Liverpool midfielder Charlie Adam has been ruled out for the remainder of the season, after picking up a knee injury against QPR.
The Scotland international suffered lateral knee ligament damage at the fixture at Loftus Road a week ago, being replaced shortly after half-time, and will now need to focus on returning for next season, The Guardian reports.
Meanwhile, Spanish full-back Jose Enrique has stated that the players are responsible for the Anfield club’s inconsistent league form, not manager Kenny Dalglish.
Defeats against QPR and Wigan in their last two games see Liverpool down in seventh place, and Enrique has stated that Dalglish should not take the brunt of criticism.
“In the cups we are doing well; in the league I think we deserve more than where we are now. But the truth is we are in seventh position,” he told the club’s official website.
“We have played good football in many games but against Wigan we didn’t deserve to win.
“This team is in production. The owners have signed young players. I think we have a really good squad already but of course we have to improve – everyone.
“The manager takes pressure for us and of course that is good. But the truth is, when we make mistakes or have a bad game, we know where the mistakes come from. Who plays the games? The players. Who has to win them? The players too.
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“The players are frustrated just the same as the fans,” he concluded.
Before the Easter weekend had you asked a Cardiff City supporter if they would take four points from the games against Middlesbrough away and Watford at home most would have happily taken them, however all that changed after the resounding victory against Boro away, thanks in large part to Joe Mason who came on as substitute for Kenny Miller after just three minutes.
Miller was racing onto through-ball, with the Middleborough defence static, goalkeeper Jason Steele raced out of his area and clattered into Miller who had controlled the ball and looked through, Steele made no contact with the ball instead scything Miller down with a two footed tackle that’s contact point was at knee level Miller crumpled into a stricken mess the ball dribbling tantalisingly a few foot in front of him, incredulously referee Kevin Friend turned his back, only to be chased by incensed Cardiff players.
However their protestations were stone walled Malky Mackay berated the fourth official also in vain. Miller was eventually helped from the field of battle hopping on one leg, the old warriors part in the conflict was done for the day enter; young buck Joe Mason who owned and bossed the park with an authority astonishing for someone of his age at this level. Within minutes of coming on he had the ball over the line although the deflected shot which struck the underside of the crossbar before bouncing out and being hastily scrambled away by a Boro’ defender Justin Hoyte was adjudged not to have not crossed the line.
The score was opened five minutes later by Ben Turner – who came to Cardiff City in the summer from Coventry City along with Aron Gunnerson. Turner rose above everyone to slot home the ball from a Liam Lawrence corner 0-1 Cardiff. Eight minutes later The Bluebirds were two up.. Mason causing all sorts of problems raced into a perfectly flighted early ball down the right from Stephen McPhail before cutting inside into the area, keeping his calm brilliantly to turn his marker first one way, then the other before dispatching the ball under Steele in the ‘Boro goal. City continued to run the show for the first half but failed to find the net again due to Steele who undoubtedly should have no longer even been on the pitch.
The second half Middleborough had more possession. But other than one finger tip save from City keeper David Marshall, didn’t look like getting on the score sheet.
So with the harder of the two fixtures on paper yielding three points, Easter Monday, a sizable crowd braved the cold and the rain at the Cardiff City Stadium, but it was to be one of those matches you left the ground wishing you had stayed at home in the warm and dry. Lacking spark and marred by fussy referee Darren Deadman who handled so many cards (seven) he seemed to think he was Paul Daniels.
The games saving grace from Cardiff City supporters view point was the end for Kenny Miller’s of his run of thirteen appearances without a goal, a drought not brought about by lack of trying it has to be said. But all in all it was extremely disappointing to have only taken one point from a poor and struggling Watford team and in the dying minutes of the game if truth is told City were very lucky to get even that point Watford went that close!
It all had City fans again shaking their heads and wondering what on earth was going on with their team. After all the Easter programme had started so differently wearing the lucky St David’s yellow and black third kit, Cardiff City had been ruthless in their domination of Middlesbrough especially in the first twenty minutes and sealed the fate of the Boro’ who suffered not only defeat but a mass walkout of their fans half an hour before the final whistle. The Mogganaut had been halted! But then came Watford!
That sort of inconsistency, as dogged Cardiff City all season supporters unsure which Cardiff is going to turn up or not as the case may be! The passion some games just is not there from the team..which is a worry because it means many of the current crop of players haven’t connected with the club.
Cardiff fans have a saying “Once a Bluebird always a Bluebird.” Which was demonstrated perfectly by former Cardiff City striker Jay Boothroyd on Wednesday night who when coming on as substitute for QPR against old firm derby rivals Swansea ran onto the field a smirk on his face repeatedly doing the Ayatollah. He’s not the only one to have done this the south Wales rivalry is a powerful one, once you’ve been sucked in, another thing peculiar to the Bluebirds old players when returning to play Cardiff with their new teams is they receive a very warm welcome, the players in turn behave with similar respect. When Michael Chopra scored against us for Ipswich this season at CCS he didn’t celebrate his goal, when he scored again in the return match, caught up in the moment he celebrated his goal after the game he immediately took to twitter to apologise for any offence he may have caused City fans! Other players who will remain nameless simply don’t ‘turn up’ for the team they now play for.
I can’t help but think few of the current squad would be the same. Is that is down to the fact that the team; for the large part came together during the summer under a manager who through no fault of his own had barely got his own feet under the table?
And I have no wish to sound xenophobic, but the squad has only two Welsh players, both are Cardiff lads, lifelong Bluebird supporters and who are regular current Welsh internationals. However, both Robert Earnshaw and Darcy Blake have rarely played a part under Mackay who has surrounded himself with fellow Scots…Now here maybe lays the problem. Ask a Scot; what are you? and the immediate reply will always be I’m Scottish!! Then if you push them for more information you’ll get I’m a builder ect. Ask one of us and you’ll get I’m a Bluebird on being pushed we’ll explain that means we support Cardiff City FC, that we are from Wales but the first answer will always be I am a Bluebird! That pride and passion is missing I’m not saying only welsh players should play for Cardiff City because the aforementioned Boothroyd and Chopra are English as is Peter Whittingham and no one would ever doubt this passion and Bluebirdness.
No too many players had to be drafted into the team in too short a space of time it as resulted in the failure of the integration into the right mindset that’s needed to get what is to be a Bluebird to find that something extra, the never say die spirit epitomised by the likes of Phil Dwyer (A man who died on the pitch having swallowed his tongue after a clash of heads, was revived where he fell and then turned out and had a blinder the next week!) This lack of connection is crippling the squad now that they are tired and understandably emotionally drained following the Carling Cup defeat against Liverpool. (who have also fallen by the wayside following the Carling Cup final!) As much as Mackay’s seemingly blind faith in a handful of his side or even the lack of an out and out striker and pacey winger does.
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Having said all that, results have kept going our way so this you feel must be our year but we all now have to play our part. City supporters have to be that never say die Bluebirds spirit. Now is your time, time for all City supporters to launch the rallying cry, for all Bluebirds to vocally show the passion and pride from the stands keep the songs plain and simple cheer all good touches till you have no voice….
Keeping the faith… in full song raise lets the roof!
Well a week has passed since the end of the season and I must admit I am missing it already, as there is nothing like going to watch your team play on a Saturday afternoon.
The off-season brings with it anticipation on who your team are going to sign next season, what current players are going to stay with the club and thoughts already turn to where you are hoping to finish in the league next season.
As for Norhampton’s season it was a bit of a disappointment if I am honest as we were promised so much by then manager Gary Johnson. He had said that all the players he signed were winners and we were going to be up there challenging come May and as he is a man with a good CV so who were we to argue.
He made signings who just a few months later before his demise he transfer listed. Big names like Arron Davies, Paul Turnball, Jake Robinson were signed and have been nothing but a let down this season.
However despite this there were some players that stood out above the rest during the season and I am now going to choose the top three who deserve extra praise for their fines performances this year.
3rd Place: Adebayo Akinfenwa – Big Bayo as we know him has hit 18 goals this season and for struggling tea that is not a bad return. He is an icon to most Cobblers fans andis a big unit who can take a couple of defenders away with him leaving his strike partner in open space a lot of the time. Considering he has had a lot of different partners this season the one I felt he worked with best was Saido Berahino,they had a great chemistry together & he helped provide a lot of goals for Saido by making defenders deal with him. He spent a spell out of the team when Aidy Boothroyd took over as many of us thought that he was just not Aidy’s cup of tea, but as the season came to close we found out that the club had turned down a six figure sum from a fellow league 2 club believed to be Crawley Town. When Bayo finally got back into the team we had a fitter and more mobile Bayo after he had lost 3 stone to prove to the manager how much he wanted to play for this club. So thanks for the goals Bayo I just hope you are still here at the beginning of next season because with the right strike partner I believe you can lead the charge for the play-offs.
2nd Place: Clarke Carlisle – Clarke joined the club on loan from Burnley in January after Graham Westley had taken over at Preston and terminated Clarke’s season long loan there. Since Clarke has joined the club he has helped to shore up a leaky defence and put his body on the line to block goalbound shots. Clarke was made capatin by Boothroyd as soon as he signed,taking over from John Johnson and to be honest I think this was one of the best moves Aidy could have made as I believe Clarke is a born leader. He says he has found his love for the game again after his loan spell here and that he would love to move to the club on a permanent deal. I just hope we have enough in the budget to afford his wages as I think our defence will be a worse place without him.
1st Place: Michael Jacobs – Michael recently made his 100th appearance for the club in the final game of the season at Rotherham and many of us believe it will be his last. He is being scouted by many championship clubs and the managers of Derby, Peterborough and Bristol City have declared their interest in our 20 year old midfielder. He has had a great season for the club in a midfield that wasn’t really settled until the last day of the transfer window. He is quick and clever on the ball and he can also pick out that killer ball for the strikers to attack. He also showed plenty of passion whilst wearing the claret and white,and whoever he ends up with next season is going to have a player who gives 100% to the team he is playing for. He had a fair few man of the match awards during the season,and he also picked up the clubs player of the year award for the 2nd year in a row. Good luck for the future Crackers,we can dream that you will start the season with us but somehow I think you are on your way to prove your worth at a higher level.
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Tottenham have reportedly opened talks with Ajax skipper Jan Vertonghen, and will battle north London rivals Arsenal for his signature, according to The Daily Mail.
Reports from Holland earlier in the week indicated that Arsene Wenger’s men were the frontrunners to land the Belgium international come the summer transfer window, but it is now believed that the White Hart Lane outfit are firmly in the race also.
With the impressive centre back’s contract expiring at the Amsterdam Arena in the summer of 2013, the Eredivisie champions are resigned to losing their key man this summer, with a reported fee of £7 million suffice to bring him to England.
The player’s agent has confirmed that he wants to move to the Premier League, but at this stage has not revealed which clubs are in the running to be his next employer.
“Jan has some dream clubs, which are special for him,” Vertonghen’s agent Mustapha Nakhli told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
“Playing football in the top of the Premier League is something he has always hoped for.”
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Following his hugely controversial outburst on the final day of the Premier League season, Joey Barton’s future is to be revealed soon, following an internal investigation at Loftus Road with the outcome expected shortly; reports The Daily Mail.
R’s boss Mark Hughes is expected to strip Barton of the club captaincy, as well as issuing him with a substantial fine in addition to the 12 match ban already inflicted by the Premier League.
The outcome of QPR’s investigation will be announced on Monday, and there is a possibility the 29 year old may even be omitted from their 25 man Premier League squad for the upcoming season.
Barton is no stranger to trouble, but his latest misdemeanour could see the worst punishment he has yet faced within the game. Should he be shown the door at Loftus Road, he may find it difficult to find another team as his signing would be a risky one given his proven temperament.
The deliberation will come to an end shortly, meaning Barton will know where he stands, and QPR may well have to find a replacement for the 29 year old. If speculation is anything to go by, Mark Hughes is eager to get rid of troublemaker Barton.
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Manchester United forward Dimitar Berbatov would be open to a move to AC Milan, his agent has stated.
The Bulgarian attacker is seemingly surplus to requirements at Old Trafford, with Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck ahead of him in the pecking order.
The eastern European hitman has admitted this week that he may have to leave the Red Devils to secure regular first-team football, and has been linked with a move to the Rossoneri.
Agent Emil Dantchev has stated that his client would relish a move to Serie A and Massimiliano Allegri’s men.
“He may leave Manchester United at any time. His most likely destination is Italy, he’s always loved Italian football,” Dantchev told calciomercato.com, translated to English by Sky Sports.
“I know that Milan and Juventus are looking for a striker. I can say that they are two big clubs.
“I cannot say much but I do say that Berbatov likes Milan and looks good in red and black. Dimitar would run to AC Milan, because the club have appreciated him for years.
“They will have to speak with Manchester United and start negotiations,” he confessed.
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Berbatov scored nine goals in 21 appearances for Sir Alex Ferguson’s men last term.
Real Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka has admitted that Luka Modric would fit in well at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The Croatia international has stated his desire to leave Tottenham after the White Hart Lane club failed to qualify for the Champions League for the second consecutive season.
Spurs are willing to listen to offers for their key midfielder, but will not compromise on their asking price, believed to be in the £40 million region.
As talks between the clubs continue, Karanka has admitted that Modric is a player that fits into Madrid’s footballing mentality.
“Which club would not want a player like him?” he told AS, translated to English by The Daily Mail.
“He is an outstanding footballer and had a great tournament (Euro 2012). It is clear that he would fit in Madrid.”
Modric has been identified as Kaka’s potential replacement in the Spanish capital, but Karanka also said that the Brazil international would not be sold.
“We decided he would stay in Madrid. Kaka and the club are working to find a good solution for all parties,” he concluded.
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Imagine just having a casual walk down the street – you see a City fan wearing his new shirt proudly – what do you think ‘glory supporter. ’ You see a Chelsea fan in a pub with a shirt that says ‘Legend’ on the back, followed by a number 11. Again the first thing that comes into your mind is the fan is somewhat of a glory supporter. Not a die-hard fan, but someone on a whim, who cares little about the club apart from the trophies they have achieved. Likewise, the age old joke, most United fans live in London – yet are these actually fair claims, or are they what can only be described as an insult to the born and bred fans?
Don’t get me wrong, I am fully aware of the ‘prawn sandwich brigade’ type of supporters, who are only interested in fun filled away trips in Europe or a big game to discuss on the golf course the following Monday, yet what about those real fans – the ones who would describe it was a total insult to be a dreaded ‘glory supporter?’
There are Chelsea fans who remember the days before Abramovich and his Russian billions took over the club, for whom the victory in Munich will only ever tie with a Jesper Gronkjaer goal against Liverpool to save the club and get fourth place in the Premier League.
Not to mention the City fans who were there for the second division play-off final against Gillingham many blue moons ago – leaving it late far, far before the days of Aguero goals, and of all the clubs it is perhaps City fans who take the tag hardest.
These are by no means the only clubs who’s fans get such a tag – any club that has recently come into money or trophies – or usually both – suffer the same fate, and ironically you will find that the genuine fans are the ones who hate the new breed of supporters at their clubs the most.
The running joke last season for new City fans was that they had come by their shirt by putting their old Chelsea one in the wash on a high heat to dye out the dark blue – how insulting to real fans, yet such a valid accusation for the new breed, who when it looked like City were about to lose out on the title were about to declare they had loved United all along.
It is such a fine line in modern football, where loyalty from the players is also a thing of the past in most clubs, and you don’t get many like Craig Bellamy who would play at a club they loved for half the money they were being offered elsewhere – it is somewhat mercenary these days, and in some cases this is the situation for fans too.
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Of course, all clubs no matter how small have their die-hard fans – those Rangers fans who will turn out every week for third tier Scottish football, or the Leeds fans who were their when they were splashing the cash and are still there now, and it is full credit to them, and they are the people who keep the clubs going, not the new influx of fans each season who come armed with their ‘Champions’ shirt and prawn sandwich, and it is those fans who rightly feel aggrieved when asked exactly how long they have supported the club – they are about as far away from a glory hunter as you can get.
The Barclays Premier League may only be a couple of weeks old, but even by the notoriously fickle standards of our fabled top flight, we haven’t half heard some wild conclusions already. After two games, Andre Villas-Boas’ project is apparently already doomed to failure, Arsenal are set to become the first English team to finish a season goalless and Wayne Rooney’s Manchester United future is up the swanny.
Now while the above can be said for the most part with tongue firmly in cheek, it appears that a few people have given some serious credence to a perceived degradation to Rooney’s United career. In fact, the whispers and speculation have become so prominent in the last few days, that the man himself has had to come out and reassure fans his future lies at Old Trafford.
How could a man who scored 35 goals in all competitions for the Red Devils last season and someone widely regarded to be one of the best forwards in Europe, possibly be consigned to the scrapheap after the first two games of the season?
On paper, it seems to be verging on the absurd and in reality; it appears pretty far-fetched as well. But football isn’t as simple as black and white or facts and figures. As the 26-year-old faces at least a month out after his gory leg gash against Fulham, there is every chance that it could turn out to be a bigger blow for the player than it could be for his club.
This summer has seen, in some ways, history repeat itself for the nation’s most talented footballer. Not for the first time, Wayne Rooney found himself heading into a major tournament on the back of a superb goal scoring season. Rooney scored 27 league goals last term, one more than his pre-World Cup 2010 haul, to find himself heading into Euro 2012 with the weight of serious expectation upon his shoulders. This is the national team of course – it was never going to be any different.
And as in 2010, Rooney duly failed to live up to the burden of expectation, even if it was in slightly different circumstances to the farcical performances in South Africa. Suspended for the first two games, Rooney came into Roy Hodgson’s set-up woefully short of match fitness and seemed to be visibly blowing after half an hour against Ukraine in the final group game. Two consecutive tournaments, two consecutively poor Rooney showings.
But concerningly for Manchester United, that’s not where history has stopped repeating itself. After his World Cup disaster, Rooney endured a nightmare return to domestic football. A whole array of issues, including revelations about his private life, an ankle injury and that contract debacle, affected his form. But he still seemed to be lacking fitness and match sharpness in abundance. It wasn’t the Rooney of the season before. How much you contribute that to conflicting factors is arguable, but he seemed to have trouble adapting back after the World Cup.
So you can imagine Sir Alex Ferguson was mortified when he saw Rooney’s showing against Barcelona in their pre-season friendly at the start of the month. Rooney missed a penalty that wouldn’t have gone down particularly well, but he again looked well short of match fitness – in August. Rooney had sat out the bulk of United’s pre-season preparations as he was supposed to be undergoing an intense, in-house fitness regime at Carrington. No one is claiming United’s fitness staff haven’t been up to the task, but something seems to have gone wrong down the line.
Consequently, his nasty injury at Fulham last Saturday could not have come at a worse time. The only way he can regain sharpness and form is with long, hard game-time, of which he seemed to be in dire need of. Spending anything from four to a possibly touted eight weeks on the sidelines is an absolute nightmare for Rooney. If he really was behind in pre-season, then he is going to have to put in a monumental shift during his rehabilitation this time round.
But it’s here that we get into uncharted territory for Rooney and Manchester United. Because for the first time in his career, there is a genuine chance that he will have to battle to get back into the first team line up.
You can always make wild assumptions from 120 minutes of football, but few would argue that Manchester United have looked a far better prospect when Rooney has been off the pitch for them, rather than on it. It’s not rocket science to work out why, either.
When you invest £24million in a striker, as Fergie did in Robin van Persie, you tend to play him. When that man scored 37 goals in all competitions last year, you definitely play him. And when he links up as tantalizingly as he has done with fellow new boy Shinji Kagawa, you don’t look elsewhere. Including to Wayne Rooney. Ferguson took the bold move of dropping Rooney after his sub-standard showing in the 1-0 defeat to Everton, in favour of his new Dutch and Japanese additions. The fact is, even if Rooney hadn’t got injured during the weekend, he’d probably be back on the bench for this weekend’s trip to Southampton.
Equally, as much as we are reading a lot into Rooney’s tentative minutes on a football pitch this season, we are also reading more than enough into Van Persie and Kagawa’s time in United shirts. They are both class and acts and surely have wonderful seasons ahead of them this term. But regardless of why that is, Rooney cannot be fully judged until he’s been given the chance to try and shine with the pair fully fit. The problem is, that if they push on like many expect them too, he could struggle to find the chance.
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Many are quick to bash Rooney with his often-disappointing exploits for his country but he remains a class act for Manchester United. And if anyone is going to be able to hold their own and fight back from adversity, it will be Rooney. But this United team appears to be evolving. We’ve seen flashpoints of a new, seemingly more mobile and fluid Manchester United side. Quite how Rooney, Kagawa and Van Persie can co-exist in the same team, remains to be seen. One things for sure, if the newly signed duo fire United to the top of the table in Rooney’s absence, he is going to be under real pressure to perform when he gets his chance.
It’s going to be hugely interesting to see how this United team shapes up and exists when Rooney does return. It seems uneasy and wide of the mark to even speculate about his possible departure as many are currently indulging in at the moment. But if he does face a fight to get back into the starting XI again, he’s going to have to get his head down and worker harder than he arguably ever has before. Certainly harder than what we’ve seen since the end of last term, anyway.
How do you view Rooney’s role in this new look Manchester United team? Does he need to raise his game or is it all a load of overblown nonsense? Tell me what you think on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and bat me your views.
Manchester United welcome Wigan to Old Trafford this Saturday, but look set to be without new signings Robin Van Persie and Shinji Kagawa.
Van Persie was withdrawn at half time of the Netherlands 4-1 World Cup qualifying win against Hungary on Tuesday, with a suspected thigh injury, however Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal played down the injury after the match.
“We took off Robin for precautionary measures,” he said.
“It doesn’t seem to be too serious, but you never know. We didn’t want to take any risks.”
Van Persie has been in deadly form since arriving at Old Trafford, netting four goals already including a hat trick during United’s 3-2 win over Southampton in their last Premier League match.
Any sort of injury setback would be a blow for Sir Alex Ferguson, who is already without the injured Wayne Rooney.
Meanwhile Kagawa was forced to withdraw from Japan’s World Cup qualifier against Iraq, complaining of a pain in the lower back.
United have yet to hit their best this season, losing to Everton and picking up slightly fortuitous 3-2 victories at home to Fulham and then away at Southampton, having fallen behind in both games.
Meanwhile Wigan have made a decent start to the season, and are unbeaten in their last two league matches.
Roberto Martinez has heaped praise this week on Argentine striker Franco Di Santo, often much maligned during his time in English football.
The former Chelsea man has two goals to his name so far this season, and Martinez is even optimistic his striker is ready to make the step up to International football.
“I think Franco can be a massive striker for Argentina,” he said.
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“He has always had that potential but it’s the way he put all the parts of his game together in the last four months of last season that has really been so impressive.”
Prediction: Manchester United 3-1 Wigan
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