Football News: Review Of The Day 26th October 2018

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Review of the Day

LeRoy Backs Adebayor Over Refusal To Play

Togo coach Claude LeRoy has given his backing to striker Emmanuel Adebayor after he refused to play in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against The Gambia due to the poor state of the playing surface there. LeRoy said: "He has long legs and has a lot of trouble coping with the surface in Lome. He didn't play but he was there with us. We will see for (the next Nations Cup qualifier) Algeria but he could also be troubled that surface too - which is like abominable corrugated iron. We have one pitch that is under construction and so we cannot use it anymore and another (pitch) that is a catastrophe, it's a shame. With his long legs, when he trains on it, he has tendinitis, joint problems... he is 35-years-old, he is not very young anymore. This kind of terrain ruins him completely at the physical level. You can not force a player to play, especially since he has problems. As long as Caf and Fifa allow matches on potato fields, it should not be a surprise that African football is struggling. Unfortunately, we are more concerned with presidential chairs in the (VIP) boxes than we are with the surfaces."

England Move Up To 5th In FIFA Rankings

Belgium have moved above France at the top of the rankings by a point, despite France winning the World Cup in the summer. England have moved above Uruguay, in a close battle which includes Portugal, for 5th in the rankings. Wales have also gained a place, up to 18th, while both Irish nations and Scotland have fallen slightly, Republic to 33, one point above Northern Ireland in 34th and Scotland to 40th.
1 (-) Belgium 1733
2 (-1) France 1732
3 (-) Brazil 1669
4 (-) Croatia 1635
5 (+1) England 1619
6 (-1) Uruguay 1617
7 (-) Portugal 1616
8 (-) Switzerland 1598
9 (-) Spain 1594
10 (-) Denmark 1584

Madrid Got £13.7m Bonus For Champions League Win

UEFA has released the payments for Champions League and Europa League participants, with Real Madrid topping it with a total earnings of £78.4m, while runners up Liverpool earnt £71.9m. Europa League finalists Marseille were paid £20.3m, while winners Atletico Madrid earned just £14.3m, as well as £28m from the Champions League. A total of £1.25bn was paid to Champions League team and £379m to Europa League participants. Oddly Chelsea earnt slightly more than Manchester City (£57.6m compared to £56.5m) despite City progressing further due to the bizarre market pool payments that ensure clubs from the richer nations get the lion's share of the pot.

Ipswich Sack Hurst

Despite only being appointed in May, Ipswich Town have sacked manager Paul Hurst after just one win in 14 games leaves the Tractor Boys propping up the Championship table, 4 points adrift of safety. Ipswich owner Marcus Evans said: "I have decided that it is in the best interests of the football club that we appoint a new manager to take us forward. Paul's arrival here in the summer was welcomed by us all and we worked tirelessly to support him fully with his plans for player recruitment, training methodology and backroom staff. But unfortunately those plans haven't turned into positive results, which is why I have had to take this decision today." Assistant manager Chris Doig has also left, leaving Bryan Klug in caretaker charge.

Former Spurs Defender Goes Posh

Peterborough United have signed free agent defender Sebastien Bassong until the end of January. The 32 year old centre back has played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Norwich City before being released by Norwich after problems with injuries. Bassong had been training with QPR to keep fit, after being released in May 2017.

La Liga's bottom club SD Huesca have taken young Spanish midfielder Christian Rivera on loan from second tier club Las Palmas.

Man Utd To Contest FA Charge

The FA charge against Jose Mourinho for "abusive, insulting or improper language" is to be "vigorously contested" by Manchester United. Mourinho made comments in Portugese to a TV camera which a lip reader employed by the FA has interpreted as offensive, something Mourinho has denied.

Van Persie In Final Season

Former Holland captain Robin van Persie has announced his intention to retire at the end of the season. Now 35 years old, van Persie returned to his first club Feyenoord in January as he found he had "lost the fun" while playing in Turkey for Fenerbahce.

Infantino Criticises Absurdity Of Italian Football

UEFA president Gianni Infantino has criticised Italy's football federation over the "absurdity" existing in their second and third tiers. Two months into the season and still there are clubs who do not know which division they are meant to be playing in and some teams in Serie C have barely played as clubs and FIGC bicker in court over how many teams will be in the two divisions and which teams will replace the 3 which went bankrupt, Avellino, Bari and Cesena. Infantino addressed the Italian federation at the election of their new president Gabriele Gravina saying: "It's not tolerable that some squads still don't know what league they will play in. It seems to me a real absurdity. Why does Italian football need outside help to resolve problems that can be resolved internally? Four and a half years of emergency commissioners in the last 20 years seems like an absurdity to me. There needs to be a strong federation now." He does like the word 'absurdity'....

Speaking Of Absurdity

Bayern Munich's woefully overrated Colombian James Rodriguez has become (according to NewsBTC) the first person in the world "to make true the trading and circulation of personal digital assets." Or, in English, he is selling 'JR10 Tokens' that you can buy and then use to buy souvenirs etc. To celebrate he is auctioning a number of signed, match-worn items, which will not need washing as he will not have broken sweat while wearing them. A pair of signed, match-worn boots (which will have covered all of 50 yards) are amongst the items up for grabs for those who are especially in need of getting a life to bid on. I mean it is not like it would not just be easier to auction off the items directly, without the extra mark up from the digital currency people are being forced to buy first.

Written by Tris Burke October 26 2018 06:03:15