Arsenal
Sol Campbell believes it will be difficult for anybody to match his unique achievement of representing England at six consecutive major international tournaments between 1996 and 2006. “It will be very hard for someone to do that again,” he said. “They will have to start at the age of 20 and qualify for all the European Championships and World Cups during their career.”
Aston Villa
Stan Collymore is confident Aston Villa’s appearance in the Carling Cup final later this month will provide them with a platform to generate sustained success. Former England and Villa striker Collymore believes Villa’s crop of youngsters will benefit in the same way as Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs reaped the rewards of tasting trophy glory early in their careers at Manchester United. Villa will face the Red Devils at Wembley on 28th February in what will be their first appearance in a final since the 2000 FA Cup showpiece against Chelsea. Collymore said: “It’s fantastic Villa have got to a final – but the game with United should be regarded as just the start for Villa. The club have a lot of players who are young in terms of both age and experience and they will benefit enormously from just walking into the Wembley dressing room and being involved in such a big occasion. It’s 10 years since Villa got to a final and I do feel this can be the springboard to regular success over the next few seasons. Martin O’Neill has built a squad based on some fantastic young players and the Carling Cup final will be an important learning curve for them. Something tells me they will become accustomed to reaching cup finals.”
Birmingham City
James McFadden believes his Birmingham team-mate Barry Ferguson still has “a big contribution” to make for Scotland. Ferguson’s international career looked under serious threat when he was not considered for selection after off-the-field incidents last season when on duty with his country. But new Scotland manager Craig Levein has indicated the slate will be wiped clean for all potential members of his squad. And fellow Scot McFadden feels 32-year-old Ferguson’s excellent form at St Andrew’s during the current campaign means he would be worthy of a recall. McFadden said: “Everybody that watches Birmingham can see what a good player Barry is. In his last year up in Scotland, he was maybe starting to doubt himself a little bit but he has come here and shown everybody exactly how good he is. He has been brilliant for Birmingham and a big part of the reason that we’ve had such a great run. I think he’s still got a big contribution to make in the international scene. I think it would be great for the country if Barry did come back in.”
Blackburn Rovers
Sam Allardyce believes Yildiray Basturk can “resurrect” his career at Blackburn and prove a “major player” for the remainder of the season. The 31-year-old Turkey midfielder has joined the club on loan from Stuttgart until the end of the season. Basturk was a member of the Bayer Leverkusen side that reached the 2002 Champions League final but his recent career has stalled. Allardyce told the club’s official website: “This is about trying to extract a top-quality player’s ability, resurrect it. He has not been playing regularly for some time and been cast aside by his club in Germany. He wanted to come and prove himself in the Premier League and for us to have the opportunity to give him that platform is quite exciting. We will put him through his paces in the next two or three weeks to bring him up to speed physically and then hopefully with desire and determination he could be a major player for us at the back end of the season.”
bolton wanderers
Owen Coyle claims his playing days are now behind him and he is concentrating on getting the team up the table. Coyle, 43, had a run-out for the reserves earlier in the season when he was in charge of Burnley. But since then he has not had pulled on his boots, and said: “I am not registered. The reason I played was purely and simply to help the younger players we had at Burnley. Those days are long gone. I am probably resigned to the Masters now.”
burnley
Jack Cork is hoping to make his father proud and prove he can cut it in the top flight with Burnley. The England Under-21 midfielder could make his debut on Saturday against West Ham after arriving on loan from Chelsea until the end of the season. It is a step up for Cork after similar spells with Bournemouth, Scunthorpe, Southampton, Watford and, most recently, Coventry. Dad Alan, who helped Wimbledon’s ‘Crazy Gang’ lift the 1988 FA Cup, will be taking a keen interest, and Cork Jnr said: “I can take a lot from him as he tried to help out and tried to help me improve. He had a really good career and played his fair share of games. Mind you he was a different type of player to me. He was the kind who would shout ‘Get into the box and head it son’. He was part of the Crazy Gang and all that stuff. All I remember was the long beard and the bald head!”
Chelsea
Despite dropping two points in a 1-1 draw with Hull City on Tuesday, Carlo Ancelotti was far from downcast. “We don’t have to be disappointed, sometimes it can happen that we draw. But we have two points at the top of the table and we have to look forward,” he said. “We are in a good position, we are top and we know Manchester United are a very good opponent. It will be a long race until the end of the season but for now we are happy to be two points ahead. Every game now is very, very important. Every game can decide the future of the season.”
everton
Loan signing Philippe Senderos will be a hit at Everton, according to his Switzerland manager Ottmar Hitzfeld. “First of all his personality,” Hitzfeld said when asked about the defender’s strengths. “He is a true leader of any team. He is the one who opens his mouth not only during games, but also in training sessions. He simply is unable to accept defeats, he cannot lose. He’s very strong in the air, and he knows how to read the game. He is a great character both on the pitch and outside. He is not a person, he is personality.”
Fulham
Fulham completed the loan signings of striker Stefano Okaka and defender Nicky Shorey on Monday afternoon and the club have confirmed squad numbers for the two players. Roma striker and Italy U21 international Okaka will wear the number 9 shirt while former England defender Shorey will wear Fulham’s number 7 shirt.
Hull City
Phil Brown felt a missed opportunity by Anthony Gardner was pivotal in his side’s battling 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea. Steven Mouyokolo put the unfancied hosts ahead after half an hour only for Didier Drogba to level before the interval. Defender Gardner missed a glorious chance to restore the Tigers’ lead before the break when he headed Tom Cairney’s flighted free-kick over from just a couple of yards. And Brown said: “We went 1-0 up and I was disappointed with the goal we conceded. Not to go 2-1 up just before half-time was the biggest disappointment though, because Anthony had a great chance. Then you’ve got the second half and you’ve got to defend valiantly, which we did. But we played some great football too, we put them under pressure – no doubt about it. We fully deserved a point and maybe even all three.”
Liverpool
Assistant Sammy Lee has revealed that Fabio Aurelio could be in contention for Saturday’s Merseyside derby. The Brazilian has been out since suffering a calf injury in the match at Stoke City just over a fortnight ago but has now returned to training and could yet be involved against Everton. “Fabio is back in training which is good news,” Lee told Liverpoolfc.tv. “Whether he will be ready for Saturday, well we will have to assess that in the next few days.”
Manchester City
Defender Pablo Zabaleta is set to wear a mask against Hull on Saturday to protect a broken nose. Zabaleta suffered the injury in the victory over Portsmouth at the weekend after an accidental blow from Kevin-Prince Boateng but he is keen to maintain his record of playing every match under new manager Roberto Mancini. Vincent Kompany has been ruled against Hull with a groin strain while Patrick Vieira remains doubtful with a calf injury.
Manchester United
Edwin van der Sar believes United’s superior experience could be a key factor from February as the finale to an exciting league campaign unfolds. “Experience definitely helps,” he said. “You’ve been there before – you’ve been through narrow escapes and played in must-win games and you know how to handle them. The more you go through these situations the better you are at dealing with them. There’s a moment in your career where it clicks and you think, ‘I’ve been in this situation.”
Portsmouth
He played five minutes at Manchester City on Sunday and now Quincy Owusu-Abeyie is hungry for more. The 23-year-old replaced Hayden Mullins to make his debut in Pompey’s 2-0 defeat at Eastlands. “I played five minutes against City which was good and hopefully I can be involved in the next few games,” he said. “We played very well in the first half on Sunday and missed some good chances. They had two chances and scored them both – that’s how football goes sometimes. The most important thing for us now is to try to turn some of these good performances into good results. I’m not worried about anything that’s happening off the pitch – I’m just here to play games and help Pompey pick up some points. It’s up to me now to get my head down in training and perform on the pitch.”
Stoke City
Dean Whitehead admits he was a bit lucky to stay on the pitch after kicking Sunderland’s Lee Cattermole in an off-the ball clash on Monday night. Whitehead said: “First of all it was a 50-50 with Cattermole, then the ball broke loose,” he explained. “He sort of got in my way and, to be fair, I do think I was slightly lucky to stay on the pitch. Sometimes you get them your way, sometimes you don’t. but I did this time.”
sunderland
Steve Bruce has challenged new signing Benjani to push Kenwyne Jones all the way for a place in his starting line-up. Bruce said last week he wanted Benjani in addition to Jones, despite weeks of speculation over Jones’ future. And having finally got his hands on the 31-year-old Manchester City player when a last-gasp loan deal was pushed through, Bruce is hoping Benjani will provide competition for Jones as the pair bid for a place alongside 15-goal Darren Bent. Bruce said: “You can see a lot of similarities between the style of Kenwyne and Benjani. They are both very tall, very powerfully built front men who can cause defenders real problems on their day. They are both capable of making and creating goals too. But I don’t want Benjani to replace Kenwyne, I need him to give us another option because we have been a bit light in the striking department. Darren Bent has got us a stack load of goals this season, but I think that working off a big man is something he thrives upon, and Kenwyne has been a big help to him in that direction. So, getting Benjani in means that we still have the option of pairing a big man with Darren if Kenwyne gets suspended or injured. It’s reassuring for a manager to have competition for places up front and getting Benjani to the club gives us another body to consider, another option. He’s a player I have admired for a long time and I think he’s going to be an excellent addition to the squad.”
Tottenham Hotspur
Younes Kaboul says he’s returned to Spurs a better player after signing from Portsmouth. “I’m glad to be back at Spurs,” he said. “I had a good time at Portsmouth and now I’m very happy to be back. I learned a lot at Portsmouth. I learned all about the Premier League because I played every game. I learned every day in training and on the pitch. I have a little more experience and now I have to do the same here at Spurs.”
west ham united
West Ham insist they will not break the bank to retain star goalkeeper Rob Green and captain Matthew Upson. The duo have 18 months left on their existing Upton Park deals and both are yet to agree on extended terms. “Our priority was to work hard until the transfer window closed,” co-owner David Gold said. “We wanted to get a few players in. Now we’ve done that we have to ensure Premier League survival. We can now sit down and look at players’ contracts. With regards to Upson and Green, it depends on our finances. We will do everything we can to retain our best players, but at the same time we can’t spend money we don’t have.”
Wigan Athletic
Roberto Martinez warned Wigan they must learn the lessons from their profligacy in front of goal after falling victim to an FA Cup giant-killing at the hands of Notts County. “I think we all knew what to expect in this sort of game,” Martinez said. “They are going to get a lot of players behind the ball and work extremely hard, but we created a lot of chances. Probably the first one (Jason Scotland’s) was a clear example of the game. In these situations you need to score the first goal and that changes the game completely. You could see that we were getting frustrated and even though we started well in the second half, we couldn’t get the first goal. When that happens, there is that risk and you know you have a lot to lose. You are at home and the upset is on the cards, and I think we felt that way. But today is a day to congratulate Notts County and allow them to enjoy a huge achievement in going through to the fifth round. For us, it is to learn a few lessons, knowing that we have been a little bit low in terms of confidence in front of goal.”
wolverhampton wanderers
Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey has confirmed the Midlanders were one of the clubs beaten by Celtic to the loan signing of Tottenham’s Robbie Keane. “We asked about Robbie Keane and I spoke to Tottenham on a couple of occasions,” said Moxey. “We knew what his wages were and we would have done that but he wasn’t going to come to us. Almost every loan at this level also comes with a really hefty fee, but we would have pushed the boat out to get Robbie. In the end, though, the opportunity to fulfil a lifetime’s ambition to play for Celtic was too much of a pull.”
“Senderos simply is unable to accept defeats, he cannot lose” – Ottmar Hitzfeld
Credits: PremierLeague.com
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