Newcastle poised for tense finale to relegation soap opera
May 20, 2009
England’s most popular soap operas thrive on a weekly recipe of misery, doom and gloom that is gobbled up by television viewers seeking some relief from their own trials and tribulations.
In that sense, the final weekend of the Premier League season is quite similar.
With Manchester United already polishing the trophy again after sealing a third consecutive title last week, neutral television viewers are salivating at the prospect of watching the suffering of fans of Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, Hull City and Sunderland as their clubs desperately scarp for top flight survival.
Like the inevitable rubber-neckers at road traffic accidents, there is something cruelly compulsive about the raw emotions of relegation D-Day.
For those poor fans at Villa Park, the KC Stadium, Upton Park and The Stadium of Light, fingernails will be whittled down to nothing as their sides hover between survival and exile from Planet Premier League and all its hype and glamour.
Sadly, there is usually one club that the majority of neutral voyeurs want to see fall off the cliff — and this year they play in black and white stripes.
Newcastle are seen as a club suffering delusions from grandeur, a trigger-happy approach to hiring and firing managers and for many, the epitomy of all that is rotten with the Premier League.
Massive salaries for sub-standard overseas players, big debts, big egos. Big fat nothing in the trophy cabinet. It sounds very much like Leeds United of a few seasons ago and look where they are now.
West Bromwich Albion gained tremendous respect this season for their football and their dignity despite already being relegated. They are bound to come back sooner rather than later.
Middlesbrough too have shown admirable loyalty to manager Gareth Southgate, a young English coach who trusts young home-grown players.
Hull have also contributed fully to an interesting Premier League season, their first in the top flight, playing exciting football in the early months and at one stage mixing it with the big boys in the top six.
Newcastle have also added plenty of colour. Kevin Keegan’s shock exit, the fans bitterness to owner Mike Ashley which involved threats to his safety, the recruitment of a manager with a heart condition and a nice touch in Anglo-Saxon expletives, plenty of player strops and finally the recruitment of TV pundit Alan Shearer as coach, yet another Geordie Messiah.
Add in the antics of wildman Joey Barton and the sulking Charles N’Zogbia (named Insomnia by recovering manager Joe Kinnear) and it really is a heady brew.
So thanks Newcastle….it’s been great fun watching you this season and we will all be tuning in for another 90 minutes of black (and white) comedy on Sunday.
PHOTO: Newcastle United’s manager Alan Shearer (R) and his assistant coach Ian Dowie gesture to their players during their English Premier League soccer match against Fulham in Newcastle, northeast England May 16, 2009. REUTERS/David Moir
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Heynckes plays down Bayern title hopes
May 20, 2009
BERLIN (AFP) – Bayern Munich’s caretaker coach Jupp Heynckes on Wednesday said that he does not think his side can overhaul league leaders Wolfsburg to win the German title.
“I can’t see anyone taking the title off Wolfsburg,” Heynckes told the Rheinischen Post in an article to be published on Thursday.
Going into the final day of the Bundesliga season on Saturday, Bayern are two points behind Wolfsburg in second place.
In order to win what would be their 22nd German title, Bayern must beat third-placed Stuttgart, with whom they are level on points, and hope Wolfsburg lose at home for the first time this season against UEFA Cup finalists Werder Bremen.
Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge on Monday dismissed the likelihood of Wolfsburg being pipped at the post.
“We’re working from the principle that the dice have been cast, that Wolfsburg have a 99.9 percent chance of being champions and that there will be no huge surprises,” he said. “They won’t lose this title.”
Heynckes echoed his chairman by reiterating that it was more important for Bayern to make sure of second place and thereby secure direction qualification for next season’s Champions League.
“Even though Stuttgart are in form at the moment, I’m convinced that we’ll beat them,” he said.
“The team is working better and better, we’ve rediscovered the joy of playing and we’ll be at our best on Saturday.”
Heynckes, 63, was drafted in to replace the sacked Jurgen Klinsmann until the end of the season but said he had no intention to keep working as a coach when his stint at Bayern comes to an end.
“There are some offers, but I don’t want to take over another team,” he said.
Heynckes also voiced his backing for his successor Louis van Gaal, who was last week confirmed as Bayern’s new manager after leaving Dutch champions AZ Alkmaar.
“(Bayern general manager) Uli Hoeness asked me for my opinion and I told him there could only be one solution: Van Gaal,” said Heynckes.
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Eduardo back for next season after more surgery, say Arsenal
May 20, 2009
LONDON (AFP) – Arsenal’s Croatian striker Eduardo Da Silva, who suffered a horrific leg break last year, has undergone fresh surgery but should be fit for the start of next season, the club said Wednesday.
The operation, carried out in Amsterdam, involved the removal of metal screws that were placed in his left ankle following the injury.
“Eduardo underwent simple revision surgery on his left ankle,” Arsenal said in a statement. “The operation went well and Eduardo will follow a dedicated rehabilitation programme throughout June.
“He is expected to return to full training in pre-season with the rest of the squad.”
Da Silva, 26, suffered a compound fracture of his left leg as a result of a tackle by Birmingham defender Martin Taylor at St Andrews in February 2008.
He spent over a year on the sidelines and has been plagued by a series of minor niggles since his return. The latest surgery means the Brazilian-born striker will miss Croatia’s World Cup qualifier against Ukraine on June 6.
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Newcastle into AFC knockouts as Gamba lose
May 20, 2009
SINGAPORE (AFP) – Australia’s Newcastle Jets clinched a place in the knockout stages of the AFC Champions League Wednesday by edging Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai 1-0, as defending champions Gamba Osaka suffered a shock loss.
Just one final round of 16 spot is yet to be decided and it hinges on how China’s Shandong Luneng fare against small-fry Sriwijaya later Wednesday in Group F.
They must beat the Indonesians to secure second place in the group behind Japan’s Gamba, who had already qualified despite losing Wednesday.
If they do, Shandong and FC Seoul will both have 10 points but the Chinese champions will progress as they have a better head-to-head record against the Korean club.
FC Seoul kept themselves in the hunt by upsetting Gamba in Japan, with a 90th minute goal from Kim Han-Yoon handing the visitors a shock 2-1 win, ending the J-League giants 16 game unbeaten run in the tournament.
Takashi Usmai gave Gamba the lead in the 62nd minute before Dejan Damjanovic pounced to level the game 11 minutes later. It looked headed for a draw before Kim silenced the home crowd with his last-minute strike.
So far, four teams from Japan and four from Saudi Arabia have made the grade, along with two each from Uzbekistan and South Korea and one apiece from Iran, Qatar and Australia.
Newcastle booked their place with a first-half glancing header by midfielder Jason Hoffman and a brilliant defensive display that kept a dangerous Ulsan side at bay.
The victory ensured they became only the second Australian side ever, behind Adelaide United, to progress to the business end of the tournament.
Newcastle will now return to Korea to face Group H winners Pohang Steelers with a quarter-final place at stake.
In the group’s other match, Nagoya Grampus drew 1-1 with Beijing Guoan and now play Korea’s Suwon Bluewings in the next round.
Wednesday’s west-zone matches will decide the first and second-placed sides in Groups A and B.
Al Hilal, the 2007-08 Saudi champions, host Uzbek heavyweights Pakhtakor in Riyadh to decide Group A’s top team, who will earn a home tie against Group C runner-up Umm-Salal of Qatar.
The Group A runners-up face a trip to Dammam to face Group D winners Ettifaq of Saudi Arabia.
In Group B, Iran’s Piroozi host Al Shabab in Tehran with victory securing them top spot due to a better head-to-head record against the Saudi side.
That clash is the only remaining Group B contest following the earlier withdrawal of Sharjah, who lost their first four matches and pulled out before matchday five to focus on avoiding relegation from UAE’s top flight.
West zone round of 16 games are played on May 27.
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Monaco to part ways with coach Ricardo
May 20, 2009
MONACO (AFP) – French side Monaco announced on Wednesday they would not renew the contract of coach Ricardo at the end of the season, as the Brazilian becomes the latest coaching casualty in the top flight.
The former Brazil captain is out of contract at the end of June, but despite guiding the club to safety and a place in mid-table despite a dreadful start to the campaign, his two season stint at Monaco will come to an end.
“The club will not pursue this collaboration (with Ricardo) further than the end of the current season,” read the statement.
Monaco’s new club director Marc Keller told the players in a closed training session on Wednesday morning at La Turbie that Ricardo would be released.
Paul Le Guen who is set to leave Paris Saint Germain at the end of the season is an early candidate to take over from Ricardo, while Rennes coach Guy Lacombe, Frederic Antonetti and Scotland’s John Collins, a former player with Monaco, have also been mentioned.
Keller told the players that no decision regarding the new coach had yet been finalised.
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Wenger makes case for United defence
May 20, 2009
LONDON (AFP) – Arsene Wenger believes the performance of Manchester United’s defence against Barcelona will determine whether his old rival Sir Alex Ferguson gets his hands on another Champions League trophy next week.
United had no trouble containing Arsenal on Saturday as they secured a goalless draw which enabled them to clinch a third consecutive Premier League crown and Wenger expects a similar pattern to the Champions League final in Rome.
“We had a lot of the ball and they relied a lot on the counter-attack,” Wenger said. “It could be a similar game against Barcelona.
“Man United’s defence can certainly make the difference. What Chelsea did against Barcelona (in the semi-final) was restrict them to very few chances and they were very strong in the challenges. he speed and size of the pitch will also be of importance of the game.”
United’s defensive excellence has been the foundation of their success this season but Ferguson is not certain to be able to name a first-choice back four with Rio Ferdinand struggling to recover from a calf injury which has kept him out of the club’s last three matches.
If Ferdinand is not fit enough to return to the United team for Sunday’s final league match at Hull, Northern Ireland’s Jonny Evans will partner Nemanja Vidic at centreback.
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Barca´s Messi ´rejects offer´ from Man City
May 20, 2009
MADRID (AFP) – Barcelona’s Argentine star Lionel Messi has rejected a multi-million-euro offer to move to big-spending English Premiership club Manchester City, a Spanish sports newspaper reported Wednesday.
Representatives from the English club, owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group, offered to buy out the striker’s contract for 150 million euros (204 million dollars) and pay him 10 million euros per season over four years, the Marca newspaper said.
It said Messi, 21, who has always insisted he wants to stay at Barca, immediately rejected the offer.
The paper said Real Madrid’s Spanish striker Raul had also recently rejected a similar offer from Manchester City.
Another Spanish sports newspaper, AS, said Wednesday that City are also interested in two Atletico Madrid strikers — Argentina’s Sergio Aguero and Uruguay’s Diego Forlan — as well as Valencia’s Spanish international David Villa.
City’s takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group last year left them as one of the world’s wealthiest clubs – a point they proved with the British record 32 million pounds (36 million euros) capture of Brazil star Robinho in September.
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Bulgarian star Petrov commits to Villa
May 20, 2009
BIRMINGHAM (AFP) – Stiliyan Petrov, the Bulgaria midfielder who has been one of Aston Villa’s outstanding performers this season, has committed his long term future to the club by signing a new four-year contract.
The new deal will keep the former Celtic star at Villa until 2013 and ends speculation that he could leave if England international Gareth Barry gets the move to Liverpool that he wanted last year.
Petrov, who turns 30 in July, was manager Martin O’Neill’s first signing at Villa with the Northern Irishman paying six million pounds to sign him from his former club in 2006.
O’Neill had generally deployed Petrov as an attacking midfielder at Celtic but, having suffered a major dip in form last season, it is as a holding player that he has thrived in the current campaign.
The Villa boss said he was delighted to have held on to Petrov.
“It is only just a year ago that people were concerning themselves about whether Stiliyan had a future here,” O’Neill reflected. “But he has battled back so much so that I’d like him to be around here for the next few years.
“If every person shows the same determination and willingness and drive that Stiliyan has shown the last year, there will be a future for anyone at the club.”
O’Neill meanwhile admitted that he expects to receive approaches this summer for his star performers — Barry and the young forwards Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor.
“I would be surprised if some people were not inquiring about our players – big teams – but I am hoping we will be able to withstand that,” he said.
Barry was stripped of the club captaincy last year after putting in a transfer request in an attempt to force Villa to sell him to Liverpool, who would not meet the Midlands club’s valuation.
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez is expected to make a fresh attempt to sign Barry this summer and O’Neill appeared resigned to the possibility that he could lose the midfielder, who will be able to walk away for nothing when his contract expires at the end of next season.
“With Gareth, you do accept – having spent 10-11 years at the club – he would be wanting to have a look at other particular things,” O’Neill said.
With the backing of American owner Randy Lerner, Villa will be in the market themselves this summer and O’Neill recognises the need to inject greater strength in depth into his squad.
“If you are prioritising, quality is essential,” he said. “Yes, we have had some benefits from fielding a settled side this season. But you realise now, when you look at Manchester United, and the changes all the top sides can make, how important it is to be able to do that.”
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Last UEFA CUP Final Will Be In Istanbul,Turkey
May 20, 2009
Germany’s Werder Bremen module grappling Shakhtar Stalino of country in the terminal UEFA Cup test in Istanbul,Turkey.
Werder Bremen module wish to attain up for a unsatisfactory association crusade by fighting Shakhtar Stalino to getting the UEFA Cup on weekday and then ingest that success as a start to also getting the Teutonic Cup.
But patch saint Schaaf’s aggroup chases a prize threefold it has slipped to 10th in the 18-team Bundesliga and is discover of disceptation for fittingness for the Galilean League, which replaces the UEFA Cup incoming season.
“We hit old a aggregation of downs but we are finished to digit finals,” Bremen mover Markus Rosenberg said. “It’s been a fantastic season. We are utilised to hard for the Bundesliga denomination but that did not happen. Instead we did rattling substantially in the cups.”
The Sverige mover hopes to rediscover his goal-scoring contact in Istanbul’s Sukru Saracoglu stadium.
“It has been a rattling fantastic flavour for me too. I started rattling substantially and scored quite a some goals. I don’t undergo what happened,” he said. “I am action my goals for the UEFA Cup final.
“It module be the large mettlesome I hit ever played for a club. It’s ordinal exclusive to a Champions League final. So farther I hit exclusive won a land Cup with Ajax so I would fuck to add added denomination to my collection.”
Rosenberg is ordered to change the suspended novelist Almeida and, same Peru planetary Claudio Pizarro, is sound again after absent Saturday’s correct against Karlsruhe.
But officer Frank Baumann is struggling to stir soured a portion hooligan trauma and bicentric belligerent Per Mertesacker is discover with a right-foot injury.
“We hit sufficiency stylish players, no concern who plays,” fair administrator Klaus Allofs said.
Bremen netkeeper Tim Wiese insists that the aggroup should not be disheartened by its unfortunate to increase a plausible association challenge.
“There is not such disagreement between success a title or a cup,” the 27-year-old Wiese said. “But this is the terminal UEFA Cup so it is rattling primary to hit prefabricated it to the final.”
For Shakhtar Donetsk, Stamboul module be the termination of a travelling to arouse Slavonic football as the land has a aggroup in a dweller test for the prototypal instance since the change of the state Union in 1990.
The aggroup has netkeeper Andriy Pyatov to impart for achievement the test after he permit in meet fivesome goals in octad UEFA Cup matches on the artefact to Istanbul. Although Pyatov deflected approval to his defenders.
“All in all, it’s more thanks to the defenders – my persona is as a leader,” the netkeeper said. “The meliorate I crapper advance the aggroup – the defence, that is – the easier it is for me.”
The 24-year-old country planetary said he is disagreeable to block the meaning of the occasion.
“I’m calm,” he said. “I’ve had another games and another finals before. This digit is the test of the UEFA Cup and of instruction I conceive it effectuation a aggregation to everyone. But chronicle module go on …
“Our content was to get apiece individualist match. We’ve cragfast by this goal, gradually agitated travel by step, preparing ourselves psychologically to get apiece mettlesome and it’s been successful.”
Source: Wires
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Konyaspor Coach Giray Bulak Sacked!
May 20, 2009
Konyaspor railcar Giray Bulak was sacked on weekday by Team officials on weekday before the do or expire correct against meet fivesome life before Fenerbahce.
After feat downbound against Eskisehirspor at bag Konyaspor fans and Team officials publically criticized railcar Giray Bulak.
Even after Eskisehirspor match, clump of maniac Konyaspor fans hurried in to the advise word room, before the advise word and yell derisory things most railcar Giray Bulak.
Konyasspor without beatific players and money has been struggling in the league.
This weekend they module endeavor do or expire correct against Fenerbahce in Istanbul.
A expiration module definitely attain them the ordinal aggroup that module attribute from the Turkic Turkcell Super League.
Sacking a ,weeks to modify the association is a bounteous nonachievement in my opinion..
AHMET TURGUT
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futbol, soccer, fussball, football, gol, goal, springy scores, canl, live, puan durumu, puan cetveli, standings, results
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