Football News: Review Of The Day 30th October 2020
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Review of the Day
Contracts
Sheffield United midfielder John Lundstram has rejected a new contract offer, with the 26 year old in the final year of his Blades' deal. The former Everton man is now up for sale in the January window according to Blades' manager Chris Wilder: "We have offered him a very good contract that is up there with the top players at the club. He doesn't want to sign it. It is a very good offer but there are always two sides to every story and John and his agent feel that they maybe want to negotiate elsewhere, so that's where it's at. I am very frustrated about that. Cards on the table, I believe John should have signed it. He most likely wants to run his contract down, so we will invite offers for a very good player who did well for us in the Premier League last season."
Transfers
Nottingham Forest's appeal against the decision to stop them taking Poland international winger Kamil Grosicki on loan from West Bromwich Albion has been rejected. Forest missed the deadline to submit transfer documentation by 21 seconds on deadline day and the English Football League rejected the transfer because of it. Forest appealed the decision to the EFL board, who rejected it and then an independent arbitration panel, who have upheld the EFL decision. Grosicki is now added to the Baggies' first-team squad once more.
FC Metz's Argentine midfielder Geronimo Poblete has moved to Chilean Primera Division side La Serena on a free transfer.
Injury Round-Up
Manchester United's new Brazilian left-back Alex Telles is in self-isolation for 10 days after a positive CV test.
Managerial Changes
Disciplinary Charges
The SPFL have accused St Mirren and Kilmarnock of breaching CV regulations in the build-up to their two postponed matches with Motherwell and Hamilton Academicals.
United Talk Wage Cuts
Dundee United's owner Mark Ogren has revealed that the club is in talks with its players over them taking wage deferrals or even cuts. Ogren told the Evening Telegraph: "We expected some fans back. We have to plan now for the worst-case scenario of no fans this season. We'd also like to think there will be some government assistance coming but we can't plan for that either. Just to be clear, we're only doing this because of Covid but I do have concerns for the future of Scottish football. How can businesses continue to operate when customers are banned? In this case our fans. That's a recipe for disaster quite frankly."
County Request New Fan Trial
SPFL side Ross County have requested a second test run of a return for supporters to watch the match with Livingston. Last month they were allowed to host 300 fans when they faced Celtic, now they are asking for 750 to be allowed. The Highlands is to be in Tier 1 lockdown from Monday, which allows limited crowds in stadia. County chairman Roy MacGregor said: "We've asked for a further trial. If we could get 750 in for Livingston that would give us another way of trialling our systems. It's a political decision and I'm sure they'll consider it. Because we're the only tier one in Scotland, this is a chance for the Highlands to lead the way for the rest of the country. I would worry long term about some fans being fearful of returning to grounds. We underestimate that at our peril. Also the cost of coming to football, if people get out of that habit for long periods of time our audience will be vastly reduced and that's a big concern."
African Champions League Postponed
Due to Raja Casablanca's 14 positive tests, their second leg semi-final match in the African Champions League against Zamalek has been postponed again. It was already postponed once before and, as a consequence, the final itself has also been postponed.
UEFA Hit Out At Greedy Super League
UEFA's vice-president Fernando Gomes has hit out at the proposed European Super League, which he claims in the result of "selfishness and greed". Gomes said: "It violates all principles of sporting merit. It would be a self-proclaimed privileged club. It deserves my refusal because the world is currently experiencing its greatest challenge, at least for the last century, and the last thing it needs is the exacerbation of selfishness and greed. In my opinion all governing bodies should refuse it in a very clear way."
Toon To Refund Fans
Newcastle United are to reimburse season ticket holders for the matches which they are unable to attend due to the lockdown regulations in England. A Newcastle statement explained: "Despite months of work to plan for a safe, socially distanced return of supporters, clubs across the country have not yet been given the go-ahead by authorities and an outline date for the return of spectators has yet to be confirmed by the government. In an online meeting with supporters and supporter groups to discuss a potential safe return to matches last month, the club made a broad commitment to refunding season ticket holders at designated stages throughout the season."
French Cup Suspended
After a rise in corona cases, France have suspended their French Cup competition until 1st December. The country has gone into a second lockdown as the country faces a second wave of cases, but the top 3 tiers of football are to continue as normal.
Written by Tris Burke October 29 2020 20:40:01
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