Tottenham are lining up a move for Switzerland goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic as a replacement for Heurelho Gomes the Daily Mail understands with the Brazilian keen to leave the club in January.
Jakupovic has emerged as a target for manager Harry Redknapp after the keepers side Olympiakos Volos were relegated to the Greek amateur league for their part in a match-fixing scandal.
The 26-year-old is now available on a free transfer after Volos were placed in the Delta Ethniki league and Spurs could swoop for him as a replacement for Gomes.
A move away from White Hart Lane is expected for the 30-year-old once the transfer window opens in January after he slipped to third choice behind summer signing Brad Friedel and Carlo Cudicini.
His potential replacement in North London certainly isn’t a stranger to the club after he had trials in 2009 whilst on the books at Locomotive Moscow only for a move to break down.
Jakupovic was tracked by Everton and Newcastle United over the summer and could finally make a move to the Premier League after confusion over his future in Greece became evident
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He could now finally make the move to the Premier League with Redknapp said to be keen to capture his signature with Gomes almost certainly heading for the exit door.
Football agents: whether you hate, loathe or just dislike them it is almost universally agreed that something needs to be done about the way they operate. Maybe I’m being a little harsh: not all agents are bad news and some really do have the best interests of their players at heart, but most of them are clearly looking out for number one and the result is that they manipulate the transfer system to bleed both clubs and players dry.
Man Utd manager Sir Alex Ferguson reflected on the involvement of agents and the negative effects they have on their clients saying:
“Management today is complex in terms of the type of player we have to deal with. A lot of players today are dominated by their agents” (Daily Mail)
Ferguson has a tempestuous relationship with many agents, including Paul Stretford – Wayne Rooney’s agent, and revealed some of the demands he has faced from agents in the past such as one agent asking Manchester United to buy him a block of flats before the player would sign for the club. Needless to say Ferguson refused but the mere fact that agents believe they are in a position to demand such things is evidence for how out of hand the role has become in our sport.
And it’s not just personal demands that the agents are making says Ferguson who also criticises the unrealistic representation of their clients abilities as a problem for clubs:
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“When I get annoyed is when managers phone me and say such-and-such player – and I’m talking about players that couldn’t lace my reserve-team players’ boots – is asking for £1m a year. That’s when it becomes disappointing…the way some agents work a miracle by getting these terms for players who are not stars.” (Daily Mail)
And it’s not just Ferguson who has come across difficult agents. They exist throughout football and every season there are examples of more shady dealings. Take Joey Barton’s agent Willie McKay who received a fee for persuading his client to join QPR. Did Willie have the best interests of his player or himself at heart when making that decision?
So with the news that the FA will now be sending Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs full details of all the agents fees for the 2010/11 season finally we can see something done about the professionals in football who appear to give nothing back to the sport. It is estimated that the way that agents are paid their fees cheats the public coffers out of millions each year and HMRC are determined to clamp down on this tax evasion.
HMRC said that intends to audit all of the deals made last year in order to find out how to close down the current loopholes. Football is notorious for widespread corruption from the lowest to the highest levels and with the transfer market exploding at an exponential rate it is important that we propose checks for those involved in it so deeply, as agents are.
For updates on this and other football stories follow me on Twitter @H_Mackay
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Everyone tends to be suspicious of new owners. After all who are these people who have suddenly decided that they love your club and they’re going to take it over? Do they really have the best interests of your beloved at heart or are they merely attempting to use this extravagant purchase as some kind of over zealous phallic extension to compensate for when they were called a ‘nerd’ at school.
The truth is: you can’t know until it’s too late. New owners are like politicians: they say one thing, think another and get abuse from fans no matter what they do. But, that doesn’t always mean that they have to have a negative impact. Everyone has different ideas about how clubs should be run and, with the exception of a few ruthless businessmen, they tend to have their heart in the right place, even if they’re disgracefully under qualified.
So what does Stan Kroenke bring to Arsenal, and is he the right man to usher in a new era of success for the north London club? A lot of people won’t want Kroenke trying to interfere at all in the actual running of the club but I think it might be necessary. The current board seems to have stagnated slightly. They sound like a broken record and I don’t think they put pressure on Arsene to be more lavish in the way that David Dein did.
The best way to understand Kroenke is to look not only at what he’s been saying to the press but also how he has managed the other sports teams he owns in the States.
What he’s said?
One clue Stan recently threw to the press was his defence of the Glazer family’s running of Man Utd. The American said: “Since they took over they have won and increased revenues by a huge amount. If I was a fan of that club, I would go there and go ‘Wow!’ because how could you do it any better? We have a whole different philosophy I think in the States…but I think it’s time maybe for everybody to think a little bit….He (Glazer) took money out of the club. So What? (LA Lakers owner) Jerry Buss takes money out of his club…Did the Lakers win anything? Well, yeah. They did. How big’s their revenue? Pretty darn good.”
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Hmm…what about the obsession with Wengeristic sustainability for our club? Have you only been going on about making our club profitable so you can take money out of it? I don’t think so but it is interesting to hear him say things that are in stark contrast to what he has said in the past. Kroenke announced recently that he was at Arsenal for the ‘long-term’. Whilst this might be a reassuring note for some for others including myself it denotes that he is prepared to play the long game. Something that Arsenal fans have been doing for a while.
What he’s done?
If Arsenal fans want to look at the other members of Kroenke Sports Enterprises to see how likely their owner is to inspire success in doesn’t make for good reading. So out of Stan’s ‘successful’ teams the St Louis Rams are pretty much just not successful at all, the MLS team Colorado Rapids did win the league last year but through the play-offs, Colorado Avalanche last won the Stanley Cup in 2001 which makes our trophy drought look good and Kroenke boasted that his Denver Nuggets team has reached the play-offs in each of the last eight seasons. This would seem impressive were it not for the fact that Arsenal have been one of only two teams to reach the Champions League every year for fifteen years and they are still considered a bit of a flop.
So what can we see of Kroenke’s vision for the future? Not much. As much Arsenal fans would love to see him be the catalyst for some action amongst the Arsenal board I don’t see it happening. I know that he has been on the board since 2008 but for him it probably feels like Arsenal were successful really recently and will soon be back there. I don’t think this is necessarily the case. Of course Arsenal can make it back to the top but something about the way the club is run at the top needs to change before they can reach the heights they previously held.
It will be interesting to see how long Gazidis remains at the club. The man is far from loved by some Arsenal fans who see him more as a politician than a chief executive and he is clearly a weak negotiator. Anyone who sells Fabregas for an initial fee of £25m needs a clip round the ear to say the least.
Kroenke might be known as a reserved owner who avoids the limelight and only conducts things behind closed doors if at all but I think he will find the premier league different from his American enterprises. At a club that is looking for leadership at every level Silent Stan might have to carve out a more public role for himself in the future.
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The Premier League has often been trumpeted as the best in the world (mostly by those with a vested interest). Top teams, top players, top entertainment. It’s triffic. The stats suggest a slightly different story, with the much maligned Serie A for example having had fewer 0-0 draws and a greater goal average over previous years – not that stats really solve the argument.
This season however, things have gone a little crazy. The goals are flying in from all angles, and the stats tell their own story. After ten league games this season, Chelsea have already conceded 15 goals – that’s the number they conceded in the whole of their title winning campaign of 2004/05. Before last week, Chelsea hadn’t conceded five goals at home in twenty-two years. With 36 goals, Manchester City have scored more in the opening ten games than any team since Preston got 38 in the league’s inaugural season in 1888-89. There have now been nine Premier League hat-tricks this season, already more than in five previous Premier League seasons. This season, there has been a staggering 2.97 goals per game, the most since 1967/68 when it just so happens that Manchester CIty last won the league. What’s more, the four games involving Champions League teams this season so far have provided a staggering 29 goals. And so on……
Inevitably, this has ignited a debate about defending, or more to the point, the lack of it. Tony Evans claimed on the Times podcast this week that the art of defending was now dead. On Talksport, Danny Kelly said City would win the league by default as they were the only team with a half-decent defence.
Lee Dixon has argued that attacks are getting better and defences worst, but he touched on another possible factor too:
“I genuinely think players are a little bit nervous of making tackles now because there are so many yellow and red cards flying around. It has made the game more exciting from a chances or goals point of view – but I will be saddened if the art of defending is eradicated from the game. It certainly looks like it is going that way.
“There is no doubt that year on year there is a change in emphasis and a change in rules. They have stopped the tackle from behind and you would probably say quite rightly. But I still think there’s a place for good defending behind forwards.”
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But have things really deteriorated that much? Are we really entering a new period of attacking play and high scores? Or have the rule changes of recent years, such as the ridiculous offside rule, always favoured attackers?
I would argue not. It seems to me that what we have witnessed is nothing more than a set of freak results due to circumstance. Can anyone seriously contemplate the next four games between Champions League teams producing any where near twenty-nine goals? Of course not. What’s more, the emphasis has tended, not surprisingly to focus on the goal exploits of the “big” clubs – the scoring records for many of the mid-table teams are nothing out of the ordinary.
As City’s expensively-assembled squad has begun to really gel, it is no surprise they have hit the goal trail. They were the better side against Manchester United, but were helped by the red card for Jonny Evans, and United’s suicidal attacking tendencies thereafter, which they ruthlessly exploited. Against Everton, the partnership of Nemanja Vidic and Jonny Evans was the sixth different combination United have used at centre-half this term in the league. Consider that Norwich, progressing well in the league, have had an unchanged line up for six games. Alex Ferguson has also introduced new players in defence who despite the hype from the media are young, experienced, and far from the finished article. Coinciding with the likes of Patrice Evra and Jonny Evans being out of form, and the phasing-out of some of the old guard, there was always going to be bad days at the office.
Chelsea too are in transition. A new, young and inexperienced manager is learning about Premiership football the hard way. Mumblings persist that John Terry is on the wane, and off-field controversies won’t help his concentration. Villas-Boas favours a high defensive line and aggressive, hard pressing of the opposition, which leaves Terry even more susceptible, not helped by the fact that Chelsea, like United, have not had a consistent back-line so far this season. Like United also, they have players out of form – most noticeably Bosingwa, but Petr Cech seems a shadow of his old self (though last season it seemed he might be getting back to his best). Chelsea have so far conceded fewer shots per game than on average compared to last season, but are clearly allowing better chances on their goal –the high defensive line is so far leaving them more exposed.
Arsenal were in disarray for a few weeks, and paid the price horrifically at Old Trafford. Spurs too were not ready for the new season, until the introduction of Scott Parker (after the 1-5 reverse at home to Manchester City) helped shored up their defence.
It won’t last. Villas-Boas will find a system that protects his back line better. United have already started taking a more cautious approach on the football field, as seen in their 1-0 victory at Goodison Park. Arsenal have rediscovered their form, and Spurs are flying too – their defences have recovered their mojo at the same time.
Clubs’ defensive coaches did not all die in a swarm of locusts over the summer. Every club manager did not receive a bang on the head in late July that turned them into kamikaze coaches. It was fun whilst it lasted, but expect normal service to soon be resumed – as soon as managers manage to play the same defence for two weeks in succession.
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Liverpool defender Jose Enrique has admitted that having to play two games in 48 hours is unfair, but that it will not be used as an excuse should his team get eliminated from the Carling Cup by Chelsea.
The Anfield outfit travel to Stamford Bridge in the quarter finals of the knockout competition on Tuesday, a mere two days after facing Manchester City in the league.
Kenny Dalglish has been vocal in his displeasure at the scheduling nightmare, and the Spanish full back has agreed with his club boss.
“If the manager decides I have to play, I play,” the ex-Newcastle left back told the club’s official website.
“The Premier League and Football League didn’t make a good decision.
“We played on Sunday and have to play in another 48 hours, whereas Chelsea played on Saturday. This is not normal. It just happens in England,” he stated.
Despite the taxing build up of fixtures, Enrique stated that the Merseysiders will not use it as an excuse should they be beaten on Tuesday.
“It is no good for us because we play against Chelsea away and it is hard to win, and normally when you play 48 hours after a game you are more tired.
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“But there will be no excuses. We can still win there and will try to get that win,” he admitted.
Chelsea target Eduardo Vargas has snubbed the Premier League side to sign for Napoli, and will join up with his new club in January.
The Universidad de Chile attacker has caught the eye of a number of big European teams after spectacular performances for his club, and he has also broken into the Chile national side.
Andre Villas Boas had been rumoured to be preparing a bid for the South American, but the 22-year-old has confirmed that he will move to Naples in the new year.
“Yes I will be joining Napoli, a large team in Italy,” the forward confirmed to Radio Cooperativa.
“I’m sure I’ll do very well there. I already know Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi.
“I am very happy that everything was tied up quickly, and for me to play in Italy is a dream come true,” he stated.
Vargas will move to the Serie A side for a fee of €13.6 million (£11.5million) and will now be eligible for Napoli’s Champions League campaign, in which they take on Chelsea in the last 16.
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You may love him or loathe him, but you would be hard-pressed to find a better chairman than Daniel Levy in the Premier League at present. Sir Alan Sugar once described the Spurs chief as the toughest negotiator he had ever faced; so you can understand why he has been so successful in getting a lot of success in transfer deals over the years.
I was listening to TalkSport this week and an interesting comment was made about Tottenham and their transfer dealings. They were talking about how they couldn’t understand why Spurs were holding out for big money for players like Giovani Dos Santos and Roman Pavlyuchenko, given that their value has hardly increased in value, based on their performances on the pitch. Similar murmurings were made in the summer over Niko Kranjcar and David Bentley; who seemingly were priced out of moves this summer. I’m a big believer, certainly in the case of Dos Santos, Pav and Bentley that we should cut our losses and move on, but clearly Levy is intent to get his money back, despite their poor performances and subsequent drop in value. Some would say he was proved right by holding out, given the success in getting the club’s money back for Darren Bent, but surely we can’t expect to achieve such a result every time.
The reason for my concerns is that it is clear from the outset that Tottenham need to sell before they can buy. Ever since the purse strings were opened up when Redknapp first took the reins of the football club, largely down to ensure our Premier League survival, we have been rather prudent in the market and seemingly operating on a tight budget. Why it is certainly understandable, given the millions that Damien Comolli squandered during his time at the football club, I do wonder whether Daniel Levy is in need of another pair of hands in our transfer dealings in order to ensure that business is conducted more efficiently. I’m not saying the club should perhaps go out and look for another Sporting Director to take control, but certainly someone who can help take a part of the recruitment burden away from the Chairman, who on top of player recruitment has to deal with other issues such as securing a new stadium following the failed Olympic bid. Having to negotiate to sell and then having to negotiate to buy players in such a short space of time in my mind is too much for one man in my opinion; especially when the stakes are even higher on the football pitch.
I know it may seem somewhat premature, given we still have a few days before the window shuts, but can anyone see any significant deals in the pipeline? Had we shipped out the deadwood sooner from the squad, would we be in a better position to secure deals? I think so.
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Scottish giants Rangers have announced that they are in financial trouble, and are considering going into administration.
Ally McCoist’s men lodged legal papers with the Court of Session in Edinburgh that signal that they are ready to go into administration, but this has not come into effect as yet.
“The Rangers Football Club plc has today announced it has filed a notice of intention to the Court of Session in Edinburgh to appoint administrators,” an statement on the club’s official website reads.
“The club will conduct its business as usual and will not be in administration until it decides whether to formally proceed with an application to appoint administrators.
“Until such time, the club will not face any sanction from the football authorities in terms of points deduction within the Scottish Premier League.
“Sanctions such as a 10-point deduction will only apply if the club proceeds with the appointment of administrators. It is expected to be 10 working days before a decision is made whether to appoint administrators,” it concluded.
The financial issues are based around a tax case, that could leave the side having to pay over £50million, which the Glasgow-based team feel is impossible to fork out.
Rangers are currently four points behind Celtic in the race for the SPL title.
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It has been three years since Darren Bent departed Tottenham Hotspur in a transfer by his own admittance that didn’t really come to fruition. His time at White Hart Lane; sandwiched distinctively in between spells at Ipswich, Charlton, Sunderland and now Villa, has been his only real chance in a team realistically competing for a place in England’s sought-after ‘top four’ positions.
But with Euro 2012 around the corner and Bent currently part of an Aston Villa side miserably trapped in that so-called transition phase, does the goal-hungry hitman deserve another shot at one of the Premier League’s ‘big’ clubs? Let us examine.
To begin, Bent is a goal scorer and always has been. When on top form he is capable of producing prolific tallies for the season. Much like fellow England international Jermain Defoe, Bent makes the hardest job in the game look easy in putting the ball in the back of the net. In this respect, Bent has been likened to Ian Wright in the past for his innate finishing abilities. The striker unsurprisingly represents Villa’s top scorer this campaign with nine league goals, and one in the FA Cup; a strike against Arsenal from a seemingly impossible angle.
But did this strike against a top four contender in Arsenal really alert any of the big guns? Again, not really.
It remains that many ‘top four’ chasing sides continue to overlook the attributes of Bent during transfer windows, paying credence to the popular belief that indeed his spell at Tottenham reflected truly that he can only cut it at mid-table and less glorified outfits. This view is nonsense. Bent deserves his chance.
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With Champions League football missing from Bent’s CV, staunch Villains could not begrudge the England striker a move, if the opportunity arose this summer. Chelsea and Liverpool both lack of goal scorer of prolific capabilities and Arsenal need a foil for when Van Persie is not fit. Bent surely is the man.
Bent has always been on the fringes of the England squad, mainly being used during the qualification phases, only to be missing from the party of 23 selected for a major tournament. Again, a move to a ‘top four’ club would heighten his chances of being England’s second striker after Wayne Rooney of course. There is a lot to be said for being a member of a ‘big’ club and being rewarded with a consistent place in the England team. Just look at Theo Walcott, who has always been around the first-team set up since his time at Arsenal.
By his own admission, Bent isn’t enjoying the best of seasons in a mediocre Villa outfit struggling to accept the philosophies of manager Alex McLeish. Without employing the phrase ‘I told you so’, Bent may have remained at high-flying Sunderland who look like world beaters right now, but football changes in a short space of time.
Form is temporary, but class is permanent. Bent would suit the likes of Arsenal in that more often than not he finds the net. Arsenal have always lacked that ‘fox in the box’ type striker who is willing to score from any angle. All too often the Gunners try to score the perfect goal and Bent represents someone who is willing to take a shot on in a different approach. Of course, the Gunners have a prolific marksman of their own in Van Persie but with the metaphoric addition of Bent, he would hugely improve their attacking options in the entire squad.
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At 28, Bent isn’t getting any younger and it is hard to pin-point just where his goals can take an under fire Aston Villa side this season. He may get his head turned if the ‘big four’ wake up and give him the call this summer. Darren Bent deserves his chance.
Is Darren Bent good enough for a ‘top four’ club or is he best suited where he is already? Follow me @ http://twitter.com/Taylor_Will1989
It’s been a torrid month for Tottenham Hotspur as they dropped out of the Premier League top three to be overtaken by their North London rivals in the process. Harry Redknapp has seen his side fail to win a league game since thrashing the Magpies on February 11th and are in danger of being cut adrift from the automatic Champions League places. With fellow London rivals Chelsea and surprise package Newcastle also finding form and closing in it’s up to Spurs to regain their momentum and ensure they remain in the top four to guarantee they’ll be rubbing shoulders with the best Europe has to offer next season. They can, however, take solace in their FA Cup performance at Bolton in midweek and will surely take the confidence from that victory into the game with Swansea on Sunday.
This week on FFC the future of an on-loan Spurs hit man has been explored as has the financial repercussions of the club missing out on Champions League qualification.
Best of FFC
Tottenham face up to transfer conundrum
Pinnacle for a manager or simply a poison chalice?
Tottenham have more riding on it than any other
Are The FA Hurting Our Clubs Chances?
A ‘Crisis’ in North London? Do me a favour
The scenes at White Hart Lane show theres hope for football fans
Mancini admits Modric admiration
WAG Weekly – Corluka scores an absolute beauty!
Tottenham and Chelsea set €15.5m transfer fee
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Best of WEB
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We Gotta Sign Him – Harry Hotspur
Fear and Self-Loathing For 90 Minutes – Tottenham on my Mind
Lennon returns to restore balance to the facere – Dear Mr Levy
Very good news for Tottenham fans. – Spurs musings from Jimmy G2
Spurs Well Set For The Season’s Climax – Tottenham on my Mind
Harry plugs the leaks and stops the rot. – Spurs musings from Jimmy G2
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Quote of the Week
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“I would think if someone is going to offer him £200,000 a week it could probably turn his head a little, yes! Only Luka knows what he wants to do with his life.
“We want to keep him here. We need to keep him. We love him. He is a fantastic player.” Harry Redknapp commenting on Luka Modric’s future after he was linked with Man City