Toyota Football Fever - SHOW 6
What the UK papers said this
week?
1) Kia waits for £100m Green Light
KIA JOORABCHIAN has pleaded with West
Ham for more time to raise £100million to buy
the club.
The Iranian businessman emerged from the
mourning period for his late father last week, which
he believes has delayed his proposed takeover.
Hammers bosses and fans are growing increasingly
frustrated at the uncertainty on and off the pitch triggered
by the proposed takeover.
The chances of a deal going through are
fading the longer the saga drags on, with the team suffering
five successive defeats as an indirect consequence of
the delay.
Former car dealer Joorabchian has recruited
several wealthy financiers to his consortium but he
is still unable to slap the cash on the table and take
control from chairman Terry Brown.
2) Big Phil in Hammers Boss Link
PORTUGAL boss Luiz Felipe Scolari is
willing to work with Kia Joorabchian, the man linked
to a takeover of West Ham, in the future.
Big Phil is a friend of Joorabchian, whose
Media Sports Investments company took Argentinian duo
Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano to Upton Park.
Scolari said: "Kia has already approached
me to work for him before and every offer he makes is
respectful and deserves my attention.
"Right now, I am still coaching Portugal
but nothing is impossible and certainly no door is closed.
"I often talk about jobs with Kia,
if something was to happen in the future I am sure we
would discuss it."
3) Mourinho gets a double slap
JOSE MOURINHO has suffered a double blast
from Manchester United and Arsenal.
United star Mikael Silvestre taunted Chelsea
by saying they are worse than last year - and Arsenal
boss Arsene Wenger weighed in by insisting Mourinho’s
champions will end up handing over the Premiership title
to Arsenal.
Defender Silvestre said: “Are Chelsea
untouchable? I have the feeling rather that their machine
can get jammed at the moment and that they are not as
strong as last year. That’s my impression.
Wenger said: “It is deeply satisfying
to me to feel sure that Chelsea will not have a monopoly
on success in England, despite all the money that they
spend.
“Chelsea can be beaten in the Premiership this
season and I’m deeply, totally convinced of that.
“Indeed I’m certain the team
to beat them will be us.”
4) Roo will bee razor sharp
WAYNE ROONEY looked back to his razor-sharp
best yesterday when he reported for England duty.
The Manchester United striker, 21 this
month, had said he would not shave until he scored a
goal, but seems to have changed his mind!
He looks years younger after foaming
up and taking a blade to his two-week growth and now
Roo has ditched the beard he’ll be hoping to clean
up in the Euro 2008 qualifying double header against
Macedonia and Croatia.
5) Badboy Barton Moons at fans
SOCCER badboy Joey Barton faces a police
quiz after he mooned at rival fans.
The Manchester City player bared his backside after
celebrating his side's late equaliser in the 1-1 draw
at Premiership rivals Everton.
Former Everton apprentice Barton was
quickly ushered off the pitch by team-mates, but the
sight of a police officer waiting to take a statement
from the City star after the game showed his childish
taunting may be more serious than he thought.
6) Man Utd to get their man Torres
After a long wait, Manchester United seem
close to cementing the signing of long-time target Fernando
Torres from Atletico Madrid. United have offered Atletico
a down payment of £5m, with the final price being
closer to £25m – and the transfer will go
ahead only after the end of this season.
Torres however, is rumoured to have promised
to stay if Atletico can achieve a place in the Champion’s
League
Quotes of the Week
"It doesn't matter, all that's important
is getting the three points." Aston Villa’s
Gabriel Agbonlahor seems confused…
after winning in the Carling Cup.
"A brilliant reaction. I hate it
when players just walk off." Jose Mourinho shows
the childish attitude he likes from his players, as
Arjen Robben storms straight off down
the tunnel when substituted.
"I monitor the food my players eat
on a Friday night. It's no good if they've had two vindaloos
and a kebab." Somehow I don’t think Gazza
would agree with Charlton Manager Iain Dowie’s
healthy attitude.
"We played extremely well with Beenie
for the match against West Ham. He's come through our
academy system, or rather my daughter's academy system,
and he made the trip to Everton. Beenie got us a result
today." Stuart Pearce, soccer
hardman, is becoming rather attached to his daughter’s
wool horse.
"Thomas Gravesen thinks he's broke
his hand, but I told him that you play football with
your feet and not your hand." Celtic boss Gordon
Strachan. Does that mean Thierry Henry can
play with a fractured skull?
Last Weeks Premiership Results
| Bolton 2 |
Liverpool 0 |
Speed (30)
Campo (51) |
|
Report: Liverpool suffered
a humiliating 2-0 defeat at the Reebok Stadium as they
failed to produce the quality needed to outwit Bolton's
strength, resilience and organisation. They were rightly
angry about Bolton's first goal, a drive from Gary Speed
from a tapped free-kick after Jose Reina had been wrongly
penalised for handling outside his box
| Charlton 1 |
Arsenal 2 |
| Bent (21) |
van Persie (32, 49) |
Report: Robin van Persie
netted twice as Arsenal beat Charlton 2-1 in the Barclays
Premiership - their fifth successive win in all competitions
| Chelsea 1 |
Aston Villa 1 |
| Drogba (3) |
Agbonlahor (45) |
Report: A superb display
by goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen gave Aston Villa a 1-1
draw at Chelsea. Chelsea, who opened the scoring through
Didier Drogba before Gabriel Agbonlahor equalised, dominated
the contest, but a combination of poor finishing and
Sorensen's superlative performance left Jose Mourinho's
side frustrated.
| Everton 1 |
Fulham 1 |
| Johnson (44) |
Richards (90) |
Report: Micah Richards
lashed home a last second equaliser to earn Manchester
City a priceless 1-1 draw from their trip to Everton.
The Toffeemen appeared to be heading for second spot
in the Premiership thanks to Andrew Johnson's sixth
goal of the season but Richards found the target in
the fourth minute of stoppage time to deny the hosts
a deserved win.
| Sheff. Utd. 2 |
Middlesbrough 1 |
Hulse (30)
Jagielka (90) |
Yakubu (49) |
Report: Sheffield United
captain Phil Jagielka scored a stunning injury-time
strike to snatch a 2-1 win against Middlesbrough and
lift Neil Warnock's men off the foot of the Premiership.
| West Ham 0 |
Reading 1 |
| |
Seol Ki-Hyeon (2) |
Report: Reading heaped
the pressure on former manager Alan Pardew after inflicting
a fifth straight defeat on struggling West Ham at Upton
Park, with Seol Ki-Hyeon’s second minute strike
the difference between the teams.
| Blackburn 2 |
Wigan 1 |
Bentley (45)
McCarthy (81) |
Heskey (2)
Todorov (pen miss 76) |
Report: Debutant goalkeeper
Jason Brown emerged as Blackburn's hero after saving
a crucial penalty as Rovers battled back from behind
to sink Wigan at Ewood Park. Brown guessed right to
deny Svetoslav Todorov the chance to put the Latics
back in front with 13 minutes left, and Benni McCarthy
won the game 4 minutes later.
| Man Utd 2 |
Newcastle 0 |
| Solskjaer (41, 49) |
|
Report: Manchester United
shrugged sorry Newcastle aside at Old Trafford, Ole
Gunnar Solskjaer netting twice as the Red Devils romped
back to the Barclays Premiership summit.
| Tottenham 2 |
Portsmouth 1 |
Murphy (2)
Defoe (pen 35) |
Kanu (40) |
Report: Tottenham's
French midfielder Didier Zokora took a dive to earn
a match-winning penalty in the first half after Spurs
had taken a 42-second lead to break their Premiership
goal-drought. Spurs hadn’t scored for over 7 hours
of football, but Danny Murphy’s goal and Jermaine
Defoe’s penalty were enough to give them all three
points.
| Watford 3 |
Fulham 3 |
King (23)
Young (46, 89) |
McBride (71)
Helguson (83)
Francis (o.g. 87) |
Report Watford lost their nerve in the
final 20 minutes to throw away what should have been
a comfortable victory against Fulham. Goals from Marlon
King and Ashley Young had Watford cruising to their
first Premiership win of the season, but they could
not hang on and allowed Fulham to score three goals
in 15 minutes through substitute Brian McBride, Heidar
Helguson and a shocking own-goal from Damien Francis.
Team of the Week - Aston Villa
In a week where Manchester United and
Arsenal both won their games well, Chelsea were held
at home by an excellent defensive performance from Aston
Villa. Martin O’Neill’s team did not let
Didier Drogba’s early goal dishearten them, and
they were rewarded with Gabriel Agbonlahor’s equaliser.
Then in the second half Thomas Sorenson made a string
of important saves to maintain the Villans impressive
unbeaten start to the season.
Player of the Week - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
It has been a long time since Solskjaer
was banging in the goals regularly for Man United. Injury
after Injury has blighted his career, and his latest
setback could have ended a lesser player’s career.
But Ole was determined not to give up, and a brace in
an excellent United performance against Newcastle, where
his teammates Cristiano Ronaldo and Darren Fletcher
also shone, were Soskjaer’s first home league
goals since April 2003. As Sir Alex Ferguson said after
the game “Look out Louis”!
Donkey of the Week - Chris Foy
This week’s donkey of the week is
referee Chris Foy, who was officiating the Tottenham
Portsmouth game, for giving one of the most awful penalty
decisions in a long, long while to allow Tottenham to
claim victory over Pompey at White Hart Lane. When Didier
Zokora ‘fell’ (to give him the benefit of
the doubt) YARDS away from Portsmouth midfielder Pedro
Mendes – nobody expected a penalty to be given,
but that is exactly what Mr. Chris Foy gave... It was
a decision so bad that even Martin Jol was happy to
critisise the referee over it!
Euro 2008 Qualifying Fixtures
Saturday 7th October
