Football News: Review Of The Day 23rd March 2020

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Review of the Day

Injury Round-Up

Tottenham Hotspur's January signing Steven Bergwijn is closing on a return to fitness, along with Harry Kane and Moussa Sissoko. The trio were possibly out for the rest of the season before the coronavirus hit and now have a chance to be available to beleagured Spurs' boss Jose Mourinho.

Disciplinary Charges

Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho is facing up to 6 months in jail in Paraguay after being caught with a fake passport, however it did not stop the party as he celebrated his 40th birthday. As well as taking part in a futsal tournament (unsurprisingly his team won), fellow inmates threw him a traditional Paraguayan BBQ to celebrate his birthday.

Coronavirus Latest

The chairman of Welsh team Newport County, who are in English League Two, is hoping that football will work together to help lower league clubs through the coronavirus crisis. Gavin Foxall said: "You would like to think the whole football community comes together. I am aware there are other clubs in League Two - and these have been publicised - that have struggled with paying their wages this season. Thankfully we haven't been in that position, but ultimately we are a business and there are not many businesses that can sustain a period of time where they are not getting the source of income but they have still got the same outgoings. So as a board you can imagine we are planning accordingly. The difficulty to all this of course is that generally when you put a plan in place there is a date attached to it, there is an end game, and at the moment we are not sure what that end game looks like. I don't think it's any great surprise that there is an enormous gulf between League Two and League One clubs and the clubs at the top level. But of course that will be a decision for (Premier League clubs) to take."

Wolverhampton Wanderers and their owners Fosun have donated 2,300 times to the health service, including 1,000 N95 masks and medical coveralls. Wolves chairman Jeff Shi said: "Our health and community care staff are working extremely hard to protect us against the Covid-19 outbreak, so it is so important that we do our bit to support them. The football may have stopped temporarily, but Wolves remains an important part of our local community, and we will fight on with the people of Wolverhampton, and do all we can to support our doctors and community workers, until we win the battle against the virus."

Former Irish Premiership player Lee Duffy has revealed that he was in hospital for 8 days and had to be hooked up to oxygen as he was unable to breathe on his own. Duffy said: "As some of you may or may not know, I tested positive for Covid-19 two weeks ago. Luckily I got through it and I'm starting to feel a lot better now."

Former Celtic striker John Hartson has said that bitter local rivals Rangers should concede the title to Celtic if the season cannot be resumed. Hartson said: "I think they would come out of it with huge respect and gratitude. Rangers would come away with an awful lot of credit if they were to say 'you have been worthy champions, you have a massive lead'. I can honestly say I'd be saying exactly the same if Rangers had the lead. Celtic have got to probably lose five of their last eight games to be overtaken. Let's be realistic, that isn't going to happen. It would be an incredible thing to do for Rangers, but like everyone else I don't expect them to. It would be a commendable thing to do, but I'm not naive. This is their prerogative and if they wanted to play all the games, that's fine. You've got a similar problem at the bottom with teams going for places and the money that comes with that. Celtic would not want Rangers to do that, they wouldn't want to be handed it, but common sense has to prevail."

Legendary former Italian captain and now AC Milan technical director Paolo Maldini and his son Daniel, who is a youth team player with Milan, have both tested positive for coronavirus.

Former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz has died after contracting coronavirus. The 76 year old was president in the period 1995-2000, until losing the presidential election to Florentino Perez, who then ushered in the Galactico era. Sanz was in charge when Roberto Carlos, Clarence Seedorf and Davor Suker signed for Madrid.

Former Everton and Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini has tested positive for coronavirus. Fellaini, now 32, is a player with Chinese club Shandong Luneng and is in isolation in Jinan hospital.

Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain has broken quarantine in Italy to return home to Argentina to be with his mother who is ill with cancer.

Former Leeds United and current Brescia owner Massimo Cellino has called for the Serie A season to be cancelled. Cellino said: "You don't have to think about when to start again, but if you survive. Everything has to be moved to the next season. It is time for realism, gentlemen. This is the plague. You can no longer play this year. Think about the next one. Some people still does not realise what is happening, and those people are worse than the virus. I don't believe in miracles, I stopped doing it long ago. We reset. Anyone who wants this cursed (title), take it. It is closed. Finished. And I am not saying this because Brescia is last in the standings. We are last because we deserve it."

Tottenham Hotspur defender Toby Alderweireld is set to donate dozens of tablets to hospitals and nursing homes so that patients can keep in touch with family and friends. Alderweireld said on social media: "I hope everyone is following the government measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The virus creates many needs, especially the lack of personal contact. The people who are sick can't see their friends and family. My plan is to buy dozens of tablets to give to the hospitals and nursing homes so people can video chat with their loved ones and friends to get through this tough period. I'm trying to get those tablets to the places where they can help."

Cottagers Lose Money

Fulham's accounts for the 2018/19 season, when they were in the Premier League, showed that they made a loss of just over £20m despite their promotion. Turnover increased over 250% over the season before, but wages were also up by over 70%.

Written by Tris Burke March 22 2020 21:07:29