23 December 2005 Real Name Floro New Director of Football Former Real Madrid coach Benito Floro has been unveiled as Real Madrid's director of football. He succeeds Arrigo Sacchi who announced his resignation earlier this month. Vice President Emilio Butragueno said : "Floro is the ideal man to take on this responsibility. He is a student of football, methodical in his approach, familiar with Real Madrid and we have no doubt that this is the right decision for the club." Floro tried to explain his role (as Florentino Perez's lackey) : "My intention is to try to establish a common style of play, a common identity and sentiment right through the club in order to achieve positive results." Floro has had a er highly successful coaching career. In a 2 year spell in charge of Real Madrid between 1992 - 1994 he won the highly prestigious Spanish Cup before being sacked the following season. He returned to Spanish football after stints in Japan and Mexico with Villarreal in 2002, they finished 15th and Floro resigned the following season. Last year he was sacked as coach of Real Mallorca after 2 months. Fiorentina Given Home Ban The FIGC (Italian FA) have ordered Fiorentina to play their next home game (against Chievo) at a neutral venue after supporters threw objects, including bottles, on to the field and injuring a steward during the clubs league match away to Empoli. 22 December 2005 Valencia Suffer Ayala Blow Valencia, currently third in La Liga, will be without key defender Roberto Ayala until March. The Argentinean international has undergone surgery on his right knee after twisting it in training last week. Ayala also had surgery on the same knee after the 2004 Athens Olympics. 21 December 2005 Fish Retires 31 year old Charlton defender Mark Fish has announced his retirement from football after struggling to recover from a knee injury : "I didn't want to be one of those footballers that goes down the divisions. I reached the point where I struggled to get fit, and then I was struggling to meet the standards I set myself. There are a lot of things in the pipeline I am interested in and looking forward to doing in the next few years and the rest of my life. It's been a long 14 years of professional football and at the moment I'm just enjoying the sunshine and life away from the rigmarole of being a professional sportsman." "I've been very fortunate to play for my country and then go to Italy and the English Premiership and come up against the likes of Alan Shearer, Michael Owen and Thierry Henry. Of course I can look back fondly and I'm naturally disappointed my career came to an abrupt end at such an early age, but it happens. Because I've played less and less due to injury over the last few years my mind has been set away from football and I'm looking forward to a new life now. If I had continued my knee would just have deteriorated and hopefully now I will have a more fulfilling life than I would have had if I had continued and made my knee worse and worse." Fish made his debut aged 17 for Jomo Cosmos before moving onto Orlando Pirates then left South Africa for spells with Lazio, Bolton and finally Charlton. He won 62 caps for South Africa and played in the 1998 World Cup. Bundesliga Clubs Sign Billion Euro TV Deal Bundesliga clubs have signed a three year deal worth €1.26 billion (€420 million per season) with Arena, a company owned by cable television firm Unity Media. The previous deal with digital satellite network Premiere was worth €300 million. Following the trends set by England and Italy, matches will now be played over three days. The traditional Bundesliga Friday night match will return with six matches played on Saturday and two on Sunday. Public broadcaster ARD, whose channels are Free To Air across Europe, have retained the rights to show highlights on Saturday evenings. Another FTA channel, DSF, will also broadcast highlights. Deutsche Telekom, not surprisingly a telephone company, have won the Internet rights. The deal now puts the Bundesliga in third place in terms of highest television contracts behind Ligue 1 (€626 million per season) and the Premiership (€498 million per season). Bitter Luxemburgo Blames Real Former Real Madrid coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo insisted he would have been successful had he been given more time : "They hired a coach who is well known in Brazil but it seems that they didn't know anything about him. If they had known me, they would have known that I have the capabilities of leading them to conquer a major title, either the Champions League or the Spanish championship. I didn't lose. They didn't let me win." "It was an enriching experience and I'm certain that I am better than before. Today, I can say that the main difference between Brazilian football and European football is financial. Financially, European football is very strong. In other aspects, we're not losing out to them." 20 December 2005 Essien Hits Back At Critics Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has defended himself against accusations that he is a dirty player following a murderous foul on Dietmar Hamann in a Champions League match earlier this month and two 'fouls' against Arsenal this week which were exaggerated by 'Ralph' Lauren and Robin van Persie respectively : "I feel the time is now right for me to speak about recent incidents in which I have been involved and I would like to make the following clear. During my career in football so far I have never gone out with the intention of hurting anyone in a tackle. Nothing I have ever done has been deliberate. I am not a dirty player. I have paid for a mistake on Dietmar Hamann with a suspension. That is sufficient punishment for someone like me who only ever wants to play football. Playing means everything to me. I phoned Dietmar personally to apologise to him. I assured him it was an accident and there was no malicious intent on my part. I believe he accepted this graciously and, as far as I am concerned, the incident is behind me. " "On Sunday the referee booked me for the challenge on Lauren. The midfield, especially in English football, is a physical and competitive place. I will always compete fairly but never with malice. Like others before me, such as Patrick Vieira, I need time to adapt to English football. England is a great place to play and I love the style of the football. I would also like to thank my manager, team-mates and the Chelsea fans for their continued support." Team-mate Frank Lampard leapt to the defence of Essien : "If you take Sunday as an example I have watched it several times and firstly Michael Essien was not looking in the direction of the player, and secondly he did not make contact with the player's face which was the impression you got afterwards. And then it's unfortunate that the players then surrounded him attempting to make a bigger deal of it than what it was. I thinking people are making a big deal of it, and it keeps getting highlighted on TV, shown again and again." Aiyegbeni Pulls-Out of Nigeria Squad Middlesbrough's Nigerian striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni will not play take part in next month's African Cup of Nations : "I have called the Nigerian Football Federation and told them that I am not going to go. Unfortunately, I do not have a good relationship with our national coach, Austin Eguavoen. We are not on good terms, so I think it is best that I don't go. He is not happy with me and I am not happy with him. I would love to go there and play for Nigeria. It would mean a lot to me to play for my country there because it is a prestigious tournament for African nations. It was a big decision for me but I have made the right one. I have just come to Middlesbrough so I have got to play for my team. I want to do well for the club and for the fans. I have got myself in a good position and I want to keep that going. We have a lot of big games coming up and it is good that I will now be here for all of them." Di Canio - I am a Fascist, Not a Racist Lazio forward Paolo Di Canio will appeal against the €10,000 fine he was given for his 'Roman salute' in last week's Serie A match against Juventus. He will be suspended for tomorrow's match against Lecce. Di Canio admitted to being a fascist but not a racist : "I am a fascist, not a racist. I give the straight arm salute because it is a salute from a camerata to camerati (fascist term for comrade). The salute is aimed at my people. With the straight arm I don't want to incite violence and certainly not racial hatred." Italy Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi didn't help matters by saying "Di Canio is an exhibitionist. His salute had no significance, he’s a good lad” Bobby Carlos Laughs After Injuring Opponent Osasuna midfielder Valdo claims dirty midget Bobby Carlos laughed after injuring him during Sunday's league match. Valdo left the field after 18 minutes with an ankle injury. In an interview with Marca he said : "I didn't understand his (Bobby Carlos). He laughed when I told him I was injured and he told me he would do the other (ankle) as well. My reaction was because of his attitude. I threw the ball at him to stop myself doing anything else that would have prejudiced myself or the team. I was furious. No one from Real has tried to contact me to apologise." Setubal Players Quit Over Unpaid Wages Five Vitoria Setubal players - defender Jose Fonte, midfielders Mamadou Diakite, Siramana Dembele and Oumar Tchomogo and goalkeeper Farnolle Fabien, have terminated their contracts after going four months without being paid. The players gave their club a Tuesday deadline. The club claimed to have found the money to pay the wages but the players refused the cheques. 19 December 2005 Ronaldinho Retains FIFA Award Barcelona and Brazil playmaker Ronaldinho has become only the second player in history, after Ronaldo, to retain the FIFA World Player of the Year award. Ronaldinho won the award by  a massive margin with Chelsea's Frank Lampard finishing in second place and Barcelona team-mate Samuel Eto'o in third. The award is based on the votes of international coaches. The top ten is as follows : 1. Ronaldinho (Barcelona & Brazil, 956 points) 2. Frank Lampard (Chelsea & England, 306 points) 3. Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona & Cameroon, 190 points) 4. Thierry Henry (Arsenal & France, 172 points) 5. Adriano (Inter & Brazil, 170 points) 6. Andrei Shevchenko (Milan & Ukraine, 153 points) 7. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool & England, 131 points) 8. Kaka (Milan & Brazil, 101 points) 9. Paolo Maldini (Milan & Inter, 76 points) 10. Didier Drogba (Chelsea & Ivory Coast, 65 points) On receiving the award Ronaldinho once again paid compliments to his team-mates : "I would like to say thank you to all my team-mates and national team because without them all, I would not be here. I hope I can make people happy with what I do, and I hope to be here again in a year's time." Martins Signs New Contract Inter striker Obafemi Martins has signed a new, five year contract tying him to the club until June 2010. 18 December 2005 Sao Paolo Win World Club Championship Liverpool have failed to add the World Club Championship to their ill gotten European Cup after losing to Sao Paulo. A 27th minute goal for Mineiro proved enough for Copa Libertadores Championships in a match Liverpool dominated. Without a hint of irony, Benitez blamed bad luck, conveniently forgetting a series of decisions that went his way last season (offsides decisions against Juventus, Chelsea and Milan) : "We did everything we could to win the game," he said. "We had 21 shots and 17 corners, hit the bar twice and had three goals disallowed. I have tried to show respect for Sao Paulo because they are a good team but we deserved to win. We need to focus elsewhere now." Benitez Stays in Japan Despite Father's Funeral Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez has defended his decision not to attend his father's funeral. His father, Francisco, died on Wednesday aged 74 after suffering from heart illness. "They couldn't delay the funeral and I can't go. I will see my mother next week and for me it's better to continue working. The only thing I can do now is try to do the best for my team."