Tag Archives: mccarthy

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Home Nations Desperate For Goals

Ahead of tonight’s World Cup qualifiers we give you a heads up as to what’s going on in the Ireland and Home Nations squads.

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It wasn’t the best start for the Home Nations sides with Scotland leaving Serbia after a goalless draw and Wales and Northern Ireland both losing. Ireland faired better with a late rally giving them victory in Kazakhstan.

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TEAM NEWS

NORTHERN IRELAND v LUXEMBOURG, Tuesday 11th September, 7:45pm

Jonny Evans should be fit to face Luxembourg after recovering from an ankle knock he received against Russia. Evans trained with the squad on Sunday and is expected to start tonight.

Also recovered from an ankle injury is Newcastle’s Shane Ferguson who could feature as Rangers midfielder Andy Little may miss out due to a foot injury. Roy Carroll keeps his place between the sticks with Lee Camp returning home for personal reasons.

One to Watch: Chris Brunt. Used as a winger against the Russians, the West Brom man will be frustrated with his performance in Moscow on Friday. The Men in Green should see more of the ball in this fixture, giving Brunt the opportunity to be called into action where he is most effective.

SERBIA v WALES, Tuesday 11th September, 7:30pm

Wales will be desperate to start getting on the scoresheet in this fixture as they are currently scoring goals less often than Harry Redknapp is getting job offers.  Chris Coleman’s men have not bagged in four games and meet a Serbian side who have lost just one home fixture since becoming an independent footballing nation in 2006.

Despite missing Friday’s game against Belgium, Joe Allen has travelled to Serbia but remains a doubt. Wayne Hennessey, Craig Bellamy, Neil Taylor, Jack Collison, Joe Ledley and Andrew Crofts are all still unavailable for selection because of injury. James Collins is suspended after seeing red against Belgium.

One to Watch: Gareth Bale. With Wales’ current poor scoring form and the absence of Bellamy, Coleman could be tempted to play Bale on his favoured left side. If this is the case, he will come up against a familiar foe in Branislav Ivanovic and we can expect a good battle.

SCOTLAND v FYR MACEDONIA, Tuesday 11th September, 8pm

Allan McGregor is expected to start even though he and fellow goalkeeper Matt Gilks are both on the injury watch-list. Striker Kenny Miller started in the game against Serbia and is favourite to start again ahead of Jordan Rhodes despite his run of good form in club football.

One to Watch: Steven Naismith. After the snore-fest that took place in Serbia last week, someone will need to step up to the plate. As the increasingly unpopular Craig Levein seems to have failed to notice Steven Fletcher’s performances of late and with Kenny Miller running on enpty, Naismith needs to forget his torrid time against Serbia and score in front of the Hampden Park faithful tonight.  

REP. OF IRELAND v OMAN, Friendly, Tuesday 11th September, 7:30pm

Wigan Athletic youngster James McCarthy will be the only surviving member of the starting XI that kicked off against Kazakhstan. The friendly that takes place at Fulham’s Craven Cottage tonight will allow manager Giovanni Trapattoni to have a tinker with the side that narrowly escaped defeat in Astana last week.

One to Watch: Robbie Brady. The Manchester United winger has been handed his debut by manager Trapattoni, who will be looking to inject his pace and creativity into the squad.  He is a confident player who does well down the flanks and he’ll be expected to supply Kevin Doyle with good service.

Think you know better than us who will start for the Home Nations sides? Why not submit your predicted line-ups on our Facebook game “The Insider” – PLAY NOW.

 

 

NORTHERN IRELAND

LUXEMBOURG
Won

1

0
Drawn

0
Goals

3

1

 

 

REP. OF IRELAND

OMAN
Won

0

0
Drawn

0
Goals

0

0

 

 

SERBIA (as Serbia & M.)

WALES
Won

2

0
Drawn

0
Goals

4

2

 

 

SCOTLAND

FYR MACEDONIA
Won

1

1
Drawn

0
Goals

2

1

 

FORM GUIDE

 

Northern Ireland:         LLLDL               Luxembourg:    LWLLL             

 

Ireland:             LLLDW                         Oman:              DLDDD

                                 

Serbia:              WDLDD                       Wales:              WLLLL             

 

Scotland:          WDLWD                      Macedonia:      LDDWL

 

STATS AND FACTS

- Serbia have failed to score in eight of their last 10 matches

- The outfield players in the current Serbian squad have a total of 335 caps between, but have scored just 17 goals.

- Luxembourg have conceded 15 goals in their last four away games.

- Macedonia lost six times in their bid to qualify for Euro 2012, but four of those defeats where by a single goal.

 

 

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Home Nations: It’s All Kicking Off Tonight

This Northern Irish kick off at 4pm, the Welsh at 7.45pm and the Scots are in action tomorrow. Here is PlayUp's guide to the first round of World Cup qualifiers for 'Team GB' . And the other Irish team

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TEAM NEWS

RUSSIA v NORTHERN IRELAND,  4pm KO Today

Manager Michael O’Neill is not short of injury problems with Martin Paterson (hamstring), Paddy McCourt and Shane Ferguson (both groin) all unfit to play. Free agent midfielder Sammy Clingan has been given the call and O’Neill will be happy to have Jonny Evans and Aaron Hughes back in the squad despite missing their last game against Finland

One to Watch: Kyle Lafferty. With a defence and midfield that is starting to look settled, O’Neill will need the FC Sion striker to be on top form if they are to make an upset in a group that also contains Portugal. Look out for Lafferty’s wife too; she’s a former Miss Scotland!

Have your say on PlayUp, the leading mobile social network for live sports and get connected with like-minded fans around the world in the PlayUp mobile App. Download the iPhone and Android App today or visit www.playup.com to play games and for more information. To go directly to your choice of game, CLICK HERE.

KAZAKHSTAN v REP. OF IRELAND, 5pm KO today

James McClean has been passed fit but is expected to be used from the bench with Simon Cox starting ahead of him. Midfielder James McCarthy is likely to begin his first competitive game for Ireland alongside regulars Aiden McGeady, Glenn Whelan and Simon Cox.

One to Watch: James McCarthy. After pulling out of the Euros to be with his sick father, the Wigan midfielder is expected to start in his first competitive international fixture and will want to cement his place in the squad.

WALES v BELGIUM, 7:45pm KO Today

Chris Coleman will be wondering where to start when picking his starting XI against star-studded Belgium tomorrow. Wales are left with little options at the back with Joel Lynch (Achilles) and Neil Taylor (ankle) missing out through injury.

Swansea’s Jazz Richards and Ben Davies will fill in with James Collins also featuring. Midfielders Andrew Crofts (ankle), Jack Collison (knee), David Vaughan (ankle) and Joe Ledley (groin) are all absent too, as well as striker Craig Bellamy who has a calf injury. It’s not all bad news, though as main men Aaron Ramsey, Gareth Bale and Joe Allen are all expected to start.

One to Watch: Gareth Bale. Belgium’s Daniel van Buyten will have his work cut out and may need some ‘Kompany’ if Bale is up for the task.

SCOTLAND v SERBIA, Saturday 8th September, 3pm

Craig Levein has been left with a selection headache today after receiving news that Scottish PFA Player of the Year Charlie Mulgrew will be unavailable for their fixture against Serbia due to an Achilles injury.

Mulgrew joins a growing list of crocked defenders in the physio room along with Lee Wallace (hamstring), Danny Fox (groin), Russell Martin (ankle), Steven Whittaker and Phil Bardsley (both ankle), leaving Levein struggling for cover at the back. Call-ups include Ricky Foster, Paul Dixon and Gary MacKenzie with late addition Christophe Berra adding some experience to the side.

One to Watch: Jordan Rhodes. After scoring 36 goals in League One for Huddersfield last season and helping them to promotion, the 22 year old comes with great expectations. He opened his international account with a goal in Scotand’s friendly against Australia back in August.

Think you know better than us who will start for the Home Nations sides? Why not submit your predicted line-ups on our Facebook game “The Insider” – PLAY NOW

Head-to-head:

 

RUSSIA

NORTHERN IRELAND
Won

0

0
Drawn

0
Lost

0

0

 

 

KAZAKHSTAN

REP. OF IRELAND
Won

0

0
Drawn

0
Lost

0

0

 

 

WALES

BELGIUM
Won

1

3
Drawn

0
Goals

5

7

 

 

SCOTLAND

SERBIA (as Serbia & Montenegro)
Won

0

1
Drawn

3
Goals

4

6

 

FORM GUIDE – Last 5

 

Russia             WWDLD             Northern Ireland         LLLLD

 

Kazakhstan     LLDLL                 Rep. Of Ireland           DLLLD

                                 

Wales              WWLLL                Belgium                     DDWLW

 

Scotland          LWDLW               Serbia                         WWDLD

 

STATS AND FACTS

- Going solely on the FIFA rankings, Northern Ireland were fourth seeds when the draw was made in July 2011

- In five of Belgium’s last eight games there has been at least two goals scored before half-time

- In 15 games since the start of 2011 Belgium have drawn seven of them

- Ireland star-striker Robbie Keane hasn’t found the onion bag in 519 minutes of football for the national team and was last on the scoresheet in November 2011

- Two of Kazakhstan’s last four games have ended 0-0

- Scotland have lost just two of their last 9 games and have scored in every one.

- Serbia have been beaten 2-0 in five of their last eight matches

 

 

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Connor the victim of poor judgement, not racism

The calls for Terry Connor to be sacked as manager of Wolves are, according to The Mirror’s Oliver Holt, stemming from the fact he is black.

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Terry Connor has so far prove ill-equipped for the Wolves job

Not in an outright racist way, he claims. It is just that people are subconsciously less likely to give a black manager a decent chance to succeed in a management position.

What evidence Holt has to make these assertions is unclear. If it is based on the experiences of other black managers then he is, frankly, wrong. Look at the two managers who for most of the season have been flying the flag for black managers in England.

Chris Hughton has taken Birmingham to sixth in the Championship, having previously won the same competition with Newcastle and taken them to relative safety in the Premier League. The fact that he was relieved of his duties at St. James’ Park spoke more of his lack of experience at the top level and therefore the inherent danger that the club would go straight back down. A year later and no one can question that decision.

Another Chris – Powell – of Charlton,  was given the job at The Valley despite no managerial experience (a solitary game as Leicester City caretaker manager doesn’t count). Powell started brilliantly, winning his first four matches, but then endured a horror run, going 11 matches without a win. By Mr Holt’s reckoning, this ought to have been sufficient time for Powell to be out of a job. As it was, with a good board behind him, the Charlton manager has proved to be an unmitigated success.  Those in football always earmarked Powell as a future manager and he is proving them right.

Both Hughton and Powell have proved to be managerial successes because they are good at what they do. Terry Connor has so far proved to be thoroughly inadequate. That is not to say that he might not turn it around. He hasn’t lost his job yet after all. But regardless of his future, there is no inherent racism among chairmen, owners, or for that matter fans, that dismisses the ability of a black manager.

Of course there have been other examples of black managers who have had mixed results. Paul Ince had a fine record in the lower leagues, but it was felt that he couldn’t cut it at Blackburn in the Premier League. Critics will ask how managers are supposed to gain the necessary experience if they are dismissed at the first sign of crisis, but that is not an issue for clubs that are desperate to maintain their status. Ask Neil Warnock if his dismissal was to do with race. His chairman didn’t think he could keep QPR in the Premier League. Rightly or wrongly, it was a business decision.

Like Warnock, white managers have hardly been immune to the quick fire chop over the years. One only has to think back to another Charlton example for possibly the worst manager in top flight history. When Les Reed was appointed following Iain Dowie’s sacking, he came with a reputation as an excellent coach. This didn’t transfer to management as he won only one of his matches during his six weeks in charge, including a defeat to League Two Wycombe in the Carling Cup. Reed was, frankly, incapable.

David Platt was someone of whom bright things were expected as a manager, but two disastrous roles – relegating Sampdoria and managing Nottingham Forest to Division One mediocrity – displayed that he just wasn’t up to the task.  Simple as that. He is now ably assisting Roberto Mancini at Manchester City.

In the same way that there have been successful black managers, there have been unsuccessful white ones. It is not a race issue. It is a quality issue. The lack of black managers in football does need to be addressed, but where is the sense in employing a black manager, and continuing to do so, regardless of his suitability for the job?  It wouldn’t happen in your local Tesco, so it shouldn’t happen at your club.

If Terry Connor is sacked by Wolves, it will because he wasn’t good enough for the job. His appointment in the first place ought to be questioned, given the glaring lack of experience.  He inherited a poor squad, with no evidence that he would achieve better results than the man he replaced, Mick McCarthy.  If Steve Bruce, the one man who supposedly wanted the Wolves job, had got it and gone on the run Connor had, people would have called for his head.  As it is, Bruce must be sitting back delighted, gleefully unemployed.

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McCarthy pays the price as frustration grows amongst fans

Quick-fix needed from new man if Wolves are to keep their Premier League status

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By Mihir Bose,

Wolves have to come to terms with reality.

The old saying goes that when fans shout, “sack the manager”, the board does nothing. But when they start shouting, “sack the board”, the board sacks the manager.

The hierarchy at Molineux may deny that is the case. But that is undoubtedly what happened after the defeat at the hands of West Bromwich Albion at the weekend. There was a fan demonstration against the board and Mick McCarthy, manager for five and a half years, had to go. The Wolves denial on this must be taken with a large pinch of salt.

McCarthy’s departure has produced the usual regret such football sackings do and the familiar speculation as to who might take over. But whoever does, the larger question for the board and the fans is, can Wolves come to terms with reality? Where does this once great club fit into the set up of the Premiership? Indeed, does it fit in at all?

Wolves pedigree cannot be denied. This is a club whose great past helped create our present. It was Wolves triumphs in Europe at club level immediately after the war that led to the English claiming that Wolves were the champions of Europe. The response came from the French, indeed from two French journalists. They suggested the idea of a European Cup to determine the real champions of Europe. Not only did it prove a winner, but it also showed that we journalists do not just pry into other people’s lives, but can come up with worthwhile, workable projects.

The tragedy for Wolves has been that while their deeds may have prompted a European institution that has proved more long lasting than many others, on the economic front they have not benefited from it. Their decline has been long and painful and they have just not discovered a route back to that glorious, but now sepia coloured past.

It is interesting that some Wolves fans are realistic enough to accept that. As Andy Sahota, chairman of Punjabi Wolves, which claims to be the biggest ethnic supporters group in Europe, put it to me, “We were famous and we are not famous any more and we are not going to recreate those days.” Sahota, who first went to Molineux as a five-year-old perched on the shoulder of his uncle, confesses that, “Not many fans share my realism. Expectation levels are very high.”

However, he probably reflects the views of his fellow fans when he acknowledges that “the manager did a fantastic job with the resources we had”. But he had to go. “Everything got stale and he could not take us any further after five and a half years.”

McCarthy lost his job after the 5-1 home humbling by West Brom

Having stayed up on the last day of last season, the criticism against McCarthy is that he bought journeymen who were squad players, but could not get into the team straightaway or take the club to the next level. This level is between 11th and 15th in the Premiership, which would realistically be the height of the club’s ambitions.

It could be argued, as Sahota and some fans are doing, that the change should have been done before Christmas. “It is a little too late. We are second from bottom and have to win six games out of last 13. I do not think it will happen.”

An intriguing question is, why the change now? Fans have to renew on the early bid season ticket by the beginning of March. This saves money, but given that the club does not know which division it will play in next season, the board must have thought that not many fans would renew. The club must be hoping that a new manager can effect some immediate improvement, new managers usually do, and that this will help with season ticket sales.

But whether Wolves stay up or not, for the fans, the wider question of what Steve Morgan wants with the club has started. A man who was denied his dream of owning his boyhood club Liverpool, Morgan has been building at Molineaux. But this investment is in stands, having knocked out the old Stan Cullis Stand. Fans would have preferred more investment into the playing side, and some fans are now beginning to mutter that he is only there for the money. They point to the land he has bought round the ground and an old school near the training ground where houses are to be developed. But then, he is a builder by profession and the accusations being made may well be unjustified.

The problem is, unless a new manager can quickly find Wolves a secure place in the Premiership, these voices will grow. Unfair they may be, but they reflect modern football.

Follow Mihir on Twitter @mihirbose

 

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Good Week – Bad Week

Who's gone up and who's gone down in football during the last seven days

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Good Week

Harry Redknapp

Rarely can emotions have fluctuated so quickly between despair, relief, and excitement. On Wednesday morning, Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp was looking at criminal conviction. By the evening he was the bookies favourite to fill the vacated England managers job.

The week started with the conclusion of the trial into tax evasion which eventually went into its 13th day. At times it had been light-hearted, at others it was deeply emotional.

The dust had barely settled by the time Fabio Capello had left FA headquarters having handed in his resignation. In the end it was the John Terry captaincy row that broke the camel’s back, but judging by press and supporter reaction since, any excuse would have done.

As speculation mounted on the Italian’s successor, Redknapp readied his side for their match against Newcastle in the Premier League. Two goals in the first 10 minutes set up a majestic 5-0 win, including two goals for new signing Louis Saha. It seems Harry has something of the Midas touch.

Wayne Rooney

Once a Blue, always a Blue. Well, maybe not in terms of club affiliation, but when it comes to hating Liverpool, Wayne Rooney could have no better past or present. The Manchester United talisman struck twice against his biggest rivals to fire Sir Alex Ferguson’s team to a 2-1 win. No doubt that result put a smile on the face of the Everton fans who used to adore him.

Gus Poyet

Another late goal, another three points for Brighton and Hove Albion. Unbeaten in nine matches since the turn of the year, the Seagulls have made their way up to eighth in the Championship, just two points off the play-offs. They also have an FA Cup fifth round tie with Liverpool to look forward to on Saturday.

Bad Week

Luis Suarez and Kenny Dalglish

Saturday was always going to be a volatile day at Old Trafford. The first meeting between Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra since the race row of 2011 was being played down by both camps, but before kick off the row had ignited yet again.

The reputation of Luis Suarez was hardly soaring as it was, but following his refusal to shake the hand of Evra in the pre-match pleasantries, it dipped even lower.

Kenny Dalglish has been dragged down by the whole sorry affair. From epitomizing everything that Liverpool stood for in a positive sense, Dalgish has now become the Anfield apologist, seemingly condoning racism and defending his striker throughout it all.

Saturday’s refusal to admit seeing the ‘non-shake’ plunged Dalglish further into the viewing publics disdain, and although both the manager and the player have now issued apologies for their behaviour on Saturday, the damage in the eyes of many will already done. Hopefully now everyone, including the protagonists, can move on. After all, it has marred what was an enthralling game.

Mick McCarthy

Not strictly last week, but his sacking this morning was the direct result of last week’s result. Mick McCarthy’s Wolves had only one win in nine outings before yesterday when they welcomed Black Country rivals West Brom to Molineux. Two hours later, following a 5-1 mauling which could have been worse, the writing was on the wall for the former Republic of Ireland manager.

Andre Villas-Boas

His boss had been on the training ground overseeing his work all week, so last thing Andre Villas-Boas would have wanted was a poor performance and a defeat at Goodison Park. Unfortunately, David Moyes and Everton didn’t feel like playing ball and outplayed Chelsea for the majority of the game. Villas-Boas has a defender who can’t defend, a striker who can’t score and a boss who is set to appear on the training ground again this week. All is not well at the Bridge.

 

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