Work to start on new Man City academy within weeks

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Manchester City has said that within the next few weeks work will start on their new football academy. The development is to include the construction of 16 training pitches and a 7,000- seater stadium solely for youth matches.

They are also to build community facilities and a sixth form college on the 80 acre site which is next to the Etihad Stadium. The club has chosen as its construction partner BAM Construction, with work expected to be finished in time for the 2014/15 season. Local people will get most of the jobs created.

Ferran Soriano, the Chief Executive, believes this is important for the future of the football club. The club has a central strategy develop young and home-grown players as a way of creating a winning team as well as a sustainable football club. This ambition was outlined in September 2008 by Sheikh Mansour when he bought the club. The club believes that after four years when they have been researching and planning they are in a position to execute the plan. They are pleased to be joining with BAM who will play a large part in the strategy.

Patrick Viera, football development executive for Manchester City, has said how vital it is to invest in the players of the future. He believes it is very important to have a project to develop young players for five or ten years’ time.

A bridge will link Etihad stadium to the academy which will feature facilities for the first team, including an injury and rehab centre, changing rooms, gym and refectory. There is also to be accommodation available on site for both junior and senior players.

 

Hillsborough report finally exonerates Liverpool fans

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Following the publication of a report into the Hillsborough disaster, English fans’ behaviour will be under the microscope for the next few games following calls to put a stop to sickening chants at games. The report which was released on Wednesday found Liverpool fans blameless for the 1989 FA Cup semi-final crush which killed 96 of the supporters. The report was widely welcomed although the club is still mocked by rival fans with hateful songs and chants.

A few fans from Manchester United sing about the Hillsborough disaster while some supporters from Liverpool gloat over the Munich air crash in 1958 which decimated the Manchester United team.

Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool manager, hopes that the independent panel’s findings would put a stop to the taunts. Rodgers told Liverpool’s website that he does not like to hear anything which associates tragedy and death to other people. He is saddened by the minority who attempt to smear the reputation of a club. Ferguson, manager of Manchester United, echoed the views of Rodgers. On Friday the Premier League said that the handshake between the teams which happens before the match will go ahead.

In November Chelsea were compelled to condemn some of their supporters after they chanted songs about Ferdinand in Belgium during a Champions League game: both clubs have since warned their supporters to behave. The Queens Park Rangers’ website published a reminder on Thursday about fan’s behaviour whilst on Chelsea’s website they sad that abuse and discrimination has no place in any football stadium.

Both Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers are going to work together with the police ensuring that anyone who uses inflammatory or discriminatory language on Saturday will be identified. The strongest possible action will then be taken against them, it was revealed in a statement.

 

Steven Gerrard tries to rally the fans for the 2014 World Cup

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Despite a poor showing in recent international tournaments, Steven Gerrard is still convinced that England can lift the 2014 World Cup. The Liverpool and England stalwart has appealed to the football nation to keep faith, and has said that miracles do happen, and you should never stop believing in football.

The next step in Roy Hodgson’s road to Brazil is a stop off in Chisinau to play Moldova in the Group H qualifier. A team from Europe has never won any of the 7 World Cup finals that have been held in North, South or Central America, but Gerrard believes this will inspire England and not deter them.

He said in an interview that he is realistic and honest when he speaks and while England are not one of the current favourites for 2014, that shouldn’t mean that they stop believing or working hard to improve themselves and learn from the mistakes they have made in previous tournaments. He added that the team had time to improve and grow over the next 2 years, with a combination of experienced and new players.

The team have been training at the Zimbru Stadium, where the earlier fears regarding the playing surface unfortunately proved to be founded. The ground, that has a 10,500 capacity, has an uneven pitch with rather longer grass than is suitable for football, even though the local federation had claimed it would be cut. Hodgson also has to deal with losing 3 players he had selected for both this game and the home qualifier against the Ukraine on Tuesday.

The last manager of England who lost the first qualifying game of a World Cup campaign was back in 2000, when Kevin Keegan saw his side go down to old adversaries Germany. Hodgson has spoken out about his reluctance to jettison the likes of Gerrard and Lampard simply because of the public wanting a change, and he said it is very possible that they will both be in the starting line up.

Fabio Capello impresses the Russians as he takes over the national side

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One of the first things that Fabio Capello did when he took over as the England manager was to ban tomato ketchup. He obviously felt this was a winning move as he has done exactly the same since he stepped in as the manager of Russia, except it is not ketchup he has banned, but shisha pipes. The decision has proved popular with Russian fans who blame the smoking of shisha pipes on their team failing to reach the World Cup in 2010.

Capello could be surprised to find himself once more within a footballing culture that is driven by trivia. His new job starts in earnest this week with a match in Moscow against Northern Ireland, and it seems to have some stark similarities to his last one.

Following on from failure, making the transition from old guard to new, responding to pressure over his captain and being called an overpaid import, the only difference is that it’s in a different language. Never one to back away from criticism, Capello has started his tenure in Russia with the same vigorous imposition of rules as he did in England, and Samedov, the winger from Lokomotiv Moscow has said he is very big on discipline.

While the Russian players may not be very impressed with the new regime, the public certainly do. There is a nationwide frustration bubbling over from the Russian teams failure to qualify for Euro 2012 from what only can be described as gift group, and they are embracing Capello with his tough, hardline approach, and already consider him as the man to restore pride to Russian football.

The old guard, who did so well in Euro 2008 but looked tired and jaded this year, and demands have been made from the top that changes are made, and soon. Capello doesn’t select on reputation, as Beckham knows only too well, and with his huge pay packet come even bigger expectations, and how this pans out only time will tell.

The changing face of the so-called beautiful game

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The changing face of the so-called beautiful game Whilst the English Premier League has gone on to become a top class global brand it has, despite its huge television revenue, managed to create an underclass in football. The current model for footballers in Britain seems to be that they are getting rich at the expense of their fans.

Clubs such as Rangers, who have fallen from grace, will now have an increased struggle to keep pace with those clubs that are funded by cash from overseas, and there are truly turbulent times ahead.

Mihir Bose, Britain’s foremost football correspondent has followed every fascinating and gripping step in the Premier League roller coaster rise to international stardom. This mesmerizing journey involves high stakes, multi-million pounds deals, bungs, backhanders and the very future of the beautiful game.

Mihir specialises in the business of sport and was previously sports editor at BBC. He is a lead writer for, amongst others, The Daily Telegraph, insideworldsoccer.com and Evening Standard. The book, at times highly controversial, looks at how the Premier League needs to evolve to prosper in the face of the demands of top players, Euro crisis, recession, conflict with other governing bodies, racism and revolt from the terraces.