when you have smart men like Baldini and V | Forum

JOLIET, Ill. http://www.thenfllionslockroom.com/Youth-Josh-Bynes-Elite-Jersey/ . -- Penske Racing swept the front row in qualifying for the first race of the Chase, with Joey Logano winning the pole hours after NASCAR placed his team on probation for allegedly cutting a deal with another organization to help him make the championship field. Logano turned a lap at 189.414 mph around Chicagoland Speedway on Friday to bump teammate and defending NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski. Keselowski did not qualify for the Chase but Logano did make it in at Richmond, where he was aided by at least three other drivers last Saturday night. It all came out in two separate investigations into the closing laps and carried over into Chicago, where NASCAR summoned Penske Racing and Front Row Motorsports in for a Friday morning meeting to discuss an alleged deal made for David Gilliland to give Logano pivotal track position to make the Chase. The Penske team denied wrongdoing -- radio transmissions couldnt prove they had any involvement in Front Rows bargaining -- but NASCAR spent most of the day reviewing the incident. After booting Martin Truex Jr. from the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field earlier in the week for Ryan Newman because of Michael Waltrip Racings manipulations at Richmond, there was a chance Logano could be kicked out, too. Instead, NASCAR took the unprecedented step of adding Jeff Gordon as a 13th driver to the field and placed Penske and Front Row on probation through the end of the year. Logano, who beat Jimmie Johnsons 2005 track record of 188.146 mph, said he never thought hed be kicked out of the Chase despite the vitriol he was seeing on social media. "There wasnt any worry in my mind that we werent going to be in the Chase. I felt like we deserved to be here," Logano said. "I realize there are a lot of people on Twitter that are really mean. Ive read enough of it, and I thought, Wow, this Joey Logano guys a real jerk. Then I realized, You know, maybe Im not. "Hopefully this helps prove them all wrong, that we deserve to be here, because this team has got what it takes and weve proven that all year long. I guess we have to do that for 10 more races and prove them wrong a little bit more." The Chase begins Sunday at Chicagoland, where NASCAR will have a 13-driver championship field for the first time since the title-deciding format began in 2004. Juan Pablo Montoya, who qualified third, made light of the controversy. "The question I asked when coming in here is maybe qualifying third I could make the Chase, too," he said. Chase driver Kasey Kahne was fourth and followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Next was Gordon, who had an emotional week watching the fallout from Richmond unfold. He thought he missed the Chase on performance, then learned the spin with seven laps to go by Clint Bowyer was a deliberate attempt to manipulate the outcome for Truexs benefit. Things just got worse from there as Gordon learned of another plot by MWRs drivers to help Logano push Gordon out of the Chase, and then of the Penske and Front Row potential bargaining. He came to Chicago aware NASCAR was still reviewing the situation but not hopeful it would change his situation. He learned hed been added to the field watching NASCAR chairman Brian France make the announcement on television before qualifying. "It was hard to not hear rumblings about what may occur, what may not occur. We just tried not to get our hopes up," he said. "Ill admit, its been a rough week. It was a lot of ups and downs of emotions for this entire team. Im very thankful to be in, and I know its under the most unbelievable circumstances Ive ever been a part of in my racing career, and I wish that all of this hadnt happened. Now here we are as a 13th car and in, now we just try to take that opportunity and make the most of it." Chase drivers made up the next four spots as Greg Biffle was seventh and followed by Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and points leader Matt Kenseth. Bowyer was the lowest qualifying Chase driver at 24th. http:///...tehead-Elite-Jersey/ . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. http:///...Burton-Elite-Jersey/ . Paul Pierce couldnt believe he missed at the end. Young scored a season-high 26 points to spark a huge effort from the leagues most productive bench, and Los Angeles beat the Brooklyn Nets 99-94 on Wednesday night after blowing a 27-point lead. http://www.thenfllionslockroom.com/Youth-Tim-Wright-Elite-Jersey/ . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night."I do not want to sell Bale. No way, absolutely no way. If you do, where do you go from there? If you want to progress as a team and as a club you have no chance if you sell players like that." – Harry Redknapp, 2010. Three years later Gareth Bale has been sold. And Harry Redknapp is in the Championship. More importantly, despite selling their best player for a world record 100 million euro fee, Tottenham are indeed progressing as a team thanks to a brilliant strategy, led by their manager Andre Villas-Boas, that has seen them excel in three crucial areas where many other clubs struggle. Evaluate your own talent better than everybody else For any sports franchise this can be very difficult. Clubs have a tendency to overrate their own players. After all, there is a reason why the player is at the club in the first place as usually someone senior at the club is still there after they initially brought you to the club or through the youth ranks. In the case of Bale, Spurs learned under former manager Redknapp, how to initially get the better of him, moving him from left back and on to the wing where his explosive speed and ball control was best utilized. This prepared Bale to shine on the games biggest stage, particularly during a 15 day period in 2010 when Tottenham played Inter Milan twice in the Champions League. Bale tore apart one of the worlds best right backs Maicon at the San Siro, scoring a hat-trick, and was equally impressive in their return match at White Hart Lane with a sensational combination of attacking play down the left flank. (photo: fourfourtwo.com - Click For Larger Image) European footballs giants were now on high-alert but Redknapp was ready for them, sending this message post match: "Hes an amazing young player, hes just signed a new contract and we have to build a team around him here for years to come." Redknapps attempts to build around Bale with the likes of Steven Pienaar, Scott Parker, William Gallas and Rafael van der Vaart ultimately cost him his job and left Bales reported value in the media around the 30 million pound mark. New manager Andre Villas-Boas came in with a different approach to help Bale blossom. At half-time in a match at Norwich last season, with his side trailing 1-0, Villas-Boas switched Bale from the left wing to the number 10 position more centrally and it had an instant impact. Not only did Bale score one of the goals of the season he also contributed far more to the teams attack in the final third. (photo: fourfourtwo.com - Click For Larger Image) Villas-Boas had seen enough and Bales move to a number 10 meant his minutes per pass received and minutes per shot went down while, crucially, his average shots per match, strike-rate and passing accuracy went up. Six goals in his next four games and 12 goals in his last 14 in total elevated him to a world class standard. By getting the best out of Bale, Villas-Boas not only increased Bales value in the market but also the players value to the club. Where would Spurs be without Bale? was the overriding message, meaning any potential buyer knew the reliance the club had on the player, instantly pushing the price up further. In this case it went from a reported 50 million pounds to the staggering sum agreed upon today. Evaluate your own club in the market Tottenham had found a way to get the best out of their star player and show just how much they needed him. The footballing intelligence they required to do that was now required in reaching reality in terms of the players wishes. In 1998, Aston Villa striker Dwight Yorke, after nine years at the club, went to see manager John Gregory in his office to tell him he wanted to go to Manchester United after they had tabled a bid that Villa rejected. Gregory was so disappointed that he famously said of the moment: "If I had a gun I would have shot him." The manager was clearly disappointed that he would be losing his best player but in reality if a club like Manchester United come calling for his players, what would he expect them to do? Stay? A game older than 150 years that allows teams to simply buy players from other teams without giving more than cash is bound to create a hierarchy system where clubs are simply bigger than others. Tottennham Hotspur has a fantastic history but they are not, and never will be, larger than Real Madrid. http:///...wanson-Elite-Jersey/. If they are lucky enough to have a player wanted by the Spanish giants it is up to them to do whatever they can to get the best price for him and then do whatever you can to use those funds to improve the team and make them bigger than others. A crucial mistake made by many sports franchises happens when they overestimate the desire of their own players to stay with them. Tottenham were very unlucky to not reach the Champions League this season (the 72pts they achieved last season meant they were the first team in Premier League history to get that many and not finish in the top four) and Bales wishes to play at the top level are warranted but he isnt leaving because he cant play in Europe for Spurs on Wednesday nights. Had Tottenham qualified for the Champions League they simply cannot have hoped to stop Bale from wanting to go to Real Madrid once interest was shown. Big football clubs everywhere are best suited in these cases to remind themselves who is bigger, and it is clear by Tottenhams performances off the field this summer that they did just that. Evaluate the market, be an expert in recruiting talent Speak to any coach in one of the big North American sports about European soccer and sooner rather than later the conversation comes around to the role of a Premier League manager. Coaches on this side of the continent cannot understand how so many managers are in charge of coaching their team and being the major decision makers in recruitment. Before they signed a player this summer, Tottenham made a superb acquisition with the hiring of Franco Baldini as technical director. Villas-Boas, unlike Redknapp, had wanted a TD who knew the continental market since he arrived. He and Baldini got to work immediately. Villas-Boas had evaluated his team from his first season and crucially had realized they had significant flaws. Without Champions League revenue and with an old stadium, Baldini knew most of his transfer kitty would come from the upcoming money from Real Madrid so he moved swiftly and effectively. Thanks to his managers ability to evaluate the clubs players, make Bale better to get more money, and know realistically he would go to Real Madrid, Baldini was able to go about spending a good deal of money to improve key areas. Last season the likes of William Gallas, Scott Parker, Tom Huddlestone and Clint Dempsey (all since departed) featured in 50 per cent or more of their league games, yet Spurs still got to 72 points. Bale played a massive part in that, without doubt, but the clubs overreliance on the Welshman meant two significant things. 1) They clearly needed to strengthen in other areas, and 2) Bales price was never going to be higher because of how often he Baled them out in 2012-13. Sure, Tottenham finished just a point behind Arsenal last season but Villas-Boas will know Arsenal led in 32.7 per cent of their matches (1,119 minutes) as opposed to Tottenhams 28.2 per cent (966 minutes) which was even lower than Everton and Liverpool. It was time to go to work to put a squad together that can ensure they found themselves in winning positions more often. The additions of Paulinho and Etienne Capoue make their midfield much more dynamic and stable and they are certainly massive upgrades over Parker and Huddlestone. Roberto Soldado and Erik Lamela will surely score more than the 16 league goals Emmanuel Adebayor and Jermain Defoe managed last season. The Spaniards off-the-ball movement and finishing ability are on a different level to his other strike partners while 21-year-old Lamela is a diamond in the rough unearthed by Baldini who is reunited with him from their time at Roma. These signings are not gambles; they are proven international players with experience in the Champions League and for their countries. Considering they were able to get them after selling a player with very little experience playing at the highest level shows just what can be done at a club when you have smart men like Baldini and Villas-Boas running it. "I dont know where wed be without him," once said Redknapp after a Spurs match hed managed. 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