TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
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| GLOBAL SOCCER: Playing Through Pain in Liverpool If Fernando Torres were horse, not man, some well-meaning soul would surely have called the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals this Christmas. feeds.nytimes.com |
Chelsea hope Essien returns unscathed • Fingers crossed as midfielder returns to full training• Essien expected to miss Ghana's opening gameChelsea will bid a nervous farewell to Michael Essien this weekend. As the midfielder heads to Angola for the Africa Cup of Nations they are hoping Ghana will not ask too much, too soon of a player who returned to training only today after a hamstring injury. Essien limped out of the final Champions League group tie against Apoel Nicosia at Stamford Bridge on 8 December and has not played since, not even for the reserves.In an ideal scenario he might like to ease himself back, with a couple of substitutes' cameos, but as Ghana's talisman he will be required to hit top form straight away. Essien will not be fit for Ghana's opening fixture against Togo on Monday and the coach, Milovan Rajevic, will surely have to leave him out, despite the clamour for him to play.Eyebrows would be raised at Stamford Bridge were Essien to feature. But thereafter he is likely to be plunged into the fray, with Ghana set to rely heavily on him in the absence of a clutch of other familiar names. Stephen Appiah, John Mensah and John Paintsil are injured and Sulley Muntari has fallen out with Rajevic and has not been selected.Ghana face the Ivory Coast next Friday, in a match that will pit Essien against his Chelsea team-mates Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou before completing their group phase campaign against Burkina Faso on Tuesday week. The knock-out rounds start with quarter-finals and the final is scheduled for 31 January. Ghana arrived in Angola today, after training together in South Africa since 28 December. Essien will join up over the weekend, Chelsea having been keen for him to work first with their medical department."We received a letter from Chelsea and Essien has finished his treatment," said Rajevic. "They suggested he should stay for another two days with the club physio and do two days' training with the first-team." Chelsea would not have given the green light for Essien to travel if they did not feel he had completed his rehabilitation but they will follow his progress closely.ChelseaAfrica Cup of NationsDavid Hytnerguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Burnley face £1m bill for O'Driscoll • Doncaster want payment if O'Driscoll leaves for Burnley• Brian Laws also considered for Turf Moor manager's job Burnley are likely to face a £1m compensation demand from Doncaster Rovers should they offer their vacant managerial position to Sean O'Driscoll, after the 52-year-old emerged as a leading candidate to succeed Owen Coyle at Turf Moor.Doncaster have refused to confirm reports that they granted Burnley permission to approach the man who guided them into the Championship, although it is understood O'Driscoll and the former Sheffield Wednesday manager Brian Laws are the remaining names on the Clarets' shortlist. The Leeds United manager, Simon Grayson, also interested the Burnley hierarchy but has made it known he views his rebuilding work at Elland Road as incomplete.Laws, a former Burnley player, is a free agent after parting company with Wednesday last month when the Owls were Âlanguishing 20th in the Championship. The 48-year-old is believed to have impressed in two interviews with the Burnley chairman, Barry Kilby, and would welcome the task of trying to keep the Clarets in the Premier League."Of course it would interest me," Laws told the Lancashire Telegraph. "I have a great affinity with Burnley, but there's no more I can say on that."While Laws's availability and the absence of any compensation fee will appeal to Burnley, who hope to end a turbulent period caused by Coyle's controversial defection to Bolton Wanderers with an appointment before this weekend, O'Driscoll is also under consideration for the role. "We are still interviewing, we are still looking," said Kilby today.The former Bournemouth manager has established an impressive reputation since joining Doncaster in 2006, winning the Johnstone's Paint Trophy in 2007, the League One play-offs the following year and also insisting on the style of football that so endeared Coyle to Burnley. He was rewarded with a new three-year contract by Doncaster last summer and Burnley will find themselves in a compensation wrangle for the second time in a fortnight should they offer O'Driscoll the chance to manage in the Premier League."We don't want to lose Sean but should it happen we shall be seeking serious compensation," insisted the Rovers chairman, John Ryan. "Doncaster arguably play the best football in our division and we've not been called 'the Arsenal of our division' for nothing. That's down to Sean and his assistant, Richard O'Kelly."BurnleyDoncasterPremier LeagueAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Cardiff City 4 Leicester City 2: match report Two injury time goals from substitute Chris Burke and Ross McCormack earned Cardiff City a place in the fifth round. telegraph.co.uk |
County given four-week stay of execution • Taxman asks that period of grace be marked as 'final'• Other creditors did not want adjournmentNotts County were given 28 days to pay off their creditors in the high court today.HM Revenue and Customs presented a winding-up petition this afternoon over a £324,206 outstanding debt but the taxman accepted that a 28-day adjournment would be in order for the club to settle the debt in full. However, HMRC pointedly applied for that period of grace to be marked "final".If the funds do not arrive in the next four weeks HMRC will seek immediate liquidation proceedings.Marston's plc appeared alongside HMRC seeking repayment of the club's £95,000 debt to it, with a third creditor also represented commanding a debt of £3,791.Neither of the supplementary applicants was willing to apply for an adjournment, however the registrar found that because this was the first hearing in the matter, the four-week deferment would be appropriate.Chief among the concerns of Marston's was that any fresh funds received at Meadow Lane would be consumed by ongoing operating expenses. Marston's dismissed Notts executive chairman Peter Trembling's talk last night of fresh investment as mere "rumour".Notts CountyMatt Scottguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |