Celtic scored their third win in 11 days over struggling Aberdeen with a comfortable 3-0 triumph at Pittodrie on Tuesday.
A 1-0 Scottish Premier League win at Celtic Park on January 22 was followed by a 4-1 thumping in the semi-final of the CIS Cup at Hampden on Saturday.
On Tuesday, it was back to league duty and striker Anthony Stokes – who scored in both previous wins – continued to be a thorn in Aberdeen’s side.
It was a nightmare start to the game for Aberdeen, who conceded a penalty and had defender Andrew Considine sent off after only two minutes, but goalkeeper Jamie Langfield did well to save Stokes’ spot kick.
Celtic did not have to wait long to take the lead, however, and Gary Hooper scored 10 minutes later although Aberdeen defended doggedly from that point on.
Mark Wilson eventually doubled Celtic’s advantage with 15 minutes to go, and Stokes bobbed up three minutes later to complete the rout.
The win sees Celtic increase their lead at the top of the league to eight points over arch-rivals Rangers, who have three games in hand.
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Elsewhere on Tuesday, St Johnstone leapfrogged Motherwell into seventh place with a 2-0 win over bottom side Hamilton.
Midfielder Steve May scored four minutes into the match, then again just a minute after the interval to give St Johnstone all three points.
Sitting in the opulent green countryside of East Staffordshire, unused and unspoilt, is St. George’s Park, the nucleus of the future of English Football. With an interminable list of state-of-the-art facilities available, the centre of excellence is set to provide a springboard to take the state of the nation’s most popular sport and launch it into eventual triumph. David Sheepshanks, joint acting Chairman of the FA has described the Centre as the “Mecca” of English Football; certainly an assured statement from the man who gave the green light for FA funding. However, after yet another mediocre performance from the national team this summer and with the rapid decline of national talent plying its trade in the Premier League, this may be the perfect time to have invested £105 million into renovating Football in this country.
“The backcloth to the quest for sporting excellence” as is so astutely phrased in the official website of St George’s Park, is certainly a valid description of the Centre. 11 outdoor pitchers along with 1 indoor pitch that is an exact replica of the dimensions of Wembley, an indoor running track as well as a sports hall for Futsal, Hydrotherapy suites, Seminar rooms, Strength and Conditioning gyms, Biomechanics and screening areas, individual Goalkeeping Areas along with many other facilities make the Burton Centre for excellence not only a revolutionary residence but a reference point for other nations to admire.
Sheepshanks adhered to the fact that recent English campaigns have been incredibly average and that we need to begin chasing the likes of Spain and Germany who, for the first time, are in a whole different class to England. To achieve a level playing field with the world’s greatest, a technical director is set to be appointed, who will oversee the activities at the Centre of Excellence from grass roots to senior national team. When asked about this forthcoming appointment, Sheepshanks stated,
“The appointment is almost as important (as building St George’s Park) when you consider the job of the future development of the game,”
He continued, “I think it will be someone who is very forward-thinking and committed to the long-term success of English football. Trevor Brooking has said we need to develop more technically-adept players but also more responsible, thinking players who are decision-makers.”
“He is absolutely right and the ethos of St George’s Park will be to focus on those skills, but also to encourage a sense of personal ownership and responsibility for career development.”
The factors for building the centre have a somewhat substantial emphasis on allowing players the capability to path their own futures rather than be spoon-fed. Taking personal ownership of a career would allow a player to flourish in his desired method, whilst also finding their own identities on the pitch that they are personally satisfied with. Too long have coaches in this country attempted to feed the long ball system to young talent, who adhere to the tactic for a number of years because they have not learnt otherwise. The centre is planning to eradicate these methods through player personal ownership, giving a somewhat free reign on how footballers play.
The centre will also be an arena where new English coaches will be trained, with Sheepshanks admitting that through the centre’s prominence, there need never be a foreign manager coaching the national team again. The reason for Roy Hodgson’s projected 4-year tenure may be to allow the team to gain experience with an English coach; step one in the building blocks of future English national team managers, who will have all proceeded through St George’s Park.
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It has to be considered an exciting taste of the future when the Centre of Football opens its gates to respective parties. However, this is a long term venture and the felt effects of the St George’s may not be realised for a number of years yet. However, it is a real step forward in the future of the land where the beautiful game was created and just as its namesake did, St George’s Park will go down in English history with legendary status.
Colorado Rapids inflicted 10-man Philadelphia Union’s first loss of the season, winning 2-1 at PPL Park in Friday’s Major League Soccer.First-half goals from Pablo Mastroeni and Sanna Nyassi proved enough for the visitors to take all three points, leaving Sporting Kansas City and LA Galaxy as the only teams yet to be beaten at home this season.
It was veteran midfielder Mastroeni who opened the scoring 35 minutes in, collecting Brian Mullan’s throw-in and beating Carlos Valdes, before finding the top-left corner for his first goal of the season.
And Nyassi doubled the lead on the stroke of half-time, receiving a through ball from Omar Cummings to round off a sharp counterattacking move with Colorado’s second.
Keon Daniel and Danny Mwanga enjoyed the Union’s only real chances of the first half, but the introduction of Roger Torres and Michael Farfan saw an improvement from the hosts after the break.
Valdes came close twice, first from a header and then following a quick exchange with Sebastien Le Toux.
But Philadelphia’s task became considerably harder when they lost Sheanon Williams, who was shown two yellow cards in quick succession for dissent toward the referee.
Williams’ departure left the home side a man light with 27 minutes still to play.
They did eventually get one back, with substitute Torres netting in stoppage time to halve the Rapids’ lead.
And Valdes almost equalised with just seconds remaining, but saw his header cleared off the line by Colorado goalkeeper Matt Pickens, who frustrated the hosts throughout the match.
The hard-earned win sees the Rapids climb to fourth in the Western Conference, eight points behind leaders Galaxy.
The Union remain top of the Eastern Conference, level on points with Columbus Crew.
Asian Football Confederation president Mohammed Bin Hammam dismissed suggestions Qatar would share the hosting of the 2022 World Cup.
UEFA chief Michel Platini had requested the event be jointly staged between Qatar and other Gulf nations, but Bin Hammam was adamant the tournament would be hosted solely by the tiny Arab nation.
“Qatar submitted a bid to organise the World Cup and it’s fair for Qatar to organise all the matches,” Bin Hammam said.
“It’s never actually been discussed inside the executive committee or outside the executive committee that some of the matches are going to be played outside the host nation.”
“I always believed Qatar can host a very good World Cup. It is an opportunity for those who had less confidence in Qatar’s capability to organize a World Cup to see with their own eyes, what can be done and what cannot be done.”
“We are proud of our infrastructure, our football infrastructure, and we can keep the promises we made in our bid.”
Bin Hammam said the experience of hosting the 2011 Asian Cup would be a valuable experience for the Qatari organising committee.
“Of course some lessons have been learnt (from hosting the AFC Asian Cup). Qatar has been excellent in organisation but this will add to their experience,” Bin Hammam said.
“Qatar has been organising tournaments for a long time. What is good is they don’t hesitate to engage any professional who can get the job done. They can do a lot from what they have learnt.”
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“We told the people of the world to come and feel how comfortable a World Cup organised in a small country can be.”
“We were organising two matches a day, and we have seen how comfortable watching two matches in a day in the same city, the same hotel, driving in the same car.”
The Premier League has proposed a rule, which has been agreed to by clubs, which will have the effect of freezing out hostile shareholders like Arsenal’s Alisher Usmanov, reports The Telegraph.
Coupled with his business partner Farhad Moshiri the duo own a combined stake of 29.72 per cent in the club through their investment vehicle, ‘Red and White Securities’.
This puts them close to the 30% threshold that under current Premier League regulations would grant them the rights and responsibilities of club directors, allowing Usmaov access to all ‘material transactions’ such as records of transfer dealings as well as wage and agent expenses.
The Russian’s lawyers were set to argue that their client needed to view these records in order to maintain achieve satisfaction over their correctness. However, Arsenal can now deny Usmanov access to their data following the rule change that has been voted in by Premier League clubs.
A source with an understanding of the situation told The Telegraph: “The rule left clubs open to the possibility of a hostile shareholder who is not on the board getting access to the books.
“Now if you are not on the board but have between 30 and 50 per cent of a club you don’t need to sign off on material-transaction reports.”
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Red and White Securities refused to comment but it remains to be seen whether the new regulation will effect Usmanov’s investment strategy within the club. If he chooses to withdraw then it is likely that share price will fall, enabling supporters of the club and the Arsenal Supporters Trust to purchase shares at a more reasonable price.
Tottenham are lining up a sensational deal to bring Bobby Zamora back to White Hart Lane with the Metro reporting that Peter Crouch could be used in a swap.
Harry Redknapp is in the hunt for a new striker is a known admirer of the Fulham hitman.
It is thought Martin Jol would be reluctant to sell his top marksman without having a replacement lined up and Redknapp thinks throwing Crouch into the mix could make the deal a possibility.
Both players are 30-years-old and members of the England squad although Crouch has significantly more caps and experience than Zamora.
However Spurs boss Redknapp see’s the Fulham hitman as a more potent goal scoring threat than Crouch who, despite scoring crucial Champions League goals, managed only four strikes in the league last year.
If the move were to go through it would cap a remarkable turnaround for Zamora who has revitalised his career at Craven Cottage.
He originally signed for Spurs at the start of the 2003/04 season but failed to score in his 16 games before being sold to West Ham and then to Fulham.
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His performances for the Cottagers catapulted him into the England squad last year and now Redknapp is prepared to bring him back to Tottenham.
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has hit out at Gerard Houllier in relation to Aston Villa’s signing of Darren Bent.
The Black Cats will face Blackpool at Bloomfield Road this weekend without the club’s former record signing, who joined Houllier’s Aston Villa this week in a 24-million-pound deal.
Bruce admitted to being devastated to lose his leading goalscorer so abruptly, and was furious about the way the deal was done.
“I would have liked even a phone call from Mr Houllier, for whom I did have the utmost respect for what he’s done,” Bruce said.
“I would have thought that, out of respect, maybe he would have picked up the telephone to say, ‘We are interested in buying your striker’.”
“That at least would have given me an opportunity to try to do something about it.”
Nevertheless, Bruce believes even without Bent and the injured Danny Welbeck, Sunderland can gain revenge over Blackpool for their fortuitous victory at the Stadium of Light last month.
“Losing Darren this week is a massive blow for us, of course it is, but how much it is going to affect us this weekend is difficult to tell – hopefully not at all,” said Bruce.
“When we played Blackpool last month with three strikers in the line-up, we didn’t score at all.”
“So maybe there’s something to be said about the balance of the team and if we play with only one striker this weekend in Asamoah Gyan, there’s every chance it will work for us.”
Bruce is still working hard in the transfer market to strengthen his attacking options, with Stoke City’s Ricardo Fuller the most likely signing as things stand.
But for the moment Bruce is focusing on Blackpool and a mission to avenge a result which stands out as something of a statistical fluke.
“We lost 2-0 to Blackpool last month – our only league defeat at the Stadium of Light so far this season.”
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“But how we lost it I’ll never know.”
“We had more than 30 shots at goal in that game and I think there’s only once in a Premier League game – a game that Arsenal were involved in – where a team has had that many shots and not scored.
“I’ll settle for half as many chances this weekend because it’s something of a fluke not to score from that many opportunities.”
“The players have been disappointed by Darren’s departure but footballers are a thick-skinned lot and they move on quickly.”
West Ham United will look to end a disastrous sequence of performances and results that have left them in real trouble, when they face fellow Premier League strugglers Southampton in a potentially season-defining clash at the London Stadium on Saturday.
A 3-0 home defeat against Burnley at home last time out was their third in a row in the top flight by a three-goal margin, and was marred by crowd trouble as a handful of fans invaded the pitch.
The latest reverse came on the back of successive 4-1 losses on the road against Liverpool and Swansea City and has left the east London outfit in 17th position in the top flight standings, just two points above their 18th-placed opponents this weekend with eight matches remaining.
David Moyes took his side to Miami for a training camp during their three-week break without a fixture, and he will hope that the Irons have returned to England feeling fresh and having regained some of the confidence that drained out of them during the defeat against the Clarets.
The Scot will know the precarious situation the Hammers find themselves in right now, and considering they face Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City in their next five fixtures, the Saints encounter should be seen as must-win, or at least one that they can’t afford to lose.
The hosts may fancy their chances against Mark Hughes’ goal-shy team however, with the south coast outfit only netting 29 times in their 30 Premier League matches and being beaten 3-0 by Newcastle United at St James’ Park last time out – a result which saw Mauricio Pellegrino relieved of his duties.
Moyes stuck with a 3-4-2-1 formation for the visit of Sean Dyche’s men but made five changes to his XI, and as well as some enforced alterations he may want to mix things up a little for such an important match.
Here is how West Ham must line up when they host Southampton…
Moyes brought Joe Hart back into the XI between the sticks against Burnley for his first Premier League appearance since November, with Adrian struggling in the defeats against Liverpool and Swansea previously.
The Scottish boss now has another big decision to make ahead of the huge Southampton clash given Hart conceded three times against the Clarets, but he should choose to stick with the England international.
With James Collins set to miss out after he picked up a hamstring injury in the charity friendly against Dagenham & Redbridge last week, it leaves Moyes with Declan Rice, Angelo Ogbonna and Aaron Cresswell as the back three.
Pablo Zabaleta and Michail Antonio started as the wing-backs against Burnley with the latter replacing Patrice Evra in the starting line-up, and while Antonio has done well in that position he should be playing further forward.
Arthur Masuaku returns from a six-match ban for this game and given Evra has struggled to make an impression, he must come straight into the starting line-up, with Zabaleta remaining on the right.
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Mark Noble and Cheikhou Kouyate will start in the middle, even though the Senegal international has come under criticism from the London Stadium faithful.
Manuel Lanzini and Joao Mario started behind Marko Arnautovic against Burnley but with the Argentina international a doubt for the clash against Southampton after picking up an injury on international duty, Moyes has a decision to make if he is absent.
Michail Antonio and Javier Hernandez could be in line to replace the 25-year-old in the starting XI, but the Scottish boss should go with the former and play him up top with Arnautovic – who scored three goals for Austria during the international break – with Joao Mario behind them.
Since wowing fans in Belgium as a young teenage striking sensation, Romelu Lukaku was expected to take the footballing world by storm with his brutal nature in the opposition’s third and cool composure in front of goal. The Anderlecht star eventually signed for Chelsea in a big money move that saw many deem the strong centre-forward as the ‘new Didier Drogba’ down at Stamford Bridge.
A disappointing lack of game time with the Blues, however, led to loan spells at West Brom and Everton. Despite Lukaku impressing in both, the striker never established himself as a starter with Chelsea. Many saw Jose Mourinho’s loss as Roberto Martinez’ gain, but as he cost the Toffees in the region of £28 million, some of the more pessimistic voices within the footballing community have already labelled Lukaku as a flop.
In light of such developments, should Everton think twice in the future about breaking their transfer record and putting all their eggs in one basket? Or should the The Toffees keep the faith with the Belgian starlet?
When analysing Everton’s powerful No. 10 and what he can offer in the Premier League; it is important to remember that Lukaku is still only 21-years-old. The former Chelsea man is more than capable of developing his game in the next few years. Already a bustling presence up front, the Belgian international can still improve technically and positionally in order to really become a formidable star of English football.
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For all those who have said that he has not lived up to expectations this season, Romelu Lukaku would still likely get into most team’s starting XI’s in the Premier League. It could even be argued that Chelsea could still have a use for the Belgian striker, who would be more than willing to test Diego Costa’s ability to hold down a starting place under Jose Mourinho this year. Whilst this has been far from a vintage season for Lukaku, the Everton man has still recorded an impressive 10 goals this campaign, with a lot more likely to come if the team can improve in the second half of the season.
Although the Toffees have been somewhat struggling of late, Everton fans can lay little blame at the feet of Lukaku, whose scoring boots have in fact been more firmly on than many of those around him. Roberto Martinez has had the added pressures of Europa League football to deal with, an ageing squad and the much famed ‘honeymoon period’ very much coming to an end.
That said, Romelu Lukaku hasn’t exactly looked dangerous in every game he has played this season, and as his World Cup in Brazil was certainly one to forget. Martinez needs to make sure he gets the most out of his main man if Everton are to have a better second half of the season than they did the first. On several occasions this campaign, the former Everton loanee has lacked a bit of sharpness, not been as mobile as Toffees fans know he can be, and verged on the predictable.
However, the big Belgian star doesn’t deserve the criticism he has received from some quarters this year. The former Anderlecht favourite still has everything going for him, and as he is remains only 21-years-old, there is every chance the £28 million will one day be considered a bargain.
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The footballing world is hardly notorious for having much in the way of a long memory, but in the case of Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud, it feels a touch more selective rather than forgetful.
If you cast your minds back to earlier on in the season, the Frenchman’s time in English football was already being cast off as a wasted journey, within some quarters of English football. Giroud, who cost Arsene Wenger’s side £9.6million during the summer, began November having scored a paltry three goals in 15 appearances, with only one of those coming in the Barclays Premier League.
Yet would you believe it, only three months later and the former Montpellier man looks to have found his feet in the English game. Giroud now has 14 goals to his name in all competitions and his strike against Liverpool during the Gunners’ 2-2 draw on Wednesday night, has taken him to one short of double figures for the league season.
Although while Giroud has managed to hit a particularly rich vein of form during his last three games, his current exploits in front of goal shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone within the game. In fact, any eyebrows currently being raised in Giroud’s direction probably go a long way to explaining how woefully shortsighted some of the evaluations aimed his way were in the first place.
The looming backdrop that was Robin van Persie’s summer departure was always going to leave Arsenal’s summer recruits as a collective of sitting ducks to media criticism and somewhat predictably, they duly managed to deliver. Of course, the fact neither Giroud nor Lukas Podolski had ever plied their trade within a league outside their native divisions was conveniently overlooked. But why let objectivity get in the way of a good story?
Whether Giroud or Podolski are ever likely to hit the goalscoring feats of Van Persie is perhaps an argument for another day, but the point remains that neither were given anything resembling a fair crack of the whip. And although Podolski’s deployment slightly wider on the left saw him shed some of the goalscoring expectation, for Giroud, this simply wasn’t the case.
English football snarled, sneered and scratched its collective heads at its latest Gallic import. How had he managed 21 goals in Ligue One for Montpellier last season, yet was seemingly unable unable to instantly produce the goods for his new club from the off?
Yet while Giroud seemed to come in for pelters from the more cynical contingent of English football during the early phases of the Premier League season, there was something painfully ironic in some of the praise one of his Arsenal teammates was beginning to receive.
Considering Arsenal’s current defensive plight, you have to go back a fair way to find the sort of praise Per Mertesacker was receiving earlier on this term, but as the ‘Steve Bould movement’ was in its pomp, the German was heralded as its leader. Which felt somewhat strange given the similar sort of position to Giroud that Mertesacker found himself in last term.
Indeed, here was a man that many had written off as little more than a defensive comedy act following some of his showings in an Arsenal shirt last season. But after a year to settle, adapt and acclimatize to the rigors of the Premier League, it was suddenly deemed that actually, Mertesacker wasn’t quite such a rubbish defender after all.
This isn’t rocket science, here.
Giroud’s current goalscoring glut isn’t a middle finger up to the critics, a triumph for the plucky underdog or anything that we should be remotely surprised at. It’s simply the response of a top goalscorer doing his job after finally settling down within his new surroundings.
The lack of patience that Giroud was afforded earlier on during the season was staggering considering the circumstances. The ‘we want it now, we wanted it yesterday’ sort of attitude that’s bedded itself within the Premier League is hardly a new phenomenon, although even by the impatient standards of the game today, Olivier Giroud wasn’t given a chance.
And on what grounds? Yes, Giroud didn’t exactly cover himself in glory with some of his early performances and for as difficult as it is moving to another league, it shouldn’t drain you from the ability to get the bread-and-butter parts of your game right –some of his initial performances certainly didn’t leave much to the imagination.
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But for every Papiss Cisse, who made an instant impact upon his move to the Premier League, there are another ten Olivier Girouds. Everyone from Vidic to Ronaldo or Henry to Schemeichel experienced their difficulties in adapting to English football. Even for the greatest foreign imports of all time in this league, success and form wasn’t established overnight.
When Giroud made his move during the summer, he wasn’t simply moving to a new club. He was moving to a new country, a new culture and a new way of life. In moving to this new league, he was also playing with new teammates, under a new manager and within a new formation.
This isn’t to say that every foreign player arriving on these shores can be afforded an unlimited amount of time to adapt. Not all will adapt and the circumstances at some clubs will demand that form is found sooner rather than later.
But even though Olivier Giroud’s fate may have remained unaffected by the unfair extrinsic pressures of public expectation, that isn’t the case for every player joining this league from further abroad. Patience is, after all, a virtue. English football would do well to remember that.