Football News: Review Of The Day 2nd December 2020

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Review of the Day

Contracts

Hull City left-back Brandon Fleming has signed a new deal which runs until 2023, with a club option for a further year.

Middlesbrough have given their former Manchester United youngster Paddy McNair a new contract which expires in 2024.

Transfers

Zorhan Bassong has signed for MLS team Montreal Impact for the 2021 season.

Injury Round-Up

Middlesbrough defender Grant Hall has been ruled out for 3-4 months. The 29 year old has suffered a thigh injury which may need an operation and he will see a specialist.

The Friday night Premier League game between Aston Villa and Newcastle United has been postponed after a spate of positive CV tests at Newcastle. Several players and members of staff have had to go into self-isolation and their training ground has been closed. Newcastle requested a postponement from the Premier League and Villa gave it their full backing saying: "Everybody at Aston Villa wishes a speedy recovery to all those affected by the virus."

Arsenal defender David Luiz will sit out the Europa League game against Rapid Vienna as the Brazilian recovers from the clash of heads with Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Raul Jiminez on Sunday.

Managerial Changes

Major League Soccer side Toronto FC have two sets of shoes to fill after the most successful coach in their history, Greg Vanney, stepped down. Vanney was also the club's technical director.

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has given manager Neil Lennon his backing following fan protests against Lennon. Lawwell said: "This is not about any individual, but about Celtic Football Club as a collective. Neil, the players and backroom staff, who have already done so much for the club, share in all of that. They have never been more determined to succeed. Having enjoyed such sustained, unprecedented success, we now need strength in adversity." Celtic have won just twice in the last 10 games.

Zinedine Zidane has dismissed talk of resigning from Real Madrid. Zidane, who previously resigned after beating Liverpool in the Champions League final in 2018, said: "I am not going to resign, not at all. We are always going to have difficult moments, and we are on a bad run, but we need to keep going. I have the strength needed to turn the situation around and I am going to give everything to do that. So are the players. We played well and we deserved more. We just need to lift our heads up and think about the next game." Madrid are having a difficult season in domestic competition, losing to Alaves 2-1 at the weekend, and have to win their final Champions League group stage match against Borussia Monchengladbach to progress to the knock out stages. The Spanish side, who have won the Champions League a record 13 times, have now lost home and away to Shakhtar Donetsk to sit third in Group B.

Disciplinary Charges

Dempster Ire With SPFL

Hibernian's chief executive Leeann Dempster has reacted angrily after the SPFL rearranged Hibs' fixture with Celtic on 11th January, despite Hibs rejecting the request to move it. Dempster wrote on social media: "Apologies to our supporters and our head coach. We said no to the original request from Celtic because the request didn't work for our club. The SPFL appears to have agreed this without a call to the decision makers at our club. We are fizzing about this - @spfl know I am leaving soon (ish) but they still have my mobile number so a call should have been easy to do - or @gmathie82 or even to our Chairman. Not good enough." The SPFL deny that they did not inform Hibs in advance, their director of operations Iain Blair said: "I took the request to the SPFL board, noting that Hibernian FC objected to the move. However, as the proposed date change fell within the same Friday - Monday fixture slot and was made by the home club, I informed the SPFL board that my intention was to agree to the request. As has been the case for the past 22 years, SPFL policy, where two clubs do not agree about a fixture change and in the absence of any other relevant factor, is to favour the home club. Both Celtic FC and Hibernian FC were advised of the change more than an hour before the decision was made public, with no adverse comment being received from Hibernian FC ahead of publication."

FA Cup 3rd Round Draw

Huddersfield Town v Plymouth Argyle
Southampton v Shrewsbury Town
Chorley v Derby County
Marine v Tottenham Hotspur
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace
Stockport County v West Ham United
Oldham Athletic v Bournemouth
Manchester United v Watford
Stevenage v Swansea City
Everton v Rotherham United
Nottingham Forest v Cardiff City
Arsenal v Newcastle United
Barnsley v Tranmere Rovers
Bristol Rovers v Sheffield United
Canvey Island/Boreham Wood v Millwall
Blackburn Rovers v Doncaster Rovers
Stoke City v Leicester City
Wycombe Wanderers v Preston North End
Crawley Town v Leeds United
Burnley v MK Dons
Bristol City v Portsmouth
Queens Park Rangers v Fulham
Aston Villa v Liverpool
Brentford v Middlesbrough
Manchester City v Birmingham City
Luton Town v Reading
Chelsea v Morecambe
Exeter City v Sheffield Wednesday
Norwich City v Coventry City
Blackpool v West Brom Albion
Newport County v Brighton & Hove Albion
Cheltenham Town v Mansfield Town

King To Sell Up

Former Rangers chairman Dave King is set to sell his shares in the club to Rangers' fan group Club 1872. King currently owns 20% of the table topping Scottish Premiership side and is giving Club 1872 three years to raise the money. King said: "I have agreed therefore to transfer my shares to Club 1872 at my historical cash cost of acquisition (which includes professional fees) and to allow Club 1872 a period of three years to build up the supporter backing that will be necessary to achieve this. My all-in cost is 23.7p per share and I am willing to put a pricing structure in place that accommodates 20p as the initial price to be consistent with the present share issue. And, at Club 1872's request, I have included an option for Club 1872 to buy all of the shares at 20p which would result in a loss to me. In my view the shares are presently worth in excess of 50p if properly valued." If Club 1872 are able to complete the share transfer, they will become the largest shareholder with over 25% of the shares.

Brexit Transfer System Agreed

The Football Association, Premier League and Football League have finalised the rules for transfer of players from the European Union (EU) after Brexit's transition period ends on 31st December. Players under the age of 18 will no longer be allowed to sign and there will be a limit of 6 on players under the age of 21. Players from the EU will be assigned points in the same way that foreign players from outside the EU already do. Players that get 15 points or more will automatically receive a governing body endorsement (GBE), while those that just fail to meet the criteria will need to be considered by an exceptions panel.

Written by Tris Burke December 02 2020 06:15:35