Pienaar Receives 12-Month Driving Ban
The Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar on Tuesday was banned from driving for 12 months after pleading guilty to drink-driving, a court official confirmed.
Pienaar was also fined £1 000 (R11 000) for the offence and ordered to pay a further £100 (R1 100) fine for failing to comply with a traffic signal.
The South Africa international was found to be nearly twice the legal limit after he was breath-tested by police in Liverpool. He was originally listed to appear at Liverpool magistrates court today but his decision to plead guilty meant he was dealt with yesterday.
The 27-year-old was pulled over by police in the early hours of Sunday 21 February, the day after Everton’s 3-1 win over Manchester United at Goodison Park. Merseyside police found the player had 61 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.
His year-long driving disqualification could be reduced by three months if he completes a course before 7 October.
A collection order for payment was made and Pienaar was ordered to pay a total of £100 in costs to cover both the charges brought against him, the court official said.
He arrived at the Merseyside club on loan in the summer of 2007, and his move from Borussia Dortmund was later made permanent when Everton paid £2 million (R22.2 million) for him.
Everton Football Club declined to comment.
Thanks to the guardian.co.uk
Indian Billionaire Not Bidding For Liverpool Stake
Liverpool football club's new owners George Gillett (L), Tom Hicks (R) and chief executive Rick Parry (C) pose for photographs after their takeover on February 6, 2007, Liverpool, England.
India’s wealthiest man Mukesh Ambani denied reports that he is in the running to buy a controlling stake in Premier League giants Liverpool.
It was suggested that Ambani was one of two tycoons from the sub-continent competing to buy a share in the Anfield club with Tom Hicks and George Gillet Jr under pressure to sell.
Ambani’s Reliance Industries and Sahara Group chairman Subrata Roy had reportedly each tendered similar bids to pay off Liverpool’s £237million (€270) debts in return for a 51 percent stake in the club.
However, Ambani, the world’s seventh-richest man, has rubbished the report that they are interested in investing in the Merseysiders.
“There is no truth to the report. We deny it completely,” Reliance spokeswoman Sudeep Purkayastha stated.
The newspaper said Roy’s interest in Liverpool appeared “more serious”, although his Sahara conglomerate said it could neither confirm nor deny that a bid was in the offing.
“We are presently not in a position to comment,” explained Sahara spokesman Abhijit Sarkar.
Thanks to Sky Sports News
Judging Anelka
Nicolas Anelka
Nicolas Anelka has been judged by plenty who do not know him – so now is the time to trust the judgement of those who do.
Jamie Carragher is not a man to suffer fools, especially if they are team-mates, he recently reflected on Gerard Houllier’s decision not to sign Anelka after a six-month loan spell at Liverpool eight years ago.
“I think it’s a bit strong to say it was one of the worst decisions ever, but it’s fair to say it was a mistake,” he said. Especially when the mistake is compounded to the extent of ditching the notion of signing Anelka and shipping in El-Hadji Diouf instead. Now that is a mistake.
Chelsea assistant coach Ray Wilkins works on a daily basis with the striker endlessly stereotyped as “Le Sulk” and was perfectly placed to deliver his verdict after Anelka’s Rolls Royce display FA Cup fourth round win at Preston.
Anelka, as he has for so long now, performed with intelligence on and off the ball, worked selflessly for Chelsea and chipped in with the crucial opening goal in an ominously comfortable 2-0 win.
So Wilkins was only too happy to talk when I asked him if Anelka had ever been more settled, or as good, as he is now.
“You’d have to ask Nico how settled he is, but from our point of view he is playing some outstanding football,” Wilkins said. “He is a joy to have around the place and he looks an outstanding player at the moment.”
Seemingly forever tainted by his departure from Arsenal to Real Madrid as a youngster, and subsequent nomadic tendencies, now is the time to revisit Anelka and ensure his career is painted in a more charitable light.
Carragher’s strident view is supported by a hefty weight of evidence to suggest that among a series of poor policy decisions by Liverpool over many years, the decision to set Anelka free to join Manchester City was down with the worst, with Houllier now readily admitting his mistake.
Chelsea are feeling the full benefit of a player reaching maturity at 30, a quality operator whose ability is still celebrated at former clubs Manchester City and Bolton.
They may call him the odd unflattering name – although he was warmly received back at The Reebok – but they never, ever call him a bad player.
Sulky, but a Great Player
Poorly handled by Avram Grant after his arrival from Bolton, Anelka showed great resolve to come back from missing the last penalty in the Champions League final defeat to Manchester United in 2008 to score 25 goals last season.
Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti have been good for Anelka, and he has been good for them and Chelsea.
Any attempts to outplay Ancelotti’s side were always destined to fail.
If there was one missed opportunity, it was the open goal missed by Darren Carter minutes after Anelka put Chelsea ahead. It was a pivotal moment, but Chelsea exuded the authority of a side that would always better what Preston could produce, with Daniel Sturridge adding the second to make the game safe. No shocks here.
Chelsea were just too good. No shame in that for Preston or Ferguson and he had every right to be impressed by his new team’s refusal to throw the towel in. He can now approach the business of improvement in the Championship with a calendar uncluttered by thoughts of the cup.
And Anelka has made himself a central figure in that quest – a class act forcing past critics to reassess their verdicts on one of the game’s most enigmatic figures.
Courtesy of BBC Sport’s Phil McNulty
HAVE YOUR SAY: What do yout think of Anelka and each team’s decisions?
Bring Back Dalglish, Groom Carragher
Jamie Carragher
Old ghosts are haunting Liverpool. Anyone acquainted with the club’s famous history will need few nudges to notice that a distinctive dynamic struts and frets its familiar way across the Anfield stage again.
The Kop has been here before. Echoes of the past abound. For 2010 read 1991.
Different causes, different characters but the level of stress Kenny Dalglish succumbed to almost a full score of years ago finds some modern symptoms in the furrows knitting Rafael Benítez’s brow. The current custodian of Liverpool’s fortunes is running on empty just as Dalglish was 19 years ago.
Benítez seems drained of energy and ideas; some of his tactics are debatable, many of his buys questionable. Support for the manager from the Kop remains solid because that’s the Liverpool way. Fans respect the office of manager. They would never countenance knee-jerk reactions. In 1991, the local Echo and Post letter pages brimmed with doubts about Dalglish’s line-ups yet few fans dreamed of challenging his right to govern.
When Dalglish suddenly resigned, following that switchback ride of an FA Cup replay at Goodison Park, a stunned Merseyside experienced its JFK moment. The news was even announced over the Tannoy at Lime Street. Tony Cottee, twice an equaliser that night, has just released a DVD chronicling his finest moments but there will surely be no nerve-shredding 4-4 draw with Everton around the corner to ambush Benítez.
Hold on. What’s that coming over the hill? It is David Moyes’s newly buoyant Everton, charging across Stanley Park on Feb 6, bright and breezy and early for a 12.45 start, driven on by Steven Pienaar and Marouane Fellaini, their threat enhanced by Landon Donovan, particularly from corners. As against Spurs on Wednesday, Liverpool may raise themselves against Everton but the impression will remain of a club drifting, of a dressing room growing apart from Benítez, of the life ebbing away from the Spaniard’s reign. The Kop, who have not seen the title since the Dalglish era, deserve better.
New thinking is required. Make that old thinking. Liverpool’s prominence was once rooted in the Boot Room, in the nurturing of talent from Bob Paisley to Joe Fagan. (Roy Evans also emerged from the Boot Room but was never a success as a manager). Dalglish, who steered Liverpool to three championships, was not a Boot Room boy but the principle of promoting from within, of handing responsibility to someone steeped in the club’s great tradition and distinct DNA, makes sense.
The Boot Room, an area absorbed into the press room in the mid-Nineties, was always as much about flesh and bones as bricks and mortar and now is the time to restore the philosophy. Liverpool must start rebuilding. The individual in Benitez’s squad most suited to a career in management must begin training with a different perspective.
That man is Jamie Carragher, a footballer far more suited to the stresses and strains of dugout life than Steven Gerrard. One of the few players really fighting for the cause, Carragher must be earmarked by a grateful, forward-thinking club as exuding management potential and given some of the younger teams to work with.
Anyone who has met Carragher is immediately struck by his deep knowledge of the game, his fascination with what makes good teams tick, and appreciates instantly that here is someone destined for management once he has acquired the requisite skills and badges.
More urgently, Liverpool need a manager for 2010, not 2015. Benítez should survive until the summer when someone of the motivational substance of Jose Mourinho, Fabio Capello or Guus Hiddink assumes control, turning the lights back on in a dressing room plunged into gloom.
Until then, the board must encourage Benítez to invite a refreshed Dalglish, currently on duty at the academy, to assist him. Dalglish’s presence alone would lift the team’s mood and remind certain players of the standards Liverpool aspire to. The squad could certainly do with the Scot’s winning blend of relentless banter and utter dedication.
To read the full article, read Henry Winter’s piece in the Telegraph
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Bad News For Liverpool
Gerrard and Torres are out, while Alonso and Riise are sorely missed
Liverpool’s season went from bad to worse when club captain Steven Gerrard, star striker Fernando Torres and playmaker Yossi Benayoun were all ruled out through injury.
Just a day after the club’s FA Cup defeat at home to second-tier Reading, Liverpool faced these issues.
This season Liverpool had been tipped to win their first English title since 1990 but now find themselves 12 points behind leaders Chelsea, having already exited the Champions League at the group stage.
Transfers, tactics and boardroom issues are a few factors that may have contributed to Liverpool’s poor run.
Manager Rafael Benitez has spent some £225-million on signing players since arriving at Anfield in 2004 and while the likes of Torres and Benayoun have been successes, too many, such as Ryan Babel and Antonio Nunez, have failed to make much of an impact.
Meanwhile, striker Robbie Keane was sold back to Tottenham just months after arriving at Anfield.
And selling Xabi Alonso, one of his best buys, to Real Madrid in pre-season, appears to have left a hole in Liverpool’s midfield that has yet to be filled.
Benitez has often been accused of excessive caution in the way he sets his teams up for Premier League matches, with critics alleging this puts too much of a burden upon Torres and Gerrard to score goals.
They cite December’s 2-0 defeat away to bottom of the table Portsmouth as a case in point.
Few clubs have managed to be successful on the field against a backdrop of boardroom strife.
The fractious relationship between American co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks has destabilised a club looking for finance and the duo were unpopular with supporters before Tom Hicks junior’s foul-mouthed e-mail rant at a supporter.
Courtesy of iafrica.com
HAVE YOUR SAY: Will Liverpool ever make a comeback?
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