Week 12

Football Academy · Cult Status

Week 12

madhibee · Cult Status

New Chelsea manager John Brady commented on his appointment to the press on his way from Heathrow airport.

"I was suprised yet delighted to be offered the Chelsea job. It was by far the hardest decision I have had to make since becoming a manager but could not turn down the chance to manage in the Premiership. I want to thank the Barcelona fans and board for their continued support over the last two years. I feel that I have left the club in a good position and whoever the next manager is will be able to take them to the next level"

"My plan is for Chelsea to continue being successful and adopt a similar style of plat as at Barcelona with lots of attacking football and plenty of goals"

Mr Brady then hops into the waiting car and heads to Stamford Bridge to meet the squad for the first time.

Football Academy · Cult Status

Blackburn fined

Blackburn Rovers have been punished for failing to uphold FA rules. The Championship club started a miserable weekend losing to Coventry at home. Reaching the half way stage of the season, their suffering was furthered with the announcement they were to be fined for exceeding the maximum squad size limit.

Midfield battler Robbie Savage had been on loan at Preston and the ending of his loan spell this week pushed Blackburn's squad size to 23. The club confirmed that Ryan Nelson has been released to comply with the rules now.

Jozz · Cult Status

Cardiff Manager Jaques Resigns

Luke_C · Cult Status

RE: Week 12

Safehands · Cult Status

Arsenal Manager met Sky Sports reporters for a brief interview after taking training with the first team squad this morning

" We see that your close friend Steve D Evans has applied for the vacant post at Cardiff - any comments on this?"

"Steve is a good manager and i know how close Cardiff as a club are to his heart. What he lacks in physical achievement he certainly makes up for it endeavour and hard work. I know he would be the first at the ground in the morning, and rest assured, the last to leave at night! Personally i hope the Cardiff board use this oppurtunity to grab a young and enthuiastic manager who can really take the club places in the future"

"If i can be of any help in recommending him to the Cardiff board i hope they get in touch with me or my Directors as we have strong links with Steve and Cagliari and can highlight his achievements both professional and personal"

Belizeno · Cult Status

miserable is by far the best descriptive word

Stu · Cult Status

Sevilla press conference

With news breaking that Stuart Price has made it known to the Cardiff owners of his desire to return to the English leagues he immediately called a meeting to clarify his situation.

Is it true you have applied for the manager position at Cardiff City?

I can confirm I've put my name forward as a candidate and I'll have to wait and see what happens. I've never left a club before so this is a new experience for me. When I joined Sevilla from Southampton it was during the reforming of the football leagues so that was very different

Why do you want to leave now?

I have changed Sevilla into a new team. The old stars like Alves have been replaced with new ones. We have broken into the group of dominant Spanish teams and last season we achieved the double and a European runners up place. There is only the European cup left to achieve before I've won everything here

Do you think Sevilla are capable of that?

I would like to stay for the rest of the season and find out. I think we have the players now that we didn't have when we lost to Chelsea last season. Lots of the Italian teams are getting worse and the competition in England is so strong this season Europe might not be top of their agenda

What do you think of the other applicants you're up against?

They are all good managers so its going to be a tough decision for Cardiff. All of them have achieved things at their clubs and they all have different things they could bring to the table

How do you think the fans will react to you wanting to leave?

I had hinted that I wanted to move to England in the future so I hope this doesn't come as a big surprise. I have enjoyed my time in Spain the last seasons and I think the club the board the fans and I have all achieved something here that everyone should be proud of. I know they might be angry at me over this but I never said it would be forever and I think I've put in place everything they need to continue to be successful long after I have left. Whatever happens with my application I hope the fans enjoy the rest of the season and get behind the players to spur them on to success

Stuart Price thanked the reporters for their time and left the room with his assistant manager denying rumours that he was flying to England to watch Cardiff in their next game by saying he was going to watch their feeder club Wolves before flying back in time for Sevillas match

Bluebird99 · Cult Status

Davies-Evans - "Focus must be Ascoli"

Cagliari manager Steve Davies-Evans today gave a pre-match press confrence where he was grilled regarding his recent application to become the new manager of Cardiff City.

Journalist: Steve, There has been alot made of your desire to leave Cagliari and join Cardiff City, What do you have to say to the people that suggest that you're not commited to your current role?

SDE - "I'd say they are very wide of the mark! The simple facts are that I'm not desperate to leave Cagliari but the chance to manage my boyhood club came up and I wanted to throw my hat in the ring. The fact that the sort of calibre of managers that eneded up applying for it show's how much of a desirable role it was."

Journalist: Many people have suggested that you never had a chance of getting the job and were silly to even apply. What do you say to that?

SDE- "Again, I don't think it matters, when I applied for that job...I was the only one going for it and that's how it stood for almost 24 hours. I always wanted the Cardiff board to know my intent that one day I would like to take over at Ninian Park and this was the chance to show them that. I believe that Cardiff have appointed a class manager and as a Cardiff City fan....I am delighted they have appointed someone like Stuart Price.

Journalist: How do you expect the Cagliari fans to react this weekend?

SDE - "I hope that they can see that I am still 100% focused on what I am doing and see that we are achieving things here now. We've played so much better over the past few weeks and it's important to keep the momentum going. We have 2 players coming in this week that I believe will show our intent on getting promoted this season.

Journalist: We know that Ascoli are in all sorts of trouble at the moment with injuries etc, How will you combat the fact that they are likely to start with a healthy forward line?

SDE - To be honest, I'm shocked that Jonny has let his midfield get so thred bare but it's going to be intresting to see how he lines them up. We will continue to play like we have in the past few weeks and hopefull our midfield will dominate this one. The focus now has to be on Ascoli and getting 3 points.

Journalist: How do you rate your promotion chances this season?

SDE - I firmly believe that we have what it takes to get into the playoffs and go on and win them. We have targeted quality players to come in and help us achieve this and I'm sure the fans will be very happy with the players that are likely to come in. Hopefully all being well...We will start to take points of the teams above us and force out way into those playoff places.

-- Edited by Bluebird99 at 20:29, 2008-09-12

Luke_C · Cult Status

Manchester City manager Luke Coakley spoke to the BBC.

Luke it was released that you applied for the Cardiff City job, how do you feel about the appointment of Stuart Price?

Firstly I think its important to state my 100% commitment to Manchester City, I have a plan at Manchester City and fully plan to see this through, and I would only have left with the blessing of the chairman and knowing that I have left Manchester City in a great position. I met with Peter Ridsdale and to be honest it was clear from early on this was not the right move for me, my heart was with Manchester City and our views on progression differed to a scale where it was unattainable for me to take over.

And the appointment of Stuart Price?

I can only wish him the best of luck and being a Cardiff Fan I hope he can bring success back to the Ninian Park faithful because they deserve it. I am surprised at the appointment if I am honest though, and again maybe its difference of option with the Cardiff board. I would have thought they would have wanted to bring in the manager as soon as possible to stop the rot and try to keep the club in the Championship as a priority. Should they get relegated Stuart has already wasted a year and I really dont think its fair on the fans and players who need someone now. Thats a personal opinion though, but in Stuart they have a top manager who is proven at the highest level so lets hope he can make up that extra year.

So now you play Liverpool this weekend, your thoughts are now with that game?

My thoughts have always been with the game lets get that straight from the start. Yes I spoke to Cardiff but that was in personal time and Manchester City have never been effected by this. The Cardiff application was something I had to do and is now over and that is the end of it.

Liverpool is going to be a very tough game but its one we need to be trying to get something from. Its tough breaking into the top 6 but we are trying and progress is being made. We are around 4 top players short from being a top 4 team in my opinion but we continue to build and the future is looking bright.

Stu · Cult Status

Sevilla press conference

Congratulations on that fantastic performance out there tonight. Are you pleased with such a win?

People will always wonder if we go easy on our feeder clubs and I hope this proves we don't. We've scored fourteen goals against Recreativo in two matches so I think that should keep the fans happy and the doubters quiet

Kerzhakov was fantastic tonight. Will you miss him in wet and windy Wales?

Aleksandr is a great player and not many players score six goals in one game. I picked a team that could supply the strikers and he did a great job of putting the finishing touches on those moves. I will have a word with him about moving to Wales at the end of the season but I think he likes the sun too much

Why did you pick such an attacking line up? You played young players in defence but some of your better forward players

It's been a frustrating week for us. I was delighted to be contacted by the Cardiff board with a positive response to my application but we had to rearrange our squad size this week before a transfer ban was placed on us until the end of the season. I had planned to arrange the squad size slowly over the next couple of months so I've been glued to a telephone these last days arranging the deals that I thought I could arrange at my leisure. I had hoped Recreativo could help us but we heard from them today that they weren't going to. I understand their reasons but it was a little frustrating because it meant I had another mad couple of hours chasing up other interest from earlier in the week. I think my team selection represented that frustration a little

I hope the managers I've teamed up with will be able to help me when I expect I'll need them at Cardiff. It would be a shame if the bigger teams who have been Sevilla's feeder clubs toss me aside when I can't offer them good players on loan any more

How do you feel about your Cardiff City appointment?

Very pleased. I wanted a job that would be a challenge. I suppose I could have applied for a better team a Fiorentina maybe but they have a good team already. I wanted a bigger challenge and I think Cardiff can give me that. I want to wish all the other applicants a good season because they were all good managers wanting that team

How do you respond to criticism of your decision to stay at Sevilla until the end of the season?

People will have different views on this. If you had the opportunity to win the treble with a team you built you would not walk away and leave it for someone else. I want to see this through. I think at the end of this season my job at Sevilla will be finished and they will need a new man in charge to bring new ideas to the table. I hope that Cardiff saw this as a sign of my commitment to the teams I manage. If Cardiff are relegated I can promise the fans promotion and a style of football that hasn't been seen by those fans for some years. Hopefully good football and success will ease the fans worries about trips to Nottingham and Sheffield for a season

So you're willing to guarantee success before you even step in the door?

Yes. If I can't give them that I will let them appoint someone who can. I have to believe in myself and the way I like my teams to play

Thanks

Stu