All posts by h79snht.top

Opposition fans tried to unsettle him during matches with braying noises – probably inspired by a Daily Mirror article – yet he refused to be put off his stride.

They called him a lowly donkey but, at nearly 19 hands, he was a thoroughbred at the heart of Arsenal’s defence.

But his career also contained deep troughs that almost destroyed him. Yet, just like his battling performances on the pitch, he fought his way back from the brink of alcoholic addiction.

Today he is considered one of the greatest players to have graced English football, for both club and country.

Two of his managers even used Greek mythology and academic references to describe his talent. George Graham said he was “my colossus.” Whilst Arsène Wenger described him as a “professor of defence.”

To cap it all, in 2011 a statue of this Gooner hero was unveiled in front of the Emirates Stadium.

But this was in the future for 17-year-old Tony Alexander Adams, who made his debut for Arsenal in a 2-1 defeat at home to Sunderland on 5 November 1983.

From this inauspicious start Adams grew too dominate the Arsenal back four; a defensive unit that included Steve Bould, his partner at centre-back, alongside full-backs Lee Dixon and Nigel Winterburn. How Wenger must long for a similar partnership in today’s Arsenal eleven.

Then aged 21 Adams was handed the club captaincy which he held to his retirement.

His captaincy coincided with perhaps the most dramatic end of season game in living memory.

In May 1989, Arsenal travelled to Anfield needing to win by two clear goals to snatch the title from under the nose of their hosts. Their second goal, scored by Thomas in the dying minutes of the game, saw them achieve what many said was impossible and crowned League champions.

Almost as memorable was Adams goal and celebration after he had raced from the back to bury the ball in the Everton net on 3 May 1998; capping Arsenal’s first League championship under the new management of Frenchman ‘Professor’ Arsene Wenger.

But these were just two highlights in a career that included 10 major trophies spread over 19 years (14 as captain), and 669 appearances.

Adams made his international debut against Spain in 1987, making him the first player to represent England who was born after the 1966 World Cup win.

He represented England at World Cup tournaments and European Championships as well, by the time Euro 96 came round he was the country’s captain.

In all Adams appeared 66 times for England. But for injury, he could have won significantly more caps.

Since retiring as a professional footballer in the summer of 2002 – his last league game in Arsenal colours was against Everton at Highbury in May of that year – he tried his hand at coaching: firstly at Wycombe Wanderers, then Feyenoord, Portsmouth, and Gabala FC in the Azerbaijan Premier League.

But perhaps his greatest contribution to the world of football and beyond was his Sporting Chance Clinic, a charitable foundation he set-up in 2000.

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Based in Hampshire, the clinic provides support, counselling and treatment for sports people with a drink, drug or gambling addiction.

Adams own battle with the ‘demon booze’ was the catalyst behind the organisation which, over the last fourteen years, has helped many others battling their own demons.

During his playing days, his style of play was often associated with that of the legendary Bobby Moore. Sadly, like Morro he was never invited to use his knowledge and experience to better the game.

But then again he doesn’t need to brag about his achievements. Just like Bobby Moore, he can simply show people his trophy cabinet. Nuff said!

@RichardBowdery

Richard Bowdery writes for BobbyFC,com – the Football site with a retro twist.

“It’s a question of nerves,” Arsene Wenger declared in his pre-match address. Albeit Arsenal are in pole position to qualify for next season’s Champions League do they possess mental backbone to see it through? On the evidence of Saturday’s victory over Norwich that question has already been answered. Seeing off the Canaries in the dying stages was indicative of the Gunners’ late season surge. Seven wins from their last eight puts them amongst the form teams in the division and, more importantly, heaps the pressure on London rivals Chelsea and Tottenham, who’re now playing catch-up after Wenger’s side leapfrogged them both into third. Now it’s just a case of holding on for dear life. 

Everton, although rank outsiders, are still very much in the frame for Champions League qualification and lie three points and two spots shy of the top-four. Only the two Manchester sides have been beaten less than the Toffees although 13 draws has hindered them somewhat. That being said they’ve displayed an uncharacteristic consistency from the first kick this season that has kept them amongst the European contenders. Four victories in their last five league games has put them within touching distance and David Moyes will be urging his troops to do all they can to grab a seat at the continents top table. A further incentive is finishing above Merseyside rivals Liverpool for the second year running and a mid-week success in North London would push them eight points above the Reds.

Team News

Thomas Rosicky (hamstring) should return for Arsenal, while Nacho Monreal looks set to play after being rested at Norwich. There are concerns over goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianksi after he sustained a rib injury on Saturday.

Everton have a number of minor knocks to assess before they arrive at the Emirates Stadium but there no serious injuries for David Moyes to contend with.

What the managers said… 

“We have good spirit, good mental strength and desire and we are up for a fight and that’s what we want to show again on Tuesday against Everton. It has strengthened our belief that we can do it (finish in the top four), but we will go with the right focus against Everton and we know what is at stake. We will really go for it.” Arsene Wenger insists Saturday’s victory over Norwich was down to Arsenal’s character, not luck. (Liverpool Echo)

“It’s an opportunity which we will try and take. The players know that this is a chance, and because of that, there is not a great deal, which needs to be said to them. It’s a small chance, maybe a 15% chance, something like that. It’s not a big chance, but there are not many teams who can say they have even got a chance. We are happy to be in that position.” David Moyes quantifies Everton’s Champions League chances (Liverpool Echo)

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Pre-match Statistic: The 18 goals Arsenal have scored in the last 15 minutes of games this season is a Premier League high. 

Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Everton

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Football may be known as the beautiful game but when it comes to some players that is clearly not the case. For every pin-up like David Beckham there is a few more fellas who just don’t cut it in the glamorous footie world.

The most talented stars have the ability to drive fear into their opponents – but the guys on our list have the extra bonus of looking scary too! In the spirit of Halloween we’ve thrown together a list of 15 players that are so scary, perhaps supermarkets should consider offering costumes of them rather than vampires or skeletons. Sometimes it’s their appearance, sometimes it’s their tendency to lose their heads, or sometimes its something even more sinister…

Click on Iain Dowie to unveil the 15

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Are there any footballers out there that you think should have made the list? I’ve been scared enough putting these 15 together, but let  me know on Twitter @dudeyoungy where I’ll be nervously waiting…

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Everton boss David Moyes is hopeful that Marouane Fellaini will not be sold in the upcoming January transfer window, but admits he isn’t 100% sure of that.

Fellaini has been the stand out player for the Toffee’s so far this season and with help from his six goals from midfield, the Merseyside club are sitting pretty in fourth place going into today’s clash away at relegation threatened Reading.

Moyes has seen top players such as Wayne Rooney and Jack Rodwell sold when big offers come in and the Scot believes Fellaini will require a similar sort of price tag.

“We’re going to be very expensive because he’s such a good player,” Moyes told Sky Sports.

“We don’t want to lose him – that’s for definite. I don’t think we will – certainly not in the short term.

“I can understand. I’ve been here over 10 years, I’ve always worked hard and will continue to do so.

“I’ve got a great relationship with the chairman Bill Kenwright – I speak to him every day – and when the time’s right we’ll sit down and see where we’re going to go.”

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Wilfried Zaha has been loaned out by a third different manager at Manchester United – will he ever make it at Old Trafford?

Zaha became a key member of the Crystal Palace team in 2009/10 and was showing real potential. He won The Eagles’ Young Player of the Year in his first senior season and in the following season he picked up the award again, along with the Football League Young Player of the Year – an impressive start.

Wilfried was starting to attract attention from various Premier League clubs and as the January transfer window opened during the 2012/13 season Sir Alex Ferguson purchased the English winger for Manchester United.

A dream move to one of the biggest football teams with arguably the best manager of all time in charge – but not for long.

Manchester United instantly loaned Zaha back to Crystal Palace for the remainder of the season and he played a key part in winning Crystal Palace promotion into the Premier League via the playoffs. He came through the ranks with The Eagles’ but wasn’t going to get a chance to represent them in the Premier League.

He was still off to play for Manchester United but David Moyes was now in charge. He made four appearances under Moyes for United and he was loaned out to Cardiff City to gain some more first team football. This is where Zaha’s career move fell down immediately, he signed for a team with a certain manager who was gone by the time he arrived – not ideal.

He had a half decent time with Cardiff City who were relegated and Wilfried again returned to Manchester United with another different manager in charge. Louis van Gaal arrived and signed more world class attacking midfielders and strikers than you can shake a stick at. He also deemed Zaha surplus to requirements and again he was loaned out but this time it was back to Crystal Palace. Perhaps two years of his career wasted?

Wilfried is still only 21-years-old so his career is still very much in the early stages. Just after the arrival of van Gaal, he had made it known that he was willing to fight for a place with The Red Devils but I don’t think he foresaw the incoming transfers. In terms of attacking midfielders at United, Wilfried is behind Young, Valencia, Mata, di Maria, Herrara, and Januzaj. And since Van Gaal’s system generally doesn’t include wingers, he was unlikely to want more than 2 in his squad.

His return to Crystal Palace has sparked him to life again and he scored on his return. He’s back where he wants to be and should he impress during this loan spell, a permanent move away from Old Trafford may be in the pipeline come the end of the season, or even in January. There is no doubting that the England international (OK, he’s only played seven minutes – but still) has an immense amount of talent and at 21 he is picking up a lot of experience.

He’s playing under Neil Warnock now and is in desperate need of game time if there was any chance of him becoming a part of van Gaal’s first team plans.

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I would suggest that Van Gaal is unlikely to change his style of wing-backs and/or lack of wingers, so all the while that he boss at Manchester United, there is no place for Zaha. The 21-year-old was left in the dark with the departure of Sir Alex as under his guidance he may have flourished. He’s now been rejected by two managers and hasn’t made it into two of the worst United sides in recent history, although the attacking options are as good as they have ever been.

A shame for Zaha but his move to Manchester United was disastrous and while he may return back to Palace on a permanent basis, he probably wishes that he never left.

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Peter Odemwingie says he will learn from his mistakes after seeing red in West Brom’s first defeat of the season.

The Nigerian striker was shown a straight red card for lashing out at Fulham’s Sascha Riether in the first half after the Baggies had fallen behind at Craven Cottage. The 31-year-old fronted up to the media after the game to air his regrets over the dismissal, which struck a sour note in what had been a good start to Steve Clarke’s tenure as West Brom manager. He told Sky Sports:

“It made things harder for my team. One man advantage is a big advantage. Hopefully when I come back playing I will compensate my team with some good actions and contributions to the next win. s a team we need to bounce back. We are a united group and I had encouragement from my team-mates to forget about it. I will be more worried if it happened more often than one or two times in my career.”

Odemwingie will now serve a three-match ban but is keen to keep his cool when he does return to action, which could be on the 6th October as West Brom take on QPR at The Hawthorns. The striker continued:

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“It is something I will learn and hopefully it won’t repeat itself and next time I play in an important game for the club, I hope I remember this even if someone provokes me or not. That moment happens, it doesn’t happen often, but for some reason I lost my temper and I regret it. Now I’m thinking about bouncing back for my team.”

Crystal Palace manager Tony Pulis was disappointed with the way in which his side defended during Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates, reports Sky Sports.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain marked his return to the Arsenal first team with two second half goals, and ended Palace’s hopes of three consecutive Premier League wins.

The result saw Pulis’ team slip to 17th place in the table, and the former Stoke City boss was quick to bemoan his side’s defending for the first goal, as well as their inability to take their chances.

Cameron Jerome wasted arguably the chance of the game, having a free header saved by Woijech Szczesny in the 51st minute.

“We’ve been to Man City, Chelsea and Tottenham, and I didn’t think we created as many chances today as we did in those games,” Pulis said after the game.

“The first goal was a poor, poor goal. Two players have been caught with their body positions in poor positions and they get a runner off the back.

“Once they get the first goal, you’re up against it but having said that, a couple of minutes later we’ve had our best chance and if Cammy (Jerome) scores then, it might have been a different game.”

Palace take on fellow Premier League strugglers West Brom at Selhurst Park next weekend, and Pulis is hopeful the new signings and injury returnees can push his side towards three crucial points.

“The spirit, commitment and togetherness of the players is brilliant and we can bring a couple more players into it now, which will help us,” he added.

“Joe Ledley is a good passer of the ball and keeps things ticking, but he’ll also score a goal. We need that.

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“Glenn Murray isn’t far away either, he’s going to have another game on Monday and we need goals in the team, no question of a doubt.”

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Tough-tackling Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong has ended his three year tenure at the Etihad Stadium by joining Serie A side AC Milan, according to The Daily Mail.

The fee for the Dutchman is thought to be in the region of £3.5 million. City boss Roberto Mancini accepted that he felt that de Jong needed to gain some regular first-team football: “I am sorry because Nigel was an important player for us but if he is happy, I am happy for him. I am sure he will do really well in the Italian championship.”

De Jong, who joined Manchester City from Hamburg in 2009, expressed his delight at joining one of the biggest clubs in the world, “Milan will be competitive – both in Italy and in Europe. It is a fascinating club with a great history. After having experienced the Manchester derby, I will now get to experience the Milan derby.”

De Jong had made an impressive start to his Manchester City career and became renowned in the Premier League for his hard, dismissive style of play, becoming labelled as “the lawnmower” by his adoring fans.

However, in the last couple of seasons de Jong has fallen out of favour with manager Mancini and has often been limited to appearances from the substitute’s bench of late. As a result de Jong has made just 37 Premier League appearances in the last two seasons for City.

De Jong is expected to go straight into the Milan side for their away trip to Bologna tomorrow night.

You can follow all the deadline day deals on our live blog right here

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The competition for the Premier League’s worst ever signing is a strong one. Names like Bosko Balaban, Juan Sebastian Veron or modern day players like Stewart Downing or Andy Carroll feature strongly in most people’s lists, but that’s only because they’ve forgotten one man. The only real contender for this award is the former Southampton striker, (if you can even describe him as that) Ali Dia.

Yep, Ali Dia is famous in the Premier League for being the greatest conman in the history of the game and his name is one Graeme Souness would dearly love to forget. The year was 1996 and Souness was in charge of Southampton when he received a mysterious phone call from a man claiming to be George Weah, the former Fifa World Player of the Year and footballing superstar. Now any contact with a player that good is enough to get any manager excited, but instead of offering his own services to the Saints, Weah told Souness to check out his cousin, a PSG player who had won caps for Senegal.

In the days before YouTube, where a routine spot check would be enough to tell someone all they needed to know about a potential superstar, a personal recommendation from one of the game’s greats is surely enough to earn you a contract. After all, the scouts at the Dell didn’t want to lose out on a prodigious talent to their rivals, indeed only Matt Le Tissier came anywhere near the word ‘talent’ in a Southampton shirt at that time. To hoard off any interest from other clubs, the Saints offered Dia a one month contract with the club to prove his worth in the Premier League.

Unfortunately for Souness and Southampton, the phone call was a fake. Dia had never played for the Senegal, probably didn’t know who PSG were and his cousin was most certainly not George Weah. In fact Dia’s footballing career before that was no better than the average Sunday league player, he’d turned out for a few unheard-of French teams before unsuccessfully trialling at a number of lower English league clubs. He did however make one appearance for Blyth Spartans of the Northern Premier League where, by all accounts, he put in a remarkably forgettable performance.

So the fact that Dia pulled on a Southampton shirt during a Premier League game against Leeds United is one of the most bizarre happenings the game has ever witnessed. Saints legend Le Tissier has gone on record to say that Dia trained once with the first squad, showing as much skill in a five-a-side game as a man with his feet tied together. Not one member of the Southampton team thought Dia would ever be involved in a match day squad, so imagine their surprise when Souness named his new Senegalese superstar on the bench for the crunch match with Leeds.

After Le Tissier pulled a thigh muscle during the game, the number 33 went up on the fourth official’s board, signalling that Dia would be introduced for his debut. What happened next was excruciatingly embarrassing for everyone that witnessed it. Dia ran around like Bambi on ice, unable to control the ball or keep any sort of position on the field. 53 minutes later and the substitute was substituted, as Souness realised his terrible, terrible mistake, hauling Dia off for Ken Monkou. Leeds won the game 2-0 and the most ambiguous of Premier League matches went down in the game’s folklore.

Dia never showed up at the Dell again, probably catching on to the fact that he’d be in for some serious questions from the Saints hierarchy, indeed the subject has haunted Graeme Souness to this day. Unbelievably that season, Dia turned up in the Conference, making eight appearances for Gateshead where he scored twice, including a goal on his debut against Bath City.

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Nothing came of that brief spell though and Dia went to Northumbria University to study business, though with his ability as a con artist, he shouldn’t have ever had to put in an honest day’s work in his life. The player has gained notoriety in the Premier League and has gone down as a legend in the game for all the wrong reasons. It’s remarkable that a club with such a complex scouting system in place could make such a blunder, but then that’s the joys of the footballing world. However, if you ever find yourself in charge of football club, the best piece of advice would be to beware phone calls from George Weah…

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Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini shouldered the blame for his side’s shock Champions League defeat against Ajax.

The Premier League champions slumped to a 3-1 loss away in Amsterdam, which leaves their chances of advancing beyond the group stages in the balance.

Despite a lacklustre display from his side, Mancini took responsibility for the result:

“I think they played better than us, they played better football,” he said to SkySports after the game.

“Probably, it is my fault because I did not prepare the players well for this game and I am at fault for the defeat.

“I thought in one way and it was very different and probably for this reason (we lost).”

The City boss also confessed that getting into the final 16 will be problematic:

“I think that it is very difficult (to qualify), very difficult.”

The Citizens took the lead early on through Samir Nasri, but a Siem de Jong effort on the stroke of half-time levelled the scores.

Ajax then took the lead in the second period through defender Nikolas Moisander, before Danish starlet Christian Eriksen completed the scoring.

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The defeat, coupled with Borussia Dortmund’s win over Real Madrid leaves City some way adrift of the top two slots in the group.

The Manchester club will host the Dutch side in their next European game.