Yet more mud slinging at Anfield
Comment & analysis round-up
Quote of the day: “Look at what’s happened under Rick [Parry]. It has been a disaster, we have fallen so far behind the other leading clubs. We should have the stadium built by now. We have a few major sponsors when we should have 15. We have still got the top brand in the world of football but that’s no good if you don’t know how to commercialise it. Rick needs to resign from Liverpool FC… If George doesn’t sell - because I am not going to sell - I guess we stay in this position that we are in. It’s complicated but [me buying Gillett out] is going to happen although I can’t force George to accept. I am planning to make him a very attractive offer. If I had a majority on [the ownership of Liverpool] I could put more capital in…” – Tom Hicks.
Runner-up: “Chelsea will not win the title. Manchester United will do that now. I believe it is United’s championship. We were not expecting to play on a Thursday night and I am sure Chelsea were not either. Neither club were very keen on it. But we are paid handsomely by Sky so we have to accept it… As a supporter, I would not be buying a ticket in such circumstances… I feel the clubs have a responsibility to say, ‘no, we will not do this. We have supporters we have to answer to’. We would all have accepted maybe a Friday. And we are used to games being moved from Saturday to Monday, but we don’t see why it should go from Saturday to Thursday.” – David Moyes.
Today’s overview: Many of the papers have had little time to react to Tom Hicks’ latest comments which contain a blistering attack on Rick Parry.
Comments such as “we have a few major sponsors when we should have 15,” must be hard to take for Liverpool fans, just days before the crucial Champions League semi-final and after many calls for the war of words to stop.
James Ducker reports in The Times that Hicks will offer Rafa Benitez a new deal which shows Hicks may know something about football (even if he didn’t know who Jurgen Klinsmann is – “have your people do their research on Klinsmann.”).
Lawrence Donegan (Guardian) analyses the role of David Moores in the mess at Anfield and concludes that the former owner of the club put Liverpool in the hands of Gillett and Hicks “for the sake of a few million pounds.”
The other “crisis” club of English football, Chelsea, also take up some space in the papers this morning. In an interview in the Daily Telegraph Michael Ballack backs Avram Grant.
And Tony Cascarino (The Times) argues that “there is not that scent of success you could smell at Stamford Bridge during José Mourinho’s reign. There is an edge lacking, which is the difference between finishing first and second. And second, for Chelsea, is failure.”
Other articles of interest include Henry Winter on Lord Triesman in the Telegraph, Johan Cruyff’s explanation for missing the 1978 World Cup and Jeffrey Marcus (New York Times Goal blog) on the relationship between AC Milan and Silvio Berlusconi.
Tom Hicks has launched another attack on Rick Parry, Times report here.
James Ducker reports in The Times that Hicks will offer Rafa Benitez a new deal. “Hicks has made repeated attempts to emphasise his support for Benítez after claiming to have resolved his differences with the Liverpool manager in the wake of revelations that he and George Gillett Jr, his fellow owner, held talks with Jürgen Klinsmann last year about the former Germany coach taking charge at Anfield. Having indicated over the weekend that he would extend Benítez’s contract, which has two years to run, Hicks is expected to offer further explanations as to why in an interview with Sky Sports this morning, although the sceptics believe that such declarations are little more than an attempt to curry favour from supporters as he seeks to drive Rick Parry, the chief executive, out of the club.”
Lawrence Donegan (Guardian) analyses the role of David Moores in the mess at Anfield. “Why did he make the mistake of selling the club to Hicks and Gillett back in February 2007? … Of course there is an alternative explanation for his decision to sell to the Americans. Back in February 2007 Gillett and Hicks offered Liverpool’s then owners £5,000 a share, which came to a total of £172m - £16m more than the £156 reportedly being offered by DIC. Of that £16m, Moores stood to take £8m. It is hard to believe that someone who clearly loves the club as much as he does, and who already stood to make at least £80m from any deal, would take such a disastrous change of course for the sake of a few million pounds. To think otherwise would be to truly run the risk of a broken heart.”
Alan Smith speaks to Michael Ballack in the Telegraph, the captain of Germany is in full support of Avram Grant. “We work together - everybody. The coach is a part of the team. We need success. We need results. That gives the fans confidence in everybody, not just the coach. He’s new this season and it isn’t easy when you change the coach during the season, especially for a team like us with strong characters. But, just like with new players, a manager has to get used to the team. You need a little bit of time and you also need success. That’s the normal way because that keeps you in credit with the fans.”
Tony Cascarino (The Times) argues that “there is not that scent of success you could smell at Stamford Bridge during José Mourinho’s reign. There is an edge lacking, which is the difference between finishing first and second. And second, for Chelsea, is failure. The dominant emotion is not belief or confidence, but frustration. It comes from a sense of confusion felt from players to fans. There is the eternal public silence from Roman Abramovich, the club’s owner. The doubts about Grant’s ability and credentials. The white lie everyone was told when Mourinho left about entertainment being crucial - yet the style is no different. Andriy Shevchenko, from superstar to the Lord Lucan of football. Frank Lampard’s contract: an England player at his peak yet he has not signed a long-term deal. ”
The main story in The Sun today is that “Avram Grant will hit Tal Ben Haim with an £80,000 fine for his amazing outburst in SunSport. As open warfare broke out at Chelsea yesterday, furious Blues chief Grant also accused his fellow Israeli of lying over claims ex-boss Jose Mourinho promised the defender a regular first-team role at Stamford Bridge. Grant said: ‘It is internal business but, in my opinion, if a player was wrong we need to deal with it — in our way, my way.’”
Ian Ladyman in the Daily Mail reports that “Eriksson could walk.” “Thaksin Shinawatra’s brutal criticism of Manchester City manager Sven Goran Eriksson has prompted fears that the former England coach may walk out on the club this summer. Eriksson’s survival prospects at City would appear to be diminishing after the club’s owner chose a business conference in Dubai to confirm yesterday that he will review the Swede’s position at the end of what he clearly feels has become an unsatisfactory season… As clubs like City, Liverpool and, to a lesser extent, Chelsea are finding out, wealthy foreigners do not buy football clubs to be told what to do. They buy them to fulfil fantasies, to make money or, in Thaksin’s case, to satisfy political agendas. Sadly, coaches like Eriksson are disposable and vulnerable. If the Swede did not sense this before this week, then he certainly will now.”
The Guardian have a “big interview” with Wigan goalkeeper Chris Kirkland. “Wigan took a chance on me when not a lot of others would and repaying them is the most important thing. If we stay up, and there are still four games to go, then I would judge it as my best season but there is a long way to go yet.”
Henry Winter in the Daily Telegraph reports that “Lord Triesman, the Football Association chairman, is to meet the overseas owners of Premier League clubs, and their managers, to remind them of their obligations to the England team. Triesman wants elite clubs to invest more in youth and also guarantee that players are released for England duty.”
In a seperate article Winter waxes lyrical about the chairman of the FA. “‘I have made the point to referees that if they apply the laws of the game they can look to the FA for a proper level of support,’ added Triesman, who clearly brings a welcome firm hand to FA dealings with everyone from stroppy stars to greedy clubs. ‘I don’t think I’m much of a diplomat but I am a decent negotiator. I am tough. I have never pulled back from anything scary.’ Strong on respect, Triesman sees the next England captain as being an ambassador for the FA’s crusade. ‘I anticipate Fabio will be looking for a captain who embodies those values. He is very, very committed to respect.’”
The Gaffer on EPL Talk calls for a British daily sports paper. “Now that England appears to be leading the pack with some of the best club teams in Europe, it’s time the country gets with the times and does something that the Spanish, French and Italians have mastered for some time. That’s publishing a daily sports newspaper with an emphasis on football.”
One of the most intriguing stories in the papers this morning is Johan Cruyff’s explanation for missing out on the 1978 World Cup. Guardian report: “You should know that I had problems at the end of my career as a player here and I don’t know if you know that someone [put] a rifle at my head and tied me up and tied up my wife in front of the children at our flat in Barcelona… The children were going to school accompanied by the police. The police slept in our house for three or four months. I was going to matches with a bodyguard… All these things change your point of view towards many things. There are moments in life in which there are other values. We wanted to stop this and be a little more sensible. It was the moment to leave football and I couldn’t play in the World Cup after this.”
Jon Carter (ESPN Soccernet) looks at the likely mass exodus at Barcelona this summer. “Ronaldinho, the club’s marquee player in recent years, has found himself constantly sidelined and the subject of transfer speculation for most of Europe’s elite (and Manchester City too). Now the Brazilian seems to have his heart set on a move to Milan, although whether it’s Inter or AC remains to be seen; and, for the first time since his arrival in Spain, Barca are happy to let him go. The money they get for the twice named FIFA World Player of the Year will almost certainly go towards rebuilding the squad, but the Brazilian will not be the only high profile name leaving the Nou Camp.”
Jeffrey Marcus on the New York Times Goal blog looks at the relationship between AC Milan and Silvio Berlusconi. “Will Berlusconi’s political power help boost Milan’s sporting fortunes? Or, as the record intimates, does Milan’s success aid its owner’s political ambitions?”
Jonathan Wilson (Guardian) writes that “A match-fixing scandal and a complacent attitude towards construction may undermine Poland’s ability to co-host Euro 2012.” “Plans have at last been presented for the 65,000-seater national stadium in Warsaw. It looks impressive and the government has agreed to fund it, but building work has not started and it is not scheduled to be completed until spring 2011 - Uefa has urged all works connected with the tournament to be finished by 2010. It is all very well to talk about the central location, and the waving flag motifs, but will it be ready?”
