Football News: Review Of The Day 21st January 2020

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Review of the Day

Contracts

Veteran midfielder Kyle Beckerman has signed a 1-year deal with Real Salt Lake.

Brentford's assistant head coach Brian Riemer has signed a new deal running until 2023, the same as his boss Thomas Frank.

Transfers

New England Revolution have released French-Malian centre-back Samba Camara.

Bologna have paid just under £2m for teenage winger Emanuel Vignato from Chievo Verona.

Heart of Midlothian have signed Donis Avdijaj from Trabzonspor on a free transfer.

Aston Villa's Croatian goalkeeper Lovre Kalinic has joined Toulouse on loan.

Real Madrid have paid around £27m for Brazilian teenager Reinier from Flamengo.

Hellas Verona have sold Amir Rrehmani to Napoli for just over £12m.

Alaves have taken Spanish flapper Roberto on loan from West Ham United.

Genoa have loaned winger Sinan Gumus to Antalyaspor.

Swansea City's Swedish winger Kristoffer Peterson has joined FC Utrecht on loan.

Espanyol have paid over £8m for Leandro Cabrera from Getafe.

Melbourne City have loaned Javier Cabrera to Argentine side CA Union.

Barcelona have paid £630,000 for Albanian forward Rey Manaj from Albacete.

Canadian international forward Simeon Jackson has joined Stevenage on a deal until the end of the season. The 32 year old was a free agent.

Scotland international Jamie Murphy has signed for Burton Albion on loan from Rangers.

Josh Vela has signed for Shrewsbury Town after his release from Hibernian.

Aston Villa striker Jonathan Kodjia has signed for Qatari Stars League team Al-Gharafa.

Injury Round-Up

Jetro Willems is ruled out for the rest of the season with a cruciate ligament injury suffered against Chelsea. The 25 year old Newcastle United left-back, who is on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt, caught his studs in the turf and scans have revealed that he has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in the same knee he damaged 3 years ago. Newcastle will also be missing another left-sided defender as Paul Dummett is looking likely to miss the rest of the season with surgery to repair a tendon injury.

Sampson Racism Case Not Proven

A Football Association charge against Stevenage's head coach Mark Sampson, for the alleged use of racist language, has been dismissed after the charge was found not proven by an independent commission. It was alleged Sampson said: "You can't have a black Nigerian centre-back, you can't rely on them," while discussing transfer targets. While Stevenage have tried to paint it as a victory for Sampson, the panel itself said that they could not make a decision based on the evidence: "This was not a case where it could sensibly be said that a witness had somehow been mistaken about what had, or had not, been said at the relevant time. Put simply, some of those giving evidence had lied. It is clear that misplaced loyalty and a willingness to be untruthful was an inescapable part of this case. Collusion of evidence, one way or another, was unattractively at play in this case. The commission found several parts of the evidence called by both of the parties to be lacking the cogency or reliability upon which to base a sound evidential assessment of the facts. The truth was unquestionably hard to find. The commission did not find the evidence of any one of those who attended the meeting compelling, or sufficiently compelling, to allow the commission to be confident that they could properly base a judgement upon it. Equally, consideration of the collective evidence called in respect of the two quite different versions of the same meeting, did not enable the commission to have that necessary confidence. Such analysis should not be taken to suggest that the commission rejected outright the evidence of Mr Maamria and Mr Uzunhasanoglu. They did not. Nor should that analysis be taken as a suggestion that the commission unequivocally accepted the account given by Mr Sampson and those called in support of his case. They did not. The finding of this commission is determined by the proper application of the burden and standard of proof. The evidence was not of a kind to enable the commission to be satisfied to the requisite standard of proof that the words had in fact been spoken."

Macc Hit With Misconduct Charge

The English Football League have charged Macclesfield Town with misconduct over their League Two game with Plymouth Argyle on 21st December, which they failed to play after the local Safety Advisory Group served Macclesfield with a "zero-capacity notice". Macclesfield have already had a six point deduction this season as financial troubles hit them hard.

Terriers Fined

Huddersfield Town have been fined £5000 by the Football Association for "failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion". The club admitted the breach and accepted the fine, which was related to an incident in the 96th minute of their defeat at Barnsley.

Rice Admits Gambling Charges

The head coach of Hamilton Academicals, Brian Rice, has been charged with breaching Scottish FA gambling rules and revealed that he wrote to the governing body himself to "self-report". Rice has admitted in the past to having an addiction to gambling and said: "I would like to express my regret to the players, coaching staff and my friends and colleagues. This decision was one of the hardest I have had to take, but in a way also the easiest. I have made no secret of the fact that I have struggled with the disease that is gambling addiction in the past. The reality is I am an addict and, while I have been proud of the fact I have been in recovery from this disease, a key part of the recovery programme is honesty: honesty to myself and honesty to those who have and who continue to support me, including my family and my football family at Hamilton. I wrote a letter to the Scottish FA self-reporting my gambling and did so as an admission that my disease has returned in order that I commit to recovery. I accept that a breach of the rules will come with punishment and I accept that. The reason I am speaking out is to remove the stigma attached to this horrible, isolating disease in the hope that those involved in Scottish football who are similarly in its grasp feel they can seek help and draw strength from my admission. After committing to recovery I cannot believe that I have found myself back in the grip of gambling addiction, but this disease is not cured with a finite course of treatment."

Rudiger Makes Sierra Leone Donation

Chelsea's German international defender Antonio Rudiger has made a donation of $101,000 to Sierra Leone's Free Quality Education initiative. The centre-back, whose parents are from Sierra Leone, said: "Sierra Leone is my home. I'm not the talking type of a person, I am about action. You can count on us and do not hesitate. We are here to support your vision and agenda, especially on education. I am ready to take on my responsibility to change the narrative and image of Sierra Leone."

Cavani Asks To Leave PSG

In a move that no one at all saw coming the day Neymar signed for Paris Saint-Germain, due to the love the two clearly shared from the start, but Edinson Cavani has asked to leave the French champions. Who would have thought it? PSG sporting director Leonardo said: "It's true that today he asked to leave. We are studying the situation. It's also true that there has been an approach from Atletico Madrid."

Romero Has Lucky Escape

Manchester United's second-choice keeper has escaped unhurt after crashing his Lamborghini near to the club's Carrington training complex. The 32 year old Argentine badly damaged his car, leaving it wedged under a crash barrier at the side of the A6144 Carrington Spur Road. Police confirmed that no-one was injured and there were no other cars involved.

Written by Tris Burke January 20 2020 21:54:15