Robbie Keane – Tottenham’s Captain
Robbie Keane – Captain / Forward / Striker of Tottenham Hotspur F.C. – English Premier League Football Club
Robert David “Robbie” Keane (born 8 July 1980 in Tallaght, Dublin) is the current captain of the Republic of Ireland national football team, and a first-team striker for Tottenham Hotspur F.C. He is the all-time record goalscorer for the Irish national side, as well as the 10th highest goalscorer in Premier League history.
He began his professional career at Wolverhampton Wanderers, scoring twice in his first team debut aged 17. The following season he was the club’s leading goalscorer and scored his first international goal with Republic of Ireland. He changed club frequently between 1999 and 2002, breaking transfer fee records, but his brief spells at Inter Milan and Leeds United were unexceptional. He joined Tottenham Hotspur in 2002 and played there for six years. The 2007–08 season was the most fruitful of his career as he set a career record of 23 goals in a season, scored a landmark 100th competitive goal for Tottenham and won his first senior honour, the Football League Cup. He moved to Liverpool in July 2008 but he spent only six months at the club and soon returned to Tottenham, where he was made first team captain.
Keane is best known for his performances at Tottenham, where he gained repute as a consistent goalscorer and often finished the season having scored the most goals on his team. Keane’s pedigree was reinforced when he became Ireland’s record goalscorer in 2004 and Steve Staunton appointed him national team captain in 2006.
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert David Keane | |
| Date of birth | 8 July 1980 (1980-07-08) (age 29) | |
| Place of birth | Dublin, Ireland | |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Tottenham Hotspur | |
| Number | 10 | |
| Youth career | ||
| 1995–1997 | Crumlin United Wolverhampton Wanderers |
|
| Senior career1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1997–1999 1999–2000 2000–2001 2001 2001–2002 2002–2008 2008–2009 2009– |
Wolverhampton Wanderers Coventry City Internazionale ? Leeds United (loan) Leeds United Tottenham Hotspur Liverpool Tottenham Hotspur |
73 (24) 31 (12) 6 (0) 18 (9) 28 (4) 197 (80) 19 (5) 23 (10) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1998– | Republic of Ireland | 93 (40) |
Return to Tottenham
Keane rejoined Tottenham on 2 February 2009, signing for a basic fee of £12 million, potentially rising to £19 million with add-ons.[42] The deal meant that the cumulative transfer fees paid for Keane over his career amounted to around £75 million.[43] He signed a four-year contract with the north London club.[44] Keane was one of three players to make returns to Tottenham during the transfer window, along with Jermain Defoe and Pascal Chimbonda.[28] He was also made Tottenham vice-captain a week later,>[45] after often deputising for Ledley King during his first spell there.[46][47][48][49][50] Keane scored his first goal since his return to the club on 4 March,[51] opening the scoring in the crucial 4–0 home victory against Middlesbrough.[52][53] He followed this up by scoring another vital goal, this time a last-minute equaliser, away to Sunderland in a 1–1 draw on 7 March.[54][55]
Soon after Keane’s return to White Hart Lane, railway service Virgin Trains ran an advertisement with the slogan “A Liverpool to London return faster than Robbie Keane.”[56] On his return to Liverpool on the final day of the season, he scored in a 3–1 defeat.[57] He received a generally warm reception from the fans despite scoring against them.
On 31 July 2009, Robbie captained Tottenham to winning the Premier League Asia Trophy in a pre-season competition in China. He scored twice in the 3-0 win over Hull City inside Beijing National Stadium. On 26 September 2009, Keane scored four goals in a 5-0 win over Burnley.[58] During Tottenham’s Carling Cup Fourth Round match, Keane scored one of two goals against Everton on 27 October 2009 at White Hart Lane
Source: English Premier League Football Club, Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Robbie Keane, Captains information at wikipedia.org
For other Captains of English Premier League Clubs, visit Captains
Heurelho Gomes – Tottenham Hotspur Goalkeeper
Heurelho Gomes – Goalkeeper of Tottenham Hotspur – English Premier League Football Club
Heurelho da Silva Gomes (Portuguese pronunciation: [??omis]), born 15 February 1981 in João Pinheiro, Minas Gerais), commonly known as Heurelho Gomes or Gomes, is a Brazilian goalkeeper, who currently plays for Tottenham Hotspur. He previously made a name for himself at Dutch club PSV.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Heurelho da Silva Gomes | ||
| Date of birth | 15 February 1981 (1981-02-15) (age 28) | ||
| Place of birth | João Pinheiro, Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Tottenham Hotspur | ||
| Number | 1 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps (Gls)† | |
| 2001–2004 | Cruzeiro | 59 (0) | |
| 2004–2008 | PSV | 128 (0) | |
| 2008– | Tottenham Hotspur | 37 (0) | |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2004 | Brazil U-23 | 8 (0) | |
| 2003– | Brazil | 9 (0) | |
Heurelho da Silva Gomes at Tottenham Hotspur
Following appointment of manager Juande Ramos, Gomes signed for Tottenham Hotspur on 27 June 2008[2] for a fee believed to be around £7.8 million. Gomes played his first game in Tottenham Hotspur colours in a pre-season friendly match on 19 July 2008 against Segunda División B side Dénia, which Tottenham won 4–2.
Gomes eventually obtained a work permit to play in the United Kingdom, despite playing less than the 75% required amount of games for Brazil in the last 2 years.
Gomes made his home debut on the 10 August 2008, keeping a clean sheet with a 5–0 victory over Roma on Tottenham’s last pre-season friendly, before the English Premiership campaign 2008–09.
Gomes didn’t have the best start to life in the Premier League, as Tottenham lost the first two opening games 2–1 to Middlesbrough and Sunderland respectively, but his commanding presence in goal helped Spurs earn their first point of the season with a draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. However, his reputation took a hit a week later when he “inexplicably let Ashley Young’s weak 54th-minute shot slip under his body”[3] in Spurs’ 2–1 home defeat against Aston Villa. These blunders continued as he conceded an own goal against Fulham on 15 November 2008, which kept his club mired deep in the relegation zone and also caused Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeping coach Hans Leitert to be sacked on 19 November 2008 in the wake of Gomes’ blunders.[4] Since his nervous start to his new club, he put in brilliant performances against West Ham United, saving two important shots deep into the match in which Tottenham won 2–0, before earning praise from Harry Redknapp with two world class saves to deny Park Ji-Sung and Ryan Giggs in a 0–0 draw with current champions Manchester United.[5]
Gomes was injured in Spurs’ 5-1 win over Hull City in the second game of the 2009-10 Premier League season and had to be replaced by second-choice keeper Carlo Cudicini.[6] After an MRI Scan it was revealed that Gomes suffered damage to his groin which will keep him out for up to a month.[7] Gomes made his return to first team action in the 5-1 victory over Preston in the Carling Cup on 23rd September 2009,[8] and made his Premier League comeback in the 2-1 win at Portsmouth on 17th October. During this match the Brazilian made a handful of brilliant saves, one of which was compared by former Spurs ‘keeper Pat Jennings to a famous save made by Gordon Banks against Brazil in the 1970 World Cup.
Source: English Premier League Football Club, Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Goalkeepers, Heurelho Gomes information at wikipedia.org
Portsmouth 4-0 Stoke
English Premier League News : Portsmouth 4-0 Stoke
Frederic Piquionne was the star as Portsmouth put their poor league form to one side to easily qualify for the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup.
The much-changed hosts were always in control after Piquionne headed past Steve Simonsen on 17 minutes.
The on-loan Lyon striker then turned provider for Danny Webber to cut in and drive home, before stabbing in his side’s third after a Simonsen mistake.
Kanu added a fourth from close range late on to cap a dominant display.
The Carling Cup has provided some welcome relief from a horrendous start to the Premier League season for Portsmouth, and Paul Hart’s side can now look forward to a place in the quarter-finals.
Tony Pulis had illustrated the Carling Cup’s order in his priority list this season by making 10 changes to the side that beat Spurs at the weekend, but Stoke were still surprising lacklustre throughout.
Piquionne was one of seven changes for Pompey, but he certainly made a strong case for a starting place against Wigan on Saturday.
The French striker opened the scoring by outjumping Danny Higginbotham after a fine cross from Nadir Belhadj.
Portsmouth never looked in danger after that point, but had to wait until the 56th minute for Webber to make the game safe with a fine finish from the inside-left channel.
sgtpotter
Three minutes later and Hart’s team were out of sight as Simonsen fumbled a free-kick by Michael Brown into the path of Piquionne who completed the simple tap in.
Stoke finally hit the target late on through Tuncay – but the flag went up for offside.
And the rout was complete when Aaron Mokoena laid on a sweet pass to fellow substitute Kanu, who rounded the beleaguered Simonsen before slotting home with nine minutes left.
Portsmouth boss Paul Hart: “Obviously we need to take a little bit of that into our league performances. The players were determined to put a performance in.
“I was pleased to get a clean sheet – the more of those we rack up the better chance we have of winning matches.
“And on top of that, the number of chances we created was pleasing.”
Stoke manager Tony Pulis: “The four we conceded were very poor goals to give away and were typified by Glenn Whelan falling over the ball for their fourth.
“When we got in Pompey’s final third there were at least five times where our final ball was absolutely shocking.
“If we’d picked people out we’d have had great opportunities ourselves.”
Source: English Premier League News from BBC SPORT
Alex McLeish – Birmingham City F.C. Manager
Alex McLeish – Manager of Birmingham City F.C. – English Premier League Football Club
Alexander “Alex” McLeish (born 21 January 1959) nicknamed “Big Eck”,[2] is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a central defender. Born in Barrhead, Renfrewshire, he played for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps for Scotland.
He started his managerial career with spells at Motherwell and Hibernian, before guiding Rangers to two championships and five cup wins in five years. McLeish spent ten months as manager of the Scotland national team which narrowly failed to qualify for the finals of the 2008 UEFA European championship. He then resigned this post in November 2007 to become manager of Birmingham City, who were in the English Premier League at the time. Birmingham were relegated at the end of the 2007–08 season, but McLeish guided the club to promotion back to the Premier League in the following season.
In recognition of his distinguished service to Scottish sport, in 2008 McLeish was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Aberdeen.
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alexander McLeish | |
| Date of birth | 21 January 1959 (1959-01-21) (age 50) | |
| Place of birth | Barrhead, Scotland | |
| Playing position | Central defender | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Birmingham City (manager) | |
| Youth career | ||
| Glasgow United | ||
| Senior career1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1978–1994 1994–1995 |
Aberdeen Motherwell Total |
493 (25) 3 (0) 496 (25) |
| National team | ||
| 1980–1993 | Scotland | 77 (0)[1] |
| Teams managed | ||
| 1994–1998 1998–2001 2001–2006 2007 2007– |
Motherwell Hibernian Rangers Scotland Birmingham City |
|
Birmingham City
Premier League Birmingham City’s approach to the SFA for permission to speak to McLeish about their managerial vacancy was refused,[33] but on his return on 27 November 2007 from attending the draw for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification in South Africa, he resigned his post as manager of Scotland[34] and was announced as Birmingham’s new manager the following day. His assistants with Scotland, Roy Aitken and Andy Watson, were to accompany him. McLeish said he wanted to return to working with players on a daily basis and had “always harboured a desire” to manage in the Premier League.[35]
Since his arrival, McLeish has improved the club’s backroom staff and training procedures, appointed David Watson as goalkeeping coach, and overhauled the scouting setup, bringing in Paul Montgomery – the scout who recommended a relatively unknown Didier Drogba to West Ham United – to oversee player recruitment.[39]
On 3 May 2009, McLeish secured Birmingham’s return to the top flight of English football at the first attempt with a 2-1 away victory over Reading
.
Source: English Premier League Football Club, Birmingham City F.C., Birmingham City Manager, Alex McLeish information at wikipedia.org
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City F.C. – English Premier League Football Club
Birmingham City Football Club (LSE: BMC) (pronounced /?b?rm???m ?s?ti/) is a professional football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham F.C. in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City F.C. in 1943.[3] At the end of the 2008–09 season, they were promoted from the Football League Championship to spend their sixth season in the Premier League.
As Small Heath, they were founder members and first ever champions of the Football League Second Division. The most successful period in their history was in the 1950s and early 1960s. They achieved their highest finishing position of sixth in the First Division in the 1955–56 season and reached the 1956 FA Cup Final, progressed to the final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1960 and 1961, and won their only major trophy, the League Cup, in 1963, beating Aston Villa 3–1 on aggregate. They have spent the majority of their history in the top tier of English football,[4] though their darkest era came between 1986 and 2002, when they were continuously outside the top division. This period included two brief spells in the third tier of the English League, during which time they twice won the Football League Trophy.
St Andrew’s has been their home ground since 1906. They have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with Aston Villa, their nearest neighbours, with whom they play the Birmingham derby. The club’s nickname is Blues, due to the colour of their kit, and their fans are known as Bluenoses.
| Full name | Birmingham City Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Blues |
| Founded | 1875 as Small Heath Alliance |
| Ground | St Andrew’s Stadium (Capacity: 30,009[1]) |
| President |  Carson Yeung[2] |
| Chairman | Vico Hui |
| Manager |  Alex McLeish |
| League | Premier League |
| 2008–09 | The Championship, 2nd (promoted) |
Source: English Premier League Football Club, Birmingham City F.C. information at wikipedia.org