his principles.It makes me wonder whether Arsene will stick to his beliefs in the transfer window and continue to go for promising young talent.
I think the 5,000 fans at Eastlands – and the rest back at the Emirates – would rather see him bring in some top-dollar talent and if I were him I would move heaven and earth to get Valencia's David Villa. As much as I admire their manager and the way they play, I feel Arsenal need to make a statement signing or be left behind.
The best footballers to have never played in the World Cup - Nos 10-1
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... l?ITO=1490
TRANSFER BOLLOX
Chelsea are battling it out with Arsenal for Inter Milan's £18m-rated striker Mario Balotelli. Daily Mail
Chelsea have also been linked with a £13.5m move for Santos striker Neymar. (Daily Mail)
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is set to land Switzerland World Cup keeper Eldin Jakupovic as competition for current number one Heurelho Gomes.Daily Mirror
AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso could be heading for the Premier League after talks over extending his contract at the Italian club broke down. The Sun
Newcastle have turned down the opportunity to sign former England defender Sol Campbell who is now a free agent after leaving Notts County. Daily Mirror
The Magpies however, could move for former Newcastle midfielder Laurent Robert who is a free agent after leaving Larissa. Daily Mirror
But, Robert's plea to be given an opportunity at St James' Park is likely to go unanswered.The Times
Stoke want to sign Huddersfield keeper Alex Smithies in a £3m deal and then loan him back to the Terriers. Daily Mirror
Burnley want on-loan striker David Nugent to join on loan from Portsmouth on a permanent basis. The Times
Birmingham are being linked with a move for Valencia forward Nikola Zigic in January. The Times
Peterborough United boss Mark Cooper is setting up a move for Crewe's giant striker Calvin Zola when the transfer window opens in January. Daily Mirror
Malky Mackay, the Watford manager, does not expect to have to sell players despite the club's precarious financial situation. The Times
Blues bank on Wright-Phillips
SHAUN Wright-Phillips has come through a mini-crisis - and is ready to lead the City charge against his old Chelsea team-mates. Manager Mark Hughes was delighted to see the pacy winger in unplayable form against Arsenal on Wednesday night and took it as a sign that the fans' favourite is back.
"He has been a little bit frustrating with his form of late but he was outstanding on Wednesday," said Hughes. "He has understood that certain parts of his game were a little erratic and he was making wrong decisions. But he is an experienced guy who understood what needed to be done. We can highlight things but at the end of the day a player like Shaun understands what is needed and always steps up to the plate, and that is what he did on Wednesday. He was outstanding. Right from the off he set the tempo for the rest of the team. He took the full-back on and they couldn't cope with him." The leaders arrive at Eastlands with City hunting an end to their run of seven consecutive league draws - another would equal the English record.And Hughes says there is no reason his revitalised team cannot beat Chelsea to end the sequence.
"We want to get back on track, break the cycle of draws in the Premier League, and why can't it be at the weekend?" he said.
Wright-Phillips backed up his gaffer's words, saying: "If we play the way we did against Arsenal, we will give anyone a game. It was a team performance that lifted everyone and we are delighted we are through."
WES BROWN BOLLOX
United head to West Ham tomorrow looking to close the gap on Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea to a couple of points before Carlo Ancelotti's men tackle City at Eastlands half an hour later. Yet it is the Carling Cup that remains the talk of the city, as it pits United against City in a two-legged semi-final where the prize is a place at Wembley. While United have been there on numerous occasions in recent years, for City it would represent their first major final since 1981 and confirmation the multi-million pound investment of Sheikh Mansour may eventually change the landscape of the English game.
But the Red shyte have no intention of simply standing aside.
"You are aware of the shifts in power but we have always been up there, which is a good achievement," Brown told Inside United.
"We set out to challenge for the title at the start of every season and to continue doing that we have to keep working hard. City have got a lot of money to spend and have therefore bought good players and will probably continue to do so.
"That means they are going to be challenging - they have to be with the players they have. We have just got to keep doing what we are doing, continue improving and hopefully we can keep on doing as well as we have over the last few years."
PODCAST WEEKEND PREVIEW BOLLOX
http://www.mirror.co.uk?bcpid=187311640 ... 4106617001
OTHER BOLLOX
Notts County director of football Sven Goran Eriksson is on the brink of quitting the League Two club because he is not being paid the full amount of his seven-figure contract. Daily Mail
The 32 nations who made it to South Africa will share a jackpot of more than £250m next summer.The Sun
Meanwhile, £200m people across the globe are expected to watch Friday's World Cup draw.The Sun
Football fans will also be able to watch next year's World Cup in 3D for the first time.Daily Telegraph
WAG OF THE DAY - Jennifer Walcott
http://www.thespoiler.co.uk/index.php/2 ... er-walcott
CHELSEA PREVIEW BOLLOX
If you hear a loud clinking sound in Manchester on Saturday evening that will be sound of the moneybags of Manchester City and Chelsea clashing in the late Premier League fixture at Eastlands. Mark Hughes' team are aping the example set by their more illustrious southern rivals a few years ago, spending huge sums without batting an eyelid to assemble a glittering array of talent.
The problem is, as fellow big-spenders Real Madrid are finding, bringing together a collection of outrageous talents in one team is not the same as developing a great team through managerial skills. Whether Hughes has yet attained the ability to make a side featuring such irresistible attacking talents as Robinho, Carlos Tevez, Craig Bellamy, Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz remains to be seen.
His counterpart tomorrow, Carlo Ancelotti, does have the team-building knack, having steered AC Milan to one Serie A title and two Champions Leagues, and his Chelsea steamroller is crushing the life out of its Premier League rivals. The 3-0 thumping of Arsenal last weekend will be more a guide of what to expect, and there will be some wounded pride to avenge in the wake of Wednesday night's defeat on penalties to Blackburn in the Carling Cup.
City themselves took apart a virtual Arsenal reserves side the same night to reach their first cup semi final for decades, so will be buoyant that maybe there recent lethargy - seven consecutive draws, a Premier League record - can be shaken off, but Chelsea will be too strong and relentless for the fragile defence of the hosts.
FINAL BOLLOX
Middlesbrough have offered fans a gamble - anyone buying a half-season ticket by 21 December will get their money back if Gordon Strachan's men go on a winning streak of four games in a row. Daily Mirror
More bollox later
CARLOS TEVEZ says he does not deserve the abuse he gets from Manchester United fans because of the loyalty he showed to them.
In fact, the Argentine believes it was United who failed to show him loyalty.
Tevez's new club Manchester City face their fierce rivals United in what he describes as England's 'classico' in the semi-final of the Carling Cup. The last game between the two saw Tevez, 25, booed every time he touched the ball. He said: "Obviously I was disappointed, because I don't think I deserved to be treated that way. When I was there, I was a hard-working and loyal player who gave my all."
Tevez spent two years at United as part of a loan agreement costing £6million and helped them to successive titles and the Champions League. There was a verbal agreement with his co-owner and agent Kia Joorabchian that the deal would be made permanent for a further £26m. But despite assurances over the last year of his loan, United never put an offer on the table - although boss Alex Ferguson did ask him to stay after the Champions League final defeat to Barcelona in May.
The club simply felt he was not worth the extra money. Tevez said: "After the final, Ferguson tried to get me to sign permanently but I told him I was moving on. "My contract was terminated on the day of the Champions League final, so there was no time for negotiations. And my heart was already set on a move elsewhere."
Tevez revealed Fergie has not spoken to him since then, even after the dramatic September derby at Old Trafford which United won 4-3 with Michael Owen's injury-time winner. The Argentine scored the first goal in a 3-0 quarter-final triumph over Arsenal on Wednesday to set up January's home-and-away semi. Tevez said: "Obviously it's going to be a 'classico' and I'm very happy to be playing United. I played there for two years and now I'm going to have to play against many of my friends once again."
Despite the way he feels he was treated by United and the abuse he received from their fans, Tevez insists he will still not celebrate if he scores. He said: "Obviously I'd be delighted to beat United and reach the final but I still have respect for the club. "I won't celebrate if I score. I don't want to rub their noses in it."
City face table-toppers Chelsea at home tomorrow and will be in buoyant mood after the victory over Arsenal - despite a run of seven league draws. Tevez said: "It has given us the perfect lift before playing Chelsea. "We'll go into the game full of confidence and believing we can beat them."
And in http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... nited.html
[youtube]De2PY3uj0ls[/youtube]
MORE HANDSHAKE BOLLOX FROM SAVAGE
Arsene Wenger's Arsenal kids were no great shakes in the Carling Cup against Manchester City but that doesn't excuse the manager's out-of-character lapse in sportsmanship. Refusing to shake Mark Hughes' hand was an act not befitting of one of the greatest managers we've ever seen in English football and a man for whom I've always had the utmost respect... even if he might nor feel the same way about me!
I've been accused of setting a bad example on several occasions in my career and sometimes I've been guilty. But for someone as brilliant as Wenger to spurn the shake sends the wrong message not just to kids but to other managers. I've spent long afternoons having lumps kicked out of me by the likes of Patrick Vieira, Dennis Wise, Roy Keane and Steven Gerrard, and giving a bit back to them too. Yet at the end there's always been a handshake.
I've been part of teams which have shipped six goals to Arsenal but stopped to shake their players' hands at the game. Like going over to applaud your own travelling fans when they've paid good money to see you heavily beaten away from home, it's one of football's unwritten rules. Arsene was clearly annoyed by the incident in which Sparky left his technical area and went in front of Arsenal's to get the ball back into play quickly as City pressed at the end of the first half. I laughed when he confronted my old gaffer and received a dismissive wave of the hand in return – I've been on the end of that wave a few times myself!
But I wonder Wenger's out-of-character reaction has something to do with the physical way Sparky's Blackburn took his side on a few years back when I was at Rovers. I believe it was our right to do it - in the same way it was Arsenal's right to use their resources to spend millions more in transfer fees and wages than we could have dreamed of. It's ironic then that the boot was on the other foot on Wednesday as Wenger's outmatched kids picked up several bookings for cynical fouls against City's expensive talent. It was clearly a game too far for the young Guns and Wenger threw away any chance he had of winning a trophy by deciding not to put some of his big hitters on the bench.
The 5,000 Arsenal fans at Eastlands can't have got much out of the experience and you wonder if they share their manager's view that the Carling Cup is an irrelevance. When you support a massive club which hasn't won anything since 2005, I'd have thought any trophy at all would become important. But then Wenger has forgotten more about football than I'll ever know and you have to admire a man who stands by his principles.It makes me wonder whether Arsene will stick to his beliefs in the transfer window and continue to go for promising young talent.
I think the 5,000 fans at Eastlands – and the rest back at the Emirates – would rather see him bring in some top-dollar talent and if I were him I would move heaven and earth to get Valencia's David Villa. As much as I admire their manager and the way they play, I feel Arsenal need to make a statement signing or be left behind.
The best footballers to have never played in the World Cup - Nos 10-1
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... l?ITO=1490
TRANSFER BOLLOX
Chelsea are battling it out with Arsenal for Inter Milan's £18m-rated striker Mario Balotelli. Daily Mail
Chelsea have also been linked with a £13.5m move for Santos striker Neymar. (Daily Mail)
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is set to land Switzerland World Cup keeper Eldin Jakupovic as competition for current number one Heurelho Gomes.Daily Mirror
AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso could be heading for the Premier League after talks over extending his contract at the Italian club broke down. The Sun
Newcastle have turned down the opportunity to sign former England defender Sol Campbell who is now a free agent after leaving Notts County. Daily Mirror
The Magpies however, could move for former Newcastle midfielder Laurent Robert who is a free agent after leaving Larissa. Daily Mirror
But, Robert's plea to be given an opportunity at St James' Park is likely to go unanswered.The Times
Stoke want to sign Huddersfield keeper Alex Smithies in a £3m deal and then loan him back to the Terriers. Daily Mirror
Burnley want on-loan striker David Nugent to join on loan from Portsmouth on a permanent basis. The Times
Birmingham are being linked with a move for Valencia forward Nikola Zigic in January. The Times
Peterborough United boss Mark Cooper is setting up a move for Crewe's giant striker Calvin Zola when the transfer window opens in January. Daily Mirror
Malky Mackay, the Watford manager, does not expect to have to sell players despite the club's precarious financial situation. The Times
Blues bank on Wright-Phillips
SHAUN Wright-Phillips has come through a mini-crisis - and is ready to lead the City charge against his old Chelsea team-mates. Manager Mark Hughes was delighted to see the pacy winger in unplayable form against Arsenal on Wednesday night and took it as a sign that the fans' favourite is back.
"He has been a little bit frustrating with his form of late but he was outstanding on Wednesday," said Hughes. "He has understood that certain parts of his game were a little erratic and he was making wrong decisions. But he is an experienced guy who understood what needed to be done. We can highlight things but at the end of the day a player like Shaun understands what is needed and always steps up to the plate, and that is what he did on Wednesday. He was outstanding. Right from the off he set the tempo for the rest of the team. He took the full-back on and they couldn't cope with him." The leaders arrive at Eastlands with City hunting an end to their run of seven consecutive league draws - another would equal the English record.And Hughes says there is no reason his revitalised team cannot beat Chelsea to end the sequence.
"We want to get back on track, break the cycle of draws in the Premier League, and why can't it be at the weekend?" he said.
Wright-Phillips backed up his gaffer's words, saying: "If we play the way we did against Arsenal, we will give anyone a game. It was a team performance that lifted everyone and we are delighted we are through."
WES BROWN BOLLOX
United head to West Ham tomorrow looking to close the gap on Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea to a couple of points before Carlo Ancelotti's men tackle City at Eastlands half an hour later. Yet it is the Carling Cup that remains the talk of the city, as it pits United against City in a two-legged semi-final where the prize is a place at Wembley. While United have been there on numerous occasions in recent years, for City it would represent their first major final since 1981 and confirmation the multi-million pound investment of Sheikh Mansour may eventually change the landscape of the English game.
But the Red shyte have no intention of simply standing aside.
"You are aware of the shifts in power but we have always been up there, which is a good achievement," Brown told Inside United.
"We set out to challenge for the title at the start of every season and to continue doing that we have to keep working hard. City have got a lot of money to spend and have therefore bought good players and will probably continue to do so.
"That means they are going to be challenging - they have to be with the players they have. We have just got to keep doing what we are doing, continue improving and hopefully we can keep on doing as well as we have over the last few years."
PODCAST WEEKEND PREVIEW BOLLOX
http://www.mirror.co.uk?bcpid=187311640 ... 4106617001
OTHER BOLLOX
Notts County director of football Sven Goran Eriksson is on the brink of quitting the League Two club because he is not being paid the full amount of his seven-figure contract. Daily Mail
The 32 nations who made it to South Africa will share a jackpot of more than £250m next summer.The Sun
Meanwhile, £200m people across the globe are expected to watch Friday's World Cup draw.The Sun
Football fans will also be able to watch next year's World Cup in 3D for the first time.Daily Telegraph
WAG OF THE DAY - Jennifer Walcott
http://www.thespoiler.co.uk/index.php/2 ... er-walcott
CHELSEA PREVIEW BOLLOX
If you hear a loud clinking sound in Manchester on Saturday evening that will be sound of the moneybags of Manchester City and Chelsea clashing in the late Premier League fixture at Eastlands. Mark Hughes' team are aping the example set by their more illustrious southern rivals a few years ago, spending huge sums without batting an eyelid to assemble a glittering array of talent.
The problem is, as fellow big-spenders Real Madrid are finding, bringing together a collection of outrageous talents in one team is not the same as developing a great team through managerial skills. Whether Hughes has yet attained the ability to make a side featuring such irresistible attacking talents as Robinho, Carlos Tevez, Craig Bellamy, Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz remains to be seen.
His counterpart tomorrow, Carlo Ancelotti, does have the team-building knack, having steered AC Milan to one Serie A title and two Champions Leagues, and his Chelsea steamroller is crushing the life out of its Premier League rivals. The 3-0 thumping of Arsenal last weekend will be more a guide of what to expect, and there will be some wounded pride to avenge in the wake of Wednesday night's defeat on penalties to Blackburn in the Carling Cup.
City themselves took apart a virtual Arsenal reserves side the same night to reach their first cup semi final for decades, so will be buoyant that maybe there recent lethargy - seven consecutive draws, a Premier League record - can be shaken off, but Chelsea will be too strong and relentless for the fragile defence of the hosts.
FINAL BOLLOX
Middlesbrough have offered fans a gamble - anyone buying a half-season ticket by 21 December will get their money back if Gordon Strachan's men go on a winning streak of four games in a row. Daily Mirror
More bollox later