Football News: Review Of The Day 9th December 2022

Review of the Day

Contracts

Preston North End defender Liam Lindsay has signed a new deal which will run until 2025.

Hayden Hackney has extended his Middlesbrough contract to end in 2026.

Joh Tomlinson has signed a "long-term" professional contract with Northampton Town after turning 17. Tomlinson is the Cobblers youngest-ever player, making his debut aged just 15, and also youngest-ever goalscorer after scoring at the age of 16 years and 321 days against Arsenal in the EFL Trophy this season.

Lecce full-back Antonino Gallo has extended his contract to end in 2026 and the club have an option for another year.

In Major League Soccer, San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Judson has signed a 1 year deal with a club option for a further year.

Fellow MLS side Houston Dynamo have given Ifunanyachi Achara a 1 year contract with 1 year club option.

Transfers

Colorado Rapids have paid $1m to sign French left winger Kevin Cabral from LA Galazy. Galaxy will also cover 50% of their former Designated Player's salary.

Philadelphia Union have signed Andres Perea from Orlando City for a fee of around £700,000.

Injury Round Up

New research by the Scores Project has revealed that footballers are more likely to develop worse brain health than general over the age of 65. The study found that between the ages of 40 and 50 former players tended to have better cognitive function and brain health than the general population, but by the time they reached 65 and over it had deteriorated. Lead researcher Dr Michael Grey said: "We know that regular exercise is really good for brain health and our research confirms that professional footballers have improved brain health in their 40s compared with non-footballers. The physical exercise associated with professional football keeps their bodies and brains in tip-top shape and this extends to their retirement. But when they get to 65 - that's when things are starting to go wrong. The over-65s performed worse when assessed for things like reaction time, executive function and spatial navigation. These are early warning signs for deteriorating brain health. This shows us that the exercise associated with playing football is good for the brain but the negative effects of contact sport do begin to appear later in life."

Arsenal and Brazil forward Gabriel Jesus has had surgery on the knee injury that ruled him out of the World Cup. The club reported the surgery to be successful but gave no timeframe for the return to action of the 25-year-old.

Teenage Bristol City midfielder Ayman Benarous will not play again this season after the 19-year-old ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament again. Benarous suffered the injury in training in May and had surgery to repair it but sadly re-ruptured the ligament and had to undergo surgery once more.

Job Changes

Luis Enrique will no longer be in charge of the Spanish national team following their exit at the World Cup to Morocco in the last 16. Despite the Spanish getting off to a good start with a 7-0 thrashing of Costa Rica, they struggled to impress, often boring onlookers with their style of passing the opposition to death.

St Johnstone chairman Steve Brown and his vice-chair Charlie Fraser will both be standing down from their roles at the end of the season. Brown also said that he would not be staying on as a director.

Despite opposition from fans shareholders group Club 1872 and former chair Dave King, Douglas Park has been re-elected as the chairman of Rangers.

Gillingham's head of recruitment Nicky Shorey has left the club by mutual consent. James King has been appointed on a short-term basis as a recruitment consultant until they can replace Shorey.

CF Montreal are searching for a new head coach after Wilfried Nancy left to take over at MLS rivals Columbus Crew.

Manchester United's Head of Sports Medicine and Science Steve McNally is leaving the club in January to take over as Performance Support Director at the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOL). McNally had been with United since 2006 and will be replaced on an interim basis by Jim Moxin, the former Liverpool first-team doctor who joined Man Utd in August. McNally is the 9th member of the backroom staff to leave United this season.

Birmingham City have announced their replacement for Academy Manager Paul Williams. The job will now be split in to two different jobs. Former Birmingham player and captain Liam Daish will be the new Academy Manager (Football), while Danetta Powell has been promoted to Academy Manager (Operations).

Disciplinary Charges

Sevilla have been fined 5,000 euros "for the racist behaviour of its supporters" against Manchester City in November during a Champions League group game in Manchester. UEFA also gave them a 2-year suspended partial stadium closure of 1,000 seats. All of which shows how seriously UEFA takes racism when late kick-offs and covering an advertising hoardings or similar 'crimes' receive similar fines!

Steaua Bucharest have also been in trouble (again) for racist behaviour by its fans. This time, due to the repeated nature of the offence, they have to play their next UEFA game behind closed doors and pay a 20,000 euro fine. The offence happened while playing against West Ham United in the Conference League at the London Stadium.

Pointless List Of The Day

Today's pointless list is the youngest World Cup debutants:
1. Norman Whiteside - Northern Ireland - 1982 - 17 years, 1 month, 10 days
2. Samuel Eto'o - Cameroon - 1998 - 17 years, 3 months, 7 days
3. Femi Opabunmi - Nigeria - 2002 - 17 years, 3 months, 9 days
4. Salomon Olembe - Cameroon - 1998 - 17 years, 6 months, 3 days
5. Pele - Brazil - 1958 - 17 years, 7 months, 23 days
6. Bartholomew Ogbeche - Nigeria - 2002 - 17 years, 8 months, 2 days
7. Rigobert Song - Cameroon - 1994 - 17 years, 11 months, 19 days
8. Youssoufa Moukoko - Germany - 2022 - 18 years, 3 days
9. Carvalho Leite - Brazil - 1930 - 18 years, 25 days
10. Garang Kuol - Australia - 2022 - 18 year, 2 months, 7 days
11. Manuel Rosas - Mexico - 1930 - 18 years, 2 months, 26 days
12. Gavi - Spain - 2022 - 18 years, 3 months, 18 days
13. Christian Eriksen - Denmark - 2010 - 18 years, 4 months
14. Segundo Durandal - Bolivia - 1930 - 18 years, 4 months
15. Bertus De Harder - Netherlands - 1938 - 18 years, 4 months, 22 days
16. Vincent Aboubakar - Cameroon - 2010 - 18 years, 4 months, 28 days
17. Assimiou Toure - Togo - 2006 - 18 years, 5 months, 12 days
18. Michael Owen - England - 1998 - 18 years, 6 months, 1 day
19. Chris Wood - New Zealand - 2010 - 18 years, 6 months, 8 days
20. Giuseppe Bergomi - Italy - 1982 - 18 years, 6 months, 13 days
21. Miklos Kovacs - Romania - 1930 - 18 years, 6 months, 15 days
22. Andrzej Iwan - Poland - 1978 - 18 year, 6 months, 27 days

No Dividend At United

For the first time since 2015, Manchester United will not be paying a dividend to shareholders for this financial year. Last year £33.6m was paid out in dividends, but an increased investment in transfer spending has led the club to decide against paying one this time around. The Old Trafford club are the only Premier League club to pay a dividend and that has been the cause of significant unease for the fans, with the club already paying out huge sums to service the debts placed on the club by the Glazer family when they bought the club using, in effect, its own money. The club's debt remains at $650m, but there has been a signing reduction in outgoings due to the cancellation of veteran forward Cristiano Ronaldo's contract after the Portugese threw his toys out of his pram due to not being a regular starter.

Written by Tris Burke December 09 2022 14:37:39