Edgar has Landed!

Oh, what a time to be a Crystal Palace fan!

Just weeks, literally, after the Championship club were on the brink of going out of business, and on the very day it is announced they are 'officially' out of administration, the new owners and management team have pulled the most almighty, humongous rabbit out a seemingly invisible hat!

Days ago fellow championship rivals Cardiff were celebrating their very own coup in the form of Craig Bellamy, without a doubt a terrific footballer, but with a temperament that saw him more or less 'forced' out of the bright lights of Manchester, as he chose the somewhat less salubrious surroundings and the somewhat dimmer lights of his home town, as he joined Cardiff City F.C on loan.

Why Cardiff? Well Bellamy is a Welshman, he comes from Cardiff, has a home in the vicinity, his family are still based in Wales and he wants to play first-team football. He can have ALL that at Cardiff for the same money, instead of collecting splinters while sitting on the bench at City, playing second fiddle to fellow strikers: Tevez, Robinho, Adebayor, Jo, Santa Cruz and Balotelli.

I myself was scratching my head at the beginning of the week as I wondered how on earth a club struggling financially, not dissimilar to the plight that Palace found themselves in, could afford to bring on board such a player and offer him first team football for a 'mere' £45,000 per week (and that is only half of his contracted weekly wage), while those good citizens........er 'samaritans' at Eastlands, the blue side of Greater Manchester have agreed with the 'Bluebirds' to subsidize the outstanding balance of Bellamy's wages, the further £45,000 per week - sheer unadulterated madness!

In my humble opinion this year is promotion to the Premier League or bust for Cardiff City.........the scenario of putting all your eggs in one basket and 'hoping' for the most fruitful outcome. A BIG gamble that can only end one of two ways - glorious success over 46 league games resulting in Premier League football next season, or au revoir to English club football, the League of Wales awaits you!

Now the cynics out there may well point the finger at Palace and justifiably so. I wholly and naturally expect plenty of vigorous finger wagging in the direction of London SE25 over the forthcoming days and possibly weeks, and I fully understand and accept any sort of denigration and vilification regarding the events today.

How much you may well ask are this recently rescued club going to pay a 37 year-old former Dutch international who hasn't kicked a ball in anger for two years, to pull on Palace's red n' blue shirt?
Well you can be sure the new owners (CPFC2010) will have done their maths and that if this arrangement was a non-viable monetary option, the plug would have been pulled immediately. These guys have just saved the club, in no way will they put their money and the clubs security in jeopardy, less than 24 hours after exiting administration.

But in Edgar Davids (pictured right) you have a man and a football player that once graced the game across Europe, from the days of his Ajax debut back in 1992, followed by a glorious career at the likes of footballing giants AC Milan, Juventus, Barcelona, and Inter Milan, as well as a spell at Tottenham, winning numerous club trophies throughout his illustrious playing career, not to mention his 74 international caps for the Netherlands.

Now he is a Crystal Palace player on a 'pay-as-you-play deal', who will provide as much off the pitch as on it!
Crystal Palace have a football academy second only to Arsenal's, and the youngsters at Palace in the shape of Zaha, Cadogan, Clyne, Djilali, Scannell, Holland and Pinney to name but a few can surely only benefit from the arrival of a genuine 'footballing icon' at their Club, whether it be on the training ground, in the dressing room, in the form of advice or even as a shoulder to cry on!

The obvious income Davids will bring to the Club will more than likely come in the form of an initial (and hopefully a prolonged) increase in crowd attendances at Selhurst Park, from shirt sales and possibly even designer glasses. Any income by whatever means can only be of benefit to the Club.

The Club itself will undoubtably receive additional media exposure, possibly resulting in an increase in the number of live TV games shown, and therefore the increased revenue that is generated as a result.

On the otherhand maybe Davids will become an overbearing unwanted media distraction at the club, ruffle a few feathers and put a few noses out of joint amongst the more experienced, senior players already at the club. Maybe Davids will pick up a serious injury, be unable to sustain the level of fitness required, along with the hunger or desire and passion required on match day. A cold, wet Tuesday night fixture away at Deepdale, the Keepmoat or Turf Moor hardly rivals the Stadio Olimpico di Torino or the L'Estadi Camp Nou.

But football fans, even if Davids move to South London doesn't work our for whatever reason, remember he is on a 'pay-as-you-play' deal, an absolutely crucial condition of his contract, bearing in mind the current economic climate.
I believe every single football club in the country would like to have had the 'opportunity' of working with a player of his calibre, whether your club be Birmingham, Blackburn, Barnsley, Brighton or Bury!

Edgar Davids will be at Selhurst Park at tomorrow's game against Ipswich Town to be introduced to the crowd.

'Edgar the Eagle' a Crystal Palace player, 20th August 2010 - What a story, what a coup, what football dreams are made of............. bring it on!

The Worst Sporting Champions of All Time ! - Part Two!

This is the second installment in my series looking at and 'celebrating' those undeserved 'Sporting Champions' - those teams and/or individuals that were actually top of their field, yet were still pretty rubbish.

Last time it was Blackburn Rovers who felt the wrath of my written tongue, as I described their 1995 Premiership winning team as pretty crass. This time I am sticking with the sport of football as I look back to 2005 and 1982, and poor cold water on a couple of English teams 'glorious' European triumphs!

There are plenty of folk, especially in the Greater Manchester area, who insist that Liverpool's Champions League winning team of 2005 were indeed the worst European Champions of all time!
Despite their dramatic penalty shoot-out final victory over Milan, in the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul - they have a point!

You can't be picking players like Djimi 'gauche' Traoré or Harry 'supersize me' Kewell and expect to receive much in the way of props. But in their defence the Reds did at least have the decency to 'somehow' defeat several quality teams along the way such as Milan, Juventus and Chelsea and to a lesser extent Bayer Leverkusen.

However Liverpool only made it through to the knock-out phase of the competition, ahead of the 'mighty' Olympiacos of Greece on goal difference, after finishing runners-up to AS Monaco in their qualifying group.
The Anfield side did finish a semi-respectable fifth in the league during their cup-winning season.

Similar claims of beating reputable opposition on their way to European glory cannot be made for Aston Villa's 1982 campaign.

Villa that season 'officially' became the worst side ever to lift the most sought after European club trophy of the modern era!

The old adage of ' you can only beat what is put in front of you ' still sadly fails to make their triumph seem anymore than futile.

Villa won their solo European Cup (in the days when it was a straight knock-out competition) by beating the muscle of Valur Reykjavik, Dynamo Berlin, Dynamo Kiev, Anderlect and in one of the most tedious finals held in Rotterdam, the most toothless Bayern Munich side in living memory, care of a 67th minute Peter Withe goal.

Meanwhile back home, Villa defended their 1981 domestic league title with a complete lack of aplomb, by losing 15 games and ending the season in 12th place - no European champions have ever finished as low - quite a feat and in doing so simply re-emphasising their title as ' the worst side ever to lift the European Cup! '

Congratulations to Fulham F.C

May I congratulate Fulham Football Club on their success in the UEFA Europa Cup tonight.

Their achievement in reaching a first European Final in their 131 year history is without doubt a 'fairytale' that has come to fruition.
Fulham are a traditional family club, built on good old fashioned principles including a strong work ethic, and the ability to operate financially within their means.

The masterstroke was the appointment of Roy Hodgson (below left) as manager in December 2007.

By employing such an experienced and astute manager in Hodgson they have allowed him to assemble and mould together a group of players (with no superstars), and install into them genuine self-belief and a magnificent team spirit, combined with a never say die attitude on the field.

Despite often being overshadowed by their affluent West London rivals Chelsea, they have achieved a milestone tonight I suspect even their own fans could only ever have dreamed of - a European Cup Final !

After an epic campaign, which began way back on the 30th July last year with a third-qualifying round tie against FK Vetra of Lithuania, The Cottagers' run has spanned a total of 18 European ties, in which they have overcome the likes of Italian giants Juventus, German Champions Wolfsburg, current Europa Cup holders Shakhtar Donetsk and last night Hamburg.

Their success has been the only shining light on what one can only describe as a poor season for our domestic clubs in Europe, with the 'Big Guns' failing to get beyond the semi-finals of either European competition this season.

The UEFA Europa Final will be staged in Hamburg at the HSH Nordbank Arena on the 12th May 2010, where Fulham will play Atletico Madrid for the trophy.

I am sure every football fan up and down the country wish Fulham the best of luck in Germany next month.

May I say your Club is a credit to the English game.

Latest Serie A News - Pato offers support to Huntelaar

It is certainly not new news when I tell you that Klass-Jan Huntelaar hasn't really had the impact at AC Milan that many had hoped he would. In fact he has already been linked with a move away from the club as early as January, but team mate Alexandre Pato has come out in support of the under fire striker, as have coach Leonardo and fellow Dutch team-mate Clarence Seedorf.

Pato, the Brazilian striker said of Huntelaar:

"I’m sure he will give much to Milan."

"I had a hard time too, when I just arrived here,”

"I found it difficult to speak Italian and off the field I could not communicate with others, I was afraid to make mistakes."

"Everyone saw that he was the best player in Holland and scored plenty of goals when he played for Ajax, has done well at Real Madrid and I am sure that even here he manages to make his contribution to Milan."

Huntelaar currently sits as fourth choice striker for Milan at the moment with Pato, Ronaldinho and Filippo Inzaghi all ahead of him. there is no doubt the Dutch international knows how to find

He has failed to hit the ground running at Milan since his arrival in August 2009, and has not scored in any of his eleven appearances for the club, and with three strikers in front of him his opportunities are looking somewhat limited.

There is no doubt the Dutch international knows how to find the back of the net.
At Ajax he scored 76 goals in just 92 appearances, prompting Real Madrid to get out the cheque book in January 2009, and pay £17m to secure his services.
He scored eight times for the 'Galaticos' in twenty appearances, before he joined Italian giants AC Milan for a fee in the region of £12m, just seven months later.
Huntelaar has also scored 14 times in 25 appearances for the Dutch national side (below).

Not helping matters are the rumours that Milan are continually being linked with a move for Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko, who if signed from the Bundesliga club would push the Dutch striker further down the pecking order.

However reports coming out of Italy say rivals Juventus are trying to hijack the deal and bring the Bosnian hitman to Turin in January. Huntelaar's fate with Milan is not yet sealed, even though most of the Italian press have already written off the striker.

However things will have to start to change quickly on the pitch for the Dutchman, or Huntelaar may soon find himself back on the transfer list, and looking for his third club in a year.

In October, Huntelaar was linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur and a possible swap deal with Roman Pavlyuchenko during the January transfer window.
The North London side were again reportedly linked with the Dutchman earlier this month, although German side Hamburg are also now thought to be in the race to sign him.

Roll on this weekend where in Serie A, AC Milan and Hunlelaar entertain Cagliari in a league fixture at the San Siro Stadium.


Written by:

Mark Ferguson, a sports editor who blogs about where to purchase inexpensive quality football shirts.

(Today he is guest writing on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)