Football News: Review Of The Day 8th February 2019

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Review of the Day

Contracts

Nottingham Forest midfielder Joe Lolley has inked a new contract. The 26 year old, who has 8 goals this season, has a new 4 and a half year deal.

Transfers

Rochdale have signed Middlesbrough goalkeeper Andy Lonergan on an emergency 7-day loan. Lonergan has made just 2 appearances for Boro since joining them in the summer.

LA Galaxy have signed free agent defender Diego Polenta.

SC Freiburg have lent French winger Yoric Ravet to Grasshoppers of the Swiss Super League.

Polish midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski has moved to Wisla Krakow on loan from VfL Wolfsburg.

Bamford Believes Returns Will Boost Leeds

Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford is backing injury returns to give the Yorkshire club a lift. Bamford, who only returned from injury himself in Saturday's loss to Norwich City, had missed a large chunk of the season with a knee injury said: "There are a lot of boys to come back and that can lift people. I saw the fans made a bit of a fuss that nobody was really brought in in January, but we've got players like me and Izzy (Brown) who have missed a lot of the season coming back in. I think that, having missed a big chunk of the season, I should be fresh when a lot of other players are feeling it in their legs. It's a boost for the team morale to see players coming back, especially after losing at the weekend. The boys have done so well given there's been a lot of first-team players missing and it'll fill them with confidence seeing lads getting back fit."

Police Probe Threats

Police are investigating threats that were allegedly sent to new Stoke City manager Nathan Jones after he left Luton Town to take up the Stoke role. Hatters' fans were highly critical of Jones for leaving them last month, with Luton in 2nd in League One after winning promotion from League Two under him the previous season. Since he left they have gone top of League One.

Oliveira Believes Mings Could Have Missed

Reading striker Nelson Oliveira has accused Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings of failing to avoid his face with his foot at the weekend. Mings' boot landed on Oliveira's face while the Portugese striker was on the floor, breaking Oliveira's nose in four places, which required surgery, as well as needing stitches to repair cuts on his face. Mings will face no action over the incident as match officials saw it. Oliveira said: "It's not for me to judge if it happened on purpose. Someone else has to do that. The only thing I can 100% say, and it's just my opinion, he could have avoided doing it. The best people to judge that are players as they know how people fall to the ground in challenges and move around the pitch in games. Everything happened so fast. My first reaction when I felt the impact was it was his knee. To stamp on someone's face is a very rare thing to happen in football. I'm very lucky it was just my nose that was broken. I could have been blinded and unable to play again or broken more bones in my face and jaw."

Rangers Appeal Morelos Red Card

Rangers have appealed against Alfredo Morelos' red card received against Aberdeen on Wednesday, his 3rd against those particular opponents this season. Both Morelos and Aberdeen defender Scott McKenna were shown straight red cards after being adjudged to have kicked out at each other. Morelos' first red card against the Dons was rescinded.

Prem To Maintain Away Ticket Cap

Premier League clubs have unanimously agreed to keep their £30 cap on away ticket prices for the next 3 years. The agreement began at the start of the 2016/7 season. A Premier League statement read: "All clubs know the crucial importance of away fans in generating the best possible atmosphere at matches. Clubs recognise the additional travel costs often involved when following a team away from home. For the last four consecutive seasons, Premier League crowds have reached record levels with 96% of tickets sold. This is testament to the compelling football and dedication of fans, and the league is committed to maintaining these high attendances."

Ings Ruled Out With Injury

Southampton striker Danny Ings is set for 3 weeks on the sidelines after picking up a hamstring injury in the weekend's draw with Burnley. The 26 year old is on loan from Liverpool for the season.

Zaha Banned

Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha has had his ban extended by 1 game and handed a fine of £10,000 for his sending off against Southampton. Zaha was shown a red after sarcastically applauding the referee, Andre Marriner's, decision. Which is obviously so much worse than screaming into an official's face as so many players do each week every time a decision goes against them yet never get carded for doing so.

Ceferin Re-Elected

Aleksander Ceferin has been re-elected as UEFA president, with no opposition to him. Democracy in action in UEFA and FIFA, as both top officials have had nobody standing against them, despite neither convincing in the jobs. Surely there should have to be someone kind of opposition for a democratic process to work? FIFA have deliberately set up all kinds of obstructions to ensure only one of their closed shop can get in. Which says it all. I would hope UEFA do not do the same but it is clear they are just as corrupt with under investigation Nasser Al-Khelaifi having his appointment to UEFA's executive committee ratified, despite being under investigation in Switzerland over the media rights deals for 2026 and 2030 World Cups made by his BeIn Sports company. UEFA are also investigating his club, PSG, over FFP rules, which Ceferin told the congress (though I am not sure if he was saying it while batting his eyelashes at Al-Khelaifi) that the FFP rules will be adapted. No doubt adapted to suit Paris Saint-Germain.

New Spurs Stadium Still Not Ready

Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed yet another match for Wembley this season after revealing, to no one's surprise, that their new stadium will not be ready to host Arsenal on the 2nd March. The stadium was initially slated to open on September. A Spurs statement read: "Remedial works on the safety systems in the new stadium are near completion and we shall then move forward to the final stages of testing the fire detection and alarm system and its integration with the other safety systems. The success of this testing is critical to our ability to obtain a safety certificate and open the stadium. We shall provide a further update in due course."

Quieroz Gets Colombia Job

Former Manchester United assistant Carlos Quieroz is set to take charge of Colombia's national team. The 65 year old had been in charge of Iran, taking them to the semi-finals of the Asian Nations Cup, where they lost 3-0 to Japan. Quieroz is an experienced international manager, having previously managed Portugal, United Arab Emirates and South Africa prior to the Iran job.

Ceferin Unhappy Over Var Meeting

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has hit out at European club bosses after more than half of the managers of teams left in the Champions League failed to attend a meeting to discuss the use of VAR in the competition. Ceferin accused the ten clubs who did not attend of a lack of respect after they sent other staff from the club, rather than their manager. Liverpool were excused as they were playing a Premier League game against West Ham United at the time, but Ajax, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, Manchester United, Porto, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur are facing criticism. Ceferin said: "For me it's not only a lack of respect for [Uefa's chief refereeing officer] Roberto Rosetti's team and the Uefa organisation, but the influence of coaches is huge and if they complain about being refereed they should at least come and see what the experts say about the use of VAR. Now they do not have any excuses, especially the ones that did not even come."

Hammers Give Evidence To Police

West Ham United have handed over all of their evidence to police after completing their investigation into the racial abuse shouted at Liverpool's Mohamed Salah during Monday's 1-1 draw in the Premier League. A West Ham statement read: "The club is unequivocal in its stance - such abuse will not be tolerated. Following the abhorrent racist abuse aimed at Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah on Monday night, West Ham can confirm that it has handed evidence to the Metropolitan Police."

Sala Body Found

Dorset police have confirmed that the body recovered from the wreckage of a plane in the English Channel was that of missing Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala. The 28 year old striker was travelling back to Cardiff by light plane, after returning to previous club Nantes to say his good byes following a transfer to the Premier League club in the January transfer window when his flight went missing. The pilot, David Ibbotson, has still not been found yet.

Written by Tris Burke February 08 2019 05:53:12