THE SUNDAY POST/ May 24, 2009
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Sami set to say his farewells
■ Liverpool will say farewell to Sami Hyypia (right).
LIVERPOOL WILL wave goodbye to a legend today when veteran defender Sami Hyypia takes his final bow at Anfield. The 35-year-old Finnish international will bring the curtain down on 10 years with the club, insisting Liverpool are on the brink of winning the title and promising to be back one day as a coach. Hyypia has turned his back on lucrative contracts offered at Anfield as a player as well as a job on the coaching staff, now his season-long deal has come to a end. But Hyypia is determined to play on regularly at the highest level possible, and has signed a two-year deal to join German club Bayer Leverkusen. Hyypia may well get a last start in the Liverpool side
against Spurs today, maybe even as captain, but will figure in the proceedings. He says, “I would like to come back to Liverpool one day as a coach, and it was great to hear the manager would like me to return. “Coaching has always been in my mind, but I have to take my badges first. I have not done that yet because I want to keep playing, and I thought at this stage it would be a burden. “But at the end of my playing career I will look to take the badges and then see what happens. I have so many memories of Liverpool, and really would love to return one day. “I think it will only be after I have finally left that I will be able to sit back and realise what we have done in my 10 years. It
is hard to take in now. It is nice to be remembered here.” Hyypia maintains Liverpool are closing on the title after this season’s close effort. He adds, “The only thing that bothers me is that I will leave Liverpool without a Premier League medal, that disappoints me as much for the fans. But the club will do it soon. “This season has shown that we can push any team right to the end. Everything looks very bright for next season, and hopefully the team can move their confidence up another level. “We have been playing some really good stuff and scored plenty of goals. If they take this form into next season, the title can be won.” Meanwhile, ’keeper Heurelho Gomes has earned the Brazil
recall he targeted this season and wants to cap off the campaign by helping Tottenham earn European qualification. Gomes’ future at Spurs looked bleak when he was guilty of a series of high-profile blunders but boss Harry Redknapp kept faith in the 28-year-old. “We can win at Liverpool,” Gomes says. “We have confidence for this game and we will give everything we have for one last time this season. “Teams like Liverpool will always play well, but they do give you space to play, so we can definitely score. “We will look to improve on our away form next season, because if we picked up more points on the road, we would be fighting even higher up the table.”
Wealth or health is Praise for boss Coyle no choice for Bates BURNLEY STRIKER Steven Thompson has hailed Owen Coyle’s special relationship with his players as the secret to the club’s success. The Clarets face Sheffield United in the Coca-Cola Championship Play-Off Final today as they aim to return to the top flight for the first time in 33 years. Coyle has earned admiration throughout the country after his side bundled Fulham, Chelsea and Arsenal out of the Carling Cup and came agonisingly close to overcoming Tottenham in an epic semi-final encounter. Yet the former Bolton striker’s most ardent supporters can be found within Turf Moor. “It’s very rare that you get a manager that every single player at the club likes,” says Thompson, a free transfer signing from Cardiff last September. “But I think that’s the case here. He’s friends with all of us and we all get on very well with him. I think that’s been the key to our success this season. “The manager is an infectious person to be around, very bubbly, and he also knows a thing or two about football.”
A T T H E W M BATES would willingly swap his
clean bill of health for Middlesbrough’s continued presence in the Premier League.
The 22-year-old utility man has enjoyed a run of 12 starts in 13 games for the club with which he won the FA Youth Cup back in 2004 before an injury nightmare took its toll. Bates has endured twoand-a-half years of misery and three cruciate ligament operations, and his sheer delight at simply being fit and back in harness is entirely understandable.
Marathon
And he would gladly trade it all for a win at West Ham today and an unlikely sequence of results elsewhere which would keep Boro up. He says, “On a personal level, I have enjoyed being back playing after the last two years of injuries.
Surviving
“It’s difficult to put into words really. On a personal level, I am happy to be back playing and playing for Middlesbrough Football Club — but I would swap all that for surviving in the Premier League. “Hopefully next year, I will carry on progressing personally. Wherever the club will be, they will fight either way, and if they go in into The Championship, I am sure we will bounce right back up.” Boro find themselves in dire straits as they prepare for their final game of the season knowing a point for Hull at home to Manchester United would make their result irrelevant. Three points for them and defeat for both the Tigers and Newcastle could bring safety.
■ Boro’s Matthew Bates closes down Chelsea’s Michael Ballack. Bates says, “Mathematically, Davies, he’s one of the greatest “It has been a lot of hard work we are still in there, but the odds in the Premier League at holding away from the field as well as on it.” are stacked against us. It’s a up the ball. I watch Zlatan Barring the unexpected, Boro, difficult situation to get your Ibrahimovic, too. who need to win and affect a head around. swing in goal “They are similar to me, big five-goal “You have got to stay positive players who cause defenders a difference, will slide into The as much as possible — it’s not lot of problems. Championship. That does not over until the fat lady sings, as concern Cole. the saying goes.” “They wouldn’t think about Meanwhile, Carlton Cole has us,” he says. “That’s how football “I talk to Didier a lot and he is. been giving the rewind button on his DVD player a serious feels I can progress even further. “We almost got relegated a I talk to Carew, too, because he workout these past two months. is a striker who has scored a lot couple of seasons ago which was The 25-year-old West Ham of goals everywhere. a really daunting time. I’ve been striker has used the time it has in that position. “I’ve scored a few more goals taken to recover from a serious “I feel sorry for them that they groin injury to do his homework than in previous seasons. are in that position but we just on some of the world’s top strikers. “I’ve worked on my game by have to get on as professionals Cole says, “I watch Didier looking at those DVDs, at how and get the job done. We want to Drogba and Bolton’s Kevin other players play. win this game.”
Progress
Coyle exudes positivity and that has clearly rubbed off on his players throughout their marathon campaign. The winner-takes-all clash at Wembley will be Burnley’s 61st game of the season. There is trust and there is undeniable progress at all levels of Turf Moor. Coyle arrived at Burnley in November 2007 from St Johnstone with ambition coursing through his veins. He has fashioned a talented young side and Chris Eagles and Martin Paterson have proved astute acquisitions. So has Thompson, who offers the Clarets a physical presence up front after being shown the door by Cardiff. Coyle’s men have prepared for the game with a three-day training break on the Algarve.
Calm
Thompson says, “Everybody is very focused and the manager is very good at keeping the players calm. “We don’t have any prima donnas or so-called big-timers.” Meanwhile, Sheffield United boss Kevin Blackwell reckons his men have hit top form at just the right time, but still places Burnley as favourites. He says, “Burnley are a good side. You don’t go so far as they did in the cup competitions and you don’t get to the play-off final unless you are a very good side. “We know it’s going to be tough. The two League wins they had over us will make them favourites because they’ve beaten us home and away.”