TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
|
| |||
| Levein offers way back for Scotland's exiled trio • Levein to meet Boyd, Ferguson and McGregor• 'My intention is to get round and see all the players'Craig Levein plans to meet Kris Boyd, Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor about resuming their international careers before Scotland learn their European Championship qualifying opponents next month.Boyd and McGregor have both expressed a desire to end their international exiles under Levein, while Ferguson has also hinted at a willingness to return to the fold.Levein, who was appointed Scotland manager two days before Christmas, said: "I haven't spoken to them as yet. I've spoken to their managers and my intention is to get round and meet all the players."I will be speaking to everybody over the next six weeks or so, hopefully before the draw for the Euros in February."Boyd, now 26 and who on Wednesday surpassed Henrik Larsson as the Scottish Premier League's all-time top goalscorer, refused to play under Levein's predecessor, George Burley. Ferguson and McGregor were given lifetime bans by the Scottish Football Association after being photographed flicking V-signs at photographers during last April's World Cup qualifier with Iceland. That came days after they were dropped for indulging in an early-hours drinking session at the team's hotel.The pair's punishments have since been revoked and Levein said: "Whether they've been treated badly or they haven't, I'm not really concerned about that. I'm just concerned about having the best players available for every game."Boyd believes his decision to quit international football over a lack of opportunity under Burley in October 2008 has allowed him to improve his all-round game. "The Scotland thing was the turning point," he said. "I knew I was going nowhere sitting on a bench for 10 days not doing much."It was heartbreaking and not what I wanted. I knew, as it stood, I wasn't going to be playing at Rangers and definitely wasn't playing with Scotland so something had to give. I had to go back to basics and prove to myself I could play at Rangers."It was a brave decision. I have taken a lot of stick but feel it has been the best decision I've made. Now is the time to kick on and get back to international level and I feel I can return to that stage a far better player."Scotland's failure to reach this summer's World Cup under Burley has raised questions over whether the squad is good enough to put that right in Euro 2012 qualifying.Levein, who reiterated his desire to get involved in youth development at the SFA, said: "You don't have to have the best talent to win football matches. It's more important to have a good team work ethic; if everyone can gel and work together then everything is possible."It's a good time to be taking over because expectations are pretty low for the national side. You're better taking over at a time like that because there's so much room for improvement."ScotlandCraig Leveinguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Chelsea hope Essien returns unscathed • Fingers crossed as midfielder returns to full training• Essien expected to miss Ghana's opening gameChelsea will bid a nervous farewell to Michael Essien this weekend. As the midfielder heads to Angola for the Africa Cup of Nations they are hoping Ghana will not ask too much, too soon of a player who returned to training only today after a hamstring injury. Essien limped out of the final Champions League group tie against Apoel Nicosia at Stamford Bridge on 8 December and has not played since, not even for the reserves.In an ideal scenario he might like to ease himself back, with a couple of substitutes' cameos, but as Ghana's talisman he will be required to hit top form straight away. Essien will not be fit for Ghana's opening fixture against Togo on Monday and the coach, Milovan Rajevic, will surely have to leave him out, despite the clamour for him to play.Eyebrows would be raised at Stamford Bridge were Essien to feature. But thereafter he is likely to be plunged into the fray, with Ghana set to rely heavily on him in the absence of a clutch of other familiar names. Stephen Appiah, John Mensah and John Paintsil are injured and Sulley Muntari has fallen out with Rajevic and has not been selected.Ghana face the Ivory Coast next Friday, in a match that will pit Essien against his Chelsea team-mates Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou before completing their group phase campaign against Burkina Faso on Tuesday week. The knock-out rounds start with quarter-finals and the final is scheduled for 31 January. Ghana arrived in Angola today, after training together in South Africa since 28 December. Essien will join up over the weekend, Chelsea having been keen for him to work first with their medical department."We received a letter from Chelsea and Essien has finished his treatment," said Rajevic. "They suggested he should stay for another two days with the club physio and do two days' training with the first-team." Chelsea would not have given the green light for Essien to travel if they did not feel he had completed his rehabilitation but they will follow his progress closely.ChelseaAfrica Cup of NationsDavid Hytnerguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Cameroon still alive at African Cup Four-time champion Cameroon revived its hopes of reaching the African Cup of Nations quarter-finals by beating Zambia 3-2 on Sunday while Gabon played out a scoreless tie with Tunisia. cbc.ca |
Bolton Wanderers 2 Sheffield United 0: match report Second half goals from Gretar Steinsson and Johan Elmander secured Owen Coyle's first win in charge of Bolton. telegraph.co.uk |
Where is football's pie capital? Plus: Has a league's top scorer ever been relegated?; Which club is the greenest? (2); The shortest time between home and away fixtures; and the highest league ground in England. Send your questions and answers to knowledge@guardian.co.uk"On Wikipedia it says: 'The supporters of Rotherham United still maintain the record for the most pies consumed at a football match, with a consumption of pies 40% above the Football League average,'" writes Mark Ireland. "Is this true? There doesn't seem to be a reference for this amazing fact."Never one to shirk a challenge, the Knowledge got on the phone to Pukka Pies to find out if Rotherham United really can claim to be the pie capital of English football. And the answer is – well, sort of.Though the Millers (average attendance 4,214) clearly don't shift pastry in the same numbers as the Premier League giants, in terms of the pie-eating percentage of those coming through the gates at Don Valley they are top of the league."Among the 35-40 clubs we supply, you usually get 15%-20% of supporters at the ground buying a pie," says Peter Mayes of Pukka Pies. "At Rotherham that jumps to 40%-50%. So, relatively, they're our best-performing football customer. They do like their pies."But, of course, no pie-based coronation could be complete without reference to Wigan, whose Pooles Pies often come up trumps in fan surveys and, slightly weirdly, are now available in the region's health clubs. Tom Dickinson, in his book 92 Pies, also gave a thumbs up to the pie-credentials of Morecambe. But while Rotherham may not have the definitive crown, they certainly have a legitimate claim to the throne.PROLIFIC PLAYERS GOING DOWN"How many times has a league's top scorer been in a relegated team?" wonders Ben Schneider. "And even better, has his team ever finished in last place?"Indeed they have. In Ireland: "Dave Mooney now of Reading (on loan at Charlton) finished top scorer in the League of Ireland in 2007 with 19 goals for Longford Town who managed to finish bottom of the league," writes Dean Murray. "Albeit with a six-point deduction."In Portugal: "In 2005-06 Cameroon striker Albert Meyong topped the Portuguese I Divisao charts with 17 goals," writes Dave Clark, "which was still not enough to save Belenenses." But Belenenses, despite finishing in the bottom four, were given a reprieve after Gil Vicente were relegated as punishment for fielding an ileligible player.In England: "In 1973-74, Southampton's Mick Channon scored 21, but his club finished 20th out of 22, and were relegated to the Second Division," writes Vincent Lacey. "As a kicker, it was the first time the third team from bottom was relegated from the top flight, so had the old rules remained in place, Southampton would have been spared the drop, denying Carlisle their first, and only, season in the top tier."In Germany: "Angelo Vier was the top scorer in the 2. Bundesliga in 1997 when his team Rot-Weiss Essen was relegated," writes Matthias Gläfke.And in Italy: "In Serie A co-Capocannoniere Igor Protti's Bari were relegated in 1996," writes Rob Moline. "It was his one golden season, having been a journeyman beforehand, but it earned him as a transfer to Lazio (home of the other co-Capocannoniere Giuseppe Signori). Protti struggled there and eventually released after only one season."WHICH CLUB IS THE GREENEST? (2)A few weeks ago we looked at the clubs doing their bit to save the earth, and since then we've had a few more eco-warriors dropping into our inbox. Firstly we turn to Will Bouma, who with a degree in Environmental Studies and a 2003 dissertation entitled 'Greening Football, Environmental Management in Premier League Football' should know what he is talking about."I established at that time, that very few of the clubs in our elite league were interested in environmental issues," writes Will. "However, Manchester United were ahead of the game, being the only club in the top flight employing a full time environmental manager, Keith McIntosh."At Carrington, all the waste water was filtered with reed beds on site, to avoid the use of treatment chemicals, rain water was collected and used to water the pitches, and finally, all the artificial pitches used re-cycled car tyres in their construction. At Old Trafford, they had a full environmental policy regarding recycling of all their waste, and again collected rain water to use on the pitch."Indeed Carrington now has a nature reserve on site, in which, according to McIntosh, "Red admiral butterflies, meadow pipits and grey partridges have all made their home."Rea Cris points us in the direction of Janguito Malucelli in Brazil, whose 'Eco Stadium' houses seats built in to the grass bank that neighbours the pitch, cutting down on the use of concrete and such.We also received an email from Andrew Bell, the president (no less) of Charleston Battery, a team we featured last time around. And we thought it might be interesting to see what motivated the club's attempts to go green:"We believe in the dangers of climate change, Charleston is a coastal community (the immediate surrounding region is known as the Low country) and wanted to do our (small) part to spread awareness of the issue," writes Andrew. "We host a 'Go Green' night at one of the Charleston Battery matches each year and encourage businesses and non-profit organisations in the area to come out and showcase their green efforts and endeavors via a vendor village within the stadium. It's been very successful; we even had a bicycle-powered margarita machine one year!"AND A LITTLE BONUS ..."What is the shortest time between home and away league games against the same opponent in league football? Can anyone beat Arsenal's games against Bolton from this year?" asks Anton Marks.Indeed they can. As the world and his wife wrote to point out, there was a time when games were played back-to-back over Christmas, with the Christmas Day fixtures being reversed on Boxing Day, something that led to occasional wild results.KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVEWhich is the highest league ground in the English league," asked James Taylor in 2005. "I always understood it to be Oldham's Boundary park but the commentator at the recent FA Cup tie said it was only the second highest ... if so then which is the highest?"According to Simon Inglis's definitive work, Football Grounds Of Britain, the three highest league grounds above sea level belong to West Bromwich Albion, Port Vale and Oldham Athletic. The Hawthorns - built in 1900 - is the highest of the lot, standing at 551 feet above sea level. Next comes Vale Park (525 feet) and Boundary Park (509 feet).The highest football ground in England, though, is at Silverlands, home to Buxton FC, which is more than 1,000 feet above sea level - but that's nothing compared to the real altitude-busters in central and south America.The Azteca Stadium in Mexico City stands at 7,000 feet above sea level, while the daddy of them all, the National Stadium in the Bolivian capital La Paz, is a breath-sapping 8,500 feet above sea level.For thousands more questions and answers, take a trip through the Knowledge archiveCan you help?"Algeria's Africa Cup of Nations semi-final with Egypt will be the fourth match between these teams in a little over seven months," writes Ruairi Corr. "Is that, or if not, what is, the highest number of games between two international sides over one year or less?""Last weekend Cambuur's newly-bought striker Reza Ghoochannejhad scored on his debut after just nine seconds," writes Karim el Esawy. "Is this the fastest goal a debutant has scored?""In the Highland League, there is a team called Inverurie Loco Works," notes Phil Middleton. "Are there any other clubs that have modes of transport in their names? The only other team we can think of is Vauxhall Motors.""Which team has been on the wrong end of record scorelines against the most teams?" poses Peter Mickelsen. "The best I can find appears to be Newport County, beaten by record scores four times for Brighton, MK Dons, Newcastle and Notts County."Send your questions and answers to knowledge@guardian.co.ukRotherhamFood & drinkJohn Ashdownguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |