Sam Allardyce speaks out over the current unrest in the Premier League

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Sam Allardyce, the West Ham manager, believes that lifetime bans and modern technology combined are the only way to put a stop to fan unrest that continues to occur at the Barclays Premier League matches.

This week many calls have been made to put netting in areas of the grounds that allow fans to be seated close to the players. The hope is that the netting could help prevent some incidents from occurring such as Rio Ferdinand getting a cut above his eye after being hit by a coin that was tossed at him at the Manchester game from an opposing fan.

However Allardyce believes that netting will just encourage fans to get rowdier and get around it. ON the other hand he believes that lengthy bans and video footage will be a more powerful deterrent since they will teach fans that abhorrent behavior will not be accepted.

He explained that the more they utilise CCTV to weed out fans that are acting out and continue to ban fans for life the more they will reduce the chances of this type of thing occurring again. Allardyce added that you do not want to have to cage in people, but that only adds to anger on fan’s behalf.

Despite the ‘Red Card’ system racism is still alive and well in football

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Racism in football has been a topic of much debate lately, and in all truth it does not really matter if you agree or disagree with the idea of a black players’ football union because the fact that the topic has even come up shows that racism is alive and healthy.

Many former and current football players have spoken up in favour of the idea of creating a black players’ football union, but there is of course obvious opponents as well. After all, by simply dividing the players into a separate union you lay the groundwork for further problems between the races.

Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, stated that he believes the creation of a new union would hurt the overall fight against racism in football, but Nathan Blake formally of Wales international believes the group would be able to have a larger impact.

Last weekend about thirty black players including Rio Ferdinand refused to wear the ‘kick-it-out’ shirts meant to inspire unity. A lawyer that represents black players interested in a union has stated that talks are starting but they are only in the preliminary stages. At the moment the group has titled themselves the ‘Black Players’ Association.’

The topic of support for black players really came into the lineup after the treatment of John Terry-Anton Ferdinand by the English Football Association. Many believe that the English Football Association did not deal with the situation properly.

Although the courts found Terry not guilty of using racist language on the field, the FA decided that he had and assigned him a whopping £200,000 fine along with a four game ban. After this type of situation it is easy to see how some players may truly feel as if their interests are not being represented correctly.

Manchester City announce that Txiki Begiristain to be their new director of football

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Manchester City announced that Txiki Begiristain will officially take over for the team as director of football in the place of Brian Marwood. The 48 year old Spaniard previously held the exact same position while in Barcelona and was chosen because Manchester feels he will be able to help the team become club world leaders.

Begristain was with Barcelona from 2008 until 2010 and City stated that he will step in and help shoulder some of the responsibility that first team manager Roberto Mancini has had to deal with when it comes to operations and first team recruitment.

Current football administrator for City, Brian Marwood, will not be moving far as he is slated to take the role of managing director when the City Football Academy opens up during the beginning of next football season (2013/2014). Marwood will then be responsible for the training, management, development, and recruitment of as many as 400 players.

Back in his active days, Begristain played for Barcelona and Real Sociedad. He stated that he is very happy to have such a thrilling opportunity in front of him and that with so many achievements at Manchester City already he is honored to be given the chance to help bring more success to the team. He added that he looks forward to building a strong future with Roberto Mancini, Brian Marwood, and chief executive of City Ferran Soriano.

Soriano also welcomed Begiristain aboard stating that sustainability has always been a top goal of Sheikh Mansour’s and therefore the long future of Manchester City is dependent on how well they develop and recruit new young players. Therefore, he is delighted that they have such caliber coaches that will bring leadership and skill to the club that will help to create a formidable team.

Terry case finally reaches a conclusion

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English football is well-known for its aggressiveness and attractiveness, but its good reputation may be ruined by the ongoing John Terry affair which has been dragging on for over a year now. This is the opinion of David Bernstein, chairman of the FA.

If you follow English football closely, then you are familiar with the John Terry and Anton Ferdinand racism affair which started last season during the match between Chelsea and QPR. John Terry was handed a four-game ban and surprisingly he didn’t appeal this decision.

This has brought an end of this shameful chapter of English football and shows that the FA will certainly review all racism cases. Terry has already apologised for his behaviour, but he stated that he is deeply disappointed by the FA’s decision.

According to Bernstein, football is not a game which should have anything in common with law suits and the Terry affair has certainly had a negative impact on the English game. The FA is doing its best to get rid of racism and through the years they’ve launched many anti-racism campaigns. The Terry affair had many consequences – the resignation of former England coach Fabio Capello is one of the most notable examples.

Bernstein says: “Terry has been sanctioned and I’m glad that this case is closed. The Chelsea player apologised for his behaviour and this should be the end of this matter. We have learned a lot from this case.”

The late decision was criticised by many people, but Bernstein rejected this notion, stating: “This was maybe one of the most important cases in the history of English football and we had to be certain that every evidence and opinion has been reviewed.

We could have finished the case much earlier, but considering the impact it can have on individuals and families, we decided to take the necessary time and carefully review the facts before coming up with a final decision.”

Cole believes he and Rio Ferdinand can be mates again

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Ashley Cole is ready to share a dressing room with England’s Rio Ferdinand after a statement saying that he believes that they can be pals again. Ferdinand and Cole fell out over Cole’s support of John Terry the Blues skipper.

However, Ferdinand may return for an international run with Cole when England attempts to take the World Cup qualifiers against Poland and San Marino.

Hodgson, the boss of England, has not spoken to Rio since he chose not to take him on the Euro 2012 squad, but now that Terry has decided to drop out of the world of international football he will have to do something.

Hodgson is not excited about the idea to take the Manchester United player back on his team, but Cole wants to make it clear that his strained relationship should not be a factor in the decision.

Cole was on the defence for Terry in a courtroom case against that charged Terry of racially abusing Rio’s brother. Terry was cleared of all of the charges but Ferdinand ended up with a FA fine after re-tweeting a racial comment against Cole.