Football News: Review Of The Day 21st May 2022
Image from: freelargeimages.com
Review of the Day
Contracts
Huddersfield Town have extended former West Ham United youngster Sorba Thomas's contract to keep him there until 2026.
VfB Stuttgart midfielder Atakan Karazor has signed with Stuttgart until 2026.
Alaves have given Javi Lopez a 3-year contract.
Former Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski has signed a new 1-year deal with Gornik Zabrze.
Deportivo La Coruna midfielder Diego Villares has agreed a 3-year contract.
Oxford United duo Elliott Moore and James Henry have extended their contracts for next season.
Atalanta midfielder Romo Freuler has signed a new deal which will expire in 2025.
Blackburn Rovers have taken up a 1-year option in the contracts of Dan Butterworth, Tyler Magloire and Jordan Eastham.
Cameron Jerome, Harry Isted, Luke Berry and Peter Kioso have had their contract options taken up for an extra year with Luton Town.
Tate Campbell and Adan George have been given new deals by Birmingham City while Josh Andrews, Odin Bailey and Ryan Stirk have had the 1-year options taken up in their contracts.
Queens Park Rangers have extended the deals of 11 players by a year, including Olamie Shodipo, Murphy Mahoney and Stephen Duke-McKenna.
Ruel Sotiriou has signed a new 2-year contract with Leyton Orient.
Transfers
Gabon's captain, Barcelona's former Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has retired from international duty at the age of 32-years-old. The country's all-time leading scorer, with 29 goals in his 68 caps, has quit with just 2 weeks to go before Gabon begins qualifying for the 2023 African Cup of Nations.
Doncaster Rovers have signed Harrison Biggins on a free transfer from Fleetwood Town.
Crewe Alexandra have signed Conor Thomas on a free transfer from Cheltenham Town. Thomas was only an injury away from signing for Liverpool just over 10 years ago as a youngster, when he was an England international at youth levels.
Bristol Rovers have released 13 players after securing promotion to League One: veteran Irish midfielder Glenn Whelan, Brett Pitman, Leon Clarke, Junior Brown, Cameron Hargreaves, Cian Harries, Ollie Hulbert, Ben Liddle, Pablo Martinez, Tom Mehew, Jon Nolan, Kieran Phillips and Lucas Tomlinson.
Carlisle United have signed Owen Moxon on a free transfer from Annan Athletic.
The German FA (DFB) have expressed their disappointment after talented Bayern Munich youngster Malik Tillman had decided to transfer his international allegiance to the USA. Tillman was left out of Germany's U-21 squad for the European Championship qualifiers after the 19-year-old decided to put himself into consideration for the US national team instead.
Angel di Maria is leaving Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.
Antonio Rudiger has blamed difficult contract negotations and lack of contact from Chelsea between August and January as the reason for him leaving the Blues this summer.
Bradley Johnson, Joe Rothwell, Jacob Davenport, Harry Chapman, Luke Brennan, Connor McBride, Sam Durrant and Joe Nolan are being released by Blackburn Rovers.
Elliot Lee has been released by Luton Town.
Millwall have released Alex Pearce and Connor Mahoney.
Birmingham City are releasing Kristian Pedersen, Jeremie Bela, Yoane Zohore, Renedi Masampu, Archie Matthews, Oriol Soldevila, Kane Thompson-Sommers and Connal Trueman.
Kelvin Mellor has returned to Crewe Alexandra after being released by Carlisle United.
Bradford City have paid an undisclosed fee to sign Jake Young from Forest Green Rovers.
Archie Davies, Henry Burnett, Tyler Frost, Alfie Jones, Reece Grego-Cox and Ricardo German are all released by Crawley Town.
Injury Round Up
Managerial Changes
Hibernian have appointed Lee Johnson as their new manager, their third 'permanent' head coach in just 6 months.
Borussia Dortmund have sacked manager Marco Rose after just one season in charge, despite finishing in second place in the Bundesliga.
Cote d'Ivoire have appointed Jean-Louis Gasset as their new head coach, replacing fellow Frenchman Patrice Beaumelle. Gasset has previously worked as an assistant to Laurent Blanc during his time in charge of France and was manager of Girondins Bordeaux last season.
Salford City have appointed Neil Wood, the Manchester United Under-23s coach, as their new manager, replacing Gary Bowyer. It is Wood's first senior job.
Disciplinary Charges
After an Everton fan ran all the way over to taunt Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira at the end of the win which secured Toffees' survival in the Premier League, it appeared Vieira kicked out at him. Vieira and Everton will both face charges in the aftermatch as a full-on pitch invasion resulted in a few unsavoury scenes as a small number of idiots tried to ruin the celebration of Everton's 17th place trophy by taunting the Palace manager and players. Vieira and a number of players were pushed and had to suffer fans shouting taunts in their faces, but the vast majority were just celebrating "a special moment in the club's history" according to Everton's head coach Frank Lampard. Lampard also referred to it as one of the best moments in his career, avoiding a relegation that he almost dragged his team into singlehandedly with his own ineptitude. The real worry though is that these pitch invasions are resulting in incidents such as these and the attacks at the end of the Nottingham Forest v Sheffield United Championship play-off semi-final second leg, where a man has been jailed after headbutting Blades captain Billy Sharp and his team-mate Oli McBurnie is facing an investigation after stamping on a prone Forest fan. In the League Two play-offs footage on social media has appeared showing Swindon Town players involved in a confrontation with Port Vale fans and, in the other League Two semi-final, Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough expressed concern after one of his players, Jordan Bowery, was also taunted and barged during a pitch invasion by Northampton Town fans.
The fan who ran onto the pitch and headbutted Billy Sharp at the end of his side, Sheffield United's defeat in the Championship play-offs to Nottingham Forest, has been jailed for 24 weeks and given a 10-year football banning order. Robert Biggs, who pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, was also ordered to pay £500 compensation to Sharp, £85 in costs and a £128 victim surcharge. Sharp was knocked to the floor and needed 4 stitches after Biggs caught him unawares while he was simply stood on the sidelines watching, as injury had prevented him from playing in the match. Forest have stated that Biggs, who was a Forest season ticket holder, will be banned from the City Ground for life.
Swindon Town manager Ben Garner has complained that his players were "physically and verbally abused" at the end of their League Two play-off semi-final defeat by Port Vale. Vale fans swarmed onto the pitch after a 6-5 penalty win took their team to the final and footage showed altercations with Swindon players. Garner told BBC Radio afterwards: "There was physical abuse out there, there was verbal abuse. I'm very proud of the players for the strength they've just shown. There's a lad with a cut on his nose, there's been all sorts of abuse. I just don't understand it, I just don't know where this is coming from. I've seen it in some of the other games recently. Disgusting. It's disgusting. That is dangerous, that is so dangerous. Players have been hit, players have been kicked, players have been spat at, players have been verbally abused. It's just not on. Fans think they can come on and they can have a free hit and a free pop and no one player can react to it. If you did that on the street you'd end up in a tear up. But I'm really proud of how they responded and the class that they have showed, as they have done all season."
Nottinghamshire Police, who are investigating trouble at the end of the Nottingham Forest play-off victory over Sheffield United, have said that a 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault and questioned before being released on bail. Oli McBurnie, the Sheffield United lump of a forward, who is 25, was seen to stamp on a prone Forest fan during a pitch invasion.
Leeds and Burnley are threatening to take legal action against both Everton and the Premier League after Everton's latest accounts showed losses beyond the amount allowed by FFP regulations. Everton are claiming they are not in breach because their losses due to Covid-19 are £170m, much higher than other clubs, such as Aston Villa who said theirs were £56m and Newcastle United who posted £40m of losses due to the pandemic. Burnley and Leeds, who are fighting a relegation battle that Everton have just saved themselves from, want an independent commission to assess the Toffees' finances. Profitability and sustainability rules allow for losses of £105m over a 3-year period, Everton posted losses of £372m over the last 3 years.
Wales Squad
Wales have named their squad for their forthcoming World Cup play-off final and Nations League games in June, which has included uncapped Everton forward Nathan Broadhead, who has been on loan with Sunderland this season. Wales have four games in the Nations League, against Scotland, Netherlands and Belgium at home, before going away to play Netherlands, as well as the play-off final against Poland on 1st June.
Wales squad
Goalkeepers: Hennessey, Ward, A Davies
Defenders: B Davies, Rodon, Mepham, Gunter, Norrington-Davies, Roberts, N Williams
Midfielders: Allen, Morrell, Ampadu, Smith, Ramsey, Levitt, Matondo, Thomas, Colwill, Wilson, J Williams
Forwards: Bale, James, Harris, Broadhead, Moore, Johnson.
UEFA Issue Apology
UEFA have apologised to Rangers fans after the food and drink kiosks in their part of the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium were left closed during the Europa League final on Wednesday night. Supporters entering the stadium were subjected to full body searches and liquids and, in some cases, medication were removed from fans entering the stadium in temperatures in excess of 30c, only to find nowhere to get a drink in sweltering heat. Fans were left with no alternative but to drink water from toilet taps as UEFA claimed that the stadium was simply unable to meet the demand for food and beverages: "Even though the quantity of food and beverages planned by concessionaires was much bigger than what is usually served during a domestic sold out match at the Sanchez Pizjuan stadium, it still was not enough to meet the extraordinary demand of the day and UEFA wishes to sincerely apologise to fans for the inconvenience created."
Toon Face Backlash
Newcastle United's prospective third kit for next season has caused a storm of controversy after pictures of it were leaked online. The white with green kit is almost exactly like the kit that the Saudi Arabian national team wear, with accusations of sportswashing being thrown their way. Amnesty International have called into question the assurances of separation between the state of Saudi Arabia and the club.
Written by Tris Burke May 21 2022 04:37:29
Discuss rumours and transfers on our Arsenal rumours web page
Discuss rumours and transfers on our Aston Villa rumours web page
Discuss rumours and transfers on our Manchester United rumours web page
Discuss rumours and transfers on our Liverpool rumours web page
Discuss rumours and transfers on our Everton rumours web page
Discuss rumours and transfers on our Chelsea rumours web page
Discuss rumours and transfers on our West Ham United rumours web page
Discuss rumours and transfers on our Nottingham Forest rumours web page
Discuss rumours and transfers on our Hibernian rumours web page