Cameroon international striker Samuel Eto'o has picked the appointment of Chris Hanton as the driving force behind his impressive form of late. Eto'o had a fine pre-season and bagged 5 goals in a thrilling 6-5 win over their Manchester rivals in the first game of the season.
"Chris didn't click at Spurs for whatever reason but you can see the philosophy he had at Atletico Madrid is starting to shine through our play. He lets us play fluid football and we can attack from all over the pitch. Players are doing things they never did early last season. We play with more freedom now and less fear."
With Eto'o in such fine form and following the Manchester derby victory for the blue side, it's no surprise bookmakers have cut Manchester City's odds to finish champions, although the real test will come in the next two weeks against Chelsea and Arsenal.
After the loss this week to neighbouring rivals Man City, United boss Craig Radford explained that his team still remained confident of having a good season.
We created 15 chances, which is a fair few amount away from home, and against one of our fiercist rivals. I thought we were superb going forward, and really posed a huge threat. Despite our attacking qualities, we lacked hugely defensively!! Having Rio unavailable was a major negative for us, as he is such a commanding figure at the back.
We limited their chances to long distance shots, as out of the 24 chances they created, they only had 11 on target, which in a way I was happy with, but the one-on-one chances they created, they stuck in the net.
Over the next couple of weeks, I will be looking to add depth to the defensive backline.
I thought young Kieran Lee had a great game, contributing with two assists, but Samuel Eto'o was the real star of the show. He absolutely ran our defence ragged!
After the win this week to neighbouring rivals Man Utd, City boss Chris Hanton was over the moon with his side.
Ch..."What a cracker! i bet Fa Radio wished they covered that game last night,11 Goals and loads of flair and crunching tackles just what you want from a local darby,i have to say with ten minutes to go and we were losing 5-4 i never thought for a second that the game was done we just kept battling away and throwing everything we had at them and the we got the two goals we deserved and the 3 points, Eto'o has been Fantastic since i have taken over he is top top player and the five goals he scored were top draw"
"Im happy we started the season with a win as we could not have picked a harder start this season with Chelsea and Arsenal coming up next and to be honest i did change the way i normaly like to play as we dont have the squad members to play the way i like to at the moment but if we carry on getting results like that i may have to think again"
Press...Chris you have brought in Aguero and Brown this week will there be anymore coming in or out ?
Ch..."Firstly i have always been a big fan of Sergio he is a big talent and he has been wherever i have been so we go well together,Brown was really a part of the Robbie Keane deal but he is a fantastic player and will help us a the back big time and provide us with a decent cover at the back. Jemaine Defoe went to Spurs this week and i feel a little sorry for him as he hasnt been given a proper chance under me again, it was just Spurs wouldnt let Sergio go without Defoe going the other way.
" We currently have 4 new players set to join in the next few week and im sure the City fans will be happy with the quailty that i have brought in"
Norwich have confirmed they have given the new Genoa chairman permission to approach manager Chris Ratcliff. Ex-Real Madrid manager Ratcliff is well known to be a Norwich fan but it appears Genoa feel their new owners can convince him to leave in favour of their adventurous plan.
Fans of Norwich will be devastated to see their manager leave. Held in high regard by the fans, Ratcliff has created a forward thinking team that continues to defy the odds and survive in the Championship.
No statement has been released from Genoa or Ratcliff as yet.
An early evening press conference has today seen the announcement of Chris Ratcliff's shock decision to leave Norwich and become the new manager of Genoa. A clearly upset Ratcliff said "When I came back to Norfolk last year I believed then that I was here for the long-term. However oppportunites like this don't come around too often, and unfortunately is something I was never likely to be able to do at Carrow Road. For the new Genoa chairman to pick me from all the top quality managers out there is very flattering, and I hope to repay his faith in me by leading Genoa to a very prosperous new chapter in their history. I wish Norwich all the best for the future, especially their long suffering fans as they truly are some of the best in the world. On The Ball City!"
Blades boss Andy Fletcher has hailed his teams battling performance at Bramall Lane yesterday as a true grit derby.
We have not brought any players in before this game as we have substantial debts to clear. To face a Wednesday team from across the road who have a huge fund of £20m and be able to compete with them is very pleasing.
We aim to stabilise the club, we have lowered ticket prices and I will improve playing positions as and when I can find suitable loan signings.
We have brought in Nathan Dyer from Newcastle this week who will be in the squad for next weeks game. I have an ageing squad so rotation will be key to ensure players like Luis Garcia can rest regularly.
Inter manager Jamie Best speaks to press after mauling at Fiorentina
Jamie, were you surprised at how heavy a defeat you suffered at the weekend?
Not at all, we had no less that four trialists in and were forced to play 6-1-3 and not having our first choice keeper was a big blow. It's not an ideal start but we can hopefully build from here as we have a number of key players and should be able to put out a reasonable side this weekend at home to Palermo. You must also remember that we were up against a strong team at the weekend, Rob is no mug and has built a good team there, he has a lot of depth to the squad and quality in numbers so i think the result justified the gulf in the quality of the teams on the day.
You've reduced ticket prices today from £12 to £10, what's your reasoning behind this?
You've got to consider the state of the team and how we are likely to do this season, and i know that i wouldn't pay anything to watch Inter after that performance at the weekend, so it's just a little incentive to get the fans behind us again as it's a crucial season for us. I intend to be here a while if i'm given the opportunity and completely rebuild the team so i hope the fans can appreciate that it will take time.
Some rumours are suggesting that you were a little disappointed in the £15mil you were given by the chairman after seeing no less than 7 first team players retire, can you comfirm or deny this?
When offered the job here i was told that i would be backed up by the board financially and they have stuck to their word by injecting those funds, now it's my turn to do what i can with that money and to get the best out of the team. I'm sure the chairman is happy with me at the helm as he and the board wouldn't have offered me the position so i will continue to work hard at improving the side and getting them back to the successful times they have had in recent years.
__________________
Jamie Best Newcastle United Premier League
Genoa - Season 7 Arsenal - Season 6 Inter Milan - Seasons 4-5 Wolves - Seasons 1-3
Following the announcement last night that Chris Ratcliff had accepted the position at Genoa, Abu Dhabi representative and new chairman Sulaiman Al-Fahim was delighted. "We got our man, and that's always a great way to start. Chris had a taste of the big time at Real Madrid but showed football isn't just about money when he moved to his home club Norwich. We're so pleased to welcome him on board."
It has been a busy week in the life of a Genoa fan. A week ago they were recovering from the heartbreak of losing to Ascoli in the play-off final. In the space of 7 days they have been bought out by a global company and have appointed a new manager, but their chairman says it doesn't end there.
"The company has already promised an investment straight away. We will sit down and discuss how much we can put into the club now and how much we hold back for later but everyone at the board meeting agreed we should show Chris and our fans a statement of our intent this week. We will be investing money this week so that Chris can sign a player we have agreed to buy for him. The player is world class and will show everyone at the club just how ambitious we are. We hope Chris agrees this player will benefit our team and we hope he can build around this player for this seasons campaign."
When asked about the further changes to the management structure, Al-Fahim admitted the board was going to run the other appointment past their new manager first. "The assistant manager we feel is different. We have someone in mind and we can invest the funds at Ascoli to secure him, but we will be running it past Chris first because we believe all the coaching staff should have the same ideas. We think this assistant will help build the sustainable platform from which we can push on."
Speculation is that Al-Fahim is flying out to Spain this evening to finalise the player signing. While Chris Ratcliff seemed excited at joining Genoa in his press conference yesterday, some fans are wondering whether the objective, hands on approach from Al-Fahim will cause early friction between board and manager. Many pundits and fans alike will be watching on interested in how this relationship develops.
Fans mourn Ratcliff loss
Norwich fans flooded a local radio phone in clearly distraught at the devastating news that Ratcliff has parted company with the English Championship team to move to Genoa. "Dale (Price) took us up but Chris (Ratcliff) built on the success and made our team sustainable. We could stand on our own two feet without being propped up by loan players" one fan said.
Ratcliff's career continues on a rollercoaster path. Real Madrid fans were left stunned when he announced he was leaving them for lowly Norwich after one season in charge, with many Madrid fans wondering just where Norwich was!! Having won widespread fan respect in Norwich for the constant punching above their weight in the league, he has left another set of fans stunned at his career choice.
Despite this, not one fan on the phone in was critical of Ratcliff. While there are murmurings coming from the Norwich board about the departure, it appears he will be fondly remembered by the Norwich faithful.
Norwich targeting Sinclair?
Rumours in East England are that the freshly vacated Norwich position is going to be filled with Ascoli manager Jonny Sinclair. Sinclair is known to be a Norwich fan and it is thought the club could tempt him to manage his favourite team.
However the timing seems to suggest otherwise. Ascoli rejected a bid from the Abu Dhabi group just days ago and put faith in their academy graduates to develop under Sinclair's guidance, stating they were a family club. Sinclair backed his current chairman seemingly matching the belief in home grown talent but these rumours could unsettle the off pitch set up at Ascoli.
Sunderland fans excited about the calibre of players arriving at Stadium of Light.
The North Eye (Local Sunderland Football Magazine) spoke to a few fans about transfer speculation and already completed transfers at Sunderland.
Max Carr said: "I'm particularly excited about the speculation about Phill Neville coming back, i'm not sure if its true but on the estate that I live big Clive has heard from a good source that he is coming back soon. Petty shouldn't have let him go but the deal was right at the time. Thinking about Shevchenko up front with Sahar and Harewood makes my mouth water!"
Chris Kross said: "Personally I think Shevchenko is too old and its a backward step for the club, I will eat my own face if he proves me wrong"
The North Eye also completed a poll for where Sunderland will finish this season. They asked 100 Sunderland fans "Where will Sunderland finish in the league?":
In an interview with skysports the Newcastle Manager revealed he was very confident about the Newcastle's chances of finishing in the top 6. "When I sat down with the chairman Chris Mort and he set me a target of a top six finish and gave me only 5 Million to spend I felt it may well be a unachievable task but after getting a 3-2 victory against Portsmouth without 3 key players (Cattermole, Diaby and Pique) I feels that a top 6 finish is more than achievable. Furthermore the young players I have seem to have grown up a lot since last season which is why we are seeing a marked improvement in Newcastle's fortunes lately. I am also pleased with our new signing Stephen Warnock and he should enable me to vary my tactics from game to game because we can now go 4-4-2 or 3-5-2.
Jonny Sinclair reported to the media today ahead of his trip to Fiorentina
'Well the first week was obviously disappointing because we rolled over but to be honest we are new to Serie A ad a lot of these players havent played against ssuch good opponents before so we have to patient nd hopefully we can get better because we were poor last week'
'This week we have a tough game against Fiorentina who have got a good manager in Rob O'Brien and they just whipped Inter Milan 4-0 so its going to be incredibly difficult but we need to pick up as many points up at home because we know how tough it'll be away from home to get anything but we'll try all we can to do of course we're getting a couple of loans strikers in the next couple of weeks to help with our relegation battle because we cant afford to buy anyone at the moment one is a youngster from a big club in our league and the other is very tall experianced pro who's played for England but not the best dancer in the world if that gives you any clue haha'
Jonny Sinclair also stated he hadn't received any offer fo the Norwich job
'no they haven't been in touch if they want me im happy to discuss with them but the fact of the matter is im here at Ascoli at the moment i have a contract im not going to chase other jobs while im here thats not professional and i have to much respect for my team fans and chairmen to do that of course i've admitted i would like to manage Norwich but that doesnt mean as soon as it's available im going to join them at the moment im happy with the challenge at Ascoli if Norwich come knocking great i'll sit down and discuss it with them if they dont and they find a different manager thats great as well as long as he can keep them up and push them on id wont have a problem with that haha thanks'
Manager Amilcar Vasquez speaks on the situation at Ewood Park
The chairman expected promotion (to the Premiership) this season and we failed.This is due in large part to some wrong decisions made tactically, in the transfer market and other crucial factors.Of course theres the fact that we were missing key players for what was destined to be difficult encounters.However, we are not here to make excuses, and that is the past.I am not used to failure and this season is all about promotion, nothing less.The time for fitting into the English game is over, and there must be results.
The transfer Market
I have looked into bolstering the squad and I am adding experience to our defensive lines and young, fast players up front.Sacrifices must be made of course, but everything done will be for the better of team
Chris Ratcliff was stopped by reporters this afternoon while walking his dog, Rigsby, and they asked him how he was settling in at his new club. Unfortunately Rigsby hasn't picked up Italian yet but Ratcliff has.
"It's ace" said Ratcliff. "I used to be quite partial to a Pizza Hut Buffet, but you've not had pizza until you've had a proper one over here, although Mario looked a bit puzzled when I asked for a Hawaiian." When the topic of converstaion turned to footballing matters, Ratcliff appeared to be even more excited.
"If anyone had any doubts over what the new chairman is trying to achieve here then they should take note of developments over this weekend. We're bringing in an top class assistant manager, who just happens to be British and a midfielder who has played at every level. That will fill my squad up, so once I've had a better look at how certain players perform in competitive matches we can look at shipping a few out. There are one or two players I know I would like to bring in, it's just a matter of how much money the chairman will lt me loose with."
Portsmouth manager Jackie shocked the club and the fans by signing Nicolas Anelka from Man City. Anelka was known to be the top scorer when he was away for loan at Real Betis.
In an interview by EuroSports, Anelka revealed that it was a new challenge for him and he would try his best to meet the clubs expectation. He also hinted the press that he intends to stay at the club till his retirement.
The fans, of course, were excited by the signing. One fan already bought his season ticket just to see Anelka in action. 'I'm a fan of Anelka', he exclaimed. Portsmouth manager Jackie is sure to have won the hearts of the fans.
However, the club management is not happy with the recent loss to Newcastle and newly promoted West Brom. When the press interviewed Portsmouth manager Jackie about the recent losses, he bluntly replied, 'The season has just begun. The team will improve especially with our new signing Anelka.' At the end of the interview, Portsmouth manager Jackie stood up and smiled, then said, 'I have more surprises for all of you to look out for next week.'
Why is he smiling when he lost his first two matches in charge? What does his last statement means? Has he out of mind since he left Fulham? Well, looks like the 'story' continues next week......
