TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
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| Barcelona loses Jeffren Suarez to injury Barcelona forward Jeffren Suarez will miss four to five weeks due to a leg muscle injury. cbc.ca |
Motherwell sack Gannon for 'lacking commitment' • 'The manager was not fully committed' say board• Refusal to sign new contract prompted Gannon's sackingMotherwell today announced that they have parted company with manager Jim Gannon, citing a lack of commitment, and claiming that Gannon had "repeatedly refused to sign a new contract."The Fir Park club's board said the decision was not related in "any way whatsoever" to recent results, but the 3-1 home defeat to St Johnstone on Saturday was their fourth loss in a row.Motherwell's chairman John Boyle, said: "It is deeply regrettable that the board has felt it necessary to part company with the manager at this stage of the season but we have reached a situation where we felt there was no other option. Generally, results on the field have been satisfactory since Jim Gannon was appointed and the board wishes to make it clear that today's decision is not related in any way whatsoever to recent results."Over the past couple of months it has become abundantly clear that the manager was not fully committed to the club and, despite our best efforts, he repeatedly refused to sign a contract. Relations between the manager, staff and directors deteriorated to the extent that the situation became untenable."Gordon Young, the club's head of youth, will take charge of the team for Wednesday's Premier League match against Hearts at Tynecastle.MotherwellScottish Premier Leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Arsenal 2-2 Everton So who's bright idea was it for the anti-freeze experts of north London to work like the clappers to ensure this game went ahead? For all Arsène Wenger's desperation to play some football, in the swirling snow, Arsenal glimpsed their opportunity to climb to within a point of the Premier League summit and froze.They were mightily relieved to get anything from this game, a point salvaged when the substitute Tomas Rosicky's stoppage-time shot brushed off Lucas Neill and the change of direction beat Tim Howard. It was Arsenal's second deflected equaliser of the game. It led to a frenetic climax, in which Manuel Almunia managed to clobber two players as he rushed out of his penalty area like a man in a total panic.Arsenal's reprieve was Everton's frustration, for they had done enough to merit three points. Ten minutes from the end, the best part of 60,000 hardy souls could barely dare to take an icy breath as they watched Steven Pienaar, released courtesy of an exquisite pass from Tim Cahill, baring down on Almunia's goal. Without a defender in sight, it was a straight duel between the combative South African and the over-anxious Spaniard. Pienaar showed wonderful composure to chip the ball gently into the net. The impressive contingent from Merseyside tucked into a corner of Emirates Stadium did not appear to feel the cold one jot.From another one-on-one moments later, Almunia prevented James Vaughan from securing what would have been an unassailable lead.Although the gritty nature of David Moyes's team provided the foundation, there was much to admire, too. With Louis Saha's clever runs and Tim Cahill's waspish presence augmented extremely well by the expert dribbling of Landon Donovan on an eye-catching debut, Everton caused Arsenal serious concern from the off.They started with far more conviction than in their earlier match against Arsenal this season, when they were left reeling by a 6-1 home hammering. Here they had the appetite and the organisation, and they looked surprisingly comfortable.They took the lead in the 12th minute. Donovan floated in an enticing corner, and Leon Osman leapt prodigiously above William Gallas and thumped in a header.Lacking driving force in midfield with Cesc Fábregas still recuperating and Alex Song in Angola, Arsenal were desperate for some inspiration from somewhere, and it came from one of the midfield understudies, DenÃlson. The Brazilian showed the hunger to chase down a loose ball out from Everton, and when the play came back to him after neat touches from Andrey Arshavin and Samir Nasri, DenÃlson took a pot shot. With the aid of a deflection off Osman, Arsenal were – fortuitously – back in it.Premier LeagueArsenalEvertonAmy Lawrenceguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Glazers open door to training-ground sale • Bond offer provides for lease-back of Carrington facility• Rising anger among fans after £20m taken out of clubThe ownership of Manchester United's Carrington training complex could be transferred to a holding company controlled by the Glazer family and leased back to the club, according to the prospectus Âcirculated to potential investors in a £500m refinancing scheme this week.The £500m bond and a new £75m credit facility, which will add to an overall debt pile of more than £700m, will be secured on the majority of property owned by Manchester United, including Old Trafford.But Carrington, the state of the art Âcomplex that opened in 2000 to replace Manchester United's old training ground The Cliff, is specifically exempted."The Carrington training ground will not be encumbered and may in due course be transferred to a holding company or affiliate of the Parent. In the latter event, we will be granted a lease in respect of the Carrington training ground," said the offer document in a section describing Manchester United's business and assets.• David Conn: The future looks bleak for United• 10 key questions about the debt at Old Trafford• The Glazer family's London operation• Tampa Bay Buccaneers grumble over Glazers' cutsThe club currently own the freehold on Carrington and the idea of one of the assets most readily associated with them being transferred to the Glazers' own holding company, and potentially sold, will cause further disquiet among fans concerned that money continues to flow out of Old Trafford despite consistent success on the pitch.The prospect of the club losing the training ground has disturbing echoes of Leeds United, who during their financial collapse were forced to sell their Thorp Arch training ground and lease it back.Covering 108 acres near the village from which it takes its name and dubbed "Fortress Carrington" by locals thanks to the high security fences that surround it, the complex contains 14 pitches of varying sizes as well as physiotherapy and rehabilitation areas, restaurants, conference rooms and a TV studio.Companies undertaking a bond issue are legally bound to list all kinds of potential risks attached to the offer, and the MU Finance plc prospectus contains warnings over everything from the potential impact of Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement to terrorist attacks and the danger of football becoming less popular.But here too it is made clear that the indenture covering the bond issue's notes "will limit our ability to sell or transfer, but not Âprohibit us from selling or transferring, our training ground or our stadium". If either is sold, it says it will enter into a long-term lease "to enable us to have substantially the same access to such property as we currently do".Representatives of fans' groups that have long opposed the Glazer takeover said that the detail contained in the offer document, including the revelation that the family had taken £22.9m in management fees and loans out of the club, would increase levels of discontent. "People are starting to connect the fact that they are asking us to stump up more in ticket prices and they're not investing in the squad and on top of that they are taking money out for themselves. That is going to make it difficult to get away with another rise," said Duncan Drasdo, chief executive of the Manchester United Supporters' Trust.The 322-page prospectus, the basis for a bond offer that most experts expect to be priced at around 9%, sets out in great detail the "high degree of risk" involved, together with the Glazers' strategy for continuing to maximise revenues.Results released this week showed that income from matchday operations, TV contracts and commercial activities continued to rise, contributing to an increase in turnover to £276.8m. But without a £80.7m profit from transfer activities, including the sale of Ronaldo to Real Madrid, the club would have made a substantial loss. It also reveals that United have already received almost half of a new £80m four-year shirt sponsorship deal with Aon upfront, despite it not beginning until next season. It prioritises the targeting of new sponsors in areas not traditionally associated with football as a means of generating further revenue growth.City sources expect the bond issue to succeed if it is priced and marketed correctly. But there were some dissenting voices yesterday, arguing that the yield from the bond should be closer to 9.5% given the company's profile and questioning the wisdom of investing in an unrated bond in such an uncertain sector."Most traditional high-yield investors won't touch this," Jonathan Moore, a high-yield analyst at Evolution Securities told Bloomberg yesterday. "It's unrated, so some investors can't take it, and there's a very busy new-issue calendar so there are plenty of alternatives. Most people just won't focus on something with far too much leverage, limited free cash flow and lumpy earnings."Manchester UnitedBusinessPremier LeagueOwen Gibsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Bayern go top as Robben settles thriller Bundesliga: A 78th minute Arjen Robben goal secured Bayern a 3-2 win at Werder Bremen guardian.co.uk |