Gulam Bodi is expected to respond to CSA charges of “contriving to fix, or otherwise improperly influence aspects of the 2015 Ram Slam T20 Challenge Series” by mid-week. There is no indication of whether Bodi will plead innocent or guilty, but his lawyer played down the hype around the matter.”We have got the charge sheet and we are preparing a response. We will have it done by Wednesday or Thursday this week,” Ayoob Kaka, Bodi’s lawyer, told ESPNcricinfo on Monday morning. “Everything is fine except that I keep getting phone calls from the media.”In a release issued by CSA last Thursday, the South African board said Bodi was cooperating with anti-corruption officials even though when he was initially suspended in mid-December, he also faced a charge of refusing to co-operate with the investigation.A legal case is also being prepared against several other players and an insider revealed that some of them “accepted money to fix”, while others failed to report corrupt activity.
England’s 18-team county system will survive in a revamped 20-over competition if recommendations from an ECB working party are accepted next month – but only if promotion and relegation is the price the counties agree to pay.The proposed rejection of an eight-team franchise, or big city, T20 cricket comes with a recognition that the counties must accept the rigours of two divisions based on merit – rather than the regional system currently adopted – if they are to retain a future at the centre of the English T20 game.The proposals have the pragmatic support of Andrew Strauss, the England team director, who believes they will not only improve the standard of England’s T20 cricket in the build up to the 2019 World Cup but will also prevent England’s domestic T20 competition disappearing into obscurity.A report in the has now confirmed that the long-awaited consultation paper has now been circulated to the counties. County chief executives will be asked to support what is essentially a proposal of minimal disruption to England’s professional game before the decision goes before the Board on March 7. Changes would be introduced from 2017.The working party also rejects the notion, strongly advanced by some of the bigger counties, that those city-based grounds with the biggest capacities should automatically be given First Division status on the grounds that these venues – if full to capacity – provide a better spectacle and a more attractive TV product.Meritocracy – based on the ability to win cricket matches – has for now at least won the day. It has perhaps been a blessing for the smaller counties that football, against the odds, has set an example, as Leicester City’s advance to the top of the Premier League has delighted neutral supporters throughout the country.Modest adjustment these proposals might be, but the ECB hierarchy – led by the chief executive Tom Harrison and chairman Colin Graves – is desperate for even this small mercy to be adopted on the grounds that lucrative global TV rights deal can more easily be secured when viewers can identify with a slowly-changing elite of counties.The IPL’s example, where new franchises appear annually for a variety of reasons, sometimes linked to financial irregularities, suggests that some degree of flux is not an issue. A debate over will nevertheless take place over whether two-up, two-down is preferable, as in the Championship, or whether moves should be made to restrict changes to only one up, one down.The initial contention of the ECB executive, championed by Harrison, was that to maximise revenue English cricket required a new-look tournament based on the Big Bash model and centred around eight city-based teams, so ensuring quality. A working party with a strong county make-up has unsurprisingly rejected the argument that English cricket cannot spread standards across 18 profesisonal clubs..Two divisions based on merit, with more media attention on the First Division, is a potential compromise that has long been signalled. If the solution is adopted, but fails to be a commercial or public success then not too far down the line it is easy to envisage schisms in the English professional game.A new broadcasting deal, after all, is timed for 2020 and negotiations will soon begin in earnest. Those who favour a Big City future are not about to abandon that view.Until 2020 at least, however, the 18 counties remain. They are expected to retain the county name – Warwickshire apart, who already use the Birmingham tag for T20. In theory there would be nothing to prevent all the counties simply playing as the city and town of their home ground. For some, notably Yorkshire, there would be a wish for exemption.In a PCA survey last year, a comfortable majority of professionals – around 65 per cent – believed a tournament with global appeal could simply be achieved within the current county structure by introducing promotion and relegation.The challenge from the players, however – 85% support for a change which has yet to be resolved – was to play that tournament in a block and involve England players as much as possible.A move to an elite collection of city or franchise teams has long been opposed by the counties on the grounds that it would put the entire professional system in England in jeopardy by relegating the 18 counties as second-class citizens, making their gradual demise inevitable.Such an outcome would have a negative effect on the development of players on which all forms of the game depend as well as rendering the investment in many county grounds largely wasted.There is little to suggest that the next generation of cricket lover is irredeemably wedded to the county system, but that they await to be won over by the excitement and sense of occasion they crave in England’s T20 tournament.To reject the recommendations from the working party, chaired by Andy Nash, the Somerset chairman, would leave England’s professional circuit facing an uncertain future that could make it increasingly irrelevant and conceivably bring about its eventual downfall. Tradition is being assaulted from all sides by the commercial argument..Most counties have already assembled their overseas players for the NatWest Blast in 2016 – a challenging task in itself considering the lack of availability for a tournament that stretches over a large portion of the season. Panic buying is therefore unlikely, although some counties – Yorkshire a prime example – still have overseas slots available.Those not yet at full quota have long suspected the possibility that the eight teams reaching this year’s NatWest T20 Blast quarter-final are likely to gain automatic qualification for Division One, with a potential play-off between the fifth-placed teams for the final spot.The loss of local derbies has long been advanced by counties as an argument against two divisions based on merit but this has been rejected by the working party as an essentially defeatist attitude by England’s professional clubs at a time when the rest of the world is revelling in the opportunities offered by the burgeoning interest in T20 cricket.Chelsea do not fret about not playing Fulham. Newcastle and Sunderland, the Manchesters United and City, Aston Villa and Birmingham and many others have long learned to cope at times without each other’s company. If the derby match in cricket is so important perhaps the questions should be addressed about the weak appeal of the other matches.Grumbles that under a new arrangement some counties will concentrate on success in T20 rather than produce Test players for England have also been heard but any shift in priorities is arguably an inevitable consequence of changing times. Twenty20 is an irresistible force even for those who wish to resist it.Fear that some counties will chase T20 glory to the detriment of the longer forms of the game have led some to propose a league table based on results in all competitions – a solution for county cricket’s ills that was first advanced in detail by Matthew Engel in about 30 years ago and which failed to capture the public mood.In any case, there is a simple way to control such an unwanted outcome. If a two-divisional structure in T20 attracts more lucrative TV deals then the desire of some counties to concentrate on T20 could easily be corrected by offering massive increases in prize money for the Championship – and, should it be desired, 50-over cricket as well – to make success comparable to that in T20. All paid out of central funds.As counties already receive additional payments for other factors, such as the number of players produced for England, such control mechanisms would be merely an extension of current policy. The outcome would be that the wealthiest counties would be the ones winning cricket matches.
Goalkeeper Jose Reina has admitted Liverpool may have to lower their targets for next season following the uncertainty at Anfield.
The Reds will compete in the Europa League next season after finishing a lowly seventh in the Premier League table this term.
Meanwhile, the club has been put up for sale by American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett and so are unlikely to spend big in the summer transfer market.
The club's hierarchy and manager Rafael Benitez have vowed to retain their star players like Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, but keeper Reina has offered a downbeat assessment of their targets for the new season.
Reina was speaking from Spain's training camp ahead of the World Cup finals.
"As long as we build a competitive squad we do not have to fear anybody," he said.
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"But it is looking like we will not yet. We have to be less optimistic than the last few years and get ready for setting another kind of target.
"(The owners) have to move quickly and anything that happens has to be right now."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
WAGS, WAGS, WAGS… the media just can’t get enough of them and as we finish the Premier League season we couldn’t resist creating our very own WAG Idol, to find out which player has the loveliest bit of skirt on his arm.
We are running a series of club heats – so please select the wag that gives your club the best chance of taking the Wag crown.
Just click on the individual images of beauties to upload their galleries, so you can get a look of them in greater detail!
Radka Kocurova – The former Miss Czech Republic is the long term partner of Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky and together they form the Posh and Becks of the Czech Republic. While Rosicky spends much of his time on the treatment table, Kocurova has spent time as a whether girl in her native country and must have brightened up the lives of many viewers. It would seem that Kocurova is also wife material for the Arsenal star even though Rosicky hasn’t exactly been the perfect boyfriend, with his misdemeanours in a hotel room generously forgiven.
Yulia Arshavin – So you’re just going to have to take my word for it when I say that Mr and Mrs Arshavin are truly the Dharma and Greg of The footballer and their Wags world. Andrei plays the Greg role, all straight laced and old fashioned conservatism, he is on record as saying that all women should be banned from driving “because they are too dangerous.” (As opposed, presumably, to professional footballers, whose collective road safety record is unblemished.) Yulie is Dharma: baggy clothing and sass, she thinks that the English are “too reserved.” She also thinks the country is “dull,” and the food “sub-standard” (in fairness, when I first read that quote I assumed she was talking about a ham and turkey six incher, all the salad and on traditional Italian white- so she might have a point on the issue of our unimaginative pallets.)
Baroness Caroline Luel-Brockdorff – It is normally the case with the modern day wag that they are only attached to the modern day footballer for their money, however Baroness Caroline (Nicklas Bendtner latest squeeze) doesn’t need the Arsenal star’s money given she has just received a divorce settlement of £400m.
Following the breakdown of her marriage Nicklas Bendtner entered the fray- displaying, it should be noted, significantly more urgency than he’s hitherto yet to display chasing down a loose ball in an Arsenal shirt- and is spotted walking and playing football in Hyde park with and her children. All very sweet, but also a useful training exercise for Bendtner: Brockdorff’s children, at sixand three, work out at roughly the same average age as the Arsenal team Bendtner will soon be again a part of, competing in the Carling Cup. And, with the ever expanding Champions’ League, it’s probably useful for him to get used to names like Luel-Brockdorff, which, give or take an ‘AK’ of ‘FC’ prefix, sounds exactly like something you expect to come across on a Tuesday night ITV2 highlights package propping up the rest of Group G.
Melanie Slade – Mel met Theo in a Southampton shopping centre in early 2006, Theo briefly becoming the most famous patron of the West Quay mall until his record was snatched from him from Trinny and Susannah (who filmed a specialepisode of their ‘Undressed’ show there in 2007). Third place isn’t bad, though, a message we can imagine has been reiterated to Walcott several times by his Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, particularly since it now removes the need to qualify for the group stages via the unseeded preliminary rounds.
This was not an altogether atypical venue for the youth of 2006 to spend their Saturdays, even when the youth of 2006 were regarded among the nation’s brightest young football stars. Indeed many have suggested that spending languid days supping slushies and fiddling with the brightness settings on his mobile phone in the food court is, give or take an Umbro provided sports jacket and a six time award winning overspill car park (including three prestigious Safe Car Park gongs), an exact precursor to his World Cup experience.
Holly Jay – long term girlfriend of Arsenal’s Mark Randall, got her “big break,” according to justarsenal.com, when she featured in Zoo magazine’s ‘Gimmie a job’ feature. “She certainly has the qualifications to go far in her chosen career,” say the website. “And we don’t mean her 10 GCSEs,” they go on to further clarify.
REMEMBER – Just click on the individual images of beauties to upload their galleries, so you can get a look of them in greater detail!
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So who do you think deserves to be Arsenal’s representative in our search for the greatest Premier League WAG?
Luis Fabiano has said that he wants a move to Manchester United or AC Milan. The Sevilla striker who is currently at the World Cup with Brazil feels the time is right to move on and join a big club.
The 29-year-old has been one of Europe’s most sought after strikers for some time now and would be a good signing for most clubs, but the question is would he be the right fit for Man United and is he even needed?
Currently United currently posses an abundance of attacking talent in Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen, Mame Biram Diouf, Federico Macheda, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez. Rooney’s future is safe at the club without question; Berbatov has been linked with moves away after two un-prolific seasons at Old Trafford. Owen is very injury-prone and the rest are young and un-tested so a number of them could be sent out on loan. Therefore there would be space for Fabiano in the team but you feel that probably either Michael Owen or Berbatov might have to leave the club on a permanent basis.
As to what he can bring to United’s forward line Fabiano is a good finisher and if it wasn’t for a debateable handball has scored arguably the best goal at the World Cup so far; he is a strong forward as well capable of leading the line and is also very good with his head. Despite these attributes opinion seems to be divided amongst United fans as to whether they want him at the club, some want Berbatov to leave and for him to come in as his replacement. They believe that Fabiano can work upfront with Rooney similar to how Louis Saha formed a good partnership with him. However others are not to keen because he is set to turn 30 this year and they are wary of his temperament and sometimes lazy attitude.
Judging by the forums some fans would seem to prefer Luis Suarez arriving at the club after an impressive World Cup for Uruguay so far; however his price-tag will surely be very inflated and as Fabiano only has one-year remaining on his contract with Sevilla he could prove to be the cheaper option.
At times Fabiano has flattered to deceive, especially early on in his career, however his overall goal-scoring record for Brazil is very good with 27 goals in 40 games and for Sevilla he has done well scoring 94 goals in 190 games in the past few seasons.
Despite some uncertainties over Fabiano he has proved himself capable of scoring goals and as long as he curbs his temperament he could be a very good player for Manchester United. They will be reluctant to overpay for his services though and if they can land him for around £15m then they can see it as a good a bit of business. Luis Fabiano is definitely a player who can make the difference and a partnership with Wayne Rooney could be lethal.
Do you think Luis Fabiano would be a good signing?
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Click on image below to see the BRAZILIAN babes at the World Cup
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Yossi Benayoun has stated, in no uncertain terms, that Rafa Benitez was the single reason he left Liverpool. The Israeli midfielder has signed a four and a half year deal with Chelsea and this weekend accused Benitez of trying to ‘break’ him as a player.
“Everyone asks me why I left Liverpool,” said Benayoun. “There is only one reason – Rafa Benitez. If I played well, I never felt he gave me credit. When I scored, I still expected to be out of the team the next game. On two occasions early last season, against Fulham and Lyon, the fans booed when I was subbed. They thought I was playing well but Benitez told me he was surprised the fans booed because I was not good enough.”
Benitez’s man management came under scrutiny during his time in England with many commenting that his calculated and mechanical style stifled players who were more receptive to encouragement and motivation. Benayoun went on to claim that Benitez intentionally tried breaking his confidence as a player and intimated the same thing happened to Spanish winger Albert Riera:
“He tried to destroy my confidence. You can’t treat a player like this and expect him to be happy. I don’t want to speak on behalf of other players at Liverpool, but people know what happened to Albert Riera and Xabi Alonso. It was the same for me. Benitez tried to break me like he broke Riera.”
Whilst there is no smoke without fire and repeated criticisms of Benitez’s man management can lead us to safely assume he doesn’t put an arm around his players when they’re down, we shouldn’t conclude that Benayoun’s words paint the whole picture (or even if his reported words are the truth, depending on your level of cynicism with regards to our country’s press). The only discernable truth about the situation is that this is a prime opportunity to criticise Benitez; he’s left England and Benayoun has secured a move to the current champions, Chelsea. But my question is why didn’t Benayoun seek a move earlier? And is a four year deal at Chelsea really the choice that optimises his playing time?
I do feel Benayoun was not utilised as often as he could have been in his last two seasons at Liverpool but I cannot completely subscribe to the idea that a manager – any manager – would intentionally seek to break a player’s confidence and thus damage their future as a top flight professional. Many of Liverpool’s players commented that Benitez had a style of management that took some getting used to i.e. he didn’t shower individuals with praise after good performances. This did not stop Alonso, Mascherano, Gerrard, Torres, Reina and Carragher to all excel under his stewardship, though. Benayoun, like Babel and Riera, suffered more because he could not sustain a place in the starting XI and whether that is down to managerial preference or objective output will remain a mystery to most of us.
There’s certainly some truth in his sentiments but his circumstance as a squad player makes it a little easier to blame Benitez outright.
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Click on image to see a gallery of the BEST BABES at the World Cup this summer
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As the head of the team, the coach is accountable. When a team under-performs, as England did in this summer’s World Cup, then questions are asked and fingers are pointed. As soon as England were dumped out against Germany, people were calling for Capello’s head, claiming he was too much of a disciplinarian and that his over-controlling system was paralysing the players with fear of mistakes. While some of this may be true, and certainly the coach or manager of a team must take a huge load of the flack, Capello was not the sole reason for England’s failure in South Africa, and should not be made the scape goat.
The English media will not let Fabio Capello forget what happened this summer – regardless of the fact that constant reminders will hinder the rebuilding process – and it is something that will be raised at every possible opportunity. Within a month in the press, Capello went from England’s saviour to their downfall. England’s array of highly paid superstars severely underperformed and there was a witch-hunt to try and discover the reason. Fatigue was muted as a possible reason but that didn’t explain why other players and nations who had also had long, hard seasons managed to perform better. What was different about England? The apparent answer? Capello’s ruling fist. Previously considered a refreshing change to Steve McClaren calling everyone Wazza, Stevie and JT and pretending to be everyone’s best mate, Capello’s strict policies regarding almost all the player’s behaviour was now suddenly a big problem. Players should be allowed to ‘go and have a beer’, not be cooped up in hotel rooms.
In truth, England’s preparation and build up to the tournament was virtually perfect. There were injuries to the likes of Rio Ferdinand, but in terms of training, conditioning, and their base in South Africa, it was as good as it has ever been. There were also effectively the same players on the pitch that had got the team there in the first place. But as much as a manager picks and shapes his team, and alters players and systems during the course of a match, he cannot account for players simply not performing. Fabio Capello can do nothing about Wayne Rooney not being able to control a pass, or John Terry not knowing where to position himself from a goal-kick, or Rob Green not being able to catch a ball with his hands.
Along with the tournament’s passing, the latest England squad and now Capello’s comments about no longer wanting to pick David Beckham, the media is constantly trying to quench its thirst for the next Capello sound bite that will make him look either disrespectful, naïve or incompetent. Rather than analysing what were dreadful performances by the players, and sympathising with what Capello had to deal with, there has become this obsession with trying to put the man down. Capello is still one of the world’s best managers, that fact has not changed, and so the last thing the media should be trying to do is drive him out. Yes there should be answers from Capello, and yes he underperformed also, but he is only a figurehead of what is a pretty disastrous set-up in terms of player development and club v country politics. There are few managers in the world as good as Capello and so rather than make him the media scapegoat, perhaps we should lower our expectations somewhat and get behind him, rather than set out to destroy him.
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Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is hopeful that the deal to bring Aston Villa's James Milner to the club will be finalised in the next couple of days.
The 24-year-old England international is expected to head to Eastlands, with Stephen Ireland leaving the Citizens to join Villa as part of a deal worth a reported £24million.
Mancini told reporters:"I hope we can close it either today or tomorrow.
"I think that Milner is a good player, an English player which is important. I think that Milner can play in different positions.
"We have today and tomorrow to close the deal."
Meanwhile, Mancini is confident that recent signing Mario Balotelli will prove to be a success in England following his arrival from Internazionale.
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The 20-year-old forward has gained a reputation for being hard to handle, but Mancini added:"All of us are said to be bad boys when we are young, but I have worked with Mario before and he is a normal person.
"He is young player, only 20 years old, who can do a lot in the Premier League. He has all the qualities needed to become a fantastic player."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Didier Drogba has carried on his scintillating form from last season with outstanding performances in Chelsea’s first two fixtures of this season’s Premier League, scoring a hat-trick against West Brom and setting up three of Chelsea’s goals in Saturday’s 6-0 demolition of Wigan. In his time in the Premier League, Drogba has gained a reputation as one of the world’s most fearsome strikers but where does he rate in the annals of Chelsea legends? In my opinion, Drogba deserves to be considered as one of the finest players to ever play for the club.
He has been an integral cog in Chelsea’s recent success and his goals have helped propel Chelsea into the upper echelons of world football. Since joining Chelsea from Marseille in 2004, Drogba has scored 134 goals for the club in 263 appearances. He has performed consistently for Chelsea in his 6 years at the club, scoring more than 10 goals a season in every single campaign so far but last season proved to be his most successful to date. Drogba was at his imperious best last season, scoring an incredible 37 goals in 44 appearances on his way to the Golden Boot and a league and FA Cup double for the first time in Chelsea’s history.
Drogba has come to be known for his pace and power but his recent performances have put pay to such singular definitions of his qualities. His performance against Wigan on the weekend is testament to that. He showed his trademark drive for Chelsea’s fourth goal where he picked the ball up and strode past the Wigan backline. But he showed an unselfishness not usually associated with his game as he slid in Salomon Kalou to score. It is this ability to continually surprise people and go beyond the typical stereotypes of his game that make Drogba a truly special player.
Drogba’s reputation as a player threatened to be overshadowed by accusations of cheating. The Ivorian made a habit of going down at the slightest hint of any contact and feigning injury on numerous occasions. His off the field antics have also caused much controversy. He brought much negative publicity to the club when a flip-flop wearing Drogba shouted “it’s a f***ing disgrace!” down a TV camera in the aftermath of Chelsea’s controversial Champions League semi-final defeat to Barcelona.
Despite these concerns, Drogba has found a place in the hearts and minds of many Chelsea supporters. He has cut out many of the unsavoury aspects of his game and has indicated a desire to get even better now that he has had surgery to correct an ongoing groin problem:
“I am better at 32 than I was six years ago, when I came here.”
“I am scoring more goals, I am more calm, more relaxed on the pitch and it helps a lot.
“If I keep playing in a team like this I can plan maybe five more years. I was only 25 when I started at the highest level, so I feel young. I still love the pitch, running. I don’t count the runs I make. Maybe in a year or two it will be different.”
We can only really judge Drogba’s Chelsea career once it is all over. But what makes Drogba such an important player for Chelsea is that he comes to represent a particular era in Chelsea Football Club. He represents an unprecedented period of success for the club that would have otherwise been improbable if it wasn’t for Drogba’s goalscoring exploits. It is for this reason that Drogba should take his place among the Chelsea greats for ensuring that success is an expectation rather than a hope for the Stamford Bridge faithful.
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As a child, I can still distinctly remember being told by my dad about a young Northern Ireland midfielder named Paul McVeigh. Apparently, the young prodigy was mustard, and reminiscent of his countryman the late great George Best (sans the whisky). He could beat people for fun, me’old Dad told said, and was going to be a star! Unfortunately, this didn’t quite turn out to be the case…
Ever since, like many Tottenham fans, I am cynical whenever I hear about a youngster Tottenham are about to sign, or is emerging from the youth team, as it’s fair to say, over the years, there have been one too many Paul McVeighs…
So here they are in all their glory, the Tottenham wonder kids that never were, or as I like to call them, latter day John Bostocks…
Steffen Iversen
Iversen served the club well between 1996 and 2003, winning the League Cup with Tottenham in 1999, and was by no means a poor player. However, when Iversen signed for Spurs, it was viewed as a real coup. Iversen had scored 18 goals in 50 appearances for Rosenborg BK, and his contribution to their success led Spurs to spend £2.7m on the striker, with clubs all over Europe looking at the player. Despite a promising first season, where he scored six goals including a hat-trick against Sunderland at Roker Park, Iversen never became the goal scorer fans hoped. Injuries halted his progress, and Iversen failed to live up to the hype.
Jonathan Blondel
Blondel signed for Tottenham in August 2002, with Glenn Hoddle and David Pleat confirming they had convinced the young Belgian to sign for Spurs over Manchester United. Blondel’s signature was thus celebrated in North London as a major coup at the time. In hindsight, Blondel had only played 18 times for his club Royal Excelsior Mouscron, and despite his reputation and fee (Spurs had spent £800k on the youngster), he had only been playing in the Belgium league. Blondel was hyped as a skilful attacking midfielder that would soon be challenging the likes of Freund, Poyet and Anderton for places. In actual fact, Blondel would make just two substitute appearances, before being shipped off to Club Bruges. Spending £800k on a player, playing him twice, then allowing him to leave on a free two seasons later, may not make sense to most, but is classic Tottenham.
Helder Postiga
After José Mourinho took over the reigns as Porto manager, Postiga soon exploded onto the scene in Portugal. He scored 13 goals in their 2002–03 campaign, and before his twenty-first birthday had become a star in Portugal, earning a permanent slot in the Portuguese under-21 side. This prompted Glenn Hoddle to part with £6.25m to bring Helder to White Hart Lane, with much expected from the Portuguese. Hoddle told the official Spurs website:
“He is a player who will add definite striking quality to our squad and is a young player of proven ability… I’m sure our supporters will enjoy watching him over the coming seasons.”
Actually, Postiga would make only 12 full appearances and score just 2 goals with Spurs.
Well done Glenn.
Continued on Page TWO
Simon Davies and Matthew Etherington
Davies and Etherington are perhaps unfairly placed on this list, as it was not their fault that Championship Manager 1999/2000 had rendered the pair famous. On ‘Champ’, the Peterborough duo were awesome, (although Davies was always the better player for me), but hopefully, that’s not why George Graham departed with £700k to bring them to the club in December 1999.
The dreaded words ‘Manchester United’ and ‘trial’ can also be attributed here, as the pair were both given the once over (not like that, grow up) by Alex Ferguson. However, the boys ended up at White Hart Lane, and it was only a matter of time before they brought the title with them…
Unfortunately, Etherington turned out to have an inability to cross the ball, whilst Simon Davies could be blown away with a gust of wind. In the end the only thing that developed whilst the pair were at the Lane, was Etherington’s penchant for a flutter.
In fairness, both presently have careers with Premier League clubs, and Etherington is now cured of his afflictions after attending Tony Adams’ Sporting Chance Clinic. However, they remain yet two more examples of Tottenham wonder kids that never were…
Wayne Routledge
At the time most Spurs fans were probably thinking “Wow, if Simon Jordan is this hacked off about losing Routledge, he must simply be a super football player!” Now plying his trade with Premier League chasing Newcastle United, it is clear that Routledge didn’t quite live up to the hype.
The lad joined the Spurs from Crystal Palace for an ‘undisclosed fee’ in August 2005. However, the fee was supposedly just over £1m, and seeing as though Routledge helped Spurs win the Peace Cup pre-season, where the prize money was around £1m, technically he paid for himself.
Routledge was just 20 when he came to Spurs, and after creating 8 assists for Palace the season before, it was believed he would be just what Tottenham needed on the wing. After impressing in pre-season however, Routledge suffered a bad injury on the opening day of the season. A certain 17 year old Aaron Lennon came in to replace him, and Routledge never won his place back…
After a succession of loans at the likes of Portsmouth and Fulham, Routledge eventually left Spurs for Aston Villa in January 2008. After all the effort Tottenham had gone to, the wonder kid inside never materialized… perhaps Simon Jordan was right after all.
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Bobby Zamora
Zamora joined Glenn Hoddle’s Tottenham revolution in 2003 for a fee of £1.5m. Zamora had an excellent record in the lower leagues, his 70 goals in 119 league games helping Brighton and Hove Albion win back to back promotions to the Championship, or First Division as it was then.
Predictably, the Tottenham faithful didn’t take to the clumsy looking Zamora, and the fact that he had been highly rated before joining only added to the disappointment when he left the club, deemed failure.
This season has seen Zamora score goals in the Premier League, with an England call-up supposedly a possibility also, so Zamora is clearly not a bad player. However, at Tottenham, like so many before him, he failed to produce the goods.
Zamora left the club just 6 months after joining in January 2004, with Jermain Defoe coming the other way in an player-exchange plus cash deal with West Ham. Zamora managed just 16 league appearances, and managed just one goal… sighs.
Well, there you have it, a team of wonder kids who never quite did it for the super Spurs. With the likes of John Bostock doing their best to go the same way, there might well be more inclusions to add in a few years time. However, for now let’s push the doom and gloom out of our minds and believe that somewhere out there, the next Helder Postiga is ready and waiting to heed the Tottenham call…
You can find me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mark0turner