In fact, one more match preview has sneaked through the gate just before closedown …
Before I clock off, a quick rundown of the MBM action you can find on the site this weekend.
First up is the Premier League with coverage of Everton’s first game after the sacking of Marco Silva, against Chelsea, kicking off at 12.30pm GMT. Our clockwatch follows covering the 3pm kick-offs, including Bournemouth v Liverpool and Tottenham v Burnley. Then it’s off to the Etihad Stadium for the Manchester derby at 5.30pm.
On Sunday, there’s a top-of-the-table Women’s Super League clash between Chelsea and Manchester City at noon. This is followed by the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Leicester at 2pm, then at 3pm the first Scottish domestic honour of the season is up for grabs when Rangers face Celtic in the Scottish League Cup final.
Finally it’s back to the Premier League, with coverage of Brighton v Wolves at 4.30pm.
I’ll leave you with our sports quiz of the week, plus best wishes and goodwill to all caretaker managers. Thanks for reading today. Bye!
Gah. It was there. It was right there …
Peter Oh emails: “Re: Sofiane Boufal’s stubbed toe among Ralph Hasenhüttl’s woes. It’s unfortunate that an incident with the bottom of a table has kept the Southampton attacker from helping his club move further away from the bottom of the table.”
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Sunday sees the first Old Firm meeting in a Scottish League Cup final in eight years. And oh, the beef. This from PA Media:
Rangers’ captain James Tavernier lashed out at the former Celtic striker Chris Sutton, who called him a “serial loser” over his failure to win any major trophy since moving to Glasgow in 2015. Tavernier said: “Comments from pundits are irrelevant. I am here to do a job, I’m here to win trophies. Previously we’ve not done that but I fully believe in this squad and what we’re capable of doing. We have to win games, we have to win trophies. All the boys who have signed here have come to win trophies. We’re not here to be second best.”
Celtic’s Neil Lennon believes there is a “very good chance” that striker Odsonne Edouard will be fit after missing the past fortnight. Lennon said: “They all trained today. With Odsonne in particular it’s a day-by-day thing so we’ll see how he reacted to today’s training tomorrow. He trained, did the full session today and looks like he’s come through it no problem. I’m always encouraged to see a player of that calibre on the training ground.”
Rangers’ manager Steven Gerrard told left-back Borna Barisic to prove he his fit enough to claim a place in Rangers’ lineup: “Borna did a light session today. He did three-quarters of that. We’re very hopeful. We’ve still got to do one more session tomorrow so Borna and a few more who were carrying knocks from Aberdeen will be given as late as possible to give themselves the best chance to make themselves available.”
Garry Monk is waving two lighted sticks towards things on the Hillsborough pitch, aircraft marshal-style. Matters off the pitch are threatening to take the limelight, as PA Media report:
Monk says Sheffield Wednesday must not be distracted by off-field issues before they host in-form Brentford tomorrow. The South Yorkshire club have denied all charges after the EFL opened after an investigation into the Owls’ profitability and sustainability submission for 2017-18 concerning the sale of Hillsborough stadium.
Wednesday, who begin the weekend two points off the play-off places, could face a hefty points deduction should they been found guilty.
Monk said: “Our job is to be focused on what we are doing here and that’s the football. That’s what we can control.”
Marco Silva has done the statement-through-the-League-Managers-Association thing:
It has been a real honour to have managed Everton for the past 18 months and I would like to thank Farhad Moshiri, Bill Kenwright, Denise Barrett-Baxendale, Keith Harris, Marcel Brands and the entire board for giving me the opportunity to be part of this special club.
Thank you to all of the Evertonian fans who always live and breathe the club and show such great passion.
A special thank you to all of the players, for their professionalism and the commitment they put into their work every day and to the club staff who welcomed me to Finch Farm training ground and made me feel at home.”
Aww.
The Fiver has landed. Check your inboxes. Or click below. Or sign up to save yourself having to come into one of these blogs looking for a link …
Ralph Hasenhüttl enters the weekend with his Southampton side out of the bottom three. He said:
I knew what I would do when I was coming here, I knew that we have our limits and we tried to push these limits as high as possible. We were not competitive in every period of the last season and this season, it was was the same and is not easier.
We always have periods where we are really struggling and to keep minimising these periods, I think, must be the goal for the future.
The Premier League is getting better and better again and the other clubs have big opportunities. We must follow them, but go our own way. We do it with a special way and I think everybody knows that philosophy from this club.”
Meanwhile, he spoke of the dangers of rushing back too quickly from stubbed toes, as winger Sofiane Boufal continues his battle back following a tragic big toe/kitchen table interface. Hasenhüttl said: “We must pay attention because such an injury can take a long time if you are not careful.”
Here’s RB Leipzig’s Ademola Lookman, formerly of Everton and recently converted to Denzel Washington fandom, in conversation with Nick Ames …
Steve Bruce is a happy bunny at Newcastle. His side host Southampton on Sunday on the back of last night’s controversial victory over Sheffield United.
We have had a really decent month and I have always said that a few results along the way helps everybody, so we’ve given ourselves a nice platform going into the busy Christmas period – which is decisive for me. But the spirit among the players and their attitude and the way they are playing has delighted me and they carried it on after running a million miles against Manchester City on Saturday. They have showed some resilience again and I am very pleased, it stands us in good stead.”
Meanwhile, Andy Carroll, whose flick set Jonjo Shelvey running through unchallenged amid flag confusion, may be back on the bench for the weekend’s game out after making his first start of the season on Thursday – Joelinton looks in line to replace a player whose capacity to start more than once a week was in question when the Magpies brought him back to the club.
Sean Dyche’s Burnley visit Spurs tomorrow. The Clarets’ manager saw his side beaten 4-1 at home to Burnley on Tuesday, and he lamented that the Premier League “is not a level playing field”:
You can put your wits against Pep Guardiola but I haven’t got a team worth half-a-billion pounds or whatever it is. It is not a level playing field, everyone knows that. We look forward to what is a good opportunity to recover good form because we’ve had a couple of slips this week, although one was against Man City. There are some games coming we think we can definitely compete in.”
Ashley Barnes could return after missing the midweek defeat following a groin injury, and Dyche gave some encouragement to on-loan midfielder Danny Drinkwater, who finally made his league debut for the club against City:
There is no measure on that performance (against City). We know he needs true Premier League fitness, as in game time. It is difficult to shortcut true Premier League fitness, it does take time and he knows that. He has been around the game long enough, he knows Burnley Football Club is not a walk in the park, we don’t stroll through the Premier League.”
A little more from Guardiola about Mikel Arteta’s managerial credentials. He told Sky Sports News:
He is ready. I’m not a guy that puts a gun to the heads of my staff or players and says what they have to do. We are human beings and everyone has dreams and desires. Hopefully he can stay this season and the next one – as long as possible in this club. That would be my dream, but Mikel has his own life and I will never say what he has to do.
I arrived here and we were in touch about working together and the time we have spent together has been magnificent. I tried to help him and he has helped me a lot. He knows what I want and what the club wants.”
The Manchester City manager said the club have not received any approaches for Arteta’s services. Of potentially replacing him at City in the long-term, Guardiola added: “He is able to do that, but it depends on him, the club – many things that I cannot decide.”
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Pérez's world leagues plan 'insane', says Uefa's Ceferin
Cheers Gregg, and hello again. Who wants to ruin football? Florentino Pérez, so says the Uefa president. This just in from the Associated Press:
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin criticised Real Madrid’s president for reportedly planning a “selfish and egotistical scheme” to create world leagues, saying it would ruin soccer.
Financial Times report, Pérez has approached financiers about backing the creation of two world leagues, each with 20 teams. It would rival Fifa’s planned expansion of the Club World Cup from an annual seven-team competition to a 24-team event held every four years from 2021. While Fifa declined to say if its leadership had discussed the plan with Pérez, European soccer’s governing body expressed public displeasure.
“I have read about this insane plan,” Ceferin said in a statement. “If reports are to be believed, it comes from a single club president (not the owner) and a lone football administrator. It would be hard to think of a more selfish and egotistical scheme. It would clearly ruin football around the world; for the players, for the fans and for everyone connected with the game all for the benefit of a tiny number of people.”
It’s a no from Ceferin, then.
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Stuart Goodwin is going to guide you through the afternoon’s news now. While he jumps into the seat, read our story on the possible return of Nigel Pearson to the Premier League. Have a good weekend. Bye.
Macclesfield's game against Crewe suspended
It’s a sorry state of affairs at Moss Rose, where Macclesfield’s game against Crewe on Saturday has been “suspended” after Town informed the EFL they would be unable to fulfil the fixture. The announcement had been anticipated after Macclesfield’s players released a statement saying they would refuse to play the League Two match due to non-payment of wages.
The EFL has just released a statement that reads:
Macclesfield Town has informed the EFL that they will not be in a position to fulfil Saturday’s League Two fixture against Crewe Alexandra. As a result of this formal notification, the League has been forced to suspend the game and under EFL Regulations, the club is now deemed to be guilty of misconduct and will be referred to an Independent Disciplinary Commission. The EFL will now consider the matter of determining when the fixture will be played.
Earlier this week the club’s former manager Sol Campbell revealed that he was owed money by the club and backed the winding-up petition.
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Zinedine Zidane has confirmed that Gareth Bale will miss the next two games for Real Madrid (Espanyol and Club Brugge) as he continues his recovery from injury. Bale was able to do some light training, though, and by the looks of it he was fit enough to troll Spanish media with some golf swings.
😂 Si es que hay que querer a @GarethBale11
— El Golazo de Gol (@ElGolazoDeGol) December 6, 2019
⛳️ Golf como forma de vida
📺#Golazo pic.twitter.com/gwUrCGj42c
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Aston Villa manager Dean Smith reckons Jack Grealish loves being kicked. The midfielder is the most fouled player in the Premier League, on average, getting hoofed up in the air almost five times a game ahead of Sunday’s visit of Leicester.
It’ll frustrate him if they continually do it and not get cautioned but he takes pleasure in the fact they want to kick him. He gets up and gets on with it.
Thanks Stuart. So, what do we make of the Nigel Pearson news, then?
Nigel Pearson is trending, so... pic.twitter.com/w1vPSPmpIx
— David Brent (@DavidBrentMovie) December 6, 2019
Watford in talks with Nigel Pearson
The Premier League’s bottom club are in discussions with Nigel Pearson over their managerial vacancy. Any appointment would potentially be to the summer, when both parties would then reassess the situation. The former Leicester, Derby, Southampton and Hull manager was most recently in charge of Belgian side OH Leuven.
One for the returning Gregg, armed with brew, to unpick. Thanks for reading, folks!
One from overnight, in case you missed it: Southend manager Sol Campbell in conversation with Jonathan Liew …
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Guardiola adds that his assistant Mikel Arteta, linked to the vacancy at Arsenal, “is ready” for a managerial position. After saying he wants and expects him to remain in post for the rest of the season, he backed his credentials to step up.
He will be here to the end of the season. I think so.
He is ready … The time we have spent together here is magnificent.
Shreeves asks if Arteta would make a good successor at the Etihad. “Yeah, definitely,” Guardiola chortles.
Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola is braving the interrogation of Andrew Neil Geoff Shreeves on Sky Sports News …
We are playing good. The way we play lately is not bad, I’m satisfied. We judge results and one team is in incredible form … the way they are playing. The gap is what it is. We have to accept it.
When you have this distance [to Liverpool], 11 points, is too far away. The best idea is how to chase Leicester … try to play good, try to maintain.
On the Manchester derby …
Tactically it’s the same approach. Of course we can lose, play bad, our fans boo – it can happen! But I trust a lot in my players.
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Duncan Ferguson has been making his debut appearance as caretaker manager at Everton. He quite likes the idea of the word “caretaker” being dropped from his title …
I never hesitated. I’m a coach at the moment so I don’t think that is something I am considering at this time. It is a dream to be Everton manager but I am also realistic. Who wouldn’t want to be manager of Everton? There will be many top managers who want this job.”
On Marco Silva …
It is always not nice when a manager loses his job, we all felt for him. Everyone at the club supported him as best we could. It’s unfortunate he lost his job but results determine that, don’t they? It was a sad time. We’ve got to pick the players up now.”
Mourinho also warned that Chelsea’s transfer ban being lifted won’t necessarily lead to insta-success for his former club …
It’s not easy to get better players than they have, they have very good players. I don’t think even with a ban or even with a hypothetical multimillion budget to spend, I’m not very, very sure they can get much better players than they have.”
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Oh, but such impediment to work, José laments, giving himself a nice new nickname in the process …
We have no time to work. After the United game yesterday was a day of complete recovery, today was the second recovery day … so the conditions to work on the pitch are not the best. So less work, more analyse, more meetings, more talk.
I’m not a meetings coach – I am a pitch coach, that’s where I really like to coach. That’s the way you can really accelerate all the process.
He added, with his side already through in the Champions League, that he plans to rest several players against Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
José Mourinho was back in the purple puffa-puffa for the assembled press at Spurs. His side host Burnley tomorrow …
We have to sort out the defence without losing what we have in attack. We concede two goals in each one of my four matches [to date] but we scored in all of them.
We are conceding too much and we are conceding some, what I used to call ‘cheap goals’ – we have to try and stop it. The best way to do it is to work.
Chelsea visit Big Dunc’s Everton in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off. Frank Lampard has been smiling heartily at the prospect of signing players older than 11 or 12, thanks to 11.03’s news re: the club’s transfer ban being halved …
Obviously the club was working towards that and it’s a positive outcome for us. Now there’s the potential to look at the market going forward, so I’m pleased.
[The January window] wasn’t something to discuss at length until we knew the decision. The club have been working away putting forward our case, I’ve been working away trying to get us doing OK on the pitch, and now it’s a discussion we can start taking up.
I’m happy with the squad we have here, we’re doing OK.”
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Remember kids, swig your Vimto every time a football club links up with a brand you’ve never heard of. Youku and Tmall are certainly new ones on me.
This from Reuters, for those who buzz off this kind of thing …
Premier League club Manchester United have agreed a partnership with e-commerce giant Alibaba in an effort to extend the club’s engagement with fans in China. The deal will see Alibaba provide club content on its online video platform Youku and develop a future club store on the company’s business-to-consumer platform Tmall.com.
While existing Premier League broadcast deals restrict United from broadcasting live league matches on Youku, a leading online video service in China, United will have a dedicated club channel on the platform which will show a range of content.
Full story on Brendan Rodgers’s new contract now live …
New on the site: Louise Taylor on Leeds’ hopes of getting back up to the Premier League. They visit Huddersfield in tomorrow’s West Yorkshire derby.
What do Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and Don Revie’s famously formidable Leeds United team of the 1960s and 1970s have in common? The answer, potentially a fiendish pub quiz contender, is that all three have been recipients of the freedom of the city, with surviving members of Revie’s squad receiving this rare civic honour as recently as Wednesday …
Read it here …
West Ham host Arsenal in the Monday night Premier League game. Manuel Pellegrini, whose side won at Chelsea and lost at Wolves in their last two matches, has been talking, with his side in 15th, two points above the relegation places …
I said before those two games if we drew both of them it would be a good result. I worry more about the points we lost at home against Newcastle, Palace and Sheffield United – games that we deserved to win. With four or five points more we’d be in eighth position in the table at this moment. That has passed and now we must try to be focused on the next game.
We continue with [Lukas] Fabianski’s recovery, also [Manuel] Lanzini – they will not be ready until the end of the month. Michail Antonio we must continue seeing – we’ll see tomorrow if he’s fit for the game. [Jack] Wilshere is working – also Winston Reid – with the squad.”
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Leicester City chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha added lots of things about qualities, philosophies and visions:
Brendan’s qualities as a coach are well-known and evident in the way he has sought to unlock the potential in every member of our exciting young squad.
But just as important to us is the suitability of Brendan’s wider philosophy to the club’s established culture and values. He and his staff immersed themselves immediately, building an understanding for the club and the city and an appreciation for what makes them special.
That has been a valuable combination over the last nine months – strengthening the bond between our players, staff and supporters – and I’m excited to see how it can continue to enhance our long-term vision for the club.”
Brendan Rodgers signs new Leicester contract
THIS JUST IN, which may be of interest to Arsenal fans – one manager linked to their vacancy has signed a new five-and-a-half year deal at Leicester …
Leicester City are delighted to announce that Brendan Rodgers has committed to a new contract with the Club to June 2025.
Brendan Rodgers said: “When I made the decision to come to Leicester City, it was because I was excited about the direction the club was taking and how I could apply my experience to the journey. I came here with a purpose to add something to that and to help the club build for the future.
“The support I have had from the chairman, Khun Top; from the chief executive, Susan Whelan; from the director of football, Jon Rudkin; and from everyone at the club has been amazing. I’ve inherited an outstanding team of staff that are dedicated to progress and improvement and we have a group of players that are a joy to work with every day.
“And to the club’s supporters, I can only say thank you for welcoming me and my staff into your club and for putting your faith in our work. We’ll continue to work together to bring success to Leicester City for many years to come.”
Leicester City is delighted to confirm that manager Brendan Rodgers has signed a new contract! 📝
— Leicester City (@LCFC) December 6, 2019
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Seventh-placed Crystal Palace [SUBS PLS CHECK] visit manager-bereft basement club Watford tomorrow. Roy Hodgson has injury worries, but thinks he has enough square pegs to go around. PA Media report that: “The Palace manager will make a late call on the fitness of Scott Dann and Gary Cahill, with Mamadou Sakho suspended and Joel Ward, Patrick Van Aanholt and midfielder Max Meyer also ruled out.”
Hodgson said:
You’ve got to cope. I’m more concerned in some ways about the injuries to [Joel] Ward and to Patrick van Aanholt because that does involve an awful lot of shifting around of players.
At centre-back if we lose so many as we had on Tuesday night [the 1-0 win over Bournemouth], there was still Cheikhou Kouyate to go back there and do an excellent job that he so does so often for Senegal. He’s capable of playing both positions. Because we have so many centre-backs, we use him in midfield but that doesn’t mean to say he’s not a very competent centre-back.”
Jamie Jackson assesses the fortunes (or otherwise) of both sides before tomorrow’s Manchester derby …
Chris Wilder has also been saying his piece on “consistently inconsistent” VAR, after his Sheffield United side’s defeat was sealed by Jonjo Shelvey’s breakaway goal for Newcastle last night. The Blades’ defence stopped after assistant referee Derek Eaton raised his flag, assuming an offside was about to be given against Andy Carroll, who had flicked the ball on. Play continued and replays showed that Carroll was fractionally onside. Wilder said …
He’s an unbelievably good actor is Jonjo, if he’s telling me he knew … he strolled up to that ball and thought: ‘I’ll take a little bit of a chance and just roll it in, and see what happens. That’s what he did. Don’t kid yourself that he’s through and he knew he was going to be in.
Daniel Farke has been a-chattin’, before Norwich host Sheffield United on Sunday.
The two promoted sides have had differing fortunes this season, with the Blades in ninth while Norwich are second-bottom after Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat to Southampton.
We are still a newly-promoted side who have not spent any money, so in each and every second at this level we must be at our best.
We told everyone before the season this would be a difficult challenge. It is important not to criticise them too much. It would be a better lesson if we had managed to come back [for a draw], but we also give them credit for the second half.
We now have a home game and if we carry on in the way we finished this game then we have every chance of a win. It is not like Southampton played us out of the park, we were just bullied.”
Benjamin McIntyre mails with thoughts on Chelsea’s new-found transfer freedom:
“I think Chelsea will be aware that they shouldn’t rush out and sign anyone just because they can,” he says. “The midfield is stacked with talent, with Loftus-Cheek still to come back, and the youngsters leading the line are ripping it up. I don’t see why Lampard would want to tinker with that.
“The only eventual targets they might have are at left-back as neither Alonso or Emerson have been performing consistency or a back-up striker as Chelsea are much less potent when Abraham can’t lead the line.
“I’d be very surprised to see those Zaha/Dembélé rumours get any real traction.”
In his first league start since January, Xherdan Shaqiri put in a superb performance against Everton, including a goal, and seemingly while wearing Philippe Coutinho’s hair. More from Klopp …
Shaq was injured twice with the same injury and it took time. The team was winning pretty much all the games, which was difficult. When you come on the pitch I expect the desire to show you are good enough. They all did that, Shaq did that especially. He was in a really good mood and really good shape and that’s the situation where you can deliver a really good performance.
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Two of his side’s standout performers on Wednesday were Sadio Mané and Divock Origi.
On Mané, Klopp said …
Sadio’s incredible. Since his first days he was an incredibly important player for us. I can still remember his first goal for us. He made big steps each year. Sadio, especially in the game against Barcelona here at home … it was like there were three of him. I’m really happy for him.
On two-goal Origi …
Divock’s unbelievably important for us. I was really happy that Mr [Belgium manager Roberto] Martinez was in the stadium. It was good he saw that.
He needs to be in a confident mood and then everybody knows what he’s able to do. The first was a brilliant pass from Sadio but the second was just a world-class goal.
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Afternoon all, bon appetit Gregg. And no sooner do I arrive, than Big Jürg’s up, talking before Liverpool play Bournemouth tomorrow …
On Marco Silva, whose time at Goodison Park ended after Everton were on the receiving end of a 5-2 shoeing …
I feel for him. Since I’m in England, Everton, how we all know, are an ambitious club with a big history. Marco is 100% an outstanding coach and manager. For sure it is not his fault but they thought they needed a change and that’s the position of a manager. We all accept that.”
On Liverpool’s December fixture crush …
There are a lot of people who worry still and a lot of people who hope you fail. We know we are in a really, really difficult situation with the games coming up. We have to deal with it … we need to be lucky with the players, that they can stay fit and healthy. What that means for Christmas I never thought about.
You need a smart squad, people with half a brain at least. It’s not Fifa or PlayStation where they don’t need a rest.”
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Right, I’m going to hand over to Stuart Goodwin for a bit. He’ll guide you through the lunchtime press conferences. I may be back a little later on. Bye for now.
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Watford’s caretaker manager Hayden Mullins wants to be a Bez-like vibes man while he is in charge. The Hornets played well in defeat at Leicester and they host his former club, Crystal Palace, tomorrow. Mullins wants there to be a feelgood atmosphere at Vicarage Road when Roy Hodgson’s high-flyers visit.
Palace are a side in form, but we are going to try to start with a high temp. We know we need to start fast. If we give the fans something to cheer about then they will be with us and we need them. We know it is a game we need to attack and get the fans going and loud with the team. We have to try to get positivity throughout the whole stadium.
Sam Allardyce, Chris Hughton, Paul Clement and Quique Setien have all been linked with the vacant job but there has also been talk of Mullins being given the role until the end of the season if he impresses as a coach. He’s currently the Under-23s manager and a positive result against Palace would strengthen his case for sticking around for a while longer.
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“The halving of the transfer ban is the worst possible outcome for Chelsea and Frank Lampard should now be very afraid,” writes Karl Gibbons. “Names like Zaha and Dembele should strike fear into not just Hudson-Odoi and Mount but all Chelsea fans. Going out and splashing the cash now will be a step backwards and I hope that the club’s hierarchy realise this and approach with caution. Certainly, buy players but do not forget the joy that has arisen this season in seeing the club’s ‘youngsters’ and perpetual loanees finally being given the room and opportunity to shine, and shine they have!”
As I type Ole Gunnar Solskjær is managing Manchester United, Duncan Ferguson is manager of Everton and Frederick Ljungberg is Arsenal’s boss. What’s the perfect late-90s song to soundtrack that managerial trio? Chasing Rainbows?
Who will Chelsea target in the transfer window? Two players are mentioned in today’s edition of the Rumour Mill: Wilfried Zaha and Ousmane Dembélé. Ben Chilwell has been mentioned as a potential option, too.
There’s a huge match in the Bundesliga tomorrow, where league leaders Mönchengladbach host Bayern, who are languishing in fourth, a place above Dortmund. It’s a big match anyway but for Bayern’s interim manager Hans-Dieter Flick it’s a family affair, too:
Since my childhood Gladbach against Bayern was always a classic. In the house of Flick it was a classic as well, my brother was a Gladbach fan and I’m a Bayern fan. We’re on the right track and we will travel there with confidence. We showed good things against Leverkusen despite the defeat. We created many chances. Off the ball, some things were not good but we worked on them in training this week.
The top of the Bundesliga table makes for interesting viewing:
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borussia M'gladbach | 13 | 13 | 28 |
| 2 | RB Leipzig | 13 | 21 | 27 |
| 3 | Schalke 04 | 13 | 8 | 25 |
| 4 | Bayern Munich | 13 | 16 | 24 |
| 5 | Borussia Dortmund | 13 | 9 | 23 |
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Here’s our story on Chelsea’s transfer ban being lifted in January:
Chelsea's transfer ban halved
Breaking news! Chelsea can buy players in the January transfer window after the court of arbitration for sport announced that the two-window transfer ban has been halved. Here’s an extract from Cas’s statement.
“The sole arbitrator found that CFC did violate Articles 19.1 (related to the international transfer of minors) and 19.3 (related to the first registration of minors), but for a significantly smaller number of players (about one third of the violations found by Fifa). In addition, the violations of other RSTP rules were found to be less serious than those attributed to Chelsea FC by FIFA. Accordingly, the Sole Arbitrator reduced the sanction to one single transfer ban (which Chelsea FC already served during the 2019 summer registration period), and halved the monetary sanction.
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Ole Gunnar Solskjær couldn’t help himself from opening a can of b@ntz and showering Manchester City with it when he was asked for his thoughts on the Manchester derby. Here’s Jamie Jackson’s hot take on the press conference:
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A view on Everton target Vitor Pereira from below the line. It’s a slightly baffled one:
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Amazon has been heartily slapping itself on the back after declaring its first foray into broadcasting Premier League matches a success. “We’re delighted that millions of football fans enjoyed watching Amazon’s first ever round of Premier League matches on Prime Video,” said Alex Green, managing director of Prime Video Sport Europe. “We are excited to be the first ever broadcaster to bring fans all 10 games live in a fixture round. We are thrilled and humbled by the positive response from Prime members not only to the production and streaming experience, but also the innovations we have introduced, such as integrated live match stats and highlights through X-Ray plus the ability to experience commentary-free stadium atmosphere.”
The coverage was fine but, personally, I find streaming a horrible way to watch football, which should be communal. Having to watch on a delay on your laptop isn’t ideal, is it? Everyone knows a goal’s been scored before you actually get to view it. Pubs that had Sky Sports on one TV and Amazon through their box on the other were effectively screening live spoilers.
What next for Marco Silva, then? As ever, Barney Ronay gets to the essence of his subject in this brilliant piece:
Aged 42 Silva is pretty much done in England, destined for China or Qatar, a one-man mystery story for future football historians. He does, though, still have a very good coat.
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There’s some more from Eddie Howe here. He dismissed links with the Everton job and said his focus is on improving his Bournemouth team, who have dropped to 14th in the league after a sorry run of four straight defeats. Here’s what he had to say about the Liverpool match:
I’m invigorated and energised to get results here. I have no problems with my energy levels, my enthusiasm, anything. This is a tough, tough league and we’re in a tough moment. But these challenges are what inspires me. There’s no bigger challenge than when I first took the job here in my first ever managerial appointment and we found a way out of a situation so we can find our way out of anything. We all need to collectively come together and show that unity and fight and challenge and that’s what I’m asking my players to do.
A big blow for Howe tomorrow is that Harry Wilson is not available due to the loan agreement with Liverpool. He’s scored six goals from midfield for the Cherries this season. Howe has defensive problems too. He’ll be without Steve Cook (broken wrist) and Adam Smith (ankle) while the centre-forward Josh King (hamstring) is also missing.
Duncan Ferguson is taking Everton training this morning and he’s being assisted by John Ebbrell, Franny Jeffers and Alan Kelly. It’s so very old school. I wonder if he’s coaching this kind of approach to stopping Chelsea?
On the Manchester derby itself, Solskjær is hoping to have Anthony Martial fit and available but Paul Pogba is still out with an ankle injury. Martial was a doubt to face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium after picking up a knock last weekend against Aston Villa that for Solskjaer expected to see him out “for a little while”. But the France forward looks set to return.
“We hope to have Anthony definitely for part of the game - I’m not sure if he’s able to start,” Solskjær said. “Paul probably won’t be, no.” Asked when he is expecting Pogba back, he said: “As soon as possible, as quickly as possible. He’s out on the grass training. I said in 2019 so hopefully we’ll see him before the New Year definitely.”
'It is the worst front page I have ever seen'
Ole Gunnar Solskjær has arrived at Carrington to preview the Manchester derby but he has taken little time in laying into the Corriere dello Sport “Black Friday” headline, which featured images of Chris Smalling and Romelu Lukaku alongside it. The paper has defended the headline despite widespread condemnation and accusations of racism but Solskjær has a withering view of the Italian paper’s editorial judgment. He has offered his support to his former player Lukaku and Smalling, who is on loan at Roma from Manchester United.
See the paper? Wow. Really. Is that possible. It is the worst front page I have ever seen. It has to be. Of course we have been in touch with Chris, just so he knows that we’ll back him and we support him. And with Romelu as well. I don’t work in your line of business but, wow, that’s incredible - and at least we don’t see that here. We can see lots of different things but we don’t see that, so that has to be stamped down [on].
Updated
Right, so who is going to inherit the sorry mess at Watford Arsenal Everton, then? Sky are reporting that the Toffees are set for talks with Vitor Pereira, the 51-year-old Portuguese manager of Shanghai SIPG. Why him, you ask? Apparently he was a contender to succeed David Moyes in 2013 before the club opted for Roberto Martínez instead. And Eddie Howe, who is always first out of bed on a Friday for his Bournemouth press conference, has dismissed stories linking him with the job at Goodison.
First of all, I am very disappointed for Marco. Secondly, I am 100% committed to this club and I am a little bit embarrassed with the speculation if I am honest after our recent run of results. It’s come at a bad time because people will then question whether your work has been affected by what’s being said outside.
He’s referring to a run of four defeats in a row in the Premier League – and they face Liverpool at the Vitality Stadium at 3pm tomorrow. Yikes!
Do you want to know who the Guardian’s best female footballer of 2019 is? Have a look at our complete top 100 list, then. It will certainly please Chelsea fans.
Hello world!
It’s that time of year when football just doesn’t stop. With the fading boos at Arsenal signalling that the midweek Premier League matches having only just finished we’re already on to previewing this weekend’s fixtures, the pick of which is Saturday evening’s Manchester derby. Duncan Ferguson’s temporary managerial bow when Everton take on Chelsea in Saturday’s early kick-off will be worth keeping an eye on, too, mind. Given his hands-on approach to dealing with troubling situations in the past, there will certainly be a reaction from his Toffees after their midweek Merseyside derby mauling. He’s also going to have to speak to journalists today. That could be a lot of fun.
Here is the list of Premier League fixtures:
Saturday
Everton v Chelsea 12.30pm
Bournemouth v Liverpool 3pm
Spurs v Burnley 3pm
Watford v Crystal Palace 3pm
Manchester City v Manchester United 5.30pm
Sunday
Aston Villa v Leicester 2pm
Newcastle v Southampton 2pm
Norwich v Sheffield United 2pm
Brighton v Wolves 4.30pm
Monday
West Ham v Arsenal 8pm
Take a look at the latest Premier League table here and if you’re wondering what you should be looking out for this weekend, this might help:
Vitor Pereira for Marco Silva? I cannot believe what I'm seeing here.
Pereira was once promising - around a decade ago when he replaced the Chelsea-bound AVB. But since then he was so-so at Porto, awful at Olympiacos (I know he won the title there but his unsportsmanlike behaviour made even Olympiacos fans enemies of him), mediocre at Fenerbahce (in-fighting with Robin van Persie and Kjaer did not help) and woeful at 1860 Munchen.
He has been in China for the better part of the last two years and although he pipped the giants Guangzhou to the title in 2018, he is not much loved there either as he has had two bang average AFC Champions League campaigns. The rumours that he is earning close to £15 million a year there also make this move more baffling than it already is!