Football News: Review Of The Day 14th December 2022

Review of the Day

Contracts

Colorado Rapids full-back Steven Beitashour has signed a new 1-year deal with club option for another year.

Osasuna have given experienced left-back Juan Cruz a contract which will expire in 2026.

Major League Soccer's Portland Timbers have extended Zac McGraw until the end of 2025 and have a club option for a further year.

Also in the MLS, Jonathan Osorio has signed a 3 year deal with club option for an extra year.

Stade Brestois have given midfielder Hugo Magnetti a deal which will end in 2026.

Transfers

Stockport County have signed Phil Bardsley until the end of the season. The veteran right-back was released by Burnley in the summer and will donate his entire salary to the club's community trust.

Northampton Town have signed Josh Harrop on a short-term deal.

Bradford City have signed Ciaran Kelly on a free transfer from Bohemians. The 24-year-old will join on 1st January.

Free agent midfielder Danny Lloyd has signed for Rochdale.

Mark Marshall is to leave Crawley Town this month at the end of his short-term deal.

Veteran striker Charlie Austin has been released by Brisbane Roar.

CF Montreal have paid over £500,000 to sign George Campbell from Atlanta United.

AJ Auxerre have signed Akim Zedadka on loan from LOSC Lille.

Injury Round Up

Tottenham Hotspur forward Richarlison will be missing for a few weeks as the former Everton winger picked up a hamstring injury in the World Cup quarter-final defeat to Croatia while playing for his country Brazil.

Chelsea's young forward Armando Broja has suffered a knee injury in a friendly against Aston Villa. The Albanian collided with Villa defender Ezri Konsa and collapsed holding his right knee and screaming in pain before being stretchered off. His club fear it is a serious injury.

Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer's season is as over as his country's World Cup. The 36-year-old Bayern Munich stopper was on holiday after they flopped in the Qatar tournament and broke his lower leg while skiing.

Former Everton defender Brendan Galloway has suffered another long term injury just a few months after he returned from seven months out with a dislocated knee. This time the Plymouth Argyle player has a grade three hamstring tear which is expected to rule him out for 3 months.

Christian Marques has returned to Wolverhampton Wanderers from his loan spell with Forest Green Rovers after suffering a long-term injury.

Swindon Town defender Mathieu Baudry will not play again this season after he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in a friendly.

Job Changes

Former Liverpool youth coach Neil Critchley has once again been called upon to replace Michael Beale, this time by Queens Park Rangers. Critchley, who led Blackpool to promotion to the Championship through the play-offs in 2020-21, replaced Beale as Steven Gerrard's assistant at Aston Villa in the summer. He will now replace Beale as QPR's head coach and will be working with Mike Garrity as an assistant. Garrity is leaving the same role at Lincoln City to step up to QPR having worked with Critchley at both Liverpool's academy and at Blackpool.

MK Dons have sacked head coach Liam Manning with the team sat in 23rd place in the League One table. They have won just one of their last 11 league matches, including a defeat to Fleetwood Town at the weekend.

Exeter City have appointed Kevin Miller as their goalkeeping coach. He replaces Scott Brown, who left the club this month to join Rotherham United.

Coventry City have appointed former Tottenham Hotspur defender Dean Austin as their new Head of Recruitment.

Disciplinary Charges

A French investigative journalist is set to sue the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) after they published a statement which accused him of attempted blackmail and extortion. Romain Molina has published a number of articles revealing sexual abuse in sport and has recently been working on a story on paedophilia in a football academy in Cameroon. Fecafoot published a statement claiming that their president, Samuel Eto'o, had been contacted by Romain Molina on WhatsApp offering to renounce publication of a number of documents and audio and telephone conversations that would be harmful to Fecafoot and Eto'o if they paid 25,000 euros. Molina responded, after seeing a screengrab of the WhatsApp messages: "That so-called number pretending to me is definitely not my number, nor my picture and the guy doesn't know how to write French properly - there are big mistakes. So it's scandalous because when you look at the statement of Fecafoot, they didn't say it's me but everyone will believe it's me. My lawyer will definitely sue because it's a big lie." Molina has recently publicly claimed that players have paid to be called up to the Cameroon national team, accusations also made by other news organisations. Molina's lawyer Mokthar Adbennouri said: "My client is used to revealing horrible facts relating to football. However, it is the first time he has been deeply defamed and smeared in a official statement of a football federation. It is totally unacceptable that a national organisation assumes the right to discredit a journalist." It does seem a very clear attempt to smear Molina, as they obviously are not saying it is him, but are also making sure not to say it is not him.

Hibernian are looking to find the culprit after confirming that a "racial comment" was made by a spectator during their defeat at Dundee United in October.

A Charlton Athletic fan has become the first person in the UK to be banned from football for drugs offences. The 52-year-old was caught sniffing cocaine in the toilets at half-time and been banned from attending any football match in the UK for 3 years and must surrender his passport when England are playing away fixtures.

Pointless List Of The Day

Cherries Takeover Complete

American businessman Bill Foley's Black Knight Football Club company has bought Maxim Denim's 100% shareholding of AFC Bournemouth. Foley also owns NHL ice hockey franchise Vegas Golden Knights. The takeover is the latest to involve a Hollywood star, after Ryan Reynolds invovement in taking over non-league Wrexham recently, as Michael B. Jordan is a minority shareholder in the company. That now makes 10 Premier League clubs with American ownership involved.

Meanwhile in Scotland, St Johnstone has been put up for sale by majority owner Geoff Brown after his son Steve stood down as chairman. Geoff did however say that if no buyer came forward by June, then he would return as chairman. Geoff was the chairman of the club before his son took over 11 years ago.

Written by Tris Burke December 14 2022 12:45:15