All posts by h79snht.top

Liverpool moved up to fifth place with a 3-0 win over Wolves at Molineux on Tuesday night.

Second half goals from attacking trio Andy Carroll, Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt sealed the victory for the Merseysiders, and lifted them above Arsenal in the table for the time being.

Reds manager Kenny Dalglish was delighted with the performance and paid tribute to the players: “It was an eventful night’s work. Great credit to the players, they didn’t get carried away with what they had done by getting to Wembley and beating Manchester United.

“This was a thoroughly professional, high quality performance and we thoroughly deserved the victory.

“The attitude and the work-rate was key to the win tonight.

“I thought we had the better chances of the first half, but then once we got the first goal it changes things, but up until then I think we had been playing well enough.

“(Bellamy) scored a great second goal and Dirk Kuyt got his 51st goal for the club so it’s been a good night for us, and great credit to the players.” Sky Sports

Liverpool host Tottenham next at Anfield on Monday night, and will look for another victory to push them towards the top four.

By Gareth McKnight

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Paraguayan club Libertad are top of Copa Libertadores Group One following a 4-1 thrashing of Universidad San Martin on Tuesday.It was Peruvian visitors San Martin who went in front five minutes into the match at Estadio Dr. Nicolas Leoz.Striker German Alemmano – on loan from Argentine club Rosario Central – made the most of Aldo Corzo’s good work to open the scoring. But hosts Libertad were level less than 10 minutes later though Rodrigo Rojas, who fired his shot through a crowd of players to beat Ricardo Farro in the San Martin goal. And Libertad were in front on 18 minutes courtesy of forward Angel Orue, who was set up by Ignacio Canuto.It was 3-1 shortly before the half-hour mark when Manuel Maciel benefited from a big deflection to finish off a good move. Libertad strolled toward victory in the second half and made it 4-0 just five minutes after the break when Victor Ayala hit home with a bullet header.Central midfielder Omar Pouso got the fifth and final goal to complete the rout six minutes from time. The win lifts Libertad above San Martin and puts them a point clear at the top of Group One. In Group Six, Mexican club Jaguares came from behind to secure a 2-1 win at home to Emelec.Ecuadorian visitors Emelec took the lead through striker Cristian Menendez in the 24th minute at Estadio Victor Manuel Reyna. Defender Francisco Torres equalised from the penalty spot two minutes before half-time after Carlos Quinonez fouled Jorge Daniel Hernandez inside the box.Antonio Salazar had replaced Julio Daniel Frias Adame for Jaguares early in the first half and it was the substitute who struck the winning goal for the hosts in the 66th minute.Jaguares are now top of Group Six, two points ahead of Internacional and Emelec.

Massimiliano Allegri has refused to panic after his side’s loss at Palermo on Saturday, saying AC Milan are still confident of Scudetto glory.Allegri watched on as a sluggish Rossoneri conceded a 10th-minute opener from Dorian Goian and were never able to redress the balance.The loss leaves Milan’s lead in Serie A in a perilous position, with Inter Milan able to draw within two points of their city rivals with a win over lowly Lecce on Sunday.Napoli also have the opportunity to put themselves just three points behind Milan when they host Cagliari.But Allegri, whose side has taken just one point of a possible six in their last two matches, said it is too early to start worrying about other sides.”Going down early on was not helpful and we didn’t play well in the first half, especially the final third,” the Milan boss said.”It was better after the break, although considering all our possession we didn’t have enough shots on target.””Although it was better to avoid it, a defeat can happen. Fortunately we are going into the break for international duty now and have time to get our ideas in order.””In any case, we are still top of the table, and we’ll see what Inter and Napoli do tomorrow.”Milan were without Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the trip to Palermo as the Swede serves a three-match ban, but Allegri refused to blame the loss on his absent striker.”There’s no point talking about how important Ibra is for us,” Allegri said.”Tonight we should’ve done more; we have to analyse what didn’t work.””Alexandre Pato and Antonio Cassano were playing as a pair for the first time, so it’s natural it’d take a while to settle.””I had to look at the full 90 minutes, as Robinho is tired and Kevin-Prince Boateng cannot play a full game at the moment.””I remain convinced Milan are the favourites for the Scudetto, so even if things go badly, we’ll still be two points in front.”

Once-upon-a-time, in a galaxy far, far away, Tottenham Hotspur were apparently a pretty good football team. As a result, the club has acquired some rather high-profile supporters over the years. Legend has it that the likes of Bob Marley, Shania Twain, Emma ‘Baby Spice’ Bunton and Bryan Adams are all Tottenham Hotspur fans. However, without photographic evidence, or a quote coming straight from the horses-mouth, those guys are not going to make it onto the list. However, the following ten celebrities are all on record as pledging their allegiance to the club. Here are ten of Tottenham’s most famous supporters.

Click on Peter Cook below to see Tottenham’s TOP 10 Celebrity Fans

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Well there you have it. Ten of the more famous Spurs supporters you are likely to hear of. If you happen to have hard evidence that there are even more famous people missing from the list, feel obliged to leave a comment. However, I think it’s fair to say that as celebrity fans go, Tottenham are well represented…

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Former Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack has stated that the London club are not as strong now as when he played for them, and that the team lack mental strength.

Andre Villas Boas’ men have struggled with inconsistency of late, are 12 points behind league leaders Manchester City and face a struggle to progress to the Champions League knockout stages.

Ballack faced his former employers for Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday night in a 2-1 victory for the Bundesliga outfit, and felt that their lack of confidence was evident.

“We knew before the game they were in a difficult moment. But it’s only when you play against a team on the pitch that you see what is really happening and get a clearer picture,” he told Mirror Football.

“We could feel it on the pitch every minute – especially at the beginning of the match – that they were not as strong as they normally are.

“Even when they were 1-0 up, we could sense that – that they didn’t have the strength mentally that they normally have,” he stated.

The German midfielder has admitted that the senior players must guide the Stamford Bridge club through this tricky period, and feels they must work hard to achieve their ambitions.

“I don’t know what is going on in the dressing room. When I was there, I was one of the strong characters, but I think there are enough big players, experienced players, still in the dressing room. It wasn’t just me.

“They have to do it now. You can’t just look at the young players and criticise them. This has to come from the older, experienced players – especially now.

“I played four years for Chelsea and I know how quickly it can go. I had a few managers in that short time!

“So I know it is always difficult for the coach. I know he [Villas-Boas] is young and has ambitions and is a good guy. He had success at his last team.

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“At the moment, it is not that easy for them. But that is not just about the coach, it is about the players too. They have to get out of this situation.

“You have to get back to your roots, to square one. But with the ambitions they have of course it is harder and they are not matching them,” the veteran concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

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Gabriel Agbonlahor scored a late leveller to give Aston Villa a share of the spoils at Goodison Park denying Everton a first home win in the process.

The Villa striker nodded home Marc Albrighton’s cross to give the away side a very good away point and keep up their unbeaten start to the season. The hosts had twice taken the lead during the course of the game but were pegged back both times by a Villa side who are certainly a more resilient outfit under new boss Alex Mcleish.

Everton started the game brightly and deserved their lead when Leon Osmon volleyed home from Tim Cahill’s cutback 12 yards. Jack Rodwell and Marouane Fellaini also went close with long range strikes as the the hosts dominated the first 45 minutes.  They took that advantage into the second half only for Villa skipper Stiliyan Petrov to level proceedings in the 63rd minute with a stunning 30-yard strike that gave Tim Howard no chance in the Toffee’s goal.

Leighton Baines restored the lead six minutes later converting from the penalty spot after Phil Jagielka was felled by Fabian Delph in the penalty area allowing the England full back to make it 2-1.

They couldn’t hold on though as substitute Albrighton sent over a teasing cross from the left and Agbonlahor duly supplied the magic touch heading in at the back post with seven minutes left on the clock.

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Remember you can catch all the action from today’s action here courtesy of ESPN Goals.

Ever since Manchester City were taken over by the Abu Dhabi Royal Family there has been a lazy argument claiming that they have no interest in the club, the City or even football. Anyone willing to do a little bit of research however would have learnt that there was nothing in those arguments whatsoever, and the announcement coming from the club today will go a long way to putting that silly argument to bed.

The club are hoping to create the best training facilities in the world for their first team, but also the best youth training facilities as well. The remit of the development however goes further than just the game, one of the cornerstones of the plans is to aid the redevelopment and rejuvenation of one of the most deprived areas of Manchester, the needs and the thoughts of the local people are extremely high on the list of priorities.

As anyone interested in the game is aware, City have always been highly successful in youth development, but they have exhausted their current set up, and with these plans they will be able to go onto the next level and make the club the most attractive prospect in world football for young players from both Britain and further afield. As well as a 7,000 capacity stadium (which will also be available to local community groups) there will be a state of the art education centre and accommodation for upto 40 players.

11 full sized youth training pitches (which again can be used by the community)as well as a half sized pitch, a specialist sports rehabilitation and injury centre, and all round facilities capable of the training of 400 young players. As we are all well aware the future of football clubs isn’t big spending to secure the best players in the world, the ideal model is a club nurturing the best youngsters who will eventually fill the first team and it is that process that sets the scene for this development.

The first team currently train at Carrington next door to Manchester United , but that site is no longer suitable for a club with the ambitions of City, the facilities are good but could be improved and these needs will all be catered for on the new site. The ability to train in house will obviously be preferable for the players and it would make the match day experience for the first team squad much easier.

The focus however is on so much more than football, and whilst this is a football site I think it is important to not forget about the bigger picture, the club will be creating 160 construction jobs and 90 permanent jobs, 80% of which will be earmarked for local people, that is as well as a new 6th form college that will be part of the newly formed Etihad campus.

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Local infrastructure will be greatly improved with the construction of 2 new metrolink stations and the environmental impact is clearly wonderful with this old brownfield site being totally transformed. What is currently an eye sore is going to become one of the best facilities of its kind in the world. The planting of tree’s and hedging will ensure the site improves the aesthetics of the local area and this thinking is partly responsible for the huge positive feedback that the club has received.

People who raised question marks over the figure that Etihad have put into the club have clearly lost sight of the bigger picture; the sponsorship deal covers not just the stadium but also this forward thinking and impressive development centre. There are clearly not just benefits here for the club but also the community that live around the site, anyone still questioning the mindset of our owners will now have to find something else to moan about because the notion of them getting bored and walking away at this point seems totally laughable. The full scale ideas and thoughts behind the scheme can be seen here, hopefully any doubters can now be put in their place, Sheikh Mansour losing interest after a couple of years? Do me a favour…

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The director of football role is one that is much maligned by both managers and supporters within this country.

Whilst hugely successful on the continent, the English game has never adjusted to a set-up and system which in fact goes a long way to ensure stability in the club’s development and transfer policy. The English attitude is that a football manager should be responsible for every aspect of the running of the club; it is a short sighted view in my opinion.

Tottenham are the classic example of where this set-up has proven to work and pay dividends. Being a Spurs fan and watching the club go through a high turnover of managers and subsequently players, we were continually wasting millions of pounds, year on year, and little development was happening on the pitch, as well as off it. It was a complete vicious circle that the likes of Sugar and Levy were facing and one that in time would have left to financial woe in the future. A change of set-up was desperately required to turn this tide and the appointment of Frank Arnesen in 2004 was arguably the turning point in Tottenham’s recent history. Arnesen was the trouble shooter that Tottenham desperately needed and in his short spell at the football club he changed every aspect of it.

A club that was renowned for spending big money on experienced, and in some cases over the hill players, was now buying some of the finest young English talent in the game. The philosophy was simply – to buy young players cheaply that could provide 5 or 6 years service, before selling them on at profit safe in the knowledge that a young replacement was already waiting in the wings. The role of the director of football is to ensure that there is a conveyor belt of excellent players at the coach’s disposal was maintained. It was Arnesen that brought the likes of Huddlestone, Dawson, and Lennon to the football club, for a combined fee of around £4.5m – one can only imagine how much they would be worth now. Unfortunately Comolli failed to build on the foundations laid by Arnesen in pretty much every aspect and I often wonder whether Tottenham would have made it to the Champions League sooner, had Arnesen and Jol remained at the helm. The success of this set-up is solely based on the relationship between the director of football and head coach, something that Comolli was never to have with either Jol or Ramos. Despite the poor relationship’s the transfer policy was maintained and although there were expensive flops, the sales of the likes of Carrick, Berbatov and Keane, ensured that the club’s finances remained balanced.

While Tottenham no longer operate with a director of football, they have a chairman who has learned the valuable lessons and philosophies that Arnesen initially brought to the football club. Harry Redknapp may have the freedom to run the playing side of the club; however it is Levy that oversees the purchasing of players and will only spend big money on those players that have a potential sell on value. It is no shock to me that NESV have decided to address the reckless spending at Liverpool and look to introduce their own director of football to the club and while Damien Comolli certainly wouldn’t have been my choice, given what went on at Tottenham, the set-up is ideal for any football club seeking stability on and off the pitch. Arnesen got Tottenham on the straight and narrow in such a short space of time and it is no coincidence that his time started the general ascendency that the club has enjoyed in the years since.

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Sir Alex Ferguson praised his Manchester United team after they secured a 19th English Premier League title with a 1-1 draw at Blackburn.United had to come from behind at Ewood Park after an error from reserve goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak led to Brett Emerton’s opening goal in the 20th minute.

They looked to be heading for a costly shock defeat before Mexico international Javier Hernandez won a penalty after going down under a challenge from Rovers’ goalkeeper Paul Robinson.

Wayne Rooney lashed home the spot-kick to make it 1-1 with 17 minutes remaining and United saw out the closing exchanges to capture their fourth title in five seasons.

“It was a fantastic performance by the lads and the supporters and for everybody connected with the club, it’s a great day today,” Ferguson told Sky Sports.

“It wasn’t an easy game. We went 1-0 down having given them a bad goal but we kept on and we don’t give in. It looked like it was not going to be our day. We’ve always had it difficult here.”

“It is a local derby and they are fighting for their lives, looking for that point, but we kept going and that’s a good quality.”

Rooney admitted nerves threatened to get the better of him as referee Phil Dowd delayed in awarding the penalty while consulting with an assistant.

“I was terrified, the ref took a long time to give it,” Rooney said.

“I had to compose myself. I’d been practising all week.”

“After the year I’ve had, with the ups and downs, this is for the fans and the team,” he added, referring to a high-profile contract dispute and revelations of marital infidelity.

Rooney also managed a dig at Liverpool after United passed their record of 18 English league titles.

“For me personally, being an Everton fan, to win a 19th title is special,” he said.

A 0-0 draw away to Blackburn cost United dear last season as Chelsea captured the league title by one point.

They could only manage a draw again on Saturday, but this time it was enough, with centreback Rio Ferdinand satisfied by the team’s performance.

“We missed out last year by a point and it was here we pretty much lost the league so it was nice to come back here and get it done,” Ferdinand said.

“We gave away a soft goal but we persevered and got our rewards.”

“It’s a better league this year. Teams have been beating each other from the bottom to the top which makes it more exciting for the fans.”

Unhappy Blackburn fans are planning an anti-Steve Kean protest march ahead of their home fixture against Arsenal on Saturday.

The Ewood Park outfit have started the season slowly, and sit bottom of the Premier League pile with only one point from their first four games.

The Lancashire club’s fans are concerned with the lack of experience of current coach Kean, and are protesting to have him removed and replaced with a manager with a better track record in the game.

Reports indicate that the protesters could be as many as 1000, as an online petition gathers speed ahead of the match against Arsene Wenger’s men.

“The numbers look like hitting the 1,000 mark so the fans are keen to have Steve Kean removed,” Glen Mullan, the organiser of the march, told reporters.

“It’s going to be a peaceful march, but we want to make our point and there will be banners made. It’s about time the owners listened to the fans. We want someone who is experienced and can relate to the fans,” he concluded.

A defeat in the game against Arsenal could be the beginning of the end for Kean, with Blackburn owners Venkys under pressure to get their side out of danger.

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