Football News: Review Of The Day 30th March 2019

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Review of the Day

Contracts

Ipswich Town have extended youngster Flynn Downes' contract. The 20 year old midfield academy product is now contracted until 2022 with an option for another year on top.

Transfers

Major League Soccer side Chicago Fire have released Lichtenstein midfielder Nicolas Hasler.

Brazilian left-back Jorge has been allowed to leave AS Monaco on loan for Santos.

Trotters Fail To Pay Wages Again

Ken Anderson is clearly taking cues from Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley's method for dealing with fan protests. Each time it gets too much Ashley just claims the club is about to be sold and the protests go quiet. Anderson keeps saying that Bolton Wanderers could be sold within 48 hours, but nothing has yet happened, except that salaries are once again unpaid with a tax bill of £1.2m still hanging over the club's head. The BBC are reporting that former Watford owner Laurence Bassini, a man given a 3 year ban from being involved in a position of authority with any English Football League club in 2013 after dishonest financial dealings, is in talks to buy Bolton. Bolton could be going from No Ken Do to No Ban Left and even more fears over their financial future!

Levein Faces Misconduct Charge

Heart of Midlothian manager Craig Levein, who is also their director of football, has been charged with misconduct by the Scottish FA after an incident occurred during an Under-18s Edinburgh derby.

Cairo Derby To Have Just 30 Spectators

Security restrictions on fans attending Egyptian matches, placed on them after a riot in Port Said killed more than 70 people at a game between Al Masry and Al Ahly in 2012, have meant the 86,000 set Borg-el-Arab stadium will have just 30 fans to watch Al Ahly versus Zamalek in a Cairo derby. Zamalek are top of the league with Ahly two points behind and the pair have the two largest fanbases in Egypt.

Ighalo Claims He Rejected Barca

It was clear in January that Barcelona had finished scraping the bottom of the barrel out and turned to licking drops off the spoon when they signed Kevin-Prince Boateng on loan for the second half of the season, but now we know the real depths of their desperation thanks to the words of former Watford striker Odion Ighalo. Ighalo, who plays for Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua, has revealed that he turned down Barca's offer of a loan deal to sign a longer-term deal with the Chinese club. Ighalo said: "My agent spoke to me about a loan interest from Barcelona. The club wanted a striker with La Liga experience and someone who understands Spanish football. It was meant to be a six-month loan and strictly as a back-up striker. It was nice to hear that Barcelona were interested and any footballer would be more than happy to take it. But with due respect I had just finished as the second top scorer in China with 21 goals, I deserve better and didn't want to be a short-term player somewhere. We rejected it, it was an easy decision to make and I chose to stay in China by joining Shanghai Shenhua on a longer contract." Not sure saying he is not good enough to be top scorer in a weak league makes him deserve better. It is like getting an offer from Barca, but then saying you used to be in your school team as a kid so you must deserve better.

Monkey Hangers Hit Out At Fulham

Hartlepool United are seeking compensation from Fulham over their signing of teenage defender Luca Murphy. The 17 year old was close to a move to the London club in January before, according to Hartlepool, Fulham gave them a list of reasons why Murphy was not good enough. Hartlepool and Fulham had agreed a fee and the youngster went as far as to visit Fulham's facilities with a view to signing, only for Fulham to pull out of the deal. Following that, the teenager's behaviour saw him booted from Hartlepool's youth teams, only for Fulham to then sign him on a free. A statement from Hartlepool read: "Luca's behaviour deteriorated to the extent that it was no longer appropriate to have him around our youth team, but when he left us, both he and his agent were made aware that we reserved our right to pursue compensation. The behaviour of the player, his agent and Fulham FC leaves a lot to be desired, and that is an understatement. We need the support of the football authorities to protect us against this kind of underhand behaviour." Hartlepool's chairman Raj Singh added: "It is pretty clear that he has been encouraged to behave in a manner which orchestrates this move. Whether that is to save a few thousand pounds for a club earning over £100 million, or to earn an agent a fee, we will probably never know."

Burnley Post Record Profit

Not so long ago, when Sean Dyche first took charge at the Clarets, Burnley were being forced to sell players just to keep the club alive. Things are a little different thanks to him taking the club into the Premier League twice and keeping them there (so far at least) the second time around and now the club have posted record profits. In their accounts for the year ending June 2018, it has been revealed that the sales of Michael Keane to Everton and Andre Gray to Watford, for over £45m combined, has helped the club to post record profits of £36.6m. One slight worry will be the £20m increase in wages, from £61m to £81m.

FA Name Their New Chief Exec, Again

This time it looks like the Football Association will actually get to appoint their new chief executive, rather than be left red-faced when the chosen party gets a better offer from their current employer and changes their mind! Mark Bullingham, who is currently the FA's chief commercial officer and football development officer, has been handed the reins. Bullingham is a qualified coach and manages an under-9 girls' team as well as an under-11 boys' team has yet to be given a date to start his new role, but current incumbent Martin Glenn leaves the role at the end of the season.

Written by Tris Burke March 30 2019 05:52:16