Capello resignation opens door for Redknapp
Tottenham Hotspur fans will feel it’s a matter of when rather than if the FA moves for the club’s manager Harry Redknapp to fill the now vacant post of England coach. The Three Lions are looking for a new national boss following Fabio Capello’s decision to quit over the decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy without his consent.
Under 21s coach Stuart Pearce has been placed in temporary charge of the senior side for the upcoming friendly against the Netherlands at the end of the month, but the Spurs chief is the outstanding English candidate amidst a public clamour for a homegrown leader. West Brom’s Roy Hodgson and Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill are other British candidates that have also been touted in the press, but remain outsiders compared with Redknapp.
It’s almost a unanimous verdict from all sectors of English football that the man cleared of tax evasion charges this week should be elevated to the top job and answer his country’s call. Never mind claims that the hotseat is a poisoned chalice, Redknapp is not only the papers’ chosen one, but has overwhelming support from fellow coaches and high-profile Three Lions players past and present.
Pressure mounts on AVB
Visits to a club’s training ground by the owner are always cause for concern, but Roman Abramovich dropping by Chelsea’s facility at Cobham this week is not the first time the Russian tycoon has turned up there since Andre Villas-Boas took over as boss of the Blues. The Portuguese admitted the Premier League title is beyond his team this term and the remainder of the season is about “damage limitation”.
Again insisting that there was no rift between Abramovich and himself, AVB described meetings with the man who paid handsomely to hire him from Porto in the summer as “very positive”. A top four finish and continuing the club’s dominance in the FA Cup would be the very least expected. Clearly this Chelsea side can’t compete with Barcelona and Real Madrid when it comes to the business end of the Champions League.
McLeish believes in “silent majority”
Much has been made of Aston Villa’s performances under former Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish. Given his former employment, he is hardly popular with a diehard section of the support. With a protest planned by his detractors ahead of Manchester City’s visit on Sunday, the Glaswegian believes that a “silent majority” of fans are backing him and the team.
Big Eck as he is colloquially known was thwarted in his efforts to extend the loan of Robbie Keane from LA Galaxy this week. He has also had to deal with comments made by Charles N’Zogbia through social networking. There seems to be a climate of frustration surrounding Villa Park these days as well as anxiety that leading scorer Darren Bent could quit the West Midlands and leave the side distinctly lacking firepower.
Expectations at Villa were raised during Martin O’Neill’s tenure with successive top six finishes and a League Cup final appearance. The kind of magic the Northern Irishman is capable of working is once again on display at Sunderland. McLeish is a very different manager to his fellow Celt and you feel the dissenting voices will not go away.
We baulked at Tevez’s wages say PSG
Carlo Ancelotti wanted to offer Carlos Tevez a way out of his Manchester City nightmare by taking him to Paris in the transfer window, but, as has so often been the case during the Argentine’s saga, money proved a stumbling block. Roberto Mancini lowered the asking price from £40 million to £25 million, but negotiations were never successfully concluded with PSG, Inter Milan or AC Milan.
The player’s wage demands have left Tevez stranded in football limbo and he remains AWOL in his homeland. Mancini has revealed that the possibility he could play for City again still remains, but such a turn of events is on the verge of impossibility if the player will not return from his native Argentina.
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