Posts Tagged ‘Punches’

Reo-Coker sent home after O’Neill row

• Players had to separate O’Neill and Reo-Coker
• Midfielder’s Villa career looks certain to be over

Martin O’Neill sent Nigel Reo-Coker home this morning after a training ground confrontation with the Aston Villa midfielder and will decide whether the player should face any further sanctions after the weekend.

Reo-Coker has also been jettisoned from the squad for tomorrow’s match against Portsmouth and, although the Aston Villa manager expects the 25-year-old to pull on a first-team shirt again, the player is understood to accept that his career at the club is almost certainly over.

O’Neill said no punches were thrown and dismissed suggestions that the incident, which occurred during an 11-a-side training game on Thursday, had led to him ending up on the ground with Reo-Coker. But he admitted there had been a “row” that required other members of the first-team squad to separate them and acknowledged it was unusual for a manager to clash with a player in such a way.

Reo-Coker is said to have been deeply upset following the fracas, which was witnessed by the entire Villa squad and which appears to have occurred after O’Neill believed that the former England Under-21 international had unfairly criticised a team-mate, prompting a heated verbal exchange between manager and player. Conflicting stories have since emerged about the incident when the two squared up to each other, including allegations of throat-grabbing.

O’Neill, however, was not in the mood to discuss the finer details. “You can go with third party, shocked onlookers, call it what you want,” he said – and suggested that the confrontation was “more of a verbal thing” rather than a brawl. There does, however, appear to have been some physical contact. “There was a bit of a contretemps between myself and Nigel, which usually happens between players really and the manager separates them. There were no fisticuffs. There was no wrestling to the ground. I don’t remember lying on the floor. But it was enough for me to treat the incident seriously. Nigel won’t play [tomorrow]. I have given him the weekend off and so it’s entirely up to him if he comes to the match.”

Reo-Coker learned that he was not welcome at the club’s Bodymoor Heath training base when he reported this morning. It is understood that he was asked to apologise for the incident and, when he failed to respond to the manager in a room that included other first-team players, was told to “take the weekend off”. He is later believed to have tried to speak to O’Neill on his own but, following a brief exchange with the manager, was informed that he should leave the premises.

O’Neill has yet to decide whether Reo-Coker will face any further disciplinary action such as a fine but the Villa manager indicated that he would consider that possibility once the Portsmouth game is over. “I have not fined anybody at this minute,” he said. “I’ve not had a chance to do that. I’ve taken the action that I have done because I believe that’s the appropriate action to take. And I will look at everything after the weekend.”

However, there seems no way back for Reo-Coker, despite O’Neill’s insistence that “he will be in contention with everybody else for Wednesday evening [when Villa face Cardiff City in the Carling Cup]“. O’Neill is widely regarded as a player’s manager but, at the same time, he is unlikely to be able to forget an incident that, irrespective of the circumstances, represented a challenge to his authority.

Whatever the outcome, the path ahead appears uncomfortable for both parties, not least because the transfer window has closed and the only loan option open would involve moving to a Championship club, something that Reo-Coker has no intention of considering. More likely is that the midfielder, who had recently forced his way back into the Villa side in his favoured midfield position after much of last season on the sidelines, or filling in at right-back, will sit tight until January and then seek a permanent move.

In the meantime O’Neill will get on with running a football club and ensuring that the rest of the Villa players understand what is expected of them. “I make the rules,” said the Villa manager. “I am the manager of the football club. I am a custodian of the football club and so my rules apply. The players have to get used to that. It’s as simple as that.”

Women’s football: Australia fume after pitch brawl

• Australia denied penalty and have centre-back sent off
• Matildas’ coach labels fracas in Wuhan ‘embarrassing’

The Asian Women’s Under-19 Championship witnessed shocking scenes in Wuhan tonight as the Australia team were pelted with bottles by a highly charged crowd following a mass brawl at the end of China’s match against the Young Matildas.

China won the Group B encounter 2–1 to secure a place in the semi-finals of the competition but had their backs to the wall as the Australians pushed for an equaliser. Australia were also denied a penalty when Kyah Simon was brought down two yards inside the area and a free-kick outside was awarded. To compound their frustration, the centre-back Jessica Seaman was sent off on the stroke of full-time.

However, following the final whistle, an Australia player fell to the ground while remonstrating with the Chinese, prompting the captain, Tameka Butt, to charge across the pitch and grab the perceived offender. That sparked a mass brawl as both sets of players and backroom staff charged on to the pitch, with punches thrown.

Once order was restored, plastic water bottles were thrown from the crowd in the direction of the Australian team – whose ages range from 15 to 19 – as they made their way down the tunnel with police imploring fans to stop.

Nobody was seriously injured but the Australia coach, Alen Stajcic, was furious with what happened. “We’ve prepared for 12 months, to have an embarrassing sporting event take place like that in China. That’s not sport,” he said.

“Sport is played by two equal teams battling for sporting supremacy, not that kind of behaviour. On the field, off the field, it’s not good enough. I’d be embarrassed if I were the host of this event after that game. You all saw what happened out there, it’s embarrassing.”

When pre-season friendlies go bad

Plus: playing the most home games for one team at different grounds; managers harvesting other sports for knowledge; and The Edwardians. Send your questions and answers to knowledge@guardian.co.uk

“After reading about Newcastle’s brawl with Huddersfield during a friendly last week, I was wondering how many other teams had been involved in dust-ups during meaningless exhibitions,” writes Jermaine Henry.

A fair few, would be the short answer, and we have already covered testimonials gone bad in the Knowledge before, but a few stand-out examples do spring to mind and none more so than QPR’s fracas with China’s Olympic team in 2007. China had been holding a two-week training camp in England, but seven players had to be sent home after a brawl that involved almost every player on the pitch plus a number of coaches and bystanders.

“I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” one witness told the Ealing Gazette at the time. “There were punches, kung-fu kicks and all sorts. It was absolute mayhem.” China’s Zheng Tao was knocked out and suffered a fractured jaw in the melee, and QPR were later fined £20,000, with assistant manager Richard Hill suspended for three months.

But while that set-to took place on a muddy training field, Thailand and Qatar held their own epic brawl live on national TV back in 1998. Qatar’s players had reacted badly to a decision by referee Ekchai Thanatdeunkhao early in the second half, disputing it for more than five minutes before one Thai player came over to complain about the delay. He got shoved in the chest, and then all hell broke loose. The game was eventually abandoned, after a series of running battles involving both sets of players and even one or two journalists, who reportedly began “throwing debris from the sidelines”.

Falkirk’s pre-season encounter with Turkish side Rizespor in 2006 ended similarly abruptly after a series of skirmishes on and off the pitch. Relations between the sides got off to a bad start after Rizespor showed up at 5.37pm for a match that was scheduled to kick off at 3pm, and the officials then walked off the field after 22 minutes when a scuffle broke out in the Falkirk area. They were persuaded to return and Rizespor scored soon afterwards. When Falkirk scored early in the second half, however, Rizespor’s goalkeeper Atilla Koca took exception to the celebrations of Bairns fans behind his goal and quickly became embroiled in a fight with a number of them. The match was swiftly abandoned.

Then again, not all players know how to get involved in such a dust-up. Ivica Olic and Carlos Eduardo may both have been spoiling for a scrap during a friendly – admittedly during the Bundesliga winter break – between Hamburg and Hoffenheim in February, but frankly the game of overhand slapsies that ensued may help explain why footballers don’t do this more often.

Know of any other great pre-season brawls that we forgot to mention? Let us know at knowledge@guardian.co.uk

HOME GAMES AT DIFFERENT GROUNDS

“Jonny Allan has played home games for Northwich Victoria at four different grounds (The Drill Field, Wincham Park, Victoria Stadium and Moss Lane),” writes Wayne Duncan. “Has anyone ever played home games at more than four venues whilst still playing for the same team?”

First things first. Let’s agree that national teams are discounted, so Germany internationals who may have played at all 39 cities which regularly host Die Mannschaft’s matches will have to sit this one out.

“I would imagine a Corinthians player in Brazil may have played home games in more than four different venues,” writes Paulo Padhila. “Especially in recent times. The club doesn’t have a proper home stadium, so they play most often in the city’s stadium, Pacaembu. However, they host derbies and other big matches in São Paulo’s stadium, Morumbi. Over the past several years they have started hosting games outside the city of São Paulo as well, to take advantage of the fact that they are the second most popular club in the country.  They have played state championship games in Presidente Prudente and Ribeirão Preto recently, as well as hosting a few matches in the state of Paraná (not sure which cities exactly). I would think there’s at least one player who has taken part in a number of these games over the past few years.”

Well, Paulo, you’re right that the side’s home matches have become a bit of a roadshow in recent years, and for most teams in Europe this would probably have led to a player appearing at more than four home grounds, however, such is the transient nature of footballers at Brazilian sides, Corinthians’ longest-serving player, the goakeeper Felipe, has still only been there a little over two years. And as far as our research shows, in that time he has played at, Paulo Machado de Carvalho, Morumbi and Alfredo Schuring. So only three different grounds.

Sean DeLoughrey believes the League of Ireland might be home to the player who holds the record. “Shamrock Rovers spent 20 years on the road after their Glenmalure Park home in Milltown was sold from under them in 1987,” he writes. “They spent periods ground sharing with Shelbourne (Tolka Park), Bohemians (Dalymount Park) and St Pats (Richmond Park) and also spent seasons at home at the RDS and Morton Stadium before finally moving into their own home in Tallaght Stadium in 2009. Hoops legend Derek Tracey played 486 league games for Rovers without playing a single proper ‘home’ game, but he did play home games for Rovers at five venues: Tolka Pk, Dalymount Pk, the RDS, Morton Stadium and Richmond Park. However, in 2003 Rovers played home matches against UCD and Cork at the home grounds of their opposition. So Terry Palmer can top Tracey’s record having played home games for Rovers at Tolka Pk, Dalymount Pk, Richmond Pk, Morton Stadium, Belfield Park (UCD) and Turner’s Cross (Cork).”

Do you know of a player who can beat six home games for one team at different grounds? Let us know at knowledge@guardian.co.uk

COACHES SWAPPING TIPS WITH OTHER SPORTS

“While in Adelaide to attend the wedding of his daughter, former Middlesbrough manager Bryan Robson attended a training session of the Port Adelaide Power Australian Football League team,” begins Graham Clayton. “Robson gave the coaching staff of the Power some tactical tips. Have there been many other examples where football managers have advised coaches/managers of other football codes and sports?”

Sean Hurley believes the reason Sam Allardyce has embraced technology in his managerial career, including the use of a headset, may be down to his days playing for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in football’s fledgling years as a professional sport in the United States. After training with the Rowdies, Big Sam often looked in on the practice sessions of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who shared the same facilities.

“They had physiotherapists, masseurs, dieticians, psychologists, psychiatrists, coaches, doctors, all looking after these highly motivated professionals,” said Allardyce. “The mind is the all-powerful thing. If you’re not in the right frame of mind it’s going to be very difficult for you to produce your best. Americans are stat-mad, but there was no system in the game until recent years that could give you that here.”

Football has also been a source of inspiration for egg-chasers too. After the All Blacks’ tour of Europe in 2008, members of the coaching staff dropped in at Milan to trade tips with their sports medicine facility. One can only presume this had much to do with finding out how to preserve the playing careers of aging sports stars, which the Rossoneri have done better than most for many years. Still on the subject of the All Blacks, Roy Keane visited Wellington to study their training methods as a requirement for the completion of his top-level Fifa coaching badge before returning to Sunderland and promptly walking out on them.

KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE

“In Roy Hattersley’s book, The Edwardians, there’s a photo described as ‘the Edwardian England football team’. They are wearing white shirts and dark shorts, but curiously the shirts bear the Union Jack rather than the flag of St George. Was the Union Jack generally used by England teams back then, or was it just a cock-up?” asked Matt Boyson in 2008.

The Union flag was the favoured emblem of English football teams until surprisingly recently. Footage of the 1966 World Cup shows Wembley dotted with red white and blue flags, while tournament mascot World Cup Willie was a lion wearing a Union Flag jersey. In 1982 Ron Greenwood’s England squad were still urging us to “hear the roar of the red white and blue” on official tune This Time, a seven-inch single with a union flag on the label.

It was only really at Euro 96 that the nation’s red-and-white fetish kicked in properly. Matthew Engel, writing in the Guardian, noted “this new cult of St George” after England’s exit in the semi-finals. Ten years later 27% of English adults bought a flag of St George during the 2006 World Cup. And a fat lot of good it did too.

Can you help?

“What is the current record crowd for a friendly in Britain?” asks Kris Scrimgeour.

“After witnessing this effort with sponsors on their crotch, I got to wondering: what is the biggest number of sponsors a single football kit has had?” muses Chris Bates.

Have you got a question you want us to answer? Email Knowledge@guardian.co.uk

Jury clears Gerrard of affray

• Liverpool star ‘unwise’ to get involved, judge says
• Fans gather outside court to cheer ‘Stevie G’ verdict

It took a jury less than 90 minutes today to clear Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard of affray even though he admitted punching a man three times in a bar.

Gerrard maintained that he had acted in self-defence during the brawl at the Lounge Inn in Southport last December, which was triggered by a row over control of music.

Gerrard, 29, had wanted to pick the music in the bar, but Marcus McGee, who was in charge of the CD player, refused his request. The trial was told that although McGee, 34, did not throw any punches, the player believed he was about to be hit.

Earlier in the evening, the England international and his friends had seemed to be in high spirits, singing and dancing as they celebrated a crushing victory over Newcastle United.

Minutes after he had been rebuffed by McGee, the footballer approached him as he sat on a barstool. John Doran, Gerrard’s friend, elbowed McGee in the face, making him reel backwards and forwards. Fearing that he was about to be attacked, Gerrard landed three uppercuts on his face.

During the trial, he apologised for what had happened. Around 100 supporters gathered outside court today and cheered as Gerrard left the building.

Gerrard said: “I would like to put this case behind me now and I am really looking forward to the season ahead and concentrating on football now.”

Judge Henry Globe, recorder of Liverpool, told Liverpool crown court after the verdict that the football player “could walk away with his reputation intact”.

The judge told Gerrard that in hindsight it “may have been unwise of you” to approach Marcus McGee following the trivial disagreement.

“However, that is far from saying you were criminally responsible for the violence that thereafter erupted.”

The judge said when the violence commenced the victim and his partner Gina Lond, who was standing nearby, thought that Gerrard had started it. Gerrard himself had initially thought McGee was the first person to deliver a blow.

“The CCTV evidence obtained later demonstrated conclusively that you were all mistaken,” the judge noted. The judge said the verdict was credible and the jury had demonstrably paid close attention to the full facts of the case.

Six of Gerrard’s friends, two of whom are Accrington Stanley players, will be sentenced next month after pleading guilty to charges of affray or threatening behaviour in connection with the brawl.

Having twice rejected the lure of Chelsea’s riches, “Stevie G”, as he is universally known to the red half of Liverpool, epitomises the one-club player, the local boy made good who has tried to maintain his links to the Bluebell estate in Huyton, where he grew up.

During the trial he appeared to well up as a statement from Kenny Dalglish was read out in court. “He is a very humble man,” the former Liverpool star said, who was “not the archetypal footballer” and had “never forgotten his roots”.

But the England midfielder’s evident puzzlement, then anger, at the man who, in the words of the prosecution, dared to “say no” to Steven Gerrard betrayed the fact he could never be one of the lads.

Jon Holmes, the veteran football agent whose clients have included David Beckham, said: “Their relationship with their community and the world they’re from has changed enormously. The irony is that Gerrard is probably better connected to his community than others.”

Former Chelsea player Pat Nevin said that there have always been punch-ups and drunken incidents involving playersdown the years, but in the past they were less likely to make the papers.

“It existed when I was playing and probably before that. You had those whose heads were turned by the fame and the money, even when the money was just twice the average wage,” he said.

“You also have to think about the way society treats these players. They are treated like gods and they are ordinary people. If you treat them like gods you will be disappointed.”

Gerrard ‘threw barrage of punches in row’

Alleged victim of attack in Southport nightclub tells court Liverpool captain hit him two or three times

A man allegedly attacked by Steven Gerrard told a court todayhow he “faced a barrage of punches” from the Liverpool captain, who swore at him when he refused to hand over control of a CD player.

Marcus McGee, 34, said he disliked the footballer’s attitude when requesting a card that controlled the stereo. “I would describe it as bad and rude. He was bad-mannered straight away. I acted in proportion to what his attitude was.

“When you see a famous person like that you do not think you are going to have a fight or trouble with them.”

He told Liverpool crown court that Gerrard, 29, said “something to the effect of, ‘Here you are, lad, give me that.’ “

He refused: “It was my job, so I didn’t hand it over.” McGee said the manager of the Lounge Inn in Southport had asked him to be in charge of the music as he wanted to get everyone dancing.

He told the court that Gerrard made a move to try to grab the card off him to take it away and recalls it slipping on to the floor. The footballer walked away.

Gerrard, who was in the bar with friends celebrating Liverpool’s 5-1 win over Newcastle United, is shown on CCTV walking away before later returning to confront McGee.

Seven minutes later McGee was sat on a bar stool at the bar when Gerrard approached and said: “What the fuck is your problem?” McGee stood up as he felt threatened and vulnerable sitting down and looking up at the footballer and they had a brief conversation.

He told the court: “I remember a barrage of punches coming in at my face but at that point I don’t know who has done what. Having watched the CCTV it was quite obvious Steven Gerrard hit me a couple of times, maybe three times but I couldn’t honestly say on the night.”

Gerrard, a married father of two, denies affray. Six co-defendants, including two Accrington Stanley players, have admitted charges of affray or threatening behaviour before their trial was due to begin.

Under cross-examination by John Kelsey-Fryer, Gerrard’s barrister, McGee strongly rebutted a suggestion that he swore at the footballer.

McGee said he was innocent, saying: “I didn’t throw any punches, I wasn’t acting aggressively, I didn’t hit anyone at all.”

His girlfriend, Gina Lond, told the court: “I saw an elbow going into Marcus’s face. At that time I thought it was Steven’s. Marcus was just getting punched and kicked by several people. He had blood on his face and he had a cut on his forehead.”

Bar worker Nathaniel Lockie, who saw the start of the fight, told the court that he saw Gerrard pull McGee’s jumper over his head with his left hand, pulling him forward “so that he was off balance” before punching him.

Lockie ran round to the other side of the bar to try to stop the fight. Earlier in the evening, he said, Gerrard had approached the bar staff for help changing the music “but none was given”. He saw Gerrard walking back to the restaurant area “in a huff” after his music request was refused.

Later, he saw Gerrard and McGee speaking to each other across the bar. “Marcus looked puzzled at first,” Lockie said. “There was an argument or an exchange of words.”

He said John Doran, whom he assumed was Gerrard’s minder, struck McGee with an elbow and the fight began from there. McGee lost a front tooth crown in the attack, received a cut to the forehead and had hospital treatment following the incident in the early hours of 29 December last year.

Gerrard is expected to give evidence tomorrow.