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
Crystal Palace have taken legal action against former boss Iain Dowie, who has been named as Charlton’s new manager.
Dowie had a compensation clause for £1m if he left for another club. Palace chairman Simon Jordan had agreed to waive this in view of Dowie’s desire to return north to be closer to his family.
The distance between Crystal Palace and Charlton is (according to Google Maps) 12 miles (about 32 minutes).
Wed, May 24th 2006
Altrincham’s appeal against the Conference’s decision to dock them 18 points for fielding an ineligible player has been rejected.
Scarborough seem likely to escape relegation despite finishing bottom. Canvey’s resignation from the league, and the Conference’s expansion to 24 teams next season now means no one will have been relegated this season.
Related: Club deducted 18 points
Tue, May 23rd 2006
The weekend saw the first 2 play-off finals decided. Watford won promotion to the Premiership, defeating Leeds United 3-nil, and Hereford United returned to the league after 9 years in the Conference, beating Halifax Town 3-2 after extra time.
Fri, May 19th 2006
Sven-Goran Eriksson, in his serene, understated way, can be as fiercely protective of his players as Sir Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho and those instincts came to the fore here yesterday as the England manager launched a robust defence of Owen Hargreaves and insisted that the Bayern Munich player could play a prominent role in the World Cup.
Eriksson’s plan for the World Cup is to field a defensive midfielder instead of Joe Cole when England come up against one of the leading nations.
From: Guardian
Dutch prosecutors said yesterday that they were investigating possible football fraud in Holland.
De Telegraaf newspaper reported prosecutors were looking into match-fixing and the bribery of players. A prosecutors’ spokeswoman declined to elaborate on details of the investigation.
From: Telegraph
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.
Tue, May 16th 2006
James Richardson in Guardian Football:
Moggi has had to resign at Juve and is facing charges ranging from intimidation to kidnapping and criminal conspiracy. Juventus meanwhile stand accused of sporting fraud, as beneficiaries of what police have dubbed the “Moggi System”. This consists of assigning friendly referees for Juve games, finding unfriendly ones for their rivals, and making sure future opponents were “softened up” with judicious use of the red card.
...Depending on the outcome of the investigations, Juventus, Lazio, Fiorentina and possibly even Milan could be penalised or relegated…
...the chances of the various investigations being settled by August are slimmer than Nicole Ritchie, what with the likely appeals and such. How next season can begin on schedule (on August 27) is anyone’s guess, as we likely still won’t know by then who should be in it.
The Italian Football Federation has been placed under administration in a response to the match-fixing scandal that has stunned the country.
Four teams, including champions Juventus, are under investigation for match-fixing and illegal betting.
AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina are also under investigation.
Related: Juventus face relegation from Serie A, Entire Juventus board resigns
Watford and Leeds United have agreed that the Championship play-off final losers will keep the gate receipts.
The pair are continuing a convention with the loser keeping the £1.3m receipts, with promotion to the Premiership worth £30m.
From: BBC
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