Martin O’Neill is desperate to sign his skipper to a new long-term deal.
Lee Cattermole is out of contract in the summer and O’Neill wants a contract penned before the uncertainty of the January transfer window.
Speaking to the Sunderland Echo the Ulsterman said, “Cattermole has been excellent since I came to the football club and he may well have been before, I don’t know about that.
“He’s 24 and he’s the captain of the side. Sometimes he needs to keep his discipline better because over the course of the year I expect he’ll pick up a couple silly bookings. I don’t want to build him up too much though – particularly as he has a contract to sign here.”
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The former England under 21 international has become synonymous with ill-discipline since his arrival on Wearside; Cattermole has seen red four times in a Sunderland shirt. For all his faults, the ex Middlesbrough man has become a lynch-pin of O’Neill’s team. Operating in a more disciplined role under the 60 year old, he is a major factors as to why the Black Cats have become one of the most difficult teams to beat in the Premier League.
Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas has pleaded with Tottenham fans to give him time to improve the results after a poor start to the season that has seen to North London club collect just two points from three games.
A draw at home to West Brom, followed by the same result against Norwich was greeted with mass negativity from the Spurs faithful but Villas-Boas doesn’t want his new club to act the way of his previous side.
“You have to accept their disappointment. It has not been the ideal start to the season, but it doesn’t mean that we haven’t been working hard to get the wins that our fans want,” Villas-Boas told the Daily Mail.
“They have to understand that we are doing everything in our power to get that win.”
“Obviously this is not the start we wanted and the start we deserve.”
“We had two good games, Newcastle and West Brom that we didn’t win.”
“Everybody wants to build more confidence but getting those first three points.”
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“Today it was disappointing for us to suffer again in the dying moments of the game and we have to work on our sharpness and concentration to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has stated that he is prioritising the Premier League this season, and will field a scratch team against Young Boys in the Europa League on Thursday.
With a clash against rivals Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday, the Northern Irish manager has left first-team players Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez, Pepe Reina, Glen Johnson, Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger and Martin Kelly at home, with a group of youngsters travelling to Switzerland.
Rodgers has defended his team selection but feels he is acting in the club’s best interests.
“I can understand why people would perceive us as not taking it seriously but I will always do what is in the best interests of the football club,” Rodgers is quoted as saying in Sky Sports.
“There is no doubt the Premier League is our number one priority, I’ve made that clear from the off with the position with our squad.
“I look at Real Madrid v Manchester City last night and Samir Nasri came off with an injury but they have a massive squad who can accommodate that.
“If I lose some of my key players that can make it very difficult for us for the next two or three months.
“There were parts of the game against Arsenal (after their Europa League play-off last month) where we were a bit leggy so we have to make sure we are all firing for Sunday.
“No matter what the perception is I know in my own mind I’ve brought a team here which has a mixture of experience and talented young players.
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“I am fully aware that when you pull on a Liverpool shirt you are expected to win the games so I’ve brought a team I believe can win the game,” he concluded.
Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has stressed that his side will attack Manchester United this weekend.
The north London outfit travel to Old Trafford having not won there since 1989, but the Portuguese coach is eager for his side to take the game to the hosts.
“That is the way I like my teams to play,” Villas-Boas told reporters, published on Sky Sports.
“We obviously know that it is extremely difficult there, but that doesn’t mean that you might not be given a chance when you play in an attacking way.
“In the end it’s about taking your opportunities. Had Chelsea scored then maybe the result would have been different, so to try to get a result against United will be excellent for us.
“It would make us very proud to go there and get a win that would shorten the distance to the top.
“That would hopefully help us profit in some way from the clash between Arsenal and Chelsea.
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“We can’t run away from our responsibilities. The statistics are there. We hope to break them one day and hopefully it will be on Saturday,” he concluded.
coaching consultant, Gerry Francis insists that the club have yet to prove that they are an established Premier League side.
Since promotion in 2008, Stoke have had a mixture of views from fellow football fans and at times their long ball game has come under scrutiny.
Francis has been at the club for the past five seasons and despite the fact that European football has found its way to the Potteries, Francis still believes Stoke need to prove they are fully merited for a place among England’s elite.
“It’s not true to say we are established because we haven’t finished in the top half of the table yet,” the former Spurs boss told Staffordshire news.
“It’s the hardest league in the world to stay in. There’s been a lot of teams over the years that have come up and gone down again. And it’s going to be even tougher this year.
“Every year we have to try and improve.”
Francis, who joined Stoke soon after the first time the club got promoted, didn’t envisage still being there today.
“I was only going to come back from retirement for one season.
“But it’s been a hugely successful time and I’ve loved it. It’s been really enjoyable.”
Francis sits in the director’s box, and is in one of the ideal positions to judge the continuing support from the crowds.
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“Our fans are the noisiest I’ve heard and I’ve been around a while.
“It’s vital they carry that on. You still need that help and support which has made our home record, in particular, so good over the years,” he added.
Gareth Barry has dismissed claims that Manchester City’s poor performances in Europe are due to the club’s inexperience in the Champions League.
The England international has admitted that the Citizens have been simply “found out” by other top European clubs. Man City are currently rock bottom of Group D with just one point from three games.
Tonight, the Premier League Champions take on Ajax, who beat the Manchester club in a resounding 3-1 victory at the Amsterdam Arena on their last Champions League outing.
The poor performance lead to criticism of City boss Roberto Mancini, partly due to his decision to use a 3-5-2 system to little effect for short periods during the match. Pressure on the Italian coach has since continued, with speculation over his future at the club following the appointment of Txiki Bergiristain as Director of Football at Eastlands.
Whereas some pundits have blamed Roberto Mancini for City’s poor European performances, others have cited the Sky Blues’ inexperience and lack of history in the Champions League, despite many of the squad having individual experience in the tournament for previous employers.
Gareth Barry however, has rejected that notion, telling reporters: “We’re certainly not using that [inexperience] as the main excuse. We are finding it tough to put our finger on exactly why it has been tough.
“It is quite clear that we have not produced our best performances against the quality of opposition that are in the Champions League and, when it comes to these games, when you’re not producing your best you get found out. That seems to be what has happened.
“We have been punished on nights when we have not been top of our game.”
City are now all but eliminated from qualifying for the knock-out stages of the Champions League, with three games left to recover a five point gap between themselves and second place Real Madrid.
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To stand any chance of progressing in the tournament, the Citizens must claim all three points in tonight’s fixture against Ajax.
As the ‘Golden Generation’ of the last decade begin to close the book on their England careers, the need for an injection of fresh blood to the squad has never been more apparent.
The temptation to repeatedly select players long in the football tooth has seemingly become difficult to resist for Roy Hodgson as he attempts to guarantee safe passage to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Stalwarts like Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard have had their time in the sun on the international scene and, while effective against inferior nations; their influence is minimal against countries sitting in the upper echelons of the FIFA rankings.
That’s not to imply that Gerrard or Lampard are necessarily bad players, but a perennial lack of success warrants change. Continually relying on senior players year after year has proven to be a backwards step for the Three Lions in the quest to end 46 years without a major tournament success.
Upon Hodgson’s appointment in May it was expected that he would re-evaluate the selection process and alter the makeup of a squad that has operated with an indistinguishable core since the turn of the Millennium.
Establishing a new youthful backbone and building a fresh, vibrant team from the nations most promising talent is an unsatisfied craving that supporters have been unable to shake.
Taking a leaf out of the Capital One Cup’s book would be a positive step for a start. A competition now regarded as the premier breeding ground for clubs to educate their young players.
Sir Alex Ferguson and then Arsene Wenger pioneered the idea that the competition would better serve the younger members on the fringes of the first team squad and exposure to top-level football would aid in their development. Furthermore it’s an exhibition of faith from a manager to a wild-eyed teenager taking his first steps into the professional game
Initially the concept was dismissed as undermining and disrespecting the heritage of a cup held in high regard by English football’s elite. Ferguson’s decision to use it to nurture his young stars caused such a stir that his selection policy was even raised at the Houses of Parliament in 1994.
It even went as far as Port Vale fans signing a petition against the Manchester United manager’s plans to field a weakened side. Yet more and more teams are following his and Wenger’s lead in giving their fresh faced brood an opportunity to impress, showcase their talent and ultimately prove whether they have what it takes to become a regular part of the senior setup.
David Beckham certainly reaped the benefits of Ferguson’s plan, as did Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, Simon Davies and Keith Gillespie. They all featured in that controversial tie with Port Vale and all went on to become regulars in the Premier League and for their countries at international level.
That’s not forgetting Cesc Fabregas either who, at 16 years and 177 days old, become the youngest player in Arsenal’s history, making his debut in the League Cup against Rotherham United at Highbury and literally ran the show.
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Sticking with youth and fostering a new ‘Golden Generation’ is the unenviable task laid out in front of Hodgson. Replacing the likes of Gerrard, Lampard and John Terry was never going to be easy, but persevering with youth is certainly the way forward if England are to progress.
Thankfully it seems as if Hodgson has heeded the demand for change with 28 of his recent call-ups aged 25 or under and 14 members of the current squad coming in under that radius. Of course a few familiar faces remain but it’s clear that the core of the team is taking on a new identity.
And as Ferguson and Wenger have shown in the League Cup in years gone by, being bold and persisting with youth propagates success. Whether Hodgson stays bold and sticks with this policy remains to be seen.
Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere wants to emulate the likes of Tony Adams and write himself into the Gunners history books forever, according to the The Metro.
Wilshere has just returned from over a year out with a serious leg injury and is already pulling the strings in the Arsenal midfield, but the England international knows he has a long way to go to match some other Gunners legends.
“To have my family 20 minutes from the training ground and an hour from the stadium is perfect for me. Cesc wanted to go home. Home for me is Arsenal.
“Cesc wanted to go back to his family and friends. My family and friends are 20 minutes away. It’s perfect.
“I’ve played 39 games in the Premier League, which is nothing when you look at players like Tony Adams and how many appearances they made. That’s something I want to do.
“Our ambition every year is to challenge for the Premier League title. If we didn’t think we could do that, we would be under-achieving.”
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Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has played down speculation of Danny Rose’s loan move to Sunderland becoming a permanent deal.
The 22-year-old has spent the current Premier League campaign at the Stadium of Light, turning a number of impressive performances.
With his first-team opportunities likely to be limited with Spurs, there has been speculation that his temporary move may become permanent at the end of the season.
However, Villas-Boas believes that the youngster has a big future at White Hart Lane and has no intention of selling him at the end of the season:
“We have big expectations for him in the future. Our idea is that he comes back to Tottenham next year.” He is quoted by the Daily Mail.
“We appreciate what he’s been doing over here and it’s been a great experience.
“He’s been extremely well managed. We can’t give away a player of his quality.”
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Sunderland are thought to be keen on retaining the player, but may have to search for a replacement ahead of next season.
Spurs have the option to re-call Rose at any stage of the deal, which will serve as a real worry for manager Martin O’Neill, whose side remain just five points clear of the relegation zone.
With the life of its own that the January transfer window seems to have developed over recent times, it sometimes feels all too easy to sweep its shortcomings under the carpet.
What was once a mere alteration of the rules by Fifa and Uefa at the turn of the century, now resembles something along the lines of a national institution.
It’s become an all-singing, all-dancing mass-media event, spawning masses of forums and websites in its dedication, as well as generating its own commercial shtick, to boot. Indeed, it now feels somewhat difficult to imagine how Sky Sports News once survived without its cheap, deadline day chutzpah.
Yet for all the speculation and excitement that January’s uncertainty spins amongst supporters, the start-of-year transfer window isn’t without it’s faults and the problems tend to cut a lot deeper than Sir Alex Ferguson’s simple musings about their being ‘little value’ to be had.
Ironically, one of the main benefits of the January window’s introduction was that it was supposed to force clubs into long-term planning. Where as before, a club could pull the managerial guillotine and buy their way out of trouble mid way through March (players could previously be traded up until March 31st), the new window system was supposed to put a stop to that.
That was the opinion heralded by the then-League Managers Association chairman John Barnwell back in 2006, anyway. Fast forward seven years, and opinions within the managerial community appear to have changed considerably. Barnwell’s successor, current incumbent Richard Bevan, has gone on record in recent times asking for the window to be done away with all together.
In 2011, Bevan said: “It doesn’t create stability, it doesn’t create a level playing field, and certainly in the Football League they are very keen the domestic window is removed.”
The school of thought within the LMA, one that they still abide by two years on, is that the January window increases instability; with a small window to chop and change as they please, club chairmen – especially those with vast resources at hand – can simply tear it up and start again mid-season.
Then you have the managers themselves who carry a persistent disdain for the January window. You can take your pick from who possesses the biggest dislike for the window, with everyone from Arsene Wenger to Sir Alex Ferguson going on record stating their wish to see the back of it. For the men in charge of our clubs, the window generates a period of mass uncertainty, putting power into the hands of both players and agents.
Wenger in particular has consistently clamoured for change, slamming the damage the window can do to a club. Speaking last January, he said:
“You have players coming to you saying, ‘If I don’t play maybe I will leave in January,’”
“So, they are already less committed to the cause. It gives them an opening. We have gone from a period where you knew, if you didn’t play, you had to be committed.
Furthermore, while the forums of footballing debate so often tend to ignore the needs of clubs plying their trade outside of the top tier, there is a case that the January window also does more harm than good to lower league sides’ financial prospects. For many clubs in the Football League, the nurturing of their young players with a view to selling is a crucial part of financial survival.
Offering the bigger clubs a deadline by which they can bully lower-league teams into a sale, can drive prices lower and the incentive to develop younger talent consequently recedes.
Yet although both managers and their respective authorities harness very relevant points indeed, the realities of the current political boundaries make instigating potential change an extremely difficult task.
The odds of being able to scrap the January window in favour of having a sole, summer window in which to trade would be extremely difficult to implement.
While some have made a case that the current window offers a technical restraint of the free movement of workers – which would contravene EU Law – the European Commission has stated that there could be good sporting reasons to introduce some form of economic restriction in regards to the benefit of stability. Yet bare in mind the current transfer window is a hazy compromise between both the right of a player to move clubs post-Bosman and the need for contractual stability in football, it’s unlikely Fifa and Uefa will get away with just on window.
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And if the only alternative is a year-long open market, is that particularly going to have much of a positive impact? While Wenger is right in his concerns over conniving agents and fidgety players, but where as the January window offers them one, sensibly placed mid-season chance to plot an escape, dumping the window will give them all season.
Similarly with managerial stability, would returning to the old set-up really encourage long-term managerial planning? It’s hard to imagine how the sackings of Roberto Di Matteo, Sean O’Driscoll and Nigel Adkins would have been avoided without a January transfer window.
Furthermore, while there is a case that lower-league clubs may prosper from being able to move on youth products more quickly, it can also damage them, too. Without the January window, who’s to say Wilfried Zaha wouldn’t have been taken away from Crystal Palace’s promotion push back in October? Again, the money the likes of Zaha, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Aaron Ramsey have generated for their clubs in recent years has hardly seen them ‘bullied’ by the window’s constraints as some have suggested. Clubs are also now paid training compensation for loosing players under the age of 24, which they weren’t before the January-window era.
Ultimately, the January transfer window isn’t without its faults. But it may well be a necessary evil in today’s ever changing footballing landscape.
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