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NOVEMBER 2000 Ranieri Gives Backroom Staff The Boot Chelsea coach Claudio Ranieri has got rid of first team coaches Graham Rix and Ray Wilkins. Goalkeeping coach Eddi Niedzwiecki and fitness trainer Antonio Pintus has been offered new jobs. Chelsea's managing director Colin Hutchison commented "In fact people at the training ground have said to me in hindsight that it should have been done from day one.". Titov Not Interested In Move To The Big League Spartak Moscow's dynamic midfielder and captain Yegor Titov says he has no interest in a move to a bigger club outside Russia. Milan And Juve Want Hadamczik Milan and Juventus are in discussions with Banika Ostrava over the transfer of 19 year old striker Milan Baros. Intercontinental Cup Final by Bordon In a thriller, Boca Juniors 2-1 Real Madrid. Goals : Palermo 1-0 (assist by Delgado), Palermo 2-0 (assist by Riquelme), Roberto Carlos 2-1 (unassisted). In the first 6 minutes, Palermo scored twice in two lightning fast counter-attacks. Five minutes later, Ibarra gifted the ball to Roberto Carlos in a sweet position and he brought Real back to the game. In the last 75 minutes, Real had some sterile territorial domination, while Boca tried to counter-attack. As I said before in this newsgroup, Real is weaker now than one year ago, and the reason is Redondo's departure. Real's midfield is ordinary. It would also help if they had a striker better than Raul. Yet that does not mean that they are not still big time favorites for the Champions League, given the lack of scary contenders to their European domination. (Valencia and Deportivo are the only contenders to Real Madrid in Europe) Also remarkable that a few players at Boca do not belong to that level, namely Matellan and Ibarra, completely lost in the game. Ibarra at least has the excuse of playing against Real's deadly left side, but Matellan... Riquelme was awesome. Argentina will be very tough (impossible?) to beat in WC 2002 - I will say they are now big favorites. Marcelo Delgado played a very important role in the counter attacks, while he was still fit - and he was not fit anymore as the second half started. Serna was great too - I have never thought that he was that good. Last but not the least, who can stop Palermo? Congratulations Boca, you are not cagoes like the Palmeirenses. Regards, Bordon_is_gone! 29 NOVEMBER 2000 Aimar Rumour Killer "Whoever said that Aimar is sold (to Inter) is a liar.", River Plate Vice President Alfredo Davicce Milan Vice President Galliani On Milan's Targets "We won't sign anyone in January unless Leonardo is determined to leave which would be disappointing. But it is something that we would have to sort out. For next season we will sign a very good defender, an attacking midfielder and a wide right midfielder". Farmer Gus To Coach Korea by Justin Chano Pak It seems that the kfa is after a big name, rather than someone who is considered to be a good tactician (not saying that Guus is bad). We'll see how much help he gets, and what he thinks of our team. Justin New French Coaches in Paris by Paul Bailey Sunday saw the arrival of former Spanish national team coach Javier Clemente to Marseille as he takes over from Abel Braga as head-coach. Clemente stated, "I have three priorities: to win points with OM, to satisfy the fans, and to learn French. The first two are urgencies, the third is going to take more time." Joining the Basque coach is former Marseille player and ex-French international Manuel Amoros. Also on the weekend history repeated itself at the Stade Meinau. Last season Pierre Mankowski was fired in favor of Claude Le Roy, who was brought in to reverse a series of bad results. And following the 0-3 loss against Lyon, club president Patrick Proisy finally declared that Strasbourg were no longer employing the services of Le Roy. Yvon Pouliquen - in charge of the amateur side - will take over as interim coach until a replacement is found. Strasbourg are currently in contact with Sparta Praha coach Ivan Hasek. Paul Bailey 26 NOVEMBER 2000 Tel To Coach Boro? Rumours in the English press suggest Terry Venables may be appointed as an assistant to the tactically inept Middlesbrough coach Bryan Robson. If this were to happen it would be pretty obvious Venables will be doing all the work so instead of trying to protect Robson's 'reputation' why don't Boro give him the boot? Done Deals Rio Ferdinand and Tore Andre Flo have completed their moves to Leeds (£18 million) and Rangers (£12 million) respectively. 25 NOVEMBER 2000 Leandro & Pena by Irineru de Carvalho This April or May, I watched PORTUGUESA 2-4 SAO PAULO for the semifinals of the Campeonato Paulista, probably the best game I have seen this year. Sao Paulo would go to the finals with a tie. We opened the score 1-0. Then for 45 minutes, LEANDRO destroyed Sao Paulo's defense. It was 2-1, but it could have been 4-1 or 5-1. Too bad that we tied the game at minute 35 in a brillian strike by Franca (who else?) and added two goals in the last 5 minutes... Poor Portuguesa... More to the point: I suspect that Leandro has been playing very timidly recently, given the comment by Antognoni... After all he is a very entrepreneurial player, with a degree of self-confidence that only someone very stupid or very aware of his potential might have. Yes, he reminds me of Edmundo - he is potentially the second most talented forward in Brazil since the Animal. Jardel, How Good? For years, Jardel has complained that he deserved a place in the Selecao based on his performances playing for FC Porto. After Jardel left Porto for Galatasaray, the Portuguese team signed striker PENA of Palmeiras, a very limited player. respected only for his high energy level. (PENA is about 26, his first jobs were in the Swiss league, until he teamed up with Sao Paulo's SANDRO HIROSHI at small Rio Branco in the Paulista 99). Well, PENA just broke JARDEL's record of 9 games in a row scoring. I think I will try out at Benfica. Irineu Edmundo 1998 World Cup Final - The Real Story Edmundo said Brazil's coach Mario Zagallo knew of Ronaldo's health problem 10-15 minutes after it happened and doctors argued that the match was very important and Ronaldo would not remember what had happened so they told the players not to tell him about it (i.e. the seizure). Edmundo also said that a representative from Nike travelled with them throughout the tournament. Milan & Lazio's New Coaches? Fatih Terim, currently at Fiorentina, is being tipped to replace Alberto Zaccheroni as coach of Milan next season. Zaccheroni is reportedly on his way to Lazio to replace Sven Goran Eriksson. Lazio were also linked with a move for Valenica coach Hector Cuper. Van Basten Back In Training Legendary Dutch striker Marco Van Basten is training once a week with Dutch amateur side Noordwijk. In one of his final interviews he was quoted as saying "After success everybody wants to bring you down. There's the press who want your story and the public want to cherish you, and the whole world jumps on you. That's why I am so unsure about returning to football, although my heart sometimes longs for it.". 23 NOVEMBER 2000 Flo Off To Rangers Rangers are expected to complete the £12 million signing of Tore Andre Flo from Chelsea later today. Despite impressive performances the player has spent far too much time on the bench under a succession of coaches - Gullit, Vialli and now Ranieri. 22 NOVEMBER 2000 From Rio To Leeds? According to ITV West Ham's Rio Ferdinand will join Leeds later this week for a fee of £18 million, a World Record for a defender. 21 NOVEMBER 2000 Virus Wipes Out Tim Dear Readers Sorry for the delay in the reports for Round 13 but a nasty virus destroyed my MBR which made me lose 3 GB of data including the match recaps. I'm positive that I'll be able to reproduce them until Wednesday Evening (don't have time tomorrow, will be watching Hertha - Inter live at the building site Olympiastadion). Thanks for your patience. Tim Leidecker Eriksson Will Continue With Youth New England coach Sven Goran Eriksson made the following comments shortly after England's friendly away to Italy - "I always look for the hunger and enthusiasm that younger players have. I would prefer that to the older, established star players who have an attitude problem." Roma Give Something Back Roma opened a £10,000 sports centre in Kosova earlier in the week using money raised by club fines (for turning up late and leaving mobile 'phones on during dinner). Tomassi and De Francesco flew over for the opening. Violence In Italy Continues "I'm desperately sorry. I never could have imagined that what happened would happen. My every thought is with Francesco. I hope that he'll be okay soon." Massimiliano Ferringo apologies for leaving opponent Francesco Bertolotti in a coma after punching him during an Italian third division match. Jefferies New Bradford Coach Jim Jeffries has been appointed coach of Bradford, currently bottom of the Premiership. Marseille Waiting For New Coach Marseille assistant coach Christophe Galtier will take temporary charge of the team in succession to Abel Braga who resigned before Marseille's home tie against Metz. Marseille have been turned down by former Athletic Bilbao and PSG coach Luis Fernandez and Sturm Graz's Ivica Osim. 17 NOVEMBER 2000 Brazil and World Cup reports will follow later today. I am also working on the Champions League squad lists and previews for the next phase. Eriksson - England Can Win 2006 World Cup England coach in waiting Sven Goran Eriksson made the following comments after England impressive display against Italy on Wednesday - "The World Cup in 2002 is too soon but 2006 is a real possibility.". |