Olympic Football- Mens so far

Well team GB has made it to the quarter finals playing a balance possession liking team. Allen has been a star so far and looks god for his £15million price tag. Brendan Rodgers credentials have gone up as a result of this tournament i think with the strong Swansea contingent playing well, i.e. it looks good for Liverpool this season. Team GB face South Korea in the next round and this could be a tight one, with a traditionally strong South Korea facing an ever improving GB. I can see Team GB making it to the final even if they face Brazil as they grow as a team. I think if Team GB can keep possession they can be much improved than in their warm up game against the favorites Brazil; however, it does seem hard to look beyond Brazil with Oscar, Lucas and Neymar all putting in great performances so far and Pato has found his finishing boots as well. 

Terry racism row vs Barton ban

If John Terry is found guilty of of the charges brought against him for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand at the end of the week, it is my opinion that he should never be allowed to play football again (I have the same opinion of Luis Suarez). Racism is not taken seriously in football, while banter and wind ups on the field are part and parcell of the game, bringing the colour of someones skin into it is never acceptable. I think a good example to take is the recent Euros where Nikolas Bendtner was charged more money for showing his paddy power boxers than any of the FAs fines for racial abuse by thier fans! Another example is how Joey Barton, while i dont condone his actions has been given a longer ban and bigger fines than Luis Suarez who first racially abused Patice Evra and then refused to shake his hand, he should in my opinion be locked up, let alone play football. Joey Barton's 12 game ban seems over the top in comparison, as I am sure both incidents (Terry's and Barton's) where the result of a simular ethos of jibes and wind ups; however, Bartons while it being violent did not stoop to the level of Terry's or Suarez's. And as I am sure we are all aware racism can be far more hurtful than any kind of physical abuse. 

Therefore if Terry is found guilty he should be banned from football indefinatly, or banned for at least 20 games plus be sent on a racial awareness course.

p.s. I think Terry's pose in the picture, i.e. his embaressment says it all

Andy Carroll

As Brendan Rodgers seems intent on ridding himself, at least in the short term, of Andy Carroll, where would he be most suited? Well at the moment AC Milan seems to be the most likely in some form of loan deal; however, I am a little confused by this one with them still having Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Antonio Cassano, Robinho and Alexandre Pato upfront. Carroll juist seems to be a worse version of Ibrah, offering a similar physique with less of the fancy footwork.

Now where I deem the perfect location to be for Andy Carroll is with the Tractor Boys in Suffolk, thats right Ipswich Town. Why? Well basically because he needs a confidence boost, scoring at the euros was great but how about he bangs in 30-40 in the tough old Championship, break a few jaws smash a few ribs and get a bag full of goals. This would get him right back on track,  but seriously I think a year on the continant might do him the world of good. He will be bigger and stronger so he will need to work on his footwork, on his ability to beat players without his brute strength. maybe Napoli? If Cavani leaves, which it looks like he might, Carroll would fit nicely into void left by him. 

In all a year at least away from Liverpool would make Carroll into a more all rounded player, which can not only benefit him but the Reds as well.

AVB-New Spurs Boss...Verdict

There wasn't much surprise, due to media speculation, that Andre Villas-Boas became Tottenham boss today 3 weeks after the sacking of Harry Redknapp, signing a three-year deal. Is AVB the man for the job? well I am still finding it hard to look beyond Harry and the fantastic job he had done, bottom of the table with two points from 8 games and not looking to go much further, then successive 4th 5th 4th  finishes with a season in the Champions League; however, King Harry has gone. 

Well maybe we should take a look at some of AVBs previous signings to start, seeing as Harry was the Transfer king. 

First was £7million Thibaut Courtois a young keeper who has excelled at times during his year long loan to Athletico Madrid. Courtois was bought in as a future replacement for Petr Cech, and the signs are looking good. 

Next is Ulises Davila a 20-year-old who has seemed to struggle for playing time in his loan spell at Vitesse. Only three appearances and no goal, he is no little pea.

Aha Raul Meireles the last minute signing to anchor the midfield, Portuguese like the manager and seen maybe as a cheaper version to Porto's Moutinho, and doesn't quite have the creative talents of Modric. 

Juan Mata was a great signing seemingly going to Arsenal he was snapped from under Wenger's nose. A brilliant signing, but not perhaps the price range that Tottenham can afford unless they sell. 

Oriol Romeu was another great signing providing great cover for the departed african cup of nations players in January; however, a great signing doesn't always mean great business as their seems to be some confusion in the buy-back clauses and rights of Romeu, something that Daniel Levy will want to keep his eyes on.

You can't really judge a player if he hasn't played, but due to a lack of oppertunites since his £18million move from Anderlecht, Romelu Lukaku seems to be unsettled. This signing seemed to be one of old Chelsea, buying players so others couldn't, this has backfired, not a great one here.

Ok well from that i would say, like many managers, AVB is hit and miss; however, Tottenham don't have the funds to to waste £20million+. In terms of his managerial pedigree, he has trained under two of the greatest managers of all time Sir Bobby Robson and Jose Mourinho, and he won the League, Cup and Europa League titles in his first year as Porto manager; however, we all remember his ill fated spell at Chelsea where many believed he was building a team for the future, and that he has a plan, but this unfortunately was not Chelsea's plan. 

Despite this the amount of young talent at Tottenham, as well a group of experienced players with Gareth Bale signing a new contract, AVB might just well be able to build a team that can move forward from the 4th place last term and be real title contenders, key to this is AVB convincing Modric and Van Der Vaat to stay with Bale. If he can get these boys to stay, continue the great youth development, and build a strong defense he has a chance of being a success here; however, I'm not sure that he will achieve this in the time that Harry might have...

Team of the Tournament

Well I'm glad to say that we just experianced a rather exciting tournament, maybe not an unexpected result, but an exciting all the same. Tomorrow I shall give my analysis of the tournamnet, but today is the team of the Tournamnet.

Goalkeeper-Gianluigi Buffon: Instrumental in Italy's run to the final, pulling of dozens of fantastic saves, especially in the semi-final against Germany when he seemedto come under a barrage of chances in the second half.

Right Back-Theodor Gebre Selassie: A fantastic attacking right back for the Czech republic, and is deserving of his recent move to Werder Bremen. I remain hopeful of seeing him in the Premier League in the next few years.

Center Back-John Terry: Despite the fact that he should be banned from football for the rest of his life in my opinion, JT was one of the main reasons England made it to the quaters. Most memerably the goal line save of the goal that never was.

Center Back-Mats Hummels: Coming off two Bundasleague titles with Dortmund he nearly did it again here with Germany, failing at the semis. An exceptional tournament for another German center back.

Left Back-Jordi Alba: This was a a close heat between four players, Philip Lahm, Ashley Cole, Alba and Fabio Coentrao; however, the recent £11million accuisition by Barcelona was brilliant, and his goal in the final was amazing, what a run and finish.

Right Midfield-Jakub Blaszczykowski: Another Dortmund player who made into this team, this time the Poland captain controlled the midfield, and scroed a cracker of a goal. Its a shame Poland didnt make it into the later stages of the tournament.

Central Midfield-Andrea Pirlo: Player of the tournament for me, controlled the midfiled in all the but the last game. He created some wonderful moves and scored an amazing freekick. It is wierd to think that last summer he was released by Milan, then he won the Serie A and almost the Euros...Genius

Central Midfield-Steven Gerrard: I had money on Gerrard to be player of the Tournament; however, with Egnlands quater final exit it was not to be; however, the England captain was one of the stars for England.

Left Midfield-Cristiano Ronaldo: While he might technically be an attader, I always like to think of him as a midfielder, and he certainly lived up to

Attack-Antonio Cassano: It might be LADotelli taking the headlines; however, it was Cassano for me that was the creater of alot of the chances upfront, inventive with the ball and he held it up well.

Attack-Danny Welbeck: Another player who stepped up to tournament football so well, again a shame he didn't make it further, but he was a standout player for England. Another United Legend of the future?

The Footy LAD

You are about to be introduced to my other alter ego, Footy LAD (the other being Art LAD). Football has always been a passion of mine; however, I truly fell in love with football in the summer of 1998, that's right France98. Michael Owen's amazing goal for England against Argentina my most vivid memory of that year. 

The love, the passion continued to grow from then onward. I joined my local football team, Holbrook Hornets, with my best friend Lewis Jones, at the same year my Dad got me a season ticket to Ipswich Town FC. This was just the start, BBC Sport has always been my home page and the gossip section the first thing i check every morning when I get up. In light of this i have created this blog not to just regurgitate gossip columns from the papers, or articles on other sites, I want to present articles about football itself, about debates and queries in the game, about new young talent or analysis' of the big games...and of course a post or two about my two favorite teams, Man Utd(family team) and Ipswich Town(my home team).