| Montenegro have explosive potential Tonight's visitors have enjoyed a change of luck under their new coach and are unbeaten so far in the qualifiersAsk Montenegro's players what has changed since the 2010 World Cup qualifiers and all reply with a combination of the same three factors: luck, experience and balance.For a new country, drawn from the pot of minnows, they performed creditably in World Cup qualifying, but there is a sense that they did not quite get the results they deserved: 2-2 draws against Bulgaria and Cyprus probably should have been wins; the 4-1 defeat in Bulgaria looked far worse than it really was. Soft penalties were given against them, there were unfortunate ricochets, and perhaps a lack of conviction at the back. A team packed with talented forwards either defended en masse, or poured forwards in numbers, and so were alternately involved in either tedious 0-0s or high-scoring thrillers, with little in between.Since Zlatko Kranjcar took over earlier this year, though, Montenegro seem to have found the right blend, despite the loss of the highly-gifted Fiorentina forward Stevan Jovetic to a serious knee injury and, perhaps even more critically given the make-up of the squad, the Spartak Moscow anchor Nikola Drincic. They have enjoyed a change of luck, too: while Switzerland's tedious football on Friday deserved little, for example, their manager Ottmar Hitzfeld was justified in wondering how the goalkeeper Miodrag Bozovic had managed to get himself in the way of four efforts in the final two minutes of the first half. He evidently has excellent reflexes and no little courage, but he looked shaky every time Switzerland got deliveries into the box from wide.Perhaps because of the absenceloss of Jovetic to a serious knee injury, Kranjcar, the father of the Spurs midfielder Niko, has modified the 4‑3-2-1 favoured under his predecessor Zoran Filipovic to a 4‑4‑1‑1. Mirko Vucinic is the key attacking figure, operating just behind the Rijeka the striker Radomir Djalovic; the Roma forward was superb against Switzerland on Friday, physically robust, imaginative and intelligent in his use of the ball, and clinical in taking the one clear chance that came his way.Milorad Pekovic, suspended for the Switzerland game, is likely to return in the centre of midfield alongside Elsad Zverotic, who is more usually a defender with his club side Lucerne. That is a solid rather than a spectacular pairing but there is creativity wide, with Simon Vukcevic and Branko Boskovic having begun their careers as playmakers. Vukcevic, now at Sporting Lisbon, is a combustible, occasionally brilliant, presence; Boskovic, who never settled in France, rebuilt his career at Rapid Vienna and is now at DC United in the US, is a calmer, more languid figure, who admits he does not really relish the defensive responsibility that comes with his new position.The strength of the back four is very much in the centre. Marko Basa is extremely composed – perhaps overly so at times – and quite prepared to jink past an opponent if it enhances his passing options while Miodrag Dzudovic is a classic stopper. He was widely perceived as the weak link during World Cup qualifying, but he has blossomed since taking the captaincy at Spartak Nalchik, the surprise overachievers in Russia this season. After three successive clean sheets he was boldly talking on Friday about how Montenegro do not fear Wayne Rooney, but the faint smile on his face as he did so suggested he knows perfectly well that his main role will be picking up England's other striker, Peter Crouch, while Basa tracks Rooney. Both full-backs gave cause for concern, although with Switzerland playing two attacking wide midfielders in Zherdan Shaqiri and Valentin Stocker, that is perhaps understandable. The left-back Milan Jovanovic, who has been linked with Birmingham and West Brom, looked uneasy, his passing notably lacking in assurance in a generally technically gifted side.On the other flank the 19-year-old Stefan Savic, who attracted interest from Arsenal in the summer and came off the bench against them for Partizan Belgrade in the Champions League last month, made his debut, replacing the injured Savo Pavicevic. He is more naturally a centre-back, something that was evident in how often, early on, he drifted infield and was caught by long diagonals played over him by Gokhan Inler. He settled in the second half but that may be a vulnerability England can look to exploit, particularly given Steven Gerrard's natural shape of pass.It was notable that as Dejan Savicevic, the president of the Montenegrin Football Federation, was excitedly working out what results they need, even he was assuming they were playing for second and a playoff spot. He was not writing off the England matches as such, but there was a definite sense that any point would be a bonus.England should win but Montenegro are a compact, well-balanced side with explosive attacking potential. As Kranjcar pointed out, if England given them a chance, Montengro are capable of taking it. And he is a master of such games: with both Croatia and Montenegro, he remains unbeaten in qualifiers for major tournaments.MontenegroEnglandEuro 2012Jonathan Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
England v Montenegro: Peter Crouch gets chance to change Fabio Capello's thinking Darren Bent's withdrawl because of injury will allow Spurs striker to prove he is more than just an impact substitute telegraph.co.uk |
Paul Doyle: Interesting times for Blackburn Should Rovers supporters chirp at the prospect of being taken under the wing of chicken giant Venky's?Maybe we'd all like to be clutched to the bosom of a super-rich idiot. But few folks go so far as to claim such an experience as an inalienable right. Unless, of course, they belong to the new breed of football fan increasingly incubated by the Premier League, specimens who demand that their club be bought by a spendthrift gazillionaire who thinks that balancing books is some sort of primitive kids' diversion like skipping ropes or hucklebones. The bigger the losses, the bigger the ambition. Yay!Consider, for example, the Everton fans who denounce Bill Kenwright for not splurging money that he does not have. Sensible people do not protest at financial prudence even if it's not exciting. However, while such people will not grumble about living within their means, many of them are uncomfortable with the notion of owners actually making profits out of their clubs. They would prefer that all surplus income is ploughed back into players and facilities rather than shareholders' pockets. Yes to managing football clubs in a way that makes them a sustainable social entity, no to transforming them into a narrow commercial triumph. According to this view, owners should run the club as fans, putting time, money and thought into a team not for gain, but for the unifying spirit and peculiar fun of it.The importance of being perceived as fans is well understood by canny investors, such as the new owners of Liverpool, who may have failed to persuade Mohamed Al Fayed to part with Fulham before bidding for Liverpool but were at least able to learn the words to You'll Never Walk Alone before their first appearance at Anfield. The prospective new owners of Blackburn do not seem so diligent.Anuradha J Desai, chairperson of the Indian chicken magnates, Venky's, who are poised to buy Blackburn in a deal worth around £46m, has been candid about the reason for seeking to buy the club: it is not to recreate the glory days of Jack Walker and the SAS partnership, nor even to achieve the 1960s heights of Marshall's Misfits. "We don't expect to be in the top five of the Premier League," Desai told the Economic Times. "We will be happy to be in the top 10-12," continued Desai, who suggested that becoming the first Indian company to own a Premier League club could be a useful prop for expanding their chicken empire throughout Asia and beyond. "This is an investment, it will grow on its own strength," he added.It might be argued that even if they are not nefarious, Venky's certainly seem naive. Desai has said that the group will reach their target by allocating an extra £5m to players. "We don't need expensive players, we can always lease them," explained Desai, who may or may not be aware that even loanees have to be paid. Then again, if the amount seems trifling by the extravagant standards of the Premier League, we should perhaps bear in mind that, with the financial muscle of the Walker trust atrophying, Blackburn's net outlay in transfer fees over the last five complete seasons has been -£7m, yet their finishing positions have been sixth, 10th, seventh, 15th and 10th.Adding an extra £5m a year on to their budget may leave only a little for recruits after the current annual losses are staved off, but, if the team continues to be managed as capably as Mark Hughes and Sam Allardyce have demonstrated in recent years, who is to say Blackburn cannot achieve Venky's target? They may not be proclaiming their love for the club nor declaring their intention to challenge for the Champions League, but the prospective new owners are pledging to keep Rovers as a steady member of the elite and do not come across as asset-strippers or money-launderers (then again, asset-strippers and money-launders tend not to introduce themselves as such). Rather than grouse, as some already have, perhaps Blackburn fans should chirp at the prospect of being taken under the wing of the chicken giant?If Venky's succeed in keeping the club at the heights for which they aim, then so what if they also piggyback it to flog more chickens? Then again, maybe the team's against-the-economic-odds success in recent seasons is impossible to sustain and, as their current position of 17th and, indeed, the history of the fabled Marshall's Misfits, indicates, a downfall is inevitable without much bigger investment? And perhaps the suggestion that Venky's intend not simply to be frugal, but to limit deliberately their expenditure to an amount below what they could afford so as to maximise profit, makes them unwelcome impostors?Blackburn RoversPaul Doyleguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Venky's warn Blackburn Rovers fans to be realistic Rovers' prospective new owners do not appear willing to splash the money on high-profile names. telegraph.co.uk |
Milan moves ahead of Inter in Serie A standings Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored as AC Milan beat 10-man Napoli on the road Monday to leapfrog Inter Milan and move into second place in Serie A. cbc.ca |