TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
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| Squad sheets: Liverpool v Wolverhampton Wanderers The criticism Mick McCarthy attracted for his rotation policy must have left Rafael BenÃtez pining for the good old days. The time when the Liverpool manager was condemned merely for tinkering is long gone, and after the gutless showing at Portsmouth this is a test of his team's commitment as well as quality. Aston Villa and Tottenham follow in the league for Liverpool and they cannot afford to lose further ground in the pursuit of fourth place. McCarthy's selection at Anfield may provide another verdict on Liverpool's season. Andy HunterVenue AnfieldTickets Limited availability (0844 844 0844)Last season n/aReferee A MarrinerThis season's matches 13 Y58, R6, 4.92 cards per gamesportingbet odds Liverpool 1-5 Wolves 10-1 Draw 19-4LiverpoolSubs from Cavalieri, Aurélio, Ngog, Riera, Kyrgiakos, Babel, Skrtel, Voronin, Degen, Spearing, Plessis, Dossena, Ayala, El ZharDoubtful Aquilani (calf), El Zhar (ankle), Riera (hamstring), Torres (hernia)Injured Kelly (ankle, 2 Jan)Suspended Mascherano (first of three)Form guide LWLDWDDisciplinary record Y25 R4Leading scorer Torres 11WolvesSubs from Hennessey, Maierhofer, Castillo, Elokobi, Mancienne, Surman, Halford, Iwelumo, Zubar, Hill, Friend, David JonesDoubtful NoneInjured Kightly (ankle, Feb), Murray (knee, Feb), Edwards (ankle, Mar), Keogh (ankle, Mar)Suspended NoneForm guide WLWWLL Disciplinary record Y34 R1Leading scorer Doyle 5Match pointers• Liverpool have dropped 27 points so far this season, only one less than they dropped in the entire 2008-09 campaign• 71% of the goals Wolves have scored have come after half-time, the highest proportion in the division• Liverpool have only lost two of the their last 39 league games at Anfield but have won just one fof the last four• Wolves have scored one goal in five of their last six meetings with Liverpool• Liverpool have had four players sent off already this season after being the only side not to have anyone dismissed in the previous campaignLiverpoolWolverhampton WanderersPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Man City lost $150M in 1st season under Sheikh Mansour Manchester City's losses tripled to almost $150 million US during its first season under Sheikh Mansour's ownership, although he has written off its debts to him to help comply with future UEFA regulations. cbc.ca |
Togo attack: Cabinda to remain African Cup of Nations venue African Nations Cup matches will be played in Cabinda despite Friday's attack on the Togo team bus in the province, the Confederation of African Football said on Saturday night. telegraph.co.uk |
Clubs left to continue financial madness Those in charge of the Premier League are happy to take responsibility for everything except the failures"There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first."The misguided fools who hanker after Margaret Thatcher's tough love might have their dreams come true if her political heirs find themselves in power later this year. In the meantime, there is always the Premier League, where those in charge are happy to take responsibility for everything that happens under their watch except the failures."Given the amount of central income that is generated by the Premier League, it would be down to absolutely rank bad management if a club itself was actually to go into administration," said the league's chief executive, Richard Scudamore, at the weekend, so distancing the organisation he heads from the financial problems that, to varying degrees, have been visited upon the majority of its member clubs.Portsmouth? Not me, guv. Manchester United, Liverpool, Hull City, West Ham? Ditto. "I don't think anyone wants the Premier League running football clubs, it's very much for the owners to run the football clubs."There was a kernel of truth in Scudamore's comment – he's right, no one in their right mind would want the Premier League running their club – but there wasn't much in the way of originality. The same arguments have been made elsewhere, albeit in more expansive form, with supporters of the status quo drawing parallels between the stewardship of Premier League clubs and the stewardship of any kind of business. So what if the money, power and success is concentrated in the hands of the few? That is what happened in the supermarket industry, and no one complains. So what if a football club goes bust? It happens all the time on the high street, the consequence of bad business practice and a failure to meet customer needs and expectations. Get over it.Football is not unique, the argument goes. People just think it is, which is why they mistakenly conclude that the current problems at, say, Portsmouth are symptomatic of a widespread malaise within the game when, in reality, they are symptomatic of nothing more than the fact that those in charge at Portsmouth couldn't run a sponsored silence at a Trappist monastery. There is no legislating for incompetence, just as there is no need to rescue those clubs who fall victim to it.All of this might be true, but only if we are prepared to view football clubs with the bloodless pragmatism of an accountant rather than the emotional investment of a football supporter, which most of us do. Clearly, Scudamore and others of his ilk do not, which is why they have no problem in framing the financial difficulties at Fratton Park and elsewhere in strictly business terms. But what of those Portsmouth fans for whom the club represents a lifetime's worth of memories; bad, good, individual and as part of wider circle of like-minded friends?No doubt some will mock this notion, of a Premier League football club as part of the social and cultural fabric of a community of supporters, as quaint and old-fashioned. But it is certainly real and it certainly deserves to be met with something more sympathetic than a lecture on the infallibility of the free market or the unworthy suggestion by one respected commentator that, when all is said and done, "we love the madness" of football's finances.Maybe you do love the madness if you are Manchester City fan whose club has fallen into the hands of a spendthrift billionaire, or if you are a Premier League executive who was lucky enough to be around at a time when the expansion in global communications and increased competition for TV sports rights made your job a damn sight easier than it might otherwise have been.But if you support Liverpool or Manchester United or Portsmouth or Hull City there is little to love about the financial madness that has seen your club's future imperilled, and even less to love about a Premier League that did little when the madness was growing and even less now that its consequences are being felt.Neville takes the blame but Tevez is equally guiltyQuestion: when is it possible to take Gary Neville's side in an argument over football decorum? Answer: when the target of his ire is Carlos Tevez.Fingergate, as we must contractually describe Tuesday night's events at Eastlands which saw the Manchester United club captain flip the bird in the direction of his former team-mate, is now the subject of an FA investigation. Neville's conduct is being "looked into", apparently.Perhaps the FA might also want to look into Tevez's equally churlish conduct after scoring which, if it did not breach any of the game's regulations, certainly offended the sensibilities of those who think that a deep and ensuring sense of victimhood is ridiculous from a footballer who is being paid £7m a year to do his job.McLaren was an inspiration to Scotland's working classThe tributes to Bill McLaren, the long‑time BBC rugby commentator who died this week, have been fully deserved. He had a wonderful voice, unquenchable enthusiasm and a vocabulary that was irresistible to the ear, even if it was occasionally obscure. Argy‑bargy indeed. But perhaps the greatest of McLaren's attributes was that without even trying he was able to give the lie to the misguided idea that rugby was somehow a sport for middle-class "toffs". It wasn't in his home town of Hawick, and it wasn't when he was at work. Even on the working-class estates of Scotland in the 1970s and 80s, when football was still king, an afternoon spent listening to a Bill McLaren commentary on television was invariably followed by an impromptu game of rugby, accompanied by our best Bill McLaren impersonations. Argy‑bargy indeed.Murray should hurry in chase for grand slam winIs it too early to say that Andy Murray's time has come? Of course it is. Far better to say that Murray's time better come soon, or it may never come at all.It is only natural to feel optimistic about the Scotsman's chances of winning his first grand slam title a week come Sunday after his first two appearances on the Melbourne courts, both of which ended in comfortable victory. But we have been here before only for hopes to be quashed either through an inexplicably lacklustre performance by Murray (see last year's US Open loss to Marin Cilic) or a great effort by his opponent (see last year's Wimbledon semi-final defeat at the hands of Andy Roddick).Such is the ebb and flow of any top-class athlete's life, but recognition of that fact does not diminish the sense that with Roger Federer still around, Rafael Nadal edging back towards the form that once made him irresistible and Juan MartÃn Del Potro developing a competitive will to match his obvious talent (witness his epic second-round victory over James Blake), Murray's chances of winning a grand slam event will be limited. When one does present itself, he had better take advantage before it is too late.BusinessPremier LeagueLawrence Doneganguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Global Soccer: Fueling the Flames as Bitter Rivalry Resumes The Afgica Cup of Nations is down to the last four countries. Seemingly inevitably, Algeria is to contest one of the semifinals against Egypt on Thursday. feeds.nytimes.com |