| Spain, Germany power on, Italy draw Spain went top of Euro 2012 qualifying Group I with a win over Lithuania, while Germany beat Turkey 3-0 and Italy were held to a goalless draw. foxsports.com.au |
Wednesday finally step out of the gloom Despite facing a third winding-up order, the promise of new investment has lifted some of the gloom over HillsboroughAlthough Hillsborough sits on the Whitehall spot in the midst of the mid-ranking purple titles on the city's version of the Monopoly board, Sheffield Wednesday have been operating at the Old Kent Road of the market for longer than their fans care to remember, most recently while being mortgaged to the hilt.Failure to beat Crystal Palace in the final game of last season saw the south Londoners survive in the Championship and condemned Wednesday to League One and a 20% drop in income, costing them the services of the chairman, Lee Strafford, and more importantly to the manager, Alan Irvine, his goalkeeper Lee Grant, who was sold to Burnley for around £1m.Irvine's task, meanwhile, after the club overcame two winding-up orders in the summer and wrestle with a £28m debt, is to plan and achieve immediate promotion – the last time they slipped into the third tier, in 2003, it took two seasons until Paul Sturrock did the trick – and to do so despite the loan embargo which comes with the petitions, the third of which has been brought by the taxman for £600,000 and is due to be heard on 17 November.Back in the inaugural season of the Premier League Wednesday kicked off as 5-1 joint favourites with Liverpool and Leeds – better regarded than the eventual winners Manchester United – but after a slow start and despite Trevor Francis's side reaching both cup finals the next spring, the team came seventh. They equalled that placing twice more, the last occasion in 1997, but were relegated under Peter Shreeves in 2000 and after the disastrous appointment of Paul Jewell failed to produce the expected instant return, it has pretty much been downhill from there.Expectation still hangs around Hillsborough like a cloud, however, usually to be followed by a sense of crushing disappointment, but Saturday began with an added tinge of optimism after the chairman, Howard Wilkinson, announced himself to be "cautiously optimistic" he has secured new investment for the club, with a £2m initial payment expected to arrive this week in advance of a takeover which may be worth as much as £17m by a Middle East consortium. It is fronted by the former Wednesday goalkeeper and manager Chris Turner, the man who steered them into League One last time and who is expected to take on an administrative role this time."This is the first time in my memory that any potential investor has actually put some cash on the table," Wilkinson added. "Now we can actually start thinking about the future, not just the present, and certainly not the past."The down-payment would stave off next month's winding-up order and allow Irvine, Wednesday's sixth full-time manager since Jewell got the job in June 2000, to start planning. "If things go the way we want them to go, then perhaps we will be able to get the [loan] embargo lifted next week and do something," Irvine said. "I'm not sure of the timescale and I think we've maybe been in this position before, but it certainly seems to be a big commitment by the potential investors."As with Liverpool, seemingly available at a knockdown £300m – the same price the Indian businessman Ahsan Ali Syed was proposing to pay for Blackburn Rovers two months ago – Wednesday's would-be buyers see the club as undervalued. That leaves Irvine to achieve at least the first of those promotions but after a reasonable start to the season a recent dip – one point from 15 – had begun to get to a crowd who are more than a little impatient, and injuries are starting to stretch the team's meagre resources still further."It could be a coincidence that the problems on the pitch are coming at the same time as problems off the pitch at Liverpool, and likewise that could be the problem here," Irvine said after their second successive league win. "I don't like making excuses but it [the third winding-up order] did coincide with the results going wrong but it shouldn't really be a factor – in some ways it's easier to say that than to actually handle it. A lot of my job in the last month or so has been trying to rebuild confidence and pick people up."Saturday was a case in point, with a win needed to reach the play-off places only for lowly Leyton Orient to play the better football and the crowd of less than 18,000 to resort to booing well-intentioned but misplaced passes during the first half. "The crowd got nervous and the players got very nervous," admitted Irvine, who at half-time challenged his players to demand possession and saw them win the game through Lewis Buxton's back-post header from a corner soon afterwards. "A few players were reluctant to take the ball. That bit of nervousness in the crowd doesn't help but, having said that, they help us in many, many situations."At least they get to sit in a decent stadium and Hillsborough, a regular FA Cup semi-final venue back in the day and still one of the best six grounds in the country, will host World Cup games if England's 2018 bid is successful and must have been a deal-clincher for the would-be investor, although unaccountably the compiler of Sheffield Monopoly managed to slip United's Bramall Lane into the slightly more expensive Northumberland Avenue spot. Such is the lot of a Wednesday fan.Sheffield WednesdayLeague OneMark Tallentireguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
UEFA Requests Evidence Of Euro 2012 Allegations MILAN (Reuters) - UEFA has asked a Cypriot official to provide proof of corruption related to the decision to award Poland and Ukraine the Euro 2012 championship, European soccer's governing body said Monday. feeds.nytimes.com |
Uefa president Michel Platini sticks up for Old Firm referee Willie Collum Michel Platini attended his first Old Firm match and afterwards expressed sympathy with Willie Collum. telegraph.co.uk |
New GM is right under Toronto FC's nose Earl Cochrane is the antithesis of Mo Johnston, and that's why he should be Toronto FC's next general manager. cbc.ca |