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 |
Turmoil engulfs Pompey off-field and on The financial disarray at Portsmouth is making relegation all the more likely for Avram Grant's teamOn the day when it emerged that Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs had issued a winding-up petition against Portsmouth ahead of Christmas, before Sacha Gaydamak challenged the owner Ali al-Faraj – through this newspaper – to please let him know if he would be paid the millions the ex-proprietor says are his due, the beleaguered chief executive, Peter Storrie, offered the following insight into the Fratton Park shenanigans."Off the field the financial issues of the club have been prominent in the media once again," Storrie wrote in the Portsmouth programme for the visit of Arsenal, who would enjoy a routine 4-1 victory."While we would prefer to keep this in-house and deal with the situation, third parties are ensuring that certain issues are played out in public. The majority of the reports are ill-informed but such is the nature of finance that we are not at liberty to set the record straight all of the time."Leaving aside any quibbles over whether he has ever briefed a journalist or two himself, Storrie had unwittingly aligned himself with many Pompey fans who are disgruntled, at best, that since Faraj bought the club from Sulaiman al-Fahim in October there has been a searing lack of clear, precise information emanating from the new regime.Storrie, whatever may be said about his business acumen, is credited by supporters for at least engaging in dialogue with them on a regular basis.But Colin Farmery, of the Pompey Virtual Alliance, a coalition of various supporters' groups, voiced a prevailing criticism when he said before kick-off: "The fact the new owners of the club have not been forthcoming with any information at all about their plans has allowed conspiracy theories to flourish and it is largely their own fault they have failed to get the confidence of many fans. That has to change. This winding up order will hopefully bring all concerned to their senses and it is time to try to find some common ground."While this echoed Gaydamak's plea to be told who the ultimate beneficial owner is, lifelong fan Scott McLachlan agreed with Farmery. He said: "It seems to me that there are competing factions and the time has come for the owner, whoever it is, to put substantial funds into the club."Every fan I know is scared the club will fold in days if not in weeks. We seem to lurch from crisis to crisis. We just want to ensure we have a football club to support at the end of all this. The club is more than any player, owner, or board member, it is the fans and history that will always be the club."Recent history has included the three owners in two months, a player registration embargo, and a rising debt that stands at around £60m. In answer to Farmery's assertion that the absentee Faraj – he has never visited the club, no supporter could identify him in the street – plus his ever-mushrooming group of advisors is making the picture on the south coast ever grainier here is Storrie again: "It has been a very difficult year but one thing you must believe is that Ali al-Faraj and his associates are doing their very best to refinance the club so we can once again operate the business as we all want to."Avram Grant, whose threadbare resources are now further drained by the departure of Nwankwo Kanu, Hassan Yebda, Nadir Belhadj (who were all in tonight's 22) and Aruna Dindane for the African Cup of Nations, is said to be concerned that the off-field turmoil is affecting the form of his players, which is hardly surprising.While morale is still high among his squad tomorrow they wake, alongside Grant and the staff, to see if their wages have been paid, following the two previous occasions the club had failed to do so.Grant, the players and fans want to concentrate only on the football, of course. But if the embargo is not lifted and the manager cannot finagle a few shrewd free transfers and loans then relegation for the league's bottom-placed club is an almost certainty.Supporters are now facing up to this, and patience is wearing thin from what is among the very best of football crowds.During the second half the crowd sang "You can stick your Arabs up your arse" and later: "Sack the board."Faraj and his cohorts, wherever they were last night, will not have wanted to hear that.Premier LeaguePortsmouthAvram GrantBusinessJamie Jacksonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Live scores! FA Cup: Extra-time is being played at Coventry after a 90th-minute own-goal. Follow tonight's third-round ties NOW guardian.co.uk |
Maradona returns from suspension Diego Maradona is back as Argentina's coach, ending a two-month suspension imposed by FIFA following a profanity-filled rant after his team qualified for South Africa. cbc.ca |
Gerrard: Wolves draw is proof of progress • Captain praises run of five matches unbeaten• Club denies Yossi Benayoun will move to Dynamo MoscowIn what is becoming a familiar refrain at Anfield this season, Steven Gerrard has declared Liverpool have "turned a corner" in the wake of the goalless draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Rafael BenÃtez used the same phrase two months ago only for his team to subsequently regress but Gerrard believes that a fifth consecutive Premier League match without defeat represents genuine proof that Liverpool are moving in the right direction.The England international, who returned to the side at Molineux after being out for 13 days with a hamstring strain, admitted that confidence has suffered during a hugely disappointing season. Gerrard, however, highlighted the "character" and "desire" that Liverpool have demonstrated in recent weeks to avoid defeat at Stoke City and Wolves as a cause for optimism and also a reason to believe that fourth place can yet be salvaged from the wreckage of their campaign."We are really happy how we defended as a team [against Wolves]. I think it is a point gained rather than two lost," said Gerrard. "We've got a couple of home games coming up and if we take maximum points, I'm sure we'll edge into that top four. The important thing is that we are playing better. We've turned the corner and we are a much more difficult team to beat now. We would probably have lost the [Wolves] game 1-0 a couple of months back so we are defending a lot better."Confidence was certainly low a few weeks ago but we've had a couple of encouraging results. Stoke away was a tough game and the lads performed fantastically well against Tottenham. What we've shown over the last few weeks is that we can match teams physically and battle. Confidence is slowly coming back and, once that confidence is back, results will follow. We are very confident we can eventually edge into that top four."Gerrard admitted that his team-mates had found the league table difficult to look at this season but he has been impressed with their response during a spell that has yielded 11 points from a possible 15. "The most important thing for me over the last three or four games is the character and the desire the players have shown. That gives you major confidence because you know eventually that the quality of performance is just around the corner if the solid base is there."Liverpool, meanwhile, have insisted Yossi Benayoun is not leaving Anfield despite claims the Israel captain's agent has agreed a three-year contract with Dynamo Moscow. The Russian club's sporting director, Konstantin Sarsania, suggested the influential midfielder could complete a £7m move this week providing Liverpool consent to his departure."It is true that we have come to an agreement with the player's agent. In the next two days, Liverpool will make their own decision," Sarsania said. "When we completed the signing of Andriy Voronin, consent was given by BenÃtez. Now the Liverpool coach is against losing Benayoun, but the decision is not his, it is for the club's directors."Liverpool, however, have categorically denied that Benayoun is on his way. A club spokesman last night stated: "The player is not for sale and he will not be leaving." Benayoun is currently recovering from a broken rib and not expected to return until mid-February.Steven GerrardLiverpoolPremier LeagueStuart JamesAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |