Kenny Dalglish at Anfield

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Kenny Dalglish at Anfield As a football player, Kenny Dalglish can be proud of his achievements with Liverpool, winning four League Cups, six League titles, the FA Cup and three European Cups. In his first spell as a manager he has been equally successful in leading his team to two FA Cups and three League titles. He has treasured each of these moments when reflecting on the good old days at Anfield.

As his second spell as a manager gathers pace and the chanting of his name gets louder on the Kop, even the normally taciturn Scot must admit to a surge of excitement and some humility. It is as if he has never left. It would be better for me if the punters chanted the names of the players rather than mine, says Dalglish, as they are the ones doing the work on the field.

After his promotion from caretaker to manager, confirmed by American owners, Fenway Sports Group, Dalglish said that if he could help he would and he has returned. He felt it is an honour to have been asked and to be here.

Birmingham manager, Alex McLeish, has said that there is no other conclusion to make. Kenny has returned and has made everyone happy. He has them all laughing again, he just has that way about him. Players respect him and his decisions and they pay attention to his orders shouted from the touchline. McLeish cannot see Dalglish not getting the job.

Under the leadership of Roy Hodgson, Liverpool held 12th position in January and chances of a challenge for a European place were slim. Now after 27 points and 14 matches they are in 6th spot and are in a very good position to take full advantage of any blunder by an unsteady Tottenham Hotspur.

Swansea and Cardiff City blast Football League schedulers

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Swansea and Cardiff City blast Football League schedulers The Football League schedulers have been blasted by Swansea City and Cardiff City, both chasing promotion, ahead of the Easter Monday, crunch programme today. Both clubs feel that they have been given a very bad disadvantage in their quest to be promoted to the Premier League.

Cardiff is playing at Preston and is upset that Norwich that is one place better than they are has had two days additional rest before struggling Derby visits their stadium. Ipswich should be rested for their match today as the Swansea club seeks victory that will consolidate their playoff place.

After a goalless stalemate against Portsmouth, Swansea all but saw their top two dreams extinguished and their boss Brendan Rodgers said it was ridiculous and tough to play two games in just three days and even more so at the end of a long season.

He continued by saying that they had worked and worked the entire season and had played a high number of games and then to face Ipswich on Monday after they have had three full days to recuperate and because of playing later in the day, they did not have to face the heat that our team did.

Even though Cardiff’s opponents have had more less time to recovery having played later Saturday but what angers their boss is they feel they should have the same amount of time as Norwich to recover, saying it is baffling to him how certain teams get an advantage by getting more time to rest, we should have had the same time as everybody else at this late stage of the league’s season.

Abramovich family investing more in football

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Abramovich family investing more in football Another Abramovich is starting to make waves in the London business world. Arkadiy, the 20 year old son of Chelsea owner and billionaire, Roman Abramovich, recently invested £3 million in buying 26% of the London-listed company, Crosby Asset Management. The purchase was made through the younger Abromovich’s investment arm, ARA Capital.

Roman Abramovich made his money investing in Russia’s gas and oil industry and he is now valued at more the £7 billion making him the 53rd richest person in the world. His son appears to be following in his father’s footsteps by investing in the Hong Kong based, Crosby Asset Management which also focuses on natural resource investment around the world.

In addition to following his father’s footsteps in the business arena, Arkadiy is also looking to invest in football. His target is the company that owns the Dutch based FC Copenhagen. However, Arkadiy’s interests are not only business oriented and he is rumoured to be staring his university career next year in the United States.

Fellow Crosby investor, Robert Owen, has welcomed the new substantial investor in the company which was originally a stock broking firm established in 1984. Abramovich’s investment was made possible by two previous investors, John McKeon and Ilyas Khan decided to sell some of their assets.

Trevor Brooking comments on swearing-gate

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Trevor Brooking comments on swearing-gate Sir Trevor Brooking, the director of football development for the FA has insisted that there is no way you can compare Kenny Dalglish’s verbal outburst aimed at Arsene Wenger with the Wayne Rooney swearing incident. It was Brooking who called for action to be against Rooney after he swore into the camera during the clash with West Ham.

The camera also captured Liverpool Manager Dalglish apparently making derisory comments towards Arsenal boss Wenger after their match at the Emirates Stadium ended in a 1-1 draw. Brooking however says it shouldn’t be discussed in the same way as the Rooney tirade.

He said the major difference was that Rooney deliberately went up to the camera and swore at the viewing audience.

There have been calls for action to be taken against Dalglish and while Brooking doesn’t agree with this he says there does need to be rules of clarification introduced so both players and Managers are aware of the consequences their actions could lead too. Brooking says that the first step is getting the LMA and the PFA to sing from the same hymnsheet.

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He added that players and managers alike were looked on as representatives of the FA and must behave accordingly. Big stars like Rooney are bound to be talked more for their actions than players in the lower leagues and have to be seen to be punished otherwise several cans of worms are jut waiting to be opened.

Young Doncaster Rovers fans get on their bikes

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Young Doncaster Rovers fans get on their bikes

Young Doncaster Rovers fans get on their bikes

Young Doncaster Rovers supporters are lucky when half term rolls around as they have the possibility to hang out with the players as part of the benefits of being one of the Junior Rovers who meet at the clubs Cantley Park training ground

But now there is even more for the juniors to get involved in as Rovers Community Foundation opens up the Rovers Bike Club.

Many children arrived at Cantley Park with bikes, helmets and parents in tow, ready to take part in an active morning used to get blood pumping and hearts racing before watching the Rovers players being put through their paces on the training pitch.

Led by Rovers’ Health and Wellbeing Manager Richard Bailey, the Bike Club was launched with a ride from the gates of Rovers’ training facility and through Sandall Beat Woods. Part funded by organisation Bike Club, which is a joint venture led by ContinYou, UK Youth and CTC – the national cyclists’ organisation, representatives from Bike Club and Bike It also joined in the initial Rovers Bike Club.

“I am delighted with the turn out for the first Bike Club,” said Health and Wellbeing Manager Richard.

“I think that the event shows the importance of all the family coming together on a bonding day with everyone concerned having a great time.”

Gavin Wood, Bike Club Development Officer added: “It’s great to see a football club like Doncaster Rovers embracing cycling and offering it to the people of Doncaster, alongside the other health and wellbeing activities the Club offers. The turnout was fantastic and I look forward to seeing more people riding bikes at Cantley Park in the future.