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Capello plays down comparison with Ramsey

England have enjoyed a 100% record in their qualification for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa which means that England are already one of the favourites for the tournament and this has brought comparisons between Capello and England World Cup winning manager Sir Alf Ramsey however Capello has been quick to play it down.

“Someone spoke to me about this big manager but we have to wait. He’s up here, I’m still down here.

“It’s a very long way to arrive at the level of Sir Alf Ramsey.”

“I hope you will speak about me. But not after 40 years! I hope you speak about me as a really important manager - but for the sake of English football not after 40 years,” Capello said.

England ended 2008 with a 2-1 win over arch rivals Germany and Capello admitted that he is happy with how things are going at the moment.

“It’s been step forward, step forward,” said Capello. “I’m very happy because the last game against Germany we played very well.

“I am a friend of the players but I prefer to stay at a distance.

“I stay with the players sometimes in the medical room with the physios but it’s not important to play cards or games with the players. It’s not important to me to be one of the lads.

“The important thing is respect. I always say a manager is one against 24 always - there is one boss, one leader being judged by 24 players, in every moment he is under scrutiny and it’s important the players know that is my role. The leader is the leader.”

“I prefer to speak together in a meeting. My meetings are focused on different points. Five, seven, eight or sometimes 10 points,” he said.

“I speak alone with a player when I can understand he is not in a good moment, to help him. And sometimes you want to speak to players individually when you want different things in a game. Only this.

“But I prefer the meeting always together with different points. Sometimes in the same meeting I speak about the keeper, I speak about defenders, forwards, the movement of the team.

“I think it’s very important all the players understand what I want and can see the mistakes we did. It’s very important.”

Capello reflects on first year in charge

England manager Fabio Capello has played down comparisons between his current crop and England’s 1966 World Cup winning squad as he looked back on his first 12 months in the job.

Under Capello, England have won each of their World Cup qualifying games and the football odds has them down as one of the favourites for the 2010 tournament as a result. This, in typically English fashion, has led some people to compare the current set of players and manager with that of 1966.

However, speaking about Sir Alf Ramsey, Capello admitted that to ‘arrive at the level of Ramsey’ is still a long way into the distance. The Italian revealed that he would love to be as highly thought of as Ramsey in the future, but for the sake of English football ‘not after 40 years’.

To be honest, this all seems rather ridiculous and is typical of the English attitude to football. A bad run of form and everyone is protesting and claiming the players don’t care enough. Then, a decent run of form leads people to suggest that this squad can win the World Cup in under two years time. Talk about one extreme or the other!

In all fairness though, Capello has had a very good first year in charge and the team has moved forward. The team signed off from the former Real Madrid managers’ opening 12 months in the job with a victory in Germany, after all.

One of the main things that has improved according to Capello is the atmosphere inside the camp. There were some who suggested that Steve McClaren was too close to the players for them to respect him. Whereas Capello says that he prefers to be a friend of the players ‘at a distance’.

He went on to say that one of the most important aspects to management is ‘respect’ and that it is important that the players know that Capello is the leader of the group.

Overall, Capello is definitely earning respect from every football fan in England. He has brought the feel good factor surrounding the national team back and everyone is looking forward to the 2010 World Cup. As for his comparisons with Ramsey, well that is a little premature! Ask me again in August 2010!

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about football betting

Kovac to consider future

Croatian defender Robert Kovac has greatly considered quitting club play when his contract runs out at the end of this summer. The Borussia Dortmund defender has not been Coach Jurgen Klopp’s first choice most of this season and, in response, Kovac is unhappy with the situation and is therefore questioning his career at the club.

In an interview Kovac said, “Our team has had good results under him, and it is right for him to choose the players he thinks are best. But I want to know what my current status is. Is he planning to give me a real chance or am I going to remain his 4th choice as a defender?”
Kovac then concluded, “I will stop playing football and return to Croatia. Only an extremely-interesting offer would make me change my mind.”
 
After being suspended from Croatia for four games, two of which he has already sat out, he will return to Croatia’s line up at the end of the summer when they play against Belarus. Hopefully, he will remain as part of the Croatian squad as he is a valuable member and has been greatly missed. Also, his comeback could be in time to help Croatia earn points in the qualifying, as the World Cup is right around the corner.

Jill Guthrie      

England friendly moved

England are set to face European Champions Spain in a friendly on the 11th of February, it was originally set to be played at t-he Bernabeu stadium in Madrid however it has been moved to Sevilla due to the abuse suffered by England players in 2004 st the Bernabeu.

Sevilla’s Roman Sanchez Pizjuan stadium has a 45,500 seater capacity.

It will be interesting to see who is picked for the friendly in Spain with David Beckham hoping to pull on an England shirt for the 108th time to equal Bobby Charlton though it is not definite that Beckham will receive a call even though he will have been playing in Serie A with AC

Butcher would welcome back Boyd

Rangers striker Kris Boyd walked out on Scotland qualification campaign for the 2010 World Cup saying that he would never play for Scotland again when George Burley was in charge. Boyd has been on sensational form this year scoring 18 goals so far and Scotland assistant manager Terry Butcher has hinted that the door is still open for Kris Boyd to return.

“If he decided to go about things in a different way and say that he wanted to play, that’s up to him then it’s up to George,”

“We want to see Scottish players doing well, we want to see Scottish players scoring goals.”

“If you have a personal cause, that can make you play better and give you the incentive to do even better,” added Butcher, a former Rangers defender. “Kris has had that.

“A lot of people asked how he would respond and he has responded very well.

“A lot of the players have said they are seeing a different Kris Boyd in the way that he runs around and contributes to the general play, which is fantastic.”

In 15 appearances for Scotland Boyd has netted an impressive seven goals.

Burley’s response to Boyd’s choice was to say that he only wanted players who were “totally committed” to the Scotland cause and stood by his selections in the World Cup qualifying match at Hampden.

However, former Scotland striker Frank McAvennie believes the manager must make overtures to bring Boyd back into the fold.

“George Burley must be sitting very uncomfortably because Boyd is scoring every week and (Rangers manager) Walter Smith is playing him every week,” said the man who won just five Scotland caps despite his prolific record at both Celtic and West Ham in the 1980s.

“George should go cap in hand and get Boyd because we don’t have the luxury of top strikers.

“Whatever the difference is they should work it out because he is a proven goal-scorer and he’s working well with Kenny Miller at Rangers.

“Miller is a good player but he’s not a goal-scorer and I think those two are the ones who can help us get the points Scotland need.”

Prince to lead 2018 bid

Prince William is president of the FA and is backing England’s bid for the World Cup in 2018. David Beckham and John Barnes are the vice-presidents on the battle to be hosts.

Triesman said: “Fifa guys meet very famous footballers all the time - it is not a surprise to them. The footballers have to bring something else.

“Beckham does and another person does in that generation - Prince William.”

He added: “They are capable of having an extraordinary impact.”

Triesman also feels the bid will bring the FA and Premier League back together.

Rifts between the two organisations have opened in recent months amid concern over the FA’s Respect campaign, which aims to “combat unacceptable behaviour in our game at every level - on the pitch and from the sidelines”, over claims that the top flight is not being listened to enough and FA director of football Sir Trevor Brooking’s outspoken criticisms of youth development.

“This bid truly should bring the FA and Premier League together,” he stated.

“I have not met anybody in any of the clubs, including the overseas owners, who doesn’t want us to go for it.

“They are up for it. There is much more broad sympathy between groups than in the past, when they have not always meshed together. That is encouraging.”

Team GB team to be allowed

Fifa look set to allow plans for a Team GB team to participate at the Olympics in 2012 but there are no plans to allow the team to participate beyond this.

By the 2012 Olympics it will be 52 years since a GB team last participated in the football tournament at the Olympics.

The approval looks set to be given even though Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland all opposed the plans.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has already expressed his desire to have the hosts represented at the Games.

And it is thought he would be happy for all the players to be English if the other home nations refused to allow their players to take part.

The main concern from the remaining home nations is that their participation would lead the way for their individual countries to be lumped into a GB team for other tournaments and they wouldn’t be allowed to participate individually.

Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke has attempted to assure these bodies that this would not be the case but Uefa president Michel Platini has said he understands the nations’ fears.

And an SFA spokesman responded to news of Fifa’s likely impending approval of a Team GB by saying: “Our opposition to Team GB remains resolute.

“Our concern is that Fifa members and Fifa executives in the future would not have the same view as this one - and, subsequently, our status as an independent member would be threatened.”

England travelling support wants more protection

England fans have a bad reputation around Europe for causing trouble wherever they go but the Football Supporters Federation (FSF) says that times have changed an now England fans are being targeted by foreign Hooligans.

“There are so many people who want to make a name for themselves at our expense - and think because they’re English fans, they are legitimate targets,” he explained.

“There is clearly a case for better protection for English football supporters.”

The FSF is not denying that there is a small number of English football fans that travel abroad and do cause problems but there have been strict rules put in place to try and stop the worst offenders travelling abroad for matches.

England fan John, 29, who went to the England v Croatia game in Zagreb in September, said: “Out of nowhere, a bunch of local Croatians just turned up and started laying into us. Kicking and punching. We were hit over the head with a bottle.”

His friend Jim, 27, was also attacked. He added: “My head, it split open. There was quite a lot of blood.

“I managed to get away and start running. I know exactly why we were attacked. Because we were England fans. No other reason.”

Stephen Thomas, head of policing football at the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), believes the threat of disorder in a foreign country now is England fans being attacked.

He said: “Our fans will be picked on by foreign hooligan groups who see the English as the ultimate hooligans.

“They think that if they can fight and beat the English in a fight, then they can take that mantle off them.”

Are Villa’s youngsters the future of England?

Aston Villa have built a fantastic young team over the last couple of years and one which has provided the biggest threat to the ‘big four’ in the Premier League. Now though, it is being considered that the same young stars could help shape England’s future ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Ashley Young – who has made four international appearances after impressing for Villa – was joined in the England squad that faced Germany last month by team-mates Gabriel Agbonlahor, Gareth Barry and Curtis Davis.

The 23-year-old now believes that Martin O’Neill’s young players will form the core of Fabio Capello’s plans over the next few years. He says that there is a lot of ‘young talent’ at Villa Park and this may well result in the Villans become ‘a feeder to England’.

Something Young was keen to emphasise though was that it isn’t just the current crop of Villa stars that should be excited about having a future in the England team. The youngsters that haven’t quite made it into the first team yet – such as Nathan Delfouneso – should see that the players who emerge from the Villa youth team can start to knock on the international door.

There is no doubt that Young is speaking sense here and he seems like a very level headed young man. To have so many English players coming through from the same club can only be a good thing as well. Like when David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers emerged from Manchester United – they are all likely to know each others games going into international games.

As for Young himself, he is all set to have a long and successful career with England. The  football odds may even back him to be the first choice for Capello come the 2010 World Cup.

Fellow Aston Villa and England man Gareth Barry certainly believes that the former Watford man deserves a prolonged run in Capello’s starting line-up. The Villa captain says that Young is ‘creating and scoring goals’ on a consistent basis and that he is ‘ready to perform at a very high level’.

Barry, of course, is already a regular member of England’s midfield, but if the likes of Young, Agbonlahor, Davies and Delfouneso continue to impress at club level – he could be joined by a number of familiar faces as England continue their quest to qualify for South Africa and beyond.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about football betting

Kenyan coach returns

Kenya coach Francis Kimanzi has returned to his post after a recent fall out with the Kenyan football authorities. He had previously he has been unhappy with the commitment shown by the authorities to his team and said he would no longer take charge of the side however he signed a new contract on Thursday and says he is now happy with the deal that has been put in place.

“Together with my technical team, we’re satisfied, we only want to see if it’s honoured, and honoured in a very professional way,” Kimanzi said.

“They should make sure that everything is paid and paid on time, so that I only get the players to concentrate on the 90 minutes and nothing else.”

Kimanzi took over as caretaker coach in May, and took Kenya through to the final phase of 2010 World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifying, which begins in March.

He is also coach of Mathare United, who won this year’s Kenyan league championship.

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