Football News: Afobe Fears Arsenal Title Collapse, Klopp Back At Work And Aston Villa Have Nothing To Lose Plus More
Image from: zimbio.com
1. Afobe fears Arsenal title collapse
Former Arsenal youngster Benik Afobe fears his old club are on the brink of throwing away the title again. Despite his new club Bournemouth suffering a 2-0 reverse at the hands of the Gunners, Afobe still expects the worst, as that has become the norm. "It would be great if Arsenal win the title but it has been the same story every year," he said. "This is the time of the season when they normally fall behind and start losing games they should be winning. They obviously have a lot of world-class players and I have only good things to say about them. But there are a lot of fantastic teams fighting them for the title this year and also a lot of teams no-one believed could be in the race. No one expected Tottenham would be challenging to win the league and Leicester as well. So Arsenal's next game against Leicester this Sunday is obviously massive."
2. Villa have nothing to lose
Aston Villa defender (and supporter) Joleon Lescott has told the club's official website that the team have nothing to lose between now and the end of the season. With Villa having just 13 games left to turn things around and save the club's Premier League future, they have been written off by most as doomed to relegation. "Everyone has written us off, so we've got nothing to lose," Lescott told avfc.co.uk. "If we go down everyone says: 'Well, we knew that in January or February.' But we've got a great fighting spirit and we believe that if we show that kind of desire and attitude in every game then we'll make a real fight of it." If they do stave off relegation once more, it will be an escape of proportions that dwarve even last season's effort by Leicester City.
3. Redfearn gets the boot
Former Leeds United manager Neil Redfearn has been sacked by fellow Yorkshire club Rotherham United after just 21 games in charge at the New York Stadium. Saturday's 2-1 defeat at the hands of fellow strugglers Bolton Wanderers made it 14 defeats in those 21 matches, with just 5 wins. The Millers are now third from bottom of the English Championship. The club's chairman, Tony Stewart, said: "It is with a heavy heart that we've parted company with Neil today. As we all know football is a results driven business and with 16 games to go our aim has to be to retain our Championship status. Everyone at the club wishes Neil well with his future career and thank him for his efforts and endeavour. Our focus now is 100% behind appointing a first team manager as soon as possible." Redfearn replaced Steve Evans, who is now managing his former club Leeds.
4. Klopp back at work
Less than 48 hours after Jurgen Klopp had his appendix removed, the Liverpool manager is back at work with the club. Unable to attend Saturday's draw with Sunderland, after being rushed into hospital with appendicitis, the German will be back on the sidelines for the FA Cup 4th round replay clash with West Ham United tomorrow night. "I feel good and I am back in the race," said Klopp. "I figured if I feel bad I should stay at home, but I feel good. If I am not fit then I cannot help here and I would be at home. Everything is okay and we don't have to talk about this any more. I am very thankful for our doc (club medic Andy Massey) because he said we should go to hospital - I was not too sure - and the surgeon was great, a season ticket-holder who told me we both didn't want to see the game, I had the best nurses and everything was okay. I watched the (Sunderland) game yesterday. I spoke to all my coaches and what I heard before (he saw it) was what I saw afterwards. It was not necessary to give the points away but that is not something we can change. It makes no difference if you are in a deep sleep or on the bench - you can't change it any more. There were a lot of positive things and if you pick out the last 10 minutes it was a really good game; how you should play and we should have scored a few more goals. How we conceded the goals was not too good, how it is always, but it is not the only information I need to understand what our situation is at this moment. It is over and in this moment it is easier for me to say we have to carry on."
5. Transfer round up
Roman Gribovskiy, released by Belshina
Edilson, released by Santa Rita
Artur Toroyan, unattached to Limoges
Atsushi Nishizawa, unattached to FC Strausberg
Abel Gigli, released by NK Maribor
Bruno Formigoni, released by Bragantino
Elsinho, released by Tombense
Leandro Damiao, unattached to Real Betis
Szymon Gruca, Bardejov to Poprad, undisclosed fee
Elvis Bratanovic, FK Teplice to Termalica, undisclosed fee
Cristhian Colman, Juventud to Club Oriental, on loan
Mateusz Szwoch, Legia Warsaw to Arka Gdynia, on loan
Matheus Alves, Fluminese to Gangwon FC, on loan
Abid Mujagic, FK Gorazde to Zvijezda Gradacac, undisclosed fee
Renato, Nautico to Boa Esporte, undisclosed fee
Simon Smehyl, FC Nitra to FK Senica, undisclosed fee
Oleksiy Khoblenko, Dynamo Kyiv to Chornomorets, on loan
Yuri Pavlyukovets, Dinamo Brest to Torpedo Zhodino, undisclosed fee
Alvin Bennett, Limon FC to Guria, on loan
Mateusz Janeczko, Pobdeskidzie to Bytovia Bytow, on loan
Andrey Solovei, Dinamo Brest to Torpedo Zhodino, undisclosed fee
Edin Hadzovic, Zeljeznicar to FK Gorazde, on loan
Rastko Suljagic, Stuttgart to Olimpic Sarajevo, on loan
Serob Grigoryan, KS Samara to Pyunik Erevan, undisclosed fee
Marlon, Mogi Mirim to Cianorte, on loan
Eryk Krupa, Rakow to Karpaty Krosno, on loan
Amer Hiros, Zeljeznicar to FK Goradze, on loan
Antonis Liosis, released by GAS Ialysos
Fabiano Santacroce, unattached to Ternana
Giuseppe Funicello, unattached to Bi/Bol
Marcelinho, released by Atromitos Athen
Al Bangura, unattached to St Albans City
Milos Bosancic, released by Hangzhou Greentown
Marvin Chavez, San Antonio Scorpions to Rayo OKC, undisclosed fee
Dmitri Proshin, Pskov-747 to JK Trans Narva, undisclosed fee
Solvi Ottesen, Jiangsu Suning to Wuhan Zall, undisclosed fee
Nelson Semperena, Metropolitanos to Mineros, undisclosed fee
Mauro Guevgeozian, CA Fenix to Bucaramanga, undisclosed fee
In-Whan Jung, Henan Jianye to FC Seoul, undisclosed fee
Shin-Wook Kim, Ulsan to Jeonbuk, undisclosed fee
Alejandro Rebola, Guillermo Brown to CA Tigre, on loan
Artem Putivtsev, Metalist Kharkiv to Termalica, undisclosed fee
Ola Kamara, Austria Vienna to Columbus Crew, undisclosed fee
Paulao, Consadole to Fukushima United, on loan
Shuang Zhang, Baotou Nanjiao to Baoding Yingli Yitong, undisclosed fee
Marcus Hansson, Tromso to Djurgardens IF, undisclosed fee
Marcelinho, Karpaty to Ituano, undisclosed fee
Starling Matarrita, AD Carmelita to Real Pococi, undisclosed fee
Roland Alberg, ADO Den Haag to Philadelphia Union, undisclosed fee
Ramon Cecchini, FC Vaduz to FC Winterthur, on loan
Petar Atanasov, Slavia Sofia to PFC Montana, on loan
Samuel Afum, BSC Young Boys to Neuchatel Xamax FCS, on loan
Patrik Misak, Banik Ostrava to Termalica, undisclosed fee
Giovanni Volturo, Pavia to FC Locarno, on loan
Diego Zabala, Racing Club to CA Velez Sarsfield, on loan
Karol Danielak, Pogon Szczecin to Zawisza, on loan
Leandro Marin, Boca Juniors to CA Tigre, on loan
Argzim Redzovic, unattached to Iskra Danilovgrad
6. Hemmings gets Player of the Month award
Dundee's Kane Hemmings has lifted the Premiership Player of the Year award in Scotland after his five goals in five matches stood out last month. The Englishman has scored 16 goals in total for his side who sit in sixth place in the SPFL.
7. Is it possible?
Leicester City's 3-1 win over Manchester City at the weekend saw them installed as title favourites. Could the dream become reality?
Keeping the Dream Alive... pic.twitter.com/48CBU8lN8v
— Riyad Mahrez (@Mahrez22) February 8, 2016
8. Liverpool boosted by return of trio
Jurgen Klopp has revealed some good news amidst the turmoil over ticket prices at Liverpool. He has confirmed that England striker Daniel Sturridge is in contention for a start, and that he is not the only player returning from injury. Brazilian Philippe Coutinho and Belgian Divock Origi are also in contention for the team to face West Ham United. Klopp told the official Liverpool site: "We haven't decided about the starting line-up. We now have a very important session. Sturridge was fit enough to be on the bench. He was impressive in the last session on Friday night, so we though 'come on, if there's a chance for 10 or 15 minutes, we should try it'. We spoke to him and he said he would like to. But then the game had a different story and there was no possibility with the two early changes. Divock and Phil will be in training today too and are in the squad, hopefully, for tomorrow. It's a little bit complicated because extra-time is possible. We have to look at who will start - they can't all start together, that's not possible because we know we would have to change three time because the whole game would be too much in this moment. So we have to figure out how we do it best but we will find a solution, for sure."
9. Former Forest legend joins Rams coaching staff
Derby County have appointed a couple of new members of staff to their academy. Not normally big news, and in the case of Craig Short, probably still not big news. However, the other appointment is a legend of bitter local rivals Nottingham Forest, the former England defender Des Walker. Walker has joined to work as the academy's defensive coach, while Short is an additional U21 coach. Derby County's academy director Darren Wassall told the club's official website: "We're delighted to welcome Des and Craig to the Academy coaching staff. Des is someone that has plenty to offer from a defensive point of view across the Academy and Craig, meanwhile, has worked with us previously so we're well aware of his skills and he is a welcome addition to the Under 21 coaching staff." Walker's son Lewis Walker has recently joined Derby County as a player, turning out for the U18s.
10. Ronaldo wants to stay at Madrid
Amid talk of a return to Manchester United, or a move to Paris Saint-Germain, Cristiano Ronaldo has released a statement. While it is clear clubs like Man Utd and PSG would be interested, Ronaldo has said he would like to see out his contract with Real Madrid. "I have been in Spain six years," Ronaldo told Marca. "I was also at Manchester United for six years and that was a great experience, a great championship, but for me this is the best league in the world. It's a privilege to be here. I want to be here for a couple more years and then we'll see. That's the duration of my contract and I want to give my all in that time."
Written by Tris Burke February 08 2016 17:58:18