Football News: Review Of The Day 8th April 2018
Image from:
Review of the Day
Jesus Denies Players Were Suspended
In Portugal there has been a bizarre spat following Sporting's defeat in the Europa League at the hands of Atletico Madrid. Club president Bruno de Carvalho criticised the players for 'stupid mistakes' on social media after the 2-0 defeat. Nineteen first team players signed a statement responding to de Carvalho, demanding 'respect'. In reply de Carvalho once more took to social media to call them all 'spoilt brats' and claimed that he had suspended all 19 players. Head coach Jorge Jesus denied that any suspension was actually issued after clear the air talks took place and that reports players had refused to train in protest were also not true. Jesus said: "The players, president and coaching staff had a meeting, which will remain private within the team. What is important was the liberty that I was given by the president to play players of my choosing. There was never any refusal to practice from any player. Only back when I was a player did we refuse to practice because we weren't paid for seven months, that doesn't happen here."
It is not certain this is related to the dispute, but Sporting Clube de Portugal have sent Fabio Coentrao back to Real Madrid. The Portugese left back had been on loan with Sporting but the loan was ended with no confirmation of the reasons behind it, however he was one of the nineteen to sign the statement demanding respect. So draw your own conclusions!
Bayern Win 6th Successive Bundesliga
Jupp Heynckes has once again shown why he is a legend at Bayern Munich after coming out of retirement to rescue their faltering season in October. With players taking it upon themselves to conduct their own training sessions in a local park, the situation at Bayern had descended into farce under previous boss Carlo Ancelotti, so an SOS was sent out to lure Heynckes back from retirement. Bayern were five points behind Borussia Dortmund in October and have since won 28 out of 31 to clinch the Bundesliga title with a 4-1 victory over Augsburg, after going behind early on. Heynckes said afterwards: "I'd like to send my best wishes to Carlo Ancelotti in Italy. This title is also for him. He is a fantastic coach."
Pique Has Dig At Zidane Over Guard Of Honour Dispute
With Barcelona closing in on the La Liga title, Zinedine Zidane has said that his Real Madrid team will not give the traditional guard of honour to Barca, if the title is sewn up before they face each other next month. Zidane claims Barca broke tradition by refusing to hold a guard of honour for his team after they won the Club World Cup in December. Rather than being the bigger man, Zidane has shown that same pettiness that saw his career end in acrimony during a World Cup final, sadly. Barcelona defender Gerard Pique does not seem to bothered by the 'row' though, replying with a smile, after he was asked about it: "I'm not going to sleep tonight."
Teenage French Defender Dies
French Ligue 2 side Le Havre have been left shocked after teenage defender Samba Diop died at just 18. Their match with Reims was postponed because of it. A Le Havre statement read: "It is with great sadness that club members learned of the death of our player Samba Diop. The 18-year-old defender, who was born in Le Havre, died last night. This is a horrible moment for all the players, from the football school to the professional group, staff members and volunteers, administrators and leaders. Le Havre extends its deepest condolences to Samba's family."
Wolves Defender Signs New Deal Contracts Round Up
Young defender Kourtney Hause has signed a new deal with Championship leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers despite being a fringe player this season. The 22 year old has been mostly on the sidelines this season, with just 4 appearances, but he has agreed a new 3 year deal with an option for a 4th.
Bradford City will have to make do without forward Paul Taylor, who has left the club for personal reasons. Head of recruitment Greg Abbott said: "Paul the footballer is such a talented individual and it is very unfortunate for himself and the club that things have worked out this way. He is a great lad and the whole group are very disappointed for him. But you are not immune from personal issues just because you are a footballer - they can affect everyone. Our main thoughts are certainly with Paul at this time and we hope, with our support, he can work his way through these personal issues."
The Bantams have also released midfielder Dan Pybus, to give him a headstart on finding a club for next season.
LA Galaxy forward Ola Kamara has extended his deal, with a bumper pay rise to boot. There has been no word on if the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic was in any way responsible for the sudden pay rise he was given.
And Finally....
Manchester City's two defeats in a week brought to mind a quote by Johan Cruyff I unearthed while doing research on him, he had said: "Why couldn't you beat a richer club? I've never seen a bag of money score a goal." Which is true and money cannot buy everything, as Roman Abramovich found out when he bought Chelsea in 2003 and tried to convince club legend Gianfranco Zola to stay with the club. Zola had agreed a deal to return home to play for Cagliari, while Chelsea were in financial trouble, prior to Abramovich buying the club. One of the Russian's first moves was to simply offer Zola a blank cheque to stay with the Londoners but he refused to break his word to Cagliari. After speaking to the president of Cagliari and finding out that the club would not sell him for any price, Abramovich tried to then buy the entire team. Just to get a little bit more Zola!
Written by Tris Burke April 08 2018 07:19:54
