Football Dispatch

Weekend Football
12 September 2008
by Jerrad Peters

Gianfranco Zola was unveiled at West Ham, Thursday, and wasted no time in declaring his intentions for the club. The new manager, who replaces Alan Curbishley at Upton Park, will oversee a transition to the kind of attractive, attacking football the he embraced as a player for Chelsea from 1996 to 2003.

“My philosophy is to play offensive football,” stated the 42-year-old, “to make it enjoyable for the players and the crowd.” He continued, “ I will give these players all of my experience and all of my knowledge. I am here to be somebody good for them.”

Zola comes into the job after two years with Italy’s Under 21s. In tandem with head coach Pierluigi Casiraghi, he guided the youngsters to the quarterfinals of the Beijing Olympics before bowing out to Belgium. Admittedly inexperienced, he is hopeful that his fresh approach will generate success in English football.

“I know I am not the most experienced manager,” he said at his introductory press conference. “But I have ideas and have been involved in football for 20 years. It’s a great opportunity and I am sure I can do a great job for this club.”

What he lacks in experience he will compensate for in his front office appointments. Chelsea assistant Steve Clark is expected to join West Ham as Zola’s number-two. The 46-year-old, having survived the tenures of Jose Mourinho and Avram Grant at Stamford Bridge, is not keen on serving under a third boss at the club and submitted his resignation on Thursday evening. Chelsea rejected the resignation, however, and will hold out for upwards of 1.2m-pounds in compensation.

“Chelsea can confirm that West Ham have made an approach with regards to talking to Steve Clark,” read an official statement released by the club. “They have not been given permission to talk to him. Steve Clark ahs tendered his resignation as assistant first team coach. We have not accepted his resignation. Talks are continuing.”

Current Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari voiced his own admiration for Clark when informed of his assistant’s impending departure.

“He is a man that is a link between me and the players and between me and the staff,” said the Brazilian. “He knows Chelsea very well and English players and clubs. Now I have been told he is going and I am sad. But I understand Steve. All people have projects in their life.”

Clark is credited with organizing Chelsea into one of European football’s most defensively organized outfits. And that attention to detail would be an effective complement to Zola’s offensive flair. Neither will be on the touchline when West Ham visit West Bromich Albion on Saturday, however. Kevin Keen, the reserve team coach, will assume first team duties while Zola watches from the stands.

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While West Ham moved quickly to fill their managerial vacancy, Newcastle’s search for Kevin Keegan’s replacement is expected to extend well into October. In the meantime, first team coach Chris Hughton will retain the role in a caretaking capacity. The 49-year-old is one of the few holdovers from the latest Keegan era. Assistants Terry McDermott and Adam Sadler were both sacked in the wake of Keegan’s departure.

Club directors Dennis Wise and Tony Jiminez are scouring Europe for candidates. So far, Tottenham’s Gus Poyet and former Italy manager Roberto Donadoni are atop the list. Poyet, however, has been cool to Newcastle’s overtures and Donadoni is believed to be uncomfortable with the state of affairs at St. James’ Park. Keegan, after all, was effectively forced out of the club by Wise and Jiminez – both of whom had acquired and transferred players without the manager’s consent.

Both are also at the centre of a looming fans’ revolt. Keegan was a popular figure on Tyneside and Wise and Jiminez are believed to have elbowed him out of the club. Owner Mike Ashley is also the focus of supporters’ discontent. As many as five organized protest marches will be held in the vicinity of St. James’ Park before and during tomorrow’s Premier League match against Hull.

The whole situation leaves Hughton in an uncomfortable position. The former Spurs full-back did not campaign for the job he now finds himself in. It essentially fell into his lap.

“We appreciate things may be difficult for the fans at the moment,” he admitted. “But one thing Newcastle supporters are renowned for is their support of the team.”

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Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres will be fit for tomorrow’s match against Manchester United. Both participated in Thursday training and are expected to be named in manager Rafael Benitez starting lineup.

“They are both much better,” asserted Benitez. “They came through a full training session this (Thursday) morning.”

Gerrard, the Liverpool captain, has missed two weeks after undergoing a minor groin operation and did not participate in England’s recent World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Croatia. Torres, meanwhile, suffered a slight hamstring tear at Aston Villa before the international break. Both will be integral to Benitez’ chances of winning a first Premier League match against United in over four years at the club.

On the other side of the ball, Dimitar Berbatov will make his United debut at Anfield. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson is sweating over the fitness of midfield duo Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves, however. Carrick is nursing a minor ankle sprain while Hargreaves has been slow to recover from a knee injury.

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As a player, Michael Laudrup was always underrated – always exceeding expectations. The same has been true in his brief managerial career. While in charge at Bronby, the former Denmark international parted with many of the club’s established stars and brought in a host of young talent. After several disappointing campaigns, he delivered a league and cup double in 2004-05.

Similarly, the 44-year-old worked wonders at Getafe. An admitted fan of Spanish football, Laudrup took the underrated side to the Copa del Rey final and last-eight of the UEFA Cup. He resigned after just one year at the club, however, and signed an 18-month contract with Spartak Moscow on Thursday.

He will be Spartak’s third manager in less than a month. After an 8-2 pummeling by Dynamo Kiev in the third preliminary round of the Champions’ League, Stanislav Cherchesov got the sack and was followed out the door by Igor Ledyakhov just two weeks later. Currently third-place in the Russian Premier League, Spartak are nine points adrift of leaders Rubin Kazan and three points back of local rivals Dynamo Moscow. The title may be out of reach, but Laudrup will be expected to catch Dynamo in the race for second-place and an automatic berth in the group phase of next season’s Champions’ League.

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Two of Italian football’s marquee players will make their 2008-09 debuts this weekend. Kaka, who has been battling a knee injury, is expected to be named to Carlo Ancelotti’s AC Milan lineup in Genoa on Sunday while Adriano will make his highly-anticipated return to Inter Milan against Catania on Saturday.

Kaka, the reigning FIFA World Football of the Year, underwent an operation on his left knee in June but has been experiencing discomfort ever since. He managed to come through 45 minutes of Milan’s friendly encounter with Lugano on Wednesday, however, and could start against Genoa.

“I don’t feel any pain and that’s the most important thing,” the 26-year-old told Gazzetta dello Sport on Thursday. “So I expect to be there at Genoa.”

Adriano will be returning from considerably different circumstances. After a meteoric drop in form which followed the death of his father, the Inter Milan forward was frozen out of the squad by former Nerazzuri manager Roberto Mancini before being sent on a six-month loan to Sao Paulo. Overweight and out of shape, the 26-year-old rediscovered his game at his hometown club – scoring 17 goals in 28 matches. He returned to Milan in the summer but suffered an unfortunate muscle strain in the preseason.

“I was in great form before getting hurt and I was showing the coach that I really want to get back to being the Adriano of a few years ago,” he told Inter Channel. “I’d like to play a few minutes against Catania and do well; but I know it won’t be easy because I have been out for a three weeks. I’m at the service of the coach and I hope to help my teammates.”

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Weekend Picks
Record: 2-8

This is embarrassing. Of course, I could make it easier on myself and pick winners from no-brainer contests such as this weekend’s match between Real Madrid and Numancia. But that would defeat the purpose of this section. I will continue to pick winners or draws from the highest profile matches on the schedule – come hell or high water.

Take Manchester United to win away at Liverpool; take Chelsea to win away at Manchester City; take Schalke to win away at Borussia Dortmund; take Lyon to win at home to Nice; take Juventus to win at home to Udinese.

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Power Rankings

1. Chelsea
2. FK Rubin Kazan
3. Bayern Munich
4. Lyon
5. Manchester City

Have a question about football? Email your query to jerradpeters@gmail.com.

Jerrad Peters covers football for the Winnipeg Free Press, Soccer Three-Sixty magazine, ESPN Soccernet, and Soccer365.com. His work has also appeared on TheMirror.co.uk, Canadian-soccer.com, Footy247.co.uk, Foot2ball.com, and Squadinfo.com.