Petr Cech: Concussion scare brought back memories of horror injury

PETR CECH feared he had suffered another serious skull injury after collapsing in the Chelsea dressing room last week.

Cech, 29, was rushed to hospital for a brain scan following a collision with Fulham striker Orlando Sa during the Carling Cup clash at Stamford Bridge.

And though the Czech international goalkeeper was quickly cleared by neurologists, the incident brought back terrible memories of the day he nearly died on the pitch five years ago.

Cech has worn a protective scrum cap ever since he was forced to undergo emergency surgery for a depressed skull fracture in the wake of being caught on the head by Reading's Stephen Hunt in October 2006.

And he believes the helmet was a major factor in helping him emerge unscathed from last Wednesday's blow from Sa.

Cech revealed: "My head was shaken by the impact of the blow and went back in a similar way to when you take a right hook in boxing.

"I think the helmet took most of the impact and I felt fine after I'd been treated by the physio.

"I was even able to play for the last two minutes of the first half. But as soon as I got to the dressing room at half-time, I knew something was wrong."

"As soon as I sat down, I couldn't get up again. I couldn't see properly and I didn't have any awareness of the space around me.


"There was no way I could continue and it would have been really stupid for me to carry on. I went straight to hospital and had a scan. With my medical record they were not taking any chances, though that is the normal procedure for any player who has concussion just to make sure nothing is happening inside the skull.

Source: thesun.co.uk

Dalglish urges Capello to use his intelligence over Steven Gerrard

KENNY DALGLISH wants Fabio Capello to use his 'intelligence' when Steven Gerrard reports for England duty.

Gerrard is set to feature in the Euro 2012 qualifier in Montenegro on October 7 after a short but successful return with Liverpool after six months out with a groin injury.

But Kop boss Dalglish is anxious to avoid another furious club-versus-country row over his skipper.

Midfielder Gerrard, 31, suffered a hamstring injury towards the end of England's 2-1 friendly defeat to France last November.

It sparked an angry reaction from Anfield as they had expected Gerrard to play no more than an hour. Darren Burgess, Liverpool's head of fitness and conditioning, expressed his disgust on Twitter.

He wrote: "Unbelievable from all associated with England and English FA with regards to SG's injury.

"Completely ignored agreement and past history. Completely amateurish and now we pay for their incompetence. Absolutely disgraceful."

Now Dalglish wants Capello to go softly softly with Gerrard, who emerged unscathed after playing the last 15 minutes of Wednesday's 2-1 Carling Cup win at Brighton.

Dalglish said: "I don't pick England's team. But I would just hope that they're as intelligent as we have been." 

source: Thesun.co.uk

Manchester United get approval for Singapore share sale

The club wants to raise $1bn (£635m) to pay off some of its debts by selling about 25% of the parent company's shares.

United want to complete the process, which is known as an initial public offering (IPO), by the end of the year.

They will spend the next few weeks speaking to investors ahead of a road show to market the offer.

But analysts said the club might decide that it was not a good time to list.

"Volatile markets and weakening sentiment would be a major drawback for anyone who wants to list," said Vishnu Varathan from Capital Economic in Singapore.

"It's not the most ideal time to list, it's not a bull market. Tapping new sources of funds could be a challenge and pricing could come under pressure."

Manchester United is currently profitable, having reported a record annual operating profit of £110.9m for the year to the end of June 2011.

Headline pre-tax profit came in at £29.7m, compared with a loss the previous year.

The club is reported to be considering creating different classes of shares, some of which have lower voting rights but carry higher dividends.

The idea of that would be to maintain control of the club by the Glazer family, which bought Manchester United in 2005.

source: bbc.co.uk

Chelsea questions Fernando Torres over criticism of teammates

Fernando Torres, step into Andre Villas-Boas' office.

After Torres called out his "very slow" and "old" teammates on Spain's Primera Liga website and later translated to English on his personal site, Chelsea's management has decided to review the comments in what is the latest low moment for the striker since joining the club last January. 

"We are going in-depth to regain the tape of that interview," said Villas-Boas, the Chelsea manager. "We'll see if things play exactly as they are in that interview."

Torres has scored a grand total of one goal for the Blues in 18 Premier League games. It's not quite what Chelsea expected when it dished out over $79 million for the former Liverpool player, who had much more success at Anfield with 65 goals in 102 league games.

But, according to the translation, Torres did have an excuse for his lack of offensive power prior to being benched in Chelsea's 2-1 win over Sunderland over the weekend.

Torres' website, in Spanish, sees the 27-year-old say that the type of players Chelsea have "juega muy lento" - which translated means, "play very slowly". However, Torres has stated that he was misquoted by the online publication.

Still, those words struck a nerve with Villas-Boas, and if the translation proves accurate, the 33-year-old coach will surely take the proper action.

Torres has scored a grand total of one goal for the Blues in 18 Premier League games. It's not quite what Chelsea expected when it dished out over $79 million for the former Liverpool player, who had much more success at Anfield with 65 goals in 102 league games.

But, according to the translation, Torres did have an excuse for his lack of offensive power prior to being benched in Chelsea's 2-1 win over Sunderland over the weekend.

Torres' website, in Spanish, sees the 27-year-old say that the type of players Chelsea have "juega muy lento" - which translated means, "play very slowly". However, Torres has stated that he was misquoted by the online publication.

Still, those words struck a nerve with Villas-Boas, and if the translation proves accurate, the 33-year-old coach will surely take the proper action. 

source: Goal.com 

Only thing that will stop Manchester City this season is Itself

Flush with more cash than most of the other teams in the English Premier League combined, City has been tapping up the best and most expensive talent in the game since it was bought by Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008. It has also been buying their excessive baggage.

Robinho, Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli and Sergio Aguero to name a select few who have come into Eastlands on massive fees in recent years. With that though, comes the media rants, the contract qualms, the all-too-public manager spats. And of course, the dart throwing.

Yes, it shouldn't be debated too much that Roberto Mancini has one of the hardest jobs in soccer. Daily dealings with the happiness of his bloated squad, the Italian is almost judged more for the handling of egos than his tactics on the pitch.

Obviously, Tevez is the most important player for Mancini and City. But that doesn't mean Balotelli and Aguero and Yaya Toure and James Milner and Gareth Barry and David Silva aren't important. For them to succeed and reach the lofty goals put before it by the club's ownership, the Citizens stars will have to put the old "no I in team" mantra to work.


It doesn't end with Tevez, however. City's team sheet is full of players who, to the outside observer, are self-involved individuals with only personal gain in mind. That may be a slight over-exaggeration, but a lot of it comes with the gaudy purchases the club chooses to repeatedly make.



Another example? Mancini's pet project Mario Balotelli. The young Italian has had about as many run ins with the team's disciplinary department than he has trips to City's human resources department to pick up his paycheck - which is to say, it's a weekly occurrence.

For Mancini and Co., the solution is simple. If you're trying to beat teams like Manchester United, Chelsea and even Arsenal to the English Premier League title, teams that have dominated the league for the last, well, always, it doesn't hurt to copy their professional and 'team first' approach to the game.

You very rarely hear about trouble in United's camp from players. Wayne Rooney's incident last season was quite surpising, and ended amicably. Ronaldo's enlongated exit a few years back was handled professionally by all parties, most of the time.

Arsenal has traditionally been one of the best managed and most honorable clubs in England, despite the harder times it has fallen upon lately.

Even at Chelsea, a team managed by a handful of managers in the last few seasons, has something of a 'no messing around' attitude that has perculated down from the fridgid top of the organization.

The team which is best at this is current European Champions and world beaters Barcelona. Harmony is an understatement when it comes to that club and it appears unlikely that anything but a full-blown team scandal of epic proportions could upset what Pep Guardiola has fervently fashioned in Catalonia.

And it's not like these teams don't have big stars, because they do - and lots of them. They have just been conditioned to understand that topping the table and winning medals as a team comes before personal drama, pay raises and excessive speeding tickets.

If City can continue to meld the superstar-caliber personalities on the pitch, something Mancini has done a progressively better job of since taking over in 2009, and keep them in check off of it, there will be no stopping it. Not Manchester United, not Chelsea, not Liverpool and not Arsenal. Only one team will be able to slow the Citizen machine: Manchester City.

source: Goal.com, picture from Guardian.co.uk

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