Many of us like to think of ourselves as great football managers who could do a better job than a lot of those in the world of football. This is purely down to our exploits in management games like Championship Manager. Being good in the virtual world doesn’t automatically translate to the real world though, just ask some virtual stars who fell by the wayside when it came to stepping on the pitch.
Cited as a decisive factor in over 30 divorce cases, the addictive Championship Manager (later Football Manager) series successfully managed to develop a cult status amongst football fans the world over. Aside from its groundbreaking eschewal of graphics in favour of text, the series gained infamy for its ability to predict the promising futures of top players before they became famous, having foreseen the development of the likes of Fernando Torres and Wayne Rooney years before the pair gained widespread notoriety.
However, the series is equally as infamous for its ability to unearth duds. The following cult heroes are indicative of when Championship Manager has gotten it wrong, as all of these virtual sensations have found footballing success elusive…
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Click on the image below to see some of Championship Manager’s cult heroes
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Having brought you some of Football’s most offensive sayings, here are arguably the 25 stupidest quotes to ever grace our game. Footballers aren’t exactly known for their brains, but some of the commentators have no excuse:
25. Phil Neville – The Brazilians were South American, and the Ukranians will be more European.
24. Lawrie McMenemy – When you are 4-0 up you should never lose 7-1.
23. Terry Venables – If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing.
22. Ian Rush – I couldn’t settle in Italy, it was like living in a foreign country.
21. Barry Venison – I always used to put my right boot on first, and then obviously my right sock.
20. Ruud Gullit – We must have had 99 per cent of the match. It was the other three per cent that cost us.
19. Paul Gascoigne – I’ve had 14 bookings this season – 8 of which were my fault, but 7 of which were disputable.
18. Glenn Hoddle – When a player gets to 30, so does his body.
17. Bryan Robson – It wasn’t going to be our day on the night.
16. David Coleman – If that had gone in, it would have been a goal.
15. Alan Green – It was the game that put the Everton ship back on the road.
14. Ugo Ehiogu – I’m as happy as I can be – but I have been happier.
13. Kevin Keegan – Argentina won’t be at Euro 2000 because they’re fromSouth America.
12. Alan Ball – I don’t believe in luck… but I do believe you need it.
11. Mark Viduka – I would not be bothered if we lost every game as long as we won the league.
10. Tom Ferrie – Dumbarton player Steve McCahill has limped off with a badly cut forehead.
9. Vinnie Jones – Winning doesn’t really matter as long as you win.
8. Stuart Pearce – I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel.
7. Peter Jones – Sporting Lisbon in their green and white hoops, looking like a team of zebras.
6. Jonathan Woodgate – Leeds is a great club and it’s been my home for years, even though I live in Middlesbrough.
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5. Ron Atkinson – Well, Clive, it’s all about the two M’s – movement and positioning.
4. Metro Radio – Julian Dicks is everywhere. It’s like they’ve got eleven Dicks on the field.
3. Mark Draper – I’d like to play for an Italian club, like Barcelona.
2. David Beckham – I definitely want Brooklyn to be christened, but I don’t know into what religion yet.
1. Ron Greenwood – Playing with wingers is more effective against European sides like Brazil, than English sides like Wales.
Fabio Capello's son has reiterated why the England manager is so cross about the publication of the Capello Index website.
The Italian reacted furiously on Saturday when his controversial World Cup player ratings were published on the internet and demanded that the Index be removed from the internet immediately.
However, as it stands, the Index remains online.
Capello's son Pierfilippo, who acts as his father's agent, told The Sun:"Fabio is very sorry and upset this has happened. We had told the FA there would not be any ratings appearing on any of the England players.
"So to find out that the opposite has happened just a day later was something we were unhappy about.
"There is no commercial value in this to Fabio – he was just interested to see and compare how the statistics would compare with his own evaluations.
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"These are not Fabio's ratings and we are now looking to have his name removed from the title."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Juventus have confirmed that they have agreed a fee in excess of five million euros for the transfer of Denmark international midfielder Christian Poulsen to Liverpool.
The 30-year-old is set to join the Reds as a replacement for Javier Mascherano, having spent the last two seasons with the Serie A club.
He previously enjoyed successful spells in Spain with Sevilla and Germany with Schalke.
Meanwhile, Mascherano has spoken of his desire to seek a fresh challenge away from Anfield.
He told Sky Sports after Argentina's 1-0 win over the Republic of Ireland:"The only thing I want to say is I don't have nothing against the Liverpool supporters, the Liverpool people.
"My problem is not to play for Liverpool. I'm very proud to play for Liverpool. It's another thing.
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"I said to Roy Hodgson that maybe for my life I prefer to change the country, not to change the club – that is the fact."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
It’s only natural that after investing huge sums of money in their players, clubs are prepared to offer a little patience. However, it doesn’t last forever. The supporters are normally fractious before the manager and if a player goes through a season of constantly be groaned at by the crowd then that is a reasonable indication that they need to improve. Every club has these players and there are a number of factors that decide how much time they’ll be given.
How important their role is, whether the club has other options, how rich the club is and how much was spent on a player all impact the lengths a club are willing to go in order to facilitate a return to form for a player. Though, every club has their breaking point and these ten players are really pushing their luck.
Click on Abou Diaby to unveil the 10
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Follow me on Twitter @H_Mackay
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Sir Alex Ferguson would be delighted with a professional showing from his Manchester United after their debacle in midweek. It was important 3pts for the Red Devils as they look to stay with the pace at the top of the Premier League.
At FFC this week there’s been plenty of United blogs that include the Pogba conundrum; in defence of David De Gea, while the curse of the Rio Ferdinand model.
We also have a selection of the best United blogs from across the web.
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The curse of the Rio Ferdinand model
Caption Competition: A Nemanja Nightmare for United
Transfer activity at Old Trafford?
Not what Manchester United or City would have wanted
When Paul Pogba is ready, he won’t be held back
In defence of David De Gea
Travesty perhaps, but it shouldn’t paper over the problem at United
Simply an unwanted distraction?
Wenger set to join Fergie in pursuit of £20m Spaniard
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Call Me Crazy But I Have To Agree With Kenny Daglish – Red Flag Flying High
It’s the midfield, stupid II – United Rant
Blogging Reds discuss Jones, Rooney, Carrick and Lindegaard – The Busby Way
The Pogba Situation Needs A Rooney-Like Response – The United Religion
Documentary: The Mark Hughes Story – 7Cantonas
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Click on Daniela Martins to see her in all her glory
Gylfi Sigurdsson moved to Tottenham this summer from German club Hoffenheim for a fee believed to be in the region of £8m to become Andre Villas-Boas’ first signing at White Hart Lane, but due to a swathe of recent arrivals, is there a danger that he’s becoming marginalised already?
It was seen as something of a coup that the club managed to pinch Sigurdsson right from under the noses of Liverpool at the start of the transfer window, particularly given that his manager at Swansea during that blistering six-month loan spell, Brendan Rodgers, was now in charge at Anfield.
Many observers, and I include myself in this, failed to see the logic behind the switch from the player’s perspective and it was always a risky choice. There’s no doubting that despite the relative upheaval at the club over the past few months that Tottenham are a superior side to Liverpool, but it’s precisely because of that reason that his long-term prospects of being a guaranteed starter are so slim.
Having moved on Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart to both Real Madrid and Hamburg in the final stages of the transfer window, it looked for all intents and purposes as if the 23-year-old Icelandic international was set to become a key player this term at least.
However, since then, the club have forked out nearly £20m on Fulham duo Moussa Dembele and Clint Dempsey and they were only moments away form clinching a deal for Modric’s heir apparent, Porto playmaker Joao Moutinho – a player you suspect that they will go back in for in the January transfer window.
The thing is, you can justify playing someone like Sigurdsson as part of a fluid front four, with Bale and Lennon out wide and one of Defoe or Adebayor as the lone figure up front, if they’re contributing to the team’s forward play, but so far, the former Reading man has struggled. Of course, it is still very early days into his Tottenham career and he’s started two of the club’s three league games, but you have to wonder what role he will play further down the line.
Dembele looks an excellent signing and he possesses that rare ability to beat a man in the middle of the park and he suits Villas-Boas’ pressing style off the ball down to the ground, while Dempsey excelled last term at Craven Cottage in a more advanced role. The American may have been signed in place of Moutinho at the last-minute, but the more logical explanation is to help provide utility cover up front and out wide and Moutinho would have supplemented this, which is a concern for Sigurdsson.
Behind them, so far Sandro and Livermore have been preferred and while they provide a solid platform from which to build, it does appear a needlessly conservative approach and with Scott Parker still to return, expect to see one of them dropped in favour of Dembele. This isn’t even to mention both Tom Huddlestone and Jermaine Jenas, who have both remained after failing to secure moves away on loan.
Had Sigurdsson chosen Liverpool earlier in the summer, there’s no guarantee that he would have been assured of a starting place every week either, with Steven Gerrard and Lucas bordering on the undroppable while the Joe Allen pursuit had a certain inevitability about it.
Nevertheless, I very much doubt whether Rodgers would have been forced to move for Nuri Sahin had Sigurdsson arrived and under a manager who knows his methods and who would have signed him twice by then, he could be satisfied that he had a key role to play. The suspicion that the attacking midfielder was foisted upon Villas-Boas to an extent as a club target rather than one expressly asked for by the manager refuses to go away.
The pace of change is likely, predominantly given the health of their finances compared with those on Merseyside, to be a lot quicker too which in turn provokes a higher rate of player turnover. There’s nothing to suggest that Sigurdsson will still be involved in two seasons time at Tottenham, while the case would certainly have been very different at Liverpool; it looked a strange choice from the player’s perspective at the time, and it looks even stranger now.
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It is still early days in not only the player’s time at the club but also the Portuguese manager’s time at the helm and he will still be feeling his way into things, as he wrestles with changing and adapting the team’s style of play and system. Sigurdsson could have a bright future at the club still, but with so many players being brought in to play in a very similar area already, competition for places will be absolutely fierce and he looks most likely to give way first.
Aston Villa have signed the ‘untouchable’ of Italian football, Simone Farina as a community coach.
The former Serie B defender was hailed as a national hero after exposing a huge match-fixing scandal last December.
Before his heroics, the Gubbio defender was an unknown quantity, when a former Roma team mate offered him £160,000, twice his annual salary to throw an Italian cup tie against Cesena.
Due to his revelations he helped sentenced 17 people to jail, and received an award from FIFA chief Sepp Blatter.
Farina was likened to legendary American cop Eliot Ness, who led an incorruptible team of agents dubbed the untouchables as he stood up to the match fixers.
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Villa boss, Paul Lambert is now hoping that Farina can turn from hero to Villan, as he has offered the former defender a chance to work with youngsters to set a good example as they come up through the ranks at the Premier League club.
Borussia Dortmund losing, Hamburg winning, and Bayern Munich exercising caution in comments to the press – these events have been rare recently but all three took place over the course of a curious weekend in the Bundesliga. Curious because Borussia Dortmund had gone 31 league games unbeaten. Curious because Hamburg have been, as the Guardian’s Raphael Honigstein has put it, the worst side in the league so far and curious because Bayern Munich just don’t do caution.
It doesn’t end there either because newly promoted Eintracht Frankfurt, a side albeit not unfamiliar to the Bundesliga, are level with Bayern on top of the table, boasting a 100% record too. This was after they became the first promoted side to win their opening four games, by winning at Nuremberg on Friday night.
Substitute Erwin Hoffer gave the Eagles the lead, only to be eclipsed by his teammate Takashi Inui who scored a superb second goal. The man from Japan cut inside on the left, beat a few players, before planting it into the bottom corner of Raphael Schӓfer’s goal. No wonder people continue to rave about the Japanese influence in the Bundesliga, even after Shinji Kagawa’s summer exit. Hiroshi Kiyotake (Japanese) set up Sebastian Polter for what turned out to be a consolation for Nuremberg as Eintracht Frankfurt held on. Their coach Armin Veh won the Bundesliga with Stuttgart in 2007 but he admitted on Friday that more difficult times might lie ahead.
Bayern Munich were treading a similar line, even after their 2-0 win at Schalke on Saturday. The home side had their chances in the first half but were punished by Bayern Munich early in the second. Toni Kroos and Thomas Müller scored the goals which ensured the Bavarians have four wins from four. “Just because we are currently ahead of Dortmund does not mean we will automatically win the league,” warned Arjen Robben. Bayern Munich director Karl-Heinz Rummenigge echoed this. “We cannot allow euphoria. Last season, we were eight points clear of Dortmund, and we know how it all ended.”
Still, the Bundesliga’s record Champions have looked clinical so far this season whilst the current Champions haven’t exactly raced out of the blocks. For whilst Borussia Dortmund were 31 games unbeaten before Saturday, their performances just haven’t been on the same level as they were at the end of last season. Nevertheless, you’d have expected to see BVB pick up three points against a Hamburg side that have been woeful to date.
This didn’t happen though as HSV managed to secure the most unlikely of victories. Son Heung-Min gave the home team the lead after a great cross from returning Hamburg hero Rafael van der Vaart. Dortmund equalised through a fortunate Ivan Perisic effort just 24 seconds after half time and it was at this point, you’d have expected the northerners to crumble, but not so. Five minutes later, some poor goalkeeping from Roman Weidenfeller allowed Ivo Ilicevic to grab a second for Thorsten Fink’s side on the break. Soon after, it wasn’t inappropriate to say that Hamburg were walking on “Sonshine” as the Korean scored a brilliant third, unleashing a cracking effort into the corner from 25 yards. Perisic pulled another back for Dortmund but despite plenty of chances and pressure, keeper René Adler stood firm for Hamburg as they clinched their first win of the season.
In the context of the Bundesliga as a whole, Hamburg overcoming Borussia Dortmund isn’t a big deal but in the context of this season, it’s huge. BILD proclaimed (perhaps prematurely) that Hamburg “is a happy family again,” whilst Jürgen Klopp was understandably unhappy with his side’s performance. “That was really s***y,” was his rather honest reaction to Dortmund’s first defeat in just over a year, leaving the Champions five points behind Bayern and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Borussia Dortmund won’t panic. After all, they’re no stranger to early season defeats having endured three in their first six games during the last campaign. A trip to high flying Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday will be a good test of their character but Bayern Munich will be delighted with the position they’re in. Their summer of spending has been justified so far with new players such as Mandzukic and Shaqiri showing Bayern have a new level of strength in depth – something they missed dearly last season. Yet, his weekend is likely to be the first of a few twists in this year’s Bundesliga title race. Bayern Munich certainly have the edge, for now.
For more on the Bundesliga on Twitter, follow @archiert1
Matchday 4 Results:
Nuremberg 1-2 Eintracht Frankfurt
Fortuna Düsseldorf 0-0 Freiburg
Hamburg 3-2 Borussia Dortmund
Mainz 2-0 Augsburg
Schalke 0-2 Bayern Munich
Wolfsburg 1-1 Fürth
Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 Gladbach
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After Cristiano Ronaldo stated that he was feeling sad this week, all sorts of wild rumours were flying around as to the reason behind this comment. Was it because he wanted more money, or that he was unhappy with Marcelo – his former bromance buddy for voting for Iker Casillas as world player of the year? Perhaps he was looking for more love from the club or as many decided a transfer back to former club Manchester United. Well not only is this about as feasible as Ronaldo being sad because Callejon stole the last of his hair gel, it is also one of the more ludicrous transfer rumours of recent times.
Why a player would ask for a transfer the day after the window closed and to a club who frankly are not as good as the one he is currently at – not to mention totally unable to afford him – is beyond most people’s comprehension. Then again over the years there have been some pretty outlandish transfer rumours ranging from the sublime to the outright ridiculous, with newspapers seemingly picking a club, player and price at random and making a headline out of it. With that in mind, here are the top fifteen craziest transfer rumours of recent times.
Click on Carles Puyol to unveil the 15
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