jerradpeters.blogspot.com

Tuesday Football
23 October 2007
by Jerrad Peters

DIMITAR Berbatov could be headed out of White Hart Lane. The Bulgarian international was benched to start Tottenham Hotspur's match at Newcastle on Monday evening and did not respond when Martin Jol tabbed him for a brief, cameo appearance in the second half. In fact, the Spurs manager had to address his star striker three times before the 26-year-old began warming-up. And when the team made for the tunnel after the 3-1 loss, Berbatov refused to shake Jol's hand. It is not the first time this season that the former Bayer Leverkusen forward has sparred with the Dutchman. Jol's rotation policy appears to be wearing thin with the players. Jermaine Defoe did not even travel with the team; and when injured goalkeeper Paul Robinson was asked about Defoe's absence during an interview with Setanta Sports, he appeared at a loss of words. Still, Jol remains defiant. "Berbatov knows what the schedule is for the next couple of weeks," he declared when asked about the omission. But when queried about his players' defensive abilities, he went on the attack, stating, "We need to cut the rubbish. We cannot win if we carry on conceding goals like that." Michael Dawson was particularly to blame for at least one of Newcastle's goals. The 23-year-old has looked somewhat out of sorts in the absence of teammate and Spurs skipper Ledley King. Even King's return to form, which is still some time away, will be unlikely to save Jol's job. "You're getting sacked in the morning," was the newest song on the lips of jubiliant Geordie fans at St. James' Park, last night. And while he survived into this morning, Chairman Daniel Levy's patience is sure to be wearing thinner by the day. Spurs are firmly entrenched in the relegation places with a quarter of the season gone. And if Jol is, in fact, pink-slipped before Christmas -- which is almost a certainty -- it will also spell the exits of several, high-profile players, of which Berbatov is one.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has banned all future matches from the Kegue Stadium in Lome, Togo. The penalty will run for an indefinite period as authorities investigate last week's riots and violence. After visiting Mali had defeated Togo 2-0, gangs of home supporters swarmed onto the field and attacked the Mali players. Fredi Kanoute and Mamady Sidibe were injured in the ruckus. The loss eliminated Togo from the upcoming African Nations' Cup in January.

Arsene Wenger has set his sights on a pair of Lyon wonderkids. Both Karim Benzema and Hatim Ben Arfa have been regular selections in manager Allain Perrin's squad so far this season; and their goal-scoring abilities have vaulted the six-time champions to the top of the ledger. Benzema, at 19-years-old, is already a frequent pick to Raymond Domenech's French squad and the 20-year-old Ben Arfa made his international debut for France during the latest round of EURO 2008 qualifying. With Lyon's depleted stores of talent, the Fench giants would typically be reluctant to sell the duo. But Didier Drogba's plea for a Chelsea escape has alerted the club as to his availability. If Perrin can secure Drogba in January, he would have to sell one or both of his young strikers in order to finance the move. The Lyon boss would appear to have some leverage in the matter. Each of AC Milan, Inter Milan, Barcelona, and Real Madrid are also interested in one or both of Benzema and Ben Arfa; and if he could strike up something of a bidding-war, he would be sure to garner in excess of 40M-pounds for their signatures. Drogba would probably come to France for less than half of that amount.

The FA has banned Coventry City from the transfer market. With the club already 28M-pounds in debt and unable to make payments on Leon Best, acquired from Southampton, manager Iain Dowie has been notified that his club has been saddled with an embargo. Dowie had been keen to bring Manchester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to Coventry on loan in January. But that move was kiboshed when the FA acted quickly to prevent his acquisition.

Paul Scholes has returned to Manchester after injuring his knee while training in Kiev. The Manchester United maestro had damaged the knee while on a pre-season tour of South Africa in the pre-season, although scans at the time revealed no serious damage to the ligaments. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson is hoping for an equally positive diagnosis this time around. Both Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves will be unavailable through injury until the end of the month and Darren Fletcher and John O'Shea are just returning from extended stays in the therapist's room.

Porto will be without Deco for up to five weeks. The Portugal international suffered a thigh strain during Barcelona's 3-1 defeat at Villarreal at the weekend and was replaced in the 71st-minute. He joins Yaya Toure, Gianluca Zambrotta, Rafael Marquez, and Samuel Eto'o on the Barcelona sidelines. Ronaldinho and captain Carlos Puyol have also recently returned from injury.

Antonio Puerta's girlfriend, Mar Roldan, has given birth to a sun, Aiton, Antonio. Puerta, who passed away after suffering a heart failure two months ago, leaves his son and partner, both of whom are said to be in good health. Aiton has been granted a lifetime ticket to Sevilla's Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium. His father was just 22-years-old at the time of his passing.

The draw for the Group Phase of the African Cup of Nations was made in Accra, Ghana on Friday. The Groups are as follows:
A: Ghana, Guinea, Namibia, Morocco
B: Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Benin
C: Egypt, Cameroon, Sudan, Zambia
D: Tunisia, Senegal, South Africa, Angola
The tournament will kick-off on 20 January with host-nation Ghana playing Guinea. The final will be contested on 10 February at Accra's Ohene Djan Stadium.