Stan Collymore's announcement that he will be returning to football has been met with unease by Aston Villa boss Martin O'neill. Collymore is said to be keen on a move back to Villa Park where he spent 3 years after a £7million transfer. It was O'neill who took the controversial striker to Leicester in 1997 and although Collymore suffered a broken leg he was impressive in short bursts during his time at the Walkers Stadium. Stan quit football in 2001 after walking out on Spanish outfit Real Oviedo but now his keen to get back in the fold. O'neill today however through water on any comeback attempt stating that "He would need a lot of willpower and self determination to get fit for the Premier League" Whether Collymore has enough determination we will have to wait and see.

Posted by Spraggy at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Comments

Manchester City's aptly named City of Manchester Stadium has been successful in it's bid to host the Uefa Cup in 2008. The stadium with a capacity of around 47,000 has been judged by Uefa to be fit for the purpose of hosting a major European final. Stadiums are judged on a number of criteria including stadium capacity, safety and security, access, transport, supporters' facilities and commercial potential. However Wembley has failed in it's hopes to host the Uefa Champions League final in 2008 or 2009 although Uefa communications director William Gaillard has stated that Wembley will be considered seriously for the competition final in 2010. The problem for Wembley seems simple. A completion date is uncertain and at the moment it is a liability for major competitions. The ordeal could drag on for years and until then it is unlikely to be assigned any major events.

Posted by Spraggy at 9:09 PM | Permalink | Comments

Davide Beckham will retire in two years time according to Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon. 2008 will be the year that the curtain closes on the career of the worlds most iconic footballer. This leaves the door open for a possible last hurrah at Euro 2008 if Becks can force his way back into the national side. Over the years Becks has provided us with skill, commitment and controversey and I for one am happy that we have another 2 years of watching one of the best players in the modern age. Let's hope that his last 2 years are not spent languishing on the sidelines.

Posted by Spraggy at 8:09 AM | Permalink | Comments

Following Luke Moore's long term injury at Aston Villa boss Martin O'neill has brought in Chris Sutton who he worked with for 5 years at Celtic. 33 year old Sutton becomes O'neill's third signing since arriving at Villa Park all three of them; Stilian Petrov, Didier Agathe and Chris Sutton having previously played unter O'neill in the Scottish Premier league. Sutton who made his name in England with Norwich and then Blackburn where he won a Premiership title played for Birmingham last season but failed to impress and was somewhat criticised by the Birmingham faithful. Sutton will remain at the newly revived Villa Park until the end of the season although the jury is still out as to whether he can do a job in the Premiership. Judging on his form last season then it doesn't look like Sutton will have as large an impact as young Luke Moore was having but O'neill is a shrewd manager and if Sutton can perform to his potential then Villa may have secured one of the best deals of the summer.

Posted by Spraggy at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comments

Posted by Spraggy at 8:18 PM | Permalink | Comments

Following a run of poor results and a dismal performance against Burnley today which resulted in a 4-1 drubbing Norwich have sacked manager Nigel Worthington. Worthington who has previously been in charge at Blackpool has been relieved at his duties as Norwich lie in 17th place. Fans at Carrow Road will have been expecting a titel charge but it has failed to materialise. Majority shareholder Delia Smith questioned the players lack of passion this week but it seems that once more the manager must take responsibility for below par performances on the pitch. Speaking before his departure Worthington gave his opinion on Norwich's abismal form stating that "We all took the plaudits when things were going well, and I'll take the bullets when it is not going well." I think it would be fair to say this sums up the situation well. When Worthington took Norwich into the Premiership the place was buzzing, the players were all to ready to accept praise, but now when things go wrong it is the manager who is blamed for inept on the field performances. The managerial marigoround continues to turn.

Posted by Spraggy at 5:50 PM | Permalink | Comments

The British Olympic Association is discussing plans to enter a British football team into the Olympics. This would mean an almagamation of the Welsh, Scottish, English and Northern Irish sides. The nations have been assured that they will however keep their independant stauts within Uefa and Fifa and so it would be just for Olympic competitions that the home nations play together. i am not sure that this is such a good idea. It would go some way to destroying home nation rivalry. The Scotts and the English supporting the same team does not sound like a very good idea. Although it is true that the side would probably have a strong medal chance at the London 2012 games I believe that it would damage the game in Britain as well as marginalising many Welsh, Scottish and Northern Ireland players who are unlikely to get into the side with such wealth of English talent.

Posted by Spraggy at 2:45 PM | Permalink | Comments

Posted by Spraggy at 2:19 PM | Permalink | Comments