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Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier has praised his ‘physically and technically superior’ side for outlasting Wigan Athletic 2-1 on Tuesday.

Gabriel Agbonlahor headed Villa into the lead five minutes after the restart of the English Premier League encounter, and Ashley Young made it 2-0 from the penalty spot 12 minutes later.

James McCarthy drew one back for Wigan in the 80th minute but Villa held on through a frenetic final 10 minutes plus stoppage time to record back-to-back wins for the first time under Houllier.

The Villa boss, who took over the position left vacant by Martin O’Neill in September, was delighted by the character shown by his side to hold on for a valuable three points at DW Stadium.

“I think we had everything,” Houllier told Sky Sports.

“They (Wigan) really made it difficult at the start. We had a couple of chances but we didn’t control the game as much as we did in the second-half.”

“I think we were physically and technically superior to them. The players today, in terms of the discipline and the effort, were tremendous.”

He added: “It’s never easy. There’s a very fine line between winning and losing.”

“I was disappointed because I wanted to see a clean sheet for the defenders. But at the same time I was happy with the way we reacted. They were composed and confident and not scared.”

“But I was very pleased with my players because, after a huge game against Manchester City (on Saturday), I thought that some of them could be flat.”

“But they worked very hard, probably as hard as they did last Saturday. Nathan Baker and (Jean) Makoun, I thought, did extremely well.”

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez was deflated by the loss but could still take a number of positives from the close-run match.

“When you play at home, you are disappointed (to lose),” Martinez said.

“But, looking at the first-half that we had, we created two very good chances and sometimes that lack of composure, or good defending, will stop you from getting that first goal.”

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“In the second half, in a very short period, we conceded a goal from a corner and then the second goal from a penalty is a real mountain to climb.”

“But the reaction from then on was brilliant to see; we got one goal back and it seems like, if the game had been longer, we would have got something.”

“I’ve got no problem with losing a football game when you show that desire and that effort. I think the players today performed in a great manner.”

“We never gave in and that’s very, very important.”

Arsenal target Olivier Giroud has today announced that he will not decide his future until the European Championships are over, as The Sun reports.

The 25 year old Frenchman has impressed in Ligue 1 this season, with 21 goals to aid Montpellier to their first ever title. Arsene Wenger is said to be interested in Giroud in an attempt to help take the goal scoring burden from club captain Robin Van Persie.

A reported £12.8 million release clause is attracting Wenger to lure Giroud from Stade de la Mosson, but Champions League runners up Bayern Munich are also said to be interested in signing the French star.

Now both Bayern and Arsenal will be forced to be patient and keep their fingers crossed as Giroud focuses on representing France in Euro 2012.

It is believed that Arsenal scout Giles Grimandi has been closely watching Giroud since March and reporting back to Arsene Wenger inLondon. Giroud himself has said that he ‘loves the French feel at Arsenal’; and this is something that Wenger will no doubt hopes will help the 25 year olds decision after Euro 2012.

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For now Arsenal fans must watch on closely, and see how their summer target fares at the European Championships, especially as his team face England on June the 11th.

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The Premier League season kicked-off in usual fashion with controversial decisions, sending offs and dives aplenty, which is undoubtedly going to bring the referees in the spotlight in the press in next few hours.

I guess English football fans wouldn’t have it any other way and the longer the authorities continue to turn a blind eye to the use of technology to assist officials, then we will continue to have these grey areas that fuels supporters ranting and moans on football phone-ins, forums and websites like ours.

However there were some great goals to talk about this afternoon and thanks to the good people of ESPN and their NEW Goals App – we are all able to enjoy them without having to wait for the match highlights on MOTD later this evening. There are eleven strikes to enjoy from this afternoon’s games, including a wonder goal from Sunderland’s Seb Larsson.

Click here to see today’s Premier League action and download ESPN’s New GOALS APP – simply a must have for every football supporter.

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Martin O’Neill is reportedly in line to replace Avram Grant as West Ham United manager, regardless of the outcome of Saturday’s match against Arsenal.West Ham are bottom of the English Premier League, but have lost only one of their last seven games under Grant, seemingly earning the former Chelsea manager a stay of execution.

West Ham beat Birmingham City 2-1 in a Carling Cup semi-final first leg on Tuesday, but it appears even having one foot in a Wembley final will not be enough to dissuade West Ham owners David Gold and David Sullivan from showing Grant the exit.

The 55-year-old Israeli, who took over at Upton Park with a four-year deal in June 2010, has been consistently linked with the sack throughout a difficult first half of the season for West Ham.

He left Fratton Park after failing to save Portsmouth from relegation in 2009/10 and was also removed as Chelsea manager in 2008, despite guiding both clubs to the FA Cup and Champions League finals respectively.

Survival specialist Sam Allardyce, who was dismissed from Blackburn Rovers in December, had been tipped to replace Grant, but O’Neill has now emerged as the surprise front-runner.

The 58-year-old Northern Irishman – a former Leicester City and Celtic boss – made an abrupt exit from Aston Villa at the beginning of the season.

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After reportedly walking out of Villa Park due to transfer budget cuts and a perceived lack of ambition from the club’s owner, he is an unlikely choice to take over at relegation-threatened West Ham.

West Ham host title challengers Arsenal at Upton Park on Saturday.

Legendary football manager Arsene Wenger has today been announced as the official coach for the FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC) 2012.

It was recently discovered in a survey carried out by FIFA that 58% of FIWC players believe that playing FIFA 12 can actually improve their performance in real life. The addition of Wenger as coach will add to the overall FIWC experience as he will be delivering football tips and advice helping gamers get the most out of their team and improve tactical knowledge.

Fans will be able to view Wenger’s comments in the FIWC weekly newsletter, on FIFA.com and video content will be available through FIFA’s official Youtube channel.

Wenger commented on his delight at being named FIWC coach saying, “It is an honour for me to be able to act as the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2012 coach. I know that especially young players enjoy virtual football and I see this development as very positive. The love of football is what brings professional players, trainers, amateurs and fans together. There are various ways in which to live out this passion and the FIWC is undoubtedly one of those.”

Wenger also spoke about the similarities between the FIWC and actual football as he said, “The players who play in the FIWC have to make quick decisions just as top class (football) players do. They have to quickly analyse the situations they face at a very quick pace and therefore the players who make the best decisions will win. That is what it is all about, it is analysing the game at a high speed and making the right decisions.”

The FIWC is the world’s largest online gaming tournament, organised by FIFA in association with Presenting Partners EA SPORTS ™ and PlayStation®. The event gives football fans the chance to live out their passion for football by competing against each other at FIFA ’12 with chance of qualifying for the Grand Final in Dubai. Over 1,000,000 players around the world are registered making the FIWC a fiercely competitive tournament, offering the prize of USD 20,000 as well as an invitation to the FIFA Ballon d’Or to meet the biggest football stars in the world.

Any Football FanCast readers Fancy winning a Sony Playstation Vita just by playing FIFA 12 – click here to find out more

Roberto Mancini is unlikely to punish Mario Balotelli further after his latest tantrum during Manchester City’s friendly against LA Galaxy.Striker Balotelli attempted an outrageous showboat in Sunday’s match at the Home Depot Centre, pirouetting on the ball and trying to backheel it into the net, but missing wide of the post.

Mancini substituted the former Inter Milan bad boy after just 30 minutes, with a heated exchange taking place between the two Italians on the touchline.

Balotelli then sulked on the bench for the rest of the half and failed to emerge to watch the second half.

“I hope this is a lesson for him,” Mancini said.

“In football you always need to be professional, always serious and in this moment he wasn’t professional.”

“If you are serious, you can play 90 minutes. If not, you can come and sit by me on the bench.”

“He needs to understand his behaviour has to be good in every game – not just in a final or a semi-final but every game.”

“He knows he made a mistake. Football should always be serious and if you have a chance to score, you should score.”

Stiff disciplinary action might have been expected from some, but Mancini, who has taken a relaxed line on touchline disputes in the past, believes the embarrassment of being withdrawn after only half an hour is punishment enough.

“Mario is young, I want to help him and that is the end of it,” he said.

“To take him off after 30 minutes is enough punishment. It won’t have been easy for him but it has to be a lesson.”

It was suggested that Balotelli claimed he thought he was offside, explaining why he attempted the trick.

But Mancini declined to reveal what was said during the furious exchange between player and coach.

“It was in Italian,” he said.

“In English I would find it difficult to give you the translation. But Mario is streetwise, he knows he was not offside.”

Following a 1-1 draw against the MLS side, Manchester City went on to win the match 7-6 on penalties, with goalkeeper Joe Hart striking the decisive spot kick.

Star striker Darren Bent has admitted he is interested in extending his contract at Sunderland.

The 26-year-old hitman has been a sensation since moving to the Stadium of Light from Tottenham Hotspur last summer, scoring 34 goals in 53 appearances.

This form has allowed him to assert himself in the England squad and so it comes as no surprise that he is enjoying life on Wearside.

He has been the subject of transfer speculation in recent times despite his current contract taking him up until 2013. And with the high regard he holds for manager Steve Bruce, he has admitted he is happy to extend his stay.

Speaking to the News of the World, Bent said:"I can't believe how well it's gone. If the offer of an extension came up I'd be more than happy to sign it.

"It's all about the football up here. It's all passion, passion, passion, but the supporters' intensity has never scared me.

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"They are looking at me to get the goals and that is a massive confidence booster."

Bent has also hailed Bruce's man-management skills, saying that he has the ability to be the next England manager.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

They are generally the ex-professional footballers that have the unique ability (among footballers) to string a coherent sentence together (sometimes).  They have the belief that they have some kind of insight and knowledge of the game which us mere mortals do not possess. 

In reality they generally spout the obvious using an array of historical cliches and badly executed metaphors.  We are, of course, talking about football pundits and below are our list of the five most annoying:

 

 Jim Beglin

Probably the quintessenial annoying commentator.  You may not know his name but you will certainly recognise his voice from ITV.  He is the channel’s main co-commentator and is the main reason why I find the BBC sport coverage far superior.

The man has the ability to pronounce the same name a thousand different ways, meaning during a World cup or European championships he really comes into his own.  My all time favourite has to be his pronouciation of Paraguay defender Chiqui Arce during the 2002 World cup. Genius!

 

 David Pleat

Pleat has really hung around in the media since his day’s as Spurs manager and I think I know why.  He has the ability to fill airtime like no other.  Unfortunately he fills it with a stream of incoherent nonsense, often tripping over his words and throwing away sentence after sentence, after sentence in order to make the simplest of points. ‘Get to the point Pleaty!’

 

 Graham Taylor 

Maybe my annoyance with Taylor stems from his uneventful term in the ‘biggest job in football.’ More likely it is his reliance on catchphrases.  ‘Do I not like that’ he is often heard to cry.  If you are referring to your poor grasp of your native tongue Taylor, then I wholeheartedly concur.

 

 Garth Crooks

So what is the most annoying thing about former Tottenham Hotspur man Garth Crooks.  Is it the questions he insists on asking, with the answer already in there?  Is it his array of extreme facial expressions that could put the most professional mime to shame?

Or is it his constant tendancy to dispute popular opinion, no matter what the evidence to the contray?  Surely it has to be his on screen disagreements with fellow pundits which seem to escalate to such heights that Crooks himself looks as though he’s going to stab someone.

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 Alan Hansen

For me Alan Hansen has to get the award for most annoying pundit.  Imust have sat through hour upon hour of the former Liverpool defender droning on and on about positioning goal side, with endless replays conplete with circling of out of position defenders.  His favourite word is abysmal and he seems to use it endlessly. ‘ The defending there was abysimal’.

I believe it was from his mouth that the famously disproved statement, ‘you canna win anything with kids’ was first released into the world.  Thanks Alan, but if you really do know so much about defending why not go and coach, and give us all a break!

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Guangzhou Evergrande extended their unbeaten run in the Chinese Super League to 11 with a 2-0 win over Shaanxi Chanba on Saturday.It took until late in the second half for them to find the breakthrough but they maintained their hold on top spot with the victory at the Tianhe Stadium.

Brazilian forward Muriqui opened the scoring on 76 minutes before midfielder Wu Pingfeng wrapped up victory in stoppage time.

Beijing Guoan were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Shandong Luneng.

Australian Joel Griffiths gave Beijing a 49th-minute lead and they looked to be headed for victory until Brazilian Obina struck a late equaliser.

Third-placed Liaoning Hongyun handed struggling Shenzhen Ruby a 6-1 belting.

Midfielder Yu Hanchao scored a brace, while Zhao Junzhe, Yang Xu, Valdo and Xing Xuefei were also on the scoresheet as Liaoning found the net three times in each half.

Only an own goal from Kim Yoo-Jin blemished an otherwise superb performance against bottom-placed Shenzhen.

Elsewhere, a goal from Uruguayan Paulo Pezzolano helped Hangzhou Lucheng to a 1-0 win over Shanghai Shenhua, while Nanchang Bayi slumped to a seventh-straight winless league game as an own goal from Sun Yifan handed Changchun Yatai a 1-0 win.

Qingdao Jonoon and the winless Henan Jianye played out a 1-1 draw, as did Dalian Shide and Tianjin Teda.

Meanwhile, Australian Bruce Djite struck the winner as Jiangsu Shuntian overcame Chengdu Blades 1-0.

Whenever I hear the name, Frank McAvennie, I instantly remember the legacy he left after appearing on Soccer AM. After failing to get the ball through the hole in the car-park game ‘Wembley’, he blasted the ball in frustration straight into a ball-boys face. The car-park is still known to this day as the ‘Frank McAvennie car-park.’ But after digging a little further, I realised the former West Ham and Celtic striker represents much more than a funny anecdote.

The story of McAvennie’s career could be used as a warning to any young professional footballer. Swept from a life as a street cleaner, the Scot’s life exploded into a tale of fame and fortune, which he now openly admits contributed to the demise of his career.

He became the poster-boy of the ‘80s. Scoring goals for fun, winning medals, drinking champagne and having glamour models hanging on his arms would have been just an ordinary Saturday night for the striker. But as with most celebrity-footballers, it was all too good to be true.

Ironically, before becoming a professional footballer, McAvennie attempted to join the British Army, before he started his career in Scotland playing for St. Mirren. Good form and plenty of goals attracted the attention of clubs south of the boarder, and in 1985, he signed for West Ham, forming a formidable partnership up front with Tony Cottee. McAvennie scored 26 in his first season, helping the Hammers to their highest ever league position; finishing third, only four points off winning the league. Not bad for someone who can’t hit the target.

West Ham’s failed to build on their promise and McAvennie became stale at Upton Park. In 1987 he signed for his boyhood club, Celtic. The striker earned himself a place in the record books at Parkhead. Chasing a league and cup double, Macavennie scored twice in the final late on to win the game 2-1.

Despite recapturing his goal-scoring form at Celtic, McAvennie yearned for the London lifestyle and resigned for West Ham in ‘89 for £1.2 million, becoming the Hammers’ record signing. Upton Park felt like home to the Scot, but after turning down Arsenal to return to his old stomping ground, he signalled the end of Frank McAvennie as a top quality striker. Arsenal went on to win the league that season and West Ham were relegated.

A broken leg and lack of form saw McAvennie leave Upton Park once again for Celtic, via Aston Villa for a brief and unsuccessful period. The next few years were spent trying to find his feet at different clubs: Celtic, Swindon, (where he suffered another relegation, this time for the Premier League) Falkirk and he finally ended his career at 35, where it had begun, St. Mirren.

So, when trying to remember the ‘good old days’ it is worth taking the time to really think about the career of Frank McAvennie; once, he really was a quality footballer. But the warning is there for anyone who considers taking the highlife.

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