TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
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| Gold Coast run riot over Roar Gold Coast United gave south Queensland rivals Brisbane Roar a start before handing out a 5-1 belting in the M1 derby at Skilled Park on Saturday night. foxsports.com.au |
West Brom 1-3 Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest's relentless march towards the top of the Championship continued last night as Billy Davies's side vanquished West Bromwich Albion to leapfrog their Midlands opponents and move into the second automatic promotion place. Davies remains adamant that Forest need another season in the Championship to prepare for life in the Premier League but performances like this suggest his players have other ideas. Forest were excellent and thoroughly deserved their victory.It is now 18 matches unbeaten for Davies's team and the two goals scored in three minutes shortly after half-time were emblematic of the confidence coursing through the visitors. Radoslaw Malewski's brilliant volley fizzed past Scott Carson before Chris Cohen finished off a fine move that included four one-touch passes to put Forest 3-0 ahead after Dexter Blackstock had struck early on. There were 34 minutes remaining and Albion fans were already heading for the exits, with Roman Bednar's goal scant consolation on a chastening night for the home teamRoberto Di Matteo suggested beforehand that Forest were set up to defend but the Albion manager could not have got it more wrong. Forest's 4-2-3-1 formation included defensive insurance in the shape of the two holding midfielders, Paul McKenna and Guy Moussi, but there was also an attacking threat that was evident throughout a first half dominated by the visitors. The only surprise was that Forest only had a single goal to show for their efforts at half-time.Blackstock was the scorer, the former Queens Park Rangers striker escaping the clutches of the debutant Gabriel Tamas to steer a left-footed volley from Radoslaw Majewski's corner inside the near post. Tamas, signed on loan from Auxerre until the end of the season, was not having a good day at the office. Later in the first half the Romania international picked up a yellow card after swinging his left arm into the face of Paul Anderson.Albion had been abject, the home side unable to find any fluency, devoid of ideas and, not surprisingly, booed off at the interval. The one crumb of comfort for Di Matteo at that point was that his team had not conceded a second, with Forest squandering an excellent chance to double their lead in the 24th minute. Chris Gunter broke from the right-back spot and skipped around Joe Mattock before cutting the ball back into the path of Majewski but the Pole snatched at the opening, sweeping a right-footed shot from about 12 yards over the bar.The reprieve was only temporary. Two exquisite second-half goals confirmed Forest's superiority. Majewski grabbed the first, flashing a left-footed volley from an acute angle in off the crossbar and Cohen drilled home the second. Finally Albion roused, Bednar turning in Graham Dorrans' pass to give Albion hope. It was the first goal Forest had conceded in 630 minutes andtheir might have been a second but for two fine saves from Lee Camp to deny Jonas Olsson and Ishmael Miller another.West Bromwich 4-4-2Carson; Zuiverloon, Tamas, Olsson, Mattock (Koren, 65); Brunt, Dorrans, Jara, Thomas; Moore (Bednar, 46), Cox (Miller, 77).Booked Tamas, MattockSubs not used Kiely, Cech, Mulumbu, Martis.Nottm Forest 4-2-3-1Camp; Gunter, Morgan, Wilson, Shorey; Moussi (Tyson, 61), McKenna; Cohen, Majewski (Perch, 79), Anderson; Blackstock (Adebola, 75).Booked McKenna, BlackstockSubs not used Smith, Chambers, McGugan, McGoldrick.Referee L ProbertChampionshipWest BromNottingham ForestStuart Jamesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Glazers take £20m from United's kitty • Six members of family revealed to have borrowed from club• David Conn: How the Glazers have milked United for millionsManchester United's owners, who loaded the club with more than £700m in borrowings to fund their purchase, have taken £10m out of the club in "management and administration fees" and have personally borrowed a further £10m in the past year, it has emerged.The club's financial results, released yesterday, revealed that six members of the Glazer family on the Red Football board had borrowed a total of £10m, which does not have to be repaid for five years.Manchester United also released an offer document yesterday for the £500m bond it says will be used to re-finance the £509m debt secured on the club.The offer document reveals that on 30 June last year the club entered into a £2.9m-per-year agreement with SLP Partners, a company related to the Glazers. Since 1 July 2006 a further total of £10m has been paid in "management and administration fees"."During the period from 1 July 2006 to the date of this offering memorandum, management and administration fees of approximately £0.6m, £1.8m, £1.4m, £3.1m and £3.1m were paid to our affiliates," it said.• David Conn: How the Glazers have milked United• Nils Pratley: United to raise £500m through bond issue• Kevin McCarra: Ferguson in conservative mood• The latest news on Manchester United in one handy placeUnder the terms of the bond issue it promises to terminate the agreement with SLP Partners but reserves the right to pay up to £6m per year to "one or more entities related to our ultimate shareholders for administration and management services".The 322-page offer document for those bonds, circulated in the City yesterday, also makes provision for £70m to be redistributed to the ultimate parent company for "general corporate purposes, including repaying existing indebtedness". This is thought to refer to the high-interest hedge fund loans secured against the Glazers' own shareholding in Manchester United. Those Payment In Kind loans, which accrue interest at a rate of 14.25% a year and "roll up" on an annual basis, are now believed to be worth almost £200m, as compared with £175m the previous year.The document also reveals that the club has received a large slice, £35.9m, of its new £80m sponsorship deal with AON. It also reveals plans for a new £75m "revolving credit line".City insiders expect the refinancing, put on hold when the markets collapsed in 2008, to succeed. The bond's yield, which could be around 9%, will be set only after an international roadshow. The offer document also reveals that Red Football recently lost £35m when attempting to hedge against a rise in interest rates last year.In its financial results the club revealed that it was only the £80m sale of Ronaldo and other transfer dealings that lifted Manchester United out of the red last season. Results for the Red Football Ltd subsidiary revealed a pre-tax profit of £48.2m but also indicated the overall amount owed by the club and its owners broke the £700m barrier for the first time since Malcolm Glazer acquired the club in 2005.Despite increased revenues, interest payments and write downs meant that, without the £80.7m realised in transfer profits in the year to June 2009, the club would have made a loss of £32.5m.According to yesterday's results, bank loans secured on the club now stand at £509.5m, compared with £518.7m the previous year. Interest payments on that debt totalled £41.9m.Representatives of the Glazers have repeatedly pointed to the cash flow generated by the club, once the interest on the loans had been serviced and before write-offs, as proof that money is available to Sir Alex Ferguson for team strengthening purposes.The Glazers have been keen to emphasise that the PIK loans, advanced by hedge funds at a high rate of interest when the family last restructured the debt in 2006, are not secured on the club but on their shareholding in it. If they were to default, the hedge funds would not have any say over the operational side of the business.The £500m bond issue, if fully subscribed, is unlikely to reduce the club's interest burden in the short term. It will be used to repay four secured loans, with interest rates of between 2.125% and 5% above the Libor rate at which banks lend to one another. Those rates were swapped for a fixed rate of 5.08% last year.According to the offer document, those hedging arrangements had cost Red ÂFootball around £35m to 6 January this year. It has promised to use some of the proceeds of the bond issue to reduce the liability by £8m. City sources said that the seven-year bond would give the Glazers greater certainty and no longer leave them at the mercy of the market. The release of yesterday's figures will have partly been designed to prove to potential investors the health of Manchester United's cashflow position despite its heavy debt burden.The club's results showed an increase in turnover for the year to June 2009 to £278.6m from £256.2m as matchday revenues, media income and commercial revenues all continued to rise.Matchday revenue increased from £101.5m to £108.8m, largely thanks to increased season-ticket prices, while media revenues rose from £90.7m to £99.7m and commercial income rose from £64m to £70m. The club will also point to a wages to turnover ratio of 44%, which compares favourably with most other Premier League clubs.Manchester UnitedPremier LeagueOwen Gibsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Aston Villa 3 Brighton & Hove Albion 2: match report If Villa were concerned about inability to score in recent weeks, they can rest easy, after taking tally to nine goals in two games. telegraph.co.uk |
Hammers fear Gudjohnsen deal is off • David Sullivan admits loan deal may have fallen through• Reports of last minute rival bid by Harry RedknappWest Ham United's owner David Sullivan has admitted he fears his attempt to sign Monaco's Eidur Gudjohnsen may have fallen through amid reports of a rival offer from Tottenham Hotspur.Sullivan is reported to have agreed a £1m deal to take the former Chelsea striker on loan for the rest of the season but he told ESPN that he fears Harry Redknapp and his Spurs chairman Daniel Levy have made a rival offer.Sullivan said: "We thought we had him, but I am worried that he has 'ducked' on us. I am chasing it up as we speak."Transfer windowWest Ham UnitedTottenham HotspurDavid SullivanPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |