David Meyler says skipper Lee Cattermole doesn’t need to change his ways, despite a fifth red card for Sunderland.
Cattermole’s status as Black Cats captain is under threat after a moment of idiocy saw the 24 year old see red for a reckless two-footed lunge on Adam Chicksen, in the Wearsiders 2-0 win over MK Dons.
A divisive figure among fans, Meyler claims Cattermole doesn’t need to radically change his game, he told The Journal: “Everyone who knows Lee Cattermole knows he plays with his heart on his sleeve.
“It was just a ball that he went for and thought he could win. The referee decided it was a red card and I’m sure the club will look back on it and see what they think. But Lee is gutted himself because he always wants to do everything he can to help the team.
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“It’s done now there’s nothing anyone can do. It’s not something we’ll not spend too long thinking about as players.”
Manchester United’s Anderson has told the Daily Star that his club will lose out when Sir Alex Ferguson eventually retires.
The 24-year-old Brazilian reiterated that Sir Alex would be missed in the world of football, and particularly by United.
“Manchester United is Alex Ferguson. When he leaves, the club will lose 30 to 40 per cent. So much depends on him.
“He’s a father to all the players, a very respected person and when he retires, the football world will really feel his loss.
“He always helped me, and I have a great affection for him. He lives for training and always wants to know how his players and their families are,” he said.
Now aged 70, Fergie has managed United for a period of 26 years, and has been invaluable to the club, leading United to massive success with numerous titles including five FA Cups, 12 Premier League trophies and two Champions League titles.
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However, rumour is growing that he is getting nearer to making the decision to retire from the game.
Manchester City are reluctant to offer star player Yaya Toure a new contract, according to Mirror Football.
The midfielder is one of the Premier League’s top earners, receiving £150,000-per-week in basic pay, which could rise to 220k based upon appearance and performance bonuses.
Toure’s current deal expires in 2015, by which time the Ivory Coast international will be 32 and could have his best playing days behind him. The powerful midfielder’s representatives have been seeking a new deal to keep him at the Etihad Stadium amid rumours that the player could leave in the summer.
However, club officials are in no rush to extend Toure’s contract, despite him being somewhat of a talisman for the Citizens. They would prefer to hold off any negotiations until the end of next season when the player will only have a year left on his contract.
City team mates Vincent Kompany and David Silva have both been handed long-term contracts by the club already this season, however neither are in the top bracket of earners at the club which includes the likes of Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero and Toure.
Toure’s agent Dimitri Seluk has a track record of linking his player with other top European clubs. Two days after the reigning champions won the league last season, Seluk announced: “Toure has done all he can do at City and needs new motivations. He would like a new challenge. He would not cost much.
“He could sign for many big clubs, like Chelsea or Bayern Munich. We would like to see Barcelona join the race.”
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Should Toure’s contract issues not be resolved by the Club, the player could move on at the end of the season.
Per Mertesacker feels Arsenal must quickly regain the strength they had before the international break after two shock defeats in a row.
It has been suggested that the break to allow for international matches has adversely affected the players. The Gunners had been doing well before the break, including securing a draw with champions from last season, Manchester City and a 3-1 win at West Ham.
However, after returning from the break for international matches, Arsenal have had two shock losses, in the Premier League to Norwich and in Tuesday night’s Champions League clash with Schalke, where they went down 2-0, with the German side replacing them at the top of their Champions League group.
In many quarters, the Gunners have been criticised for seeming to be ‘asleep’ in the two performances. Talking to Arsenal’s official website, defender Mertesacker said how Arsenal need to come back from the defeats and become strong again.
“We have had a difficult week. The results are kind of an accident, now we have to find our game again. The international break was kind of a killer for us. We have to find our strength again quickly. We have the potential in us, but first we have to fight,” he said.
Mertesacker feels the Gunners must now learn from the defeats and get back their self-confidence.
“We have to learn quickly from what happened [at Norwich last weekend] and against Schalke. If we do not find these solutions, it’s going to be difficult in the Premier League and the Champions League.
“It is our task now to find our self-confidence, we have great players with great potential. So it will be good to have a game in three days so we can show our potential again. We will try to be positive before the next game.
“In our training sessions, we will look to get our confidence back. Sometimes you need one game to find your strength and quality so let’s do it on Saturday.”
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Steve Bould, the assistant coach, expressed after Tuesday’s game how the players were lacking confidence, but the club’s fans will be hoping they can reverse this slump against QPR this weekend.
Liverpool attacker Dani Pacheco has warned the club he may be forced to move on if he isn’t given more playing time.
The 21-year-old Spaniard has been limited to a handful of Europa League performances this season, whilst rival youth players such as Suso and Raheem Sterling have featured regularly.
Pacheco believes he can still become a key figure at the club, but needs to be given first-team football by Brendan Rodgers:
“I haven’t played as much as I would like this season, but in football things can change very quickly.” He told the Liverpool Echo.
“Look at what’s happened with Suso. He was given a chance and he took it. He has worked really hard and has been playing every week. He is doing very well and I’m happy for him.
“I must try to do the same. I hope I’ll get a chance and then it’s down to me to take it.
“I train with the first team every day and if I didn’t have the belief that I could become a regular here I would have left already.
“I’ll try to make sure that in the near future that happens. If it doesn’t happen I will move on and try to make it somewhere else.
“But I still hope and believe I can make it at Liverpool.”
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Pacheco moved to Anfield from Barcelona in 2007 with the reputation as one of Spain’s top emerging talents.
He has failed to fulfil this billing, drifting in and out of the first-team squad under numerous managers.
He spent last season on loan with Atletico Madrid, who subsequently lent him out to Rayo Vallecano, but the Spaniards refused to make the deal permanent.
Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has insisted he will not let his striker Papiss Cisse lose his form to such a drastic level that he is compared to Chelsea’s Fernando Torres.
The Senegalese international has only managed to hit the back of the net once in the Premier League and only three times in all competitions so far this season.
The 27-year-old signed from Freiburg for a figure believed to be in the region of £10million in last January’s transfer window and 10 months on is struggling to replicate the start he made to life at St James’ Park.
Cisse managed to score 13 league goals last term as the Magpies managed to secure a surprise fifth place finish.
Pardew is keen to get his striker back in a rich vein of form and scoring goals as soon as possible with Newcastle failing to win in their last 4 Premier League outings.
“I am talking to him and trying to calm him, tell him that he’s still the same player and we are still very confident in him,” Pardew told Press Association Sport.
“It’s only been a small period if you compare it to, say Torres’ period, but you would have to say it’s something we are going to have to keep an eye on because we don’t want it to end up like poor old Torres has ended up at times.
“He’s a great player, Papiss, and we want to get the best out of him.”
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Newcastle take on Stoke City tonight at the Britannia stadium in a 19.45 kick off.
Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler has praised winger Raheem Sterling, saying he sees a level of maturity in him which puts him a cut above other young prospects.
The 37-year-old striker who scored 183 goals during two spells at Anfield rose to prominence in a similar fashion to Sterling who has only recently turned 18-years-old, and the former Red is very impressed by what he’s seen from the winger at such a young age.
The clubs website quote him as saying to the Mirror, “What I’m seeing is that this is a kid who’s had the right attitude drilled into him, and I think that’s a good thing for Liverpool – a big thing.”
“Sterling has a great talent, but what he also has that makes him stand out is a maturity in his approach to the team’s needs that you rarely see in youngsters. That shows he’s being coached and developed in the right way.”
“I watch Raheem and I can see he has respect for the team and for the senior players around him.”
Fowler also expressed his admiration for Sterling’s ability to choose the right ball rather than always looking for glory himself, while saying Brendan Rodgers deserves a great deal of credit for the players development as well.
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Sterling has reportedly agreed a new deal at the club which will come as great news to Liverpool fans following rumours that he was a target for the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal.
They will now hope he can develop at the club for years to come, the same way Fowler did.
Alan Pardew has hinted he may have to reshuffle Newcastle’s forward line if Papiss Demba Cisse’s barren run in front of goal continues.
The Senegalese striker made an immediate impact at St James’ Park upon his arrival from Freiburg last January, but he has struggled to recapture that form and has just two goals to his name this season.
By contrast, Cisse’s compatriot Demba Ba has enjoyed a purple patch, establishing himself as the Magpies’ leading goal scorer, his strike in last weekend’s defeat to Manchester City his 11th of the campaign.
Fans of the Toon Army have questioned whether Cisse and Ba can play together, even after last season’s scoring patterns, which saw Ba’s goal tally dry up as soon as Cisse arrived at the club.
And Pardew has not ruled out changing the Toon’s attack for Saturday’s visit of QPR and the Boxing Day clash at Manchester United, revealing that Shola Ameobi is now competing for a starting berth.
“It’s natural for pressure to be applied when you have one striker scoring and one not scoring,” Pardew told the The Shields Gazette.
“We’re having to work our way through it – that’s what we’ll try to do.
“Sometimes with players you need to show loyalty, and sometimes you need to show faith. I’ll always do that with my strikers.
“But there does come a point when I have to say ‘OK, let’s try something new.
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“Shola (Ameobi) is knocking on the door at the minute.
“He wants to have a go, and that’s something I’ll need to look closely at over the next couple of games.”
’s widening losses are a result of the club’s emphasis on improving its league position, according to chief executive Robert Elstone.
The Toffees reported a net loss of £9.1m in the 2011-12 season, compared with a loss of £5.4m a year earlier, with turnover down slightly at £80.5m.
Wages were the biggest expenditure for the club last season, at 75% of turnover. It spent £63.4m on players’ salaries, up from £58m a year earlier.
But those extra expenses appear to be paying off, with strong season tickets sales and fine results on the pitch so far this season, and the Merseysiders said it expected better financial results for 2012-13.
“The club has demonstrated its commitment to first-team success with increased expenditure on player wages,” Elstone told BBC News.
“We continue to try to enhance our competitive position and, at the same time, manage cost base and debt levels effectively.”
Meanwhile, club owner Bill Kenwright insists he is also looking for fresh investment to boost spending power in the transfer market.
“My desire to find a person, or institution, with the finance to move us forward has not diminished,” he said.
“Despite the challenges presented by the global economic downturn, we remain positive and determined.”
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Everton are currently in the hunt for a top-four spot in the Premier League and with it a chance to play in the lucrative Champions League next season.
After their 2-1 victory over Newcastle last night, the Toffees sit in fifth position, two points behind Chelsea in fourth.
Arsene Wenger is targeting centre-backs in a bid to improve his team’s defence in the summer transfer window.
After a string of bad performances in the Premier League the Arsenal boss has been left frustrated by defenders Per Mertsacker and Thomas Vermaelen, and he is eyeing up replacements.
Current captain Vermaelen has had a huge dip in form this season and there is reports that the captaincy is to blame but he has also suffered an ankle injury. Mertesacker and Sagna could also be leaving the Emirates come May.
The Arsenal scouts having been trying to find central defence targets and it has been indicated that they are interested in Swansea captain Ashley Williams as well as Fernando Amorebieta, Nicolas N’Koulou and Raul Abiol, according to The Daily Mail.
Arsene Wenger has never spoken publicly of individual failings in the team but behind closed doors he is frustrated that the defence aren’t playing as well as they should be. He considered a change in formation before Christmas, which would have meant placing an extra defender into the backline, but decided to stick with the current formation.
He has spotted a weakness in the backline and he wants to improve that, but the French boss is also looking for a new goalkeeper, right-back, defensive midfielder and a forward which he hopes will enable Arsenal to compete for silverware next season.
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Wenger is considering removing the captaincy from Vermaelen and handing it over to 21-year-old Jack Wilshere next season bringing forward the plan to do from 2015.