Writing in his column for The Daily Mail, former teammate of new Rangers manager Steven Gerrard, and current Sky pundit, Jamie Redknapp is excited to see the Liverpool legend take on the task in Glasgow.
What’s the story?
Gerrard officially begins his new position at Ibrox on Friday and the eyes of British football are on him as he tries to inspire the Light Blues to major silverware next season.
Jamie Redknapp believes he is ready for the challenge and has admitted he can’t wait to see what happens, writing for The Daily Mail.
Writing in his column, he said:
I’m certain it’s an incredible adventure for him and he will lift the profile of the Scottish game.
He will need to learn fast because beating Rangers is a scalp – and beating Steven Gerrard’s Rangers will be an even bigger scalp.
He’ll be going from the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool to a Europa League qualifier in the back of beyond for Rangers. And as we saw last season when they went out to the fourth-best team in Luxembourg – Progrès Niederkorn – there are pitfalls. He’ll want to get off to a winning start.
There are inevitable comparisons with my Sky colleague Graeme Souness, but these are entirely different times. Rangers are still a huge draw, but they are long way behind Celtic and there isn’t the budget to fight fire with fire.
So, Rangers are relying on Steven Gerrard bringing his own brand of magic and to draw people to the club.
And it will be thrilling to see him try and pull it off. Don’t put anything past him.
It’s all set to be an immensely exciting time in Glasgow, with Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic desperate to continue their clean sweep of trophies and enjoy domestic dominance over their city rivals.
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How big is Gerrard’s task?
This could well be the biggest challenge of Gerrard’s career to date and he’s had to overcome the odds plenty of times as a player at Liverpool.
Celtic are streaks ahead financially and have a much more talented first team squad. Added to an elite manager with plenty of experience then it all means that Rangers are most certainly underdogs next season.
That could play into their favour though and the former Liverpool man must tap into a siege mentality and forge a team that is willing to battle as hard as he did throughout his career.
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If he can deliver a trophy next season it’ll be seen as great progress and while the league may be beyond them, lifting the League Cup or Scottish Cup is most certainly achievable.
Can he get off to a winning start in his career as a manager?
According to Italian media outlet Gianluca Di Marzio, out of favour Southampton striker Manolo Gabbiadini, who is rated at €15m (approximately £13.3m) according to Transfermarkt, is a target for Serie A side Bologna this month, with the player’s agent already holding talks with the Italian club.
What’s the word, then?
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Well, Gianluca Di Marzio says that with Bologna striker Simone Verdi being targeted by Serie A leaders Napoli, they are looking for a potential replacement for the 25-year-old and are eyeing a move for Gabbiadini before the transfer window slams shut on January 31.
Gianluca Di Marzio suggests that Bologna will only firm up their interest in the Saints striker if Verdi does leave, while it also appears unclear whether the south coast outfit are willing to sell the Italy international this month, or are prepared to wait until the summer.
How has Gabbiadini done this season?
Following the huge impact he made following his move to St Mary’s a year ago, Southampton would have believed they had the regular goalscorer they were looking for.
However, the 26-year-old has struggled for form this term and looks uncomfortable when he is asked to play as a lone striker, and he has only started one of their last 12 Premier League matches.
The Italian has scored three goals in 20 top flight games, with two of those coming in the 2-2 draw at home against Newcastle United in October.
Should they sell him this month?
It depends on their January business, but it certainly wouldn’t be a popular decision among the fans give that they are currently 17th.
If they bring in another striker then it could push Gabbiadini – who is currently behind Shane Long in the pecking order – even further out of favour under Mauricio Pellegrino, but the Argentine will also need to consider the absence of Charlie Austin through injury.
Gabbiadini has shown that the can score goals when he is confident and has good service, and that could be crucial for Saints in the run-in considering they may well find themselves in a relegation battle.
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They can get the best out of the 26-year-old, who will be looking to impress prior to the World Cup this summer, if they play him with someone else up front, or perhaps even if he plays in the role behind the striker in Pellegrino’s preferred 4-2-3-1 system.
Roy Hodgson has been dealt a huge injury blow, ahead of England’s World Cup campaign, with the news that Theo Walcott will be sidelined for at least six months with a knee injury.
The Arsenal winger picked up the injury during Arsenal’s 2-0 third round FA Cup win over Tottenham on Saturday and scans showed that Walcott has in fact ruptured his ACL.
The Official Arsenal website states: “Theo has sustained a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee.
“He will have surgery in the near future and is expected to be out for at least six months, thus missing the rest of the season and the World Cup.”
Walcott, 24, has been capped 36 times by England scoring 5 goals.
An earlier injury this season caused Walcott to miss England’s last two World Cup qualifiers against Montenegro and Poland with Tottenham’s Andr0s Townsend deputizing for him on the wing.
Walcott and Townsend were expected to compete for the right wing berth under England manager Roy Hodgson.
The Arsenal man made his debut for England at the tender age of just 17 years 75 days against Hungary back in May 2006.
However he has not featured in a World Cup despite being a surprise pick by Sven Goran Eriksson for the 2006 edition. Poor form caused Fabio Capello to leave him home during 2010 but Walcott re-established himself under the Italian to be picked for Euro 2012.
The injury is a major blow for club and country. Arsenal, who sit atop the English Premier League, are disappointed having just had the Englishman return from a stomach problem last November.
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The Arsenal website continued: “Everyone at Arsenal wishes Theo a speedy recovery and we look forward to seeing him back on a football pitch as soon as possible.”
Arsenal face Aston Villa at Villa Park this weekend who beat the Gunners on the opening day of the season.
Liverpool Football Club will be staying at Anfield after the club decided to scrap plans for a new stadium in Stanley Park reports the Liverpool Echo.
While there has been no official confirmation from the club, an announcement about plans to redevelop Anfield will be revealed on Monday as part of a housing regeneration scheme in the area.
Reds owner John Henry has always had the intention for the club to remain at Anfield, rather than relocating to a new purpose built ground on Stanley Park and the club have now looked into adding an extra tier while also including extra corporate facilities in the existing ground.
It was thought that Liverpool had to leave Anfield if they were to stand any hope of generating the commercial revenues required to compete at the top of the Premier League with the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea.
However Henry has dispelled this ‘myth’ telling BBC Sport that:”A belief has grown that Liverpool FC must have a new stadium to compete with [Manchester] United, Arsenal and others.”
“While a new stadium or an expansion of Anfield is beneficial over the long term for the club, the financial impact of adding seats and amenities should be put into perspective.
“That’s why I say that it is a myth that stadium issues are going to magically transform LFC’s fortunes.
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“Building new or refurbishing Anfield is going to lead to an increase from £40m of match-day revenue to perhaps £60-70m if you don’t factor in debt service.
“Our future is based not on a stadium issue, but on building a strong football club that can compete with anyone in Europe. This will be principally driven financially by our commercial strengths globally.”
Jose Mourinho is supposedly at his best during his second season at a football club but that has not proved to be the case at Manchester United, who finished the 2017/18 trophyless after their 1-0 FA Cup Final defeat at the hands of their manager’s former club Chelsea on Saturday.
Going a season without silverware at a club that invests so heavily to secure trophies is bad enough but the misery could be compounded by United’s two most bitter rivals, Liverpool and Manchester City.
City have already scooped the other two domestic trophies on offer – the Premier League and the League Cup – while Liverpool have the opportunity to secure the Champions League against Real Madrid in Kiev this weekend.
The rivalry between United and Liverpool, England’s two most successful clubs is as bitter as any in this country but some Red Devils fans bewilderingly want Jurgen Klopp’s men to run out victorious on Saturday.
It really has to be seen to be believed but we’ve assembled some Manchester United fans who actually want Liverpool to win the Champions League…
According to reports in The Sun, West Ham United defender James Collins is a £2m target for Premier League rivals Brighton and Hove Albion before the January transfer window slams shut.
What’s the word, then?
Well, The Sun says that Seagulls boss Chris Hughton is keen to add the experienced 34-year-old to his side’s backline to provide competition for first-choice centre-back pairing Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy, as the south coast outfit look to stay out of trouble in the second-half of the campaign.
Even though Collins has become more of a regular fixture in the team under David Moyes in recent weeks following injuries to Winston Reid and Jose Fonte and is a firm fans’ favourite, the Welshman only has six months left on his contract and The Sun says that there has been no word on whether his deal is to be extended.
How has Collins done this season?
The failed to play a single minute of their opening two Premier League matches of the campaign against Manchester United and Southampton – failing to make the squad for the latter – but he then played three straight top flight games before suffering an injury.
The issue kept him on the sidelines until the end of November, but he struggled to earn a place in the starting XI ahead of Reid and Angelo Ogbonna, although he has started three of their Premier League fixtures in the past month – including captaining his side in the 3-3 draw against Bournemouth on Boxing Day.
With 210 appearances for West Ham in total and 50 caps for Wales he certainly has shown that he has that experience and calmness on the pitch, even if he is perhaps approaching the twilight years of his career.
Should West Ham cash in on him?
In a word, no.
Collins clearly loves the club and the fans love him, so it wouldn’t be worth selling him for £2m even with his contract running down.
If Brighton were willing to raise their bid to something around the £4-5m mark then the Irons may have a decision to make, but the 34-year-old has shown just what a useful part of the squad he is in recent weeks following a number of injury issues, and the east London outfit would be mad to get rid this month.
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While him leaving on a free could be an option at the end of the season, they may also agree a deal that sees him stay for another year, but they are much better off deciding that when they know for sure what division they will be in next term.
Pep Guardiola’s personal touch since moving to Bayern Munich is noteworthy. Having had the option of the Javi Martinez-Bastian Schweinsteiger double pivot that formed the base of the Bavarians’ conquering of German and European football, Guardiola chose instead to install Philipp Lahm, a 5’7 full-back, as the team’s pivot instead.
How will Guardiola top what Jupp Heynckes did last season? Well he’s on the right path to doing so. No team in the modern history of the game has retained the Champions League, and in Bayern Munich, there is a team ready and able to retain all three of its trophies of last season.
The point is, dynasties, much like Pep’s Barcelona, take years to assemble. Even those teams who have been successful on the title front need tweaks to stay at the top. Yes, Bayern have spent lavishly on two of the brightest midfield talents in Europe, but tactical shifts have and will be as much of a deciding factor as Thiago Alcantara and Mario Goetze.
For Arsenal, it may not have been too easy to see the making of a team capable of winning domestic silverware, especially the Premier League title. The star names were streaming out the door, seeking and eventually landing title success at Barcelona, Manchester City and Manchester United. But the replacements, while not equals – with the exception of Mesut Ozil – are combining for a stronger, more dynamic force.
Look to Manchester City and the four years it took them to win the Premier League, despite millions shelled out for some of the leading names in European football. Manchester United, too, went through something of a renaissance following Jose Mourinho’s dominance at Chelsea, choosing then to lean on younger stars in Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.
Arsenal’s problem in the past is that while they had great players in Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie, the good never outweighed the mediocre. Instead of leading a good team onto great things, players like Fabregas were forced to carry those who were deemed passengers. One of Arsene Wenger’s great failures as Arsenal manager is his inability, for one reason or another, to help his better players achieve silverware.
The midfield is the most important. No one, perhaps not even Wenger, saw Mikel Arteta as Arsenal’s pivot when he made the switch from Everton in 2011. There’s no doubt that on occasion Arsenal have needed something tougher, sterner and far more defensively resilient in the midfield – a position now held by Mathieu Flamini – but a lot of Arsenal’s good work over the past two seasons was built on Arteta’s discipline and ability to keep the ball moving. Again, and much like Guardiola’s view, it’s about tactical and technical ability over brute force and power.
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As individuals, many in England will be quick to point out the flaws in each of the members of the Arsenal squad. Per Mertesacker is too slow, Laurent Koscielny isn’t physically imposing, Olivier Giroud isn’t world class, Wojciech Szczesny has too many lapses in concentration. Even Mesut Ozil has received his critics, something about being nothing but a lightweight from La Liga. Ironic, seeing as Juan Mata seems to be adored throughout the country. Mata stands at 5’8, Ozil at 5’11.
What many fail to acknowledge, however, is the strengths of each individual and how they make the current Arsenal team a far more likely title-winning outfit than in previous years. No longer do the team have a problem at centre-back; it’s now a modern centre-back pairing who are able to complement each other.
But title-winning teams don’t always need to be littered with world-class talents. There’s an obsession, too, in this country whereby players need to be backed by a large transfer fee in order to be considered ‘good enough.’
Look to Juventus and the shrewdness of their transfer dealings. Andrea Pirlo picked up for free, Andrea Barzagli picked up for less than half-a-million pounds, Arturo Vidal for £11million, and so on. It’s about supplementing the good that you have to a great effective. Alongside the obsession with transfer fees, there’s also an inclination to pick and choose when a club has been clever in the market. Santi Cazorla, for example, perennially overlooked; Christian Eriksen deemed a masterstroke at a similar price.
Arsenal, like those who have built their squads organically, have had to take the long, winding road to reach a point where something concrete starts to take shape. There have been long-standing figures in the team such as Bacary Sagna, Theo Walcott and of course those who came through the academy, and yet in hindsight, the additions made over the past three summer windows have looked smart buys –at least those who have stayed on.
It’s one thing to get carried away by a run of good form, but it’s another to accept that there is something taking shape at the Emirates. Above all, it’s a return to the style of football that had become so famed under Wenger. Of course, it may not show a trophy this season, but following the addition of Ozil and even Flamini this summer, the squad are looking well rounded and far more complete. With the exception of names like Nicklas Bendtner, whose continued presence shouldn’t be taken in hand with the rest of the squad, there are no longer any obvious passengers in the Arsenal team. No Gervinho or Andre Santos; no striker in Marouane Chamakh who is completely bereft of confidence to perform.
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Arsenal are still very much on the road to building an undeniable title-challenging team – another striker and a defensive addition, as well as some form of management for the overwhelming injury list are priorities – but the build is extremely visible and a far cry from the panic buying that many have chosen to label a number of Arsenal’s recent acquisitions.
Is Arsenal’s title-challenging squad starting to take shape?
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.”
As reported by The Sun, Leeds United are one of the teams interested in signing Liverpool winger Harry Wilson this summer.
What’s the story?
Wilson his highly rated at the Reds, having a signed a new long-term deal at the club in January ahead of a successful loan move to Championship side Hull City in the second half of the 2017/18 season.
As a result, it appears teams are queuing up to offer him more first team football next season.
The Sun report that Leeds United, Rangers, Huddersfield and Aston Villa are all interested in securing a loan deal for him this summer.
The paper say Liverpool are looking for a £250,000 fee, plus penalties should he not get enough of the first-team opportunities they want.
Is he a player that Leeds should be moving for?
What does he offer?
Still just 21 years of age, Wilson doesn’t have extensive first team experience to draw too many conclusions from, but did demonstrate on loan at Hull City that he as quality that could be a benefit to Leeds.
He scored seven Championship goals from the left flank, also creating three assists. Also netting his first goal for the Welsh national team, it’s been a big year for the youngster.
It’s clear he has huge potential and already has the cutting edge to be a success in English second-tier, with Leeds badly needing more inspiration in the final third next season.
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Loan deals are never ideal, permanent signings are what supporters want to see, but this is one that could be a big positive for all parties and something Leeds should definitely pursue.
It would be fair to say that the decision taken by West Ham co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan to replace the sacked Slaven Bilic with David Moyes in November wasn’t received well by the vast majority of Irons supporters.
The Scot took charge at the London Stadium with the east London outfit in the relegation zone and having taken just nine points from their 11 Premier League matches at the time.
It was certainly understandable that Hammers fans were frustrated by replacing Bilic – who had been struggling for some time – with Moyes, considering the 54-year-old didn’t even come close to saving Sunderland from relegation during the previous campaign.
His disappointing time on Wearside came on the back of poor spells with La Liga side Real Sociedad and Manchester United, and he had become something of a laughing stock for football fans in general because of his respective failings.
West Ham fans would have been included in that, and they certainly would have been horrified when they found out that Gold and Sullivan were set to appoint him as Bilic’s successor given the difficult situation the club found themselves in.
The players were bereft of confidence, while some were lacking effort and many looked unfit, and others simply looked as though they weren’t good enough or up for the fight – especially in the 3-0 and 4-1 home defeats to Brighton and Hove Albion and Liverpool respectively in the lead up to the Croatian getting his marching orders.
Gold and Sullivan obviously looked at the situation and believed that they needed someone with plenty of Premier League experience who knows how to get results at this level, and they felt that Moyes was the best option on the market at the time.
Considering former Irons bosses Sam Allardyce and Alan Pardew were two of the other options, it is of little surprise that they opted to ignore those two and opt for the Scot.
While the West Ham supporters didn’t necessarily agree with the appointment, they need that they needed to pull together and support him, and that is what they tried to do even though a 2-0 defeat to Watford in Moyes’ opening match in charge wouldn’t have done anything to boost their belief.
The team was much-improved – in the second-half at least – against Leicester City at the London Stadium next time out, but then came the result and performance that suggested that the owners had got it all wrong, and that the supporters were right.
The Irons were beaten 4-0 by an Everton side at Goodison Park that had just suffered successive 5-1 and 4-1 defeats against Atalanta and Southampton respectively, and with matches against runaway leaders Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal following that humiliation the fans understandably thought they were going down.
Moyes does know how to get results consistently at this level though – as he showed during his 11 years with the Toffees – and not only did he manage to pick up four points from three difficult fixtures that looked like they would yield none on paper, his side then beat Stoke City 3-0 away from home last weekend.
Three clean sheets in a row and seven points from the last nine available have suddenly lifted the Irons away from the bottom three and the mood around the whole club, and they host a Newcastle side that have lost eight of their last nine games on Saturday.
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It did take a few games, but West Ham finally have something more of an identity and all 11 of the players on the pitch know their role in the side, and they are now getting their reward on the pitch.
While the supporters won’t be quick to dish out any praise to their controversial owners given what has happened in the past, there are certainly some that will need to eat a slice of humble pie and admit they were wrong if the impressive performances and results continue over the festive period.
David Gold and David Sullivan have got plenty of things wrong since they became owners, but the decision to appoint Moyes may not only be the one that ensures they preserve the Premier League status that was slipping away from them, but it could also be the one that begins to repair the bad relationship and lack of trust that currently exists between them and the fans.