The stars who have failed to live up to their transfer fees
As the folks who ploughed their cash into the Sega Saturn, Minidiscs and HD-DVDs will testify, sometimes smart investments don’t quite work out. With this in mind, Spoiler correspondent Joe Thompson has compiled a list of ten Premier League players who have failed to deliver on the financial commitment their respective clubs made to bring them in…
Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea, £31m)
When Chelsea signed ‘Sheva’ in 2006 on a four year deal, it was for a club record fee - but this was a record breaking player. He’d won everything with Milan, bagged the Ballon d’Or and had twice been top scorer in Serie A. Since his move to West London, however, he’s managed 20 goals in 83 appearances, and a season shipped out on loan back to his beloved Milan. Did he rediscover his form there? Did he f**k. He’ll be 33 next month as a once-great career slides away. Abramovich’s ultimate vanity signing has been his worst.
Kolo Toure (Manchester City, £14m)
While part of the 2003/04 title-winning ‘invincibles’, he could have been in the Best Value top ten. One of Wenger’s best buys for £150,000, he was immense. The past couple of seasons though, Toure and Arsenal have struggled with consistency, with the team’s spine being called into question. Unlike Chelsea with Shevchenko, The Citizens have bought a player who has already lost his form.
Zat Knight (Bolton, £5m)
You’ve got to feel for Bolton fans.
Sporting Index provide vital some statistics for the new campaign
Do you like football? Do you like making money from a cheeky flutter? If the answer to these questions is ‘yes’, then you’ll enjoy the following previews of two of the weekend’s biggest games, courtesy of our devilishly handsome friends at Sporting Index…
Bolton/ Liverpool
The Trotters have made a slow start to the season and those spread bettors getting against them have made healthy profits from the opening two games. They don’t have an easy task on Saturday when Liverpool come to town and those who like to play the spreads will know that the Reds have won all of the last five meetings between these two outfits, all by at least a two-goal margin. The Trotters also lost all eight games against the Big Four last season, so spread bettors hoping to sell Liverpool’s supremacy will be hoping to see a performance similar to when Big Sam was at the helm. Bolton won two and drew two of their four games at the Reebok against Liverpool between 2003/04 – 2006/07.
The players who fell from grace but refused to quit
Such is their love of the game, a number of former Premier League stars have forged managerial careers in the ever-so-slightly less glamorous world of non-League football: Luton’s Mick Harford and Newport’s Dean Holdsworth are notable examples. Some however, are still plying their trade on the pitch in the lower echelons of the football pyramid.
Spoiler correspondent Russell Greaves brings us ten former top flight heroes who have swapped the international acclaim of the top flight for the bumpy pitches and humble attendances of the grass roots game…
Paolo Vernazza (4 Premier League appearances for Arsenal)
Once a promising youngster at Arsenal, Paolo even got a run out in the Champions League, but has since worked his way down the leagues - way down. Having scored the winning goal against Coventry City in front of 37,000 fans at Highbury in 2000, the midfielder’s most recent goal was for Conference South giants Woking, and 2,000 people were fortunate enough to see it. A cautionary tale for the current crop of Arsenal youngsters. Credit where it’s due, though, his supporting lady is top-class.
Jason Lee (69 Premier League appearances for Nottingham Forest) If you recognise the name, it could be because he scored over one-hundred career league goals, but it’s more likely to be because he was relentlessly lampooned on Fantasy Football League. He’s now banging them in for Corby Town in the Conference North, minus the pineapple.
Alan Wright (Over 300 Premier League appearances for Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa)
Perhaps best remembered as the shortest player in the history of the Premier League (a pocket-sized 5’4’’), Alan Wright is now best known as the shortest player in the Blue Square North. Aston Villa once paid £1m for his services, but Fleetwood Town recently secured his signature without a fee and gave the 38-year-old his non-league debut in a 2-1 victory at Solihull Moors.
Anyone game for some vital fixture list statistics?
Now that the Football League and the Premier League have completed the extraordinarily complicated process of compiling next season’s fixtures, it’s time for some fate-bating statistics. And who better to provide them than our trend-spotting chums at chickendinner:
1. The last five newly-promoted teams to kick their season off at home all avoided defeat, which is good news for Wolves who open against West Ham.
2. However, the last four to start away from home have all lost. That doesn’t bode well for Birmingham and Burnley, who start at Manchester Utd and Stoke.
3.Chelsea have won their opening game in each of the last seven seasons and this year they kick-off their campaign at home to Hull.
A chance to get excited months before anything actually happens
Tottenham have finally been granted their wish to kick-off a Premier League campaign at home but Liverpool will be the visitors for their first opener at White Hart Lane since 2004.
Spurs fans can take some comfort though from the fact Arsenal have been given a challenging away game on the opening weekend against Everton.
Wolves are the only promoted side who start at home - against West Ham - and the last five to have done so have avoided defeat. Every new arrival who has opened their campaign on the road over the last three seasons has lost and Birmingham and Burnley face tough trips to Man United and Stoke.
The Gunners face Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City very early on
Anyone who likes to believe that fixtures really are generated over a five minute period just before they are announced had their vision crushed twice yesterday - first by theBBC revealing how they are collated and then by Sky Sports News, who leaked Arsenal’s first six matches.
A graphic displaying their supposed opening games* was briefly flashed on screen and they won’t be too happy with them. Instead of starting at home - as they have done in 13 of the last 17 seasons - they kick off away to West Ham and face Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City before the end of September.
The Gunners made a mess of a far easier start last season but can take comfort from the fact that on the four occasions that they have begun a Premier League campaign away, they have won the title twice and finished second twice.
*Of course, it’s also possible that they are a fabricated set that were created for a mock-up that should never have been aired.
With the 2008/09 campaign finally over, The Spoiler continues to take a look back (part 1 is over here in case you missed it) at the season’s finest goals and our nominations for the ten greatest efforts. Surprisingly, only two strikers make the list…
#10: Fernando Torres - Liverpool 4-0 Blackburn, 11/04/09
Would Liverpool’s season have ended in league glory had Fernando Torres managed to avoid injury? We’ll never know - but surely fans would’ve been treated to more gems like this. Nonchalantly foregoing the traditional practice of actually checking where the net is before hitting the ball, the number 9 scores a spectacular striker’s goal.
The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies
Roman Pavlyuchenko back to Spartak Moscow
Pavlyuchenko insists he is happy at Spurs, but in light of the fact that Tottenham have been linked to every player under the sun for the past few months, rumours that he no longer has a future at The Lane are growing. According to The Daily Mail, a source at the striker’s former club says he would be welcome back on loan.
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Guus Hiddink would certainly like to see his Russian star getting more games, and he has made his opinion about English food and women very clear, but it all depends if ‘Arry brings in some new faces in the summer.
Joey Barton to Bolton
If The Spoiler was in charge, vile oxygen thief Joey Barton would never be allowed near
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