After another damaging defeat in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday, Rangers fans are again looking ahead to a new transfer window and thinking about what sort of team they want to see on the pitch next season.
It could be another summer of transition for the Ibrox side with Graeme Murty’s interim management of the club due to come to an end when the season ends and there’s no word whether he’ll be appointed permanently.
With a number of current first team players currently on loan deals, there’ll also be decisions to be made on who they should sign permanently and who should be sent back to their parent clubs.
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One player in that boat is defender Russell Martin, on loan from Norwich City, who this week spoke about his desire to stay at Ibrox beyond his short-term spell.
While some fans are eager to see that happen, others are less convinced, believing he is below the standard required if they are to compete for major honours next season.
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Supporters took to Twitter to discuss the player potentially signing up in the summer…
Tottenham’s new era under Mauricio Pochettino hasn’t exactly been the inspiring journey many Spurs fans were hoping for.
The continuous curse of Europa League football has given them issues against this season, while they haven’t exactly been putting in the performances that you’d expect from a team that is worth well over £100m.
But Pochettino’s side showed some real signs this afternoon that they’re improving under the Argentine, with a lot of fans finally having some good things to say about their team after being so disillusioned with their side for so long.
So here’s THREE points that prove Spurs are indeed improving under their new boss…
[ffc-gallery]Click on Roberto Soldado to reveal
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Harry Kane is fast becoming a proper footballer
When Kane first broke in to the Spurs squad, most fans didn’t expect him to go on to be the first choice striker he is today.
The youngster has been given the chance to show everyone what he’s all about on a weekly basis and he’s returned that faith with a number of important goals and impressive performances. Now the Spurs fans love him.
Pochettino has turned Kane from being an average striker to one who can go on to achieve good things within the game. Can you net 15+ league goals in a season? No reason why not.
Soldado’s confidence is growing
Poor ol’ Roberto has had a torrid time at Spurs since signing two summers ago, but Spurs fans have kept faith in the Spaniard and supported him throughout.
And he managed to get his first Premier League goal of the season against Everton and put in a dogged performance for the hosts, which didn’t go unnoticed by fans, pundits and neutrals alike.
A goal like that will only boost his confidence and give him the belief that he can find the shooting boots that made Spurs invest so much money on him. If he can go on a little goalscoring run then Daniel Levy might finally believe he’ll be getting some good value for money.
Players finally adapting to Pochettino’s attacking style
Pochettino’s been criticised by many Spurs fans who felt nothing had really changed under him after dissapointing periods under Andre Villas-Boas and Tim Sherwood.
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But he has needed time to get his new players to buy in to his philosophy and we’ve witnessed that happening more and more over the last few weeks. Christian Eriksen, Erik Lamela, Harry Kane and Roberto Soldado all look at ease this season and will only continue to improve.
Can Pochettino guide Spurs in to the top four? Only time will tell but, what we do know is that Spurs fans should start feeling exciting about a future under the former Southampton chief.
I wonder if Andre Villas-Boas has a framed screenshot of the Premier League table hanging in his office? Having amassed 40 points from 22 games, Tottenham sit just two points behind the Champions of Europe, with a six-point gap ahead of fierce rivals Arsenal. The club may not be hailed as the outside ‘title challengers’ they were this time last season, but they are arguably in a better shape to regain entry into the Champions League.
The arrival of Villas-Boas caught many by surprise and evoked an uneasy reaction from supporters still holding a candle for Harry Redknapp. The national press were quick to voice their concerns, seemingly eager to ignite another tabloid friendly disaster that was frequent column filler last year.
However, despite some early teething problems stemming from obscure tactical decisions, Villas-Boas can now rest assured that his feet are firmly under one of English football’s most prominent tables. Only league leaders Manchester United better the impressive tally of 22 goals away from home and while a few more net-busters at the Lane would be welcomed, the team is slowly shaking free their negative persona.
As results improved on the pitch, the tabloids were running out of ammo and so turned their attention to his unique brand of vocal mannerisms. A piece in the Daily Mail portrayed Villas-Boas as a Mr Bean type character stuck in a Carry On film and revelled in the fact the 35-year-old failed to land the Burnley job in 2010, after sending in a lengthy and confusing application.
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‘Tommy Docherty used to say he never said anything to his players his milkman wouldn’t understand,’ said the Claret’s chief executive Paul Fletcher.
‘I don’t think any milkman would fathom the meaning of a lot of Andre’s presentation.’ (Daily Mail)
It seems as though a short-sighted few are still longing for the beautiful game that was built on blood, sweat and tears. They fail to realise that football has evolved, it now thrives upon newfound intelligence which sees managers treasure patient build-up play rather than long ball bombardment.
The detailed preparation process can no longer be ignored or deemed insignificant, especially when tactics need to be repeatedly adjusted to triumph over each new opponent. The modern player needs inspiring beyond the cliched ‘go out there and enjoy yourself’ speech and Villas-Boas is someone perfectly capable of providing just that.
In many ways Harry Redknapp is still the media’s darling, a graduate from the old school of coaching who prefers warriors to artists. His “you’d have to be a dope to mess up the Chelsea job” comment screamed petulance and portrayed an annoyance at being replaced by this new breed of intellectual coach. His tactics in the game against Spurs highlighted just how afraid he was of his former side, but of course the media spun such a performance as a positive, despite the fact QPR were at home and should have been relentlessly pursuing victory.
In Portugal there is an altogether different perception of the manager they believe will one day take charge of the national team. Villas-Boas is widely renowned as an articulate and elegant communicator, even current Porto boss Vítor Pereira revealed he was jealous of his predecessors media skills.
Villas-Boas does however fail to appreciate context and instead persists with translating his thoughts from Portuguese to English in a literal format. His remark that Jermain Defoe can “smell” crosses was not a reference to his special nasal powers but instead the striker’s good anticipation and awareness off the ball. But that isn’t half as funny and certainly won’t look as good strapped across a newspaper headline.
Yet his current crop of players seem to understand him perfectly and now play with a natural sense of rhythm and balance that was missing last season. Unlike Roman Abramovich, Daniel Levy will not loom, pry or demand instant success. There is a reassuring sense of security in their relationship, although this would be officially confirmed if Levy could bring in an identifiably ‘Villas-Boas’ signing like Joao Moutinho or Willian.
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There is also a strong sense that he is learning from his previous errors of misjudgement and not just because he’s finally admitted to making them at Chelsea. He has been less ruthless in his changes and has even allowed Michael Dawson back into contention after reported exile. The defensive frailty of Spurs in the latter stages of games has also been rectified, as the club haven’t conceded late on since that last gasp defeat to Everton. In fact, they’ve only let in two goals in their last eight games.
Whereas Arsenal fans are growing tired of Wenger’s methodical approach, loyal Lilywhites seem perfectly content with their own professor. There is a growing consensus that young, dedicated tacticians will be the future template of all successful managers in the Premier League.
Southampton certainly think so – having today appointed 40-year-old “astute tactician” Mauricio Pochettino – it’s just a shame that such a decision has come at the expense of yet another English manager.
Tottenham Hotspur are expected to be without Harry Kane until April due to an ankle injury.
The club’s star player suffered ligament damage during last weekend’s 4-1 victory over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
Kane has been in stellar form this season having scored 35 goals in all competitions and reached a landmark 100th Premier League strike earlier in the campaign.
The North London outfit expect the striker to be back on the training pitch by April, but they will have to cope without him until then.
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Erik Lamela could end up joining the attack against Swansea City in this weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final in place of Kane.
Given that the England international will be on the sidelines for a handful of weeks, his quest for the Premier League Golden Boot could hit a snag.
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As it stands, Kane is level on 24 goals with Liverpool star Mohamed Salah, which means that the 24-year-old could be overtaken.
It sounds as though the forward will return before the end of the season, so there is still a chance that he will earn his third Golden Boot in a row, and fans think that it is possible.
When attempting to fathom where it’s all gone wrong for his 11th-place Liverpool side, Brendan Rodgers need only retrace his steps back to the summer transfer window – the vast majority of the Reds’ many problems his season have stemmed from there.
Indeed, it was a window that appeared devoid of any plan or structure on the Mersey outfit’s part, who seemed almost overawed by the £120million at their disposal, grabbing any promising talent or in-form player they could get their hands on – ranging from Southampton’s Rickie Lambert to Benfica prodigy Lazar Markovic. Resultantly, the Liverpool boss is now left with a squad lacking clarity, identity and hierarchy, posing far more questions than answers.
No signing epitomises this more than Mario Balotelli, a certified vanity project that’s gone horribly wrong for Rodgers. One can easily speculate his line of thought; “I controlled Luis Suarez as much as humanly possible for two seasons, perhaps I can do the same with Balotelli”. No doubt, the Anfield manager would love an individual triumph where Roberto Mancini, Cesare Prandelli and most significantly, Jose Mourinho, have failed.
The only problem is that whilst Suarez is an incredibly competitive footballer who often finds himself blurring the line of moral acceptability, Balotelli is a mischievous twelve year-old trapped in the body of a top-class centre-forward. They’re two completely different animals at opposing ends of the footballing bad-boy spectrum; the former, haunted by a desperate intensity to win, the mercurial latter motivated only by his own whims. As Mourinho claimed, ‘unmanageable’.
So it’s no great surprise the Italy international is still searching for his first Premier League goal in Liverpool colours, despite averaging 4.2 shots per match – the fifth-most of any player in Europe’s five leading top flights – whilst his controversial Twitter activity and infamous half-time shirt-swap with Real Madrid’s Pepe has drawn a plethora of negative attention.
Now Rodgers is faced with a real dilemma; does he admit his mistake in the transfer market – or perhaps a more fitting description would be egotism – by selling Balotelli in January, after just six months on Merseyside?
The goal-shy striker isn’t the first acquisition that’s left a lot to be desired since Rodgers took the Anfield helm three summers ago. In that time, he’s spent around £215million on 25 players, but only two have really gone on to exceed their transfer fees, Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho, whilst only four, Coutinho, Dejan Lovren, Simon Mignolet and Alberto Moreno, have made ten or more Premier League appearances this season. Seven have either left the club or are currently on loan. Overall, for a manager that boasts an LMA Manager of the Year award, Rodgers’ transfer record is exceptionally poor.
Thus, perhaps accepting defeat with Balotelli would provide a sense of atonement from the Liverpool boss – an admission that he and the club made mistakes this summer.
You’ll never get such an apology in spoken public verse; managers are prepared to question the performances of their players but rarely, if ever, themselves. Yet if Rodgers had the opportunity to repeat the summer window, the most lucrative one in Liverpool’s history likely containing the largest transfer budget he’ll ever receive as a manager, he’d almost certainly approach it with a less cavalier mindset.
Of course, there are some problems with this suggestion; firstly, managers tend to live and die by their signings, so selling Balotelli after just six months will only further add to the growing narrative that Rodgers and Liverpool’s transfer committee have taken the club a step backwards – however true that might be.
Secondly, who would actually want to buy Mario Balotelli right now? This is probably the lowest point of his entire career, and having now failed at two of the biggest clubs in Italy and two of the biggest clubs in England, potential transfer destinations are few and far between. Convincing the 24-year-old to join a lesser club, with three-and-a-half years left on his Anfield contract, won’t be an easy sell.
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Yet, cutting loses – both in finance and reputation – rather than prolonging the obvious failings of Liverpool’s £16million acquisition in order to save face, is surely the more logical solution. And even if it’s only in non-verbal, tacit form, the Liverpool fans deserve an admission of their club’s poor business during the summer, a sign that the same mistakes won’t be made again and lessons have been learned.
Whether Rodgers has come to term with the extremities of Liverpool’s wayward recruitment however, remains to be seen.
The Premier League is the greatest domestic league in the world for action-packed, incident-heavy games, while off the pitch 2012 has also seen plenty of wider issues such as racism, Hillsborough and Fabrice Muamba’s health scare brought further into the light. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a selection of the best moments from the last calendar year, stretched across last season and this one.
Not all of them are positive, plenty of them are, but they’ve helped to shape the last year of action and have all been headline-grabbing stories in their own right. So, without further ado, and to keep it interesting and you lot on your toes, they’ll be done completely at random and in no discerning chronological order….
Click on Robin van Persie to unveil the 15
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The Fulham fans in and around the Transfer Tavern are eagerly awaiting the start of the new Premier League season having seen their beloved club gain promotion via the play-offs.
In what was a long and strenuous season, Fulham made it through and reached their ultimate goal of Premier League football once again, the first time since 2014. The Cottagers are already well equipped, possessing some great talents within their ranks but our punters feel that signing Saido Berahino would raise a few eyebrows yes but could work out to be a great signing.
Fulham transformed the talent of Aleksandar Mitrovic last season, when the Newcastle loanee joined the club to help their promotion bid. So why can’t the same happen with Saido Berahino? His future doesn’t look particularly bright at the moment but given the right now in the next step in his career could make all the difference. Valued at £7.2 million on Transfermarkt, Berahino is isolated currently with Stoke, having failed to score since move to the recently relegated Potters. Slavic Jokanović has shown how he can take another failing striker and turn them into a goal-scorer and based on the ability Berahino has previously shown, why can’t it be another success story.
The Englishman is thought to be available this summer and although the negative connotations associated with Berahino are bad, Fulham could undo all those and turn him into the player everyone believed he always would be.
It is a bold move to say the least but Saido Berahino does have the knowledge of Premier League football, unlike a lot of Fulham players.
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There has been a quick turnaround at Southampton, with Mark Hughes being appointed manager until the end of the season.
The Welshman, who played for the Saints during a spell in his career, has taken over from Mauricio Pellegrino.
The coastal club made the decision on Monday night to part company with the Argentine after he had guided the team to just five wins in 30 Premier League matches.
Hughes had been out of work since January when he was sacked by Stoke City after the club fell into the relegation zone.
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Now, the experienced coach is in another battle for survival as Southampton reside just one point above the dreaded drop with eight games left to play.
Before Hughes was hired, a large majority of supporters were not welcome to the idea of the appointment.
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On Thursday, the new manager put the players through their paces in his first training session, and judging by the photos snapped, he was thoroughly enjoying it.
Southampton fans have since been posting their reactions to the tweet.
Amid a summer spending spree that eventually exceeded the £110million mark, Brendan Rodgers professed to journalists that Liverpool hadn’t fallen into the same traps as Tottenham the year previous.
Yet seven games into the new Premier League season, as the Reds find themselves in ninth place, nine points away from the division’s summit and struggling to find a successful formula, it appears that’s exactly what they’ve done.
The similarities between Spurs in summer 2013 and Liverpool in summer 2014 are genuinely staggering.
Fearing the debasing effects of Gareth Bale’s move to Real Madrid whilst also coping with the inevitable burdens of the Europa League, the Lilywhites splashed out £110million on seven signings in 2013, only for their league form to plummet to such disappointing depths that Andre Villas-Boas was given his marching orders by the end of December. Coincidentally, following a 5-0 thrashing by Liverpool.
Concerned how Liverpool would simultaneously handle Luis Suarez’ departure to Barcelona and the return of Champions League football at Anfield for the first time since 2009, Brendan Rodgers spent an almost identical sum on eight players, only for his side to endure an incredibly turbulent start to the current season, including shock defeats to West Ham and Aston Villa.
Those connections may seem largely superficial; especially in regards to the amount spent and the number of players brought in. But the causes of Liverpool and Totteham’s failed spending sprees were the same, as the consequences are also proving to be.
Perhaps the most predominant effect being a backbreaking weight of expectation. When Spurs cashed in on Gareth Bale and invested in Christian Eriksen, Paulinho, Roberto Soldado, Etienne Capoue, Nacer Chadli and Vlad Chiriches, there was a common feeling the north Londoners could become the Premier League’s dark horses – a new force for the title regulars to fear.
They were an exciting unknown quantity, built upon preceding reputations and the hypothesis that Spurs had swapped a one-man team for an eleven-man team, but eventually never came anywhere that billing. In fact, the failings of Tottenham’s summer 2013 transfer policy have effectively undone the hard work of Harry Redknapp’s four year tenure which pushed them upon the peripheries of the Champions League.
Few anticipate Liverpool to stage another title charge this year, but the new signings were expected to fill Luis Suarez’ almighty void considerably better than they’ve done thus far. Like Tottenham, Liverpool went for improved depth across all departments and in parody of the Lilywhites’ decisions regarding Gareth Bale, they decided not to source a direct like-for-like replacement to Suarez.
But the Uruguayan’s intensity and quality set the tone for the rest of the team; he came to epitomise Liverpool’s tenacious-yet-progressive philosophy last season. In the absence of a similar talismanic figure, the Reds have lacked that sense of urgency both with and without the ball.
There have been other intrinsic mistakes at Anfield this year. Rodgers claimed Liverpool’s summer spending would pan out differently to Tottenham’s, in part due to the fact he invested around half his funds in Premier League-proven players – it’s indisputable that Rickie Lambert, Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana and Mario Balotelli have all demonstrated the quality and suitability to be playing for top English sides. Spurs on the other hand, splashed out on seven players who had never set foot in the Premier League before.
Yet three of Liverpool’s starting back four have changed since last season, with Martin Skrtel now commonly accompanied by summer signings Alberto Moreno, Javier Manquillo and Lovren. The lack of continuity has resulted in shambolic defending and the fifth-worst goals conceded column in the Premier League.
And continuity is the underlying theme. Liverpool have by no means eradicated their core in the same manner Tottenham did – Pepe Reina and Daniel Agger where the only other notable departures this summer, whereas Spurs said goodbye to Scott Parker, William Gallas, Steven Caulker, Tom Huddlestone and Clint Dempsey in the same window as Bale, soon followed by Jermain Defoe in January – but the inclusion of so many new first team players at Anfield, in terms of philosophy, tactics and formation, has caused more problems than solved.
An adaption period is inevitable, yet some signings directly conflict with the style of play we witnessed from Liverpool last term; Rickie Lambert and Mario Balotelli for example, although two talented strikers, do not fit Liverpool’s breakneck-paced attacking mantra and their limited mobility has resulted in just one collective goal in 467 minutes of Premier League football. Likewise, Lazar Markovic, the joint-second largest Liverpool transfer under Rodgers, is still struggling to overcome the power, pace, intensity and quality of the English game.
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Once again, one can call upon Tottenham Hotspur to offer comparison. Their huge turnaround left them struggling for a sense of identity, and in Roberto Soldado they purchased a striker completely alien to their style of play. In 2011/2012 and 2012/13, the Lilywhites recorded the second-most shots per match of any Premier League side, 47% and 56% respectively of which were from outside the box, yet at Valencia, the Spain international was famed for his predatory instincts in the penalty area – he could count his amount of goals from over 18 yards for Los Che on one hand.
You can argue both Liverpool and Spurs were left with little choice to invest such prolific sums in squad depth after losing key players – the temptation to do so is certainly understandable.
Yet, both clubs have proved that integrating so many signings of varied backgrounds at the same time, whilst attempting to reinvent formulas that can compensate for the departure of talismanic entities, is a near impossible task.
Tottenham fell into that trap and so did the Reds – it may not be the most popular decision with the supporters amid the ever-theatrical Hollywood tones of deadline day, but the next Premier League club to be lauded with unprecedented finance for surrendering a star of Suarez or Bale’s quality, would likely be better off holding onto their money.
When Lacina Traore scored in the dying minutes of the first-half, Liverpool fans may have been forgiven in giving a jealous glance at Anzhi’s giant centre-forward. Fast-forward a couple of week, Liverpool have now been rumoured with the player. Would you have him?
Out of the targets rumoured, the striker would represent the best fit for Liverpool, if their transfer policy is anything to go by. At 6ft 8′ the striker measures as one of the tallest players in the world. So there wouldn’t be trouble finding him in the box. Like a lot of tall strikers at the moment, he’s not just a good target man, but he can actually play football. With Rodgers hoping to sell Andy Carroll to West Ham or anyone else that would have him, Traore may provide a cheaper alternative.
However with Anzhi being owned by Billionaire Suleyman Kerimov, I don’t see why they have to sell. This club has the highest paid football player in the world. The only way I could see him joining Liverpool is if his chances were limited at Anzhi’s, with the Premier League a very decent destination.
From what I’ve seen of him, Lacina Traore would be a decent addition to the Premier League if he were to play how Ba, Crouch and Adebayor play their football. However I’m not quite sure yet if he would be able to deal with the physicality of the Premier League, cliché aside. I also don’t think he possesses some of the skills that Ba posses, an I think that would be an area that he should look to improve on. The Premier League is full of dynamic players, Traore would do good in following in their stead.
So I think I’m gonna have to say that I think this rumour is pants, but I would like to be proved wrong. Nah really I would.
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