Aston Villa on Monday sacked Alex McLeish. You can hardly blame them for sacking him. McLeish is so negative magnets in his presence never attract and only repel. He could fall on some tube tracks and not be electrocuted.  He’s a dour, defensive manager who this season left Villa in the hands of Morpheus. Moribund, soporific, dire are words that come to mind when describing what it must have been like to be a regular to Villa Park this season and watch Villa play such an aimless, dull brand of football.

The decision to hire him was an appalling one borne out of Roberto Martinez rejecting Villa’s advances to stay at Wigan and Mark Hughes shamefully resigning from Fulham thinking Villa would hire him even though Villa hadn’t contacted him, which made himself unemployable in the process. Why then the Villa hierarchy thought hiring a manager who’d experienced two relegations with bitter rivals Birmingham City was a good idea worth the expense of buying him out of his Birmingham contract is mystifying. Arguably they should have sacked him before the season ended, Villa only achieving survival through a 1-1 draw at home to Spurs in the pneultimate game of the season when seven of the starting XI were defenders and they had four shots to Spurs’ twenty-one.

McLeish has now gone however and Villa fans can breathe, learn to smile again and think more positively of the future.  The future for Villa though still doesn’t look especially rosy, though any future without McLeish must by comparison seem a wonderful, life-affirming prospect. The squad has a lot of dreck on high wages, with Martin O’Neill, Gerard Houllier and McLeish having bought a lot of average players who don’t deserve their wages.

The likes of Alan Hutton, Stephen Warnock, James Collins, Jean Makoun, Charles N’Zogbia, Fabien Delph and Emile Heskey are being paid good money when they’ve been playing poorly. Why they were bought in the first place is a hard to fathom. Paying millions of pounds for Alan Hutton’s services is a borderline criminal offence. Makoun works out at £1.14m an appearance. The promise Delph showed at Leeds has disappeared from view. N’Zogbia has talent but has been rotten for Villa this year while Emile Heskey is Emile Heskey. These sort of players are cluttering up the Villa wage bill and need axing.

For Villa fans it must be galling for such rubbish to be bought when you look at the player sold in recent years. A potential midfield of Young-Barry-Milner-Downing has all been sold. Now while in every case the buying club arguably overpaid for these players (Liverpool paying £20m for Downing to contribute not one goal or assist in the League for one) selling players hints at a lack of ambition and basically makes Villa appear as a feeder club for the big time.

Though there are a number of mediocre or below average players on above average wage packets, there are some promising youngsters who a new manager can utilise. Gabby Agbonlahor is still only 25, Darren Bent is a proven goalscorer and at 28 still with years left in the tank, Marc Albrighton has looked like a promising winger with excellent delivery, Ciaran Clark has played decently in defence while the likes of Barry Bannan, Gary Gardner, Nathan Baker, Andreas Weimann and Chris Herd have shown talent which if utilised correctly can amount to a decent side.

The person who will get to utilise the young talent slowly coming through at Villa Park is yet to be hired. According to which newspaper you read Roberto Martinez and Paul Lambert are the Villa board’s main targets. This shows that the Villa board are on the right track, with Villa CEO Paul Faulkner saying that they want a manager who can ‘reinvigorate the club and bring some vibrancy to Villa’. He’s lucky that the last season had in Martinez, Lambert and Brendan Rodgers three excellent young managers who may well be persuaded to move to the Midlands.

Looking at the candidates, Villa are if not quite a sleeping giant a sleeping club capable of far more than it is currently achieving. Martin O’Neill leading them to three consecutive 6^th place finishes and the brink of Champions League football showed that. Expectations won’t be very high and the prospective manager will surely be granted the power to make big changes as regards the squad’s personnel and the style of play. Villa scored a league-low 37 goals while only Bent and Agbonlahor scored more than four goals last season. Faulkner has already talked about bringing a more attacking style of play to Villa.

This suits the aforementioned three young managerial Amigos. Roberto Martinez’s admirable refusal to change his style of play even when Wigan looked destined for relegation paid off handsomely when they pulled off the most stylish escape from relegation ever seen in the Premiership. Brendan Rodgers’s insistence on the high pressing, short passing at Swansea has seen them achieve promotion and finish mid-table in the Premiership with victories over Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool, heights Swansea haven’t reached in 30 years. Lambert doesn’t have such a one-dimensional approach to football but in two and a half seasons in leading Norwich to two promotions and a mid-table Premier League finish he has worked miracles.

Of these candidates, Lambert would be my choice. Of the three he has shown the most tactical nous. Against QPR and Swansea he switched from four at the back to three at the back, both ushering victories from losing or drawing positions. Away to Spurs the Norwich pressed high, squeezing Spurs and achieving a remarkable victory. Away to Arsenal and Chelsea they were superb against on paper superior opposition which indicates tactically how successful their approach was.

Also look at the way he has moulded a group of players whose only experience was in the lower leagues. There was only three matches of Premiership experience between the 11 players who drew 1-1 to Wigan on the opening day of the season. From that batch of players Grant Holt is the 2^nd leading English goalscorer in the Premier League charts, Steve Morison has been capped by Wales, John Ruddy is England’s 3rs choice keeper for Euro 2012 while journeyman Aaron Wilbraham, who’d spent most of his career at Stockport and MK Dons joined Grant Holt in bullying Spurs and pushing Ledley King closer to retirement in Norwich’s victory at White Hart Lane.

Brendan Rodgers is seemingly the favourite for the job in the media, possibly because he’s an affable, cerebral talker of the game while Lambert with the media is usually grim, sullen, from the Kenny Dalglish school of how to deal with the press. Rodgers has done superbly with Swansea, taking a side with an average attendance of only 20,000 to promotion, mid-table in the Premiership and done it with the 2^nd highest average possession in matches this season.

To get Swansea playing so effectively a short-passing game shows his abilities as a coach, though it should be said his predecessors Martinez and Paulo Sousa had laid the foundations by preaching a similar short-passing, high pressing game. When Rodgers had to cultivate his preferred style of play at Reading, he failed miserably and was sacked after only a few months in the job. That said he’s not the first to be sacked from a job and afterwards be a success, and the number of young players at Villa should mean the players are more open to his style of play and easier to mould into the sort of outfit Swansea have been this season.

Martinez has done a similarly terrific job at Wigan in taking an unheralded squad to Premier League safety along with victories away to Arsenal and home to Manchester United. Switching to a 3-4-3 mid-season was a superb move that flummoxed opponents and got the best out of Victor Moses, who from being a talented prospect for the future became a rampaging beast unsettling the best defences in the country with genuine pace and skill. What may affect his candidacy is his rejection of Villa last season to stay at Wigan. Since last summer Villa have got worse while Wigan have improved which would suggest he may reject Villa’s advances again. He has spoken of his loyalty to Dave Whelan and how thankful he is for being given the Wigan job. Villa will surely be wary of twice being jilted at the altar.

The decision over which manager to hire is crucial. Villa have had a dire season and are in need of a transfusion of fresh blood. Fresh, exciting ideas are needed to captivate the fan base, bring the crowds back to Villa Park and on the pitch improve Villa’s fortunes. The potential is there to qualify for the Europe, have the occasional cup run and if Randy Lerner really fancies it a top four finish is possible. But the potential for mid-table mediocrity and even relegation has been shown by Villa’s displays the last two seasons.

This is a massive decision for Villa. One they can’t afford to get wrong.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Despite the 2011-12 season just drawing to a close and Euro 2012 and the Olympics on the horizon, a raft of leading European teams are planning their warm up games for next term. With an increase in popularity in the game across in North America, it has been the trend for pre-season friendlies to be played in the United States and Canada, and this summer it will be no different. Despite the fact that Barcelona and Manchester United will not be heading stateside in the build up to 2012-13, plenty of other European giants are.

Chelsea

American chairman Bruce Buck will have had a say in deciding to take the Blues back across to North America this pre-season, and the Stamford Bridge club will play four games in USA in July. Starting on the west coast in a game against the Seattle Sounders, Chelsea will also play big-spending Ligue 1 outfit Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and the MLS All-Stars team.

• 18th July – Chelsea vs Seattle Sounders, CenturyLink Field, Seattle
• 22nd July – Chelsea vs Paris Saint-Germain, Yankee Stadium, New York
• 25th July – Chelsea vs MLS All-Stars, PPL PArk, Chester
• 28th July – Chelsea vs AC Milan, Sun Life Stadium, Miami

Aston Villa

Again with an American chairman at the helm, Villa will play three games in the United States in a whirlwind trip stateside in July. Games against Philadelphia Union, Chicago Fire and Portland Timbers should test Alex McLeish’s men.

• July 18th – Aston Villa vs Philadelphia Union, PPL Park, Chester
• July 21st – Aston Villa vs Chicago Fire, Toyota Park, Chicago
• July 24th – Aston Villa vs Portland Timbers, Jeld-Wen Field, Portland

Tottenham

Spurs are set to go face-to-face with former striker Robbie Keane, David Beckham and former Arsenal forward Thierry Henry this summer. With Brad Friedel in the travelling contingent, the north London club will hope to use the trip to stoke up some additional support from fans stateside.

• July 24th – Tottenham vs LA Galaxy, The Home Depot Center, Carson
• July 28th – Tottenham vs Liverpool, M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore
• July 31st – Tottenham vs New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Arena, Harrison

Liverpool

The Fenway Sports Group take their Anfield side across for a pre-season tour of Canada and United States this summer, with a glamour friendly against fellow American-owned side Roma one of the highlights.

• July 21st – Liverpool vs Toronto, Rogers Centre, Toronto
• July 25th – Liverpool vs Roma, Fenway Park, Boston
• July 28th – Liverpool vs Tottenham, M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore

Real Madrid

The newly-crowned La Liga champions will cross the Atlantic to test themselves in pre-season, and try to increase their popularity with American fans with Barcelona not travelling stateside this year.

• August 3rd – Real Madrid vs LA Galaxy, The Home Depot Center, Carson
• August 5th – Real Madrid vs Juventus, Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas
• August 8th – Real Madrid vs AC Milan, Yankee Stadium, New York

Juventus

The rejuvenated Turin giants are always a big draw for American crowds, and will once more return to the United States this summer. Their full plans are yet to be revealed, but the following friendlies have been confirmed.

• July 28th – Juventus vs DC United, RFK Stadium, Washington
• August 5th – Juventus vs Real Madrid, Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas

AC Milan

It will be a summer of rebuilding for AC Milan, as old heads Alessandro Nesta, Gennaro Gattuso, Filippo Inzagi and Clarence Seedorf will leave the club, and American fans will be keen to see any new signings. Again, Milan’s plans are still to be set in stone, but the following are confirmed.

• 28th July – AC Milan vs Chelsea, Sun Life Stadium, Miami
• Two games in Philadelphia – information yet to be released

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

A look at this weekend’s Premier League matches as Manchester fights for the league title and London teams play for their Champions League futures.

Arsenal v Norwich

The chase for third place remains in Arsenal’s hands, but with Tottenham and Newcastle in close pursuit there is no room for error. Arsene Wenger’s team, without a win in three games, have laboured since Mikel Arteta’s injury removed the metronome which keeps everything ticking, and the responsibility to drag them over the line rests with a tired Robin van Persie. With Norwich having relaxed since securing a second season in the EPL, this is a good opportunity for the Gunners to grab a much needed victory.

Norwich have conceded 11 goals in their last three matches, including hat-tricks for Carlos Tevez and Luis Suarez. Van Persie will be hoping the Canaries defence continues to be accommodating. The Gunners are fortunate to close out the season with two imminently winnable games against teams without anything tangible to play for, but the spoiler factor should never be underestimated.

Prediction: Arsenal win

Newcastle v Man City

The sums are simple for Manchester City now: win their last two games and the title is all but guaranteed. It is a difficult assignment though, as Newcastle confirmed with their midweek victory at Chelsea. Of all the important games being played this weekend, this one might have the widest-reaching effects. Newcastle will need to pick up the points if they hope to lay claim to a Champions League place.

Manchester City did what they needed to do against their crosstown rivals on Monday, but with United facing a slightly less daunting end of the season schedule they’ll be able to take nothing for granted. On top of this, these are two very good teams that are generally quite enjoyable to watch. Both have incredible attacking talent with the likes of Papiss Cisse, Sergio Aguero, Demba Ba and Carlos Tevez. This is arguably the weekend’s biggest game, in any league.

Prediction: Draw

Aston Villa v Tottenham

This is a huge match for both clubs. An Aston Villa win in this match would all but guarantee their Premier League survival. However, Tottenham are well in the race for the Champions League places, Redknapp will be anxious to take third from their London rivals Arsenal, just in case Chelsea are successful in the Champions League final. Tottenham travel to Villa Park after back-to-back victories, while Mcleish’s side have failed to take 3 points from a Premier League game since November. Scott Parker’s return to fitness is a huge boost for Tottenham, having recovered from an ankle injury. He is expected to return to the starting line up in this fixture.

Prediction: Tottenham win

Bolton v West Brom

Roy Hodgson’s West Brom now have very little left to play for this season. However, this can’t be said for their opponents, Bolton. It’s been a very emotional season for Owen Coyle’s team, both on and off the pitch. For quite some time now, Bolton fans have been clinging to their side’s games in hand to give them hope for another season in the Premier League. The Wanderers caught up to the rest of the league in terms of games played on Wednesday, but faced a heavy 4-1 defeat to Tottenham. Bolton are even on points with 17^th place QPR, but they’ve got a serious mountain to climb in terms of goal difference. Hodgson’s appointment as the new England boss may prove a blessing in disguise for Bolton. A distracted West Brom side could prove ideal opposition.

Prediction: Bolton win

Fulham v Sunderland

Both Fulham and Sunderland will be looking for the three points that would virtually guarantee a top-10 finish but the form of these teams could not be more different. The hosts have taken 13 points from their last six Premier League games, including a first ever win at Anfield in midweek. By contrast, Martin O’Neill’s side have not had a victory since 24 March and are playing very much like a side with one eye on their summer holidays.

Prediction: Fulham win

QPR v Stoke

QPR’s fortunes took a turn for the worst last season as they suffered a 6-1 loss to London rivals Chelsea. However, luckily for Mark Hughes’ side, other results at the bottom of the table ensured they sit one place above the relegation zone with just two games left. With a very tough last game against current leaders Manchester City, QPR really need 3 points from this home match to achieve survival, beating a tired Stoke on Sunday could be sufficient to keep them up.

Prediction: QPR win

Wolves v Everton

These teams will be playing for different types of pride this weekend. Everton can open up a six-point gap over local rivals Liverpool, while Wolves – who are already relegated – can secure their first win under Terry Connor’s leadership. Connor will make a late decision on whether Matt Jarvis (groin) and Kevin Foley (hamstring) are fit to play. Moyes is hopeful Leighton Baines will return for the final game of 2011-12 but he will sit out this weekend’s match, along with Victor Anichebe, while Jack Rodwell is out until next season.

Prediction: Everton win

Manchester United v Swansea

United’s hope this season now heavily rely with Newcastle and QPR. A Newcastle victory against the current league leaders would put United back into the driving seat assuming Ferguson’s team can take 3 points from this fixture. Failing that, United need a huge number of goals in their remaining two games if they hope to win the title. Expect a high scoring match, as the hosts attempt to close the goal difference gap with City. Although Swansea have had an excellent season, their form has faded of late, with just a single victory for Brendan Rodger’s side.

Prediction: Manchester United win

Blackburn v Wigan

This is, undeniably, the last chance for Blackburn to save themselves from the drop. The Monday night shift has not generally proved popular with clubs or supporters this season, but neither Blackburn nor Wigan will be complaining this week. By kick-off at Ewood Park they will know the fortunes of Bolton, QPR and Aston Villa, and Wigan could need only a point to ensure they stay up. Whatever their rivals muster, Rovers – who are away at Chelsea on the final day – realistically must win this one, and hope that Wigan return to their meek early-season form rather than continue their recent heroics.

Prediction: Wigan win

Liverpool v Chelsea

Liverpool-Chelsea, twice in the space of three days. There’s no doubt the importance of this match is negligible compared to Saturday’s FA Cup Final. Liverpool have already secured a European place through their Carling Cup victory earlier in the season and of late their league form has been extremely poor, now they only have their own pride to play for. Chelsea, on the other hand, are still chasing Champions League football next season. If they fail to beat Bayern Munich in May’s final, then they have to ensure a fourth place league finish to ensure playing in the elite continental competition next season. Clearly, Di Matteo’s side still need as many league points as possible.

Prediction: Chelsea win

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From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Aston Villa take on Tottenham on Sunday afternoon with two clubs separated by 28 points and fighting on opposite ends of the table, yet not too long ago they were both considered ‘equal’ footballing powers.

Where Villa fans are now contemplating an unlikely relegation, Tottenham fans will be hoping that Man City and Bayern Munich will help them qualify for the Champions League again.

Aston Villa Preview

At the most crucial time of the season things just seem to be going from bad to worse for Aston Villa. Sitting just three points above the drop zone Alex McLeish’s men are in relegation form and the news this week that three first-team players have been disciplined after a nightclub brawl has done little to calm the nerves of the club’s fans.

Primarily it is Villa’s lack of goals that is, not just a worry for McLeish, but a critical threat to their survival chances. The extent of the problem is a meagre six goals since the end of February since top marksman Darren Bent was sidelined through injury. Villa need to start hitting the target and huge responsibility now lies with Gabriel Agbonlahor, Emile Heskey and Charles N’Zogbia to deliver where they have so far failed to produce.

What Villa do have though is a decent backline with Richard Dunne and goalkeeper Shay Given both excelling in recent weeks. Expect to see a cautious approach from McLeish as he looks to build on this strength. Although Villa desperately need the win, they will set up looking for the draw.

Tottenham Hotspur Preview

Spurs fans will no doubt have shared a collective feeling of relief after the 4-1 win over Bolton on Wednesday. Perhaps now that speculation about Harry Redknapp leaving has ended, the squad can pull together and demonstrate the kind of form that saw them involved in the title race up until the end of February.

Redknapp will be keen to take the three points from Villa Park as his side look to open up a gap over Newcastle and clinch fourth place. The Spurs manager is likely to field a similar side to the one which put Bolton to the sword. Key defenders Michael Dawson and Benoit Assou-Ekotto are still missing through injury while Scott Parker is rated 50/50 after an achilles problem kept him out of the last two games.

Aston Villa v Tottenham Prediction

Spurs have kept only three clean sheets in their last 11 league outings with defensive injury problems and the speculation over the manager both likely factors. Villa though can’t buy a goal never mind a win, so expect the London side to continue their return to form and edge this one 1-0.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

There are many, especially those who don’t have very much of an interest in sport, who think that top athletes are overpaid to do nothing more than ‘play a game’. However, there are many like Lionel Messi, Tom Brady, Derrick Rose, and others who are the best or among the best in their respective sports that look like they at least somewhat deserve the high salaries that they receive.

On the other hand, there are others who, well, don’t.

In some cases, the talent is there, but the production isn’t whether due to injury, lack of effort or confidence, or personal distractions, or other reasons, and in others, the talent may not be what it was or seemed to be at one time.

Here’s a look at ten footballers who top the list of well-paid disappointments. Not long ago, this list would have included Fernando Torres, but it’s hard to criticize the man after the week he had, and the likes of Diego, who’s been a vital part of Atletico Madrid’s run to the Europa League final, and Wesley Sneijder, whose form has picked up under new Inter manager Andrea Stramaccioni, also get a pass.

David Bentley, Tottenham

At one point, it looked like David Bentley was set for a big future with club and country. Unfortunately, his career has tailed off dramatically since his move to White Hart Lane.

Two excellent seasons at Blackburn Rovers saw Tottenham splash out £17m for the former Arsenal prospect in the summer of 2008. Has he repaid the investment? Not even close. An argument could be made that he’s never really been Harry Redknapp’s cup of tea, but he also hasn’t been fantastic, minus a few flashes.

After an unimpressive loan spell at Birmingham City in the second half of last season, he went on loan to Championship side West Ham early this season. However, that stint would last only two starts and three substitute appearances before he was ruled out for several months due to knee surgery.

At 27, there’s still some time to get his career back on the right path and maybe even get back into the England picture, but the last few years don’t offer much encouragement for the future.

Wayne Bridge, Sunderland

Bridge was one of the first new faces of the Roman Abramovich era at Chelsea and was a regular starter early on. But for much of the last several seasons, he’s rarely been a regular starter, first at Chelsea, then at Manchester City, where he moved for £10m in January 2009.

After a loan stint at West Ham in the second half of last season, it seemed a given that he’d leave City last summer. However, he remained there, making only a solitary Carling Cup appearance before a January loan move to Sunderland. The perfect move, right? Not quite. Instead of establishing himself as a regular for the Black Cats, he’s made only three starts in almost three months.

He’s still carved out a respectable career, which includes 36 caps for England, and he’s set for life if he’s managed his money well. Still, one can’t help but look at his career and wonder if it‘s been what it could or should be.

Andy Carroll, Liverpool

At some point in the future, Andy Carroll could be worth £35m and high wages.

At present, however, he is not. The promise is certainly there, as shown by his back-to-back late winners against Everton and Blackburn this month. But the investment was too much, too soon for someone who hadn’t quite matured enough as a player or a person. And a return of only eight goals from more than 40 appearances this season wouldn’t quite cut it, even if his price tag was £15-20m smaller.

He turned 23 only in January, so he has time on his side, along with great talent and potential. But right now his paycheck is 75% potential and 25% production, at best.

Stewart Downing, Liverpool

If you were to cast a vote for the worst summer 2011 Premier League transfer, Downing would almost certainly top the list.

Downing is a quality player, but it’d have taken a lot for him to justify the £20m that Liverpool paid Aston Villa for him last summer. And thus far, it’d be a stretch to say he’s paid even a tenth of that investment. With only three league games left, Downing has yet to record a single league goal or assist. Zero, zilch, nada, nil. He has delivered two goals and an assist in Liverpool’s run to the FA Cup Final, but no matter how you shake it, he has been a tremendous, tremendous disappointment.

Edin Dzeko, Manchester City

Over the last few years, City have spent quite lavishly, to say the least. Some of their investments have panned out, and some haven’t.

Thus far, their £27m investment on Dzeko hasn‘t panned out as perhaps expected. After only six goals in 21 appearances last season after joining from VfL Wolfsburg in January 2011, he had a torrid start to this season, matching that total in his first three matches. But he hasn’t been able to keep it up, scoring only three goals in his last 19 league appearances after notching 10 in his first nine. Dzeko is no doubt a fine striker, but the presence of Sergio Aguero, Mario Balotelli, and Carlos Tevez certainly don‘t give one much margin for error, and there’s a high chance he leaves the club in the summer.

Andre-Pierre Gignac, Marseille

Where, oh where, to start with Monsieur Gignac? His long-term weight issues? The disrespectfulness to his manager that earned him a few days with the reserves earlier this season? Or his lack of goals?

To be frank, Andre-Pierre Gignac has had all of one great season, the 2008/09 campaign in which he scored 24 league goals for Toulouse. So it could be said that the £13m Marseille paid for him in the summer of 2010 was a bit much, especially when you consider PSG were able to land Kevin Gameiro this past summer for just a little more than £9m.

Gignac was a Marseille supporter since childhood, so this was supposed to be a dream move. But to this point, he‘s been a colossal nightmare. Last season, he netted 12 goals in all competitions, but he never found any consistent form. This season, he’s been downright atrocious. In more than 20 appearances – most of which have been from the bench – he’s scored only once, in a Coupe de la Ligue win over Lens in October.

Along with a failed last-minute move to Fulham in the summer, Gignac reportedly turned down a January move to Everton, saying he’d only leave Marseille for a club like Manchester United. However, he needs to do far better to have a chance at such a club. If he doesn’t step it up soon, he’ll end up low on salary and high on regret.

Yoann Gourcuff, Lyon

When Lyon forked out £18m for Gourcuff in August 2010, they were likely expecting more seasons like the two impressive campaigns he had for Bordeaux. To date, he’s fallen well short.

Last season, Gourcuff scored only four goals and notched five assists in 36 appearances for Lyon. This season, injuries prevented him from debuting until October, and an adductor injury in February against APOEL sidelined him until recently. When he has been on the pitch, he hasn’t delivered, producing only one goal and one assists in all competitions.

With all of the high fees that Lyon have received for star players over the last several years, their finances won’t be hurting if they have to take a sizable hit on Gourcuff. Still, Jean-Michel Aulas will be hoping that the former AC Milan starlet can at least somewhat show why he commanded such a high fee two summers ago.

Stephen Ireland, Aston Villa

Three seasons ago, Stephen Ireland looked like one of the English Premier League’s rising stars, as he was in stellar play-making form for Manchester City.

But City’s lavish spending, a dip in form, and the arrival of Roberto Mancini the next season brought his ascension to a screeching halt. He moved to Aston Villa as part of City’s move for James Milner in the summer of 2010, but he was dropped a few months into the season, and then-manager Gerard Houllier publicly called him out for a lack of all-around effort.

Ireland moved to Newcastle United on loan in January 2011, but he didn’t debut until mid-April and made only two sub appearances before a season-ending ankle injury. He’s returned to the Villa fold this season under Alex McLeish and has shone in spots, but he’s also had his bad moments, like telling McLeish to ‘fuck off’ during a February defeat at Newcastle.

He has the talent to be a difference-maker in Villa’s push to avoid the drop and delivered a quality performance against Sunderland a week ago. But if they fail to stay up, his high wages make it highly likely that he’ll be on his way out in the summer.

Jermaine Jenas, Tottenham

You never like to kick a man when he’s down, but Jenas has not been what he could be.

Jenas used to be a fairly regular scorer and provider, but since the start of the 2009/10 season, he has all of one goal and notched only a few assists. Spurs loaned him out to Aston Villa at the end of last August, and he didn’t make his debut until November due to thigh and Achilles issues. After two substitute appearances, he made his first Villa start at home to Manchester United in early December… and lasted a little more than an hour before being stretched off with what proved to be a season-ending Achilles rupture.

Worse yet for Villa, they’ve reportedly been stuck paying his wages, which are £45k per week, for the duration of the season. That means that they’ll fork out more than £1m in wages for someone who played less than 120 minutes of football for them. Ouch.

Luca Toni, Al Nasr

For several years, Toni was known as one of Europe’s deadliest strikers, banging in more than 150 goals for Palermo, Fiorentina, and Bayern Munich in a six-season stretch. But as his career winds down, he’s been getting paid a lot to do very little.

Last season, he joined Genoa on a free transfer from Bayern, and he scored only three league goals in 16 appearances before moving to Juventus for free in January 2011. That move didn’t pan out so well, as he scored only twice in 14 league appearances in the second half of last season. This season, he didn’t feature at all for Juve in the first several months of the season, so it wasn’t a surprise to see him depart in January. But he hasn’t been as much of a hit for UAE side Al Nasr thus far as they might have hoped for, with only four goals from his first 10 appearances.

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From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Last week I wrote an article highlighting Tottenham’s failings and reasons for their recent collapse. Poor defending, a lack of squad rotation, the mental strain for Harry of managing Spurs while dealing with his court case along with dodgy tactics on the pitch were the problems I felt Spurs had. Well having seen not only our gutless 1-0 loss to QPR but the rumours on Twitter and in the press that Harry has fallen out with at least four members of the Spurs squad, I have bitten the proverbial bullet and am now calling for his sacking at the end of this season.

Am I being ungrateful? Quite possibly. Has Harry given me my best times as a Spurs fan? Undoubtedly. Do I enjoy calling for his head? No. Does anyone even particularly care about my opinion? Probably not. But frankly I’ve had enough now of our poor form, increasingly farcical excuses and rotten, unimaginative tactics.

See a typical game from our recent run of 6 points in 9 league games. We have a side with few injuries and few suspensions, so with the exception of Tom Huddlestone, Michael Dawson and the intermittent absences of Ledley King, Niko Krancjar and Aaron Lennon we’ve had an entire squad fit and available which is pretty good for this late in the season. Well we start OK, don’t play badly but don’t score, concede a silly goal through lax defending, see either Lennon come off for a striker so Rafa can play on the right, or Rafa himself will trudge off (knackered because he’s simply not very fit) for a striker to come on, run around for a bit and not score. Harry will then say we played well and were unlucky to lose or draw. Well it’s not unlucky if it keeps on happening. In the same way that Liverpool can’t solely blame luck for their habit of battering teams, hitting posts and crossbars and finding new ways to contrive to not beat lowly sides, it is not bad luck that Spurs on current form are garnering a similar number of points to a particularly indisciplined driver.

Harry’s excuses and dealings with the press are becoming really grating and wearisome. The jocular jokey smiling man earlier this season is now grumbling with a surprising lack of grace. QPR at the weekend ‘Didn’t give Brad a shot to save’ and their goal was ‘a poor free kick’. Against Everton we apparently dominated the entire second half, ‘they didn’t have a kick’. We’re ‘not playing badly’ constantly. After our loss to Norwich he had a pop at the fans, saying ’against Sunderland the fans we were too defensive so I play two up front today and we get beat’ as if playing two up front at home to Norwich was shockingly attacking. He said about QPR and Sunderland that they put everyone behind the ball, as if managers were powerless against ultra-defensive teams which is complete nonsense, it’s a manager’s job to get his players to unlock packed defences. He ‘doesn’t have many options’ in the squad despite having 37 players under contract. He even said yesterday (25/04/2012) that we’re still in 4^th place in the Premiership (Harry, we’re 5^th).

As a fan, let me point out some basic points. Are we playing well? No. We’re playing badly, tiredly and with no cutting edge or penetration whatsoever. We’ve not scored a goal away from home since our 2^nd against Arsenal in late February, four games and over 400 minutes ago. We’ve only attained three points away from home in the league 2012 (three 0-0 draws and four defeats) and six points from our last nine league games (home and away). We’ve lost by an aggregate of 10-3 to our fiercest rivals Arsenal and Chelsea. We’ve gone from a safe 3^rd place to struggling to cling on 5^th. Last season a similar collapse saw us attain nine points from ten matches and see our chance of qualifying for another Champions League campaign disappear.

Despite our miserable run the same team is picked and the same tactics used game after game and loss after loss. I pointed out last week how nine of our players had made 27 Premier League appearances compared to two Manchester United players. But is Harry changing tactics or rotating the squad? No. Even Harry the surprising tactician who almost won us a match at Stoke with a superb switch to 3-5-2 in the second half now plays 4-4-1-1 or 4-5-1 (with Lennon replaced by another central midfielder so Rafa supposedly plays wide right even though he never does) every game. Every week opposing teams press us high up the pitch to disrupt our passing game, and every week it works. Spurs’s style been found out and Harry’s doing nothing to change it.

Then on Sunday on Twitter and in a few of this week’s newspapers came the story that Harry has fallen out with Emmanuel Adebayor with Lennon, Kaboul and Walker also unhappy. Given that Redknapp’s supposed strength is as a man-manager and an excellent motivator, if he doesn’t do tactics, run training sessions and now can’t man-manage effectively, what does he do? (Give interviews poking his head out of car windows to Sky reporters is the glib response). Of course this story could be complete bollocks and everything in the Spurs dressing room is hunky dory. The lack of any denials would suggest that story has elements in truth. Not to mention the poor and dispiriting body language in the loss to QPR. The players had the air of men who knew they could play till midnight and not score a goal. And also the air of players fed up and perhaps knowing the manager was leaving. It was worrying and awful to watch because there’s nothing worse than watching players for whatever reason not give it 100%. Spurs have four games left this season with three of them against teams battling to not be relegated.  Will we win any of them? Doesn’t look like it. Even Villa might get something from their match against us. And Villa are awful.

That leads me to the conclusion of today’s work. Alex McLeish is succeeding on his quest to relegate as many Midlands clubs as possible, taking an average but not eminently bad side and turning it into a dreadful side who provide all the entertainment of watching a fish finger defrost. Buying Alan Hutton was a bad start, because from his time at Spurs I could have told you Hutton’s method of defending is to stand five yards off the opposing winger and hope to block or deflect the cross or pass, and also that he can’t cross or tackle. He’s utterly rubbish and for him to be playing regularly shows you how utterly rubbish Villa are. For a side that is pathologically negative and has two big lumps in defence in Richard Dunne and James Collins, they are statistically the worst side in the Premiership at both defending and attacking set-pieces. That beggars belief. Against Bolton the whole team had a pass completion percentage of 56%. Now pass completion statistics don’t tell the whole story, but 56%? Even Cambridge United under John Beck playing the most Spartan brand of long ball football imaginable would see more than 56% of the defenders clearances to Dion Dublin up front be completed.

Villa are bad, and provided by far the worst performance seen at White Hart Lane this season (they lost 2-0, could have been 10. Even Stevenage gave us much more of a game). They have been unlucky with the dreadful news about Stiliyan Petrov being diagnosed with acute Leukaemia and I wish Stan and his family a good and strong recovery.  But a team of their calibre, with their fanbase and their recent history of pushing for a Champions League place should be nowhere near the relegation zone. They are paying the price for selling players as a possible midfield of Young-Barry-Milner-Downing has been sold, though with teams overpaying arguably for all four of those players it’s understandable why they were sold.

However it was the owners who appointed McLeish, the sort of guy who as a teenager was probably getting off to pictures of Helenio Herrera and articles about Catenaccio while his mates were gawping at pictures of nude ladies found in their Dad’s porn stash in the garage. He is pathologically defensive and negative yet can’t coach a defence to defend or score from a corner and has inevitably blunted the attacking talents of Gabby Agbonlahor, Charles N’Zogbia, Marc Albrighton and others. Villa are being dragged into the mire similar to how Birmingham last season looked safe before folding late in the season, and McLeish at the end of the season will surely be sacked and never darken the Midlands doorstep again.

McLeish will be sacked at season’s end. Redknapp should be.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

This Premier League season has been a memorable one, with the title race again going down to the wire and potentially being settled by a Manchester derby, the new arrivals Norwich and Swansea reminding everyone that the gap in class between the Premier League and the Championship actually isn’t all that great, and the relegation battle is probably one of the tightest battles there has been in the Premier League since it’s inception 20 years ago.

With all of this going on, there has been one club that has really caught my eye this season, and most probably not for all the right reasons, that club is Aston Villa.

As a Birmingham supporter, this would probably seem a little bit strange. I mean, I always like to keep one eye on the Villa scores, and find myself quite often supporting anyone that they are up against. We all know that this is a little bit immature, but I like to wind up my Villa mates anyway. No harm done really.

But the connections between the club, and I don’t just mean the geographical proximity of the clubs, has naturally led me to follow them with avid interest for most of this season. Now that they are embroiled in a serious relegation dog fight, myself and other Birmingham fans have our Bluenoses pressed firmly up against those Villa windows, waiting to see what will come of their season.

This tiny obsession began when Alex McLeish scurried across no-man’s land, and was appointed as the Villa manager. I’m going to be really honest and say that at the time I was a little disappointed by his departure, even more so that he wanted to go to our rivals. I thought that he’d given us Blues some great times. Granted he got us relegated twice, but the first time I wouldn’t pin the blame firmly on him alone, and last season I accepted the bitter pill of relegation, even if I did call some his tactics and selections into question, with the sweet taste of the Carling Cup win, and the chance to go and play in Europe.

Trouble is though, I don’t know of any Villa fan that was happy to see him arrive, and after speaking to a few of them, it wasn’t just the Blues connection either.

Many Villa fans associated McLeish with a very dour brand of football, where his style of play wasn’t based around technical passing, using wide men, and playing attractive football, but more of a percentage game, and very quick to get the ball into the danger areas. It was about getting players to the ball, not the other way around.

This is not the Villa way, I’m told.

I also get told that his managerial record did not install a sense of belief either, and that when he managed Rangers, he was credited with one of their all-time worst league performances. I’m not sure if I should take this with a pinch of salt, because during his time at Rangers he also achieved a fair few major successes also. Not to mention that before Rangers, he’d had some success with Motherwell and Hibs.

Then I get reminded that McLeish had relegated Birmingham twice. Which in all fairness, you can’t really defend, he did.

Some of the football and tactics we saw at Birmingham were questionable when we were languishing in the drop zone of last season, and now I can see all of those symptoms and characteristics happening over at Villa Park. It’s almost like some foggy flashback! The only difference is that he made Birmingham quite a tough team to beat, it seems that Villa don’t even have that small bit of safety.

But what should Villa do? McLeish is on a 3 year deal that will cost a club that is already trying to cut its cloth accordingly, a large chunk of cash to pay off. Or, do they stick with a manager who is proven in getting relegated clubs promoted? Just in case?

It seems that there is no real strategy at Villa, no communication of what the plans are. The only real plan they seem to be talking about is cutting wage bills. I think that they thought that by offloading a few players, saving a few pennies, and taking the hit to sit mid-table for a few seasons before mounting a serious push for the top 6 as they enjoyed under Martin O’Neill.

What has actually happened is that they massively underestimated the impact of the wage cuts and player sales, and are now stuck fighting for survival. If the club is so strapped of cash-flow and investment, if they did go down, I can’t see them coming straight back up.

The board also, with their track record of managerial appointments isn’t exactly filling anyone with belief either. They wheeled out an old, ill, quite obviously past it Gerard Houllier, and then looked across the road at McLeish and conducted a relatively messy managerial transfer? This is a cause for concern.

I’m not defending McLeish with this piece, far from it. All I’m saying is that before you make McLeish your scapegoat, take a closer look at your club, and what is happening because after McLeish goes, if he goes, and you find yourselves with yet no more improvement, you will have no-one else to blame.

You can follow me on twitter: @gianni_saw / or at my blog: onacoldwindynight.wordpress.com

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

With live football on the telly for the next 6 days, it’s a good time to be a football fan. There’s plenty of mouth-watering action in tge Premier League for you to look at.

Titles may be won, title challenges may be salvaged, teams could be doomed to relegation or rise from the ashes – with most Premier League teams playing two games in the next six days, a lot can happen by next weekend.

Manchester United v QPR

A cracking double header on Sky Sport’s this Sunday, with Man United taking on QPR hours before their rivals City face a tough trip to the Emirates.

Arsenal v Man City

Liverpool v Aston Villa

Chelsea v Wigan

For more betting tips, see the Soccerlens betting page.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Building on our previous post about the most efficient football clubs across Europe’s top four leagues this season, here we do an historical analysis of the Premier league and the best performing clubs in the last three years (2009/2010 to 2011/2012).

The chart below shows some fascinating visual data about Premier League teams in the last three years – from succintly pointing out Arsenal’s #1 issue to highlighting the massive statistical improvements United have made this season to why Liverpool and Wigan are at the wrong end of the tables.

Make sure you click on the image below to enlarge and view the full data, then share your thoughts in the comments below.

The most efficient Premier League clubs in the last three years

Talking Points:

• Wigan’s continued Premiership survival has been nothing short of miraculous given their tendency for wayward shooting and calamitous defending.
• Arsenal are below the average defensive efficiency line for all three years. Their 2012 team has the fifth worst defense overall in the last three years and the second worst this season, ahead of only Blackburn. Someone should show Wenger this chart before he buys any other players (if he buys them, that is).
• United’s ridiculous position at the top left for 2012 shows how they have made the most of their attacking chances and held their ground (despite that 1-6 scoreline) defensively as well. The only comparison – defensively – is City from 2011 and Villa from 2010.
• From the chart it would seem that United were the better team than Chelsea in 2010 – but that’s the nature of football, where it’s not just your overall numbers but your ability to win key games, which United failed to do that season.
• Liverpool have the second-worst attack this season behind Wigan, and the fourth-worst attack in the last three years. Only Wigan (twice) and Portsmouth have done worse. One of them was relegated and the other might join them this season. How soon before Liverpool sue Evra for costing them a Champions League place / financial losses?

Research done by Matthew Wood. You can find more of Matthew’s statistical work at Balanced Sports.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

From Soccerlens.com - Football News