TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
|
| |||
| Manchester United secure work permit for Senegal striker Mame Biram Diouf Senegal striker Mame Biram Diouf will now be available to make his debut for Manchester United in January. telegraph.co.uk |
Weather prevents Carling Cup tie Blackburn Rovers' Carling Cup semi-final first leg match against Aston Villa has been postponed due to poor weather, the club announced on Tuesday night (EDT). foxsports.com.au |
Everton can't hang on as Arsenal comes back to draw Arsenal scored from two deflected shots to draw 2-2 with Everton on Saturday, in one of two Premier League matches to survive the deep freeze gripping England. cbc.ca |
Gary Neville faces censure for middle-finger gesture at Carlos Tevez • Unused substitute gestured after Carlos Tevez's penalty• Alex Ferguson said City player's celebration 'not an issue'Gary Neville could be in trouble with the Football Association after he reacted to Carlos Tevez's first goal in the Carling Cup semi-final by raising his middle finger towards the Manchester City striker.The FA wrote to Neville to warn him about his provocative celebration after Michael Owen had scored the winner when the two sides met in September, and the governing body have confirmed they will look at photographs of the latest incident to determine whether they need to take action.Tevez went on to celebrate his second goal by running to the touchline and cupping his ears in front of the two dugouts, provoking the response from unused substitute Neville. But Sir Alex Ferguson chose not to question his former player's behaviour."That's just the way it happens," the United manager said of Tevez's match-winning contribution. "It can be like that. It can bite you, football. We've had a few players leave the club and score against us. It's not an issue. I'm happy with the players we have."The victory has left Manchester City as "51% favourites" to reach the final, according to their manager, Roberto Mancini, but Ferguson was not too disconsolate as he reflected on his team's performance."I thought we played well. We Âdominated the match. There were a mad couple of minutes before the equalising goal and we lost composure for 15 minutes but, after that, we were OK. It will be a Man United crowd at Old Trafford and, with the occasion and what is at stake, we will be OK. The most important thing is that we perform like we did today."Ferguson had described Tevez earlier this season as not being worth his £25.5m fee but the Argentina international is the most prolific player in English football on current form, with 13 goals in his last 11 games."I don't know if what was said made a difference for Carlos," Mancini said. "I just hope that he plays as well in the Âsecond game because it will be very difficult at Old Trafford. I am just happy that he plays for us."Mancini acknowledged that United had "three or four good chances" to equalise and there was an element of good fortune attached to the penalty that was given against Rafael da Silva for Âpulling Craig Bellamy's arm. The first contact was outside the penalty area and Ferguson said: "It's there for everyone to see."Carling CupSir Alex FergusonRoberto ManciniManchester CityManchester UnitedCarlos TevezThe FADaniel Taylorguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
County in race to find £2m by Wednesday • Club concerned about creditors 'turning up on the court steps' • Executive chairman confident of securing long-term investmentNotts County are searching desperately for investment after discovering that they need £2m by Wednesday in order for the club to survive.The Magpies are due in the high court after the club's owners, Blenheim 1862, were served a winding-up petition from HM Revenue & Customs over an unpaid £600,000 tax bill.The executive chairman Peter Trembling still hopes to pay off the debt and avoid going to court, despite failing to secure any funds by the end of last week.Since completing a management buyout of the League One club at Meadow Lane last month, Trembling and the director of football Sven-Goran Eriksson have scoured Europe for suitable investors.He told the Evening Post: "We hope to be able to satisfy the winding-up petition before Wednesday by paying off our debts. The critical thing is to get £2million into our bank account before then."It's a challenge but that is what we have been working towards for the last few weeks and I'm ever hopeful we can do that."It will give us a bit of room to play with. We could actually go to court and pay off our tax bill of £600,000. But the danger with a winding-up petition is that we could have all of our creditors turning up on the court steps and jumping on the back of the petition."In which case, we have to satisfy the judge that we have got the funds to pay everybody."If we haven't got that in our bank account our next course of action is to show proof of funds committed to pay these creditors off and that we just need a bit more time, and really plead our case."Trembling added: "We have been speaking to a number of investors for a few weeks now and we have got two investors who are very close to the line."Sven and I have met them and we have presented our vision to them. They are very enthusiastic and they have got the funds – we have seen the proof of that."The two investors want to work together, and we have got a couple of back-up plans as well. I think the two we are talking to are best for the future of the club because they can invest the sort of funds that will take the club further forward, of £25m to £50m over five years."They want a long-term return on the investment but the important thing is that they are football fans and they love this idea – the project of taking Notts County through the leagues."The idea of putting £25m in to get us in the Championship and having Sven at the helm to lead us on, that appeals to them enormously."Notts CountyLeague OneSven-Goran Erikssonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |