Iffy Onuora, lower league journeyman of the English leagues, is manager of Ethiopia. He is for 442 about his time managing this footballing minnow, and its a decent read.
Latest post here.
Thursday, 9 December 2010
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Rugby star to sign football contract?
ENGLAND international rugby player Danny Cipriani could be offered a football contract by MK Dons, according to the Daily Mail.
Should the fly-half's proposed move to Australian side Melbourne Rebels fall through, the Dons - who have been allowing the egg-chaser to train with them to keep in shape - will step in and offer him a chance to change disciplines.
Manager Karl Robinson said: 'It has been a great opportunity for our players to compare training methods with a world class athlete and for Danny to vary his own training programme.
'It has been well documented that Danny was a talented footballer when he was younger and he has certainly held his own. His enthusiasm has been terrific."
Should the fly-half's proposed move to Australian side Melbourne Rebels fall through, the Dons - who have been allowing the egg-chaser to train with them to keep in shape - will step in and offer him a chance to change disciplines.
Manager Karl Robinson said: 'It has been a great opportunity for our players to compare training methods with a world class athlete and for Danny to vary his own training programme.
'It has been well documented that Danny was a talented footballer when he was younger and he has certainly held his own. His enthusiasm has been terrific."
Sunday, 26 September 2010
Paul Gascoigne name Garforth Boss
Paul Gascoigne has been appointed the new manager of non-league club Garforth Town.
The former England midfielder has described his role at the Evo Stik First Division North League club as "a big challenge".
Gascoigne, 43, told the News of the World's official website: "I feel strong right now. For me personally it's a big challenge. It's whether the players want to join me in that challenge.
"I never knew when I'd get back into football. I want to take the club forward and I want the players to develop. I will give commitment to the club.
"Going to a club like this does not bother me one bit. I love this type of football. It is not flash and the players won't be flash.
"I will get the same publicity at Garforth as if I was at a Premier League club and I don't want the players to get carried away with it.
"I am excited. I can't wait to get in and get started - but of course I will be nervous."
The former Newcastle, Tottenham, Lazio and Rangers midfielder believes his appointment with the West Yorkshire side will not be a repeat of his previous management role, at Kettering.
Owner Imraan Ladak sacked Gascoigne after just 39 days, claiming the former England international was drinking too much.
Gascoigne explained: "It went really well there. The chairman tried to blame it on the drink but it was totally untrue. He stopped me coaching and he wanted to become manager."
Garforth owner Simon Clifford said: "This is not a publicity stunt. When we signed Socrates and Careca, that was. Everyone says they love Paul but nobody does anything about it.
"I want him to be an inspiration to someone who might have depression or problems in their lives. He's walked through hell but he has kept on walking."
The former England midfielder has described his role at the Evo Stik First Division North League club as "a big challenge".
Gascoigne, 43, told the News of the World's official website: "I feel strong right now. For me personally it's a big challenge. It's whether the players want to join me in that challenge.
"I never knew when I'd get back into football. I want to take the club forward and I want the players to develop. I will give commitment to the club.
"Going to a club like this does not bother me one bit. I love this type of football. It is not flash and the players won't be flash.
"I will get the same publicity at Garforth as if I was at a Premier League club and I don't want the players to get carried away with it.
"I am excited. I can't wait to get in and get started - but of course I will be nervous."
The former Newcastle, Tottenham, Lazio and Rangers midfielder believes his appointment with the West Yorkshire side will not be a repeat of his previous management role, at Kettering.
Owner Imraan Ladak sacked Gascoigne after just 39 days, claiming the former England international was drinking too much.
Gascoigne explained: "It went really well there. The chairman tried to blame it on the drink but it was totally untrue. He stopped me coaching and he wanted to become manager."
Garforth owner Simon Clifford said: "This is not a publicity stunt. When we signed Socrates and Careca, that was. Everyone says they love Paul but nobody does anything about it.
"I want him to be an inspiration to someone who might have depression or problems in their lives. He's walked through hell but he has kept on walking."
Monday, 20 September 2010
'Fake' Togo football team at Bahrain match being investigated
Taken from the BBC.
Togo's football authorities are investigating allegations that a fake national team played a match against Bahrain earlier this month.
Bahrain won the friendly match 3-0, but said they were surprised by the poor quality of the Togolese team.
Togo later said it had never sent its national team to play in the game, staged at the national stadium in Riffa on 7 September.
Togo's sports minister said he would ask Fifa to investigate.
But Fifa says it has not yet received any official complaint and so has not launched its own investigation.
The match took place as Bahrain prepares to play in the West Asian Football Championships, which begin on 24 September.
The Bahrain Football Association (BFA) said it had been arranged under all the usual official procedures, and through an agent they had known for several years.
"Everything seemed to be in order until after the game, when we began to hear that some people are wondering about these players and this Togo team. We ourselves were surprised when we heard this," a BFA spokesman told the Gulf Daily News.
He said they had received all the official documentation for the match, including the players' passports.
The spokesman rejected reports that the match was organised by a fake football agent, saying the agent in question had always been "100% alright" and was now co-operating with the investigations.
Togo's Sport Minister Christophe Tchao told the Jeune Afrique magazine nobody in Togo had "ever been informed of such a game".
"We will conduct investigations to uncover all those involved in this case," he said.
Bahrain's head coach, Josef Hickersberger, told the Gulf Daily News the match had been a wasted opportunity for the team to practise before the West Asian championships.
"They were not fit enough to play 90 minutes - the match was very boring," he said.
"Basically it was not good for us because we wanted to get information about the strength of our team, especially playing with many of our professionals."
Togo's football authorities are investigating allegations that a fake national team played a match against Bahrain earlier this month.
Bahrain won the friendly match 3-0, but said they were surprised by the poor quality of the Togolese team.
Togo later said it had never sent its national team to play in the game, staged at the national stadium in Riffa on 7 September.
Togo's sports minister said he would ask Fifa to investigate.
But Fifa says it has not yet received any official complaint and so has not launched its own investigation.
The match took place as Bahrain prepares to play in the West Asian Football Championships, which begin on 24 September.
The Bahrain Football Association (BFA) said it had been arranged under all the usual official procedures, and through an agent they had known for several years.
"Everything seemed to be in order until after the game, when we began to hear that some people are wondering about these players and this Togo team. We ourselves were surprised when we heard this," a BFA spokesman told the Gulf Daily News.
He said they had received all the official documentation for the match, including the players' passports.
The spokesman rejected reports that the match was organised by a fake football agent, saying the agent in question had always been "100% alright" and was now co-operating with the investigations.
Togo's Sport Minister Christophe Tchao told the Jeune Afrique magazine nobody in Togo had "ever been informed of such a game".
"We will conduct investigations to uncover all those involved in this case," he said.
Bahrain's head coach, Josef Hickersberger, told the Gulf Daily News the match had been a wasted opportunity for the team to practise before the West Asian championships.
"They were not fit enough to play 90 minutes - the match was very boring," he said.
"Basically it was not good for us because we wanted to get information about the strength of our team, especially playing with many of our professionals."
Friday, 21 May 2010
Liverpool set to sign reality TV show winner
From the Mirror.
---
Liverpool's first signing of the close season could be a Vietnamese reality TV show winner.
The winner of talent show Vietnam Soccer Prince will be awarded a 12-month contract at Anfield following next week's final.
The show is made by the production company that makes Britain's Got Talent - and features ex-Wycombe and Northampton midfielder Steve Brown as the programme's Simon Cowell.
Brown has put the kids through their paces on the training pitch to test skills such as speed, co-ordination, teamwork and decision making, before telling unlucky contestants every week: "It's a no."
He said: "I am the show's Simon Cowell - I've been the one to tell the kids they weren't good enough.
"But he seems a lot tougher than me. Telling the kids they weren't good enough was a killer. I'd have to lock myself in a room for a couple of hours after filming, it really affected me.
"The series has lasted 10 weeks and at the beginning it was easy to let some of them go. But then when you get seven or eight weeks into it, you get attached to them."
Liverpool's Under-16 side have already travelled to Vietnam to play against some of the prospects, aged between 16 and 19.
A total of 2000 boys were whittled down to 20 to take part in the 10-week series. And now six remain in the battle for top honours, with the final due to air Saturday week.
The runner-up will get a one-year deal at Sheffield United.
Brown, who was youth coach at QPR until last year, added: "Four or five of them stood out from the start. Some of the kids over there have got what it takes.
"I look at them and think 'I have no doubt you will be able to handle the Liverpool academy'.
"The aim is not just to send someone there for 12 months, I'd like to see whoever wins to do enough to stay in the academy system at Liverpool."
---
Liverpool's first signing of the close season could be a Vietnamese reality TV show winner.
The winner of talent show Vietnam Soccer Prince will be awarded a 12-month contract at Anfield following next week's final.
The show is made by the production company that makes Britain's Got Talent - and features ex-Wycombe and Northampton midfielder Steve Brown as the programme's Simon Cowell.
Brown has put the kids through their paces on the training pitch to test skills such as speed, co-ordination, teamwork and decision making, before telling unlucky contestants every week: "It's a no."
He said: "I am the show's Simon Cowell - I've been the one to tell the kids they weren't good enough.
"But he seems a lot tougher than me. Telling the kids they weren't good enough was a killer. I'd have to lock myself in a room for a couple of hours after filming, it really affected me.
"The series has lasted 10 weeks and at the beginning it was easy to let some of them go. But then when you get seven or eight weeks into it, you get attached to them."
Liverpool's Under-16 side have already travelled to Vietnam to play against some of the prospects, aged between 16 and 19.
A total of 2000 boys were whittled down to 20 to take part in the 10-week series. And now six remain in the battle for top honours, with the final due to air Saturday week.
The runner-up will get a one-year deal at Sheffield United.
Brown, who was youth coach at QPR until last year, added: "Four or five of them stood out from the start. Some of the kids over there have got what it takes.
"I look at them and think 'I have no doubt you will be able to handle the Liverpool academy'.
"The aim is not just to send someone there for 12 months, I'd like to see whoever wins to do enough to stay in the academy system at Liverpool."
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
Tony Adams appointed manager of Qabala FC in Azerbaijan | Football | guardian.co.uk
From the guardian.co.uk
Tony Adams has agreed a three-year contract to manage Qabala FC in Azerbaijan and he is in the throes of relocating his family to the country.
The club, who have significant financial backing behind them, consider the appointment of Adams as a declaration of their ambition.
Adams hopes that it will help him rebuild his career after the disappointment of his 22-game spell in charge at Portsmouth.
The former England captain, who also struggled in his first managerial post at Wycombe Wanderers, worked as a coach in the Netherlands with Feyenoord and Utrecht before he moved to Portsmouth, initially as the assistant manager under Harry Redknapp.
Tony Adams has agreed a three-year contract to manage Qabala FC in Azerbaijan and he is in the throes of relocating his family to the country.
The club, who have significant financial backing behind them, consider the appointment of Adams as a declaration of their ambition.
Adams hopes that it will help him rebuild his career after the disappointment of his 22-game spell in charge at Portsmouth.
The former England captain, who also struggled in his first managerial post at Wycombe Wanderers, worked as a coach in the Netherlands with Feyenoord and Utrecht before he moved to Portsmouth, initially as the assistant manager under Harry Redknapp.
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
Lebanon's political rivals meet in football 'friendly'
From the BBC, clicking the link gives video footage of the match.
Rival political leaders in Lebanon have marked the 35th anniversary of the outbreak of the civil war with a football match to show their unity.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri captained his team against a side led by an MP from the Shia Hezbollah movement.
Commentators had to stifle their laughter as the unfit politicians quickly ran out of breath.
A unity government was formed by Mr Hariri's majority coalition and the Hezbollah-led opposition in November.
The agreement ended five months of deadlock following June's general election which had threatened Lebanon's stability.
"We are one team" was the slogan for the 30-minute friendly played by ministers and MPs to commemorate the bloody 1975-1990 civil war, which left more than 150,000 people dead.
Mr Hariri, the Western-backed prime minister, was the captain of the team in red. Their rivals - wearing white - were led by Ali Ammar of Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran and Syria.
Both teams were mixed, with representatives of almost all of Lebanon's rival political camps.
"In Lebanon, polemics is the national sport, and now we are using real sport to overcome differences. It's important to show that not everything has to be politicised," said one of the players, Information Minister Tarek Mitri.
"I haven't played football since I was 17," he added.
Almost immediately, the 30-minute match revealed that fitness was not one of the strengths of Lebanon's current crop of politicians.
The game was broadcast live by several national television channels.
Some of the commentators had to stop themselves from laughing at the sight of their pot-bellied leaders running after the ball and, very quickly, running out of breath in the curtailed match.
"They hit the ground more often than the ball," was how one of country's news sites described the action.
It was not until the end of the match that the goals came - two from 29-year-old MP Sami Gemayal, the youngest member of Mr Hariri's team.
"It's cute and very funny," said Chantal Bassil, the wife of Lebanon's energy minister, who was watching on the sidelines.
"They are not very professional, but they don't get much time to practice so they are doing alright," she added.
Mrs Bassil was among a handful of spectators - most of them diplomats and politicians, including President Michel Suleiman - who were allowed to attend the game, which was held at Beirut's main stadium.
Like all football matches in Lebanon, it was not open to the public.
Sectarian and political divisions in Lebanon remain so deep and tensions are so high that football fans are not allowed to attend matches.
The authorities fear that clashes between supporters of opposing teams could spill onto the streets and soon escalate.
The rival political leaders, some of whom met on the pitch, have failed to deal with the tensions and allowed them to cripple recent governments.
And this is one of the reasons why some people in the capital said they felt Tuesday's football match was hypocritical, even offensive.
"They are capable of having a laugh but they are not capable of solving our problems. By playing this ridiculous game they are laughing at us," said Roula, a 21-year-old biology student.
From endless problems in healthcare and education, to erratic electricity supplies and failure to agree on foreign and defense policies, disagreements between politicians affect all aspects of life in Lebanon.
And few here believe any of these problems can be solved on a football pitch.
Rival political leaders in Lebanon have marked the 35th anniversary of the outbreak of the civil war with a football match to show their unity.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri captained his team against a side led by an MP from the Shia Hezbollah movement.
Commentators had to stifle their laughter as the unfit politicians quickly ran out of breath.
A unity government was formed by Mr Hariri's majority coalition and the Hezbollah-led opposition in November.
The agreement ended five months of deadlock following June's general election which had threatened Lebanon's stability.
"We are one team" was the slogan for the 30-minute friendly played by ministers and MPs to commemorate the bloody 1975-1990 civil war, which left more than 150,000 people dead.
Mr Hariri, the Western-backed prime minister, was the captain of the team in red. Their rivals - wearing white - were led by Ali Ammar of Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran and Syria.
Both teams were mixed, with representatives of almost all of Lebanon's rival political camps.
"In Lebanon, polemics is the national sport, and now we are using real sport to overcome differences. It's important to show that not everything has to be politicised," said one of the players, Information Minister Tarek Mitri.
"I haven't played football since I was 17," he added.
Almost immediately, the 30-minute match revealed that fitness was not one of the strengths of Lebanon's current crop of politicians.
The game was broadcast live by several national television channels.
Some of the commentators had to stop themselves from laughing at the sight of their pot-bellied leaders running after the ball and, very quickly, running out of breath in the curtailed match.
"They hit the ground more often than the ball," was how one of country's news sites described the action.
It was not until the end of the match that the goals came - two from 29-year-old MP Sami Gemayal, the youngest member of Mr Hariri's team.
"It's cute and very funny," said Chantal Bassil, the wife of Lebanon's energy minister, who was watching on the sidelines.
"They are not very professional, but they don't get much time to practice so they are doing alright," she added.
Mrs Bassil was among a handful of spectators - most of them diplomats and politicians, including President Michel Suleiman - who were allowed to attend the game, which was held at Beirut's main stadium.
Like all football matches in Lebanon, it was not open to the public.
Sectarian and political divisions in Lebanon remain so deep and tensions are so high that football fans are not allowed to attend matches.
The authorities fear that clashes between supporters of opposing teams could spill onto the streets and soon escalate.
The rival political leaders, some of whom met on the pitch, have failed to deal with the tensions and allowed them to cripple recent governments.
And this is one of the reasons why some people in the capital said they felt Tuesday's football match was hypocritical, even offensive.
"They are capable of having a laugh but they are not capable of solving our problems. By playing this ridiculous game they are laughing at us," said Roula, a 21-year-old biology student.
From endless problems in healthcare and education, to erratic electricity supplies and failure to agree on foreign and defense policies, disagreements between politicians affect all aspects of life in Lebanon.
And few here believe any of these problems can be solved on a football pitch.
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