Hoops 40 years on

40 years ago tomorrow on the 25th of may 1967, 11 men within a 30-mile radius of Glasgow, became the first British team in history to lift the European Cup
40 years on, it is still the most celebrated cup run in Celtics illustrious history, although it is followed closely behind by Celtics 2003 UEFA Cup run, where they took 100,000 fans to Seville. To quote the famous hoops fans during the final “were only here for the party”
To honour that amazing day in Lisbon, Celtic have released a new kit, its a more modern day version of the hoops kit of that famous season in 1967, where Celtic picked up every trophy they entered that year.

By Johnpaul Johnstone

Can you tell he supports Celtic???

USA! USA! USA!

Billionaire businessman Mike Ashley has launched a £133.1m ($263m) offer for Newcastle United.
The news came after he had bought a 41.6% stake in the Premiership team from Sir John Hall's family for more than £55m.
Mr Ashley said the firm had bought 55.3 million shares in the club at 100 pence a share.

Mike Ashley (born 1964) is an English born billionaire, in the sports goods market. He is ranked 54th in the 2006 Sunday Times Rich List.

It's the Big One...

With kickoff fast approaching in Athens, I’ve decided to swallow my terror and bring you all my thoughts on tonight’s encounter. The game looks set to be decided in three key areas, the team that wins two or more of these will be celebrating another European Cup tonight.

1. The Goalkeeper

Both sides have keepers that have made high-profile blunders in the past. As Manchester United showed, Dida can be vulnerable, especially on crosses, and Liverpool will be looking to exploit this early. The inclusion of Pennant, meaning Gerrard is likely to play behind a lone striker, seems to suggest Benitez wants balls coming in from wide. Zenden’s delivery will need to improve from the semi final, but if it does, this will be an area Liverpool can hurt Milan.

Pepe Reina may have been the hero of the FA Cup Final and the Chelsea semi-final, but he certainly has his detractors, who won’t let him forget errors for Konchesky’s FA Cup Final goal, and the mauling Liverpool suffered at Goodison Park earlier this season. Like Dida he can be ruffled by crosses into the box, and it’s the Milan fullbacks, likely to be Oddo and Jankulovski, who will provide the Giallorossi with their width. If Liverpool’s wingers can work hard enough, and double up on Milan’s wide men, the likelihood of Reina being caught out by a cross is severely diminished.

2. The Lone Striker

Both sides are likely to play with one up top. For Milan, this will be Inzaghi or Gilardino. Gilardino would provide more pace, but has a poor Champions League goal record, whereas Inzaghi the classic poacher has pedigree in abundance, but less pace than a doped-up Alan Stubbs. Ancelotti will probably go for experience, and pick Inzaghi’s subtle movement and know-how over Gilardino’s eager youth, and the way Liverpool deal with this threat will be crucial. If indeed Inzaghi gets the nod, playing a high defensive line should hold no fears for the Reds, the Italian veteran won’t hurt them by running into 35 yards of space, it’s the 6 yard box where he does his damage. Pushing up as a back four would also limit the space between defence and midfield where Kaka does his best work.

Liverpool will almost certainly go with Dirk Kuyt on his own up front, and his workrate could be key. Milan won’t be used to pressure in their own third of the pitch, with Italian sides tending to put pressure on the ball only in their own half. If Kuyt can force errors in the Milan backline, Liverpool have the ability to punish this. The question is whether Kuyt can be prolific enough to take any chances that may come his way, although with Crouch and Bellamy on the bench, Liverpool will have options to change it should Kuyt be dealt with by Milan. Bellamy’s pace and Crouch’s height will both be potent weapons that Milan will fear, and between the three front-line strikers, Liverpool have 3 very different threats. Will any of them be ruthless enough to actually hurt Milan?

3. The Playmaker

Gerrard v Kaka. This will be the real key. Liverpool will look to limit the influence Kaka has on the game, and Milan will look to isolate Gerrard and prevent his roving late runs into the box. Both are special for different reasons, Gerrard for his power and influence, Kaka for his subtlety, pace and guile. Both are likely to play off a lone striker, and so will probably not be picked up by midfielders. All the talk has been of Mascherano picking up Kaka, but if that’s the case, who’d pick up Pirlo? Or Ambrosini? Or Seedorf? Or Gattuso? Liverpool will go man-for-man in midfield, and it’ll be the centre half who’s not marking Inzaghi that’ll come out and pick up Kaka. Of course, when Kaka drops deep into midfield he may come into contact with Liverpool’s combative Argentinian, but don’t expect Benitez to use Mascherano man-to-man on Kaka. It won’t happen.

Milan will deal with Gerrard in much the same way. For all Gattuso will relish the task of showing Stevie G just how scary he really is, it will probably be Nesta picking up the Liverpool captain. Maldini won’t worry about Kuyt’s pace, and will use his experience to limit the amount of success the clever Dutchman can gain from intelligent (rather than pacy or tricky) runs. This will leave Nesta floating, and he’ll pick up Gerrard’s forays forward. Gerrard’s runs are a lot more unpredictable and powerful than those of Kaka though, and should Nesta’s concentration wane, Milan will certainly be punished. One of Gerrard and Kaka will inspire their team to victory tonight, and in doing so make a real claim to the title of best player in the world. It will be an intriguing battle.

Prediction

Milan 1 v 2 Liverpool.

This will be one of the tightest European Cup Finals in recent memory. But I just think the Milan fear factor from 2005 will tell in the end. Liverpool have the belief that they can beat Milan come what may, and the advantage of experience that Milan took into that Istanbul final has evaporated. Liverpool’s players have been there before too, and even won it from 3-0 down. That would give anyone confidence.

Whatever happened to Regi Blinker???

Name:
Regi BLINKER
Born:
June 04, 1969
Birthplace:
Delft
Club:
Retired
Former clubs:
Sparta, RBC Roosendaal, Celtic (Sco), Sheffield Wednesday (Eng), Feyenoord, FC Den Bosch, Feyenoord, DHC
Position:
Striker
Caps:
3(0)

Regi Blinker has played abroad until 2000. He joined Sheffield Wednesday in the winterbreak of 1995-1996 and moved to Scottish Celtic in summer 1997. He retired in the summer of 2003 after his contract at Sparta ended.
After his retirement, Blinker played a while for the amateurs of Deltasport and s.v. Wippolder in Delft. He is currently coaching young talented players at Lafor Soccer Consultancy.

What next for relegated trio?

Now the dust has settled (a bit) on the whole 'cheating cockney bastards' thing, The Late Flag takes a look at what's next for the three relegated clubs from the Premiership. With the Premier League TV revenue increase far outstripping that of the Championship, there's never been a worse time to be outside the top 20. Who will be most hurt by relegation, and how will each club fare next season?


Sheffield United


A lot will depend on who's in charge at Bramall Lane next season, amidst rumours Bryan Robson is about to be appointed. Whilst Robson has experience of getting clubs promoted to the Premiership, his record at keeping them there hasn't been fantastic. He undoubtedly creates a good team spirit at a club, but has been the subject of several reports of alcohol abuse and poor in-squad discipline. So whilst his players would be up for it, how professional are his methods, and could this cost one of his sides over a long hard season in a straight fight against better prepared squads? All this will of course be academic, should someone else take over, although this seems unlikely.

United have spent relatively freely this season, although haven't jeopardised their long term future by over-spending in the hope of staying up. Money was spent that has clearly improved the squad, and players like Nade, Stead and Kilgallon should serve them well in the Championship. Of the three to go down, the Blades also have the highest attendances, and shouldn't be overly concerned about money issues over the next season or two. In that sense then, a failure to come up next year wouldn't be a total disaster for United, but I'd expect that to prompt an exodus of top players such as Tonge, Jagielka and Kenny.

Whilst these players have been linked with moves already, I can't see that the club is in any real need to sell, and the players concerned will probably be fairly happy to stay till January, to assess whether promotion is likely. If United are struggling then, I think that's when the likes of Jagielka will be slapping in the transfer requests. By the way, I'm convinced rumours of Liverpool's interest in him are complete bo****ks.

One area of worry for me would be their Chief Executive's pledge that plans for next season are "totally on hold for the next four weeks" pending the outcome of the West Ham legal saga. Bearing in mind that's unlikely to bring success, I see this as wasted time that United should be spending building for promotion. But, as Roy Keane has shown promotion can be obtained with absolutely no pre-season planning, I'd still expect United to finish at least top four next season. I can't really be more precise than that without knowing who'll be in charge. Even with Robson and his "team bonding" sessions down the local, they'll be there or thereabouts.


Charlton

Determined to come straight back up, and in reality they won't have a better chance. Darrent Bent will leave for big money, so no real financial worries for the Addicks, and there's unlikely to be a mass exodus simply because no f***er wants their players. The money they see for Bent, and the ex-Premiership players staying in their ranks mean they'll have a real chance next season.

Should they fail of course, then they're really in the s**t. Next summer they won't be able to rely on a £10m cash injection courtesy of West Ham or Spurs, and the prospect of another year in the Championship would really see a dismantling of the squad. Check how many Norwich players you've heard of to see an example of this.

Norwich really are the example of what Charlton could become - a fairly big Championship side with no hope of gaining promotion in the next three years - should they fail to come up at the first attempt. Alan Pardew was on the verge of being sacked at West Ham before sneaking into the playoffs, so it'll be interesting to see how he deals with the challenge of taking another club to promotion.

A lot then depends on how they spend the money from Bent's sale, rumours of Romany Gypsy Freddie Eastwood coming along in his caravan are refusing to go away, and he's certainly proved he can score goals at that level. Luke Young will also need to be replaced, but again they'll probably see good money for him. I think they'll have a squad that can make a real go of the Championship though, and like Sheffield United are unlikey to see wholesale departures unless things look bleak in January.

Of the three to go down, Charlton are the ones that NEED to come straight back up the most. Not because of immediate financial pressures, but because those financial pressures will be looming on the horizon should they fail. They also have the squad most filled with players who'd expect to be in the Premiership, and so will see players targetted by bottom six Premiership clubs if not in the January promotion-mix. They'll either be a West Brom or a Norwich, and if I had to bet, I'd say Norwich. I can see a steady but unspectacular season next year, with a definate top ten finish. Whether that'll mean a playoff place is key to Charlton's medium-term future.


Watford

"Take the money and run". That's how I'd describe Watford's approach to competing in the Premiership. Desperately in need of cash when they came up, Watford hardly spent any of the TV bonanza they recieved for the achievement, and continued that policy even after selling Ashley Young.

Probably only Marlon King would see any real interest from other clubs, although given he's just signed a new contract I can't see any sort of player exodus at all. Waford will keep their current squad by and large, and that's why they won't come back up.

King will get goals in the Championship, and players like Priskin, Bouazza and De Merit suggest a reasonable future at Vicarage Road. On the other hand, the Championship has gotten a hell of a lot better since Watford were last in it. One of Derby and West Brom will be there, as will the likes of Southampton, Wolves and Preston, not to mention Sheffield United and Charlton, both of whom finished comfortably above Watford this season. Were there to be a radical Sunderland-style staff turnover, you could maybe see Watford doing something, armed as they are with all their intact Premiership cash.

But I see Watford continuing their 'play it safe' strategy, and they won't be outspending everyone in the division this summer. They'll have looked on promotion as a bonus, and will use the cash to safeguard their financial future for the next five years or so. Ideally they'd be hoping to make the playoffs, but I really can't see them causing many problems for the teams at the top next season. They have a team of Championship players, but not many of them would get in Wolves' side, or Southampton's.

Anything is possible with a good run, but after a season of getting beat 4-0 every week, it'll be hard for those same players to suddenly start battering teams left right & centre. Watford shouldn't struggle - their whole squad is full of good players at that level and Boothroyd always gets 100% out of them - but they won't be challenging the automatic promotion spots. Playoffs at best for the Hornets.

Sorry Elton.