Managers’ duel carries extra spice March 15, 2010 TONIGHT’S match is about far more than just who reaches the next round. Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho were both hired because they have won the Champions League; both can expect the axe to be sharpened if they do not look like repeating that feat at their latest clubs. Ancelotti is only in his first [...]
Megson in the frame for Hull job after Brown pays price for slump March 15, 2010 HULL CITY chiefs expect to appoint a new manager in the next 24 hours after Phil Brown was effectively sacked for failing to arrest their slide down the Premier League table. Brown, who took the Tigers into the top flight for the first time ever in 2008 but on Saturday saw them slip to 19th [...]
BT might offer free Premiership March 15, 2010 BT could launch a sensational attack on Sky’s dominance of subscription TV by offering Premier League football for free. Plans are being discussed at board level about how BT Vision could take advantage of an expected Ofcom ruling that will slash the price Sky can charge rivals for its prized premium content. One option being discussed [...]
Arsenal’s Gazidis preaching simple solution to football’s debt problem March 10, 2010 IT seems apt that Ivan Gazidis first fell in love with football at Portsmouth. His boyhood club’s grim descent into administration has laid bare the financial mismanagement prevalent even at the top level, where clubs borrow vast sums just to keep pace with their rivals. Now, as chief executive of Arsenal, he is among the [...]
Wenger boys have the momentum March 10, 2010 HE’S been questioned all season, but suddenly there seems to be method in Arsene Wenger’s madness. Despite suffering plenty of knocks along the way, Wenger has stayed loyal to his Arsenal players and you can imagine the grin on his face when Nicklas Bendtner slammed in his hat-trick goal to complete the five-goal demolition of [...]
Chester are liquidated by HMRC March 10, 2010 CHESTER CITY were wound-up by the High Court yesterday, although Cardiff City and Southend United were handed lifelines. Blue Square Premier side Chester owed HM Revenue & Customs £26,125 in unpaid taxes and were liquidated after 126 years in existence. But a fans group have vowed to resurrect the club by setting up a ‘phoenix’ [...]
Clarets toast Nugent leveller March 10, 2010 DAVID Nugent’s second half-header salvaged a first point in five matches for Burnley in a 1-1 draw with Stoke. Tuncay put the visitors ahead in the 23rd miniute, heading home following a trademark Rory Delap long throw. But Nugent’s equaliser, from a deep Martin Paterson cross, lifted the Clarets above Hull into 18th in the [...]
Break even or else, says soccer boss March 9, 2010 IVAN GAZIDIS, the chief executive of Arsenal, has told City A.M. he is firmly behind Europe-wide proposals to force all football clubs to break even. Clubs would have to balance the books over a three-year rolling cycle, starting in 2012, under so-called financial fair play rules discussed by leading sides and European governing body Uefa [...]
Sunderland end winless streak in style as Bent smashes a treble March 9, 2010 SUNDERLAND striker Darren Bent plundered a hat-trick as the Black Cats ended a 15-match wait for a Premier League victory with a 4-0 rout of 10-man Bolton. Fraizer Campbell set the home side on their way after just 41 seconds, before forward partner Bent took his tally for the season to 19 with a second-half [...]
King out for two more weeks March 9, 2010 TOTTENHAM are planning to be without captain Ledley King for the next fortnight as they continue their drive for Champions League qualification. Centre-back King, who is hampered by a long-term knee problem, is also currently nursing a thigh injury sustained last month against Wigan. He will miss fourth-placed Spurs’ Premier League visit from Blackburn on [...]