Former England striker Peter Crouch says he felt "degraded" during his final season as a player when he became "a head on a stick". He said: "I know some friends of mine [who have retired from professional football] got in a really, really dark place - waking up and not having any real goal, splitting up with their wives, not having a job, not having any real money coming in and going from a hero to basically a nobody. It happens like that. "I can see why people lose it to drink and gambling because there's no release. It can be difficult. I know how fortunate I am to have these things to keep me busy, otherwise I'd be losing it as well." https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/50957250
Marseille and Aston Villa are among the clubs monitoring former Liverpool and England striker Daniel Sturridge, 30, who is now at Turkish club Trabzonspor
LA Galaxy sign Argentine defender Emiliano Insua https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/01/02/la-galaxy-sign-argentine-defender-emiliano-insua-stuttgart
he must have been listening to you omaro .... Dominic Solanke scored his first goal for Bournemouth, exactly a year after joining, as the Premier League side defeated Luton Town in the FA Cup. Solanke was also denied a goal earlier in the match when VAR ruled that Harry Wilson was in an offside position as the striker's header beat Simon Sluga in goal. but bear in mind ... Luton are the bottom side in the Championship division.
Villa have been offered the chance to sign Spanish former Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina, 37, from AC Milan.
karma .... and ironic since he would have played vs Everton and Villa already if he'd stayed. https://www.empireofthekop.com/2020...the-agent-that-forced-his-move-to-fiorentina/ Bobby Duncan sacks the agent that forced his move to Fiorentina Duncan, who hasn’t made a single appearance for Fiorentina – has a new agent.
he's a textbook case of someone screwing up a football career through a combination of ego surrounded by self-serving bad advice. he was on our books and City's, viewed as great potential by both clubs, and he threw it away. he'll move on from Italy soon.
Wasn’t sure where to post this, but you gotta listen to Jamie Carragher’s podcast where he interviews Steven Gerrard: https://audioboom.com/posts/7473262-steven-gerrard
I'm impressed he carved a career at the top level of a league - even if it's Serie A. I would have figured Division 2 somewhere or head over to try his hand at MLS.
I will lay serious money that before he's 25 a club from Indonesia/Thailand/India/Vietnam/Cambodia will be on Bobby Duncan's resumé. (Maybe even MLS )
Danny Ings could have had a hat‑trick in Southampton’s impressive comeback win at Leicester. But the 27-year-old’s winner offered more compelling evidence that he is thriving under the tutelage of Ralph Hasenhüttl. Surely a first England call-up since he won his solitary cap under Roy Hodgson against Lithuania in 2015 is now on the cards. Brendan Rodgers, who signed him for Liverpool from Burnley that summer, certainly thinks so. With Jamie Vardy apparently not keen on making himself available for Euro 2020 and Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson badly out of form, Rodgers said Ings is making a strong case after scoring seven times in the league since the start of December. “There’s no doubt,” said the Leicester manager. “He just needs to keep the consistency and availability and he’ll show he’s one of the best strikers about.” https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2020/jan/13/premier-league-10-talking-points
Former Mali, Liverpool midfielder Mohamed Sissoko retires https://www.kingfut.com/2020/01/14/mohamed-sissoko-mali-retires/
They don't like Simon! https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...onfronts-fans-threw-flare-Simon-Mignolet.html