15 January 2006

Eto'o In New Racism Storm

Athletic Bilbao coach Javier Clemente said Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o had
"descended from trees" after the player spat on Athletic Bilbao's Unai Exposito at the end of a controversial league match at the Nou Camp. A scuffle that broke in injury time after Deco was dismissed for striking a Bilbao player. Television footage showed Eto'o spitting on the back of Exposito's head.

Eriksson Exposed by Fake Sheikh

The English media have, predictably, had a field day after tabloid newspaper The News
of the World setup England coach Sven Goran Eriksson with an elaborate hoax. Eriksson (with permission from the FA) his agent Athole Still and lawyer Richard Des Voeux, met with News of the World reporter Mazher Mahmood who was posing as an Arab Sheikh, to discuss what they believed was a role in coaching a football academy in Dubai. In the interview Eriksson, who is part of a consortium planning on buying Aston Villa, made the following Earth shattering comments :

"Aston Villa is for sale. The chairman is an old man today. He's sick. Aston Villa will sell
more shirts in one week than they did for the last 10 years (with Eriksson in charge)."

"I'll phone Beckham. Beckham and I, we have a relationship like that (crossing his
fingers). We are friends but a lot of respect. He will come back tomorrow and it's up to
me to convince him that this is the right place to be."

On Michael Owen :

"I asked him if he was happy. He said not really with the club (Newcastle)."

The reporter suggested Eriksson could not do two jobs :

"No but everything is possible but only at the end of the season. No I'm not joking.
After five-and-a half years - it's a long time to be England manager. Anyway if I win the
World Cup, I will leave, goodbye. I have two more years with the FA and there I have
£3 million pounds net per year, plus bonuses. Now if I will leave the FA, I should like to
have a contract of three years. I think Mourinho today is on five million net. I think he
might be the highest paid today. That's the area you have to think about."


14 January 2006

Venables Wants South Africa Job

Cape Town based football agent Richard Gomes has revealed former England coach
Terry Venables has applied to coach South Africa :

"I recently had a long meeting with Venables where we discussed South African football and the World Cup in 2010. He indicated his interest in coaching Bafana and asked me
to represent him in applying for the position. Everyone knows Terry Venables and his
experience is exceptional. He could bring in someone like Lucas Radebe who he
knew and worked with at Leeds."


13 January 2006

World Cup Gala Scrapped

The World Cup gala, due to be held on June the 7th, two days before the start of the
tournament, has been cancelled after FIFA went over budget and managed to piss
away €25 million euros. 132 former players, including Maradona and Pele, music by
Peter Gabriel and 7,000 dancers were to take part. Despite the vast expense on what is
an utterly pointless event, FIFA President Sepp Bladder claimed :

"I still think the idea of holding such a high-profile opening event is a good one."

Serie A Chaos Looms

Sampdoria President, Riccardo Garrone, has threatened to boycott matches against the
big five (Juventus, Milan, Inter, Roma and Lazio) as the row over television contracts
continues. Collective television contracts were scrapped in 1999 and since then the
gap between the rich and the poor in Italian football have widened considerably.

In December Juventus signed a World record television contract with Berlusconi owned
digital satellite network Mediaset for a whopping €218 million over two seasons. Both
Milan clubs earn in the region of €60-70 million per season while the likes of Siena only
earn a paltry €5.10 million per season.

Italy and Milan President Silvio Berlusconi controversially vetoed a discussion to be held
in parliament on the 27th of January to discuss a return to collective television rights
prompting this response from Sampdoria's Garrone :

"If a solution is not found as soon as possible we will resort to extreme measures. We are weighing up the possibility of refusing to play against the big three - Juventus, Milan, Inter  and the two Roman clubs. If all the other clubs followed suit there would be no repercussions."

Ireland Appoint Staunton

Steve Staunton, who won a record 102 caps for Ireland, has been appointed the Ireland national team coach. Sir Bobby Robson will take up a 'consultant's position' alongside Staunton whose only managerial experience was as an assistant to Paul Merson at Walsall.

Serie A Hooligan Crackdown Hailed a Success

New legislation introduced at the start of the season to combat hooliganism at Italian grounds has been hailed a success. The measures were the introduction of personalised ticketing, a ban on matchday ticket sales, more stewards and more security cameras inside and outside the stadiums.

According to the National observer of sporting events arrests at Serie A grounds were down 54% and the number of violent incidents at grounds were down by 57%.

Supporters Reject Ferguson Praise

The chairman of the Independent Manchester United Supporters' Association, Mark Longden, has dismissed comments made by Alex Ferguson praising the clubs new owners, the Glazer family, after the signing of defenders Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic :

"It is as though £500 million (€732 million) of debt is just being airbrushed out of history. The figure is so vast, most fans have decided not to think about it but it is still there and no-one has a clue what the Glazers are going to do about it. In some senses, it is not an issue for today but in two years' time, when they have to start paying it back, it will be a pretty big issue. It is sad that people such as Sir Alex Ferguson are taking a short-sighted view like this. Signing players has never been a problem for Manchester United in the past so it is difficult to see why spending this kind of money should be seen as a positive move on Glazer's behalf."
12 January 2005

Capello To Quit In 2009

"I have a contract and a project that ties me to Juve until 2007. Whatever happens I will quit in 2009. The national team doesn’t interest me because I like to be a Coach that is constantly involved by the pitch-side. I wouldn’t mind coaching a World Cup team, though." - Fabio Capello


Ferguson Praise For Glazers

"Without question, I have found the owners excellent. They have never failed in their promises and they've been very supportive in everything we have done. I think it's demonstrated by their commitment to the purchase of both players (Patrice Evra & Nemanja Vidic)." - Alex Ferguson

Bianchi Sacked

Atletico Madrid have sacked Carlos Bianchi after just three months in charge. Atletico have gone nine games without a victory and are just above the relegation zone. It is the second time Bianchi, who was phenomenally successful in South American football, has been a spectacular failure in football after an equally successful spell with Roma in the 90s.
11 January 2006

Matthaus Gets Another Weird Coaching Gig

Germany's 1990 World Cup winning captain has been named the new coach of Brazilian club Atletico Paranaense. Over the past five years Matthaus has coached Rapid Vienna, Partizan Belgrade and Hungary, without a great deal of success.
10 January 200

Del Piero Breaks Boniperti's Record

Allesandro Del Piero became Juve's all time top scorer today with a hat-trick against Fiorentina in a Coppa Italia match. Del Piero has now scored 185 goals for Juventus in all competitions, three more than Giampiero Boniperti who played for the club between 1946 - 1961.

Russian Accuses Portuguese of being Backward

In an interview with a Russian newspaper, Benfica winger Andrei Karyaka spoke of his frustration at a lack of first team football and claimed the Portuguese were backward :

'He (coach Koeman) prefers Brazilian players. We had a face-to-face meeting once and I asked him straight: 'Why haven't I played for two months?' He was telling me stories about the Brazilians, who need playing time in order to get Portuguese passports.

On life in Portugal the Ukrainian born Russian international said :

'Portugal is a backward country. I think Lisbon is about 20 years behind (Moscow). It's a big village. There's no place for children to play outside.'

Espanyol Suspend Fans For Racism

Espanyol have suspended two of their fans for abusing goalkeeper Carlos Kameni during Saturday's Barcelona derby against Barcelona. The club are also trying to identify supporters who attacked two Japanese spectators. A statement on the club's website said :

"Espanyol has always stood against violence and xenophobic behaviour and for some time has rejected any attitude that is contrary to sporting behaviour and respect towards others."
9 January 2006

Colombian Footballer Shot Dead
27 year old Colombian forward Elson Becerra, who plays in the UAE for Al-Jazeera, has been shot dead by contract killers while holidaying in Colombia. Becerra took four bullets before dying in a health centre.

Bachini Fails Second Cocaine Test

Siena midfielder Jonathan Bachini has tested positive for cocaine for the second time in his career. Bachini was banned for a year from October 2004 after testing positive for cocaine when playing for Brescia. Bachini claims someone spiked his drink.