Football News: Neymar Claims Penalty Was Meant For Him, Eredivisie Admit There Was An Attempted Match Fixing And More
Image from: sliding-tackle.com
1. Kuyt calls Feyenoord a laughing stick
Seven consecutive defeats has led to some harsh words from club captain Dirk Kuyt to his Feyenoord team-mates. Early on in the season, the former Liverpool forward was racking up the goals as Feyenoord were challenging for the title. Now they have slumped down to 6th, without a win in over two months, 20 points behind the leaders PSV Eindhoven. "As captain, I am tired of it [the constant defeats]. I can imagine others are also tired with the same results game after game," Kuyt told Fox Sports. "The media can blame whatever they want, but we have a group of players who simply must be able to compete. We are responsible for this. We have a fantastic coach who every week is doing everything possible to prepare for the contest," Kuyt added. "These series of results can only be blamed on the players. We're a laughing stock."
2. Transfer round up
Steve, Hangzhou Greentown to Yanbian Funde, £600,000
Viktor Genev, Petrolul Ploiesti to Dinamo Minsk, free
Aleksey Kozlov, Belshina Bobruisk to Dinamo Minsk, free
Vladislav Kosmynin, Naftan Novopoltsk to Granit Mikashevichi, free
Vladimir Khvashchinski, FK Minsk to Dinamo Minsk, free
Weldinho, Palmeiras to Gremio Brasil RS, on loan
Daniel Bogdanovici, FC Caransebes to National Sebis, free
Gegam Kadimyan, Olimpik Donetsk to Karpaty, free
Anton Shramchenko, Belshina Bobruisk to Dinamo Minsk, free
Armin Mujkic, NK Visoko to Nybro IF, free
Serhat Cakmak, Bayrampasa to Utrecht, free
Roman Popov, Metalurg Zaporizhya to Zirka Kirovograd, free
Taavi Rahn, Levadia Tallinn to Paide Linnameeskond, undisclosed fee
Martin Vunk, Parnu Linnameeskond to ?
Ilija Radovic, FK Backa to OFK Petrovac, undisclosed fee
Ivan Centurion, Almirante Brown to Cerro, undisclosed fee
Junior Urso, Shandong Luneng Taishan to Atletico Mineiro, on loan
Jason Hicks, South Melbourne to Melbourne Knights, undisclosed fee
Mile Pehar, Zrinjski Mostar to NK Lucko, on loan
Harry Shipp, Chicago Fire to Montreal Impact, undisclosed fee
Piotr Niewiesciuk, Chrobry Glogow to Piast Zmigrod, on loan
Marcin Flis, Piast Gliwice to GKS Katowice, on loan
Gustavo Viera, Corinthians to Rubio Nu, on loan
Jakub Aldas, Chrobry Glogow to Piast Zmigrod, undisclosed fee
Ivan Jesic, released by Agrotikos
Marco Motta, unattached to Charlton Athletic
Bakhodir Nasimov, unattached to FC Bunyodkor
Sergio Ariel Escudero, released by Jiangsu Suning
Marc Rochester Sorensen, unattached to HB Koge
Jiawei yang, Shanghai Shenxin to Jiangsu Suning, £5.06m
Leke James, Aalesunds FB to Beijing Enterprises, £1.5m
Nenad Milijas, Heibei China Fortune to Nei Mongol Zhongyou, free
Kristoffer Hagen, HamKam to Hellerup IK, free
Sindri Bjornsson, Leiknir to Valur Reykjavik, on loan
Karol Angielkski, Piast Gliwice to Zawisza, on loan
Edu, released by Heibei China Fortune
Ibba Laajab, released by Heibei China Fortune
3. Rovers get City midfielder on loan
Swansea City's young midfielder Matt Grimes has signed on a three month loan deal for Blackburn Rovers. Grimes has seven first team appearances for the Swans under his belt, but his place in the squad was taken by the arrival of Leroy Fer on deadline day, so he has headed off for a 93 day loan in the Championship to gain experience. "I'm really pleased to join," the 20-year-old told the Rovers website. "I'm hoping to get some games under my belt in the Championship and I'm hoping that I can help this massive club climb up the league table. It is such a good level and such a big club, getting games in the Championship is my priority at this moment in time and I couldn't think of a better club to be doing it at."
Rovers have boosted their ranks with the loan signing of highly-rated midfielder Matt Grimes from Swansea City. pic.twitter.com/wR8MfFmf2a
— Blackburn Rovers (@OneRovers) February 13, 2016
4. That was meant to be for me says Neymar
Luis Suarez nipped in ahead of Neymar Jr to score from Lionel Messi's penalty pass in Barcelona's demolition of an under-strength Celta Vigo side. Neymar has claimed that Messi had practised that routine with him in training previously, but he was just beaten to the ball by Suarez. Decide for yourself whether he is right:
5. Milner extends amazing record
Liverpool and England midfielder James Milner has never lost a Premier League game in which he has scored. Having turned out for Leeds United, Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Manchester City before his move to Liverpool, that is quite some record that stretches back for 14 years. On Sunday he scored against former club Villa, the second goal of a 6-0 rout, to keep his record intact. It must be said, he is not the most regular goalscorer, with just 40 league goals to his name, so the record is not quite as fantastic as it appears on first sight.
6. Olympic Stadium capacity unlikely to increase in the short term
Despite the demand outstripping supply at the 54,000 seater Olympic Stadium, and West Ham United's stated desire to increase capacity to 66,000, the Hammers have admitted it is unlikely to happen in the short term. With the restrictions on the club, due to the planning permission and safety certificate requirements, plus the need to improve infrastructure to cope with the extra numbers, it is unlikely to happen any time soon. With the stadium being owned by the council, who have already spent £272m to prepare it for use by West Ham, there is little inclination to make the improvements for West Ham's benefit, who are already benefiting from the cheap stadium rent and not needing to spend money to build one themselves. Karen Brady, the club's vice-chairman, did mention in an interview last year that the club will be looking to move towards the extra seats: "We always knew this was a possibility and it would certainly seem the interest is there, We have to look at the logistics of it because these would be the seats furthest from the pitch, so we have to make sure they are worth having. There is no point sticking someone in a corner with a poor view. But if the sight lines are still good, we could fit in 66,000. It's a very exciting prospect."
7. Killie appoint Clark
Former Birmingham City and Blackpool manager Lee Clark has been appointed to take over at Kilmarnock on a three and a half year deal, to take over from interim manager Lee McCulloch. McCulloch will stay to act as Clark's assistant manager and Peter Leven will also remain on the coaching staff from the previous regime. Clark started out as a manager with Huddersfield Town, leading them to successive play-offs, before struggling against relegation with Brum, then being relegated with Blackpool.
8. Dutch FA admit match fixing
The Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) have confirmed that a top flight Eredivisie game in the country was the victim of a match fixing attempt. The KNVB have said that its integrity unit has established that Willem II Tilburg midfielder Ibrahim Kargbo had organised a fixed result with Singaporean match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal for his team to lose to FC Utrecht on 9th August 2009. Investigators found emails between the two that Kargbo and two other Willem II players would each receive 25,000 Euros if their team lost by more than two goals. Utrecht won the game 1-0.
9. Verratti signs contract extension with PSG
Italian international midfielder Marco Verratti has signed a one year contract extension to his Paris Saint-Germain contract. He is now tied to the Parisian club until 2020. The 23 year old released a statement saying: "I am very happy to extend my contract with Paris Saint-Germain. I would like to thank the Club for the confidence they have placed in me since I joined the Club. I love the city of Paris and I love Paris Saint-Germain. I will continue to give my all, along with my team-mates, to bring joy and success to our supporters and make our team the best in Europe."
10. Pogba's agent dismisses Barcelona story
Spanish media outlet 'Sport' recently claimed, in an article penned by Lluis Miguelsanz, that Paul Pogba would be willing to take a pay cut to move from Juventus to Barcelona. His agent, Mino Raiola, has dismissed the story as nonsense:
@paulpogba @marca @juventusfc Sport Spain article is a non-sense. They only have one reader it's Pinocchio.
— Mino Raiola (@MinoRaiola) February 14, 2016
Written by Tris Burke February 15 2016 12:21:39