Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side have been dealt yet another setback ahead of Sunday’s Premiership meeting with Old Firm rivals Rangers.
What’s the latest?
In recent comments cited by the Daily Record, former Celtic midfielder Simon Donnelly claimed that, despite being pictured back in training ahead of the Bhoys’ trip to Ibrox this weekend, Kyogo Furuhashi will not feature against Rangers.
Hinting at possessing behind the scenes information on the current condition of the centre-forward, Donnelly said:
“He’s been out for three months and three days. I’ve heard that he is back training, but I think Sunday may come too soon for him. I think maybe they are looking more at the Scottish Cup semi-final. I think that might be more realistic.”
Bad news
Considering just how impressive Kyogo has been for Celtic since his £4.6m move to Parkhead last summer, should Donnelly be correct in his claim that the 27-year-old will be unavailable for selection against Rangers this Sunday, it would be extremely bad news for Ange Postecoglou and his side.
Indeed, over his 14 Premiership appearances this season, the £4.95m-rated forward has been in breathtaking form for the Hoops, scoring eight goals, registering two assists and creating four big chances for his teammates.
That’s as well as taking an average of 2.1 shots and making 1.1 key passes per game – with these returns seeing the Japan international average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.03.
The £52.5k-per-week hitman was also in exceptional form over his five Europa League appearances this term, over which he scored two goals, provided two assists and created two big chances for his teammates – with these metrics seeing the centre-forward average an even more impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.10.
As such, while Kyogo never looked likely to start at Ibrox, should the Japanese sensation not be fit enough to play any part against Rangers this weekend, it would undoubtedly come as a huge blow to Celtic’s chances of leaving Govan with all three points.
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And, following the news that Stephen Welsh is now also a doubt for the potentially title-deciding clash, Postecoglou will certainly be hoping that no more of his squad pick up knocks or suffer further setbacks between now and kick-off on Sunday afternoon.
AND in other news: Ange could unearth the new Havertz as Celtic make move for “aggressive” £500k “threat”
Since the three nominees for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2011 trophy were revealed back on 5th December, we have been waiting with bated breath for the award to be handed out. That day has arrived and the three nominees from La Liga, Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid and Lionel Messi and Xavi of Barcelona, will be hoping they’re victorious tonight.
Here on Football FanCast we have been given exclusive access to the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala in Zurich and will be bringing you the latest news and behind-the-scenes photographs from the event. Will Messi win his third Ballon d’Or trophy in a row, or can Xavi or Ronaldo pip the Argentina forward to the award?
Check out the latest from the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala below…
12.30pm
Braving the cold blustery winds of Zurich, Football FanCast has arrived at this year’s FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala to celebrates football’s most outstanding moments of the past year. There are several different awards that will be handed out this evening and we will announce the winners as and when they are announced.
Award Categories
-FIFA’s Ballon d’or
-FIFA’s Women’s World Player of the Year
-FIFA’s coaches of the year for Men and Women’s game
-FIFA’s Team of the Year
-FIFA’s Presidential Award
-FIFA’s Puskas Award
-FIFA’s Fair Play Award
Remember to hit our Facebook page – (http://www.facebook.com/FootballFanCast) to see updates and pictures of the day.
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Lionel Messi is clearly the hot favourite among the gathered journalists, with Ronaldo coming in a close second. Nobody is giving Xavi much of a chance, which is a shame because if anyone is deserving of such an accolade then it is the Barcelona Legend.
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2.30pm
Women press conference has commenced and the opening exchanges is talking up the ‘Live Your Goals’ campaign http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/liveyourgoals/aboutthecampaign/.
Homare Sawa, Abby Wambach and Marta are on stage with Sawa and Wambach looking back and talking about the past 12 months and the Women’s World Cup in particular; where Japan’s Homare Sawa (who took a clean sweep of the player awards in Germany) defeated USA’s Abby Wambach in the final.
Marta is happy to continue playing in the USA and help re-establish the League to its former glories, but hasn’t ruled out a move to Europe in the future. Abby Wambach likewise is unsure where her future lies, especially with it being an Olympic Year.
Not many questions from the floor, but those on stage were very excited about the gala this evening.
A list below of the candidates for the Player of the year for both the men and the women’s award
We have now reached the FIFA Interactive World Cup to find the best gaming player on the planet. Over 900k players entered LIVE qualifying events around the World, with each of the winners going on to Grand Final, along with the six regional winners from the FIFA 12 Playstation Network.
After three days of gaming took place to find its eventual winner and after a 4-1 victory in an epic final at Los Angeles’s Mayan Theatre, Francisco Cruz from Portugal was crowned the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2011 champion.
You can watch the final here:
[youtube _GpZG_HEjo8]
Francisco Cruz looked very modest about his achievement and is looking forward to defending his title in the coming year.
Wayne Rooney presented the award to Francisco Cruz, before declaring that he is the best FIFA 12 Player at Old Trafford, although Phil Jones will like to tell you different. Rooney fancies his chances against Cruz, if a game can be organised backstage.
3.30pm
Sir Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola, Lionel Messi and Xavi enter the stage for the press conference ahead of their respective awards. Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho are not attending due to Real Madrid’s preparation against Malaga tomorrow night.
After the initial introductions of the men on stage and their achievements within the game, the floor was opened up to questions from the floor. A lot of the questions were thrown at Sir Alex, who duly answered those questions thrown at him:
When asked about whether Ole Gunnar Solksjaer will make a decent manager in the future:
Ole Gunnar Solksjaer will make a superb manager in the future and one day he could be sitting on the stage like myself and Pep Guardiola alongside me in the future. He was always destined to be a manager, given his attitude and his willingness to learn.
When pushed on whether Pep Guardiola (who has won 9 out of 12 trophies he has competed for) would be the ideal replacement for him when he finally calls it a day at Old Trafford,
Fergie smiled and asked the question, “Why would Pep want to leave Barcelona?” Fergie went on to say he believes that Barcelona are the fantastic team of the moment and feels they can certainly go on to win the Champions League.
Sir Alex Ferguson was also complimentary of Lionel Messi when asked about whether the Argentinean can be considered one of the greats of all time.
World Class footballers can play in any generation and Messi certainly believes he is in that top bracket. Guardiola concurred with Ferguson’s view that football is in the presence of one of them in Lionel Messi.
Pep Guardiola, Xavi and Lionel Messi have stressed that their success is down just as much to their teammates, rather than themselves. No more so than Iniesta in my opinion.
4pm
It never ceases to amaze me at Press Conferences the tame nature of the questions and random questions that are asked. Whoever would have thought a question about Belhadj and matches in Qatar would have been brought to the table.
As the aforementioned tame press conference and plenty of niceties exchanged as you would expect. I’m sure had a certain Mr Mourinho been up there the type and tone of questions may have been different.
We will post up the news stories from these Press Conferences later tonight, so be sure to look at our Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/#!/FootballFanCast) for further photos and updates from the 2011 Ballon d’Or.
There is a gentle calm about the place as the players and managers go off and get themselves dolled up for this evening’s gala. I think the results will be a formality, although the FIFA World XI is by no means a guarantee.
5pm
The Media Room is clearing as the pre-show is set to commence in 20mins time. Catch the latest updates of the Ballon d’Or from our facebook and Twitter Pages – http://www.facebook.com/#!/FootballFanCast or @Football_FanCast
6pm
Kay Murray and Ruud Gullit take the stage and the Ballon d’Or gala commences.
Lionel Messi looks as cool with a look of ‘its in the bag’, while Fergie is looking round smiling round to all an sundry
Sepp Blatter gives his opening speech to the ceremony where he introducing to the audience that the likes of Beckenbauer and Pele are in the building. He is talking about the year that was 2011 and how he is keen to clean up the game.
Simone Farina comes to the stage on the request of Blatter so he can be commended for exposing those looking to match fix in Italy. Simone Farina is awarded a FIFA Award for Fair Play.
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6.30pm
Pele ‘the king of football’ has come to the stage ahead of the announcement of FIFA/FIFpro World XI -Casillas, Alves, Ramos, Pique, Vidic, Ronaldo, Xavi, Alonso, Iniesta, Rooney, Messi…not a bad team.
Sepp Blatter pays a glowing tribute to Sir Alex Ferguson before bestowing him with FIFA’s Presidential Award. The Scot looks deeply touched by it all and he pays tribute to the excellent players that shared the same level of ambition and belief.
Lothar Mathaus awards Norio Sasaki with the Women’s Coach of the Year award – largely down to Japan’s World Cup success. The coach pays tribute to all the support the nation has recieved in light of the terrible earthquake that rocked their country and believes their support willed their team on to success.
7pm
Pep Guardiola wins the men’s coach of the year award. The Barcelona boss would like to pay tribute to all the people that made the football club what it is. He is deeply honoured to manage the football club and it means the world to him. Guardiola is the ultimate gentleman and a worthy winner.
Neymar wins the goal of 2011 – a worthy winner I think you will agree:
[youtube 0mQLT0_lOsM]
Homare Sawa scoops the women’s award for 2011 – no surprise giving she cleaned up the awards at the World Cup.
The Real Ronaldo comes up on stage to annouce the winner of the Ballon d’Or for 2011. Looking back at his goals just shows what a player the Brazilian was.
Lionel Messi wins the award and claims it was an absolute pleasure to win it and he wants to share it with his teammate Xavi, who it has been an absolute pleasure to play with. The Argentine took 47.88% of the vote, with Cristiano Ronaldo 2nd with 21.6%.
A wonderful occassion and I want to thank you for joining Football FanCast today at the Ballon d’Or at FIFA’s Congress Hall
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Reigning champions Inter Milan enter Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Schalke on a low after losing league ground at the weekend.Inter fell five points adrift of Serie A leaders and bitter rivals AC Milan following a 3-0 loss in Saturday’s ‘Derby della Madonnina’.
The result shapes as possibly the killer blow to Inter’s hopes of retaining the Scudetto in Italy, a feat that seemed nigh-impossible as Rafael Benitez’s tenure plumbed new depths earlier in the campaign.
Brazilian manager Leonardo has led the treble-winning champions to a stunning turnaround since taking over in late December, with Saturday’s loss the first real setback of his reign.
But Inter still have plenty of reason to feel confident in Europe, after their spirited come-from-behind 3-2 win at Bayern Munich that sealed their progression to the quarter-finals.
Next up is another German club in Schalke, who have under-achieved in the Bundesliga this term but still bundled out Spanish club Valencia 4-2 on aggregate in the round-of-16.
Mixed form at league level has seen Schalke fall to 11th on the German table, one year after finishing runners-up behind Bayern Munich, prompting the unexpected sacking of manager Felix Magath last month.
Tuesday’s trip to the San Siro will be a stern test for new boss Ralf Rangnick, who has never before coached in the Champions League knockout stages.
Rangnick may have to make do without a number of first-choice players on Tuesday, notably defender Christoph Metzelder, who broke his nose against St Pauli on Friday.
Mario Gavranovic (ankle) and Peer Kluge (abdomen) also picked up injuries in Friday’s league match, which was abandoned with Schalke leading 2-0 after the assistant referee was hit by a cup of beer thrown from the stands.
Inter’s biggest absence looks to be Brazilian defender Lucio, who will sit out the match due to suspension and is expected to be replaced by Colombian Ivan Cordoba.
Inter have been troubled without Lucio, and Andrea Ranocchia has been exposed in recent fixtures by Bayern and AC Milan without his partner in central defence.
Whether Ranocchia and Cordoba can work together to limit Schalke’s movement will play a big part in determining the winner of Tuesday’s opening leg.
The return leg will be played in Germany next week.
Sunderland are on the verge of bringing Ghana international John Mensah back to the Stadium of Light.
The 27-year-old Lyon star featured in 17 games for the Black Cats during an injury-ravaged 2009-10 season on loan with the club but manager Steve Bruce was impressed with what he saw.
Mensah went on to captain the Black Stars at the recent World Cup, featuring in four of their five matches in South Africa as they reached the quarter-finals.
When asked about the possibility of Mensah coming back to the club, Bruce said:"He's now in Paris picking up his visa, it's not signed but we're virtually there. He's such a good player that anyone who saw him here last year will know why I wanted him back.
"He was the outstanding defender at the World Cup and when he was here last year we were a better team with him in it."
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Meanwhile, former Sheffield United defender Matt Kilgallon is expected to join Middlesbrough on loan, with Bruce adding: "We're in talks with Boro as we speak but I don't want him to go permanently, it'll probably be a loan deal."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
So far this season there have been 438 goals in the Premier League, and we’re not even half way through. If this scoring trend were to continue throughout the season then that would leave us with around 1,100 goals, which would be a new record. In fact the defensive side to our teams just seems to be having a bit of a shocker all round really. Last year’s fad was snoods, this year it’s to have a leaky defence. And this fashion isn’t confined to the lower teams either. When was the last time you saw Arsenal concede eight in one game, or Man Utd concede six or Chelsea concede five at home? What is it about our league that has suddenly invited upon itself the desire to attack without inhibition and allow our defences to bear the brunt of the consequences? Is it lesser players, or a change in tactics, new strikers in the league or are the referees playing their part too?
Tactics
Obviously tactics play a part; in particular Andre Villas-Boas and Arsene Wenger are guilty of ignoring the defensive side to their jobs. Admittedly both have improved recently but Andre Santos’ admission that he had never spoken to Wenger about his defending is a worrying indictment of the way Arsenal football club is managed. Sure, Pat Rice handles the defensive side to the team but it would be reassuring for Arsenal fans to at least know that Wenger was playing some role in the defensive coaching of his side. To be fair to Wenger his side’s defensive performances this year are much better than last year and with the return of Thomas Vermaelen they look far more sturdy. Similarly with Villas-Boas despite his defensive struggles as he adapts to life in the Premier League the last two games have proved that his side are making progress.
However whilst there is some debate as to whether the top English clubs are not as good as they once were, the other argument is that the lower teams have got better. What this means is that firstly any team feels like they can beat any other, which lends itself to more attacking play and therefore more goals scored and conceded. It also means that because life at the bottom of the table is so tight a points total of around 40 come the end of the season may no longer be enough to keep your side up. This means that the lower teams have to take more risks against the bigger clubs in order to stay ahead of their rivals.
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New players
One of the factors that are definitely playing a part is the influx of foreign money in to our league. If you think that in the last couple of years Man City alone have brought Sergio Aguero, Mario Balotelli, David Silva and Edin Dzeko. When players like these come to your league they are obviously going to score goals, and plenty of them too. Whereas in the past teams playing Man City had to worry about Samaras they now have to worry about Aguero. It makes sense that we would see more goals, even if Wenger is doing his best to keep the goal tally down by buying players like Chamakh and Park.
Referees
However the factor that surely has the largest impact upon our ever more permeable defences is the crackdown on strong tackles by referees. Everything is a foul these days. Take the Blackburn vs. Sunderland game on Sunday for example. Scott Dann’s header was ruled out because Sunderland goalkeeper Westwood came for the ball and missed it. Despite there being nothing wrong with Dann’s goal it was ruled out and that is typical of our referees’ attitudes towards both the defence of goalkeepers and the punishment of defenders in modern football. Clearly the more stringent approach from officials was introduced with the best of intentions but the way it has affected the game has gone too far. Yes, tackles were perhaps too vicious twenty-five years ago but today we have fallen victim to the type of play-acting that would make the Royal Shakespeare Company proud. What’s the point of having tall physical defenders if they can’t use their physical presence to the full advantage? What’s the point of having the courage to attempt a last ditch tackle, as Rio Ferdinand did against Newcastle, if you’re only going to get penalised for it even if you win the ball. The consequence of this culture in today’s football is that the defenders are at a natural disadvantage, and it shows. Defenders, like all players, need to have confidence in their ability and their actions in order to perform effectively; but how can they have confidence when the line between an acceptable tackle and a dangerous one is blurry even for the referees?
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Real Madrid midfielder Esteban Granero believes his side should not focus solely on its upcoming fixtures with bitter rivals Barcelona.Real will meet the Catalans in La Liga on April 17 before facing Pep Guardiola’s side again just three days later in the Copa Del Rey final.
However, Granero has stressed the importance of concentrating on one game at a time, with several important fixtures, including their Champions League quarter-final against Tottenham, ahead in the preceding weeks.
“The circumstances of the calendar has made us face them twice already. We have the obligation to beat them twice now. The two meetings will be key to two important titles for us,” Grenero said.
“However it isn’t yet time to talk about Barcelona, because the games are still a while away, and there are other games beforehand which are almost as important.”
“We have to play to win, like always, and it could be an important time for us to turn the situation around.”
“We aren’t thinking about four games, because we have a Champions League tie beforehand and so do they. We are just thinking about the two immediate games.”
Grenero, who has been a peripheral figure from the bench under Real boss Jose Mourinho this season, claimed he was content his role in the team.
“The manager decides. I bring my game, I work hard and I am ready to play to the Real Madrid standard when called upon. I don’t have to ask anything,” he said.
“I just have to work and remain ready at the club. It is they who pay me, and they picked me eight years ago. The manager chooses the team, and normally he chooses well. So I have no complaints.”
And he is adamant Jose Mourinho will not be headed for a return to the Premier League at the end of the season despite the Portuguese’s publicly-stated desire to one day return to England as a club manager.
“I am convinced that he will be here next year, and for many years after that, because he will have a lot of success,” Granero said.
“We will go out to win in any case. We have to fight to have the best conditions, as does our manager.”
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has spoken of his devastation at losing goalkeeper Craig Gordon to a broken arm for the second time.
The Scotland international will miss the start of the new campaign after suffering a fresh break to the same arm he injured in a Premier League game in December last year which kept him sidelined for two months.
Gordon's latest setback came during a session at the club's pre-season training camp in Portugal.
"It was devastating – a complete freak accident," Bruce told the club's official website.
"It happened just when we had Craig at the top of his game and he will be a big miss for us.
"It's a big blow, but we will have to get over it. Every club has its knocks over the season.
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"Craig needs a bit of luck and we wish him well."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Tottenham have suffered their first European defeat of the season at the hands of Rubin Kazan, with the Eastern European outfit recording a 1-0 win over the English side at the Central’nyj Stadion on Thursday night.
The White Hart Lane team fielded a side of mostly young and fringe players, with the only senior men included being William Gallas, Jermain Defoe, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Sebastian Bassong.
Steven Pienaar also made a return from a groin injury, and played the full 90 minutes of the Europa League tie.
Things went into the interval all square, but a Bibras Natcho free-kick on 56 minutes sealed the victory for the home team.
The defeat sees Harry Redknapp’s men drop from first in Group A to third, with a home game against PAOK and a trip to Ireland to face Shamrock Rovers still to play.
Assistant manager Kevin Bond took charge of the side in Redknapp’s absence, and despite the loss is still upbeat about Spurs’ chances of qualifying for the knockout stages.
“We were under no illusion how good a side they were,” Bond told BBC Sport.
“It’s going to be tight right until the end, but with the games we have got left it’s still in our hands to qualify and we feel confident we will do,” he concluded.
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Spurs now take on Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday and will welcome back their big name players. The North London outfit will be aiming to make it seven wins from eight league games, as their search for a top four finish continues.
Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti insists he will see out his contract with the London club as speculation intensifies over his future.The 51-year-old’s deal expires at the end of next season and despite reports he could return to Serie A – where he has previously been in charge of AC Milan, Juventus and Parma – he is adamant he will remain at Stamford Bridge.Speculation has linked Ancelotti with a return to Roma, where he made 171 appearances as a player, after the recent departure of Claudio Ranieri – a former Chelsea boss himself.But Ancelotti said such a move is not on the horizon.”I’m very well in London, I have another year of contract and I intend to stay here,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “Here you can breathe. In Italy, if a team goes bad, the fans are waiting outside the stadium and insult you. I could not stand it.””Training Roma has always been my desire, which I have expressed several times, but it doesn’t mean that it should be realised tomorrow.”The Italian is in a bullish mood despite Chelsea’s league woes.The reigning champions are in fifth place on the table and 15 points behind leaders Manchester United, who they host on Tuesday. But with his side already having one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals, Ancelotti still has his heart set on silverware.”The season is not yet over. Of course, our journey so far has not been satisfactory,” he said. “The objective is to reach the top four in the Premier League and then there’s the Champions League.””My team, after two negative months, is recovering. I really think will be a nice spring for us.”
Internazionale striker Mario Balotelli has welcomed reports linking him with a summer switch to either Manchester City or Premier League rivals United.
Balotelli has spoken out after City boss Roberto Mancini declared an interest in signing him earlier in the week.
Mancini worked with the now 20-year-old striker during his time as Inter coach.
However, Balotelli has also reacted warmly to suggestions that United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is also an admirer of his talents.
“Roberto Mancini? He’s a great coach, I debuted in Serie A with him because he is a great friend,” he told Corriere dello Sport.
“If he and Ferguson want me, it means I’m not as bad as I thought.
“United is a great club. They have not seen the real Balotelli, for sure I need to learn and achieve more goals. I want to win the Golden Ball in 2011.
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“As for the future, I always say I don’t know.”
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