Manager Sack Index: Steve Bruce bites the dust. AVB checks into top 5

As Footybozz predicted on Monday , Steve Bruce met his waterloo today as Sunderland's Manager. With Bruce's exit, we are re-shuffling the deck and introducing our latest entry into the sack lottery.

#1. Owen Coyle

With Steve Bruce's demise, Owen Coyle moves into the number 1 spot. Oddly, the odds (no pun intended) should have been in favor of Steve Kean, but we think he may survive Swansea visiting this weekend, while Owen Coyle will not avoid defeat to Tottenham.

#2. Steve Kean

Nonetheless, we still have Steve featured as a close second. Kean claimed his team 'sacrificed' their Carling Cup game to Cardiff City (they lost 0-2), to focus on the Swansea game. He considers Swansea a winnable  game to help them off the bottom of the table. If this gamble fails, Kean's out the next day.

#3. Mick McCarthy

Mick's Wolves plays manager-less Sunderland next. That piles more pressure on Mick than when Bruce was still around. If he doesn't get maximum points, he may not get another chance.

#4. Andres Villa Boas
Surprise, surprise. AVB seemed pretty secure after a 3-0 victory against Wolves last weekend. However, after losing to Liverpool in the Carling Cup quarter finals yesterday at Stamford Bridge (2nd loss to the same team in 10 days), he's back on the hot seat. What really makes AVB's sack imminent is the fact that he has lost all games against top teams - 1-3 to Man Utd, 3-5 to Arsenal, 1-2 & 0-2 to Liverpool. Also, Guus Hiddick and Rafa Benitez are available. I added Rafa because he is probably the only Manager that can revive Fernando Torres from his coma.

#5. Roberto Martinez

With Wigan second to last on the table, you would have expected Martinez to be up there with Steve Kean and Steve Bruce. However, he showed great loyalty to the Wigan owners when he turned down an opportunity to join Aston Villa in the off-season. The owners will show great loyalty by giving him some more weeks till the end of the year, to improve.

New: The Manager Sack Index

The first 15 games of the Premier League is usually critical for Managers to establish themselves as deserving of the position. 


The next four games leading to the end of the first half of the season is typically reserved for evaluating team performances and determining next line of action. That means to either maintain current course or to fire the Manager. In most cases, lagging teams choose the latter. 


With that background in mind, I would like to introduce The Manager Sack Index. Every week, Footy Bozz will evaluate the 'heat index' of Managers likely to be fired, and rank the top 5 in the order of who is most likely to go first.


Let's begin!


#1. Steve Bruce
No surprise here. His team is currently ranked 16th on the table, and play Wolverhampton Wanderers away next week. Wolves are right behind Sunderland in 17th place, and would fancy their chances after the no-show against Chelsea in Stamford Bridge. 


Wolves Manager, Mick McCarthy is known to focus maximum effort on 'winnable' games, and he would have prepared his team to go all out and get 3 points from this fixture. Sunderland would drop into the relegation zone should they lose to Wolves. 

For a team that invested in close to 11 new players (some of whom are retirees from Man United) at the start of the season, that is unacceptable.


Besides, his showdown talks with Sunderland Chiefs in the next few days may well determine his fate.


Another reason why Steve Bruce will be gone before Christmas? Martin O'Neil is available.


#2. Steve Kean
Word got around recently that Steve Kean had signed a new contract. Don't be fooled. Since taking over from Big Sam last year, Kean's men have managed only 5 wins in over 30 games. 


If that's not telling enough, Blackburn fans are investing a lot of money in creative communications to get him fired. After being banned from carrying placards calling for Steve's head into the home venue, fans have proceeded to rent airplanes to fly over the stadium on match days with their message. 

Surely, he should be #1 on the list, right? The only reason he is #2 is because he may survive next week with Swansea coming into town. Swansea has challenges away from home, and Blackburn's experienced players may capitalize.


Nonetheless, Steve Kean has been hanging on a thread since the start of the season. The weigh under the thread is getting heavier. 


#3. Owen Coyle
Based on style and managerial acumen, Owen Coyle shouldn't be near this list. He's one of the few 'Mentor-Managers' left in the game. Players love playing for him because he's patient in his approach and they learn from the experience of playing in his team. 

Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Danny Welbeck (Man United) and Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea), are all players that sharpened their skills under Coyle and moved on to be stars in top teams this season. 


Sadly, the results have not been forthcoming due to a chronic injury problem in his squad. He won't get the results this weekend either, as his team travels to face red hot Tottenham at White Hart Lane.


#4. Mick McCarthy
For Mick it's simple - win Sunderland and Steve Bruce goes. Lose, and the pressure to fire him is back on. 1+1 = 2.

#5. Roberto Martinez
With Wigan second to last on the table, you would have expected Martinez to be up there with Steve Kean and Steve Bruce. However, he showed great loyalty to the Wigan owners when he turned down an opportunity to join Aston Villa in the off-season. The owners will show great loyalty by giving him some more weeks till the end of the year, to improve.

Transfer Rumors: Liverpool lining up move for Barca ace David Villa (Metro via Liverpool.com)

Liverpool are trying to prise Spanish World Cup winner David Villa away from Barcelona, after he found his place under threat at the Nou Camp.

The former Valencia striker was first targeted by the Reds in the summer of 2010, but he instead opted to move to the Catalan giants.

However, he has recently found he is no longer an automatic pick by coach Pep Guardiola and could look elsewhere for more first-team opportunities.

The Sunday People has suggested that will mean a reconsideration of the Anfield club, now managed by Kenny Dalglish, who would like to add the forward to their attacking options.

Villa will only move to a club in the Champions League, so any signing will depend on Liverpool securing a top four spot during the current campaign.

It is thought the Reds will have to find approximately £40 million to tempt Barcelona into selling a player who has been a regular goalscorer for club and country in the last two seasons.

But Guardiola's determination to field new signings Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez, as well as handing more opportunities to Pedro alongside talisman Lionel Messi, has seen Villa drop down the pecking order at the Nou Camp.

Source: Metro

City rebel Tevez must pass psychological tests before Milan will discuss £25m deal (Dailymail.com)

AC Milan want Carlos Tevez to undergo rigorous psychological tests at the Milan Lab, their scientific centre, before they are prepared to do a £25million deal.

The Italians believe a player's state of mind is all-important because it has a direct effect on physical fitness and performance. And Milan want to be totally sure Manchester City striker Tevez - who refused to warm up before the Champions League tie at Bayern Munich and then failed to return to the club after going back to his native Argentina - is psychologically fit.

A Milan insider said: 'We all know Carlos is a great player, but the psycho-physical aspects of training are very important here.

'When we have focused on psychological factors, then we can be confident that the physical side - structural and bio-chemical aspects - will come good, too.

'He hasn't played for a while and in order to minimise the risk of injury his mind must be right.'

The Tevez camp are prepared to go along with the mind games at the Milan Lab before sealing the deal in January.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2066667/City-rebel-Tevez-pass-psychological-tests-Milan-discuss-25m-deal.html#ixzz1eyFuPe00


My only comment: If this is the same test that Robinho, Kevin Prince, Cassano and Ibra passed, then he is in good shape to pass with flying colors.


AC Milan does seem like they are really searching for Gatuso's mad dog replacement, don't they?

Transfer Rumors: Liverpool-consider-15 million pounds-manchester-city-swoop for Adebayor (Daily Mail.com)

Liverpool will reportedly look to lure Man City striker Emmanuel Adebayor to Anfield next summer as Kenny Dalglish looks to add to his attacking options. The Togo international is currently on a season long loan deal at Tottenham and is likely to be offloaded by Roberto Mancini on a permanent basis as the Italian has more than enough strikers in his Etihad Stadium squad.

27 year old former Arsenal man Adebayor had a decent first season at Man City following his £25m move from North London but the arrival of Mancini appeared to curtail the striker’s career at the club and last term he was loaned out to Real Madrid where he was a fairly effective attacking weapon when Jose Mourinho called upon his services.

The signings of Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero effectively put an end to Adebayor’s career at City and the powerfully built striker has done well since his move to Tottenham, notching up five goals and three assists in nine matches at White Hart Lane. However it has been reported that a permanent move to the club could falter due to the asking price and the player’s wage demands and now Liverpool are considering making an offer.

In January Dalglish brought in Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll but the pair have failed to gel into an effective strike partnership and now it seems Liverpool are looking to bring in further options to boost their firepower. Thus far this season the Merseyside club have managed just 16 goals in 12 matches.

Carroll has managed just two goals in 11 Premier League appearances this season and given that Liverpool do not possess much in the way of alternative attacking options, with both Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt being primarily used in wide areas and David N’Gog being sold to Bolton.

Man City are thought to be holding out for a fee in the region of £15m for Adebayor and Liverpool’s hopes of bagging the consistent marksman will be assisted if they can secure a top four finish and Champions League qualification

Eduardo-da-Silva-facing-financial-meltdown (Daily Mail.com)

Former Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva faces having his house and car seized in Croatia over a legal dispute with his former agent.

The Brazil-born forward has until the end of the month to prevent a court order in Zagreb from also freezing his bank account.

Zdravko Mamic, who is also the executive vice-president of Eduardo’s 

former club Dinamo Zagreb, is suing the 28-year-old for £630,000 - which could rise to more than £900,000 with interest - over an agreement signed in 2001.

Mamic claims he is entitled to 20 per cent of the player’s earnings but has not received payment since Eduardo moved from Dinamo to Arsenal in 2007.

Eduardo claims the agreement is not valid, in part because he did not understand Croatian when he signed the contract with Mamic on his 18th birthday.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2066940/Eduardo-da-Silva-facing-financial-meltdown.html#ixzz1eyCAGdnC

Hodgson talking out of both sides of his mouth

Roy Hodgson claims he does not believe that Peter Odemwingie has exaggerated the extent of his knee injury just days after criticising the striker.

The West Brom manager claimed earlier this week that the club had so far got "nothing" out of Odemwingie.

He also added that he was "difficult to work out" prompting the striker to take to Twitter to reveal a photo of the injury.

"If I thought he was malingering I would say so," said Hodgson.

"Interpretations are interpretations.

"It's been frustrating for us, having one of your best players out for a long period of time.

"We've been encouraged to think he'll be back a little bit earlier and of course that is also frustrating when it doesn't come off.

The Nigerian international has been out of action for a month with a knee injury and the photograph posted on Twitter revealed "an edema (accumulation of fluid) still present after 3 & a half weeks."

Despite Odemwingie taking to social media to vent his apparent frustration though Hodgson refused to be drawn on any problems between the pair.

"I wasn't even aware of it (Odemwingie's response on Twitter)- that's how much it has affected my idea of our relationship," he said.

"But I haven't put anything on social networking sites so you'll have to ask him if it's damaged his perception of our relationship.

"I think he's a very good player and I'm pleased to have him back."

The striker is set to return to action on Saturday when West Brom face Tottenham at the Hawthorns.

Hodgson has a history of feeding on his own players and fans to no positive effect. He tried this at Liverpool with Glen Johnson, Torres and the Kop.

He only got himself sacked 'the next morning', as management succumbed to the chanting songs of the Kop supporters to get Hodgson a taxi out of Anfield.

He may find himself in familiar territory again at West Brom if he doesn't start winning games instead of looking for a player to blame.

Taxi!

Football team in Togo involved in fatal bus crash (BBC News)

Six people died when a bus carrying a Togolese football team plunged into a ravine and caught fire.

The accident happened 100 miles (160km) north of the capital, Lome, as the Etoile Filante [Shooting Star] team was travelling to a match.

In addition to the six technical staff who were killed, 25 people were admitted to hospital with serious injuries or severe burns.

Among those killed was former Togo national goalkeeper Charles Balogoun.

Rest in peace to all who lost their lives.

Man City survive Reds onslaught: Liverpool 1 Manchester City 1

Manchester City maintained their unbeaten record after a high tempo octane game at Anfield. The league leaders came out swinging, determine to add Liverpool's scalp to their ever growing collection of emphatic away victories.


A similar attacking style had delivered 'playstation'-type scores at White Hart Lane (5-1 against Spurs) and Old Trafford (6-1 against the Red Devils). Surely, Anfield should be no different. 


And indeed it wasn't, as the light blue touch was lit in Anfield after 31 minutes by a Vincent Kompany header/shoulder from a David Silva corner kick.The first 15 minutes of the game had looked like it may be a cake walk for the visitors. But Liverpool slowly grew with the game, and had cause to be disappointed with Kompany's opening goal.


Whatever disappointment the Reds felt was short-lived as Charlie Adam's shot was deflected into the City goal by Lescott less than two minutes after the opening goal. With the game level, the Reds smelt blood and put together a quick attacking wave that should have produced the go-ahead goal, but denied by Joe Hart's quick reflexes. City also came close in the first half stoppage time with Aguero drawing a good save from Pepe Reina in Liverpool's goal.


Man City again started the second stanza much brighter than the Reds, causing the Liverpool defense to panic and make some hair rising back passes to Reina. As the game wore on, Man City's magic began to fade and the Reds grew stronger with every possession and foray forward.


Balotelli's introduction in the 65th minute was nothing but a disaster, as he proceeded to press the self-destruct button and get ejected from the game after 17 minutes. Before then, the Reds had City on the ropes, as they totally took control of the midfield from Toure and Silva.


Dalglish sensing a possible win with Man City reduced to 10 men, sent in Andy Carroll in the 85th minute. From then on, it was all about Joe Hart's amazing save after save of shots from Suarez, Carroll and Downing. In the end the one-man-show of Joe Hart prevailed and delivered a hard fought point to Mancini.


For once this season, it was refreshing to watch Man City sweat for a single point, but a disappointment Liverpool did not get the victory they truly deserved.


If you didn't watch this game live, it's worth watching the replay despite the score line. End to end stuff!


Premier League rules!

Premiership Tidbits

Robin Van Persie
Without doubt the hottest and best player in the Premier League this season. After Henry departed four years ago for Barcelona, Gunners fans thought him irreplaceable. RVP is challenging that thought process. If he continues in this same pace till the end of the season, I would agree that he has attained a similar cult  following.


Emmanuel Adebayor
Arguably the transfer (loan) of the season. Manu has transform Tottenham into a top four and league title contender. Since his arrival, post the 1-5 drubbing at the hands of Manchester City, Tottenham has won 8 league matches in 9 games. Save for a Shola Ameobi late equalizer in a 2-2 draw with Newcastle, Spurs would have been a perfect 9 for 9. In fact, he's been so good that Arsene Wenger thinks it's unfair that he gets to play and score against other teams except Man City. He should have thought of that when he sold him to Man City for millions more than AC Milan was hoping to pay. Put a sock in it, Wenger!


Luis Suarez
Love this guy to death for what he does on the field. He represents everything Liverpool fans want to see in their players - fighting spirit. As more details emerge on his FA charge, I'm forced to admit that El Pistolero was wrong in his row with Patrice Evra. Regardless of if he thought what he called Evra was 'safe' enough to be harmless, it certainly wasn't said out of love for Evra. Therefore, it should rightly be perceived as condescending with racial undertones. He should apologize and will most likely get a 6 match ban.


John Terry
Like Suarez, Terry is a warrior adored by Chelsea fans. Like Suarez, he too was wrong. What he said to Anton Ferdinand  could not have been complimentary either. He should get equal treatment to whatever punishment is dished out to Suarez. Failure to do so would put the English FA in quite an odd spot.


Sepp Blatter
He's a d*ck, and an old one at that. Whoever thinks racism can be cured with a post-match handshake needs a doctor checking his vital signs. Condescending pr*ck!


Carlos Tevez
Brilliant on the pitch, brainless off the pitch. Tevez is a confused illiterate who can't handle being rich. He seemed better off when he was poor and hungry for the game. Stripping  him of all the wealth and banning him from the game should ensure he is on the path to poverty and happiness once more.


Mario Balotelli
Italian fruitcake.


Adel Taarabt
Another fruitcake, but less talented than Super Mario. Brain dead.

Liverpool knocks down Chelsea bridge: Chelsea 1 Liverpool 2

If Arsenal cracked the Chelsea bridge a few weeks ago, Liverpool certainly knocked it down on Sunday.


Are the blues down and out? Absolutely not. But they do need one h*ll of a rebound to reassure fans and owners of their legitimate claim to the title challenge. But how did they lose this game? Let's break down the match-ups to give you an idea of what went wrong at the bridge -


Lineup - Chelsea 
Not having ex-Liverpool players in the starting 11 was a big mistake on AVB's part. Abramovich bought Torres for one reason and one reason alone - watching him play. He did not make a 50 Million Pounds investment only to watch him play for the last 8 minutes. Besides, Torres has endured an on-going battle with Liverpool fans who felt he disrespected the club by running to Chelsea. The one opportunity he had to shut people like me up was denied him. Raul Merieles departure from Liverpool to Chelsea a few months ago was also ugly. He was also denied a chance to express himself against his old club.


Lineup - Liverpool
Credit to Kenny for dropping Stewart Downing, Andy Carroll and Jordan Henderson to the bench. Kenny recognized that this game required a different set of personnel - a more experienced crew who would not throw caution to the wind, but still dangerous enough to capitalize on Chelsea's mistakes.


Defenders - Chelsea
David Luis - Not a big game defender. Better suited for smaller teams, where he can marauder forward and not be caught with his pants down.
John Terry - His lack of pace is really catching up with him. He needs a reliable co-central defender to elevate his game back to International levels (where he enjoys more reliable partnerships). Alex should have been the choice to partner Terry in a big game like this.
Branislav Ivanovic - Had a much better game than his defensive colleagues. Handled the pressure of containing Maxi (despite the goal), and eventually rendered him useless.
Ashley Cole - Really struggled against Glen Johnson's runs. Was at fault for the winning goal by Glen Johnson


Defenders - Liverpool
Jose Enrique - caged Juan Mata all afternoon.
Glen Johnson - struggled defensively dealing with Chelsea's runs on the left wing, especially Malouda's run for the Chelsea equalizer. Glen made up for his defensive lapses with his forays into the Chelsea half, one of which resulted in the winning goal.
Skrtel & Agger - Solid pair. Had a few lapses, but were bailed out by an agile Pepe Reina in goal


Midfield
Surprisingly, Liverpool won this battle with Lucas, Adam, Maxi and Kuyt crowding the middle and not letting Lampard, Ramires and Mikel find any room. in a 4-3-3 formation, they were out numbered by Kenny's men. Adam in particular frustrated Ramires, hustled and robbed Mikel of the ball to create the goal. Lucas was a professional nuisance, ensuring that he got in irritating tackles on Chelsea's attempts to create. Lampard was missing in action. He's most prominent appearance was when he and Terry tried to double team Bellamy in a verbal fight. I don't know why anyone would want to tangle with Bellamy. I'll take him in a fight against Terry and Lampard any day!


Attack 
Kenny's strategy to use quick feet, experienced crew of Bellamy, Suarez, Kuyt and Maxi worked in the first half. In the second half, Suarez still maintained a dangerous presence despite's Chelsea's domination of the period.


Villa Boas on the other hand held on to Drogba for too long. Should have deplored Juan Mata in an attacking midfield role to support Torres vs. playing him wide to make room for an aging Lampard. Sturridge is still a selfish player and that could ruin his special talents in future. Super sub Solomon Kalou was missed


Where does Andres Villa Boas go from here?


He needs to get Torres back in the lineup pairing Sturridge. Play Mata, Merieles, Ramires and Mikel holding in the midfield. Yes, bench Lampard. Don't play David Luis against the big clubs, he's not ready yet.


BTW, AVB should stop saying it's too expensive to fire him. Abramovic doesn't give a sh*t about money! Also stop calling Phil Neville stupid for calling David Luis style 'Playstation' football. While we agree with the Liverpool-hater on his Luis comments, we already knew he was stupid!

Magpies Rising: Newcastle 2 Everton 1

Just got done watching Newcastle move into 2nd place on the league team ahead of Manchester United (pending Manchester United's game against Sunderland later today).


Now it wasn't pretty, but three points is three points. The Magpies have done this simply by sealing up the back. They are tied with Manchester City for the best defense in the league, conceding only 8 goals in 11 games. They've also been very lucky, avoiding a penalty call against them in the second half of the Everton game.


Nonetheless, Alan Pardew will take it. A year and half after resurrecting from the Championship league, Newcastle United are rubbing shoulders with the biggest and best in the English Premier league. 


Owner Mike Ashley is looking like a genius everyday with some shroud business deals. Revenues jumped with Andy Carroll departure for Liverpool for a record 35 million Pounds. Ashley also got rid of expensive players like Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan without spending much in the transfer market. It also doesn't hurt that they have the third largest capacity stadium (50,000+ seating) behind Man United and Arsenal.


Well done Mike.