Guus Hiddink has been sacked by the Turkish national team after they failed to qualify for Euro 2012, sparking rumours he could head back to Chelsea in some capacity.
The Dutch coach received his marching orders after a 3-0 aggregate defeat to Croatia in the European Championships playoffs, and is free now to take on a new project.
“Following the meeting between Turkish Football Federation Executive Committee and Turkey head coach Guus Hiddink, the Dutch coach’s contract has been terminated by mutual consent,” a statement on the TFF website confirmed.
“We would like to thank Mr Guus Hiddink for his services during his working period, and wish him all the best in his future career.”
Hiddink steadied the ship at Stamford Bridge when he took control on a temporary basis in 2009, winning the FA Cup in the process.
When asked about his future the 65-year-old remained apathetic, but admitted that he enjoyed his time in England.
“I’ve not made up my mind about the future yet. I’m going to take some time off and then we will see what happens, but I had a wonderful time in England,” he stated.
“It was great at Chelsea, a terrific time, but that doesn’t mean I am ready to start tomorrow. I need some time to reflect.
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“I’m not ready to retire, I like to be involved with a team on a daily basis. But maybe I am ready to step out of the limelight a little bit, away from the cameras. Hopefully I will still be involved but perhaps it will be as an adviser or a consultant,” he concluded.
It was a case of what could have been for Aston Villa today, as Gerard Houllier’s men twice forfeited the lead and in addition missed a penalty as they lost 3-2 to Bolton at the Reebok Stadium.
Darren Bent fluffed a great chance to put Aston Villa ahead, before he did just that after 15 minutes. They were then pegged back by a goal by former Villa player Gary Cahill on the stroke of half-time. After hitting the woodwork, Villa retook the lead through Marc Albrighton, before they missed the opportunity to put the game to bed as Ashley Young’s penalty was saved. They would live to regret that, as Cahill scored his second equaliser of the match, and then with five minutes to go Ivan Klasnic sealed all three points for the Trotters.
So what FIVE things did we learn about Aston Villa today?
Despite the more intriguing nature of second and third-round group stage games, it seems as though bad refereeing decisions have unfortunately marred several World Cup games. The decision of Koman Coulibaly to puzzlingly disallow a seemingly legitimate winning goal for the USA against Slovenia, and the even more baffling decisions of Frenchman Stephane Lannoy to send off Brazil’s Kaka and to allow Luis Fabiano’s second goal to stand despite two instances of handball during a clash against Cote d’Ivoire have inevitably placed the standard of World Cup refereeing under scrutiny. USA coach Bob Bradley, understandably infuriated by the decision of Coulibaly, was perplexed by FIFA’s lack of clarity with regards to refereeing issues.
Speaking at his side’s base camp, Bradley stated, “We’re all accustomed to the fact that if it’s an NFL playoff game and there’s a call that’s in question, there will be a statement by the league from the referees, but FIFA operates differently.”
The ire aimed at the aforementioned referees has been exacerbated by the refusal of officials to explain their decisions. Is a more stringent approach from FIFA required to curb bad decisions in matches?
The merits and demerits of video technology have been discussed and dissected several times (click here to see an earlier article I wrote on this issue), so I won’t spend time delving in to this area. However, the short nature of international tournaments means that the margins between success and failure are unbelievably fine; had Landon Donovan failed to net his last-gasp winner against Algeria yesterday, Coulibaly’s decision to rule out Maurice Edu’s ‘goal’ from six days ago would have borne much more prominent significance. Although Coulibaly is ‘highly unlikely’ to participate in further World Cup matches, punishing referees after abject displays is often scant consolation to teams disadvantaged by incorrect decisions.
With regards to the issuing of erroneous yellow and red cards, there is very little retroactive action FIFA can take to diminish the significance of such a decision – if a team, incorrectly reduced to ten men, subsequently loses a match, FIFA cannot do anything to rectify refereeing wrongdoing. However, FIFA’s rules denote that neither the organisation nor the referee in question is required to explain a disputed decision. In doing so, FIFA fail to implement any sense of accountability, placing less pressure on referees to make the right decision.
Implementing such accountability would allow for referees to explain decisions and formally apologise, thus showing an intention to try and redress the victims of poor officiating, as well as helping to maintain consistency within the refereeing fraternity. I for one believe it is time that FIFA introduce a more stringent approach within the game.
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Click here to read an earlier article on the use of video technology within football
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Over the years there have been many great players who’ve graced the Premier League, making it the most enjoyable entertaining and exciting domestic competition in the world. Players such as Cantona, Shearer, Henry, Ronaldo, Fabregas and Franny Jeffers have given even the non-football lovers a reason to tune in to Match of the Day on a Saturday night as they show us how the beautiful game can be truly just that. There have also been another set of players though, throughout the years, men who may have footballing ability but also have the knack of causing most of us to scream in anger whenever they touch the ball. I’m talking about the sort of players who if your daughter brought them home, you’d wish she was a lesbian. Players we love to hate.
Now, not many of us actually know Premier League players on a personal level, but we can pretty much garner all we need to know about someone from their attitude on the pitch. Some players such as Paul Scholes for example, will never be truly hated, which is somewhat surprising considering he’s fouled every single Premier League player at least twice, because they just get on with the game in a quiet manner. However for every Paul Scholes, there’s a Robbie Savage, the sort of player that even some of his own fans struggle to find a fondness for. Here’s my own personal Premier League XI made up of players you’d rather glass, than have a pint with.
Click on William Gallas below to see the Most Hated Premier League XI of all time
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List compiled by Justin Mottershead
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A brief look at Crawley’s journey towards this encounter told us pretty much all we needed to know with regards to expectations for today’s game.. a tight-knit unit prepared to stick at it for 90 minutes and a side not prepared to leave Old Trafford as mere tourists, content to just be passive particpants.
On the 7 December 2010, Crawley pulled off a giant killing feat by beating Football League One side Swindon Town 3-2 in the FA Cup 2nd round replay match at Swindon’s County Ground, taking them into the third round of the competition for the second time in their history.This was followed by an exciting home tie against Championship side Derby County which was played on the 10th January 2011. Goals from Craig McAllister in the first half and Sergio Torres in injury time guided Crawley to a 2-1 win, to set up a 4th round tie with Torquay United. On 29 Jan 2011 Crawley beat Torquay 1-0 to reach the last sixteen of the FA Cup for the first time in their history. Their only goal of the match happened to be scored by Matt Tubbs after 39 minutes, and thankfully despite going on to miss two second half penalties and having a player sent off they held on for a memorable win. This also happened to be the first time that a non-league side had reached the fifth round since Kidderminster Harriers F.C. in the 1993–94 competition.
So a fantastic run and they were pretty close to extending it tonight. Anyway on we go to the 5 Things I Noticed during tonights game…
1. Blundering Bebe
4 – Bebé completed just four passes in the opening 45 minutes of this match, attempting just eight overall (excluding crosses).
Must admit, one simply couldn’t fathom why on earth we brought this non-league player from Portugal for the money we’ve supposedly paid in order to acquire his services. Not to mention the fact that apparently Sir Alex hadn’t even attempted to watch the player in action, a practice nearly unheard of in all his lengthy managierial career at United. So despite being a guy who is always excited about us signing new unheard of talent and watching them grow with our club, the fact he was so unproven, and the fee we paid for him… made me unsure of whether this deal was going to be a success rather than another botched deal Manucho Stylee.
Anyway as to his first few games as a Red Devil, what became apparent was that whilst this lad is quite a physical package in terms of Pace and Power, the rest of his game was incredibly raw and in need of serious fine-tuning. So we waited for a while to see if there were any immediate signs of progression, and there were.. an immense goal in the reserves against Wigan, one which provided hope to supporters who had retained faith in the mantra Fergie ‘Cannae do nay Wrong’ and that this lad was a diamond of extreme promise, waiting to be refined. Since that goal, the detractors had largely been silenced, biding their time, waiting for the latest glimpse of Bebe for the First XI to assess whether or not.. they had been quick to judge and that once again Sir Alex had dumbfounded his critics, like he so often does and then today’s game happened …
Hard to know where to begin when assessing his performance, well I’ll attempt to begin with his delivery from wide positions, which arguably had progressed from his last performance for the seniors, where he wildly overhit his crosses on numerous occasions. Today whilst he wasn’t too occupied with locating a team mate, he at least seemed to understand the value of the penalty box and landing the ball within the confines of the white lines. A sign of genuine progress, though when you take a moment to reflect and realise we’re discussing the ability of professional footballers at a World Class club here, it hits you.. just how much we’re clutching at straws. Another attribute of Bebe’s which impresses me ever so slightly is his vision when running with the ball. I know it sounds laughable, but whilst his execution is not there and may never be there depending on how quickly he can progress, you get the sense when watching him he can spot the runs of players, but he just doesn’t have the tools to find them.
Now on to the negatives of which there are quite a few… firstly, I’ve read alot of rubbish with regards to fans citing the likes of Ronaldo/Nani as players who struggled to mature when first breaking through at United, can I just say categorically that Ronaldo’s debut was the most electrifying non-scoring Man.Utd. debut I’ve ever seen, we all knew we were in the presence of a serious talent and whilst it took a while for everyone to get to grip with Nani, what was clear to see for the ones in the know, was that Nani possessed arguably even more natural technique on the ball than his predecessor.. not to mention physically both were extremely fit (run all day, extremely supple, pacy). What the coaching staff had to do with these kids was rein in their talent, mould it into a way in which it remains entertaining but effective in terms of winning matches. Furthermore especially in the case of Nani, they had to instil basic football fundamentals of pass and move, knowing when to run at players and when to release to a team mate when put in an uncompromising position. With regards to Bebe.. its like there isn’t no outstanding natural talent to hone, his footwork on his admittedly limited showings thus far has been rather average, his agility is decent but nothing spectacular and his ball striking technique isn’t good enough to compensate for those shortcomings… another feature of his performance which caught the eye for the wrong reasons was his lack of effort off the ball resulting from his lack of endurance. You can forgive a player for poor fitness when that lad is evidently talented, but if you’re not really providing the fans with flair, the least you can do to compensate is run yourself into the ground and make up for your lack of penetration going forwards in other ways.
Continued on Page TWO
2. Ober & Ober Again
I’ve been a stauch supporter of Obertan, praying this lad converts that blessed combination of pace and trickery into something more substantial, adding elements to his game and becoming a complete wideplayer, one capable of breaking through into the first team. Before we go into tonights performance, can I just say from a tactical viewpoint… I don’t think this lad can play on the left, his best performances for me have come down the right where he looks more comfortable and dangerous when taking on players, taking advantage of his pace and running his fullback down the line, rather than having to cut in where he comes across rather predictable and is knocked off the ball. Today’s performance was a re-run of what I was subjected to when I watched him down at the Hawthorns, where he enjoyed a miserable first half on the left, making no impact and unable to take a player on let alone deliver a decent ball to his strikers.
If we are to get the best out of Obertan, its going to be in an attacking midfield role… utilsing his ability to get past players through pace, rather than isolating him on the wing, where he just doesn’t have the wits and strength about him, to constantly get past a man… in the centre he is alot less predictable and instead of being subjected to the sight of him attempting to cross a ball, we could have a look at whether his through balls are better and if its the position to best unlock this kids undoubted talent.
At the moment, he looks haunted. Out of his depth, running into blind alleys and losing possession at an alarming rate. He seems to have regressed during his time here and there are still zero signs of him having worked on his ball-striking technique, a fundamental flaw in his game. I’m fast losing faith…
3. Contrasting Fortunes Off The Bench
I was happy to see Wayne being introduced at half time, not so much when I found out it was for Anderson (one of our stronger performers in the first half). Nonetheless after that ‘Goal That Shalt Be Named At Every Given Opportunity’ last weekend, one was hoping that this would a second half cameo reminscent of his strolls against Portsmouth in the FA Cup, or his terrorising of Middlesborough all those years ago.. basically a demonstration of why he’s one of the worlds elite and how much these non-league footballers still have to do to merit being on the pitch with such illustrious opponents. Sadly this wasn’t to be and Rooney if anything added to the slight malaise which was evident in the first half.. instead of bring Hernandez into the game and servicing his team mate, such was Rooneys utter inability to bring the ball down neatly and his lack of execution when delivering killer passes, that Hernandez was driven to roaming on the wings in order to seek possession and make something out of nothing, the story of his game tonight.
Whilst Rooney faltered, one man who entered the fray and immediately went about his game like an effortless virtuoso was Chris Smalling. I’ve mentioned on previous blogs on how much I hope this kid does well (good vibe about him), and he didnt disappoint again today, adding to his growing catalogue of composed displays in heated atmospheres.. most recently the small matter of the Manchester Derby. He just didn’t seem fazed, put himself about, outmuscled the Crawley players on a number of occasions and even had the time to make powerful surges going forwards in an effort to provide some spark to the malfunctioning forward line.
*
4. What To Do With Gibson…
He had a good game today Darron and despite being chuffed for him.. again it struck me the level of opposition and Trappotoni’s comments with regards to Gibson leaving in search of regular top level football. He’s a great midfielder to have for games like these, where he is a genuine goal threat and also has enough quality about him to not look out of place defensively against Championship/League 1 games. The problem is.. is it fair to him for us to utilise him in such a manner when there is a distinct possibility his game could be elevated to a higher level by playing for lesser opposition than ourselves but getting more regular action. Not to mention that can we free up a space in midfield for youngsters who can perform just as well against sides of Crawley’s calibre but may also demonstrate the potential to be influential against top opposition.
Its a question I have a feeling that will be resolved if not this summer, than the year beyond that minimum.
5. Opposition One2Watch: Tubbs
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To be honest Tubbs wasn’t the player who impressed me most, it was in fact one of the Crawley midfielders but its getting rather late and I’m not sure if it was Sergio Torres or one of his more fleet-footed partners. Anyway as I can remember Tubbs quite vividly and we all can agree he was rather unlucky not to come away with a goal at the Theater of Dreams, he’ll be the subject of my One2Watch.
Having scored the goal which lead to this tie, expectations were high on Tubbs as the player out of any that Crawley possessed who was going to write the headlines and leading the Giant-Killing. As it was the pair of O’Shea and Brown were pretty resilient and kept him rather subdued… despite this he was a constant livewire, always looking to provide the midfield with an option and looking to exploit the spaces in the backline. His first touch was pretty accomplished and whilst he didn’t get off any regular efforts on goal, he nearly got the one that mattered… a bicycle kick near the end which was deflected behind by the Omnipresent Wes Brown.
Conclusion:
At times a rather worrying display on an individual note for some players, but overall a crucial win and the backline especially deserve some credit for keeping a clean sheet and I expect them to feature quite a bit in our upcoming fixtures from hell. Well done to Crawley, I wish them well in all their endeavours and a draw would’ve been a fair result.
Written By Raees Mahmood (Follow me @ www.twitter.com/redrae7 or check out www.thebusbyway.com)
The Italian Football FanCast is the podcast for fans of Serie A, Calcio and the World Cup.
In this edition of the Italian Football FanCast, we look ahead to the World Cup and in particular, the chances of Italy retaining their title as World Champions.
To help us decide whether Italy will make it out of Group F, we have a series of guests on the show.
We have Rupert Fryer of SouthAmericanFootball.co.uk and Goal.com to give us the lowdown in Italy’s first opponents Paraguay.
Lukas Gajdos of the Slovakian correspondent in the Guardian Fans Network, also with his own blog 7560min.blogspot.com.
Finally, we have a special guest, it is none other than Susy Campanale of football-italia.net and Calcio Italia magazine, on the line to discuss all things Nazionale.
Not forgetting our very own ‘Man in Milan’, it is of course Kris Voakes.
Join the Facebook group – Italian ‘Serie A’ Football FanCast.
Follow us on Twitter – SerieAFFC
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It’s here. It’s finally here. After months of stressing over England buggering up and losing on penalties, Team GB buggering up and, well, losing on penalties. The football season has returned and my, have Wednesday wet the appetite…
On Monday night The Owls took on Oldham Athletic in what was the first test for the new squad that Dave Jones has assembled for our most recent stint in the Championship and, had we gone on the first half display, we’d be shaking in our boots. However, a tremendous second half performance not only forced a comeback and won us the game, but it gave me those goose bumps. Those goose bumps that only football can give.
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, there’s been an unusual air of optimism surrounding Wednesday this preseason. We’ve signed well, got a good coach at the helm and for the first time in ages we’ve got a bit of stability. Despite all this, half an hour into the Oldham game we found ourselves 2-0 down with our backs to the wall and, by half time we’d managed to miss a penalty as well.
I’m not ashamed to admit that my first thoughts were, “Well, what did I expect, it is Wednesday”. I tweeted something along the lines of, “Good start Wednesday. 2-0 down”, but then, from deep inside me, I had a pulse of assurance. Whether it was the fact that it was a cup game, the fact that my girlfriend said it would be alright, or purely because, for some reason, I actually have confidence in this team, I don’t know, but I added ‘#KeepTheFaith’ to my tweet. Anyway, when the second half started up, despite the score, I didn’t think we were out of it.
Football is a wonderful game isn’t it? Over the years we’ve seen comebacks like Liverpool v Milan and Newcastle v Arsenal, but nothing really beats seeing your own team do it. To non-Wednesdayites we were dead and buried at half-time. United fans tweeted their happiness, “Let’s all laugh at Wednesday”, obviously just bitter about their defeat at the hands of heavyweights, Burton Albion.
However, the boys came out fighting in the second half. DJ said after the game that he’d had ‘one or two words’ with his troops and I’d put money on the fact that some of them weren’t suitable for sensitive ears.
Anyway, second half goals from Jermaine Johnson, Chris O’Grady (2) and Michail Antonio secured a 4-2 win over the Latics and, in turn, cued a Twitter attack on those Blades who, like last season, had begun tallying their roosters before they’d come into the world.
Yes, we could focus on the fact that we were 2-0 down against lower league opposition, but do you know what? I’d rather take heart from the fact that we came back from a shite first half to really show a pair of bollocks and score four goals to win the game.
I, like many Wednesdayites, will choose to see the second half display as a true indicator of what to expect this season and continue to be excited at what we could offer to England’s second tier.
Jones said, “I’m spitting feathers. That was the worst first half I’ve seen. I remember the first 45 rather than the second.” And so he should, his job is to stop us doing that again, to get the player’s heads right. Our job however, is to support our boys, to take the positives and keep battling against the moronic Unitedites who continue to regurgitate the same spiel quicker than a nauseas drunkard.
It’s nice to go into my office and be proud of what my team are doing, proud of their resilience and proud to see a group of players that really know what it means to pull on that blue and white shirt.
On one final side note, I’m dead chuffed to see Antonio signing, he proved his quality against Oldham and I think he could be the final piece in DJ’s puzzle. There’s also talk of Jose Baxter and Jay Bothroyd coming to Hillsborough. I’d be happy with both of those if they happen, as long as Bothroyd doesn’t bring his Ugg boots…
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Manchester United striker Michael Owen has spoken of his desire to play more regularly for the Premier League champions, and is hoping to force his way into the starting XI at Old Trafford.
The attacker was given a rare start for Sir Alex Ferguson’s men against Leeds in the Carling Cup on Tuesday, and he repaid the Scottish coach’s faith by grabbing two goals in a 3-0 win.
Despite this, with Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez the preferred strike partnership, and Dimitar Berbatov and Danny Welbeck in contention also, Owen may find chances hard to come by, but is willing to fight for a place.
“I’m not content if I’m not playing. I get criticised a lot with things like ‘you don’t play, you pick your money up’ and all the rest of it but I’m not proud of that fact. I want to play all the time.,” he told reporters.
Owen featured heavily in his first season at United, but knows that this term it will be difficult to command a regular position due to the quality at Ferguson’s disposal.
“If the season was going to be like the first season I was here then I’d be delighted. That was fantastic and I felt involved. I was always either on the bench or playing.
“Obviously I want to be involved again but I appreciate that there’s some top players in the team and in the squad and it’s a challenge to get on the bench let alone into the first team,” he concluded.
Ferguson was full of praise for his attacker after the Leeds game, and is happy with the veteran forward’s contribution.
“Michael Owen’s finishing was fantastic. His goal ratio is unbelievable. We are very pleased with him,” he told The Daily Mail.
“Unfortunately for us he has had one or two injuries. But with me having Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Javier Hernandez he is not getting the games he deserves and that is unfortunate.”
With Hernandez due to be sidelined for a number of weeks after being injured by Ashley Cole against Chelsea, Owen will look to take advantage and increase his playing time in the Mexican’s absence.
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Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti admits his team have very little chance of winning the Premier League title as they prepare to face Fulham on Monday.
The defending champions are rocking after losing to Liverpool last week in Fernando Torres’ first match for the club and now Ancelotti is having to reset his targets with Chelsea 10 points behind leaders Manchester United.
“It’s difficult to think we can come back to fight for the title, it’s better to think game by game,” he said.
“We have to reach minimum fourth place. To close the gap is very difficult; we have to be honest about this. But the most important step is to be fourth in the table and fight with the other teams.”
Ancelotti admitted he was shocked at the way his side, seemingly back in form, lost to Liverpool last week.
“I think it was a surprise the defeat against Liverpool because I saw in the days before the game that the team trained well with motivation and power,” he said.
“But now we have to look forward to Fulham and maintain high our confidence; you have to have confidence when you play above all the Champions League.”
“Our aims now are very clear, we have Champions League, we have FA Cup and we have to close the gap. It’s difficult to close the gap but we have to reach fourth to keep Chelsea in the Champions League.”
New boy David Luiz, signed from Benfica for 21 million pounds, will make his full debut for the Blues in Monday’s game at Fulham.
The Brazilian defender has been told he will face Mark Hughes’ side as Chelsea bid to recover from their loss to the Reds last week.
“He will start. David Luiz is a very good defender because he has ability and skills to play all the positions in the back four. He can play centre-back, right-back, he hasn’t played left-back but he has the ability to play there,” Ancelotti said.
“He’s Brazilian so he has very good technique. He can help us to build our play better from the back. I think he will be one of the best defenders in the world in the future.”
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“He’s young but he already has fantastic experience because he played in Benfica, he played in the Champions. Sadly he cannot play in the Champions League for us but he can show his quality in the Premier League and FA Cup.”
Chelsea expect to go into the match at Craven Cottage with no new injury problems after the international break.
“The players came back yesterday, they don’t have a problem. Everything is ok. Just (Jose) Bosingwa has a little problem and we hope to recover him in time. Some players played 90 minutes but we have time to prepare them.”
It’s Saturday evening; you’ve secured the prime sofa position for optimum television viewing and struggled through an entire episode of Casualty. Now all that’s left is to ‘look away now’ at the end of the news and you can saviour the delights of another set of Premier League fixtures.
Now, Saturdays can be somewhat demanding, with a long list of activities on offer and the exciting prospect of consuming alcohol without the fear of having to get up in the morning. This will inevitably mean you’re not as attentive as you should be and it’s at this moment when certain players convince you of their bogus talent in their 5-minute airing on the BBC. You might witness a fantastic mazy run or a blinding solo effort but just like when meeting your idols, watching them in the flesh is always a disappointment.
Click on David Luiz below to reveal my top 15 players who only look good on MOTD
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Join on me Twitter @theunusedsub where I think the greatest incentive for a club to achieve promotion is so they no longer have to endure Steve Claridge analysing their games on The Fooball League Show.
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