Come on down! These days everyone wants to be taken over by a billionaire and then immediately get linked with players worth more than the entire debt of Africa. But how?

Ker-Ching! It’s easy! The Premier League title awaits, all you have to do is pick out a billionaire, flutter your eyelashes and as sure as houses they will want to take over your club because deep down that’s what they all want to do.

To save Chairmen time I have created a guide of the world’s top 20 richest people and matched them to the club of their dreams….

1. Warren Buffett $62bn
Bolton Wanderers

There’s none richer than modest Warren, but the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ has lived in the same ho-hum house in Dundee, Omaha, all his life. He only takes a $100k salary from his company and shuns the trappings of his status. A philanthropist to the core, his plan is to give away 31 billion of his fortune when he passes away. Despite his massive wealth the Oracle keeps a keen sense of humour and a common touch.

It’s unlikely that he would be interested in buying a soccer club but if he did it’s likely he’d plump for Bolton Wanderers. He’s not into the fancy life and would relate to their plucky stickability at the top despite their relatively small size.

2. Carlos Slim Helu $60bn
Hull

Say Hello to Helu Hull, the Mexican who loves sport and art. This communications investor knows how to donate money to needy causes. He has revitalised large areas of Mexico City with his cash and isn’t shy when it comes to funding health projects for the poor or providing web connectivity for students. Of Lebanese stock, he’s a naturally smart streetwise negotiator.

Carlos loves to spot an opportunity and develop it to full potential. He is far more likely to buy into a smaller club than one of the elite in the top four. Spurs or Everton would be possibles, but he may set his sites a touch lower and opt to go for Hull. Say hello to Kaka, Hull.

3. William Gates III $58bn
Middlesbrough

Mister Vista needs no introduction. The man behind the most infuriating operating system ever created will be looking for some challenges with his spare time now that he is winding down at Microsoft. Seeing as his wife runs their charity, he should have enough time and spare change leftover to stop saving the world from AIDS and work his magic in the Premier League.

As the greatest nerd of them all it is unlikely that Bill has spent much time dreaming of owning his own club, but as he has aged he has become a lot more open minded. He’s likely to want a club functional and not too flashy; Boro would fit the bill nicely.

4. Lakshmi Mittal $45bn
Fulham

Mittal is Metal. As the world’s largest steelmaker there’s a good chance that something metal you have seen or touched before lunch went through his business. The replacement for the World Trade Centre will be constructed using his steel. He’s an Indian citizen, but lives in London, which makes him the richest man in Europe. This is all a far cry from his humble start in life sleeping on hard floors and surviving day-to-day with his extended family.

Mr. Mittal is no stranger to football. He already owns 20% in QPR, his son-in-law is on the board, and he has previously shown interest in Wigan and Everton. As a resident of London and investor in West End clubs, Fulham would seem to be a plum club for his picking. They are swish and urbanite, without being too flashy — just like him.

5. Mukesh Ambani $43bn
Sunderland

Asia’s richest resident is busy building himself a 27 story house, but the vast edifice won’t be a home for his young brother (see below) Anil. The two brothers bickered so much about what to with their inheritance from their father, the industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani, that their mother had to sort out the squabble. Now bitter rivals, they have left their respective naughty corners to expand their combined wealth to astronomical levels, but they won’t be sharing….

Mukesh will always seek to trump his brother so Sunderland would be perfect for him. Why? His brother wants to buy Newcastle United….

6. Anil Ambani $42bn
Newcastle United

They used to laugh at Anil for being tubby. They aren’t laughing now. The better looking Ambani brother shed the stones, piled on the dollars and married one of India’s most beautiful film stars, Tina Munim. It’s not all perfect though. He’s still fighting with his brother, this time in court over a gas supply, and he was recently linked with a takeover of Newcastle United which increased his profile a touch more than he wanted.

Ever since the fiasco with Kevin Keegan at Newcastle the speculation that Anil will takeover has increased by the day. With fans in open mutiny it is a likely buyout, but canny Anil will hang on to see how the story unfolds before he makes his move.

7. Ingvar Kamprad $31bn
Stoke City

If you have bought furniture from IKEA and were forced to build it yourself then you have every right to want to flatpack Ingvar Kamprad and send him to Siberia. The self-made founder of IKEA started building furniture in 1947 and has always had cost on his mind. He never goes first class and prefers to drive an old battered Volvo to work. His house is furnished with his own products, which means that 98% of people on earth can claim to live like a billionaire.

He’s not the sort to seek publicity, so he’s unlikely to want to buy a club. If he did, Stoke City would be his type of team: frills free.

8. KP Singh $30bn
Liverpool

KP is the world’s richest real estate boss, but he still finds the time to follow sport. He’s a keen fan of cricket and golf, but his favourite sport seems to be making money. In a little over two years he has tripled his wealth and with his son Rajiv and daughter Pia looking after operations he has time on his hands.

Liverpool would be perfect for KP. He loves nothing more than an ambitious real estate project and with Liverpool looking to update from Anfield who better to bankroll the operation?

9. Oleg Deripaska $28bn
West Brom

Everyone’s favourite oligarch, Roman Abramovich, is not Russia’s richest man — Oleg is. It hasn’t always been a life of endless roubles, though. As a student he often went hungry and worked as a labourer to earn enough to keep alive. Realising that cold cabbage soup wasn’t fun, he left his studies and worked his way up in small time metals trading. He used his rising influence to stop strikes and eventually crush the local mafia. How he managed that is still a mystery.

He has recently shown an interest in Arsenal and West Brom, with the latter looking the more likely.

10. Karl Albrecht $27bn
Portsmouth

Germany’s richest man made his money through the Aldi supermarkets chain. He built up the budget supermarket with his brother from his mother’s corner shop after having fought with the German army during World War 2. At 88 he isn’t the youngest, but he’s still vital and loves nothing more than a game of golf on his own course, which he built himself. He’s now fully retired and has relinquished all control of the Aldi empire.

Piling high and selling cheap got Karl rich so it is likely that he would look to buy cheaply and make a profit on a sure thing. Portsmouth would be a sound bet.

11. Li Ka-shing $26.5bn
Everton

Rags to Riches stories don’t get better than Li Ka-shing’s. When he was a young boy he moved with his family out of a turbulent China and lived with his arrogant uncle in Hong Kong. When his father died Li was forced to leave school and support the family. Working 16 hours a day in a plastics factory, he used his sharp brain to trade with his own company selling plastic flowers.

That company has evolved and earned him a cool $26.5 billion dollars, but he isn’t letting that spoil him. Using his rich uncle’s attitude as a guide, he lives a simple life shunning overt luxury and the trappings of fame. He’s generous too, spending billions on good causes.

Everton’s links to China and down to earth image would fit in nicely with Li Ka-shing’s ethos.

12. Sheldon Adelson $26bn
Manchester United

Sheldon Adelson is another self-made billionaire from the USA. Of Ukraine and Lithuanian stock, he is keen to make the most of the opportunities on offer in the States. At the age of 12 he had his own business selling newspapers. He never looked back and made his fortune through hotels and casino halls, including a recreation of Venice complete with singing Gondoliers and crowds of open-mouthed tourists.

There is nothing Mr.Adelson likes more than to get one over on his rivals. Anything you can do, he can do ten times better. Manchester United would be his ideal club.

13. Bernard Arnault $25.5bn
Arsenal

If Ingvar Kamprad is all about a basic life, then Bernard Arnhault is the pole opposite – he is the arch bon viveur. The Frenchman has built a luxury goods empire by buying up the biggest names in glitz. From Dior to Dom Perignon to Tag Heuer, Bernard owns them all. He spends his spare time skiing and loves to wander about his wineries sipping the latest creations. From witnessing Sarkozy’s wedding to receiving the French Legion of Honour he has become the ultimate symbol of elitism in France.

As a man of effortless style and Gallic charm there is only one club for him: Arsenal.

14. Lawrence Ellison $25bn
Southampton

The man behind business software giant Oracle failed to graduate from the University of Chicago as a young man, but the 25 billion he has banked since has softened the blow. Born in the Bronx to a single mother, he spent his early life in the care of his aunt and uncle who raised him. His tough Russian adoptive father gave him the surname Ellison after his point of entry into the USA, Ellis Island. These days he spends his free time competing in the Americas Cup and creating the largest subwoofer in the world out of a converted swimming pool.

He’s desperate to get into sports, but is finding it tricky. He has been knocked back in his attempt to buy the 49ers and is finding obstacles in other approaches. He loves boats best and also loves turning a lost cause into a winning proposition. Southampton beckons….

15. Roman Abramovich $23.5bn
Chelsea

Orphan and college dropout Roman Abramovich already owns, as we all know, Chelsea. He set the billionaire ball rolling and is seen by many as the man who triggered the beginning of the end of football as we know it.

It’s how he reacts to the new threat of Manchester City’s wealth that will be fascinating. History suggests that he will crush it like a snail under his shoe, but if these other billionaires get involved he may slip back into his shell before it all gets too common. But where would that leave Chelsea?

16. Theo Albrecht $23bn
Portsmouth

Karl’s younger brother Theo got the raw end of the deal when the Aldi lines were drawn. Theo got the less affluent north and Karl the south on the map of cheap supermarket domination. In the end things worked out fine, give or take a few billion. These days he prefers to be out of the public eye after having being kidnapped for 17 days back in the early 70′s. His hobbies include collecting old typewriters and playing golf, possibly on his brother’s course.

Theo won’t make the same mistake twice. He will want to stay close to his brother and that means joining forces at Portsmouth. It’s odds on though that he will be seen more often on the golf courses of Bournemouth than screaming on the team at Fratton Park.

17. Liliane Bettencourt $22.9bn
Arsenal

As the figurehead of L’Oreal Liliane is worth it even if her fortune is inherited. She is the world’s richest woman with a bank balance touching 23 billion dollars, but that hasn’t made her greedy. Her Battencourt Schueller Foundation backs science and it is rumoured that she regularly gives to good causes.

Liliane isn’t into football, but loves to spend time in London. She would see Arsenal as the perfect investment. Lunch with Bernard and some shopping afterward.

18. Alexei Mordashov $21.2bn
Newcastle United

When Freddie Shepherd talked of finding a ‘Geordie Abramovich’ he could well have been talking about Alexei Mordashov. Despite being worth 21 billion, the Russian still found time to study at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle. His wealth was forged in the steel mills of Cherepovets, a sleeper town in Russia. At 42 he’s still young and loves sport.

It’s rumoured that Mordashov went to every home game when he was a student in Newcastle and that he’s a keen supporter of the club. It’s likely that he will step into the breach if Anil Ambani fails to make his move.

19. Prince Alwaleed $21bn
Aston Villa

The Citigroup investor looks every inch the international jet-setter. With his Peter Bowles moustache and shades the Saudi billionaire loves to live the life. As the descendant of the founding King of Saudi Arabia the Prince is used to having things his own way. The Louvre were happy to accept his $20m gift to build a wing housing Islamic art and Donald Trump gave in when he wanted to buy his yacht the ‘Trump Princess’. He keeps himself busy driving his 300 cars and swimming in his lagoon pool.

The fact that Aston Villa have a very rich man in charge would be the red rag to the Prince. He would also not be averse to adding another Villa to his already bulging collection. Get packing, Randy.

20. Mikhail Fridman $20.8bn
Tow Law Town

Steel and Oil combined to make Mikhail Fridman a billionaire via his set-up The Alfa Group. They then diversified into telecoms and other investment ventures which have shot him into the top 20 richest people on earth with his 21 billion. He regularly finds himself in disputes and scandals, but rarely fails to win his battles. He is Russia’s representative on the Council on Foreign Relations which is largely down to his affable, ahem, nature.

Mikhail loves to take something from nothing and make it worth a billion dollars. He would see Tow Law Town as the ultimate challenge.

Oliver Fowler is the brains behind Next Soccer Star, set up to offer an opportunity for the next stars of football to showcase their skills and offer the very best a road into the professional game and possible megastardom.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Who would win the Premier League? The Champions League? The FA Cup?

Oliver Fowler finds out….

Scotland Champions & FA Cup – Partick Thistle

The two colours just above brown in the ‘don’t put on a football shirt’ are grey and pink. ‘Thistle have decided to slap convention in the face and go for both in a hooped design that can only be described as trail blazing.

Champions League – FC Barcelona

Nike have been threatening for a few years now to design a masterpiece. This new Barca kit is just that.

FA Cup – Swindon Town

Never before have Swindon looked better.

English Premier League

Champions WEST BROM ALBION

This kit shares its DNA with the Sunderland shirt, yet where the Sunderland shirt looks overworked and complicated, this looks clean and strong. Being two-colour and free of a sponsor definitely helps. The thin stripes echo tradition, which is a neat design cue. There aren’t many more stylish looking kits out there.

2nd ASTON VILLA

If this design were a drink it would be a glass of fine port. It’s refined and tasty.

3rd FULHAM

When they designed this Nike’s designers shaved their heads and sat in robes with their laptops up a mountain in Nepal. They achieved perfect balance.

4th EVERTON

Umbro have created some strange kits of late, but this one gets it all right. Even the logo placing seems to work. It’s as tasteful as the new away kit is garish, but they still scrape into 4th.

5th TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Puma have decided to darken the palette after last year’s white look. They’ve kept the design style, which is hard to fault, and added some subtle touches.The new stripey socks and dark shorts hark back to a golden age when players didn’t sulk. Maybe if Berbatov got a chance to wear it he would stay at Spurs?

6th HULL CITY

The black and amber of Hull stands out beautifully in the Premier League. Umbro have done a superb job with the kit, although the shoulder details look a bit stringy. Their sponsor is pretty interesting too. Before you Google it, try and guess what ‘Karoo’ means….

7th MANCHESTER UNITED

It’s hard to know where Nike could take the home kit without ruining it. If great design is the elimination of superfluous detail then this is great design. The away kit is all right, but maybe a touch boring.

8th ARSENAL

Nike have gone for a familiar feel with the new Arsenal shirt, so much so that it doesn’t feel new at all. But that’s not to say it isn’t a powerful design – it is.

9th CHELSEA

The Chelsea kit is negative space on a stick. That adidas logo centered under the V of the collar looks like it was placed there in the design version of stick the tail on the donkey. It’s saved by a powerfully simple clutter-free look.

10th LIVERPOOL

Same as Chelsea, but in red. The ‘off the shelf’ feel doesn’t do either side justice. Meanwhile the new checky grey away kit looks like it should be worn by Barnes and Beardsley – it’s pure eighties-tastic.

11th WIGAN ATHLETIC

Wigan’s target this season is safety. Their new Champion kit mirrors that aim, which is no bad thing.

12th NEWCASTLE UNITED

Same as you were, which means a new away kit. The faded grey stripe on grey will go great with jeans if you want to be seen in the pub, but not so brilliantly on a football pitch. Grey strips should have been consigned to history on that fateful day in Southampton all those years ago. Do designers not study football results?

13th MIDDLESBROUGH

The people at Errea seem clued in so why did they let the trainee loose with the goalie kit? The wobbly, swooshy line smacks of a designer looking for something new – which is no bad thing, but is best not tried out on a football shirt.

14th WEST HAM UNITED

The new West Ham away kit saves the wonkily placed Umbro logo by placing it in context with the bold horizontal lines. It looks clean and stylish enough until you turn it around and see the back. There is a doodle-like pattern where the number and name goes — what is the point of that? To force the buyer into shelling out for numbers and letters to cover it up?

15th BLACKBURN ROVERS

The most frustrating thing in football is to round a defender, skip past the ‘keeper and then miss an open goal. Blackburn’s two new kits are the design equivalent. The away kit is perfect until it really matters. The dark blue, the vertical lines, the ‘Crown’ logo — it all looks great and then someone came along and shoved the Umbro logo and club crest on the front like they were fridge magnets.

The home shirt is great, it’s crisp, clean and powerful apart from a whacking great box on the front for the sponsors branding. There are pub sides with better thought out sponsoring. It’s a real shame as they were so close….

16th STOKE CITY

Bravery is a word you often hear in design circles. It doesn’t mean that the designer dodged snipers hiding behind their Apple Mac to post a drawing. It means they sat doggedly for hours defending an experiment they refuse to admit defeat on. The Stoke kit is brave design.

17th PORTSMOUTH

Canterbury have gone the brave route with Pompey’s new kit. They’ve used the 110th anniversary as the excuse. Blue and gold as a colour combination is classically smart, but they ruin the good work by sticking blobs under the arms — what are they for?

Perhaps the worst part of the kit is that the team just don’t look like Portsmouth when they are wearing it. This seems to dilute what football kit design should be all about.

18th SUNDERLAND

For the past two seasons Sunderland have proudly worn a shirt with a wonkily placed Umbro logo and ‘brave’ design on the shoulders. It’s more of the same for the next two seasons. It’s odds on that the next designer will throw away the design experimentation and go for a Roy-alike strong, classic, no frills design. Until then it’s the sartorial trap door.

19th MANCHESTER CITY

Le Coq Sportif peaked with that iconic Spurs kit from the 1981 FA Cup final. Since then they’ve been trying too hard and this kit is the proof. The less said about the orange away effort the better. All this brand need to do to win the style league is dust off the old early eighties designer, give him or her a paper and pencil, sit back and bask in glory. As it stands they are drop-zone designing.

20th BOLTON WANDERERS

Sadly Bolton fans have been served up a shirt with a vignette bib drawn on it. If the FA could dock points for design transgressions Bolton would already be relegated. Luckily they can’t, which means that Megson has time to do an ‘Eiffel Tower’. Everyone thought that was ugly at first and then look what happened….

Who do you think wears the most stylish kit in England? In Europe? Let us know in the comments below.

Oliver Fowler is the brains behind Next Soccer Star, set up to offer an opportunity for the next stars of football to showcase their skills and offer the very best a road into the professional game and possible megastardom.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Where will the next generation of home grown Premier League stars come from? Nextsoccerstar.com predicts who will be the winners and losers in the ‘youth’ stakes this season….

Disclaimer: This is a prediction of which club is most likely to give their young players a chance this season, not predictions of where each team will end up – for that, see our 08/09 predictions.

1st — Tie Arsenal/Manchester United

Wenger will again go with youth this season. There are some who believe he’s risking a top four finish taking this approach, but not his rivals — that is for sure. The young players coming through at Arsenal will take the Premier League by storm.

Manchester United spend more than most on new players, but no young player looking to break into the elite can have any complaints working for Ferguson. He can rightly be viewed as a master of balancing youth and experience. This season will be no different. That extra spark of energy will give him the edge over his rivals to the title. Wenger may have more superb young players, but Ferguson will have the better balance.

2nd Everton

David Moyes is a carefully brave man. He takes chances in a pragmatic way. If there are players in the Everton squad who have the ability but not the experience, then there’s a very good chance they will get into the squad and be given an opportunity to become a regular. With their well organised youth set-up working well expect to see a young Everton star this season.

3rd Manchester City

It’s an open secret that City are in a financial corner. Shinawatra is in trouble and the club appear to be in the business of selling off their better players. Mark Hughes will want to get some stability into his team and what better place to start than with City’s younger players? Richards is a prime example of the staying power and quality of the City youth programme. For a talented young player City would be a great club to play for this coming season.

4th Middlesbrough

Gareth Southgate is a lucky man. ‘Boro boast one of the finest training grounds in the world and they also boast one of the finest youth programmes too. Everything is geared towards producing players of quality. It’s only a matter of time before a player breaks into the big time – that time could be now.

5th Blackburn Rovers

Paul Ince will want to make an impression on the Premier League. Unlike some managers who will be content with surviving, he will want to make a statement. Any young player with a hint of something about them will definitely get their chance. It will either work or fail miserably, but failing miserably is not Ince’s style so the player getting that chance will need to be on their mettle.

6th Aston Villa

When Martin O’Neill was a player at Forest he was the ultimate young star. Now in his role as manager he’s much more likely than most to blood a young player. With Villa’s squad looking on the small side and with a number of players making waves at youth level there is a high chance that we will see a new star at Villa this season.

7th West Ham United

The Hammers were once the home of youth player dreams. Those days may have long gone, but they still have a vibrant talent factory which is bound to throw up a gem this season if Curbishley has the confidence to play them. He knows that there is no room for error or he’ll lose his job. Unlike other managers who would shy away from the hazard of playing an unknown, Curbishley has the guts to go for youth. West Ham’s youth stars may just be in luck.

8th Liverpool

The Liverpool history is built on producing great young players. This season may not be a vintage year, but the buzz seems to be that they are working hard to reclaim their crown as the kings of youth development. Benitez is facing a make-or-break season and it is unlikely that he will risk all on youth, but there are likely to be some opportunities for any player who turns his head.

9th Newcastle United

Kevin Keegan is entering the season with a small squad smattered with players so injury-prone he can’t be banking on them. Luckily for him he has a small, but highly talented group of youngsters who have the ability to step into the breach. It may be he has no choice other than to play them. With his desire to attack at will this presents a once in a lifetime opportunity season for Newcastle’s youth.

10th Sunderland

Sunderland have spent on experience this summer. They were severely lacking a large enough squad last season, which can’t have been fun for the über-competitive Keane. What he will have learnt from Ferguson is that the balance between youth and experience is vital; Keane will surely be looking to get that right. There has never been a better opportunity for Sunderland’s youth players to assert themselves.

11th Portsmouth

Harry Redknapp and transfers go together like Bread and Honey. If you are a young player at Portsmouth coming through the ranks you’ll have to be the real deal to make it into the first team. With Harry ducking Willie McKay’s calls at the moment and money too tight to mention, this might just be the season we see just what Pompey’s youth are like.

12th West Bromwich Albion

Tony Mowbray and West Brom stand the best chance of survival amongst the newly promoted clubs. They are also more likely to give youth a chance. Mowbray has carved a decent reputation as a forward thinking, bright coach who loves to attack and play the ball as opposed to launching it. That’s a positive sign for the club’s young players. There won’t be many opportunities at first – even Mowbray will be thinking safety first – but if his team get into mid-table then it is a distinct possibility that he will unleash some of his promising squad of young players onto the Premier League.

13th Bolton Wanderers

Last season was a scary ride for Bolton. Gary Megson will be desperate to hold on to his job and avoid any more nightmares. It’s a certainty that wherever possible he will rely on experience, but with a relatively small squad and the need to compete vigorously in every game there is definitely an opportunity for a young Bolton player to make a place in the first team their own.

14th Fulham

Roy Hodgson is the kind of manager who doesn’t like surprises. The last thing he’ll want is to be made a fool of by blooding a young player who doesn’t click. His squad is packed with players who aren’t exactly spring chickens, reflecting his ethos. But, he will know that to sustain any sort of run he’ll need energy and that means fresh legs. Any player breaking into the Fulham team will need to grab the opportunity fast.

15th Tottenham Hotspur

The last thing Spurs want after last season’s limp finale is anything other than a top five finish. Ramos will still feel like he’s settling in and the last thing he’ll be doing is risking his reputation on untested players. Long term it may be different – Spurs are a forward thinking club – but this season could be a tough one for any young players looking to get into the first team.

16th Wigan

As every season goes by that establishes Wigan in the Premier League the possibility grows that a young hero will get into the first team and stay there. The signing of Cattermole was an interesting one. They were buying a player who ‘Boro, a club of similar size, developed themselves. Wigan are building a solid youth structure, but it will be a while yet before they are producing their own Cattermoles….

17th Stoke City

It’s batten down the hatches time for Pulis this season. Every game is going to be a struggle — not ideal for the confidence of a young player. In an ideal world Stoke would pack their team with experience, but it’s unlikely to happen, so somewhere down the line a fresh talent will have a chance to prove themselves. To ask them to flourish in those circumstances is asking a lot.

18th Hull City

No one is giving Hull a chance in hell this season apart from Phil Brown and die hard fans. They don’t have the financial power to last in the Premier League, but they may just have the guts. If Brown can diffuse any expectation and just let some of his talented young players enjoy their game and go for it, we may be in for a surprise. Having said that, the reality is that it’s going to be one long slog and to expect any young stars to emerge is asking a lot.

19th Chelsea

When you have all the money you could need and a fat cheque coming in the post from Adrian Mutu why do you need to bother with young players? It’s the reality facing any young player wanting to play for Chelsea. When winning is all that counts for new boss Scolari this season, it is unlikely that he will take a chance on unproven talent. The hope young players have to cling to is that Scolari has the cojones to play them, but none of them will be holding their breath.

Which young players do you expect to star this season?

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Do you boo players from your own club? If you do, how can you sleep at night?

To boo a player playing for your club is seen as the ultimate act of betrayal by some and a birthright by others. If you have paid your hard-earned cash to watch a well-paid player flop around the pitch like he’s still wearing half a ton of bling then the boo-er will feel no remorse in letting out a lungful of boo at the offending ‘star’. The non-boo fan will be horrified. They will be incensed that anyone could put down a player sporting the sacred colours.

The booer will see their target as fair game for a boo. Like the old villain-of-the-piece at the theatre, the boo-target is part of the show. Arms folded and shaking their head the non-boo fan will curse modern society, even if it was invented by the ancient Greeks, and then tell everyone in the pub that they are ashamed to be called a fan of their club.

Booing someone else’s player is an easy boo. It’s the acceptable face of booing. Most non-boo fans will join in just as heartily as the boo-fan. The opposition are soft targets, easy pickings free from the burden of guilt. Some judicious booing can really wreck a players day, but most of them expect it. Paul Ince springs to mind as a player who has suffered his fair share of booing. He knew he would get an earful, but did Alan Smith when Newcastle played Valencia last weekend?

Smith suffered a tough time last season. He managed about three shots on target and received enough yellow and red cards that if you laid them out in a line they would stretch all the way around the equator. It was a depressing sight for Newcastle fans watching him lumber from game to game with no purpose other than to ‘get stuck in’. When he played, Newcastle didn’t. With no pace or skill to trouble the opposition, their game became predictable and stale. Only when he was unavailable did some sort of successful pattern emerge.

In short, Smith was holding the team back. Unlike a cheap signing from Macedonia or a called-up reserve player, who you can dump if they are useless, Smith was a big money signing. The man who paid the cheque wore his name on the back of his replica shirt. There was expectation. There was investment. There was little room for failure.

What Smith had going for him was ‘honesty’. All fans like an honest player, one who doesn’t hide or sulk when things don’t go his way. Smith reflects the man in the stand and was tee-total with it. His signing seemed like a perfect marriage, but like most marriages, divorce was always on the cards.

Very few observers of the Newcastle scene could see how Smith would fit in with Keegan’s football blueprint of attack. Keegan likes players to take shots, to pepper the opposition goal. Smith takes so few shots that Smith and Wesson are thinking of dropping the ‘Smith’. When the news trickled through that Everton were prepared to pay real money to buy him, very few fans thought that they would be giving the relationship another chance.

And then he came on as a sub against Valencia. And then he was booed. Not because he was photographed holding an Everton shirt, but because he wasn’t. Frustration had boiled over. The uneasy sight of fans booing one of their own players reared its ugly head again. Keegan wasn’t amused and there was an uneasy split between the boo and non-boo fan.

In these days of instant quantitative research and global digital customer marketing where whole corporate groups know more about your likes and dislikes than you do, there was a sliver of something comforting in the boos. Yes they were ugly, sad and directed at one of the sport’s more believable characters wearing their own colours, but the ancient art of booing is still the only true way for football’s ‘clients’ to let their wishes be known. How else can they really be understood? By writing a strongly worded letter to the Chairman? By joining a FaceBook group? By filling in an online survey?

Yeah right!

But what of the effect of the boos?

Alan Smith was probably wondering what he had done wrong. He will have felt confused and hurt, but sometimes even decent-bloke footballers need to hear some home truths. He needed to know what the people were feeling because obviously no one was telling him that his mere presence on the pitch on matchdays was driving fans away. He should have no complaints if he is honest with himself. Just being a rugged competitor is not enough, not even half enough. It’s a myth that fans only want to see players ‘giving their all’. They want to see skill, magic and wonder much more. Even the odd shot on target would be a start. Tickets cost a lot of money; if you are spending the holiday budget watching someone ‘battle’ like a pillaging Viking, you may just as well save the cash and hang around a pub at closing time.

Maybe Smith should talk with Nicky Butt (if he hasn’t already). Butt went through the exact same experience. He arrived with high expectations from Man Utd and failed to live up to them. The result? Booing. Butt is a solid character and rather than give up he chose to analyse why he was getting the treatment he was and put it right. The result? He made himself a first team regular and earned the respect of the terraces.

Smith is also a solid character. Can he learn from Butt and adapt his game? If he does he may well have vindicated the booing. It’s an uncomfortable experience for the players, the manager and the club, but maybe there is a case for booing. How else are they going to get the message over that they don’t want what they are seeing? After all, if fans don’t get the opportunity to show how they feel, how will they sleep at night?

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

10 is the magic number of the Beautiful Game. Any player who dares wear it on their back has to be something special.

That FC Barcelona have handed Lionel Messi the magical number 10 shirt vacated by Ronaldinho is no surprise. From a stringy, spotty faced oik to the most exciting player on the planet, Messi is holding the flame with quiet style and a healthy dose of nonchalance. He isn’t exactly Ronaldo or Beckham in the looks stakes but that hasn’t held him back on or off the pitch. This for handsomely challenged footballers the world over has been a real boost….

When he first appeared on the scene he was so lightweight half the mothers in Barcelona wanted to cook for him. His sad vacant face looked like it should have been on a World Health Organisation poster warning about the perils of malnutrition. Only the bravest of ad execs will have been thinking about posters selling football boots.

The very bravest of them all sanctioned a huge campaign for Adidas boots where a half robot/half Messi poster covered a whole building on the Passeig de Gracia, the major boulevard in the city. Even his own mother would have winced. Lionel isn’t your natural poster boy. But there was something great, something deeply inspiring in the fact that as the beautiful people swanned in and out of Gucci and Armani stores, rampaging commercialism was championing a geeky kid with outrageous talent and a growth hormone deficiency problem. Not only that, they were blowing him up to the size of a seven story building.

As with Ronaldinho before him, Messi’s ego is thankfully less than seven stories high. Unlike Ronaldinho though, Messi is quiet, verging on shy. He rarely smiles and isn’t the sort to be the last one out of the sweaty nightclubs of Barcelona. Don’t let that fool you though.

He is supremely confident, a player who knows his value to the team. His setbacks in his early life have given him determination to succeed. This is exactly the sort of player new Barca coach Pep Guardiola has been championing. Guardiola insists that his new Barca are a team machine.

But can he cope with the burden of wearing the ’10′? Until now he has been happy to do his stuff in the comfort zone of being ‘the kid.’ Now is a different story. Los Cules (Barca Fans) won’t tolerate another two trophy-free seasons and Messi is the player they are banking on despite Guardiola’s master plan. The number 10 brings with it not just responsibility, but the burden of dreams.

The number 10 has to be a magical match winner.

Messi is certainly that, but he is entering a phase where the test begins. Being involved in a tug-of-war between his club and the Olympics hasn’t helped. Messi missing the start of the season will be a critical blow not just to Barca, but his own chances of starting his era at 10 on the front foot. The travel to China will take it out of him and the risk of injury will play on his mind. His history of physical growth problems, managed with strong medication, mean he isn’t the most robust of players.

If he can get the Olympics out of the way (assuming he goes – the CAS have ruled that Barcelona don’t need to release Messi for the Olympics) and return home fit he has the quiet yet confident personality to shoulder the burden of expectation and let his magical talents enchant the Camp Nou for a long time to come. The magical number 10 is in safe hands….

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

When Ronaldinho finally left FC Barca it was a sad day. For a brief time he was the king of football and quite possibly the greatest player to have worn the famous ‘blaugrana’ stripes. He was a lovely person with it; his personality balanced perfectly with his status.

Samuel Eto’o too was an astonishing player for the club. His goal rate was superb, always scoring at crucial times. Compare when he scores his goals against other strikers with a high rate. They were nearly always the first goal of the game, the equaliser, or the winner. Samuel is aggressively competitive. Again, like Ronaldinho, he has a great personality despite what backbiters may have you believe.

That neither will be playing in the Camp Nou next season feels wrong. Surely their exit should have been meant more? The truth is the exact opposite. It seems that many people are glad that they are leaving. ‘Lazy, disinterested and finished’ are words I have heard over the past few days.

True, they have both performed below their best, but is that a reason to sell them off? I don’t believe it is. Players of this caliber thrive on challenges. If anything they were both guilty of their success. It is a surprise the now-departed team management weren’t on top of this after the European Cup win against Arsenal.

It is too easy to blame the players. Part of managing a team is motivating players; Barca’s old bench demonstrably failed in this task. If a player can’t motivate himself to play for Barcelona, especially a player in Ronaldinho’s class, when can he?

Hopefully the club will be able to replicate the success they enjoyed when these two great players were at their best. If they can’t, then this summer may well be their defining moment. Players like Ronaldinho and Eto’o are literally ones in a billion. There is talk that Berbatov will be brought in as a replacement, and whilst he is a superb player it is incredibly doubtful that he is of the same class as the two men who defined a new era in FC Barcelona’s history.

(the ugly git on the left is me!)

Oliver Fowler is the brains behind Next Soccer Star, set up to offer an opportunity for the next stars of football to showcase their skills and to offer the very best a road into the professional game and possible megastardom.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Every now and again a player appears on the horizon and you think ‘this could be the one’.

A few years ago me and my colleague were in Brazil watching Santos against Botafogo. The game was as eventful as ever, but it was remarkable for the talents of Robinho and Diego, two players who shone out in the dismal rain – which was more Manchester than the home of beach football. Diego was cunning and silky, always looking for the clever pass, making space and taking on the opposition. Robinho was energetic, fast and outrageously tricky. It was a joy to watch. It was football fit for the memory of the club’s greatest player. Both players seemed to play for fun and without a trace of ego.

At this match I thought ‘this could be the one’ twice. Since then I’ve felt the same sensation watching Messi in training at Barca, Kaka just before he left for Brazil and Bojan, the young Barca striker. Messi is perhaps the best player on earth, Kaka could easily make the same claim whilst it is only a matter of time before we say the same about Bojan. All of these players share the same magic mystery air, that little unique something that sets them apart. After that it’s all a mixture of great balance, flawless control, pace and awareness. Some players have parts of what they have, but not many have their complete package, their star quality.

Ronaldinho had it. In fact, he had so much that it seems to have weighed him down — and that’s before anyone mentions ‘the girth’. An almost perpetual presence in advertising campaigns has probably been his biggest hindrance. No wonder he found it hard to concentrate on the job. A taste for nightclubs, fast women and junk food has been the accusation, but that’s nothing compared to a constant diary of publicity stunts lined up by everyone from chewing gum companies to yoghurt sellers. After all that work it’s natural he would want to unwind. Anyone who loves football will be hoping and praying that he can ditch all of that and sharpen up. If he can, he would easily be the king again. Ronaldinho is unique and can still be unique.

But this is all now, who is the next ‘this could be the one’? My answer would be Gato, a young Latin star living in the US. In some ways he reminds me of a mixture of Ronaldinho and Kaka. He shares Ronaldinho’s balance and ability to make you wonder how he just did that with Kaka’s poise and touch on the ball. He also looks a little bit like Kaka, especially in the AC Milan shirt he wore recently on behalf of the famous club.

How is Gato likely to follow in their footsteps? Why has he star quality?

Gato has it all before him. A supportive father, great skills and the magic factor – a grounded attitude. He has no ego. Look at Ronaldinho, Messi, Kaka and Bojan. All of these players have the right to let their egos run wild, but they don’t. They are modest, yet out and out superstars. This is the reason I feel Gato could make it into that group. His skills are amazing and he is modest to a tee. The good bit? Gato is only nine. Who knows where he could be in another nine if he keeps following his path?

You heard it on Soccerlens first…

Gato’s skills can be seen on nextsoccerstar.com here…

Oliver Fowler is the brains behind Next Soccer Star, set up to offer an opportunity for the next stars of football to showcase their skills and offer the very best a road into the professional game and possible megastardom.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Oliver Fowler takes a quick snapshot of what footballers are doing this summer. Take a look for yourself:

Frank Lampard is living la dolce vita.

Cristiano Ronaldo is looking for a posh house near Madrid.

Andrei Arshavin is wishing that one of his agents will let him play for Barca.

Joey Barton is eating porridge.

Peter Crouch is leaving.

Alexander Hleb is anywhere, but London.

Fernando Torres is still recovering.

Robbie Keane is a Liverpool fan.

Wayne Rooney is under the thumb.

Mido is on a diet.

Peter Reid is talk Thai.

Thaksin is keeping clear of Thailand.

Ivan Campo is saying goodbye.

Big Sam is the big I am.

Julio Baptista is getting hawked about.

Emanuel Adebayor is out through the out door.

Gareth Barry is a Villain.

Kevin Phillips is crossing town.

John Bostock is keeping out of Jordan’s way.

Delia Smith is cooking a deal.

Andy Johnson is fresh out of toffee.

Emile Mpenza is on the highway to Hull.

David Beckham is don’t forget me!!!

Willie McKay is hiding from coppers, but minted.

The Guv’nor is the Boss.

Ronaldinho is not going to Manchester or Beijing.

Ashley-Paul Robinson is fired.

Oliver Fowler is the brains behind Next Soccer Star, set up to offer an opportunity for the next stars of football to showcase their skills and offer the very best a road into the professional game and possible megastardom.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Flattered.

That is the worst word in football. If you support a team, you will know this word — it is a heart breaker. It is football-speak for ‘I’ve been tapped up’. ‘I’m flattered about Arsenal’s interest’ really means ‘My agent has been secretly talking to Arsenal for months and I’m desperate to play for them, so I’m letting you and your club down gently, but in code’.

Rubbish players in your team never use the word flattered, only the best ones — this is why it’s the worst word. As soon as you read it you know that the best player you have had in years is mentally out of your club and the swines who he’s flattered to be linked with are going to benefit from his talents next season.

At some point after reading the word flattered in a quote there is bound to be a negative effect on your wellbeing. It’s like a super magnet hovering over your moral compass. Bad thoughts will slowly start to turn you from ‘optimistic about the new season’ into a dark brooding wish sociopath. ‘Well they can have the ungrateful git’ will turn into ‘I hope he breaks his legs, painfully’, especially when every newswire carries the same story in a continuous stream of gut punching headlines.

As soon as one journalist carries the ‘flattered’ quote you can bet your season ticket (if you haven’t already ripped it up) that within eight hours the story will have been mashed up into a dead cert signing for the club it is flattering to be linked with. Your club is old rubbish. There is nothing flattering about it, not even the 80k a week and the adulation of thousands of sad fools who thought their star man loved them.

The word itself doesn’t really fit in football, does it? Flattered is what your aunt is when you lie about her age or her new hairdo. International strikers, midfield schemers or brick outhouse defenders shouldn’t be flattered. It’s a word that is used to deceive and as we all know, that has no place in the game. When a player says he is flattered he is attempting to trick you, the fan. It is the transfer equivalent of diving in the penalty area and should be punishable with a yellow card or a night in the stocks.

It’s a cliché in match commentary that all young players at home should copy some skill a player has just shown. If you are a young player, by all means copy his skill with a ball, but if you read that he is flattered to be linked with a club somewhere else, use his poster as a dartboard. He is a rubbish role model.

Of course the day after everyone in the world has read that he is flattered there will almost certainly be the ‘I never said that’ protestation. This is just a tactic to reduce any booing he will suffer when he returns to your club. If he is really barefaced then the old classic ‘I love the club and those great fans, I’m very happy here’. You are his footballing auntie, don’t buy it.

Keep an eye out for ‘flattered’ players. Make a mental list of their names. These are players who you don’t want at your club, even if they do average 25 goals a season and get on goal of the month every month. As soon as Real wolf whistle from over the street, they’ll be flattered, buttering you up like you were their ugly aunt and then breaking your heart.

Oliver Fowler is the brains behind Next Soccer Star, set up to offer an opportunity for the next stars of football to showcase their skills and offer the very best a road into the professional game and possible megastardom.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Pelé, Maradona, Joe Butcher. Which is the odd one out? Err, who’s Joe Butcher? Yep, it’s Joe Butcher. The other two are the greatest players ever to have lived and Joe Butcher is nobody.

Half right.

Joe Butcher is indeed the odd one out. He was born in the midlands, the other two were born in South America. But, eh? Half right?

Yes, half right, because Joe Butcher is also one of the greatest players ever to have lived. So good in fact that he had a street named after him. He also had a footballer’s moustache and knee length shorts before Stanley Matthews had kicked a ball in anger. He is also my great grandfather, it’s a pity we don’t share the same talents…

In 1893 when his team Wolverhampton Wanderers were winning the FA Cup in front of 60,000 supporters The Times made the claim that he was the world’s best player. He was only 18. The final, which was unusually held in Manchester, attracted such a large and boisterous crowd that the fans spilt onto the pitch before kick-off. The police managed to keep them to just behind the perimeter of the pitch for the remainder of the game.

Everton, the opposition, are still seething today. Their normal wing play was interrupted by the sly tripping feet of the Wolves fans. Wolves took advantage and won the match 1-0 – Joe became the youngest ever player to win the FA Cup.

Sadly his career as a bustling, all action striker was cut short before he hit 20 years old due to a knee injury which today would be classed as a routine knock. In the days before celebrity girlfriends and diamond earrings this meant you just carried on your life as normal, but just didn’t play football anymore.

He was a trailblazer though, without him there would be no Kaka, Messi or Rooney. Joe means nothing to these stars, but they owe their existence to players like him who lived the dream when it was new and exciting.

There were no camera’s there that day to capture the action, but if there had been they would have caught something special — the forming of this great game and the magic of the star player. Joe Butcher may be a nobody in today’s terms, but in the grand scheme of things he is definitely one of the greats.

Oliver Fowler is the brains behind Next Soccer Star, set up to offer an opportunity for the next stars of football to showcase their skills and offer the very best a road into the professional game and possible megastardom.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News