| England Suffer Bent Blow LONDON (Reuters) - Injury-hit England suffered another setback on Monday when striker Darren Bent pulled out of their Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro with a groin problem. feeds.nytimes.com |
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 |
Gerrard calls on Liverpool to kick on • Yesterday's win was their second in the league this season• 'The three points will have done wonders for everyone'Steven Gerrard has admitted "enough is enough" after Liverpool's poor start to the season and has called on the team to rise to the challenge which faces them. Yesterday's 2-1 victory over Blackburn was only their second in the Premier League this campaign and, although it was not enough to lift them out of the relegation zone, it has put them within three points of seventh place.Confidence has started to return to the squad, as demonstrated by the first 70 minutes against Rovers. Gerrard knows the players now have to build on that performance, with three of their next four league matches against Bolton, Wigan and Stoke. "The three points will have done wonders for everyone," the captain said."It is all about getting a sequence of results and we will find out now whether we are capable of doing it. That is the challenge for this team. If you do that, you will find yourself climbing the table really fast. Three or four wins on the bounce and you will find yourself in a very healthy position. It is early days and there are still plenty of games to play. If we play like we can at Bolton [next Sunday] we can do really well. Enough is enough – we want to put that sequence together."After a run of seven matches without a win the players understandably became more edgy as the game against Blackburn entered its final phase. Gerrard admitted confidence had been dented by four league defeats in eight games. "I think it's normal when you find yourself down in the bottom half of the table and it was just about the three points yesterday," the 30-year-old said. "The performance wasn't important; it was just vital that we got a win."It was a big bonus that we were terrific for 70 minutes – more of that and I'm sure we'll climb the table really fast. It was disappointing to concede the goal but we showed tremendous character to come back and get the second. A lot of individual players came away with their confidence boosted and it was great to see Fernando [Torres] get on the scoresheet and Joe [Cole] set him up."The club's ownership has dominated talk at Anfield this season but, now New England Sports Ventures has completed its £300m takeover, Gerrard hopes it will signal an improvement on and off the pitch. "We have got to use the last two performances as a fresh start but the last thing the players have done is hide behind the fact we've had a bit of an issue off the field," he told the Liverpool Echo. "We find ourselves where we are in the league because we haven't been good enough. Of course it is nice and refreshing to know things are sorted out off the pitch and the fans are happy."LiverpoolSteven GerrardPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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 |