Jamie Mackie has stated that the current Queens Park Rangers team can beat anyone.
The Scotland international firmly believes it is just a matter of time before QPR’s new players gel and become a force in the Premier League.
Mackie has refused to be disheartened by the R’s lacklustre start where they have picked up just two points from their opening four games, including a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Swansea.
Mackie told the club’s official website, “There is perhaps a bit more belief that we can win these match these sides.
“We showed it last season at home we really need to believe that now. [Against Chelsea] is the best we’ve been in terms of our tempo.”
Much of the sides slow start has been put down to trying to bed in new players, there were 11 summer arrivals at Loftus Road. Mackie added: “Good players can play well together, but knowing each other’s game is an important element.
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“You need to understand where people are comfortable and where they aren’t. But more than anything, new lads need time to get used to the team shape and the demands the manager puts on his players.”
Former Netherlands international Ronald de Boer has stated that the 2022 World Cup should be switched to the winter.
The tournament will be held in Qatar, which has drawn question marks due to the sweltering heat in the country at that time of the year.
However De Boer, who is an ambassador of the Asian nation’s bid, believes that switching the competition to the winter would be a success.
“I think sometimes a change is good, it would be great to have it in the winter,” The Telegraph report De Boer as saying.”Everyone will be fit, physically fit, mentally fit and I don’t see a problem with it. When the African Nations Cup takes place, if you have an African player at your club he has to go and play for his country,” he said.“They play in January and February. Not every league is in synch with the big European leagues: in Russia and Scandinavia they start earlier, and in the United States they have a different schedule.“So I don’t see difficulties. I think its great we have this opportunity and to try it and it will also be beneficial for the tournament itself to be played in the winter. I played there, and for the fans I think it will be great. It would be great if we had it in the winter.“I think all the bodies should come together to find a common solution and try also to change. It’s very easy to stick with the old thing because we’ve done it already for years.“I have said to the supreme committee, ‘I would do it in the winter’. But they can’t say that,” he concluded.
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has revealed that Stephen Ireland will be out for “a few weeks” after suffering a broken bone in his wrist.
It was initially feared that the midfielder had broken his arm during the 4-1 defeat to Southampton last Saturday and may be facing several months on the sidelines. But thankfully for Ireland, who has been enjoying a new lease of life at Villa recently, he should be back in action much sooner that first expected.
He will still be forced to take some time out, however, after doctors diagnosed a broken bone and placed his wrist in a protective cast. Villa boss Paul Lambert told Sky Sports:
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“It’s not Stephen’s arm. It’s his wrist. I don’t think it’s as bad as we thought. Hopefully he will be back in a few weeks’ time. Injuries happen. It’s unfortunate for Stephen and it’s unfortunate for us, but he won’t be out for the number of weeks we thought he would be.”
Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert has admitted that there are worries about whether defender Ciaran Clark will be fit for Villa’s game against Fulham tomorrow.
Clark is due to have a fitness test before the Premier League returns this weekend. Paul Lambert has been reported as saying on Aston Villa’s official website that Clark is suffering with a “slight knock”.
He also said that he will look at how fresh Christian Benteke, Brett Holman and Brad Guzan are, following their participation in international games during the break.
“I will see how the lads are. Some can be more tired than others. Christian played two games and scored two for the national team. He’s just a young lad too – 21. There are one or two selection things to look at,” he said.
However, it is believed that Stephen Ireland, Karim El Ahmadi and Joe Bennett should return from injury to play tomorrow. Though a final decision will be made later today, Ireland should take part wearing an arm support as he suffered a broken bone in one of his wrists during the Southampton game. Bennett and El Ahmadi will travel with the squad despite the fact that Morocco withdrew El Ahmadi for their international match, something which Lambert said was just precautionary due to the star having cramp.
The Villa boss has also insisted that he has not clashed with snubbed striker Darren Bent but does admit that “he has not come to knock on my door.”
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Aston Villa are currently sixteenth in the Premier League table.
Millwall FC have announced in an official statement that they have taken action to ban a 13-year-old boy who racially abused Marvin Sordell during a Championship clash with Bolton Wanderers last month.
Sordell tweeted after the game “It’s 2012 in England and people are still shouting racial abuse at a football game!? #shocking.”
The Bolton striker also indicated that team-mates Darren Pratley, Benik Afobe and Lee Chung-Yong were also victim to discriminatory language from some Millwall fans.
The south London club have now released a formal statement concluding the investigation which was carried out in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police, Bolton Wanderers and the F.A.
“Having completed our investigations into the incident, we have identified and interviewed a 13-year-old boy who admitted a verbal exchange with Marvin Sordell in which abuse was used,” the statement reads.
The teenager has been banned from future matches at the New Den, but Millwall believe education over punishment should be the priority considering the boy’s young age.
“The individual has been banned from Millwall matches for the foreseeable future, but as a club we also felt, given the boy’s age and background, we had a duty to play our part in attempting to educate and rehabilitate him.
“Accordingly, we have offered to put him through one of our education programmes, run by Millwall for All (formerly the Millwall Anti-Racism Trust) in the hope that we can change his outlook on equality, racism and life in general.
“In the meantime, the boy has written a letter to Marvin Sordell offering his apology, which has been accepted.”
The statement also criticised sections of the media who misreported the incident claiming that racist chanting could be heard from large sections of the Millwall support.
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“These reports were made with no knowledge of the facts and created the impression that Bolton players were subjected to racial chanting or systematic abuse by more than one individual.”
“Finally, it is our hope that all of us within football, including governing bodies, clubs, players, fans and the media can continue to work together to build on the progress that has been made over many years in effectively tackling the issue of racism in our game, rather than merely sensationalising, and thereby trivialising it,” the statement concluded.
Reading striker Pavel Pogrebnyak has urged fellow Russian and Arsenal midfielder Andrey Arshavin to join him at the Royals.
Arshavin has been frozen out of the last few Russia squads and has struggled to consistently hold down a place in the Arsenal starting line-up, being limited to cameo appearances this season.
Pogrebnyak is looking to re-ignite the partnership he has had with the Gunners ace when they both played for Zenit St Petersburg and the national team.
The Royals owner Anton Zingarevich is believed to have expressed a clear interest in trying to lure Arshavin to the Berkshire club.
Zingarevich is known to be a Zenit St Petersburg fan and the Russian hopes he can lure his fellow compatriot to the Madejski stadium.
Pogrebnyak was aware of the interest from his employer and was delighted at the prospect of the deal coming off and went on to laud Arshavin.
He said to rg.ru. “It’s Arshavin who has to make the decision. Anton Zingarevich knows him well enough without listening to my opinion, as he is from St Petersburg.
“Andrey is a master and there is no doubt that it would be great to see him at Reading.”
The Royals are believed to be keen to reinforce their ranks in January and the owner is thought to be willing to bankroll as many as 11 new signings in the next window, in a bid beat to beat the Premier League drop.
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Reading welcome Everton to the Madejski this weekend as they look to secure their first Premier League win of the season.
The act of dubbing someone ‘the next Gary Neville’ would be regarded as giving someone a hard act to follow. In my eyes, the former Red Devil was an impressive defender, and at his best when playing in tandem with Golden Balls himself, David Beckham. His relentless passion coupled with a palpable understanding of the game, allowed him to preside over the right flank for both club and country, but no player can go on forever.
Once his playing days came to an end, Neville emerged as the new face of Sky Sports and immediately began transforming a reputation that had previously, in the eyes of many football fans, been purely based on his career as a player.
The fascinating insight he exposed within tactical movement and player mentality exposed a wealth of unconscious knowledge that has further fuelled my affection for the sport. It has also magnified my resentment for the Catchphrase-style ‘say what you see’ punditry that is as infuriating as it is uninformative.
Thus, I have decided to select five candidates that could one day provide the same exciting brand of expert analysis.
Vincent Kompany
Roberto Mancini’s dependable defensive barricade conducts interviews with the same poise and composure as when he’s dispossessing the opposition. He speaks with confidence and a rare purity, meaning you’re unlikely to be force-fed the familiar batch of tiresome clichés.
Kompany’s greatest asset stems from the fact that despite his unwavering allegiance, he never oozes bias or prejudice. He also refuses to be dragged down any awkward cul-de-sacs by the unsavoury tactics of messrs Shreeves and Clarke, which allows him to keep his foot on the ball rather than in his mouth.
During a recent guest spot on Match of the Day, Alan Hansen appeared to shrivel up in the face of a far more intellectual presence. The bumbling Scot repeatedly tripped over his words, especially when he asked whether the Manchester City dressing room knew the United score at half-time, blissfully unaware that they weren’t playing until the evening.
The Belgian talisman didn’t find much salvation with his other colleague, Harry Redknapp, who repeatedly threw plaudits his way in an apparent attempt to sign him, despite the fact he wasn’t employed at the time. Sadly, at just 26 years of age, Kompany will likely spend the next decade attracting praise on the pitch rather than in the studio.
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Phil Neville
Do we dare dream that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree? Could Phil Neville also possess a knack for punditry, capable of dazzling an audience on a bleak Monday night?
The 35-year-old’s impact on a consistently improving Everton side appears to be waning and with his contract due to expire this season, perhaps he too will decide to bow out at the top. He certainly shares his brother’s high standard of professionalism, boasting a dogged resilience and tenacity that has seen him acquire a cult-hero status at Goodison Park.
Neville is a regular spectator at Premier League grounds around the country, often snapped by a rogue camera while his accompanying family look increasingly bored. This indicates that he also harbours the same obsession for tactical analysis, although he may need some vocal coaching considering he sounds like a muttering synchronised swimmer being drowned out by a low-flying heavy bomber.
Michael Owen
Owen may have recently declared he still has ‘two or three years left at the top’, but the number of clubs willing to put up with his residency on the treatment table decreases by the day. The latest revelation that a hamstring injury was aggravated by the cold, despite being in the gym at the time, evoked more laughter than pity.
Away from Stoke City, Owen conjured his finest performance of the season when he appeared on Sky Sports, sporting facial hair that probably had Raleigh Chopper thrashing out a sponsorship proposal. His startling appearance certainly made me pay attention but I found myself uninspired by his mundane analysis and refusal to offer out deserved criticism.
Owen will be reluctant to dispose of his ‘squeaky clean’ persona but I can’t see him succeeding as a pundit unless he does so. However, perhaps the former England striker sees himself as Gary Lineker’s successor, assuming his throne as the housewife favourite and cheesy-line aficionado.
Jamie Carragher
If there was one undeniable positive from the television series Being: Liverpool, it was the devotion that Jamie Carragher shares with the Anfield club. He may be enduring a part-time role on the pitch at present but his influence on the training field and in the dressing room is still reassuringly evident.
Carragher embodies Liverpool in the same way Neville did with United and it’s this deep-rooted affection that arguably helped develop his football brain. From the footage I saw, Carragher was often monitoring training sessions with the same attention to detail as Brendan Rodgers. He was also captured offering advice to the increasing number of youngsters in the first-team squad, highlighting a deep understanding of the mentality of the game’s future stars.
Carragher has always been refreshingly sharp in interviews, offering witty retorts to those questions that border on the inappropriate or the obvious. While this would be a unique and welcomed personality for a pundit, it is likely the result of suffering one too many mundane interviews. I imagine he’ll slip seamlessly into the coaching set-up on Merseyside rather into than the world of broadcasting.
Jimmy Bullard
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With such an onus placed on serious, deadpan analysis nowadays perhaps it would be refreshing to unleash Jimmy Bullard on the unsuspecting world of punditry.
With a bubbling enthusiasm and comical delivery of every word that falls out his mouth, the beautiful game might just revel in his presence, especially given the constant stream of negative publicity in recent months. Having recently retired from playing professionally, this could be the perfect opportunity for one of the major broadcasters to swoop for his services. The archaic panel on Soccer Saturday is crying out for a reshuffle.
However, while many players struggle with the lure of drink, drugs or gambling, Bullard suffers with the daunting prospect of boredom.
‘It’s boredom, not the booze that’s always been my big problem. I get bang into trouble when I’m bored. I didn’t combat the boredom, but I got over it.’ (Daily Mail)
Perhaps an evening with Gareth Southgate or Mark Lawrenson isn’t the best idea…
It was fantastic to see Ipswich record a 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest at Portman Road on Tuesday. The victory was made even sweeter as local boy Luke Hyam not only put in another encouraging display, but also scored his first goal for his hometown club.
The supporters have been crying out for Hyam to get more game time for nearly a year now as the young midfielder had previously struggled to break into the first team under Paul Jewell.
The former Wigan man did not seem to rate Hyam too highly as he only ever used the youngster when he had no other options.
Many fans will remember that back in January the team were playing particularly poorly (worse than usual, which is hard to imagine!) and were finding results hard to come by, just like they are now. As a result of these poor performances Jewell threw Hyam into the first team alongside Andy Drury in the centre of midfield to try something new, and it worked beautifully. The team were really stuck in a rut at the time but those two midfielders pulled them out of it and got them safely back into a mid-table position that we are all too familiar with.
Hyam’s form seemed to go unnoticed by his manager though and once the Tractor Boys were safe the 21-year-old did not feature as much under Jewell. It was a bit of a bizarre decision from the former Ipswich boss but he obviously did not think the youngster was ready to play every week in the first team.
Ever since that point the fans have been calling for Hyam to be reintroduced to the starting line-up and on Tuesday they got what they wanted. Admittedly the defensive midfielder only got his chance because Nigel Reo-Coker was ruled out through injury but it was pleasing to see nevertheless.
Hyam put in another solid shift much like he has done when he has come on from the bench in recent games. He has been a bright spark in what must be considered dark times for the club and once again it looks like he is starting to pull us away from the relegation zone.
It has to be said that the result on Tuesday was not completely down to Hyam though; it was just pleasing to see him perform well in a struggling team.
You have to also give credit to the Forest defence for their part in Ipswich’s win. After all, their defending was comical and they essentially gifted the home side an comfortable win. Of course it was an improvement from Ipswich but I was surprised to see a defensive performance from Forest that actually made our back line look solid for once.
That said, Guirane N’Daw was another player who played particularly well and his link up play with Hyam was crucial in the win. The two of them could well pull Ipswich into a mid-table position much like the combination of Hyam and Drury did around the same time last season.
Are the two players too defensive to play together though? Personally I don’t think they are and they are both versatile enough to adapt their playing style in order to make the system work.
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The bigger question is; how highly does Mick McCarthy rate Hyam?
It seems like he has preferred using Reo-Coker over the youngster for his first few games in charge but that could now change. I would like to see Hyam starting more games and I firmly believe that he could potentially play a huge role in Ipswich’s survival campaign.
Blackpool winger Tom Ince looks set to clinch a return move to Liverpool as soon as the January transfer window opens again, serving as the perfect example for all young footballers at big clubs across the country resting on their laurels rather than going out and taking risks for the benefit of their long-term future.
Before we label the 20-year-old as some sort of trailblazer, he could just as easily be cast in a negative light for overconfidence for the way that he originally left Anfield back in 2011. After being thrown on as a late substitute in the club’s humiliating League Cup loss at home to Northampton by Roy Hodgson, when Kenny Dalglish replaced him at the helm and noticed his potential, he was offered a new four-year deal which was subsequently turned down by the player, who was seeking assurances over a regular first-team role – quite the bold move by a raw, untested then 18-year-old.
This led to a compensation agreement being agreed with Blackpool for the sum of £250,000 or risk losing him for nothing at the end of the season in a switch which saw Ince back his ability above the prestige of playing only occasionally in games of little importance for a top flight club. It’s been labelled ‘amazing’ that Liverpool ‘allowed’ Ince to leave for a nominal fee just 18 months ago, when really, the situation was entirely of the player’s making, he wanted it this way, not the club.
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The England under-21 international refuses to fade into the shadow of his famous father and former national team skipper Paul, though, refusing to be anything like a bit-part player when he does eventually return to Merseyside: “It’s always hard to step out of the shadow but you can only do that by playing football. I think by me keeping my head down, playing football and scoring goals, I’ve quietly been under the radar.
“It’s nice that people notice me for me and not just as ‘son of’. It’s been down to me to make my own reputation. At the moment it’s going well but hopefully in the years to come it will still be Tom Ince. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind for me in the last 12-18 months. There have been massive changes without me really knowing it. This whole club has brought me on leaps and bounds and allowed me to excite people.”
There’s no denying his impact since dropping down to the Championship to play with the Seasiders and after 8 goals in 41 games last season, Ince has started this campaign in exceptional form to the tune of 13 in 22 games – a fantastic return for a wide-man and much better than the heavily touted and seemingly far more pricey Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace fame.
In reality, Ince has been helped by circumstance in that the Liverpool that he left and the one that he looks set to return to are two completely different clubs. Departing in the same summer that saw the club fork out over £56m on the likes of Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and Jose Enrique, it’s in stark contrast to the sensible fiscal constraints of the Brendan Rodgers era, during which he has had to ship out several players on large wages such as Dirk Kuyt, Craig Bellamy and Maxi Rodriguez.
The culture of the club has changed dramatically too, with the 39-year-old former Swansea boss, partly due to the reigning in of the transfer budget, choosing to throw youngsters such as Raheem Sterling, Suso and Andre Wisdom straight into the starting eleven. Who knows, had Ince bided his time a little more, he may have been playing more regular football at the club this season anyway.
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Due to Liverpool agreeing a 35% sell-on clause as part of his compensation agreement, the club will effectively be in the bizarre situation of paying themselves, thus reducing the overall fee, thought to be around £6m, to a much more affordable and respectable total of £4m approximately, which considering his form is a fair price. The club have come in for criticism for targeting a player they let go under two years ago, yet when Barcelona do it, bringing back the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba for huge amounts, nobody even bats an eyelid. Strange, that.
You only have to look at the career trajectory of the club’s other main transfer target in January, Chelsea forward Daniel Sturridge, to realise that Ince has more than made his mark and picked the right, somewhat unusual and rarely trodden path. The 23-year-old has been shunted out on loan, he’s moved for money and been played out of position, yet he’s never fully settled anywhere yet in his career, in search of a role at a club that will believe in him and he’s never enjoyed quite the same status in any side as Ince has enjoyed at Blackpool.
Nevertheless, we should applaud Ince for backing his abilities, his talent and his skill to go and prove himself elsewhere first before coming back to the big time. Moving to Blackpool was a switch fraught with risk and yet it looks like it’s about to pay off big time for the future England star. Youngsters at Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham take note, there is more than one route to the top.
It would be disappointing and a little inaccurate to suggest Arsenal and their supporters need to accept the poor signings the club make and be happy with it. The club aren’t struggling to part with large sums of money, despite the frustrating nature of their operations in the market. But ultimately it’s the targets that have been identified and subsequently brought to the club which raise concerns.
Notably not all, however. Arsene Wenger did a fantastic job of acquiring proven players who are either in or approaching their prime this past summer. While some may argue that the jury is still out on Olivier Giroud, there is certainly plenty of positives to take from the signings of Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski.
The German international’s contribution, though, has been questioned in recent weeks, with his game dropping off in certain matches and the obvious factor of his substitutions on almost all of his starts. But I’m not really convinced there is a problem with Podolski and what he can bring to the club, and much the same can be said about Cazorla, who has drawn similar worries from sections of the support.
It was a tremendous piece of business by Wenger to pick up an international player of Podolski’s calibre for what should be considered a very low fee. He’s in his prime, he knows how to find the net and he ticks all the boxes for what the team need either from the left flank or centrally: a hard working, technically proficient goal scorer.
The problem with Podolski is that many are too quick to look back at his time at Bayern Munich, assuming that his “failure” makes him unfit for a club with lofty ambitions. To reiterate, he’s a German international with a phenomenal number of caps for his age, and a player who Joachim Low has trusted in the first-team for much of the past few years. With the rising generation of superstars in Germany, it would have been easy for Low to dismiss Podolski and look to youth.
But it’s his experience and character that shines through and which makes him such a valuable asset to both Arsenal and his national team. Forget for a moment that he was the captain of Koln and look to the obvious nature of his game that suggests he is a player with a winning mentality. He was once the golden boy of German football, but things don’t always work out and culminate in the fairytale ending most would expect. A tough time at Bayern, yes, but that experience didn’t strip him of his qualities as a footballer.
The numbers during his first season in English football so far would certainly suggest Arsenal have landed a fantastic buy. 10 goals and seven assists in all competitions is a very promising return for a player operating from a wide position. Moreover, he’s shown his willingness to help out Kieran Gibbs defensively, while in tandem they are clearly Arsenal’s best attacking pair from either of the flanks.
Podolski’s problem at Arsenal has nothing to do with him being a lazy player or not quite up to standard. Again, we’ve seen Cazorla fail to have an effect on all of Arsenal’s games, yet there is no doubting that he’s one of Wenger’s best purchases in all of his time as Arsenal manager. Rather than looking to the deficiencies that may or may not exist in some players, it’s the setup of the team and club as a whole which creates this impression.
Both fans and journalists have spoken about Wenger’s lack of tactical awareness or instruction for his players over the years. The manager is far more liberal with his approach, entrusting his players to go out and express themselves and in turn pick up the victory. Naturally, as we’ve seen countless times, that isn’t always the case. However, it is normal for fans or the media to point the finger at senior players like Podolski, citing his lack of contribution when it was needed.
You can look at the opposite side of that argument and analyse the German’s performances in Arsenal’s better matches this season. He’s a consistent threat on goal, he links up well with a number of players in the attacking-third (his goal against Montpellier with the assist from Giroud should be remembered) and his time in a very good Germany squad has strengthened his mentality to win.
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It may not be obvious to some, but Podolski is a very exciting signing for Arsenal. With the frugality of the club’s approach to the transfer market, picking up players like Podolski in that price-range is exactly what Wenger should be aiming for. His past isn’t questionable, and that’s a big misconception. I’ve always held that belief that not every good player can fit into every good team, and while Podolski may have felt the pressure from his move to Bayern earlier in his career, coupled with the presence of Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni, that specific theory could certainly carry some weight.
Yes, it’s often difficult to watch Arsenal and their lacklustre performances. But that’s a problem stretching beyond just certain members of the squad. Of course, it all filters down to the players, and you’ve got to wonder how much more people like Podolski could offer if they had team-mates of better quality. But regardless, I maintain that Podolski has been an excellent signing for Arsenal. A player of the right age and one who fits into the club’s comfort levels in terms of fee spent. I have every confidence we’ll see a lot more from the German international as his career in north London continues.