Monthly Archives: December 2008

"We have always said we would only allow our players to leave if we received an exceptional bid. We could not stand in the way of a move such as this for Lassana." Portsmouth FC spokesman on a reported $36 milllion bid for the French midfielder Lasanna Diarra from Real Madrid.    

Former Bolton and Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce has been named the new man in charge at Blackburn Rovers, which sacked Paul Ince Tuesday. He has signed a three-year contract.    

Let's start this one rolling all over again. According to Spanish daily El Mundo, Manchester United and Real Madrid have come to a gentleman's agreement over the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo next summer. The Spanish newspaper said that after Real's 2-0 loss at Barcelona Saturday, Real club director Pedro Trapote told "a confidant" that a […]

AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi has said his team will not win the Italian Serie A next year now that it is nine points behind city rival Inter. The team must focus on qualification for the Champions League instead. "Has the Scudetto slipped from our grasp?" he asked. "Well, nine points is a lot. In […]

The Seattle Sounders FC "struck gold" by hiring Sigi Schmid as coach, writes Steve Kelley. "Short of stealing Sir Alex Ferguson from Manchester United, they couldn't have done much better." For how many expansion teams get to hire their league's reigning coach of the year? "He's got good ideas about the game, solid ideas, but […]

Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari "is facing a growing challenge to his authority" in the locker room in the wake of the team's recent patchy form, writes Matt Hughes. He said Scolari "was asked to explain his substitutions by several senior players after the 1-1 draw at home to West Ham United" on Sunday. Players […]

The English Premier League will launch its own TV channel in 2010 if the value of bids for live television rights falls during the coming auction for the period 2010-13, writes Nick Harris. He said the move would be to make the clubs "recession-proof" and safeguard its most important source of income. However, the newspaper […]

"Someone who should be casting his eye on [Michael] Owen is Arsene Wenger. In 2001, he prematurely hailed the injury-prone flop Francis Jeffers as the 'fox in the box' his side needed — and he has been looking for a penalty area specialist ever since." Rich Evans ponders the next move for England striker Owen, […]

"I'm at the best club in the world and fighting for your position is normal." Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez says that he's happy at Old Trafford, despite not being a regular starter, and that he expects to sign a long term contract soon.  

"I am reluctant to put up a barrier to Raul and tell him that he will not return to the national team." Spain coach Vicente del Bosque says that the 31-year-old Real Madrid striker could still play for his country. The player has scored 44 times in 102 international appearances, but last played for the […]

"My feeling is, it may come to a point where the team comes first and it's, 'Kenny, you're here no matter what. You've had this opportunity, but this has gone on a little too long. We don't want to lose you, but we've given you that chance to find something else and it hasn't worked […]

“FIFA’s rulers are set to formally approve a Great Britain football team for the London 2012 Olympics later this week despite opposition from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland,” writes Martyn Ziegler. The three smaller countries fear that taking part in a unified British team would eventually threaten their independent status.