FIFA may wade into the Carlos Tevez matter on the back of Man Cityโs suspension. Frank Lampard is hungry for more starts, Harry Redknapp rings the changes with Arsenal in mind, Stuart Holden suffers a serious setback on his road to recovery from a knee injury and Steve Bruce looks to shake up his Sunderland side after another woeful Black Cats performance. Here are this morningโs Scribbles, folks:
After Man Cityโs decision to suspend Carlos Tevez for a fortnight, FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce has added fuel the debate. Describing the Argentineโs actions as โdespicableโ he went on to hint that Tevez could be banned by FIFA over his refusal to take to the field at Bayern on Tuesday:
I believe FIFA should have the power to ban the player from taking an active part in football.If he has done what has been said, then I think his club would be better off without him.
If Manchester City prove it, write to FIFA and state the exact circumstances that happened, I would have no problem with that whatsoever.
William Gallas has suffered a setback in his return from a calf injury. The Spurs centre half has yet to play any part in their league campaign so far but, after taking part in a reserve game last week, had looked on course to play a part in tonightโs Europa League clash with Shamrock Rovers. He has now injured the other calf and stands little to no chance of facing former club Arsenal this Sunday.
Still on the subject of Spurs, Harry Redknapp will make up to ten changes for tonightโs match with that weekend North London derby in mind.
I didnโt play any of the lads in the last game and it worked for us against Liverpool. Players like Gareth Bale and Emmanuel Adebayor will not play. I canโt afford to miss them for the weekend.
Weโve got a squad so letโs use it. This is their chance to prove to me why they should be in the first team.
Andre Villas-Boasโ decision to rotate Frank Lampard worked well last night. The midfield, starting just his second game in the last five, grabbed the Blues opener in Valencia before an act of folly from Salomon Kalou gave the Spanish side a penalty and denied Chelsea all three points. Lampard has insisted that if Villas-Boas is to get the best out of him, he needs to play him more often:
I’m a player who likes to play regularly because I think it helps me get my momentum and stay fit and get confident. Hopefully, now, I can get a run of games. Itโs up to the manager.
Martin Jol has left Bobby Zamora and Moussa Dembele behind as Fulham travelled to Denmark for tonightโs Europa League game with Odense. Dembele is sick while Zamora is recovering from his own illness and Jol reckons itโs more important to get the forward back to full fitness ahead of the game against QPR, with the Cottagers the only team yet to win a Premier League game this season.
Glen Johnson and Daniel Agger are Liverpoolโs only injury worries ahead of the Merseyside derby with Everton. Johnson is still struggling with a hamstring problem, meaning Martin Kelly is likely to stay at right-back, while Aggerโs rib injury should allow Martin Skrtel to continue alongside Jamie Carragher at centre half.
Bolton were yesterday dealt the devastating news that Stuart Holden will be sidelined for the next six months. Having been out since March with a knee injury, the midfielder had built up his fitness and returned to first-team action last week, completing ninety minutes against Aston Villa in the Carling Cup. A routine procedure revealed cartilage damage, however, and the player couldnโt mask his feelings on twitter yesterday:
“Floored, devastated, gutted, just a few words I can think of. I will continue to fight and I’m ready for another tough journey…..”
Steve Bruce is set to ring the changes ahead of this weekendโs home game with West Brom. The Sunderland manager reckoned โsix or sevenโ players were well below-par in the 2-1 defeat at Norwich on Monday night and, as he looks to get back to the form that saw the Black Cats hammer Stoke 4-0 just two weeks ago, the likes of Stephane Sessegnon and Ahmed Elmohamady have been mooted as favourites for the axe. Titus Brambleโs off-field indiscretions should hand Michael Turner a start at centre half alongside Wes Brown.
