Rangers temporarily moved to the top of the Scottish Premier League ahead of Celtic after a 2-1 victory over St Mirren at Ibrox on Saturday.Rangers’ left-sided defender Sasa Papac opened the scoring in the 33rd minute when he turned in a rebound after St Mirren goalkeeper Paul Gallacher did well to deny a Nikica Jelavic effort.
St Mirren took only five minutes to draw level, and did so in spectacular fashion as Darren McGregor volleyed home from Aaron Mooy’s cross.
But Rangers restored their lead in the 52nd minute as Steven Whittaker converted a penalty after Jelavic was tripped by defender John Potter.
Jelavic then missed two chances to put the game beyond doubt while Saints unsuccessfully went in search of an equaliser.
In the day’s other league match, Inverness and Hearts drew 1-1.
Aaron Doran’s volley put the home side a goal up in the sixth minute but his strike was cancelled out by Stephen Elliott, who placed a low shot beyond Inverness goalkeeper Ryan Esson in the second hald.
Inverness defender Ross Tokely was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for a reckless challenge on winger David Templeton.
Serie A giants Roma are set to be taken over by an American consortium, according to chief investor Thomas Di Benedetto.The consortium announced on Friday that they have purchased a 67 percent stake in the club at a price of 62.1 million pounds, subject to regulatory approval.
Di Benedetto owns 60 percent of the new consortium, with Italian bank UniCredit owning the other 40 percent and the completed takeover will signal an end to months of speculation surrounding the future of the club.
“Good things don’t come easy,” Di Benedetto told reporters in Boston. “I never felt that I would give up on the quest for this team.”
Di Benedetto has been a partner of the New England Sports Ventures group, which owns MLB side the Boston Red Sox and Premier League giants Liverpool, and said he wants to see the Roma side filled with more local players.
“If you look around professional soccer today, there are a number of players who grew up in greater Rome,” he said.
“It’s our goal to have more of them playing for AS Roma. I think we will put in place the people who will make it attractive for these young men to sign with us.”
Di Benedetto also added that he is hoping to replicate the success that AC Milan owner and Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has had with his club.
The American gave no indication whether caretaker coach Vincenzo Montella would be given the job full-time from next season, and Montella himself said he was more focused on this weekend’s match.
Montella said: “We are curious, not anxious. We must only think about Saturday’s game against Palermo.”
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini wants the club’s FA Cup triumph over Stoke City to lead to greater success.A 75th-minute strike from Yaya Toure gave City a 1-0 win at Wembley on Saturday and their first trophy since the 1976 League Cup.
Mancini said he was delighted for the fans and wanted the club to build on the win.
“I can say only that I’m very happy for all the supporters. After many years, they deserved to win this trophy,” he said.
“I didn’t feel we dominated this game. We need to improve but we are very happy. We did a small piece of history of Manchester City. We start now.”
Toure, the hero of the day, said the focus all season had been on claiming at least one trophy.
“The dream is now… it’s fantastic to win. It’s fantastic for the history of the club,” the Ivory Coast international said.
“We wanted to win something and get through to the Champions League. It’s amazing.”
Striker Mario Balotelli, who was named man of the match, said the players felt they had the advantage over Stoke heading into the encounter.
“I’m happy. I said to the guys before the game, ‘we’re better than them, we have to respect them and give everything and if we do we’re going to win’,” he said.
Defender Micah Richards agreed with his boss in wanting City to build towards great things on the back of the trophy win.
“It’s unbelievable. Words can’t describe it. We’ve worked hard all season. Now it’s happened, it’s unbelievable,” Richards said.
“This is the first one and this is the most important. We’ve got to build on this.”
Goalkeeper Joe Hart said he only cared about City’s result and not Manchester United’s league triumph at Blackburn earlier in the day.
“It’s nothing to do with Manchester United, it’s about Man City. We deserved to win the cup, we’ve beaten the best and we’ve beaten a very good Stoke side today.”
A lot has been made about the need for a massive squad overhaul at Liverpool this summer. Some have even reported that there could be as many as 20 comings and goings over the close season as the Reds start to mould a team capable of competing for major trophies once again. Inevitably then, there have been a vast amount of transfer rumours spreading across newspapers and the internet as to who will be coming in, and who will be departing the club.
One of the most interesting aspects has been the significant split in reports that the Reds are either targeting mainly foreign based players or exclusively British talent. Only a few days ago, it was reported in the Daily Mail that Kenny Dalglish was focusing on bringing in exclusively British talent with Gary Cahill , Phil Jones , Connor Wickham , Charlie Adam , Ashley Young and Stewart Downing all being tipped as potential targets.
In the same measure, in other reports, the Reds have been linked with a vast array of players from France especially. Inevitably this has something to do with having a French Director of Football in Damien Comolli , but it can’t be a coincidence as both Dalglish and Comolli have been spotted at matches in France over the past few months. Sylvain Marveaux, Eden Hazard , Yann M’Vila, Blaise Matuidi , Mamadou Sakho and Hugo Lloris are just some of the names from France that have been linked with the Reds. In addition players such as Diego Perotti, Iker Muniain and Alvario Negredo from Spain, and Ezequiel Lavezzi and Juan Manuel Vargas from Italy have also been rumoured targets.
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This is of course usual for rumours to start flying around as we head into the final stages of the season, but what is most interesting is there seems to be complete confusion in the rumour mill about whether Damien Comolli or Kenny Dalglish will be the one having the greatest influence on transfers. In one instance you will read, Kenny Dalglish ’s name linked with a British player, while it will always be exclusively reported that Damien Comolli is interested in a foreign player.
No one can really know what the summer will hold for LFC. If King Kenny does get the job full time, he will surely have a final say on transfer targets but the collegial strategy which FSG are going for in regards to transfer decisions means that Damien Comolli will surely have some say too. At the moment it looks as if Kenny is favouring players proven in the Premier League, while Comolli is doing his job by scouring Europe for young talent. Hopefully it means that we get the best of both worlds. While we get some good players from England, perhaps such as Ashley Young and Phil Jones , we will also be hopefully looking at the likes of Eden Hazard and Yann M’Vila .
When John Aldridge named his transfer targets of Young, Adam, Cahill a couple of weeks ago, there was some concern among Liverpool supporters that these players might not be good enough to improve the team. In Charlie Adam ’s case especially, I would be very concerned if we opted to buy the player for a sizeable fee, if it was at the expense of a younger, more promising talent from abroad. Of course, only time will tell what sort of strategy the Reds will employ. If we go for player’s purely based on ability, rather than any preconceived notion about home-grown talent, I will be happy.
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Article courtesy of David at Live4Liverpool
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Suspended FIFA Vice-President Jack Warner has denied the corruption allegations made against him and accused Sepp Blatter of bribery.Warner, president of the CONCACAF Federation since 1990, was suspended by a FIFA ethics committee on Sunday along with Mohamed bin Hammam.
Warner and bin Hammam are under investigation for alleged bribes made to Caribbean Football Union delegates at a meeting in Trinidad on May 10 and 11.
Bin Hammam, head of the Asian Football Confederation, withdrew his candidacy for the top FIFA job prior to the hearing on Sunday, but denies any wrongdoing.
Warner denies allegations that he was involved in giving bribes of US$40,000 to CFU members in an attempt to secure their support in Wednesday’s leadership elections.
He also accused incumbent and long-term colleague Blatter of impropriety.
“I denied the allegations that I made statements at the CFU meeting about gifts being given by Mr Bin Hammam,” Warner said in a statement.
“I also indicated that at the Miami CONCACAF Congress on May 3 Mr Blatter made a gift of one million USD to CONCACAF to spend as it deems fit.”
“This annoyed (UEFA) President Michel Platini who was present and he approached Secretary General Jerome Valcke complaining that Mr Blatter had no permission from the Finance Committee to make this gift to which Jerome replied that he will find the money for Mr Blatter.”
“I also indicated at the CFU meeting held in Trinidad on May 10 which was requested by Mr Bin Hammam, FIFA through Mr Blatter organised gifts of laptops and projectors to all members of the Caribbean and no objections have been made today of this to date.”
Warner also extended his accusations to Valcke, claiming the Secretary General admitted to him in an email that bin Hammam effectively bought the 2022 World Cup for Qatar.
According to Warner, Valcke’s email states: “For MBH (Mohamed bin Hammam), I never understood why he was running. If really he thought he had a chance or just being an extreme way to express how much he does not like anymore JSB (Joseph Sepp Blatter). Or he thought you can buy FIFA as they bought the WC (World Cup).”
“The complaints made in this matter are politically motivated against Mr Bin Hammam and me and are designed, among other things, to cause serious prejudice and damage to both Mr Bin Hammam and myself at one of the most critical times for the FIFA.”
Interim AFC chief Zhang Jilong wants to move on from the harm caused by the scandal which has engulfed suspended president Mohamed Bin Hammam.Zhang, a senior vice-president at the AFC, assumed interim presidential duties after Bin Hammam was suspended from all football activities over sensational bribe claims ahead of a proposed tilt at the FIFA presidency.
The 59-year-old said he wanted to progress the AFC from the current controversy and indicated that the Asian governing body was not interesting in dwelling on the controversy engulfing their former leader, who will have to disprove the corruption claims if he is to resume his role.
“My priority at the new post is to ease the negative effect of Bin Hammam’s corruption allegations on Asian soccer. We should aim to improve the AFC’s operations and make it run more transparently,” Zhang told Chinese website Sina.com.
“I hope to solidify the whole Asian soccer community and make the federation operate steadily after the crisis.”
“Scandals such as bin Hammam’s bribery allegations harm the sport’s beauty. Anyone who does not show transparency should pay for it.”
“Although FIFA’s reputation has been questioned, I believe in its determination to fight against corruption or any potential behaviour that disobeys moral principles.”
The Chinese Football Association has opted to back Zhang’s appointment, a move which could indicate a changing of the guard in Asian football politics, which have been dominated by Qatari Bin Hammam in recent years.
It seems quite amazing to think that only two years ago Spanish international defender José Enrique was about to begin a new season in the second tier of English football with Newcastle United. This week it seems likely that the 25-year-old is set to leave St James’ Park with a whole host of clubs chasing the highly-rated left-back.
Enrique who has one year left on his contract has made 119 appearances for the Magpies in his four years there. He has recently stated that he is ‘happy’ to leave Newcastle this summer and looks ready to progress his career with talks breaking down over a new contract.
Kenny Dalglish is a fan of the £8m rated defender and after another of his targets Gael Clichy joined Manchester City, is it thought that he has moved to the top of his transfer list in order to solve the problem left-back position at Anfield.
However Liverpool could face stiff competition from Arsenal who are seeking to replace Clichy. Arsene Wenger is known to admire the left-back and has the advantage of providing him with European football this season, something Liverpool cannot do.
‘EL Toro’ (The Bull) was always known for his searing pace and was even a member of a local running club in his teens. He decided against perusing a career in athletics instead signing for home-town club Levante, making his professional debut at the age of 18 in 2004. He did enough in just 19 games to earn a dream move to Valencia, his boyhood team, in the summer of 2005. But as soon as he had arrived he was back out again, this time on a season long loan at Celta Vigo where he impressed with some eye-catching performances, helping the side to a 6th place finish in the Priméra Liga.
He left Valencia that summer, only a year after joining them and without actually playing a game for the club, joining Villarreal. As part of ‘The Yellow Submarine’ he played at St James’ Park in a friendly at the start of the 2006 season. His performance must have impressed the watching Geordies as exactly a year to the day he was back in the North East to finalise a £6.3m switch from Villarreal.
Constant managerial changes at the Newcastle meant he struggled to establish himself in the first team up until the 2009 season. However when he finally became first choice left back he could do nothing to save the club from relegation at the end of the season and many expected the Spaniard to return to Spain.
Instead Enrique stayed at the club and played an integral part in the Newcastle title-winning side, picking up the Player of the Year award and gaining a place in the PFA Championship team of the season.
His short period in the Championship has developed him as a player adding consistency to already considerable attributes as a Premier League left-back. His return to top-flight was preceded by a season of high-quality performances and he is now regarded as one of the best left backs in the Premier League.
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Enrique has reported back to pre-season training at Newcastle this week but he is not expected to be there much longer with Liverpool and Arsenal both in the hunt for a left back before the start of the new season.
Expect ‘El Toro’ to be charging down the wing at another club come August.
So it’s been an interesting week in the on-going Carlos Tevez transfer battle. The situation really goes back to the middle of last season, when Tevez handed in a transfer request. At the time Manchester City were able to neutralise that situation and they had hoped that qualification for the Champions League would convince Tevez to stay. Manchester City had a relatively successful season by qualifying for the Champions League and winning the FA Cup. However, come the end of the season the stance of Carlos Tevez remains relatively unchanged and the Argentine is still looking for a move.
Some people may be questioning why Carlos Tevez wants to leave and in an ideal world where he would want to go. What it doesn’t appear to be is a case of a lack of confidence in the ability of Manchester City to win trophies, but rather that the player wants a change of league. This is perhaps understandable given he has spent time playing for West Ham, Manchester United and Manchester City in the Premier League. But that fact that the player has asked for a transfer should come as little surprise, considering this is a player that doesn’t typically stay at any club for more than 2 years.
The striker had requested that he returned to South America for family reasons and this prompted a £40m offer from former club Corinthians. However, the Brazilian club were under significant pressure to get the deal done. The main reason behind this was the closure of the Brazilian transfer window on Thursday. However, there were also certain assurances that Manchester City were seeking that most notably included the assurance that Tevez would not sign for a European club within the next two years.
With these two issues in mind Corinthians have made the decision to pull out of the deal, presenting problems for Tevez and for Manchester City. The Manchester club have now confirmed that they would require a transfer fee of at least £50m for a European club. But Manchester City may find a lack of suitors at that price point. Most clubs would probably love to have Carlos Tevez at their disposal, but £50m is a huge investment to spend on one player.
So what can Manchester City do? Reconsider their valuation of the player or be willing to accept any offer that came their way. Quite a dilemma for City, but what do supporters feel would be the best move going forward – especially as Tevez is clearly determined to quit Eastlands?
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Barcelona have agreed to sell striker Bojan Krkic to Roma, the La Liga side announced on Friday.In a convoluted deal that sees the Spain Under-21 international head to Serie A for 12 million Euros, Barcelona have agreed to buy Bojan back for 13 million Euros at the end of the 2012-13 season.
Should Roma wish to block the move and keep the 20-year-old, they will have to pay an additional 28 million Euros.
Bojan struggled to establish himself as a first-team regular under Pep Guardiola at Camp Nou due to competition from the likes of David Villa, Pedro and Lionel Messi.
He had previously been linked with a move to Villarreal and Udinese but made it clear that if he were to leave, he would prefer to team-up with Roma manager and former Barcelona player Luis Enrique.
And his aims are to show Barcelona what they will be missing now that he is gone.
“As you know, after 12 years playing here, I have not received a lot of trust these last few years, I have not been given the required opportunity to prove myself and that is very hard,” Bojan told reporters.
“However, I consider myself privileged for being a part of this team during these years in which Barcelona became the best team in the world.”
“I just want to be happy in football again. I am just 20 years old and I want to prove all that I couldn’t here. To return here? You never know. It will not depend just on me.”
However, what was supposed to be an amicable departure sounded anything but as the striker hit out at being cast aside in key games.
“People have not been fair with me. It is one of the reasons why I am leaving. Especially in the (Champions League) final in London,” he added.
“To be able to win is remarkable, but not being able to play was very hurtful.”
“I will miss my team-mates, the city, to play in Camp Nou, to defend the shirt that I have always worn. I hope to recover my happiness at Roma.”
Manchester City signing Sergio Aguero is confident he can adapt his game to the demands of the English Premier League.Argentina international Aguero completed a move from La Liga club Atletico Madrid to City for a reported fee of 35 million pounds on Thursday.
The 23-year-old forward has just 10 days until City take on local rivals Manchester United in the FA Community Shield.
The Premier League season then begins for City with the visit of promoted Swansea on August 15, with Aguero keen to be involved.
“I’m sure I’ll settle in well to the team,” Aguero told City’s website.
“I don’t think I’ll need to change my style.”
“I’ll obviously be doing my best to do what the manager says, and try to work the way he wants me to, and of course he will know how he wants to use me.”
Aguero’s arrival comes with his international teammate Carlos Tevez, City’s captain and top scorer last season, agitating for a move away from England to be closer to his family.
Set to move to Manchester with his wife and child, Aguero, who made his first team debut for Independiente at the age of 15 and moved to Madrid when he was 18, insists he will have no trouble in his new surroundings.
“I think I’ll adapt to life in England – I don’t like hot weather, so I’ll be fine there,” he said.
“I’m sure I’m going to enjoy myself here and life will be fine.”
Aguero is already aiming to help his new side beat United in the season-opening Community Shield, lifting what he hopes will be the first of many trophies in a City shirt.
“I think it’s a clasico, a derby that every fan wants to see,” Aguero said.
“People count down the days to the match.”
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“Of course there has to be a winner, but you have to be happy and enjoy it as well as focusing because you know it’s an important game.”
“Someone has to win, and all the better if it’s us.”
“I saw the FA Cup victory (over Stoke in May), and it’s clear that from now on this is a team that will be competing for important things every year.”
“Let’s hope that there will be quite a few trophies.”