Football News: Review Of The Day 14th February 2019

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Review of the Day

Contracts

Winger Shane Ferguson has signed a new deal with Millwall, though the length of the Northern Ireland international's contract has not been disclosed.

Transfers

Former Watford striker Odion Ighalo has moved to Shanghai Greenland Shenhua from fellow Chinese Super League side Changchun Yatai.

One of Major League Soccer's imaginatively named sides, Cincinnati United, has signed winger Kekuta Manneh on a free from St Gallen in Switzerland.

Marseille midfielder Gregory Sertic has headed to the Swiss Super League on loan with FC Zurich.

Gayle Facing Diving Ban

West Bromwich Albion striker Dwight Gayle, on loan from Newcastle United, has been charged with "successful deception of a match official" after diving to win an 89th minute penalty against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday. Jay Rodriguez converted the penalty to give the Baggies a draw.

Hearts Hit By Double Injury Blow

Heart of Midlothian will have to make do without Demetri Mitchell and Michael Smith in the short term. Right back Smith tore a muscle and will miss 2 months with the injury, while on-loan Manchester United full back Demetri Mitchell has suffered a recurrence of a knee problem.

Hibs Turn To Heckingbottom

Hibernian have appointed former Barnsley and Leeds United manager Paul Heckingbottom as their new head coach. Robbie Stockdale is to work alongside him as his assistant. Heckingbottom said: "There is so much potential here and the club has everything going for it; I will give everything I have to be a success. I'm looking forward to getting to work and meeting the players and staff on Thursday, before stepping up preparations for Saturday's game against Hamilton."

Baxter Gets SA League Delayed

South Africa have postponed a number of Premier Soccer League (PSL) games next month to give national head coach Stuart Baxter the chance to work with his players ahead of a key African Nations Cup qualifier in Tunisia against Libya. Libya have to play their 'home' games at a neutral venue due to the security situation there. The South Africans only need to avoid defeat to reach the finals. Baxter told the BBC: "I'm eternally grateful to the PSL and the clubs for being so cooperative. What is does is give me a chance to have an extra couple of sessions. We are going to get there as quickly as possible. Whatever shenanigans we might have to face, let's get that over and done with sooner rather than later. We'll deal with it and acclimatise. It will be a smaller group at the beginning, not the whole squad but I still think that is preferable to what we would usually get."

Eto'o Not Ready To Retire

Samuel Eto'o is 37 and his contract with Qatar Sports Club has expired but the Cameroon legend has ruled out retiring, despite making just two appearances since August due to injury. Eto'o said: "At my age I prefer to stay in Qatar. I am grateful that they have given me an opportunity to play while I am also planning my education project. I think I will go another year and then see after that, I will not look too far ahead. I have always said I will be the first to stop playing once I cannot give my best. Football means a lot but when it's not normal for me to do it to my best ability, then I stop."

Gray Cleared Of Assault

Watford striker Andre Gray has been cleared of assaulting a British woman in a Las Vegas nightclub last May. The 27 year old forward had been charged with misdemeanour battery but the judge dismissed the case.

Icardi Contract Row Takes New Twist

Argentine striker Mauro Icardi has refused to travel for Inter Milan's Europa League match with Rapid Vienna and been stripped of the club captaincy as an argument over his potential new contract rumbles on. His wife, Wanda Nara, the former wife of a team mate, acts as his agent and is known for being extremely difficult to deal with, but it seems that she is being particularly difficult as the player is trying to force a move away. Inter head coach Luciano Spalletti said: "The decision to remove the captaincy from Icardi was difficult and painful, absolutely shared by all the club members and taken for the good of Inter. He was called up for Vienna but he did not want to be there. Things around him have disturbed him and the team he captained. Now we have to focus all our attention on Thursday's game." Icardi has 122 goals in 208 appearances for Inter who are in 3rd in Serie A. Experienced veteran keeper Samir Handanovic has been confirmed as new club captain.

Rice Pledges Future To England

West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice has finally made his decision over whether to represent England or Ireland, settling on England as his country. Rice had 3 senior Republic of Ireland caps in friendlies, with Ireland the country of his grandparents, but has decided that he would like to represent England. Rice's social media statement read: "I consider myself to be of mixed nationality. I have equal respect for both England and Ireland and therefore the national team I choose to represent is not a clear-cut, simple selection. Ultimately, it is a personal decision I have made with my heart and my head, based on what I believe is best for my future. I would also like to make it clear that, in requesting to transfer my national team representation, I am not taking for granted a call-up to the England squad."

Klopp Charged Over Ref Comments

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has been charged by the FA after commenting after the draw with West Ham United that referee Kevin Friend's performance had been affected by the decision to allow Sadio Mane's goal, which should have been ruled out for offside by James Milner, who crossed for Mane to score. Klopp said: "I heard our goal was offside, I'm pretty sure the ref knew that. In 50-50 situations it was always a free-kick for the other team, which was hard and did not make life easy. As a human being, if I know I have made a big mistake in the first half, I don't want to open the gap any more. Referees are obviously human beings, and I understand that, but I didn't during the game because I had no clue that our goal was offside." The FA have charged Klopp as they say the comments "questioned the integrity of the referee and/or implied bias".

Mason Backs Heading Ban

Former Tottenham Hotspur and Hull City midfielder Ryan Mason has backed a ban on heading the ball in children's football. Mason was forced to retire a year ago after suffering a fractured skull during an aerial challenge. Mason believes English football should follow the lead of the United States, where the US Soccer Federation has an outright ban on under-11s heading the ball and restrictions up until the age of 13. Mason said: "If you have got a seven- or eight-year-old heading a solid ball, and his brain and his bone in his skull isn't fully developed, then that could potentially be doing damage. I look at some kids and they head the ball with the top of the head and their technique is all wrong, therefore the pressure that it's putting on the brain is a lot more. I don't think kids should be heading real balls. The older you get, you get more experience and your heading technique gets better. Maybe bring in sponge balls to learn the technique and gain that experience of actually challenging for a header. I don't think repetitive heading at a young age is doing the kids any good, that's for sure. America is probably more advanced than England in terms of research, and they've taken the measure of actually banning it up to a certain age. So maybe we can follow those footsteps over here to protect our young kids."

Man Utd And PSG Face UEFA Charges

Both Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain have been charged by UEFA for incidents during PSG's 2-0 win over Man Utd in the Champions League on Tuesday. The Manchester side have been charged with the throwing of objects by fans and blocking of stairways, unsurprisingly as Angel Di Maria had beer and water bottles thrown at him during the match, which he tried to downplay by pretending to drink some of the beer. The Parisians have been charged with the setting off of fireworks, acts of damages and crowd disturbance. Again, not a surprise as flares were lit in the away section and 800 seats damaged as well as the netting that protects disabled fans in front of the away section being ripped.

Blackpool Enter Receivership

While at most football clubs this would be seen as a disaster, for Blackpool fans it is a blessed relief as it spells the end of the reign of litigious cretin Owen Oyston, whose mismanagement and asset stripping of the club reduced it from a Premier League highlife to the depths of the English Football League. While the High Court putting Blackpool into receivership could lead to a 12 points deduction which would put them on the edge of the relegation battle, fans will just be glad that they can go back to watching their team play once more, after a hugely successful boycott saw attendances fall to almost nothing for home games. The receivership will pave the way for a fresh new ownership regime, which will hopefully be a lot less intent on putting their hands in the till and grasping all the money inside.

Written by Tris Burke February 14 2019 05:30:18