Cole Tweet proves respect is lacking

Last Saturday at Stamford Bridge some Chelsea fans were heard singing: "Ashley Cole - he Tweets when he wants!" Cole turned to applaud the fans making the chant as his side eased past Norwich City 4-1.
Showing respect? Maybe towards those who chanted his name, but it came just hours after his first apology to the Football Association for referring to them on the social network site Twitter, as a "bunch of t****."
Cole published the Tweet in response to the Independent Regulatory Committee findings in the John Terry racial abuse case, where in it they accused Cole of "evolving" his statement in support of Terry's defence.
On Tuesday, the Football Association's new centre of excellence, St George's Park, was officially opened by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. But as the Three Lions crest was pulled from over a plaque to rubberstamp the grand opening, the underlying story was of Cole's latest wrong doing.
Earlier in the day Cole had met with FA chairman David Bernstein to offer a second apology for the offensive Tweet.
The apology was accepted but it is the latest in a long line of controversial mishaps from Cole and once again highlights the growing problem within the national game. Respect! Or, a lack of it.
This is not a witch-hunt against Cole, because let's be honest, it could have been any footballer actively involved with Twitter. Cole is a world class left-back. His performances last season, particularly in the Champions League, were outstanding. He had been outstanding for many years. Ask Cristiano Ronaldo.
But it's off the field where Cole lets himself down. Remember the incident where he fired an air rifle at a work experience student in 2011?
So, when Cole decided to join the social media site Twitter in July 2012, it appeared he was an accident waiting to happen.
The aim of St George's Park is to improve the quality of coaching and player development. But unless the respect levels are raised a couple of notches too, then domestically the Premier League's reputation could take a battering and internationally the country may also face many more disappointing tournaments.
You only have to look at the last World Cup in South Africa to find evidence of this. The fact that players sat in the same changing room didn't see eye to eye wasn't really a problem. It was their inability to pull together in an attempt to win for their country. Unforgivable you could argue, but it all stems from the same level of respect Cole showed when writing his Tweet.
So in this latest case, how do we combat this problem and send out the right message? Prevent Cole from winning his 100th cap? Surely not? In a word, yes, we do!
You can't fine players today because it simply doesn't work, but, a domestic and international ban might go some way to solving the problem.
Cole took to Twitter the following day: "Game time! Can't wait to get back to what I love doing, playing football." Therefore, let's hit him where it hurts: ban him for club and country. If he takes the Terry route and decides to retire from international football then it opens up the chance for someone else to come through.
Cole will get his 100th cap and performances on the pitch say he deserves it. But, after his latest stunt, can't we make him work for it?
Only at the weekend we were talking about players diving. This is not only a problem with the many foreign players who play in the Premier League. Current England internationals Danny Welbeck and Ashley Young have been accused of it in recent months. Again, the diving displays a lack of respect to fellow players.
We have been told to expect to see the benefits of St George's Park in two World Cups time. England can be provided with the best facilities in the world. They can train coaches and players to a standard that enables them to compete and win major tournaments. We can talk about formations, possession, developing our youth. But respect? It's an area in which we fall short.
Let's put the Respect Campaigns on hold for a while and see some evidence of it on the pitch and training field. I don't think anyone is being fooled by players wearing T-shirts during their pre-match stretch. It's time for actions to replace the words and until the powers that be, the Premier League, FA, whoever, take a stand, then I fear we will be having this discussion for many years to come and ultimately our game will suffer - as it currently is.

LIVERPOOL player names

LIVERPOOL FC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SQUAD

:

Cavalieri
Reina
Hansen *
Duyan *

Dossena
Hyypiä
Agger
Aurélio
Arbeloa
Carragher
Darby
Kelly
Irwin
Skrtel

Gerrard
Alonso
Benayoun
Mascherano
Lucas
Spearing
Flynn *
Eccleston *

keane
Torres
Riera
Kuyt
Babel
N’Gog

real madrid player names and squad

REAL MADRID SQUAD: GOALKEEPERS

    * Iker Casillas
    * Jesus Fernandez
    * Antonio Adan


REAL MADRID SQUAD: DEFENDERS

    * Sergio Ramos
    * Fabio Coentrao
    * Raphael Varane
    * Raul Albiol
    * Alvaro Arbeloa
    * Marcelo
    * Ricardo Carvalho
    * Pepe


REAL MADRID SQUAD: MIDFIELDERS

    * Mesut Ozil
    * Lassana Diarra
    * Sami Khedira
    * Xabi Alonso
    * Angel Di Maria
    * Luka Modric
    * Esteban Granero
    * Kaka


REAL MADRID SQUAD: FORWARDS

    * Karim Benzema
    * Gonzalo Higuain
    * Jose Callejon
    * Alvaro Morata
    * Cristiano Ronaldo

, players Barcelona, the Catalan

 Jose M. Pinto
 Victor Valdes
 Adriano Correia
 Carles Puyol
ا Eric Abidal
 Gerard Pique
 Maxwell Andrade
ا Andres Iniesta
 Andreu Fontas
 Daniel Alves
 Francesc Fabregas
 Ibrahim Afellay
 Javier Mascherano
 Sergio Busquets
 Seydou Keita
 Thiago Alcantara
 Xavi Hernandez
 Alexis Alejandro Sanchez
 David Sanchez Villa
 Lionel Messi
 Pedrito Rodriguezose M. Pint
o


 Jose M. Pinto
 Victor Valdes
 Adriano Correia
 Carles Puyol
ا Eric Abidal
 Gerard Pique
 Maxwell Andrade
ا Andres Iniesta
 Andreu Fontas
 Daniel Alves
 Francesc Fabregas
 Ibrahim Afellay
 Javier Mascherano
 Sergio Busquets
 Seydou Keita
 Thiago Alcantara
 Xavi Hernandez
 Alexis Alejandro Sanchez
 David Sanchez Villa
 Lionel Messi
 Pedrito RodriguezBarcelona squad 2012, players Barcelona 2012, the Catalan squad 2012, Barcelona players, the Catalans players, the names of the players Barcelona 2012

Rooney: I don't mind not scoring if Manchester United win

Wayne Rooney has insisted that he is unconcerned by his barren run in front of goal, as long as Manchester United keep on winning.

Sir Alex Ferguson's men defeated Newcastle 3-0 on Sunday, with two goals from corners in the first half followed by a long-range effort from Tom Cleverley after the break.

Spurs made it four Premier League wins in a row as they beat Aston Villa 2-0 at White Hart Lane, where Steven Caulker and Aaron Lennon netted.

urs made it four Premier League wins in a row as they beat Aston Villa 2-0 at White Hart Lane, where Steven Caulker and Aaron Lennon netted.

Hugo Lloris made his home league debut and Tottenham occasionally looked vulnerable at the back, but were in control for the vast majority of the game and played some of their best football of the season.
Birthday boy Jermain Defoe, Jan Vertonghen and the mightily-impressive Gareth Bale all came close to putting Spurs ahead in the first half, but the Londoners only broke the deadlock after the break through Caulker's lucky first goal for the club.
Defoe smashed a low shot wide from a Bale corner, but the defender was standing in the right place at the right time, the ball clipping his heel and flying past Brad Guzan after 58 minutes.
Soon after Spurs put the game to bed when Lennon picked the ball up off Dempsey, strode past his marker and shot beyond Guzan.
Manager Andre Villas-Boas made the surprise decision to end Brad Friedel's run of 310 consecutive Premier League starts by giving Lloris his English top-flight debut.
The Frenchman, signed for £8million on deadline day, looked solid for the majority of the first half and barely had a thing to do after the break.
He did not hesitate to come off his line - a criticism often aimed at Friedel - and he will be glad to have been in goal for Spurs' first clean sheet of the season.
His only hiccup came just after the break when he threw a wayward ball to Vertonghen, but Villa failed to take advantage and Spurs ended the game full of joy knowing they had moved back up to fifth in the table with the win.
Lloris received a hero's welcome when he emerged from the tunnel, but he barely had anything to do for much of the opening quarter as Spurs started well.
With less than 30 seconds gone Defoe laid the ball off to Bale, who flashed a curling shot just wide.
Vertonghen then burst down the left flank and cut the ball back but Defoe blazed the ball over from 12 yards.
Bale whipped in a devilish cross after five minutes, but Vertonghen mistimed his run by a second and just missed a tap-in from close range.
Moments later Bale beat the offside trap and went to ground after rounding Guzan. The Welshman appealed for a foul which would have seen the American red-carded, but referee Neil Swarbrick waved play on.
Lloris' first piece of action came after 20 minutes when he saved awkwardly from Christian Benteke, but the Frenchman showed confidence by racing out to clear before Brett Holman could shoot.
Spurs were on top, but still could not find a way through.
Defoe gained a yard on his marker after picking up a Lennon pass, but he could only shoot a yard wide.
Lloris then did well to race out and deny Benteke and Gabriel Agbonlahor in quick succession as Villa threatened to score on the counter.
Tottenham failed in their bid to break the deadlock before the break - and they almost went behind just after the restart thanks to Lloris' only error.
Villa intercepted the Frenchman's throw to Vertonghen and Agbonlahor found the unmarked Benteke at the back post but he headed wide.
The crowd, fully aware of the cost of Spurs' profligacy against Panathinaikos on Thursday, became tense, but their nerves eased when Defoe's deflected shot went in just before the hour.
The England striker got on the end of Bale's cross and took a touch before firing a low shot that was going wide until it clipped Caulker's heel and flew past Guzan.
Nine minutes later it was 2-0 thanks to Lennon's first of the season. Joe Bennett failed to close down Dempsey, who squared for Lennon and he swept a precise shot past Guzan in to the far corner.
Villas-Boas brought on Emmanuel Adebayor for his first appearance in over a month.
Dempsey should have put the game beyond doubt 15 minutes from the end, but he somehow missed a free header from eight yards.
Worryingly for Villa, Bennett was carried off on a stretcher with 12 minutes left after clattering in to the advertising boards.
Bale lashed a powerful drive inches wide of a sprawling Guzan and the American did well to push Dembele's shot on to the bar near the end

Stoke produced a solid defensive display to hold off Liverpool and take a hard-earned point away from Anfield after a 0-0 draw on Sunday.

jThe stalemate made it five draws in seven Premier League matches by Tony Pulis' men, while a point will be scant consolation for Reds manager Brendan Rodgers.
It could have been worse for the hosts, who twice almost pushed the self-destruct button, but ultimately this will be viewed as another disappointment in a stop-start season.
Rodgers made eight changes from the side beaten by Udinese on Thursday, after which he called his players "lazy", and one of his targets, Stewart Downing, was not even on the bench.
Liverpool had been on the receiving end of a kicking from their manager in midweek, and got another one at Anfield at the hands of Stoke, who took their renowned physical approach across the line of legality on plenty of occasions.
But if Liverpool were keen to escape the sharp edge of their manager's tongue, they hardly helped themselves.
Twice, goalkeeper Jose Reina attempted to pass the ball out to a midfielder; twice, Stoke scented a weakness and pounced, and twice it was only the reactions of the Spaniard which saved Liverpool.
Stoke had clearly anticipated Reina would refuse to launch the ball long, and the first time it was Nuri Sahin who conceded possession, giving Charlie Adam a chance to humiliate his former employees. The Scot advanced toward goal, but Reina was quickly out of the blocks to narrow the angle and parry the shot.
Liverpool committed the same mistake again soon afterward. This time it was Steven Nzonzi snapping into the challenge as another Reina pass went awry and Michael Kightly tried to flight the ball into the goal, but the keeper recovered to turn it over at full stretch.
Having passed up those chances, Stoke reverted to type, striking long balls and stopping their opponents by foul means as often as fair, and the game disintegrated as a spectacle.
Liverpool's frustration increased, while the away fans chanted 'You're not famous any more', and all that there was to give the Reds fans some hope before the break was a sweeping shot by Steven Gerrard turned aside by Asmir Begovic, and a toe-poke from Daniel Agger that bounced wide.
Proper football threatened to break out in patches in the second half, as Stoke toned down their challenges, and it was Liverpool who had just about all the chances, although none were clear-cut.
First, a terrific combination between Gerrard and Luis Suarez was just thwarted. Gerrard then picked out Glen Johnson's run with a pass of arrow-like precision, but his England team-mate, on the run, could not keep the shot down.
A run of genuine brilliance by Suarez, the most gifted person on the pitch by some distance, nearly brought a superb goal, but he just bent the shot wide of the angle.
Raheem Sterling was presented with perhaps Liverpool's best opportunity after Agger's driving run, but he tried to drill it inside the near post and only found the side-netting.
Suarez then showed the best and worst of his talents in the space of a couple of minutes, first with a dive in the penalty area that was embarrassingly obvious, then bursting down the right and powering a shot against the outside of a post from a tight angle.
Martin Skrtel nearly snatched a winner at the end when he hooked Joe Cole's ball back across goal, but it dropped, agonisingly for Liverpool, the wrong side of the post.
A dreary goalless draw at home will hardly provide much succour for Rodgers - and Michael Owen, missing an Anfield return due to injury, can only be thankful he was not playing.