Premier League - Managers: No positives for AVB
Managerial reaction from around the Premier League, with Andre Villas-Boas offering an honest assessment of Chelsea's defeat at Everton.
Everton 2-0 Chelsea
Andre Villas-Boas: "I think today was one of our worst games of the season, if not the worst. In our performance today we are short of anything positive. It is a difficult day for us, we take out a lot of negatives from this game. (On Roman Abramovich visiting the training ground). You don't expect any effects from that. (On chants against his management) It is part of the job. At the moment we are sitting fifth in the league and it is not enough for us. (Fernando Torres) is trying a lot to get his chances and to shoot at goal. Whatever time it takes, we will continue to pursue his confidence and full form until he eventually finds the back of the net."
David Moyes: "That was a great result for us. There were good parts of the performance as well but the strange thing is I think we can play much better. I think we will play better once we get more confidence as the wins take us a long. We got off to a great start with an early goal, which gave us something to hang on to, but we wanted it. We had to ride our luck on a couple of occasions but in the second half we didn't look like we were going to concede."
Tottenham Hotspur 5-0 Newcastle United
Harry Redknapp: "I just keep looking at the gap between us and Arsenal and Chelsea. I'd be lying if I said otherwise. I look at the top as well but we really want Champions League football – that's the key. Arsenal closed the gap before the game to seven points but we've put it back to 10 again. We've got another three on Chelsea today which is important to us, three on Liverpool. If we can close on the front two, that will be fantastic but I really want to make sure we get a Champions League place. If we can do that it'll be fantastic for us."
Alan Pardew: "Tottenham were irresistible. Some of the things they were doing, they were doing for fun, Adebayor and Saha were a real handful for us. They had an extra bounce in their step after what happened to their manager this week. They all wanted to show they wanted their manager to stay but we should have done better for the first two goals. What we showed here isn't a true reflection of us this season, though."
Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool
Sir Alex Ferguson on Luis Suarez's refusal to shake Patrice Evra's hand: "I could not believe it, I just could not believe it. He's a disgrace to Liverpool Football Club, that certain player should not be allowed to play for Liverpool again. The history that club's got and he does that and in a situation like today could have caused a riot. I was really disappointed in that guy, it was terrible what he did. It created a tension, you've seen the referee didn't know what to do about it. It caught him off guard. It was a terrible start to the game, a terrible atmosphere it created."
Kenny Dalglish: "I never knew he never shook his hand. I don't know, I wasn't there, I never saw it. We haven't looked at the handshakes, but that's contrary to what I was told ... We'll ask him and we'll take it from there. (When asked if the incident led to confrontations between the players) I think you're very severe and I think you're bang out of order to blame Luis Suarez for anything that happened here today. I think predominantly both sets of fans behaved really well, they had a bit of banter between each other, no problem. How many bookings were there?"
Sunderland 1-2 Arsenal
Martin O'Neill: "It was obviously disappointing to lose the goal, but I have no complaints about the team whatsoever. The last couple of months, their heart and soul has gone into the game. We are just obviously disappointed to lose from a winning position. (Thierry Henry has) been a terrific player in his time here - and he hasn't done too badly second time around as well. But he shouldn't really be able to score from a couple of yards out when it is kind of lobbed into our penalty area."
Arsene Wenger on Thierry Henry: "He finished the story of the legend today in the championship. I hope he will add some in the Champions League on Wednesday. But certainly, he got us the three points in a very difficult game. I felt it might haunt me as well because he goes again and people will say, 'Why did he not stay?'. It shows you as well that they never lose it, these players, exceptional talent survives. You have that at the moment with Giggs at Manchester United and Scholes, and Thierry Henry here. It's just a luxury to have a player like him on the bench."
Swansea City 2-3 Norwich City
Brendan Rodgers: "We have scored two at home and we don't expect to lose those games. It was a close game in the first half and we scored an outstanding goal through Danny Graham, but we went to sleep in the first period of the second half and Norwich are a team that score goals and they will punish you. But from the moment it went to 3-1 I felt we had the better of it and were unfortunate not to get something if you look at the chances we created, but we were not at our best."
Paul Lambert: "I thought we deserved the win, the passing was brilliant, and the enthusiasm and desire to press the game was excellent. Swansea scored against the run of play and maybe Andrew Surman should have made it 1-1 before half-time, but in the second half we were terrific. At half-time I said not to worry as we were well in the game, we gave as good as we got, the passing was excellent and the way we played the game was excellent."
Blackburn Rovers 3-2 Queens Park Rangers
Steve Kean: "We worked really hard this week on trying to get pressure on the ball and making sure we could hold the high lines, and I thought in the first half we were brilliant. Then we had Yakubu's chance to go to 4-0, and I felt after that that QPR thought they didn't really have anything to lose, so they started throwing all sorts at it. They changed their shape, went very offensive and I think once the first goal went in, we had a bit of a wobble and got a little bit nervous - which is understandable considering how many young players we have got in the team."
Mark Hughes: "You can't give any Premier League team a three-goal head start. We were very poor in that first half. The first 45 minutes were arguably the poorest we have been since I came through the door here and arguably of any of the teams I have been involved with to be honest. It's understandable in that we haven't been through the door for any great length of time, but there shouldn't be a difference in performance of that size."
Bolton Wanderers 1-2 Wigan Athletic
Owen Coyle: "It's a game we wanted to win to move us up the league and we've let the opportunity pass us by. In our position you can't let chances slip away when there are achievable points. Our first-half performance was not good enough but after the second-half performance I have no doubt we should have taken a minimum of a point."
Roberto Martinez: "We need as many players like James (McCarthy) from now until the end of the season. There are many things we can control but you need the belief, arrogance and bravery in your make-up. It's easy to play when you're in the top six but in our position you need an extra bit of mettle. We know what it takes and we will fight with our lives to carry on in this league."
Fulham 2-1 Stoke City
Martin Jol: "We had somebody over with him during the process of getting his work permit. He worked well and was fit. As you know, we don't have a lot of number nines at this club and he was keen to start. That was a positive thing and it meant Clint [Dempsey] could play in his position. You always have to wait and see how somebody will do when they come from abroad. I want players when I approach them that want to play for us. He said, 'Okay, I will play for the next four or five months and then we will wait and see'. It was a brave decision."
Tony Pulis: "I'm not sure we just came to life in the last 10 minutes. We did very well in the second half and we were the better team. We just aren't getting the breaks at the moment. We gave them a leg-up with the two goals, two poor goals. In the second half I thought we were the ones, though Kenwyne [Jones] missed a great chance to make it 2-1 in the first half. I was really pleased with the way we fought back. Ryan got the goal and we could have got a second one, but we aren't getting the breaks."
Comment 9 - 28 of 28
Boas has a problem...too many back door conquistadors !
SUarez going NOWHEREE.SUarez will remain a Liverpool player in the next five years no matter what ManU fans and Paul Parker are saying.We wont sell any of our player just because he has a controversy with ManU or with ManU players.That is a big challenge to us.If it was say ManC then we fans can understand but because it is ManU no way.
ManU cannot influence us to such any little thing with our club.NEVER.
WHat did Ferg16 do when his players had in the past had serious controversies?Rio with drug for e.g
Drug addict and handshake refusal, which is severe?
When Everton play to their strengths I believe they can compete with anyone. We may lack the silken skills of City and United but we certainly have the ability in Piennar and Donovan to pierce defences and, all of a sudden, our strikers are starting to score. It is sad that both Piennar and Donovan are on loan and I hope that David Moyes will be able to replace their talents. I only wish that Donovan was not going home in two weeks time but I wonder whether we will be able to negotiate the purchase of Piennar in the Summer. What amazes me is that a striker we allowed to leave on a free transfer, The Yak, has scored 13 goals for a team in the relegation places. Perhaps we were a little premature allowing him to leave for it may well have been our ability to provide him with good ball that was the reason for his inability to score. When our defence is resolute and our midfield on song we can present a challenge to every team in the Premiership. The way Piennar ran at the Chelsea defence and Dovovan threaded some lovely balls in attack makes me think of what could have been achieved with this squad earlier in the season. We should never have lost our home this season.
Dont know what this guy avb is doing to this team but they seem to be getting worse week after week as there seems to be no defensive organisation taking place david luiz is a joke as for bosinga should not even be on the bench in the reserve team. I was glad ashley cole was injured as bertrand showed more stability in the few minutes he was on the pitch.I cant for the life of me see why gary cahill is not partnering ivanovic or john terry when fit with ivanovic on the right.No midfield inforcers any more with lampard giving the ball away time and again essien not back to old self and might never get back to the great player he once was as for meriles he is only a impact player from the bench.Avbs substitutes are puzzling taking off mata the only player likely to get them back in the game and playing him out of position and not playing to torres strength.I was prepared to give this manager time but i think time is up. How on earth doe's he think of beating napoli in a forthnights time but maybe a miracle will happen Look over your shoulder avb as the wolves are gathering.
AVB seems like a nice guy, honest and obviously doing his best. Problem is, he's too young and inexperienced for that job and his naivety shows in his post match interviews where recently he has admitted his mistakes. Abramovich will continue to clutch at straws as he loses his patience and faith in his managers whilst he fantasizes about winning the Champions league.
As foolish as Suarez was not to swallow his pride and shake Evras hand, Dalglish is making a fool of himself by not taking responsibility and control over the behaviour of his players. To state on TV that he didn't know about the handshake incident and then to say it was contrary to what he'd been told is a blatant lie and a contradiction in itself. He's handled the situation badly right from the start and now he can't win.
Chelsea have a big problem now. With results getting worse and AVB under fire, it won't be long before Abramovich loses his patience and sacks him. The problem is, what top manager in their right mind would want to take that job on now, the poisoned chalice that Abramovich has created due to his own ego and demand for Champions league success. I don't believe that Mourinho would want to come back to Chelsea if they don't finish in the top 4.
has AVB done his coaching badge level 1 yet?
The Drog will be back, hopefully for the B'ham Cup game. Yes, he's oldish, but people forget that he started playing football later in life than your average pro, so in a sense, 'mentally' he's younger than his physical years.
I wish Chels give him the 2 year contract that he wants & deserves (specially as Torres is firing blanks!).
Note, last season, letting experienced players like Ballack, Deco & Carvalho go MAY just have cost Chels---no trophies.
Yes, by all means blood youngsters like Mc Cochrane & Bertrand, but do NOT ignore older heads (ask Fergie what he thinks about Giggs, Scholes & van der Saar)
Let him go pls da job is 2 big 4 him
I feel sorry for AVB genuinely. Yes, he had shown a lot of promise in Portugal but he was not the experienced manager that Abramovich thought and he has been thrust into a difficult position - Chelsea players are past their best, targeted players refused to join the club, and AVB's doctrine will take a long time to bed in. The guy looks scared and uncomfortable and, it has to be said, out of his depth.
I have no sympathy for Abramovich, he had a good solid manager in Ancelloti who had also recognised that players needed replacing, but winning the double the year before and finishing in the top four was not good enough for him. His greedy wallet and his disrespect for Ancelloti made him impatient for success but what has it achieved - answer, SFA, and deservedly so.
Good luck, AVB, you have been placed in an impossible situation. And to Abramovich - serves you right, money doesn't always bring success. You have to laugh!
Only those that do not wish good for Chelsea will say AVB will come good,please give him more time.They surely know and are happily singing Chelsea is sinking.In October when the season was beginning there was no mention of AVB is building a new team.The phrase has been coined recently when results are negative.
A Manager who can not post positive results against Wigan,Aston Villa,QPR,Everton surely doesn't deserve to be given such a long duration.AVB was supposed to go in November,2011.
Chelsea is supposed to bring in Hiddink to wind up the season and then swallowed their pride in summer by bringing in The Special One.Hiddink took over from Scolari when Chelsea was misfiring there was no execuse from him.The same squad performed so well.Wherever Mourinho goes you don't hear him complaining of the calibre of players he has inherited.
The music on AVB has start "You don't know what you are doing" and it will get louder if he is still around.Chelsea goofed on his appointment and need to act now.
the special one ....... will never come back he likes to go where he can spend money . and i cant see roman spending money when hes loosing it all. i think A V B will come good next season with all the new singing
I really like Pardew's comments about games. He always tries to give an honest view, win or loss..
Hope Jose mourinho comes back at Stamford Bridge! Sack AVB!
AVB - Piss orf and leave Chelsea well alone now - And take JT with you FFS
A Chelsea Fan
7th for Chelsea this term! Well, at least that's in the top half of the table!
Everton win over chelski was result of the day...despite humiliation of Toon by Spurs....AVB is doomed...
AVB, no positives from the match because you were negative and quite clueless. First, cut off the bond from fellow country men Bosingwa and Meireles they are rubbish and have been rubbish far too long. Second drop the non performing old guards like Cole, Malouda, Lampard and even Terry and Drogba. Bertrand Russel was such a breath of fresh air but Lukaku needs to shed weight looking the typical old Chelsea player that's slow and heavy. Luiz needs to be benched and let Cahill play. Even Cech is getting slow and poor in judgement. Play route 1 football more often as it seems to work better for this current team then the slow build up from defence. Stop dilly dallying with the balls in defence it gives too many opportunities for the opponents to rob the ball and cause all sort of problems. You are not Barcelona and you lose the ball with such regularity.
As a Liverpool fan I beleive Fergie is right. The whole Suarez saga has sullied the reputation this great club and judging by yesterdays (diplorable) performance, it appears Kennys staunch support behind Suarez has had the opposite effect on his team, they were not playing as a unit, a team and certainly not for a manager they respect. Time for Kenny to pack his bags, he has bought dreadfully and should not have tried to justify his bad signings by playing them in a match of this magnitude. Couldnt beleive he left Bellamy and Adam on the bench. Kenny leave now and take Henderson, Downing and Carroll with you. Your f_cking useless and so are they.
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