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The King has left his throne. On the back of one of their worst Premier League seasons in recent memory, Kenny Dalglish has been sacked as manager of Liverpool. Despite winning the Anfield club their first trophy in 6 years, owners Fenway Sports Group decided to take action and are keen to find a replacement as soon as possible.

Even with no Champions League Football and a squad that needs improvement, the Managers position at Liverpool will still be one of the most sought after jobs in the game. As shortlists are drawn up by John Henry & Co. a look at some of the potential candidates may give an indication as to who is the right man to lead the Reds into battle next season.

1.       Andre Villas-Boas

So much was expected of the 34 year old Portuguese tactician when he arrived at Chelsea last summer. Having just guided Porto to a Domestic and European Championship double, shouts of a new Mourinho were heard around Stamford Bridge. Suffice it to say, things didn’t work out for Villas-Boas. If he were to take over at Anfield, he would have to connect with the players on a far better level than he did in West London. Fractions within the Chelsea camp led to poor performances on the pitch and his inevitable sacking. However, with his reputation only slightly tainted from his time with The Blues, Villas-Boas is still a very good manager. His fast, attacking style of play and his tactical prowess make the young coach a very good candidate for the Anfield hotseat. It would be a risk considering his Premier League record but if Liverpool grasp Villas-Boas’ philosophy with both hands, it would be a gamble that ultimately pays off.

2.       Rafa Benitez

A dream come true for many Liverpool fans, the return of the popular Spaniard would be one of the more surprising appointments of the summer. His first stint at Liverpool was a huge success guiding the team to two Champions League finals and delivering a second placed Premier League finish in 2009. He would certainly lift the mood in Merseyside should he return to the hotseat. However, expectation levels could see Rafa’s reputation tarnished if he fails to deliver. Considering his success in his previous time with the club, an immediate turnaround of Liverpool’s fortunes could be demanded. With the squad lacking the real quality that it had during Rafa’s last reign, it could be a tough task for the Spaniard to get Liverpool back toward the summit of the table. However, with fans showing their excitement at the prospect of Benitez returning, his appointment could bring a buzz about Anfield that had been missing for periods of last season.

3.       Roberto Martinez

After battling relegation with Wigan for the last three years, Martinez has quite rightly gained national notoriety as an astute manager capable of keeping a team competitive on a shoestring budget. At just 38, Martinez has an experienced attitude way beyond his years. The free-flowing attacking formation that he has adapted to his Wigan side worked wonders for the club and saved them from relegation. Not only would Martinez put a stamp on the playing style at Anfield, he would be able to handle the Media in a manner that was so lacking when Kenny was at the helm. Even in his darkest hours at Wigan Athletic, Martinez remained upbeat and never let his guard down in front of the cameras. This type of conduct may be exactly what Liverpool need to kickstart a new campaign. Although he may not be the ‘big name’ that some Liverpool fans desire, he probably is the best candidate for the job.

4.       Brendan Rodgers

It comes as no surprise that the Swansea City boss is among the candidates to take over at Anfield. Rodgers has had such an impressive season in Wales that he has been linked to the only other Premier League managerial vacancies, these being Chelsea and Aston Villa. After guiding the Swans to an 11th place finish in the clubs first ever outing in the Premier League, Rodgers is a sought after manager. His record this season has been very impressive; however, his lack of experience at this level of football may hinder his chances of taking the vacancy at Anfield. His man management skills are on a par with the best, being a popular figure with the clubs he has managed but this may just be too much too soon for the Northern Irishman.

5.       Fabio Capello

A look at the favourites for Liverpool’s next manager show former England Boss Fabio Capello among the shortest odds. A surprise choice if asked, Capello would certainly not be many Liverpool fans choice of new manager. However, his club record speaks volumes of the quality managerial abilities he possesses. He has one the league for every club he has managed, Guiding, Juventus, AC Milan, Roma and Real Madrid to domestic glory. The problem that would undoubtedly arise should he become Liverpool manager would be the connection with players. It was made clear by some of the England squad that they did not like the way the Italian approached certain matters. His poor grasp of the language was also a problem in the dressing room, an issue that would certainly be prevalent if he were to take the vacancy at Liverpool. Whilst Capello is an underrated manager, it does not appear that Liverpool will look for a coach of his age and will instead go for a fresher, younger approach.

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6.       Jurgen Klopp

A relative unkown for many English Football fans, Jurgen Klopp has gained notoriety in Germany for his guidance of Borussia Dortmund to back-to-back championships. At just 44 years of age Klopp has now put himself in the spotlight across Europe and Liverpool may take a gamble with him. Having managed Mainz for 7 years, Klopp was appointed Dortmund manager in 2008 and has changed the fortunes of the team dramatically. Particularly impressive this season, the team from West Germany have stormed the Bundesliga and played some impressive attacking football. He certainly fits the criteria that Fenway Sports Group are looking for. However, he is completely untested in English Football and his appointment may backfire on the Reds. Klopp is currently achieving his best work in the Bundesliga and it may be advantageous for him to stay there for a few more years before he tries his hand at managing in the toughest league in the world.

Who would you like to see take the managerial reins at Anfield?

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Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic insists his side are not afraid to face Barcelona.The Red Devils have been successful domestically in recent years, winning four of the last five English Premier League titles, but lost Champions League finals to Barca last season and in 2009.

After the second defeat, manager Sir Alex Ferguson himself admitted that Pep Guardiola’s men are the best team his side have ever faced.

But Vidic insists fear is not an emotion that he would feel if he is confronted with the prospect of playing Barcelona again.

“I don’t know why you are always asking Manchester United players how we are going to bridge that gap,” Vidic told reporters. “Like I say again, this team is successful. We are doing some good things.”

“We don’t have any problem with the Barcelona players. We respect them but we are not scared to play against them. It is hard when you get to the final and lose, especially because it was the last game. It is always in your mind.”

“Barcelona performed much better than us. We could and should do better. But this is a new season. We have to forget what happened, take some points from that game and improve.”

With Paul Scholes having retired, Inter midfielder Wesley Sneijder has been heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford.

When quizzed about whether the potential signing of the Dutchman would represent the completion of the rebuilding of the squad, the captain said: “We have a lot of players for that position.”

“We have Anderson, [Darren] Fletcher, [Ryan] Giggs, [Michael] Carrick. Tom Cleverley can play in that place.”

“It is important to have new players to bring energy and hunger and to fight for positions. We have really healthy competition in the team.”

“The most important thing for a team like Manchester United to remember is that in the last five years we have won four titles and played in three Champions League finals.”

Ferguson has so far taken to bringing in younger replacements for players who have left the club this year, with Wes Brown, Gary Neville, John O’Shea, Scholes and Edwin van der Sar among the players to have moved on.

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United’s rivals Manchester City have managed to make a plethora of big signings since the takeover of the club by Sheikh Mansour in 2008.

Now Vidic feels that the Red Devils need not feel threatened by their city rivals, but should instead concentrate on improving themselves for the challenges that lie ahead.

“It is clear Manchester City have the money and they will sign new players,” he said. “They will definitely be in position to fight for the league.”

“But we have to focus on ourselves. We have to think about what happens at our door not our neighbours and I believe we have enough good players and a good team to challenge for the trophy.”

Manchester City have assembled a pretty impressive squad since their takeover in 2008. However, in recent times news of unrest and training ground bust ups have certainly given those on the outside looking in, the impression that not all is well at the Manchester Club.

It would be fair to say that City boss Roberto Mancini has some issues on his hands, namely under-performing players and dressing-room egos. The Italian needs to shake-up his squad and get rid of players such as Roque Santa Cruz and Emmanuel Adebayor who, having watched them this season, appear to be pinching a living at the moment. Should these two depart Eastlands, places on the roster would be freed up.

In selling players the inevitable happens, players who have grown unhappy at the lack of first team opportunities see a glimmer of hope and suddenly the future looks a little brighter. Surely this can only prove beneficial in terms of squad happiness and harmony?

From a business point of view would it not make sense to cut the wage bill? Ok, Manchester City have the money to squander, but surely looking at the situation from an economical perspective it makes sense to start running the club as a business and not just a money wasting entity.

If Man City were to have a clear out come January then obviously the money recouped would be thrown back into the pot for Roberto Mancini to acquire his idea of the perfect City team. With Lescott, Wright-Phillips, Adebayor, Bridge, Santa Cruz and Jo all thought to be available for departure in the coming transfer window it is clear Mancini would have a tidy sum to play with.

This said, the biggest motive for a clearout at Manchester City is surely the new financial fair play rules UEFA is to introduce. “Under new regulations enforced by European football’s governing body from next season, no club should make an aggregate loss of more than 45million euros (about £39million) over the three seasons from 2011-12, or it will face being excluded from European competition.”

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Earlier this month City announced losses of £121million for the 12 months up to May 31, 2010, up from £92.5million for the previous year. However Manchester City’s chief executive, Garry Cook, stressed the club do not plan to fall foul of the new rules, so will not head into the next transfer windows with the same “intensity”. A clearout would certainly fulfill the promise made by Cook.

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Holy Crap – its live fantasy football! Become part of the FA Cup match tonight and play Picklive for FREE Watch and bet live – spices up any game!

Queens Park Rangers were promoted to the Premier League last season and managed to scrape survival to continue their glory in Premier League football. With Tony Fernandes swooping in at the last minute to take over the club as Chairman in summer 2011, he frantically started dishing out the cash to build a Premier League worthy squad. Queens Park Rangers signed a huge 16 players last season to develop and advance their team. With them fighting the relegation battle was that squad good enough? Do they need to sign further players this summer to ensure they’re not fighting for survival again? Or does the team just need time to take shape?

With QPR’s massive 16 man signing last season arguably they do not need to sign anymore players this summer. They need to form a structured and disciplined squad to give them a chance to become an ongoing Premier League club. Yet there are areas of the squad that needs to be strengthened. With the Joey Barton incident pending, and Shaun Derry reaching his later years, there is room for another central midfielder, however with the return of Alejandro Faurlin brewing, the R’s fans would like to see the Argentine back making first team status.

The club this morning announced that Jamie Mackie has been rewarded with a one year extension to his current contract committing himself to the club until 2015 presenting that he is a vital player in the club’s future. Another original R’s player who helped the club with their promotion into the Premier League was last night rewarded for this efforts and contribution to the club. Clint Hill received both Players Player and Supporters Player awards after being called back to the club from a Championship loan deal with Nottingham Forest giving him 22 appearances for The R’s this season. Hill’s contract ends this summer with QPR however many R’s fans are looking for another contract to be signed for the club.

Loan deals made of Samba Diakite and Taye Taiwo in the January transfer window, the Rangers fans will be looking to the club to make permanent signings as both players played a fundamental role in the survival of relegation.

Recent transfer rumours for Queens Park Rangers are the Daily Mirror reported that the club had an interest in signing Victor Moses from Wigan. Moses would be a great addition to the QPR squad as a versatile winger replacing Shaun Wright-Philips who has not lived up to the expectations of the fans. QPR have also been linked with Alessandro Del Piero from Juventus as he revealed that he would love the chance to play in England following his release. Rangers on paper show they have a quality strike force, it would be unnecessary for The R’s to bring in a 37 year old Italian to strengthen that, it would be a wasteful signing. An extreme signing suggestion would be to invest in a player like Jordan Rhodes from Huddersfield Town. He is a strong striker and under the reins of Mark Hughes can develop and progress as a player and become a potential excellent forward.

With the changeover of managers during the season Queens Park Rangers this summer should look into spending time reforming the team and producing a cohesive strong side. Mark Hughes needs to build and strengthen the squad allowing the players to work together creatively on the pitch to produce results in the upcoming season.

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Give me your opinions and continue the debate on my twitter @gmileham1

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Despite the rumblings of the Tottenham hierachy insisting that Modric will not be sold it seems his departure is now inevitable with the player declaring in the Daily Mail “If somebody comes to the club and the offer is good for me and acceptable to them, then I want to leave.”

Well, so far the £22m offer that has been received has been neither good or acceptable to his employers representing a mere £5.5m profit on a prospect they spent a £16.5m gamble on on from Dinamo Zagreb in 2008.

Now the players potential has come to fruition at Spurs the Tottenham chairmen will no doubt play hard ball.  Should player power prevail then Levy will be a reluctant seller and hope to instigate a bidding war between prospective suitors to maximize the players fee.  Modric’s recent comments will anger the chairman though as it will compromise his market value meaning Spurs may eventually be forced to negotiate a price for a player who has openly stated he wants to leave.

Modric who only signed a new contract last season committing his future to Spurs until 2015 has now put his cards firmly on the table. His ambition to further his career is perhaps understandable but his timing barely 2 months after Spurs quarter final Champions League departure in a thrilling campaign where they superseeded Chelsea’s own progress will no doubt disappoint fans.

You would have to be naive to think that such commitment by Spurs would be met with enough loyalty by the player to give the club one more season to win back a coveted Champions League spot.  However Luka is either ill-advised or extremely naive himself to think he can “leave Tottenham as friends” after admitting “It has happened to Tottenham before. It is normal for a player to dream about playing for a bigger club” like Chelsea.

Time for Tottenham to start looking for a replacement.

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“Carlos Tevez has once again raised doubts about his long-term future in the game by admitting he misses his old life back in Argentina.” Firstly, the Argentinian was recently granted leave to return back to his homeland due to the fact that the he was home sick. Now the striker has criticised the attitudes of young footballers and says that he is unhappy with the materialistic lifestyle of the modern player.

I’m sure Adam Johnson, Tevez’s Manchester City team mate will take notice of the remark, the young English midfielder in recent times has made a name for himself as a bit of a party boy.

Tevez then went on to say in an interview with Argentinian station TyC Sports: “If you ask me, I would love to have my old life back in my neighbourhood of Fuerte Apache. I don’t want to play any more.”

The former Manchester United man then went on to explain the reasons for his controversial comment. “The young players think they have won something in football because they have two cell phones and a house. Today there are many bad people in the football business and you have to fight with them all the time. I’m going to play football for three or four years in Europe then I will quit.”

For many Tevez has simply vented what others are feeling. His comments are actually quite refreshing as footballers past and present have shown a less admirable side to themselves, from Contract negotiations to diving to unnecessary expenditure.

Tevez is not alone in his opinion. Bad boy Joey Barton also stated in an interview “most footballers are knobs. Driving round in flash cars and changing them like you change your socks, wearing stupid diamond watches and spending money like it’s going out of fashion in the middle of a recession when some people are struggling to put food on the table for the kids – it’s not the way to do it.”

So what do you think, Have Barton and more recently Tevez given us the truth in terms of the modern footballer? Or are these just the remarks of a couple controversial characters within the game?

If you like what I’ve written why not follow me on Twitter, where you can also keep up to date with the latest Manchester City news!

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Click on Giorgia Palmas below to see her in all her glory

Well that was disappointing.

It was a bit like when you’re young and you get picked for the school team and spend all week in delirious excitement, only to get subbed after five minutes for that short annoying classmate who goes on to score a hat trick, rubbing it in by celebrating right in your face before he is carried aloft by his adoring team mates.

Not that that kind of thing ever happened to us. No sir.

But I imagine it must feel somewhat similar to Saturday’s result. While there is no such thing as an easy game in league 1, and with 19 stalemates the U’s are draw specialists but Colchester have been on a horrid run recently, lying third bottom of the form table, having not won in 10.

They were there for the taking. Unfortunately, we didn’t take. More unfortunately, one of the few teams on a worse trot than the imaginatively nicknamed U’s is Leyton Orient, so their capitulation at the sty was grimly predictable.

More worrying was the lack of cutting edge that seems to have been creeping in over the last couple of matches, most noticeable in the flying winger Antonio who seems to have had his wings clipped somewhat.

Depression, which seems to be many Owls fans natural state of being, is rearing its ugly head. There is even talk in the office of assuming we are doomed to the play-offs and should start resting key players now. Four points looks like a pretty big gap with a mere nine to play for.

To act as a counterweight to this malaise, here are some reasons to be optimistic.

First, Miguel Llera, the sorcerer of Seville, responded to his receipt of the coveted SWFC Football FanCast player of the week award with typical Latin flair, scoring again this week. Second, Reading’s unstoppable hurtle into the top flight of English football probably increases our chances of keeping hold of Antonio. Third, this is how things are going to pan out.

We beat plucky Carlisle and United suffer a not improbable reverse at MK Dons – one point gap. We get a slightly more improbable away win at Brentford, whilst across the city they only manage a point against Stevenage who, to be fair, are on a bit of a run themselves – we go ahead by a point.

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Then on the last day, we just need to beat Wycombe at home to secure promotion.

In the immortal words of Danny Baker, Nothing can go wrong now.

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You sensed a sigh of relief came out of Anfield at the club’s failure to secure a Europa League spot last weekend. Jamie Carragher in particular believes that missing out will enable the club to focus solely on getting back in the top four without the added interference of Thursday night games to trips all over Europe.

At FFC this week we have seen a mixed bag of Liverpool blogs that includes the right transfer attitude for Liverpool to adopt; Barca’s success bodes well for Liverpool FC and Carragher caught red faced.

We also look at the best Liverpool articles around the web this week.

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Caption Competition: Carragher caught ‘red faced’

Liverpool’s transfer plans are commendable but foolish?

Wilshere and Carroll’s omission shows the attitude is all wrong

The right transfer attitude for Liverpool to adopt?

Liverpool set sights on Monaco ace

What next for Liverpool’s young duo?

This Liverpool transfer saga rumbles on and on

Why Barcelona’s success could bode well for Liverpool FC

A Liverpool player that deserves his plaudits

Signing for Liverpool…I guess we will know soon enough

*Best of WEB*

Why I can’t see the sense in this £13million bid – Live4Liverpool

Kenny v The Top 5 – Half A Season In Stats – Tomkins Times

Guardiola not the first manager inspired by Cruyff – This is Anfield

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The Future is Bright, The Future is Scouse – This is Anfield

[Video] Top 4 Liverpool goals of the season – Our Kop

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Click on Wayne Bridge’s current lady below to unveil our WAG XI of the season

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It has been over a decade since cries of ‘Abooooooouuuuuu’ were heard ringing out across Upton Park. The Ivorian-born former France Under-21 international became something of a cult figure in his short time at West Ham, and although he was eventually loaned out to Ipswich Town, Walsall, Troyes and Kilmarnock during his tenure at the Boleyn Ground, he is a character that will live long in the memory of many West Ham fans. But the question still remains, whatever happened to Samassi Abou?

Harry Redknapp once famously said of Abou that;

“He don’t speak the English too good”

So it was probably for the best that after West Ham he found himself back in France playing for AC Ajaccio. He made 60 appearances for the Corsicans before moving on to Lorient for the 2002-03 season, but he surely cannot have been loved more than he was at Upton Park.

Originally thinking he was being booed, Abou soon realised the crowd were chanting his name, especially after a particularly eventful January 1998, where he opened his West Ham account in a 2-1 defeat in a Coca-Cola Cup quarter final against Arsenal. He then went onto grab a brace in arguably his best performance for the Hammers in a 6-0 mauling of Barnsley four days later, before being sent off in an ill-tempered clash at White Hart Lane towards the end of the month. Subsequent to this, Abou only scored three more times for West Ham, with two of these goals coming on the final day of the 1997-98 season, in a 4-3 thriller against Leicester City at Upton Park.

Although he never found the back of the net again for the east London outfit, he managed 5 more appearances for the Hammers before being shipped off on loan to Walsall in October 1999. As for what happened to him, well, after playing for Lorient during the 2002-03 season he dropped off the radar somewhat and besides some fatuous rumours about him being in the vicinity of Basildon, plying his trade as a coach driver, there’s not really much more to go on!

So if you know of the whereabouts of Abou, or just wish to share your memories of the man who made Don King’s barnet look positively stylish, feel free to comment below.

Perhaps Samassi Abou’s Finest Hour in Claret and Blue:

[youtube 0GIq-_ISuAQ]

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Click on image below to see a gallery of Cristiano Ronaldo’s latest lady

Kenny Dalglish’s patience with media has become a little strained this season, and the Scottish manager’s latest run-in has done nothing to patch up the situation. Liverpool’s failings on the field of play, the Luis Suarez ‘handshake’ and now rumours surrounding transfers at the club have pushed the relationship to almost breaking point. But is the Reds chief could well be right in his criticism of growing press intrusion.

The world of football has never been the same since the Rupert Murdoch fuelled SkySports intervention transformed and repackaged the sport for the consumerist market of 1990’s Britain. Their alterations to the game centered around a new media aspect, turning the sport into more of a spectacle to infiltrate the living rooms of the nation, moving it away from the purity of its previous form

Since then this effect has snowballed with the creations of SkySports news, an increasing presence of the tabloid press and the internet, all of which are hungry for a story to fill pages an airtime. As a result almost every aspect of the sport is analysed, and dissected, pulling up stories which may not have been there in the first place.

As somewhat of an old school manager, Kenny Dalglish has found the transformation of the game to be disorientating, with the bulk of his previous management experience coming through the 1980’s and 1990’s. During this period the influence of the press was a little subdued as compared to now, allowing staff to go about the day-to-day running of their clubs without interruption.

Rumours surrounding the future of controversial striker Luis Suarez and a perspective move to Paris Saint-Germain, have once again riled the Scot, who believes that media outlets are unsettling his camp ahead of the season run in:

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“It comes as a surprise to myself, that yourselves [journalists] don’t know how the media work,” Dalglish said to SkySports.

“It was a journalist that mentioned the list of names and it was the chairman that said ‘oh they are interesting’. It was a list of names and Suarez’s name was mentioned, but I don’t know if it was Luis Suarez. I don’t know what Suarez it is.

“Also if the guy who sends the story in, if it is not repeated anywhere else and it has no soul and is not attractive to a newspaper, they don’t get any money.

“So I think it will be interesting to yourselves to disclose to the general public where the story comes from, how they get there, instead of asking us questions every time somebody’s name appears in a paper,” he finished.

It’s a frustrating state of affairs for managers across all leagues, with many transfer rumours being completely unfounded, and churned out purely on speculation. Suarez may well be considering a change of scenery, feeling that there may be too much bad blood between himself and various sectors of English football and as a result this has been seized upon to create a story and fill some time. Newcastle also suffered the misfortune of the press in their attempts to keep hold of Demba Ba, as stories were circulated stating the bargain buy-out clause written into his contract, upping the interest in the Senegalese forward. Individual  clubs may well have found this out themselves, but media circulation of the fact alerted them, thus upping the interest levels for one of the Magpies key men.

As the weeks pass, it gets harder and harder to have sympathy with the Liverpool boss, as his talk of a media witch-hunt of his club serves to frustrate fans across the league, but he may well have a point with regards to some aspects of media intrusion. It’s not just Dalglish who has suffered, with the press infiltrating the ranks of clubs across the league system, stirring speculation at each turn. If were not for intervention earlier this campaign the speculation surrounding the demise of Arsenal and Arsene Wenger would have been far less fierce, sparing the Frenchman a fair few sleepless nights over what was ultimately an unfounded story.

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It’s been a tough season for Dalglish and the media, with their relationship pushed to breaking point. However, despite his calls for transparency in and a backing of from many areas of the press, it looks highly unlikely that a change will be made, even if would prove to be to the benefit of those involved in the game.

Follow @Alex_Hams on Twitter for more football based ramblings.

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