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Home is where the heart is. This saying rings never truer than at Anfield where a period of transition for Liverpool is in full swing. With Brendan Rodgers now in control, the club who were in danger of steering off course have now revitalised its backroom staff and by the end of the summer a fresh looking organisation will be raring to get back on track. With the new owners seeking to improve the clubs stature in various departments, a plan to scrap ideas for the long awaited new Stadium at Stanley Park is in discussion, with the club opting to stay where the fans feel most at home, Anfield.

With varying plans on the table to expand the stadiums current capacity having been announced, it seems that the Kop will still be thriving for a while yet. However, with so many clubs of Liverpool’s stature plying their trade in far more capacious stadiums, and with plans afoot for the likes of Tottenham and West Ham to move to pastures new, is staying at Anfield financially the right move in terms of generating revenue? Can the stadium modernise itself aptly in order to compete with the homes of their Premier League rivals?

The proposed move to Stanley Park has been hanging over Liverpool for almost 10 years. With constant delays and alterations to the designs, no progress has been made. The futuristic looking plans of the new stadium that circulated certainly excited fans. However, with new owners come new rules and the FSG have stepped away from the uncertainty that is Stanley Park and have proposed to increase the clubs current home, just as they did with the Boston Red Sox. Although an increase in capacity will not reach the quoted 72,000 that was expected from the Stanley Park project, building extra tiers in the Main and Anfield Road stands will certainly provide an imposing arena for opposing teams to play in. The stands will also undoubtedly become modernised, providing the most updated of facilities for fans while still remaining true to the history of the stadium.

Ultimately, staying at Anfield will be the economically wise option for the club. With a new stadium costing around £400 million, the club can now spend a portion of this in renovating Anfield whilst freeing up the rest of the funds to be used in the transfer market. Lessons can be learned from Arsenal’s financially draining move to the Emirates and their inability to spend lavishly in the subsequent transfer windows. With the club set to have an increased spending budget as well as a stadium where the fans and players feel at home, the plans to stay at their current base may be the most successful idea for the Reds.

Anfield and Liverpool Football Club have become so entwined; it seems ridiculous that the team could play anywhere else. The ground is a symbol of the club; it is the beating heart of the entire organisation. To move anywhere else may remove the club from its origins and philosophies. With so much alteration occurring at the club, FSG may have made the most impeccably timed decision to halt any stadium move. If the changes that have been made by the owners do not pay off, criticism is bound to be endless. If at the same time, Henry and Co have removed the club from their spiritual home, the fans will have lost all connection with the history and traditions that Liverpool are so coveted for.

It is rare that you will find a football stadium in the world that has a more impressive atmosphere then Anfield, despite its relatively small capacity in relation to the clubs stature internationally. The stadium has the unintentional ability to drive the team to success. With fans close to the action, the world famous Kop which rises high above the Anfield pitch and noise levels that could break decibel records there is no immediate reason as to why Liverpool would want to move homes. In light of proposed expansion and freed up funds in the pipeline, it is hard to see where FSG have faltered in their future planning for a club, who for the considerable future will be playing at their first and only home, Anfield.

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John Terry says Luka Modric would be a valuable addition to the Chelsea squad if he were to move to Stamford Bridge.The 25-year-old Modric told Spurs of his desire to leave the English Premier League club and has handed in a transfer request after a public spat with chairman Daniel Levy.

Chelsea have already seen two bids for the Croatia midfielder turned down, but England captain Terry has made it clear that Modric would be welcomed with open arms should he complete the transfer.

“He’s a world-class player who is very difficult to play against,” Terry told Sky Sports News.

“He’s very agile, very quick and a great finisher like we’ve seen over many years.”

“We’ve got a good squad of players. If he comes he could certainly add to that.”

Terry also believes that Fernando Torres will be back to his best in the coming season after enduring a season blighted by injury and poor form.

“He backs himself,” Terry said. “He realises from the World Cup he had a slight injury and carried that towards the end of last season.”

“He feels fresh, he’s happy. He’s fully settled. I’m certainly looking for him to get double figures, goals-wise.”

“He was still good at times last year. He’s a world-class player and the price tag is a big weight to carry on your shoulders.”

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“He’s got all the ability in the world. He’s very quick and a great finisher.”

“We’re delighted to have him and if he can bring goals along with what we already have then fantastic.”

David Moyes will have been the more disappointed of the two managers as Everton notched up their 10th draw of the season.

The Merseyside club were on top for most of the game but failed to break down the host’s resolute defence. You do sense that the Toffees problem stems from a lack of quality in the final third; something David Moyes I am sure will be keen to resolve in the January window.

So how do Everton fans feel about tonight’s point, and what are the five things we have learnt from the Toffees tonight?

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The FA have hit out at The Sun for their headline following the appointment of Roy Hodgson as England manager.

The daily newspaper ran the heading “Bwing on the Euwos!” after the West Brom supremo was announced as the new Three Lions boss on Tuesday, making fun of the head coach’s slight speech impediment.

The governing body have released a statement branding the headline as unacceptable, but will not take the case any further in this instance.

“The FA and the Press Complaints Commission have today received a large number of objections relating to the front page headline in The Sun newspaper, regarding Roy Hodgson’s manner of speech,” a statement reads.

“On this occasion, we will not be making an official complaint to the PCC but we have raised it with the newspaper and made it clear that their front page is unacceptable to us.

“We are delighted at the media response to Roy’s appointment but are disappointed with the headline in The Sun, which we consider is in poor taste and disrespectful,” it concluded.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Disgraced Argentine club River Plate could return to the top flight sooner than expected, with plans revealed to revamp Argentina’s first division.The Argentine Football Association (AFA) has announced it wants to unite the teams from the country’s top two divisions into one next year – combining all 20 from the top flight and most clubs from the second tier.

The teams are likely to be divided into regional groups, but the merger would mean the relegated giants River Plate would be back in the first division, after they dropped into Nacional B for the first time in their 110-year existence last month.

A decision on the new championship format needs to be agreed by the AFA’s executive committee, with that expected in October.

“The Argentine committee of the Argentine Football Association has decided with a majority vote – 22 in favour versus four abstentions and one absence – to look into a new tournament format project which would become valid starting in August of next year if the assembly so decides,” AFA spokesman Ernesto Cherquis Bialo said.

“It is basically the fusion of the Nacional B and the first division with relegation and the possibility that teams in the interior A could intervene with the first division.”

River will spend next season in the Nacional B division, and should they avoid finishing in the bottom two, a return to the top flight will be on the cards should the new format be voted in.

There is no denying Gareth Bale is a quality attacking outlet for Tottenham at the moment. But is his fine form making Tottenham over reliant on him? Certainly attacks tend to come far more from the left than they have done in recent years, and players can be seen to be looking to Bale first to ping the ball out to the left flank. Yet it is obvious such over reliance is detrimental to the team. If Bale has a bad game, or the opposition are able to limit his contribution on the game, like Everton did so successfully a few weeks back with Phil Neville at right back, then a lot of Tottenham’s attacking momentum is taken away. Also such reliance on one player will erode the confidence and attacking threat of other creative players. And Spurs do have others so they do not need to be overly reliant on Bale; Luka Modric, Rafael Van der Vaart and Aaron Lennon are all capable of doing the opposition real damage.

It is the form of the first, Modric, which has really stood out recently. Especially against Chelsea in the first half he was the focus of everything that the team created and covered a lot ground, popping up deep in his own half as well as theirs. Yet there is a trend occurring that Spurs players try too hard to get the ball out to Bale to let him run at the opposition’s right back. And because this route of attack has become so popular, it is now sometimes tried when this option really isn’t available.

By limiting their attacking options in such a way it makes it easier for the opposition by giving them less to worry about, i.e. their only concern would be how to control Bale? But by spreading the point of attack more, varying the play leaves them with more problems to solve. For instance, if they tend to crowd to the Tottenham left flank to deny the option to Bale then ping the ball out to Lennon on the right to exploit the space left there, rather than try and force the ball to a surrounded Bale. It is a position Tottenham should be exploiting by allowing opponents to concentrate too much on Bale and then hit them from another area. And in recent games Lennon’s form has suggested he is returning to his best, particularly against Werder Bremen the other week. With two flying wingers on the flanks and on top of their game Spurs would be really difficult to contain.

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Also if teams would then have to get tight on the wingers on both flanks, this would leave tremendous holes in the middle of the pitch where Tottenham have players with pace to exploit these gaps between the centre back and full back, such as Defoe. And Van der Vaart could drop deep into the created space to cause problems, while Modric would be allowed more time on the ball as defenders are constantly concerned with Bale. Spurs do have the quality across the team to turn the added attention shown to Bale into a real advantage. In much the same way that Barcelona compensate if teams overly focus on trying to limit Lionel Messi’s contribution, Xavi, Iniesta and Villa are able to take advantage. Not that Tottenham have the quality of Barcelona but they still have quality players who should be taking advantage of Bale’s extra attention as opposed to forcing the play through him.

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Chelsea captain John Terry has been handed an extra two-match suspension by Uefa following his sending off against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals.

The England international was dismissed before half-time in the second leg of the west London side’s clash with the Catalan giants at Camp Nou for kneeing Chilean attacker Alexis Sanchez.

Terry served the obligatory one-match suspension by missing the final of the tournament against Bayern Munich, but Uefa have revealed that the central defender has been charged with violent conduct, and will have to sit out two more games.

Although the Blues can appeal against the ban, if upheld Terry will miss the Super Cup against Europa League winners Atletico Madrid in August, and Chelsea’s first game of next term’s Champions League.

As yet there has been no comment from the club to reveal whether they intend to fight the ban, with Terry away on international duty with England ahead of Euro 2012.

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By Gareth McKnight

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UEFA president Michel Platini has criticised Europa League finalists Porto and Braga for their lack of home-grown talent.The Portuguese sides faced each other at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on May 19, with Porto winning UEFA’s second rung continental competition 1-0.

Liga Sagres champion Porto fielded just three Portuguese players in their starting line-up, while six began the match for Braga.

Both teams had a strong South American influence, with 12 players from the continent spread between the two line-ups.

Despite spending five seasons of his career playing for Juventus in Italy, Frenchman Platini is of the opinion that teams would be better served recruiting locals rather than looking outside their borders for new talent.

“I’m in favour of (local) identity,” Platini said.

“If Porto are in Portugal, they should play with Portuguese players instead of buying left, right and centre from other countries.”

“You would think that the young players from Brazil and Argentina would be better playing off in their own championships.”

Platini also criticised foreign ownership of clubs – one of the latest overseas buyouts came with the sale of Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain to the Qatari Investment Authority on May 31.

“I’m not so keen on foreign owners, but they are the laws of England and France, there’s nothing I can do,” Platini said.

“You can have an owner from Qatar, a general manager from Italy, a French coach and players from 25 countries.”

“Football has always been based on identity, regions, countries, so I’m not a great fan of this idea.”

With Christmas approaching, many teams, who feel the season hasn’t quite gone to plan thus far, will be assessing their options regarding management. Sides at the bottom of their respective divisions and sides who feel they have grossly under achieved, will look to change the man at the helm for a quick fix. But while the names of the recently sacked or resigned remain fresh in the minds of the decision makers, there are a few names that, although they may be linked with managerial vacancies, haven’t take up a position in a while.

Click on image below to see the FIVE managers

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Middlesbrough suffered the worst possible outcome during their make or break Easter weekend. Two defeats at the hands of two play-off rivals has left our season hanging in the balance as we linger in eighth place. With just four games to go, our play-off chances seem as fragile as ever.

The whole 2011/2012 campaign for Boro has been geared towards finally gaining promotion and fulfilling our potential in this league. That often recurring tagline, which seemed to follow us, stating that we were a “Premier League club in the Championship” has faded quite fast. It feels like this could be the last season before we are doomed to playing second-tier football for eternity, following our reduced parachute payments and declining crowds. Until recently, it did seem like we were in with a good shout of getting back into the Premier League having spent the majority of this season in and amongst the top six. However, a string of unacceptable performances and bad results has seen us slide away.

Reflecting on my last blog, I said that Boro needed to pick up at least four points from Cardiff and Hull to stay in the play-off race. This would have seen us in good stead as we would now occupy the 6th and final play-off spot, rather than 8th. For Boro to pick up no points whatsoever from either of the games is truly terrible, which can also describe the performances we put in.

Cardiff had probably the easiest 45 minutes of their season at the Riverside on Saturday. The Bluebirds were 2-0 up and cruising by the 20th minute and the away fans were already mocking every pass their team made with a cheer. I have not seen such a disjointed, lacklustre and feeble performance from Boro since Mowbray has taken charge. As the half-time whistle blew there were deafening boo’s and I understood why some home fans were heading for the exits. It was by far our worst half of football this season, including the Leeds home game. There were massive improvements in the second though but Boro just couldn’t find the net.  We managed to hit the woodwork three times and squandered even more chances. “On another day”, that popular commentator’s cliché, they would have all found the back of the net. The loss made Monday’s clash with Hull even more important than it already was.

The 3,000 travelling fans who made the short journey to the KC stadium were optimistic. Our away form during the past couple of seasons has been a huge contrast to performances at home. We have won nine times on the road this season, only bettered by the three league leaders and Burnley. On this occasion however, Boro fell apart again. We did somehow manage to go in front through a well taken Marvin Emnes goal meaning we led at half-time but it didn’t give a true reflection of the game. Hull eventually won the game 2-1 thanks to an 88th minute goal from Matty Fryatt. A win for them after five straight defeats and as painful as it is to say, they deserved it.

The most disappointing aspect of both of the weekend’s games was the manner in which we conceded. We practically gifted our opposition all of their goals by wayward passing, not challenging their players in good time and poor organisation skills. It’s hard to believe that we have a former defensive rock as a manager with our frailties at the back. The injuries to Matthew Bates and Rhys Williams haven’t helped our cause but the biggest problem seems to be our full-backs. This ‘modern wingback’ type player, as they are referred to as, doesn’t bode well if the players can get forward at every opportunity to support the attackers but forget their defensive duties in the process, which Joe Bennett and Justin Hoyte seem to do.

Travelling home on the bus from Hull, it was hard to find any positives from a weekend that could have put us well and truly on track for a visit to Wembley. Even now I am struggling to have any optimism or write something positive, even with the rallying calls from Boro players and manager alike, saying that we are “still in with a shout” and “it is not over yet”.  They are technically right because as it stands we are currently just two points from play-offs, so all is not lost yet.

However, there are thirteen teams who could still mathematically finish in 4th, 5th and 6th, depending on fixtures and results. Some of the top teams still have to face each other so it’s still too early to call. You would think the likes of Cardiff and Birmingham will be in there and that it is probably too late for Derby County and Watford, who we still have to face. Leeds United will play three other play-off contenders in Blackpool, Cardiff and Leicester meaning the Whites will play a major part in deciding the make-up of the final six.

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Realistically, will one of the teams be Boro? Only time will tell. It’s just a matter of taking each game as it comes now and hoping for the best. If results do go our way and the right teams are eliminated from the play-off race then our chances will increase. At this moment in time though, our season hangs in the balance. Fingers crossed it swings in the right direction.

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