Fulham manager martin Jol has insisted that he is not worried by his side’s poor form.
The Cottagers slipped to a 3-0 Premier League defeat to Tottenham over the weekend, leaving them winless in their last seven games.
To make matters worse, they have failed to score in three games, but Jol believes that his team should not be discouraged by recent results and that they are on target to achieve their aims for the season:
“We’re still only three points away from 20 and there are still three games to go before we’ve even reached the halfway point of the league program,” he is quoted by SkySports.
“Our target is always – like 10 or 12 other teams – to get to 40 points, so I’m not worried.
Jol is missing the likes of Brede Hangeland and Bryan Ruiz through injury and predicts a return to winning ways once his star names are back in action:
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“Hangeland is coming back, Bryan Ruiz is coming back, so hopefully if everyone is on the board we can try to get back on the winning track.”
Two goals from Jermain Defoe and a long-range effort from Sandro saw the West Londoners slide to a home defeat at the hands of city rivals Tottenham at Craven Cottage.
Darren Fletcher has told MUTV that Manchester United are ready to seal qualification into the knock-out stages of the Champions League with another win against Braga next month.
The Red Devils currently have a 100 per cent win record in Europe this season, defeating the Portuguese side last night with a 3-2 comeback at Old Trafford.
United sit at the top of Group H with nine points, meaning that another win will guarantee their place in the last 16 of Europe’s top club competition. Fletcher, 28, believes the away fixture against Braga is the perfect game to secure qualification and rectify the embarrassment of being knocked out in the group stage last season.
“After last year the aim was to get ourselves through the group as quickly as possible. One more victory should see us through and hopefully we can do it in the next game in Braga with two games to spare.
“If you take away the first 20 minutes when we went 2-0 down it was a good performance [against Braga].
“People will talk about slow starts and giving away early goals but the fact we came back to win showed great character. Nevertheless, we know we can’t keep doing it,” he said.
The Scotland international spent most of last season battling Ulcerative Colitis, taking extended leave from his club. He is yet to appear for United in the Premier League this season, but played for a full 90 minutes against Braga which suggests he is back to full fitness.
“I feel fine. It was good to get another 90 mintues under my belt and the more of them I get the better I’ll feel.
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“I’m fully aware there is huge competition for places in midfield. I’ve just got to get as many minutes under my belt as I can and keep taking my opportunities when they come,” the United midfielder added.
What makes a great champion? Is it the ability to produce the goods even when the performances haven’t been quite there? Or perhaps even the ability to not just attain success, but to sustain it, too? When evaluating the merits of Manchester United’s seemingly inevitable 20th league championship, it seems both of the above have played a prominent part.
With 15 points now separating United with second placed Manchester City, bar what would be something of a cataclysmic disaster, Sir Alex Ferguson’s side are all but guaranteed the Premier League crown this season.
In fact, should the gulf between themselves and their Manchester rivals increase even further, the men from Old Trafford only need another three more points to equal the record 18 point gap they amassed between themselves and runners-up Arsenal during the 1999-2000 season.
Yet in spite of such potentially record-breaking feats lying in wait for the Red Devils at the end of this campaign, such achievements seem to contradict the background of doubt and the underwhelming aura that seems to have underpinned their 2012-13 season. Should – perhaps that should read ‘when’ – they lift the trophy, the feeling is that it will be heralded more as business as usual, rather than a victory for the ages.
So why is it that Manchester United’s potentially historic league-winning season is being greeted with such dampened enthusiasm?
Given the fact that Ferguson’s team ambled on with one of the leakiest defenses in the entire top ten of the Premier League for the first half of the season, it feels truly remarkable that they can find themselves sitting on such an unprecedented cushion of points.
United entered the New Year having conceded a staggering 28 goals after 21 games – more than anyone else in the top ten within the league. Indeed, before their 2-1 win over Liverpool at Old Trafford back in January, the clean sheet total stood at an alarming five. So chastising was their habit of going behind in games, Sir Alex Ferguson described his side’s lack of concentration as their ‘Achilles heel’ in the aftermath of coming from two behind to beat Aston Villa 3-2 back in November.
And a mere seven days after that inspired comeback against Paul Lambert’s men, United suddenly found themselves a point behind City, after their disastrous 1-0 defeat to Norwich saw them throw away a mini five point lead in a matter of days. Far from looking like a record-breaking season, Ferguson’s men were heading into Christmas enduring what many observed to be a campaign beset by defensive flaws and inconsistency.
But in amongst the raft of clichés that surround Manchester United within the Premier League, the most prevalent ones remain clichés for good reason. And alongside the one denoting how they usually start to kick on after the festive period, is the observation that they have a rather consistent habit of winning football matches without playing particularly real; not so much a clever knack, rather a mastered art.
In their final game of 2012, United proved exactly what champions were made of in what feels like something of a fitting motif for the season that they’ve enjoyed so far. For large spells of their 2-0 home win over West Bromwich Albion, while the side looked confident going forward, they were given a real run for their money by Steve Clarke’s side at times. Whereas in past campaigns, this was the sort of game they would have eased to victory in, here, they made hard graft of winning all three points.
But the only thing that ultimately mattered was the three points, and tellingly, it was them who finished seven points clear of City come the end of 2012, despite the usually-well oiled outfit often grinding their way to victory, as opposed to easing to it.
Yet while their strength in the face of defensive adversity – not to mention what’s been a searing improvement in their rearguard over the last few weeks – it’s perhaps the looming spectre of a fading City side that have inadvertently played their part in raining upon their rival’s parade.
Where as their record 18-point winning margin over Arsenal in 2000 was achieved with the glittering bulk of their treble-winning side the season before, amongst a cascade of goals – a stunning 97, to be precise – their 15-point gap has perhaps owed as much to the futile title defense that Mancini’s men have produced, as much as their own searing efforts.
As much can be said for sustaining glory, as there can be in initially attaining it and for Manchester City to find themselves so far out of reach of their rivals when United have hardly been enjoying a vintage season themselves, feels woefully disappointing.
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Mancini may feel that the signing of Robin van Persie has been the difference between the two sides, but for as good as he is, he’s not been the sole catalyst for a staggering 15-point improvement on a team that finished level on points with The Citizens last term. And in conceding the title this season, perhaps the Italian has witnessed first-hand what it takes to retain it.
Regardless of whether Manchester United break the all time margin of victory record for a league title, their campaign will never be remembered as a classic and as much as they owe that to some of their early season performances, it’s their rival’s fate that has also made that a reality.
But in managing to lift the title amongst such a torrent of relatively meagre praise, Ferguson’s team have perhaps reminded us that grit, steel and efficiency are just as valuable traits in a champion, as headline winning last-gasp finishes. Certainly, their 20th title won’t be as memorable as City’s third, but it may just be all the more impressive.
The Wolves 3-1 morale-booster last Sunday left us wanting more of the same and at the earliest possible opportunity. The World Cup qualifiers this weekend with Wales at home in the capital against a rampant Belgium (a phrase once as oxymoronic as ‘deafening silence’ which funnily enough is what you were likely to get until very recently in response to a request to name 5 famous Belgians) therefore came at an inopportune time. The Internationals break invariably see us either on a roll and desperate to maintain the impetus or in need of a quick return to form after a disappointing run. The break is rarely welcome.
With no City game to form the focal point, the looming weekend was potentially a frustrating one but there was at least the compensation of another major sporting fixture in town. So I toddled off to Cardiff Blues v Edinburgh. In fact it never once entered my head to follow the well worn path to the CCS; as far as I was concerned the return of the Blues to their spiritual home was the only game in town. The alternative was a quiet night in.
I am not a great club rugby fan. At best I’m a part-timer, carried away on a tide of patriotic fervour when the national team are playing but otherwise fairly indifferent. But I anticipated that the Blues’ joyous home-coming would be a much richer sporting occasion than witnessing the start of yet another Wales qualifying campaign brimming with pluck and spunk but doomed to inevitable failure.
My last international appearance was at the Millenium Stadium in October 2002 when Wales beat Italy 2-1 in front of 72,500 fans to become the early Group leaders in the search for Euro 2004 qualification. Even as we walked away from the stadium, while others talked of the dawn of a new era I stayed silent with an unwelcome conviction that in all probability that was going to be as good as it was ever likely to get and I doubted that I would return. In the event I was to be proved right as we lost the return fixture 4-0 and were then knocked out in a play-off against Russia. I have been to true my unspoken words that night and have not been back.
I had no wish for it to be that way and I would have loved to have enjoyed the moment but even as a nascent Craig Bellamy was hitting the sporting consciousness with a typically impudent winner I found myself curiously detached and underwhelmed in the certain knowledge of the ultimate futility of that great victory. History instinct and self-preservation dictated that this was the only logical response.
Strangely I have no such problems engaging with the prospect of ultimate failure to match expectations when it comes to the Bluebirds. Missing out on an FA Cup victory by the narrowest of margins, followed by missing out on the play-offs by the narrowest of margins (one goal in an entire season), followed by missing out in the play-off final by the narrowest of margins, followed by successive semi-final play-off defeats has done nothing to diminish my enthusiasm and myopic fanaticism. When it comes to The City the triumph of hope over experience is to be embraced not ridiculed.
Why the contrast? I think it has a lot to do with a sense belonging, of ownership, identity, with a lifelong attachment to a club handed down from generation to generation, with ritual and habit. I feel this every week, with the same people, engaged in a common purpose. This has never been replicated at national level for me where the intensity of the experience is dissipated and fractured by the disparate nature of the fans and the spasmodic and nomadic nature of the home fixtures. The lack of engagement for me means that ultimately following the national team is a sideshow at best.
Judging by the paltry 20,000 attendance (2,000 less than the Bluebirds’ average last season) there is little appetite for the distraction of another long drawn out hopeless campaign. Welsh football fans have learnt to expect the worst; unfortunately they are rarely disappointed.
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Read more of Martin’s articles at – www.its-not-dark-yet.blogspot.co.uk
West Brom continued their excellent start to the season after inflicting a fifth defeat in seven games on rock bottom QPR at the Hawthorns.
After receiving backing of owner Tony Fernandes in the wake of Monday’s home loss to West Ham United there was a feeling the luck of Mark Hughes and his players would change for the better in the Midlands.
Any hope of that happening was quickly snuffed out by a ruthless Albion side that capitalised on a customary defensive lapse to snatch a fifth minute lead. A swift counter attack caught the visitors off guard and James Morrison profited to head Shane Long’s cross past Julio Cesar.
Having taken just three points from a possible 48 since returning to the Premier League it was no surprise that the R’s fell further behind in the 22nd minute. Zoltan Gera was the man on hand to double the Baggies’ lead, taking advantage of Anton Ferdinand’s inability to clear a right-wing cross and steering the ball home from 12-yards.
That appeared to wake QPR up from their slumber enough to fashion a stunning riposte 10 minutes before half time. It was another one for the scrapbook for Adel Taraabt as he rifled a stunning volley past Ben Foster after controlling Esteban Granero’s lofted pass on his chest.
Taarabt, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Granero all went close to an equaliser after the break but their hopes of salvaging a point were ended with Youssouf Mulumbu latching on to Gonzalo Jara’s pass and beat Cesar to wrap up another impressive win for Albion.
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The away side continued to press and still had time to peg the hosts back further courtesy of a sublime strike from Granero but remain rooted to the bottom as Steve Clarke’s men moved up to the heady heights of fourth.
Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna’s return from injury hasn’t helped much so far in improving the team’s quite frankly woeful defensive performances of late, but with reports linking the player with a move away in the future, how much truth is there to be found in digging a little deeper?
The latest rumour doings the rounds about the 29-year-old French international is that in the wake of Robin van Persie’s departure in the summer, and after Thomas Vermaelen was approached to be the club’s new captain, that Sagna was asked by Arsene Wenger to step into the role of vice-captain but turned the position down.
This of course led to Mikel Arteta stepping into the role after growing increasingly influential out on the pitch and in the dressing room over the course of the last year or so, but that Sagna preferred to stay as one of the rank-and-file is a troubling thought. Wenger targeted Sagna because aside from Tomas Rosicky, Theo Walcott and Johan Djourou, he’s the club’s longest serving player having joined back in 2007 from Auxerre.
Moreover, that is not the only rumour doing the rounds with concerns to the player, and given that his contract expires at the end of the next Premier League season, he is thought to be eyeing a new deal and a wage increase on his current £60,000 per week. Sagna will be 30 in February and Arsenal have a well-worn tradition of only handing one-year contracts to players over that age and the likelihood of an improved deal is short, so another long-standing contractual feud looks possible.
However, much of the basis of the thinking behind the belief that Sagna may be the next player heading for the exit door comes from his somewhat surprising yet wholly negative remarks about the club’s transfer business in the summer
“Everyone was expecting Robin van Persie to leave, but Alex Song — that was a surprise. I don’t understand that at all,” the Gunners right back said.
“It is a big loss for the club. When you see two of the best players from last season leave, you ask a lot of questions. I understand why the supporters are nervous. I am the only starting player left from 2007.”
Since returning from a broken leg over the course of the past few weeks, Sagna has taken his place in the starting eleven back four, ushering deputy Carl Jenkinson back onto the bench. A lot as been made of Jenkinson’s form so far this season, far too much if you ask me, but there’s certainly been a noticeable improvement.
Nevertheless, the idea that Wenger would consider selling Sagna simply because he has an able back-up in Jenkinson doesn’t make all that much sense. The aim is to improve the depth of your squad and increase competition for places so just because you have two players capable enough of playing every week in the same position, that doesn’t then automatically mean you will sell one.
Jenkinson is still just 20 years of age and despite his development, is still raw and rough around the edges, and while Wenger leaves himself open to such thinking given his over-reliance on youth in the past, I just can’t see them allowing Sagna to leave any time soon. The constant chopping and changing is doing more harm than good at the club and a period of stability, particularly at the back, is required.
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It appears as if the ground is being prepped for Sagna to leave and the various stories floating out there about him are spurious at best. They look as if they are running out of saleable assets and Sagna remains an attractive proposition, so rumours will inevitably be fabricated out of thin air entirely on the basis of his disgruntled summer comments. Arsenal seem to lurch from one crisis to another of late, but they’ve got some real battles to fight over the coming months and they simply don’t have time for the cosmetic ones.
QPR’s search for a league win entered record territory as they drew with Wigan at the DW Stadium to leave Harry Redknapp still searching for his first victory as manager.
Swindon Town previously registered the longest winless start to a Premier League season in 1993-94 but that was surpassed by the R’s as they made it 16 games without success.
But a point earned on Latics soil is no easy feat and Redknapp will be glad to avoid defeat against Roberto Martinez’s side, who responded to Monday’s defeat at Newcastle with a much improved performance.
And they couldn’t have asked for a better start as they took the lead in the 19th minute courtesy of a stunning volley from James McCarthy. It came from a corner won by David Jones with a novel free kick routine that produced a fingertip save from Rob Green, and when Jamie Mackie failed to clear the resulting aerial delivery, McCarthy arrived to rifle the ball first time in to the far corner.
QPR are firmly under the Redknapp spell and they responded in style when Ryan Nelsen darted past Adriano Lopez in the penalty area to meet Adel Taarabt’s corner and thunder his header past Ali Al-Habsi at the near post.
Franco Di Santo could have put the hosts back in front but couldn’t take advantage of Clint Hill’s mistake just before half time. Green then made three important saves to deny McCarthy and Jordi Gomez twice in a matter of minutes after the break as the visitors found penned into their own half.
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So it was all the more surprising when Rangers snatched the lead with 20 minutes to go. Shaun Wright-Phillips took advantage of a sloppy pass from Lopez to tee up half time substitute Djibril Cisse, who expertly guided the ball past Al-Habsi from 12 yards.
But it lasted just three minutes as Jean Beausejour was allowed to find McCarthy in the area and the Scotland midfielder exploited the time and space afforded to control and fire the ball past Green.
Southampton manager Nigel Adkins accepted the blame for his side’s 3-0 Capital One Cup defeat to Leeds.
The Saints chief made 11 changes to the side that lost 2-1 to Tottenham on Sunday, handing starts to the likes of Kelvin Davis and Tadanari Lee.
The Championship side, managed by Neil Warnock, took full advantage of a lacklustre performance by the St Marys’ Stadium-based team to advance to the next round of the competition.
After the game Adkins insisted that he made the right decision to rest his players, shouldering the blame for the loss:
“We didn’t perform anywhere near what’s expected of a Southampton Football Club team,” he told SkySports.
“Forty-eight hours ago we had a high-intensity game and I made the relevant changes.
“I take full responsibility.
“We wanted to play tomorrow, but the powers that be wanted it to be tonight.”
Adkins was positive about the performances of his young players, but criticised the displays of some experienced members of his squad:
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“We gave the players who have not been in the team the chance to show what they could do, and they did not take it.”
Leeds took the lead through a Michael Tonge strike after just over half-an-hour and extended their advantage through El Hadji Diouf on the 88-minute mark.
Luciano Becchio converted a penalty in stoppage time wrap up the 3-0 win after Luke Shaw had been adjudged to have fouled Tonge in the area.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Kieran Gibbs, Carl Jenkinson, Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere. Usually such a line-up is indicative of a contemporary boy band but this fabulous quintet is more likely to make grown men swoon rather than teenage girls scream.
A wave of relief must have swept across every Arsenal supporter when the club announced they had collectively tied down their most promising batch of young players. The news provides a timely boost for a team that continues to sail through troubled waters, especially as this sign of commitment would have felt worryingly alien for a side that has been repeatedly betrayed by former fan favourites.
The key message emanating from North London is that plans for the future have a distinct British core, which will undoubtedly help dispel the recurring criticism that the club favours a foreign presence. After watching the likes of Samir Nasri, Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas instigate painful exits, Arsene Wenger has perhaps decided to focus on those who share his close affinity with the Gunners.
If there is one man that can rival the Frenchman’s devotion to Arsenal, it’s Jack Wilshere. The resurgent talisman embodies the philosophy of his club, in the same inspiring manner as fellow England internationals Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard. He passes the ball rather than the blame and speaks with a startling understanding of what is expected of both him and his fellow team-mates.
There is certainly an aura surrounding the 20-year-old that evokes a flurry of compliments from everyone associated with the club. If Wenger can mould his aggressive passion into controlled desire then he may have just found his most influential leader since Tony Adams, a man who incidentally acquired the club captaincy at the tender age of 21.
However, Wilshere’s new contract still stimulates a growing sense of risk in amongst the obvious reward. A question mark still hangs over his long-term fitness as he gradually claws his way back to the sensational standards he set almost two years ago. Likewise, stories of late night antics – regardless of their accuracy – threaten the illustrious career waiting patiently before him.
It’s worth deliberating whether his blind loyalty to the club will come back to haunt him further down the line. He was incredibly eager to sacrifice a greater chance of silverware elsewhere, when few fans could have protested if he had postponed negotiations until the end of the season. Only time will tell whether he was right to place his trust in Wenger, when so many around him appear to have lost faith altogether.
Arsenal have effectively assigned £70million to secure the futures of five young players, a bold move considering the club has recently been criticised for harbouring a rapidly inflating wage bill. However, I can’t imagine any of these individuals attempted to hold the club to ransom with their demands, unlike a certain other young English talent.
It will be interesting to monitor how these deals impinge on Theo Walcott’s current ‘limbo’ status. Is this the evidence of ambition he was looking for? Will the commitment of The Ox deter his willingness to sign or will he feel compelled to join this patriotic nucleus at the heart of the team? Negotiations have apparently resumed, but he has little excuse not to push a deal through before the uncertainty of January sends the tabloids into meltdown.
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Speaking of January, Wilshere’s decision to reaffirm his position at the club can only improve the magnetism for potential transfer targets. The gifted array of English starlets will surely be inspired by Wenger’s display of affection towards his young stars, which may just prove vital in the pursuit of Wilfried Zaha.
Perhaps this announcement highlights Wenger’s acknowledgment that his stubborn nature has cost Arsenal dear in recent years and more importantly, that he is keen to reverse their ailing fortunes while his reputation remains intact. Chief executive, Ivan Gazidis has insisted there is money to spend in the New Year and in many ways; the club is as appealing as it’s ever been.
Former Everton goalkeeper Neville Southall believes it was “pointless” to rest Tim Howard for Tuesday’s Capital One Cup clash with Leeds.
Southall, who holds the record number of consecutive league appearances, revealed he used to have arguments with his management if they ever attempted to leave him out of the side.
The Welshman’s record of 212 consecutive league appearances is being chased down by Everton’s current shot stopper Howard, who finds himself on 189, a run that stretches back to September 2007.
Southall told the Liverpool Echo: “I hated missing games. I used to have a row with Colin Harvey and Howard Kendall if they ever wanted to leave me out, because you’d lose a bit of momentum. I liked to stay in the zone.
“When I looked at the game against Leeds on TV I was looking to see if it was Tim playing, then thinking: ‘Why have they left him out?’ It’s pointless. Outfield players I can understand, but once a goalkeeper gets in that groove you want to leave him in there.
“If you’re No. 1, you’re No. 1 and it’s up to you to play yourself out of that position. I hated missing any game, even a Simod Cup tie against Millwall with 3,000 inside Goodison because I was looking forward to playing in a young team. I think Howard Kendall left me out because he didn’t want to be in the competition anyway!”
Southall was also full of praise for the man who could end up surpassing his record, claiming Howard has become a better goalkeeper since arriving at Goodison Park from Old Trafford.
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“Tim’s a good goalkeeper,” he continued. “His distribution could be better. Sometimes he kicks it too high and too far, which is okay when you’ve got Fellaini on the end of it but not always, but other than that he’s a very good keeper.
“I think he’s done well and he’s improved since he’s been at the club.”