As a player and a manager, Gary Speed was a model professional who embraced a forward-thinking approach and modern methods. This pioneering attitude made him a stand-out choice as an ambassador for the UKFA for Verheijen and co-founder Guus Hiddink when the institute launched in November. The new coach-education body is dedicated to bringing the world’s best coaches and football experts to the doorstep of UK football people. Speed had been due to speak at the February 8th event.

The Gary Speed Football Congress will become an annual fundraising event on the football industry calendar, supported by Gary’s close friends Shay Given, Craig Bellamy and Alan Shearer, in association with the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) and the League Managers Association (LMA).

Alan Shearer comments:

“Speedo’s forward thinking approach transformed the Wales National Team. He left a true legacy. The Gary Speed Football Congress will allow coaches to learn from this approach. It is an honour to support this event as it will not only remember him but also celebrate his achievements and everything he stood for.

The dedication of the event and setting up of the fundraising has been organised in collaboration with Gary’s wife Louise Speed. All proceeds of this year’s event will go towards a charity of Louise’s choice.”

Shay Given adds:

“Throughout his career Speedo never stopped giving to football. He would never resist the opportunity to discuss the game or to pass on advice to anyone who asked. This event will enable him to continue to give something back to football.”

The Gary Speed Football Congress will be open to managers, coaches and practitioners at every level of the game, where Hiddink and Verheijen will be joined as keynote speakers by UKFA ambassador, Sam Allardyce. Former Wales Head of Performance, Damian Roden will make a special presentation in memory of Gary entitled ‘ Building a Successful Team’ – A Tribute to Gary Speed.

As well as plenary presentations, the congress will comprise specific sub-sessions for professional, amateur and youth football, and also for medical and sport science staff. All presentations will be delivered by internationally-renowned football specialists, including Marcel Lucassen (Football Technique), Frans Hoek (Goalkeeper Coaching), Ton Van Roon (Football Management), Nigel Mitchell (Football Nutrition), Simon Bitcon (Football Strength Training) and Frans Lefeber (Monitoring Football).

For further information or to register for the Gary Speed Football Congress, visit www.ukfootballacademy.net.

To make donations or to discuss sponsorship opportunities please visit www.acornpeople.com or contact Mandy Atherton on 01633 660000. Acorn Recruitment is one of the UK’s leading recruitment agencies, and a Welsh-headquartered business that Gary Speed had a long-standing relationship with.

New Blackburn owners Balaji and Venkatesh Rao of India’s Venky Group have stated Sam Allardyce’s dismissal was nothing to do with the defeat to Bolton on Sunday but was part of a long term strategy. But with Blackburn currently in 13th position in the Premier League, five points off the relegation places and only three points off a place in Europe next season, I would have said Blackburn were destined to finish mid-table.  So why wouldn’t they wait until the end of the season when it would be less unsettling to the players and staff and there would be more of an open marketing to buy new players.

My next thought was that if the new owners wanted to make a splash, they would be looking for a big name replacement to show their intent, and if there is money to spend on new players, the transfer window opens in 17 days time.  But speaking to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, Anuradha Desai, chairwoman of the club’s Venky Group owners stated: “It could now be a couple of months before a new manager is put in place.”

I’m not quite sure what Sam Allardyce had done wrong apart from using boring tactics and playing dull football (something that has followed him throughout his managerial career) but I’m thinking Balaji and Venkatesh Rao are looking to entice a big name in world football to takeover and have Blackburn compete with the likes of the ‘big five’.

When Diego Maradona was recently seen at the Fulham v Manchester City game I thought it was a long way for the greatest footballer of all-time to travel just to watch a game of football.  Then following the sacking of Chris Houghton at Newcastle United I expected Mike Ashley to surprise everyone by appointing Maradona.  Now, I am thinking it could be one of two or possibly three well known footballers in the North West.  If not Maradona, imagine how excited Blackburn Rovers fans would be if Alan Shearer or Kenny Dalglish were to return to the North West in a bid to hold aloft the Premier League trophy, as they did before.

Other names are bound to be mentioned.  Martin O’Neill (though his teams play a similar style of football to Big Sam’s), Martin Jol and Frank Rijkaard are currently out of work. But though Jol is favourite with the bookies, following his resignation last week from Ajax, I can’t really see why the owners believe he would do better this season than Sam Allardyce.

In the same way as Mike Ashley wanted to get the fans onside by appointing Kevin Keegan I think the owners are looking to make a big splash and show the world they mean business.

It’s always difficult to look at England objectively, especially when many of the players they are up against are seen playing so rarely by the majority of us. If you take away the likes of Messi and Kaka, whose reputations precede them, then you are left with international opponents full of players that we know very little of. Taking a look at the current Brazil squad, there are the likes of Grafite, Nilmar, Kleberson and Ramires whom many of us will have only seen play in the occasional European fixture or international friendly. So the average fan comes into a World Cup not really knowing exactly what their team is up against.

This is, of course, one of the greatest aspects of any World Cup. Who can forget the likes of Henry, Zidane and Ronaldo lighting up France ’98? It is the greatest of stages upon which a relatively unknown player can become a worldwide star overnight.

Moving back to the current situation and this has a different effect. Seeing the England squad play week-in week-out for their clubs often leads us to overrate members of our national team. James Milner, Gareth Barry, Peter Crouch and Glen Johnson are just some of a number of players in the current squad who have had good seasons without being outstanding. Milner and Barry, in particular, build their trade on consistency and provide the focal point of their teams’ midfield. This is not to say they are not excellent footballers, but rather that there are players like this in every country.

Take Spain’s Marcos Senna, who was outstanding in the European Championships two years ago but has not even made it into the 23-man squad this time around. Obviously the Spanish midfield is unfathomably strong this year, but it is hard to argue that a player of Senna’s quality would not have at least made it into the English squad. Add to that the omissions of Ronaldinho, Pato, Cambiasso, Fernando Gago and Javier Zanetti from the Brazilian and Argentinian squads and you start to see the kind of quality and depth that England lack.

Another look at the USA game highlights some of England’s deficiencies. Emile Heskey did well for Steven Gerrard’s opener but his ineffectiveness in front of goal was brought to the fore when he missed a one-on-one chance with Tim Howard.  That kind of profligacy cannot be tolerated against the better sides who may only offer up one or two chances over 90 minutes.

Likewise, Jamie Carragher’s lack of pace was exposed by Jozy Altidore, who has failed to make any significant impact in the Premiership this season. He may have got away without any real problems on Saturday but one has to wonder how Carragher would deal with the pace and skill of Arjen Robben, Christiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria in the latter stages.

Furthermore, Jamie Carragher’s yellow card for a late challenge highlights yet another problem his lack of pace brings and England cannot afford to go a man down again in a knock-out game. On top of this, Glen Johnson, one of the best performers on the night, is stifled by Carragher’s tiring legs, having to track back and help out his team mate rather than pushing forward as he does best.

All of this is overshadowed by the oldest and largest problem that England have with this generation; how to accommodate Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard. Alan Shearer and Alan Hansen have been singing the virtues of a 4-5-1 over the last few days and I agree with them. The formation essentially solves two of our largest problems in one fell swoop.

Firstly, our lack of a quality striker to partner Wayne Rooney is solved by allowing Gerrard to play off the lone front man, leaving both men in their favoured club positions and allowing Rooney the freedom to operate in the most dangerous positions.

On top of that, with Gareth Barry holding the midfield and having the discipline to sit back and cover the defence, Frank Lampard finds himself in a more familiar role in the centre, dictating the tempo of the game and making his renowned surges into the area at just the right moment.

I, like many England fans I have spoken to recently, would like to see Joe Cole operating from the left hand side to provide the imagination and unpredictability that is so often lacking in our attack. But this is an issue of selection rather than formation and with the 4-5-1 not only would we find that our 3 best attacking players are in their favoured positions but also that there is more of a link between midfield and attack.

This has been one of England’s biggest problems for a long time now and Saturday highlighted it once more. With the midfield dropping back the gap between the strikers and the midfielders widened, prompting Rooney to start coming deeper to get the ball and subsequently lessening his effect in the final third. With Barry covering the defence, Lampard dictating the centre and Gerrard in more of a free-role, there is a continuity running through defence, midfield and attack that is so often lacking.

So there are undoubtedly a few kinks to iron out before we enter the knock-out stages, which, after watching the abysmal Slovenia vs. Algeria game, we surely cannot fail to do.

Fabio Capello’s track record speaks for itself and he has certainly instilled the kind of authority and discipline necessary to win tournaments. Yet this does not hide the fact that as a 23-man squad we lack the kind of quality that Spain, Brazil and Argentina have at their disposal. The most feared scenario amongst English football fans is not that Saturday’s performance was a great team monumentally under-performing but rather an average one slightly off form. Every below par performance is vociferously attacked to help us believe that England really are that much better. But whilst great may be excessive, England are certainly good, and sometimes in a World Cup that is enough, just look at the defending champions if you don’t believe me.

Celebrity Videos for England's 2018 World Cup Bid

A host of celebrities from across sport, music and the world of entertainment, including Noel Gallagher, Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim), Trevor Nelson, Pete Tong, Michael Owen and Alan Shearer all showed their support by creating an 18 second video to tell the world why they are backing England’s bid.

Former Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher says, “England should have the World Cup in 2018 because it would bring the country together and the final will be just round the corner from my house!”

Manchester United and England striker Michael Owen added, “Playing in the World Cup is a special moment for any footballer. The country is perfectly set up to cater for a World Cup and it would be very special if we hosted it in 2018.”

The videos, which focus on why they think England should host the World Cup in 2018, aim to inspire members of the public to post their own 18 seconds of support for the England 2018 campaign through www.umbro.com.

The campaign, which starts on May 20th at 18.00 hours, will run until the decision is made by FIFA in December on who will host the 2018 World Cup.

Further celebrities and public figures will be adding their video messages to those of the public as the campaign progresses over the next few months.

Andy Anson, England 2018 bid Chief Executive, said: “As the authentic football brand we are delighted to have Umbro on board. With their engaging “I’m In “ campaign  Umbro will provide us with valuable support for the remainder of the campaign.”

Umbro’s support for England’s 2018 bid means they join current partners Morrisons, BT, British Airways and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Over the past 12 months or so Newcastle United have been managed by two messiahs, one over-the-hill manager with a history of heart problems, and a caretaker manager who has never before managed a team at any level.  Furthermore, the board of directors appointed Dennis Wise as Director of Football.  An appointment that was as unpopular and unsuccessful, as it was surprising.

Self-made millionaire and self-confessed fanatical Newcastle United fan and owner, Mike Ashby certainly hasn’t helped to steady the boat, but even since becoming the most unpopular man in Newcastle, he has continued to plough his own money into the club; and by tempting Kevin Keegan (messiah no.1) out of retirement, he played no small part in pulling off the biggest footballing shock of the decade.

For a short time the so-called “most loyal fans in English football” were happy living in cloud cuckooland.  Instead of moaning about how their Premier League position didn’t correspond to how big a club Newcastle United were, they began boasting how Newcastle were going to take their “rightful” place in the Champions League and be one of the best teams in Europe etc etc!

But the black and white dreams didn’t last, and Super Kev left Newcastle United in the lurch for a second time in their history.

Without knowing the full details of why Keegan quit the club, it is reasonable to assume it was, in part, a power struggle between Kevin Keegan and Dennis Wise involving the transfer of players.  The sale of one of Newcastle’s best players, James Milner, to Aston Villa was the last straw. But that said, Kevin Keegan has walked away from other managerial roles for both clubs (Manchester City and Fulham) and England whenever the going gets tough.  But the fans wanted Keegan back, nonetheless.

With Keegan walking out on the club every Geordie fan could quite literally only see black and white; and mass demonstrations outside St. James Park followed.  It was good to see how passionate the supporters were about the club, but as the board looked for a new manager, did it not occur to the supporters how hostile they made that situation look to any top managers that could possibly have been brought to St James’ Park and keep the mighty Newcastle in the Premiership?

I assume the appointment of Joe Kinnear was because no one else wanted the job, and Kinnear is an old acquaintance of Dennis Wise.  Wise and the board could continue to run the club while Kinnear simply picked the team.  Chris Houghton was brought in by Kevin Keegan but continued to coach the first team under Joe Kinnear.  And when the pressure got too much for poor Joe Kinnear, resulting in more heart problems, the Newcastle board asked the inexperienced Chris Houghton to act as caretaker manager to a squad full of over-inflated egos and lacking self-discipline, for far too long.

Then, with eight games to go, Mike Ashby pulls off another amazing trick, as he finally convinces Geordie messiah no.2, Alan Shearer, to leave the comfort and safety of the Match Of The Day ‘Pundits Sofa’ to step into the firing line, and takeover the reigns at Newcastle United.  Once again, the Geordie faithful were ecstatic. Some called radio phone-ins suggesting they were not only going to avoid relegation but win all eight remaining games!  The word ‘fickle’ comes to mind here.

I was utterly shocked to hear Shearer had agreed to undertake the Newcastle manager’s position at such a crucial time of the season. And even with the appointment of Iain Dowie as an assistant manager with relegation battle experience, I really couldn’t see Alan Shearer being able to turn around Newcastle United’s misfortunes with a cult of personality alone.

Yesterday, Newcastle United were awful.  Aston Villa’s Brad Friedel didn’t have a save to make, and Newcastle were relegated as they lost their seventh game under the guidance of Alan Shearer.  They won three points out of a possible 24, but on the final whistle, the faithful Geordie fans, the so-called “best football fans in the country” chanted Alan Shearer’s name!

So, who is to blame for the mighty Newcastle United being relegated to the Championship?

Newcastle United have never been able to replace the glory years of Kevin Keegan’s first management tenure.  Kenny Dalglish came and went.  Ruud Gulitt and Steve Clarke left the club by mutual consent because they had to live in the shadow of one man, Alan Shearer.  Yes, he was a great player. But even Bobby Robson was pushed aside when he failed to see eye to eye with Shearer.

Newcastle United were relegated because the club has been badly managed, their expectations are too high, they pay inflated wages for big stars when it might be better to create a team spirit, and over the course of a 38 game season, they haven’t won enough points.  And whether Newcastle fans like it or not, they are where they deserve to be and have no divine right to be in the top flight of English football, especially as they haven’t won a major competition since 1969.

I personally think Alan Shearer will not be able to leave the job unfinished and will remain as Newcastle manager.  But I wonder if the ‘best fans in English football’ will still be chanting his name on the last day of next season if he fails to win promotion back to the Premier League.

Arsenal’s inability to score despite having a lions share of the game left them languishing in fourth place in the title race, eighteen points behind the champions and once again signalling a poor season for Arsene Wenger’s young charges.

United held tight and had enough chances of their own to win the game, but a draw was enough to see them collect their eighteenth championship win to equal the record set by Liverpool at the highest level of the domestic game. After collecting the Premier League trophy, Sir Alex Ferguson asked; “Does it get better than this?”. Most of us can only imagine.

West Bromwich Albion became the first Premier League casualty after losing 2-0 to Liverpool at home. The proud Albion fans were still in full voice, as they have been all season and they will be sadly missed from the top tier.

The final two relegation places will be decided in the last game of the season, it doesn’t get any more exciting than that. Middlesbrough will need a miracle to stay up without any doubt. Hull, who did so well in the first half of the season have barely earned a point in the second half, face Manchester United in the final game. With the Champions League final on the following Wednesday, Phil Brown will be hoping to face a weakened United team.

Newcastle are the other club involved in the battle, they will feel they have a good chance of staying up as they face an Aston Villa team that has dropped into sixth place in the league after a brief spell of separating the ‘big four’. They were held to a 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough  at the weekend and the Magpies will need at least the same to survive.

joey barton

How many last chances can you give a footballer who seems hell bent on self destruction with his attitude both on and off the pitch?

Newcastle manager Alan Shearer was quite rightly infuriated with his combative midfielder Joey Barton following his wild challenge on Xabi Alonso in Sundays 3-0 defeat to Liverpool, that resulted in Barton being shown a straight red card. The player will automatically miss the three remaining games of the season, but also has the threat of a suspended six game ban hanging over his head following the training ground assault of former team mate Ousmane Dabo in 2007.

Shearer was understandably angry with the player who had continued to argue with the Newcastle boss in the changing room and was subsequently fined two weeks wages for his trouble.

Newcastle United have now gone one step further and suspended the hot headed Barton indefinitely, prompting speculation that he may have played his last game for the club. Given his disciplinary record it would seem unlikely that any other club would be interested in signing the player, but of course there are managers out there who would relish having the hard man playing for them, so I doubt we have seen the last of Barton just yet.

Newcastle need Alan Shearer on the pitch

Alan Shearer took control of his first game of eight in charge of Newcastle on Saturday, his remit, to avoid relegation from the Premier league. One thing puzzles me about the whole scenario and that is just how did Mike Ashley talk Shearer into accepting this mission impossible?

Shearer’s first call I guess was to instate Ian Dowie alongside him, a clever move given that Dowie has been in this situation and understands just what is needed to survive the Premiership relegation order. But with eight games, make that seven games to save a team that appears to show no responsibility for it’s own demise this season, both Shearer and Dowie must be praying for a miracle.

The barmy Toon army arrived early to witness the messiah, no not Keegan the other one, take his place in the St James’ dugout. But there was none of the godly scenes that greeted Keegan’s return last year as Shearer determined to keep himself as low key as it is possible to be,  ignoring chants from the crowd to wave as he appeared in deep concentration watching every move on the pitch.

While it would be difficult to expect a result against Chelsea, you would have expected some passion and effort from Newcastle and it just wasn’t there, excepting the usual battling display from Nicky Butt.

The one thing in Newcastle’s favour is that the relegation battle is far from over and none of the teams involved have an easy finish to the season, each game a cup final in itself for so many teams. So there is hope, but I cannot help wondering if all the problems have been self inflicted on Newcastle. I wonder where they would be right now if they had stuck with Big Sam Allardyce?

But listening to the Radio Five Live football England  post-match phone-in, I was surprised to hear Alan Shearer call the program to confirm he has become the fourth Newcastle United manager this season, following in the footsteps of the ‘other’ messiah Kevin Keegan, Joe Kinnear (who is still recovering from the experience in hospital) and Chris Hughton, who has been unable to step up to the job as caretaker manager in Kinnear’s absence.

Shearer denied he had been offered the vacant manager’s position earlier in the season and that he had accepted the offer after a meeting with owner Mike Ashley; and that he was sincerely only interested in undertaking the role for the eight remaining Premier League fixtures whereby he would step aside to allow Joe Kinnear to return to the role in a full-time capacity.

When squeezed on the possibility of successfully avoiding relegation and wishing to remain as full-time manager, Shearer told Alan Green: “I’m here for eight games and eight games only!”

Newcastle Utd have called a press conference for tomorrow where they will officially unveil Alan Shearer as their new caretaker manager.  Shearer confirmed he is bringing Ian Dowie in to help him.

Newcastle have confirmed that Dennis Wise has left his role as Director of Football as part of Shearer’s appointment.

Newcastle United fans have been crying out for Alan Shearer to return to St. James Park ever since he retired as a player in 2006.  But hitherto, the warmth, comfort and security of the Match Of The Day pundits sofa and BBC contract has been used to reflect any interest of putting himself in the firing line.

I am very surprised that Shearer has finally agreed to join Newcastle, even if it is on a caretaker basis.  If he cannot avoid Newcastle being relegated to the Championship then it will be the second coming revisited.  And of all the teams in the battle to avoid relegation Newcastle’s ‘home run’ is by far the most difficult; and it starts with a home coming for Alan Shearer against high-flying Chelsea at 3pm on Saturday afternoon.

No doubt all Geordie fans will be dancing in the street tonight and singing at the top of their voices on Saturday afternoon.  But come the end of the season will his stature as a Newcastle legend still be intact or will it be reminiscent of Trevor Brooking’s brave attempt to keep his beloved West Ham United in the Premiership when he was appointed in similar circumstances in April 2003?