30 January 2004

Cisse's Appeal Fails

Auxerre's Djibril Cisse has failed in his attempts to overturn a five match international ban
he received after being sent off in an U21 play-off match against Portugal in November. Cisse
was guaranteed a place in France's Euro 2004 squad.


29 January 2004

Premier League To Administer Harsh Penalties For Financial Mismanagement

As for June the 3rd, 2004, Premier League clubs who fall into administration will be hit with a
9 point deduction.

Premiership To Adopt Winter Break

Premier League chairman have agreed to introduce a 13 day winter break next January
thus not disrupting the traditional and lucrative festive program.

FIFA Sign-up To WADA Code

After initially refusing to sign the World Anti-Doping Code FIFA President Sepp Bladder
has now changed his mind and agreed to adopt the policy which sees any player who fails
a drugs test hit with a 2 year ban.


28 January 2004

Houllier Hits Back In Row With Boumsong

Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier has hit back at claims by Auxerre defender Jean-Alain Boumsong
that he went back on his word thus prompting Boumsong to sign for Rangers :

"What Boumsong has said is both deceitful and incorrect and Auxerre and their directors know this full
well. The player gave me his word that he would join Liverpool and we even shook hands. Everything
was clear, including his salary and the length of his contract. I then learned that he and his agent had
decided to sell him to the highest bidder from among Inter, Juventus and Rangers. Signing for
Rangers is a choice based on money, and as far as I was concerned the matter was finished. I wish
him good luck, but if he really wants me to tell the whole truth about all this business it is going to
be very bad for him. I have got all the relevant faxes in my possession to show to anybody who wants
to know what really went on."


27 January 2004

Benfica Retire #29 Shirt

Benfica have retired the #29 shirt worn by Filipe Vieira who died on the pitch on Sunday.

Former England Player Jailed

Former England defender Gary Charles. who made his name with Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa
and Benfica, has been jailed for four months after being found drunk at the wheel after crashing
into a garden wall. Charles made two appearances for England.

Doomed Ancona Appoint New Coach

Ancona have named Giovanni Galeone as their new coach in succession to Nedo Sonetti who was
sacked after the team's 5-0 loss to Milan. Ancona have yet to win a match in Serie A this season.
Galeone is the team's fourth coach in seven months. 

Eto'o Tells Bladder To Zip It

Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o claims FIFA have a 'fixation' with his national team :

"FIFA seem to have a fixation with us. At the last World Cup there was the matter of the shirts without
sleeves and the refereeing of Lopez Nieto against Germany. Since then they did not authorise the
Cameroon Football Association to retire the shirt of Foe when he died in a tournament and now there
is the unnecessary remarks over our new kit. They seem to want to stop our initiatives whatever they
might be. Blatter is not a fashion designer as far as I know and he should not interfere in matters of
professional design.".


26 January 2004

Celta Coach Sacked

Celta Vigo have sacked Miguel Angel Lotina following the teams 5-2 thrashing by Real Sociedad.
Despite qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League Celta are just one place above
the relegation zone in La Liga.


22 January 2004

Hayatou Retains African Presidency

Issa Hayatou has been re-elected president of CAF (Confederation of African Football) for another four
years beating Botswana's Ismail Bhamjee by 50 votes (46-6). Hayatou has held the presidency for
16 years.

Charlton Tell Abramovich To 'Get Lost'

After rejecting a second bid for star midfielder Scot Parker, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was told
to get lost by Charlton's chairman Martin Simons :

"Get lost, go away, we don't want your money. Chelsea are third in the Premiership. We're fourth and 
they want one of our best players. Roman Ambramovich has got to discover that life is not all about
money. He can't just come in and say, 'we want, we get'. Why don't we just let all the best players go
to the top three clubs? That would be good wouldn't it? Let them play in a league all on their own. 
No way. We are not little Charlton anymore. We have come a long way. Parker is not for sale, end
of story."


20 January 2004

Moratti Steps Down

Massimo Moratti and the entire Inter board have resigned after overwhelming fan pressure. Moratti
will remain as owner of the club, a position he was put in by family members, while Inter legend
Giacinto Facchetti succeeds him as president. An annoucement on the clubs wesbite read :

"FC Internazionale announce that President Massimo Moratti, Marco Tronchetti Provera, Paolo Giulini,
Angelo Mario Moratti and Angelo Moratti have resigned from the club’s board of directors. Massimo
Moratti has findicated that Vice-president Giacinto Facchetti should become the next President."


19 January 2004

Collina To Retire In 2005

"In June next year, once I’ve reached the age of 45, I will retire as the rules clearly outline. Even
if taking this decision based on a date of birth seems rather limited. Especially when you consider
the examples of certain players. People like Zoff and Baggio continued to play at the highest levels
despite being of a certain age. However I will retire because referees are men who abide by the
rules." - Pierluigi Collina


15 January 2004

Puyol Out For Six Weeks

Barca will be without key defender Carles Puyol for six weeks after he fractured a cheekbone during
a King's Cup match against Levante.


13 January 2004

Italian Player Awards

Members of the Italian Association of Footballers i.e. the players have voted for the following players
in their annual award, now in it's seventh season :

Player of the Year : Nedved & Totti (tie)
Goalkeeper of the Year : Buffon
Coach of the Year : Lippi
Young Player of the Year : Cassano
Referee of the Year : Collina

Buffon won the goalkeeping award despite not being the best goalkeeper (Dida is the best 'keeper
in Italy) and similarly Collina wins the ref award despite the fact that Gianluca Paparesta and
Pasquale Rodomonti are better referees.


A Tactical Look At Serie A

Ancona 3 - 4 - 3
Bologna 3 - 4 - 3
Brescia 4 - 4 - 2
Chievo 4 - 4 - 2
Empoli 4 - 4 - 2
Inter 3 - 4 - 3
Juventus 4 - 3 - 3/4 - 4 - 2
Lazio 4 - 4 - 2
Lecce 4 - 4 - 2
Milan 4 - 1 - 3 - 2
Modena 3 - 4 - 3
Parma 4 - 4 - 2
Perugia 3 - 5 - 2
Reggina 3 - 5 - 2
Roma 3 - 4 - 3
Sampdoria 4 - 4 - 2
Siena 4 - 4 - 2
Udinese 4 - 4 - 2

4-4-2 pressing as seen under Sacchi and Capello no longer exists in Italian football.

Zaccheroni and madman Malesani were the coaches that popularised 3-4-3 at Udinese and
Parma respectively. Zac was the first coach to win Serie A playing 3-4-3 in the 1998-1999
season. With Weah and Leonardo struggling to adapt to playing in wide positions, Weah
was moved into the centre of attack alongside Bierhoff with Boban replacing Leonardo in
the playmaking role.

Juve won the last two championships playing 4-4-2 although Lippi's tactics are flexible and
his team have arguably been more impressive without Del Piero playing 4-3-3 with Nedved
behind Trezeguet and Di Vaio.

Milan play a unique 4-1-3-2 system in which Pirlo sits in front of the defence as a half DM/half
playmaker. The player has grown into the role after initially struggling to come to terms with
defensive duties. Kaka/Rui Costa play behind a front two of Shevchenko and Inzaghi.

Inter have switched to 3-4-3 now that Zac is in charge early results were spectacular.
In Zac's 3 man front line no one actually plays in the hole, all three 'forwards' play in attack with
van der Meyde and Cruz flanking Vieri (or Martins).

Capello was the first coach to win playing a true 3-4-3 but despite a three man attack the emphasis
was on defence and highly aggressive tackling in midfield. This season Capello's Roma play with
two out and out playmakers in Cassano and Totti and the emphasis has switched from hard
tackling to a spectacular, highly technical brand of football not seen in Serie A (or Europe)
since his great Milan side of the 1991-1992 season.


11 January 2004

Capello Welcomes Chelsea Interest

Roma coach Fabio Capello made the following comments after rumours linked him to the Chelsea job
at the end of the season :

"I know nothing apart from what I read in the newspapers but I must admit that Chelsea's interest
makes me very happy."

Gullit To Coach Feyenoord Next Season

Ruud Gullit will coach Feyenoord next season. Zeljko Petrovic, coach of RKC's B team will be his
assistant coach.

Milosevic Helps Out Belgrade Hospital

Belgrade's neuro surgery have thanked Celta Vigo striker Savo Milosevic for donating four sets
of surgery.


9 January 2004

Kallon Given Eight Month Ban

Inter striker Mohammed Kallon has been banned for eight months after testing positive for the
banned steroid nandrolone following Inter's match against Udinese in late September.


8 January 2004

Trabelsi Sells Himself To Juve

Months after welcoming a move to Milan, Ajax defender Hatem Trabelsi has turned down a move to
Chelsea and has now set his sights on joining Juventus :

"I am happy to come to Italy. I decided and I choose Italy but I need them (Juve) to hurry because
in June I should give a reply to the offers from Chelsea, Milan and, above all, Manchester United.
From July, I will be free to leave Ajax."

Strachan To Quit At End of Season

Gordon Strachan will leave Southampton at the end of his current contract, which expires in the summer.
Strachan denied he was quitting due to stress but cited medical reasons. He is due to have hip surgery
in the summer.


7 January 2004

Fulham Refuse To Sell Saha

Fulham striker Louis Saha has spoken of the dissapointment of his clubs refusal to let him join
Manchester United :

"I was told they didn't want to let me go. I'm really disgusted, stunned. A move to Manchester United
was a good deal for everybody. United were offering eight million pounds. It was a very good deal
for Fulham. It's not as if I'm Ronaldo and I had the chance to join one of the biggest clubs in the
world. It was the chance of a lifetime. Manchester aren't going to come back for me in six months
time. They will have found another striker by then. I don't understand the position of Mohamed
Al Fayed (Fulham chairman). I thought I deserved something as I have given a lot to Fulham."

Fulham manager Chris Coleman has accused Manchester United of acting like bullies in their bid to sign
the club's top scorer Louis Saha :

"You get that feeling that we are being bullied into selling one of our players. I don't like bullies and
I don't like being bullied, that is why we are determined to hang on to Louis Saha. When someone
asks you if a player is available and you say 'no' and they make a bid and you say 'no' and they keep
coming back, and it is in the newspapers and they come back again, that's disappointing. He has two
and a half years left on his contract, so if he says 'I'm leaving' he can't just get up and walk out. Will
he put in a request? I hope not."

Fulham chairman Mohamed al Fayed was criticical of Alex Ferguson :

"I am fed up with Sir Alex Ferguson trying to disrupt my club and constantly try to unsettle my
players. I have a clear message to Sir Alex and anyone else who is interested: 'Read my lips, Saha
is not for sale'."


6 January 2004

Roma vs Milan Post Match Comments

Fabio Capello :

"I think that tonight Milan were helped by the fact they had so few options upfront as that packed
midfield inevitably caused problems for us. We had a few good chances, but the Rossoneri deserved
the victory and were superior in every area of the field. This was our worst performance of the season."

"Against such a tight team with one striker, we couldn’t afford to leave a man free in midfield and I got
very angry with my players, but it didn’t make much difference. I replaced Francisco Lima with Vincent
Candela because I thought that his pace could cause Milan problems out wide but from then on we
tended to ignore the left flank. I took off John Carew as I needed a man who could come back and
help the midfield, which Francesco Totti and Antonio Cassano do not do."

Carlo Ancelotti :

"I have to admit that I wasn’t sure how we were going to play before the game. It was a difficult
decision to just play with one forward but having both Kaka and Manuel Rui Costa in midfield gave us
control of the game. Those two players were excellent and confirmed my belief that they can co-exist
in the same side."

Andriy Shevchenko :

"I am very happy, especially for the team. Even without so many injured star players we still showed
great character to go out and win this game."

And had the following to say about his late miss :

"I made a mistake because I had too much time to pick an option. Sometimes that can be a luxury you
can do without. The victory shows that this Scudetto chase will go on until the very last kick of the
campaign. Milan don´t have to prove anything to anybody, but tonight showed that no team has an
advantage in the race for the title and that any team is capable of recovering from a setback."


4 January 2004

Totti Bullish Ahead of Milan Clash

“May the best team win and right now Roma are the better side. I think the Rossoneri were more
than happy to go into the Christmas break after their defeats to Boca Juniors and Udinese.
We could have given them the final blow of a third consecutive defeat. The fact that Nesta will be
out is obviously an advantage for us If I could take a player away from them it would be Andriy
Shevchenko as he is the Serie A top scorer. 2003 was a good year for me personally, even if Roma
didn’t achieve great results, but I am improving with every game. I believe that currently I am
the best I have ever been in my career but I have a lot to prove still and am only 70% fit. In a month
or so I shall be at peak fitness for the final Scudetto push. I have three objectives for 2004 -
they are the Scudetto, the European Championships and the Player of the Year award."
Francesco Totti

Alex Facing Impossible Decision

"A few months ago I was told that Real were interested in me. That was the happiest moment
of my career at the time but now that I know Milan are also making a bid I absolutely cannot
believe it. It would be impossible to choose between two such prestigious clubs. Milan and Madrid
are teams that have made football history. It feels like a dream and just to see my name placed
alongside these great clubs makes me incredibly happy." - Alex