- My Account
- Logout
- Register
- Login
REVEALED: The new West Ham shirt that might not placate angry Curbishley
DOES anybody at White Hart Lane like Pascal Chimbonda?
STAMFORD Bridge gets ready to welcome Brazilian pariah Ronaldinho
Related Articles
14 March 2008
Just before Hatchet Man wades in, studs up, on this week's final instalment of Euro Vase disappointment, he has a special challenge for his readers: Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough.
Hatchet Man goes live and dangerous on Monday at noon with his inaugural webchat.
• Yesterday's HATCHET MAN
Think you can go boot-to-boot with the columnist who goes in hardest? Log in here on Monday morning to start submitting your questions. Or, if you're too chicken, just sign in and watch the tackles fly ...
I take no pleasure in saying it, but Hatchet Man was right. Bolton bowed out with little more than a whimper in Lisbon and, although, we should all applaud the Trotters for their UEFA Cup endeavours – they drew in Munich, won in Belgrade and went through in Madrid - I think it's important to chastise Gary Megson for wasting mine and everyone else's time.
What a turgid Thursday evening. Bolton were never going to win with their "Dog and Duck" pub side - I told you that yesterday.
OK, so Wigan away on Sunday could be worth millions to Wanderers come crunch time in May, but Bolton's bench (not to mention the starting XI) screamed D-E-F-E-A-T.
Scroll down for more
Early blow: Bolton boss Gary Megson and skipper Gary Cahill discover most of their players have to be in bed before the match in Lisbon finishes
Megson was right, it was no Dog and Duck squad – most of the subs bench would have been reaching for their ID to buy a pint after the game.
With the exception of ex-England keeper Ian Walker and striker Daniel Braaten, the Bolton substitutes were: Zoltan Harsanyi (20), James Sinclair (20), Robert Sissons (19), Nathan Woolfe (19) and Scott Jamieson (19).
The bar staff would certainly have been asking these youngsters to prove their age. Unless they got Walker to go to the bar for them, if you could drag the old fella away from the fire.
Hatchet Man's all for blooding young talent, Gary, but Sporting Lisbon away, 1-1 on aggregate with a place in the last eight at stake?
If you're not going to take it seriously, get out and stay out.
••••••
You want me to work on what floor? Keegan gets new orders
So, Newcastle chairman Mike Ashley is getting jittery about manager Kevin Keegan's inability to turn around results.
• Read MATT LAWTON'S exclusive report here
Some judge of character Ashley has proved to be. As if the appointment of "King Kev" hasn't been disastrous enough, this from the man he appointed to run the club ...
Chairman Chris Mort yesterday said: "Kevin has got the players playing very well."
Erm, which Newcastle United have you been watching, Chris?
••••••
By the way, where's Wisey?
• Remember this? Click here to find out
••••••
Time for a Hatchet Man exclusive... Take a look at West Ham United's shirt for next season.
Scroll down for more
Four play: Will West Ham's new shirt go down well - or will West Ham simply go down?
Somehow I can't see Alan "the Press are all against me" Curbishley seeing the funny side. It's a joke, Alan, just like your defence. Sorry, I couldn't resist.
••••••
Spurs fans won't find this comfortable reading – bitter London rivals Chelsea played a part in them tumbling out of the UEFA Cup.
In the same way Blues defender Alex spent three years in Eindhoven before the Stamford Bridge club took up an option to sign him for 52p, Chelsea have a similar deal in place with PSV's Alcides.
Alcides
Come Wednesday night's penalties, the 22-year-old Brazilian wasn't called upon to steal Euro glory from Spurs, but the defender knows all about robbery and keeping cool under pressure.
When preparing to move on loan to Benfica two-and-a-half years ago, Alcides was kidnapped in Sao Paulo, but quickly negotiated his own release by convincing his abductors that he wasn't a footballer.
Unfortunately for Tottenham, he was every bit a player in their European ejection.
Rumour is that Spurs new-boy Gilberto suffered the same fate, negotiated freedom in the same manner - and has been proved right.
••••••
Brazil's globe-trotting international side are used to wheeling out the big stars for meaningless but lucrative friendlies on foreign soil.
But Ronaldinho's lustre has faded so much that he hasn't even made the squad for the five-time World Cup winners' friendly with Sweden at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium on March 26.
You're off to Chelsea - I love London: Thierry Henry (right) seems excited by Ronaldinho's impending move
Already outshone by Leo Messi at Barcelona - who also have teen sensations Giovani dos Santos and Bojan Krkic fighting to take his crown - the same is now happening to Ronaldinho with the Samba Stars. Alexandre Pato is the new kid in town who is even the icon Nike turn to more and more in their South American adverts.
Check out Pato's skills here...
See the video below
And Pato has not just taken Ronaldinho's Brazil place. The 18-year-old has made such an impact at AC Milan since joining in January that the Italian giants' long-standing flirting with the Barcelona forward is dead in the water, with AC Milan supremo Silvio Berlusconi insisting he would be surplus to requirements.
Unloved and out of form, what Ronaldinho needs is a mega-rich club owner with too much money and not enough sense.
Ladies and gentlemen, introducing one Roman Abramovich.
••••••
Still in Brazil, footballers in the South American country pride themselves on being the innovators of The Beautiful Game but one of them has been taking inspiration from Steve Watson – remember him?
VIDEO: Brazil's Blonde Bombshell
That's Brazil women's Under-20s' starlet Leah but the defender should beware - look where it got Watson!
The flame-haired workhorse can now be seen in the lower reaches of the Coca-Cola Championship with Sheffield Wednesday after an almost glorious career with Newcastle, Aston Villa, Everton and West Brom.
••••••
GOOD WEEK...
English clubs in the Champions League - fab four, too right.
Cardiff City - a 2-0 away win against Premier League opposition to reach a Wembley semi-final on Sunday, and back to the day job on Wednesday beating play-off-bound dirty Hull 1-0. Dave Jones & Co, well done boyos.
Scroll down for more
Happy Welshmen: Cardiff celebrate Peter Whittingham's goal v Middlesbrough on Sunday
Frank Lampard – four goals and a dig at his club for not being more forthcoming on contract negotiations. When you've just bagged four you can ask for the moon on a stick. Roman will no doubt deliver.
BAD WEEK...
English clubs in the UEFA Cup - brilliant Everton, valiant Spurs, under-strength Bolton: still, losers all three.
Pascal Chimbonda - Does anyone at White Hart Lane like him? The Spurs villain, who showed everyone that he doesn't really want to play for the club with his Wembley strop, then misses the crucial penalty in Wednesday's UEFA Cup second leg in Eindhoven. Duh!
Scroll down for more
This is why nobody likes you - part 2: Chimbonda misses his penalty against PSV
Kevin Keegan - again - from now on I'm just going to cut and paste his name into this position every Friday until he leaves Newcastle.
••••••
Don't forget to log in on Monday at noon for your chance to go in hard on the Hatchet Man.
Comments
Top stories in Sport
Top stories in Sport
-
London gets ready for the Diamond Jubilee - in pictures
-
EXCLUSIVE: I won't play with Joey Barton, says Adel Taarabt
-
Diamond Jubilee: Boat by boat, here is where to watch the Queen's Thames flotilla - VIDEO
-
Duchess of Cambridge is pretty in pink at her first Buckingham Palace garden party
-
News pictures of the day
-
Locked up and banned: The Tube drunk whose vile racist rant was caught on film (video)
-
London 2012 Olympics: Raising the bar and the Games haven't even started yet. Price of toasting Team GB is £6 a pint! -
Timebomb ticking in Thames Estuary could put Boris Island plans in jeopardy -
Regent’s Park rapist: Teenage jogger assaulted by stranger in terrifying 7am attack -
Duchess of Cambridge is pretty in pink at her first Buckingham Palace garden party
The O2
Check out the cool stuff happening under our tent such as the hottest gigs, comedy, sport, films, clubs, bars, restaurants and much more.
A home to be proud of with Halifax
Download the Halifax's brilliant, free new Home Finder app, and take all the pain out of finding your dream home.
Can you imagine a career in teaching?
Be inspired to teach - let real teachers show you how rewarding the job can be.
Playing a game-changing role during the Games
Cisco is providing the solutions for London 2012's complex IT needs.
Win a Silverstone track day with Zantac 75
Feel the burn of a different kind - 20 Silverstone motoring experiences to be won
Celebrate with MARTINI®
This weekend toast one royal with another and make your Jubilee sparkle with a MARTINI Royale.
Reader Offers email A fantastic selection of
offers, giveaways and
promotions.
Why I think doctors are right to strike
Family pay tribute to the London man who gave his life to save a five-year-old girl from drowning
Eton schoolboys fly Games flag on Everest
Horror on the 5.53! Commuter dragged 200 feet after getting hand trapped on train
Shrimpy's - review