TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
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| Wolverhampton Wanderers let down by Stephen Ward red card defeat at Liverpool Steven Gerrard's header helps Liverpool to a vital win over 10-man Wolves at Anfield. telegraph.co.uk |
Glen Johnson injury may force Liverpool to re-think January transfer plans Rafael Benítez may have to rethink his transfer plans after learning Glen Johnson's knee injury will sideline him until next month. telegraph.co.uk |
Was Arsène Wenger right to re-sign Sol Campbell for Arsenal? Sol Campbell is back in north London for a second spell but will it prove an ill-judged return? telegraph.co.uk |
Richard Scudamore says indebted clubs have themselves to blame • Premier League says clubs must look to 'bad management'• Scudamore defends league over Portsmouth debtsRichard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, has said that any top-flight club that went out of business would be guilty of "rank, bad management" but will not rule out a Premier League club going into administration.Portsmouth have struggled to pay their players three times already this season and are currently banned from the transfer market, with the January tranche of their broadcast revenue having been withheld and used to pay clubs who they owe.Scudamore insisted the club's transfer embargo will stay in place until they have no outstanding liabilities. On whether a top-flight club could go to the wall, Scudamore said: "You can't say it is impossible to imagine a Premier League club going out of business, that would be foolish."Given the amount of central income that is generated by the Premier League, it would be down to absolutely rank, bad management if a club itself was actually to go into administration."Scudamore denied that the Premier League could have done something sooner to avert the financial crisis at Portsmouth and put the blame squarely on the club's owners. He said: "We can only go by our rule book. I don't think anyone wants the Premier League running football clubs, it's very much for the owners to run the football clubs."In fairness to the people at Portsmouth and [the club's chief executive] Peter Storrie and the people who are running that club, they are working very, very hard and have worked extremely hard to live the dream for Portsmouth. They've had a succession of owners through there, and the people there now are scrabbling very hard to make sure this football club stays alive."There's only a certain point at which we can intervene. We changed our rules in September and now, when we see the financials [reports] that come in from clubs at the end of March, we will be able to take a stronger role to come in and make sure they are sustainable."Scudamore, speaking on Radio 5 Live, revealed that the fit and proper person test is not designed to ensure an owner has enough funds to run a club.He said: "Do you want to just have a club that barely survives in the Premier League? Do you actually want to own a club that is safely mid-table? Do you want to own a club that pushes for Europe? Do you want to own a club that guarantees being in the Champions League?"Your attitude and answers to those questions give you an answer as to what sort of money might be required and we at the Premier League are never going to be intervening to the level where we decide how much it needs to run a club."Debt per se is not bad. It's the amount of debt relative to your income that's the critical issue."Portsmouth, meanwhile, claim they have settled their debts with other clubs and want the remaining £2m withheld from their television money by the Premier League paid up. But Scudamore insisted Portsmouth still had to convince the Premier League that their responsibilities have been fulfilled.He said: "Portsmouth know the score. We need documentation at the Premier League which is as watertight and as strong as the original contract on which the players were signed."The minute we've got absolute proof that any contractual amendments they've made with other clubs are as robust as the original contract that was signed, then obviously that money gets released."The transfer ban also stays. Scudamore added: "At the point when we as a Premier League determine there are no outstanding liabilities, absolutely nailed down, absolutely clear, absolutely concise then of course the transfer ban will be lifted, but at the moment it is still it place."Premier LeaguePortsmouthguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Manchester United's John O'Shea likely to miss rest of season • Defender was injured in November on international duty• 'He'll probably miss the season now,' confirms managerJohn O'Shea is likely to miss the rest of Manchester United's season with an injury, the manager Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed. The defender was injured during the Republic of Ireland's World Cup play-off defeat to France in November and has not played since.The injury, first thought to have been a dead leg, is worse than originally feared and complications, including a blood clot, mean O'Shea is unlikely to play again this season."He's got a terrible injury at the moment," Ferguson told the Irish Independent. "It's one of those sorts of injuries that are unusual. It's like a dead leg except a dead leg usually [lasts] only three or four days."The problem is that the blood clot became all knotted and when it gets knotted you get calcification so therefore it's a long process to clear that up. He'll probably miss the season now," he added. "It's a bad blow for the boy and for the team because he can play anywhere."When you look at all the problems I've had with the back four this season, he could have played every single one."Manchester UnitedSir Alex FergusonPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |