Football News: Review Of The Day 7th February 2023

Review of the Day

Contracts

Jan Olschowsky has signed a new Boruussia Moenchengladbach contract which runs until 2027.

Getafe midfielder Mauro Arambarri has been tied down until 2028.

Veteran midfielder Christian Gross has a new deal with Werder Bremen until 2024.

Transfers

Queens Park Rangers have signed free agent striker Chris Martin. The veteran was released by Bristol City on deadline day.

Wigan Athletic have recalled Jordan Jones from his loan spell with Kilmarnock.

Stevenage have signed free agent goalkeeper Adam Przybek.

Celtic midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi has signed for Avispa Fukuoka on loan.

Injury Round Up

Job Changes

Leeds United have sacked Jesse Marsch about a year too late. The inept American, who made Ted Lasso seem clued up on 'soccer', lastd less than a year in charge of Leeds. It is odd timing to sack him almost immediately after they backed him with signings of his choice during the transfer window, but it was clear he was utterly incompetent before they appointed him, so maybe it is just oddity is not replacing him a long time ago. Coaches Rene Maric, Cameron Toshack and Pierre Barrieu have been sacked along with Marsch.

Former Arsenal goalkeeper Graham Stack has been removed from his job as Cardiff City's goalkeeping coach by new manager Sabri Lamouchi. Stack had only been appointed 7 months ago.

Disciplinary Charges

A four year investigation by the Premier League has led to Manchester City receiving over 100 charges. The breaches took place between 2009 and 2018 (which means there should be every chance of a later set of charges covering the period between 2018 and now) and the club have also been accused of not co-operating with the investigation. Man City stated: "Manchester City is surprised by the issuing of these alleged breaches of the Premier League Rules, particularly given the extensive engagement and vast amount of detailed materials that the EPL has been provided with. The club welcomes the review of this matter by an independent commission, to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position. As such we look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all." City continue to maintain their evidence while also beginning an investigation into who leaked the information to the Premier League which has put them into trouble. Because of course, if they have nothing to hide there will be someone leaking stuff they want to hide. The breaches are wide-ranging and include breaking UEFA's FFP rules, also paying under-the-counter extra payments to Roberto Mancini and Pep Guardiola to avoid running foul of FFP and doing the same with player's salaries. UEFA had previously found Man City guilty of a number of "serious breaches" of FFP between 2012 and 2016 but the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned a 2-year ban from European competition, in large part because City's expensive lawyers dragged the case out long enough for most of the breaches to have 'timed out'. It is strange that it has taken so long for anyone to uncover evidence of serious breaches from a club that is not blessed with a large fanbase but somehow manages to generate revenues up there with the biggest. A club that consistently reports sell-outs of a half-empty stadium. The only reason they got away with the UEFA case is that so much of the evidence against them was obtained via an illegal hack and so was inadmissible in court, even though it showed clear evidence of their wrongdoing.

UEFA's former chief investigator Yves Leterme, who prosecuted UEFA's case against Manchester City told Sporza that not being able to appeal to CAS will help the Premier League: "That would make this case stronger. And then there is another element: the scope of the complaint is now broader than that at UEFA, both in time and in substance. Especially because the Premier League does not have to adhere to the same strict limitation periods as we do. We encountered a period of five years, which meant that we could not use important elements. There was a total lack of transparent flow of financial information. With a battery of lawyers, they did everything they could to counter the work of our auditors. In addition, it turned out that money from sponsorship was actually paid by the owner. Finally, there were also the ambiguities surrounding contracts. However, thanks to emails and bank statements, we had hard evidence. I am convinced that fraud has been committed by Manchester City. The problem, however, was that UEFA's ruling could be contested with an arbitration committee, which does not fall under the real judiciary. Those arbitrators are always drawn from 10 to 12 of the same people and can reduce the sentence because they consider it too severe."

Fulham boss Marco Silva has been given a 1-match touchline ban after picking up 4 bookings this season.

Dundee United have appealed against the red card Ryan Edwards received against Heart of Midlothian at the weekend.

Exeter City top scorer Jevani Brown has been charged with assaulting a woman in Exeter's city centre on Thursday 2nd February. Brown has been dropped by the Grecians over an unspecified club disciplinary matter, which just happened to coincide with his arrest.

Pointless List Of The Day

Today's pointless list is speedsdb's list of the fastest Barcelona players:
1. Ousmane Dembele - 36.6km/h
2. Raphinha - 33.71km/h
3. Alejandro Balde - 33.71km/h
4. Nico Gonzalez - 33km/h
5. Robert Lewandowski - 32.71km/h
6. Jordi Alba - 32.6km/h
7. Andreas Christensen - 32.4km/h
8. Eric Garcia - 32.3km/h
9. Ansu Fati - 32.21km/h
10. Nelson Semedo - 32.21km/h
11. Frenkie de Jong - 32.1km/h
12. Ferran Torres - 31.9km/h
13. Franck Kessie - 31.8km/h
14. Ronald Araujo - 31.8km/h
15. Carles Perez - 31.7km/h
16. Gerard Pique - 31.5km/h
17. Sergi Roberto - 31.4km/h
18. Jules Kounde - 31.3km/h
19. Pedri - 31.2km/h
20. Oscar Mingueza - 31km/h
21. Marcos Alonso - 31km/h
22. Junior Firpo - 31km/h
23. Martin Braithwaite - 30.8km/h
24. Gavi - 30.6km/h
25. Sergio Busquets - 30km/h
26. Dani Morer - 29.95km/h
27. Sergio Akieme - 29.9km/h
28. Ricardo Puig - 29.5km/h
29. Philippe Coutinho - 29.2km/h
30. Jandro Orellana - 29.2km/h
31. Jean-Clair Todibo - 29km/h
32. Carles Alena - 28.4km/h
33. Yusuf Demir - 28.2km/h
34. Konrad De La Fuente - 27.9km/h
35. Sergio Aguero - 27.4km/h
36. Monchu - 27km/h
37. Ludovit Reis - 26.95km/h
38. Pablo Torre - 26.7km/h
39. Memphis Depay - 26.5km/h
40. Samuel Umtiti - 25.7km/h
41. Marc-Ander ter Stegen - 24.1km/h
42. Matheus Fernandes - 21.6km/h
43. Arnau Tenas - 21.5km/h
44. Neto - 21km/h
45. Inaki Pena - 19.3km/h

Ghana Pray For Atsu

The Ghana Football Association had asked for fans to pray for former Chelsea, Newcastle United and Everton winger Christian Atsu, who was believed to be trapped under rubble caused by the earthquakes in Turkey. The 31-year-old, and his current club Hatayspor's Sporting Director Taner Savut were caught under the rubble. At least 5,000 people are believed to have died in the devastation in Turkey and Syria. Ghana FA wrote on social media: We pray for Ghana International Christian Atsu and victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. We continue with our efforts to establish contact with officials of Hatayspor and the Turkish Football Federation, considering the difficult situation." Luckily the Ghanaian international was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building on Tuesday morning and is now receiving treatment.

Written by Tris Burke February 07 2023 12:52:13