Soccer Videos

Manuel Pellegrini has spoken about his admiration for Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has spoken about his admiration for Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets along with their arch rivals transfer target, Sergio Ramos. Manchester United have been linked with the Real Madrid defender over the last few weeks.

They are reported to have made a £ 30 million offer for the defender. This has been rejected by the Spanish club, but the latest statements by Pellegrini hint that City could enter into the race for Ramos. After all, the Etihad stadium outfit will be free from any FFP regulations from this season. Further, they are also in need of top quality centre backs after failing to win any title last season.

Ramos’ camp has shown enough encouragement for an offer from United and there is a possibility that he could join City as well. Hijacking the transfer target of United will now be easier for City than in previous years when they did not have the power to compete with the illustrious rivals. Another player whom Pellegrini has mentioned is Busquets, who does not appear to be going anywhere. In fact, the Barcelona midfielder has spoken about his ambition to enter into a coaching career at some time in the future.

Soccer Videos

Scotland full-back Alan Hutton is expected to start the crucial Euro 2016 qualifiers

Scotland full-back Alan Hutton is expected to start the crucial Euro 2016 qualifiers against Republic of Ireland in the summer.

The Aston Villa defender has had a good second half to the season and manager Gordon Strachan has included him in the squad. Ahead of the match, Hutton has revealed that the games against Ireland and England hold a special feeling for Scotland players and it is difficult to put a finger upon. After being regarded as the underdogs amongst the home nations, Scotland have a good possibility of reaching the Euro 2016. This would be their first major tournament in a long time.

Hutton is not ready to give up on this position, as Scotland target an away victory. The national team has won the last three matches with the 3-1 friendly defeat against England back in November 2014 the only sour result. Hence, the players go into the game with a lot of confidence. It is the exact opposite of the situation faced by Ireland, who have failed to kick on after the appointment of Martin O’Neill. The former Aston Villa manager did not make an immediate impact due to lack of competitive games. Now that the competitive games have arrived, he has been finding it difficult to motivate the players.

Soccer Videos

Gary Bowyer says that he is extremely happy to be part of the club

Blackburn Rovers manager Gary Bowyer says that he is extremely happy to be part of the club at a time when they are on the up.

The manager has headed the rebuilding job along with owners, who were heavily criticised when the club were originally relegated from the Premier League. Bowyer says that the owners have been the first to accept the fact thatthey made a number of mistakes that led to the relegation of the club. Now, they have made a lot of changes that have seen Blackburn stabilise as a club and also build for the future by investing a lot in young talent.

More positivity could await the club after this week, as it will be quite possible that they could be playing in the FA Cup semi-final against Aston Villa. A sixth round replay against Liverpool may give potential scares, but the tie could not have been best placed for the Championship club. After back-to-back defeats in the league, Liverpool will be mentally tired coming into the match. Further, the match will be played at Ewood Park and the home advantage will be providing a major boost to Blackburn. More than winning the FA Cup, returning to the Premier League will be important for Blackburn andBowyer has set his sights on promotion.

Soccer Videos

John Carver confident that Club fans will Support

John Carver, the manager of Newcastle United, is quite confident that the fans of the club would remain quite supportive to the team at this testing time as they have always been.

Newcastle has been able to win just 2 out of the 9 games since Carver’s appointment at the manager’s post on an interim basis.

They had obviously not been performing well before that either and that’s why, Alan Pardew was removed.

But, with Carver coming in, there were some hopes that he would revive the team. However, there hasn’t been even the slightest of improvements.

According to Carver, he was never going to revive the team overnight. It’s just not possible as he does not have any stick of magic.

Speaking to the press post a crushing Everton defeat, Carver said, “I think north has the most knowledgeable fans, be it our fans or the fans of Everton. They know what the team is going through and that’s why, they have been very patient till now. I hope they show the same kind of patience in future as well because things would not change in the blink of an eye. There is no magician here. This is Football. We are trying our best.”

Soccer Videos

Napoli didnt take advantage of Posession

Having more than 60% of possession wasn’t enough for Napoli to get a solid control on the match when they played with Palermo and lost 3-1 which has hurt their chances of getting closer to As.Roma and snatch the 2nd spot in the Italian League, Serie A.

“We allowed a goal that no one was expecting. He had been doing really well. Any time a goalie makes a mistake it doesn’t go unnoticed. We`re fighting for second place and we want to close the gap on Roma as much as possible.’’ Rafael Benitez said following the conclusion of the match.

Rafael Benitez has unveiled to the public that he and his team are setting their sights on the 2nd spot of the league which would allow them on securing a Champions League spot and avoid having to get through the qualifiers which is what would happen if Napoli is only able to seal the 3rd spot instead of the 2nd.