Newcastle fans have been left baffled by Graeme Souness’ thoughts on his managerial stint on Tyneside.
The Magpies got off to a disappointing start to the season on Sunday, falling to a 1-0 defeat to a relatively weak Arsenal XI.
The Gunners capitalised on a mistake from Jetro Willems to find the game’s only goal, but something Souness said while on punditry duty for Sky Sports has caught just as much attention as the result itself, now that the dust has settled.
“There is a frustration at Newcastle because they feel they should be so much better. Fifty thousand people every week, they are a big football club. I had eight jobs and that was the most difficult one I ever had,” he told Sky Sports.
“Matt Ritchie touched on it with an interview this week, saying everyone has to row in the same direction. The job is hard enough when everyone is pulling in the same direction.
“I got the job, the local press man was an absolute fool, I can’t remember his name. He was proud to say he got the last four managers sacked. That’s a local newspaper, they should be promoting the football club not damaging it at every opportunity.”
And while some fans may agree with his verdicts on the media pressure, most are just annoyed that the 66 year-old seems determined to blame anyone but himself for his failures at the club.
Indeed, the Liverpool legend tore apart Sir Bobby Robson’s side, who had been in a European semi-final not long before the Scot’s arrival, and was replaced roughly 18 months later having never really found his feet at the club.
Needless to say, fans aren’t too fond of his comments on Sunday, as you can see from the Twitter reactions down below…
This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
Celtic’s Champions League exit on Tuesday was embarrassing and avoidable, but there can be positives taken from such a crushing defeat.
Every cloud
After a 5-4 aggregate defeat at the hands of Romanian champions Cluj on Tuesday, Neil Lennon’s men are out of the Champions League and still have to secure a place in the Europa League.
It was a woeful night at Parkhead that needn’t have been as difficult as the Celts made it look. 3-2 up at one point, the game should’ve been seen out, yet Cluj turned it around and won 4-3 in Glasgow.
The finger-pointing has taken place and nobody is safe. The board, namely Peter Lawwell, Neil Lennon and the players have taken a great deal of criticism since the final whistle blew.
None of this is without merit, Celtic should’ve beaten Cluj. Yet from the anger, bitterness and disappointment, the club can come out of this far better than it looks right now.
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Silver lining
The monetary benefits of Champions League football are obvious, yet having secured £25m for Kieran Tierney and a decent pay-out when Brendan Rodgers went to Leicester in February, the club can absorb the financial blow. So playing Europa League football might not be the worst idea for this season.
Qualification to the second-tier tournament would significantly lower the chances of massive defeats (like against PSG and Barcelona of late) that could dent morale in a season that’s shaping up to be tough.
While no one really fancies trekking across Europe on a Thursday, it has to be better than taking a thumping off of the glamourous first seed side in a Champions League group.
Keith from C’mon the Hoops throws back to player who was both a Hoop by name and by nature in the video below…
Failing that, defeat in the Europa League play-off would give Lennon free midweeks to work with his side. It’s easy to forget he’s still in the infancy of the job and any time at Lennoxtown will be appreciated as he looks to shape his new-look squad.
While a travesty, Celtic might look back at Tuesday’s defeat in May as something of a blessing if it helps them secure a ninth consecutive league title and fourth consecutive treble.
Danny Mills has named just two Arsenal players in his combined north London Derby XI.
What’s the story?
The former England international was asked to name his starting XI made up of Arsenal and Tottenham players, and found just two spots for the Gunners. Nicolas Pepe and Dani Ceballos were the ones who made the cut.
Hugo Lloris, Danny Rose, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Kyle Walker-Peters, Harry Winks, Christian Eriksen, Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son made up the rest of the side, which was revealed on Sky Sports (via The Sun)
Check out fan reaction to Liverpool 3-1 Arsenal in the video below…
A sign of the times
With these kind of selections, it is often just a matter of personal preference, and there are bound to be disagreements. In this case, it could be argued that a couple more of Unai Emery’s side deserve to be included, with names such as Pierre-Emerick Aubamayeng coming to mind.
However, for the most part, Mills’ side is fair. And it is a sign of who the leading side in north London is. Quite frankly, Tottenham have the better squad, and have done for a while. There is a reason why they have qualified for the Champions League for the past four seasons, whilst Arsenal have done so just once during that time.
Last season, Spurs reached the Champions League final, something the Gunners have only managed to do once, and they now have a new stadium to rival the best in England. Whilst Arsenal supporters may once have lauded their success and stature over their rivals, they can no longer do so. As it stands, they should be striving to be in Tottenham’s position.
As reported by The Evening Standard, Crystal Palace centre-back Mamadou Sakho is closing in on a return to first-team action after returning to training with his teammates.
The France international required surgery on a knee issue sustained towards the end of last term, and despite appearing against AFC Wimbledon in pre-season, a setback hindered his return.
Meanwhile, his partner at the back from last season in James Tomkins continues to train alone whilst working on his own comeback, but that shouldn’t be too far away which will be music to the ears of the south Londoners.
Bad news for Scott Dann
If Scott Dann was already fearful over his first-team place following the summer arrival of Gary Cahill, then he will not welcome the news that Sakho and Tomkins are nearing a return to first-team action.
The former Blackburn man started the season opener against Everton alongside Martin Kelly, with the same pairing taking to the pitch against Sheffield United the following week, but Dann was dropped for the win at Old Trafford with Cahill taking his place.
If he is already struggling to get into the eleven with just one figure ahead of him in the pecking order, one would assume that his chances of game time will only be harmed more when Sakho and Tomkins come back into contention.
Is that fair?
The 32-year-old can have no complaints
Sakho and Tomkins are two of the Eagles’ most important players and helped keep an impressive 12 clean sheets in the Premier League last term – the sixth-best defensive record in the Premier League.
If the pair of them are fit and ready for selection, along with Cahill who impressed against United on his debut, then Dann can’t really argue his case for a place in the eleven given the quality of those ahead of him.
He will simply have to bide his time, but with the south Londoners already out of the Carabao Cup, his chances of game time look even more doubtful – this fitness update won’t be what the Englishman will want to hear.
Despite the Premier League campaign only being a month old, we’ve already had our first international break, must to the dismay of some.
Managers in the top-flight would have understandably been biting their nails while their players were away with their respective countries.
Having already seen Leroy Sane and Aymeric Laporte fall victim to serious-looking injuries, Pep Guardiola may have been more worried than most about the implications the international schedule could have had.
However, the Spaniard will head into training with a spring in his step after seeing his City players enjoy an incredibly productive two weeks, without any further injury damage.
Members of the squad scored eight goals and provided a further twelve assists, whilst Guardiola will be delighted with the fact there are no major injuries to report.
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After seeing their players perform remarkably, City fans took to Twitter to voice their satisfaction about the situation.
Many supporters of the Manchester side expressed a sense of relief that things went so smoothly, with one fan in particular hailing it as “just the news we needed”.
Some fans took the opportunity to hail Guardiola for weaving his magic once more, and helping his players perform to their best whilst on international duty too.
Check out some of the reaction of City fans below:
This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
AS Roma sporting director Gianluca Petrachi has said during Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s first press conference (via Calcio Mercato) that the Armenia international has “given up on lots of money” to join the Serie A outfit.
What did he say?
Mkhitaryan joined the Giallorossi on loan on the final day of the European transfer window from Arsenal with an option to buy at the end of the current campaign.
The player was presented to the press in his first press conference as a Roma player on Tuesday, with sporting director Petrachi also present.
Talking about the switch, the latter said: “The idea was to invest in important young people. In situations where we found ourselves at the end of the market, or we made investments in young people or operations like those for Micky.
“He is a top player with very high costs, the boy has given up on lots of money to come to Rome. Time will tell if we have the chance to keep players like that.”
How do football vloggers afford to watch their team week in, week out? Find out in the video below…
Refreshing in today’s footballing environment
The money involved in football at times is often obscene, particularly in the Premier League. Last year, the average player in England’s top tier earned £3.2m. Even in the Championship, players brought in an average of £25,000 a week, which is more than 46 times the salary of a worker in the United Kingdom over the same time period.
Players are often criticised for the money they chase. Former Chelsea midfielder Oscar, for example, was slammed for his move to the Chinese Super League, where he is said to be earning wages in the region of £400,000 every seven days.
Mkhitaryan does not earn that kind of money, but he is unlikely to have felt too hard done by as he picked up his £180,000 weekly salary with the Gunners. While it is not understood what kind of sums are involved at Roma, it is refreshing to hear that he has been willing to take a pay cut of some sort in his quest to find first-team football.
Contrary to popular opinion, perhaps not all footballers are just driven by the amount of cash in their bank accounts.
One can only hope that more players follow the 30-year-old’s lead by putting their careers first.
AC Milan are eyeing up Dinamo Zagreb star Dani Olmo with a report from Spanish outlet Fichajes claiming the Italian giants could seal the deal in the January window.
The youngster played a huge part in winning the U21 European Championship with Spain in the summer, scoring three goals and bagging one assist along the way.
Olmo has been linked with Rossoneri ever since and has continued that magnificent form into this season, slotting away three goals and three assists in Zagreb’s Champions League qualification campaign and then registering a goal and an assist in the club’s opening game in the Croatian top-flight (statistics as per Transfermarkt).
Indeed, this reportcomes almost a year after Olmo’s agent Marko Naletilic announced Milan were interested in signing the Spaniard, with Liverpool and Dortmund also keen on the striker back in December.
However, Fichajes explain that once again it is not just Milan who are seeking his signature, with many European giants from around the continent also keeping tabs on the 21-year-old, such as Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid.
Ultimately, based on the above, it does seem that whoever acquires the services of Olmo will no doubt add a young, promising striker to their squad, who could cost around €40m (roughly £35m).
Would Olmo be a hit in Italy? Join the discussion by commenting below!
Liverpool may have continued their 100% Premier League start with victory over Chelsea and taken their winning streak to 15 consecutive league games, but the performance on Sunday has left some fans concerned.
In particular, the second half display was regarded as not good enough by some supporters, and given they almost surrounded a 2-0 advantage it is clear to see why that sentiment exists.
In fact, if Tammy Abraham had connected better with a backheel inside the box then Chelsea would have got the two goals needed to level things up, and a somewhat lacklustre display in which the Reds had only 45% possession is in need of improvement according to some.
Although slightly worried, some fans are just happy to pick up the three points and continue their perfect start, which leaves them with an early five-point lead over Manchester City in the title race.
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As Roy Keane suggested, those are the type of matches title-winning teams need to win, and therefore the reactions below may seem a little more negative than necessary.
In today’s Liverpool roundup, we take a look at the what news has been making the headlines for the Reds. Jurgen Klopp claimed the managerial prize at the FIFA Football Best Awards, the Liverpool boss also believes that Steven Gerrard should replace him one day, and Noel Whelan insists the Reds should sign the ‘new Coutinho’ James Maddison.
Klopp’s wins FIFA Best award
Report: The Liverpool boss has beaten Pep Guardiola to the top manager’s prize at the FIFA Football Best Awards in Milan on Monday. Klopp earned the prestigious trophy after helping Liverpool win their sixth European Cup and finish second in the Premier League on 97 points – the third highest in the competition’s history.
Verdict: Although the ex-Dortmund man is entirely deserving of his award, not all agree. Klopp’s victory has caused a little debate amongst the community, with pundits like Danny Mills not in favour of Klopp winning the prize over Guardiola, saying: “It’s difficult to argue, because Liverpool went so close in the Premier League title and won the Champions League. Klopp was outstanding. But he’s also media friendly, isn’t he. If that would have been Mourinho coming second and winning the Champions League, would he have got the vote? No chance!”
However, considering Klopp won the Champions League and finished just one point behind Guardiola in the league, the German is completely deserving of the award. The Reds last year boasted the best defence in England’s top flight, conceding 22 goals and losing just one game all season – it’s hard to look past those astonishing numbers and a European title.
‘He can be the new Coutinho’, says Whelan
Report: Speaking to Football Insider, Noel Whelan said: “James Maddison is absolutely a Liverpool type of player, I can see him joining [Liverpool]. He can be the new Coutinho.
“He’s similar to him in many ways – great feet, can run with the ball, can see a pass that no-one else can and scores wonder goals.
“He’s still young but already he’s a real gem and his value is going to get higher and higher over the next few years.
“All the big teams will be watching him, but they will know he won’t come cheap. Can Liverpool sign him in January? Of course. They got [Virgil] Van Dijk in a January window and haven’t looked back.”
Verdict: Ever since selling Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona last year, the Reds have not directly replaced him as an attacking midfielder, although it can be argued they haven’t needed to considering the form of the front three.
The Brazilian’s importance for Liverpool was unrivaled at the time, scoring 25 goals in his final two seasons at the club. However, back then, it was not expected for Liverpool to only improve as he departed, but with the addition of Maddison, the European champions can reclaim some of those goalscoring numbers he took with him to the Nou Camp.
Maddison burst onto the scene for Norwich City at 19 years old, scoring 14 goals for the club in the Championship two seasons ago. Since then, he netted seven times last campaign for Leicester City and smashed in a thunderous winner against Tottenham Hotspur most recently, which was his first of the season in the top flight.
The Englishman has become one of the hot topics this year, with Manchester United also seeking his services. But, whoever gets the Foxes star will certainly get a top-class player.
‘If you ask who should follow me, I’d say Stevie’, says Klopp
Soccer Football – Europa League – Group Stage – Group G – Rangers v Villarreal – Ibrox, Glasgow, Britain – November 29, 2018 Rangers manager Steven Gerrard reacts during the match Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
Report: In an interview with FourFourTwo, Klopp admitted he’d like to see Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard at the helm next: “If Liverpool were to sack me tomorrow, then maybe Kenny would be the first choice to replace me, but they would probably bring Stevie down from Glasgow.
“If you ask who should follow me, I’d say Stevie. I help him whenever I can. If someone gets your job, it’s not about them, it’s about you not being good enough.
“I’m old enough to know that I give this job everything. I’m not a genius, I’m not perfect, but I give the club 100 per cent. If that’s enough, great. If it’s not, then it’s just the problem of the situation. I’m not jealous, I’m not sceptical. I’m completely open. If you want my help, you’ll get it”
Verdict: First and foremost, Liverpool needs to do everything in their power to ensure Klopp does not leave Anfield in the near future. By adding a Champions League to the trophy cabinet and finishing on a record high 97 points last year, the German has put himself down as arguably the Reds’ best manager in the Premier League era.
However, Gerrard has certainly established himself as a strong manager as well. The ex-Red helped Rangers finish second in his first season in management, and currently sits just three points behind the dominant Celtic this season. The Englishman also helped Rangers win their first Old Firm in six years last campaign, as he continues to impress as a young manager.
Gerrard could follow in the same steps as Frank Lampard, who after playing 13 years at Chelsea, took charge of the team at which he reached legendary status. Lampard may sit on just eight points after six games, but his focus on young English academy prospects has earned him great respect around the country.
This article is part of Football FanCast’s Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC’s microscope.
Aston Villa slumped to another Premier League game without a victory as Burnley twice hit back to earn a point at Villa Park.
The game had its controversial moments, not for the first time this season, as VAR toyed with the heartstrings of the home faithful.
It was Anwar El Ghazi who opened the scoring for Villa, meeting Frederic Guilbert’s cross just after half an hour before former West Brom man Jay Rodriguez levelled things up with a powerful header in the second half.
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John McGinn edged Villa in front after having a previous effort chalked off, but that lead lasted a matter of two minutes as Chris Wood equalised with another headed attempt.
Snapshot
With the game tied at 1-1 in the 70th minute and the home team lacking in attacking flair, recording just two shots on target, manager Dean Smith brought on summer signing Trezeguet to spark a change, and it paid off inside ten minutes.
The winger did well to create some space to put in a cross for McGinn to fire home as Villa took the lead on the 79th minute.
Off the Bench
During Trezeguet’s 20 minutes, he assisted a goal, put in three crosses and had a further six passes in the final third of the pitch, per WhoScored.
In addition to that, he was fouled three times, thus giving a chance to stick the ball into the box onto the head of either of their towering centre-backs, who are both above 6 foot 4.
It also suggests that the Egyptian was a significant threat in the final third and had Smith introduced him earlier, the game might have gone differently.
He recorded the same number of crosses that El Ghazi managed in double the time and two more than captain Jack Grealish on the other wing, via WhoScored.
If Trezeguet was on the pitch before the 70th-minute mark, he could have had a greater impact on the match as he would have been given more time to show his creative exploits.
It’s something that clearly had some sort of influence as he assisted the goal that regained his side the lead, albeit not for long.