| Danny Murphy wrong to criticise managers, says LMA The managers' union has criticised Danny Murphy for his comments about Sam Allardyce, Tony Pulis and Mick McCarthy. telegraph.co.uk |
Valcke: 2014 WCup Needs Fast Action on 5-Ref Plan Soccer's experiment with five on-field officials rather than the traditional three must be approved next year to be ready for the 2014 World Cup. feeds.nytimes.com |
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini proud of side despite defeat to Arsenal Roberto Mancini believes that City proved that they are serious Premier League title contenders in their defeat against Arsenal yesterday. telegraph.co.uk |
Rampant Arsenal rout City Arsenal underlined their credentials as serious contenders for the Barclays Premier League title with a 3-0 win against Manchester City. foxsports.com.au |
Phillips on the scent of a first cup medal • Fingers crossed for a kind Carling Cup draw• Striker, 37, keen to add to his promotion medalsKevin Phillips is determined to bring the curtain down on an illustrious career by reaching the League Cup final with Birmingham City this season. The 37-year-old has scored more than 250 goals since turning professional at Watford in 1994, won the European golden boot, represented England and helped three different clubs win promotion but he has yet to play in a major cup final.It is a record that the former Sunderland, Southampton, Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion striker hopes he can put right this season after helping Birmingham reach the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup last night. Phillips, who signed a new one-year contract at St Andrew's in the summer, equalised two minutes into injury-time against Brentford to take the game into extra-time and later converted from the spot in the penalty shoot-out where Birmingham triumphed 4-3."It would be fantastic [to play in a cup final], it's every player's dream," said Phillips, who reached the semi-final of the League Cup with Sunderland in 1999 and the same stage of the FA Cup with West Bromwich Albion in 2008 only to suffer defeat on both occasions."We all want to play in a cup final and we all want silverware. I've had a fantastic career but I'd love to end it with a trophy; any player would. We've got a good opportunity [and] hopefully the draw will be kind to us. If we get a home draw and win that, then you're in a two-legged semi-final; anything could happen then. All I've ever won are promotion medals, so naturally I'd like to go to a cup final."Having missed the start of the season with a torn thigh muscle, Phillips returned to fitness last month but had only two substitute appearances to his name before playing 120 minutes against Brentford. He hopes, however, that his crucial contribution against the League One club and his prolific record in derby matches will convince Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager, that he should be involved again against Aston Villa on Sunday."All I can do is keep giving the manager a problem and I hope I did that against Brentford," Phillips said. "There's two big derbies coming up this week that I've scored in, Sunderland versus Newcastle and Blues versus Villa but I enjoy those sort of games. I score plenty of goals and a lot of them have been in derbies."Birmingham CityCarling CupStuart Jamesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |