Known simply as ‘God’ by Liverpool fans, Robbie Fowler was worshipped by the Kop during his time at Merseyside in the 1990s. Anfield is now a long way away for Fowler, literally, as the Liverpool icon finds himself playing for Muangthong United in Thailand.
Fowler was at Liverpool for more than a decade, starting his youth career with his Reds way back in 1984 and leaving Anfield for Leeds in 2001. He even went back for a second spell on Merseyside in 2006, playing more than 250 times in total in the Premier League for Liverpool and scoring over 125 goals.
Since then, the 36-year-old has played in the A League in Australia for both North Queensland Fury and Perth Glory, before moving to Thailand in the summer. Fowler’s Asian exploits may have got him featured on the brand new Football FanCast Video Show (which you can watch here), but it is his goals for Liverpool that have made him renowned on Merseyside and across the UK.
He was lethal in front of goal and here on Football FanCast we are giving you an opportunity to win a pair of football boots signed by Liverpool’s very own God Robbie Fowler. This fantastic prize is donated by Soccer Speaker the hugely successful After Dinner Speaking company. Soccer Speaker can arrange after dinner speakers for any size event a small gathering for a pie & pint, 3 course sportsman’s dinner, or star studded golf days. Check out their extensive range of speakers.
This fantastic prize is donated by Soccer Speaker the hugely successful After Dinner Speaking company.
SoccerSpeaker can arrange after dinner speakers for any size event a small gathering for a pie & pint, 3 course sportsmans dinner, or star studded golf days. Check out their extensive range of speakers.
To enter the prize draw, all you have to do to enter this simple question:
What Premier League record does Robbie Fowler hold?
A) All-time record scorer
B) Most appearances
C) Quickest hat-trick
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The pressure on Chelsea defender John Terry in the race row has increased, as QPR players are ready to make statements against the England defender.
The centre half was accused of racist comments by Loftus Road man Anton Ferdinand in Rangers’ 1-0 win over the Blues last Sunday, and the FA has pledged to investigate the claims.
The Daily Mail indicate that Paddy Kenny, Shaun Derry and Clint Hill are all ready to provide evidence to back up Ferdinand’s claims, which could be decisive in the FA’s decision making process.
Meanwhile, Lord Ouseley, the chairman of the Kick It Out anti-racism campaign group, has urged Ferdinand to demonstrate courage and speak up against Terry.
“I have heard nothing from Anton Ferdinand,’’ Ouseley stated to The Telegraph.
“I hope players when they make complaints [and then keep quiet] can see they are actually letting down all the people who made sacrifices in the past to get us to the position we have got to now.
“Players like Howard Gayle and Ian Wright made stands against racism. Many players have had their lives ruined as a result of challenging unacceptable racist behaviour; players in the 70s and 80s just got kicked out of their clubs.
“The sacrifices they made will be wasted if people are not prepared to push forward with any grievances so that these can be heard and dealt with in a fair manner. That’s important. We must ensure fairness as there are two sides to every story,” he concluded.
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Jack Rodwell has spoken of his happiness at making 100 appearances for Everton, and hopes he can turn-out another 100 times for the Merseyside outfit.
The England under-21 international has become an integral part of David Moyes’ team, and has been linked with a move to Manchester United in the past.
After reaching the century mark for games in the 3-1 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last weekend, Rodwell has stated that he feels it is the first achievement of many at Goodison Park.
“It was a proud moment for me as I had always dreamt of just playing one game for Everton, let alone 100,” he told the side’s official website.
“Now I just want to carry on and play another 100 and then 100 more. When you say the number it does seem to have happened very quickly, but if you look at it I could have played even more by now.
“Still, it’s a great landmark to reach and I just want to keep on playing and make as many appearances for Everton as possible,” he stated.
The Toffees have had an inconsistent start to the season, and will look to get back on track on Sunday, as they take on Fulham at Craven Cottage.
By Gareth McKnight
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According to Wikipedia, a cult ‘usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre.’ When it comes to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his supposed ‘world-class’ ability, the fervent and somewhat bafflingly ignorant predisposed nature of his supporters begin to take on a similar leave of their senses. Call it semantics if you will, but the term ‘world-class’ is one that is bandied around with far too much ease and regularity, with people often choosing, rather ironically may I add, to ignore the selective meaning of the term itself. With concerns to the curious case of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, much like everyone else of a sound mind and in possession of both a measure of common sense and a fully functioning pair of eyes, the jury is most definitely still out.
Ibrahimovic has come into the news again recently after the publication of his controversial autobiography modestly titled ‘I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic’ which is currently being serialised in the Gazzetta dello Sport. Here are just a couple of snippets which go some way to displaying the tone of the book: “I had done a lot to adapt – the Barca players were like schoolboys, following the coach blindly, whereas I was used to asking ‘why?’ I like guys who run red lights, not pedantic and strict rules.”
On another occassion following a 4-1 win against Villarrael.
“(Pep) was staring at me and I lost it. I thought ‘there is my enemy, scratching his bald head’. I yelled to him: ‘You have no balls!’ And probably worse things than that. You are s****ing yourself because of (then-Internazionale manager Jose Mourinho, whose side beat Barca in the Champions League). You can go to hell!’ I was completely mad. I’m not violent, but if I were Guardiola I would have been frightened.” (Yahoo)
While obviously serving to highlight the astounding and somewhat misplaced level of arrogance that has become Ibrahimovic’s staple throughout his career, his version of events is as large a rewriting of history as the forged Hitler Diaries were. Here lies the crux of the issue – a bitter example of a player being proven to not be as good as he thinks he is on the biggest stage of all, Barcelona Football Club. All we are treated to now is a quite frankly peculiar rewriting of history to suit his needs; a version of events as believable as his world-class status is. A cathartic propaganda effort of sorts.
Ibrahimovic has long been a favourite of the FIFA generation. He is in possession of a sublime first touch and superb technique, but there have always been questions marks over his temperament and with good reason, too. For football fans that place skills above substance, Ibrahimovic is undoubtedly the standard-bearer. It seems that people are simply surprised that such a giant can have such a balletic elegance to his natural game – is he little more than a puffed-up version of the often derisorily used phrase ‘good touch for a big man’?
It’s worth noting, though, that the Swede has won eight straight domestic league titles in three different countries and for four different teams. A remarkable feat it has to be said. There’s obviously something to the man that keeps big sides coming back in for him.
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Another stat that has often gone unnoticed, though, is that in his final season at Inter in 2008/9, while Ibrahimovich top scored in Serie A with 25 goals, leading Inter to the title in the process, 12 of the 25 goals were penalties, and the lanky striker failed to score a goal from open play against any of the sides that went onto finish in the top 8 in the league that season. In short, he’s a flat-track bully. He’s Dimitar Berbatov with a better agent.
The criticism often levelled against Ibrahimovich is that he is often found wanting against top class opposition. The fact that he has failed, ever (that’s right, EVER) to score a goal beyond the Champions League 2nd round knockout stage makes a mockery of his fanboys claim to be genuinely world-class striker. His record of 29 goals in 80 European games is pitiful considering the quality of the sides that he’s played in.
What do the years 2009, 2010 and 2011 have in common? They’re the years in which Barcelona and Inter won the Champions League, each time without the presence of Ibrahimovic in the side. Clubs struggling in Europe should simply purchase the player to sell him the year after – according to the stats (and I know you Ibrahimovic lovers out there love a stat) it practically guarantees a Champions League title.
The crusade to label Ibrahimovic world-class is little more than a campaign based entirely around a series of stats and a Wikipedia page. It simply flies in the face of any semblance of common sense. It’s telling that Barcelona won the Champions League either side of him being a regular in their side. It’s also telling that the year after he departed from Inter, they went onto shed the image of an underachieving side in Europe going onto claim their first European trophy for 44 years in the process.
Ibrahimovic has always played in great sides that have failed to live up to their billing – much like the player himself, it has to be said. The fact is that Ibrahimovic was the fortunate recipient, during his time at Inter at least, of playing in an era widely regarded as the nadir of quality in modern Serie A history; a league crippled by the Calciopoli scandal, a scandal so far reaching that it managed to rob the prestigious championship of any modicum of competitiveness with Inters nearest rivals dealt with harshly after the fallout.
Depending on how strict you are, the term ‘world-class’ should apply to the top five or ten players in each position in the world. Off the top of my head, here are ten strikers more worthy of the tag ‘world-class’ than the AC Milan striker – Robin Van Persie, David Villa, Sergio Aguero, Edinson Cavani, Samuel Eto’o, Diego Forlan, Falcao, Neymar,Mario Gomez and Wayne Rooney – I’m sure if you delved a little deeper that you’d be able to find more than that too.
Steven Gerrard looks unlikely to ever win a Premier League title. George Best and Ryan Giggs never represented their country at a World Cup. Ronaldo (you know, the real one, the goofy fella with a penchant for curb-crawling) never won the Champions League. Does this then mean that they ultimately fall short of the world-class mark? Of course it doesn’t. Those that place too much stock in Ibrahimovich’s tally of league titles take note – Phil Neville has six of them for God’s sake.
Prior to signing for AC Milan, Ibrahimovic had just 13 Champions League goals in seven seasons. To put it into context, in roughly the same period of time, Ruud Van Nistelrooy managed to bag 50 goals on his way to becoming the tournament’s 2nd highest ever scorer in what was a deeply average side by Man Utd’s standards. Now that, is world-class striker.
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Ibrahimovich will always have his fans. The sort of people that have their own names inscribed on the back of their replica kits, the sort of people that use words such as ‘sick’ and ‘bruv’ and cheer at the sight of a pointless step-over, but when it comes down to it, could he do it on a wet Wednesday night at the Britannia? I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.
Stoke have the unenviable task of halting title chasing Tottenham’s 11 match unbeaten run at the Britannia Stadium on Sunday.
The Potters have recovered superbly from a run of four consecutive defeats with two wins on the trot. Tony Pulis’ side saw their season almost implode with the Europa League seemingly taking it’s toll on a Stoke squad hit hard by fatigue. However with their exploits on the continent becoming less frequent so close to Christmas they’ve been able to recover and it’s shown in their last few league games. Pulis’ men followed up an impressive win at Blackburn a fortnight ago with a hard fought away victory at Everton with Robert Huth the unlikely match winner at Goodison Park. The Potters seem to have recovered their physical vigour and were back to their bullying best on Merseyside as they expertly protected their slender lead for much of the game. Peter Crouch’s displays in the last few weeks has seen him start to justify his £10 million price tag whilst Ryan Shawcross has been a tower of strength at the back. Their recent run of positive results, which has seen them rise to eight in the Premier League table, could be undermined this week as in-form Tottenham come to town.
Spurs have been unstoppable since their 5-1 home defeat at the hands of league leaders Manchester City and six wins in a row has seen Harry Redknapp’s side fly into third place. Their form over the last couple of months has been nothing short of astonishing, as they’ve remained unbeaten 11 games winning 10 of those and collecting 31 points from a possible 33. Whilst many predicted Tottenham to be in or around the top four at this point in the season their current run has turned them into genuine title contenders. They blew away Bolton at White Hart Lane last week with Emmanuel Adebayor, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon all turning in scintillating displays in attack. The quartet have forged a superb understanding in the final third with Adebayor, in particular, providing Spurs with the target man they’ve craved for the last few years. Scott Parker has also added some steel to the midfield to compliment the talents of Modric whilst Rafael Van Der Vaart has stepped up his game this season. Redknapp will be expecting his side to go out and produce more of the same against Stoke on Sunday as they chase down the two Manchester clubs sitting in front of them.
Stoke – 8th
Last Five: Won 1-0 v Everton (A), Won 3-1 v Blackburn (H), Lost 3-2 v QPR (H) Lost 5-0 v Bolton (A), Lost 3-1 v Newcastle (H)
Potential Starting X11: 1. A. Begovic 28. A. Wilkinson 17. R. Shawcross [C] 4. Robert Huth 39. J. Woodgate 16. J. Pennant 6. G. Whelan 24. R. Delap 24. M. Etherington 19. J. Walters 25. P. Crouch*
Injury News: Pulis will be without goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen for the visit of Tottenham on Sunday.
Key Player: Peter Crouch
The former Tottenham striker plays against his former club for the first time in the Premier League since his summer move to the Potteries. Crouch has come into form at just the right time for Stoke with his performances in the last few games paying off a large chunk of his £10 million transfer fee. He’ll be determined to score the goals to end Spurs’ impressive run of form and send his side soaring towards a European place.
Match Fact: Stoke have beaten Tottenham only once in three Premier League meetings since their promotion from the Championship in 2008
Tottenham – 3rd
Last Five: Won 3-0 v Bolton (H), Won 3-1 v West Brom, Won 2-0 v Aston Villa (A), Won 3-1 v Fulham (A), Won 3-1 v QPR (H
Potential Starting X11: 24. B. Friedel 28. K. Walker 26. L. King [C] 4. Y. Kaboul 32. B. Assou Ekotto 7. A. Lennon 14. L. Modric 8. S. Parker 3. G. Bale 18. J. Defoe 10. E. Adebayor*
Injury News: Redknapp is still without key players Niko Kranjcar, Michael Dawson and Tom Huddlestone
Key Player: Gareth Bale
Who else for Tottenham this season? The Welsh wing wizard has been in sublime form with his forways up the Spur’s left flank proving devastating to teams up and down the Premier League. Bale possesses burning pace, power and an unbelievable left foot that allows him to leave full backs for dead and provide near perfect balls into the box for his team mates. His dominance on the wing will be vital to the North London side’s chances of coming away from the Britannia Stadium with all three points.
Match Fact: Tottenham enjoy their visits to the Potteries winning on two of the last three at Stoke and emerging victorious from four of the six meetings home and away.
Last Time at the Britannia Stadium
Premier League 9 April 2011
Tottenham 3-2 Stoke
Crouch (11, 34) Modric (18)
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Etherington (27) Jones (41)
Attendance: 32,702
Referee: Kevin Friend
PREDICTION
Stoke have broken out of their recent slump with two superb wins in consecutive games but come up against a Totteham side in blistering form. Spurs are simply unbeatable at the moment and should be considered genuine challengers for the title should they continue their unbeaten run during the festive period. The should come out on top at the Britannia Stadium despite the Potters being formidable on home turf.
Tottenham have been dealt a defensive blow, as it has been confirmed that Ledley King has once again pulled his hamstring.
The former England international has had well documented knee problems through the bulk of his career, and famously has not been able to train between matches for a number of years, as he needs a full week’s recuperation after playing 90 minutes.
The news was released by Harry Redknapp, who also has William Gallas on the treatment table and is starting to lack options in the centre of his defence.
“Ledley did his hamstring in training on Friday. He came out, had an easy jog and it went. The only options I have got are Dawson, Bassong and Kaboul. There is no-one else,” the Spurs manager told The Daily Mail.
King’s injury may force Redknapp’s hand in the transfer market, with Blackburn skipper Christopher Samba and West Ham prospect James Tomkins both being linked with a move to White Hart Lane.
Meanwhile, Redknapp has also confirmed that Giovani Dos Santos will most likely leave the club in January, despite an impressive showing in the FA cup against Cheltenham on Saturday.
“He’ll probably move but it’s got to be the right offer. He’s looking to go so we’ll see what happens,” he concluded.
Spurs have their game in hand against Everton on Wednesday, and will go level with Manchester United on 45 points with a win.
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Agent – that word in football has become as tarnished and disliked as ‘bungs’ – we all know how Big Sam took to being asked about those, ‘tapping up’ – yes Cashley we are talking about you, and ‘Tevez’ – the very mention of the Argentine causes most of Manchester to cringe into their pints.
Yet why is this? Surely agents are there to look after footballers and help the transition from club to club, aiding the game? Well not any more – in recent years, allegations of bungs, kickbacks, bribery and tax evasion to name but a few have made agents increasingly unpopular, and add to this the concern that agents are far more concerned with looking after themselves than their players and you have one of the most unpopular and controversial professions linked with the modern game.
Of course, back in the day, agents were not at all like they are now, and it was done on a much less serious basis, with genuine affection between footballers and agents – these days hardly a transfer window goes by without either a player dumping their long time agent when they have made it big – think Andy Carroll after his big money move to Liverpool, or an agent dumping a player for a less than valid reason.
In fact, more often than not people have wondered exactly why agents exist in football – could lawyers not be used instead, as Paul Gascoigne did, paying them by the hour for each individual bit of work? Agents, I suppose will point to what happened to Gazza’s career and his addiction problems, but the wonderment remains – are agents much better?
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Well ‘the secret footballer’ who writes a regular column for The Guardian certainly seems to think so, stating that especially when it comes to things like deadline day, having an agent who is sharp and on the ball makes all the difference.
Not to mention the fact that it is not realistic to trust a club to tell a player who is performing well that he is attracting interest from multiple rivals, or on the other side, a club would be more than willing to get rid of players past their sell by date with little regard for the individual – think Anelka at Chelsea, and essentially, football is a business and agents are needed to as the secret footballer quite rightly says ‘to get anything done.’
Given the reputation that the majority of footballers have over their intelligence or more accurately lack of it, I would strongly suggest they would not be suited to handling their own affairs – one can only imagine monosyllabic Rooney et al trying to negotiate a deal with the top brass at another club – the only thing they seem to understand and respond to are the number of zeros in their weekly wage – Robinho didn’t even know who he had signed for when he arrived in Manchester, and that was with the help of an agent!
Likewise whilst using a lawyer may be lucrative for the footballer in terms of paying out less, agents are much closer to the game with contacts and their ears to the ground, and are able to stay with a footballer throughout their entire career and negotiate not just transfer deals but the inevitable image rights and lucrative sponsorship deals that are now part and parcel of the modern game.
Of course there are always going to be agents like ‘Mr 20 percent’ who are dubious at best and in reality should be banned for life, looking out for themselves far more than their clients and doing very dubious deals to boot, yet there are – believe it or not – agents who are decent and genuinely care about the players. This may be an increasingly rare occurrence nowadays, but the fact remains, even if you feel agents are not needed in the modern game, they are wanted by the footballers, and look set to stay.
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Tottenham fans may have been left scratching their heads when the club announced it’s deadline day transfers of Louis Saha,33, and Ryan Nelson, 34. Not exactly the injection of quality many would have been hoping to turn unlikely title contenders into an unquestionable force for the remainder of the season. But Harry Redknapp has done it before, nicking in at the last minute to grab what he thinks to be a bargain and make the squad better.
Kevin Bond is absolutely spot on when he says fans should trust Harry’s judgement on the players. At this point nothing is certain for Tottenham and their start of season ambitions for a Champions League place—and nothing more. Bringing in the big-money signings now would have been a far greater gamble than what the two veterans represent. While on one hand it could have made Spurs unbelievable title favourites, it could also have gone the other way, leaving the team in a position where Champions League football is not secured and the price of big transfers leaving the manager—whomever it is—with very little to work with in the summer.
It’s also a fair assessment that this Tottenham squad needed extremely little, if anything, to continue it’s fantastic run in the league. Why tinker with something that is working so well? But as we’ve seen in the past Harry does like to get involved with the transfer market. The ‘wheeler dealer’ moniker that he was given by a reporter last year was nothing but compliment to someone who has done so well in previous windows. And at this stage why not take a gamble, even if it is on two players on the wrong side of 30? Louis Saha might not be Loic Remy but he has a wealth of experience at the highest level and could come in handy in the final few weeks on the season. Likewise, an international captain in Ryan Nelson will do nothing but good things for a club who have done well to add an extra senior figure at the club.
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With the departure of Roman Pavlyuchenko and Steven Pienaar the squad do become lighter in that they have traded two regularly healthy players for two who have a history of long-term injuries. But by no means a bad move as both the Russian and South African were getting fed up of spending most of the season on the bench; even if it meant leaving the journey for something less glamorous just to get games then so be it. With the acquisitions from Blackburn and Everton Harry Redknapp will have no such trouble. The Tottenham back-line has had a solid helping of injury problems in the past and Nelson could even figure more than some would have thought, and Spurs’ attack has been incredibly lucky to avoid any long-term injury to key players. The most important factor in the Saha deal is that he gives a very capable option when the games start to pile up. Emmanuel Adebayor has shown in the past he can be found wanting in front of goal and continues to wander offside.
It was very unlikely that Tottenham would have used the January window to strengthen in a way that most fans would have loved. Instead they followed the rest of the top teams in the league and only brought in to give the foundation a few extra legs. The big pay-off will come in the summer when Champions League football is secured and a wider pool of talent can be attracted to White Hart Lane.
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By no means write-off what Harry has done here; it may prove to be a very shrewd piece of business that has a far greater impact on the squad than many would have thought. One of his greatest characteristics as a manager is picking out and giving opportunities to those who are good enough and who can add something to the team. When Kevin Bond says trust Harry Redknapp then Spurs fans would be wise to follow the advice. This is a manager who has added extremely well to his squad with Scott Parker when no one seemed seriously interested. Adebayor has given them something different up front and Brad Friedel has brought stability between the posts. There are no glamorous £20 million signings here, but rather very clever additions that have paid off fantastically. There is every reason to believe the January purchases will have a similar effect.
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The Euro 2012 Championships are just around the corner and once the Premier League concludes its final straight, all eyes of the English persuasion will be fixed upon Poland and the Ukraine and indeed the Three Lions quest for European glory. As with the drama surrounding any England squad selection, there are likely to be a few surprises here and there. But whilst the England manager may be persuaded to include a Cleverley or Oxlade-Chamberlain, he is likely to stick with a number of the seasoned pros who saw England safely through the qualification campaign.
As all eyes looked enviously at Germany in the 2010 South Africa World Cup and their policy surrounding youth, we thought we would employ some good old German efficiency by selecting a youthful England eleven that could serve our proud nation for the next five to ten years going forward.
With a number of exciting talents not only breaking through, but holding down first team berths in the Premier League, there is much to look forward to, and the following eleven players could be the centrepiece to future Three Lions success.
Click on Joe Hart to unveil the England XI for the future
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Let us know your thoughts? Will any of these players indeed be on the flight this summer? Follow me @ http://twitter.com/Taylor_Will1989
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Wigan came back from 1-0 down at Carrow Road to get a 1-1 draw against Norwich on Sunday.
Wes Hoolahan scored for the home side early in the encounter, before Victor Moses equalised in the second half for the relegation-threatened visitors.
The Latics are still bottom of the table despite the point; Roberto Martinez admitted that he is happy with a draw but that his forwards need to be more clinical.
“One of the reasons we don’t win more football games is that we lack that composure in front of goal and today is was clear,” the Spaniard told Sky Sports.
“But after going 1-0 down, I couldn’t be happier with the manner in which we played the rest of the game.
“It’s a positive result and we have to take that into the next game.
“I think it took us 50 minutes to get into the game. We knew – Norwich at home – that they play with real momentum and I felt that we got heavily punished in that period.
“We didn’t start the game as well as we wanted. But after that we found time and space on the ball, we grew into the game and, by the end, we had created the best chances.
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“I felt we controlled the last bit of the game when we brought new players on,” he confessed.