| Cesc Fábregas: I am only thinking about Arsenal • Midfielder is happy with life at Emirates• 'I have a good deal still to do in the Premier League'Cesc Fábregas is happy at Arsenal and feels he still has much to achieve with the Premier League club once he recovers from a hamstring problem that will keep him out for up to three weeks.The midfielder, who scored twice before limping out of Arsenal's 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday, has been consistently linked with a move to Real Madrid or Barcelona but says he is focused on his recovery and helping the London club to win trophies."There has been talk about Real and Barça since the summer and the only thing I am doing is thinking about my club, Arsenal, and seeing how I can help my team mates," Fábregas said."The only thing that concerns me right now is this injury. I want to get over this little muscle problem I have at the moment as soon as possible."Fábregas, Arsenal's top scorer with 12 goals, said the team are well placed to win trophies this season. "I have a cool head, I am very happy at Arsenal and in England and there is still a lot for me to do," he said. "That's all I can say. I am not thinking about anything else. I am very content and have a good deal still to do in the Premier League."Cesc FábregasArsenalPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Are most of our footballers really knobs? The Newcastle midfielder's knob-coloured spectacles enhanced his view on the Today programmeThis week Tony Adams guest-edited Radio Four's breakfast news show, the Today programme, perhaps the most surprising piece of left-field casting since Adams briefly guest-managed Portsmouth and, before that, briefly guest-relegated Wycombe Wanderers. He did quite a good job of it. Or at least that was the immediate impression, ahead of any possible whispers later this year about the Today programme lurching into administration, the Today programme being linked to a panic-stricken buyout by a secretive Middle East consortium, or the Today programme attempting to buy Younes Kaboul, while also selling Younes Kaboul, and simultaneously loaning Younes Kaboul back to itself.The most interesting thing on the programme was an interview with Joey Barton, in which he said: "Most footballers are knobs." This kind of statement often passes without comment, but coming from an actual footballer it seems more resonant. You can even imagine Barton saying it, perhaps while wearing a pastel-coloured roll-neck sweater and sitting in a circle with a group of nodding, frowning men who keep urging him to "just be Joey" and saying things like "inside this room we're all naked".But is it true? Probably not, given that as a generalisation it makes as much sense as announcing that most junior curates are knobs, or most assistant sales managers in a regional chain of ceramic hob installers are knobs, or most of those strangely wizened, disappointed-looking young men who appear on your doorstep trying to sell you dishcloths and garden gloves from a plastic box. The likelihood is that this is an example of knob-solipsism. Most footballers look like knobs to Barton because he has, for some time, been viewing the world through knob-coloured spectacles, seeing only a landscape coloured in broad, bold strokes of knob, waking up to find his eyes encrusted with small, gritty crystals of knob, stumbling out into a world fretted and woven with knob, through which he knob-waddles in knob-stitched shoes, drawing his knob-muffler close to his chest against a chill wind that tastes, inexplicably, of knob.Having said that, Barton is an articulate speaker and did justify his comments about footballers by saying: "They are so detached from real life it's untrue." This hints at something I've suspected for some time: that footballers do feel detached and alienated, which has in turn made them suspect that they may, in fact, be knobs. This sense of detachment perhaps explains the recent trend for players to celebrate scoring by running behind the goal and instigating a head-fondling embrace with members of the crowd, while stewards in yellow coats don't just run, but sprint across to break it up, as though what they're witnessing isn't simply men hugging, but a kitten being Stanley-knifed, or the Queen being jostled by a group of youths. I've often wondered if anything is said, or urgently muttered, during these cuddles, which last up to 15 seconds. Maybe just things like "I'm not a knob".I also suspect Barton of making a wider point. This is a man who has for some time been vilified as a kind of Premier League Satan. And just as the devil is a convenient repository for all evil, a species-wide scapegoat, so Barton has been handy shorthand for football knobbery in all its forms.By saying most footballers are knobs he is refuting this using the voice of atheistic enlightenment, which says there is no absolute evil, that knobbery is in all of us; the devil, and "Joey Barton", are no more than devices to excuse sustained analysis. Then again, maybe that's a discussion best left for the next time Nigel Winterburn guest-edits In Our Time.Joey BartonRadio 4Barney Ronayguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
James set for surprise switch to Stoke • Stoke and Portsmouth in talks over transfer• James potential cover if Sorenson goes to Bayern MunichThe Stoke City manager Tony Pulis is hoping to sign the England goalkeeper David James in time for Saturday's Premier League meeting with Liverpool. The potential transfer from Portsmouth is being discussed by the clubs' respective chief executives, Tony Scholes and Peter Storrie.Pulis believes James will add to the competition for the No1 spot at the Britannia Stadium, although has refused to rule out the chance of Thomas Sorensen leaving as the Dane has been linked with a move to Bayern Munich."We'll have to see if the two clubs can come to a deal and we're hoping it will be tied up for the weekend, but it will have to be right for us," said Pulis. "If we can get him we'll be absolutely delighted because if there's a weakness [in the squad] it's been between the sticks in respect of having competition and back-up."We lost Thomas immediately before the Fulham game and if anything had happened to [deputy] Steve Simonsen, then we wouldn't have had a goalkeeper."It would have been a tragedy for us, and it really opens up your eyes. So we've an opportunity to bring in a top-class goalkeeper because we have heard he might be available."Pulis feels that his chances of recruiting the 39-year-old are strong, with James known to be itching for first-team football to enhance his prospects of playing for England in the World Cup."You are signing a goalkeeper of real quality, and if he comes here he has a few months' football to play," added Pulis. "Sorensen has done brilliantly, so they will both be fighting for that one spot, but he [James] has something to prove as well."He'll want to be on that plane to South Africa, and that attracts me to him more than anything else. He is desperate to play for England in the World Cup. So if we can bring him in and give him the opportunity to prove he is the best goalkeeper in England, and he proves that, then we'll be delighted."Yet despite suggesting the goalkeeping department lacks strength in depth, there is every opportunity of Sorensen leaving to make way for James."We've heard the rumours that there are clubs in Europe who fancy Thomas, and it makes it more important that we cover ourselves," said Pulis. "If Bayern Munich, Manchester United or Chelsea come in for Thomas, he would want to better himself like everybody else does, just like Ronaldo wanted to go to Real Madrid. But it is a fragile area. Hopefully, we're covering it by bringing in David."Stoke CityPortsmouthPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Gabon Won't Advance After Wasting Chances Gabon missed reaching the African Cup of Nations' quarterfinals after being held to a 0-0 draw by Tunisia in Group D on Sunday. feeds.nytimes.com |
Italian roundup: Bologna draws with Atalanta Relegation-threatened Bologna let slip a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Atalanta on Wednesday, a result that leaves it just one place above the drop zone. cbc.ca |