Roma boss Vincenzo Montella said his players can defy a long injury list for their Coppa Italia semi-final second leg against Inter Milan.Francesco Totti, Philippe Mexes, Matteo Brighi and Rodrigo Taddei are all out of Wednesday’s clash at the Stadio Olimpcio, but Montella believes his side still has the ability to overturn a 1-0 deficit at the San Siro.
“We’ll try. Of course this is a difficult match taking into consideration all unavailable players: Mexes, Brighi, Totti, Taddei, who would give us a huge boost,” Montella said.
“Therefore it’s going to be a difficult match, but we’ll do our best because we have the ability to and we’ll do it till the end.”
Montella also praised his squad for turning around their disappointing start to the Serie A season, to leave them fifth with two games remaining and almost assured of a European spot for next term.
“The team should have been able to finish second or third in the table. I think that these players are committed and have given their all for me. It is also thanks to them that our form has changed,” he said.
“Of course everyone was expecting more from this team, but it isn’t simple to get out of a rut. There has been an improvement and it has been achieved especially thanks to the players.”
We now know that QPR and Norwich will be joined by either Reading or Swansea in the Premier League next season. The three teams that go up will all know that the Premier League is a huge challenge and survival is often considered a major success – but how have teams fared in their first season in the top flight.
Well in the Premier League this season the newly promoted sides were Blackpool, West Brom and Newcastle. West Brom and Newcastle have both had their problems and both clubs have had a change of manager, but they have moved well away from the relegation zone and can start planning for another season in the Premier League. Blackpool have had a mixed season but have pleased many people with their attacking brand of football but they are currently in the relegation zone and will certainly need to win their final game to have any chance of survival.
In the 2009/10 season the newly promoted clubs were Wolves, Birmingham and Burnley. It was a season unlike this season and a points tally as low as 31 points would have been enough for Premier League survival. Wolves finished in 15th place with a tally of only 38 points – which in other seasons would have not been enough for survival. Birmingham was a real standout performer in the Premier League and finished in a very impressive 9th place. However, Burnley had a very poor season and was relegated in 18th place with a tally of only 30 points.
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West Brom, Stoke and Hull were the newly promoted teams in the 2008/9 season and the three teams that were relegated that season went down with relatively low points tallies. West Brom finished rock bottom of the table and were relegated. Stoke had a very solid season and finished in an impressive 12th place and Hull finished in 17th and survived in the Premier League by just one point; their season’s tally of 35 points proved to be just enough.
Birmingham, Derby and Sunderland were the promoted sides in the 2007/8 season and all three teams struggled. Sunderland eventually managed to scramble clear of relegation and finished with 39 points in 15th place. However, Birmingham and Derby were both relegated; Birmingham finishing in 19th place with 35 points and Derby finished rock bottom with a dismal tally of only 11 points. The 17th place side survived with just 36 points that season.
Reading, Sheffield United and Watford were the promoted teams in the 2006/7 season and it was Reading that performed the best with a very impressive finish of 8th in the table. However, Sheffield United and Watford didn’t enjoy the best of seasons and were relegated. The team that survived that season in 17th had 38 points.
The news over the last five years is fairly positive for the newly promoted sides for next season. With the possible exception of this season teams in the previous four years haven’t needed to reach 40 points in order to survive. Despite the fact that the promoted teams are labelled as relegation favourites they don’t all get relegated and as the facts above show one team can perform very well.
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If next season follows the same trend one or possibly two of the promoted sides can expect to survive. However, it remains to be seen how long those teams that do survive can remain in the Premier League. They may take some inspiration from Stoke, who have had another solid season in the top flight that this season included an FA Cup final and qualification for Europe. But perhaps the most important statistic is the fact they will be competing in the Premier League for their fourth consecutive season next year.
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Lovech took another step towards clinching the Bulgarian A-League after a 4-1 win over Montana on Wednesday.Lyuboslav Penev’s team maintained their five point lead at the top and were untroubled by their 11th-placed opponents.
A brace from Brazilian attacker Doka Madureira had Lovech 2-0 up after half an hour and when defender Alexandre Barthe made it three early in the second half, the points were sealed.
Forward Georgi Ivanov pulled a goal back for Montana, but full-back Petar Zanev responded five minutes later to make it 4-1.
Lovech would have wrapped up the title if not for Levski Sofia’s 3-0 derby win over Slavia Sofia.
A brace from midfielder Hristo Yovov, either side of a Vladimir Gadzhev strike, kept Levski’s hopes of winning the title alive with two games to go.
In the relegation battle, none of the bottom three were able to record a win.
Rakovski, who sit in the relegation play-off spot, managed a 2-2 draw at home to Minyor Pernik.
Aleksandar Branekov and Atanas Ivanov had given them a 2-0 lead after an hour, before conceding twice to settle for a point.
Fares Brahimi struck first on 67 minutes and Tomislav Pavlov hit a 92nd-minute equaliser for Pernik.
Akademik Sofia lost their sixth-straight game after a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Lokomotiv Plovdiv.
Zdravko Lazarov opened the scoring for Plovdiv from the penalty spot, before Asparuh Vasilev equalised for Akademik.
But Sergio Organista scored an own goal to hand Lokomotiv three points and leave his team in second-last.
Bottom-placed Sliven’s struggles continued as they suffered a 2-0 loss against Lokomotiv Sofia, following goals from Marco Dafchev and Vladislav Romanov.
In other games, Georgi Iliev and Rumen Nikolov struck in the first quarter of an hour as Cherno More beat Kaliakra 2-0.
Beroe struck twice in the first half through Simeon Mechev and Vladislav Zlatinov in their 2-0 win at Chernomorets Burgas.
CSKA Sofia ensured their Europa League place after playing out an entertaining 2-2 draw with Pirin Blagoevgrad.
Rumen Trifonov and Apostol Popov struck for CSKA, but Dimitar Iliev and Ivan Tsvetkov were also on the scoresheet as the teams shared the spoils.
Upon signing Javier Hernandez I’m sure Sir Alex Ferguson thought he had uncovered a diamond for the future, with the expectation that Little Pea would start to show his potential in the following years. I doubt though even the great man himself could have anticipated Hernandez exploding onto the scene with the verve he has shown. The former Chivas man has made his transition from Mexican Primera División to the Premier League so effortlessly. Well it seems Fergie isn’t satisfied with just one Mexican starlet and United are rumoured to be sniffing round Chicharito’s old club Chivas de Guadalajara again, this time eyeing his replacement at Chivas Erick Torres. Surely United can’t delve into the Mexican market again to find another hidden gem, can they?
Torres is only eighteen years old but he has already established himself in the Chivas side scoring six goals in nineteen games for the club. United are not the first big European club to have tabs on the highly rated youngster though, PSV Eindhoven have already scouted the player and are likely to be the main competition for his signature at present. If United do manage to snare the Mexico U-20 star this summer, surely hoping he will blossom in the same way Hernandez has is wishful thinking?
Torres has not long broken into the Chivas first team from their reserves so any move to Europe could be too soon for him at this early stage in his career. He is already being hyped up as the next Chicharito due to his similar size and predatory instinct in the box, but with little experience under his belt a move to England could be detrimental at this stage in his progression. Being dubbed the next Chicharito already is only setting him up for failure as far as I’m concerned, players are all different and need to create their own reputation. Often when players are called the next Zinedine Zidane or Diego Maradona they never realise their potential and fade into obscurity.
There is clearly potential in Torres that has alerted the Manchester United scouts and if they watch him and see what he is about, it may become clear that he is a player they should look to sign. However, being inexperienced and a lot younger than Chicharito suggests to me that if United do sign Torres over the summer, he is unlikely to feature for United and be the instant hit that Hernandez was. I think Torres would probably benefit from being loaned back to Chivas if any deal is struck up between the two clubs so he can develop in Mexico before taking on the Premier League.
Personally, I see Chicharito as a one off and no matter how good Torres turns out to be, he is a different player to Chicharito and deserves to forge his own legacy rather than being compared to his compatriot. It’s not every day that finds like Chicharito come along and we only have to look how Bebe has turned out so far to confirm we shouldn’t always believe the hype generated around young players. So while lightningmay well strike twice at Old Trafford in terms of signing another Chivas youngster, I’d rather wait to be proved wrong than to say Torres will go on to be an instant hit like Hernandez.
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Federico Macheda ’s return from Italy and recent statement of his determination to ‘prove his worth to Fergie’ should have been exactly what most United fans wanted to hear.
A young striker with bags of potential, who’s already proven he has the raw ability to be a future star, declaring his eagerness to fight for his place would be welcomed with open arms at most clubs.
Manchester United isn’t most clubs and the simple facts are that Macheda could well find himself number six in the Old Trafford striking pecking order. Danny Welbeck ’s recent brace at the European Under 21 Championships in Denmark showed that he’s put his injury problems behind him and is now back to full fitness.
Despite all the rumours and conjecture surrounding Dimitar Berbatov the Bulgarian still remains a United player and after finishing last season with the Premier League Golden Boot, who’s to say that he won’t be at Old Trafford come the start of the next campaign.
Michael Owen took time off winning me money at Ascot to put pen to paper on a new one year deal and it’s pretty safe to assume that Wayne Rooney will be flexing his new barnet at United come August.
Oh and let’s not forget about Mame Biram Diouf who managed six goals in just under 30 appearances for Blackburn last season and is still a Manchester United player.
That just leaves Chicharito who’s taken time off from scoring a ridiculous amount of goals for United to score a ridiculous amount of goals for Mexico in the Gold Cup.
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That makes seven strikers at Sir Alex’s disposal next season, all with a reason to expect some form of consideration for the first team.
Admittedly with no goals in his 14 Sampdoria loan spell, Macheda may have a bit of hope rather than any expectation but with a good pre-season he may just gatecrash the striker party.
The question is “how can Sir Alex realistically expect to juggle so many attackers without either losing any form of continuity or upsetting certain players to the degree it has a negative affect on the team?”
Last season United were lucky in the fact that Dimitar Berbatov’s purple patch coincided with Wayne Rooney’s cabbage one, plus there was still a degree of uncertainty as to exactly how awesome Chicharito was.
Then there was Owen’s injury problems coupled with the fact he was more than willing to play practically any role asked of him, regardless of minimal it was.
Last season United’s most effective strike force- at least towards the business end was Chicharito up top with Rooney playing a deeper role.
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If Sir Alex was to use this partnership for the big games then that would still leave five strikers with only cameo roles to keep them happy. Of course it’s a long season and let’s not forget in 1999 Andy Cole Dwight Yorke, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer all played their part.
Then there’s the likelihood that Macheda will be loaned out again at some point, probably to a Premier League side, ditto Diouf if he’s not sold on a permanent deal.
Even if Macheda and Diouf are sold/loaned Fergie will still have a job keeping everyone happy, but when it comes to a problem facing the United boss, it’s a better one than worrying about how to accommodate a £50 million flop.
Read more of Justin’s articles at Red Flag Flying High
New Aston Villa arrival Shay Given is hoping that Stephen Ireland will get an opportunity to impress under Alex McLeish.The pair played together at Manchester City before Ireland moved to Villa Park last season and Given is hoping that fans will finally see the midfielder shine after he endured a difficult campaign last season.
“When I joined Manchester City Stephen Ireland was the first name on the sheet,” Given told the Birmingham Mail.
“He’s a fantastic player, and one of the top midfielders in the country when he is on song. Hopefully myself and the new manager can get the best out of him.”
“It’s like a new signing because for whatever reason he didn’t feature at all last season. It has got to come from him as well, but the player that I’ve seen at Man City and that I’ve seen again in training at Villa is a top midfielder.”
Given also claimed that his former Republic of Ireland team-mate was the best trainer during their time together at Manchester City.
He added: “You read different things about him, but all I can talk about is his football and he’s a fantastic footballer. If we can get the best out of him we have a real top player on our hands.”
“At Man City he was one of the best trainers, he puts a real shift in when he’s working.”
“When Villa signed him I thought they’d got a top player, and hopefully we will see that this season.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger claims that no sum of money would tempt the club to part with Cesc Fabregas providing he wants to stay.But Wenger has also suggested that his captain and Samir Nasri, both transfer targets of some of Europe’s biggest teams, must be committed to the north London club if they are to stay at the Emirates.
Fabregas has long been linked with a move back to Barcelona while France international Nasri has been attracting interest from Premier League rivals Manchester City.
Despite reiterating his desire to keep the duo beyond the European summer, Wenger hinted that he wants the futures of two of his star players to be sorted out within the next 10 days.
“If Fabregas is committed to this club and wants to stay, no money will get him out of here,” the Gunners boss said after seeing his side draw 2-2 with Boca Juniors in Saturday’s Emirates Cup clash.
“We are not in a position where we need to sell our players. We want to keep our players. We are not looking after money. We want the players to stay here, from our side that is clear.”
“It’s not ideal for us on the financial side (Nasri potentially leaving on a free transfer next summer) but, on the sporting side, he is an important player. We have to deal with the situation one way or another. In the next 10 days we have to be clear on that front.”
“If you ask me if I want to keep him (Nasri), I say yes. But he needs to be committed to that as well. I don’t give them (Fabregas and Nasri) 10 days, the transfer period is until August 31.
“Ideally, we go into big games in two weeks, in the next two weeks we have to sort our problems out. There is no specific deadline of one day or 24 hours. It’s not like you shoot a shuttle into space. Sometimes it’s very quick on that front and sometimes it’s very slow.”
The Telegraph are reporting that Barcelona are set to make one final bid for Cesc Fabregas and bring an end to the transfer saga.
A second offer nearing the £35 million is set to be made after their original £27 million bid was rejected by Arsenal.
Fabregas is also willing to see his salary reduced by around £5 million for the duration of his contract, which would encourage Barcelona to raise their bid.
The offer would be worth the £35 million Arsenal are looking for and would include up to £5 million in potential add-ons.
It’s understood that the Spanish clubs’ President Sandro Roselli is already travelling back from the United States where Pep Guardiola and his men are on tour.
Guardiola also hinted that Fabregas was the final piece of the Nou Camp jigsaw saying, “We’re short of just one player and everyone knows which one that is.”
Despite Barca’s willingness to meet the Gunners valuation it isn’t entirely certain that the bid will be accepted.
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However boss Arsene Wenger has become tired and frustrated at the entire saga and there are no assurances that he will immediately say yes to the Catalan clubs latest offer.
If the bid were to be accepted it would put an end to one of the longest running transfer chases in Premier League history.
A debut goal from Emmanuel Adebayor and a strike from partner Jermain Defoe was enough to hand Tottenham their first win of the season in an open encounter with Wolves at Molineux.
Defeat for Mick McCarthy’s side ended their three game unbeaten run as they struggled to deal with the pace and power of the visitors new striking partnership.
Another new face at Spurs, Scott Parker, was also instrumental as Harry Redknpapp’s side bounced back from the 5-1 thrashing they received at home to Manchester City two weeks ago.
The first half was a wide open affair with Brad Friedel denying Karl Henry with a superb stop whilst Roger Johnson headed wide from Michael Kightly’s free kick.
Wayne Hennessey was also busy in the home side’s goal tipping Defoe’s stinging long range effort wide. Niko Kranjcar also saw his effort cleared off the line by Christophe Berra with Spurs taking the ascendancy leading into the second half.
Adebayor finally broke the deadline in the 67th minute taking Parker’s wonderful pass into his stride before rounding Hennessey and slotting into an empty net.
The points were secured 10 minutes from time by Defoe who swapped passes with Krancjcar before smashing a delightful effort into the bottom corner to hand Spurs only their fourth win in 15 games.
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The Metro are reporting that Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign Islam Feruz – dubbed the ‘Scottish Wayne Rooney’ – from Celtic.
Boss Andre Villas-Boas has moved swiftly to bring the 16-year-old to Stamford Bridge. Feruz has joined on a scholarship deal, although it’s expected that he will sign a professional contract when he turns 17.
Celtic are now prepared to fight for compensation after nurturing Feruz’s talents for 10 years and also helping his family avoid deportation back to his native Somalia and settle down in Scotland.
His agent Rui Alves revealed a number of clubs from across Europe expressed an interest in the teenage forward but Feruz chose to join Chelsea as he felt they could match his lofty ambitions.
‘The possibility of training with [John] Terry, [Didier] Drogba and [Frank] Lampard will be fantastic for him.” Alves said.
“The structure at youth level at Chelsea is great. It would be a gift from God to see him playing in the English Premier League.”
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It’s yet another step in the youthful direction for Villas-Boas who has moved to freshen up his ageing squad with some fresh faced talent. Romelu Lukaku, Juan Mata and Ulises Davila have already joined – although it may be a few years before Feruz joins them in the first team.