Football News: Bastia Refuse To Comply With Ligue 1 Decision, Barca Fans Petition For Mash To Take Penalty And Balotelli Unwanted At Milan Plus Much More
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1. Barca fans start petition to ask for Mascherano to take a penalty
A group of Barcelona fans have launched a petition to ask the Catalan club to allow Javier Mascherano to take a penalty. The Argentine has now made 264 appearances for Barca, winning 15 major trophies, including 2 Champions Leagues, 2 Club World Cup and 3 Primera Ligas. Despite this, Mascherano has never scored for Barca, so the fans want to ensure he gets one. "We think Mascherano doesn't have sufficient recognition as a Barcelona star," explains the petition. "He has brought so much to the team it seems unfair he's not recognised as he deserves-in football everything's measured in goals so for this we want him to score a goal for Barcelona. The most simple way is to let him take a penalty, and we ask Leo Messi to do this."
2. Balotelli out in the cold with Milan
It seems Mario Balotelli has now burnt his bridges at AC Milan, unsurprisingly. The Italian international, on loan from Liverpool, has infuriated Milan manager Sinisa Mihajlovic with a lack of effort. That lack of effort that is well known to fans of the clubs he has represented with such lack of enthusiasm. This time though, it seems he has gone too far for Mihajlovic, despite him only coming on to the pitch with 2 minutes left in the match against Genoa and Milan winning 2-1. Mihajlovic raged: "We should've scored a third goal and not risked at the end. It is also my fault, as those who don't sacrifice themselves for the team to the 94th minute will no longer set foot on the field. It wasn't just Balotelli, there were another two or three as well as him, they know who I'm talking about." So it looks like Liverpool will be stuck with not-so-super Mario.
3. Everton legend released by Shanghai Shenhua
Former Millwall, Everton and New York Red Bulls player Tim Cahill has announced that he will be leaving Shanghai Shenhua. The 36 year old has stated that he aims to make Australia's squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Cahill only signed a new contract in November, but was no longer in the coach's plans after a spending spree on big money stars.
Barnsley dispute Moyes' claims over Stones' fee
Former Everton boss David Moyes has claimed that the reported fee that the Toffees paid for defender John Stones was half the £3m reported at the time. "I laugh when people say we paid £3million for John Stones, it was £1.25million," Moyes said on Goals on Sunday. Now though, people are laughing at Moyes' claims, as the Tykes have refuted his claims stating Moyes played no part in the negotiations. Barnsley's statement in full: Barnsley FC has been asked by a significant number of fans to clarify the situation regarding the recent comments made by David Moyes on Sky Sports' Goals on Sunday and attributed to him on the Mirror website on 14 February 2016 and elsewhere, regarding the fee paid by Everton for the transfer of John Stones from our Club. Ordinarily, we would not comment on matters of speculation, but the article on the Mirror website carries the headline, "David Moyes reveals Everton paid just £1.25million to sign John Stones from Barnsley." The amount paid by Everton to Barnsley is Commercial in Confidence, and we would have expected that David Moyes would be bound by that obligation of confidentiality to his former employer. However, given the categoric nature of the assertion made, it is incumbent on Barnsley FC to correct such a statement when it is markedly and unequivocally wrong and yet is made by someone that the public might think is authoritative on the subject. This is particularly the case since he has cited the same erroneous fee on previous occasions also. David Moyes played no part in any negotiation with Barnsley FC concerning the transfer of John Stones, which may explain why he is mistaken as to the fee paid.
4. Sunderland reduce season ticket prices for next season
With arguments raging between fans and clubs across the Premier League over ticket prices, Sunderland AFC have announced that they will be reducing the price of their season tickets. Next season's adult season cards are to be £350, with over-65s paying £250 for their season cards. In an attempt to encourage the next generation of supporters, young adults under the age of 22 will have a season ticket price of £170. Sunderland have also pointed out that they have actually reduced prices over the last few years, with an under-16 season card costing £133 in the 2003-4 season but next season only costing £50. Chief executive Margaret Byrne said: "Keeping the cost of watching football at a realistic level is something that is very topical at present, but for us it has always been top of our agenda. With the reductions we have implemented a family of three, for example one adult and two under 16 year olds, can enjoy a full season of football for only £400. We know that the fans are what make this football club great and we hope that as many fans as possible will continue to have the opportunity to come to games and support the team."
5. FA rule out retrospective action on Berahino
Despite the referee seeing nothing and it looking like West Bromwich Albion's Saido Berahino kicked out at Everton midfielder James McCarthy off the ball, the Football Association have said they will take no further action. The FA's 'not-seen incident' panel, which consists of three former referees, could not come to a unanimous decision on whether or not it constituted violent conduct, so Berahino will escape punishment. Toffees' manager Roberto Martinez said: "The ball was stopped and Berahino just stamps on James McCarthy. I don't know what happened. I thought the referee was in a good position and should have seen that. It's one of those naïve reactions and it should have been a red card."
6. Ukraine national team return for Shevchenko
Legendary Ukraine striker Andrei Shevchenko, now 39, has been called up by the national team to join the coaching staff ahead of this summer's European Championships, which take place in France. Shevchenko retired from playing in 2012, after returning to Dynamo Kiev following a difficult spell in English football with Chelsea.
7. Fleetwood sign striker
Bristol City's young striker Wes Burns has headed to League One side Fleetwood Town for a loan deal running until 8th May. Burns is a Wales under-21 international, who has scored one goal in seventeen appearances for the Robins this season, though only three games were starts. He has previous loan spells with Forest Green Rovers, Oxford United and Cheltenham Town.
8. Bastia refuse to accept French league decision to move game
Bastia have been ordered to move Saturday evening's league match against Nantes to the afternoon, but the club are refusing to comply. The match was initially scheduled to kick off at 8pm local time, but the league rescheduled it to an earlier kick off at the request of government officials following violent incidents involved the Corsican club's fans last weekend. Around 100 people in Bastia attacked a police station with projectiles and Molotov cocktails in retaliation for arrests following a match between Reims and Bastia. Bastia won 1-0 but one of the Bastia fans was injured in a scuffle with the police. Bastia released a statement stating that it will not accept the league's unilateral decision and that the stadium doors will remain closed at the time ordered by the authorities.
9. Swindon add defender
Former QPR defender Jamie Sendles-White was released by Hamilton Academicals recently. Now the 21 year old has ended his search for a new club by signing with Swindon Town for the rest of the season. Sendles-White was a Northern Ireland under 21 international in the past. Sendles-White told Swindon's official website: "I'm very pleased to have signed. It's been quite a stressful couple of weeks getting everything sorted but I'm glad it's all sorted now and I can get my head down for the rest of the season. I came in pre-season and once last season with a view to a loan but that didn't come through. It's a club that I like. I like the philosophy and I like how they play so I'm glad to be here."
10. Villas-Boas rules out Prem return
Former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas, who is set to leave Zenit St Petersburg at the end of the season, has said he is not keen on a return to English football. His time in charge of the two London clubs did not go particularly well, though he had much success while at Porto, which seems to have put him off the idea of managing in English football again. At least in the short term. "I think my time has been done there," Villas-Boas told BT Sport. "It didn't go as well as I had expected, apart from the first year at Tottenham, so I will look forward to trying other leagues. I don't know where I'll go, hopefully something good."
Written by Tris Burke February 17 2016 04:16:49
