Wednesday, June 29, 2011

British Premier League Players who have Played Abroad

Summer is an exciting time in the football world with much to-ing and fro-ing of players within the English Premier League clubs. So, it is a rarity to see a British player transferred to a foreign club such as England International goalkeeper Scott Carson who is about to join Bursaspor of Turkey from West Bromwich Albion or Michael Mancienne who has joined Hamburg from Chelsea. We have a look at other Premiership players who have been tempted to ply their trade abroad - whether successful or not.

David Beckham (Real Madrid 2003-07, AC Milan 2009,2010, LA Galaxy 2007 - )
Mark Pembridge (Benfica 1998-1999)
Paul Ince (Inter Milan 1995-97)
Efan Ekoku (Grasshoppers 1999-2001)
Scott Minto (Benfica 1997-99)
Dalian Atkinson (Real Sociedad 1990-91, Fenerbache 1995-96)
David Platt (Juventus 1992-93, Sampdoria 1993-95)
Steve McManaman (Real Madrid 1999-2003)
Dean Saunders (Galatasaray 1995-96, Benfica 1998-99)
Gary Charles (Benfica 1999)
Robbie Keane (Inter Milan 2000-2001)
Steve Harkness (Benfica 1999)
Chris Bart-Williams (APOEL 2204-05, Marsaxlokk 2005-06)
Des Walker (Sampdoria 1992-93)
Matt Derbyshire (Olympiakos 2009 - )
Michael Owen (Real Madrid 2004-05)
Jonathan Woodgate (Real Madrid 2004-07)
Darren Huckerby (San Jose Earthquakes 2008-09)
Brian Deane (Benfica 1998, Perth Glory 2005)
Jay Bothroyd (Perugia 2004-2005)
Jermaine Pennant (Real Zaragoza 2009-10)
Robbie Fowler (North Queensland Fury 2009-10, Perth Glory 2010-11)
Darius Vassell (Ankaragucu 2009-10)
Ian Harte (Levante 2004-07)
Steve Finnan (Espanyol 2008-09)

The following players were all loaned out to Royal Antwerp in Belgium as part of Manchester United's long standing relationship with the club 
John O'Shea (2001)
Ryan Shawcross (2007)
Frazier Campbell (2006-07)
Danny Simpson (2006-07)
Jonny Evans (2006)
Darron Gibson (2006-07)
Danny Higginbotham (1998-99)
Ronny Wallwork (1999)

As you can see from the list, Royal Antwerp players aside, there are not many players who have played outside of England. This list would also be shorter if Graeme Souness hadn't been appointed manager of Benfica in 1998 as he brought 6 players with him from the Premier League (Harkness, Minto, Deane, Charles, Pembridge and Saunders.

Also only 3 of the players on the list actually carved out a decent career abroad. David Beckham, Steve McManaman and David Platt all of which would have been successful in any league as they are world class players.

So, the question is "Why are there so few Premier League players that have played abroad?", the answer is simple - Money! Wages in the Premier League have rocketed over the last 10 years or so to the point where an average squad player can still command £20k a week at a mid-table Premier League club. The only teams on the Continent which can or will pay wages similar to what players get in the English Premier League are the likes of AC Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid etc and lets face it not many current UK players would get in their teams anyway hence they tend to say put.

Visit my site http://www.premierleagueheroes.co.uk/ for information, statistics and video on all of your favourite Ex English Premier League players.

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For information and statistics on legends of the Premier League take a look at Premier League Heroes

Monday, June 27, 2011

World Cup Winners Who Have Played in the Premiership

It was announced this month that French World Cup winner Patrick Viera had been released by Manchester City after 18 months at the age of 35. With Robert Pires also being released by Aston Villa and Spain's World Cup winner Cesc Fabregas almost certainly set to leave Arsenal for Barcelona this summer it led me to do some research on World Cup winning players who have played in the English Premier League.

1990 - Winners Germany
Jurgen Klinnsmann (Tottenham 1994-95, Tottenham 1997-98)
Karl-Heinz Riedle (Liverpool 1997-99, Fulham 1999-2001)

1994 - Winners Brazil
Branco (Middlesbrough 1996)

1998 - Winners France
Patrick Viera (Arsenal 1996-2005, Manchester City 2010-11)
Bernard Lama (West Ham 1997-98)
Laurent Blanc (Manchester United 2001-03)
Stephane Guivarch (Newcastle 1998)
Youri Djorkaeff (Bolton Wanderers 2002-04, Blackburn Rovers 2004)
Didier Deschamps (Chelsea 1999-2000)
Marcel Desailly (Chelsea 1998-2004)
Robert Pires (Arsenal 2000-06, Aston Villa 2010-11)
Thierry Henry (Arsenal 1999-2007)
Fabian Barthez (Manchester United 2000-04)
Emmanuel Petit (Arsenal 1997-2000, Chelsea 2001-04)
Bernard Diomede (Liverpool 2000-2003)
Frank Leboeuf (Chelsea 1996-2001)
Christian Karembeu (Middlesbrough 2000-2001)
Christophe Dugarry (Birmingham City 2003-04)

2002 - Winners Brazil
Gilberto Silva (Arsenal 2002-08)
Juliano Beletti (Chelsea 2007-10)
Kleberson (Manchester United 2003-05)
Juninho (Middlesbrough 1995-97, 1999-2000, 2002-04)
Roque Junior (Leeds United 2003-04)

2006 - Winners Italy
Marco Materazzi (Everton 1998-99)

2010 - Winners Spain
Gerard Pique (Manchester United 2004-08)
Fernando Torres (Liverpool 2007-11, Chelsea 2011 - )
Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal 2003 - ) 
Xabi Alonso (Liverpool 2004-09)
Alvaro Arbeloa (Liverpool 2007-09)
Pepe Reina (Liverpool 2005 - )

As you would expect there are only a handful of World Cup winning players who played for English Premier League clubs during the early to mid-nineties as the league itself was in its infancy. The "Foreign Invasion" on the Premier League pretty much started in 1995 and 1996 with a huge amount of continental players joining Premier League clubs which helped increase its worldwide profile. By the time France won The World Cup in 1998 the Premier League was in full flow and regarded as the best league in the world - this is reflected by the amount of players from the successful French national squad who were either playing in the league at the time or joined Premier League clubs soon after.

The 2002 winners Brazil and the 2006 winners Italy only had 6 players between them that had experienced Premier League football but this is due to the fact that both country's domestic leagues are very strong and players from both countries rarely move abroad. This is also reflected by the number of Spanish players who were in the successful World Cup winning squad who had either played or were still playing in the English Premier League. Spain's domestic league "La Liga", is arguably as strong as the English Premier League and the majority of their World Cup winning team played in their home country - only 3 of the entire Spanish squad played outside of Spain (Torres, Fabregas and Reina).

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Saturday, June 25, 2011

What Happened to Wimbledon FC?

As we welcome the addition of AFC Wimbledon to the Football League for the season 2011-2012, we look at what has happened in the careers of some of the players who were in the squad for their last ever game against Derby in May 2004.

Stuart Murdoch (Manager) - Murdoch stayed with the club until he was sacked in November 2004 after a string of poor results. He has since concentrated his efforts on his goalkeeping coaching and had spells at Bournemouth, Norwich & Southampton before joining the staff at Gillingham in November 2010.

Warren Barton - Barton only appeared in 5 games during the season and at 35 years of age this was his last professional club before dropping out of the league to play for Dagenham & Redbridge. He is now Head Coach at MLS side San Diego Flash

Dean Holdsworth - At 35 years old Holdsworth was at the end of his career but still played 28 games and scored 3 goals during the season. He dropped out of the league at the end of the season and played for a number of  non-league sides before taking on the manager's roles at Redbridge and then Newport County. He is now manager of Aldershot Town.

Jamie Mackie - Mackie was only 18 when he played 13 teams for Wimbledon during their last season. He left Wimbledon at the end of the season and had successful spells with Exeter City and Plymouth before joining Queens Park Rangers in 2010. Some fantastic appearances for QPR earned him a call up to the  Scottish national side who he has now represented on 3 occasions.

Jermaine Darlington - Darlington was released after their last season as Wimbledon FC and went onto play for Watford and Cardiff City. He then went onto join AFC Wimbledon making him the first ex-Wimbledon player to play competitively for them. He now plays for Whitstable Town.

Jason Puncheon - At 17 years old Puncheon stayed on with the club when they relocated to Milton Keynes, He stayed for 2 years before the club released him and after a couple of years playing non league football he was back in the league with Barnet. His stock rose and he moved to Southampton in 2010 but after losing his place he secured a loan spell in the Premier League with Blackpool where he scored 3 goals in 11 games.

Dean Lewington - Lewington rose through the ranks at Wimbledon and stayed on with the club when they relocated to Milton Keynes. He is now club captain of the MK Dons and is the only player left from the old Wimbledon days

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Friday, June 24, 2011

English Premier League's Worse Foreign Transfers

After being deemed surplus to requirements at Atletico Madrid, Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan is expected to try his luck in the Premier League once more after a previous unsuccessful spell with Manchester United between 2002 and 2004. It is fact that some continental players cannot cope with the physical demands of the English Premier League and also struggle to adjust to the weather, lifestyle and culture. We have listed a few "superstar" players who came to play in the Premier League and ultimately went back with tail between legs.

Diego Forlan - Joined Manchester United in 2002 from Argentinian side Independiente and only managed to score 17 goals in 95 appearances for the Premier League champions. This statistic paled in comparison to fellow striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy's tally of 150 goals in 210 appearances and Forlan was soon offloaded to Spain when Wayne Rooney joined the club in 2004.

Winston Bogarde - Often ridiculed by fans of English football, Bogarde took full advantage of his lucrative contract at Chelsea by refusing to leave the club even though he was reduced to playing with the reserves and even the youth teams. He eventually saw out his contract and subsequently retired from playing when it expired - he was on a reported £40,000 per week!

Juan Sebastian Veron - When Manchester United shelled out a then English transfer record of £28.1 million many people thought that they were getting a genuine world class superstar. Unfortunately Veron couldn't handle the pace of the Premiership and wasn't allowed the time and space he was used to and he was often very ineffective in games. United were lucky to recoup £15 million for Veron from Chelsea 2 years later but he was ineffective there too and after spending 2 seasons on loan abroad he moved back permanently.

Hernan Crespo - A prolific scorer wherever he played, Crespo found himself in South London with Chelsea in 2003 after signing from Inter Milan for £16.8 million. When Jose Mourinho took over as Chelsea manager in 2004 he was loaned out to AC Milan, then returned back to Chelsea, then loaned out again to Inter Milan. Although Crespo scored 20 goals in 49 appearances he never fully adapted to the English game and is subsequently regarded as a transfer flop.

Jon Dahl Tomasson - After being selected for the award of Best Dutch Talent in 1996 whilst at Heerenveen, Tomasson was in high demand and eventually chose to join Newcastle United to form, what then manager Kenny Dalglish said would be a perfect partnership with Alan Shearer. Although the partnership started well, Shearer got injured and Tomasson was played out of position as a striker instead of attacking midfielder. He wasn't comfortable with this new role and his performances were well below par. He ended up scoring 4 goals in 35 appearances for the Toon before returning to Holland with Feyenoord where his career was revitalised and he ended up as one of the best players in his position in Europe.

Tomas Brolin - After impressing for Sweden at Euro 92 and the World Cup in 1994, Brolin signed for Leeds United in 1995 from Italian side Parma. He was expected to make a huge impact but unfortunately this never came to fruition as a fallout with then manager Howard Wilkinson about his defensive abilities and the fact that he didn't pull his weight meant that he spent a lot of time on the subs bench. After a farcical couple of years where he went to FC Zurich and Parma on loan and also joined Crystal Palace, Brolin retired from football at the age of 29 and has since held the accolade of the worse signing in the history of Leeds United.

Andrei Shevchenko - Arguably the best striker in the world at the turn of the new century, Shevchenko left AC Milan for Chelsea with a record of 173 goals in 296 games for £30.8 million. An indifferent spell in West London resulted in the player netting 9 times in 43 games over a 3 year spell. He spent a year back at AC Milan which was also unsuccessful and he ultimately ended up back at his first club Dinamo Kiev.

Sergei Rebrov - Shevchenko's Dinamo Kiev strike partner signed for Tottenham Hotspur for £11 million in June 2000 but never realy shone and a return of 10 goals in 60 appearances for the club resulted in him getting shipped out on loan to Fenerbache. He then returned to England with West Ham and had another poor spell only scoring once in 27 games before returning back to the Ukraine with Kiev.

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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Players dropping down from the Premier League

Whilst watching the summer activity going on in the transfer market yesterday I saw that Leeds United are potentially going to re-sign former players Jonathan Woodgate, Lee Bowyer and Alan Smith. This in my opinion would be a great coup as all 3 players still have a lot to offer at the highest level providing they stay injury free. The news got me thinking about other players that dropped down into the lower leagues whilst in the twilight years of their playing careers:

Craig Bellamy - After being left out of Man City's Europa League squad for the 2010-11 season, Bellamy joined his hometown Cardiff City on a season loan. He proved to be an instant success with a 35 yard free kick on his debut and he went onto to score 10 more goals in the season which helped Cardiff reach the Championship play-offs. He has since returned back to Man City but has not ruled out a permanent move back to Cardiff.

Paul Ince - After his release from Middlesbrough in 2002, Ince dropped down a division to join Wolvehampton Wanderers. In his first season he helped them get promoted to the Premier League via the play offs but after one season they were back down. Ince went on to play 115 games for Wolves scoring 10 goals. He has stated that he would love to return to the club as manager.

Denis Irwin - The Irishman joined Wolves at the same time as former Manchester United team mate Paul Ince and was part of the team that were promoted to the Premier League in 2003. Following the team's relegation in 2004, Irwin retired at the age of 38

Teddy Sheringham - When Premier League team Portsmouth decided not to offer 38 year old Sheringham a contract he decided he would drop down a division and play for West Ham. A fantastic year for Sheringham led to him becoming the  division's third-highest goalscorer with 20 goals and he also won the Championship Player of the Season award.

Dennis Wise - After his sacking from Leicester City, Wise moved to First Division Milwall in 2002, becoming player manager in 2003. A successful season with the club culminated with them reaching the FA Cup Final where they lost 3-0 to Manchester United. As United had already qualified for the UEFA Champions League, Milwall qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history unfortunately getting knocked out in the first round.

Paul Merson - Merson joined newly relegated first division club Middlesbrough in 1997 after they doubled the wage terms offered by Arsenal. He was instrumental in the club's immediate return to The Premier League. After a term with Aston Villa, Merson signed for first division club Portsmouth in 2002 and again was a key player during their successful promotion winning season.

Darren Anderton - After an injury plagued career with Portsmouth, Tottenham, Birmingham and Wolves, Anderton joined League One club Bournemouth on a "pay as you play basis" in 2006. Although the club at the time were struggling on the field, Anderton's performances were superb and he scored his first career hat-trick during his time at the club

Nick Barmby - After his club Leeds United were relegated from The Premier League in 2004, Barmby joined his hometown club Hull City. In his first season with the club he helped them gain promotion from League One and in 2008 he was instrumental in getting Hull promotion to the Premier League. Barmby is still playing for the club to this day.

Kevin Phillips - After experiencing Premier League football with Sunderland and Aston Villa, Phillips dropped down to The Championship in 2006 and joined West Brom. Phillips had 2 seasons with the club and scored 38 times in 71 games to help them gain promotion back to The Premier League in 2008. Phillips then stayed in the Championship and moved to Birmingham City where he also helped them get promoted back to The Premier League.

Ian Harte - After leaving Blackpool in 2009, Harte signed for League One club Carlisle United. He ended up helping the team regain League One status after scoring 18 goals from defence. In 2010, Harte signed for Championship team Reading and had a great season scoring 10 goals and making the PFA Championship team of the year.


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Monday, June 20, 2011

English Premier League's Most Shocking Moments

With the announcement on Friday that Alex McLeish was set to take up the vacant managerial role at arch rivals Aston Villa, we take a look at some of the other controversial moments within the history of the English Premier League.

McLeish to Aston Villa from Birmingham City
Following victory over overwhelming favourites Arsenal in the League Cup , McLeish subsequently suffered a terrible run of form in the Premier League resulting in his Birmingham team getting relegated on the last day of the season. Although the board confirmed that he would keep his job, McLeish sent his resignation by email on June 12th amid rumours that he was set to join Aston Villa a role which he accepted 5 days later even though there were huge protests from Villa fans

DiCanio pushes referee
During a game between Sheffield Wednesday and Arsenal in 1998, Paolo Di Canio saw red in both senses of the word. An altercation between Di Canio and Arsenal's Martin Keown led to referee Paul Durkin showing the former the red card. Di Canio, in a fit of rage pushed referee Durkin, who fell to the ground in an almost comical fashion. Di Canio was subsequently fined £10,000 and received an 11 match ban.

David Busst injury
Arguably the most horrific injury the English Premier League has seen, Busst was playing for Coventry City against Manchester United in 1996 when he collided with United players Denis Irwin and Brian McClair, resulting in extensive compound fractures to both the tibia and fibula of his right leg. The horrific image led to Manchester United keeper Peter Schmeichel vomitting on the pitch. Busst's career was over but he has stayed in the game with Coventry City as Director of Football in the Community.

Kieron Dyer & Lee Bowyer fight on the pitch
A true "handbags" fight kicked off during Newcastle's 3-0 defeat at Aston Villa in 2005. Both players appeared in a press conference after the game with then Newcastle manager Graeme Souness to apologise for their behaviour but they pointedly did not apologise to each other

Robbie Fowler white line celebration
After scoring for Liverpool in the Merseyside derby against Everton, Fowler used the white line of the penalty area to simulate snorting cocaine as his goal celebration. This was in reference to the accusations of drug abuse from a faction of Everton fans. Fowler ended up with a £60,000 club fine and a 4 match ban for his antics.

Gallas protest
After Arsenal threw away a 2 goal lead against Birmingham in 2008 after Gael Clichy conceded a stoppage time penalty Gallas promptly sat in the centre circle and didn't move. It was only when Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger consoled him did he leave the field of play. Some people say that he was acting like a spoilt child but the general consensus is that his actions showed how much he cared about the club. 18 months later he moved to North London rivals Tottenham.

Adebayor goal celebration
After a summer move from Arsenal to Manchester City, Adebayor played for the first time against his former club at The City of Manchester Stadium at the start of the 2009-2010 season. The 4-2 victory for Man City was marred by Adebayor who, after scoring his goal ran the length of the pitch to the away end full of Arsenal fans and proceeded to goad them with his celebrations nearly inciting a riot.

Cantona kung-fu kick
Probably the most controversial moment in English Premier League history was when Eric Cantona leapt into the crowd at Crystal Palace and performed a kung fu kick on one of their fans who had been goading him as he walked to the tunnel after being shown the red card. For his actions he was fined £20,000, issued with 120 hours of community service and was banned from playing for the remainder of the season.

Campbell going to Arsenal
Sol Campbell was for many "Mr Tottenham" during the 1990's, a tremendous defender and club captain. In 2001 after being awarded a contract which would have made him the highest paid player in the club's history, Campbell switched allegiances and moved to arch rivals Arsenal on a free transfer. This of course caused uproar as he had stated in the Spurs magazine weeks earlier that he would never play for Arsenal. 10 years on and Spurs fans still regard him as "Judas" and he is still regarded as one of the biggest traitors in Premier League football.

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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

History of English Premier League Grounds

When Swansea City kick off their first home game of the 2011-2012 season within the English Premier League their ground "The Liberty Stadium" will be the 52nd stadium used to host matches.

The Taylor Report which followed the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 recommended that all stadia within the English Premier League must be all seating by the start of the 1994-95 season. This resulted in major restructuring of famous stadiums such as Old Trafford and Anfield and the creation of new stadiums such as Brittania Park and The Emirates Stadium. We have a look at all 52 stadiums that have hosted English Premier League football including the ones which have been demolished

Liverpool - Anfield, opened 1884 (Capacity 45,362)
Middlesbrough - Ayresome Park, opened 1903 and closed 1995 (Capacity 26,667)
Middlesbrough - The Riverside Stadium, opened in 1995 (Capacity 34,988)
Derby - Baseball Ground, opened 1892 and closed 2004 (Capacity 18,300)
Derby - Pride Park, opened in 1997 (Capacity 33,597)
Blackpool - Bloomfield Road, opened 1899 (Capacity 16,220)
West Ham - Upton Park, opened 1904 (Capacity 35,303)
Oldham - Boundary Park, opened 1904 (Capacity 10,638)
Sheffield United - Bramhall Land, opened 1855 (Capacity 32,702)
Stoke City - Britannia Stadium, opened 1997 (Capacity 28,383)
Bolton - Burnden Park, opened 1895 and closed 1997 (Capacity 25,000)
Bolton - The Reebok Stadium, opened in 1997 (Capacity 28,723)
Norwich City - Carrow Road, opened 1935 (Capacity 27,000)
Nottingham Forest - City Ground, opened 1898 (Capacity 30,602)
Manchester City - Maine Road, opened in 1923 and closed in 2003 (Capacity 35,159
Manchester City - City of Manchester Stadium, opened 2003 (Capacity 47,726)
Swindon Town - County Ground, opened 1895 (Capacity 14,700)
Fulham - Craven Cottage, opened 1896 (Capacity 25,700)
Southampton - The Dell, opened 1898 and closed 2001 (Capacity 15,200)
Southampton - St Mary's Stadium, opened in 2001 (Capacity 32,689)
Wigan Athletic - DW Stadium, opened 1999 (Capacity 25,138)
Leeds United - Elland Road opened 1897 (Capacity 39,460)
Arsenal - Highbury, opened 1913 and closed 2007 (Capacity 38,419)
Arsenal - Emirates Stadium opened 2006 (Capacity 60,355)
Blackburn Rovers - Ewood Park opened 1890 (Capacity 31,637)
Leicester City - Filbert Street opened 1891 and closed 2002 (Capacity 22,000)
Leicester City - Walkers Stadium opened 2002 (Capacity 32,500)
Portsmouth - Fratton Park, opened 1898 (Capacity 20,978)
Everton - Goodison Park, opened 1892 (Capacity 40,157)
West Bromwich Albion - The Hawthorns, opened 1900 (Capacity 26,500)
Coventry - Highfield Road, opened in 1899 and closed in 2005 (Capacity 23,489)
Sheffield Wednesday - Hillsborough, opened in 1899 (Capacity 39,812)
Hull City - KC Stadium, opened in 2002 (Capacity 25,404)
QPR - Loftus Road, opened in 1904 (Capacity 20,000)
Reading - Madjeski Stadium, opened in 1998 (Capacity 24,161)
Wolverhampton Wanderers - Molineux, opened in 1889 (Capacity 28,525)
Barnsley - Oakwell, opened in 1887 (Capacity 23,009)
Manchester United - Old Trafford, opened in 1910 (Capacity 76,212)
Ipswich Town - Portman Road, opened in 1884 (Capacity 30,311)
Sunderland - Roker Park, opened in 1898 and closed in 1997 (Capacity 22,500)
Sunderland - Stadium of Light, opened in 1997 (Capacity 49,000)
Birmingham City - St Andrews, opened in 1906 (Capacity 30,079)
Newcastle United - St James Park, opened in 1880 (Capacity 52,387)
Crystal Palace/ Wimbledon - Selhurst Park, opened in 1924 (Capacity 26,309)
Chelsea - Stamford Bridge, opened in 1877 (Capacity 42,055)
Burnley - Turf Moor, opened in 1883 (Capacity 22,546)
Charlton Athletic - The Valley, opened in 1919 (Capacity 27,111)
Bradford City - The Valley Parade, opened in 1886 (Capacity 25,136)
Watford - Vicarage Road, opened in 1922 (Capacity 19,920)
Aston Villa - Villa Park opened in 1897 (Capacity 42,788)
Tottenham Hotspur - White Hart Lane opened in 1899 (Capacity 36,310)

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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Premier League Club's Debt

With the summer transfer window now open there is a hive of activity amongst the Premier League clubs. As the top clubs compete against one other to attract the big name players, the transfer fees and huge wage bills puts some of our top clubs more and more in debt. Utilising figures collated by Deloitte, we have a look at the ten clubs with the most debt in the English Premier League based on the financial year 2009-2010.

10/. Sunderland - £66 million. Not a massive debt in the grand scheme of things and does not include the £24 million that they received from the sale of Darren Bent to Aston Villa or the reported £20 million that they received from Liverpool for star player Jordan Henderson. Steve Bruce is however expected to spend the majority of this money on replacement players including Wes Brown, John O'Shea and Darron Gibson from Manchester United amongst others.

9/. Wigan - £72.5 million - A staggering fact is that Wigan spend 90% of their turnover on wages in order to compete with their Premier League rivals. Not the most fashionable club by any stretch, they have one of the lowest ticket prices in the league but still have one of the lowest average attendances. With the likes of Bolton, Man United and Man City nearby they are always going to struggle to fill their stadium. The cost of relegation for a club like Wigan would be huge so it is testament to Dave Whelan and Roberto Martinez for keeping them up.

8/. Tottenham - £78.6 million - The biggest problem that Spurs have is that White Hart Lane is simply too small. It's capacity is 36,000 and to getting a ticket for a game is a mission impossible. A friend of mine is on the season ticket waiting list and is 24,000 in the queue. Tottenham can easily fill a 60,000 capacity stadium so a massive revenue opportunity is missing at the moment -this is being addressed at the moment but it can't come soon enough. The Champions League run would have brought in a lot of cash this season and there is also talk of Bale and Modric going for mega money. This will significantly reduce the debt but will be disastrous for the team as a whole.

7./ Bolton - £93 million - A massive jump from the previous season of £29 million leaves Bolton in seventh place in the list. Similar to Wigan, an unfashionable club with an extremely high wage bill they need to ensure Premier League survival each year or they will be in big trouble.

6/. Aston Villa - £110 million - Villa are in a interesting position due to the fact that the debt of 110 million is owed to Chairman Randy Lerner. Of course he can write off this debt but it is highly unlikely. With the sale of key players this summer (Ashley Young and possibly Stuart Downing), the debt will of course be reduced but the team will never get into Europe without the money being reinvested in quality players.

5/. Arsenal - £135 million - The Arsenal strategy of investing heavily in their new stadium for long term gains in the long run whilst at the same time being extremely frugal in the transfer market seems to be working as their debt has more than halved in the space of a year. Your everyday Arsenal fan would rather see the money invested in the team and frustration is abound amongst their supporters at Wenger's reluctance to splash out on some much needed world class players.

4/. Liverpool - £143 million - A vast portion of Liverpool's debts are in the form of bank loans which means that they are paying ridiculous amounts of interest. Although they received £50 million for Fernando Torres this has been spent on Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez. Expect the debt to increase as Kenny Dalglish restructures the entire first team in order to gain a top four spot and entry into the lucrative UEFA Champions League.

3/. Fulham - £190 million - A big surprise in this list is Fulham who for a mid-table team have racked up a huge £190 million debt. There is only a finite amount of times the Mohammed Al-Fayed can bale them out and their position seems precarious as they don't have the funds to get world class players therefore always seemed destined for mid-table obscurity.

2/. Manchester United - £590 - This massive debt is largely due to the Glazer family who have placed their debt onto the club. Manchester United are however still the most valuable and well supported club in the world and their achievements this season will have helped the coffers. Sir Alex Ferguson has seen 3 key players retire this season so he will no doubt be using some of the money from the Cristiano Ronaldo transfer for replacements. The financial pressure to maintain their success is huge as their interest payments on their debt runs into millions.

1/. Chelsea - £733 million - Whilst this debt is huge it is not as bad as Manchester United's as the majority of it is owed to Roman Abramovich. This means that unlike Man Utd, they don't have to pay millions back in interest. Not the best of business models but at the same time not the worst.

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Sunday, June 12, 2011

Scottish Managers in the English Premier League

Congratulations to Norwich City who are back in the English Premier League......and with a Scottish manager. This now means that 6 of the 20 English Premier League managers are Scottish. Why is it that Premier League Chairmen are recruiting Scottish managers? Has Sir Alex Ferguson set a precedent within the league and he has created a blueprint for success within the English Premier League

There are many theories as to why Scottish managers have historically done well within the top tier of English football. One school of thought is the fact that due to their working class backgrounds they have a fantastic work ethic. Another theory is that the Scottish don't suffer fools gladly and don't let player's egos take over the dressing room. Sir Alex Ferguson for example has let star players leave the club when they have crossed the line - think David Beckham and Jaap Stam who both got listed after a fall out with him.

More likely is the fact that the current crop of Scottish managers within the Premier League all began their coaching careers whilst still playing. David Moyes for example was taking his coaching qualifications at the age of 22. They also have fine role models to look up to - Sir Alex Ferguson would have looked up to the likes of Jock Stein, Bill Shankly and of course Sir Matt Busby whilst the current crop of Scottish managers in the English Premier League in turn look up to Sir Alex. You only have to look at the statistics to see that Scottish managers are reknowned for their loyalty and longevity within their clubs.

Sir Alex Ferguson for example is the longest serving manager in the league having been in charge of Man Utd for nearly 25 years. David Moyes is in fourth position having managed Everton for 9 years. Paul Lambert, Steve Kean and Owen Coyle have been with their clubs (Norwich, Blackburn and Bolton respectively) for less than 2 years but there is no reason why they won't go on to manage their clubs for a long time. Kenny Dalglish who is in his second spell at Liverpool only left first time round due to ill health and was back at the club before he was appointed manager as a Club Ambassador.

Other Scottish managers have plyed their trade in the Premier League with reasonable success. George Burley had a fantastic run with Ipswich Town in 2000-2001 result culminating in winning the Manager of the Year award and also reaching the UEFA cup. Graeme Souness has also had spells with Liverpool, Blackburn and Newcastle in the English Premier League, Gordon Strachan (Coventry and Southampton) ,George Graham (Arsenal, Tottenham and Leeds) Walter Smith (Everton) and most recently Alex McLeish with Birmingham. We have also seen Joe Jordan, Gary McAllister and Steve Clarke in Assistant Manager roles at Tottenham, Aston Villa and Liverpool. Steve Nicol, John Spencer and Mo Johnston, both former Scottish internationals are also highly respected managers within Major League Soccer in the USA.

Some of the top pundits and commentators within the game are Scottish. Andy Gray at SkySports and now TalkSport, Alan Brazil also at TalkSport, Craig Burley at ESPN and Alan Hansen for the BBC. When they talk, people listen. When these people provide analysis on a match they sometimes sound harsh but authoritative and their views are highly regarded. You don't hear many people from the North West or the West Country on the radio or television!

So in conclusion the question remains "Why are there so many Scottish managers in the Premier League"? I think the simple answer is firstly that they have many successful role models to follow, they are unbelievably passionate, they have a fantastic work rate and desire to succeed and they start to learn the trade whilst they are still playing. With 4 of the current Scottish managers in the English Premier League in their early 40's we may possibly see another Sir Alex in the coming years.

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Thursday, June 9, 2011

The Class of Euro 96

June 8th 2011 and it is 15 years ago that the England football team lifted the nation by reaching the semi-finals of the 1996 European Championships. A tournament never to be forgotten by all English football fans it was a rollercoster ride with many highs and the ultimate low - elimination by Germany in a penalty shoot out at the semi-final stage.

The squad of players that manager Terry Venables had assembled for this tournament was a good balance of youth (Robbie Fowler, Sol Campbell, Phil Neville and Gary Neville who were all under 21), experience (David Seaman, Stuart Pearce and Teddy Sheringham) and playmaking (Jamie Redknapp, Paul Gascoigne, Paul Ince).

The camaraderie amongst the players was superb and was further enhanced during a pre tournament tour to Hong Kong where the players (led by Gascoigne) were involved in a drinking game called "The Dentist's Chair". They were unfortunately photographed by the press which led to them making the front pages rather than the back pages. This led to widespread criticism from fans and the media alike who were appalled by the display of "laddish behaviour", and binge drinking in the lead up to the largest sporting event England had hosted since the World Cup win in 1966. Apologies were issued by the players involved but you always had the impression that the whole situation made the bond between the players stronger.   

Many England fans have fantastic recollections of the tournament like Gazza's goal against Scotland, Stuart Pearce's penalty and the 4-1 demolition of Holland but for the neutral it was a tournament of bore draws and penalty shoot outs. On the plus side however, the tournament was the catalyst which led to the foreign invasion of players from abroad who decided that they wished to ply their trade in the still relatively new English Premier League. Players like Karel Poborsky, Patrik Berger, Jordi Cruyff, Mikkel Beck, Frank LeBoeuf, Slaven Bilic, Fabrizio Ravanelli and Gianfranco Zola all joined Premier League clubs for the 1996-1997 season.

At time of writing there are only 3 members of that England squad still currently playing professional football. Sol Campbell who is now 36 and without a club, Robbie Fowler who is 36 and also without a club, Phil Neville who is 34 and is captain of Everton and Nick Barmby who is 37 and plays for Hull City.

A number of that side have also had a go at managing teams with varying success:

Stuart Pearce- Notts Forest, Man City, Current England U21 manager,
David Platt - Sampdoria, Notts Forest, England U21 manager, Current Man City First Team Coach
Paul Ince - Macclesfield, Notts County, MK Dons, Blackburn Rovers
Tony Adams - Wycombe, Portsmouth, Gabala (Azerbaijan)
Alan Shearer - Newcastle
Gareth Southgate - Middlesbrough
Paul Gascoigne - Kettering
Ian Walker - Current Bishops Stortford Manager
Les Ferdinand - Current Tottenham Striker Coach
Steve Stone - Current Newcastle First Team Coach
Tim Flowers - Stafford Rangers

Gary Neville, Alan Shearer, Steve McManaman and Jamie Redknapp have all carved out successful careers within the media and have all admitted that one day they would like to get into a managerial role.

15 years on and it is highly unlikely that you will see an England squad of players as close as the one we saw in 1996. Gone are the days where the players can bond over a few pints after training whilst they are with their international team mates. Instead they are confined to their rooms with their X-Boxes playing as themselves on the latest edition from the FIFA Football series of games. Maybe we should go back to the good old days of 1996 to get that all important team spirit back. Besides we can't get any worse than the performance of the England team in last year's World Cup in South Africa. Something to think about at least!!

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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Mark Hughes - What team will he manage next?

Mark Hughes resigned from Fulham on the 2nd June 2011 after only 11 months at the club citing that "As a young, ambitious manager I wish to move on to further my experiences". An eighth place finish in the English Premier League and qualification to the Europa League via the Fair Play League was overall not a bad finish considering they were 15th at Christmas. Does Hughes think Fulham are not a fashionable enough club unable to sign top players from around the world therefore struggling to gain a top 10 position each year? Is he hankering after the Chelsea job following the dismissal of Carlo Ancelotti?

A former player at Chelsea and a fan's favourite, Hughes will certainly be welcomed by the Stamford Bridge faithful but is this role a poisoned chalice? After all Ancelotti was sacked the season after he had won the first League and Cup double in the club's history. A bit harsh in a lot of people's eyes but Chelsea have turned into the Real Madrid of the English Premier League where if you don't win the league every year you end up losing your job. A more viable option is Aston Villa where Gerrard Houllier has just left due to ill health. Villa have a great infrastructure already in place, fantastic academy, top facilities etc but Chairman Randy Lerner is renowned for being very careful with his spending which is why Martin O'Neil left at the start of last season. Hughes has had the luxury of a blank cheque book when he was at Man City - this will not be the case at Aston Villa and besides, are they that much bigger than Fulham? At least Fulham will be playing in Europe this season.

Maybe Hughes fancies his chances of managing abroad and attempt to emulate the success of previous British managers like Sir Bobby Robson, John Toshack, Terry Venables and to an extent Steve McClaren? During his playing career he turned out for two of Europe's top club sides in Barcelona and Bayern Munich, therefore he may look at opportunities in both Spain and Germany. Having previously managed the Welsh national side for 5 years Hughes gained a wealth of experience on how football is played on the continent - remember he nearly qualified for Euro 2004 only losing out to Russia in the play offs. He has also had experience with dealing with players from all nationalities from his time at Manchester City where most of the dressing room was made up of players from abroad.

I personally think Hughes will bide his time and wait for the right opportunity. He is still relatively young for a manager (47) and can take a year or two sabbatical. Having said that, maybe he is waiting for the Manchester United job when Sir Alex Ferguson goes........you never know!

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Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Paul Scholes Retires

Paul Scholes has retired from playing
As predicted in an earlier blog of mine, Paul Scholes officially announced his retirement on the 31st May 2011 with immediate effect to take up a coaching role at Manchester United next season.

Scholes will forever be regarded by the Old Trafford faithful as a legend and he is arguably one of the greatest players the Premier League has seen. Thierry Henry has previously said, "Without any doubt the best player in the Premiership has to be Scholes... He knows how to do everything."

In February of this year, one of the current best players in the world, Barcelona midfielder Xavi rated Scholes as the best player in his position in the past two decades. stating "A role model. For me, and I really mean this, he's the best central midfielder I've seen in the last 15, 20 years. He's spectacular, he has it all, the last pass, goals, he's strong, he doesn't lose the ball, vision. If he'd been Spanish he might have been rated more highly. Players love him."

Schole's passing, movement, technique and ability to strike a ball cleanly was second to none but he unfortunately gained a lot of criticism for his tackling. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was quoted as saying that Scholes had a darker side to him and that he was not a fair player - this I feel is an unfair comment. I don't think he has a dark side to him at all, he is a family man who stayed out of the limelight and gave it 110% on the pitch. Yes he made some bad tackles during his career but the majority of them were mis-timed - remember that Scholes had paid the price for his tackling previously when he missed the 1999 European Champions League final because of suspension. It was just part of his game.

I'm sure that Paul Scholes will be looked upon in years time as a role model to aspiring professionals not only for his playing skills but also for the way he conducted himself off of the pitch. As previously stated he is a family man and is famously quoted as saying that his ideal day is  "Train in the morning, pick up my children from school, play with them, have tea, put them to bed and then watch a bit of TV." A lot of the current crop of Premier League stars could take a leaf out of Scholes' book on this front!

Paul Scholes Playing Statistics
Premier League Appearances for Man Utd: 466
Premier League Appearances: 102
Total Games All Competitions for Man Utd: 676
Total Goals All Competitions for Man Utd: 150
Total Games for England: 66
Total Goals for England: 14

Premier League Winner: 10 times
FA Cup Winner: 3 times
League Cup: 2 times
Community Shield : 5 times
UEFA Champions League - 2 times
Intercontinental Cup - 1 time
FIFA Club World Club - 1 time
Premier League Player of the Month - 3 times
PFA Premier League Team of the Year - 3 times
English Football League Hall of Fame - Inducted 2008

We wish Paul Scholes all of the best for his future coaching career at Manchester United. 

Visit my site http://www.premierleagueheroes.co.uk/ for information, statistics and video on all of your favourite Ex English Premier League players.

Visit my Premier League Shop for all your Official Premier League Team Merchandise and Gifts.

For information and statistics on legends of the Premier League take a look at Premier League Heroes

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Ex Premier League players now in the MLS

The summer transfer rumour mill is in full swing now and some big names looking for a final big payday are in the frame for a move to the USA to ply their trade within the MLS (Major League Soccer). Robert Pires, Robbie Fowler, Markus Hahnemann and Mateja Kezman are all ex Premier League players who have been rumoured to make the move.

Is it good for the MLS to bring these players over on megabuck pay deals when they have clearly had their best days? What value can they add to the team other than increasing crowd attendances for a couple of weeks until the novelty wears off? Obviously Beckham and Henry are exceptions as they were both in their early thirties when they joined LA Galaxy and the New York Red Bulls and have so far proved their worth. Robert Pires for example is 37 - is he honestly going to be that much of a draw commercially and more importantly is he going to cut it on the pitch bearing in mind he was mostly sitting on the bench at Aston Villa before they released him.

If the MLS wants to improve the overall playing standard of the league they need to try to get players in their late 20's early 30's and look at some of the current players within the English Championship, many of whom, I'm sure would be a success over there.

Current Players in the MLS with English Premier League experience
Premier League Appearances in brackets

Juan Pablo Angel - LA Galaxy (175)
David Beckham - LA Galaxy (265)
Jay De Merit - Vancouver Whitecaps (32)
Didier Domi - New England Revolution (67)
Landon Donovan - LA Galaxy (10)
Terry Dunfield - Vancouver (1)
Richard Eckersley - Toronto (2)
Caleb Folan - Colorado Rapids (38)
Theirry Henry - New York Red Bulls (254)
Kasey Keller - Seattle Sounders (201)
Carl Robinson - NY Red Bulls (6)
Teemo Tainio - NY Red Bulls (88)
Ousmane Dabo - New England Revolution (25)

Visit my site http://www.premierleagueheroes.co.uk/ for information, statistics and video on all of your favourite Ex English Premier League players.

Visit my Premier League Shop for all your Official Premier League Team Merchandise and Gifts.

For information and statistics on legends of the Premier League take a look at Premier League Heroes

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Ex English Premier League Players currently managing in England

With the managerial merry go round in full swing after the end of the season we look at the players who have played in the English Premier League who now manage a English league club.

Exeter City - Paul Tisdale (Southampton)
Rochdale - Keith Hill (Blackburn)
Huddersfield - Lee Clark (Fulham, Newcastle)
Leeds - Simon Grayson (Aston Villa, Leicester)
Derby - Nigel Clough (Man City, Liverpool, Notts Forest, Sheffield Wednesday)
Blackpool - Ian Holloway (QPR)
Sunderland - Steve Bruce (Man Utd)
Chesterfield - John Sheridan (Sheffield Wednesday)
Watford - Malky Mackay (Watford)
Brighton - Gus Poyet (Chelsea, Tottenham)
Man City - Roberto Mancini (Leicester)
Bolton - Owen Coyle (Bolton)
Oldham - Paul Dickov (Arsenal, Man City, Leicester, Blackburn)
Portsmouth - Steve Cotterrill (Wimbledon)
Plymouth - Peter Reid (Man City, Southampton)
Hull - Nigel Pearson (Sheffield Weds, Middlesbrough)
Fulham - Mark Hughes (Chelsea, Man Utd, Southampton, Everton, Blackburn)
Crystal Palace - Dougie Freedman (Crystal Palace, Notts Forest)
Peterborough - Darren Ferguson (Man Utd)
Aldershot - Dean Holdsworth (Wimbledon, Bolton)
Charlton - Chris Powell (Watford, Charlton, Derby)
Sheffield Wednesday - Gary Megson (Norwich)
Rotherham - Andy Scott (Sheffield Utd)
Port Vale - Micky Adams (Southampton)
Barnet - Lawrie Sanchez (Wimbledon, Swindon)
Swindon - Paolo Di Canio (Sheffield Weds, Charlton, West Ham)
Sheffield Utd - Danny Wilson (Sheffield Weds)

All in all 29% of all managers in the league have played Premier League football. Some of the names are obvious (Di Canio, Bruce, Hughes, Holdsworth) some less (Tisdale, Hill and Scott).

Visit my site http://www.premierleagueheroes.co.uk/ for information, statistics and video on all of your favourite Ex English Premier League players.

Visit my Premier League Shop for all your Official Premier League Team Merchandise and Gifts.

For information and statistics on legends of the Premier League take a look at Premier League Heroes