Football News: Review Of The Day 29th March 2019

Image from: BBC

Review of the Day

Contracts

Ajax keeper Andre Onana has agreed a new deal which runs until 2022.

Italian defender Daniele Rugani has signed a new contract with Juventus which runs until 2023.

Eredivisie side FC Groningen have handed Samir Memisevic a year's extension to keep him at the club until 2020.

Young French winger Arnaud Nordin has a new deal with Saint-Etienne. The deal runs until 2022.

Midfielder Alan Power has extended his Kilmarnock deal by 3 years to tie him down until 2022.

Ole Made Permanent

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been confirmed as new permanent manager of Manchester United, despite Edward Woodward's statement when appointing him as caretaker manager that he would not be in the thinking for the permanent role. After 10 wins and 2 draws in his 13 Premier League matches in charge, Solskjaer forced a change in Woodward's thinking and earnt himself a deal until 2022.

Trotters Hit By Lowe Injury

27 year old midfielder Jason Lowe has suffered an ankle ligament injury which will rule him out of the rest of the season. Lowe joined Bolton Wanderers from Birmingham City in the summer and will be out of action for at least 8 weeks.

Swans Without Mulder

Swansea City boss Graham Potter has revealed that goalkeeper Erwin Mulder is likely to miss the rest of the season with a broken finger. Potter said: "We've had a problem with Erwin in the week. He's broken a finger so he's probably out for the rest of the season. It's a blow for us and it's unfortunate for Erwin, but we've got Kris and Steven. They're the two that we have for the foreseeable future."

Job Losses Causing Swans Concerns

Swansea City issued redundancy letters last week to all employees except for the playing staff and manager Graham Potter, as the club looks to make a "reduction in head count". Potter, whose assistant coaches Billy Reid, Alan Curtis and Bjorn Hamberg all received the notices, has admitted that the players have been affected by the news, despite not being under threat of redundancy themselves. Potter said: "The players are paid to play football, but we're human beings. The good thing about this club is people like each other, from players to staff to all around. When you have that of course you are concerned when there are redundancies - it's not pleasant. Swansea isn't the first place where this has happened, but there is a feeling of concern. Of course you know it's a worrying, unsettling time for people and it's not ideal, but it's part of what the club has to do in terms of reducing its costs following relegation from the Premier League. What I would say is that everybody is very professional. They get on with their jobs in a fantastic way. We try our best every day to try to help the team win on a Saturday."

Forestieri Acquitted

After sparking a "40-man brawl" during a pre-season friendly match against Mansfield Town, Sheffield Wednesday player Fernando Forestieri was alleged to have followed up his foul on Krystian Pearce, which sparked off the ruckus, with racial abuse. In court, District Judge Jonathan Taffe has ruled that Pearce "may have misheard" Forestieri, who was speaking mainly in Spanish during the dispute as "it was very loud".

January Signing Misses Rest Of Season Too

Dundee's January signing Andrew Davies has been ruled out for the rest of the season, just as he neared fitness. The 34 year old broke his foot just days after signing for the club, only to break it again, just as he came close to reaching the fitness level required to make his debut.

Hearts Suffer Garuccio Blow

Heart of Midlothian will have to made do without Australian left back Ben Garuccio for 10 months, at least, after he tore a cruciate knee ligament. Manager Craig Levein revealed that the injury happened in training after Garuccio's "foot caught in the turf and twisted".

Gabon Begin Search For New Coach To Replace Their New Coach

Daniel Cousin only signed his contract as Gabon coach at the beginning of the month, though he had been appointed back in September, but the 42 year old is already out of contract after the African nation failed to qualify for the African Nations Cup in the summer. Gabon have now begun the search for a replacement.

Terriers In Profit After First Premier League Season

Huddersfield Town's latest accounts have revealed that the club made an operating profit of £23.2m for the year ending June 2018, improved from a £21.9m operating loss the previous year. Turnover after promotion rose from £15.8m to £125.2m, but wages tripled from £21.7m to £62.6m. Owner Dean Hoyle is owed nearly £50m. With Huddersfield propping up the table, it looks likely they face a return to the Championship.

Gordon Taylor Defends Lack Of Spending Into Dementia Research

Following the meeting with the daughter of former England player Jeff Astle, Dawn Astle, ending in acrimony as she walked out, and the criticism heading the way of Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor, he has tried to defend the pitiful amount the PFA contributes towards dementia research. The PFA allocates just £125,000 a year for the cause, while Taylor manages to find over £2m a year to put in his own fat wallet (plus any bonuses on top of that), despite being a thoroughly abysmal and useless chief executive that has rivalled Sepp Blatter for despotic rule in the arena of football politics. Thankfully his time is coming to an end after around 300 former and current footballers endorsed a letter asking him to step down.

Higuain Quits Internationals

On-loan Chelsea striker Gonzalo Higuain, who is playing for the London club on loan from Juventus, has retired from international duty with 75 caps and 31 goals for Argentina. Higuain had not been called up since the World Cup and decided now was the time to walk away from his country saying: "I've made the decision because I want to enjoy my family, I want to spend time with my daughter and at the same time I feel that I gave my country everything I could. I'm fully focused on my commitment to Chelsea. The Premier League is amazing and I really want to enjoy it. It's very competitive indeed."

Kane Wants NFL Role

Harry Kane, who was bizarrely given an MBE, has revealed that he would like to end his career as a kicker in the NFL, a route that used to be fairly commonplace years ago for proper football players. Kane said: "The desire to play in the NFL is real. It's something that in 10 or 12 years I definitely want to try. If you play in the Premier League and the World Cup and you then play in the NFL, would you then be considered one of the greatest sportsmen ever?" I can answer that question for him very simply - NO! If he really believes the criteria for being one of the greatest is just taking part then at least it give Tottenham Hotspur hope of holding onto him. After all, that is what they do these days, take part.

Hassenhuttl Has Hotel Wi-Fi Blocked

Southampton manager Ralph Hassenhuttl has revealed that he does not understand modern technology or understand what 4 and 5g is, when he told a press conference that he has the wi-fi blocked at team hotels to try and stop players from playing video games all night long. Obviously he has not realised they could just use data on their phone to sit up and play online, but at least he is attempting to do something to help avoid one of the addictions modern footballers face. As far back as David James, at least, there have been players whose careers have suffered badly after they got addicted to playing video games, affecting everything from their concentration to their backs. Hassenhuttl said: "It's something you get addicted to and that means we have to protect the players. It's something you have to force actively against and I will do this. I did it in my last club. We had also problems with players - they were playing until three o'clock in the morning before a game. You have to help protect them because it's not a small problem. If you are honest it's the same as alcoholism or getting addicted to drugs. To protect them means helping them not to spend so much time there. We block the wi-fi in the hotel, for example, in the evening so they can't play any more. You can be sure that I'm always in contact with my captain or with a few players to speak about them. As long as it's not officially for the government an illness, then we have to protect them in our way. If it would be an illness then it would be easy for the government to say the companies have to give a block after three hours, for example, that they cannot play this game any more. I will be active always in this direction because I have to protect them. Also outside the pitch - and that means for 24 hours I have to look at them."

Written by Tris Burke March 29 2019 05:24:11