Football News And Views

Bournmouth, who find themselves in around £4m worth of debt are hoping that Harry Redknapp can lead a consortium to save them from liquidation after the club has recently been put into administration. Harry Redknapp has said today that he is willing to help The Cherries, who he made over 100 appearances for as a player and spent 9 years as manager.

“I know some people there with money who I’m sure would be interested in taking it on.

“It’s a great little club, which means a lot to me.

“I have always said I would do what I could for Bournemouth and there’s no way I’ll see them go out of business.”

However Redknapp is unsure whether there will be any regulations or rules blocking a move for him to buy his old club while he is still manager of Portsmouth.

“If a consortium was put together and wanted me to be an investor, I would do it, yes,”

“I don’t know how that would sit with League rules. I could put my son in, couldn’t I?

“Hopefully, somebody else will do it, but if a consortium came to me and I knew they were good fellows who had the club at heart, I would get involved.

“I’ve also spoken to the chairman (Jeff Mostyn) and it seems that raising about £1m initially will keep them going.

“Bournemouth certainly need a league team. They have still been getting 5,000-6,000 gates even when they’ve been in trouble.”

Personally I cannot see there being too much that would block this move for Harry although he may find it hard to have much time for The Cherries but of course this depends on what duties, if any he will take up at Bournmouth and I cannot see why he would not be allowed to put his son in to do the admin work at the club. I do hate seeing league clubs face this kind of financial trouble especially when stupid ideas like the 39th Premiership game float about aimed at making even more money for Premiership clubs. The issue regarding the number of league clubs facing administration should be addressed as quickly as possible.

I was quite surprised to read about Paul Ince commenting about his teams lack of killer instinct after they beat Lincoln 4-0 to go 3 points clear at the top of Two. Paul Ince had this to say:

“The first half was fantastic and we created enough chances to win two games but we had too many headers where we didn’t make the keeper work,” he said.

“Second half I didn’t think we were as good but once we got the second goal there was only going to be one winner.

“You need to kill games off. We did it the hard way this time because we did not put them to bed in the first half.”

It is nice to kill of teams in the first half and have an easy second half like England did against Estonia but when the final score is 4-0 you shouldn’t really have any complaints whether you score all 4 in the first 45 minutes or the last. The fact of the matter is that you walked out 4-0 winners and are top of the league. Still it’s better to pick faults at a team that is doing well than to praise a team who are poor. Just ask Nigel Worthington.

Tomorrow is the big kick off. The English football season begins with all the football leagues and Premiership kicking off on the same day which makes a nice welcome change. At the beginning of every season I always like to make my own predictions. They are usually wrong but the great thing about football is that anything can happen. Below is my predictions for each league.

League 2

I am tipping Darlington to challenge strongly for promotion. They have added a lot of new faces to their squad and were unlucky last season. With Paul Ince as manager I think the MK Dons also will be going up into league one. I am tipping Notts County to take the 3rd promotion place. At the other side of the table I think Macclesfield will be relegated but who goes with them I am not too sure. A lot of people say it may be Dag & Red but I think they might just have what it takes to stay up. Hereford could find themselves being sucked into the relegation fight so I am going to say that they will finish second from bottom.

League 1

Before Leeds were handed their 15 point deduction I would have tipped them to come back up. Their rebuilding process has started now and I think they can get themselves back on their feet. It’s a big ask for them to gain promotion this season with a 15 point deduction. I would like to see Doncaster go up and they will be in with a shout for the playoffs as usual and I will also like to see Hartlepool stay up which I think they might just do. The battle for promotion is very hard to call and the likes of Luton and Southend will be aiming for a quick return to the Championship but I am not sure if either of them will. Surely this will be the year that Nottingham Forest win promotion back to The Championship. They were so close and very unlucky last season. It will be interesting to see how Swansea will cope without Trundle but Duffy has the quality to fill his boots. They might just make the play offs.

The Championship

It’s never easy to predict The Championship but on paper Sheffield United should walk it. They boast a very strong strike force with Beattie and Sharp being added to the ranks this summer and they could well get 30 goals+ between them if they are on form. Charlton will also be good but they have to cope with the loss of Bent and I think they may only get a play off place. I tip West Brom to join Sheff Utd in the automatic spots. I think Wolves could well surprise a few people this season as they have made some good captures in the summer especially Freddy Eastwood and they too should get a play off place at least. I wont rule out Leicester either. They have bought in a lot of new faces so they may need time to adapt which could hinder any hopes of an automatic place. At the bottom of the table I think Scunthorpe will go back down and I think Ipswich may struggle a bit this season but they should stay up. Their rivals Norwich will be interesting this season. They have shuffled the pack and will be looking for a top half finish at least.

The Premiership

I think the top four will be tighter this season with Liverpool capturing Torres and if Arsenal keep up their pre season form they will surprise a lot of people. I think the title will go back to Stamford Bridge though. Fifth and sixth should be wrapped up by Tottenham and Everton. Manchester City have been very active in the transfer market but I think it may take their foreign legion time to adapt and I think they will finish mid table. Fulham could surprise a few people (hopefully not Arsenal on Sunday) and they should hopefully not be in the relegation fight come the close season. Bolton could be in trouble as I think they will struggle without Big Sam at the helm. Going down I have Wigan, Birmingham and Derby. Sunderland should stay up but I can’t see them replicating Reading who I think may finish in the bottom half this season. I expect the likes of Blackburn, Aston Villa and Newcaslte to finish top half this season with Middlesbrough struggling. I can’t see West Ham breaking into the top half.

That’s my take on everything. In May you will see that I am most likely wrong but out of all the season previews and predictions you have read I challenge you to find one  that will be accurate come May.

Now that Leeds Utd can sign players again they have not hung about adding new faces to their small squad. First on the agenda was a new goal keeper who they have found in Brondby stopper Casper Ankergren. The 27 year old joins the club for an undisclosed fee. Up front I think Leeds have pulled off a little bit of a coup in landing former Port Vale striker Leon Constantine. He was wanted by a host of championship clubs but he has chosen to join Leeds and I think he will be key in getting them back in to the Championship. Another new face at Leeds is young midfielder Curtis Weston who was released by Swindon in June and has agreed a two-year contract at Elland Road. I am sure there will be a few more faces at Leeds before the transfer window ends as they look to push for promotion.

Leeds Utd have been told that they can play in League One next season however they will start with a 15 point deduction. The club has been in all sorts of financial trouble and have only just got out of a controversial period of administration. It was also reported that the club could not pay it’s players in June and they are also under a transfer embargo. Regarding the 15 point deduction the Football League released a statement saying:

“The Board agreed that . . . the club should be permitted to continue in the League.

“Accordingly, the club’s share has now been transferred. However, it is acknowledged the club did go into administration and has been unable to comply with the terms of the League’s well-established insolvency policy.

“As a result, the Board determined this transfer of membership should be subject to Leeds United having a 15-point deduction applicable from the beginning of the 2007/08 season.”

Supporters of Leeds Utd are clearly not happy about starting the new season with -15points but the future of Leeds Utd was in doubt so they are also grateful of being in League One at all. I have never been a big fan of Leeds but no club deserves to go through all this nonsense. They have gone from champions league contenders to a League One team in just 7 years thanks to bad financial dealings which started with a huge wage bill which forced them to sell a lot of their players and then they ended up getting relegated to the Championship where they were expected to bounce straight back up but it wasn’t to be and now they find themselves in League One where they are expected to bounce straight up but it might not be this season due to the points deduction but if Leeds can put this financial fiasco behind them and start from scratch then they can start their climb back up the leagues.

Lee Trundle has spoke out about his move from Swansea to Bristol City saying that he is targeting a place in the Irish national team. Trundle is now 30 years old and has easily been one of the best strikers below the Championship for a few seasons now but he has not taken the step up until this forth coming season. If he can maintain his record in the Championship with Bristol City then I think there is a serious chance that he will get his first cap. However at 30 years of age there is not much time for Trundle to make a huge impact at International level. In a couple years he may find it difficult to keep up playing for club and country. However I am sure Lee is happy  if he just gets one cap as it has always been his dream to put on the green jersey of Ireland. I just feel that he would have already have put it on if he had joined Sheff Wed in 2005 when they tabled a £750k bid for him. Good luck to Lee anyway. I have always been a fan of him and as long as he doesn’t score too many past Norwich I am sure I still will be for a while yet.