Football News: Review Of The Day 14th March 2018

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Review of the Day

Transfer Round Up

Sunderland have managed to get another player off the wage bill as Michael Ledger moves to Notodden FK for an undisclosed fee. The 21 year old had been on loan to Hartlepool United. Whether they stay up or not, they still need to clearout more players in the summer.

Free agent Scottish (though a Northern Irish international) midfielder Paul Paton has signed for League One Plymouth Argyle. He was released by St Johnstone in the January transfer window.

Partick Thistle have sent Gary Fraser out on an emergency loan to Greenock Morton as the 23 year old has struggled with injuries.

MP Hits Out At Mourinho For Taking Blood Money

As England's FA dismisses talk of boycotting the World Cup, MP Chris Bryant has criticised Jose Mourinho for choosing to work for Russian state-sponsored channel RT during the World Cup. Bryant said: "To my mind, this is blood money, paid directly from the Russian state coffers." Bryant is referring to reports that Mourinho is set to be paid over £1m for five days work as a pundit for the channel. Former Premier League scumba, er striker Stan Collymore also works for RT.

Savvidis Apologises For His Actions

The owner of Greek Super League side PAOK Salonika has apologised after his actions led to the suspension of the top flight in Greece. Savvidis had twice invaded the pitch after his team had a late winner disallowed for offside and says: "I am very sorry. I clearly had no right to enter the field of play in this fashion. My only aim was to protect tens of thousands of PAOK fans from provocation, riots and human casualties. Please believe that I had no intention to engage in a brawl with our opponents or the referees - and obviously did not threaten anybody. Unfortunately, my family and I, as well as my colleagues, have been taken hostage by a totally sick football status quo. Despite the non-stop attacks I am facing on all fronts, I fight and I will continue to fight for fair football, equitable refereeing in all encounters and titles being won on the pitch and not in courtrooms." At least there is one thing that will make people breath a bit more easily as, if those stated aims are correct, his aim is so bad that he would not have hit anybody with that gun he was toting as he chased the referee around the pitch at the weekend.

FIFA Lift Suspension

FIFA have lifted the suspension it had imposed on the Pakistan Football Federation in October. "Under these circumstances and bearing in mind the aforementioned developments, the suspension of the PFF is lifted with immediate effect," FIFA wrote to the PFF on Tuesday. "This means that all of the PFF membership rights have been reinstated, as defined in article 13 of the FIFA Statutes, with immediate effect."

La Liga Launches eSports Tournament

The Spanish league has announced the launch of its first ever eSports tournament, set to take place in Barcelona in April. The tournament is intended to be an annual competition and consists of an online qualification phase followed by the tournament scheduled to start on the 16th April. It will determine which players will represent Spain at FIFA 18 Global Series Playoffs in June for a chance to represent their country in the FIFA eWorld Cup.

Shakhtar Player Shoves Ball Boy Over Hoardings

It seems being a ball boy is giving youngsters a chance of more than just the best view of the game in the stadium. Nowadays they are becoming a part of the action! Following the weekend's highly publicised scene where a steward was sent down the touchline to give one young lad a telling off on live TV after a player got upset with him for holding onto the ball too long, another ball boy ended up getting shoved over the advertising hoardings around the pitch for the same offence. As Shakhtar Donetsk fought for their lives in the Champions League second leg tie against Roma, forward Facundo Ferreyra was incensed when a ball boy took too long to return the ball to him, reacting by giving the boy a shove over the hoardings. His action provoked angry scenes as Roma players confronted Ferreyra after his actions.

Spurs Cause Anger With Sexist Survey Question

Tottenham Hotspur have been criticised heavily after sending out a survey, via email, to US-based Spurs fans after one of the questions asked survey-takers to rank the statement "A woman's place is in the home" on a scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. I am not sure how they thought it was relevant, but the question was in there and now Tottenham have issued a public apology: "The survey questions were compiled by a third party on behalf of the club. The inclusion of this question in a club survey was wholly unacceptable and a regrettable oversight. It has been immediately removed from the survey for any other fans now looking to fill this out. We sincerely apologise to anyone offended by its initial inclusion."

Neymar Sr Calms Talk Of Jrs Future

With rumours spreading like wildfire that Neymar Jr was set to leave PSG in the summer, despite only joining them for a world record fee this season, his dad, and agent, Neymar Sr has told journalists that Jr has a future with Paris Saint-Germain. "Neymar already has a future at PSG, Neymar already has a present at PSG," Neymar Sr said. However it is telling that the president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, sports director, Antero Henrique, and club spokesman, Jean-Martial Ribes, of the Parisian club were present in Brazil as Neymar Sr made his announcement. While Ribes claimed the trip was planned before the rumours began, it does seem unlikely that all three would have travelled together to Brazil at this time of the season unless there was something important to discuss regarding their superstar forward.

Jose Claims His Players Tried To Be Aggressive And Intense

Despite criticisms from former Manchester United players, Jose Mourinho has defended the current crop following their limp dismissal from the Champions League at home to Sevilla. Rio Ferdinand had said: "They just played nervous and cautious from the beginning. In these games you've got to take the game by the scruff of the neck. That takes personality. It takes characters to do that in this stadium. You've got to give the fans something to chant about. This stadium tonight was quiet, and that's down to the players. The attitude just seemed off, lethargic." However Mourinho disagreed: "The first goal will be always important in this match not just because of the first-leg result but also because of the style of the match. We tried since the first minute to be aggressive and intense and I could find some similarities between the beginning of this game and against Liverpool last weekend, but then we didn't score and Sevilla progressively kept the ball and were quite confident having the ball and hiding the ball from us and controlling the game well. We had good periods. I wouldn't say we had great control of the game but I couldn't say my players had something wrong in terms of their attitude and their intention to play." Paul Scholes, though, was of a similar mind to Rio, but he stated that it is a problem with the way Mourinho sets them out each game: "They approach every game conservatively. Some they get away with, because they get a win. Tonight they had nothing - no energy, no fast start... the performance was very bad."

Lukaku Complains About Team-Mates Hiding

Man Utd striker Romelu Lukaku is another to be unhappy with the performance of the players in last nights loss as he claims team-mates were hiding. Lukaku said: "Some things were flawed with some players, some players were hiding. The deception was really big, because you know I think we started the game well, and then we started to let them have control in the game. Then we had a few half chances but we didn't really score, and then they scored the first goal. From that moment on we tried to chase the game and they scored the second one which was a big blow. At the end we kept pushing but it was not enough. We should have done better because the bit of quality we have in the team, we should have went through. We didn't deserve it because we weren't good enough." So who exactly was hiding?

Robinson Urges Board To Hurry Up and Sell Up

Following last night's defeat away to Blackpool, Charlton Athletic boss Karl Robinson has urged the club's owners to hurry up and sell the club. The much-hoped for takeover (at least amongst Charlton fans) was said to be "a few weeks away" by Addicks' director Richard Murray on 28th February, but Robinson has now been told it could be longer before the fans get their wish to see the back of Roland Duchatelet. Robinson said: "I've heard today that it could be a lot longer than two weeks. So we've just got to get on with it. I don't know what it is, whether it's the people coming in, I don't know where they're at, I don't know where it is at. But I was told this week and then that week. We keep having to soldier on. We're put in a very difficult position on a daily basis. But it's me being honest. I'd love to build something properly but how can you build something when you don't know what corner you're turning? Great things are built on stability and foundations. We've created a good mentality around the place. Once you build that, you need something to take you on to that next level. Everybody is just waiting, but how long can you wait? People's careers are going down the pan. It's as simple as that. I was told that it's completely up in the air, it could be next season, in the summer, it could be a month, it could be in two weeks. I don't know. As frustrating as it is for you, try and be the man who has to speak about it on a daily basis. Whoever is buying the club, come on. For the benefit of the people who support us, the players, this is something that needs to be sorted out. I can only tell you what I know. I don't massage an ego and I don't lie. There's still no real date."

Former Bayern Doctor Slams Pep Guardiola. Again

Hans Muller-Wohlfahrt spent 38 years at Bayern Munich before a clash with then-manager Pep Guardiola saw him quit in 2015. Now Muller-Wohlfahrt has accused Guardiola of 'misleading others': "Under Pep Guardiola, the climate changed at Bayern Munich, and it became more and more clear that he did not trust me and my team. On the one hand, he was totally uninterested in medical issues, but on the other hand, he demanded that we perform miracles. Guardiola was often portrayed in the media as an innovative, if not revolutionary, coach. But at Bayern Munich he turned the clock back tremendously. He even went so far as to turn our medically thought-out, well-rehearsed preparation program on its head before the actual football training. I simply could not reach Pep Guardiola with the way I think and work. Even my reports of injured players did not interest him. Whenever I wanted to talk to him, he immediately turned away and walked away. I think Pep Guardiola is a person of low self-esteem, who does everything in his power to mislead others. He therefore seems to live in constant fear, not so much in defeat, but much more in the loss of power and authority." Muller-Wohlfahrt has also claimed that Guardiola "verbally attacked" him and that he was blamed for the defeat against Porto which led to him quitting Bayern. It is interesting to note that Guardiola often sends injured players at Man City to see his chosen Catalan doctor, rather than use the world class facilities and medical team that City have in place.

Written by Tris Burke March 14 2018 06:10:29