Sven backs Pearce

Stuart Pearce could well be our next England manager. At least, that's the view of Sven Goran Eriksson who believes the national under-21 coach would be a worthy successor to Fabio Capello.

He would certainly be the fans'choice, representing what everyone would like to see in a manager. Guts, determination, leading from the front and a straight, no nonsense attitude. How many times did we see Pearce on the England pitch, bursting with anger at a poor performance but still managing to contain his emotions?
Pearce has done a marvellous job by guiding the under-21s to England's first major final in 25 years.

Ironically, it was penalties which got them through against Sweden, a curse which has usually seen England dumped out of the big tournaments. Eriksson firmly believes Stuart Pearce can make the step up from national under-21 coach to first team manager. "If he has proven it at under-21 why shouldn't he be able to do it with the senior team?" he told BBC Sport.

"Yes it's a big step, but I think he can do it in the future. Why not?" Pearce, now 47, already works with senior coach Capello on England duty. Reaching the finals of the European tournament is a brilliant achievement and one which will look pretty good on Pearce's footballing CV.

Hull to make Owen a hero?

Michael Owen is to leave Newcastle United at the end of June, an announcement which comes as no surprise whatsoever. The Toon Army might have wanted him to stay, to show his loyalty and to help the club fight for its place back in the Premiership. But Owen has made no bones about the fact that he believes he still belongs in the top tier, despite his injury toll and obvious dip in form.

Owen, who is now 29, will be available for a free transfer from Newcastle and the clubs will be in a queue to snap him up, no matter what his recent performance on the pitch. Given the chance, Owen can be a great player again. He just needs to find his confidence and start scoring goals to open the floodgates. Where best to kick-start his revival? According to Hull, they are the club Owen should opt for.

Manager Phil Brown has shrugged off the laughs by confirming their interest in the England striker is absolutely serious. He believes they do have a chance in achieving the coup of the century and so does club chairman Paul Duffen. Brown says Owen joining Hull is not out of the question and they would not have made an approach had they not thought it possible. He believes Owen will not be tempted by the best offer or money and that he needs to find a club where he can play consistent football, not sit on the bench waiting for the chance to prove his worth.

Likewise, Duffen says Hull would be a great place for Owen to be. They are already trying to sign striker Marc-Antoine Fortune, though Celtic are also in the running. On the face of it, Hull and Michael Owen does not seem a perfect match. Hull only narrowly missed relegation by a point last season and are already being tipped to go down this time. Yet Newcastle will be fired up in the First Division with a steely determination to get back into the top flight. Which club could give Owen the best platform?

Some fans believe a big club like Manchester United should go for Owen though that is unlikely to happen. Owen needs a club which has faith in him, a crowd to cheer not jeer him on, a regular slot in the team and plenty of goal-scoring opportunities. But he also needs good opposition from the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United to give him that extra incentive.

It’s a shame Owen isn’t staying with Newcastle but things were obviously not right behind the scenes. At least he has had the decency to come out and praise Alan Shearer, describing him as the right man for the manager’s job and “Newcastle through and Newcastle”. Perhaps Liverpool might throw their name into the hat or Manchester City or even a club from abroad?

If Owen really sits down and thinks about it, joining Hull would not be a bad option at all if he can overcome the lack of glamour associated with the club. He could become a hero there in his own right and get them back up the table, whilst boosting his own self-esteem.

Owen should perhaps listen to his own words. He says Alan Shearer is going to be a great manager. He might be learning the ropes at the moment but he has to start somewhere. Owen can be a great player again but location, location, location is going to be everything in his next vital decision.

City say goodbye to one of their brightest youngsters

It appears that the financial situation at Manchester City has forced the club to over look a number of younger players, this has resulted in Daniel Sturridge being snapped up by Chelsea. Sturridge, 19, made a few first team appearances at City and has been tipped by many pundits as becoming a future England centre forward.

It appears to be a healthy and productive bit of business on the part of Chelsea who are looking to develop experience and youth under the management of Carlo Ancelotti. Sturridge refused a new Manchester City contract but because he is under the age of 24 years old, Chelsea will have to pay a fee as the player cannot move under the Bosman ruling.

It should be quite worrying for a lot of Manchester City fans because the owners said they would continue to allow young and developing players a chance to play in the first team. This is the first direct example that contradicts this and suggests that City will buy their way into the future, which can be a lot less stable than investing in the youth of the side to help the club grow.

Chelsea fans may be a bit puzzled as to why they have signed this particular player but it is a good move for a number of reasons. Firstly, Sturridge is not a bad player and has already proven that he can cut it at the top level. He will create competition for places with his enthusiasm and energy and it will only be a matter of time until his skills develop to a much more advanced level.

Secondly, it has to be considered that for a club with the size and stature of Chelsea, their youth teams have not been the best in the country over the last couple of years. They have all of the ingredients necessary to produce products from a great academy but for some reason it just does not seem to be happening. The arrival of Sturridge is a statement of intent that Chelsea want to bring in greater quality players into their youth sides and they want everyone to see that they are investing into the future of football.

Manchester City boss, Mark Hughes, may not have actually wanted to sell the player is he is clearly a very talented young man. However, with the pressures that the owners at City are likely to place on him over the next one or two seasons, he cannot afford to be carrying players in the squad and has to look to free up this space to bring in higher quality. This will increase the depth of the City squad and means that when a senior player picks up a bad injury, there is already a high-class replacement waiting to step in.

It is harsh on a player as young and inexperienced as Sturridge but he couldn’t have picked a better club to be going to. He now has the chance to get into one of the most admired first teams in the country and settle into a city that should suit him down to the ground.

American broadcaster snaps up the rights to Premier League games.

Disney owned ESPN will show all of the matches that Setanta would have broadcast when the new season gets under way. The American broadcaster has snapped up the rights to show 46 live games next season that will be played on Saturday tea time and Monday evenings.

ESPN have also got the rights to show at least 23 games a season between 2010 and 1013. It is a very shrewd and astute move from the company that have no prior experience in hosting live English football to an audience that will have specific expectations. The broadcaster say the matches will be sold to the audience through Bskyb and it could mean a very different viewing experience to what we are used to.

It had been thought that Sky might make a last minute move to add a maximum of 23 more games to their live schedule for the season, which kicks off in mid-August. However, it appears that they made no attempt to block the bid from ESPN, which has brought live English Football to an American broadcaster for the first time in history.

Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore, said: “The timescale of our process was tight to say the least, and it is to the great credit of ESPN that they committed themselves to adding Barclays Premier League football to their already impressive portfolio of sports rights.”

“The speed at which we have been able to conclude this deal means that the preparations for next season will be able to continue without interruption and fans and clubs will have certainty over the broadcasting of Barclays Premier League matches for the next four seasons.”

The other reported bidders were Bskyb themselves and the English domestic Channel 4. If Channel 4 had managed to snap up the rights then it would have been a huge step forward for the mainstream audience for the first time in a long time. Ever since the days when ITV held all the rights to show Premier League highlights on a Saturday evening, the majority of the audience in England has been deprived of football unless they hold a subscription to Sky television.

Fair enough Match of the Day still does a terrific job for the BBC, but the point is that ITV were willing to show the matches at around 7-8pm in the evening, which made it a lot more viewable for a lot of people.

However, there should be a small sort of childish excitement at the fact that some Americans will have a say in how we watch our Saturday football. It can be expected that things may be glammed up quite a bit, which many people wouldn’t mind. We are so used to a specific routine from various broadcasters that it could actually go down quite well if the agenda is bent slightly.

Apart from Sky, the other bidders should not be downbeat about this whole affair. The domestic channels especially should continue to work hard and it would be fantastic if at some point in the near future they could acquire the rights to show matches live.

Carlos Tevez. Where next?

Where next for Carlos Tevez? Manchester City? Chelsea? Certainly not Liverpool it would appear. Whether or not Sir Alex Ferguson has laid down the law and told Tevez he can’t go to their arch rivals is pretty immaterial. Striker Tevez was on loan to Manchester United and out of contract and it seems highly unlikely that the manager could have enforced such a condition.

But Tevez himself seems to have ruled out going to Anfield as he says he has too much respect and love for the Manchester United fans. Let’s just see if money will talk on this issue. Hot favourites have to be Chelsea, though Manchester City will be snapping at their heels. Tevez says he wants to go to a club with plenty of ambition which wants to go places. He’s interested in commitment and intent and in achieving “great things”. Both Chelsea and Manchester City fall into this equation but so do Liverpool who will be aiming to knock Manchester United off their perch. Not of interest to Tevez?

Hopefully, the Argentinean striker will receive better treatment at his next club. Granted, Tevez did not score that many goals for Manchester United but it would be hard to fault his work-rate and commitment which contributed to the club taking the Premiership title. He was popular with most of the fans and the players and, in the end, though Manchester United did drag their feet over offering him a new deal, they did want him to stay. The one big thing he did wrong was to go to the papers, a move always guaranteed to get Sir Alex Ferguson’s back up. He detests being held to ransom and, from that moment on, the writing was on the wall.

Sir Alex must have been fighting with himself behind the scenes. On the one hand, he obviously wanted to get rid of Tevez and teach him a lesson. On the other, he realised he was a pretty decent player and could have filled a vital gap following the departure of Ronaldo to Real Madrid. So, following a protracted silence, Tevez was eventually offered a lucrative 25.5 million pound deal which would have kept him at Old Trafford for five more years. His agent obviously thought it was a pretty decent offer but Tevez delivered the ultimate snub, saying no thanks and I am off.

In a statement on his behalf, Tevez said he just got the feeling that Manchester United weren’t that keen on him staying. He wanted more time to consider the deal and if United had given it to him, it was more than likely that he would have stayed. But they didn’t and that was that. Tevez out of the door. Of course, there is always a very small chance that Tevez will change his mind and stay at Manchester United which would be a real turn up for the books. But, as that old saying goes, anything can happen in football.

Another Premier League side is snapped up.

Another Premier League team has been snapped up, this time by a member of the United Arab Emirates royal family. It adds to the growing global view that the Premier League is a candy shop where anyone with a few hundred million in the bank can come along and snap up a side causing growing anger and frustration at the influx of foreign owners.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saqar al-Qassimi has bought up a 60 per cent stake in one of the current Premier League sides but news is not being released of which it is until a few days have passed. It means that another club can now join the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Portsmouth in having an owner that does not come from this country.

It contrasts quite interestingly the way that massive football clubs are run in Spain, where no single person can nail down and own a club. This has been linked to the financial power that Real MadridReal Madrid and Barcelona are currently whipping up, financial power that vastly outweighs any financial investment that we have seen so far from an owner in the Premier League.

However, the point is that whoever the UAE member has snapped up can look forward to a future of no debts, big name players and maybe even a lot of success. Although it is quite worrying to see another club that will be controlled entirely by one person, who can make demands and arrangements as they see fit. The power in football is moving away from the area that it should be in and although the fans of this club in question can be positive, they should be equally cautious.

If this is a big club then it will be a lot easier for the current structure to move forward quickly. The high calibre playing staff should already be in place for next season and the business model of the club should be solid. This means that the new owner will have a lot less work to do and it will allow the team to maybe snap up a couple of players at the last minute who would otherwise have not been accessible.

If it is not a big club then it is likely that the owner will have a lot more work to do. The football club of today is seen as a business and all hard working business men like to see profits from their investments. This could mean a complete overhaul of the business model of the club in question. This could dent the immediate prospect of success on the pitch until the club is turned into a financial machine that churns out results in this aspect, something that would have nothing to do with the football.

This view is substantially more worrying for the fan of this mystery club. They will only care about the football so long as the finances are stable. They see their club as a sports club and not a business and the owner has to keep this in mind when he is making decisions that could potentially annoy a lot of people. Just look at what Mike Ashley did to Newcastle United.

City set to poach Tevez from under the noses of their city rivals.

Manchester City are the reported favourites to poach Carlos Tevez from beneath the very nose of their city counterparts as the players loan deal at Manchester United is approaching a rapid halt. Tevez has made no secret of his desire to stay at United but it is thought that the current Premier League champions are not willing to pay the £25 million that will make his services permanent.

Having already paid up to £10 million to have him on loan for two seasons you can understand why but the point is that if Tevez goes to City it will anger hundreds of thousands of United fans that once adored and respected the Argentine. Fair enough he may have had a few disagreements with the manager and the club but that is not reason enough to throw back in the face, the support of many United fans that helped him through a rough patch.

If Tevez has any sense or wants to remain any good contacts at United then he will not even think about this deal and will look for a move elsewhere. Many United fans would probably rather see him join Liverpool that Manchester City and this is saying a tremendous amount.

It would be a brilliant signing for City because it would add to the growing talent they are currently assembling. Mark Hughes is trying to put together a squad that clearly retains all of the major personal values in football. These are hard work, honesty and respect and all of the players he has brought in so far do not appear to have egos and would fit into this thesis perfectly.

However, the summer transfer market has so far thrown up many surprises that mean seemingly certain deals can be changed at the last minute. United, if they wanted to, could still sign up Tevez as hard as this may seem because they are due a lot of money from Spanish giants Real Madrid. Madrid themselves were also heavily linked with Tevez and it could be the case that they steal in with some last minute negotiations to take him to the Real revolution.

The main problem as far as United are concerned is the fact that they do not have any control over the Argentine. As his current deal at United is only on a loan basis, they can have no influence over the club that he chooses to join after the next few days, when the loan expires. Sir Alex Ferguson would obviously like him to go to a foreign club but he cannot change the mindset of the player if he wants to remain in England.

It would be nice for the matter to just be settled as it has been dragging on for an extended period of time now. Tevez will want to settle down and work on his future career and City will want to work out who they can go for if they can’t make good of the rumours linking him to Eastlands.