Chelsea's former assistant manager Ray Wilkins is to take legal advice following his departure from Stamford Bridge.
The ex-England international left the club nine days ago after being told his contract would not be renewed.
But in a statement released by the League Managers Association, Wilkins said:"I'm very disappointed that the board decided that I had no further contribution to make at Chelsea Football Club which has played such a huge part in my life.
"Since rejoining the club, I am extremely proud to have assisted in Chelsea's recent successes.
"I enjoyed a fantastic relationship with the staff, players and the supporters and I now wish them all the very best for the future.
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"The LMA's legal advisors are assisting me in obtaining answers to a number of questions arising from my undoubtedly unfair dismissal, and all efforts are being made to reach an amicable solution. I therefore will be making no further comment at this stage."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
The Carling Cup has lost a certain amount of glitz and glam in recent times, not that it had too much glitz and glam in the first place. News north of the border surrounds ways in which to rejuvenate their current set up, and it got me thinking about the current format of the Carling Cup.
Does anyone really hold the cup competition in high esteem any more? Arsene Wenger in the past has shown little respect to the competition as year after year he has fielded lesser teams against the opposition. However, this season with the club desperate for silverware the Arsenal boss has taken the competition a little more seriously.
With uncertainty surrounding the Carling Cup I was thinking a great way for it to gain back some of its creditability and respectability would be to open it up to teams from Scotland, after all you do have Welsh teams competing year after year.
With the inclusion of Celtic, Rangers and co would the competition evoke more interest from the fans? I personally think it would. I think something like this is more likely than to occur than Celtic and Rangers joining the Premier League.
If the competition was opened up to teams from other countries, namely Scotland, revenue within the cup would increase, thus suiting all involved, including clubs and sponsors. I feel that the inclusion of teams form north of the border would be a better idea than the others that have been brought up.
So what do you lot think, would the inclusion of teams from Scotland enhance the competition and put it back on the right track? If you’re not a fan of that idea why not mention ways in which you think the competition could be made more credible.
If you like what I’ve written why not follow me on Twitter
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It is FA Cup third round replay time this week and Sven Goran Eriksson will get to make his return to Eastlands as Leicester face Manchester City tonight. Eriksson would love to get one over his former club and book a fourth round tie with another team that the Swede has managed in the past – Notts County. To do that Leicester will have to pull of one of the shocks of the round, but do they have the players to do it?
When these teams met nine days ago, it was Leicester who made a stunning start to the tie, with Sol Bamba incredibly scoring with his first touch in football. The odds are obviously against something similar happening again, but it has been known for lightning to strike twice. Leicester then went behind before Andy King scored the equaliser to send the tie to a replay, but neither King nor Bamba may be the wisest choice for your Picklive trio.
One man who has scored 67 points in his one Picklive match to date is Richie Wellens. Wellens would be a sound selection, and given Darius Vassell is injured and Yakubu is ineligible for the match, so would Steve Howard. The experienced striker will prove to be a nuisance for the Manchester City defence, but will he get his name on the score sheet and pick up big points this evening?
The majority of LIVE fantasy football managers will be playing it safe tonight and plumping for a selection made up purely of City players. The difficulty with your selection will be that Roberto Mancini is likely to rotate his team, so you can’t be sure who will be playing until his starting eleven is announced.
On the back of his two goals against Wolves, Tevez simply has to make your Picklive trio, if he starts of course! James Milner is likely to be recalled to the starting line-up, and having scored in the original tie, you wouldn’t put it past the former Aston Villa midfielder to add to his FA Cup tally this season.
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With Manchester City heading into the match as clear favourites, you’d have to think that the odds of them keeping a clean sheet are pretty low. The likes of Vincent Kompany will be particularly keen to ensure Leicester draw a blank after letting in three goals against Wolves, and Kompany’s Picklive point’s average of 57 makes him an attractive choice.
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Love fantasy football? Love live footy? You’ll love live fantasy football! Take part in the Man City v Leicester match and play Picklive for FREE Go on, give it a go!
The Football Association has taken a radical new approach to tackling bad behaviour from fans and players by launching its own football club Respect F.C. The aim of the club is not to win silverware or secure a Champions League place; its goal will be to unite fans against the ugly side of the beautiful game to create a safe and enjoyable environment in which it can take place.
Appointing comedian and avid Bristol City fan Mark Watson as Chairman, the Club has been founded through concern from both the top level of the game and the grassroots community around abuse towards referees and poor sideline behaviour. Respect F.C. is not your usual football club; it’s a football club made up of people from all walks of life, with one collective goal – to bring Respect back to the game we all love.
For every fan that joins Respect F.C., The FA has pledged to put £1 back into the Respect initiative within grassroots football (up to the value of £50,000). Members of the Club will be able to vote online at www.RespectFootballClub.com to say how this money is used at the end of the 2010 / 2011 season.
Rallying fans to get behind Respect F.C., Chairman Mark Watson has filmed an impassioned plea from the Club’s modest headquarters, which features starring roles from former Liverpool captain Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock, Portsmouth legend Steve Claridge and Sky Sports commentator Chris Kamara.
Depicting the intolerable bad behaviour of a gobby moron, scenes feature Neil Ruddock ruining a child’s birthday party by barking abuse at the children’s entertainer and singling out the birthday boy for some special attention for passing the parcel too slowly. Muddied with comedy gold, the film also sees player turned football pundit Steve Claridge donning a Strictly Come Dancing style outfit and dancing across a waterlogged pitch. The rousing closing scenes from the Chairman’s speech see Mark Watson in unison with football fans wearing white Respect F.C. scarves and joining mascots from Chelsea, Bristol City, Swansea City, Nottingham Forest, Watford, Fulham, Birmingham City and Reading to show support for the radical new club.
Respect F.C. is not just about raising awareness; it’s much more than that. Everyone who is involved in the game in some way is aware of poor behaviour and knows that – be it towards referees, players or fellow fans – it is wrong. The challenge now is to unite, change people’s attitudes and make them realise that verbal and physical abuse are not acceptable in the game.
Respect F.C. Chairman, Mark Watson, said: “We know that it’s so much easier to take a stand against poor behaviour if you are not on your own, if you have someone else on your team. Collectively we can stand up to the gobby morons. If you’d like to show the people spoiling our game, what they’re up against go to www.RespectFootballClub.com to join my new football club, Respect F.C., the club with one goal – to rid the game of the gobby morons.”
Alex Horne, FA General Secretary, said: “Football fans from all clubs and all leagues have a collective responsibility to let others know that they will not stand for this behaviour from the grassroots of the game up to the international stage. That’s why we’re asking everyone, to ask everyone, to join the club and together win the match against bad behaviour.”
Latest research from The FA has shown that 40% of players, coaches and referees think the Respect programme has improved their experience of the game. The majority of participants surveyed were also aware of the Respect programmes key objectives with 68% recognising that Respect aims to create a safe and enjoyable environment for the game.
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Fans are encouraged to log onto www.RespectFootballClub.com and register their support to unite against the ugly side of footy.
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Gold Coast United coach Miron Bleiberg has revealed Jason Culina may not play again this season as he may need surgery on a chronic knee injury.
The Australia and Gold Coast midfielder had been nursed through the first part of the season by his club.
But having played several games in a short period of time for Australia at the Asian Cup in Qatar, the injury has flared up, forcing Culina to leave the national squad and head back to Queensland to see what needs to be done.
“”He (Culina) weighs his options,” Bleiberg said on Friday, saying the 30-year-old would see the specialist next week.
“(His options will be) whether it be surgery (now) or whether he can play and do the surgery later on if he can bear it and it’s not causing any damage.”
“And, the third option, maybe he doesn’t need surgery, he has six or seven months lay off you know.”
If Culina does have surgery on his knee it would end his season, but the midfielder is relatively confident it will not be necessary.
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“I’ve got an appointment with the specialist next week so it all depends on what they say but I feel good,” Culina told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
Gold Coast face Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park on Sunday.
Fabio Capello intends to field Arsenal prodigy Jack Wilshere in a withdrawn role when he starts his first match for England on Wednesday.
Wilshere, 19, has established himself as an automatic starter in the Arsenal midfield this season.
He made his England debut off the bench in the 2-1 win over Hungary in August, but will line-up from the kick-off for the first time against Denmark in Wednesday’s friendly at the Parken Stadium.
Despite his relative inexperience, England coach Capello believes the teenager has the ability to adapt to a variety of roles at international level.
“I know he prefers to go forward but an intelligent player can play anywhere,” Capello said.
“I used the example of Claude Makelele before. Andrea Pirlo also started just behind the forward player but ended up playing in front of the back four.”
“The thing is, he plays with confidence, never with fear. And other players have confidence in him.”
“He is not playing for a team that’s trying to stay in the Premier League. It is Arsenal, second in the table. It is incredible for someone so young.”
“I know Wilshere is 19 but I remember the best players I managed; (Franco) Baresi, (Paolo) Maldini, Raul. They all started really young.”
“It is the same talent. But people have to wait. He is young and needs experience in big games, like the Champions League and matches between the big teams in England.”
While great things are already expected of Wilshere, his club teammate Nicklas Bendtner has cautioned England against a repeat of the unreasonable pressure placed upon Theo Walcott.
Signed by Arsenal from Southampton in January 2006, expectations skyrocketed when Walcott was picked for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
But Walcott failed to make an appearance in the tournament and struggled to fulfil his early promise.
“Theo can be a lesson for the way you treat Jack,” said Bendtner, who will line up for Denmark against England.
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“It’s important to take it easy and realise he is a kid. He’s still young, even though he seems very mature and seems like he has played a long time.”
“I have my own theories on how Theo Walcott was treated by England,” Bendtner added.
“I don’t want to get too much into that because it will probably just get me in trouble.”
“Young players are always put under a lot of pressure very early in England. You always throw players around really quickly.”
Fulham boss Mark Hughes said referee Stuart Attwell’s insipid performance was to blame for their 1-0 loss to Bolton in the FA Cup on Sunday.The fifth round clash at Craven Cottage was decided by an Ivan Klasnic goal, but Hughes believed his side were robbed of vital scoring chances from set plays.”There were a couple of situations where you think the referee needs to make a positive decision and just waving your arms for an advantage can be a cop-out,” Hughes told Sky Sports.”In and around the box you don’t particularly want advantage. You want free-kicks and set plays, which we didn’t seem to get.””In the second half, there were a few decisions we found difficult to understand.”The match marked Bobby Zamora’s return to the pitch, as a substitute, after five months on the sidelines with a broken leg and Hughes lauded the English midfielder on his comeback.”If we take the positives, the appearance of Bobby Zamora was huge for us and everybody saw what talent he has and what we have missed this year,” he said.Bolton manager Owen Coyle had nothing but praise for his match-winner Klasnic, who scored a Cup winner for the second time in five days for Wanderers.”Klasnic is a born goalscorer. That’s a gift that has been God given to him,” Coyle said.”He came at the start of the season when he wasn’t fully fit, he missed pre-season and (once he) got himself to peak fitness Kevin Davies and Johan Elmander were in outstanding form.””But now he’s getting himself back to fitness which is great for me with Daniel Sturridge cup-tied.””We’ve got real competition in the forward areas and that augurs well for the rest of the season.”
Arsenal will look to capitalise on Manchester United’s midweek slip-up at Chelsea when they welcome Sunderland to the Emirates on Saturday.Arsene Wenger’s men trail leaders United by four points in the Premier League standings, though they have a game in hand on their title rivals after the Red Devils were overrun 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. The Gunners themselves suffered a setback over the weekend when their quest to end a trophy drought stretching back to 2005 was denied by a determined Birmingham in the Carling Cup final. But suggestions that the shock defeat would rock Arsenal’s season were quickly answered on Wednesday when Wenger’s side romped to a 5-0 FA Cup triumph over Leyton Orient, setting up a quarter-final show-down with United in the process. Although Cesc Fabregas is recovering better than expected from a hamstring injury, Wenger says his midfield maestro is unlikely to feature against the Black Cats.”I don’t think he will be involved on Saturday against Sunderland,” Wenger said, ahead of a tough period for his side.”We have an important game against Sunderland on Saturday, Barcelona on Tuesday and Manchester United in the quarter-final of the FA Cup after that.”Wenger confirmed than striker Robin van Persie would miss ‘three to four weeks’ with a tear in the ligament at the back of his knee, while Arsenal will also be without Theo Walcott with an ankle problem and Lukasz Fabianski and Thomas Vermaelen will remain in the sidelines.Sunderland also have their own injury concerns, with Danny Welbeck, Lee Cattermole, Michael Turner, Fraiser Campbell and David Meyler all sidelined.Steve Bruce’s side enter the match in poor form, with just one win from their last seven in all competitions and four consecutive Premier League losses, but Bruce is still confident his side can pull off a surprise on Saturday.”Over the course of a season there is going to be a time when your team doesn’t perform well,” Bruce said.”We couldn’t have picked a more difficult period to try and get a response with games against Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City. But we know we’re capable of getting a result somewhere and we must get our heads down to get ready for the challenges ahead.”Sunderland won the reverse fixture at the Stadium of Light 1-0 thanks to an injury-time strike from Darren Bent and given their good record against some of the Premier League’s heavyweights in recent years, will give themselves a chance but beware a fired-up Arsenal side ready to make amends for their cup loss.
Argentine giant Independiente continue to struggle after falling to a 3-1 loss at home to Godoy Cruz in Group 8 of the Copa Libertadores.The loss leaves Independiente in bottom place after the first meetings between all teams in the group.The home side went into the break behind despite striker Facundo Parra opening the scoring in the 16th minute.Midfielder Hernan Fredes turned the ball into his own net inside half an hour before winger Ariel Rojas gave the visitors the lead four minutes later.Forward Ruben Ramirez clinched the the points for his side 11 minutes after half-time when he made it 3-1.It moved Godoy Cruz into top spot in the tightly contested group after starting the day bottom.Cerro Porteno maintained their unbeaten start in Group 5 but had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Deportivo Tachira.Forward Roberto Nanni gave the Paraguayans a 28th-minute lead with his fourth goal of the tournament but they relinquished the advantage on the hour mark.Columbian striker Sergio Herrera gave the Venezuelan outfit their equalizer, though they remain winless and bottom of the group after securing two draws.Union Espanola moved off the bottom of Group 4 thanks to two goals in the opening half an hour in their 2-1 victory over Velez Sarsfield.Martin Liguera opened the scoring for the Chilean outfit in the third minute in fortuitous fashion after a scramble fell for him to volley into the roof of the net from six yards.Midfielder Braulio Leal headed home the second in the 26th minute thanks to his quick reactions after having his initial header saved.The visitors pulled one back with 20 minutes to play courtesy of substitute David Ramirez, who placed his shot underneath goalkeeper Eduardo Lobos.Union Espanola remain just outside the top two on goal difference while Velez Sarsfield are bottom.
Since the start of the season and during the January transfer window there were stories linking the out of favour Manchester City winger, Shaun Wright-Phillips with a move to Liverpool. Although the Reds are enjoying a revival under Kenny Dalglish, there are bound to be transfer targets for the club come the summer – would SWP prove to be value for money?
The career of Wright-Phillips has been an interesting one to date. Since bursting onto the scene with City at the start of the decade, Wright-Phillips quickly shrugged off any comparison to his famous father figure by making a name for himself as a tricky right winger. In the last season of his first spell at City, he scored 10 goals in 34 league games, his best record to date and it earned him a big money move to Chelsea.
Although making a number of appearances, and in addition earning a few winners’ medals, he never established himself as a first team regular for the Blues and eventually returned to City. However, while the big money signings and ambitions at Chelsea may have stifled his first team ambitions, the same thing has happened now at City.
Now at 29 years of age, SWP could do with one last move to finish his career on a flourish rather than warming up the subs bench. Could Liverpool be the right club for him? Possibly, as the Reds would need more creativity in their team, especially on the wing. He would provide decent competition for Dirk Kuyt, or allow the Dutchman to move up front.
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However, if NESV are to use their ‘money ball’ approach used in baseball, then the signing of SWP would not make sense, as he is over the age of 27 and would not have a significant re-sale value. Although football is entirely different from the economics used in baseball and American sport in general, whilst the signings of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez were long term solutions – it would make sense for the Reds to make some short term solutions for an immediate impact.
It would be value for money as the transfer rumours back in January were linking the player to the Anfield club for around the £4 million mark, which wouldn’t break the bank. Plus Wright-Phillips is now an experienced winger whose dribbling and pace can cause teams problems, as well as being an excellent provider of crosses for the likes of Carroll to attack.
On the other hand, NESV and Liverpool fans may disagree with the signing of SWP if they want to challenge the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City, it certainly wouldn’t match their ambitions. But perhaps Wright-Phillips needs to be given a chance to prove his worth at a top Premier League club and under the guise of Dalglish, he could be the right man to get the best out of the winger.
Alternatively, Liverpool may look elsewhere for a younger winger with more potential and a longer term investment. In that case, SWP should look elsewhere if he’s to finish off his career with an impact, although recent reports indicate that he’s determined to stay at City and break into the first team, but it just sounds like déjà-vu to me.
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Take a look at the Liverpool representative in our Top TEN solo goals of all time…