Posts Tagged ‘Fa Cup Final’

Gerrard’s title frustration

Everton suffer £6.7m loss despite record turnover

• Increase in player wages central to disappointing figures
• Club still keen to build new stadium after Kirkby rejection

The cost of Everton’s pursuit of Champions League football was exposed today as the club posted a record turnover of £79.7m for last season yet still suffered an overall operating loss of £6.7m. The figures come less than a week after the club’s long-term future under Bill Kenwright and David Moyes was placed in doubt by the government’s rejection of a proposed stadium move to Kirkby.

The club’s latest financial results are for the year ending 31 May 2009 and Everton’s most productive season in over a decade; courtesy of a second successive fifth-placed finish in the Premier League plus an FA Cup final appearance. The increase in broadcasting revenue and gate receipts helped produce a record company turnover, up £4m and 5.3% on the previous year, plus an operating profit of £6.3m excluding player trading. A rise in the wage bill to £49.1m, however, an increase from 59% to 62% as a proportion of turnover, and the inclusion of the amortisation of players’ registrations of £13m led to the overall loss of £6.7m.

Everton paid a club record £15m to Standard Liège in August 2008 for Marouane Fellaini, although recouped a potential £10.5m from Fulham through the sale of Andy Johnson in the same month. The full financial picture, including club debts and overall loss, has not yet been filed at Companies House.

Today’s figures show Everton reinvested most of their additional revenue into Moyes’ squad as they sought to maintain progress under their astute manager. But the record turnover at Goodison Park undermines the club’s argument that Everton had to leave its historic home for Kirkby to survive. Kenwright, the Everton owner, had admitted the club’s involvement in the “Destination Kirkby” project was over, although Tesco – whose plan for a huge retail development around the stadium was also rejected last week – and Knowsley Borough Council may attempt to resubmit a smaller commercial proposal for the town.

Everton and Liverpool City Council are now expected to meet to discuss possible stadium options, with the council vociferous in its objection to Kirkby and adamant an alternative site could be found within the city. A shared stadium with Liverpool is not on the Anfield club’s agenda.

“As has always been the case, David Moyes was fully supported by myself and by my fellow board members,” said Kenwright in a statement. “He remains the single most important figure at the club and we all strive – on a daily basis – to provide him with the tools he believes are necessary if we are to continue to evolve and develop into a genuine, meaningful force within both English and European football.

“Our wonderful FA Cup run quite possibly deflected attention from what was another hugely satisfying Premier League campaign. To again finish fifth in what remains Europe’s toughest and most unforgiving league was a magnificent achievement – one which guaranteed another European campaign to continue the steady progress which has hallmarked David Moyes’ tenure as manager. Maintaining our progress, continuing to punch above our weight if you like, will be very difficult but I stand by my assertion that we have a manager who will go down as one of our all-time greats and a squad of players that is among our very best over the last two decades.”

Barnes declared bankrupt by insolvency court

• Former England winger will be discharged on 14 October 2010
• Hearing takes place five days after his sacking by Tranmere

John Barnes, the former Liverpool and England winger, has been declared bankrupt by a Liverpool insolvency court only days after he was fired as manager of Tranmere Rovers.

Barnes, 45, gave his occupation as a ‘provider of media services, lately a footballer’. He was declared insolvent and will be discharged on 14 October, 2010.

The hearing took place five days after Barnes’ dismissal from Prenton Park, where his side lost eight of the 11 games under his control. Barnes had quit as manager of Jamaica in May to take over at the League One club, who are local to him.

It was the culmination of an unhappy career in management for Barnes, who had a lucrative playing career, winning 79 England caps and twice winning the Footballer of the Year award. He was still at Watford when he was first capped for England and after his golden years at Liverpool he moved to Newcastle in 1997 and appeared for them as a late substitute in the 1998 FA Cup final, becoming one of a handful of players to appear for three clubs in the Wembley showpiece game.

After finishing his playing days at Charlton Barnes moved to Celtic in tandem with Kenny Dalglish and had a disastrous spell in charge, culminating with an infamous defeat by Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Cup in February 2000. He then worked as a pundit for ITV and ended up with his own show, John Barnes Football Night, on Five on Thursday evenings.

Barnes did achieve relative success with Jamaica, taking them to first place in the 2008 Caribbean Championships, but lost the Tranmere job after a 5–0 defeat at Millwall. The team have since won under the caretaker, Les Parry, who has been able to call on Zoumana Bakayogo, a French left-back from PSG who has been man of the match in both his games and who was unable to play due to a delay over his international clearance. “I owe John a lot as he took a chance on me by signing me and I wanted to repay his faith,” he said.

Hiddink may return to Premier League

• The Russia manager wants another job in England
• Hiddink loved the atmosphere during his spell at Chelsea

Guus Hiddink has opened the door to a possible return to the Premier League after revealing that he retains a strong appetite and passion for English football following his successful caretaker spell at Chelsea. The Russia manager plans to take a break after next year’s World Cup finals but he described England as a “very attractive” place to work and admitted he is missing the country where he spent the final four months of last season.

The 62-year-old, who is back in Britain for Russia’s World Cup qualifier against Wales at the Millennium Stadium tonight, enhanced his reputation during his sojourn at Chelsea, where his arrival rejuvenated the London club and culminated in victory in the FA Cup final over Everton. The period left an indelible mark on the Dutchman, who still marvels at the work ethic he observed in Frank Lampard and John Terry, two players whom he believes can lead England to World Cup glory next year.

After the finals in South Africa Hiddink intends to rest from football for a period but, providing he retains his hunger for the game, he envisages returning, with England a favourable destination. “I had a wonderful time there and before I worked for Chelsea I was often [watching] the Premier League,” he said. “I love to be in England to smell the atmosphere. So, missing it? Of course missing it. But I love to work with the guys in Moscow as well.”

Does that mean he has the appetite for a second stint in the Premier League? “Of course. England is very attractive. It’s unique in that the level of competition is high. But I have to make a judgment whether I stop for a few months, or half a year or a year, or do something different within football. I don’t know yet. I am ageing in our profession. But as long as football gives me the energy and I am not repeating myself – because that is a trap, being a long time in the business that you go on automatic pilot.”

Not that there seems to be much need for Hiddink to change his formula. Success has generally followed him across the seven countries where he has managed either at club or international level. Along the way he has worked with some of the most talented footballers in the world but as he looks back on the 105 days that he spent at Stamford Bridge at Roman Abramovich’s behest, there is a sense that few players have impressed him as much as Lampard and Terry.

“I loved to work with them every day,” said Hiddink. “Sometimes I had to put a brake on them. It was impossible to put a bit in the mouth, like a horse. But every now and then you would have to protect them from themselves. They are key players for Chelsea and key players for the national team. England are depending a lot on them but it is encouraging that there are good young players coming up as well. The England squad is doing well. England are playing a modern way of football, very intelligent, smart and attractive. And I think they can go all the way in South Africa.”

There was also an encouraging message for Chelsea fans as Hiddink, recalling the way in which the players responded to their controversial exit from the Champions League at the hands of Barcelona in May, predicted that the squad would be galvanised rather than chastened by Fifa’s decision to ban the club from making any signings until 2011 over the Gaël Kakuta affair. “I think the team will get even more energy out of this because they will react,” said Hiddink.

“The team reacted wonderfully when we had some difficult times by being eliminated in the Champions League. For me, that was such a tremendous reaction. You get your revenge not by starting to cry but to get more energy out of it, like when we played against Arsenal [and won 4-1]. It was a beautiful reaction from the team. So energetic, so full of power; mental power. And there will be a new determination now.”

Wales probable (5-4-1) Hennessey; Gunter, Williams, Collins, Gabbidon, Ricketts; Edwards, Stock, Ramsey, Ledley; Bellamy.

Substitutes from Myhill, Earnshaw, Cotterill, Vokes, Morgan, Evans, Nyatanga, Eardley.

Russia probable (4-3-3) Akinfeev; Anyukov, V Berezutskiy, Ignashevich, Yanbaev; Semshov, Semak, Zyryanov; Bilyaletdinov, Pavlyuchenko, Bystrov.

Substitutes from Gabulov, Rebko, A Berezutskiy, Bukharov, Pogrebnyak, Kolodin, Kerzhakov.

Referee M de Sousa (Portugal).

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Steven Gerrard’s winner at Bolton was widely described as a volley, but can that really be so when the ball has bounced?

The laws of football now stretch to precisely 140 pages, but our comprehension of them could probably be covered in 140 characters. Football has always been a simple, intuitively understood game, with exceptions to that few and far between.

Two spring to mind. The first is the offside law, the bane of pepper pots up and down the land. Though the ever-changing interpretation of offside has caused much confusion, it’s actually a pretty straightforward concept and one that is, at least, exactly defined. The same is not true when it comes to volleys. Depending which watercooler you lurk by, you will find an entirely different comprehension of what constitutes a volley.

By way of example, Steven Gerrard’s winner at Bolton on Saturday was widely described as a volley, yet the ball bounced before he adjusted his body to lash it into the net. As such, can it really be called a volley? There is scarcely anything resembling consensus on this issue. Take a not dissimilar goal from Gerrard in the 2006 FA Cup final, which was described by both Wikipedia and this site as a volley even though it bounced twice before he thrashed it into the net.

The confusion is all the more inexplicable given that we all grew up playing a game in which a volley was precisely characterised: Heads and Volleys. In that, if the ball bounced it was not a volley. Simple. Yet many now think they know different. Are you really smarter than your 10-year-old self?

In the spirit of this, and in view of our commitment to tackle the really big issues, we have attempted to split this type of shot into four sub-genres.

1) A volley

When the ball has not bounced since being touched by the previous player. Obvious examples include Zinedine Zidane’s European Cup-winning goal in 2002 and Marco van Basten’s miraculous finish in the European Championship final of 1988. But it also includes goals where the attacker has had more than one touch, provided the ball does not hit the floor (see No4), such as this outrageous finish for Swindon by Simon Cox.

2) A half-volley

Many football fans say a half-volley is a shot struck when the ball has bounced once, but in tennis and in cricket there is a different – and surely correct – understanding of the term. A half-volley is hit at precisely the moment that the ball bounces or a split-second after, as with this effort from David Ginola or umpteen strikes from the king of the half-volley, Matthew Le Tissier (here we have exhibits A, B, C and D). With half-volleys it shouldn’t matter whether the ball has bounced before it is then struck on the bounce, as with this famous half-volley from Gerrard or this deranged masterpiece from Tony Yeboah; the only defining characteristic is the point at which contact is made, not what has gone before.

3) A bouncing ball

Examples including that Gerrard goal in the 2006 FA Cup final, and Mark Hughes’s famous scissor-smash against Spain. And although “struck a bouncing ball into the top corner” sounds nowhere near as exciting as “volleyed into the top corner”, these surely aren’t volleys. After all, they would not have counted in Heads and Volleys. In a sense that is a little harsh on Hughes, because his was a harder skill than most, but to call it a volley is as illogical as counting shots that hit the woodwork as shots on target. But this type of goal deserves a better name. A bolley? Oh.

4) A make-your-own volley

These are goals where the player manufactures the volley himself, having received either a flat pass or a bouncing one. The primest cuts are probably Paul Gascoigne against Scotland and Thierry Henry against Manchester United. This in no way reduces the majesty of such goals – Henry’s in particular is terrifyingly good – but they are not volleys in the truest sense, because the ball is so much easier to strike and control. It’s basic physics. But this type of goal also needs a name. A molley? Oh.

At least we now know what constitutes a volley. It’s simple. Right?