Roy Hodgson has stated that he was happy with his side’s display in beating Wolves 5-1 at Molineux on Sunday.
Peter Odemwingie bagged a hat-trick in the demolition, with Jonas Olsson and Keith Andrews also finding the net; Steven Fletcher scored a consolation for the below-par hosts.
Hodgson spoke of his delight after the victory and praised the players for their efforts.
“I think they deserve every credit,” The Hawthorns club’s boss told Sky Sports.
“We had to survive that harsh blow of an equaliser in added time of the first half, where really I thought we were looking very good value for our half-time lead.
“Everyone knows it can be a game-changing experience when you are coming in at half-time after playing well and you could be 2-0 or 3-0 up, but suddenly it is 1-1.
“I thought we really did well to go out and take the second half as we did the first half, and in the end we scored the goals and it was a very good victory, but it was down to the fact that the players played very well today,” he stated.
Mick McCarthy meanwhile is under added pressure after the heavy defeat, and has apologised to the fans for the performance.
“It is an understatement to say it has been a disappointing afternoon.
“It turned out to be a terrible afternoon, a disgraceful afternoon, in terms of our performance.
“We had weathered a (tough) first half and got back into it. We started the second half well and then failed to deal with two set-pieces, so we were 3-1 down and then we were caught on the break all over the place.
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“It was an awful performance and, I don’t often do it, but I’ll apologise for that one to everyone who was here watching – our fans,” McCarthy concluded.
Blackburn captain Paul Robinson has stated that his side are more united since the transfer window closed and is confident of avoiding relegation this year.
The likes of Christopher Samba left the club in the January market, with the former skipper’s future an unsettling incident for the Ewood Park club.
Robinson feels the Rovers squad are all pulling in the same direction, and does not fear that they could free-fall down the leagues like his former team Leeds.
“The difference here is that this is a stable club with a solid background,” he told Mirror Football.
“You’re not coming into the dressing room each day wondering if players are still going to be there, as was the case at Leeds.
“When we went down with Leeds, it was more about the financial situation – it was more like the Glasgow Rangers situation than what we have here.
“Here, we have got a group of players who want to be here. We’ve got a very solid foundation and I think we’ve got a very good chance of getting out of it.
“Now the transfer window has closed, we’ve got a group of players who want to be here.
“We realise the situation we’re in and everybody is pulling in the same direction.
“In every window, there is unrest and unsettlement, but now the transfer window has closed it has given us a platform.
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“We know what we’ve got and what we have to do to pull Blackburn Rovers off the bottom,” he concluded.
London rivals Fulham and Chelsea shared a point apiece in a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage on Monday.
The visitors had ambitions of moving level on points with fourth placed Tottenham, and took the lead after 45 minutes when Frank Lampard converted what looked like a soft penalty after a foul by Stephen Kelly on Salomon Kalou.
However, Clint Dempsey equalised for the Cottagers with eight minutes remaining to salvage a point for Martin Jol’s side.
Blues boss Roberto Di Matteo remained upbeat despite missing out on the chance to claw back Spurs’ advantage.
“I thought we were in control of the game and maybe we didn’t pose enough of a threat for the second goal,” he told Sky Sports.
“But we were always in a leading position and the only way they could have scored was from a set-play and unfortunately for us they did.
“But we are still in there, we are hanging in there and we knew Craven Cottage was a tough place to come and we are getting closer to the teams ahead of us,” he continued.
Mark Clattenburg’s award of Chelsea’s penalty was dubious, but Di Matteo believed that it was a fair decision; he also praised Frank Lampard, whose goal made him the first midfielder to score 150 times in the Premier League.
“Come on, there was a touch on him [Kalou] from Kelly for the penalty.
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“The record just shows what a tremendous player that Frank has been for Chelsea Football Club all these years, and he continues to do so and we are very happy he is in our team,” the trainer concluded.
Any positivity surrounding Coventry City seems to once again be disappearing. There was and still maybe every potential that we could do really well in League One next season.
However this is looking more and more unlikely as the pendulum swings back towards negativity.
A conclusion to the negotiations over the Ricoh Arena is still a long way off, a suggestion of a minimum of 60 days has been given and that is if everything goes to plan along the way. I think we all know that when SISU are involved things do not go to plan, so therefore we are realistically looking at this being resolved well into next season.
It is widely understood that the transfer embargo imposed on Coventry will not be lifted until these negotiations have come to a conclusion. SISU reportedly want to include the revenue, which owning a share in the Ricoh will bring, in their accounts before they file them to the Football League.
This is on the face of it, a sensible thing to be doing, however if it is going to be detrimental to the clubs success next season then surely it is not worth waiting for. There is also every chance that these negotiations may break down at some point as everyone knows relations between SISU and everyone else are not great at the best of times.
Any hope we had of making any signings that would truly improve us as a squad is disappearing quickly; not only based on the transfer embargo but also on the calibre of player that Andy Thorn is clearly looking at. Thorn has suggested that the players he is interested in are mainly free transfers.
Players who are available in this way usually fall into two categories. Firstly there are players who have issues and questionable aspects to their games. These players are often no longer wanted by their current clubs because they are not seen as good enough and not worthy of another contract when their current deal expires.
These players often include the ones wanting high wages, the ones who are not massively passionate about that particular football club and play mainly for the money. Obviously, these things usually become less of an issue as you get further down the leagues but I think these things are still very much an issue in League One. These are the types of players that we don’t need at the club, we need players who are passionate and hungry to chase success in helping Coventry rebuild in a very difficult division.
The second is an out of contract player who has become too good for their current club and instead of signing a new deal wants to move to a bigger club in an attempt to further their career. The problem here is that we can no longer be considered a big club with all of our off field problems. We are also not going to be able to compete with other clubs for these players in terms of wages that we can offer for them.
There are obvious exceptions to this and sometimes gems can be found that others have disregarded. This is what I am personally hoping for and in Thorn I trust in terms of his ability to determine whether a player has potential or not.
The main rumour going around at the minute is that of out of contract striker James Collins who scored 16 goals for Shrewsbury in their promotion from League Two this season. I don’t really know a lot about him other than he is 21 and a Coventry lad but he seems to have the potential to be a hit in League One. If this is the best we are going for though then maybe we won’t have too much competition for his signature, we will however definitely lose him if we don’t sign him soon.
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No player whatever level of quality is going to wait for a club and for that reason we are in trouble. Any player who is out of contract will attract at least some interest just because there is no transfer fee involved. Any decent out of contract players won’t be on the market for long and if we continue the way we are going we will miss out on these players and probably have to go with what we already have which by the end of the transfer market is not going to be much.
Our club is clearly still on the downward slope right now and I think that is clear for everyone to see. I have been one of the people who have wanted SISU out of the club for a long time but also have always been willing to give them a chance to prove themselves. Once again though it seems like they are going to fall flat on their faces and it is going to be the club and us supporters who suffer.
Italian sides Juventus and Inter are thought to be in a battle to sign Manchester City left-back Aleksandar Kolarov, according to The Sun.
The Serbian defender has slipped down the pecking order at the Etihad Stadium, with Gael Clichy the preferred choice at left-back for the Premier League champions.
As such a move has been touted for Kolarov, with two of Italy’s biggest clubs fighting it out for his signature.
Both sides are initially interested in signing the eastern European full-back on a loan deal, but City are thought to be keen to recoup as much of the £18 million they splashed on him in 2010.
Kolarov is well-known in Italy as he joined City from Lazio, and the defender’s future at the Etihad Stadium looks in doubt.
Juventus have recently been crowned Serie A champions and are looking to bolster their squad ahead of playing in the Champions League next term, whilst Inter are in transition and need new players to get them back into title contention.
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Luka Modric is on the verge of making a move to Real Madrid and will switch to the Santiago Bernabeu after Euro 2012, according to The Daily Mail.
With Tottenham missing out on Champions League football for next term, the White Hart Lane side are thought to have a battle on their hands to hold onto their main players, with the Croatia international being scouted by some of Europe’s biggest teams.
Despite reports in the press indicating that Manchester United are leading the race to sign the diminutive midfielder, Madrid may well now be the team closest to sealing a deal for the playmaker.
Modric’s former team-mate at international level Mate Bilic has stated that the player wants to make a move to Spain, and this could happen in the near future.
“I’m very good friends with Modric,” said the Sporting Gijon striker.
“He wants to play in the Spanish league. He loves the Premier League but he wants to play in Spain. He’s very close to agreeing a move.”
Daniel Levy would not let Modric leave Spurs to join Chelsea last summer, and as yet Tottenham’s approach to the speculation has not been indicated.
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Frank Lampard has admitted that new Tottenham manager Andre Villas Boas has a great squad to work with, but has a big job on his hands to follow in the footsteps of Harry Redknapp.
The Portuguese coach has been installed as the new White Hart Lane boss, and has been given money to spend, with Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jan Vertonghen already signed this summer.
Chelsea midfielder Lampard feels his former trainer has a big job ahead of him in north London.
“AVB has inherited an exceptional squad of players,” Lampard confessed to The Sun.
“A squad that’s good enough to bring Champions League football and contend for the Premier League title. A team that’s played some terrific, thrilling attacking football and scored goals for fun.
“So AVB is a lucky man taking over at Spurs because the players are so very good.
“Admittedly that can be a double-edged sword, though, because Harry Redknapp will be an extremely tough act to follow.
“Harry lifted Spurs to an amazing level. The way he turned that club around was remarkable. They were at absolute rock bottom when Harry came in.
“Then all of a sudden they’re playing in the Champions League and competing at the very top. So he did an incredible job there and he definitely didn’t deserve to lose his job.
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“That’s why I was really surprised when Harry left. He did wonders at Tottenham and I thought him leaving was a terrible shame,” the England international concluded.
New Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert is having to plan his start to the season with three key players after Marc Alrighton became the latest player to be struck off.
The born and bred Villa winger could be out for around a month after breaking a metatarsal during pre-season and will certainly miss the opening few games of the Premier League season.
Disappointment of last season has quickly turned to optimism at Villa Park after the arrival of former Norwich boss Lambert, but key injuries could put a holt to any mass transformation.
Albrighton has joined Gabriel Agbonlahor and Richard Dunne in the treatment room after the pair also suffered pre-season injuries that will definitely keep them out of the opening fixture away at West Ham a week today.
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However, all three are expected to return at some point in September and Lambert will finally have a fully sit squad to choose from.
The Premier League season is edging ever nearer with just a couple of days till the big kickoff, ensuring the excitement of football fans across the country is reaching almost breaking point. There’s nothing better than success on the field, but what can be even more satisfying is achieving that success using young, homegrown players.
Alan Hansen once said ‘You win nothing with kids’ but that Manchester United class of 1996 went on to prove him dramatically wrong. Those players, the likes of Giggs, Beckham and Scholes made up a vast proportion of the first team for many of the Premier League seasons and United will still rely on Giggs and Scholes this season for experience in the midfield. Hopefully other teams will start to promote talented youngsters into their first teams this season and give the youngsters a chance to show what they can do. We’ve picked out 15 talented young Premier League starlets who are ready to make their breakthroughs this season.
Click on Raheem Sterling to unveil the list
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Everton defender Leighton Baines will make his first competitive start for England away to Moldova tomorrow night, according to The Guardian.
It is perhaps good for the 27-year-old Baines that he is a down to earth character, as his first competitive start for the Three Lions arrives two-and-a-half-years after he made his full international debut in a 3-1 victory over Egypt.
Baines has been mightily impressive for Everton over the past couple of seasons, enticing interest from Manchester United. However, Baines has to accept that when it comes to international acclaim, he is clearly number two to arguably the greatest left-back to have ever worn an England shirt, Ashley Cole.
If Cole would have been fit over the international break, then he would have been the first full-back to have won 100 caps for his country. Cole, who is currently on 98 caps, will be hoping that his injury problems heal in time to win the historic 100th cap for games against San Marino and Poland next month.
As for Baines, he accepts that because of the quality of Cole, he can’t become too disheartened with himself, “I can’t get too frustrated when the guy in front of me is such a good player. I have so much respect for him, so you just bide your time. If I had been doing it since I was 20 and eight years down the line I’d got only eight caps, then maybe the frustration would build a bit more. But I came into it later, I’m still keen to get involved and get games. Along the way you pick up caps and that keeps you going.”
Baines refuted a journalist’s leading question when asked whether the Moldova game was an opportunity for him to stamp his authority on the left-back position for England. The Everton man philosophically conceded that the Moldova game probably won’t make a difference;
“It’s difficult because of what Ash brings to the table. For me it’s just going to be one or two games really. It’s difficult but my mentality has always been to do as I well as I can for Everton first. I’ve done enough now to be second choice left-back for England for a while but not been able to push on that next level. Ash is just so good and there are other things that play a part, like not playing at the top level – in terms of the Champions League.”
This answer evoked a successive question about Baines’ future at Everton. Baines said in response to his rumoured transfer to Manchester United: “I pretty much ignored it but it was getting to the point where people were asking me and yet I didn’t know anything. It was getting mentioned so often I was getting puzzled by it. As far as I know, there was not a great deal in it, so there was no point worrying about it.”