Tag Archives: Brown

Brown to lead Preston to top end

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The start of the League One campaign is on the horizon and it promises to be a tight affair, with several big clubs battling to get back into the second tier of English football. Preston, Sheffield United and Scunthorpe will join the likes of Sheffield Wednesday, Huddersfield and Charlton in trying to find a place in the Championship. Here’s who we think will enjoy success this term…..

Phil Brown failed to pull off the great escape and keep Preston (7/1 League One Outright) in the Championship last season, but there were shoots of recovery and that is likely to continue this campaign. They may have lost winger Keith Tracey, but the experience of the returning Graham Alexander, Clarke Carlisle and Ian Ashbee could be key. Expect North End to be up and around the top six for the majority of the season.

Huddersfield (11/8 to win promotion) have seen some of the squad that reached the play-off final last season move on, with the likes of Anthony Pilkington and Lee Peltier departing. But Lee Clark has some excellent youngsters breaking through and the loan addition of Hull defender Liam Cooper will keep them solid at the back.

No team in the league has been busier in the transfer window than Charlton (18/1 League One Handicap +4), with at least 12 additions to the ranks and as many departures. Former Bournemouth man Danny Hollands looks a decent capture although the large number of squad changes means Chris Powell will need time to gel things together.

There was shock throughout the football pundits at Sheffield United’s relegation last term, but despite their slip into the third tier, Blades fans have reason to be optimistic. Their youngsters reached the FA Youth Cup final for the first time in their history last season, with some real talent coming through the ranks at Bramall Lane. Young striker Danny Philliskirk, signed from Chelsea, is one to watch out for this season (Season Match Bet – Preston 4/5, Sheff Utd Evs).

Wednesday, meanwhile, have not been able to bring in as many players as they would have hoped. David Prutton and Julian Bennett will add more steel to the Owls, but there will be major pressure on Gary Megson to deliver the goods, with promotion their only target.

Three decent summer captures, Niall McGinn from Celtic, Clayton Donaldson (20/1 League One Top Goalscorer) from Crewe and Jonathon Douglas from Swindon, have strengthened a Brentford squad that finished 11th last season. Uwe Rosler is looking forward to his first season as a manager in England and the German will feel the play-offs are a realistic target.

An outside bet for a decent season are Notts County (10/1 to win promotion), under the solid stewardship of Martin Allen. They managed to survive in League One after Allen’s late season appointment and the former Barnet and Brentford boss will have set his sights on big improvements this term.

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Brown faces tough start

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The Championship is looking as closely fought as most people expected before a ball was kicked, with only 14 points separating play-off places and the relegation zone. Any team putting together a good run can catapult themselves up the table, so which teams are set to be celebrating on Saturday evening…….

Preston v Leicester

Preston are really struggling this season and Phil Brown has a task on his hands to turn things around. Take a look at the strikers each respective team has brought in this week – Sven has persuaded Yakubu to drop down to play for Leicester, while Brown has got Nathan Ellington from Greek side Skoda Xanthi.
Leicester are a growing force, they beat Swansea a fortnight ago before drawing with Manchester City in the FA Cup. You would expect Sven’s boys to have too much and take all three points to add to Preston’s misery (Leicester are Evs to win the game).

Swansea v Crystal Palace

New Palace boss Dougie Freedman faces a tough trip to South Wales, as Swansea are riding high in the table and bounced back from their defeat to Leicester by beating Colchester 4-0 in the FA Cup last time out. The Swans (4/7 to win the game) have lost some consistency in recent weeks, but Scott Sinclair remains a striker in form capable of hurting a leaky defence – something which Palace possess.
Brendan Rodgers has the perfect motivation for improvement and that is the fact Swansea could overtake second-placed Cardiff if they win and Norwich do them a favour – something that could happen as Paul Lambert’s side are riding high themselves this season. (Norwich 5/4 to beat Cardiff)

Bristol City v Middlesbrough

Both these teams need to put some results together to help them begin to climb the Championship table and lower league opposition in the FA Cup last weekend beat both. The statistics for this game show that Bristol City are inconsistent at home and Boro are terrible on the road, but Tony Mowbray’s side have struggled to score goals on the road. All pointers suggest a draw in this clash at 23/10.

Burnley v QPR

Managerless Burnley face a tall order against top-of-the-table QPR on Saturday, but the loss of Jamie Mackie could have a large impact on Neil Warnock’s side. Nevertheless, you would expect the attacking flair of Rangers (7/4 for the win) to be too much for a Burnley side, who seem to follow a win with a loss, according to their recent form.

The Best of The Rest

Across the rest of the games, Leeds (1/2 to win) should get their season back on track following a faltering period by beating a struggling Scunthorpe side, who are short of real firepower.
Ipswich will be on a high after their Carling Cup win over Arsenal and the ‘new manager syndrome’ should be enough to get them at least a draw at Millwall – priced at 12/5.
Doncaster (7/5 to win) play host to Reading and the home side should come out on top, while another home victory in Yorkshire seems on the cards as Hull face Barnsley at the KC Stadium (Hull 4/5 to gain the points).
Sheffield United (11/5 to win) have only won once on the road all season, but could add to that when they travel to an inconsistent Coventry.
Watford (20/23) will beat Derby and continue the plaudits for Malky Mackay, while Nottingham Forest (8/11) should boost their promotion chances with a win over struggling Portsmouth.

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Brown seeks Scotland home comforts

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craig leveinScott Brown says it is crucial Scotland (11/2 to reach the finals) prove hard to beat at home if they are to stand a chance of qualifying for Euro 2012.

Craig Levein’s men started their qualifying campaign with a 0-0 draw in Lithuania on Friday evening, as they prepare for their first home fixture of the campaign this week.

Liechtenstein are the visitors to Hampden Park on Tuesday, in what looks like a must-win game for Scotland.

Celtic (4/6f to win 2010-11 SPL title) star Brown admitted to the BBC: “We need to win our home games, that’s the main thing. Away from home we have got to try and nick a few points, maybe get a win here or there.

“We’re enjoying playing and looking forward to the future. The players are comfortable with the formation.”

Levein will feel a bit frustrated not to have started their campaign with a win though, with Scotland (18/1 to win Group I) enjoying the territorial advantage and the better chances.

The shots on-target count was 5-1 in the visitors favour, but the Scots started their Group I fixtures with an away point.

Levein is expected to make changes to the side for Tuesday’s match, with James McFadden pushing for a start.

The Birmingham forward came on as a second-half substitute in Lithuania, replacing Barry Robson, and looked lively going forward.

Scotland will want to gain their first qualifying win this week, ahead of a tough double header next month.

Levein’s men face an away trip to the Czech Republic in October, before a home clash with European and World champions Spain.

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Brown calls it quits

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Manchester United defender Wes Brown is the second player to retire from international duty with England despite being called up for Wednesday’s friendly against Hungary (England 2/7, Hungary 8/1, draw 7/2 – 90 Minutes) at Wembley.

The 30-year-old versatile stopper joined Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper Paul Robinson in calling time on his career with the Three Lions after the pair were given a chance to prove coach Fabio Capello wrong for leaving them out of his World Cup squad this summer.

Robinson stated that he found the role of being a number three or four goalkeeper with England ‘very frustrating’ and that was his reason for quitting.

Meanwhile, the Football Association confirmed that Brown made the journey to England’s team hotel in Watford on Sunday evening to inform Capello of his decision to retire. In a statement, Brown revealed that he wanted to step aside to allow younger players to make the step up into the squad ahead of the Euro 2012 qualifiers (England 1/12 – To Qualify).

He added: “I regard it as an honour and a privilege to have represented my country at every level from under-15s upwards. I have always been very proud to play for England and wish them well in future tournaments.”

Brown only won 23 caps for England since been called up by Kevin Keegan, ironically against Hungary, in 1999, mainly due to a myriad of injury problems. He was part of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s squad for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea but he failed to feature in a single game.

Brown did feature in Capello’s first two games in charge against Switzerland and France before more injury problems sidelined him. And he did not even make the provisional 30-man squad for the summer’s World Cup in South Africa as Liverpool duo Glen Johnson and Jamie Carragher were picked ahead of him.

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Brown backs goal line technology

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Wes Brown would welcome goal-line technology being introduced into the Premier League (Manchester United 11/2 to win the Premier League).

The issue was reignited at the World Cup when England’s Frank Lampard had a clear goal disallowed against Germany in the second-round tie between the two bitter enemies. The ball crossed the line and the decision arguably affected the destiny of the game.

Had the goal been awarded, England would have clawed the game back to 2-2 at a time when they were in the ascendancy. As it was, Germany eventually ran out 4-1 winners to hand England their heaviest ever World Cup defeat. Now, England need to bounce back by winning Euro 2012 (England 9/1 to win Euro 2012 ).

Speaking about video technology and that specific incident, Brown said; “I think it has to be brought in for the goal line.

“I was as disappointed as everyone else when I saw Frank’s effort disallowed against Germany. The ball was so far over it was incredible.

“It would only take a few seconds to check whether the ball had gone over. It works well in tennis and I think it would be a great addition to our game.”

Brown has been awarded 23 England caps but has fallen out of favour recently, largely due to injury. However, he insists that he is still positive about his prospects, both at international and club level. On the injuries, he admitted he is happy to bow to the expert knowledge of the physios.

Brown was conducting a question and answer session with supporters on manutd.com and also thanked France boss Laurent Blanc for offering him defensive advice during his spell at Old Trafford.

“He gave me lots of advice when he was at the club, just little things here and there, ” said Brown.

“He always talked about the different aspects of defending and really helped me with my game.”

In other United news, Sir Alex Ferguson has backed Dimitar Berbatov, describing the Bulgarian striker as a “class act”.

Berbatov has failed to shine at Old Trafford and has only scored 26 goals in 86 appearances, a dearth when compared to the likes of Wayne Rooney.

However, Ferguson believes that he adds value to the side beyond goalscoring and admits the future at United looks bright (Berbatov 40/1 to be Premier League Top Scorer ).

With Mame Biram Diouf, Danny Welbeck and Federico Macheda all featuring in their recent friendly against Celtic at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, Ferguson is spoilt for options up front. Add Berbatov, Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Michael Owen returning to injury and it is clear that United will score goals next season.

Speaking about his strikers, and the 3-1 victory against Celtic, the United boss said; “We are happy with the strikers we have got. You have to decide what is the best combination.

“Berbatov and Diouf in the first half did very well.

“Diouf has got different talents to Macheda and Welbeck. He penetrates, he is quick and aggressive. He is an interesting player and it suited Berbatov.”

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New Zealand’s Brown faces race against time

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New Zealand manager Ricki HerbertNew Zealand (66/1 to win Group F) midfielder Tim Brown will not find out if he can play in the World Cup until the day before the tournament starts.

Brown said at a press conference that he will make the decision about whether he is fit enough to play, following a recovery period for his fractured shoulder that was operated on this week.

“I think on June 10th they’re going to make a decision. Until then, I don’t know, I’m just going to work as hard as I can on rehab,” said Brown.

“It’ll be a combination of both [Brown's and doctors' evaluations], it’s going to be a moment of real honesty from me, giving my best advice and making the best decision. We’ll have a chat about it.

“The one thing from my point of view is when I make that decision I’ll make the right one. And that’s not going to be one for me, it’s one for the team.

“I do believe if I’m fit I can contribute, and if I’m fit I can help them. If not, I won’t. I just don’t think it’s fair. We’ve worked hard to build a culture of real honesty and togetherness and if I go over there and I’m not right I think I do a bit of disservice to my mates and to the shirt.”

The Wellington Phoenix man says even if he is not available to the All Whites, it will not be a terminal blow to their chances. (New Zealand 12/1 to qualify from Group F)

“To be perfectly honest I’m not critical to the team, it’s not a Dan Carter or a Ryan Nelsen situation,” he said.

“I think I’ve got stuff to offer, a lot to offer, but I’ll only go if I feel I can offer 100 percent. To go and offer 80 percent or 75 percent, I just don’t think it’s the right thing to do.”

The surgery saw doctors insert three screws into his fractured bone, but the recovery is going as well as possible, says Brown, who hopes to be back in the gym over the weekend.

He said: “The surgery went, by all accounts, amazingly well, which has given me a big, big chance. All the muscles and ligaments are intact.”

The 29-year-old suffered a fractured right shoulder during the All White’s 2-1 friendly defeat to Australia (125/1 to win World Cup 2010) in Melbourne on Monday.

Brown was rated a “50-50″ chance before the operation and surgeon Stu Walsh offered a positive prognosis, albeit without ensuring his fitness for South Africa, after revealing Thursday’s operation had gone well.

“It is still too early to comment on his chances of being available for the World Cup at this stage,” Walsh said.

“That will depend on how quickly he heals and how well he progresses through rehabilitation. The usual recovery time for this type of injury is three to six weeks, depending on the individual, and it can occasionally be much longer.

“However, Tim is a strong and fit athlete, who is very motivated and looks after himself well, which will benefit his recovery.

“We are therefore optimistic about the prognosis.”

Coach Ricki Herbert feels the squad is well prepared now they have arrived in their pre-World Cup base, and said: “Psychologically we’re really in that World Cup mode now.

“We’ve got teams like England and Japan preparing [in Austria] so there’s a real sense that we’re back on the world stage again.”

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