Cameo of the week
6: Days between new Rangers director Chris Graham predicting “as far as the boardroom is concerned, the turmoil is over”, and resigning for tweeting a picture of the prophet Muhammad performing a sex act on Jar Jar Binks.
• Owner Dave King’s week-one pledge to fans, before the reshaped board’s early setback: a focus on long-term credibility. “It’s not just a question of plugging a hole over the next couple of weeks. That’s the easy part.”
Imaginary card etiquette
Arbiter of the week: John Terry, still upset by PSG “charging the ref”, explaining in April last year how it should be done – advising Phil Dowd to send off Chico Flores with respect. “I just said: ‘It’s a second yellow for me.’ Fair play to Phil, the ref, it was a big decision to make and I thought he made the right one. Credit goes to him for that.”
Football family news
Last week’s boardroom latest:
• Nigeria’s FA facing a seven-day deadline to release full unredacted financial records to a government inquiry, six months after a reported “mystery fire” destroyed their accounts office. Government officials say they plan to “track down every kobo”.
• Zimbabwe’s FA auctioning off its office furniture due to “a debt quagmire”, a year after president Cuthbert Dube set out his plan to fix it. “Maybe some people will ask if I’m alright in my head, but we’re going to diversify into farming. Cattle ranching and crop farming. There’s no way you can fail.”
• Brazil’s FA disciplinary body banning Grêmio director Nestor Hein for 30 days after he called them “the most vile and disgusting body in the world”. Hein said he was upset when an STJD official who ruled against Grêmio in a racism case was later acquitted after he posted racist photos online. “Next time I visit the STJD I’ll wear a nose clip, for the stench.”
Meanwhile: PR News
Set to lift the tone this week: Fifa partner and Russian gas giant Gazprom launching its third annual Children’s Football For Friendship project – first unveiled at a 2013 press event with Vladimir Putin. Last year’s project featured children from 16 nations, including Ukraine, promoting “friendship between different countries” plus “tradition, peace and fair play”.
Manager news
Last week’s moves:
• Jan: Ian Holloway on Millwall’s owner John Berylson: “He’s the owner I’ve wanted for years. And he’s the owner I’d die for. And if he ends up killing me with his sword it’ll be respectful, it’ll be right and it’ll be done correctly, and I’d have deserved it because I’d have let him down – at least in one year’s time.” 4 Mar: Berylson: “I am fully supportive of the manager”. 11 Mar: Sacks him.
• Italy, Dec: Cagliari president Tommaso Giulini sacks Zdenek Zeman and hires Gianfranco Zola. “Those who are writing I did this for publicity are those who write bullshit. Sacking Zeman was painful, but necessary.” Mar: Sacks Zola, rehires Zeman.
• Costa Rica, 9 Mar: Cartaginés president Daniel Vargas. “No, I’m not giving Enrique Meza a vote of confidence, because it’s not even an issue. We have never questioned the position of Enrique. It has never come up.” 12 Mar: It comes up.
Plus: tidiest reign
Ghana: BA United sacking coach Mohammed Gargo one game after hiring him – officials claiming he upset morale by implying his players were only “so bad” because they liked to bet on themselves to lose. “His comments were detestable. We can’t be keeping him.”
Clarification of the week
France: Lyon owner Jean-Michel Aulas – asked if he’d apologise for branding a Twitter critic “autistic”. “No, where’s the offence? Autistic means someone who has a behavioural disorder. I know what I mean.” In December Aulas told another critic to “go to bed”; the boy, aged eight, hit back: “You’re not my father, you don’t set my bedtime.”
• Assessing Aulas’s record, Montpellier owner Louis “Loulou” Nicollin: “For some time now, Aulas has annoyed me. He talks too much, with no humility”. Also from Loulou last week – a verdict on Marseille coach Marcelo Bielsa. “Bielsa? Simply a dickhead. If he worked for me, I’d sack him.”
Best preview
Former Sri Lanka captain Ashok Nawgalage, teeing up their shock 1-0 defeat to the world’s bottom-ranked team, Bhutan: “There’s no point punching someone who is 36 positions below us. Playing Bhutan is not very useful, even for acquiring experience.” Local media reported Bhutan “celebrated with a trip to KFC”.
Crouching Tigres
Mexico: Tigres coach Ricardo Ferretti – sent to the stands for abuse – feeling “no regrets” after cameras caught him hiding from the referee behind seats in the back of his dugout instead. “He was wrong, my gestures were not expellable, so I stayed. There was no disrespect.”
#TeAmoTuca #MeEscondoComoElTuca cuando ganan los Leones pic.twitter.com/fF7D12TQnE
— Mauro Hernandez (@MAURAZZOTV) March 9, 2015
Plus: best rebuttal
Mexico: Ronaldinho, denying “lacking professionalism” at Querétaro, and releasing the video for his new track Come to Me, with the chorus: “We get into the funky groove/My body entwined with your body/The smell of your fragrant neck/I’m hooked on this tasty grind.” The new track follows 2014’s collaboration I’m Full of Money … Let’s Drink.
