Football News: Review Of The Day 16th January 2019

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Review of the Day

Transfers

St Mirren have signed Brad Lyons from Blackburn Rovers on loan. The 21 year old had worked with St Mirren manager Oran Kearney at Coleraine.

Scunthorpe United winger Andy Dales has joined Dundee on loan for the rest of the season.

Striker Steve Davies has joined Hamilton Academicals following his release from Blackpool. Interesting!

Hearts have recalled Malaury Martin and Aidan Keena from their season-long loans with Dunfermline Athletic. Andy Irving and Chris Hamilton have also returned after their loan spells ended. Midfield player Irving was with Falkirk, while defender Hamilton spent the first half of the season with Berwick Rangers.

Free agent defender Steven Caulker has moved to Turkish Super Lig side Alanyaspor after training with the team recently. The 27 year old has been without a club since leaving Dundee last September and has spent the last few years battling against depression and addictions.

Oxford United defender Charlie Raglan has joined Cheltenham Town on loan for the rest of the season.

Russell Martin has left Walsall for "family reasons" and joined MK Dons on a free transfer.

Southend United have taken Blackburn Rovers defender Sam Hart on loan for the rest of the season.

Reice Charles-Cook has returned to English football after signing a deal to join Shrewsbury Town for the rest of the season. The 24 year old keeper had spent the first half of the season with Danish club Sonderjyske.

Former Liverpool forward Ryan Babel has returned to English football and signed for London side Fulham. The 32 year old Netherlands international has joined until the end of the season from Turkish club Besiktas.

Fiorentina's teenage Ivory Coast midfielder Hamed Junior Traore has rejoined Empoli on loan as part of the nearly £11m deal which takes him to Florence.

Spanish full-back Raul Garcia has joined Girona on a free transfer from Leganes.

Parma have spent over £4m to sign 31 year old Slovakian midfielder Juraj Kucka from Trabzonspor.

Albanian forward Armando Sadiko has left Levante to join Swiss Super League side FC Lugano.

Andy Cole's son Devante has returned to Wigan Athletic at the end of his loan spell with Burton Albion.

Contracts

Spanish youngster Borja Garces has signed a new contract with Atletico Madrid. The 19 year old forward is now contracted until 2022.

American centre back Walker Zimmermann is now contracted until the end of 2022 after agreeing a contract extension with MLS side Los Angeles FC.

The other LA Major League Soccer team, LA Galaxy, have agreed an extra year with Rolf Feltscher and Emmanuel Boateng.

Hearts midfielder Lewis Moore has signed a contract extension running until 2020.

Saint-Etienne duo Kenny Rocha Santos and Makhtar Gueye have agreed new deal. Both youngsters are now tied down until 2023.

30 year old central defender Simone Grippo has extended his Real Zaragoza deal by a year to run until 2020.

Collins Does The Right Thing

After West Ham United released centre back James Collins in the summer, and the 35 year old quickly found a new home with a return to former club Aston Villa on a short term deal. However the deal only lasted a few hours after the former Wales international decided to rip up his contract. Collins explained: "It just didn't seem right. They offered me a short term contract and I got injured the morning I signed the contract and I ripped that up. I literally signed the contract, went out to training and pulled my calf in the first warm-up session so I just went in and said 'that's not right to come in and take money.' I could have been out for four weeks and I said 'let's rip that up.' It was probably more embarrassment more than anything." Collins has since signed a deal with Ipswich Town until the end of the season.

EFL To Investigate After Leeds Failed To Breach Any Rules

The English Football League have confirmed that they are formally investigating Leeds United after receiving a whine, er I mean complaint, from Derby County over the Leeds' member of staff spotted watching their team train. The Football Association have already started an investigation. The EFL have said it would consider the matter "in the context of a number of EFL regulations". In other words, it is not actually against the rules so they will make something up to cover it on the hoof.

Forest Turn To O'Neill

Nottingham Forest have made the sentimental choice after Aitor Karanka walked out on the club. Former playing legend Martin O'Neill has been appointed to replace Karanka. Forest are currently just 4 points off the play-off places in 9th after investing heavily in the summer, including a club record £13m+ deal for Portugese youngster Joao Carvalho.

Dundee Clubs Dismiss Rumoured Merger

Both Dundee and Dundee United have dismissed speculation that the 2 clubs could be merged after Dundee United were taken over by Mark Ogren. The rumours began purely because Ogren is American and Dundee are also owned by Americans, which apparently must mean they are about to merge, as both sets of owners are from the same country. Dundee have released a statement which stated flatly that a merger had at no time "ever been contemplated", while Ogren told the BBC: "We didn't buy this team to merge. We bought Dundee United and we're going to remain Dundee United."

Bluebirds Keep Mum About Morrison's Procedure

Cardiff City have refused to explain why captain Sean Morrison is in hospital, merely confirming he has been admitted for "a procedure". Defender Morrison has been ever present in the league so far this season.

Police Investigate Whyte Video

Police in Northern Ireland are investigating forward Gavin Whyte after the 22 year old was filmed performing a lewd act in public. Social media footage showed the Norn Iron international, and a friend, extremely drunk on a night out in Belfast with the striker exposing himself in the street. His international boss Michael O'Neill said: "Gavin's actions in the video fall far below the standards we expect from a Northern Ireland international. I know Oxford United will discipline him appropriately for this significant mistake and both his club and the Irish FA will put in place measures to make sure he learns from it."

Major League Soccer Adds Club Number 27

The boringly named Austin FC has been announced as team number number 27 to join MLS football. The equally dull names of FC Cincinnati and Inter Miami are set to join this year and next year respectively, while Austin will arrive in 2021. Surely they could have come up with a better name, such as Austin Allegros, Maestros or Maxis. Or even Metros, as Austin was described as a thriving metropolitan city by MLS commissioner Don Garber.

UEFA Open Chelsea Disciplinary Proceedings

UEFA have opened disciplinary proceedings against Chelsea for alleged racist chanting in the Europa League game against MOL Vidi. A loud minority were heard to chant offensive anti-semitic chants about London rivals Tottenham Hotspurs' fans.

Cech Announces Retirement

Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech has announced that he will retire at the end of the season. The 36 year old, who joined Arsenal from Chelsea in 2015, has lost his place in the Arsenal side this season to Bernd Leno. Cech said: "Having played 15 years in the Premier League and won every single trophy possible, I feel like I have achieved everything I set out to achieve. I will continue to work hard at Arsenal to hopefully win one more trophy this season." Cech recovered from a fractured skull in 2006 following a collision with Stephen Hunt which required him to wear what became his trademark headguard afterwards. The former Czech international won 13 major trophies while with Chelsea.

Spurs Lose Kane

Tottenham Hotspur have revealed that star striker Harry Kane has been ruled out for over a month after the England international damaged ankle ligaments in the 1-0 defeat to Manchester United. Spurs' top scorer is not expected to return to training until March.

Written by Tris Burke January 16 2019 05:16:19