Alan Hutton has now dropped a big Glasgow Rangers transfer claim on Cedric Itten.
The Lowdown: Exit on the cards?
As per Football Insider, a source from the Ibrox faithful has revealed that the club are now ‘open’ to letting Itten go out on loan again in the summer, or even letting him go completely.
The Switzerland international spent the first half of the season on loan at German side Greuther Furth, where he scored two goals, but has since been recalled back by Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Transfermarkt).
However, he has not been picked for a matchday squad since the 3-0 loss away at Celtic in the Scottish Premiership back in early February.
The Latest: Hutton reacts
Speaking to Football Insider, former Teddy Bears right-back Hutton has claimed that Itten will now be ‘moving on’ this summer:
“It’s more what we haven’t seen from him.
“He came back into the fold but hasn’t been involved a lot under the new manager. You just think that maybe he’s had a look at him and thought that the options ahead of him are good enough.
“There’s no space for him in the matchday squads – which can be difficult when you have to leave players out.
“I do feel for him that way.
“But the bigger picture is that it hasn’t worked out for him, and that can be how it works out – sometimes it doesn’t run smoothly.
“In the summer he needs to be thinking about his future and playing football. You’d think that he’ll be moving on to pastures new.”
The Verdict: Sell
The Light Blues should not waste their time with any more loans for Itten, and instead should be looking to sell the striker on permanently.
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He is simply £14,000-per-week to stay, and when he has played, he has not exactly lit the world alight, with just seven goals in two seasons in a Gers shirt.
Nonetheless, RFC already have plenty of forward options, and so Itten would not be missed.
In other news, find out which ‘excellent’ attacker Rangers are now eyeing here!
Tom Cairney has been touted as a transfer target for numerous clubs this summer, including West Ham United.
It is easy to see why the midfielder is wanted given his impressive performances for the Cottagers over the last few seasons.
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During the 2017-18 campaign, Cairney scored six goals and created five assists in 37 appearances for Fulham.
Now that the club are back in the Premier League thanks to their playoff final win over Aston Villa, it is understandable that they want to keep hold of one of their best players.
How far will England get in Russia? Tell us now and win any World Cup shirt of your choice.
On Thursday, the club announced via their official website that Cairney has signed a new five-year contract, which means that West Ham and co have missed out on a potential new signing.
Judging by the reaction on social media, the Hammers’ following are not too cut up about it, and perhaps that is because Jack Wilshere is believed to be on the verge of moving to the London Stadium.
According to Sky Sports News, the midfielder is close to agreeing a deal after ending his 17-year spell at Arsenal.
Comment from discussion West Ham target Tom Cairney reportedly signs new 5-year deal with Fulham..Comment from discussion West Ham target Tom Cairney reportedly signs new 5-year deal with Fulham..Comment from discussion West Ham target Tom Cairney reportedly signs new 5-year deal with Fulham..Comment from discussion West Ham target Tom Cairney reportedly signs new 5-year deal with Fulham..Comment from discussion West Ham target Tom Cairney reportedly signs new 5-year deal with Fulham..Comment from discussion West Ham target Tom Cairney reportedly signs new 5-year deal with Fulham..
Resignation – something tendered by the now former President Christian Wulff on Friday morning. No one at Bayern Munich will offer theirs yet but in deepest Badem-Wuttemberg, Germany’s most successful club slipped further behind Borussia Dortmund in the race for the title.
The Reds are now third, the same position they finished last season after another tepid away showing. Jupp Heycnkes, who was in charge last year at runners up Bayer Leverkusen, is unfamiliar to poor showings on the road. With his previous employers, he enjoyed the best away record in the division in the 2010/2011 season.
However, Bayern’s off colour showing at lowly Freiburg means his side have only won two of their last eight away matches in the Bundesliga. Their opponents on Saturday evening deserve credit for their determined performance. It might just irk Freiburg fans though that they’re the bottom placed side in Germany’s elite, in the knowledge their team can perform to that standard.
Two of their relegation rivals also had the challenge of trying to upset another two of the division’s high fliers. However, neither the recently wretched Hertha Berlin nor Kaiserslautern were able to overcome either of the league’s Borussias. Both victories were narrow which is of credit to the basement battlers. Hertha were greeted with the news on Friday that Otto Rehhagel would take over the vacant manager’s position or should it be Captain Otto?
He told Bild: “The Hertha ship has not sunk, but it has a large leak. I always have the last word. I am now there for Hertha, day and night, and I am always punctual.” His imminent arrival was unable to prevent Kevin Grosskreutz from grabbing a 1-0 win for Dortmund, maintaining the Champions position at the top.
Monchengladbach moved into second meanwhile as they emerged victorious at the Betzenberg, in a game which had two outstanding goals. Hermann put the away side ahead before a beautiful intricate move ended in Arango using the outside of his left foot to curl the ball past Kevin Trapp. Leon Jessen’s 30 yard thunderbolt halved the deficit but the counter attacking demons of Gladbach held on, meaning the Foals moved ahead of Bayern Munich for the first time since August.
The one place where Bayern have found consistency is at home, winning nine of their eleven at the Allianz Arena. However, Schalke visit next weekend.They’re now the top scorers in the Bundesliga having beaten Wolfsburg 4-0 on Sunday. Next weekend’s match-up will see the league’s top goalscorers, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Mario Gomez go head to head. Should the Royal Blues win, they’ll move above their hosts. Huub Stevens must seek inspiration from the forces above – no, nothing supernatural, just Gladbach and Dortmund who have both won in Munich this season
Each of the top four have key players missing currently and the table shows who’s currently coping the best. Lying just four points off the top, it would be foolish to rule Bayern out of the title race, although they are starting to lose vital ground on leaders Borussia Dortmund.
However, they haven’t had the panache of Champions. As Captain Philip Lahm stated after Saturday’s game, “If we continue to play like we did today, it will be hard to win the title.” Whilst they are not resigned to losing the title just yet, anyone connected with Bayern Munich will have felt more than an air of resignation after their latest performance.
For more on the Bundesliga, follow @arhindtutt on Twitter.
Matchday 22 Results:
Hoffenheim 1-1 Mainz
Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 Augsburg
Hamburg 1-3 Werder Bremen
Hertha Berlin 0-1 Borussia Dortmund
Kaiserslautern 1-2 Gladbach
Nuremberg 2-1 Cologne
Freiburg 0-0 Bayern Munich
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In ancient Rome people used to say that the greatest compliment that could be paid to a woman was that she was not talked about or mentioned by anyone. I think the same rule applies to referees today. More and more referees are being scrutinized: by the fans, the media, the managers and the players. Everyone and anyone that feels slightly peeved feels entitled to constantly criticise referees so much so that they are rarely talked about in a positive light. The result of this was for the rules to become ever more rigid making it clearer for referees to understand exactly what each situation called for. However has this situation lead to a lack of common sense being used by the men who take charge of our sport?
Every sport needs rules, but the reason we have referees is because we understand that every situation is different. There needs to be some element of human judgement, but that does not mean it is necessarily used.
Inconsistencies
Billy Sharp, the Doncaster striker whose newborn son died just days after being born, celebrated his goal against Middlesbrough by lifting his shirt to reveal a message to his son. Darren Deadman, the referee for the game, did not book Sharp. This is just one of many examples of where a referee should be able to use his common sense, and he should be applauded for it. It does not happen enough.
As Paolo Bandini points out in the Guardian: Romario, on his final appearance for Brazil, revealed a shirt that said “I have a little daughter with Down’s syndrome who is a princess.” He got booked.
Take Robin Van Persie’s red card at the Nou Camp last season. Yes, to kick away the ball after the whistle has blown can be punished with a yellow card. But did the referee make the right choice to give Robin his second yellow? Maybe Van Persie couldn’t hear the whistle above the 110,000 strong crowd, maybe he could; but did he really think it was worth sending off a player in such an important match? Who knows whether it would have changed the game or not, Arsenal were playing terribly but they only needed one goal to go through.
Perhaps Massimo Busacca and the other referees who fail to act with common sense fear reprisals from their superiors, or perhaps they lack confidence within their own common sense and so refuse to use it. Either way the situation needs to be addressed.
On the one hand FIFA and UEFA give backing to their referees by saying that goal line, and other, technology is not necessary but on the other hand the referees clearly do not feel confident enough to bend the rules for the sake of a flowing game. And they should. One of the main criticisms of goal line technology is that it breaks up the flow of our sport, that it slows it down and makes it less entertaining. Well, bad refereeing is doing this anyway. FIFA and UEFA need to create an environment whereby although there are rigid rules referees are still given some level of autonomy, the last thing we need is for the rules to restricting those who enforce them.
Solution
There is no easy solution to this problem. If we accept that referees, as humans, are able to use common sense then we must also accept that, as humans, they are liable to make mistakes. But the attitude towards them from all parties can change and enhance their performance. In rugby the referee has total control, the absence of abuse allows the referees to have confidence in their decisions and if, in particular situations, they feel unsure they can consult a technological aide. The result? You rarely hear of mistakes. Of course they still happen but the difference is that in rugby they give their referee every bit of help they can. They recognise the importance of the job and the respect deserved. In football it seems we do everything we can to make it as difficult as possible, and their performances suffer as a result.
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Over the years some great players have pulled on a West Ham shirt, however there has also been a long list of truly bizarre and utterly frustrating catastrophes.
Narrowing it down to a top (or bottom) five proved a challenge due to the revolving door policy under Harry Redknapp, the over-priced, over-rated, has-beens of the Curbishley regime and the just downright ill conceived, reactionary purchases of Avram Grant and Glenn Roeder.
So the final shortlist is players that stand out for their shear bizarre ineptitude and incompetence that left many of us tearing our hair out and screaming into a cushion.
I could have made a list based on purely loan players that were never fit to wear the shirt, and there have been a lot of those. These include Sasa Ilic, who only played 50 minutes for the Hammers but managed to inspire Everton to a 4-0 victory at Upton Park before getting subbed.
Recently he appeared in some low budget films in his native Serbia, some say he had been acting as a goalkeeper his whole career. Mido was another shocker, he offered to play for just £1,000 a week, which appealed to the board at a time when our finances were in a similar state to Greece’s, it looks like we over-paid though.
Wayne Quinn took the biscuit. He was brought in with a host of loans signings during the first season back in the old Division 1 in 2003, his lack of pace, positioning, awareness and general ability to even kick a football amazed and confused fans and opponents alike. But as none of these geniuses were actual West Ham players they have all been left out for people we had to actually sign and waste money on.
First up in the hall of shame and propping up the rear with his massive backside, at number five, it’s Titi Camara. One of the many wastes of space Redknapp inflicted on us as he squandered the £18m we got for Rio Ferdinand. He was signed from Liverpool after earning a bit of a cult status for scoring some vital goals and playing after the death of his father.
At West Ham he only earned hatred and ridicule as he made 14 appearances between 2000 and 2003 before being loaned to Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia. During his spell he failed to score a single goal and when the club cancelled his contract for being useless and over-weight he tried to sue them…he was unsuccessful. He is now the sports minister and manager of the Guinea national team.
Number four is Joey Beauchamp. Signed by Billy Bonds as a promising young winger in 1994 for a then club record of £1.2m. After complaining about feeling home sick (for Oxford of all places) he couldn’t handle the traffic during his travel down the M40 to training each day. He was sold to Swindon (only 20 miles nearer to Oxford) without playing a competitive game.
Beauchamp makes the list purely because his sod-this-for-a-laugh attitude to football caused Bonds to question his faith in the game. Later he returned to Oxford United and became a very popular player for them. His story took a darker turn as he recently admitted to battling with drink and depression following his retirement.
Coming in at three is Marco Boogers. A Dutch striker signed by Redknapp from Sparta Rotterdam in 1995 as an answer to our goal scoring woes. In only his second appearance during an away trip to Old Trafford he was sent off early on for assaulting Gary Neville. Although extreme violence against Gary Neville is not he worst crime in the world, Boogers then legged it to Holland and reportedly hid in a caravan.
This turned out to be an urban myth and began with a misunderstanding by a journalist who heard ‘caravan’ instead of ‘car again’ when asking about Boogers travel arrangements to his rehab in Holland. He made a further two substitute appearances, then a recurring knee injury and a major case of don’t-fancy-it-itis saw him return permanently to the Low Countries. After he left Redknapp described him as an awful player and stated that he’d only seen him play in a video in which he looked ‘world class’…. a lesson there maybe?
The number two spot goes to the enigmatic Savio Nsereko. Supposedly a promising young striker who starred for the German under-19s, he was one of the more bizarre signings as part of Gianluca Nani’s ‘project’ during Gianfranco Zola tenure. He was signed to replace Craig Bellamy in the 2009 transfer window for reportedly up to £9m with add-ons from Brescia. Savio, as he was known, made a handful of less then average appearances in which he looked out of his depth in the Premier League, even against Hull and West Brom.
In the press conference at his unveiling his high-pitched voice sounded strangely similar to that of Michael Jackson’s, and as it turned out he kind of played like him too. He was later swapped as part of the Manual Da Costa deal with Fiorentina, where he failed to impress and was bounced around Europe in a succession of ever worsening loan moves. Most recently he fetched up at Serie B side Juve Stabia where he is now AWOL (for the second time) and currently being hunted by Interpol.
But the king of bad West Ham signings is Gary Breen. His constant poor performances during the 2002/03 relegation season have now become synonymous with the emotional roller-coaster of supporting West Ham and even inspired a book on the subject by Robert Banks.
Glenn Roeder signed him on a free transfer as Breen was without a club and had turned in some impressive performances for the Republic of Ireland during the 2002 World Cup, in particular scoring against known world beaters Saudi Arabia. On that basis Breen had the pick of European clubs, he chose West Ham over some ‘generous offers’, reportedly Inter Milan and Barcelona, and more realistically Charlton. In an interview reminiscent of David Brent in The Office he stated on Sky’s Goals on Sunday in 2009 that he would have moved to the San Siro if he hadn’t failed a medical.
After an infamous bust-up with Roeder following a defeat away to Manchester United, in which he was heavily blamed for many of the goals, Breen tried to suggest the wet turf was the reason he was unable to play to his usual high standard and even posses the most basic levels of foot and eye co-ordination. The Manchester United players seemed to cope with the conditions as they ended up winning 6-0. Breen was let go in the cull following relegation that year after making 18 embarrassing appearances.
Although no list of terrible West Ham players would be complete without mentioning superstars such as Gary Charles, Benni McCarthy, Nigel Quashie and Keiron Dyer, who will only be remembered as a drain on resources and taking vast amounts of money for being either drunk, fat, rubbish or constantly injured (in that order) and lacking any integrity or professionalism when it came to their supposed careers, the main five stick out as the biggest horror shows.
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Kevin Nolan has urged former Newcastle United teammate Joey Barton to join him at West Ham, the Mirror reports.
The former Magpies captain moved to Upton Park in June after a falling out with the clubs hierarchy over a new contract.
Barton has also quarrelled with owner Mike Ashley after his outbursts on Twitter and is available to leave St James Park on a free transfer.
Nolan believes Barton needs to escape the tyranny on Tyneside and insists he’ll be appreciated more in East London.
“Would Joey Barton come here? Well, I came here, so I can’t see why Joey Barton would not come,” Nolan said.
“It is a massive club. The way he has been treated over the last couple of years, he is probably looking for an escape.
“He knows I’m here, he knows Sam [who signed Barton for Newcastle in June 2007] is here and what we are about – I can look after him and he can look after me!”
With a year left on his contract Barton could leave Newcastle before the transfer window closes.
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It was current Hammers boss Sam Allardyce who signed him during his brief tenure on Tyneside but whether Barton would be prepared to drop down a division remains to be seen.
On Saturday afternoon, I left my usual ritual of watching Soccer Saturday and tested the waters of Final Score on BBC. After a few minutes they went to Carrow Road to hear of Norwich City’s fourth goal and after hearing an account of Grant Holt’s header, they returned to the studio to discuss how worrying it was that Newcastle United had fallen to seventh in the league and picked up just one point from four games.
Having seen Match of the Day my opinion of BBC’s football coverage is poor but in a matter of moments my estimation of the channel plummeted to unknown depths. It seemed ridiculous to be concerned about the Magpies because they have made a mockery of pre-season expectations so far.
More importantly, while the facts are true and the team hasn’t collected many points in recent weeks, they have faced the top three sides in the country during this cruel pre-Christmas period and played a fourth game without a recognised centre-back. It would be fair comment to mention the need for a defensive signing because their squad is awfully small, but to predict a slide down the league because of these results is appalling punditry.
Let’s not forget, when they travelled to the Etihad Stadium they faced the only other unbeaten league side. Up until the first goal they had looked strong as well, limiting the new, expressive Manchester City to very few efforts and even creating a few of their own through the mighty Demba Ba and Ben Arfa fit a post in the second period. It was two penalties and a rare defensive mistake that cost them the game but they didn’t appear overrun by the league leaders and bagged themselves a late goal.
Then they faced second-placed United, who had won five and drawn one of the six games that followed their drubbing in the Manchester derby. Despite the fact they were demolished by City, Old Trafford should still be considered a fortress and it is intimidating for most visiting sides. Although the game will be best remembered for Newcastle grabbing their equaliser from a penalty that never was in front of the Stretford End at Old Trafford, they put in a fantastic battling performance, particularly when they had their backs to the wall during the final 15 minutes after Gutierrez’s sending off and Tim Krul put in an inspired display to keep out everything that was thrown at him. They were lucky to receive the penalty and have a linesman that correctly ruled out a last minute Hernandez goal, but they created chances of their own which brought good saves from David de Gea and ultimately deserved to take something from the match.
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At the end of the terrible trilogy they had to face a Chelsea side with something to prove. Andre Villas-Boas has been under pressure and a defeat at St James’ Park would have been a catastrophe. Up until Didier Drogba’s goal, Newcastle had been all over them, creating magnificent chances and forcing errors from a nervy Blues backline, most significantly a moment of madness from Sideshow Bob lookalike David Luiz who should have been given a red card that would have swung the match in favour of the Toon Army. They had looked composed and confident throughout the half until going behind and for long periods in the second half they looked most likely to trouble the scoresheet. Losing Coloccini hit them hard as did finishing the game with ten men because of Steven Taylor’s injury. A fully-fit Taylor may have been able to prevent Torres’ burst forward to stop the second goal and would have filled the gaps in the defence for their third.
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Against any other teams these performances would have gained a much larger tally than one point. But with a depleted line-up they were unable to conjure up another big display against Norwich. Having James Perch and Danny Simpson as a makeshift central defensive partnership it was unlikely to breed confidence in a side whose success has been helped by a consistent starting eleven. Battling with Grant Holt and Steve Morison was always going to be difficult to two players who do not have an abundance of height or strength in comparison to the striker’s and it was no surprise that three of the four goals came from headers. A depleted midfield also didn’t help matters, especially when Dan Gosling, one of the players drafted in, made a mistake which led to the Canaries’ third goal and then proceeded to get himself sent off. Demba Ba’s performance however was a highlight, bagging two goals as his team-mates put in their only poor performance during the last month, something that brought a bizarre amount of criticism.
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The fact that pundits expected Newcastle to get more from their games against the top three shows how much they have achieved this season. After losing Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton and Jose Enrique in the summer, people had them as relegation candidates this campaign but instead some great signings by Alan Pardew has got them fighting it out at the top while they watch their biggest rivals try to avoid the drop instead. Newcastle United need another defender to give them cover but if they are still in seventh place in May, which is quite possible, the Toon Army will be ecstatic. It is without doubt that they will be upset to lose to Norwich but they will take unfortunate defeats if they can still finish so high up the league. It’s a 38 game season and they have already had both away dates in Manchester so their fixture list looks a lot kinder. I’m sure Newcastle will score more than one point in their next four games BBC and hopefully stop the so-called “experts” from worrying.
Do you agree with the BBC pundits or should they leave Newcastle United alone? Comment below or tell me on Twitter @jrobbins1991.
After Chelsea’s defeat at the hands of Liverpool, it got me to thinking of the reaction of the man upstairs – no not God, he wouldn’t be too fussed, he is evidently a Barca fan – but Abramovich. I am sure the majority of people will feel that not only will Roman be using his speed dial to call Guus Hiddink, but also getting out the cheque book for January to purchase a very overpriced and unwanted centre forward – the usual solution to his problems. Early rumours suggest that Berbatov for £60 million is the favourite, but Roman is open to suggestions at this early stage.
On a more serious note, as much as I detest the excuse of being in transition, this is somewhat true in the case of Chelsea this season. It is not to say that AVB does not have much to learn – he does, and judging by the recent results, he is not the diet version of Mourinho as many Chelsea fans feared initially, but the Tesco Value version on the reduced shelf.
This being said, no matter who the manager, they would struggle with the Chelsea side at the minute, which is riddled with both division and the demise of a once great spine. Former key players Terry, Lampard and Drogba are not only the wrong side of thirty, but look a yard of pace short – especially in JT’s case, and off the field issues aside, Terry has serious issues to worry about concerning his form – or the lack of it.
For too long now the centre back has been covered by better partners – Gallas and Carvalho had more than a hand in the rock tight reputation the Chelsea defence once had, and now with less able partners – Luiz springs to mind here – Terry is exposed like never before and it is as evident as Rooney’s hair transplant.
This is not the only issue facing AVB, and much has been made of not only the lack of quality in the centre of the park, but also the issue surrounding the strike force at the Bridge, with strong intrest in both Drogba – who is in contract negotiations at Chelsea – and Anelka from AC Milan, which has only intensified since the heart surgery on Cassano. Neither are certain to be at Chelsea past January, and with one legged donkey Torres looking like he couldn’t finish his dinner, Chelsea’s one prospect up front is Danny Sturridge.
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No disrespect to the young lad, who is quite rightly highly respected, but when you compare this with City’s strike force, or Real Madrid’s, it becomes evident that Chelsea have a long way to go both domestically and in Europe before they can really be in contention for the top prizes again.
One thing that AVB must improve upon or risk deserved criticism is the way in which Chelsea defend. At best it can be described as poor, and is costing them points in key games. Once renowned for their mercenary defence, now there are gaping holes all over the field, little protection in front of the back four, with the centre back pairing defending as well as my 4 month old kittens could – and they chase their own tails.
This has been a long time coming for Chelsea, and Abramovich must take some blame for this as much as his money has saved and made the club – he is just as at risk of destroying all the work done through both his managerial merry go round providing no consistency for the players and the fans, and also forcing players on the managers.
Abramovich wants what he cannot have, and it is a case of the grass being greener. Mourinho provided unprecidented success, but this was not enough. Ancelotti won a title and FA Cup – not enough. Now in AVB Chelsea are at least exciting and uncertain to watch – mostly due to their defending. This is not even mentioning the alarming rise in player power at Chelsea – a Real Madrid situation is not what the club need and it must be stopped before it really starts.
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Chelsea need a manager who can build a dynasty at the club, and AVB is both young enough and talented enough to do this – think back to Fergie when he took over United – for the first couple of seasons his job was in real jeopardy as he tried to rebuild the club and put his faith in the youth. This is something AVB must be given time to do. In three years if things are just as bad and the team are regressing, then yes it will be time for what seems the hundredth manager in the last 8 years, but for now, Abramovich must give him time and support, or risk the club becoming a laughing stock – and an unsuccessful one at that.
Arsenal look set to land long-term target Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain according to the Telegraph with Arsene Wenger finally making moves in the transfer market.
The Southampton winger has been tracked by the Gunners for some time and now looks set to follow in the footsteps of former Saint Theo Walcott in moving to North London.
A fee of £12 million has been protracted with Arsenal paying £7 million up front and the remaining £5 million being paid through performance-related add-ons.
Southampton’s insistence of adding a 40 per cent sell-on fee almost caused the deal to collapse only for both parties to reach an agreement after further talks.
His move to the Emirates will certainly prove to be a major coup for Wenger with the 17-year-old also being monitored by Liverpool and Manchester United.
However the England Under-21 star has always maintained that his preference was a move to the Emirates. Despite the prospect of a season of limited Premier League action he is keen to make the move to London.
It will also be a substantial boost to Wenger and the Gunners fan who have endured a difficult summer in the transfer market so far.
The deal for Oxlade-Chamberlain will certainly appease those in the stands who have craved some serious transfer activity with Gervinho the only major incoming.
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Arsenal expect the deal to be completed this week with personal terms expected to be a mere formality.
We get a lot of criticism in this country for the way we produce our players. Accusations of a coaching mentality based on direct football and not enough investment in our youth appears to be in stark contrast to better-organised foreign national academies such as France’s Clairefontaine, one of twelve national academies in France.
Gareth Southgate, Head of Elite Development at the FA, has been one of the major critics for the way we coach our football and has suggested that the way we start coaching young players should be different. Southgate proposed preventing players from playing eleven a side games until they were thirteen. His reasoning for this was that similar systems occur in Spain, France and Italy. The benefits of this proposal are that players concentrate more on technique and skill as opposed to physicality and athleticism.
Everyone can see why this would be positive for the English game, too rarely do we see players such as Wilshere or Rooney come through with such natural ability and technique. However this doesn’t mean we should abandon the ‘English’ style of football altogether, nor does it mean that we can’t find a balance between the way we coach now and the continental approach.
Wallsend
Undoubtedly one of the most successful junior football teams in England, Wallsend graduates include: Alan Shearer, Peter Beardsley, Michael Bridges, Steve Bruce, Michael Carrick, Steven Taylor and Brian Laws. Wallsend, a suburb of Newcastle, has produced sixty-seven professional footballers in all and thirty-four coaches. They must be doing something right.
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Senrab F.C.
Based in East London Senrab is our other bastion of English coaching. A true vindication of the way we coach our youth the Sunday League club has produced players such as: Sol Campbell, Jermain Defoe, John Terry, Bobby Zamora and Ledley King as well as coaches like Ray Wilkins and Alan Curbishley.
Between these two clubs some of our country’s best players have been produced. Brian Laws, one of Wallsend’s graduates, told The Telegraph that the Tyneside outfit taught him:
“Guidance and discipline. It was always very well organised, everything always ran smoothly. Kids’ football could be pretty chaotic, but not at Wallsend…you were treated like a pro. It gave you a sense of comfort, and you’d do everything the best you could…they were good people and you gave them your all.”
Lessons to be learned
Our academy systems in England may not be perfect, but that does not mean that the formula is completely wrong. People criticise English coaching for a whole number of reasons but a large part of that is a consequence of the failures of the national team. People see the failures of the national team as a failure of the way those players have been taught. And maybe to a certain extent that is the case. However it is far more likely that there are simply not enough clubs like Wallsend or Senrab around. Perhaps before completely revamping the coaching system in this country people like Gareth Southgate, with his position of responsibility, should try to learn from these few successful clubs before forcing them to change their approach.
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Before we look abroad to find examples of success we should be looking at examples of success in our own country. Yes we can take positives from foreign systems and incorporate them in to our own, not to do so would be both ignorant and arrogant, but that doesn’t mean that there are not many strengths in the way our coaching is carried out. We have produced some of the best players in the world in this country and our failures on the international stage are down to a number of reasons, not just the lack of basic training for under fourteens.
Follow Hamish Mackay on Twitter @H_Mackay
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