Jake Lane gives his views on a Tottenham Hotspur, QPR, Newcastle United, and former Manchester United star who are in the news this week.
Barton
It has been reported that Queens Park Rangers are looking to send their controversial former captain Joey Barton out on loan to a lower league club in order to get him back playing sooner – the lower league fixtures start earlier and consist of more games, meaning the twelve games Barton is banned for would come and go much sooner.
In the last couple of days, it was announced the former Manchester City midfielder, who was sent off against the same club on the last day of last season after an off-the-ball clash with Carlos Tevez, a clash which was followed by two further incidents involving Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero, is to train with Fleetwood Town in order to keep up his fitness levels but it seems likely that this arrangement could now evolve into a loan move for the 29-year old who has also been linked with other lower league outfits such as Sheffield Wednesday.
In May, when bad-boy Joey received his 12 match ban, he was also fined £75,000 by the Football Association. Since then he has been stripped of the QPR captaincy, leaving many believing that he will never play for the club again.
When a footballer or sportsperson from any field is given a ban, the individual or club he or she represents should not be allowed to do anything in order to shorten the punishment. With the differing fixture systems in football though, this makes it slightly easier for clubs to manipulate return dates. A player who is banned should not be allowed to move to a club whose fixture pattern differs from that of the club they represented when they received the ban – surely something should be done by the FA, otherwise how will players like Barton ever learn?
Whatever happens with Joey Barton, he will be 30 years of age when he returns to action – time to grow up Joey?
Bale
In the early hours of this morning, Gareth Bale played and SCORED for Tottenham Hotspur in their friendly 1-1 draw against LA Galaxy in the Home Depot Center. Tomorrow Team GB Men’s Football Team start their Olympic campaign against Senegal, a competition which for months Bale was a certainty to feature.
The 23-year old however, had to pull out due to a back injury but has suffered no recurrence of this and not even after the eleven hour flight to LA. Bale displayed phenomenal energy levels against the Galaxy and former team-mate Robbie Keane and capped his man-of-the-match performance with a headed goal after only 18 minutes, made by Spurs new-boy Gylfi Sigurdsson.
The Welshman was caught napping for LA’s equaliser but he continued to show no signs of the back injury he said would prevent him missing the start of the Premier League season if he played at the Olympics and received a standing ovation from the 27,000 crowd before being replaced by David Bentley after 73 minutes.
Andre Villas-Boas admitted that it was indeed a bit of a risk to play Bale and you can forgive Team GB Coach Stuart Pearce for being a little angry at the Portuguese’s gamble but also at Gareth Bale himself and his attitude towards the Olympic tournament. The opportunity to represent Great Britain at the games is one which will deliver great and useful experience for young players such as Bale was somehow this chance was not seen as a very special one by Gareth and one must question his ambition.
Ba
Demba Ba has continuously been linked with a move away from St. James’ Park (I will never call it the Sports Direct Arena) this summer and this would see the break-up of the blossoming partnership if him and his Senegalese team-mate, Papiss Cisse.
From the beginning of last season up until February, for Newcastle United it was all about the goals of Ba – he scored 16 before Cisse arrived and took over the goal-scoring mantle. Although, Ba’s goals dried up as Cisse flourished from week to week, the two were still playing well together and developing the understanding they already had from their international partnership.
Rubin Kazan are said to have made a £7 million bid for the Magpies striker which if true would trigger the player’s release clause – a clause which expires in six days. Newcastle United must not let Ba leave however, as a fresh start for him this season should see him return to the goal-scoring form he showed at the beginning of last season and therefore finish with double the tally. And remember Cisse was only with the Geordies for half a season so you can double his tally also – giving Newcastle a potential 58 goals from the front-men!
Beckham
To finish, a word on David Beckham’s involvement in the opening ceremony for London 2012.
Much was said in the aftermath of Beckham’s exclusion from the Team GB Football Team – many said that he should of picked purely because of the work he put into the bid. That is not true, all players and athletes should be picked on their ability alone and for their likely-hood of winning a medal for their country. That said, David Beckham is still one of the best midfielders in the world and should have been included.
Becks revealed yesterday that he would have a part to play in the opening ceremony and given that he has been such an ambassador for football and sport in general for many a year now, this is fully deserved – well-done David!
Beckham confirmed that he would NOT be lighting the Olympic cauldron though. Who do you think should get the honour? Steve Redgrave gets my vote.
image: © andybrannan
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