Where next for Mohamed Diame?

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Mohamed Diame seems to have a lot going for him. Born in Creteil, France, the 25 year old football player has caught the attention of many clubs this season. After impressing West Ham, Diame has been in the news several times, and may end up being a star player for one of the top teams in the upcoming years, thanks to his admirable performance.

At the start of the season, the Senegal International joined up with the Hammers, and this would have been yet another chance for the young player to show his skills, but it ended up that a little known clause in his contract allowed him a £3.5 million exit, and the midfield player’s long term future was then cast into doubt at Upton Park.

So despite impressing at Upton Park this season, it still remains to be seen whether Diame is the right choice for Arsenal. This is the main team that has been watching the young star, and Arsene Wenger has been criticised for not having a strong, dominant midfielder since the departure of Patrick Viera.

The skills behind Diame are well known, but he still may not have the passing abilities that would be required for such a position among the Arsenal team. They already have Abou Diaby back from his past injuries, and another young rising star is Francis Coquelin, already promised to the team.

Some analysts have said that Arsenal should look for more long term benefits by going to ball winning dominant players, and that Diame may end up clogging up the squad. Diame may just not be the man they need, yet everything is not lost for the young player, as many other teams may be looking his way. If Arsenal does pass on Diame, he most likely will not have look far to find other interested parties.

 

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.

Mancini plays down training ruckus with Balotelli

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Roberto Mancini and Mario Balotelli have figured in a physical scuffle at their training facility in Manchester and the confrontation may have been the result of a tackle on teammate Scott Sinclair that the striker considered uncalled for. The clash between striker and manager was witnessed by the whole team which was preparing for its third round game against Watford.

A reliable witness told how Balotelli strongly reacted to being chided by the manager for a bad play to which the manager reacted even more strongly. The source added that a furious Mancini grabbed Balotelli and tried to topple him down the floor which he failed to do, the latter being much stronger than he was. Players and coaches tried to pacify the two, but Mancini was adamant and again and again he tried to break free trying to get to Balotelli. In the end cooler heads prevailed.

After the commotion died down, the witness stated that Balotelli went to the dressing room after which he drove away from the place, driving a luxurious Bentley. He stopped at the gates though for fans that were waiting for autographs.

In the past, there were plenty speculation about the future of Balotelli with the Manchester City team and this incident is sure to trigger a fresh round, although Mancini has resisted the idea of selling the striker during the January transfer windows.

Last month Mancini told the sports gazette Gazzetta dello Sport, that Mario will stay with the team, but for how long depends on Mario. He added further that his relationship with the player has always been good even when there are times when he does something unsettling.

 

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.