Football News: Review Of The Day 23rd January 2019

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Review of the Day

Transfers

Unwanted Southampton defender Wesley Hoedt has joined Celta de Vigo on loan until the end of the season with an option to make the move permanent.

Tranmere Rovers have taken Preston North End midfielder Ben Pringle on loan until the end of the season. The 29 year old's season long loan at Grimsby Town was ended to allow him to make this move.

Nelson Oliveira has left Norwich City on loan, after being completely frozen out of the team this season. The Portugese international striker will now play for Portugese boss Jose Gomes at Reading until the end of the season.

Bournemouth midfielder Marc Pugh has joined Hull City on loan for the rest of the season.

Free agent forward Demba Ba has returned to Turkish football as the former Newcastle United, Chelsea and West Ham United striker signs for Basaksehir, joining Robinho, Emmanuel Adebayor and Gael Clichy at the Super Lig side.

Shrewsbury Town have made their 5th signing of the January window by bringing in Crawley Town midfielder Romain Vincelot on an 18 month deal.

Bournemouth have paid over £12m to sign Welsh international defender Chris Mepham from Brentford.

Brazilian forward Stefanho Pinho has swapped Major League Soccer for the Thai League as the 28 year old has left Orlando City SC to sign for PT Prachuap FC.

Coming into MLS is Spanish midfielder Jon Erice, who has joined Vancouver Whitecaps from Albacete.

Contracts

Former Juventus attacker Diego has extended his contract with Flamengo. The veteran former Porto, Wolfsburg and Atletico Madrid star is now contracted to the club until the end of 2020.

MLS side New York City FC have given Ghana midfielder Ebenezer Ofori a contract for the new season.

The Senegalese coach of French side Sochaux, Omar Daf, has extended his contract as manager until June 2021.

Otamendi Unhappy At Citeh

Out of favour Manchester City defender Nicolas Otamendi is unhappy at the club because of a lack of gametime, manager Pep Guardiola admitsm after the Argentine centre back has made just 8 starts in the league this season. Guardiola said: "He's not happy - I don't have an answer. When he plays he's happy, when he doesn't he's not happy. I don't know what I can do. When he doesn't play he's not happy. He could play every week, he can play and I know he's there. He can help us in the build up, I've got three central defenders and Vinny [Kompany] as well. He played [against] Southampton and was excellent, sometimes I have to decide one or the other. John came back well after the World Cup, he wants to play a lot of games. Nico - I know we can count on him, an incredible professional and always he's ready. I can understand it." He then went on to say he did not want sad players at the club and that Otamendi should speak to director of football Txiki Begiristain if he is still unhappy at the end of the season.

Barca Defender Claims Racism Caused His Red Card

Senegal international Molla Wague has apologised after he reacted to racial abuse and received a red card while playing for Barcelona B against Ejea at the weekend. The 20 year old was shown a red card after clashing with an Ejea fan while attempting to retrieve the ball to take a throw in. Wague said on social media: "In a moment of anger, with the scoreline against us, I behaved incorrectly and I acknowledge that and want to reiterate my apologies. I also want to emphasise that my actions, in trying to retrieve the ball back from a fan to take a throw-in, came after being the object of numerous and repeated racist insults. That should never have to be tolerated on a football pitch."

Ronaldo Accepts Nearly 19m Euro Fine

Cristiano Ronaldo has accepted a fine of around £16.5m and a jail sentence of 23 months in a deal to avoid serving time in prison over tax evasion. Ronaldo was accused of avoided paying tax in Spain between 2010 and 2014, while playing for Real Madrid and earning tens of millions of euros a year. Ronaldo joins fellow football stars Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr and Marcelo in accepting deals to avoid jail time for tax evasion in Spain.

Hazard Admits To Frustrating His Coaches

Eden Hazard admits to not doing enough in the eyes of his coaches, but refuses to change his ways in an interview with French Football, though, for once, he did not whine on about how he wanted to play for Real Madrid throughout the interview. Hazard said: "I didn't just frustrate Conte. In my career, I've frustrated all my coaches. And with Sarri, once again, I frustrate him. I frustrated Mourinho. They think that I need to mark more, do more of this and more of that. And the next coach that I have, I'll frustrate him as well. I have won everything in England, apart from the Community Shield, but that doesn't mean that I'm leaving. I have always said that I wanted to explore something different after England. But there are also things that might make me stay. After the World Cup, I wanted to leave, but in the end I stayed at Chelsea and I'm playing one of best seasons so far. So I don't think that I need a different challenge. But that doesn't mean that I will become better."

Blackpool Fan Fined For Bus Protest

Neil Holden, the Blackpool fan who sat on top of the Arsenal team bus to stop it taking the team to an FA Cup tie between the two sides, has been fined £500 + £135 in costs. The 43 year old's protest had little effect as the Arsenal team simply used a replacement coach to reach the stadium. Blackpool fans will continue their protests against owner Owen Oyston's mismanagement of the club and have pulled together to pay the fine and costs for Mr Holden.

Nuno Fined By FA

Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Nuno Espirito Santo has been fined £8,000 for running on to the pitch to celebrate an injury-time winner in Wolves' 4-3 victory over Leicester City. Nuno was sent off at the time by the referee and accepted an improper conduct charge from the FA resulting in the punishment.

Hammers Hit By £100,000 Fine

The Football Association have fined West Ham United £100,000 for the pitch invasions which marred their defeat at the hands of Burnley in March 2018. Despite the Hammers not having control of the stewarding at their home stadium, and not being aware that the number of stewards had been reduced for the game, they have still been the ones to receive the fine. The FA found that, not only was the stewarding level reduced despite a backdrop of unrest against the owners, the report by the head of security for LS185, the stadium operators, was "updated" to remove negative comments about the removal of staff. During the match a fan ran onto the pitch brandishing a corner flag and other supporters threw coins and objects as they protested in front of the directors box. The co-owners Davids Sullivan and Gold were forced to leave the directors' box for their own safety after Sullivan was hit by a coin and Burnley players on the bench sheltered a group of young West Ham fans. A West Ham statement has now stated: "Following the conclusion of the FA inquiry, we would like to reaffirm our sincere apologies for the scenes witnessed at our home game against Burnley almost a year ago. The club has done everything within its power to address the issues that occurred that day, despite having no control over match-day security operations - a point which is accepted and reflected in the FA's findings. In line with our zero-tolerance approach, immediate action was taken against the perpetrators, resulting in 23 banning orders being issued. There is no place for behaviour like that at our club." Despite West Ham having no control over the issues, the club has spent another £300,000 in legal fees on the case, on top of the fine.

Bolt Quits

After failing to get the money he was hoping for from Central Coast Mariners, Usain Bolt has decided to retire as a sportsman. The 32 year old Jamaican had been training with the Australian side for 2 months but they were unable to meet his financial demands. He also rejected an offer form Maltese side Valletta due to the club being unable to meet those demands. The man, who has been described as very quick but not a footballer by any means by those who trained alongside him, has now decided to hang up his boots. Bolt said: "It was fun while it lasted. I don't want to say it wasn't dealt with properly, but I think we went about it not the way we should. You live and you learn. It was a good experience - I really enjoyed just being in a team. I'm now moving into different businesses, I have a lot of things in the pipeline, so as I say, I'm just dabbling in everything and trying to be a business man now."

Alli Ruled Out Until March

England midfielder Dele Alli has joined Tottenham Hotspurs' growing injury list as the 22 year old is out for about a month with a hamstring strain. He picked up the problem towards the end of the win over Fulham on Sunday, after scoring the equaliser.

PSG Get Fine Over Racial Profiling

The French league have fined Paris Saint-Germain 100,000 euros for racially profiling youth players, despite it being claimed that the data was not used for discriminatory purposes. It is against French law to collect personal data revealing an individual's racial or ethnic origins.

Sala On Missing Flight

New Cardiff City signing Emiliano Sala was on a light aircraft which went missing over the Channel Islands on Monday night. The 28 year old Argentine had just become the Bluebird's record signing. Sala was returning to Cardiff on the flight from Nantes in a single engined Piper Malibu with just the pilot alongside him. Local police have said the chances of survival are slim.

Written by Tris Burke January 23 2019 06:03:01