A moment of drunken horseplay is rumoured to have resulted in the tragic death of a Blackburn Rovers fan on Saturday.
Word is emerging that two men, aged 25 and 30 who were friends, had been drinking prior to the fatality. The younger man was arrested after what is though to have been a litter bin was thrown into the air and the older man attempted to ‘head’ the bin.
An obligatory Facebook page has been …
If £20m to re-sign Robbie Keane is enough to make Spurs fans wince, then the idea that the club has spent £15m on winger David Bentley is probably enough to send them over the edge completely.
To be fair to Tottenham, when Bentley signed for the club most critics felt it was a shrewd move. The former Arsenal man had proven his Premiership pedigree in a season on loan at Norwich City and three years with Blackburn Rovers during which he had created 31 goals, scored 22 and had impressed the then England manager Steve McLaren so much that he had been labelled “The New David Beckham”.
When Mark Hughes left Blackburn in the summer of 2008, Bentley was quick to reitirate his desire for a move to a big club. Manchester United were reportedly interested in the wide man so it was seen as something of a coup that Spurs, then managed by Juande Ramos, managed to agree a £15m deal (plus £2m based on appearances) for the Rovers star. This would be the move that proved Bentley would thrive on a bigger stage and see him push on towards becoming Beckham’s eventual successor in the England team.
It would be fair to describe Bentley’s initial impact at Spurs as erratic, but showing promise. He scored in the UEFA Cup against Wisla Krakow and then scored an incredible 40 yard dipping volley in a 4-4 draw with rivals Arsenal. Despite his slow start Spurs fans were still hoping Bentley would come good and prove he was worth his large price tag and that he may help the club away from the foot of the table, where they found themselves in November 2008.
It’s probably unfair to suggest that Bentley’s decline at Spurs started when Harry Redknapp took over, but certainly since the arrival of the former West Ham boss, Bentley has found himself surplus to requirements and has shown a somewhat disappointing attitude towards the club that would make Redknapp consider him for most games. To compound matters still further, Spurs winger Aaron Lennon has been in outstanding form for the past 14 months or so and has not only ousted Bentley from the Tottenham squad, but is also now well ahead of him in the national team managers thoughts too.
Bentley is a complex character, he has admitted to having a gambling problem in his early days as a professional at Arsenal, he then controversially pulled out of the England U21 squads for the European Championships in Holland in 2007 citing fatigue, a move which saw him roundly booed by many England fans when he made his full debut for England against Israel in a Euro 2008 qualifier. While at Spurs he has incurred the wrath of manager Harry Redknapp on two occasions, once for not taking a behind closed doors game seriously (for which he was dropped from the matchday squad entirely) and once for going on an unofficial club Christmas party outing to Ireland along with several other team mates.
It is perhaps Bentley’s somewhat resigned attitude towards his time at Spurs that irks most fans. He has talent, but it seems he doesn’t want to apply himself to earn a place in the side. It appears to many, that he has accepted he will never be in Harry Redknapp’s plans and is now playing solely to secure a move away from the club as soon as possible.
It’s been a busy one hasn’t it? United, playing Ryan Giggs left back, Darren Fletcher right back and Michael Carrick alongside Patrice Evra in defence, managed to scrape past West Ham 4-0 at Upton Park. I’m looking forward to seeing Park Ji Sung between the sticks against Wolfsburg this week. Things are so bad on the injury front at Old Trafford that it is rumoured they may have to give Michael Owen a …
Another Premier League weekend has passed us by and once again all the teams have been in action to varying degrees of success. Chelsea and Manchester United both recorded comfortable victories to keep themselves at the forefront of the title chase, but it is behind them where most of the talking points have been generated this weekend. However before we take our first tentative dipped toe into mediocrity, let’s start where we should, …
There’s lots for Chelsea to smile about at the moment. Top of the table after a thumping victory over Blackburn, the return to fitness of Joe Cole, Frank Lampard back amongst the goals and sitting pretty at the top of their Champions League group, you can bet that it is about as good a start as manager Carlo Ancelotti could have hoped for.
But what has got him and assistant Ray Wilkins smiling?
Over to you!
What an astonishing weekend of football. From Stoke City’s majestic win at White Hart Lane, that left Harry Redknapp wondering just how committed Aaron Lennon was, after the winger refused to play injured for the cause, to Chelsea’s impressive 5-0 destruction of Blackburn Rovers, a performance which Sam Allardyce accurately labelled for once as “pathetic”, up to yesterday’s marvellous clashes which saw a resurgent Liverpool …
Premier League predicitions aren’t that hard to write. Ask Mark Lawrenson. With that in mind, here are some formulaic predictions, along with some unique pre-game previews. What are your predictions?
Just watching the pool in The Transfer Tavern as someone from Sportinglife.com tells us, that blackurn Rovers midfielder keith Treacy “has hit out” at the Premier League club for not giving him the opportunity to prove himself.
Sportinglife.com saying the Republic of Ireland International has called on Rovers boss Sam Allardyce to resolve his future at Ewood Park, with Treacy currently …
Getting busy in The Transfer Tavern as James Nursey at The Mirror tells us, that Aston Villa are “closing in” on Blackburn Rovers defender Stephen Warnock and Richard Dunne at Manchester City.
James claiming the Villans, have agreed a fee of £6.5million to lure the versatile Warnock from Ewood Park to the Midlands, with the England International set to put pen …
Yet more transfer news in The Tavern, as Alan Nixon at the Daily Mirror tells us, Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce has bid £1.5 million for Tottenham’s controversial full back Pascal Chimbonda.
The move could pave the way for current Ewood Park left back Stephen Warnock to move on to Aston Villa.
The former Bolton boss made his move for the Frenchman on Tuesday and a deal could be done soon …
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