Sven’s a better bet than Di Matteo March 5, 2012 CHELSEA owner Roman Abramovich made the right call in sacking Andre Villas-Boas on Sunday after the manager seemingly lost his way with the players – although things could get worse before they get better. The Portuguese appeared unable to motivate them any more, which means they were not happy with something. To me it looks [...]
£33m: Blues count cost as AVB gets the bullet March 4, 2012 Villas-Boas becomes sixth Chelsea manager to be axed in Abramovich era, after eight months CHELSEA finally lost patience with manager Andre Villas-Boas yesterday, bring to an end an eight-month tenure that cost the club around £33m. Villas-Boas was sacked hours after Saturday’s defeat at West Brom delivered another blow to their hopes of returning to [...]
United and Young show Spurs true hallmark of champions March 4, 2012 TOTTENHAM (1) vs MANCHESTER UNITED (3) MANCHESTER UNITED extinguished Tottenham’s flagging Premier League title hopes with a clinical display at White Hart Lane yesterday, but manager Harry Redknapp insists his side remain on course to end the season as London’s top club. Redknapp held a team meeting on Thursday in which he stressed the need [...]
Pogrebnyak treble fuels Fulham romp March 4, 2012 FULHAM (5) vs WOLVES (0) FULHAM manager Martin Jol is ready to hand January signing Pavel Pogrebnyak a new contract after the Russia striker plundered a perfect hat-trick in an emphatic drubbing of sorry Wolves. Pogrebnyak, who joined from Stuttgart until the end of the season, scored with his head and both feet to take [...]
Oil firms see slump in market value March 1, 2012 INDEPENDENT oil explorers saw their market value hit last year, a new league table compiled by Deloitte has revealed. The market capitalisation of the UK’s 25 biggest companies in the sector fell from £32.2bn in 2010 to £27.8bn. The fall came as investors shied away from projects viewed as risky amid volatile world markets. However [...]
Premier League clubs face raw deal from Euro financial rules March 1, 2012 ENGLISH football clubs face being placed at an unfair disadvantage to their European rivals because of a loophole regarding charitable donations in new Financial Fair Play rules, City A.M. can reveal. Top-flight sides last year donated a total of £167.2m – or £8.4m per club – to good causes and lower tier clubs via the [...]
Tottenham rocked as star man Bale ruled out for three weeks with hamstring tear March 1, 2012 TOTTENHAM’S hopes of bouncing back from last week’s crushing 5-2 north London derby defeat have been dealt a major blow after Gareth Bale was ruled out of Sunday’s Premier League clash against Manchester United. Harry Redknapp’s side suffered their fifth league defeat of the season at Emirates Stadium after they squandered an early two-goal lead [...]
Fowler hoping for seaside swansong March 1, 2012 IN a season of dramatic comebacks former Liverpool and England striker Robbie Fowler is set to make the unlikeliest return of them all by signing for Championship play-off hopefuls Blackpool. Fowler, 36, who last played a competitive game in England for Blackburn three and a half years ago, has been training for the last two [...]
Pompey cash could run out before end of season, says administrator March 1, 2012 PORTSMOUTH may not be able to finish the season, the club’s administrator has warned, after learning they will not receive any more parachute payments from the Premier League. The payments, made to help teams adjust to relegation from the top flight, will instead go to Pompey’s former owner Sacha Gaydamak, who is owed money by [...]
Struggling Villa announce record losses of £54m February 28, 2012 ASTON VILLA risk falling foul of European Financial Fair Play rules after the Premier League side yesterday announced record annual losses of £54m. Villa confirmed the overall loss for the year up to 31 May 2011 represents a significant increase from £37.6m, but does not incorporate the £37m the club recouped in player sales following [...]