EPL Talk » Wales

Now Mark Hughes Knows Exactly What’s Required

Paul Bestall — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:38:46 +0000

When Mark Hughes agreed to replace Sven Goran Eriksson last summer, no doubt he knew things would be interesting at Manchester City, it very rarely isn’t in the sky blue half of Manchester, but I doubt he’d have expected anything like the events that ultimately played out. What with the takeover and the crazy final day of the summer transfer window, with City making 10 bids of over £15 million for players, it was probably the maddest 24 hours the City faithful could remember in years.

After that, he’s coped remarkably well with the media speculation, both about transfer targets and his own future at the club, showing a calm and assured exterior throughout the season. Of course there have been hiccups along the way, the F.A. Cup defeat, losing 3-0 at home to Forest probably the lowest point along with the embarrassment of being kicked out of the League Cup at Brighton on penalties. Yet, this is a team still trying to find its feet and he has added some excellent signings along the way.

Shay Given is one of the best goalkeepers in Europe, as hard as that signing was on the promising Joe Hart, Wayne Bridge a consistent and dependable left back. Vincent Kompany has long been touted as one of Europe’s most promising players as is Nigel De Jong and Stephen Ireland has been magnificent all season. Of course, question marks were raised over the signing of Craig Bellamy, but if anyone can get him playing to his full potential, it’s Hughes, their relationship built during his time as Wales and Blackburn manager.

Now the owner has laid down the aim for next season, a top 6 finish, which for a manager who took Blackburn to the UEFA Cup twice and had 3 top 10 finishes in a row, should be a piece of cake with the resources at his disposal. Mubarak’s statement released on Tuesday was a vindication for Hughes and the work in progress that Manchester City should be classed as. It seemed a reasoned and balanced indication of what the owner wants for Manchester City, regardless of the rubbish and speculation that you can read every day about them, such as this nonsense!

City have had some dreadful press this year, with so many lazy journalists writing rubbish about them because it fills space in empty papers. Here in the UK, we have a couple of papers who are renowned for being so far of the mark with transfer stories as to be laughable. Suffice to say, if you see a transfer story printed in either the Daily Express or the Daily Star, chances are it’ll never happen. Last season, they had a success rate of 8% for transfer stories, the lowest in England by some distance.

That’s not to say they’ve not been their own worst enemy at times, Chief Executive Gary Cook has said some eyebrow raising things during his time at Eastlands, the comments about Richard Dunne were especially unkind, “China and India are gagging for football content to watch and we’re going to tell them that City is their content. We need a superstar to get through that door. Richard Dunne doesn’t roll off the tongue in Beijing. Ronaldinho brings access to major sponsors and financial reward.”

Now that may be true but players like Richard Dunne win you titles by allowing the superstars to play and thankfully Cook has calmed his comments down over the last couple of months after the rather choice words used toward Kaka and A.C. Milan. He needs to deliver the players to move City up a level from where they’ve been the last couple of years. A consistent goal scorer is key, as is a fit and skilful left sided midfielder to add to four or five signings to strengthen the squad. Hughes will be looking to shift some dead wood out too as well as tie Stephen Ireland down to a new long term contract.

Hughes now knows his goals, no doubt his list of transfer targets already is on Gary Cooks desk and as soon as the season finishes on Sunday, City will begin the search to add some more quality to the potential they already have on their books. With Tottenham, Everton and Aston Villa all showing flashes this season, we could finally get a season to remember in 2009-2010 and not just the same 4 clubs sharing out the trophies once again.

Poems And Drawings From a 10-Year-Old Soccer Obsessed Boy

The Gaffer — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:30:52 +0000

Going through some old boxes last week, I found a handmade poetry book I created in primary school when I was living in Wales. I thought it’d be interesting to share the poems and my pictures no matter how crude and silly they are to help paint a picture of what a ten-year old soccer obsessed boy was thinking in 1980.

Here are the soccer-related poems and drawings (click the images, when open, to zoom in):

“Soccer” (The Poem)

“Famous Footballers”

Kevin Keegan Drawing

“I Have A Dream”

“Wales 4-1 England”

Old Footballer Drawing.

Some of the things that I found interesting about the collection were the names of different companies featured on the advertising boards such as Talbot (cars), Esso (gasoline/petrol), V.G. and Spar (grocery stores), my adoration for my boyhood hero Kevin Keegan, the amount of belief I had in the Welsh national team at that time (thanks to their 4-1 against England), and – even at that age – the level of detail I drew into the football kits of Wales (Adidas) and England (Admiral).

Pavlyuchenko Gets The Wrong End Of The Stick From Ramos

The Gaffer — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:40:26 +0000

New Spurs striker Roman Pavlyuchenko may face punishment from Tottenham because he’s not learning English quickly enough according to the Russian newspaper, Tvoi Den.

If the newspaper report is true, it’s a bit unfair on Pavlyuchenko. He’s only been with Spurs since September 1st and, in that time, he also played in Moscow for Russia aganst Wales. Plus, the criticism seems very hypocritical given that Juande Ramos is not learning English fast enough either.

The newspaper reports that Pavlyuchenko was substituted at halftime against Wigan because he wasn’t following the orders from Ramos because he didn’t understand a word that his manager had said in the pre-match team talk.

Sure, the sooner Pavlyuchenko learns English the better, but he’s only been with Spurs for just over three weeks. Ramos has been with Tottenham since October 27, 2007.

World Cup Qualifying: Your Running Commentary

The Gaffer — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:56:24 +0000

England’s away match today against Croatia is massive for several reasons. First, a loss against Croatia will be a huge blow to England’s hopes of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. Second, a loss would put immense pressure under Fabio Capello. Third, if England can secure a draw or a win, it’ll be a huge boost of confidence to a team and a nation that haven’t had much to cheer about in so long.

The irony is that most football fans in England and the United States won’t be able to see the big match live unless they’re willing to fork over some sizeable cash to Setanta Sports or In Demand.

Here are some of today’s matches to enjoy:

Russia vs Wales, 11am ET/4pm UK (Fox Soccer Channel)
Turkey vs Belgium, 2pm ET/7pm UK time (Setanta US)
Macedonia vs Holland, 2:30pm ET/7:30pm UK time (Fox Soccer Channel)
Croatia v England, 3pm ET/8pm UK time (Pay-per-view and Setanta pub channel)
Italy vs Georgia, 2:45pm ET/7:45pm UK time (GolTV)
Portugal vs Denmark, 4pm ET/9pm UK time (Setanta US)
Spain vs Armenia, 4:50pm ET/9:50pm UK time (GolTV)
Slovenia vs Slovakia, 5pm ET/10pm UK time (Fox Soccer Channel)
France vs Serbia, 6:45pm ET/11:45pm UK time (Setanta US)
USA v Trinidad & Tobago, 8pm ET/1am UK time (ESPN2)
Uzbekistan v Australia, 8pm ET/1am UK time (Fox Soccer Channel)
Finland v Germany, 8:45pm ET/1:45am UK time (Setanta US)
Mexico v Canada, 9pm ET/2am ET UK time (Telemundo)

If you’ll be watching – or have watched – today’s matches, please share your thoughts, insight, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Meanwhile, if you’re a fan of U.S. soccer, be sure to head on over to Major League Soccer Talk for a special live chat tonight at 8pm ET featuring the United States against Trinidad and Tobago.

Harry Redknapp Interested In Coaching 2012 UK Team

Michael — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:08:14 +0000

Portsmouth boss ‘Arry Redknapp confirmed his interest in leading a Great Britain soccer team in the 2012 Summer Olympics, which will be held in London.

Redknapp is from London and spent a combined 15 years playing for and managing West Ham, a club based in the eastern section of England’s capital. The other teams he’s led — Bournemouth, Portsmouth, and Southampton — are all on the South Coast, also not far from London. This familiarity with the area clearly plays into his willingness to take the job if he gets the chance:

“I’m absolutely flattered that my name is being mentioned about managing the Great Britain team,’ he told the Sunday Mirror yesterday.

‘Would I take it if they offered it to me? Absolutely, I would be a fool not to.

‘I’ve had some great managerial jobs during my career but there is no doubt this would be the icing on the cake.

‘The fact it is being held on my old stamping ground in East London makes it even more appealing.”

As of right now, though, it appears unlikely that a combined team will even be fielded. The Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Irish FA’s are all opposed to the idea, which puts a huge damper on it seeing as those are three of the four countries that would be involved. There’s no doubt that most of the talent on the team would come from England, but it can’t be given the go-ahead unless those associations give their seals of approval. They feel that it would be a threat to the future of their respective national teams, which obviously operate independently of one another.

England’s Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, supports the plan:

“I hope there will be a team by 2012. It will be Team UK. I hope we can get an agreement on that.

‘I think when people are looking at the Olympics in 2012 – Britain, home of football, where football was invented, which we gave to the world – I think people would be very surprised if there is an Olympic tournament in football and we are not part of it.

‘I am determined to work with the football associations and the Olympic Committee to ensure that when we come to 2012 we have a men’s football team and we have a women’s football team playing.”

There’s no doubt to me that the UK should have a team. These Olympics are in their backyard. Soccer is the most popular sport in the region, and its main competitors — rugby and cricket — aren’t Olympic events. If some sort of agreement has to be reached saying that Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales each have to be represented on the squad by a certain number of players, then fine. I don’t see why that should be too much of a problem, although as I hinted at before, the best players in Great Britain are English.

Redknapp would be a terrific leader for this team. Other than Martin O’Neill, I don’t think anyone is more of a “player’s manager” than Redknapp. He has the right personality and temperament to unite a multi-national side. He’s going to be 65 in 2012 so he may not have the same enthusiasm as he does now, but something tells me the thrill of playing in his home city would reignite the engines and give him a little pick-me-up, if he even needs one in the first place.