Henry stands by MLS

New York Red Bulls striker Thierry Henry has defended Major League Soccer against critics who have attacked the standard of the league.

The former Arsenal and Barcelona striker has just finished his second season with the Red Bulls, a club for which he has scored 17 goals from 41 appearances.

And the former France international, who has been named in the MLS team of the year, believes that critics of the American top flight are not paying the league the respect it deserves.

“People have the right to think what they want about MLS,” Henry said. “Of course, it’s not the same as watching Barcelona against Real Madrid but we know that and we will not lie.”

“But we have good players as you could see, they are good teams in this league. If you watch Salt Lake, they’re a team who play good football, a difficult team, they have good players.”

The 34-year-old Henry added that he still has a hunger to win trophies with the Red Bulls.

“I am here to do my best to win the games and that’s it,” he said. “Then, what people think is not a big problem for me, because I know when I do something I do it trying to win, sometimes it’s not enough but I really try to do my best.”

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Ally McCoist To Be Given Rangers Job When Walter Smith Stands Down

Ally McCoist will be given the manager’s job at Glasgow Rangers when Walter Smith steps-down in the summer.

McCoist, who played for 15 years at the club scoring 355 goals in 581 games, has been Smith’s number two since 2007 as has been groomed for the job ever since.

The 48-year-old has agreed a rlling one-year deal with the club and will have Kenny McDowall as his assistant.

Rangers chief executive made the announcement on the club website and

Sevilla´s Navarro stands by coach

Sevilla defender Fernando Navarro refuses to be drawn on speculation surrounding the future of coach Gregorio Manzano.

Manzano has only been in charge for six months but with the club 13 points off the Champions League qualification places, the 54-year-old is reportedly already fighting to keep his job at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

Out-of-favour players Martin Caceres and Javi Varas have publicly criticised Manzano’s methods in the past week, but full-back Navarro opted not to join the dissenters.

“At the moment, Gregorio Manzano is our manager,” Navarro said.

“He is the one leading us as we look to reach our targets. It is not for me to talk about managers or signings.”

Sevilla face Racing Santander away from home in La Liga on Saturday and Navarro is expecting a tough challenge.

“We have a tough game on Saturday and there is little time for us to make a comeback, so we have to win on Saturday and get back on form,” he said.

“The reality of the situation is that we are seventh and we will need to have a very good second half of the season if we are going to finish third or fourth.”

“We have to go step-by-step, aiming for the Champions League but being realistic about the fact that sixth is closer at the moment. Whilst there are still points to be won and we still have the squad, I’m sure that it is possible.”

Fri 11 February, 2011

Sevilla´s Navarro stands by coach

Sevilla defender Fernando Navarro refuses to be drawn on speculation surrounding the future of coach Gregorio Manzano.

Manzano has only been in charge for six months but with the club 13 points off the Champions League qualification places, the 54-year-old is reportedly already fighting to keep his job at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

Out-of-favour players Martin Caceres and Javi Varas have publicly criticised Manzano’s methods in the past week, but full-back Navarro opted not to join the dissenters.

“At the moment, Gregorio Manzano is our manager,” Navarro said.

“He is the one leading us as we look to reach our targets. It is not for me to talk about managers or signings.”

Sevilla face Racing Santander away from home in La Liga on Saturday and Navarro is expecting a tough challenge.

“We have a tough game on Saturday and there is little time for us to make a comeback, so we have to win on Saturday and get back on form,” he said.

“The reality of the situation is that we are seventh and we will need to have a very good second half of the season if we are going to finish third or fourth.”

“We have to go step-by-step, aiming for the Champions League but being realistic about the fact that sixth is closer at the moment. Whilst there are still points to be won and we still have the squad, I’m sure that it is possible.”

Fri 11 February, 2011