Tag Archives: trio

British trio look good for Europa progress

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The domestic season is still to begin in England but the preliminary rounds of the Europa League are well underway as Stoke, Fulham and Hearts all hope to book their place in the final play-off stage of the competition on Thursday.

All three British sides left in have a realistic chance of going through and here we preview their respective third-round, second-leg ties.

Hajduk Split v Stoke (agg 0-1)

The Potters’ first foray into Europe for 37 years ended in a narrow win in the first leg against the Croatian outfit thanks to Jon Walters’ early goal at what was a rocking Britannia Stadium last week.

Tony Pulis’ side wasted several good chances to extend their lead in the tie and, while they would have wanted more goals to take to Split, Stoke remain in pole position to make it through.

However, they are sure to be tested by their opponents on Thursday in front of what is expected to be a hostile home following. Pulis is likely to go with a defensive-minded formation but if any side can go and shut up shop and kill a game then it’s the Potters.

Go with 0-0 at 7/1 – just enough to extend their European adventure for at least two more games.

Fulham v RNK Split (agg 0-0)

Fulham have had it relatively easy in the Europa League so far but will have been disappointed to have come away from Croatia – against the lesser-known Split outfit – without a victory.

A goalless draw away in Europe is always viewed as a decent result, however, and, like Stoke, the Cottagers are in a good position to advance into the play-offs ahead of the second leg in London.

Martin Jol set his stall out in this competition in the early qualifying round against Northern Irish minnows Crusaders when he named a surprisingly strong side – despite the fact it was mid-July – and he is obviously keen to do well in the tournament after taking over from Mark Hughes this summer.

The likes of Danny Murphy, Bobby Zamora and recent signing John Arne Riise all started in the first leg and they will again be charged with disposing of RNK this time around. Expect a fairly comfortable home win here with 4-0 to the Cottagers at 15/2 representing good value.

Hearts v Paksi (agg 1-1)

Hearts gave themselves every chance of securing a play-off spot with a hard-fought 1-1 draw in Hungary last week against the relatively unknown Paksi, who certainly punched above their weight last season when finishing second in the Hungarian league to earn a shot at the Europa League.

The first leg was generally controlled by the Jambos but, after falling behind against the run of play, they failed to find enough to come back and win. However, an away goal and a score-draw is always welcome in Europe so expect the SPL side to have too much for Paksi in Edinburgh.

Hearts have been in the news this week when Jim Jefferies became the latest managerial casualty of controversial ‘hands-on’ owner Vladimir Romanov. And, despite the off-field shenanigans proving to be a distraction in the past, these latest developments are unlikely to affect them too much for the second leg and a handsome Hearts win looks on the cards for new man in charge Paulo Sergio (Hearts 23/20 – HT/FT).

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Championship trio stand out

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The new football season is set to get underway in just over a week’s time as the Football League sides start a week earlier than the top flight and in the Championship it will see another intriguing nine months of battling to reach the cash-rich promised land that is the Premier League.

The three teams that drop out of the Premier League – West Ham, Blackpool and Birmingham – are usually billed as favourites to make an instant return, but on this occasion I can’t see that being the case as only Sam Allardyce’s Hammers look like having the capabilities of winning the title.

In addition to the east Londoners, it is former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson’s Leicester City and Nottingham Forest, managed by the Swede’s one-time assistant and Three Lions successor Steve McClaren, who are the three clubs standing out, while there are two dark horses in Derby and newly-promoted Brighton as potential winners in the race for Championship glory.

West Ham

The Hammers appear the most likely to charge back to the top table of English football (9/2 Championship Outright).

Big Sam has already made a great acquisition in persuading Kevin Nolan to drop down from playing in the Premier League with Newcastle to help the promotion push, while he has so far retained most of his top players, including Scott Parker, Carlton Cole and Rob Green.

It seems unlikely all three will still be at Upton Park come the closure of the transfer window, but if Allardyce can make a few more additions and keep players such as Frederic Piquionne (12/1 Top Goalscorer), who is capable of scoring 20 Championship goals, it would be hard to back against them.

Leicester

While West Ham have a squad littered with quality Premier League-standard players, Foxes boss Eriksson has assembled a squad of players full of top Championship players with vast experience of playing in second tier of English football – just like Neil Warnock did at QPR last year – and that could give them the edge.

Republic of Ireland defender Sean St Ledger, one-time England striker David Nugent and highly-rated Reading centre-back Matt Mills have joined other new faces such as Lee Peltier, Kasper Schmeichel and Neil Danns at the Walkers Stadium and there could be more in the door before September 1.

Following the spending spree, Eriksson has made no secret of the club’s ultimate aim this coming season.

He said: “Our ambition to reach the Premier League (6/4 Promotion) is being underlined each day and the owners’ vision and commitment is first class.”

Nottingham Forest

McClaren’s arrival at the City Ground has breathed a new lease of life into Forest (3/1 Promotion) – a side that flirted with promotion for several years under Billy Davies but failed to ever negotiate their way through the lottery of the play-offs.

McClaren has no experience at Championship level which works against him – as it did for Gordon Strachan at his former club Middlesbrough when they were the favourites for the title a year ago only to struggle badly and the Scot jumped ship by the end of October.

However, while Strachan’s gamble on Scottish Premier League players being able to cut the mustard in the Championship backfired to an extent, McClaren has been wiser in bringing in players with experience of second-tier football such former Forest man Andy Reid, Fulham midfielder Jonathan Greening and 35-year-old ex-Holland international George Boateng.

The latter two plied their trade under McClaren a the Riverside during his stint as Boro boss so he will know exactly what he is bringing to the club and I fancy Forest to do well under his leadership.

Dark Horses

Brighton romped to the League One title last term and made an immediate statement by beating off some bigger guns to the signing of striker Craig Mackail-Smith (14/1 Top Goalscorer).

They arrive in the Championship at the same time as moving into their brand-new stadium with a good young manager in Gus Poyet at the helm and a side buzzing from last season’s impressive run.

You only have to take a look at how well Norwich did by securing two successive promotions to know that, while it is a rare a feat, it can be achieved, and the Seagulls definitely have the potential (6/1 Promotion).

Nigel Clough has also been a busy man at Derby this summer with virtually a new team of players moving to Pride Park as the club’s owners show ambition and their confidence in the manager to get things right after several uneventful seasons at the East Midlands outfit.

Providing the new faces can all gel quickly then I could quite easily see the Rams, who are 14/1 shots, making a charge for a promotion spot.

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Trio are FA Cup contenders

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History and the prices suggest it will be difficult for any club outside the usual suspects to win the FA Cup this season, but the third round showed there are still some shock results.

Following victory over Liverpool, Manchester United can be backed as the 4/1 favourites and it is not rocket science to make a case for the 11-times winners and seven-times runners-up.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side last won the trophy in 2004, but a kind draw away to League One promotion-hopefuls Southampton in round four means they should not have too many problems reaching the business end.

The each-way value might come by way of either Tottenham or Everton – and possibly Bolton.

Tottenham fans cling to the romance of years ending in the number one, so could this be the year the north Londoners get their hands on the trophy?

First, it would be folly to dismiss the threat of fourth-round opponents Fulham, but there is enough attacking intent to suggest Tottenham could come away with capital gains on the banks of the Thames.

Harry Redknapp, winner of the FA Cup with Portsmouth in 2008, has created a shackles-off approach to winning football matches and Tottenham may view the competition as an ideal opportunity to get their hands on a major piece of silverware.

Tottenham have the third-best FA Cup record, winning the famour old trophy eight times, so Redknapp will be aware of its importance to seasoned White Hart Lane followers.

He also has enough match-winners at his disposal to know the Premier League top-four hopefuls can shock any of the big-guns on their day (Tottenham 13/2 – FA Cup Outright).

Everton have the small task of sending holders Chelsea packing but, like Tottenham, can turn it on against the Premier League heavyweights (14/1 Everton – FA Cup Outright).

They have already taken a point off Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea this season and beat Manchester City in their own backyard, so should not be questioned when it comes to upsetting the odds.

They have had a poor season domestically but the new year usually brings an upturn in fortunes in the blue half of Merseyside and stuttering Chelsea will not be rubbing their hands at the prospect of this awkward assignment.

Bolton, granted, are a price shout at 20/1 but the each-way value means they only – yes only – have to reach the final.

Wanderers have won new admirers under manager Owen Coyle and could be dangerous, if they first get past north-west rivals Wigan at the Reebok.

With the prospect of as many as five all top-flight ties, there will be some high-profile fallers but Bolton could just spring a surprise by slipping under the radar.

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Trio target Premier League

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Trying to call who will win promotion from the Championship this season is a bit of a lottery again this season – as it has been in past campaigns.

Teams’ stock will rise and fall throughout the season, however there are a few teams that have shown the potential to reach the top flight.

A club whose stock has dropped in recent weeks, though, is Queens Park Rangers (4/9 to win promotion).

Neil Warnock’s side went the first 19 games of the campaign without defeat and shot to the top of the Championship table.

However, recent defeats at the hands of Watford and Leeds United have got Rangers on a slide and with a difficult game against Swansea on Boxing Day they could go yet another game without a win.

Much of their success this season has been founded around the talented Adel Taarabt who has been one of the players of the Championship so far.

This is both a blessing and a curse for Rangers as teams have learned to neutralise Taarabt which in recent weeks has led to defeats.

QPR are still serious title challengers as having gone so long without defeat who says they cannot do it again and ease themselves into the Premier League?

A team that were early title favourites this season were Cardiff City (3/4 to win promotion).

The Welsh side have only managed one win in their last seven league clashes which is clearly not title-winning form.

However, the Bluebirds have played some of the best football in the league this season and, despite their poor run, still sit in third place in the Championship.

Cardiff boast the top goal scorer in the league in the shape of the now-capped England international Jay Bothroyd.

The former Arsenal Academy player has 13 goals in the league but has been on a dry spell having dealt with injuries.

The Bluebirds team suffered heartbreak in the play-off final last season as they lost to Blackpool, but they have not let that affect them and they are still a favourite to win promotion this term.

A club that know all about play-off heartbreak in recent years is Leeds United (3/1 to win promotion).

The Whites started the season hoping to consolidate a place in the second tier after three years languishing in League One.

Manager Simon Grayson and others at Elland Road would maintain that is still their primary goal, however after a nine-game unbeaten streak and a rise into the automatic promotion positions, their targets may have changed.

Leeds have struggled defensively for much of this season but the introduction of Andy O’Brien from Bolton Wanderers has been one of their best loan deals in years.

The Whites have an abundance of attacking talent with the likes of Luciano Becchio, Max Gradel, Robert Snodgrass, Davide Somma, Ross McCormack and Billy Paynter on board.

Grayson’s side have a big four games coming up as they take on Leicester City, Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and Cardiff.

The Leeds boss has stated that the club will be taking stock after those matches that come in quick succession over the busy Christmas period.

If the West Yorkshire can maintain their form they might have a chance of being in the running for a return to the top flight.

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Chelsea announce trio to leave

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Joe Cole, Michael Ballack and Juliano Belletti will leave Chelsea (13/8f with totesport to win the 2010/11 Premier League title) this summer after failing to agree new terms at Stamford Bridge.

Cole’s contract saga has been the source of much speculation over the last couple of months, with the 28-year-old now due to leave on a free transfer.

The former West Ham man has spent the last seven years at Stamford Bridge, but has found himself struggling for first-team football following a lengthy spell on the sidelines through injury.

Cole suffered cruciate knee ligament damage in January 2009 and although he helped the Blues to the 2009/10 title, the form of Florent Malouda saw him spend a large chunk of the season on the bench.

Chelsea were keen to keep the England international but a new deal could not be agreed, with Premier League clubs now queing up for his signature.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp, who worked with Cole at West Ham, has already expressed an interest while Arsenal and Manchester United have also been linked.

The player himself (16/1 to be England’s top World Cup scorer) insists the news will not distract his attentions away from the task in hand for his country at the World Cup.

Cole insisted: “My future will sort itself out. It won’t distract me. It has been going on for a while and it is a story to be told at another time.

“I want to try and do my best for England over the next few weeks.”

Meanwhile, Ballack will also bring to an end his spell with Chelsea when his contract expires at the end of June.

The Germany captain, who will miss the World Cup through injury, had been optimistic of signing a new deal with the Premier League champions.

Ballack, who said Chelsea were his “first option” was seeking a two-year deal and Chelsea are understood to have been offering a 12-month contract.

His agent, Michael Becker, says the midfielder would have been willing to take a pay cut and admitted he was “completely surprised” by the news.

Belletti leaves Stamford Bridge after three years at the club and will also be available on a free transfer this summer.

The Brazilian, who was omitted from his country’s World Cup squad, is now 33 and has not been offered a new contract with the west London outfit.

Having joined Chelsea from Barcelona, there are early suggestions that the defender could head back to Spain during the close season.

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