Tag Archives: silvestre

Joey Barton says he"s too clever for football before Marseille league debut

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Really, Joey I'm too clever for football, says Barton as he prepares for league bow after getting 12 match ban

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UPDATED:

11:47 GMT, 25 November 2012

Joey Barton believes believes he has a higher calling in life after claiming he is 'too intelligent to be a footballer'.

The QPR midfielder, who is currently on loan at Marseille after being thrown out of Loftus Road in disgrace, regularly uses Twitter to quote famous philosophers and musicians.

Brainy: QPR's outcast loanee Joey Barton believes he is too clever to be a footballer

Brainy: QPR's outcast loanee Joey Barton believes he is too clever to be a footballer

The 30-year-old has a chequered history
both on and off the field, something he continues to claim is behind him
despite his last act in English football – a red card at Manchester
City and subsequent attack on two players – earning him an 12-game ban.

However, speaking in France, Barton
said: 'Perhaps I shouldn't say it, but I'm maybe a little too
intelligent to be a footballer.'

The claims in a French newspaper attracted derision from former Arsenal and Manchester United player Mikael Silvestre.

On Twitter, he wrote: 'The uneducated Joey Barton is fascinating for the degree of his stupidity, his ego and his megalomania!'

The former Newcastle and City man also revealed his move to Loftus Road was motivated by money.

'When I went to QPR it was a choice dictated by money,' he told the Sunday People.

'I didn't like what I had done, and I swore I'd never do that again.

'It was the first time in my life that I had taken a decision for money. I did it because my partner was due to give birth – but I did not feel good about it.

Poised: Barton is likely to make his debut against Lille this evening

Poised: Barton is likely to make his debut against Lille this evening

Exile: Barton was loaned to Marseille after being suspended for 12 games for QPR

'The more money you have, the more problems you have.

'When I was in prison I got €8.60 (7) a week and that [was] simpler – you'd use it to buy food and that was it.'

Barton is eligible to play in his first league game for the French side this evening.

The Englishman has only played in Europe for Marseille, but is set for a league berth when Lille visit on Sunday evening.

Mikael Silvestre keen on Premier League return

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Silvestre back with old pals as he looks for new Premier League challenge

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UPDATED:

14:33 GMT, 12 October 2012

Mikael Silvestre has set his sights on a return to the
Barclays Premier League – and has been training with former club Manchester
United to get his fitness back.

The French left-back spent nine seasons at Old Trafford
between 1999 and 2008, winning five Premier League titles, the FA Cup and
Champions League.

And having since turned out for Arsenal and Werder Bremen,
Silvestre, 35, is looking to finish his career in England’s top flight.

Front of the queue: Mikael Silvestre is training with Manchester United as he seeks a return to the Premier League

Front of the queue: Mikael Silvestre is training with Manchester United as he seeks a return to the Premier League

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson invited Silvestre to United’s
Carrington training ground to train as he prepares for a fresh challenge.

‘I am back here to train,’ Silvestre told MUTV and
manutd.com. ‘I came a few weeks ago and had a chat with the gaffer just before
the Capital One Cup game [with Newcastle United].

‘I said I was coming back to Manchester until Christmas and
he said, ‘Come and train and stay fit until you move to somewhere else.

‘When you are training with the lads you feel like you are
still capable of playing in the Premier League. I am fit, that is the main
point, and I still have the hunger for the game. So this level is still the
level that I am targeting.

‘I have always kept in touch with the club and I almost know
everybody here still. There have been some changes in my four years away but
there is also a lot of continuity within the club.’

Mikael Silvestre back in training with Man United

Mikael Silvestre back in training with Manchester United

Back in town: Silvestre was asked back by Sir Alex Ferguson to maintain his fitness levels as he chases a move back to the Premier League in January

Silvestre made 361 times for United in his nine years at the
club and also won 40 caps for France. He believes that his compatriot Patrice
Evra, United’s undisputed first choice left-back could face some tough competition
from new signing Alexander Buttner.

‘I only saw the highlights of the game when Alex started and
scored [the 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic]. It doesn’t get better than starting
at Old Trafford and scoring a goal.

‘Patrice has been there and has been solid in this role, but
there hasn’t been any cover for him so he has played a lot of games for United
and France.

‘That has demanded a lot of Patrice and it is important to
keep the players on their toes and to have fresh legs.

Combative: Silvestre spent nine years at Man United, winning five titles, an FA Cup and the Champions League

Combative: Silvestre spent nine years at Man United, winning five titles, an FA Cup and the Champions League

‘There are so many games so you need to rotate at some
point. Especially because United full backs do not just sit back and defend,
they go and attack and provide width too.’

While many players might look to go into coaching or
punditry after retirement, Silvestre has already made steps down a more
unorthodox career path.

‘I have started a rum business, which is called Rhum St
Barth, based in St Barth’s [a French island in the Caribbean].

‘We started it a year and a half ago but we are just
entering the UK market. In fact I will be in London this weekend at the UK Rum
Festival to promote it.

‘So I have rum on my mind, as well as football!’

West Ham looking at Anthony Vanden Borre, John Mensah and Mikael Silvestre

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West Ham boss Allardyce targets free agents Vanden Borre, Mensah and Silvestre

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UPDATED:

09:51 GMT, 13 September 2012

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce is running the rule over three free agents as he looks to bolster his defensive options outside the transfer window.

Former Portsmouth right-back-cum-midfielder Anthony Vanden Borre, 24, heads the list of trialists at the Hammers, according to the Daily Mirror.

The Belgian is joined at the club by former Manchester United and Arsenal veteran Mikael Silvestre as well as ex-Sunderland centre-back John Mensah.

Vanden Borre

Anthony Vanden Borre

Mikael Silvestre

Mikael Silvestre

John Mensah

John Mensah

Allardyce enjoyed a fruitful transfer window, bringing in the attacking options of Andy Carroll, Matt Jarvis and Yossi Benayoun amongst others, but he finds himself light on cover at the back.

It is highly unlikely that West Ham will sign all three players, but Allardyce is hoping to add at least one of the defensive trio to his squad.

Belgian international Vanden Borre, who spent the 2009-10 season on at Pompey, was released by Racing Genk this summer.

Ghanaian Mensah, 29, was released by Lyon this summer, while Silvestre, 35, was last seen at Wolfsburg.

Frankie Dettori in danger of missing Epsom Derby

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Dettori in danger of missing Derby as Barzalona is handed Mandaean ride for Dante Stakes

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UPDATED:

13:05 GMT, 15 May 2012

Frankie Dettori, the nation’s favourite Flat jockey, could be struggling for mounts in both the Investec Oaks and Derby, after his French colleague Mikael Barzalona was handed the ride for Godolphin’s No 1 Derby hope Mandaean in Thursday’s Dante Stakes at York.

Godolphin’s racing manager Simon Crisford insisted nothing should be read into the booking but Barzalona was also the man on board Goldolphin’s main Oaks hope Kailani when she won the Pretty Polly Stakes at Newmarket’s Guineas meeting.

The booking will focus extra scrutiny on the jockey arrangements at Godolphin where long-serving Dettori now shares the mounts with Barzalona, who landed last year’s Derby on Fabre’s Pour Moi as a 19-year-old, plus Silvestre De Sousa.

In danger: Dettori has only missed one Derby in the last 20 years

In danger: Dettori has only missed one Derby in the last 20 years

Dettori, successful in the 2007 Derby with Authorized, has ridden in 19 Derbys and since his 1992 debut in the race only missed out on a ride once in 2000.

If twice-raced Mandaean, now trained by Mahmood Al Zarooni but who won the Group One Criterium de Saint-Cloud last year when with Andre Fabre, runs a sound Derby trial in the Dante, Barzalona, as the might in possession of the ride, would be expected to retain the mount, as he would be with Kailani.

Crisford said: ‘Sheik Mohammed wanted Mickael to ride Mandaean. There is no reason other than that.’

Dettori’s Epsom options are starting to look limited and opposition to Aidan O’Brien’s hot favourite Camelot equally thin on the ground.

Crisford confirmed that that two other Godolphin hopes prominent in the ante-post betting for the Derby – Encke and Swedish Sailor – miss the race leaving Mariner’s Cross as the stable’s only other possible Derby runner.

Happy memories: Barzalona rides Pur Moi to victory in last year's Derby

Happy memories: Barzalona rides Pur Moi to victory in last year's Derby

Mariner’s Cross won the Wood Ditton Stakes on his debut in April before being beaten a quarter of a length by Frankel’s brother Noble Mission in the Newmarket Stakes.

With trainer Sir Henry Cecil not declaring Noble Mission for the Dante, the focus in the last major Derby trial will be on Andrew Balding’s Bonfire, who was group one placed as a two-year-old, and John Gosden’s 2,000 Guineas sixth Fencing.

The seven-horse line-up also includes Camelot’s stablemate Ernest Hemingway plus Roger Varian’s Ektihaam, who is not entered in the Derby and will be ridden by Tadhg O’Shea in the absence of suspended Paul Hanagan.

The three-day York fixture opens on Tuesday when the focus is on the fillies in the Tattersalls Musidora Stakes.

Six contenders line-up with the focus on O’Brien’s group three-placed Twirl and, particularly, John Gosden-trained The Fugue.

The latter, who was a staying-on fourth in the 1,000 Guineas, runs in the colours of composer and impresario Lord Lloyd-Webber.