Following newspaper reports that the Chelsea and England defender Ashley Cole accidentally shot an intern with an air rifle at the Premier League champions' Cobham training base, a delve into the archive shows that the left-back would not be the first player to be caught up in controversy over firearms. Javier Flórez The Colombian went too far after his Atlético Junior team lost to Once Caldas in a 2009 local tournament final. Driving away after the match, the midfielder shot into a group of supporters who chanted "weak, weak, weak" at him. One man was killed. Following his release from prison on £45,000 bail, Flórez said that he had been "drunk and angry" when the shooting happened, before adding: "He really upset me, but I repent in my heart. I just hope people know what I have suffered." Flórez was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to three years' probation. He returned to the team in January 2010. Darren Bent The England striker received a caution … [Read more...] about Footballers and guns
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Where is your club’s next manager? Coaching the youth team
Three Premier League teams will be led by temporary managers this weekend – and all three learned the ropes by coaching younger players at those clubs. Duncan Ferguson first coached as a volunteer in Everton’s academy under David Moyes; Hayden Mullins was working as the Watford Under-23s coach when Quique Sánchez Flores was sacked this week; and Freddie Ljungberg started his coaching career with Arsenal Under-15s back in 2006, before returning to the club to lead the Under-23s. These promotions for Ferguson, Ljungberg and Mullins mean that 15 Premier League clubs will be led this weekend by managers who started their careers with youth teams, reserves or part-time sides. Brendan Rodgers (Watford and Chelsea), Dean Smith (Leyton Orient), Eddie Howe (Bournemouth), Sean Dyche (Watford), Ralph Hasenhüttl (Unterhaching) and José Mourinho (Vitória de Setúbal) all started their careers coaching youth teams. Chris Wilder and Daniel Farke were given their … [Read more...] about Where is your club’s next manager? Coaching the youth team
Man United’s £505,000-a-week star Alexis Sanchez drives car worth more than the motors of entire Yeovil team
THE CAR driven by Manchester United’s new £505,000-a-week star Alexis Sanchez is worth more than ALL the players’ cars of their FA Cup rival minnows Yeovil. The £30 million-a-year Red Devils signing from Arsenal has a £150,000, 200mph black Bentley Continental GT. But The Glovers will still hope to accelerate past their Premiership rivals on Friday night in the FA Cup 4th round match. While Chilean-born Sanchez clearly revels in his luxury motor, a couple of Yeovil players get to games in Peugeots worth around £6,000, and another has an eight-year-old manual petrol Alfa Romeo that would sell for round £2,000. The Alfa belongs to Yeovil’s sole international star Nathan Smith, 31, who played in midfield for Jamaica. The Sun tallied up the cost of 11 cars at the club ahead of training last week and together they came in at around £100,000 - £50,000 less than Sanchez paid for his Bentley alone.The top priced vehicle was a grey Audi with … [Read more...] about Man United’s £505,000-a-week star Alexis Sanchez drives car worth more than the motors of entire Yeovil team
Mum’s gone football crazy
It’s mid June, we’re into the second week of the World Cup, and I am listening to wall-to-wall Radio 5 Live. The subject of discussion is whether Roy Hodgson should play Wayne Rooney on the left or not. It is the only subject in the whole world in which I have any interest and, luckily for me, Radio 5 Live seems to know it. They discuss this issue every which way it can possibly be discussed. We hear from pundits and ex-players and current players and celebrities. We hear from Manchester United fans, England fans, Brazilians and the man on the street in Hebden Bridge. This is all fine with me. If Stamford the Lion has an opinion, I want to hear it. The only thing is that Arthur, my eight-year-old son, is trying to get me to make him supper. “Shush,” I say. “Don’t you know I’m doing this for you?” It’s true. I took up football for his sake – or that’s how it started. Until recently, you see, I didn’t even know where … [Read more...] about Mum’s gone football crazy
I want to unite this great nation… it’s time the football World Cup came home
WE are a great country. We’ve given the world so much. From the jet engine which took us around the globe to the TV and the internet that beamed it into our homes. But no invention has captured the imagination like the one that has 22 people chasing after a round ball trying to thrash it into a nylon net. The emotions football generates to so many are like nothing else — and no event generates them more than the World Cup. In the past half-century, it’s yielded many magic moments. Marco Tardelli wheeling away like his eyes were going to explode out of his head after scoring Italy’s second in the 3-1 win over the then West Germany in the 1982 final. Gazza wiping away his tears with his England shirt in 1990. South Korean jubilation at knocking out the mighty Germans last year.Yet none happened here where the sport began. In fact, not since 1966 — when Bobby Moore held aloft the Jules Rimet trophy — has our great nation hosted the World Cup. It’s … [Read more...] about I want to unite this great nation… it’s time the football World Cup came home