Friday, 20 December 2013

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Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

West Ham's Matt Jarvis hopes cup win at Spurs will fire league revival

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 03:00 PM PST

• Winger confident about next game at Manchester United
• Hammers consider taking Robbie Keane on loan

The West Ham forward Matt Jarvis believes the club's progress into the Capital One Cup semi-finals can act as a springboard for an improvement in their league form as they seek to gain reward from Saturday's trip to Manchester United.

Victory at Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday – their second success at White Hart Lane this season – gave Sam Allardyce's side a semi-final with Manchester City next month, though attention is fixed first on hoisting themselves up the Premier League table. West Ham have been hampered by the absence of Andy Carroll through injury this term and, denied a regular goalscorer, languish 17th and a point clear of the bottom three.

While Carroll nears a return from a persistent foot injury, the club have explored the possibility of taking Robbie Keane on loan from Los Angeles Galaxy – the Republic of Ireland captain spent the second half of the 2010-11 season at Upton Park – before the start of the Major League Soccer season in March. Galaxy would need to be persuaded that the 33-year-old's achilles, upon which he had surgery in November, has recovered sufficiently for him to make the move and the coach, Bruce Arena, is understood to be keener for the player to rest up before the resumption of pre-season training in mid-January.

Regardless of the success of that pursuit, there is optimism that form will pick up and the players and management are encouraged by the resilient display at White Hart Lane. "It was a hard-fought victory and a massive confidence boost for ourselves," said Jarvis, who scored his side's equaliser before Modibo Maiga's late winner. "It doesn't get any better for us, coming away from home against a big rival, than to get a win and play as well as we did.

"I don't think our support for the manager has ever been in doubt. We work extremely hard and show great team spirit. We back the manager and it came out at Spurs. Obviously we just want to keep putting in the performances and getting the right results. I don't see why we can't get anything at Manchester United. Teams have gone to Old Trafford this season and got results. They're still a fantastic side but we go there full of confidence."

West Ham host Arsenal on Boxing Day before fixtures against West Bromwich Albion and Fulham, teams directly around them in the table, complete the festive season. "We've just not been putting our chances away," added Jarvis as he tried to explain his side's toils. "We've created loads of chances and not put them away. We've kept eight clean sheets but we need to score when we get the opportunities. When we get the chances, if we can put them away, it takes the pressure off the whole team defensively."

Dominic Fifield

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Dembélé: we can achieve 'big things'

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 02:30 PM PST

• Spurs struggling without a manager after successive defeats
• 'It's not that bad … we know we can achieve big things'

Mousa Dembélé maintains that Tottenham Hotspur can still achieve "big things" this season, despite the crisis that has gripped the club and which necessitated the sacking of the manager, André Villas-Boas, on Monday.

Tottenham were knocked out of the Capital One Cup on Wednesday under the caretaker charge of Tim Sherwood, losing 2-1 at home to West Ham United, a result that followed Sunday's 5-0 hammering by Liverpool, also at White Hart Lane. The team have been erratic since they lost 3-0 at home to West Ham in the Premier League on 6 October. But Dembélé said the players had spoken as a group about what needed to be done and that the situation was not as bleak as it might appear. Tottenham are only five points behind fourth-placed Manchester City and they continue to believe that they can recover to qualify for the Champions League.

"We don't have to be negative; it is not that bad," Dembélé said. "We expect so much of ourselves and we know that we can achieve big things. When it doesn't happen, you're very disappointed. In the last few games, we could have done much better. We have to stay with the same motivation."

Villas-Boas did not always start with Dembélé in the Premier League, to the midfielder's disappointment. But Dembélé said that he and his team-mates felt bad about his dismissal.

"I think everyone feels guilty and that's a normal thing," Dembélé said. "It's a team sport. It's not one guy that's responsible, everyone is responsible. Everyone has a piece [of what went wrong]. Everybody feels responsible. We have talked among the team already and we said to each other: 'Now let's do it. It's everybody's fault. We are one team, all together.'"

Sherwood said after the West Ham game he was not certain whether he would be in charge for Sunday's visit to Southampton but he will be and he is likely to remain in position for the club's fixtures over the Christmas and new year period.

He will be without Andros Townsend, after the winger damaged his hamstring against West Ham. He has undergone initial tests and the club fear that he could be out for four weeks.

"It's difficult to say right now [whether Sherwood should get the job permanently] because it's just happened recently," Dembélé said. "I don't know Tim that well. But the way he talks and his manner ... I think everyone likes this. Everybody is very positive about this. It's difficult to have one day and change everything. It takes time but I think we've already started to play quite well [against West Ham.]"

David Hytner

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Liverpool's Brendan Rodgers optimistic Luis Suárez will sign new deal

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 02:30 PM PST

• Uruguay striker is 'at the happiest point he has been'
• Manager had no reservations about captaincy decision

Brendan Rodgers has said he is confident Luis Suárez will sign a contract extension at Liverpool as the striker is enjoying "the happiest point" of his professional career.

Liverpool's managing director, Ian Ayre, met Suárez's agent Pere Guardiola in Barcelona earlier this week to instigate talks over a new deal for the Uruguay international, who has two and a half years remaining on his contract.

Rodgers refused to provide an update on the negotiations. "There is nothing to report. Anything contractual with players is private," he said. But the Liverpool manager did express a belief the Premier League's leading goalscorer will prolong an Anfield career he wanted to end in search of Champions League football only four months ago.

"I've got every confidence that will be the case," said Rodgers. "I speak to all the players and I think they're happy here. Luis and I talk about the present. We speak about the improvements in his game and how he can become better in the future. I don't think there's any doubt he feels he's progressed here as a player.

"No matter how good you are and whether you're 26 or 32, like Steven Gerrard was when I came in here, if you want to become a better player and feel you are improving and see the club progressing, then you are happy. And at this moment in time I don't think he can be any happier. I think he is at the happiest point he has been."

Suárez has scored a remarkable 17 goals in 11 league matches since returning from suspension on 25 September and was named captain for Liverpool's 5-0 destruction of Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. Rodgers insisted he had no reservations about giving such a role to a player with a chequered history.

He added: "We all make mistakes but I would hate to think that you would be punished for a lifetime for it. This is a guy that has made a mistake but has shown he is a learner. I know him well enough and think he is a great player, a good man and in Steven's absence and with Daniel Agger out of the team I could not think of anyone better [for the captaincy]."

Andy Hunter

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United must beat fear, says Evra

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 02:30 PM PST

• United have lost their past two Premier League home matches
• 'We have to play with the Manchester United spirit,' says Evra

Patrice Evra has admitted an element of fear has been influential in Manchester United's troubled form at Old Trafford, and said the champions cannot afford any more slip-ups.

United lie eighth, 13 points adrift of the leaders, Arsenal, after scoring just eight goals and securing just three wins at home in the Premier League. Newcastle United and Everton were the last teams to visit Old Trafford on league business, with both recording 1-0 victories.

"When we lost against Everton and the game against Newcastle, it was obvious we looked a little bit worried," said Evra. "The crowd were not happy sometimes. It is not easy for anyone.

"But we play for Manchester United. We have to deal with that because we need them [the supporters]. We have to show them first on the pitch by playing well. If they want to criticise us, we deserve that because when you play for Manchester United, you have to play with the pressure."

Evra and his team-mates have their latest chance to impress United's home support when they take on West Ham on Saturday. Wednesday night's Capital One Cup win at Stoke, in which Evra scored, was United's third victory in succession in all competitions.

"I want to get another unbeaten run going but this time we do not want to slip back again," Evra said. "It is too painful. It is too painful for us, for the staff, for the fans. We have to make sure we keep winning games. We must not slip again because we have already done that too many times.

"I am not looking at the table, I look at the next game which is West Ham at home. Last year we won that kind of game. We have more trouble at Old Trafford. That is where we have to show our character and our personality and play with the Manchester United spirit. Of course we need points. I wouldn't lie and say anything else. I just want to rest and be focused on Saturday. You can talk a lot; what counts is how you act on the pitch."

United's three-game winning streak has come without the concession of a single goal. "The team is really focused on that," Evra said. "We know when we get some clean sheets we can win games. The conditions at Stoke were not easy but you could feel the Manchester United spirit coming back. To win 2-0 at Stoke, it has to be a great performance. Even the players who have not played very often, like Ashley [Young] and Anderson played very well.

"That is the name of the game now. We have to focus only on the present. We do not want to let down the Manchester United fans and the staff and ourselves. When we lost against Everton and Newcastle it was a massive blow but we have reacted well with three wins in a row. We have to make sure we win on Saturday. That is my concern and that is my focus."

Evra's team-mate Jonny Evans warned against the assumption of an all-Manchester Capital One Cup final. United will play Sunderland in the last four, with Manchester City drawn against West Ham. "That is dangerous talk," he said. "I wouldn't say we're glad to avoided City. We played them a couple of years ago in the [2010] semi-finals, and we had two fantastic games with them, lots of action and goals and we got through to the final against Aston Villa.

"So I don't think it really matters. At the end of the day you are going to have to beat the best teams to win it. If West Ham beat Manchester City you will have to say they have done a fantastic job.

"I watched Sunderland beat Chelsea the other night and not only are they fighting for Gus Poyet but he has also got them playing some good football. They controlled large parts of the game against Chelsea. They had some good possession. So it will be more difficult than people will imagine."

Ewan Murray

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Rodgers condemns Spurs and Cardiff

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 02:30 PM PST

• Decision to turn down Spurs approach in 2012 'a close shave'
• Cardiff owner 'a guy who knows nothing about football'

Brendan Rodgers has claimed he had "a close shave" in rejecting the chance to manage Tottenham Hotspur as he launched an outspoken attack on the hierarchies at White Hart Lane and Cardiff City.

The Liverpool manager delivered his scathing assessment in response to André Villas-Boas' sacking by Spurs and Malky Mackay again being undermined at Cardiff by the owner, Vincent Tan. Rodgers was approached about replacing Harry Redknapp as Tottenham manager in 2012, only to cool on the vacancy once he studied the club's track record of hiring and firing managers. He was ultimately lured from Swansea City to Liverpool that summer while Villas-Boas succeeded the discarded Redknapp.

Rodgers' doubts about working for the Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, were reinforced on Monday when Villas-Boas' brief reign was ended after Liverpool's 5-0 rout of Tottenham's expensively assembled team the previous day. And he contrasted the lack of patience in north London, plus the interference in south Wales, with the support he has received from Liverpool's owners, Fenway Sports Group.

Asked how he now felt about Tottenham's approach in 2012, the Liverpool manager replied: "A close shave. They are a great club and one of the things I looked at was their history. They'd had 11 managers in 18 years there, so for someone like myself, who needed to create something, I needed to go to a club that was going to give us that opportunity."

Rodgers believes Spurs' decision to take a world-record transfer fee for Gareth Bale last summer, at a time when Liverpool refused to sanction the sale of Luis Suárez, was the cause of Villas-Boas' problems this season.

"It's difficult. They have had a good couple of years, they were up there under Harry Redknapp. Obviously there have been difficulties from Bale leaving," he said. "It shows you that when you have someone with that x-factor, sometimes eight, nine or 10 players can't replace that. That was why we fought like tigers to keep Luis Suárez here because he is a top player, he is a performer. There are many good players but very few who perform week in, week out to that level. I am more than happy with the choice I made to come here and hopefully in time it will prove to be the right one."

Liverpool host Cardiff in the Premier League on Saturday and Rodgers accused the City owner, Tan, of knowing "absolutely nothing about football" after the release of a statement that criticised Mackay's transfer business in the summer.

"I find all the talk about Malky incredible," said the Liverpool manager, a friend of the Scot's since their time together at Watford, speaking before it emerged that Mackay's time at Cardiff is up. "This a guy that when he walked into Cardiff, they had lost in the play-off semi-finals the year Swansea got promoted and waited two weeks to sack their manager, Dave Jones, on the day Swansea were in the final, which I found strange.

"Malky walked into a club that had given him 10 players that summer and he had to build a new team. They brought in someone who totally transformed the mentality and culture at the club. He took them to the Carling Cup final, to a play-off place and just lost out and the following season he took them out of the Championship and they became the second team from Wales to get into the Premier League. He is going to become a big manager at a top club and I find it astonishing that there is talk about him leaving. Absolutely astonishing.

"Iain Moody, who was released from his duties [as head of recruitment] at Cardiff, I worked with at Watford and he is one of the most authentic people you will ever meet. My only conclusion when I look from the outside is that you have a business guy operating the club who knows absolutely nothing about football. He has obviously been a very successful businessman in his life and congratulations but football is like no other business."

Rodgers said he "would fear for Cardiff" should Mackay leave and claimed there is a marked difference between Tan's and Fenway's stewardship of their respective clubs.

"They have a strategy," he said of the Liverpool owners. "They have a strategy and they have a vision of how they want it to work and they put someone in and put trust in them to deliver that. Never once have I ever felt under any pressure. If you are put under pressure in a short period of time it may affect your decision-making. I have never felt that even in the most difficult moments, the first five or six months here when there was the transition. They know where they want the club to go and are prepared to give it time to evolve."

Andy Hunter

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Alan Pardew urges Newcastle United's Steven Taylor to be patient

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 02:00 PM PST

• Manager tells central defender he wants to keep him
• Taylor has lost his place in Newcastle's first team

Alan Pardew has urged Steven Taylor to be patient and wait for another first-team chance at Newcastle United. After recovering from injury Taylor has lost his place in Pardew's first XI to Mike Williamson but, contrary to a suggestion from his agent, Willie McKay, the centre-half will not be departing Tyneside on loan next month.

"I think Steven is a terrific player," said Pardew, who is understood to have no intention of trying to borrow Wilfried Zaha from Manchester United once the transfer window opens. "He lost his place through injury which was unfortunate but now he's fit. He wants to play but Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa wants to play, Hatem Ben Arfa wants to play, Papiss Cissé wants to play. Am I going to loan them all because they want a game? Of course not. They all have to fight for their place, and that's where Steven is.

"I had a very sensible conversation with Steven this week. I think he knows where I stand with it all. I've said to him we have a lot of games coming up and to wait and see what happens."

Pardew, who has told Taylor he wants to keep him, is delighted to have competition for places and feels confident his squad does not require major transfer window surgery. "If an opportunity comes up we'll grasp it but I think we can afford to be strategic," he said. "I think this current squad is stronger than the one that finished fifth two years ago."

Louise Taylor

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Sunderland's Guy Poyet calls for season to fall in with school holidays

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 02:00 PM PST

• Uruguayan would take winter break idea a step further
• 'It would be nice because we would be part of the real world'

Gus Poyet has floated an ambitious proposal to synchronise the English football season with school holidays. Like many peers, Sunderland's manager is a firm advocate of a winter break but, ideally, the Uruguayan would take reform of the fixture calendar a radical step further.

"I would set up the Premier League to mirror the school calendar year so people working in football can have holidays with their kids," said Poyet. "Is that unfair? I would say we need to stop playing at the end of June and go on holiday in July so you can be with your kids.

"We would start playing again in September. Then you stop in December, take two or three weeks off and start again in January. It's good for the players because they can spend more proper time with their families. Now we spend Christmas and the summer holidays playing. We can never go on holiday with our kids. I'm not just talking about players, I'm talking about everybody in football. It would be nice because we would be part of the real world."

Poyet would pacify traditionalists by playing up until 26 December. "I agree with Boxing Day games," he said. "I'm a traditional person but from the 27th we should be off until the middle of January."

Sunderland's manager has offered to sit down and discuss his proposal with Premier League officials in the hope that they may at least agree a winter break.

"I want the players to relax and get away from football," he said. "For us at Sunderland from now until the end of January is going to be a nightmare. On coaching courses you are told to play, then analyse the game but we have so many fixtures we have no time. It's all bang, bang, bang but the players need a rest because it's so demanding, mentally as well as physically.

"It's important we realise at the end of this season there is a World Cup and you need English players to be in the best physical condition, but also mentally fit so we have to stop this craziness. When this season finishes players will be exhausted and just want to go on holiday but a two- or three-week winter break would have been fantastic."

Louise Taylor

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Cardiff City manager Mackay facing end to turbulent reign

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 01:39 PM PST

• Owner Vincent Tan tells him to quit or be sacked
• Manager has not intention of resigning

Malky Mackay is facing the sack as Cardiff City manager after it emerged that the Scot had been told by Vincent Tan, the Premier League club's owner, to resign or be forced out. On the back of an extraordinary club statement earlier in the week, when Tan criticised Mackay for expressing his hope that three new players could be signed when the transfer window opens next month, the manager's reign is coming to end.

On the same day that the club statement was released, Mackay received an email from Tan that listed the owner's grievances across a number of areas, including the club's activity in the transfer market in the summer and the team's style of play. A Cardiff spokesman said: "The club is not party to any letter sent from one person to another."

Mackay confirmed this week that he had no intention of resigning as manager and that stance will not change. Although his job has been made nigh on impossible by Tan's constant meddling, the 41-year-old former Watford manager is minded to carry on and pursue Premier League survival – his objective at the start of the season. Mackay would be due a significant sum if his contract is terminated by Tan.

As things stand Mackay is due to attend a press conference at Cardiff's training ground on Friday, before flying to Liverpool for Saturday's Premier League fixture at Anfield. He retains the unequivocal support of the fans, with whom he is extremely popular.

The latest development is in keeping with a bizarre season, when the club's return to the top flight for the first time in 51 years has been overshadowed by off-field events. Tan undermined Mackay's position when he sacked Iain Moody, the club's head of recruitment, at the start of October and replaced him with Alisher Apsalyamov, a 23-year-old Kazakh with no previous footballing experience. Apsalyamov has since been forced to temporarily stand down temporarily from his position because of problems with his visa.

The Guardian also reported earlier in the season that Tan had tried to influence tactics and substitutions during matches, by seeking to get messages across to Mackay. Despite everything that has gone on, Mackay has continued to go about his job with dignity, although the end would now appear to be in sight.

Stuart James

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Tottenham Hotspur mixed up as Tim Sherwood puts it in the mixer | David Hytner

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 01:09 PM PST

Spurs' approach against West Ham was unashamedly British and the polar opposite of André Villas-Boas's but wholesale overhauls are hard enough in pre-season, never mind December

For the first 10 minutes at White Hart Lane on Wednesday night it was tempting to think that the home crowd had not had it so good in ages. It was knee-jerk nonsense, of course, but tempting. Against West Ham United in the Capital One Cup quarter-final Tottenham Hotspur flew out of the blocks and created chances and the stadium crackled with excitement. It was like old times.

This is Tottenham, though, and the rough inevitably comes with the smooth. Into the last 20 minutes and leading through Emmanuel Adebayor's redemption shot, they ran out of gas. They made errors on the ball and were suddenly vulnerable. West Ham punished them.

Tottenham still created three excellent opportunities but they could not take them and, for the second time this season, we were treated to the sight of Big Sam Allardyce smiling that big smile and revelling in a big West Ham win at the home of their hated rivals.

Allardyce could add Tim Sherwood, the Tottenham caretaker, to André Villas-Boas, who was sacked on Monday, on the list of those he has outmanoeuvred. "I thought they might have sat back and protected that [the 1-0] but they didn't," Allardyce said, almost shaking his head at Sherwood's folly. "They went for the second and we started exploiting the spaces that were left."

Sherwood is caught betwixt and between and so are Tottenham. The caretaker had worked with the squad for all of one day but the team he sent out was startlingly different from that of Villas-Boas. This was revolution in 24 hours. There was an old-school 4-4-2, the kitchen sink at the outset and balls into the mixer from wide areas. Sherwood called it "a complete change of mind-set". He said he had asked them "to go a bit more gung-ho and up-and‑at‑them".

It was unashamedly British, the polar opposite of Villas-Boas's continental muck, with all of that patient probing and growing into games in a tactical sense. It was actually quite enjoyable, especially at the very start, and the players felt that the crowd responded. It was not better or worse, just different, although the result was not different and there were, of course, boos at the full-time whistle.

Sherwood's problem is that wholesale overhauls are difficult enough in pre-season. In December it is asking an awful lot, particularly from a 44-year-old who has never previously managed in the professional game.

Take fitness, which Sherwood brought up. Villas-Boas planned every training session from the start of pre-season with scientific precision. From one to the next they were designed to build up his squad and enable them to sustain football at his tempo over the season. He was confident that the work put in would bear fruit in the decisive months towards the end.

Sherwood wants different levels but how can he change things now, as the games come every three or four days and the training sessions are geared more to recovery and team shape?

Sherwood gave the clear impression after West Ham that he was operating on a day-to-day basis; that if the call from the chairman, Daniel Levy, on Monday morning to step up from the post of youth technical coordinator had been out of the blue, then a similar tap to step back down could come at any moment. It is impossible to paint this as the ideal backdrop to the era that Sherwood hopes to sculpt.

Tottenham want a big-name permanent appointment and they began to take soundings after the 6-0 defeat at Manchester City on 24 November, when their faith in Villas-Boas had effectively died. But there is a difference between whom they might want and who would be prepared to come in mid-season.

Guus Hiddink has said no and Frank de Boer, Ajax's brilliant coach, is focused on the pursuit of a fourth consecutive Eredivisie title. Guido Albers, De Boer's agent, said: "Through various channels, it has become clear to me that Spurs are interested. But the club has not approached Ajax so for us, there is not much to say about it. Frank focuses entirely on Ajax."

Mauricio Pochettino has his admirers in the Tottenham boardroom but he is immersed in his job at Southampton, from his exciting first-team to the academy sides that he watches regularly. His chairman, Nicola Cortese, has supported him in the transfer market and Pochettino has even been allowed to propagate the myth that he does not speak English to maintain a distance with the media.

Tottenham may be better off waiting until the summer but they do not want to. Nor will they consider this to be a season of transition. The target remains Champions League qualification. If they missed out and were still to need a manager, they would be less attractive to the elite.

Betwixt and between: Tottenham have a headache.

David Hytner

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Football violence: a view from around the world

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 11:05 AM PST

• Brazil suffers record number of football violence deaths
• Ultras in eastern Europe, Russian and Italy pose huge threat
• Unrest in Africa spontaneous rather than planned
• Owen Gibson: World Cup – and outbreak of supporter violence – link Brazil and Russia

Brazil: violence around games on the rise

Brazil ends 2013 with a record in football violence deaths. It was a miracle that nobody died in the festival of thuggery that took place on 8 December at the Atlético Paranaense v Vasco de Gama match in Joinville, during the last round of the Campeonato Brasileiro, whose shocking images were beamed all around the world. That, however, did not prevent Brazilian football finishing its 2013 season with the saddest of milestones: the 30 deaths in football-related incidents this year is the highest number in the history of the game in the country.

What's more worrying is that fatal cases have been rising steadily in the past few years. Between 1999 and 2008 there were 42 football-related deaths, but in 2012 the number reached 29 for a single year. It is important to understand that the vast majority of those cases occurred outside stadiums and that the experience of watching a football match in Brazil has improved significantly in terms of safety in the past 20 years, but that should be no solace.

This is especially so given that similar scenes to the ones that marred the game in Joinville took place in September at Brasilia's Mané Garrincha stadium, in a match between Corinthians and Vasco. It is one of the new arenas built for the World Cup and touted by authorities as a catalyst for a change in fan behaviour. The incident, however, showed that this transformation is a far more complex issue.

As in Argentina, organised groups of supporters in Brazil are notorious for their penchant for fighting fans of other teams as well as their unscrupulous subsidisation by clubs. They will often receive free tickets and financial help in exchange for favours, such as political support for club elections and even intimidation of opponents.

It's a relationship often denounced by the Brazilian media but that lingers on at every major club in the country, which limits the efficiency of an eventual heavier approach from the authorities. But the recent decision by the Japanese carmaker Nissan to end its sponsorship deal with Vasco because of the savagery in Joinville, which will add to the woes of a club relegated to the wilderness of the second division, could finally make directors feel the pinch and decide to act.

Only chance – or the work of divine forces by some – has prevented Brazil in the past few decades from experiencing its own version of the Heysel disaster. But it is unwise to tempt fate for so long. Fernando Duarte

Eastern Europe: Polish ultras remain a threat after Euro 2012

The hope in Poland was that the improvement in stadiums brought by Euro 2012 – not just those grounds that hosted matches during the tournament but also those used as training venues – would inspire a change in attitude similar to the one that occurred in England with the wave of stadium construction in the 90s. The ultras, though, remain a dangerous and violent force.

Only last week, Zaglebie Lubin's Slovakian midfielder Robert Jez was beaten up outside his house by three ultras, while other fans threw bricks at a car driven by the goalkeeper Michal Gliwa. The Latvian forward Deniss Rakels has also received threats as Zaglebie struggle against relegation. "If you don't play, you should be scared," ultras have taken to chanting at home matches.

Ultra groups remain a major issue in both Hungary and Romania, where hooligan groups often loosely espouse far-right politics, with antisemitism and anti-Roma racism rife. Others are just violent: one of the most notorious incidents came two years ago as a Petrolul Ploiesti fan ran on to the pitch during a game against Steaua Bucharest, ran up behind the defender George Galamaz and punched him in the side of the head, breaking his zygomatic bone and leaving him temporarily deaf in his right ear. The Steaua goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu then suffered burns to his back after being hit by a flare thrown from the stand, and the game was abandoned.

So disillusioned have fans in Croatia become with their footballing establishment and, in particular, a voucher scheme that tries to regulate away supporters, that the two main ultra groups of Dinamo and Hajduk, the Bad Blue Boys and Torcida, have declared a truce for the first time since the end of the war. At the recent derby in Zagreb, members of both groups attended the game together as a strangely harmonious show of dissent that made a mockery of the voucher system. Jonathan Wilson

Russia: new law for 2018 World Cup buildup

Petty scuffles and small-scale brawls are still common at Russian league matches, and there is a strong link between fan club ultras and the nationalist far right. Ever since hundreds of fans fought pitched battles with police in a central Moscow square in 2010 after the murder of Yegor Sviridov, a Spartak Moscow fan, by a group of Dagestanis, police have been keeping a closer eye on the potential for fan violence.

A new law will come into effect in January, promising much harsher penalties for fans who "disturb public order", with fines of up to £300, threats of community service and a ban on attending games for up to seven years. Police will draw up blacklists of fans who are banned and all stadiums must be fitted with closed-circuit television to keep an eye on incidents.

The law has been in discussion for months and is an attempt to tackle violence and racism in the runup to the 2018 World Cup.

As well as brawls, nationalist and racist chanting is a problem, especially when black players or teams from Russia's mainly Muslim south are playing. In September, Zenit fans burned a Chechen flag during a game with Terek Grozny.

In November, the Dynamo Moscow goalkeeper Anton Shunin was briefly hospitalised after an incident in which he was struck by a flare thrown by a fan during a game against Zenit St Petersburg and received burns to one of his eyes. The match was abandoned, Dynamo were given a 3-0 automatic victory and Zenit were ordered to play two matches behind closed doors.

Also in November, there were clashes as Spartak Moscow played away at second-tier Shinnik Yaroslavl. Police had to use water cannons to disperse fighting supporters, and the game also became notorious when photographs circulated online of Spartak fans unveiling a Nazi flag during the game. Shaun Walker

Italy: players still in fear

Salernitana's game at home to Nocerina this November lasted just 20 minutes. That was all it took for the visitors to lose five players to "injury", leaving them with only six on the pitch. They had used up all three of their substitutions in the second minute.

Clearly, this was no accident. Nocerina's players had been reluctant to take the field in the first place after receiving death threats from their own supporters – 200 of whom had shown up at training a day earlier, warning them not to go ahead. The ultras were acting in protest after local authorities banned all away fans from attending this local derby.

Their actions were greeted with disgust in Italy, but all too little surprise. Fan violence had forced bigger games than this one to be halted before now. Salernitana and Nocerina play in the Lega Pro Prima Divisione – the third tier of Italian football – but as recently as April 2012 a top-flight match between Genoa and Siena had to be suspended for 45 minutes after ultras began demanding the shirts off their players' backs.

These are extreme examples, but there have been many less high-profile instances of fan violence directed at both players and at rival supporters. Just this month, three Ajax fans were stabbed before their team's Champions League visit to Milan. More than once in the last year, team buses have been assaulted on their way to and from games.

Various measures have been taken in a bid to stem the tide, from the introduction of the much-maligned tessera del tifoso – a mandatory fan ID card – to the temporary closure of individual stands in some stadiums. And police statistics show that the number of fans injured at matches has dropped sharply since the beginning of 2006. But this problem is still a long way from being resolved. Paolo Bandini

Africa: Hooliganism tends to be spontaneous, not planned

African football tends not to be afflicted by hooliganism in the same way that Europe and South America are. Which is not to say that violence is much rarer. Far from it. It is just that it tends not to be instigated by organised groups who go to matches with the intention of causing trouble. Rather the violence tends to be spontaneous, erupting in response to perceived refereeing injustices or disappointing results. Senegal, for instance, had to play the home leg of their World Cup play-off against Ivory Coast at a neutral venue because of the rioting that broke out in Dakar when the same opponents beat them in the previous year's Africa Cup of Nations play-off.

There are exceptions. In Nigeria, for example, there are organised groups who seek to exert influence through violence and intimidation, in some cases with clubs' tacit support or blatant complicity. In this season's Premier League two clubs were ordered to play matches behind closed doors after fan violence, while the critical title decider between Kano Pillars and Enyimba had to be replayed after a pitch invasion by home fans. Kano and Enyimba both have sets of battle-ready supporters who congregate in a particular section of their stadiums (Kano's volatile fringe dub their chosen hangout in the stands "Iraq", while Enyimba fans call their equivalent spot "Colombia"). Since there tend not to be many travelling fans, the targets of violence tend to be opposition players or, most commonly, referees. The Nigerian Premier League has vowed to increase ground suspensions and club fines after referees threatened to go on strike in protest at their regular persecution.

Elsewhere, orchestrated violence at football has been rooted in political upheaval or social unrest, as in the infamous Port Said massacre of February 2012, when 79 people were killed. Then clashes between fans of Al-Masry and Al-Ahly were fuelled and facilitated by police and military, seemingly as retribution for the involvement of Al-Ahly fans in the Tahrir Square uprising the previous year. When 21 supporters were sentenced to death for their role in that disaster, riots broke out in protest at the severity of the punishment and the perceived scapegoating of fans while agents provocateurs in authority escaped.

Mauritius made a radical attempt to eradicate politically motivated football violence over a decade ago when regular fighting eventually led to catastrophe. A title-decider between the mostly Muslim-supported Scouts Club and a Creole club, Fire Brigade, degenerated into rioting that spread far beyond the stadium and lasted for a week, causing seven fatalities. The national league was suspended for over eight months and a huge restructuring was launched, with several clubs disbanded and none allowed to reform along ethnic or religious lines, only regional ones. The measure worked in the most important sense – it has prevented repeats of such violence at football. But the league has yet to recover as, with their traditional clubs gone, fans tend to restrict their supporting to watching European leagues on TV. Paul Doyle

Fernando Duarte
Jonathan Wilson
Shaun Walker
Paolo Bandini
Paul Doyle

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Nepalese worker in Qatar: 'I didn't get a single rupee in six months'

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 10:52 AM PST

Ram Kumar Mahara says he was not paid for 12-hour shifts on sites building the infrastructure for 2022 World Cup

If things had gone well, Ram Kumar Mahara would be working on a Qatari building site, earning around £120 a month helping the country to erect the infrastructure that will enable it to host the football World Cup in 2022.

But things didn't go well.

First there was the pay. Ram Kumar says there wasn't any. Then there were the conditions – 12-hour shifts, a shortage of food and finally, after a complaint to the manager, summary removal from the labour camp. It was so distressing that the 27-year-old Nepali lost his hair. After weeks in legal limbo at the Nepali embassy in Doha, he finally made it home. The nightmare was over, but a new one was just beginning.

"I spent six months in Qatar but did not receive a single rupee," he said from a remote village in Nepal, where he has found piecemeal work threshing cattle fodder.

"I was reluctant to come back home as I didn't earn any money ... When I got home my wife was weeping and even I did not feel good. I still feel very guilty. I have not done anything since I got back," he said. "I just sit at home looking after my children. I came here for 10 days of work ... but it does not pay much."

Ram Kumar was one of the Nepali workers who spoke to the Guardian for an investigation that exposed systematic exploitation of Nepalese migrant workers in Qatar's booming construction industry, including on a site directly linked to the 2022 World Cup.

The investigation found high levels of fatalities (44 in eight weeks over the summer), terrible living conditions and labour practices that in effect enslaved the migrant workers, depriving them of pay, permits and freedom to move around.

He paid a local agent in his village 120,000 rupees (about £775) to go to Qatar, far in excess of the legal limit stipulated by the government. The only way he could afford this was to borrow the money at an annual interest rate of 60%, but because he was unable to send any money home, his debt quickly ballooned to 500,000 rupees.

"When I was abroad, my wife took out more loans as my children were ill, so our debt grew to this huge amount," explained Ram Kumar. "The only way I can pay it off is by going back abroad."

In Qatar, Ram Kumar says he sometimes went 24 hours without food – "12 hours' work and then no food all night".

"When I complained, my manager assaulted me, kicked me out of the labour camp I lived in and refused to pay me anything. I had to beg for food from other workers."

He rapidly found himself trapped, without a salary or the exit permit he needed to leave Qatar. Eventually, with the help of the Nepali embassy, he was able to return home, but he had to leave his salary, and his dignity, behind.

Now back home in Nepal, Ram Kumar may have escaped Qatar, but he is still bound by the debt he took on in order to pay Nepali recruitment agents for his job there. His attempts to get his money back have proved fruitless. "When I got home I asked the local agent to return my money, as well as my unpaid salary," he said. "He told me he would pay me back … but he has not given me anything so far."

Despite being deceived by his local agent, Ram Kumar places the blame for his ordeal squarely with the Kathmandu-based agency, Marvelous Employment Nepal. There are more than 700 registered recruitment agencies, known as manpower companies, in the capital, Kathmandu. They rely on a network of thousands of unregulated local agents, who send workers to them from across the country, often for extortionate fees.

"It is the manpower company that cheated me. I called them [from Qatar] after I did not receive my salary, but they just consoled me every time saying they would talk to the company," he said.

Marvelous Employment Nepal denied any wrongdoing. "We sent the return air ticket to bring Ram Kumar back from Qatar and we are no longer sending workers to that company. We offered to help him get a job in another country," said Kumar Gauli, the company's marketing director. "We are ready to negotiate with Ram Kumar and help him as much as we can. We are willing to return what he paid to us."

Marvelous Employment Nepal disputed Ram Kumar's claim that he did not receive any salary in Qatar.

"The recruitment agency has basically tried to buy off Ram Kumar by offering him another job instead of paying him the full compensation he deserves," said Samar Thapa, of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions. "We have to encourage the workers to punish the agencies or they will never change their behaviour."

Until then, Ram Kumar and his wife, Hira Devi, have little choice. "My husband should go abroad again to work … so that we can pay back our loans and manage our daily expenses," she said. "I am worried as I have small children, two daughters and a son, to look after. I don't even have any land or a home and we are in huge debt."

"If people asked for my advice, I would say Qatar is not a good place, so don't go to Qatar. I had a very hard time there," said Ram Kumar. "I would tell people to go to other countries, but I would not recommend anyone to go to Qatar."

Pete Pattisson

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Russia and Brazil fight troubled terraces

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 10:51 AM PST

The host nations of the next two World Cups are among those struggling to contain a rising tide of trouble on the terraces

In six months' time the World Cup will land in the home of joga bonito clad in a Fifa-approved wrapping of sun, sea and samba. But the dark side of the beautiful game in Brazil was in evidence earlier this month, when images of running battles between fans of Atlético Paranaense and Vasco da Gama shocked the watching world.

The game was being held at a neutral ground in Joinville due to previous clashes between fans of the two clubs, but within 10 minutes Globo was broadcasting close-up footage of supporters repeatedly stamping on the heads of their rivals and chasing one another around the stadium bowl.

Following a long interregnum, the fighting was eventually broken up by armed security firing rubber bullets into the crowds and an army helicopter landing on the pitch, but not before several fans were seriously injured.

Aldo Rebelo, the erratic Brazilian sports minister who is also battling to make sure the stadiums due to host the World Cup are ready on time amid a spate of deaths among construction workers, has promised a crackdown. "Whoever commits the kind of violence we saw should be detained forthwith. It constitutes attempted homicide," he said this week.

But while the brutal scenes may have been beamed around the world due to the game's proximity to the World Cup draw, this was no isolated example.

Four years after the World Cup comes to Brazil, Russia will host football's global showpiece. Last month, Spartak Moscow fans went on the rampage, resulting in 78 arrests and the imposition of tough new laws from next month.

Again, this was just one example among many as a toxic brew of nationalism, club loyalty, far-right ideology and alcohol explodes into violence on a regular basis. The country's leading sports newspaper, Sport Express, warned that if the violence was allowed to carry on unchecked it would mean "the end of football in our country".

In Russia, too, there are growing concerns about the endemic nature of football violence and its links to organised crime and right-wing groups. Those fears are replicated across much of eastern Europe, and to some observers are underpinned by a dangerous ideology.

"The big thing we've observed over the last two years has been the rise of the far right in football," says Piara Powar, executive director of the European anti-discrimination network Fare. "They've always had a significant hold over young people and young football fans. But it's become more organised and more frequent. More banners, more chants, more of a direct link." Banners pledging solidarity with the Greek far-right party Golden Dawn have been spotted throughout eastern Europe.

Scenes that became all too familiar in British football grounds in the 1970s and 1980s, with fans fighting one another across vast open terraces and the National Front openly using football grounds as recruitment centres, are being replicated across the continent – but on a more organised, criminalised basis.

It took all-seater stadiums, the introduction of CCTV so sophisticated that any fan in the ground could easily be picked out, clubs getting banned from Europe and a wholesale change in football culture to rid the British game of what was once called "the English disease". Over recent years it appears to have been catching.

It is impossible to generalise as to the causes and symptoms across the world. The societal and cultural reasons why fans fight one another in Brazil, or ultras in Italy defend their reputation with such violent zeal, or why gangs of organised criminals use football as their backdrop in eastern Europe are all very different.

But in many cases there is an umbilical link between the most vociferous fans' groups, often with a predilection for violence, and those that run the clubs. In Brazil and Argentina, that manifests itself in clubs subsidising tickets for violent fans' groups. Sometimes, it's hard to tell who is in charge.

So too in Italy, where groups of ultras revel in their ability to set the agenda at their clubs and demand they are listened to. A crackdown on racist chanting has been extended to so-called "regional" abuse, which in turn has led to a backlash with the ultra groups trying to reassert what they see as their rights.

"We have a consumerist football culture here but overseas they live their football. That's quite interesting but has elements that are very unpleasant," says Powar. "We see a particular type of fan culture – a reversion to the ultras culture, a lifestyle for young people. This [the violence] is a perversion of that."

Kevin Miles, the chief executive of the Football Supporters' Federation, believes that the reputation of English fans forged in the 1970s and 1980s that long since stopped having any bearing to reality still lingers – with rival fans, and often police forces, reacting accordingly.

"The reputation is a lot easier to obtain than to get rid of. There is still a widespread perception in other countries that you can make a name for yourself by having a pop at the English," said Miles. "All English football fans want is to be policed according to their behaviour rather than their reputation. There's a responsibility on the part of the countries and the clubs hosting games to ensure visiting fans can enjoy their trip."

Police forces in some of those countries are increasingly looking to the British experience for clues as to how to deal with their own hooligan problem – it is no coincidence that the lists of Uefa security delegates are stuffed with English ex-policemen.

While there is no hard evidence that the problem is getting worse in continental Europe, with English fans habitually targeted in certain cities down the years, incidents are more visible than ever.

In one typical incident two Italians were jailed last month for their part in an unprovoked attack on Spurs fans in 2012, when Lazio and Roma followers launched an unprovoked attack in a pub, brandishing knives, metal poles and knuckle dusters and leaving one stabbed fan seriously injured.

"English fans are far, far more likely to be the victims than the perpetrators. Clubs have become far more aware of the need to look after their fans travelling abroad," said Miles.

The frustration for supporters' groups, and for clubs themselves, is that there are certain destinations – Napoli and Rome being two – where trouble seems almost guaranteed, yet little progress seems to be made towards resolving the problem.

Complex, intractable issues demand a complex, multi-layered response. Across swathes of eastern Europe there are links between the owners of the clubs and their most violent fans. In many cases, they style themselves on an idealised image of English 1980s "firms" or Italian ultras.

"The economic crisis, for sure, has made things worse. In many countries governance is shambolic. Many clubs are badly run and run by individuals who have made their money in dubious ways or have dubious political affiliations," says Powar.

After much pressure Uefa and Fifa have both vowed to get tough not only on crowd misbehaviour but on extremism and discrimination within stadiums. Stadium closures and heavy fines have been levied in recent months on both national associations and clubs for the misbehaviour of their fans.

Clubs in Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Scotland, Turkey, Cyprus, Russia, Poland and Romania have been sanctioned by Uefa this season alone. Fifa endlessly pledge "zero tolerance" and have begun to back up their words with actions.

Yet, even here, there is a delicate balance to be struck. Punish the majority of fans with stadium closures for what they see as the actions of a minority and the likelihood is that they will sympathise with the offenders and rail against what they see as unfair treatment from the authorities.

Meanwhile, from Moscow (where Spartak fans went on the rampage) to Minas Gerais (where homemade bombs were recently confiscated from fans) the governments that revelled in being chosen as the next two hosts of Fifa's flagship competition know they have work to do if their domestic travails with a hooligan tendency are not to overshadow their international moment in the sun.

Owen Gibson

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Wilshere receives two-match ban for gesture

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 09:38 AM PST

• Midfielder to miss Chelsea and West Ham matches
• Arsenal struggling to stay ahead in title race

Arsenal's midfielder Jack Wilshere must serve a two-match ban after he admitted a misconduct charge over an offensive hand gesture made towards Manchester City fans, the Football Association confirmed on Thursday evening.

Television cameras picked up Wilshere raising his middle finger in the direction of home supporters at the Etihad Stadium during the second half of the Gunners' 6-3 Barclays Premier League defeat on Saturday.

Although the incident was missed at the time by referee Martin Atkinson and his officials, the FA was able to retrospectively implement disciplinary proceedings against the player under a new pilot scheme for 'not seen' incidents in Premier League matches.

As such, an independent three-man panel agreed if the gesture had been viewed during the game, then it would have merited a dismissal.

Arsenal submitted mitigating circumstances, arguing the length of the punishment is excessive, but those submissions were rejected and so Wilshere will miss the visit of Chelsea on Monday and the Boxing Day trip to West Ham.

A statement from the FA read: ""The incident was not seen by match officials, but was caught on video.

"Whilst admitting the charge, Wilshere claimed the standard sanction for this offence was clearly excessive. The commission rejected this claim and the two-match suspension will commence with immediate effect."

In December 2011, the Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was suspended for one match, fined £20,000 and warned as to his future conduct after he made a gesture to home fans as he walked off the pitch following a 1-0 defeat at Fulham.

However, a precedent had been set from earlier this season when a two-match suspension was handed out to Blackpool winger Tom Ince after he was retrospectively charged in relation to a gesture towards a match official in a Capital One Cup tie against Preston.

The FA chairman, Greg Dyke, had earlier empathised with the player's frustrations but said the highest examples must always be maintained by the professionals on the pitch and Wilshere, who turns 22 on New Year's Day, must take lessons on board.

"As a supporter I sympathise with the players because of the flak they get from the crowd," Dyke said on TalkSport.

"People can lose their cool very quickly but he [Wilshere] has got to learn. He's very well paid to play the game and he's got to learn to cope with it."


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Football Weekly Extra: more misery for Tottenham Hotspur

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 07:54 AM PST

James is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jacob Steinberg and Gregg Bakowski for more award-winning podcast action.

Plenty for the pod to get stuck into, including: West Ham's defeat of Tottenham Hotspur in the Capital One Cup, Sunderland's super fit team beating Chelsea in extra-time, and a preview of the big one between Arsenal and Chelsea.

James Horncastle is on the phone to preview the Milan derby and run the rule over the new Watford manager. Giuseppe Sannino.

Plus, there's the pod's favourite Christmas songs, how to make the perfect cup of tea and James learns how to pronounce Chinese properly.

Leave your comments below.

James Richardson
Peter Sale
Barry Glendenning
Jacob Steinberg
Gregg Bakowski

A-League: what to look out for this weekend

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 07:40 AM PST

Paul Connolly: Perth's lack of glory; Brisbane approach their century; are Heart simply unlucky?; and who are Sydney without Him?

Paul Connolly

Vanishing spray set for World Cup

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 06:50 AM PST

• Line marked for defensive walls at free-kicks
• Sepp Blatter says officials have praised device

Referees will use the recently developed vanishing spray at the World Cup next year to stop defensive walls creeping forward at free-kicks, Fifa's president Sepp Blatter has said.

When a free-kick is awarded near the penalty area, the referee paces the regulatory 10 yards between the ball and the nearest defender and then sprays a line on the pitch to mark the correct position of the wall. The line then disappears from the pitch within a minute.

Blatter said the spray, developed in Brazil and Argentina, had received a positive reception after being used at the Club World Cup in Morocco.

"I think it's a very good solution. Some say it takes too much time and I was also quite sceptical at the beginning but all the referees who have used the system were pleased with it," Blatter said.

The spray has been used for several years in Argentina and Brazil where it is generally accepted that it has reduced the amount of arguing over where the wall should stand and has prevented encroachment.

"The representative of Bayern Munich said that here they can take free-kicks with the wall nine metres away, while at home it's only five," said Blatter. "It's a novelty, we will start using it in the World Cup in Brazil."


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Classic YouTube | Sport bloopers, two-ball football cheating and brilliant bike tricks

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 06:34 AM PST

This week's round-up also features Peter O'Toole, nine-dart magic and misadventures in ice-hockey DIY

1) It's our final edition of 2013 – thanks for all your comments through the year – so let us wrap up with some sporting blooper videos. Some football ones to start with (of varying quality): Danny Baker's Own Goals & Gaffs (and the sequel, followed by his 'Freaky Football'), Olly Murs(!) and the Seven Deadly Sins of Football,

2) An hour and then some of rugby union's greatest hits and dirty bits, with Mick Skinner. Plus cricket's greatest wonders and blunders.

3) Touchline football reporting, Turkish-style, at Fenerbahçe v Galatasaray in 1992. Note the invasive injury interview …

4) Is there a better sound in sport than the increasing crowd volume on the seventh, eighth and ninth darts of a nine-darter? There have been two on the same afternoon at Ally Pally already this year: Terry Jenkins, followed by Australian tungsten-tickler Kyle Anderson. And a ridiculously quick one from Jackpot in 2011, master of the blind 180.

5) Twenty-four hours to get a Boris bike from London to the top of Mont Ventoux … and back.

6) Unnervingly emotional cover version as a Crystal Palace fan feels the love for Marouane Chamakh, to the strains of Take That's Back for Good. Meanwhile, tidy stadium, tidy mind – silky skills as James Milner clears up some loose balls and wins the Christmas bauble keepy-uppy challenge; while this Celtic fan does his bit for errant balls while completing the crossbar challenge.

Our favourites from last week's blog

1) A fabulous spot of "improvisation" under pressure here by Kasimpasa's former West Brom defender Ryan Donk, and there's some top scrambling on offer at Morecambe v Cheltenham, while here the ball is also hastily cleared but wait, there was more to come …

2) Faith in football restored: Ajax sign eight-year-old Jay Jay Willems. Includes YouTube commenters in praise and not abuse shock …

3) The much-loved and much-missed Peter O'Toole and Richard Harris celebrate their love for Munster.

4) Part two of Martyn Ashton's common sense-defying road bike antics (if you missed part one, it's here).

5) The world No1 you need to know about – Nick Matthew, top of the sqaush ladder, wins the world championships.

6) Emergency repairs at Florida Panthers ice hockey game cause a massive fail for some poor fans.

Spotters' badges: richardsmall, sharpybox, Merson, pexteballa, nomadicmatt, strongweak, TollcrossToi, GrahamClayton.

Guardian YouTube channel playlists

You can follow Classic YouTube on our individual Guardian YouTube playlists, including football and other sports. And here are all of the Guardian's YouTube playlists.


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Brendan Rodgers blasts Vincent Tan for 'knowing nothing about football'

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 06:08 AM PST

• Liverpool manager defends Cardiff counterpart Malky Mackay
• Mackay under pressure from Malaysian owner

Brendan Rodgers has sprung to the defence of Cardiff City's Malky Mackay, accusing the club's owner, Vincent Tan, of "knowing nothing about football".

The Bluebirds visit Anfield on Saturday after a week in which there has been a public fall out between Mackay and Tan over transfers, leading to more speculation over the manager's future.

Their first season in the Premier League has seen further off-field strife with the sacking as head of recruitment of Iain Moody, who was replaced by a friend of Tan's son who has no football background. Rodgers finds it unbelievable that the situation has been allowed to develop as it has.

"I find it incredible all the talk about Malky, who I know well from working with him at Watford," the Liverpool manager, formerly in charge at Swansea, said. "I find it astonishing what he has had to go through. This is a guy [Tan] who walked into Cardiff after they had lost in the play-off semi-finals and they waited two weeks to sack the manager Dave Jones on the day we [Swansea] were in the final – which I found strange.

"Malky walked into the club with 10 players that summer and he totally transformed the mentality of the club. He took them to the Carling Cup final, to a play-off place and just lost out and the following season took them to the championship and promotion.

"He has had great results this season and is going to go on and be a great manager at a big club and I find it absolutely astonishing there is talk about him leaving there.

"I worked with Iain Moody at Watford, one of the most authentic people you could ever meet. My only conclusion is you have a business guy operating the club who knows absolutely nothing about football. He has obviously been a successful businessman – congratulations but football is like no other business.

"When I see what Malky has had to put up with, to see him being questioned I find it remarkable. Especially when supporters there look up to him and respect him for what he's done."


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Andrés Iniesta agrees new contract to see out career at Barcelona

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 05:28 AM PST

• World Cup winner signs up until 2018
• 'A nice Christmas present' for Barça says Rosell

Andrés Iniesta has extended his contract with Barcelona until 2018.

The 29-year-old midfielder, whose existing deal would have expired in 2015, is now set to see out his career at the Spanish champions, having already won 21 trophies at the club.

The club's president, Sandro Rosell, confirmed the move at a press conference on Thursday. Rosell told the club's official website: "Andrés Iniesta's renewal is confirmed. It's a great Christmas present.

"He will stay with us until 2018 and he could renew every year after that based on his playing performances."

Iniesta will have been at the club for 22 years when his contract expires during which time he has won back-to-back European Championships and the first World Cup for Spain when he scored the winning goal against Holland in the final.

He becomes the fourth first-team player to be signed up until 2018 following Sergio Busquets, Cristian Tello, Leo Messi and Neymar.


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Raja Casablanca upset Atlético Mineiro to reach Club World Cup final – video

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 05:15 AM PST

Raja Casablanca beat Atlético Mineiro 3-1 to reach the final of the Club World Cup

Ronaldinho mobbed for shirt and boots by Raja Casablanca players after Club World Cup loss – video

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 05:01 AM PST

Raja Casablanca players help themselves to Ronaldinho's football kit following their shock win over Atlético Mineiro

The Fiver Christmas Awards 2013

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 04:23 AM PST

Give the one you love something special this year: a free subscription to the Fiver. The gift that keeps on giving

Welcome to the 14th Fiver Christmas Awards. Or is it the 15th? Oh, we don't know. We've certainly disingenuously pretended to forget how many times we've held these awards at least a dozen times, so there's a starting point for anyone who cares enough to tot it up. Furthermore, it's now more than a decade since we awarded Bayer Leverkusen an unprecedented Fiver Christmas Awards quadruple, and in honour of their legendary coach Klaus Toppmöller (kids, ask your grandparents) we declare that now is a time for cigarettes and booze. And curly hair, with locks springy enough to hold a lit cigarette, just in case you have a can of Purple Tin and a quadruple gin on the go at the same time. But as well as it being time for cigarettes and booze, and hairstyles specifically designed to assist in the consumption of cigarettes and booze, it's also time to dole out a few awards. Mainly because we sense you're losing interest already, and if we don't start soon, the Fiver will be in your bin folder quicker than we can say "Gah!", "Wah!" and "Oh reader! How could you!"

THE BLOKE FROM STOKE STANDING IN THE BACKGROUND AND WINCING AT THE NEWS WILSON PALACIOS COULD COST £8M AWARD FOR BEST FOOTBALL FAN

Angry Shouty Pointy Arsenal Man, who announced that "either the board must go or Wenger must go" in the wake of his team's opening-day defeat at the hands of Aston Villa. Angry Shouty Pointy Arsenal Man's team currently lead the Premier League and are safely through to the knockout stages of Big Cup.

THE JIM WHITE AWARD FOR PLAYING IT DOWN IN A QUIET VOICE

Luxuriously moustachioed Sky Sports News reporter and silent-movie pastiche act Nick Collins, for falling off a ladder and out of shot while reporting from outside Wembley Stadium. "Now that's the kind of thing that you hope never happens to you on live television," announced Jim White, back in the studio and for once not making a ludicrous song and dance about the smallest thing, heroically managing not to guffaw in the face of his fallen comrade's bizarre slapstick showcase. Rumours that Collins was later spotted wearing brown overalls and a bowler hat while trying to push a piano across a busy North Circular were never confirmed.

THE NANI STATUE FOR SELF-AGGRANDISING FALSE IDOLATRY

In the wake of his strikerless West Ham side's 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur, Big Sam Allardyce blew a long and lengthy solo on his own trumpet of such tonal clarity that you could have been forgiven for thinking it had been scored by Gil Evans and produced by Teo Macero. The tactical mastermind proved it was no fluke by sending his team out to win one of their next nine Premier League games.

Honourable mention: Mike Phelan, for claiming he was effectively United manager for the last five years of Lord Ferg's reign. If this really was the case, David Moyes owes him a proper shoeing in the 'Glasgow Didact' style. Look at the state he left the gaff in!

THE DAVID BENTLEY AWARD FOR MOST OVER-HYPED YOUNG PLAYER

An eye-catching 20-minute spell on the wing for Manchester United against hopeless Sunderland was enough to earn Adnan Januzaj a nomination for BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year. It also had the FA, various pundits and lots of football writers falling over themselves in their efforts to get the 18-year-old into an England shirt. The only small problem? Januzaj is not English and has not spent anywhere enough time in England to qualify to play for them under residency rules. Perhaps most pertinently, he has never expressed the slightest interest in playing for England. As difficult as some of our more jingoistic tabloid johnnies might find it to believe, there's really no earthly reason why he would.

THE MATT LE TISSIER AWARD FOR FOOTBALLER WHO FAMOUSLY NEVER MISSES A PENALTY MISSING A PENALTY

Mario Balotelli, who is obviously not eating enough pre-training Bacon & Egg McMuffins to keep up his energy levels like the great man did.

THE LORD FERG MEMORIAL MANAGER OF THE YEAR AWARD

Paolo Di Canio. Just like the quaaludes necked by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill in upcoming Scorsese debauch-fest The Wolf of Wall Street, fitness regimes sometimes take a while to kick in. And look! There's Sunderland beating Chelsea to the tape right at the end of 120 minutes of Rumbelows Cup quarter-final action! Turns out banning coke floats made with frozen mayonnaise instead of ice cream wasn't such an outlandish plan after all. Well done, Paolo! (Hey, if Roberto Martínez gets all the credit for Brendan Rodgers winning promotion at Swansea, and Phelan cops all the flak for leaving Moyes a task and a half, then everyone's pal Paolo should get props for Sunderland's first cup semi in 14 years.)

THE ROBERTO DI MATTEO AWARD FOR REPLACING TACTICALLY INTRANSIGENT MANAGERS WITH ONES WHO KEEP IT SIMPLE BY STANDING ABOUT LOOKING A BIT MOODY

Scotland, who went on an unprecedented streak of two wins in a row this year, having got shot of confused chalkboard scribbler Craig Levein in order to replace him with the perpetually irate Gordon Strachan. Ruling by fear clearly works wonders.

Honourable mention: The Republic O'Ireland, who borrowed the fear idea but may have taken it a bit too far.

THE TOM DALEY AWARD FOR SERVICES TO DIVING

Either of his spectacular tumbles against Crystal Palace (forward somersault in the pike position) and Real Sociedad (reverse one-and-a-half somersaults followed by two-and-a-half twists in the free position) would normally be enough to win Ashley Young this gong. But the two combined make it no contest! Truth be told, he should get an extra shiny award for having the sheer brass neck to hold referees responsible for his issues with gravity. "The referees are giving decisions and that is where I think it lies," he told reporters, before accusing the police of encouraging a crime pandemic by wearing uniforms, and Lord Justice Leveson of tapping his phone.

THE SIR TIM BERNERS LEE AWARD FOR SERVICES TO THE INTERNET

Former Sheffield United midfielder-turned-boxer Curtis Woodhouse. A day or two after losing a fight, he offered £1,000 to anyone who could help him identify a Twitter troll, then jumped in his car and drove around to the bloke's street, while keeping his followers updated on his progress as he zeroed in on his online abuser. Upon seeing Woodhouse tweet a photo of his street sign, big, brave 'Jimbob' simpered pathetically for mercy and admitted what he had done was wrong. Having whipped Twitter into line, hopefully Woodhouse will go one better in 2014 and deal with the entire internet once and for all, pulling the plug out with his big fists, packing it away in bubble wrap, and storing it under the stairs until somebody works out a way for it to be used sensibly.

THE LASZLO KUBALA AWARD FOR CLEARLY-DEFINED FIFA REGULATION REGARDING INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATION

Union Jack Wilshere, who had some explaining to do after taking to the world wide web to tell followers that "the only people who should play for England are English people". We think we know what he meant, but that didn't stop the inevitable angry mob, led by over-sensitive former cricketer Kevin Pietersen, taking up their cyber-pitchforks and rattling the gates of Wilshere Towers.

THE CRAGGY ISLAND CHINESE COMMUNITY AWARD FOR MAN IN A POSITION OF RESPONSIBILITY BEING ACCUSED OF RACISM

Mr Roy, for his concise way of making points to his team of international footballers in an asphyxiating finite period of time.

THE JOCK WALLACE AWARD FOR BATTLE FEVER

The toys came flying out of das bundeshipsterpram in September after Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller was sent off at Napoli in Big Cup. All of a sudden, Jürgen Klopp began dancing around in scenes reminiscent of the time George Costanza was denied the nickname T-Bone by a fellow worker at Kruger Industrial Smoothing. And in one fell swoop, cracks began to appear in Klopp's painstakingly constructed facade of supercool. Could it really be that he's Just Another Manager, prone to irrational and childish touchline tantrums like Fergie, Mr Roy, Big Sam and the resolutely unfashionable rest of them? Surely not! Across the continent, hipsters circled the wagons and haven't spoken of this since.

THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE FOR BEST WORK OF CONTEMPORARY FICTION

Always Managing: My Autobiography by 'Arry Redknapp, an account of one man's life that couldn't contain more made-up cobblers if it featured a man with a big beard and sandals on the cover and was called The Holy Bible.

THE TONGUE-IN-BUTTOCK-CLEFT AWARD FOR EXTREME SYCOPHANCY

The British football press pack, for collectively burrowing their way up Lord Ferg's colon upon his retirement, despite the big bully's barely disguised contempt for them over 20 years. They were at it again upon the publication of his latest memoirs, a tome in which the former Manchester United manager made it clear in no uncertain terms how little he thinks of a media he found ridiculously easy to manipulate.

THE SPANISH INQUISITION AWARD FOR BEST INTERVIEW

Channel 4 newsreader and journalist Jon Snow, who showed the football writers how it's done by reducing Lord Ferg to a squirming, jibbering, quietly seething wreck with his intelligent line of questioning on the day of Ma Bookie Wook's release.

THE MICHAEL CARBERRY AWARD FOR KEEPING A STRAIGHT BAT WHILE ALL AROUND HAVE TOTALLY LOST THEIR NOGGINS

Perhaps mindful that he wouldn't presume to embark on a tour of newspaper offices with a view to teaching journalists how to copy and paste things off Twitter, Big Sam Allardyce is clearly not particularly open to the media lecturing him about tactics. Quizzed over his team before West Ham's game against Manchester City, his one-line response was a correspondence-ending work of malevolent beauty: "Well, it hasn't got a false nine, that's for sure." It was delivered with a thin-lipped smile followed by a gorgeous hanging silence, and you didn't have to squint too hard to read between the lines: mention a 4-2-1-3-0 formation to him once, just once, and 4-2-1-3-0 will be the number of times he will toe-punt you squarely on the trouser zip. That's a lot of punts on the zip! Hats off to the man for drawing a line in the sand.

THE 'GREAT BRITAIN' AWARD FOR OXYMORONIC PREPOSTEROUSNESS

Football hipsters. It's time to stop now, you've had your fun, but you're killing football. Nobody's asking for a return to the days of A-jacks and Joo-ventus, of smashed-up train carriages, or of Saint and Greavsie's funny old game. But we've got to the stage where match reports read like the program code for Jet Set Willy, discussions in pubs are increasingly sounding like an audiobook of the program code for Jet Set Willy, and more television time is set aside for Eintracht Braunschweig than Nottingham Forest. It's all very clever, but then so was Tales from Topographic Oceans and Never Mind the Bollocks is 10 times the LP. The Fiver's simple folk, and we'd love a bit of old-school three-chord thrash, some witless long-ball fun (remember fun?) with maybe a brawl thrown in, preferably involving 21 Arsenal and Nasty Leeds players. Where are the Charles Reeps and George Grahams when you need them?

THE JOHN INVERDALE AWARD FOR SERVICES TO BRAIN-IN-NEUTRAL BROADCASTING

Joe Kinnear. The Newcastle director of football gave an idiosyncratic interview to TalkSport in which he claimed responsibility for signing Tim Krul (a Graeme Souness signing) and James Perch (Chris Hughton); got Derek Llambias's name and job title wrong (calling him Llambeeze and failing to realise he's in charge of cleaning the bogs); and mispronounced the monickers of Shola Ameobi, Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa. It was the start of a difficult summer for Kinnear which ended with the poor bugger getting more pelters, this time for not lining up any signings other than the season-long loan for QPR's Loïc Rémy. But who's laughing now, huh? Rémy has scored eight goals in 14 appearances for the Toon, who are looking good at the moment, unlike say Spurs, who disrupted their entire team with 987 needless new signings. Wise old Joe! Also, as regular Sunday morning listeners will attest, there hasn't been anything quite as entertaining or erudite on TalkSport since.

THE NASTY LEEDS, NOTTINGHAM FOREST, BLACKEYE ROVERS, DERBY COUNTY AND LIVERPOOL AWARD FOR TAKING LEAVE OF ONE'S PERCH

Manchester United. It's over. (OK, they're going to put together a 19-game winning run in the new year and retain their title; of a prediction the Fiver has never been more certain. But let us take this opportunity while it presents itself, huh?)

BUMPER ONE-OFF FESTIVE TV & RADIO SPECIAL: ALL THE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR PERIOD

Right, aye. You are joking, aren't you?

MAIL! MAIL! MAIL!

Send your emails, presents and Christmas cards to the.boss@theguardian.com.

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR, WE'LL BE BACK ON MONDAY 6 JANUARY

Barry Glendenning
Scott Murray

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Robbie Rogers to be at Leeds v Barnsley to boost Beyond 'it' campaign

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 03:39 AM PST

• Former Leeds player came out as gay in February
• USA international restarting career at LA Galaxy
• Read the full interview with Robbie Rogers

Leeds United welcome Robbie Rogers back to Elland Road as a guest on Saturday to attend the Yorkshire derby against Barnsley as the club promote their former player's Beyond "it" anti-discriminatory initiative.

Rogers, a United States international, played five games for Leeds after signing from Columbus Crew in January 2012. Injuries nullified his impact and he left the club a year later by mutual consent and retired from the game, subsequently becoming only the second gay footballer in Britain to come out in public. Yet he returned to the game in May and signed for Los Angeles Galaxy, David Beckham's former club, with whom he will start the new Major League Soccer season in the new year.

The 26-year-old is now a leading light in Beyond "it", which seeks to raise money and awareness for nonprofit organisations that fight labels and stereotypes in society. Leeds became the first club in the country to take part in Stonewall's diversity champions programme to promote greater equality in the sport earlier this month, with the Championship side now the Beyond "it" flagship European supporter. The initiative's message will be promoted heavily within the ground and on match day merchandise on Saturday, and around the local community through the work of the Leeds United Foundation.

"The club is very much a family and we're supporting Robbie, one of our ex players," said the Leeds managing director, David Haigh. "We were the first football club to be a Stonewall diversity champion, and we're proud to be the first football team in Europe to be involved with Beyond "it". The message will be very visible within the ground, with a text-alert line for people to contact if they hear incidents of discrimination in or around Elland Road, but it's not just about policing. This is about education, too. The Leeds United Foundation goes out to schools, businesses and universities across the county and beyond, educating people not just about football and sport, but equality and tolerance."

Beyond "it" is also seeking to distribute a magnetic green bar, designed to be worn on shirts or lapels, that Rogers hopes spectators, athletes and commentators will wear at the winter Olympics in Russia, who have come under fierce criticism for passing national laws banning "gay propaganda". Barack Obama sent Moscow a clear message about its treatment of gays and lesbians this week by appointing Billie Jean King, a 39-times grand slam title winner, and the ice hockey player Caitlin Cahow to their delegation to attend the opening and closing ceremonies in Sochi. Both are openly gay.

Rogers welcomed the appointments and hopes competitors will wear the Beyond "it" green bands after talk earlier this year of a potential boycott of the games. "A lot of people wanted to boycott but all these athletes have been preparing, putting their heart and soul into everything," the footballer said. "In my experience, the best way to touch people's lives was to go back to the sport and be a positive role model. To be yourself. These athletes need to be protected by the International Olympic Committee, but by making a statement and being who they are, winning medals, being present in the village … that would send a stronger message than boycotting, in my opinion."

Dominic Fifield

theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

The world's top 100 footballers: which players should be on our list for 2013?

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 03:28 AM PST

Lionel Messi, Ronaldo, Xavi, Iniesta and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were the top five for 2012, but which players should feature this year?

Never mind the Ballon d'Or, here comes the Guardian's list of the world's top 100 footballers. We enjoyed the task of rounding up our football writers for a down-the-pub-style debate in the inaugural edition last December, so we've done it again for 2013.

Our writers – along with World Cup winner Alessandro Nesta, former England women's head coach Hope Powell and four-time World Cup participant Kasey Keller – have compiled the top 100. We will announce the full list over the coming days, with the countdown beginning on Friday and continuing until Christmas Eve, but who do you think deserves to make the cut?

Ranking footballers might be as preposterous as trying to herd cats – who is to say if a decent goalkeeper (David de Gea) is better than a fading midfielder (Steven Gerrard) or a re-emerging striker (Francesco Totti) – but it's Christmas and it's fun, so give us your predictions in the comments section below. If anyone can name our top 20 for 2013, we will be mightily impressed. If they can do it in the right order, we might start wondering if we've been hacked.

Players from La Liga took the top four spots last year, with Lionel Messi, Ronaldo, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta leading the way ahead of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Radamel Falcao, Robin van Persie, Andrea Pirlo, Yaya Touré and Edinson Cavani, who took the top 10 beyond the Barcelona-Real Madrid duopoly.

There were 12 Barcelona players in the top 100 last year, but after their ignominious 7-0 aggregate defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final, how many are worth their places now? Borussia Dortmund were only represented by four players (Marco Reus, Mario Götze, Mats Hummels and Robert Lewandowski), while Real Madrid had 10 players on the list. How should the list reflect the shift in power from La Liga to the Bundesliga in this year's Champions League?

The Premier League accounted for 27 players in 2012, but Santi Cazorla was the only Arsenal man to make the cut. The Manchester clubs led the way, but do Marouane Fellaini, Shinji Kagawa, Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic deserve to keep their places in light of Manchester United's struggles this season?

Should Aaron Ramsey join his countryman Gareth Bale in the top 100; do Spain deserve to keep the 16 spots they had last year after their capitulation to Brazil in the Confederations Cup final; and are the four English players who made the 2012 list – Wayne Rooney, Joe Hart, John Terry and Ashley Cole – still worth their places? Who would you put in the top 100?

Who are the world's top 100 footballers in 2013?

Paul Campbell

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Tottenham's Tim Sherwood 'absolutely sick' with Capital One Cup exit to West Ham – video

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 02:46 AM PST

Tottenham caretaker manager Tim Sherwood says the team are hugely disappointed after their 2-1 loss to West Ham

Written by TBMU Admin

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