Players come and go from football clubs all over the world (the turnover of players at Newcastle is greater than most clubs in the Premier League!) and we fondly remember those players who have given us such great memories wearing our teams’ colours. In contrast there are also those players who didn’t live up to the expectations and hype when they signed for our clubs and it is those players that we would rather forget.
I am going to single out a selection of Newcastle United players who in some cases quite frankly may as well have not bothered turning up at all, were a huge waste of money and whose performances didn’t warrant them wearing the Newcastle shirt.
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Argentina have been drawn in Group F alongside England, Mexico, Korea DPR for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia later this year.The tournament will run from July 29 to August 20, with Argentina, who have won the trophy five of the last eight times, expected to be in the tournament right until the business end.
Argentina’s chances of victory are boosted by the fact that defending champion Ghana, who beat Brazil 4-3 in penalties in the 2009 tournament in Canada, failed to qualify.
Walter Perazzo’s side may face a serious threat in England, early in the tournament, while Korea DPR will be no easy beats themselves, having beaten Australia 3-2 in the AFC Under-19 Championship in China last year.
Brazil, considered another favourite, will open the competition against Egypt in Barranquilla, with the two other sides in Group E being Austria and Panama.
Only one of the 24 countries in the tournament is unconfirmed, with either New Zealand or the Solomon Islands to make up the numbers when they clash in the OFC U-20 Championship Final at North Harbour Stadium on Friday. The winner will be in Group B.
Napoli manager Walter Mazzarri has denied reports that he has been in contact with any other Serie A clubs.Mazzarri announced before his side’s 2-1 loss at 10-man Lecce that he could walk away at the end of the season which led to speculation that he had already been speaking to Juventus about taking over in Turin.
But after Napoli slumped to a third defeat in four, Mazzarri cleared the air on the rumours and said he would reevaluate his situation at the end of the season.
“As with every year, we need to sit round a table and understand if there are the conditions to begin a new campaign together. It’s what I have always done in my career,” Mazzarri said.
“We didn’t know that we were going to reach the Champions League, so now I don’t know what is going to be expected of us. If we finish third or fourth it will change the scenario.”
“I swear that I have not been in contact with any other club. I have to talk to Napoli first and that will be at the end of the season. If this rapport comes to an end, then we’ll see.”
Napoli still need one point from their final two matches to secure third position, which would see them enter the Champions League at the group stage next season, leaving Mazzarri to bemoan the defeat.
“We were naive and certain incidents proved decisive. Lecce managed to win with a great shot at the end. It was a tense encounter, but this is football,” he said.
Napoli’s cause was made harder when top-scorer Edinson Cavani was given a second yellow card after 74 minutes, and Mazzarri admitted the 24-year-old was a ‘little tired’ and driven by the chance to win the league’s Golden Boot.
That now seems unlikely after Udinese’s Antonio Di Natale scored a double on Sunday to take his tally to 28 league goals for the season, two ahead of Cavani.
Napoli midfielder Christian Maggio also was disappointed with the defeat, but hopes his side can wrap up third when they face Inter on Sunday.
“Yes, that was definitely not the Napoli team we’ve seen in recent games, we certainly wanted to win in order to secure the third position but today it didn’t happen; now we only need to look ahead and think about next Sunday,” Maggio said.
“We thought we would cause them more problems and we knew Lecce needed a victory to remain in Serie A next year so it was a very important game for them too. In some parts of the game we were playing well and we had some good opportunities, but today we didn’t have much luck.”
Stoke City and Manchester City go head to head in this weekend’s Wembley showdown for the chance to get their hands on their first bit of silverware in a very long time. Roberto Mancini’s men will certainly go into the game as favourites; however on the back of 3-1 dismantling of Arsenal Tony Pulis has every reason to feel confident on the day.
In the papers this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that include the A promising more FA Cup chaos next season; Adebayor eyes up a move to Tottenham, while the police warn Manchester United ahead of Ewood Park clash.
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Dalglish hopes to ‘build something special’ at Liverpool – Guardian
FA promises more Cup final chaos in 2012 – Mirror
FA admit Capello’s successor next summer might not be English – Daily Mail
Mancini – Let’s make history – Sky Sports
Green may call time on England career – Guardian
Police warn Manchester United fans – Daily Telegraph
Manu move would be just Spur-fect – Sun
Young – I want to win titles – Sky Sports
Parker: I’ll leave if West Ham are relegated – Daily Telegraph
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Agent Silva’s Cesc mission – Sun
Newcastle check out Toulouse ace M’Bengue amid doubts over Enrique – Daily Mail
Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas played out a goalless draw in the MLS on Sunday – an affair which was delayed for more than 90 minutes due to lightning.Unfortunately for the few who waited for play to resume at Pizza Hut Park after inclement weather forced the players off the pitch on 83 minutes, the game did not pick up after the delay, as the final seven minutes plus injury time petered out to a tame finish.
It was far from a classic with both sides minus quality squad members, as Dallas’ David Ferreira and Real Salt Lake’s Javier Morales were clearly missed in a match devoid of any real creativity.
The best chance of the game fell to Dallas’ George John who could only produce a smart save from Real Salt Lake shot-stopper Nick Rimando.
The day’s other match was also a mundane affair, as the Colorado Rapids and Toronto FC played out a goalless stalemate.
Top-level football is a logistical nightmare. Players are bought in from across the planet from the moment they hit their teenage years, leading to homegrown designations for stars from Mogadishu to Monterrey. And whilst scouting networks become ever more fragmented and diversified, perhaps there is a fantastic resource that the top clubs are missing out on – the lower leagues. So who’s next? Who could step up from the Football League?
In goal, the likes of Alex Smithies and Frankie Fielding are both young, gifted and capped by England Under 21’s and with the current death of top level English talent between the sticks, it wouldn’t be beyond the realm of possibility for Capello to at least look at them train with the stars and see their development first hand. Fielding had eight different loan spells before getting sick of being fourth choice and dropping to the Championship at Derby. That decision might be a regrettable one for Rovers as Fielding is already proving he can keep clean sheets.
In front of the keeper, Premier League clubs could do a lot worse than to examine defenders like Crystal Palace full-back Nat Clyne. A speedster who offers an accurate crossing threat as well as solid defence, the 20 year old has already logged 94 appearances for his club and this year, featured in every game. Playing this season in the third tier, Brighton’s Tommy Elphick is only 23, yet has appeared for the Seagulls over 150 times. His step up to the Championship should be monitored by Premier League teams who need a ball playing and commanding centre back.
Moving further up the field, there are some real gems. The highly sought-after Alex Chamberlain is the standout prospect, but Swansea’s diminutive Joe Allen is worthy of contention. The West Wales born midfielder surprised many when making his debut at the Liberty, but quickly showed creativity and a first touch that simply removes any pressure from opposing players. While Allen probably wouldn’t be a box to box midfield general, he has shown he can fit into several different systems and would contribute in the Premiership.
Shrewsbury’s Jon Taylor is only 18 and is rumoured to be being watched by half the top flight. A previous winner of the Football Leagues’ Young Player of the Month award, Taylor dropped down from Wigan and made an immediate impact, scoring twice in his first start. The winger totalled six goals in 22 appearances and it remains to be seen whether he stays at Greenhous Meadow much longer.
Upfront, there’s an embarrassment of riches in the 72, with obvious names like Craig Mackail-Smith, Shane Long and Connor Wickham, but there’s also a few future stars that might get to the Premier promised land soon.
Charlie Austin is ascending the divisions, having just joined Burnley from Swindon. Aged 21, he netted 31 times in just over 54 appearances for the Robins. Austin was previously a bricklayer and it will be interesting to see how he develops a partnership with Jay Rodriguez, an intelligent young striker in his own right.
Norwich’s Cody MacDonald will probably be loaned next season, having spent the previous campaign at Gillingham. He hit 25 in Kent and showed that a six-month cameo at another team might be what he needs before the pacy frontman tries to get on the bench for the Canaries.
Danny Ings of Bournemouth is another excellent prospect. At 19, he’s shown himself to be capable of scoring clutch goals, bagging his eighth of the season in the epic playoff game against Huddersfield. A creative deep forward, his ability is unquestioned and has the potential to be developed by a bigger side.
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Most of the Premier League chooses to import it’s playing staff, paying a premium for past ability, yet few have the foresight to invest in their own stars. The above is a small selection of the quality in the Football League. It should not be a retirement home for older pros, but a proving ground for hungry players who can use the division to audition for a big move to the top flight.
Read more of Hashim Piperdy’s articles at This is Futbol
Argentina winger Pablo Piatti has signed for Valencia from Almeria on a five-year deal, subject to a medical.Piatti, 22, joined the club on an undisclosed fee and was reportedly interesting the likes of Portuguese giants Benfica and Serie A outfit Udinese.
But Unai Emery secured the signature of the talented youngster, who spent three years at Almeria and made over 100 appearances.
Almeria’s relegation this season helped pave the way for the transfer, with Piatti keen to test himself at the highest level in Spain again.
Before his spell with Almeria, he was at Argentine club Estudiantes for three seasons.
Estudiantes are reportedly set to receive 25 percent of the transfer fee paid by Valencia due to a sell-on clause.
A statement released on Almeria’s official website thanked Piatti for his efforts and wished the player luck for the remainder of his career.
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The statement also revealed that a friendly against Valencia in August was part of the move.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson expects Dimitar Berbatov to recover from being dropped for the Champions League final.Berbatov, 30, was joint top-scorer in the English Premier League last season, but did not even warrant a place on the United bench for their 3-1 loss to Barcelona at Wembley on May 29.
Ferguson acknowledges Berbatov had cause to seek a transfer in the close season, but was adamant he expects all of his players to cope with the consequences of squad rotation.
“Yes, I’d understand that, but you could say that about them all,” Ferguson said.
“I don’t pick the same team every week, do I? I’ve only done that once in the last three years.”
“So they all understand it’s the squad that wins the games, wins the cups and I’ve got a good squad.”
“If you go back 20 years ago, they could never understand that. Whereas today they accept it and there’s no problem.”
Ferguson credited the emergence of Mexico international Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez with forcing Berbatov out of the first team.
“Chicharito hit such good form that you had to put him in every game,” Ferguson said.
“It was unfortunate for Berbatov. It didn’t make him a bad player, he was just an unlucky player in that this lad came in.”
Ferguson also said academy products Tom Cleverley and Danny Welback, who spent last season on loan with Wigan and Sunderland respectively, would remain at Old Trafford.
“They won’t go on loan again,” Ferguson said.
“Going on loan only serves one purpose: keeping them happy by playing all the time.”
“At their ages, it wouldn’t do us any good because other clubs would be benefiting from what we could be benefiting from. Because of the experience they have had, keeping them now benefits us.”
Tottenham Hotspur face a race against the transfer clock in their bid to sign Ivory Coast forward Souleymane Coulibaly, according to The Mirror.
The 16-year-old currently plays for Siena, however has expressed his desire to move to the white side of North London. Spurs have been relatively quiet in the transfer window up until now, with most of the attention on the club surrounding the possible departure of Luka Modric to Chelsea. Speculation over the futures of Roman Pavlyuchenko, Jermanine Defoe, and Robbie Keane is bound to intensify as Spurs look to sign the teenage superstar by the end of the transfer window.
Coulibaly has impressed particularly at international level and has been labelled the ‘new Drogba’ by many of his admirers. The teenager scored 9 goals in 4 games at the U-17 World Cup this year making him the highest goal scorer of the tournament. However, despite an apparent desire amongst all parties involved for a transfer of around £2m to take place, a deal is by no means imminent at the moment.
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Because Coulibilay is not old enough to be granted a work permit in England he can only arrive in the country with his family. The teenager is having to wait for his father to be granted an Italian passport before moving to London, and this process can take a number of weeks. Spurs will be desperately hoping that this can be arranged before the transfer window closes on the 31st August.
Champions Lille begin their title defence at Nancy when the new Ligue 1 season kicks-off on Saturday.Surprise winners of the league and cup double last term, Rudi Garcia’s men have seen star players Gervinho and Yohan Cabaye depart to Arsenal and Newcastle United respectively.
But their replacements in Dimitri Payet (St Etienne), Laurent Bonnart (Monaco), Benoit Pedretti (Auxerre) and David Rozehnal (Hamburg) look set to ensure Garcia’s side will contend again this season.
Garcia said last season’s playing group had gone out of their way to welcome their new recruits, as they embark on their title defence.
“The new recruits are feeling good, there is good humour and the culture of hard work is as important as ever,” Garcia said.
“I even feel that the new players were a bit surprised by the way the group interacts. They already have many friends.”
“We feel we can find the continuity of last season, the euphoria at least. I think a determined mindset is an important element, it was one of the keys to our success last year.”
Lille have also held on to star attacker Eden Hazard, scorer of the winner against Nancy when the sides last met in May.
Elsewhere, Marseille and Sochaux – two sides involved in European action this term – will face off at Stade Velodrome.
Ligue 2 champions Evian will travel to Brest in their first game in the French top flight, but have got form over top division teams, as they beat Champions League side Marseille 3-1 in the Coupe de France last season.
Ajaccio – runners up in the second division last season – host Toulouse in their opening game at Stade Francois Coty.
Caen survived the drop by two points last campaign, and will begin what is tipped to be another battle for Ligue 1 survival when they host Valenciennes at Stade Michel d’Ornano.
Montpellier and Auxerre will meet at Stade de la Mosson, Nice host Champions League outfit Lyon, while Paris Saint-Germain – playing in the Europa League this campaign – welcome Lorient.
On Sunday, promoted club Dijon – who earned their top-flight status by finishing third on goal difference – will host Stade Rennes at Stade Gaston Gerard.
And Bordeaux take on Saint-Etienne at Stade Jacques Chaban-Delmas to complete the first round of fixtures.