Jose Mourinho says that his rivals in England are trying to buy the title

Chelsea are the current champions of England as they went through a very impressive 2014-15 Premier League which saw the team of Jose Mourinho only losing 3 matches in their entire campaign.

However, Chelsea wasn’t always such a dominating club. Chelsea only truly began to rise in the world of football in 2003 which was the date when the Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich bought the Premier League club and started to spend huge amounts of cash in signing new players.

When Jose Mourinho arrived to Stamford Bridge as the head coach, the Portuguese coach almost spent €99 million as soon as he made his way to Chelsea but now Jose Mourinho is saying that his main rivals in the Premier League are attempting to buy the league title.

Jose Mourinho talked to reporters in a press conference after Chelsea’s match against PSG and the Portuguese coach said: ‘’The squad is the same. Other squads are not the same. They are buying some of the best players in the country, they are buying some of the best players in Europe, so others squads will be very very strong’’

“In the beginning of MrAbramovich coming to Chelsea, Chelsea was buying the title. Now, they are buying the title. All of them, they are buying the title.It is up to us to be strong and to fight them and, obviously, to try and win it again, even without the big investments.”

Chelsea hasn’t gone through an active summer transfer window but the only reason that Jose Mourinho has not been interested in signing players is because he already has a world class team with top players in every single position and there isn’t a big need on adding more players to his squad.

Jose Mourinho already has a team which is capable of defending their Premier League title and all the other top teams in the Premier League are simply trying to catch up by signing top class players.

Alex Neil reckons by helping Norwich City

Alex Neil reckons by helping Norwich City get back to the League, he has managed to live up to the expectations that the club owners had with him.

Neil had been given the charge of Norwich in the middle of the previous season.

The Canaries were struggling with a bit of inconsistency at that point in time, but, with him coming in, everything was back on track and the team finished the season as the winner of the Championship playoffs.

According to Neil, at the start of his tenure in January, he was feeling a bit of heat and was afraid he might let himself and other people down. But, he is glad things did not unfold that way.

Norwich job was the first proper assignment for Neil as far as the management is concerned.
For the last couple of years, he had been coaching at Hamilton Academicals, but, he was a player cum manager there and the pressure was not that intense on him.

But, it was a tall ask switching to Norwich all of a sudden and not to forget his age. He is only in his early thirties.

For a man as young as that, to be a manager in the second tier Football, the pressure could so easily have gotten on him.

In an interview a few days back, Neil was quoted as saying, “I am really, really happy that I did not disappoint anyone. That’s something which I don’t like at all, to let the fans or the owners down. I always look to ensure I fulfil the expectations that people have with me.”

“To take the job in hand at a crucial time and to finish it like that, it’s satisfactory and I believe the faith that was shown while appointing me has been repaid.”

Alex Neil confident that he can get Norwich City into the Premier League

After getting his team within two points of an automatic promotion spot following a 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest, manager Alex Neil is confident that he can get Norwich City into the Premier League.

Not many would have expected the club to have bounced back strongly after a disappointing season last time around. However, the fact that they still remain in touching distance of an automatic promotion spot is commendable. The Championship this season has been highly intense with just a few points separating teams until the fifth spot. Bournemouth continued to hold the advantage with yet another victory.

Watford and Middlesbrough, though, slipped with defeats in their respective matches during the weekend and it has helped Norwich close the gap on the second spot. There has been no attempt to reduce the expectation at the club, as Neil has confirmed that Norwich are targeting promotion this season. If it comes through the automatic way, it would be even more beneficial. This is because it would allow the clubs several weeks of valuable preparation time in the transfer market, which the clubs that are promoted by the play-offs simply do not get. The win against Nottingham, though, was only the second in the last five matches.

“I know what my task is. We want to be in the Premier League, and I said to the board when I first came down I want to be in the Premier League as well so I will try my very best. Everybody is fighting for the same goal and I can assure you my determination only grows, it doesn’t diminish.There is an expectancy level that I have for myself and my group and from the fans towards me and the group. The board will have their own expectations that I have to deliver a certain quality of football and a certain competitiveness in this league,” said Neil.

Norwich City slipped to Eight Position

Norwich City suffered their second defeat in the last five league matches and this saw them slip to eighth place in the Championship. Manager Alex Neil sent out a warning saying that the players are showing signs of living in the past. He says that they should be reminded that they are playing in the Championship and that they need to win matches in order to get back to the Premier League.

After starting the season in the bright fashion, Norwich are finding it difficult to get the right results as the business end of the season approaches.

The prospect of automatic promotion may already be slipping away from the club, as they have fallen seven points behind Middlesbrough in the second place.

They remain only four points away from the play-offs, but there is a danger of the likes of Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers behind them catching up. Further, teams like Wolves and Brentford are going through a great run of form and they could extend their gap further. Neil was speaking after a 2-1 defeat against Brentford. An away match against Birmingham City, who have suffered just one defeat in the last five matches, appears to provide yet another tough test for the Canaries.

“It doesn’t matter where you’ve played. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done then, it’s what you do now.The squad, for instance. A lot of people talking seem to live off that they played in the Premier League.

But the bottom line is they’re not in the Premier League. They’re in the Championship.So the quicker we get used to that, the quicker we realise where we are, then hopefully the quicker we can turn it around and start pulling further up the table,” said Neil. Followed by this match, Norwich are up against Blackpool at home.

Craig Bellamy slams former Supporters

Former Newcastle United striker Craig Bellamy has slammed his former supporters by claiming that they are expecting too much from the team, who he says it will never be equal to the likes of Manchester United or Liverpool.

Newcastle are one of the biggest supported teams up in the north-east of England. They have a stadium with more than 50,000 seater capacity, but find no struggle in filling the seats. Such is the level of support in the north-east that Newcastle have been recognised as one of the big clubs in England.

The incredibly passionate supporters were recently heavily critical of manager Alan Pardew after the team’s poor start to the season. Pardew was on the verge of being sacked from his role during the intense pressure from the supporters, but the former West Ham manager has turned things around in the last few weeks. Newcastle recently won their fourth consecutive match after beating West Brom.

Prior to this match, they have beaten the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, and Tottenham. These good results will force Newcastle fans to expect much more according to their former striker Bellamy. The former Wales international recently retired from football. During a stellar career, he played at Newcastle from 2001 to 2005.

“I remember finished fifth up there (in Newcastle) and that wasn’t good enough. It’s a great place to be if you’re winning but they (Newcastle supporters) always expect more.After beating Liverpool and after beating Spurs, fans will come here expecting to win. I have a lot of respect for Newcastle.It’s a great club to play for but they have this idea that they should be bigger than Liverpool or just as big as Liverpool or Manchester United – they aren’t,” said the onetime Newcastle striker in statements that sure are to fire up the Newcastle faithful.

Adams unhappy with draw

Norwich City faced off with Leeds United in their latest English Championship League match which concluded in a 1-1 draw and despite both clubs having to collect 1 point out of the game, the boss of Norwich City, Neil Adams is not entirely happy about the result as Norwich City enjoyed having the upper hand in possession and everything else throughout the entire game but could only manage on getting one point.
This is not the first time that Norwich City has managed to control the match for the vast majority of the game as it also occurred a few weeks ago when Norwich City played against Birmingham City and despite having 65% of possession, the match ended in a 2-2 draw and Norwich City once more having to settle with one point despite having the upper hand in the actual game with more shots on target and more possession but lacked the finishing touch that was needed in order to fully capitalize on all of those goal-scoring chances.
‘’Once again, the stats are impressive for City as we had 62% of the possession, 20 shots to Leeds’ four and 9 corners to Leeds’ three. That’s all very well and good and it shows that we’ve been playing okay but it’s a problem if you can’t score. I have to say that I don’t think this is a terminal problem. We are only four points off first place in late October’’
“We’re not picking up victories and that’s the concern for me. We had 63% possession which is massive away from home but in terms of creating genuine goal scoring opportunities, that didn’t materialize .In terms of the performance and the way we’re dominating the ball, it’s fine.” Norwich City’s Neil Adams told toldBBC Sport.
The manager of Norwich City, Neil Adams is not too concerned about the situation in his squad as the English manager stated that as long as his players continue performing as they are doing in such a positive way, that’s the most important thing and the team will just continue growing from their mistakes.

Norwich Lives Up TO Expectations

Norwich have managed to live up to expectations of promotion challenge at the start of the Championship season by dropping only five points so far. As a result, they sit within touching distance of the top of the table after five matches in the season. Norwich’s latest dropped points may have come in the 1-1 draw with Bournemouth just before the international break, but manager Neil Adams says that he is confident of achieving promotion with the club. The 48-year-old was appointed as the permanent manager after impressing in his role as the caretaker boss towards the end of last season.

Despite the lack of managerial experience, the former Norwich midfielder says that the squad has been looking very promising and strong in all areas of the pitch. At this stage of the season, it looks like Norwich will have to fight against the likes of Wolverhampton, Watford, and Nottingham Forest for the title. The likes of Millwall, Charlton, and Derby may also be involved in the title race. Norwich have a significant advantage amongst this competition due to the parachute payments that they will receive from the Premier League for the next four years. This would allow them to substantially strengthen during the January if they have the need to do so.

“We’d have settled for that return at this stage. Of course I would have liked 15 points, and we tried to do everything we could to get the win against Bournemouth, but I just said to the players we are a touch disappointed because we have only drawn a game. That is a good sign because you don’t want to come in high fiving each other when you have taken a point at Carrow Road,” said the Norwich manager after the Bournemouth match. Norwich’s next match is against Cardiff.

Hull agree fee for Snodgrass with Norwich City

Premier League side Hull City has had a bid reportedly in excess of £ 6 million accepted by Norwich City for Scotland international midfielder Robert Snodgrass.

Although personal terms are yet to be agreed between the Tigers and the player, Hull City boss Steve Bruce is confident of landing his man in the coming days as he looks to strengthen his squad ahead of their first foray into European football with the UEFA Europa League.

Snodgrass joined the Canaries after a brilliant spell at Leeds United in the summer of 2012 and he was one of the star players for the club as they suffered relegation from the Premier League this season, scoring 7 goals in his 34 appearances for Norwich City.

If the deal for the player go does through as expected, Snodgrass will become the Tigers’ second signing of the summer after Steve Bruce secured the permanent transfer of midfielder Jake Livermore from Tottenham Hotspur for a fee believed to be around £ 8 million.

Hull are also in the market for a defender and have earmarked Tottenham defender Michael Dawson as the man they need and are also looking at the prospect of signing former England Under-21 international Tom Ince, who is currently a free agent after his short term deal with Crystal Palace expired.

Meanwhile, Norwich City are looking to add reinforcements to their squad following relegation as they look to bounce back immediately and have agreed terms with Italian club Palermo for the signing of Northern Ireland international Kyle Lafferty.

Having let Swedish striker Johan Elmander leave following the end of his loan spell and with Gary Hooper also expected to leave, the Canaries are in dire need of attacking options and are working on several deals that could be announced in the coming days.

Norwich Slips Closer To Relegation

Norwich City have slipped closer to the relegation zone after a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Swansea during the weekend. After the match, manager Chris Hughton admitted that his team were in danger of being sucked into the relegation dogfight in the final few matches of the campaign. They are now six points ahead of Cardiff City, who occupy the final relegation spot. However, a run of just one win in the last five matches coupled with defeats against relegation threatened opponents has put Norwich in a precarious position according to its manager.

Hughton has been under pressure for most of the campaign, but two wins in the month of January and February have helped him get some breathing space. They are yet to achieve the magic 40 point mark, which usually guarantees safety. They are eight points behind this tally with only six matches left. Hughton is aware that Norwich have a difficult end to the campaign with matches against title chasing teams like Manchester City and Chelsea yet to come. He says that he is trying out every aspect like new formations and tactics in the hope of improving the team’s form.

The match against West Brom next weekend could prove to be the vital encounter, is yet another defeat will slip them further closer.

“We have chopped and changed things and we have tried different formations. But we are finding it very difficult. There is a nervousness about us and a lack of confidence. It also means we are heaping more pressure on our home games. Thankfully we have been able to get results at home when we have needed them. Nobody wants to be in a position where we have to win all of our home games, just to stick in there,” said Hughton after the Swansea match.