Thu, June 8th 2006
A powerless Manchester United were unable to stop Wayne Rooney rejoining the England camp in Germany last night as yesterday’s scan did not prove that the player was ‘definitely injured’.
Wed, June 7th 2006
The BBC is reporting that it appears that Rooney has been given the green light to rejoin the England World Cup squad.
The decision was made by a group including United doctor Tony Gill and physio Rob Swire, England team doctor Leif Sward and other specialists.
It is also thought that an independent consultant from Fifa was on hand should there have been any conflict between Rooney’s club and the FA - and it was reported that United lawyers were in attendance.
Rooney flew back to Germany earlier tonight.
‘It’s a difficult ball for goalkeepers, this one moves all over the place. We just have to live with it, but it’s not at all goalkeeper-friendly,’ said England goalkeeper Paul Robinson.
“There’s no stitching whatsoever. It’s two sections glued together and it’s a lot lighter than the Premiership ball. There’s a plastic coating around it and when it’s wet it’s even worse.”
The keeper was not officially supposed to get hold of one of the new balls until yesterday, but had the foresight to order half a dozen of his own at a cost of £420.
From: Guardian
Thu, June 1st 2006
Everton look set to sign Wolves central defender Joleon Lescott for an as yet undisclosed fee. The 23 year old has been targeted by several Premiership clubs and is thought to be worth £4 million.
Everton last week signed Andy Johnson for £8.5 million and are also favourites to sign Chelsea’s Robert Huth for around £5.5 million.
This takes manager David Moyes’ spending to £18 million.
From: BBC
Tue, May 30th 2006
England new boy Aaron Lennon took a pay cut when leaving Leeds Utd for Tottenham Hotspurs, despite rising a league from the Championship to the Premier League.
Leeds manager Kevin Blackwell explained: “The contract that he had was so prohibitive to Leeds - it came from the Premiership days - that there was no way we could afford to keep him.”
From: BBC
Thu, May 18th 2006
The post match interviews with Arsene Wenger and Thierry Henry left a sour taste in the mouth after both men complained about the performance of the referee.
Mon, May 15th 2006
When another of the exhausted Liverpool players collapsed with cramp in the 89th minute it looked like incredible good grace for West Ham’s Lionel Scaloni to put the ball out of play so that he could receive treatment.
A minute later the ball was in the back of the West Ham net.
Fri, April 21st 2006
If current media reports are to be believed, the English FA are currently wrapping up its interviews for Eriksson’s successor as England coach.
There were good reasons for England to announce earlier in the year that Sven would be leaving his post after this summer’s World Cup, but the affair of naming his replacement has dragged on to the extent that it has led to a new problems.
Fri, April 7th 2006
England manager front-runner and Newcastle Utd target Martin O’Neill is not qualified for Newcastle job, but he is for England.
FA Premier League rules state that should Martin O’Neill be offered the Newcastle Utd job he would be required to complete a Uefa pro licence course. The England post, however, requires no such qualification
FA Premier League rules require all managers taking jobs in the top division to hold the Uefa pro licence but those already occupying such posts have until 2010. If they fail to obtain the licence within four years they will be dismissed but would then, theoretically, be free to manage England, as that position requires no qualifications.
From: Guardian
Tue, March 28th 2006
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson believes football’s rules are loaded in favour of divers (BBC).
FIFA introduced rules to punish ‘professional’ fouls with a red card to introduce more exciting games (ie, more goals), but surely diving to gain penalties and to get opposition defenders sent-off is a worse offence.
Which is the more ‘professional’ foul - a defender who mistimes a last gasp tackle, or the attacker who dives to gain a goal scoring chance or to give his team a one-man advantage?
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