Category Archives: Uncategorized

MILITO OFF TO RACING CLUB?

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Diego Milito is reportedly on the verge of completing a move to Argentine club Racing Club. He started his career that before moving to Europe and accomplishing a lot with the likes of Inter Milan.

The 34-year-old is coming to the end of his stellar career, which saw him lift the Champions League with the Inter Milan team of 2010. However, injuries have prevented him from becoming a first-team regular for the club in the last few years. Due to his age, it is highly likely that he will leave the club at the end of the season. Continue reading →

SEASON OF DISAPPOINTMENTS

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This has been a very disappointing season for AC Milan, who have been slowly slipping down the European elite stages over the last few years. After the sale of several star names like Alexandre Pato and the retirement of established stars like Alessandro Nesta, Milan have been unwilling to spend money on new players and this has translated into one of the dark days are the club. They are on course to missing out on Champions League football for next season, while it is related that they may be several years away from returning to the competition.

However, VP Adriano Galliani, who had to overcome several obstacles in order to keep his job, says that the club do need to finish in the Europa league qualification places next season because some form of European football is important for the club. After several matches without a win under the new manager Clarence Seedorf, the club have been finding ways with the new managerial style after they recorded their fourth consecutive win in the league. The 1-0 win over Catania means that they are only three points below the Europa league qualification places.

The revenues from the Europa league cannot be compared to that of the Champions League, but it is additional income nonetheless.

“We would have to cancel our preseason tournament in the U.S. if we finish sixth since we would have to play in the qualifying rounds, but we’re keen on making it. Of course we want to qualify. The revenue may be inferior to the Champions League, but let’s not look for excuses,” said Gallaini about qualifying for the Europa League. “We’re just three points behind now, but there are so many teams in there and it’s best that we don’t make any calculations,” said Riccardo Montolivo after scoring the winner against Catania.

VIDIC HEADS TO MILAN

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After weeks of rumors which were being spread around involving the future of Nemanja Vidic as the Serbian defender had already stated that he had no intentions of extending his contract with Manchester United, Inter Milan has confirmed that Vidic will be joining the Italian team at the end of the current season and the new President of Inter Milan, Erick Thohir revealed his emotions after announcing the deal.

“Vidic is a world-class player.  I’m extremely happy to have completed this deal to bring Nemanja to Milan. He’s one of the world’s best defenders and his qualities, international pedigree and charisma will be an asset to the team and help bring through our younger players. He will bring added value to the club and is another piece of the great Inter side we are building.” Thohir confessed.

Inter Milan is also being linked with Arsenal’s Podolski who has only made a limited number of appearances with his club due to injuries and after successfully signing Nemanja Vidic from Manchester United, Inter Milan wants to continue adding players which will help them for the upcoming seasons.

Patrice Evra is nearing the end the end of his contract with Manchester United and Inter Milan is interested in securing the services of the French defender from the same club which they signed Vidic and considering the fact that David Moyes has already revealed his desire of making a huge clear-out by the end of the season, the future of Evra is up for grabs allowing Inter Milan the chance they need on adding more players to their squad.

MACKAY IN?

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Malky Mackay might be taking charge as boss at Norwich City in near future. The Canaries have played very poorly in the Premier League of late and the board is believed to be unsatisfied with Chris Hughton who is currently in charge at the club.

Norwich City’s winning percentage in the league matches in the ongoing season is just 20. They have already suffered a total of 10 defeats in the competition and they still have to play 18 more games. They are currently placed at no. 15 in the table, but, they are not too far away from the relegation zone.

Mackay has been a part of Norwich City before, but, as a player, not as a manager. He had remained at the Carrow Road for a period of 6 years during his playing days and had made a total of 212 Premier League appearances for the Canaries.

The 41 years old former Scottish defender was in charge at Cardiff City at the start of the ongoing season and he had guided them to a memorable win against Manchester City pretty early in the season, but, towards the end of 2013, his team lost form and he had to pay the price for that. He got sacked and is currently without a job.

Mackay’s managerial career is not that long. He has just managed two clubs so far, but, he has done a decent job at both those clubs. His overall winning percentage as manager is close to 40 and that’s not bad for a guy who is still new in this field.

However, Norwich City board would like to wait for a few more weeks before taking any decision on Hughton who has been at the Carrow Road since the last one and half years.

CLARKE WILL WAIT

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West Bromwich Albion’s coach Steve Clarke is enjoying the last season of his 2 year deal contract with the club and according to the Sporting and technical director of the English club, they will only discuss and talk about having a contract extension in new year.

Richard Garlick, sporting and technical director at the Baggies, said:

“Steve’s contract situation was discussed at last month’s board meeting. We decided we would open talks with him in the New Year which, historically, we feel is the appropriate time to address such matters. Steve is aware of our plans and has told us he is comfortable with the situation.”

Sreve Clarke later went on and talked about the club’s current situation and his future.

“It’s the part of the season where we have to pick up some points,” said Clarke, who became the latest in a series of Baggies bosses to experience a mid-season struggle last term.It’s been levelled at the club over the last three or four years that they haven’t picked up enough points’’.

“It will be interesting to see what happens this year because at the moment we still need plenty of points.”

It seems that West Bromwich Albion will wait for the outcome of the last remaining matches of this year before making a decision concerning their head coach Steve Clarke who is still undecided about whether or not he will remain with the club for another year.

West Bromwich finished in the 16th place last season which a disappointing outcome is taking into consideration their previous 5th spot during the season of 2011-12. Now they are currently sitting in the middle section of the Premier League standings with 14 points secured so far.

SPENDING BIG

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The Premier league has been spending a lot of money on high-profile talent in this transfer window. They have spent in excess of £ 600 million, which is a record. This has primarily been spent on foreign talent rather than buying players from the local league. This has been criticised by Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp, who has been praised for his managerial abilities in recent years. He has managed to work with an unlimited budget at Dortmund, yet he has been hugely successful. Two high-profile transfers that have been criticised by Klopp are Mesut Ozil’s move to Arsenal and Gareth Bale’s move to Real Madrid.

Ozil was signed by Arsenal for £ 42 million in the final day of the transfer window, while Bale made his move to the Santiago Bernabeu a few days earlier for £ 85 million, which is a new world record. Even though Dortmund have also spent money in this transfer window, it has largely been because of the revenue generated from the sale of Mario Gotze. The sale of the 21-year-old to Bayern Munich fetched the club £ 35 million and all of it has been reinvested in new signings. Apart from that, Dortmund have spent very little money on new players.

“It’s insane what happens in England. 80% of the players, for whom the clubs spent €700m (£600m), I don’t even know. It doesn’t matter how much a player costs. The question is if you really want him and finally if you can pay. The amounts are crazy. The transfer of Ozil is incredible. That doesn’t happen often, €50m (£42.5m) on the last day. The story of this summer transfer window is of new records: a new record for Premier League spending as well as a new world transfer record fee,” said Klopp.

PLAYERS LINKED OUT

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After the relegation of QPR into the Championship, a number of their players have been linked with moves elsewhere. The club also has to sell some of its stars in order to reduce the wage bill, which could put the club in a turmoil. QPR were one of the big spenders in the Premier league last season. Julio Cesar was one of the big name arrivals from Inter Milan. The Brazilian shot stopper had suffered a huge dip in confidence in the last few years, which led to his departure from the San Siro.

However, he seems to have found his form once again as he has been named in the past few Brazilian national team squads. Cesar, though, is thought to be of the opinion that his chances of making it into the squad for the 2014 World Cup will be severely depleted if he continues playing in the Championship. Hence, he is likely to demand a transfer as manager Harry Redknapp admitted after the club was relegated at the end of last season. Redknapp said that it would extremely difficult for QPR to keep hold of Cesar given his stature in the game.

Now, Napoli are interested in signing him. Napoli are managed by former Inter Milan manager Rafa Benitez.

“It’s absolutely pointless. What’s the point loaning a player and then he comes back to you the following year on massive wages. He’s in his prime at the moment and wanted by many clubs around the world so now is the time really. We need to move on. If he wants to leave then he goes and we sell him. Napoli are not short of money. They’ve just sold a player for £54million so if they want him then they’ve got to do a deal,” said Redknapp regarding a loan move for Cesar to Napoli.

MARTINEZ NEXT?

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Wigan manager Roberto Martinez is all set to meet the Everton chairman in order to hold talks with a potential move to Goodison Park. Martinez has emerged as the frontrunner for the job in which he will be replacing David Moyes, who has done a stellar job for the past 11 years. Wigan chairman Dave Whelan recently revealed that he has given Everton the permission to talk with Martinez. This is not the first time Martinez has been linked with a move away from Wigan. He came extremely close to leaving the club in 2011 when he was interviewed for the Aston Villa job.

He recently led the club to FA Cup success after the win over Manchester city, but he also for his team relegated into the Championship. It has brought an end to the eight year spell in the Premier league for Wigan. Martinez said after the relegation from the final and that he will consider his future amidst interest from several clubs like Everton. He has also been linked with a return to Spain as well. The likes of Malaga are interested in making Martinez as their next manager.

Martinez has said that it is a privilege to be talking with the club like Everton.

“Roberto wanted permission to move. So I’ve given that. He feels he’s not the man to lead us back into the Premier League. I’ve got to accept what he feels. He loves Wigan and the fans. We have to move on now and want applications for the job. Roberto has resigned. We are going to release him. Whoever comes in for him must pay the remainder of his contract,” said Whelan. Everton are searching for a new manager after David Moyes is set to join Manchester United at the end of the season.

EMBARGO ENDS IN SEPTEMBER

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Rangers were put in the transfer embargo that will only end in the upcoming September, which limits the ability of the Rangers manager Ally McCoist to bring in players during the summer. As a result, the manager has revealed that he plans to use only youngsters from first few matches of the new campaign. McCoist, though, has said that he is undeterred by the transfer embargo as he is already working on several transfer targets. The club are almost certainly on their way to the second division of Scottish football due to the huge advantage they have in the league table.

McCoist has also failed to reveal his transfer targets in the fear that they might be taken away by some of the rival clubs. He has already stated that the club may very well lose the first two matches of the new season due to the fact that he is going to field youth players. However, he is prepared to take the criticism from the supporters that may come along the way. Due to the fact that Rangers will have to work within 30% of the turnover, it will be extremely hard for them to bring in big names during the summer. Yet, McCoist has seen enough interest in the players to join the former Scottish Premier league club.

“I’m 100 per cent clear what is required. I know what’s needed in the short term and I’m certainly aware of what’s required in the long term. Contrary to what’s been said, I do have a plan. If I need to make drastic changes I’ll just have to explain to the fans that the first four games of the season might be a problem. I’m big enough to take the flak that goes with it. We might lose two of those first four games,” said McCoist.