The New Breed versus The Old Guard - Betting News with Betfred

versus

It is a mouth-watering clash of the billionaires with big ambitions at Eastlands this weekend as Chelsea and Manchester City clash this Saturday.

Roman Abramovich revolutionised the Premier League when he took over Chelsea and sprayed his millions around to bring quality footballers to the club, which led to Jose Mourinho leading them to the Premier League title.

Now the new boys on the block are City, and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan has spent hundreds of millions of pounds in his short term at the helm in the hope of bringing success to Eastlands.

It is a case of the old guard versus the new breed when the two teams meet, and this game is set to be Chelsea's sternest test yet of their ability to defend the Premier League title they won last season.

Carlo Ancelotti's side are 6/5 in the online football betting to head back to the capital with all three points.

The West London side have been in scintillating scoring form this season and have blown away all that came before them in the Premier League, scoring 21 goals in their first five Premier League fixtures of the campaign.
However things could be different on Saturday lunchtime, when they face a City side that did the double over them last season - and many punters may see a City win at 5/2 as an enticing Premier League bet.

Didier Drogba, who has looked very impressive in the opening weeks of the season and is 9/2 with Betfred to open the scoring at Eastlands, claims contrary to public opinion, that Chelsea have not had an "easy start" to their season, but he admits the true test of their title credentials lie in the forthcoming games.

He said: "City will be a good test to see if we can deal with better opposition. After that it is Arsenal - another big one - so it's a crucial period."

Both teams are coming into this game having lost in the Carling Cup in midweek and seen one chance of silverware go begging. However it is the Premier League title that both teams, and their Chairman have their eyes on winning, so it should be an exciting affair when they take to the field.

My Tip of the Weekend:

Chelsea should be too strong for the inconsistent City and I expect them to continue their superb scoring form, so Betfred's 4/1 for the Londoner's to score three goals or more looks like good value. Also Carlos Tevez at 11/2 to score first in the match looks a steal.

Saturday 25th September: Chelsea v Manchester City, kick-off 12.45pm - Live on Sky Sports 2.

By Drew Swainston
(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

Champions League Draw 2010/11 - Group Stages

Group A:
Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, Tottenham, FC Twente

Group B:
Lyon, Benfica, Schalke, Hapoel Tel-Aviv

Group C:
Manchester United, Valencia, Rangers, Bursaspor

Group D:
Barcelona, Panathinaikos, FC Copenhagen, Rubin Kazan

Group E:
Bayern Munich, AS Roma, Basel, CFR Cluj

Group F:
Chelsea, Marseille, Spartak Moscow, Zilina

Group G:
AC Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax, Auxerre

Group H:
Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk, Braga, Partizan Belgrade


Fixture Dates:

Matchday 1: 14th/15th September
Matchday 2: 28th/29th September
Matchday 3: 19th/20th October
Matchday 4: 2nd/3rd November
Matchday 5: 23rd/24th November
Matchday 6: 7th/8th December

The Physio Room - Injury Update

With the new Premier League season only days away, managers, chairman and owners are busy wheeling and dealing in the transfer market, in an effort to strengthen their squads.

So spare a thought for the English Premier League clubs' physios and medical teams and their 'healing hands.'

Here is why:

The 2009/10 Premier League season finished on the 9th May, the F.A Cup Final took place on the 15th May, and many English Premier League (EPL) players were involved in international friendlies prior to the World Cup, which itself began on the 11th June.

On the 24th May England themselves hosted Mexico at Wembley, on the 30th England played Japan in Austria, and after arriving in South Africa they had another warm-up game before their opening World Cup group fixture against the USA on the 12th June. They played Algeria on the 18th June, Slovenia on the 23rd, before going out of the competition on the 27th to Germany.

The English Premier League is littered with 'foreign players' from all over the world, who participated in the World Cup, yet ply their trade on English shores.
The World Cup lasted a full month for a few of them, culminating in the Final on the 11th July.

On their return the pre-season friendlies were immediately upon them.

Last Sunday saw the traditional season curtain raiser - the 'Community Shield' played at Wembley, which was this year unusually competitive, as Chelsea and Manchester United locked horns in an effort to get a winning and early physcological advantage over their fiercest rivals.

Tonight sees an 'England XI' play Hungary in what can only be best described as an ill advised, badly timed and meaningless international friendly, which will involve the participation of Premier League players just 72 hours before the new season kicks-off!

What remains to be seen is how well the various managers and their coaching staff along with the healing hands of their respective physios can manage their squads, rotate them effectively and nurse their injured players through the early opening season exchanges, whilst being able to juggle and prioritise their fixtures, and in doing so succeed in maximising performances and results.

Many teams will start the season without some key players, already victims of injuries picked up last season, during the World Cup or in pre-season.

Obviously some Premier League teams have the budget to sustain sufficiently large enough squads to nullify this problem as best possible. However with the transfer window still open, they still have the opportunity to shore up any problem areas, with additional players, whether they be through loan deals or permanent moves.

Meanwhile there is a full programme of English Premier League fixtures this weekend, so here is your chance to catch up on which players are definitely out injured, who is doubtful or struggling, and who will be fit to play for their clubs.

Click on the 'link' to find out the latest on your Club's injury worries, and how soon it will be before some of your teams players will be back in action.

Will City Buy the Premier League? - Betting News with Betfred

The Worst Sporting Champions of All Time ! - Part Two!

This is the second installment in my series looking at and 'celebrating' those undeserved 'Sporting Champions' - those teams and/or individuals that were actually top of their field, yet were still pretty rubbish.

Last time it was Blackburn Rovers who felt the wrath of my written tongue, as I described their 1995 Premiership winning team as pretty crass. This time I am sticking with the sport of football as I look back to 2005 and 1982, and poor cold water on a couple of English teams 'glorious' European triumphs!

There are plenty of folk, especially in the Greater Manchester area, who insist that Liverpool's Champions League winning team of 2005 were indeed the worst European Champions of all time!
Despite their dramatic penalty shoot-out final victory over Milan, in the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul - they have a point!

You can't be picking players like Djimi 'gauche' Traoré or Harry 'supersize me' Kewell and expect to receive much in the way of props. But in their defence the Reds did at least have the decency to 'somehow' defeat several quality teams along the way such as Milan, Juventus and Chelsea and to a lesser extent Bayer Leverkusen.

However Liverpool only made it through to the knock-out phase of the competition, ahead of the 'mighty' Olympiacos of Greece on goal difference, after finishing runners-up to AS Monaco in their qualifying group.
The Anfield side did finish a semi-respectable fifth in the league during their cup-winning season.

Similar claims of beating reputable opposition on their way to European glory cannot be made for Aston Villa's 1982 campaign.

Villa that season 'officially' became the worst side ever to lift the most sought after European club trophy of the modern era!

The old adage of ' you can only beat what is put in front of you ' still sadly fails to make their triumph seem anymore than futile.

Villa won their solo European Cup (in the days when it was a straight knock-out competition) by beating the muscle of Valur Reykjavik, Dynamo Berlin, Dynamo Kiev, Anderlect and in one of the most tedious finals held in Rotterdam, the most toothless Bayern Munich side in living memory, care of a 67th minute Peter Withe goal.

Meanwhile back home, Villa defended their 1981 domestic league title with a complete lack of aplomb, by losing 15 games and ending the season in 12th place - no European champions have ever finished as low - quite a feat and in doing so simply re-emphasising their title as ' the worst side ever to lift the European Cup! '

The Worst Sporting Champions of All Time ! - Part One

The World Cup is over, Spain were victorious and they are the World Champions. At the end of the day whilst watching it from my humble abode here in the UK it is in my opinion that Spain were indeed worthy winners, although it was generally a disappointing tournament all-round in terms of the quality of the football played, and the embarrassment and humiliation the England players and management team bestowed upon our nation!

This article is part one of several to come celebrating those undeserved 'Sporting Champions' - those teams and/or individuals that were actually top of their field, yet were still pretty rubbish.

For this reason I shall call them 'Sport's Greatest Ever Pretenders,' starting with:
Blackburn Rovers - Premiership Champions 1995.

How did a team based around the workmanlike talents of Tim Sherwood and Jeff Kenna become champions of England?

Stick nine men behind the ball, hoof it up to Alan Shearer and hope he's not too busy flapping his pointy elbows into some poor old defender's eye socket, and in the interim point in time he whacks the ball into the back of the onion bag. That is how!

Ole, ole ole!.............free-flowing, aesthetically pleasing, champagne football!

That season Manchester United had been handicapped by the loss of the mercurial Eric 'the karate kid' Cantona, following a now well documented altercation with a Crystal Palace fan at Selhurst Park one January evening in 1995. Without the suspended Frenchman it immediately became advantage Rovers, but they still failed to claim their prize with any assumed authority.

They stumbled over the finishing line, losing three of their final five games, the last of which gave Manchester United the chance to snatch the title with the very last kick of the season, if they could win at West Ham. Luckily for Rovers, that final kick fell to United's Achilles heel, Andy Cole's club foot - and Kenny Dalglish's men topped the table by a single point.

They danced and they sang without a hint of ignominy, as this small Lancashire club lifted the Premier League trophy, just four years after the arrival and the aid of the late Jack Walker's dynasty and his millions.

Such end-of-season shamelessness would never be seen again............that was until Chelsea insisted that it 'wasn't all about Roman's f***ing money,' when in June 2003 Ken Bates sold Chelski to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich for £140 million, completing what was then the biggest-ever sale of an English football club.

He subsequently spent over £100 million on new players, as they went onto become the fifth English team to win (buy) back-to-back league championships since the Second World War in 2004/05 and 2005/06.

Chelsea Wallpapers

Chelsea Football Club

Full name: Chelsea Football Club
Founded: March 14, 1905
Stadium: Stamford Bridge (42360), Fulham, London, England

STS Chelsea Football Academy

STS Chelsea Football Academy

Chelsea FC is one of the top teams in the English Premier League with football stars such as International's John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Andriy Shevchenko, Michael Ballack among many others.

In cooperation with Chelsea FC football in the community STS offers an instructive and intensive football camp. You will improve all aspects of your game in a very inspiring environment. The training is held by Chelsea coaches and takes place in small groups of 12-14 players. You will practise techniques of shooting and dribbling, and the techniques of various playing systems in defence and attack.

The course is held at the offical state of the art Chelsea training facilities in Cobham surrey and is where the Chelsea 1st team train each week.

It's Crunch Time In The Premier League - Betting News with Betfred

VERSUS

and

VERSUS

The last weekend of the season looms and the Premier League title is on the line, so at least we all have one exciting last hurrah before contemplating another summer waiting for the domestic football to return - at least there's the 2010 Football World Cup to tide us over.

Obviously all eyes are going to be focused on Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford this Sunday as title rivals Chelsea and Manchester United face Wigan and Stoke respectively.

If Chelsea can beat the Latics then the title is theirs, and the football odds make them massive 1/10 favourites to win the match. Wigan, on the other hand are 25/1 shots to spring a surprise.

A shock slip-up by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge means a United victory over Stoke would see the trophy remain at Old Trafford, but Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard feels Chelsea are going into this vital game with great momentum.

"There is still another game to go but we are in a good position. If you are going to win titles you are going to have these moments," he said.

The England midfielder has been instrumental yet again for Chelsea this season so there would be no surprises if he got on the scoresheet to help win the Premier League title for Chelsea - he can be backed to score first at 3/1 with Betfred.

It is important to note that in the case of a surprise Chelsea defeat, nothing but a United win will suffice, as a draw at Old Trafford will still hand the title to Carlo Ancelotti's side on goal difference.

However, as this game should be a walk in the park for Chelsea the real betting value lies elsewhere this weekend, specifically at Old Traford where Manchester United could buckle under the strain of a long season.


My Tip Of The Weekend:
Although Sir Alex Ferguson's sides are renowned for achieving the impossible, the current crop have looked fragile at times this season, particularly in defence. I think the pressure could get to United, and they are playing a tough no-nonsense Stoke outfit, so Betfred's 13/2 for a draw at Old Trafford looks the value bet of the day.

Chelsea v Wigan - Sunday 9th May, kick-off 4pm, live on Sky Sports 1.
Man Utd v Stoke - Sunday 9th May, kick-off 4pm, live on Sky Sports 3.

By Drew Swainston
(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

Chelsea Football Club Wallpapers

Chelsea FC Logo

Chelsea Football Wallpaper

Chelsea Football Club Players

Chelsea Football Team Celebration

Chelsea FC Stadium Picture

Chelsea Soccer Player

Number 8 Chelsea Frank Lampard Jr.

Lampard netted 2 goals on winning 5-0 over Blackburn Rovers

Champions League Last 16 Draw

Inter Milan v CHELSEA

Lyon v Real Madrid

AC Milan v MANCHESTER UNITED

Olympiakos v Bordeaux

FC Porto v ARSENAL

CSKA Moscow v Sevilla

Stuttgart v Barcelona

Bayern Munich v Fiorentina


The first-leg ties will be played on the 16th, 17th, 23rd or 24th February 2010.
The return games will be played on either the 9th, 10th, 16th or 17th March 2010.

*It had to be, didn't it? David Beckham will return to Old Trafford with AC Milan. Jose Mourinho goes back to Chelsea with Inter.

Terrific Stuff!

London Rivals To Clash In Crunch Game - Betting Tips with Betfred

Chelsea could deal another hammer blow to their punch drunk Premier League title rivals if they win the London derby against Arsenal this weekend.
However, Theo Walcott is 'gunning' to bring the trophy to the north of the capital.

Arsenal currently sit in third place in the Premier League table, eight points behind the Blues but with a game in hand, and know a victory at the Emirates on Sunday could propel them right into a title battle.

They are well-fancied @ 6/4 to beat their rivals with Betfred and could be well-backed by many punters.

The Gunners have been hit hard with injury problems, with an ankle problem keeping top scorer Robin van Persie out for anything up to five months, while Gael Clichy and Nicklas Bendtner are also missing.

Arsene Wenger’s men were also not aided by young defender Kieran Gibbs suffering a broken metatarsal in the Champions League victory over Standard Liege, which will see him spend a lengthy time on the sidelines.

One man coming back into the team is Walcott, who made only his fourth appearance against Liege and now wants to fill Van Persie's role through the middle for Arsenal to help fire them to Premier League glory.

Walcott has predominantly been played as a winger by Wenger and said upon his return to the first team that he now feels great and his problematic knee is fine.

He is priced at football odds of 12/1 with Betfred to open the scoring at the Emirates, and could be a good bet against a Chelsea side which has struggled to deal with pacy forwards in the past.

"I would love to play up front, it was my position," said the forward.

"I played up front at Southampton but it has been quite a while. I will play anywhere for this team."


My Tip Of The Weekend:
Arsenal to win 2-1 @ 10/1 with Betfred may be a good price for a side looking to bounce back from last week’s disappointing defeat to Sunderland.


By Charlotte Cook
(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

Babe Of The Month - A Cup/ B Cup/ C Cup/ D Cup/ E Cup/ FA CUP - Chelski 2009 Winners

The UEFA Champions League Group Draw, My Predictions & The Betting Odds.

An intriguing Champions League draw has paired Celtic & Man Utd together in Group E along with Danish champions Aalborg & the dangerous Spaniards’ Villarreal, runners up to Real Madrid in La Liga last season & finishing ten points clear of third placed Catalan giants Barcelona.
In fact if they had performed to the same degree during the first half of the 2007/08 La Liga season, as they did in the second half Villarreal would have been crowned Champions, conceding just one goal at home & losing only 3 of their last 19 domestic league fixtures. 'The Yellow Submarines' won 12 of all their 19 league games away from the El Madrigal Stadium, so they don’t suffer from travel sickness!
I believe Man Utd & Villarreal will both qualify for the first round knockout stage of the competition. The tournament second favourites Man Utd can be backed at a best priced 13/2 to win it outright while you can get 40/1 on 'The Yellow Submarines' shooting down all around come Rome next May.
The Bhoys are 8/1 to get through to the next stage but I would keep my money in my pocket & Aalborg managed by Scotsman Bruce Rioch, the former manager of Middlesbrough, Bolton & Arsenal to name but a few, make their first appearance in the competition for 13 years & I expect them to be the whipping boys of Group E.

The so called ‘Group of Death’ is probably a toss up between Group F & Group G.
Group F looks like a straight three way fight between Bayern Munich, Lyon & Fiorentina. The 1986 European Cup Winners Steaua Bucharest look unlikely to qualify from this group, but not I feel without putting a few noses out of joint along the way. It is worth bearing in mind that the Romanian domestic champions disposed of Turkish giants Galatasaray in the qualifying round, so any trip to their Stadionul Ghencea is fraught with a potential upset.

Group G hosts Arsenal, Porto, Fenerbahce & Dynamo Kiev. All of these teams are a shadow of their former selves. Kiev were Ukranian league runners-up last season & winners of this competition way back in 1999.
Porto are the current Portuguese Liga champions & were victorious in the Champions League back in 2004 whilst under the stewardship of Jose Mourinho, but have had to sell many of their best players of late.
Meanwhile Arsenal are without a trophy of any description since the 2003/04 season. Fererbahce, Turkish league runners-up last season & Champions league quarter-finalists last season (along with Arsenal) are probably on paper at least the best equipped team in the group along with Arsenal to reach the last sixteen. In addition they have a hugely partisan home crowd in Istanbul & the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, will be a daunting & unforgiving place to go for any visiting team.
My money is on The Gunners & the Turks to qualify for the next stage. Incidently Arsenal can be backed to lift the trophy at 12/1. A big price & a big gamble!

Group C should see Catalans Barcelona canter into the next stage of the competition but who will join them?
Shakhatar Donetsk & Basle are both winners of their own domestic leagues in the Ukraine & Switzerland respectively, & along with Sporting Lisbon, will fight it out for the one remaining place.
I feel Shakhatar are the best of the three. They have a touch more in their locker than Sporting & Basle, including six Brazilians in their squad & a 5-1 demolition of Dinamo Zagreb in qualifying.
Barcelona are joint third favourites to lift the trophy along with Inter Milan & can be backed at odds of 7/1 to do so.

Inter like Barcelona are the stand out team in their group, Group B with the German Bundesliga runners-up Werder Bremen the best of a meadioca bunch. Group B is the weakest on paper & with Jose Mourinho installed as boss & an array of talent on the pitch including Toldo, Figo, Ibrahimovic, Adriano & Cruz the current Serie A Champions should stroll into the last sixteen.
Anorthosis Famagusta the first Cypriot side to play in the Champions League, along with the Greek side Panathinaikos will certainly do well to take points off anyone, other than each other!
Inter & Werder Bremen to go through then, & Inter to win it the tournament at an over generous 7/1. Get on now!

Liverpool shouldn’t have any trouble qualifying for the first knockout round in Group D, but their uninspiring start to the Premier League season both on & off the field may require them to be slightly on their guard. PSV, Marseille & Athletic Madrid are all to be respected but of the three only PSV qualified automatically as Dutch champions, with Marseille & Athletico Madrid making it through via the qualifying stages.
Athletico finished fourth in La Liga but should & could have finished higher before they ran out of gas in the second half of the season. They lost 12 in total out of their 38 league games, but 8 of those 12 were in the second half of the season.
Liverpool to win the group with Athletico Madrid to also qualify.
Liverpool to win the competition are 12/1, a bit skinny but once out of the group stages I expect any off field business to have be resolved & the players to be firing on all cylinders.

The big guns of Real Madrid & Juventus – 11 times winners between them dominate Group H. The only question here is who will win the group? Juve are 2/1 to win it, with Real at 4/5. Zenit St.Petersburg the UEFA Cup holders & Bate Borisov of Belarus make up the rest of Group H.
Put Zenit in Groups B, C, F or G & I would fancy them to go through. They are going to have to cause an almighty shock here to make any progress & I personally don’t fancy their chances.
Madrid & Juventus to qualify comfortably. The Spaniards are 15/2 & Juve 20/1 to be victorious in Rome.

Finally Group A features favourites Chelsea, the dangerous AS Roma, Serie A runners-up to Inter, Bordeaux surprise league runners-up behind Lyon & the Romanian champions CFR Cluj.
CFR were the first Romanian team to win the title outside of Bucharest for 17 years.
Cluj more famous for Dracula & The Cheeky Girls are making their first ever appearance in the Champions league. Whether it lasts more than 6 games remains to be seen, so I have to stick with Chelsea & AS Roma to qualify from Group A.
Chelsea & John Terry are a best priced 5/1 to lift the trophy in May, whilst AS Roma are attractively priced at 28/1 to go all the way.
A bit of each way value beckons the Italians.( Each-way ½ 1,2 )


Group A

AS Roma 3/1 Q
Chelsea 4/11 Q
CFR Cluj 50/1
Bordeaux 15/2

Group B

Werder Bremen 5/2 Q
Inter Milan 4/11 Q
Panathanaikos 10/1
Anorthosis Famagusta 50/1

Group C

Sporting Lisbon 6/1
Barcelona 1/4 Q
Basle 22/1
Shakhtar Donetsk 6/1 Q

Group D

PSV Eindhoven 13/2
Liverpool 4/5 Q
Athletico Madrid 3/1 Q
Marseille 9/2

Group E

Villarreal 100/30 Q
Man Utd 3/10 Q
Aalborg 66/1
Celtic 8/1

Group F

Lyon 7/4 Q
Fiorentina 11/4
Bayern Munich 11/8 Q
Steaua Bucharest 14/1

Group G

Porto 100/30
Arsenal 8/13 Q
Dynamo Kiev 8/1
Fernerbahce 5/1 Q

Group H

Real Madrid 4/5 Q
Zenit St Petersburg 7/2
Juventus 2/1 Q
Bate Borislov 66/1


# Group stages to be played: Sept 16-17, Sept 30-Oct 1, Oct 21-22, Nov 4-5,
Nov 25-26 & Dec 9-10.

Q = My prediction to qualify for the next stage.

* Odds supplied courtesy of Coral bookmakers & are for teams to qualify through to the first knockout round only.

Kaka Football Star

Kaka for AC Milan

Roman Abramovich personally spoke to AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani in a bid to sign Kaka for Chelsea. The Russian billionaire took Galliani aboard one of his yatchs but was told the Brazil star is not for sale. (via)

Kaka Brazil star

AC Milan have denied receiving a 150million euros offer from Chelsea or any other club for Kaka but admitted holding talks with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich earlier this summer. (via)

Kaka women idol

An Insight into The Life & Times of Terence Fredrick Venables - alias ‘El Tel’

His resume lists amongst its particulars:
International footballer, football manager, football coach, businessman, TV pundit, big band crooner, board game inventor, author........the list is extensive & somewhat impressive to say the least!

However the list could be construed as being somewhat misleading, as in between the ‘glorious achievements’ is a man who is shall we say less than whiter than white - where there lies a sleepy, somewhat bumpy undercurrent beneath the surface!

Venables has the reputation of an archetypal rogue with his cockney charm & beguiling smile.

Venables in his favourite role, (right) that of cockney wideboy.

He is a man as at ease in a tracksuit as he is in a tuxedo.

As a manager his tactical prowess is regarded as being of the highest class & he is famed for his ability to motivate players into producing their best.

Born in Dagenham in January 1943, Venables began his playing career at Chelsea, making his debut as a 16 year-old, captaining the team a year later & going on to make over 200 appearances.

He made his England debut in 1964, winning two caps as a 21 year-old before moving to Tottenham, where he spent three years before moving back west to join QPR, & then south to join Crystal Palace.

Having retired as a player he then returned to take charge of Crystal Palace, taking over from Malcolm Allison in 1976, when they were in the old Third Division & guiding them into the top flight as Champions of Division Two, in the 1978/79 season.

He then returned to take charge of QPR, guiding them to a Wembley Cup Final in 1982 & to the Second Division title the following season.

His success in charge of two London clubs did not go unnoticed & he attracted the interest of a number of clubs both at home & abroad.

In 1984, recommended for the role by Bobby Robson he was appointed manager of Spanish giants Barcelona, earning the sobriquet ‘El Tel.’

During his three seasons in charge of the Catalan club ‘El Tel’ led them to their first Spanish League title in eleven years, won the Spanish League Cup & took them to the first post-Heysel European Cup Final, which they lost on penalties to Steaua Bucharest.
He was sacked in September 1987 after failing to follow up his title success at the Camp Nou, along with the humiliation of losing home & away to Dundee Utd in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.

A month later he was appointed manager of Tottenham Hotspur.
Despite an FA Cup win in 1991, this was unable to paper over the ensuing cracks as Venables tried & failed in a £20m bid to purchase the club, before taking a role 'upstairs' as chief executive of the club following Alan Sugar’s successful takeover battle against Robert Maxwell.
A clash of personalities between the two saw Sugar dismiss Venables in November 1993 leading to lengthy, acrimonious & very tedious court cases & subsequent investigations into Venables's financial/business dealings.

The following year Venables was back in the hot seat, this time as manager of the England national team.
Terry’s style seemed perfectly suited to international management & he seemed to have the presence & charisma that could re-ignite some national pride & achievement.
On home soil & subsequently riding on that patriotic crest of a wave, Venables led England all the way to the semi-finals of Euro 96, before losing to the eventual winners Germany.

Venables then resigned in order to fight more murky & tedious court cases, effectively signalling the end of his credible coaching career.
Venables is the only England manager ever to resign from his post because of his muddy personal details relating to financial irregularities. He is also the only disqualified company director ever to be indirectly accused of accepting bribes to sign players, while also being in a courtroom battle with Tottenham Hotspur.

A web of complex accusations & counter-accusations seems to have followed Venables wherever he has managed in recent times.

So what went wrong?

At the age of 17 Venables had made himself a limited company, one whose stated aim was 'to exploit the talents of Terence Venables.'

But what are those talents exactly?

As we are aware Venables has dissipated his energies into countless business ventures, most notably with English football clubs, QPR (as Managing Director), Tottenham Hotspur (as Chief Executive) & Portsmouth (as Chairman). However, on 14 January 1998 he was disqualified by the high court from acting as a company director for seven years under section 8 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 for mismanagement of four companies - the London drinking club Scribes West Ltd, Edenote plc, Tottenham Hotspur plc and Tottenham Hotspur Football and Athletic Company Ltd. The case was brought by the Department of Trade and Industry who cited instances of bribery, lying, deception, manipulation of accounts & taking money that should have been given to creditors.

In addition to his widespread business interests, Venables also co-authored four novels with writer Gordon Williams and is credited as co-creator of the ITV detective series Hazell.

Having been a football pundit for BBC since the mid-80s, he left for ITV in 1994, following a legal dispute with the corporation over allegations made against him in a Panorama programme.

In 1990 Venables co-devised the board game, "Terry Venables invites you to be... The Manager". This is a football management game and is a cross between the 'Game of Life,' 'Risk' & 'Trivial Pursuit.'

In 2002 Venables recorded a single for the World Cup together with the band Rider. 'England Crazy' reached number 46 in the UK charts.

El Tel was a true renaissance man - and crooned his legendary version of "What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For" live on TV (right).

In May 2006, Venables guided the England Legends and Celebrities squad to victory in the charity 'Soccer Aid' programme.


In 1997 Venables became manager of Australia.
His side swept through the Oceanic World Cup qualifiers but were beaten in a play-off by Iran on away goals, a match often referred to as the most tragic moment in Australian soccer history. With the team having drawn 1-1 in Tehran, Australia lead the second leg 2-0 at half time, but the partisan crowd were left stunned when they conceded two late goals. Venables was later sacked.

Then followed brief but disastrous spells back at Crystal Palace & Portsmouth, both of whom were suffering financial difficulties at the time.
He joined Pompey first as a consultant, then as Chairman and left with Pompey bottom of Division One & on the brink of bankruptcy & Palace under acrimonious circumstances as they were about to go into administration.

Following a further brief spell in management at Middlesbrough, Venables decided his business interests & media work would not allow him the time to take up a permanent role on Teeside, & he continued to work as a pundit on ITV, seen particularly during the 2002 World Cup.

Just days before the end of the tournament Venables was linked with the vacant managerial position at Leeds & by July 2002 he was unveiled as their new manager.
Leeds’ disastrous financial predicament only began to truly surface two weeks into his tenure, as players such as Jonathan Woodgate & Robbie Keane were sold without Venables being informed, in an effort to pay off mounting debts.
With the team spiralling towards relegation, & the club into a financial crisis, amid later substantiated rumours of player sell-offs by the board, Venables was sacked in March 2003.

Venables again found himself back in the England set-up in 2006, as assistant to new manager Steve McClaren.
He was later sacked from this role in November 2007, along with McClaren after England failed to qualify for the 2008 European Football Championships.


To conclude this critique on the colourful life of 'El Tel,' here are some amusing quotes made by Terry Venables........that in hindsight he possibly wished he had never said!


"If you can't stand the heat in the dressing-room, get out of the kitchen."

"Apart from their goals, Norway haven't scored"

"The mere fact that he's injured stops him getting injured again, if you know what I mean"

"You either win or you lose. There's no in between."

"It may have been going wide, but nevertheless it was a great shot on target"

"They didn't change positions; they just moved the players around"

Michael Ballack

Michael Ballack born September 26, 1976 in Görlitz,
Saxony is a German footballer

Michael Ballack: I love it at the Bridge and could end my career at Chelsea

Running man Michael Ballack has benefited from playing with Chelsea, says Germany boss Loew

Winner: And the 'Little Kaiser' wants to extend his Chelsea career

'Why King Really Went Ape'

During the week just gone a pal of mine forwarded onto me an email he received from a work colleague, who was aware I had recently set up a Blog site that was footy orientated.
My pal is a longtime friend, and a big sports fan who earns his crust doing computer aided drawings. The sound, honest, reliable type. The sort you would happily introduce to the in-laws.
He knows who he is and now Gavin has got himself a mention, I shall hopefully get some peace for the foreseeable future!
Anyway his work colleague for the purposes of this posting I shall refer to as Andy. I have never met Andy or even spoken to him. As a result before reading the subject matter I was naturally open minded and I had no pre-conceptions on the material or its origin.
After initially reading it I thought just another footy fan jumping on the anti-Chelsea FC bandwagon.
As the week went by I kept going over it in my mind and finally decided it was worth publishing and deserved some feedback.
The content of the email is very controversial, perhaps overly, maybe even untrue, but what the hell.......... it is without a doubt definitely worth a read!


Andy wrote:
Apparently on the Internet message boards it is alleged that John Terry told Ledley King to 'Shut up you lippy black monkey' before getting sent off on Sunday. This would explain the following:

WHY King went mad, when normally he is mild tempered and the incident appeared harmless,
WHY Chimbonda went berserk and had to be physically restrained. WHY Zakora went mad too, and WHY Drogba, who was there and always gets involved, did nothing.
It may also explain WHY Terry calmly walked away seemingly
expecting to be sent off, for what appeared on TV to be nothing of consequence.

Terry was accused by Eto of making racist comments in the Barcelona game
last year.
Apparently a Spurs player has leaked this, but Chelsea are working overtime to keep it quiet.
Ashley Cole has said that Poll told him the lack of discipline by Chelsea was out of order and Chelsea are trying to discredit Poll, but he cannot possibly come out and say what Terry really said.
He is after all the England captain!
Instead Poll preferred to say he sent Terry off for 'ungentlemanly conduct'.

Finally, Rio Ferdinand said in his recent book that a current England player was a known racist. Wonder who he meant?

If this story is true, it will be massive and I can't believe the press haven't got hold of it yet. Chelsea must be weighing journalists out left, right and centre.


Have you heard this particular race row before? If so, where did you hear it ?
Is there any truth in it, or is it simply idle pub gossip?
Do you have any thoughts or opinions you would like to share on this potentially explosive issue?
If so, then kindly post your comment below.