EPL Talk » Sky Sports News

Bookies Suspend Betting On Benitez Leaving Liverpool

Paul Bestall — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:14:53 +0000

Sky Sports News seems to be having a strange day today as it winds itself up again over the information that certain bookmakers here in the U.K. have suspended betting on Rafa Benitez leaving Liverpool after tonight’s match. Now whilst I’ve been highly critical of Benitez this season, this is another ludicrous situation developing at Anfield. Sure, the Premiership is gone, they’re out of the F.A. Cup, out of the Carling Cup but still in the Champions League. Whilst I don’t think they’ll win it, they’ve still got a slim chance of adding to their 5 European Cup triumphs.

Apparently, William Hill, amongst other notable British and Irish based based bookmakers have said the following. “We have been informed by a source that the deadline for Benitez to sign his new contract has passed and he will be removed from his post by the weekend. There have been too many calls to us for it to be just a rumour”

Benitez has certainly dragged his feet over the contract offer on the table, the major sticking point was believed to be having total control over transfers. Looking at his record over his time at Liverpool, I think he needs keeping well away from having total control over that part of the clubs business, or else Liverpool well end up with 17 defensive midfielders who run all day. Whilst Liverpool were top of the Premiership, The F.A. Cup and waiting for the Champions League knock out phase to begin, he was in a position of strength. Now, his position of strength has been reduced to hoping against form and praying for another miraculous run to the final to save face.

Yet to remove him now, or certainly allow the rumours of him leaving to destabilise his preparation for tonights match is disgusting. Hicks and Gillette have been down this road before when courting Jurgen Klinsmann a couple of years ago and the club is notably silent at the moment. Is their a campaign to make his position untenable so he walks away? Are the owners so frustrated over the throwing the League challenge away so early in the season and the unsigned contract still on the table that they’ve allowed this story to gather speed?The silence coming from Anfield is deafening.

The added incentive to tonight’s tie is that it could be seen as a job application for both managers to take over Real on a permanent basis, with Juande Ramos only under contract until Real’s final game on May 31st and Benitez has been constantly linked with a return to Bernabeu since leaving for Real Valladolid in the summer of 1995. Every time someone has vacated the Real Madrid hot seat, and that’s been quite a lot over the last 5 or 6 seasons, Benitez’s name has been linked to the job.

To allow him now could completely destabilise Liverpools season with tragic results. They are not too far ahead of Chelsea and Aston Villa, it’s not too far a push to imagine Arsenal hitting a run or Everton for that matter to put pressure on 4th place. Whether Benitez is Liverpool manager next season is open to conjecture, he surely has to stay for the remainder of the season, doesn’t he? Alex Ferguson must be wondering just how much more good news he can get this season.

Breaking News: Spurs Accepts Manchester City Bid For Berbatov

The Gaffer — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:59:46 +0000

According to Sky Sports News, Manchester City has made a shock bid for Dimitar Berbatov which has been accepted by Spurs. Incredibly, Tottenham is reported to have made a bid in excess of £30 million. The massive transfer fee makes him the most expensive transfer signing in British history.

Man City manager Mark Hughes says that the transfer has been agreed with Spurs, but personal terms have to be worked out with Berbatov.

The audacious bid is a result of a shock buyout of Man City from an Abu Dhabi group that has paid £200 million. Thaksin Shinawatra has reportedly sold the club to Abu Dhabi United Group Investment and Development (ADUG). One of the chief aims by ADUG is to ensure that Man City qualifies for the Champions League at the end of the season, so the Berbatov signing would be perfect timing for City.

Despite the bid being accepted by Spurs, there’s still an opportunity for a counterbid to be made by cross-town rivals Manchester United or other clubs. However, it’s doubtful that United would be willing to match or beat Manchester City’s current bid in excess of £30 million.

Why Sky Sports News Sucks

The Gaffer — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 13:26:15 +0000

Thought for the day: If you were an alien that landed on earth and were forced to watch the Sky Sports News program “Through The Night,” would you know that the biggest sporting event in the world waa taking place, the one that happens only once every four years, the summer Olympic games?

The answer is an emphatic no.

I watched Through The Night on Friday night. Not one single mention of the opening ceremony of the games in its 60 minute broadcast. I also watched it on Saturday and didn’t see the games mentioned either.

This is another example of how immature and biased Sky Sports News is.

When Euro 2008 was happening, “Through The Night” often ran with Cristiano Ronaldo transfer gossip as the main story or cricket news and relegated the Euro 2008 headlines to usually the third or fourth story of the idea in its program.

Go back a couple of years to the bung scandal that BBC’s Panorama program uncovered and it took “Through The Night” a couple of days to cover the news and then they buried it deep within the program. But if some player got into a fight or there’s half a rumor of an agent sealing a transfer deal that no one cares about, you can almost guarantee it’ll be the lead story.

The rule that Sky Sports News seems to be running is that if they don’t own the rights to the event, then they’ll ignore that news. On the other hand, if they own the rights, you can be assured that they’ll cover that news ad nauseum and hype it so much that it’ll never live up to its expectations.

Here’s a parody of Sky Sports News done by That Mitchell And Webb Look, a BBC show. This is so true:

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