Week 18

Jozz · Cult Status

Week 18

Bluebird99 · Cult Status

"Too tight to call" - Davies-Evans

Cagliari manager Steve Davies-Evans today gave a press confrence where he stated that it is far too close to call who will be in the playoffs in Serie B this season.

"I've not seen a league so tight in a long time. You literally have 5 teams going for 4 spaces. I think it's fair to say that Sampdoria and Palermo have gone now so well done to them and everyone at Cagliari wishes them all the best in Serie A next season. We are one of the teams now in the middle of this crazy race for a final playoff place. There is one point seperating 3rd and 7th so it really is anyones game.

We are on a good run but we are fully aware that suspensions and injuries could quite easily end our season so we are taking each game as it comes."

Talking about this weeks win at Chievo and his next few games...........

"We are obviously delighted to win this week. Chievo are one of our main rivals this season so to go there and win shows what we are capeable of. We didn't have the best start to this season but we have fully turned it around and the players have been nothing short of magnificent but we know that if we mess up now - it will all be for nothing.

Chievo was the start of a run of 3 games in which we play our main rivals so we are pleased to get off with a win. We now have another extremley tough game away to Catania before a home game with Napoli so we really do have it in our own hands and will give us a great idea of where we are compared to the other teams around us."

On Napolis' win at Sampdoria this week.......

"I think JD will be delighted. I think there will be many, many punters that are curisng Napoli for upsetting their betting coupons. I for one didn't see that coming at all so well done to JD and Napoli for picking up what must be the result of the season so far. I hope that this result will show my players that they are not to be under-estimated and we will have to play at 110% to get a result."

On other results around Europe this week........

"There are a few teams and managers that I tend to look out for every week to see how they got on. Obviously I am happy for my two good friends Mark and Simon (Coventry and Arsenal respectively) who both managed to pick up wins this week and cement themselves in their plans to achieve where they are trying to get to.

Another win for Sunderland too also has made the top of League 1 very intresting so congratulations to Mr Petty and his team. Delighted for my Brother at Reggina who has put back to back wins together and helped them continue to turn things round there. I know he was delighted with the 3 points.

I was slightly surprised with Celta Vigos 3-3 draw with Bilboa but then I think that Gareth might just be trying a few formations and tactics out ready for life in La Liga next season. I have alot of people that I like to see do well and although I may not have mentioned them all, it just means that these results were the ones that really caught my eye.

Sinky2707 · Cult Status

Ascoli Manager Jonny Sinclair decided to come out of the media wilderness and speak about his teams season so far

I'm pleased that we are right in the bunch for the play-offs which was always my aim we might be 7th at the moment but Napoli who are 3rd the teams in and around the play offs keep beating one another and one can get a strangle hold except from Sampdoria and Palermo who have dominated the league

So are you pleased with recent performances?

No i haven't been at all we've been generally poor and i spoken to the players that they need to shape up because i'm not having it with were a joke against Genoa and not much better against Reggina we managed to get a win against Siena albeit 1-0 and not the greatest performance again but i think itll boost confidence and morale after a battling win

You have Torino surely 3 points are yours before you even arrive?

Well i like the confidence but no we haven't won the points yet we can't underestimate anyone look at Napoli beating Sampdoria which came from nowhere and Catania who have been awful for two years suddenly pop up as a contender for the play-offs so my players will have to play to their maximum ability and only then will i be sure we will take 3 points

Which manager has impressed you the most this season?
Well there is a range i could pick from but the top has to be Stuart Wells at Bristol City they're in an automatic spot hes done very little in the way of tinkering what has been an awful team for a couple of seasons into a team that can grind out results Jamie Walker and Mark Rollings have done well as Jamie Best John Brady and Simon Newcombe have done brilliantly in the premiership Simon Jenkins,Adam Goble,Rob O'Brien, Steven Esdale,Glen Whitaker,Louis Galeozzie and Mark Galeozzie,Ross Walker,Stu Price,Gareth Gardner,Paul Janyshiwskyj,Richard Jeffries the list is endless if i'm honest with you haha

What are your feelings with your beloved club Norwich season so far?

Well it hasn't be good for me to hear they're struggling but thatis expected after Dale Price's amazing effort to get them into the championship and Chris Ratcliff hasdone well and is keeping them afloat i think he does need to sign a few more players in but i imagine mony isn't exactly popping out of trees David Healy and Matty Fryatt have been brilliant for them and i hope they can survive and push on next season

We know you would like to manage Norwich one day before but do you want to go anyway else?

Not really although english jobs would tempt be i do have deep feeling for the place even if the weather is terrible i like Italy and i enjoy it in Ascoli and the family has settled in italy fine the only club i wouldn't mind to manage is Cagliari again but i'm 100% focused on the job in hand and these are ifs and maybes as to whether i manage norwich or cagliari in the future i'm perfectly happy with managing Ascoli i have a great set of supporters and a great bunch of lads with me and id be more than happy to stay here for many years to come

You have been relatively quiet in the transfer market of late are their any new signings?

well we do have another loan signing lined up which is done and dusted and will help us a lot and i have to thank the manager because i know other managers were interested in him as for permenant ones after signing Alessandro who is a great lad and we don't have the funds at the moment and me are discussing possible investment but we're not expecting anything to develop from these talks as i know the chairmen hasn't got bucket fulls of cash we're mainly discussing how we can money from other areas of the club such as ticket prices if the chairmen does decide to invest some money into the club itd be great but we can cope at the moment and we are both happy with the players we have

Well Thanks for talking to us today Jonny we hope to speak to you soon

Ahh no problem at all i enjoy rambling on about my team haha cheers

pricey · Cult Status

Price slams Jenkins

Speaking after Friday nights game Real Betis manager Dale Price spoke at his disappointment of the way Real Valladolid manager Simon Jenkins set his side out to play "I think it is totally shocking that in this day and age people just go out and kick and bully players on the football field. I have got 1 player out of this weeks game and two players fighting to be fit and all because Real Valladolid are a bunch of thugs." When asked if it was true that him and his players left right after full time Price said "Yes me and my team left right away I came here expecting a football game if I had wanted to see rubbish like that I would have gone to watch Celta Vigo." Price finally went on to say of his sides chances of staying up now after the loss this week "I think we have made it very hard on ourselves but we can still do it we must win this week there is no getting away from that this is our biggest game of the season there is no getting away from that fact lose and we shall start planning for the Segunda league." As an angry Price leaves the press conference all eyes turn to this weeks game against Levante.

-- Edited by pricey at 16:43, 2008-10-20

-- Edited by pricey at 16:54, 2008-10-20

GarethGardner · Cult Status

Gardner appologises to Vigo fans

Speaking after their 3-3 draw with Athletic Bilbao Gardner says " Appologies to the Vigo supporters who went to our game today. After going 3-0 up we really took our foot off the gas in the 2nd half.I take full blame on my players actions. I let the players have a day off to watch the comedy game at Valladolid (Friday night) and we celebrated our rivals loss with a quiet few celebratory drinks ! This may have caught up a little with the players in the 2nd half. Taking nothing away for Bilbao as they played extremely well after the break,but we are guaranteed promotion now and no damage has been done."
After watching the comedy show put on by the Betis players he replies " If I was Dale Price I would be extremely dissapointed with the comical defending that went on during the match and its a big shame that they will be getting relegated as it would have been a banker 3 points for Vigo.I think he needs to show his players how to wear down teams after going down to 10 men, but being honest Valladolid would have beaten Betis with just 8 players."

pricey · Cult Status

Price tells Gardner to aim for Mallorca

Real Betis manager gives Celta Vigo Manager Gareth Gardner some tips for his upcoming promotion. "I think he will have a massive struggle next season and really cant see him keeping them up. I would say the best he can aim for is getting more points that Real Mallorca even that may be a step to far for the former Leeds United manger." As for Gardners statement of if price was able to keep Betis up that it would be easy points for Vigo, Dale had this to say "If Gareth thinks that it would be an easy win for his side then why dont we find out I have a free week the week after the season finishes why dont our sides meet and we shall see." After that challenge the media are awaiting Gardners reply.

-- Edited by pricey at 17:27, 2008-10-20

GarethGardner · Cult Status

After Prices media outburst Gardner replies " I dont think my team has anything to prove with a silly little friendly against a poor Betis team. If Real Betis really do want to play against Celta Vigo then maybe Mr Price should actually concentrate on his job and maybe we will play each other in the league next season !
Unfortunately a friendly has allready been lined up in England with a tidy tactical manager who would give Vigo a game to test his knowledge against a good manager not an inadequate manager like Mr Price who has seemingly allready given up on his relegation battle. T"

Gardner would also like to add " If Dale really thinks he can compete in a media outburst challenge then maybe he would not have to edit his posts 3 times in 2 media attempts ! "

pricey · Cult Status

Price finds Gardner funnier than Lee Evens!

Real Betis managers Dale Price finds Gareth Gardner so funny with some of his comments. He goes on about Price's lack of management ability yet this is the manager who at Leeds United brought in mega players like Messi and still stuffed up the play offs in his fist season and even though he was backed in the second season by the best team in the game still fluffed the chance to take Leeds up. This is why many in the FA world think he will fail big time next season. Many also see his move to Celta Vigo as a cop out from his miss management of Leeds.

Price also responds to Gardeners comment about the editing of his media the simple fact is when that I write it in word then transfer and you have to edit or it looks a mess and I wouldn't want my media looking like Gardeners posts.

Simon · Cult Status

Mr Jenkins Speaks Out Against Today's Comments

"So Mr Jenkins, what is your opinion of the comments made over the last few hours?"

"Well, it's all ridiculous really. I don't know how or why Mr Price thinks he can put the blame on anyone else but himself really; he claims it was Valladolid's fault that he has players out, but in actual fact it is a fault in his transfer activity and the way he plays his players if he brings in and plays ancient players in most games, what does he expect to happen? If I were him then I would count myself lucky that any of his major players have lasted to the halfway stage! But then if I were him then Betis wouldn't be where they are, would they?" [Jenkins pauses to allow the ripple of laughter from the journalists to die down]

"What was your reaction to the red card?"

"Of course I have had words with the culprit, but that is just his personality its good to have a hot-headed player in the ranks, it keeps the rest of the team on their toes! But in all honesty I am disgusted with the fact that Mr Price had gone out of his way to publicly announce his disappointment and then put the blame on the whole Valladolid team, the card was shown after an honest mistake and to call that bullying is abysmal behaviour on the part of Mr Price but maybe his word dictionary had no other ones he could understand and maybe he should give his media in the good, old fashioned way instead of pre-planning a set of responses after all, it makes the journalist's job better to have some emotion"

"The red card seemed a bit of a harsh decision, and even the referee looked indecisive, what was your opinion?"

"The referee was undecided and it was put down to the linesman I have great respect for what they do and am not going to stand here and accuse him of ignorance because unlike other certain managers I'm not going to shift the blame onto the closest passerby, but I did think he got the decision wrong and watching the VT has only proven my thoughts"

"Mr Gardener has shown Valladolid some support, why do you think he did that?"

"Well, first off I would like to both congratulate Mr Gardener for his turn-around at Celta Vigo he has created a fine team, and secondly I think that he has just seen that a fellow decent manager is being unfairly treated and has given him some support. I spoke to Mr Gardener on the night of the match and we both had a good laugh at the result"

"Any news on the transfer front Mr Jenkins?"

"We are saving our money now until the end of the season, so all transfer activity is solely to gain our younger players experience by loaning them out on that note I would like to thank Atalanta, Celta Vigo and in particular Mr Richard Marsh at Cadiz for their easy and concise responses in regards to loans, and I hope to continue those loans on into next season"

"Thank you for speaking with us today"

"No problem"

CGale · League Player

Last Chance

dirkdiggler · World Class Player

RE: Week 18

Luke_C · Cult Status

Coakey unsure on Man City future

Speculation has been mounting recently on the future of Manchester City manager Luke Coakley. Mixed reports have suggested a move is on the cards since applying for the job at Cardiff City.

The Sun newspaper claims - the Cardiff born manager has been approached by Barcelona to become the clubs new manager after some success in Manchester.

While the Daily Mirror has claimed Luke Coakley will be sacked at the end of the season if he does not hit a top 5 target. Nottingham Forest, Preston and Celta Vigo are believed to be watching the situation closely to get the man who they believe can push the clubs even further forward.

After the speculation we spoke to the Manchester City manager to see what is really happening at the City of Manchester Stadium.
"I have a contract at Manchester City until the end of the season and it does not go any further. I have had no approach on signing a new deal so my future is uncertain. I would be delighted to sign a new deal with the club but at the moment is this not an option available to me. So with any manager I have to think carefully about any offer that comes my way"

"I full believe in this team and next season is the season everything has been building up towards, we have Keogh coming back this week with a lot more experience and next season we also have Anelka back along with Ianelli and Joe Hart so its very exciting time next season. I would be looking to bring in two central midfielders next season and maybe sacrificing a striker but at the moment that is not my call. Either way Im very pleased with the way this club is progressing."

The club are currently in a very health 5th position however it will be an interesting three weeks for the club who have local rivals Manchester United next week and then take on the two clubs below them in the league Tottenham and West Ham who play each other this week.

"Its going to be an interesting three weeks and the games against Spurs and West Ham will decide a lot for the rest of the season. The game against Manchester United is a massive one for us and the fans and we hope to be able to improve on our last game in the cup but they have so much quality it is going to be tough but we will give the game what we have. Sadly Aimar and Navaaro are out with a slight strains and Eto'o is away for personal reasons so we wont be at full strength. If we can take six points from the next three games I will be delighted"

-- Edited by Man_City at 19:20, 2008-10-23