Coming Or Going?

‘NEVER let is be said that sports hacks don’t have a clue what they’re talking about.

That’s enough stretching, now for the pies

When the Star insists that Steven Gerrard will quit Liverpool in the summer, with Chelsea and Real Madrid leading the bidding for the midfielder, it does so on hard evidence.

It knows the 24-year-old’s mind and it knows the fact that the Reds are already 15 points behind Chelsea in the Premiership is “bugging” him.

But when the Sun says that there’s no chance that Gerrard will leave the club he has supported all his life, it also knows what it’s talking about.

It has Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry as a source, who tells the paper: “There is no chance of Stevie going in January. That just won’t happen. Our intention is that we will never let him go.”

Parry bases that confidence on his belief that Liverpool can satisfy Gerrard’s ambitions as a player.

And, if Gerrard’s ambitions are to battle it out every year for fourth place in the Premiership, narrowly squeak through the opening phase of the Champions’ League and occasionally win the Carling Cup, then we have no doubt he is right.

But the Premiership this year appears to be between Arsenal and Chelsea, whose clash on Sunday dominates the back pages.

And in the Express we hear from The Tinkerman himself, Claudio Ranieri, who says Chelsea’s current success is all down to…him.

“If I’d stayed at Chelsea this season, in all probability we’d have won the league,” he said.

“We were ready. I was the one who told Roman Abramovich to sign Didier Drogba and it was my idea to sign Arjen Robben.”

But while Drogba is mouthing off over in the Sun, claiming that Arsenal are scared of the Blues, the Gunners have a different problem in the Mirror.

It claims that Arsenal’s two keepers are at war and that Jens Lehmann has refused to support Manuel Almunia on the training ground since the Spaniard took his place in goal.

A source says the two used to get on well until Arsene Wenger preferred Almunia for last week’s game against Birmingham.

“Ever since then, Jens has gone out of his way to make things difficult,” he says.

When Marcus Trescothick goes out of his way, things seems to get difficult of their own accord for the England opener and vice-captain.

And the papers are this morning mulling over why it is that the left-hander boasts a Test batting average of 53.93 at home and only 32.84 away.

Banger, as he’s known, has made just two tons in his 26 matches overseas compared with six on his 28 matches at home.

And, says the Mail, he has followed Mark Butcher’s lead and taken up yoga to try to address the problem.

So, if you see Trescothick going into the Downward Dog during next week’s first Test against South Africa, you’ll know why…’

Posted: 10th, December 2004 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink