Football News: Review Of The Day 11th March 2020

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Review of the Day

Contracts

Teenage forward Jack Hamilton, currently on loan with Queen of the South, has signed a new contract with parent club Livingston which will expire in 2022.

Newcastle United have exercised a 1 year contract extension in Argentine defender Federico Fernandez's contract.

Transfers

French/Vietnamese full-back Jason Pendant has signed for NY Red Bulls from FC Sochaux.

German goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann has had his loan to Norwich City ended early and he has moved on to SK Brann on loan from FC Schalke 04.

Injury Round-Up

Livingston will be without captain Alan Lithgow for up to six months as he needs hip surgery.

Liverpool have been boosted by the return of club captain Jordan Henderson to fitness.

Real Madrid have injury doubts over Thibaut Courtois and Marcelo for their Champions League clash against Manchester City.

Disciplinary Charges

Huddersfield Town's assistant manager Nicky Cowley has been charged with using "abusive and/or insulting words" by the FA with a further allegation that he "made reference to nationality".

Coronavirus Disruption

With Italy putting itself into lockdown to battle coronavirus, The Gambia's head coach Tom Saintfiet has asked for the 2021 Afcon qualifier against Gabon to be postponed. Seven of The Gambia's team, including their captain, are based in Italy and will be unavailable for the game later this month. Saintfiet said: "We cannot expect to play qualification games when some countries can't use many of their best players - not because of injuries or personal reasons, but because of an international problem. Now we are talking about Italy, but there are also other European countries, like France and even Belgium where coronavirus is increasing a lot. We don't know how soon it will go. Maybe in one week's time, there will be parts of France also in quarantine and many African players who play in France will also be having consequences from that. I think it would be very wise for Caf to follow Fifa's guidelines - what they did in Asia - to postpone the games for March and June. Maybe we can postpone only the March games for now - as soon as possible - so that people don't have extra costs, and also have time to plan. We still have dates [available]. Normally in June, there is only one qualification game, so we could easily play two in June, and two in September, and then the four last Afcon qualifiers would be finished on the same date that they would have finished before. So if you look to the health of the public, of African people, of our players and staff members - around travelling, taking risks, importing the virus from Europe, and maybe also having the top players not travel, which could have consequences on the performances of teams, and could be an unfair battle - I think it would be very correct, fair and professional to decide as soon as possible to postpone the games."

Ireland's Euro 2020 play-off against Slovakia on 26th March will be behind closed doors. The Slovak government have announced a 14-day ban on all sporting events in the country. An FAI statement explained: "The Republic of Ireland's Uefa Euro 2020 play-off against Slovakia on 26 March will be played behind closed doors on the instruction of the Slovak Government."

Nottingham Forest and Olympiakos owner, shipping magnate Evangelos Marinakis has tested positive for coronavirus. The 52 year old attended the Championship fixture between Forest and Millwall on Friday. Forest announced: "Mr Marinakis was diagnosed after showing the first symptoms on his return to Greece. During his stay in Nottingham he did not show any symptoms of the virus. The club are seeking advice from medical professionals and the relevant governing bodies to ensure the correct measures are taken." Millwall have placed all the club representatives who came into contact with him in self isolation.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said that he would prefer games to be postponed rather than played behind closed doors. Guardiola said: "Does football work without spectators? If the people can't come, there is no sense. We will follow what we have to do, but I wouldn't like to do it without the people. We are conscious of it because it has happened already in Italy. The league is suspended, and in Spain the next two weeks are behind closed doors. It is going to happen here. The tendency rises at the same level as Italy before and in Spain right now. The other issue you have to ask is, is it worse to play football without the spectators? We do our job for the people and if the people cannot come to watch us, there is no sense. I would not love to play matches in the Premier League or Champions League or the cups without the people. But we are going to follow the instructions of the government."

Football in the top two flights in both Spain and France are to be played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus. La Liga's ruling refers to the next two rounds of matches, while Ligue 1's policy will run until 15th April.

Manchester United's first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie against LASK in Linz will be played behind closed doors on Thursday. Chelsea's Champions League tie at Bayern Munich will also have no fans present.

Addicks Future In Doubt

The end of Roland Duchatelet's tempestuous reign as Charlton Athletic owner has brought no respite for the club and its long suffering fans. New majority owner Tahnoon Nimer is in dispute with another member of the consortium which bought the club from Duchatelet, chairman Matt Southall. The English Football League have revealed that the club is under a transfer embargo until the owners prove they have the funds to run the club until June 2021, while on social media Nimer has attacked Southall and made a number of claims as to why he is withdrawing his investment in the Championship club. Those posts have been subsequently deleted and Nimer instead posted: "It is now clear that our interest and the current chairman's, with regards to the club's future are different and irreconcilable. We will shortly take the necessary measures to remove the persons responsible from the club and appoint a new chairman to lead the club." Southall released a statement via the club stating that Nimer's "position is now untenable and the board has no option but to accept his resignation. The board of Charlton Athletic and the senior management team will continue to run the club with its best long-term interests at heart." Nimer however denies resigning.

Gilmour Gets Under-21 Call Up

Chelsea's teenage midfielder Billy Gilmour has been picked in the Scotland Under-21 squad for the Euro 2020 play-offs.
Scotland U21 squad
Goalkeepers: Ross Doohan (Ayr United*); Robbie McCrorie (Livingston**); Kieran Wright (Alloa***)
Defenders: Daniel Harvie (Ayr United); George Johnston (Feyenoord); Barry Maguire (Motherwell); Lewis Mayo (Partick Thistle**); Ross McCrorie (Portsmouth**); Patrick Reading (Stevenage); Stephen Welsh (Celtic)
Midfielders: Lewis Ferguson (Aberdeen); Billy Gilmour (Chelsea); Andy Irving (Hearts); Stephen Kelly (Ayr United**); Lewis Moore (Hearts); Lewis Smith (Hamilton)
Forwards: Louis Appere (Dundee United); Jamie Gullan (Hibernian); Fraser Hornby (KV Kortrijk***); Connor McLennan (Abrdeen); Glenn Middleton (Bradford City**)
*On loan from Celtic; **On loan from Rangers; ***On loan from Everton

Written by Tris Burke March 10 2020 19:10:47