Big Sam feels robbed after FA Cup loss to Man U

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Sam Allardyce the manager of West Ham felt that a penalty should have been called but wasn’t when his team left the FA Cup with a 0-1 loss against Manchester United. The only goal was scored by Wanye Rooney in the third-round replay.

A penalty shot was missed in the second half, and it was due to referee Phil Dowd catching Jordan Spence getting his hand on the ball. While Allardyce wasn’t disputing that, he felt that the Hammers should have been given a penalty kick as well as Rafael seemed to also touch the ball illegally.

Allardyce told ITV that the was no doubt in his mind that Rafael committed a handball foul just like Spence’s. The only difference was that Spence was on the West Ham side, which was the away team. He implied that the referee was more lenient due to Rafael playing at home.

The manager continued by stating that this is nothing new at Old Trafford. While he acknowledged the ref was in a difficult spot to pick out the handball, he was in a worse position when he called Jordon Spence. Yet he managed to see that one.

On the other hand, United advanced to a fourth-round tie with Fulham, and Ryan Giggs of United said he was a relieved about it. Per his interview, he said that in the FA Cup anything can happen as many of the final results demonstrated. Nonetheless, he was please to get through, and he gave credit to West Ham as a tough opponent.

 

Chelsea back in the black for the first time in decade

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Chelsea had not been financially in the black since 2003 when Roman Abramovich bought the team, but when the season figures were released in November the club reported it had made £1.4m in the year to the end of June 2012. They claimed the profit was the result of a very successful season plus some better commercial deals and a substantial profit on transfers.

At the time Chelsea’s chief executive, Ron Gourlay, noted that the change from the previous season’s loss of £67.7m showed that the club was ‘on track’ to meet the financial fair play rules set out by Uefa. However, not all the figures were forthcoming at the time, and further accounting filed at Companies House revealed a slightly different prospect.

Part of that profit came from the cancellation of £15m in non-equity preference shares previously owned by BSkyB in a joint venture, and about £3.4m in dividends. Another £28.8m came from the sale of several players, including Yuri Zhirkov to the Russian club Anzhi, Nicolas Anelka to the Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua and Alex Anelka to Paris St-Germain.

Another figure that was added to the profit side of accounts was about £4.7m that had been earmarked for compensation of former managers; it was retained as profit when the intended recipients found other employment. If all these figures weren’t added in, the club’s £1.4m profit would have been changed to a loss of £19.9m.

Chelsea has made some great moves since Abramovich took over, winning the Premier League three times and for the first time taking the trophy for top club in Europe. However, the UEFA financial fair play rules are designed to force clubs to handle their financial affairs responsibly, and club secretary Alan Shaw said that still poses a challenge.

The fact that Chelsea didn’t make it into the final stages of the Champions League is likely to pose a major challenge anyway. It means that they will be playing in the much less lucrative Europa League in the spring, with an inevitable reduction in the amount of earnings.

Match ticket prices continue to vary greatly

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There are no rules laid down anywhere about how much a ticket to see a live football match should cost. It’s one of those ‘whatever the market will bear’ situations, and football clubs always need more money than they’ve got, so it is only to be expected that ticket prices will be as high as the management can set them and still get a sizeable, if not sell out, crowd.

Football fans are a special breed of the species; they have priorities of course, and at the top of those is seeing their team win an exciting and hard-fought match. It just doesn’t get any better than that – as long as they’re seeing this spectacle from a spot in the stadium. TV coverage is great and all, but it’s just not the same as being there. A lot of them are willing to pay the price, but apparently there are limits.

Last week’s events made it clear that maybe the limit on ticket prices is not the sky; maybe it lies somewhere underneath that supposedly limitless height. When Manchester City returned a third of its allocation for the match with Arsenal on Sunday, 912 tickets priced at £62 per, it may have precipitated a groundswell for a change in the rules.

Currently Premier League rules are that ticket prices must be the same for fans from away as they are for the locals. There is quite a controversy on the issue, with the argument that fans dedicated enough to make the journey at their own expense should not be further burdened with higher ticket prices. It’s a fact that without rival fans in the stadium, the levels of tension and excitement are noticeably reduced.

The Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF) is reportedly working with Supporters Direct, which is representative of rival football fans, to lobby for a price cap of £20 to £25 for away games. FSF president Malcolm Clarke said they would be launching a campaign in the next few weeks aimed at placing a maximum on the amount charged; he said fans have had just about enough.

How a premiership manager tries to win over the fans

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If there were no fans, there would be no football, or certainly not football as we know it today. When you get right down to it, fans are the life blood of any team, and not just because they buy tickets. They can and do influence the way players, coaches, managers and owners behave and perform. However, sometimes you just have to outlast them, as Rafael Benitez is determined to do.

The Chelsea interim coach has faced considerable disapproval since he was brought in to replace Roberto di Matteo, with booing spectators saying his approach is too defensive, especially after the first two Premier League games where the score was a draw at 0-0. Then when Chelsea lost out on the World Cup Final in Japan, the level of disapprobation rose even higher.

However, the team came back and took five goals from Leeds in the Capital One Cup, then went on to a rousing eight-goal win against Aston Villa. They headed to Norwich City on Wednesday and came away with a 1-0 win, and Benitez says that he’s confident the streak will continue. At present Chelsea remains at third place in the Premier League, but if they continue playing as they have been, he says, they’ve got a good shot at the championship.

Disgruntled fans are having to revise their opinions, and Benitez says they’ll come to see that he’s a professional with the best interest of players and fans at the heart of his strategy. It’s his job, he said, to get the best out of his players, and if he can do that, the team will keep on winning matches and fans will have nothing to complain about.

 

 

 

Wannabe WAGS descend on Manchester nightclub

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They have been berated in the past for their wild parties, so for this year’s Christmas bash the Manchester United team decided to go a lot more low key.

They started off the night at the restaurant owned by United star Rio Ferdinand; Rosso but once the word was out that they were partying at Panacea night club, the wannabe WAG fraternity was out in force and descended upon the club in the hope of bagging themselves a player.

The line of ladies was way longer than any ordinary night at Panacea, and they all seemed to be in their brightest and tightest dressers to try and catch the eye of a footballing hero. Despite the freezing conditions, there was a distinct lack of jackets as these girls seemed determined to let their dresses, and there oh so obvious assets, do the talking.

The stars were certainly out if force with Robin Van Persie, Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic, Phil Jones and stalward Ryan Giggs all snapped looking very dapper for their Christmas bash. The only notable absence was Wayne Rooney, who in light of past misdemeanour’s wisely chose to stay home with pregnant wife Coleen.

Van Persie, despite only joining the reds this season has clearly settled in well and led a rousing rendition of ‘Glory Glory Man Utd’ at Russo. The striker, bought from Arsenal for £24m, is one purchase that Alex Ferguson will certainly not be regretting as he has already scored 15 goals from 21 games, placing them 6 points clear at the top of the premiership.

As to whether any of the wannabes actually got up close and personal with one of the players remains a mystery, but watch out for what appears in the gossip columns.