Everton have announced that they have reached an agreement to sell Tim Cahill to the New York Red Bulls.
The Australian midfielder has been at Goodison Park for eight years, and is a fans’ favourite due to his combative approach and eye for goal.
However, the Merseysiders are ready to let their long-standing attacker leave the club this summer.
“Everton have agreed with Major League Soccer (MLS) that Tim Cahill can be transferred to the New York Red Bulls,” a statement on the club’s official website reads.
“Tim, 32, will move to the Red Bulls for a nominal fee, subject to agreeing personal terms and passing a medical. He will travel to the US in the next few days.”
Cahill has scored 68 goals in 278 appearances for David Moyes’ men, but had a frustrating 2011-12 season, with his goalscoring prowess looking slightly blunted.
A fee of around £1 million is expected to have been agreed.
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Harry Redknapp admits he was worried that his Tottenham side would be the subject of an upset on Thursday night, after semi-professional Shamrock Rovers give the London side a fright in the Europa League.
A Stephen Rice strike early in the second half gave the Irish team a 1-0 lead, in what would have been a massive turn up for the books, but three goals in five minutes from the Premier League outfit restored order.
Roman Pavlyuchenko, Jermain Defoe and Giovani Dos Santos all found the back of the net in the revival, but Redknapp was concerned it could have been different.
“When we went one down you are concerned as you think ‘is it going to be one of their nights?” he told Sky Sports News after the match.
“But we came in at half time at 0-0, and I am not being disrespectful to Shamrock they played okay and worked their socks off, but we could have been at least 3-0 we hit the woodwork and their keeper was making saves.
“I had no problem with how we played first-half, I was pleased, the tempo was good, we got after them.
“I thought it was just a matter of time before we scored but then they scored with their first real strike at goal and then maybe it is one of those nights, but we stuck a couple of chances away and won it,” he concluded.
All Spurs eyes will not look to the North London derby against Arsenal at home on Sunday, with Redknapp’s team looking to take advantage of The Gunners’ current vulnerability.
Written By Gareth McKnight
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The youngest player ever to play for the USA national side, Freddy Adu was touted as one of the hottest youngsters in the footballing world. However, just a few years since gracing the international stage for the first time, it’s fair to say things have taken a turn for the worse for the boy from Ghana.
After growing up in Tema, Ghana, Adu was already showing a sign of things to come when he started playing against men three times his age. However, his biggest piece of luck came just after he turned eight and his mother won the lottery. She decided to uproot and move her family to Maryland in the USA.
Adu settled in the USA and started at school. During his time at school, he joined the football team and helped them to several honours whilst playing for them.
His next break came whilst playing with the U.S Olympic Development Programme, an under-14 tournament that attracted Italian sides such as Juventus and Lazio. 10-year-old Adu impressed at the tournament and, as well as his team winning, he finished as top goalscorer and was voted MVP. His performances prompted Inter Milan to make a six-figure offer for his services – an offer that, at the advice of his agents, his mother turned down.
Break into the MLS
In January 2002, he joined the IMG Soccer Academy, U.S soccer’s full-time academy. His development here allowed him to be included in the 2004 MLS Superdraft. Although Dallas Burn owned the top pick, he was allowed to move the DC United to allow him to play closer to home. The move, in November 2003, took place a couple of months before the official draft. At the age of 14, he was officially the youngest U.S athlete in 100 years to sign a major league professional contract in any sport.
On April 13 2004, he made his debut for United in a game against the San Jose Earthquakes – making him the youngest professional sportsman in the U.S since 1887. A few weeks later, he hit is first goal during a 3-2 defeat to Metrostars.
His first season was a successful one for such a young player. He scored five times, provided three assists and appeared in each of the 30 regular season games for United. He also helped them win the MLS Cup.
Globe trotting didn’t pay off
His second season was also successful, as he continued to find himself regularly involved in first team duties. Before 2006/07 season, he was allowed to join Manchester United on loan. However, as he was unable to gain a work permit, he was only allowed to train with the first team, rather than play in matches. He returned to DC United after his loan expired and continued to impress in the first team.
His performances here earned him a call up to the national side, where he became the U.S’s youngest capped player at 16 years and 234 days in January. He has gone on to earn 15 more caps for the national side, scoring twice in the process, appearing in the 2008 Olympics, 2010 World Cup qualifiers and against England in a friendly.
In December 2006, he moved to Real Salt Lake as part of a swap deal for goalkeeper Jay Nolly. He made his debut on the opening day of the 20007/08 season against FC Dallas. During his time at Real, he captained the under-20 U.S national side at the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup. During the tournament, he scored a hattrick during a 6-1 win against Poland.
His performances here prompted Portuguese side Benfica to make a $2 million offer in July 2007, which was accepted by Real. He made his debut in European football in a Champions League qualifier against FC Copenhagen in August 2007. However, this was a very rare high point of his career – this is where it all began to go wrong.
Despite paying a nominal fee for his services, Benfica did not give him as many games as I’m sure he would have liked. He was reduced to mainly substitute appearances and only started twice during the 2007/08 season.
Playing the “loan” role
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He was sent out on loan to French side AS Monaco at the start of the 2008/09 season, with the option of a permanent deal available. However, he was to suffer the same fate and struggled to break into the side. He returned to Benfica in July 2009.
With Benfica still unwilling to give Adu a chance in their first team, they agreed to loan him out again, this time to fellow Portuguese side Beleneses in August 2009. Yet again, it didn’t work out for him, and he was back at Benfica just after Christmas 2009.
Just a month after returning, he was off out on loan again. He signed an 18-month loan deal to Greek side Aris, where he linked up with fellow American Eddie Johnson, who was there on loan from Fulham. You can probably guess what happened next. After a decent start, he began to be phased out of the squad and left the club in the summer.
Despite trials with Swiss side Sion and Danish side Randers, he was unable to earn a loan deal. Recently, on February 1 2011, he joined Turkish second division side Caykur Rizespor on loan.
You can’t help but feel sorry for Adu who, at 21, is still young in footballing terms. Was it all the football at an early age that halted his progress, or was it the ill-fated move to Benfica that was to blame? You can’t help but think ‘what if he had been allowed to play for Man United?’ Would Fergie have been able to nurture yet another young superstar?
With the recent news that formerly prolific striker – well before his Chelsea days at least – Shevchenko has retired from the game to begin a career in politics, it both raises a few eyebrows and brings up the question of just how many other footballers have gone into what you would call surprising careers after their time in the game comes to an end.
With football being a short career for most, life after playing can be a boring one for former professionals, and whilst many go into management a la Zola, some go into punditry or presenting sport like a certain big eared man on the BBC, but what of those players who’s choice of post playing career is more than a little bit surprising to say the least? Some range from the outright bizarre to something that you would just not expect from a former footballer and the reputation that goes hand in hand with the job, yet let’s take a look at 10 who have defied expectations and managed to avoid punditry, womanising and gambling and have a second career you would never expect.
Click on Eric Cantona to unveil the top 10
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As the transfer window slammed shut, there was the usual flurry of activity from Premier League clubs in a bid to do some last-minute business. Arsenal were one of the busiest clubs, concluding the window with the signature of Mikel Arteta from Everton, while Chelsea had the last word by signing Raul Meireles from Liverpool.
Elsewhere there was plenty going on, with Tottenham turning down a player swap for Bolton’s Gary Cahill, while Spurs tried to hijack Liverpool’s move for Craig Bellamy. Finally, in the newspapers this morning away from transfer dealings, Man United are set to announce record profits and one of their ex-goalkeepers turns down England’s advances.
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Coyle wanted Defoe in exchange for Cahill – Daily Mirror
Arteta takes pay cut to join Arsenal – The Sun
Suarez helps Liverpool bring in key target – Guardian
Man City take gamble on Owen – Telegraph
Spurs tried to hijack Bellamy move – Daily Mail
SWP snubs three clubs to join QPR – The Sun
Roy the Real deal for Moyes – Daily Mail
Crouch in move after learning he didn’t make the 25 – Daily Mirror
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Man United to annouce record profits – Guardian
Foster turns down Capello cry for help – Telegraph
I missed playing alongside Nat Lofthouse by just a year – his final England game was in 1958 but I made my debut in 1959. The great man scored 30 goals in 33 internationals, and I’d like to think we might have formed quite a partnership had he been a few years younger. Nat’s death earlier this month will have devastated the people of Bolton because, apart from his outstanding goalscoring exploits, he was a genuine working class hero, a local lad who was born and raised in the town and a one-club Bolton Wanderers man. There have been very few players who have boasted quite the same status within a club or a town as Nat. Tom Finney, at Preston, is perhaps the only other one.
Nat lived alongside the people of Bolton, travelled to the match with the people of Bolton and drank beer with the people of Bolton. And in the Bolton Working Men’s Club, they’ve never had a roped-off VIP area full of tarts and champagne at £800 a bottle! Bolton truly was a town where men were men. For those they dismissed as “southern softies”, there was simply no more daunting place to visit than Burnden Park.
Bolton Wanderers were just horrible. Defenders like Big Derek Hennin and Bloody Massive John Higgins were the most physically and verbally intimidating I ever went up against. You may have seen the famous footage of Lofthouse literally barging Manchester United keeper Harry Gregg over the goal-line to score the clinching second goal in the 1958 FA Cup Final. Never mind the goal being disallowed, he’d have got a red card for it now. But Bolton played the game like that, pretty much from one to 11.
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Remarkably, I went there once with Chelsea and won – and as we walked off the pitch I distinctly remember Big Derek telling Bloody Massive John “how the hell did we manage to get beaten by this bunch of ****ing pansies?” You just could not wait to get in the dressing room, lock the door, then get on the coach to Manchester and the train back to London.
Nat’s heroics were the subject of legend for any football-mad kid in my schooldays. One barnstorming performance against Austria in 1952 earned him his ‘Lion of Vienna’ nickname, and I know that one of his team-mates from that day was still talking about it in hushed tones to inspire us during the 1966 World Cup – a certain Alf Ramsey. Nat was a great battering ram centre forward, but to score the amount of goals he did required a lot more than just brute force.
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Newcastle’s Andy Carroll is probably the nearest modern-day player to Lofthouse – in his physical stature, his playing style and his status as a local boy made good. The sad thing is that there is no way you can imagine Carroll, nor any other young player, enjoying that same life-long association with one club.
While every footballer has been toasting the 50th anniversary of the abolition of the maximum wage, we were also waving goodbye to the bygone age of hometown heroes such as Nat. Let’s face it, it was a little easier to be ‘loyal’ when there was no way of financially bettering yourself with a move. But whenever you went to Bolton for a match or a function, you would always see Nat there as honorary club president. If he’d worn a ten-gallon hat and a sheriff’s badge, you could not have been any more certain that Nat was THE man in that town – but he carried his lofty status with complete humility as well as pride. It was John Lennon who said “a working class hero is something to be”. He might have written that line about Nat Lofthouse.
In Europe, many view South American football as having a symbiotic relationship with violence due to the stories of injuries and fatalities experienced among fans. The issue is still a cause for concern in Brazil ahead of the 2014 World Cup with recent fracas around football stadiums only serving to raise the level of apprehension for prospective travelling fans. But supporters should not give in to what is reported in the media, with the Samba nation very capable of, and determined to, put on a fantastic show in two years time.
While the problem of violence in Brazilian football is ongoing, it is not quite as prevalent as is so often portrayed. However, murders and altercations between fans are still too frequent and this puts a negative spin on what is a great footballing nation. This year has seen a sudden rise in the number of fatalities suffered by fans, with clashes in Sao Paulo, Goiana and Recife leading to a number of deaths while a group of Palmeiras fans were also shot at after their recent Copa do Brasil triumph, though the police denied this was football related.
Yet such acts are motivated by the strong rivalry between clubs. Police have therefore recently shut down a number of the infamous torcidas organizadas (organised supporters’ groups) who are typically heavily linked to the violence and banned them from attending games in order to combat the problem. However, the deaths still intimidate a number of foreign fans, as well as domestic fans which has contributed to the current attendance problem hitting the county, but the profile of supporters who will attend the World Cup in 2014 will be drastically different to that of the Brazilian domestic game. Furthermore, international football rivalries are by no means as intense.
But such an explanation alone will not be enough to convince fans of their safety, with issues of crime away from stadium also high in cities such as Rio de Janeiro. It is not made any easier by the scaremongering campaigns that crop up in the European media regarding foreign socieities.
Panorama’s ‘Stadiums of Hate’ documentary that was aired on the BBC ahead of Euro 2012 was the epitome of this sensationalistic reporting. The programme warned people against travelling to Poland and Ukraine, suggesting that all Polish football fans were anti-semitic Neo-Nazis looking to cause trouble. This proved not to be the case and it was borne out in the fact that much of the violence was committed by travelling fans and neither of the host nations. It merely picked on a negative part of Polish and Ukrainian society that does exist and blew it out of all proportion. After all, if you go searching for such issues in any country as that documentary was, you will likely find it.
In order to combat hooliganism in football, Brazil has asked the UK for help with matchday policing due to its crackdown on the issue in the 1980s. While violence in the English Premier League is now extremely rare due to competent police work, other recent events such as the Student Fees protest and Tottenham riots do not reflect greatly on Britain’s ability to control mass crowds. Along with recent worries over the security for the London Olympics, it proves that no country is perfect at eliminating concerns over safety.
The violence in Brazilian football is widely viewed as an extension of the disrupted, criminalised society and authorities have recently stepped up their stance on violent crime, confiscating and burning guns to take them out of circulation. It is hoped that this will translate to a reduction of crime in other aspects of society, including in football.
Somewhat paradoxically however, one of Brazil’s methods to reduce violence at football matches has been undone by FIFA. The international governing body of football insisted that alcoholic beverages must be sold at stadiums, despite its sale being prohibited in Brazil in 2003. The Brazilian football confederation (CBF) did not fully concede however and alcohol sales will remain forbidden in the domestic leagues.
Stories of brutal crimes in Brazil’s big cities are all to frequent, but these are due to huge social inequalities. Moreover, they can be seen in any large city across the globe and are not exclusive to Brazil. The previous edition of the World Cup in South Africa past without a hitch despite similar concerns.
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The Brazilian police will be desperate to put on a huge show of strength at World Cup 2014, particularly with the Olympic Games heading to Rio de Janeiro two years later. Prospective visitors for the world’s greatest football tournament should not be put off of travelling to Brazil due to the acts of a minority.
Last season in brief: started the season off well sitting pretty in the top half of the table, looking like after ten years we could actually make the play-offs! But around Christmas time the club got stuck in an 18 match win-less run which ended up with Aidy Bothroyd losing his job after 10months in charge. The Sky Blues form didn’t really seem to pick up until the last month of the season, winning three, drawing four and losing just one of the last eight games. The good end of season form stopped any worries of relegation.
So, it has been many seasons gone by since we were relegated from the Premier League and it was the same old story forCoventryCity! Start the season off on a flyer as the fans dream of promotion. But by December those dreams were dashed, as yet another manager loses his job. By the end of the season we some how manage to save ourselves from relegation Again! So we live to fight another day.
2010/2011 Final Finish: 18th
Who’s New: Joe Murphy (Free Transfer from Scunthorpe Utd), Chris Dunn (Free Transfer fromNorthampton)
Who’s Out: Marlon King (Free Transfer to Birmingham), Keiren Westwood (Free Transfer to Sunderland), Isaac Osbourne (Free Transfer to Aberdeen), Aron Gunnarsson (Free Transfer to Cardiff), Stephen O’Halloran (Free Transfer to Carlisle United) Michael McIndoe (Released)
Who to Watch: Lukas Jutkiewicz – showed much promise in first season at the club, scoring 9 goals. Andy Thorn has high hopes for the young striker as he’s been handed the Number 9 shirt.
Who’s going up:
Birmingham – I think they will have strong side particularly with signings such as Marlon King. Also they haven’t lost many of there premier league players.
Leicester City – They already had quite a good squad last season but they have made some good signings such as Kasper Schmeichel and David Nugent to add to their squad. They also have a board willing to spend money and a high class manager in Swen-Goran Eriksson.
West Ham Utd – Again like Birmingham, they haven’t lost many of their premier league players and they have also signed a quality midfielder in Kevin Nolan. They have a top class manager in Sam Allardyce. He has proven in the past with Bolton, he knows how to get a team out of the Championship and not only into the premier league but able to stay there and progress into Europe.
Who’s going down:
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Brighton – They have made a few good signings including Craig Mackail-Smith but he has been at this level before withPeterborough and struggled. I don’t think they will have the strength in depth to survive in the Championship.
Doncaster – They do indeed play very attractive passing football. But I do feel that they will struggle to score many goals as they have done in previous seasons and particularly with the championship being so strong this season.
Peterborough – Posh are they much a team likeScunthorpe, who have too much class for league 1 but not enough class for the Championship. I think they will struggle with the loss of key player Craig Mackail-Smith, who scored most of the goals that got them promoted last season.
There is no denying that Alan Pardew faced an extremely difficult and unenviable position when he was installed as Chris Hughton’s successor as manager at St James’s Park. The hugely popular Hughton had had a tremendous spell in charge of the magpies, achieving promotion back to the Premiership as champions at the first time of asking and leaving the club 11th in the Premier League whilst picking up a 5-1 derby victory over Sunderland. Managers questioned Pardew’s decision to take the job and walk in to such a volatile situation with many fans beyond angry over Hughton’s dismissal.
Yet a positive start to his reign has ensured that fans anger has, if not been quelled then at least remained focused on Mike Ashley and the club’s ownership rather than being passed directly on to him due to association. It is exactly the kind of results, such as his first in charge where Newcastle saw off Liverpool 3-1, that Pardew has to maintain to win over the fans as opposed to attempts at populist appeasement like the recent appointment of John Carver as assistant Manager.
John Carver may indeed be a popular figure with the Tyneside faithful having been No2 to Bobby Robson during his spell at the club. Yet Newcastle must be aware, more than any other club right now that the popular choice at the time is not always the right choice for the club. And this popularity of someone you’ve brought in to work with the club will not necessarily rub off on you. Under Mike Ashley Newcastle have brought back two of their most popular sons to be manager. Both Alan Shearer and Kevin Keegan have spent time in the dugout during Ashley’s ownership and neither was able to turn around the fortunes of the club and neither appointment greatly increased the popularity of Ashley amongst the fans. Pardew must not think like Ashley, that just associating himself with former Newcastle greats and getting them involved with the club will win over the fans to his side.
No, the only way for Pardew to truly win over the fans is on the pitch. If he can continue his decent start to tenure then he will please the fans, and therefore be more popular with them, than hiring a popular character as his no2. It is almost redundant, in terms of personnel, who makes up Pardew’s backroom staff as long as they assist him in taking Newcastle forward. As he will be judged by the fans on results, not the team he has assembled and how loved or not they are by the club.
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Petr Cech is hoping to avoid an early elimination from Euro 2012 as Czech Republic look to bounce back from their opening day defeat against Greece on Tuesday.
Michal Bilek’s men were comprehensively outplayed but Russia on Friday losing 4-1 plummeting straight to the foot of Group A in the process and Cech admitted the mood in the dressing room was one of disappointment and anger after the final whistle.
The Chelsea star believe his teammates need to start showing more aggression early on against Greece if they are to but they are intent on correcting the mistakes that led to their defeat.
“I think the anger has changed into determination. Determination to fix the bad start we had in the tournament,” he said. “We felt the disappointment immediately afterwards, for sure.
“We did not succeed in any way in that first match, but we know we have another 180 minutes to play to allow us to qualify for the quarter-finals. So we’re determined to do just that.”
Cech added: “The lessons we learned were not to make unnecessary mistakes and to play much more aggressively. They had a lot of space and they have some very good players, so they were able to use that.”
“We attacked them too late in the game, and they had already created their chances and scored them. We do not want to repeat those same mistakes and we will, of course, play more solidly in defence.”
Greece coach Fernando Santos is keen to avoid another slow opening to the one they endured in the tournament’s opening fixture against co-hosts Poland.
Santos is anticipating a bought test against a Czech side seeking a response to their loss to Russia and has identified all the mistakes made on Friday to ensure his squad is fully prepared for the game in Wroclaw.
“We were prepared for every circumstance against Poland. I will talk to my players and see if they know what went wrong and why they couldn’t play as we had planned.
“I’ve written all the mistakes they made on a big board, under the heading ‘What we should avoid’.
“We need to be more fresh in Wroclaw. We will work on a few details and watch videos of the Czechs.”
Team News
Russia have a fully fit squad to choose from but Bilek could make some changes to ensure his side remain fresh for the third and final group game.
Greece coach Santos has a selection dilemma on his hands with Sokratis Papastathopoulos suspended after being sent off in Warsaw and Avraam Papadopoulos out of the finals after
suffering a torn cruciate ligament. Giorgos Fotakis is also out with a thigh injury.
Key Player
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Dimitris Salpingidis
After coming off the bench to score Greece’s equaliser against Poland and providing a strong attacking threat Salpingidis is likely to start against the Czech Republic. His boundless running and willingness to close down gave the Greeks an extra dimension in the final third and he’ll be charged with doing it from the start on Tuesday.
Thomas Rosicky
Following a quiet game against Russia the Arsenal midfielder will be determined to exert his creative influence in Wroclaw and provide the telling link between the Czech’s midfield and attack. Rosicky didn’t see much of the ball in last week’s game and will need to get himself into the game more if he is to influence proceedings.