Wigan Athletic defender Titus Bramble is hopeful that he will make a quicker than expected return from injury and be ready for the start of the new season.
The 28-year-old missed the final games of last season due to a stress fracture of the foot, but the centre-back believes that he is on track to return to the fold ahead of the expected 14-week recovery period.
He told the Wigan Observer:"The foot feels good.
"I've been in and out of the club over the summer and it's just a case of getting the strength back now.
"I think I'm doing as well as I could be at this stage and fingers crossed it stays that way.
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"The initial estimate was 14 weeks out, but I'm hoping that was worst-case scenario. I'm definitely aiming to beat that and I think I can."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
There have been and currently are many players who have been branded ‘cheats’ in the Premier League, some deservedly more than others. There are those cheats who seem to get away with it most of the time and those who are singled out and vilified by opposition fans.
So what constitutes cheating in football? In my opinion the title of ‘cheat’ should go to those players who dive, deliberately aim to get an opposing player sent off, deliberately set out to injure a fellow player or feign injury.
So bearing that in mind here and in no particular order are my Top 5 Premier League cheats, past and present:
Robert Pires (former Arsenal and Aston Villa midfielder) – The hugely talented Frenchman used to wow the crowd at the old Highbury with some wonderful skills and a countless number of goals. But Pires created a reputation for himself as a diver and there were many examples of this that he would not too proud to watch back today.
Cristiano Ronaldo (former Manchester United winger) – The Portuguese international was one of the greatest players to ever ply his trade in the Premier League. His last two seasons at Old Trafford were sensational and he won every possible trophy with the club. But in his early years at the club he also had a reputation that preceded him, as something of a diver. The winger would constantly throw himself to the ground at any opportunity in an attempt to con the referee into awarding him a free-kick or penalty. But to be fair to Ronaldo, this is something which he has largely eradicated from his game nowadays.
Lee Cattermole (Sunderland) – Lee Cattermole has never made headlines for his footballing ability, instead he seems to make headlines for the wrong reasons. A player who isn’t short of yellow and red cards in his career, Cattermole has created a reputation for himself as a bit of a dirty player. You cannot fault his commitment or passion, but some of the tackles he goes in for do not help brighten his reputation and when he recklessly lunges in for unnecessary tackles, it makes you wonder whether it crosses his mind to injure a fellow player.
Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United) – Many people will be surprised by this inclusion but I have seen Vidic get away with several acts of cheating over the years. Due to his lack of pace the Serbian defender tends to do a lot of shirt pulling, some of which he gets away with. He has been caught out by some referees but the majority of Premier League refs have been reluctant to punish him for it.
Luis Suarez (Liverpool) – The Uruguayan striker is beginning to create a name for himself in the Premier League as a fantastic striker, but also as a bit of a cheat. He has lit up the league with some wonderful goals and individual bits of skill, but he is now also making headlines for the wrong reasons. Controversy seems to follow Suarez around quite a bit, his famous handball on the line for Uruguay in their World Cup match with Ghana will never be forgotten, but let’s be fair, who wouldn’t have done that for their country?
This season he has been criticised for contributing to Jack Rodwell’s harsh sending off in the Merseyside derby and he has now been accused of racism by Patrice Evra. Something tells me we’ll be hearing a lot more about Suarez this season, the good, the bad and the ugly side of him.
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Twente cut PSV Eindhoven’s lead at the top of the Eredivisie to just one point on Sunday with a 2-1 home win over VVV Venlo.That result, plus PSV being held to a 2-2 draw at NEC Nijmegen, means the reigning champions are only a point behind PSV with eight games to play.Ola John secured the win for Twente with a goal six minutes from full-time, after Wout Brama had cancelled out Ferry de Regt’s fourth-minute opener for the visitors.PSV, meanwhile, will be ruing Ramon Zomer’s 90th-minute equaliser for NEC. Leroy George put NEC 1-0 up four minutes before half-time but Balazs Dzsudzsak struck back for the visitors three minutes later and Jeremain Lens had them 2-1 in front just after the hour mark before Zomer’s late intervention. Elsewhere on Sunday, Ajax kept up the pressure on the top two with a 3-1 win at bottom side Willem.Ajax were surprisingly behind at half-time after Rangelo Janga opened the scoring on the 19-minute mark, but a Siem de Jong goal levelled proceedings just after the break.The turning point came on 73 minutes when Willem substitute Denis Halilovic tackled Jan Vertonghen crudely and was given his marching orders.Ajax made their numerical advantage count and Vertonghen put them ahead after 80 minutes and Christian Eriksen sealed the win two minutes from the end.Feyenoord climbed to 11th with a 2-1 win at home over NAC Breda.Luc Castaignos put the home side ahead just before the half-hour mark, but NAC struck back through Julian Jenner and a draw seemed likely until Stefan de Vrij scored just two minutes from the end to delight the home fans. And De Graafschap moved further away from the relegation zone with a 1-0 win over ADO Den Haag, thanks to a 10th-minute goal from Rydell Poepon.
The managerial practice of raiding one’s former club looks set to strike again at Upton Park, as new West Ham United manager Avram Grant prepares to make a move for French forward Frederic Piquionne. Piquionne, who played under Grant on loan at Portsmouth last season, is thought to be close to a move to East London. The New Caledonia-born forward, who is currently contracted to French side Lyon, impressed during his time on the south coast last season and caught the attention of a string of English clubs. The Hammers are rumoured to have fought off strong interest from both Fulham and newly-promoted West Brom, but is he a good signing for the Upton Park side?
The departures of Guillermo Franco and Ilan, coupled with the patchy form of Carlton Cole, Alessandro Diamanti and Benni McCarthy, clearly highlight West Ham’s need for more firepower. Frederic Piquionne may help to alleviate this concern. The 31-year-old managed to rack up a respectable 11 goals for relegated Portsmouth last season, a credible feat for someone playing in such a weak, struggling side. This tally included strikes against Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, thus demonstrating his ability to competently perform at Premier League level.
In addition to this, Piquionne frequently demonstrated his power and pace at Fratton Park last season, virtues that one would not associate with some of West Ham’s current forwards. The tall forward is also left-footed, and would help to provide balance up front with first-choice striker Carlton Cole. Piquionne alternated between featuring as a lone-striker and as part of a strike partnership last season, and will help to bolster West Ham’s range of attacking options.
Whilst Piquionne may not be the glamorous, ambitious signing that the club’s fans crave, he may prove to be a shrewd acquisition for the side. Having spent the best part of a year working with him, Avram Grant will be fully aware of Piquionne’s abilities and attitude, and should be able to coax the best out of the 31-year-old. Although Piquionne’s record in France is less than prolific, he has clearly shown his talent within the Premier League. With a fee for the forward mooted to be just over €1million, Piquionne could turn out to be the bargain of the summer.
Are you excited by the prospect of Piquionne teaming up with Carlton Cole?
Follow all things Claret and Blue at www.twitter.com/WestHam_News
Follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/zarifrasul
**
Click on image below to see the ITALIAN babes at the World Cup
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Harry Redknapp has stated that he will listen to offers for Roman Pavlyuchenko in the January transfer window, as the Russia international looks set for a move away from White Hart Lane.
The attacker has found first-team opportunities this season limited, as the summer addition of Emmanuel Adebayor has seen the Eastern European largely on the bench.
With Pavlyuchenko keen to be playing regular football in order to ensure a place in Russia’s squad for Euro 2012, Redknapp has admitted a transfer could be in the offing.
“If he wanted to go and it was a good offer, then we would look at that, for sure,” the coach stated in a press conference.
“He’s not a player that I’m looking to move. I like him. He’s a good person, good player. I hope he can have a good season.
“He has to work hard every game. He has to be more consistent. He didn’t have a great pre-season. He hasn’t shown enough this year to be in the team.
“He can score goals, and maybe if he goes on a run, gets an opportunity and score some goals for us…..,” Redknapp concluded.
Pavlyuchenko is likely to feature for the London club against Rubin Kazan in the Europa League on Thursday night, as Redknapp has played fringe players in previous European fixtures this season.
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As Jamie Redknapp and Graeme Souness basked in Tottenham’s 1-0 win over AC Milan in last week’s Champions League last 16 tie, the pair were asked about the potential for an Italian victory in the second leg. Redknapp, who had been busy lauding the Spurs performance, blurted out; “Milan can’t be that bad again- they were shocking!” Souness, taken aback by Redknapp’s negativity, bristled. ”I don’t know Jamie, I thought Spurs didn’t allow Milan to play well.”
The post-match sound bite of a losing manager, slating his players but claiming that such criticism takes nothing away from the winning side has long been the standard, however the attitude has had a knock on effect on the way the media paint a picture for fans through the medium of player ‘ratings’ which so flood websites and newspapers.
You will hear, more often than not, that the winning team played well and losers poorly, regardless of the context of the game. This is thus reflected in the ratings given players by major newspapers and media outlets in the wake of big games.
You might remember that the BBC used to run a player rating system where there was a chance to mark players during the course of the game. This seemed, in principal, an excellent way of gauging player performance until it dawned that for the users of the website to be viewing many of the games they would either have to be watching illegal streams, or making up the ratings as they went along- possibly explaining why Emile Heskey averaged under 3.9 every week. The scheme was quietly shelved.
My big issue with these ratings, particularly when dealing with two well matched teams, is when one springs a possibly unexpected result. The key protagonists on each side will be given wildly different marks despite a relatively close score line. I accept this can sometimes be accurate, but surely we are doing good performances a disservice by rating the losing side so poorly when they don’t deserve it.
In reality, if two top sides went head to head and each member of one midfield rated eight or nine out of ten and the other rated four or five, as we are so often meant to believe happens, these games would be far more one sided and uncompetitive. Are you not annoyed when reading about a big win for your team and seeing that your vanquished opponents are getting slated, whether they deserve it or not?
This leads to my next question; what are these ratings meant to reflect? Are they supposed to appreciate the varying levels of ability of each player- would an eight for Titus Bramble be more of a six for John Terry? Or are all players created equal with top marks something each player could realistically attain by merely having a reasonable game?
The game that always sticks in my mind as an example of the problems with the current system was Arsenal’s 2008 Champions League win over AC Milan at the San Siro. The papers cried how it was the dawning of a new era and the coming of age for Arsene Wenger’s young team. Yet, when the same journalists came to put their player ratings to paper, none of the AC Milan players managed to get higher than a six- whilst many of Arsenal’s big players were given eight or nines- was this really the disparity in performance required to hand the Gunners victory in Italy?
With such a subjective system in place, it is strange that so many papers and media outlets put such a weight behind the concept. I would like to see a system that distinguishes itself from an arbitrary numbers system, where each rating considers context and perceived potential of a player, instead of just slating the losing team.
Meanwhile back in Milan,Redknapp, settling in well as the elder statesman of the Sky punditry box brought out one of the oldest clichés in the book in response to Souness; “Ahhh Graeme, I’m not taking anything away from Spurs…”
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West Ham are expected to make a final £9 million offer to Wolves for the services of midfielder, Matt Jarvis, according to Daily Telegraph reports.
The 26-year-old has told manager Stale Solbakken that he is ready for a new challenge, but the Black Country club have already rejected bids of £3.5 million and £6 million from West Ham.
Jarvis was one of the regular starters in Wolves’ dismal 2011/12 campaign, scoring eight goals in 31 appearances as they plummeted back to the Championship.
It is understood that the Hammers will not be held to ransom, having made it clear that £9 million is their limit.
Jarvis missed the Capital One Cup tie with Aldershot due to sickness, but has now recovered enough to be considered for the opening Championship match away at Leeds.
Wolves are also clinging on to the services of Scotland international, Steven Fletcher, with Sunderland failing after three bids to take the forward to Wearside.
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Manchester United have been keeping close tabs on FC Twente’s young starlet Ola John, according to Itasportpress.
The 19 year-old Liberian-born Dutchman, who has come through the youth academy at FC Twente, broke into their first team last season and his performances looksto have caught the eye of Manchester United already, as they have been scouting the youngster.
John, brother of former Fulham, Leicester and Watford striker Collins John, is a Holland Under-19 international and has made 13 appearances for Twente so far, scoring one goal.
But John pledged his future to to Twente in December, after signing a new contract at the club through to 2014, on the advice of his older brother Collins.
John said: ”I speak to Collins everyday. He is proud of me and he told me to continue here.”
John also appeared to pour cold water on a potential move to England in the near future, saying: ”In any case it is too early to go to England and FC Twente is a good club so why would I want to leave?”
John is highly regarded in Holland and before last week’s Europa League encounter between Fulham and FC Twente, he revealed that not only were Manchester United interested in his services, but Arsenal too.
”Manchester United and Arsenal wanted me but I think I am still young and can learn a lot at Twente. If you are that good, the opportunity will come again when you are older. Playing in England is my dream of course.”
”You want to play as high as possible so that is my dream. Manchester is a beautiful club and Arsenal too.”
Sir Alex Ferguson has seemed to make it a priority for Manchester United to invest in young talent after signing David De Gea, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling in the past year. Ola John could potentially be the next young star to join the young revolution at Old Trafford.
Article courtesy of Tariq Saleh from the excellent Transfer Tavern
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With the arrival of Ben Arfa at Newcastle, I thought back of another French man at St James’ Park, but not David Ginola, I was thinking of Laurent Robert. In the early 2000s, there were many good set piece takers in the Premiership, David Beckham was the most notable but perhaps none were as powerful, or as spectacular as those free kicks of Laurent Robert. So what happened to him?
When Newcastle signed French winger Laurent Robert for £9.5m in 2001, big things were expected from him. He had already played a handful of international games and scored. He had also already played in the Champions League for PSG where he had famously set up six goals in one match.
He scored 4 goals from direct free kicks in his first season. Including this one
[youtube P4ZkHtUs_zY Robert Free Kick]
After a game against Manchester United he drew praise from Alex Ferguson. You could even say his delivery in that game was better than Beckham’s. Indeed it appears his Newcastle career got off on the right foot, despite him having one of the best left feet in the game.
In his first season, though, he was more than just a set-piece expert. He had pace and was creative and delivered some fantastic crosses. Having helped Newcastle get into the Champions League he was still 26 and half way through a potentially long and fruitful journey.
However three years later Robert career had plateaued at Newcastle and he found himself arguing with anyone who would listen, playing on loan for half a season at Portsmouth before leaving the Premier League forever. So just what did happen to Laurent Robert?
Well sadly for Robert, he petered out quite slowly.
In his second year at Newcastle he fell out with the management, apparently being dismayed at the internal decisions of the club. He was accused of becoming lazy and selfish and although he stayed for a few seasons, when Souness arrived his days were numbered.
In 2006 Robert got signed by Benfica, who were playing Champions league football. His first goal was a 40 yard free kick in a big Derby against Porto, so again he got off to a flyer. But his chances became limited as he appeared to lose interest and again was accused of being idle and only really caring about no 1. He found himself on the peripheries, something he was not content with and later secured himself a move to Levante for the following season. There he only played a few complete games scoring a few goals, but again failing to ever make a big impression.
After Levante he had a loan spell at Derby County, there was speculation at the time that he might return to Newcastle, but it appeared these rumours were based on his desires and not the clubs.
He then moved to Toronto where despite one important goal and a few good performances he was released after just 17 appearances. He moved on and played 6 games for Greek side Larrissa before again being released.
It seems his CV would have had enough dazzling footage on it for him to be signed up in the hope that ‘maybe this time it will be different’ managers must have thought ‘with the right handling and care he could become great’. This never materialized after moving to leaving England at the end of 2005-06 he only made 53 appearances in 4 seasons.
So talented, but it appears, so very temperamental that he was never able to achieve what he could perhaps have done. He always scored good goals. But his temperament was up there with the worst of them and he was always his own biggest enemy.
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With the recent retirement of Gary Neville you can only wonder how good a hybrid of the two may have been. Robert certainly lacked Neville’s desire to improve and do his best to make the most of his ability. Robert honestly has very little choice but to blame himself for never establishing himself and his career in the way he could have done, it appears he was always content on the spectacular but never interested the uglier side of the game, the dedication and the hard work.
In answer to the question whatever happened to Laurent Robert? You would have to answer; not much. He promised so much but peaked at 27 and never really got his career stabilized. That said, he had an unbelievable left foot and will never be forgotten for scoring some of the most unlikely and audacious free kicks I have ever seen….
Friday 13th is not a favoured date in any annual calendar; its connotations represent a day of peril and disaster. It subjugates its believers to a day of fear and apprehension, with many wondering if any credence can be given to the unlucky notoriety that this date signifies. In reality, Friday 13th July was an indication of the chasm of respect that separates football from any other sport. In Westminster, England, current Chelsea and former England Captain John Terry had just been acquitted of racial abuse toward QPR’s Anton Ferdinand. Meanwhile in Annonay Davézieux, France, Cyclist Bradley Wiggins retains the acclaimed yellow jersey and reinforces his place at the top of the leader board, where he remained until the Tour de France climax. While one of these moments is considered among the greatest sporting achievements in recent memory by a Briton, the other is considered a damning day for English football and left a sour taste in the mouths of everyone involved in the sport. This comparison is not an isolated incident. On many occasions, legends and heroes are labelled to competitors in other sports, while footballers are publically shamed, with incidents of unprofessionalism that are reported more frequently than selfless, heroic endeavours. With David Beckham carrying the metaphorical torch as English footballs current ‘legend’, a successor may need to be found before ‘Golden Balls’ hangs up his boots and fades into playing retirement.
It seems that even the once prolific, respected footballers have their demons that are eventually uncovered and dragged around publically for all to see; a Braveheart style humiliation. While Sir Chris Hoy, Jessica Ennis and Victoria Pendleton are all sports men and women who are respected and considered talisman for the forthcoming Olympics, the captain of the GB men’s football team is Ryan Giggs, a man who is no stranger to negative press. Despite his remarkable feats in his trade, the Welshman will always have a blotted stain on his career after the infamous super injunction scandal and subsequent demonising by the press. This is an indication that even the most glorified of footballers from our land, will never live up to the heroic statuses of the less condemned athletes. However, with the financial reward that football hands to its prominent stars, is it any wonder that legendary status is no longer applicable to a sport that many feel is occupied by egocentric, overpaid players?
For many, humility is a key factor in the make-up of a sporting legend. While there are many players who display humbleness to their character, the fact that most recognisable footballers earn nonsensical amounts of cash, makes them unable to be considered unpretentious, regardless of their personality traits. This makes it hard for footballers to announce themselves as legends or role models nowadays. However, despite their pre-judgement that they cannot escape from, the beautiful game is drenched with scandal and misbehaviour from its players. From weekly occurrences such as simulation on the field to more deeply worrying issues such as racism scandals and adultery claims, football is never out of the media spotlight. If Cycling had as much media coverage as football does, would stories be uncovered that would shame its sporting participants? If Cricket reached the obsessive levels of support that football draws in, would players be shamed and no longer considered legendary?
Regardless of this, football is the most popular sport in this country by some distance. Many young stars of the future look up to these shamed players as role models. Without sounding like an irate Grandfather moaning about modern day music, some footballers need to look at the considered greats of the game and take a page or five out of their book. However, this may never happen, especially considering the vast sums of money that are earned within the sport alongside the pressures of playing in the Premier League.
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