Blackburn defender Christopher Samba has labelled his goal against Tottenham on Sunday as the best and most important he has scored, and hopes the victory will serve as an important point from which his side can kick on for a top-six finish.
The centre back struck deep into injury time to clinch a 2-1 win for Rovers at White Hart Lane as Spurs slumped to their sixth defeat of the season, having led from the penalty spot.
"I was always confident it was going in, because I think the goalkeeper saw the ball late, so I'm delighted to score my first goal of the season,' Samba told Rovers' official website.
"I've scored a few goals with my head but never such an important goal, so for the moment it is the best goal I've ever scored. I hope this goal will be the first of many this season, because I've had a lot of chances. I've been putting in extra practice every day after training, so I hope things can click for me from now.'
Samba says the win has galvanised team morale at Ewood Park, and he is looking forward to the challenge Mark Hughes' side face to stay in contention for a European spot come the end of the season.
"Our objective is to stay in the top six in the league, so it was a big game for us and a massive win, especially with three hard games just around the corner,' he added.
"That's now six wins in a row, so there's great spirit in the team and everyone is motivated to improve and keeping it going."
28 October 2007
West Ham boss Alan Curbishley has revealed Craig Bellamy faces another spell on the sidelines through injury.
Bellamy suffered a recurrence of his abdominal injury during West Ham's goalless draw with Portsmouth and was forced off at half-time.
The former Liverpool and Blackburn striker underwent abdominal surgery last month and he was able to play for Wales in their recent internationals.
Bellamy will miss Tuesday's Carling Cup clash with Coventry, and Curbishley is unsure how long Bellamy could be sidelined for after revealing he has been struggling with the problem since pre-season.
"Craig's injury is not too bad but there's still something niggling there," said Curbishley.
"He won't be playing Tuesday. He has had this abdominal strain through the pre-season and despite the operation which we went off to have in Germany it has come back again. We are not very lucky with injuries at the moment. There's (Dean) Ashton, (Bobby) Zamora, Scott Parker, Julien Fauberdt, Freddie Ljungberg all out. Now Bellamy. He could be weeks out or it could be something that can be sorted out quickly but we have two more games now and then have to worry about the international break again - when I always seem to have players trying to come back from injuries."
27 October 2007
Mark Hughes has warned Maceo Rigters he will have to wait until the new year before Blackburn consider sending him out on loan.
Dutch striker Rigters has struggled to make himself part of the first-team picture at Ewood Park following his summer switch from NAC Breda.
The 23-year-old was recently forced to deny comments he was reported to have made demanding a loan move if he was not given more opportunities. Rovers boss Hughes said: "It may be a situation which we look at but I'm not looking to do that in the coming months. If I felt that he needed to have a little bit longer and have a regular spell in a team, which I couldn't give him, then maybe we'd look at it. But that's more likely to be in the new year, certainly not before this transfer window."
Hughes admitted: "There's a number of players who are finding it difficult to get in the first XI because it's a good side. Maceo understands the situation and he'll have to be patient like a number of players. He's got ability and I'm pleased with his attitude. He probably needs a little more time on the field of play, which it's difficult to give him at the moment at first-team level. You'll probably see in the next few weeks we'll be putting him into more reserve games. It's an area we've looked at this year. We feel it's important the guys that are out of the team are still getting nearly the same amount of work in a physical sense that the guys in the first team are having. It's really important that they do. If they're too far off the pace then they can't make an impact when they're needed."
27 October 2007
South Korea international Ji-Sung Park hopes to be able to return to the Manchester United first team by January.
Park has been sidelined since March when he damaged cruciate knee ligaments against Blackburn Rovers and is still recuperating after surgery.
He told Ilgan Sports: "At the moment I am trying to recover as hard as I can. Recently, I started jogging and step-by step I am moving closer to a return in January. I am not yet training with the other players at the moment, I am training alone. Competition is fiercer than before with the signing of players like Nani. It is important that I have the confidence to perform to my best when I return."
27 October 2007
Who has the loudest fans in the Premier League?
Decibel meter readings taken across home matches for all Premier League teams during August and September, showed that the loudest home crowd was Sunderland.
Average peak volume of the Sunderland crowd at home reaching 129.2 decibels & 150; louder than a rock concert (115 decibels) and almost as loud as an air raid siren/military jet (130 decibels).
As a volume of 110-115 decibels can cause hearing damage after just 15 minutes, football fans are being advised to wear ear protection if they want to hear the referees whistle clearly across their supporting career.
The findings are especially embarrassing for Arsenal and Manchester United, whose grounds dwarf the 49,000-seater Sunderland home ground by 11,000 and 21,000 seats respectively.
Quietest home fans were Fulham who could only muster an average maximum volume of 115.4 decibels at home.
And although not the loudest, Everton fans proved that they have the stamina to keep it up all match. Their chants were the most frequent (one every three minutes on average) and longest (52 seconds each on average) of all teams studied.
The ear-bending research was commissioned by 118118 who are searching for the best and loudest football chants in the country.
NOISE LEAGUE TABLE:
Sunderland
Tottenham Hotspur
Manchester City
Aston Villa
Everton
Chelsea
Middlesbrough
Derby County
Newcastle United
West Ham
Birmingham City
Arsenal
Portsmouth
Blackburn Rovers
Bolton Wanderers
Liverpool
Manchester United
Wigan Athletic
Reading
Fulham
26 October 2007
Former Tottenham Hotspur player Joe Kinnear has offered his services as the North London side look to stabilise following the sacking of Martin Jol on Thursday night.
It is expected that Sevilla coach Juande Ramos is chairman Daniel Levy's long-term target but he remains under contract with the Spanish club and some reports have claimed he is unlikely to leave Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan until the end of the current campaign.
In the short term, Clive Allen and Alex Inglethorpe will take charge for the game against Blackburn Rovers, but Kinnear – who made nearly 200 appearances for Spurs and won the FA Cup in 1967 – would be only to happy to help out should the call come from Levy.
Whilst Kinnear has also put his name forward for the Republic of Ireland job, his deep feelings for Spurs mean he is willing to help out in any capacity as they look to turnaround what has been a poor season to date.
"I hate to see my beloved club in such a terrible state of affairs and at the wrong end of the table,' said Kinnear.
"While they are trying to sort the situation out I would be only too happy to offer advice on and off the pitch, and I will help in any way that the club needs me. It is well known that I am a candidate for the Republic of Ireland job, but, in the meantime, I would always go out of my way to help Tottenham in their hour of need."
Kinnear's last job in football was an ill-fated spell at Nottingham Forest which ended in December 2004.
25 October 2007
Blackburn have told Tottenham to forget about making an approach for Mark Hughes as the Welshman is committed to Rovers.
Martin Jol is still in charge of Tottenham but reports are rife that they are targeting a move for Hughes, should the Dutchman be ousted following a poor run of results.
However, Blackburn have reacted quickly to all the rumours and a source very close to the club has been quoted as saying that Hughes is not available.
"We've had no contact whatsoever from Tottenham Hotspur regarding Mark Hughes and we are not unduly concerned by the recent speculation," the source is quoted as saying.
"As far as we are concerned, Mark is perfectly happy where he is. Because he has done a great job here since he was appointed three years ago, it's inevitable his name will get linked with jobs elsewhere."
25 October 2007
Martin Jol will not be distracted by rumours suggesting he is set for the axe and is focused on turning Tottenham's season round.
The Dutchman is again under severe pressure at White Hart Lane following the 3-1 defeat against Newcastle on Monday night and the media are already starting to speculate over who could replace him.
Blackburn boss Mark Hughes and Harry Redknapp of Portsmouth have been mentioned as replacements, but Jol says he cannot listen to all the rumours and must focus on Spurs.
Jol can do nothing about Tottenham's league position for now but he can make sure they get their Uefa Cup group campaign off to a winning start against Getafe this evening.
"If I have to look at that sort of manoeuvres then I would be crazy," Jol said of all the speculation. "There have been five or six names and I'm still here."
24 October 2007
Defender Alan Stubbs has called on his Everton team-mates to forget the derby defeat to Liverpool and secure a win against Larissa.
The veteran stopper has witnessed the Toffees secure just two wins in their previous eight games - against Metalist Kharkiv in the UEFA Cup and Middlesbrough in the Premiership - while they head into Thursday's opening UEFA Cup group game against Greek side Larissa at Goodison Park on the back of Saturday's disappointing and controversial 2-1 reverse against the Reds.
However, while the Toffees could be forgiven for feeling sorry for themselves, Stubbs wants the players to pick the good points from the defeat to Liverpool and get back to winning ways against the team which knocked Blackburn out of Europe this season.
Stubbs told the Daily Post: "We have got to forget about the derby. We have got a big game on Thursday and if we play the way we did from 15 minutes onwards to just after half-time, then I think we will be fine. Our performance was much better against Liverpool. The result was obviously very disappointing but coming away from the derby with a draw would have set us up nicely for the game against Larissa. We just have to dust ourselves down now and we have got a great game to lift ourselves up in. I wouldn't have thought we'd lost four of the last five if someone had asked me that. I don't think that's a fair reflection. But we have just got to keep going. Things will turn for us. We never got the rub of the green against Liverpool. We feel as if we have been robbed but performance-wise the manager was quite happy with us and we look forward now to going into Thursday."
24 October 2007
Martin Jol has one game to save his job and could be replaced by Mark Hughes, according to reports.
The Independent reports that Jol will be forced out of Tottenham if they fail to beat Blackburn on Sunday, and the Rovers boss will be the prime candidate for the job.
Spurs sit in the relegation zone and have won just one league game all season, and the White Hart Lane board is reportedly close to finally losing patience with Jol, especially after apparently falling out with Dimitar Berbatov during Monday's defeat to Newcastle.
After being knocked back by Juande Ramos and Jose Mourinho, Spurs may now turn to Hughes, who has a growing reputation as one of the best young managers in the Premier League.
He has spent little on a Rovers side that has only lost once this season, and are currently just a point off the Champions League places.
