It’s now official, Thierry Henry will not be staying with Arsenal longer than Feb 15th. In fact the New York Red Bulls striker is expected back in the United States just two days later

There was hope that the veteran Arsenal player would stay with Arsenal until at least the end of the month but according to New York Red Bulls boss, Hans Backe, Henry is bent on returning to to the MLS side on 17th.

“When I spoke to him, he told me that he was 100 per cent coming back on February 17,” Backe said.

Henry manager reiterated Backe’s sentiments saying that the 34 year old would be back in time for the start of the MLS season.

“What I know, it’s only rumours. I haven’t heard anything from them [Arsenal] about extending the loan.”

Meanwhile, in other Arsenal news, Dutch striker Robin Van Persie received the Barclay’s Golden Boot Prize for scoring 20 goals in the premier league so far this season.

Having scored an impressive 22 goals in 24 premier league appearances, Van Persie is keen on breaking the current Golden Boot Record jointly held by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole at an impressive 34 goals.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes it is possible, but has stated that his side need ‘exceptional consistency’ to make sure that Van Persie not only breaks the record, but also break into a top four spotand earn a chance to play in the Champions League.

“We had a good week last week. We had a good result against Aston Villa and a good performance against Bolton, we know that with the position we are in we need an exceptional consistency, so that is the challenge we have in front of us at Sunderland [on Saturday].”

Arsenal will then travel to Italy to face Milan in a knockout first leg Champions League fixture. The next few days will be instrumental to Arsenal’s title hopes if they do indeed desire to win any this season.

Photo Credit © ThierryHenry14

Wesley Sneijder has been linked with Manchester United in the past few days, and not for the first time. The Dutchman has continuously been linked with Manchester United for the best part of two seasons but each time the move was apparently close to completion something cropped up an prevented it from being finalized.

That the transfer rumour has started circulating outside of the transfer window this time suggests there might be more substance to it than usual. Nobody is expecting the transfer to be completed within the next few weeks and there are no time restraints or deadlines either forcing the transfer to be rushed or preventing it from being sealed. Put otherwise, time is in favour of the deal happening. Manchester United and Internazionale Milan, Wesley Sneijder’s current club, have several months to piece together the technicalities and finances involved in the deal, whilst the player and his prospective new employers each have several months to smoothe out any contract issues and come to a fair agreement that suits both parties.

It is known that Internazionale Milan are keen on offloading some of their bigger players, to reduce their wage bill, like Thiago Motta, recently sold to PSG in France, and Samuel Etoo, sold last season to an upstart club in Russia. Maicon and Julio Cesar, the Brazilian right back and goalkeeper, respectively, have also been linked with big money moves away from the San Siro in recent times but it is widely accepted that it is Wesley Sneijder who would command the biggest transfer fee and help the Italian club alleviate some of their financial issues.

Internazionale Milan’s owner, Massimo Moratti, is keen to reduce the wage bill at the club in order to comply with the soon to be enforced UEFA financial fair play regulations which stipulate that any club competing in major European competition needs to balance its books. It is not immediately necessary for a club to remove it’s debts or undertake any new ones but it is required of the clubs to not go overboard on their debts by a certain percentage. Basically, clubs will have to reduce their outgoings and stop recording year on year losses. Internazionale Milan can only hope to do this by dramatically improving turnover, a scenario that seems unlikely in the current economic climate (even worse in Italy), or by reducing outgoings. Internazionale Milan are choosing the second alternative, reducing spending, and selling Wesley Sneijder to Manchester United will most definitely help them reach their financial targets.

Spanish club Real Madrid has for the seventh consecutive year topped the football rich list this is according to auditing and financial advisory firm Deloite &Touche. Madrid posted a turnover of £433m for the 2010/2011 season to finish first ahead of arch rivals and fellow Spanish side Barcelona who came in second with revenues of £407m.

Many people already know that Real are the richest club in the world, so what would have probably been better would be to know where and how they get their money. That said, below is a list of the top 10 richest clubs in the world.

1. Real Madrid £433m
2. Barcelona £407m
3. Manchester United £331.4m
4. Bayern Munich £290.3m
5. Arsenal £228.8m
6. Chelsea £225.6m
7. Milan £212.3m
8. Inter £190.9m
9. Liverpool £ 183.6m
10. Schalke £182.8m

What is interesting about this list is that the combined revenues for the top 20 clubs defied the gloomy economic forecast to grow by 3% achieving a double rate of growth as compared to the economies of the countries represented in the league which only grew by 1.7% in 2010 and 1.3% in 2011.

In addition to that, all 20 clubs on the list generated combined revenue of £3.7 billion during the 2010-2011 season with nine of the clubs recording double digit growth. However, clubs like United and Chelsea, are heavily in debt and so it is believed that most of the money they get goes back into clearing their £400m and £1 billion debt respectfully. The list was also represented by all 5 big leagues with England heavily dominating in the top 10  having 4 clubs.

Photo Credit © newbeetledriver

The finalists for the 28th edition of the AFCON are now known after thrilling semi-final fixtures last night. The Ivory Coast will now face Zambia who made it to the final after causing one of the biggest upsets of the entire tournament by knocking out Ghana. The Black Stars  however have no one to blame but themselves for their exist after failing to make a host of chances they had count including a missed penalty by Asamoah Gyan.

I have to admit, Zambia have impressed me this tournament and despite being an Ivory Coast fan, i will be rooting for the southern African nation to win their maiden title when the two sides face each other on Sunday. In fact, Sunday’s final in Gabon will mark a return of the Chipolopolo to a country where their entire national team perished tragically in a plane crash back in 1993.

The Zambians will definitely be the underdogs, however, having slain both Senegal and Ghana, Ivory Coast can only underestimate them at their own risk. It was heart break for both fans and players as their dream of lifting a fifth title was crashed.

Here is what Ghana assistant coach Kwesi Appiah had to say:

“We dominated possession throughout the game. It was unfortunate they scored from the two chances that came their way. Personally, I don’t think something went wrong with the team. We were unlucky.”

“Zambia is a big football nation. They have played well and we expected a tough game. We came here to get a win. I don’t think we deserved to lose.”

Threats are already emerging for head coach Goran Stevanovic with a member of the Black Stars Management Committee saying that the Serbian should not return to Ghana as he should consider himself relieved of  his position.

Yaw Boateng-Gyan a member of the National Executive National Democratic Congress revealed in an interview with PeaceFm said that the Serb should considered himself fired. Here is what he had to say:

“I’m clearly disappointed…We had already booked our flight to go and witness the finals…His substitutions on the day (against Zambia) were totally bad, it did not help the team at all…If you substitute your dangerous players (Asamoah Gyan, Dede, etc) then obviously you become tame…We kept on warning him that if he fails to bring the (African) cup home to Ghana, he will be fired so for me he should consider himself sacked…He’s too stubborn…but in all honesty, if our selection had been perfectly done this could have been avoided,”

After watching Zambia play, i have no doubt that a Zambia-Ivory Coast final would be the perfect climax to an indifferent tournament. The question  however, is, how will their fairy tale run end?

I wrote yesterday that Fabio Capello And FA were set for a fireworks meeting today with neither site apparently ready to concede ground over John Terry.

Well after meeting today, it became apparent that the two sides could no longer work together and the FA has announced that Fabio Capello has stepped down as England manager.

An FA statement read:

“The Football Association can confirm that Fabio Capello has today resigned as England manager. The discussions focused on the FA Board’s decision to remove the England team captaincy from John Terry, and Fabio Capello’s response through an Italian broadcast interview.

In a meeting for over an hour, Fabio’s resignation was accepted and he will leave the post of England manager with immediate effect.”

FA chairman David Bernstein said: “I would like to stress that during [the] meeting and throughout his time as England manager, Fabio has conducted himself in an extremely professional manner. We have accepted Fabio’s resignation, agreeing this is the right decision. We would like to thank Fabio for his work with the England team and wish him every success in the future.”

A media conference with Bernstein and the Club England management team will take place at Wembley Stadium on Thursday at 1200 GMT.

In comments attributed to Italpress, Capello said the FA’s actions had made it easy for him to step down.

“They really insulted me and damaged my authority,” Capello was quoted as saying. “What really hit me and forced me to take this decision was the much-vaunted Anglo-Saxon sense of justice, as they are the first to claim that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. In Terry’s case, they gravely offended me and damaged my authority at the head of the England side, effectively creating a problem for the squad. I have never tolerated certain crossing of lines, so it was easy for me to spot it and take my decision to leave.”

Not surprised at the decision. Capello was a lame duck manager and he knew what he was doing when he gave the interview to Italian TV on Saturday. There was only going to be one ending to this story and that Fabio Capello resigning as England manager.

The odds on favorite to replace Capello is Harry Redknapp, whose path to the England job was cleared after he was cleared of tax evasion today.

Arsenal smashed Blackburn Rovers on the weekend. Scoring several goals, dominating the match and appearing genuinely impressive for the first time in a long time Arsenal looked like Arsenal used to look like. In the eyes of Arsenal fans Arsenal played like Arsenal should always be playing. In the eyes of neutrals Arsenal got their old swagger back. According to Theo Walcott the players did it for their manager. According to pundits, however, the victory was a hollow one that masked serious systemic problems at the club.

Arsenal have a good goalkeeper, a world class centre forward and a couple of promising midfielders. Besides that they have plenty of unrealised or inconsistent potential. The likes of Bacary Sagna and Andrey Arshavin might well be world class performers on their day but if that day happens so infrequently, because of injury or lack of form (the cause is irrelevant if it continues for so long), then replacements need to be found. Arsenal fans love to lament their luck with injuries. If, however, the problem keeps recurring and never ceases then the wrong questions are being asked. It isn’t a case of being unlucky with injuries, it is a case of having a squad full of injury prone players. Good management tries to avoid such situations and accounts for the likelihood of injuries. In any sport injuries are unavoidable and so any good squad management involves including players who can perform as worthy replacements. Arsenal ought to be experts in this field. The reality, however, is that the club has never been more lacking. Almost of all the first team players replacements are not good enough for the Arsenal fans. More frighteningly, many of the first team starters are not good enough for Arsenal fans. Put the two problems together and you can understand why Arsenal fans have been so vociferous in their complaints in recent times.

Football fans, however, can be fickle. Win a match by several goals, display some swagger, and throw in some nostalgia for effect (Thierry Henry’s goal) and you have the recipe for enchantment. The fans love the club again and all is well. Analysts, on the other hand, have to keep a more open mind. One result does not make a season and Arsenal’s current standing in the table, outside the Champions League spots, appears about right. Arsenal are unlikely to turn things around and get into the top 4 positions in the league table. Theo Walcott says the players owed that victory against Blackburn to Arsene Wenger but Arsene Wenger owes Arsenal fans something too. What he has been offering has not been good enough and one result will not disguise the table at the end of the season. Anything but a top 4 finish and the vitriol will return.

John Terry has been England captain three times. He has been stripped of the captaincy three times.  Rio Ferdinand has been England captain once. He does not want the England captaincy again. Steven Gerrard has been overlooked for the England captaincy several times. He is no longer a guaranteed starter in the side. Scott Parker was not an England fixture until a couple of seasons ago, often considered good but not quite good enough for the squad, let alone the team, and now he is an England captain contender. It’s all a bit of a joke.

Nobody knows who the next England captain will be. At least nobody who has the authority to make such a decision has gone public with an opinion, as of yet. It is up in the air. John Terry is no longer England captain. Stripped of the role because of his involvement in the racism scandal with Anton Ferdinand, John Terry has yet to have his hearing and must therefore be presumed innocent until proven guilty. With the England football team, however, jurisprudence is not the most important of matters. Especially not when it comes to racism and setting an example, or making a point, to FIFA. The English FA might well have dodged a bullet by removing John Terry from the position early, should he be found guilty of racist abuse. If the player is found innocent of the charge the English FA will end up with egg on their face, not for the first time. The football authorities had good intentions, surely, but they have gone about the matter in an entirely unconvincing and rash manner. Just when delicacy and diplomacy was required the English FA chose autocratic action.

Other candidates, besides Steven Gerrard of Liverpool and Scott Parker of Tottenham Hotspur, include Joe Hart of Manchester City and Gareth Barry of the same club. Joe Hart is set to be Englands number one goalkeeper for the next decade, so, why not make him the captain now and guarantee stability for a long time to come? The obvious response is that he is too young and inexperienced. The claim is somewhat true. After all the young goalkeeper has relatively little experience and only one trophy to show for his efforts, the FA Cup of 2011. Nevertheless, goalkeepers have become captains at a young age before and gone on to prosper. One need only look at current European and World Cup champions Spain and see Iker Casilas. Gareth Barry, if chosen, is likely to be a short term option.

Who will be the next England captain?

Harry Redknapp was found innocent of tax evasion on Wednesday afternoon in London. The court hearing did not merely determine whether Harry Redknapp was going to find himself imprisoned, or at the very least fined and reprimanded, for tax evasion but, perhaps just as importantly, whether Harry Redknapp was still on course for the top job in English football. The England national football team manager. With the Londoner found innocent it seems the path is still set and all Harry Redknapp need do is follow the course.

Fabio Capello, the current incumbent, has declared he will leave after the UEFA European Championships of 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. The Italian has proven to be a relatively disappointing appointment. He was appointed with the task of improving England’s recent record in top competitions, aka….quarter finals and out. He ended up doing no better than Sven Goran Eriksson, although the Italian did improve on the previous manager Steve McClaren, infamous for failing to even guide England to qualification to the 2008 version of the UEFA European Championships. Fabio Capello has come under constant scrutiny since his appointment, much of it related to his enormous salary. It has been suggested that his salary approaches US $10 million. Harry Redknapp, once of Bournemouth FC and West Ham United, has seen his career take a positive turn since his spell at Portsmouth FC where he won the FA Cup. Portsmouth FC did encounter serious financial issues, many of which occurred during Harry Redknapp’s tenure, although in no way is it suggested that they were his fault.  Harry Redknapp then left Portsmouth FC and joined Tottenham Hotspur, where he has proved an enormous success.

At Tottenham Hotspur Harry Redknapp has reinvigorated a once stagnant club. When he joined as manager the team were in a relegation battle. By the end of the season they were secure and about to challenge for a UEFA Champions League spot the following season. Harry Redknapp did eventually get Tottenham Hotspur into the UEFA Champions League, where they memorably defeated the holders Internazionale Milan 3-1 at White Hart Lane. Tottenham did eventually go out of the competition in the knock out stages against Real Madrid. After failing to get back into the competition last season Tottenham have now returned even stronger. They have been a constant in the top 3 of the English Premiership, the only other competitor to the two gigantic Manchester clubs. Harry Redknapp is the cause of the success and it is rightly so that Tottenham Hotspur fans adore him for it. He has managed the club prudently and effectively. Harry Redknapp is the obvious choice to replace Fabio Capello after the summer of 2012 and now that he has been found innocent of tax evasion it is all the more likely that it will happen.

AC Milan will be looking to put behind them their disastrous weekend outing when they host Juventus at the San Siro tonight in the Coppa Italia first leg semi-final. With Juventus also having settled for a similar barren draw with Siena in the weekend, the match will definitely be an explosive one.

The good news for Milan is that striker Ibrahimovic will be available for the match with his ban only affecting his Serie A appearances. The bad news is that Allegri will be without Antonio Cassano, Alexandre Pato, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Alberto Aquilani, Mathieu Flamini, Alexander Merkel and Gennaro Gattuso. So we could see players Lopes and Bonera starting for Milan.

Juventus on the other side have a near full strength although coach Alberto Conte is said to be considering starting his three most recent signings Marco Borriello, Simone Padoin and Martin Caceres.

Of course, the bookies are tipping Juventus to walk away with the victory, however, Milan can never really be put off. Here is how both team have faired in the last 5 matches.

Milan have won 3 of their matches, drawing once and losing one as well. Juventus on the other side have won 3 and drawn 2 so there is nothing really separating the two sides from each other.

That said, it will be interestiing to see the reaction Pirlo gets when he returns to the San Siro. Milan’s former iconic midfielder has carved a niche for himself in coach Alberto Conte’s side as their trusty play maker after having held the same role for Milan for 10 years.

It is always interesting to predict the outcome  of such matches and i will not hesitate to make mine. I will have to go for a 1-1 draw.Milan are not a full strength squad, however, they are playing at home and they do not want to embarrass their fans.

However, should the match end that way, Juve will have a greater advantage heading into into the final leg in their home stadium. So Milan have to win at all costs, something which won’t be easy. That was my pick, whats your’s?

Photo Credit © Sang Juventino

A week after deadly clashes at the end of an Egyptian league match between Ahl-Masry and Al-Ahli turned tragic when Al-Ahli fans were attacked and killed by Masry supporters, football’s world governing body FIFA has responded by donating over $250,000 to families of those affected by the violence.

Mr Blatter confirmed that the funds would be transferred to an account that had already been set up for Al Ahli fans who perished in the violence. This probably has to be among the worst tragedies in recent African football history after the death of 7 fans in Kenya during a league match.

“I’m still very shocked by what happened. Many of the victims were so young and they were also a crucial support for their families, who now need help.” Blatter said.

Speaking about African football, the semi finals of the AFCON begin tonight with crunch with equally interesting matches in both fixtures. Zambia and Ghana face each other in the late fixture while Ivory Coast and Mali lock horns in the early fixture.

Everyone is probably expecting an Ivory Coast-Ghana final, however, having watched Zambia’s sensational run, i believe that the Black Stars are in for a rude shock tonight.

Ghana have looked slow and to be honest, i think they will have a hard time against the pacy Zambians. Though, Ayew has impressed, i believe that the Zambians are more hungry for success and frankly speaking a Zambia v Ivory Coast final will be very entertaining.

So there are just two matches left until the curtains come down of Africa’s footballing showpiece. The tournament has not been as interesting as i would have liked, however, co-host Equatorial Guinea and Gabon gave a good account of themselves.

71 goals have been scored so far and very good statistic by all means noting that top nations like Cameroon, Nigeria and Egypt did not make to the finals. However, crowd numbers is something CAF will have to work at for the next edition of the tournament.

Photo Credit © republicoftogo.com