Is Andy Carroll Worth £35 Million?

I don't know what to say... A player who isn't first choice for his country and has only played half a season in the Premier League is being sold for £35million... Is Andy Carroll really worth that much?!

I'm not sure even if he believes he's worth the fee Liverpool paid for him. Is he really worth more than David Villa, Edin Dzeko and Carlos Tevez? Yes I understand that he's homegrown and that the lack of English talent dictates the values in the market but even then, its a ridiculous amount of money.

Fernando Llorente probably the closest comparison with Carroll as your going to get with a foreign player won't be sold for that much by his club Athletic Bilbao to another Spanish club. Even though he has over a dozen caps for World Champions Spain with a goal every other game as his strike rate. He isn't going for the vast sum Newcastle have received.

Carroll is a good player don't get me wrong but he's more of a John Carew than a Dzeko, Torres or Drogba. He wins everything in the air but lacks pace and cant be describe as creative. Yes he's scored some good goals against decent opposition but at the moment he cant be described as a guaranteed success, would you advocate spending £35 million on him?

Three Men Who You Wouldn't Want To Own Your Football Club...

Well there's all this talk of how Newcastle owner has made the worst move since Eve bit the apple. He has sacked the now Martyr-like figure of Chris Hughton. He's also fired Sam Allardyce and Kevin Keegan, I mean I'm sure Newcastle fans weren't torn up about the former, but the latter is revered at St James Park to almost a Messianic level. This guy is firing more people than Sir Alan Sugar, the thing is Sir Alan does it to seperate the wheat from the chaff. When it comes to football clubs they can only thrive with stability.

He has also brought in his equally unpopular cronies in the form of Derek Llambias, Dennis Wise and Tony Jimenez. This made him increasingly unpopular with the clubs supporters. Now enough of that, this article is an "it could always be worse" moment for Newcastle fans. There have been many people who have described as bad owners, now its time to have a look at some of the other contenders for worst owners of a football club...

Peter Ridsdale, Leeds United 1997-2003 

Okay, this guy wasn't bad like the traditional malevolent owner who stalks the corridors of the stadium striking the fear of potential job loss into the manager and players' hearts. He was one who "lived the dream" with Leeds as he was famously quoted as saying, a but left a nightmare for everyone else associated with the club to clear up.

Subs: Robinson, Duberry, Kelly, Matteo, Wilcox, Bakke, McPhail, Smith, Bridges, Keane

The thing is under Ridsdale Leeds built one of the best young sides the Premier League has seen. They even reached the Champions League Semi Finals. But the problems Ridsdale caused were financial, building this side Leeds spent way beyond their means.

Ridsdale allowed manager David O'Leary spent huge sums of money on transfers fees. Of the money spent £60 Million Pounds were borrowed, the repayment of this money was based on future income from gate receipts. This plan was heavily reliant on the club qualifying constantly for the Champions League, which Leeds failed to do.

Once they'd failed to qualify for the Champions League the season following their Semi-Final exploits, the dream turned into a nightmare. The club couldn't afford to keep up repayments for their loans, were forced to sell their star names and by 2007 they were languishing in the third tier of English football. When the blamed was pinned on Ridsdale he denied that this was the case to the disdain of Leeds fans.

Someone once said "It's better to burn brightly for half as long than to be a dim lingering light" I'm not sure if Leeds United fans would agree.

Jesus Gil, Athletico Madrid 1987-2004

Before you ask... Yes that's him and not an aging extra from an eighties rap video...

Some of you might not have heard of him if you don't follow Spanish football, but this guy makes Mike Ashley look like Employer of the Century. He was the President of Athletico Madrid for 17 years and in those years he managed to sack 39 managers... Yes that's right 37 managers!! If he was in English football I'm sure he would've given the LMA many sleepless nights.
I mean just look at the list of managers, in 1988 he sacked 5 managers, this is more than Manchester United and Arsenal put together in the last twenty years. He did win a league and cup double in 1996 and went on to parade these through Madrid on the back of an elephant... Yes in case you were wondering this isn't a relative of the proverbial "elephant in the room" but a real one... 

Some of his most infamous moments include him threatening to kill some of the Athletico squad, he was quoted as saying "I mean it, some of them don't deserve to live". Compare that to Alex Ferguson's much vaunted hair dryer treatment.

He is also known for his xenophobic tendencies, just before a Champions League Quarter Final against Ajax in the 96-97 season he referred to the opponents as "FC Congo" due to the racial make up of their side. Now who would want this guy to be at the helm of their club?

Luciano Gaucci, Perugia 1994-2004

So far we've done the financially incompetent and the ruthless autocrat, now time for the... Well frankly utterly mental. Now Italian football has had its fair share of bad moments i.e. Calciopoli and South Africa 2010, but this guy is as crazy as they come.

Okay where do I start? Lets start at Korea and Japan 2002. Its the 117th minute of a tense and heated fixture, the score is 1-1 between Italy and South Korea. Then up pops Ahn Jung Hwan scoring the golden goal which knocks Italy out of the tournament. What makes this relevant is that Ahn is on the books for Perugia. Now the response from the clubs owner Luciano Gaucci was to say:

"That gentleman will never set foot in Perugia again. He was a phenomenon only when he played against Italy.
I am a nationalist and I regard such behaviour not only as an affront to Italian pride but also an offence to a country which two years ago opened its doors to him. I have no intention of paying a salary to someone who has ruined Italian soccer."

Gaucci terminated Ahn Jung Hwans swiftly and ensured that he would never play for his club again. Now that is what most people would call an unfair dismissal. Could you imagine if Manchester United terminated Cristiano Ronaldo's contract after is winking antics at the same World Cup? Or more recently Arsenal letting Andrey Arshavin go for his support of the Russian World Cup bid which put England's hopes to host the tournament to a miserable end?

The next move of craziness from this rather strange Italian gentleman was to try sign two female players for his side, Hanna Ljungberg and Birgit Prinz. Now I'm all for women's football, I mean their is a women's World Cup which is on FIFA's calender and leagues all over the world. But to think about signing two female players to play in Serie A at that time possibly the toughest league in the world is actually quite absurd. In the end his plans failed and common sense prevailed... Which is quite unusual for Gaucci.

He also signed Al-Saadi al-Gadaffi, if that name doesn't ring any bells, he's the son of the eccentric Libyan leader Colonel Gadaffi. Al Saadi went on to play one game for Perugia and more controversially also failed a drug test when nandralone was found in his system. He was also on the board of rivals Juventus and head of the Libyan Football Federation. Now that is a strange signing unless you're trying to make influential friends.

Conclusion
 

Yes its true, even he can point and laugh at someone...

Well after that Newcastle fans you could have worse than Mr Ashley... You could have the "money grows on trees dream chaser" who could send your club into a financial black hole. Or maybe you could have the ruthless autocrat who has sacked three quarters of the worlds population and stayed in power for 17 years. Or maybe you could've ended up with someone more suited to a mental institution rather than a footballing one? Well I'll leave you to chew on that and for now, that's all folks...

When Managerial Sackings Go Wrong...

In this week of injustice at Newcastle United Football Club, with Chris Hughton being sacked after two bad results, I was thinking about the other really bad ones that come to mind... Here are a few of my favorites...

Vincent Del Bosque - Real Madrid

This is the man who won every trophy under the sun. He won the Champions League twice and La Liga twice. He also had the Galacticos of Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos playing football light years ahead of their rivals. On the season Real decided not to renew his contract the club got to the Champions League semi-finals and won the league.

Since Del Bosque has left Real the club have employed numerous managers including Fabio Capello and Manuel Pellegrini and won only one La Liga title and no European trophies... Oh and just to prove his class Del Bosque is now a World Cup Winner after his Spain side triumphed in South Africa.

 Rafael Benitez - Liverpool

When Rafa Benitez came to Liverpool it had been 20 years since they had won the European Cup. This was far too long for England's most successful club in European competitions. Benitez came and and won it in his first season in an epic final victory against AC Milan. 

He also went on to guide them to another European Final on this occasion it was defeat to AC Milan which stopped him from winning the trophy again. In the league up against Manchester United and Chelsea who both have superior finances due to rich benefactors and larger stadiums, Benitez came close to winning the title on one occasion in 2008-2009 when they finished second.

Yes he had a bad season when he got sacked with Liverpool finishing 7th but what made this sacking controversial is that Benitez loved and understood the club. He had the best interests of the club at heart and when most people would've left after relentless pressure from the owners of the club Benitez chose to stay. Upon his appointment as Inter Milan manager Benitez came back to Liverpool and made a donation of £96,000 to the Hillsborough Family Support Group, he didn't have to do this but he did and reaffirmed his affection for the Club and its supporters...

Martin Jol - Tottenham

This is the man who had Spurs challenging for a Champions League place long before Harry Redknapp was the man of the moment at White Hart Lane. He signed the likes of Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon and Dimitar Berbatov who've all left their marks on the club. He built a squad capable of consistently challenging for a European place.

In Jol's final season at Spurs they lost their first two games and it became public that his job had been offered to Juande Ramos. This was a disgraceful way of treating the man who had led the club to two successive 5th place finishes in the Premier League. In the end Jol found out that he was going to lose his job during a 2-1 defeat at the hand Getafe in the UEFA Cup, via a text message from his nephew...

Gareth Southgate - Middlesborough

Well not a lot of people think of this one. Middlesborough were in 4th place in the Championship after being relegated under Southgate from the Premier League the previous season. They were only one point off the top and had just beaten Derby County 2-0, Southgate was on his way to undoing his failure of the season before, he was called into a meeting by 'Boro owner Steve Gibson and relieved of his role.

If you look at where they were when Southgate was at the helm, challenging for promotion. After Southgates sacking the club Middlesborough finished 11th missing out on the play-off places by 8 points. You can see how far the club has regressed by its current position in the table, 23rd in the Championship with 20 games gone.

Southgate was the man who helped Adam Johnson, David Wheater and Brad Jones into the first team and put Middlesborough's youth academy on the map. It can be clearly be seen that the club has been suffering since his departure.

Chris Hughton - Newcastle United

This is the one everyone's talking about. Mike Ashley has decided to sack the man who got Newcastle promoted from the Championship, spending virtually no money and has guided them to 11th place in the Premier League. He also oversaw the 5-1 battering of their bitterest rivals Sunderland earlier this season. Lately there has been a downturn in the clubs fortunes with heavy defeats to Bolton and West Brom but  between those fixtures there was an impressive draw against Chelsea.

The Newcastle job isn't and easy one with the likes of Andy Carroll and Joey Barton making the dressing room a difficult one to control. Hughton has done this and done it well, handling issues such as Carrolls court case and Bartons bust up with Blackburn's Morten Gamst Pederson with little on no fuss made. The man may not be the best or most experienced manager in the Premier League but he didn't deserve to be sacked....

Any New Surprises This Season?

Every season regardless of how tough the Premiership is looking there seems to a surprise package rising from the depths of the Championship. But which club is doing the best in its mission to upset their well established neighbors? More recently it was Phil Browns Hull City who beat Arsenal at the Emirates during their amazing start to the 2008-2009 season, there was also Ipswich Town under George Burley remember them? All the way back in 2000-2001, when the club finished 5th in the league.

So whats going on this season I hear you ask? Well in England there's Blackpool, Newcastle and West Brom who have all made encouraging starts to life in the top flight. None of them are in the relegation zone and all look like they could stay up.

Blackpool

Under maverick manager Ian Holloway are looking like a decent side, so far they've beaten Wigan 4-0 away and more surprisingly took all three points in a 2-1 victory over Liverpool at Anfield. Three of their players have really stood out for me, Luke Varney with 2 goals and an assist, goalkeeper Matt Gilks who put in an amazing performance in a 2-0 win against Newcastle and Charlie Adam "the Scottish Pirlo" with his two goals and two assists this season.


The squad has been put together on a shoe string budget by Holloway who has a collection of rejects was all around the football world. Although its nice to see I do think they'll get relegated, a bit like Burnley last season they have enthusiasm, energy and bravery but I feel they will burn out by Christmas. There isn't enough quality in the team even the players I've mentioned earlier are decent enough but I don't think they can consistently perform at the highest level.


Newcastle

Well here's an interesting one, I don't think we'd be talking about them as promoted teams if Mike Ashley hadn't been so trigger happy by getting rid of Sam Allardyce. Big Sam isn't the best in the business but is a specialist at making sure teams survive which is exactly what Newcastle needed the season they went down.

Currently on paper they have the strongest line up, with two Argentina internationals in the form of Jonas Gutierrez and Fabricio Coloccini, the sometimes controversial Joey Barton and the inconsistent but troublesome Andy Carrol. Carrol has now scored 5 goals in 8 Premier League games and Barton has scored 1 and set up 2 from the heart of the Newcastle midfield this season.

Like Blackpool they haven't spent too much with their most high profile signing being Sol Campbell on a free transfer who's experience I feel they will need to use to ensure they stay up this season.
 
A weakness if feel with the club is Chris Hughton who I'm not too sure about as a manager, I feel that if results go against Newcastle he may struggle controlling the dressing room which is full of strong characters like Kevin Nolan, Andy Carrol and Joey Barton. The board at Newcastle also isn't renowned for its patience and if anything will cost Newcastle their place in the top flight it could be dressing room and boardroom instability.

West Brom

Now I feel that Roberto Di Matteo's side are an interesting prospect. They are the biggest spenders out of the new boys with a total of 9.5 million pounds on various players to strengthen their squad. They have already spent some time in the top four (although it was only one night) I feel that they may have what it takes to stay up.

At the start of the season I saw them sell two of their "best" players in the shapes of Robert Koren and Jonathon Greening. This didn't look very promising, but what Di Matteo has done is sign Paul Scharner, Marc-Antoine Fortune and Peter Odemwingie. Both Scharner and Fortune are hard working players who have both been involved in relegation scraps for various clubs and Odemwingie off the back of the World Cup adds a bit of class up front.

Simon Tchoyi who made his debut against Manchester United I feel could be West Brom's surprise weapon. The former Redbull Salzburg winger put in a man of the match performance in a 2-1 victory against Manchester City and then went on to score the equalizer against Manchester United in an impressive 2-2 draw at Old Trafford. They are currently on an impressive 6 match unbeaten run including wins over Fulham and Birmingham City, I really do think they have a real chance of avoiding relegation.

Is it easier this season?

With all three promoted sides looking like they have a real possibility of staying up, the question is why? I personally feel that there are far too many predictable teams in the Premiership at the moment. Sides like Blackburn, Wolves, Stoke and Birmingham while decent at home are liable to drop important points on their travels. There are also teams like Wigan, West Ham and Fulham who have a soft centre (lack the power and industry of the teams mentioned earlier) and are very inconsistent both home and away.

In what Sky Sports for sales purposes labels "the best league in the world" I don't feel there is the quality in the bottom half of the table to make life difficult for the new boys this season. A counter argument to this is that the Championship is such a tough league that the promoted teams are better prepared for life in the top flight this. I can only discredit this argument with this article written by the rather articulate former England goalkeeper David James.

Conclusion

For this season I hope that sides like Stoke and Wolves are punished and sides with endeavor and creativity  like Blackpool and West Brom stay up, this is the only way the league will improve. But my prediction this season is from the promoted sides, Blackpool will go down but West Brom and Newcastle will stay up at the expense of West Ham and Wolves.