Football wages are a ridiculously easy target – whether it’s the high wages paid by Chelsea and then Manchester City, the astronomical wage bills of Barcelona and Real Madrid fueled by unequal TV deals or the retirement homes that front as football clubs in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, football wages have steadily increased in the last 20-25 years.

But by how much? And is the growth spread evenly across all tiers of the game or concentrated at the highest level? You may already know the answer to that question, but even then the numbers below are eye-opening.

The data is taken from sportingintelligence.com (who have used their own research + an official PFA document detailing basic wages for the last 25 years) – here are some highlights:

The text below is taken from sportingintelligence.com – see source articles here and here:

• In 1984-85, top division players in England earned a basic average of £480 per week (£25,000 a year), which was more than double what the average worker earned, and which was three times as much as players earned in the Fourth Division. Today the difference is 30 times as much.
• In 1984-85, according to the PFA’s data, the average basic wage in the First Division – as the top division was then called – was £24,934 a year, or about two and a half times the average working man’s salary. With bonuses, it would have been around £36,000, perhaps more.
• In 2009-10, the average basic Premier League wage was £1.16m and the average take-home pay was £1.76m.
• In the Premier League, double-digit annual growth has been the norm in most years of the competition’s history. The biggest single leap was the 28.52 per cent year-on-year growth between 1996-97 and 1997-98. This was due to a new TV deal kicking in.
• TV cash has fueled players’ pay rises in the Premier League era. The first Premier League deal was over five years (1992-97), then next over four years (1997-2001), and the deals have been three years each since then (2001-04, 2004-07, 2007-10 and 2010-13 currently).
• The average annual basic salary in the Championship in 2009-10 was £211,068, in League One it was £73,320 and in League Two it was £38,844.
• Top division footballers now earn 46 times as much as they did in 1984-85
• Those in the Championship earn only 14 times as much as their counterparts.
• In League One the figure is six and a half times as much. In League Two the figure is 4.6 times as much.
• The average working man earns about three times as much.

Image from sportingintelligence.com.

Note: The numbers represent basic pay; wages typically increase by 50 to 100 per cent with appearance money and bonuses.

On the other hand, football ticket prices have increased by almost as much as 30 times in certain cases (looking at cheapest tickets / season tickets at Manchester United and London clubs).

And if you look at the commercial revenues generated by US sports, it’s evident that football, a more global sport, has still some way to go before it can reach it’s financial peak. So expect the TV deals, player wages and ticket prices to keep rising.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Like myself, all English football fans have been let down in recent years by our regularly under achieving international side. I would like to share my views on why this is the case, and on why I don’t see any reason to expect success in the near future.

The fact that us English created the beautiful game often gives fans a false sense of belief that we are also the best at it, trouble is, we aren’t. Nor are we close for that matter. When you look at the truly great international sides of today, such as Spain, Brazil, or Holland, you will note that they play a different style of football to our inferior England.

While our game is based on being fast paced, hard tackling and extremely competitive, other nations dedicate their attention to the finer things in football, pass and move, retaining possesion, creativity and flair. These are now proving to be far more valuable traits to learn and this is the sole reason England shall never be able to match top nations when they meet in major competitions.

In England we have teams like Arsenal – who try to play attractive football, coming up against the likes of Stoke City – a rough team that dedicate time to set pieces and often try to bully their way to a win. How can this possibly be of benefit to our national side? When a manager selects a squad of players to work together as a team, they all need to have the same philosophy of how to play the game, they need to be synchronized and understand exactly what each other are going to do.

Little use is it picking a player who often attempts, and fails, to make forty yard passes such as Gareth Barry, to sit alongside a very talented individual in Jack Wilshere, who likes to get the ball down and play the sort of football that has recently propelled the Spanish to become world and european champions. These two men are only an example, however there are many players in the England camp which have a complete different understanding of the game to one another, and that can only mean one thing, failure.

Although it will never happen, my suggestion would be that clubs in England follow in the lead of teams such as ‘catalan giants’ Barcelona, and begin to invest more money and time in developing youth prospects at academy level, which would benefit the nation as a whole, and less money on bringing in foreign exports to play football in the way we can only dream of. Until this happens, my prediction is that there will be no future success at international level for our country, and the already endless amount of excuses and apologies, from managers and players alike, will continue for many years to come.

Follow the author on Twitter.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

When first examining scoring stats, we found there were big differences between how reliant individual leagues were across Europe on one player.  After some more digging, we found there are significant differences between how important individual players are between Leagues across Europe: in Italy and Germany, in particular, it is important to have a spearhead – one pivotal player who’s chiefly involved in creating, or finishing goals. In Spain, and particularly England, there isn’t this same predilection for one player contributing more (by way of Scoring Stats – goals and assists) than any other particular player.

But how does this compare across the tiers of football in one country? It’s because of the Premiership’s mathematical preference for a balanced attack that England was chosen for this analysis – aiming to see if this balance is reflected throughout the lower levels of football. Defined briefly, a Team Leader is the player who has the greatest number of combined goals and assists for his team, which displays the number of goals they have directly contributed to their team’s cause.

To summarise, there is very little difference in the average contribution made by a club’s team leader across the four divisions. However in the lower leagues, the contributions are much less consistent – rather than having most team leaders contributing around the average for their division, there is a much wider spectrum for how much a certain player contributes to their team.

Where range shows the lowest and highest contributions by percentage by a Team Leader.

What this shows is that there isn’t really a large difference at all between how much a team scores on average across English Football. What is obvious is the considerably smaller range in which the Premiership operates – when subtracting the outlier Tevez, range drops from 26.32 to 16.32 and the average contribution by a team leader descends to 31.63%. There aren’t the stark outliers in the three lower tiers meaning no further adjustments are possible. This allows us to assume that EPL clubs need to fit into a much tighter band – their top scorer needs to contribute to nearly 24% of their goals, but defences and tactics are such that involvement in over 40% is both unlikely and risky. Having one player generating so much of their scoring also makes a club much easier to stop.

Aside from the Statistical Wonder Tevez, the greatest difference between leagues was generally which way these figures “trended”. In the Premiership, Championship and League Two there was a slight decline in how reliant each club was on their team leader as their league position worsened – ie. a higher-placed club tended to have their team leader contributing to a higher percentage of their goals. In League One, this trend is reversed as lower ranked clubs appear increasingly more reliant on their spearheads. This, as we will see, is primarily due to the efforts of Will Hoskins at Bristol Rovers, Danny Green of Dagenham & Redbridge and Craig Westcarr of Notts County.

What we also found was that in almost every case – except League One – one of the clubs in the Top Seven had the highest contribution by a team leader per League. That is, Carlos Tevez leads the Premiership in goals he’s contributed to for his team, providing a goal or assist to 50% of City’s scores. In the Championship, the leaders are Adel Taarabt of leaders QPR, Danny Graham of Watford (12th) and then Grant Holt of Norwich (2nd) and Reading’s Shane Long (5th). It’s a similar story in League Two as the three highest contributors by percentage play on teams ranked third, seventh and ninth.

English League clubs with greatest contribution to scoring by Team Leader

English League clubs with least contribution to scoring by Team Leader

The message best understood from these figures is this – although QPR boast a player with sublime skills in Adel Taarabt and Norwich City operate according to the rebirth of Grant Holt, it’s possible they are too reliant on their star men. The Welsh sides chasing their Premiership dream are perhaps best equipped to function in the top division. The Bluebirds are especially gifted as they boast a number of scoring options including England international Jay Bothroyd, loanee Craig Bellamy, Michael Chopra and last year’s division top-scorer Peter Whittingham. Should QPR or Norwich – tighter defences or not – gain promotion, they could well find themselves in a Blackpool situation: unable to balance attack with defence due to their reliance on one player.

This is perhaps the defining dichotomy of the Championship – a strong Team Leader is needed to progress to the Premiership; but then to spread the wealth offensively when you get there. It’s a very fine line and coaches can be easily forgiven for wanting to persist with the tactics that achieved them promotion. But, to paraphrase the most tried of cliches: nothing ventured, only parachute payments gained.

A complete list of European Scoring Stat leaders, team-by-team, can be found at Balanced Sports Scoring Stats page.

For more analysis and opinion, shoot across to Matthew Wood’s blog, Balanced Sports.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Morning all. Throughout January Soccerlens is going to be bringing you a daily round-up of the morning’s various goings-on. Be it juicy morsels of spurious transfer gossip or real, actual bona fide news, rest assured, we’ll have it covered.

Here’s this morning’s batch.

Mexes-matosis…

It should come as absolutely no surprise that, over the course of the weekend, Arsenal suffered yet another setback in terms of Thomas Vermaelen‘s agonisingly slow comeback from an Achilles twinge.

After months of recurring niggles, the Belgian defender is now set to undergo surgery on the tendon in question, a procedure that will keep him sidelined for at least the next six weeks.

With that (and the fact that Johan Djourou is a bit on the waff side) in mind, manager Arsene Wenger has conceded that he may have to delve into the January market to land a wee bit of defensive cover – with Roma centre-back Philippe Mexes the latest man to be strongly linked with a move to the Emirates.

The good news is that Mexes may be available for as little as £4.5 million, after being told by the Italian outfit that his current deal will not be renewed.

Calm, composed and, above all, cheap – it’s almost too perfect ain’t it?

Spitting image…

Blackburn are believed to be ready to allow troublesome forward El-Hadji Diouf leave the club this month, after finally admitting that trying to reign in the Senegalese gobshite is just not worth the effort anymore.

The player’s agent Willie McKay said:

“El-Hadji is looking to make a fresh start. He is a good player and there is plenty of interest.”

Several Premier League sides are reported to have already made tentative enquiries, with Blackburn considering the prospect of letting Diouf leave for a ‘fire sale’ price just to get him off their hands.

I wonder if QPR will be tempted?

Feed the Ox…

It looks like Southampton’s teenage sensation Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is on the verge of joining Arsenal, after the League One side revealed that they’re only willing to sell their highly-rated tyro to a club that will ‘nuture him properly’ – which, to the Daily Mirror‘s mind, seems to rule out Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool.

Said Saints manager Nigel Adkins:

“We would only let him go to a club that would nurture him and treat him properly.

There is going to be no auction for Alex. We love him and want to make him a better player.”

Aww, bless.

Queue forming for SWP…

Newcastle, Bolton and Fulham are all vying for the signature of winger Shaun Wright-Phillips after Man City formally told the diminutive winger that he will be allowed to leave the club this month.

All three clubs are hoping to tie up a loan deal within the next few days, though City’s insistence that any successful suitor will have to pay all of Wright-Phillips’ sizeable wages may just prove to be a stumbling block for Bolton – who don’t have a pot to p*ss in.

The best of the rest…

• Everton have officially confirmed that the bid they have accepted for winger Steven Pienaar is from Chelsea and that the bid they rejected was from Tottenham…

• Dutch giants PSV and Ajax are squaring off once again, this time in the race to sign Stoke forward Eidur Gudjohnsen on loan until the summer…

• Leicester City have failed with their bid to take Manchester United ‘keeper Tomasz Kuszczak on loan…

• Inter Milan midfielder Sulley Muntari has handed in a transfer request in a bid to push through a loan move to Sunderland, though the Ghanaian is still thought to be pining for a switch to a London-based club…

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

League One has been a frustrating affair for most clubs this season, and unless you’re Brighton (happily sitting at the top of the table and unbeaten in eleven) you probably feel you have more to complain about than to celebrate; yet you look at the league table and see that your team still has a good shout at promotion.

At the end of a high-scoring weekend in the division, only 7 points separate 2nd and 21st. Three points can mean the difference between a play-off position and one just outside the relegation zone and no-one has been able to string more than three wins together yet.

Oldham 4-2 Plymouth, Exeter 2-4 Brentford, Tranmere 4-2 MK Dons

It was a weekend to forget for most defenders and goalkeepers, with only Charlton, Huddersfield and Brighton keeping clean sheets. The big news was that there were no less than three 4-2 scorelines, with Oldham, Brentford and Tranmere overcoming Plymouth, Exeter and MK Dons by that number respectively.

The results are especially welcome for Tranmere and Brentford, both of whom looked to be in serious trouble a few short weeks ago. Tranmere are now lifted out of the relegation zone with their second win in a row, having scored four the previous week as well. The MK Dons drop from 7th to 11th after yet another away defeat they have lost every away game this season with the exception of a win on the opening day.

Meanwhile a resurgent Brentford are propelled well clear of the red area and are now only a point behind the vanquished Exeter who have lost 5 of the last 7, along with their unbeaten home record. Grecians fans must be frustrated with their team’s inconsistency which has seen them pinging around the mid-table to lower play-off regions for most of the season.

Oldham maintain their unbeaten home record and move within a point of the play-offs while the poor Pilgrims plunge into the relegation zone for the first time this season; two red cards for Plymouth and two goals deep into injury time for Oldham being the evidence for a spirited fight-back from the Latics.

Peterborough 0-3 Brighton

Fans attending the home of Peterborough United this season had seen an incredible 33 goals in 6 games (21 for and 12 against) before this weekend, while table-topping Brighton had only conceded three on the road all season. Another high-scoring game was in store at London Road, but with Brighton on unstoppable form, none of the goals were to please the home fans.

The Seagulls took the lead with the aid of a brace from Ashley Barnes and by all accounts could have had more than the three they ended the game with. Brighton extend their lead to eight points and manager Gus Poyet’s bravado in front of the microphone continues, as well it might given their awe-inspiring start to the season.

Peterborough fans can console themselves with the fact that they are still very strong contenders for automatic promotion as they drop down to 5th.

Huddersfield 1-0 Walsall

While Brighton set the pace, Huddersfield lead the ever expanding chasing pack, but made things tough for themselves at home to troubled Walsall. The Terriers had to play most of the game with ten men after Alan Lee was sent off for violent conduct, but a barnstorming 30-yarder soon after from Anthony Pilkington was enough to send the Saddlers to the foot of the table as the ten men hung on against a Walsall side bereft of new ideas.

This is Walsall’s second defeat in a row, stymieing a mini-revival they had put together; conversely Huddersfield look back on more solid ground after a difficult spell a couple of weeks ago.

Bournemouth 1-2 Colchester, Notts County 1-2 Southampton

Bournemouth’s unbeaten home record was the second to fall as the Cherries fell from second this weekend. The south coast team had been the early season’s high scorers, and while they have gone off the boil a bit by the standards they set for themselves their opponents, Colchester had to draw on all their reserve to hold out against a late onslaught and win the game 2-1.

Bournemouth drop to fourth, while Colchester leapfrog them into third; despite having only won five games all season, the same amount as Notts County who had no such luck. Southampton lie second in the current form table (behind Brighton of course) and despite going in at half-time 1-0 down at Meadow Lane, ran out 3-1 winners.

A red card for the Magpies’ John Thompson and a subsequent penalty by Richie Lambert initiated the Saints’ come-back. Paul Ince’s managerial debut ruined and County fans left to gee themselves up with what has been a creditable start to life in League One. Saints can start talking up their chances again as they rise to 9th after an opening two months of turmoil both on and off the pitch.

Charlton 1-0 Sheff Wed

Saints claim the early-season bouncebackability award at the expense of Sheffield Wednesday who had led the league early on, plummeted to 16th after 5 games without a win, and then brushed themselves off and climbed back up the ladder to find themselves in 4th place.

Travelling Owls fans were left wondering where the fight had gone at the Valley as Charlton won at a canter, able to take things easy after an early goal. Wednesday drop to just outside the play-offs. The Addicks must have been relieved at the lack of fight in their opponents after last weekend’s 4-3 thriller at Brunton Park and they themselves now occupy the last play-off spot, after a yet another story this season of mini-revivals to end a mini-blips.

Dagenham 1-1 Hartlepool

One team who know nothing of ‘blips’ are Dagenham and Redbridge, who have only been able to rise from the relegation zone twice this season to take a deep breath before sinking back under. One can hardly blame them though, this is the highest this young team have ever been and if they are finding it tough at this level at least the tightness of the league keeps safety well and truly within reach; and safety is what the Daggers are playing for this season.

They may have felt a tad unfortunate as an own goal in the dying seconds from Mark Arber rescued a point for Hartlepool, but then the Essex team also benefited from the misplaced foot of an opposing defender as an own goal from Peter Hartley gave them the lead in the first half.

Dagenham lift off the bottom of the table, while the Monkey Hangers hang nervously close to the frothing pool of the relegation zone despite also lifting a place.

Leyton Orient 2-1 Rochdale, Yeovil 3-3 Swindon

More movement in the bottom half from Leyton Orient, Yeovil Town and Swindon Town. Rochdale have settled in well in the middle division after an excruciatingly long wait to get here. Defeat away at Orient will have knocked them off their stride somewhat, but as with most teams, they only have to wait till the next game for a chance to get back among the play-offs.

Dale fans though may share their manager’s view that the O’s equaliser from the spot was created by an incorrect decision by the ref to award the penalty, and another goal to take the game 2-1 means Orient move out of the relegation places. Yeovil and Swindon meanwhile, threw their all into a local derby and potential six-pointer at Huish Park and Robins fans, whose team’s away form has let them down this season, may have felt hopeful when they took the lead.

The Glovers meanwhile have only won one at home all season and were determined to end a poor run when they equalised just before half-time and amounted a 3-1 lead shortly after the restart. A share of the points was salvaged in dramatic fashion by two goals from Swindon in the last three minutes, with a spectacular strike from Jon-Paul McGovern sending the away fans home delighted, and perhaps a little relieved having given away the initial lead.

Bristol Rovers 1-1 Carlisle

Injury hit Carlisle United are starting to feeling the bite-back after a positive start to the season and fielded a highly unusual 3-4-3 formation when they visited Bristol Rovers. The Pirates, who had scored 4 goals in the last two games, scored again, but despite coming into this on the back of two defeats, the Cumbrians had also scored 4 in 2 and grabbed a late equaliser.

The travelling fans may have taken a point away from home against a strong Bristolian outfit before the game, but were left wondering what might have been on the long journey home after the league’s joint second top-scorer, Gary Madine had a penalty saved deep into injury time. They drop 2 places from 8th to 10th while Rovers, who could have jumped to 7th remain unchanged in 12th.

So in summary, lots of goals, lots of movement… Unbeaten home records lost and bounce-backs consolidated. A weekend for League One fans to feel smugly superior at the diversity and drama created in what is probably the least reported on division. Another full complement of games comes around this Tuesday and maybe this time the pundits will watch more closely.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Whereas I have to admit that Liverpool’s ongoing takeover saga has provided good copy since their boardroom civil war broke out nine days ago, it’s probably fairly safe to say that we (that is, those of us that have no real vested interest in the outcome of  chronicles) are now heartily sick to the sodding molars of it.

The fact that even the most insignificant of minutiae has been poured over by all and sundry has led to unprecedented levels of over-saturation, which in turn has led to a kind of nationwide apathy – which is the last thing that a football club in dire straights should be generating.

There have been lengthy reports drafted to cover all the ins-and-outs of every little bit of desperate refinancing and legal skullduggery owners Hicks and Gillett have undertaken, minute-by-minute updates from the High Court hearings, detailed examinations of the accounts of even the most hopeless of potential buyers, soapboxes given to various supporters’ groups to voice their ire, doomsday headlines aplenty and even .pdf copies of legal writs released to the public.

All of which must be pretty galling to fans of teams like Sheffield Wednesday, Cardiff City and Chester, who saw their clubs dragged through the mire with barely a murmur from the national press.

You could perhaps argue that Liverpool have received such unfettered attention due solely to their brand name’s prominent standing within the global game. Never before has such a high-profile English club flirted so publicly with becoming financially comatose, so tales of administration and points deductions are bound to fuel the imagination of the masses.

Liverpool co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks

The scare-mongering has been rife during the ordeal. It’s a safe bet that Liverpool won’t be put into administration as that particular ball is entirely in creditors Royal Bank of Scotland‘s court and, seeing as though it is they who are also being dragged through the courts by Hicks and Gillett (and with a £300 million bid waiting in the wings), you can imagine that a certain amount of empathy will be forthcoming regarding their imposed debt deadline.

Even upon the remote chance that Kop Holdings are placed into receivership, it is highly likely that the Premier League will grant special dispensation and waive the nine-point deduction, as it was only the continued rankling of the baseless court proceedings brought about by Hicks that prevented the Liverpool board (and, by proxy, the club itself) from hammering out the deal with New England Sports Ventures that would have seen the outstandings paid off in full with time to spare.

All this melodrama served to promote Liverpool’s campaign to have their cancerous moles lopped off onto the national stage, but must have rung oh so hollow to fans of clubs that have actually witnessed their teams come within hours of liquidation – or have had to watch them wiped from the realm of existence altogether.

For example, last month League One side Sheffield Wednesday narrowly avoided going into administration by the skins of their collective teeth after seeing their relatively piffling £700,000 tax bill settled by the Co-operative Bank, after having a winding-up order placed upon the club by HRMC three months prior.

Entering administration would have meant that Wednesday would’ve faced a ten-point deduction by the Football League, and would have also seen their plans to host World Cup matches in 2018 (should England’s bid be successful) ruined.

The Owls are still looking for a buyer (although a takeover bid is currently in the offing), but you wouldn’t know it if you didn’t know where to look, and over the past few years it’s been a similar story for Cardiff, Accrington Stanley, Bournemouth, Darlington, Crystal Palace, Southampton, Luton…etc, etc and we all know what happened to Chester City not so very long ago..

Portsmouth administrator Andrew Andronikou

The closest we’ve ever come to the levels of hysteria currently surrounding Liverpool’s financial turmoil is when Portsmouth became the first Premier League club to officially enter administration last February.

It caused a low-level stir when Pompey were docked nine points and rather confusingly fined £1 million by the Premier League board for ‘breaching rules and regulations’, but the interest soon waned. The fact that their crippling levels of debt have ensured that they are still in administration eight months down the line is seemingly neither here nor there.

The critical lesson that the Premier League need to take from Liverpool’s judicial and financial torments of the past few days/weeks/years (delete as you see fit) is that, if things continue in their current unsustainable vein, then the bottom is going to fall out of English football – and, given the plights of so many of our lower league clubs, you could feasibly argue that the terminal rot has already well and truly set in.

Sh*t always rains from the top and pools at the bottom.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Lauded by the many, derided by the few. However, it just so happens that those ‘few’ are all Everton fans – fans that witness their side’s foibles on a regular basis and aren’t willing to adhere to the perpetual received wisdom that their manager, David Moyes, is the best there is outside of the Premier League’s upper echelons.

After enduring yet another torrid start to their Premier League campaign (two points from five games), Everton saw their all-too-brief Carling Cup run ended unceremoniously by League One side Brentford last night, losing out 4-3 on penalties after consummately failing to ascertain the upper hand during the previous 120 minutes of football.

The Toffees got off to a decent enough start when promising youngster Seamus Coleman slotted home with the game only six minutes old but, after long periods of ultimately toothless bluster, Brentford’s Gary Alexander restored parity mere minutes before the interval – turning Myles Weston‘s cross past Jan Mucha with a powerful header.

Everton continued to waste their opportunities during the second half, Marouane Fellaini striking the post from a tight angle and Brentford ‘keeper Richard Lee (who was excellent on the night) proving to be more than a match for Yakubu, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and new-boy Magaye Gueye on several separate occasions.

Brentford were even handed a golden chance to win the tie outright in normal time when they were awarded a penalty following Coleman’s trip of the flighty Weston, but Charlie MacDonald eventually saw his low penalty repelled well by Mucha.

Even the reluctant introduction of Everton’s star pairing Mikel Arteta and Steven Pienaar wasn’t enough to provide the edge for Moyes’ side and, after a wrought climax, the game plodded through extra-time and almost inevitably went to penalties.

With the shoot-out level at 3-3, it was summer recruit Jermaine Beckford that first missed and then, needing to score to keep Everton in the tie, Phil Jagielka‘s effort struck a post thus sending Brentford into the fourth round of the tournament.

Brentford fans celebrate on the pitch after the final whistle

After the final whistle, Moyes trudged from the Griffin Park pitch amidst a hail of boos, as he and his charges had done the previous weekend upon losing 1-0 at home to newly-promoted Newcastle United in the Premier League, but it was a particular altercation concerning the two sets of supporters that caught the Everton manager’s eye;

“I thought it was terrible. I saw a fan throw a bottle into our fans. I said to him ‘I saw your face. I saw who you were’. He got a bottle and went right up and threw it right into the middle of our group of supporters.

If the police want me to follow it up and try to find the individual that threw the bottle into the crowd then that would be fine by me, it wouldn’t be a problem. I didn’t grab him. I wanted to but obviously that would have brought more attention to the situation.”

Moyes was also damning when it came to assessing his side’s continuing impotency in front of goal;

“We abused the opportunities we had to score and knew that they would keep coming and in football you have to take those chances when they come.

You have to make your own lucky breaks. I thought we had numerous opportunities but [Brentford] deserved it because they hung in and never let us out of the game. The crowd gave them a lift but we can only blame ourselves.”

Everton's top goalscorer Tim Cahill

Before Coleman’s goal last night, Everton had failed to score away from home all season, and they are currently still awaiting the first goal on their travels in the Premier League.

Their spirited last-ditch 3-3 draw with Manchester United aside, haven’t managed to score more than one goal in league game, and the fact that half-man-half-salmon Tim Cahill is leading their scoring charts (with two goals) should tell you all you need to know about the Everton’s almost non-existent strikeforce.

The volley of frustrated post-match boos are steadily becoming more and more prominent and their have even been calls for David Moyes’ head (metaphorically speaking), such is the level of acrimony swirling around Goodison Park at the moment.

Many supporters are becoming increasingly frustrated with Moyes’ relentless insistence on deploying his trademark ultra-cautious 4-5-1 formation, his brazen lack of eyebrows, and many still harbour resentment over the seemingly intangible re-investment of the ‘Lescott money’ – as it is now unequivocally deemed.

For me, the fact remains that no other manager could have possibly done a better job at Everton over the past eight years, and the dearth of available alternatives (possibly excluding the pricey Martin O’Neill) suggests that there really is no need to make such knee-jerk calls.

Everton will come good this season, they always do…eventually. It may take a statutory minimum of four months for them to get their act together, but history seems to dictate that they’ll be pushing for those Europa League places come May, as per usual.

Now all they need is a half-decent striker, whose knee ligaments aren’t made of plasticine and warm chocolate.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Sheffield Wednesday moved to the top of the embryonic League One table after demolishing Hartlepool 5-0. ‘The Owls’ were 2-0 up in ten minutes after an own-goal from Paul Murray and a Giles Coke volley set them on their way. Neil Mellor, signed from Preston in the summer, made it three before Marcus Tudgay scored from the penalty spot and a Clinton Morrison scored his first for the club, in the last minute, to put a gloss on the victory.

Another side that were relegated from the Championship last campaign, Peterborough United, also moved into the automatics spots with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle. After a competitive first half, where neither side found top gear, it was Craig Mackail-Smith who headed home a Grant McCann free-kick, on the hour mark, to open the scoring. Mackail-Smith doubled his tally for the match with a powerful volley before Aaron McLean headed another Grant McCann set piece beyond David Button, in the Plymouth goal, to complete the scoring.

Craig Mackail-Smith and Aaron McLean celebrate.

Oldham Athletic, under new manager Paul Dickov’s guidance, remain unbeaten but couldn’t find a way past Yeovil Town in a disappointing 0-0 draw at Boundary Park. The hosts had chances but Yeovil goal-keeper, John Sullivan, was on fine form to keep ‘The Latics’ from scoring. The visitors almost snatched all three points at the end but Oldham ‘keeper Dean Brill lived up to his name and managed to keep Terry Skiverton’s side at bay.

In what was the game of the day, Notts County came back from three goals down to grab a point at Dean Court. Bournemouth were 3-0 up within the first half hour thanks to two goals from Josh McQuoid, who is making light work of filling a Brett Pitman sized whole, and Anton Robinson. But Notts County pulled a goal back to make it 3-1 through Ben Burgess before half-time and two injury times goals from Craig Westcarr and Kevin Smith meant that Notts County snatched a dramatic point.

Huddersfield Town secured an impressive three points with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Charlton Athletic. After a disappointing defeat to fellow promotion hopefuls, Peterborough, last weekend ‘The Terriers’ were looking to bounce back in front of their own crowd. A superb chip from Jordan Rhodes set them on their way before Jamie McCombe scored a towering header to put the hosts 2-0 up. Gary Roberts put the points beyond any doubt with a well placed volley but the visiting supporters did have something to cheer about when Matt Fry scored a consolation goal deep into stoppage time.

Jordan Rhodes put Huddersfield in-front against Charlton.

Southampton picked up their first three points of the season thrashing Bristol Rovers 4-0. The pre-season favourites for promotion took the lead when, centre-back, Jose Fonte tucked home from a corner. Adam Lallana then opened his account for the season to put the visitors 2-0 in-front. Rickie Lambert scored from the penalty spot, against his former club, to seal all three points before Lee Barnard completed the rout with an expert finish. This result was still not enough to stop Alan Pardew being sacked along with members of his back-room staff. Paul Hart has emerged as the early favourite for ‘The Saint’s’ job.

At the bottom of the table, Brentford couldn’t pick up their first three points of the season losing 3-1 to newly promoted Rochdale at Griffin Park. Anthony Elding gave the visitors an early lead but Andy Scott’s side hit back through Robbie Simpson. In the second half Chris O’Grady restored Rochdale’s lead with a powerfully hit shot but there was controversy when Jason Kennedy, after putting the visitors further in-front with a clever header, celebrated with the ‘Dale’ fans and was sent off for a second bookable offence.

Chris O’Grady scored in Rochdale’s game against Brentford at the weekend.

Dagenham and Redbridge and Tranmere Rovers already look set to be fighting a relegation battle at the end of the season. Both are still looking for their first win of the season after playing out a 2-2 draw at Victoria Road. Romain Vincelot put Dagenham in-front with a powerful header, after some clever skill from Peter Gain, and Mark Arber’s first of the season seemed to put the points beyond any doubt for ‘The Daggers’. Tranmere, with two late goals, broke Dagenham hearts though. Enoch Showumni got the first before a brilliant free-kick from Aaron Cresswell sent the visiting fans home happy.

Elsewhere Leyton Orient beat Exeter in a comfortable 3-0 victory. MK Dons fought back from 1-0 down to win 2-1 against Swindon Town with two headed goals from Sam Baldock. Brighton and Hove Albion fought off their home jitters to beat a ten man Walsall side 2-1 and, on Friday night, a late Paul Thirwell strike earned Carlisle a point away to Colchester United.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Chances are that you’d never heard of Adam Stansfield until a couple of months ago, in fact the chances are that many of you still haven’t heard of Adam Stansfield to this day.

However if you’re a fan of Exeter City, or of English league football in general, you’ll have found his name almost inescapable over the last month or so and, I’m afraid to say, for the most terribly tragic of reasons.

Stansfield is the former Exeter striker who lost his battle with bowel cancer on 10th August at the devastatingly young age of 31, after initially being diagnosed with the disease in April of this year.

Exeter organised a memorial for Stansfield during the week after his death by opening up their Big Bank stand for fans to pay their respects. St James Park stadium was duly flooded with flowers and memorials to their fallen hero, poignantly illustrating the regard in which the player was held within the club’s community.

As a further tribute to Stansfield, the League One side have now decided to retire their No.9 jersey for the next nine seasons, with a statement on the club’s official website reading;

“The Board of Exeter City Football Club have decided that, as a mark of respect to Adam Stansfield, his number 9 shirt will be retired for 9 seasons.

Adam wore the number 9 shirt with pride and distinction while making it his own during every one of his 158 appearances for the Grecians.

And supporters, family and playing staff alike agreed with this wish to retire the number nine.”

The club have also helped to set up two separate charities in Stansfield’s memory, the first being The Adam Stansfield Family Fund which has been set up to help support his widow and three young boys and The Adam Stansfield Football Foundation, which has been created to provide funding for various youth-orientated footballing ventures across the South West of England.

Both funds accept donations starting at £1.

Speaking on behalf of everyone at Soccerlens, R.I.P Adam Stansfield.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

You’ll find the latest summer 2010 League One transfers listed here. Archives for older transfer seasons are at the end of this page. For the latest transfer rumours and transfer lists for other leagues, see our transfer news column.

If you find a transfer not listed here let us know and we’ll add it.

Last Updated: 3 September 2010

Bournemouth

In:

Out: Jeff Goulding (free, Cheltenham Town), Brett Pitman (undisclosed, Bristol City)

Brentford

In: Richard Lee (free, Watford), Nicky Forster (unattached), Kirk Hudson (undisclosed, Aldershot), Craig Woodman (undisclosed, Wycombe Wanderers), Michael Spillane (undisclosed, Norwich City), David McCracken (undisclosed, Milton Keynes Dons), Toumani Diagouraga (undisclosed, Peterborough United), Gary Alexander (undisclosed, Millwall), Pim Balkenstein (undisclosed, Ipswich Town), Robbie Simpson (loan, Huddersfield Town), Alex McCarthy (loan, Reading), Nicky Adams (undisclosed, Leicester City), Ben Hamer (loan, Reading)

Out: Ryan Dickson (undisclosed, Southampton), Danny Foster (free, Wycombe Wanderers), Ben Strevens (free, Wycombe Wanderers), Alan Bennett (free, Wycombe Wanderers)

Brighton

In: Matt Sparrow (free, Scunthorpe United), Agustin Battipiedi (free, Comunicaciones), Cristian Baz (free, Comunicaciones), Ashley Barnes (loan, Plymouth Argyle), Gordon Greer (undisclosed, Swindon Town), Radostin Kishishev (unattached), Casper Ankergren (unattached), Liam Bridcutt (unattached), Torbjorn Agdestein (undisclosed, Stord), Kazenga LuaLua (loan, Newcastle), Francisco Sandaza (unattached)

Out: Andrew Crofts (undisclosed, Norwich City), Jake Wright (free, Oxford United), Liam Dickinson (undisclosed, Barnsley), James Tunnicliffe (loan, Bristol Rovers)

Bristol Rovers

In: Will Hoskins (free, Watford), Gary Sawyer (free, Plymouth Argyle), Luke Daniels (loan, West Bromwich Albion), James Tunnicliffe (loan, Brighton), Mikkel Andersen (loan, Reading), John Akinde (loan, Bristol City)

Out: Steve Phillips (free, Crewe Alexandra), Darryl Duffy (loan, Hibs)

Carlisle United

In: Sean McDaid (free, Leeds United), Craig Curran (free, Tranmere Rovers), Jason Price (free, Millwall), Frank Simek (unattached), James Berrett (undisclosed, Huddersfield Town), Francois Zoko (unattached), James Chester (loan, Manchester United), Ben Marshall (loan, Stoke City), Lubomir Michalik (loan, Leeds United)

Out: Richard Keogh (free, Coventry City), Andy Cook (loan, Barrow), Richard Offiong (loan, Darlington), Ian Harte (undisclosed, Reading)

Charlton Athletic

In: Gary Doherty (unattached), Johnnie Jackson (free, Notts County), Simon Francis (35k, Southend United), Matt Fry (loan, West Ham United), Ross Worner (undisclosed, Woking), Lee Martin (loan, Ipswich Town), Joe Anyinsah (unattached), Paul Benson (undisclosed, Dagenham & Redbridge), Jonathan Fortune (unattached)

Out: Jonjo Shelvey (£1.7m, Liverpool), Matthew Spring (free, Leyton Orient), Stuart Fleetwood (undisclosed, Hereford United), Frazer Richardson (undisclosed, Southampton), Nicky Bailey (1.4m, Middlesbrough), Serge Deble (free, Nantes)

Colchester United

In: Andy Bond (free, Barrow), Ben Coker (unattached), Lloyd James (unattached), David Mooney (loan, Reading)

Out: David Fox (undisclosed, Norwich City), David Prutton (free, Swindon Town), Clive Platt (undisclosed, Coventry City)

Dagenham & Redbridge

In: Stuart Lewis (free, Gillingham), Gavin Tomlin (free, Yeovil Town), Duran Reynolds (unattached), Conor Okus (unattached)

Out: Mark Nwokeji (free, AFC Wimbledon), Anwar Uddin (free, Barnet), Paul Benson (undisclosed, Charlton Athletic), Harlee Dean (undisclosed, Southampton)

Exeter City

In: John O’Flynn (free, Barnet FC)

Out: Craig McAllister (free, Crawley), James Norwood (loan, Forest Green Rovers)

Hartlepool United

In: Paul Murray (unattached)

Out: Alan Power (free, Rushden & Diamonds)

Huddersfield Town

In: Gary Naysmith (free, Sheffield United), Ian Bennett (free, Sheffield United), Lee Croft (loan, Derby County), Jamie McCombe (undisclosed, Bristol City), Joe Garner (loan, Nottingham Forest), Graham Carey (loan, Celtic), Damien Johnson (loan, Peterborough United), Alan Lee (undisclosed, Crystal Palace)

Out: Joe Skarz (free, Bury), Lee Franks (loan, Oxford United), Jack Hunt (loan, Chesterfield), James Berrett (undisclosed, Carlisle United), Michael Collins (undisclosed, Scunthorpe United), Lionel Ainsworth (undisclosed, Shrewsbury Town), Robbie Simpson (loan, Brentford)

Leyton Orient

In: Elliot Omozusi (free, Fulham), Lee Butcher (free, Tottenham), Matthew Spring (free, Charlton Athletic), Michael Liddle (loan, Sunderland)

Out: Tamika Mkandawire (free, Millwall), Luke Ashworth (free, Rotherham United)

Milton Keynes Dons

In: Lewis Guy (free, Doncaster Rovers), David Martin (free, Liverpool), Angelo Balanta (loan, Queens Park Rangers)

Out: David McCracken (undisclosed, Brentford)

Notts County

In: Liam Chilvers (unattached), David Grof (unattached), Krystian Pearce (unattached), Kevin Smith (unattached), Matt Marshall (unattached), Jake Jervis (loan, Birmingham City), Luke Hubbins (loan, Birmingham City)

Out: Kasper Schmeichel (free, Leeds United), Johnnie Jackson (free, Charlton Athletic), David Grof (loan, Tamworth)

Oldham Atheltic

In: Ritchie Jones (unattached), Dean Kelly (unattached), Jean Yves M’Voto (loan, Sunderland), Oumare Tounkara (loan, Sunderland), Rodrigue Dikaba (unattached)

Out: Joe Colbeck (free, Hereford United)

Peterborough United

In: James Wesolowski (undisclosed, Leicester City), Mark Little (free, Wolverhampton Wanderers), Grant McCann (free, Scunthorpe United), Kelvin Langmead (undisclosed, Shrewsbury Town), Nathaniel Mendez-Lang (loan, Wolverhampton Wanderers), Arron Davies (unattached), Lee Tomlin (undisclosed, Rushden & Diamonds)

Out: Shaun Batt (undisclosed, Millwall), Jamie Day (undisclosed, Rushden & Diamonds), Danny Andrew (free, Cheltenham Town), Scott Rendell (undisclosed, Wycombe Wanderers), Craig Morgan (400k, Preston North End), Sergio Torres (undisclosed, Crawley Town), Liam Hatch (loan, Darlington), Toumani Diagouraga (undisclosed, Brentford), Exodus Geohaghon (loan, Rotherham United), Damien Johnson (loan, Huddersfield Town), Scott Griffiths (loan, Chesterfield), Rene Howe (loan, Rushden & Diamonds), Dominic Green (loan, Rushden & Diamonds), Ben Wright (undisclosed, Crawley Town)

Plymouth Argyle

In: Bondz N’Gala (free, West Ham), Anton Peterlin (unattached), David Button (loan, Tottenham), Lee Molyneux (unattached), Chris Barker (free, Southend United), Stephane Zubar (unattached)

Out: Jamie Mackie (undisclosed, Queens Park Rangers), Gary Sawyer (free, Bristol Rovers), Simon Walton (loan, Sheffield United), Ashley Barnes (loan, Brighton), George Donnelly (loan, Stockport County)

Rochdale

In: Josh Lillis (loan, Scunthorpe United), Andrew Tutte (loan, Manchester City), Josh Thompson (loan, Celtic), Craig Dawson (loan, West Bromwich Albion)

Out: Tom Kennedy (free, Leicester City), Craig Dawson (undisclosed, West Bromwich Albion)

Sheffield Wednesday

In: Chris Sedgwick (free, Preston North End), Paul Heffernan (free, Doncaster Rovers), Giles Coke (unattached), Neil Mellor (loan, Preston North End), Clinton Morrison (unattached)

Out: Leon Clarke (free, Queens Park Rangers), Lee Grant (undisclosed, Burnley), Richard O’Donnell (loan, Grimsby)

Southampton

In: Ryan Dickson (undisclosed, Brentford), Frazer Richardson (undisclosed, Charlton Athletic), Danny Butterfield (unattached), Guilhermo do Prado (loan, Cesena), Harlee Dean (undisclosed, Dagenham & Redbridge)

Out:

Swindon Town

In: Michael Rose (free, Stockport County), David Prutton (free, Colchester United), David Ball (loan, Manchester City), Paul Caddis (undisclosed, Celtic), Alan Sheehan (free, Leeds United)

Out: Billy Paynter (free, Leeds United), Alex Henshall (undisclosed, Manchester City), Lloyd Macklin (free, Torquay United), Gordon Greer (undisclosed, Brighton)

Tranmere Rovers

In: Gunnar Nielsen (loan, Manchester City), Enoch Showunmi (unattached), Lewis Franks (unattached), Nick Wood (unattached), Liam Darville (loan, Leeds United), Kayleden Brown (loan, West Bromwich Albion), Jermaine Grandison (loan, Coventry City), Arnaud Mendy (loan, Derby County)

Out: Craig Curran (free, Carlisle United), Terry Gornell (free, Accrington Stanley)

Walsall

In: Paul Marshall (free, Manchester City), Jonny Brain (free, Maccesfield), David Bevan (unattached), Oliver Lancashire (unattached), Aaron Lescott (unattached), Reuben Reid (loan, West Bromwich Albion)

Out: Mark Hughes (free, North Queensland Fury), Peter Till (free, York City), Jamie Vincent (free, Aldershot), Sam Parkin (free, St. Johnstone), Troy Deeney (500k, Watford)

Yeovil Town

In: Luke Ayling (free, Arsenal), Ed Upson (free, Ipswich Town), John Sullivan (loan, Millwall), Rob Kiernan (loan, Watford), Billy Gibson (unattached), Owain Tudur Jones (loan, Norwich City), Shaun MacDonald (loan, Swansea City)

Out: Kieran Murtagh (free, Wycombe Wanderers), Gavin Tomlin (free, Dagenham & Redbridge)

Summer 2009
January 2010

For the latest transfer rumours and transfer lists for other leagues, see our transfer news section.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News