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Hart hints at internal problems after departing QPR • Manager says he had no choice but to leave Loftus Road• Caretaker-boss Mick Harford unclear over his own situationPaul Hart has attacked Queens Park Rangers by claiming that he was "very unhappy with certain situations" which forced him to resign as manager yesterday. Hart's departure made him the sixth manager – not including caretakers – to leave the Championship club in the two years and three months since Flavio Briatore became the majority shareholder.Hart's assistant, Mick Harford, who had a previous spell as caretaker in October 2007, has taken over as manager, though he has not been informed by Briatore of the duration of his tenure. Hart, who was in charge of the club for only five games, authorised the League Managers Association to release a statement on his behalf yesterday and the LMA chief executive, Richard Bevan, said: "I am able to say that Paul Hart has left the football club. I understand that he was very unhappy with certain situations which have to remain confidential and felt that resignation was in the best interests of all concerned."While QPR confirmed they would be making no comment in reaction to Hart's criticism, questions are bound to be asked from their supporters regarding the stability and direction of the club. There were also reports last night that Briatore is thinking about selling his stake in the club and has been courting outside investors, possibly potential buyers of his stake.Briatore co-owns QPR with Bernie Ecclestone, and Lakshmi Mittal, and it is the Italian who takes the major decisions, assisted by Gianni Paladini, the club chairman and director of football, according to one former coach.The coach, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "Paladini has a big say in the day-to-day running as Briatore is always in and out of the country. The owners there do love football but possibly they can get too involved, and don't leave it to the manager and the staff. But what's happening there now with all the managers is making QPR laughable."Hart walked out, having won a single game, losing two and drawing two. He had succeeded Jim Magilton as manager on 17 December after the Irishman departed following a dressing-room dispute with the midfielder Akos Buzsaky.Harford, who will be in the dugout for tomorrow's game at Blackpool, revealed that his precise position has not been made clear."There's been no time scale," he said. "They've said 'Mick, you take charge of first-team affairs and see where it takes you'. Paul decided to leave – we're all very disappointed about that. He's a good man and he's great to work for. I don't know the waffles of Paul's departure but I just want to wish him all the best."Harford, though, is convinced his strong relationship with Briatore will help. "It's a club I know about. I know how it's run, I know the people, I know the players, I know about the situation. Briatore is a personal friend of mine, I've known him a long, long time."QPRChampionshipFlavio BriatoreJamie Jacksonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Players who have been hurt showboating Plus: Your ground's too big for you (2); the longest mid-season hiatus; when were Liverpool and Man Utd both knocked out in the FA Cup third round; and the world's longest team name. Send your questions and answers to knowledge@guardian.co.uk"Have any players either injured themselves or provoked opponents to injure them - much like Kerlon - with an act of showboating?" muses Ronan Brennan last week.We've looked at players injured during masochistic celebrations before, so although we've had many an email showing us the latest scorer crocked while attempting a triple somersault backflip cartwheel, we've only discoverd a couple of players injured while properly showboating.Predictably Kerlon isn't the only South American to fall victim in this manner, as Paulo Padilha explains. "This happened in the final of the Campeonato Paulista," he writes. "Corinthians had a two-goal advantage over Palmeiras from the first game, and the rivalry between the clubs was at the highest it had been in a long time, with Palmeiras having just knocked Corinthians out of the Copa Libertadores and players exchanging provocations all week."Corinthians went ahead in the first half, but Palmeiras got two goals in quick succession. The game was tense until the 75th minute, when Corinthians tied it through Edilson, after a great play by Ricardinho. As the Corinthians fans cheered, considering the final practically over, Edilson chose to celebrate a little by juggling the ball near the halfway line. Some of the Palmeiras players were not amused, and they continued to kick him even after they got the ball off him. A brawl ensued, the referee ended the match, and Corinthians lifted the 1999 Paulista Championship trophy."Morten Rasmussen's injury falls into the category of players pratting about rather than actually showboating, but it's an interesting little tale nevertheless. "In August 2006 Brondby and Silkeborg was playing each other, but the game was cancelled due to heavy rain," writes Jens Lange. "The players decided to fool around on the watersoaked pitch; sliding as far as they could, splashing water, jumping the the pools, etc. Morten 'Duncan' Rasmussen hurt his ligament during a slide and was out for a some weeks. He did not really get going because of the injury untill 2007."And if we stretch the definition further to off-pitch showboating, we can include the diminutive full-back (and, slightly bizarrely, occasional central defender while at Sheffield United) Alan Wright. While at Aston Villa Wright needed treatment for a knee strain caused by the position of the accelerator in his new Ferrari, and if owning a new Ferrari isn't showboating we'd like to know what is. Wright quickly recovered and ditched his flash motor for a Rover 416.YOUR GROUND'S TOO BIG FOR YOU ... (2)Last week we looked at the clubs with stadiums bigger than their local population, with the previously unheralded FC Gera Drnovice (population 2,300, capacity 7,000) initially crowned the champion, with their ground able to accomodate 304% of the townfolk. As ever, though, we've had several suggestions this week that can comfortably top the club from the Czech Republic:357% "German team SC Weismain-Obermain (population 4,760) play in their games in the Kreisklasse Coburg 2 League in the 17,000 capacity Waldstadion," writes Danny Last of the excellent European Football Weekends blog. "Room for everybody in town and seat for both your Bratwurst and your beer each."600% "The Czech stadium is nowhere near to the real winner," writes Dr András Gelencsér confidently. "Akasztó is a village in Bács-Kiskun county of Hungary with a population of around 3,500. It used to be the home of Stadler FC (who played in the First Division between 1995 and 1998) and possessed a stadium that seated 21,000 people (actually, there were 22,000 spectators against Ferencváros in their first top-flight season). The club itself was the creation of a former shepherd, József Stadler – a self made millionaire who dreamed about building a stadium in his hometown, in the middle of nowhere. He named the club and the stadium after himself. When ready it was the most modern stadium in Hungary. Later he was involved in a criminal case (tax fraud) and served few years in prison whilst his team was relegated and later disappeared. Now the stadium is empty and near collapsing." Loads more on Stadler FC can be found here (if you can read Hungarian).966% "Mjällby AIF is a club which has just been promoted to the top flight in Sweden," writes Jonas Lagerstedt. "They come from a small town of Hällevik, which boasts an impressive 776 inhabitants (in 2005 according to Swedish bureau of statistics), and their stadium Strandvallen has a capacity of 7,500."1157% Frustratingly for Jonas and, yes, the entire population of Sweden, in a reversal of the 1814 war (possibly), Norway can just beat their Scandinavian neighbours in this contest. "Nybergsund IL set a new club attendance record of 3,750 spectators recently," writes Dag Rønningen. "As of 1 January 2009 Nybergsund had a population of 324."And finally a couple of corrections. Clones is slightly bigger than we suggested. Well, OK, nearly three times bigger, with a population of around 3,000 rather than 300. And Roderick Stewart writes to point out that Blakes Estate Stadium probably didn't have a capacity of 4,000. And from this picture it does look a little optimistic.THE BIG FREEZE"I read that Rotherham haven't played a game since 12 December," began Jeremy Fitch last week. "What is the longest period a team hasn't played a competitive game within a football season?"Indeed the Millers had not played for 38 days until they faced Darlington last night (who had also been inactive for the same period), though they were well short of matching the troubles suffered in the winter of 1962-63."The answer is Bolton according to 'The trivia lover's guide to football stories and facts' that I picked up in the Boots January sale for a couple of quid," writes Joe Rowsell. "The book states that 'Bolton Wanderers sufferred the longest period in league history without playing a match. After their 1-0 win over Spurs on 8 December 1962, they were unable to take to the field again until 16 February 1963, when they lost 3-2 to Arsenal.'"In that same year Rangers also went two months without playing. "An Old Firm victory is always enjoyable but Rangers fans had a particular opportunity to relish their 4-0 win over Celtic on 1 January 1963, " writes George Taylor. "Severe weather meant Rangers did not play another game until 9 March when they won 2-1 at Dunfermline."AND A LITTLE BONUS ..."Apart of course from this year, when was the last time both Liverpool and Man Utd went out of the FA Cup in the third round in the same season?" wonders Allastair McGillivray.You have to go all the way back to 1958-59, when Manchester United were knocked out by Norwich City and Liverpool were stunned by Worcester City.KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVEBack in 2004 our initial attempts to find the world's longest team name led us to NAC Breda and the 86 characters which form their name. However, a week later we found a new champion:."I'd like to nominate my team, UCD, in the League of Ireland Premier Division," says Kevin Burke. "Under some universities' act a few years ago, we officially became University College Dublin, National University of Ireland Dublin, Association Football Club (81 letters). There are some who'll suggest that, with that hideous new crest, it should now (unofficially) be University College Dublin Dublin, National University of Ireland Dublin, Association Football Club (87 letters). This would translate into Irish as Cumann Sacair Ollscoil na hÉireann Baile Ãtha Cliath Baile Ãtha Cliath, Ollscoil Náisiúnta na hÉireann Baile Ãtha Cliath, which is 102 letters and a comma."Not bad, Kevin, but a rival school of learning trumps it. "I think you'd have to go some to beat the full name in Thai of Bangkok University FC," claims Liam O'Brien. "This would include the longest place name in the world, using the official Thai name for Bangkok. When translated into English, it would run to 189 characters as follows: Samosorn Maha Vittiyalai Krungthep Mahanakorn Boworn Rattanakosin Mahintara Yutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noparat Rajathani Burirom Udom Rajaniwet Mahasatharn Amorn Phimarn Avatarn Sathit Sakkatattiya Vishnukarm Prasit."But there's an even longer name in the very same city! That of Thai Pro League side Bangkok Bravo. "Should they ever wish to refer to themselves by their full (English translated) name," notes Dale Farrington, "they would be called: Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit Bravo Association Football Club (196 characters). Try fitting that on a pools coupon!"For more classic Knowledge take a trip through the cob-webbed corridors of the Knowledge archive.Can you help?"What is the shortest time between home and away league games against the same opponent in league football? Can anyone beat Arsenal's games against Bolton from this year?" asks Anton Marks."On 18 January 2010, Jari Litmanen played for Finland against South Korea. Since he made his international debut in 1989, this means he has played international football in four different decades. Is he the first footballer to do this?" wonders Dan Smith."I was thinking about how many player managers my team, Swindon Town, have had. Even in my life time I have seen Ossie Ardiles, Glen Hoddle, Steve McMahon, Jimmy Quinn and Gus Poyet (as an unused sub)," writes Paul White. "That's five and doesn't include Dennis Wise who registered as a player nor does it include caretaker manager situations where a player steps up and takes charge for a while. I'm looking at permanent managers. So the question is which team has had the most player managers?""With Darlington heading inexorably towards the Conference (I'm starting to imagine that P-P is the best result they can hope for from now on)," writes Michael St John-McAlister. "I'm wondering what's the record for the earliest date a team's relegation has been mathematically confirmed in England's top four divisions? And the world record?""Watching the Coventry v Portsmouth FA Cip third round replay I noticed Coventry had a Eastwood and a Westwood in there starting line-up," writes Mark Turnbull. "Has a team ever had four players with North, South, East and West in their surnames?""Following QPR's defeat to Sheffield United in the FA Cup third round after a replay, they've not won an FA Cup game in 13 attempts over 10 years. Is this a record?" ponders Colin Greener."What is the record for the highest aggregate age of two opposing managers?" asks Mark Wilson."Was the 5-0 win of Norwich at Colchester compared with the 7-1 win of Colchester at Norwich on the opening day of the season, some sort of a record? wonders GF60. "Is 12 away goals in one league fixture the most or the 11-goal swing the biggest?""How many times has a league's top scorer been in a relegated team?" wonders Ben Schneider. "And even better, has his team ever finished in last place?"Send your questions and answers to the lovely people at knowledge@guardian.co.ukCorinthiansJohn Ashdownguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
West Ham make offer for McCarthy • McCarthy's absence from training angers Sam Allardyce• West Ham keen to sign two strikers during transfer windowWest Ham have submitted a written offer for the Blackburn striker Benni McCarthy. Gianfranco Zola's side have been linked with the South African after his manager, Sam Allardyce, said he could leave during the current transfer window.McCarthy has not impressed Allardyce by failing to turn up for the last two training sessions and his days at Blackburn appear to be numbered. The 32-year-old has struggled to find form this season, scoring only once in the Premier League and regularly finding himself left out by Allardyce."We are very disappointed with Benni's non-appearance for training and will deal with it separately should he remain here after the transfer window has closed," said Allardyce."We have said all along that we will listen to offers, but only agree to sell if both the commercial and football reasons satisfy Blackburn Rovers. That situation remains unchanged."West Ham are desperate to bolster their attacking options and their new owners, David Sullivan and David Gold, who completed their takeover of the club last week, have pledged to sign two strikers this month. Injuries to Carlton Cole, Guillermo Franco and Zavon Hines have stretched their forward line to breaking point and Zola was recently forced to give the 18-year-old striker Frank Nouble his Premier League debut at Aston Villa.Sullivan last week went public with an attempt to bring Ruud van Nistelrooy to West Ham on a £100,000 a week contract, but the Dutchman opted to join Hamburg instead. West Ham, only out of the bottom three thanks to their superior goal difference, are also thought to be monitoring Monaco's Eidur Gudjohnsen and Stoke City's James Beattie.Transfer windowWest Ham UnitedBlackburn RoversPremier LeagueSam Allardyceguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |