Cahill set to accept 'low' Chelsea pay

  

Chelsea are hopeful of completing the deal for Bolton Wanderers' Gary Cahill today following delays over the buying club's insistence that new financial fair play regulations (FFP) mean they are prepared to pay him a relatively low – by their standards – £50,000 a week.

It has meant a longer than usual negotiation with Cahill and his agent, John Seasman, who had been taken aback by Chelsea's original offer and Andre Villas-Boas's announcement at the end of last month that the two parties were "miles apart". The club agreed a fee of around £6m with Bolton long ago but wages have taken much longer.

Chelsea regard their £50,000-a-week opening offer as the way forward. With the pressure of complying with FFP, introduced from last summer, the club told Cahill that the days of them handing out contracts in the £90,000-plus-a-week category to anything other than the biggest stars are over.
In the past, it has been the negotiations with the selling club that have proved the sticking point in Chelsea transfer sagas – such as the protracted negotiations with Lyons for Michael Essien and later Florent Malouda – but with Cahill it has been the issue of his wages.

Chelsea are not prepared to return to the days when big contracts were a matter of course even for those players who were not considered integral to the team. The club went through a big clear-out of high earners when they released the likes of Michael Ballack, Juliano Belletti, Deco and Joe Cole.


Recent additions to the squad, such as Oriol Romeu and Juan Mata, have been placed on a new, more modest pay scale, with the recognition that the club have to make inroads into the huge wage bill, £172m in the last annual accounts. Frank Lampard and John Terry – who earn around £150,000 a week – are both on deals signed in the days when the club were more willing to pay big money to keep their biggest names.

However, there is no prospect of either of those players being offered new deals at comparative rates when their current contracts expire – Lampard's in the summer of next year and Terry's a year later in 2014. The club are still battling against a perception within the game that they will hand out the kind of lucrative contracts they once did. They have also found their supremacy in the market for academy players challenged by Manchester City.

Chelsea have allowed the French winger Gaël Kakuta to go on loan at French Ligue 1 club Dijon. He has had two loan spells in the Premier League already, first with Fulham and then with Bolton, with whom he spent the first half of the season.

Daniel Sturridge is back in training after an injury that has kept him out of Chelsea's last two games against Wolves and Portsmouth. Terry said that he would be fit for Saturday's game against Sunderland, despite having hurt his knee in a collision with a goalpost.

Mancini breaks ranks to criticise Liverpool over Suarez race case

 

City manager insists Reds should have said sorry... and T-shirts were a bad idea

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini said yesterday that Liverpool should have apologized immediately for Luis Suarez's use of the word "negro" and admitted a mistake, rather than defend him by wearing T-shirts bearing his name.

Mancini became the first opposition manager to enter the treacherous territory of discussing Kenny Dalglish's conduct in the hugely controversial case which has dealt Suarez an eight-game ban and ruled him out of the two clubs' Carling Cup semi-final, with the first leg at the Etihad Stadium tonight. But he qualified his comments with an appreciation of the pressures Suarez would have faced against Manchester United on 15 October.

"Sometimes it can happen on the pitch, a situation like this," Mancini said. "It is important to apologise for what you did. Sometimes on the pitch you can do something that you don't want to do, because you are nervous, you don't think. I don't think Suarez is a racist. I think he made a mistake, probably, yes." Asked if Liverpool had made a mistake by deciding to wear T-shirts in support of Suarez last month, before the club's game at Wigan Athletic the night after FA independent regulatory commission found him guilty of abusing Patrice Evra, Mancini nodded. "Maybe, maybe this," he said.
Mancini said he had experienced similar problems with racism in his last year in Italy, in 2007-08 – a season when Mario Balotelli was racially abused by Juventus fans.

Though privately, some within Anfield now agree with Mancini's contention that a rapid, diplomatic apology for any unintentional damage done by Suarez might have prevented the escalating furore which has damaged Liverpool, his comments are unlikely to be welcomed and they may well draw opprobrium from some on Merseyside. The issue has created such unbridled tribalism that the "comment" option on some Independent website articles on the topic has been withdrawn out of necessity in recent weeks.

But Mancini has a habit of speaking on any topic put to him and he certainly demonstrated an awareness of what Suarez was up against that day, in a spat with Evra which began with the Frenchman's abusive Spanish term "concha de tu hermana" which translates as a term of abuse for a recipient's sister. Mancini said he had experienced "everything, in 20 years, everything [on a football pitch.] I didn't cry for this on the pitch because I repeat I have my opinion that on the pitch everything can happen because you don't think, because you are tired, because you are stupid, you are young, for many reasons." Asked about the worst abuse he has delivered, Mancini replied: "I said some things but not important things like racist words."

Mancini, who is likely to be without David Silva for tonight's first leg because of the Spaniard's long-standing ankle problem, was angered to learn that the Football Association had rejected his club's appeal against Vincent Kompany's four-game ban after his dismissal against Manchester United. Privately, the City manager is deeply unhappy about the post-match comments of Sir Alex Ferguson, who suggested Kompany has form for two-footed challenges, considering this an attempt to influence City's appeal.

The United response has left Mancini harbouring a desire to beat United to the title before the two Manchester clubs meet in the league at the Etihad Stadium in April. Though the City manager voiced indifference about the Carling Cup yesterday, the FA Cup defeat appears to have sharpened his desire to beat Liverpool and take a huge stride to claiming a trophy, thus striking an early blow in the struggle for supremacy with United.

He may well not go into the transfer market this month, though, with Stefan Savic and Joleon Lescott expected to hold the fort during Kolo Touré's absence at the African Cup of Nations, and provided an indication yesterday that his call for another new signing this month had not gone down well at City.
"Every time that I talk about this I have a problem... but when I said this, it is not because I want to criticise the club," he said. Mancini is likely to have Mario Balotelli back tonight, with Edin Dzeko on the bench.

 

Malouda sparks Chelsea before finishing the job

Chelsea 2 West Bromwich Albion 1: Out-of-favour Frenchman reminds Villas-Boas of his worth as Blues recover from early shock

The Chelsea faithful are not used to having to wait to anoint their new manager with a victory. Jose Mourinho, Guus Hiddink, Carlo Ancelotti had all begun their tenures here with a win. Even Luiz Felipe Scolari launched his ill-fated stay on a successful note. For Andre Villas-Boas, the latest to sit on the hottest of hot seats, it looked as if a second game would pass without the satisfaction of that winning feeling.

His defence, unnerved by the absence of goalkeeper Peter Cech, had come apart as early as the fourth minute to gift a spirited and dogged West Bromwich Albion the lead. There was good reason for the new man to patrol his technical area with a worried frown as Chelsea laboured to find a response. But it all came right in the end with a winning goal seven minutes from time.

The imminent arrival of Juan Mata from Valencia for £26 million is being tipped to shorten the Chelsea career of Florent Malouda but those in blue were more than happy for the substitute's presence as he appeared at the far post to tuck away a delightful cross from Jose Bosingwa. The Frenchman is said to be a fitful performer but he had proved his value once again.

He also spared the new manager an unwanted inquest into their failure to win either of his opening two fixtures following the stalemate at Stoke six days before. "The players suffered from anxiety and could not express themselves in the way they wanted," said Villas-Boas. "Why were they anxious? Maybe from going behind so early. We said at half-time we had to free ourselves from the anxiety they were feeling and the public were feeling and in the second half it was a great Chelsea performance."

Villas-Boas gave his compatriot Hilario the chance to fill the space vacated by the injured Cech and he was rewarded with a vital save at the death when another substitute, Peter Odemwingie, threatened to steal the headlines from Malouda. He also decided to restore Nicolas Anelka to the firing line while Didier Drogba had again to accept a place among the replacements.

Despite the late afternoon start there was bright sunshine to welcome the dawn of a new era at Stamford Bridge. Keen anticipation swirled around with the sight of these opponents pricking memories of last season's 6-0 rampage here by Ancelotti's army on the campaign's first day.

It didn't take long for deflation to take over from expectation. Hilario got a taste of what he was letting himself in for when he was forced to come to the edge of his area to head the ball away as Shane Long bore down with menace. It wasa desperate measure and a harbinger of a casual start by last season's runners-up that would become even more apparent 60 seconds later.

A square pass from Bosingwa was maybe not the brightest thing he has ever produced on a football field but it still should not have caused Alex problems. The Brazilian got his feet in a tangle and that was enough to encourage a predator of Long's calibre, West Bromwich's new £6m man robbing him with ease before slipping the ball beyond Hilario with the minimum of fuss.

It might have got worse in the 25th minute as Chelsea toiled against opponents who advertise splendidly Roy Hodgson's commitment to hard work and good organisation. Long burned off John Terry in the chase for a flighted ball and rolled a pass across the area to where Somen Tchoyi was waiting to apply a decisive touch. Sadly for the visitors, Long's pass was applied a tad too heavily and the home side escaped.

They departed to boos at the interval but at least signs had emerged that it was starting to come together. Malouda had replaced Salomon Kalou and improvement was almost instant as Ashley Cole drew a flying save from Ben Foster who was grateful to hang on to the firmly-hit drive.

The interval discussion worked wonders. Chelsea dominated proceedings after that although it was not the work of Fernando Torres who departed after an hour to make way for Drogba and they could never count on Albion's compliance with Tchoyi a powerful sidekick for Long. When Frank Lampard went down there were strong appeals for a penalty but Anelka played on, opting to go outside his immediate opponent before angling the ball across Foster and into the far corner.

Albion responded as if affronted by the turn of events. Paul Scharner climbed impressively but nodded into the crowd. Anelka forced a fine save and Malouda was unable to follow up. The game – and Chelsea – had found a better rhythm now but the home team were still indebted to Hilario as Tchoyi took aim for the left-hand corner.

Chelsea pressed and pressed, Drogba first failing to find the target and then seeing a cross run away from him before Lampard demanded a fine stop with his legs from Foster. Then Bosingwa darted between two defenders to deliver an immaculate low cross to the far post where Malouda awaited to apply the decisive finish. For the second weekend in succession Hodgson and his team were left feeling hard done by. "We made two errors down the left to let them in and the better the opposition, the more they will punish you," he said.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Hilario; Bosingwa, Alex (Ivanovic, 66), Terry, Cole; Mikel, Ramires, Lampard; Anelka, Torres (Drogba, 59), Kalou (Malouda, 35).

West Bromwich Albion (4-4-2): Foster; Reid, Tamas, Olsson, Shorey; Brunt, Mulumbu (Dorrans, 87), Scharner, Morrison; Long, Tchoyi (Odemwingie, 75).

Referee Lee Mason.

Man of the match Anelka (Chelsea)

Match rating 7/10

Frimpong red card exposes cracks as Arsenal fall apart

Arsenal 0 Liverpool 2: Pressure builds on Wenger to spend after Suarez's brilliant Liverpool cameo

"You can spend money and have a bad team," Arsène Wenger insisted after walking off here with Arsenal supporters again urging him to invest. They are entitled to respond that in this day and Premier League age, refusing almost perversely not to spend significant sums is a more certain route to finishing with a bad team.

The two Manchester clubs, Liverpool and to a lesser extent Chelsea, have strengthened significantly this summer, which is why on the admittedly brief evidence to date they look the most likely teams to inhabit the top four positions. Certainly nobody among the 60,000-plus observers here yesterday would have rushed to the bookmakers to bet on Wenger's team finishing above Liverpool.

The home team were on top only for a briefly brighter period on either side of half-time, which darkened, like the sky, with a second red card in as many games. After Gervinho's dismissal in the goalless draw at Newcastle last week, the powerful young midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong went for a second yellow card, Liverpool's two goals following in the final 20 minutes.

If the first was an own goal that might have been disallowed for offside, there was still not sufficient justification for Wenger to claim: "The result was very harsh on us."

The manner of that goal and the number of injuries – six before yesterday and now Laurent Koscielny too – was unfortunate, but losing three players for disciplinary reasons is less forgivable. Now Thomas Vermaelen, who was excellent, is the only fit senior centre-back ahead of a critical week comprising visits to Udinese in the Champions' League play-off and then Old Trafford. Defeat in Manchester and Arsenal will be embarrassingly close to the bottom of the table.

Liverpool also had a disappointing start in fading away for a home draw with Sunderland but they are a vastly different team to the one Roy Hodgson was forced to leave in January, not least because of the reinforcements Kenny Dalglish has acquired. Even without Steven Gerrard, he could afford to leave Luis Suarez and Raul Meireles kicking their heels until the last 19 minutes. "They're a helluva good pair of subs to bring on, which is a great example of how strong the squad is," the manager said.

Suarez, who replaced Andy Carroll, was intimately involved in both goals. After forcing a good save from Wojciech Szczesny within two minutes of arriving, he was allowed to play on in the penalty area when fractionally offside and hassled Koscielny's replacement Ignasi Miquel on his Premier League debut into hitting the ball against Aaron Ramsey, from where it bounced past a helpless goalkeeper.

Arsenal by that point had required only one save in each half from Pepe Reina, the first diverting Frimpong's low shot for a corner after a driving run and the second with his foot after the ineffectual Andrey Arshavin had got away with a blatant push before setting up Robin van Persie.

Nicklas Bendtner came on for Arsenal's other anonymous wide player, Theo Walcott, but in the 90th minute Lucas Leiva and Meireles split the defence to give Suarez a tap-in. That confirmed Liverpool's first win away against Arsenal since February 2000, which had looked on the cards at least since Frimpong's dismissal.

The Ghanaian received one card for preventing Liverpool from taking a throw-in and a second was always a possibility given his fierce tackling; his immediate apology for catching Lucas with a raised foot indicated his guilt.

His suspension from the United game will leave Arsenal even shorter in midfield, where they are already lacking Jack Wilshere, Alex Song, Abou Diaby, Tomas Rosicky and, of course, a certain Cesc Fabregas. The suggestion that Samir Nasri could be staying was the only good news all day for Arsenal. If he does remain then at full strength Arsenal will still be competitive, but the short-term problems in midfield and defence must surely prompt Wenger into strengthening now.

Liverpool in contrast have done their business and done it well. If Charlie Adam's set-pieces were less threatening than usual, and Carroll produced little more than one fine header, Jordan Henderson looked happier in the centre of midfield than out wide last week, Stewart Downing did well on the left and Jose Enrique behind him was outstanding in subduing Walcott.

Now Nasri might stay to help fight

A week after Manchester City expected to complete the signing of Samir Nasri, the Frenchman remains an Arsenal player with the prospect of him staying on rising by the day. Midway though this match, Canal+ reported that negotiations between his representatives and City's had broken down. Afterwards, Arsène Wenger was asked if this was the case.

"I don't know," replied the Arsenal manager. Wenger added: "I have already said I try to keep Nasri and I have never changed my mind. He loves the club and he wants to stay here. If we decided to sell him, we would have to live with that."

That may have been a coded message upstairs, for the decision to permit Nasri to negotiate with City is understood to have been taken by a board reluctant to turn down £23m for a player who is out of contract in June. That makes financial logic, but not, with the departure of Cesc Fabregas, football sense. Nasri may not be the roll-up-your-sleeves type of leader Arsenal need but, with his quick thinking and fast feet, he could fill the cavernous hole Fabregas has left in attacking central midfield.

One astute observer wrote yesterday that Fabregas has been the best midfielder in the Premier League's 20 seasons, that he played chess against opponents who played draughts. Nasri is not in that class, but a player who was once heralded as the "new Zidane" in his native land must surely be tempted by the prospect of playing the No 10 role for Arsenal this season.

With Manchester City's attacking riches, that role may not be available at Eastlands. Nasri is understood to have told close friends that he does not want to move to City despite the offer of a salary of around a quarter of a million pounds a week.

Yesterday, Nasri was given reasons both to stay and leave. Arsenal's support had criticised him at Newcastle last week but yesterday they got behind him. At the end, having booed the result, they and Nasri exchanged applause.

Any warm glow Nasri may experience from this is likely to be overwhelmed by the cold reality that, if he stays at Arsenal, it could be a year of marking time as his contract runs down. Talk of Arsenal being in crisis is hyperbolic. Around 85 other League clubs would readily swap positions. The club is on a sound financial footing with an astute manager and a flourishing youth system. However, it does appear to be in a state of flux with a squad that lacks depth and leadership.

By the end of the month, the height of ambition could be the Europa League.

When the teams were announced, Nasri's name drew a mix of boos and cheers, but by the fourth minute he was warmly applauded as he went to take a corner. He was later clapped even when a long pass failed to reach Robin van Persie.

Then, nine minutes before the break, his name was sung after he collected the ball in own half, drove past Lucas Leiva and Daniel Agger, then shot just wide. In the second period, as Liverpool's control grew, he was less prominent and, like his team-mates, his head appeared to go down after Liverpool took the lead. Twice he let Raul Meireles run off him and the second time was crucial as the Portuguese squared for Luis Suarez to seal Liverpool's win.

The question now is whether, if Nasri is still at Arsenal, Wenger will pick him at Udinese. With their Champions' League prospects perilously placed, Arsenal need him, but it will render him ineligible for anyone else in Europe and slash his value. Wenger said: "I picked him today, which surprised everyone. I don't know if I will pick him on Wednesday."

Liverpool for the title? With Charlie about, I Adam and Eve it

I jumped off my seat when I saw Charlie Adam swing in the free-kick from which Luis Suarez scored Liverpool's first Premier League goal of the season, against Sunderland on the first day. I will be following Charlie's progress closely as the campaign goes on, because I feel proud to have played a part, however small, in that lad's career.

It was a bit weird last season, because he wanted to leave Blackpool for Liverpool in the January transfer window and it didn't happen. With hindsight, should we have sold him then? What's done is done and there's no point going over it.

The only regret I do have is that we didn't offer him – and several other lads – big, improved contracts as soon as we won promotion to the top flight. But to do that you have to be 100 per cent convinced you are going to survive. My chairman at Blackpool probably wasn't, and quite rightly didn't want to risk getting lumbered with a huge wage bill if we came back down to the Championship.

But I have nothing but admiration for Charlie. Even though he wanted to leave, from January onwards every time he put a shirt on for Blackpool he tried as hard as he could and that is all I can ask.

The difficult thing for me is that I've got to fill the void left by his departure, which is ridiculously tough. I could search the world for the next five years and not find anyone who passes a ball the way he does.

He was a big fish in a small pond with us. Now he's a tiny fish in a massive reservoir but he will learn how to deal with that. It is a big step up but I think he can do it and be a success.

Depending on the way Kenny Dalglish chooses to play, Liverpool are going to have one hell of a frightening line-up this season. When Steven Gerrard is fit and they have him, Charlie and Lucas Leiva in the middle... well, good luck to any opposing team trying to stop that lot. There is so much creativity and goals in those three alone that it doesn't bode well for the rest of the Premier League.

Wenger is a wonder

I'm not saying that Arsène Wenger should be exempt from criticism but most of the potshots that are being aimed in his direction at the moment are absolutely ridiculous.

As a manager you expect to take some stick. But I swear people love to jump on a bandwagon and that is what has happened here. Wenger's record walks before him and, to me, he is a genius.

I do think it has become more and more difficult over the years to run Arsenal, to make money and build a stadium, a training ground and different teams. He had so much success early on.

Have they ever replaced Dennis Bergkamp? Robin van Persie was probably meant to do that but he's had a lot of injuries. That's just what happens in football. Cesc Fabregas really wanted to go to Barcelona.

You can't stop that. Emmanuel Adebayor wanted to leave. Arsenal don't pay the biggest wages but that is because they run their club correctly. Is that wrong? To me, it's just sensible.

Arsenal have benefited so much from having Arsène so I'd say to the fans, "Just trust the man." He is a fantastic character and a great judge of a player and I don't want to see any pressure put on him because he just doesn't deserve it.

If it does continue and the worst happens, he could choose almost any other club in the world. I'd be very wary of that if I was a Gunners supporter.