Thursday, 20 March 2014

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

06:16

By: TBMU Admin On: 06:16   In:   No comments

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

Man Utd 3-0 Olympiakos (3-2)

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 02:57 PM PDT

It was a night that began with wild stories of Manchester United supporters planning to tear down the "Chosen One" banner and finished with David Moyes saluting the crowd in a new position of strength. His team had finally remembered what is expected of them inside this stadium and, in the process, they reminded everyone at Old Trafford what a special place this can be, under the floodlights, on the big occasions.

They were great scenes of jubilation at the end and it feels like nitpicking to point out that the victory songs did not extend to serenading Moyes. In every other respect, this was the finest moment of his difficult, sometimes harrowing, first eight months as Sir Alex Ferguson's successor, and it may just have kept him in a job.

Robin van Persie certainly chose a good moment to rediscover his best form. If United had gone out of this competition it would have been the earliest they had surrendered any chance of silverware for a quarter of a century. The Glazer family were on one of their occasional visits and it was difficult not to fear for Moyes. Instead they played like the old United. Van Persie put them on the way with a penalty after 24 minutes. His second goal arrived just before half-time and the tie had been turned completely upside down when he made it 3-0 on the night with a free-kick seven minutes into the second half.

Yet this was a collective effort.

Antonio Valencia summed up their attitude. The black eye he collected in an early clash of heads with Joel Campbell would have been ugly enough to end many boxing contests. Yet he played as though oblivious to the ugly swelling that was almost closing his eye. More than anything, this was a night when Ryan Giggs reminded Old Trafford of his enduring ability. He had not started a game since 28 January and United's longest-serving player looked like he wanted to make up for lost time in those opening stages. His refinement on the ball was a part of both the first-half goals and another of his weighted passes finished with Wayne Rooney's header flicking off goalkeeper Roberto's glove and skimming off the post.

At 40, with silver flecks in his hair, Giggs can be over-run sometimes. Yet Moyes was right to suspect this was an occasion for the old fellow. United have missed his intelligence on the ball and steady assurance.

There was great urgency about United in that first half. The noise inside Old Trafford was the loudest this season and Moyes's players seemed to have shed the inhibitions that have dragged them down.

There were still moments when Olympiakos counter-attacked at speed and a sudden, damp silence fell over the stadium. Campbell's speed created the first opportunity of the night, eluding Phil Jones only for Hernán Pérez to put the cutback over the crossbar. Even more dramatically, David de Gea produced a brilliant double save, both times with his feet, to keep out David Fuster and Alejandro Domínguez after Pérez had strode clear of Evra when the score was 1-0

Yet there was a naivety about the team from Athens. What has to be remembered here is that Olympiakos had lost all 11 of their previous visits to England, conceding 34 goals in the process. Their openness encouraged United and, when it came to the penalty, the left-back, José Holebas, really could have avoided bumping into the back of Van Persie, as the striker took down Giggs's cross-field pass.

The defending was pretty generous for the second goal as well, just as the public announcer was informing the crowd of the added minutes before half-time. Giggs started it, picking out Rooney on the inside-right channel. Rooney's on-field understanding with Van Persie has been open to scrutiny recently but not on this occasion, his low centre was measured perfectly and Van Persie was moving in to side-foot his shot past the exposed Roberto.

In 45 minutes, the entire complexion of the match had changed and United quickly set about re-establishing the pattern of dominance after the break. "Attack, attack, attack," was the order from the Stretford End. Then the moment when they were ahead, on aggregate, for the first time. Danny Welbeck was fouled 25 yards out. Van Persie sized up his shot, strode forward and put the ball through a flimsy wall to deceive the wrong-footed Roberto. After that, the hope seemed to drain from Olympiakos. Yet there was always the danger that one goal would suddenly swing the game back in their favour. Dominguez carried their best hopes and, just like the first leg, Campbell's fast, direct running demonstrated that the young striker, on loan from Arsenal, should have a fine future.

But United stubbornly held out. Jones, despite his early aberration, had one of his best games for a long time. De Gea was flawless and Rio Ferdinand rolled back the years. Moyes, in one night, had gone from crisis to the last eight of the Champions League.

Daniel Taylor

theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Manchester United v Olympiakos – as it happened | Scott Murray

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 02:43 PM PDT

Minute-by-minute report: Robin van Persie, with a hat-trick, and David De Gea, with a series of fine saves, were the heroes as United reached the quarters on a memorable night at Old Trafford. Scott Murray was watching

Scott Murray

Dortmund 1-2 Zenit (agg: 5-4)

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 02:38 PM PDT

Champions League: A strong away win was still not enough for Zenit as Dortmund go through. Read Ian McCourt's report

Ian McCourt

Western Sydney Wanderers 1-0 Kawasaki Frontale | Asian Champions League

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 02:31 PM PDT

Labinot Haliti scored the only goal of the game as Western Sydney Wanderers boosted their chances of reaching the group stages

Central Coast Mariners 1-2 Beijing Guoan | Asian Champions League

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 02:17 PM PDT

Central Coast Mariners sit bottom of their Asian Champions League group after going down to defeat against Beijing Guoan

England's World Cup pitch damaged

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 02:00 PM PDT

• Amazônia Arena pitch undergoing emergency repairs
• Local security forces on heightened alert for England ties

Sections of the pitch at the Amazônia Arena in Manaus, where England begin their 2014 World Cup campaign against Italy, are undergoing emergency repair due to seriously undernourished grass following the excessive use of fertiliser on the new playing surface.

The stadium, which has already staged two domestic games in Brazil in preparation for the World Cup, will host four matches during the tournament but, despite almost near completion structurally, faces a race against time to get its pitch to a high standard before England play the Azzurri on 14 June.

Portugal and the USA will also travel to the Amazon this summer, while Manaus will host matches between Cameroon and Croatia and Switzerland and Honduras during the group stages.

However, despite high rainfall the arena's pitch faces serious challenges due to the region's high temperatures and humid conditions. Sections of the surface appear dry while two patches in one of the penalty areas are almost devoid of grass.

The São Paolo-based company who supplied the Bermuda grass for the arena has been called back to restore the damaged areas of the pitch to their former state. Green crystal chemicals have been placed to help alleviate the problem and Jerocilio Silva, state official for the stadium, said: "That's the treatment for it to blossom again."

Miguel Capobiango, coordinator of the Brazilian federal government's World Cup management unit, stated earlier this year that "the [grass] buds have all taken root and have been at match conditions since the end of December".

Roy Hodgson, the England manager, visited the £173m stadium in February, where a construction worker died last year after falling from the roof, and appeared satisfied with the state of the pitch. However, the surface appears to have deteriorated in places since then, with the pitch based on local soil which is renowned for being acidic and sandy.

The chief of the Amazonian military has admitted the region's forces will be on a heightened terrorism alert for the games featuring England and the USA. Manaus's military have 600 armed men available as a contingency force during the tournament, as well as a squadron of specialist reaction troops.

General Ubiratan Poty is confident that Manaus's infrastructure is at a sufficient level to cope with the influx of supporters, but claimed there will be extra counter-terrorism measures in operation for the games featuring England and the USA.

"[Their presence here] represents a concern for us, because people target those two countries for terrorism actions," he said. "That is a concern for us. Our national intelligence agency has not yet provided us with the report of the threats, but one way or the other we will have extra attention for those two teams, where they are training. One hour before and three hours after their games all the air space in the region will be closed."

James Riach

theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Tim Sherwood insists he has no respect for Benfica manager Jorge Jesus

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 01:28 PM PDT

• Sherwood supported in emails from Benfica fans
• Jorge Jesus claims it is all 'water under the bridge'

It's never been in Tim Sherwood's nature to shirk a confrontation so the Tottenham Hotspur manager's refusal to draw a line under his spat with Benfica counterpart Jorge Jesus ahead of Thursday's Europa League second leg in Lisbon was hardly surprising.

Yet with his tenure at White Hart Lane unravelling by the day, Sherwood will hope to overturn a two-goal deficit in the notoriously hostile Estádio da Luz in Lisbon with a side packed with teenagers after a number of his senior players were ruled out on Wednesday. Hugo Lloris, Kyle Walker, Michael Dawson, Younès Kaboul, Paulinho, and Emmanuel Adebayor are just some of the names missing from Tottenham's squad, with seven players who have yet to play a single minute for the first team drafted in.

"I know exactly where he was coming from and I know what I saw. I have got no respect for the man," Sherwood responded on Wednesdaywhen asked how he would react to facing up to Jesus again after being taunted following Benfica's third goal during the first leg. "I've got respect for the football club and I've got respect for his players. The club is a huge club and we've had a lot of emails from Benfica fans apologising for their manager's behaviour. At the end of the day, I will shake his hand, because they are a giant of a club."

For his part, Jesus insisted it is "water under the bridge", but with his side heavy favourites to progress, the 59-year-old could afford to take the moral high ground.

"We won't run away from the question, it happened," Jesus said. "It is normal as the benches were close together. A lot of coaches in England have similar problems and I did not disrespect the coach. What is important here is that we're not going to start trying to get in more problems, it is water under the bridge. We had a good game in London and we want to do another one here"

Ed Aarons

theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Champions League: Manchester United v Olympiakos – in pictures

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 01:08 PM PDT

The best images from Old Trafford where David Moyes' team are under the spot-light once more

Jonny Weeks

Outsiders looking in: eight players who can still catch Roy Hodgson's eye

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 12:33 PM PDT

From Adam Johnson to Leon Britton, we consider the merits of eight outside bets for England's World Cup party in Brazil

Adam Johnson Sunderland

Has flourished under Gus Poyet, who has positioned him higher up the pitch. Has scored crucial goals and finally found some consistency to his play.

Fact: Adam Johnson has attempted more open crosses (75) than Spurs' Andros Townsend (62)

Tom Huddlestone Hull City

The former Spurs midfielder is fitter and stronger than ever before, and is running the show for Hull. Plays with his head up and rarely losses possession.

Fact: Huddlestone has completed more successful passes (1,182) than Adam Lallana (963)

Steve Sidwell Fulham

While the rest of the Fulham squad have underperformed all season, the ex-Chelsea man has been putting in one consistent performance after another. Has been a threat up front too.

Fact: Sidwell has scored more goals this season (6)than Chelsea's Frank Lampard (5)

Nathan Dyer Swansea

In a squad shorn of the speed of Theo Walcott, the Swansea man would provide a much-needed injection of pace. He is a skilful player whose passing and power are underrated.

Fact: Dyer has attempted more dribbles (101) than Wayne Rooney of Manchester United (61)

Peter Crouch Stoke City

His form for Stoke may be erratic but few strikers have a better return for England than Crouch. His 22 goals in 42 games, as well as his height, could make him a valuable asset to Roy Hodgson's squad.

Fact: Crouch has more assists this season (5) than Arsenal's Jack Wilshere (4)

Mark Noble West Ham

Arguably West Ham's player of the season. Will not beat an entire team and stick the ball in the top corner but reads the game well and rarely loses a tackle. Sets up chances for his team-mates.

Fact: Noble has created more chances (45) than Liverpool's Raheem Sterling (32)

Fabian Delph Aston Villa

Improving all the time and displayed intelligence and skill in the recent win over Chelsea. Plays in a position on the left for which England are always in need of more cover.

Fact: Delph has completed more dribbles (49) than Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge (34)

Leon Britton Swansea City

May not be all blood, guts and glory but Britton quietly goes about his job in front of the Swansea defence, helping to dictate the rhythm of his side's play.

Fact: Britton has more passes this season (1,079) than Manchester United's Tom Cleverley (1,050)

Ian McCourt

theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Mourinho faces fine after FA charge

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 11:59 AM PDT

• Chelsea manager punished for 're-entering field' against Villa
• Independent commission will rule on punishment

José Mourinho is facing a fine of around £10,000 from the Football Association after the governing body charged him with improper conduct for re-entering the field of play in stoppage time during Chelsea's defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday.

The Portuguese, together with members of the home bench, had reacted to Ramires' ugly challenge on the Villa midfielder Karim El Ahmadi, a tackle that led to the Brazilian being dismissed and that prompted a mini pitch invasion from both dugouts. The match official, Chris Foy, ordered the managers, coaching staff and substitutes from the turf but Mourinho, who had become infuriated by the referee's performance, immediately came back on to the pitch, signalling for a "timeout", and was promptly sent to the stands by the official.

It was the second time the Chelsea manager has been dismissed this season – after an incident during his side's victory over Cardiff City in October for which he accepted an £8,000 fine – but will still only result in him being punished in the pocket rather than banned from the touchline should a commission now find him guilty. That body will meet because the Portuguese has committed a previous offence in the last 12 months, with the offence therefore considered to be "non-standard". The manager has until 6pm on Monday 24 March to respond to the charge and will now consider his options, but is likely to accept the charge.

"José Mourinho has been charged by the FA following his side's game against Aston Villa on Saturday," read a statement from the governing body, who had spent this week reviewing footage of the incident before determining whether there was a charge to bring. The FA went on to stress that the offence centred upon his return to the turf: "It is alleged the Chelsea manager's behaviour in re-entering the field of play in or around the 90th minute of the fixture and approaching the match referee amounted to improper conduct."

Dominic Fifield

theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Roy Hodgson's England squad is a long way away from being a meritocracy | Louise Taylor

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 11:51 AM PDT

Sunderland's Adam Johnson is one of a number of players who feel that who you play for is a more important factor in national selection than how well you are playing

Adam Johnson believes Roy Hodgson's England squad is far from a meritocracy. The Sunderland winger has become convinced that players belonging to an eight-strong club cartel do not even need to be regularly starting Premier League games in order to feature prominently in Hodgson's blueprint.

It would be easy to dismiss Johnson's gripe as the bitter reflections of a left-footer spurned but they ring true, raising the question as to whether he and Hull City's Tom Huddlestone – who arguably has a much stronger case for inclusion in England's Brazil-bound party – are being overlooked unfairly.

The Sunderland winger had been widely expected to be included in Hodgson's 30-man squad selected for the friendly victory against Denmark earlier this month. After winning January's player of the month award, scoring seven goals in nine games and helping revive Sunderland's hopes of avoiding relegation, Johnson was renascent and Gus Poyet, his club manager, made it clear he deserved to add to his 12 senior caps.

Yet his name, like Huddlestone's, was nowhere to be seen on the eventual squad list. Indeed the only outfield players not from Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Everton or Southampton were Toronto's Jermain Defoe and Cardiff City's Steven Caulker, both of whom formerly played for Tottenham. Meanwhile, the group also included the Spurs winger Andros Townsend, who last started a Premier League game on 10 November.

"I think a lot of people were surprised," says Johnson. "A lot of people saw me as almost a certainty but if you look at the last squad it was almost all top eight bar Caulker, who wasn't meant to be in it but for (Phil) Jagielka's injury. I think that says a lot about the selection. I don't think it really matters how well you're playing, it's who you play for. If you look at the last 10 squads it's a fact, isn't it?"

The sense that England coaches tend to select from a small pool and rarely make left-field choices first struck Johnson when he was on Manchester City's books.

"All my caps came when I was at City," he says. "Sometimes I got picked when I wasn't playing. Now I'm playing more and I can't get a cap. It's just a fact. It's not me being sour. Some of the players, if they weren't playing for the big clubs, wouldn't be anywhere near it [the squad].

"I came to Sunderland to play more, rather than thinking about England. But some games I wasn't even on the bench at City but I was still in the England squad. I felt Denmark was probably the closest I'd been under Roy Hodgson. But in his mind I don't think he really wanted any big decisions to make so he stuck with the players who had been around since the start of the campaign. That's life, that's the way it goes. It will be interesting to see how it goes in the World Cup and what happens after."

Johnson is merely echoing the views of Maxine Huddlestone who, much to her son's embarrassment, tweeted her thoughts on Tom's exclusion from Hodgson's party to face Denmark.

"England squad – same old, same old, pick players who don't get a start for their clubs," she commented. Considering that Huddlestone has been Hull's outstanding individual since joining from Spurs last summer, regularly controlling games from central midfield – although he was poor against Manchester City last weekend – she had a point.

Indeed it rather begs the questions as to whether Tom Cleverley would currently be in the national coach's plans were he not a Manchester United player and if Townsend might have enjoyed such favourable treatment had he been on Stoke's books. Many Hull fans are convinced that their radically improved centre-half Curtis Davies could well be a shoo-in were he employed in London, Manchester, Merseyside or, possibly, Southampton.

"The England door's open but the chain's on," is how Davies adroitly sums up the situation. Steve Bruce, the Hull manager, has publicly expressed double puzzlement that Caulker was selected ahead of his centre-half and Huddlestone not considered earlier this month.

"I'm not holding my breath," says Huddlestone when asked if he still harbours hopes of boarding England's flight to Rio. "I wasn't playing regularly at Spurs but I got in the England squad for the Sweden game back in November 2012 so that was a bit strange. It's dispiriting now. It's nice when people say I should be in the squad but it can also be frustrating."

Poyet knows Huddlestone from his Tottenham days and feels he would be ideally suited to add to his four senior caps amid the heat and humidity of South America this summer.

"Tom's one of the few English players, if not the only one, who can hit a ball 70 yards without moving 10cm," says the Sunderland manager. "Left foot, right foot, ping it, outside of the foot, he can do it. Tom's got an unbelievable ability to hit the ball from side to side."

Peter Taylor, the Gillingham manager, who coached Huddlestone at England Under-21 level believes Hull have a latter day Glenn Hoddle on their hands. "I hope Tom's got a chance of going to the world cup," says Hoddle's former Spurs team-mate. "When you see Tom pass the ball you see why he'd be an asset in Brazil. Out there you'd want your team to keep the ball a little more and he'd be ideal. He has the same passing outstanding passing range off both feet as Glenn."

But how often does Hodgson watch Hull live? England's coach has only been to Sunderland once since succeeding Fabio Capello and Davies suspects he is equally unfamiliar with the KC Stadium.

"With all due respect to ourselves I'm not sure the England manager will watch many Hull games," says the defender. "It's a shame for me and Tom; there's disappointment for both of us. It's not arrogance thinking we deserve to be there. It's just that we want to reach the pinnacle, to play for our country."

Louise Taylor

theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Wada urges football to take harmonised approach on player biological passports

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 11:49 AM PDT

• Doping agency wants to avoid duplication of player profiles
• Fifa plans to introduce passport at the World Cup in Brazil

The World Anti-Doping Agency has called on football to harmonise its approach to tackling drug use across international tournaments and domestic leagues.

Wada has previously been critical of the sport's approach to doping, saying it was too slow to introduce tests for EPO and biological passports that can track blood test results over time.

David Howman, the Wada director general, praised the progress made by Fifa in the past six months but said that there needed to be a co-ordinated approach to introducing biological passports.

"I think it's a change of information leading to a change of approach. So, they now understand what the passport's about, they want to engage in it, and they want to see what it produces from their players. And I think that will be interesting," he said.

Fifa plans to introduce biological profiles at the Brazil World Cup and the UK Anti-Doping chief executive, Andy Parkinson, has been building up profiles of some Premier League players for "a while".

Cycling and athletics have set up biological passport schemes, while tennis has now promised to do the same.

"In every athlete biological profile programme, we've got to get to the point where we're sharing information between national associations, international federations and the NADO [National Anti-Doping Organisations]," said Parkinson.

"There's no point duplicating it and the more dot points you have on a profile the better indication we've got on whether that athlete is clean or that athlete is interesting."

Howman said every player at the Brazil World Cup would have a biological profile set up and called on the major European leagues to ensure that they utilised the same information.

"What we're trying to do is get the football world to share the profiles, that the information doesn't just relate to a player who's played in a World Cup and is not used by the player when he's playing for his club. That's something we're working on," he said.

"We want an athlete with one profile, not several profiles. And, unless you get one profile, what are you doing?"

Parkinson said that UKAD, which is facing a 10% funding cut from 2015-16, would have to prioritise its investment as a result.

"You're all aware we've got some financial challenges coming up. Another thing we're doing at the moment is identifying where the public get the most value for money out of what we do," he said. "When I look at some of the some of the sports we've got on the passport programme, they are probably more worthy of greater attention from us than football."

Owen Gibson

theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

FA clears Walsall and fans over Wolves players' allegations of racist abuse

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 11:33 AM PDT

• Carl Ikeme and George Elokobi alleged two incidents of abuse
• 'No reports of racist abuse made to control room on the day'

The Football Association has cleared Walsall and their fans of wrongdoing following allegations of racist abuse towards two Wolverhampton Wanderers players.

Carl Ikeme and George Elokobi reported the abuse which allegedly occurred in two separate incidents during the Sky Bet League One match between the two clubs at the Banks's Stadium on 8 March.

In a letter to Walsall, the FA said: "Walsall FC immediately started an investigation and we have now received the club's full response.

"Walsall have advised the FA that no reports of racist abuse were made to the control room on the day by stewards or police and that nothing was reported by the match officials.

"Since the game, Walsall have carried out a full review of the CCTV footage and advise that there is nothing of evidential use in respect of racist behaviour.

"Also that at their subsequent home game on 11 March the club took the opportunity to question all stewards working in the relevant areas of the ground and none of them reported hearing any racist abuse at the Wolves game.

"In the circumstances, we can confirm that the FA is not in a position to take any further action in this matter."

A statement released by Walsall read: "Walsall Football Club have taken the allegation very seriously and have fully co-operated with the FA and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

"We promote an inclusive philosophy. We are proud of the work we undertake within the local community and beyond and are committed to social inclusion.

"Walsall is a multicultural town and we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind."


theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Gosling fined £30,000 for breaching betting rules

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 10:44 AM PDT

• Newcastle player admitted multiple offences
• Midfielder said to have misunderstood rules

Dan Gosling, the Newcastle United midfielder, has been fined £30,000 and warned as to his future conduct after breaching football betting rules.

The 24 year old, who was charged by the Football Association earlier this month and after admitting multiple offences, requested a personal hearing.

An FA statement said: "Newcastle United's Dan Gosling has been fined £30,000, subject to any appeal, and warned as to his future conduct following an independent regulatory commission hearing.

"Gosling, who requested a personal hearing, admitted multiple breaches of FA Rule E8(b) for misconduct in relation to betting."

Gosling's offences appear to be the result of a misunderstanding of the rules governing betting.

Rule E8(b) states a player "shall not bet, either directly or indirectly" on matches involving themselves or their team as well as the competition they play in or have played in.

The breaches in question do not relate to games involving Newcastle or Blackpool, where Gosling spent three months on loan earlier this season.

The former Everton player has made three appearances for the Magpies this season, all of them as a substitute, following his return from Bloomfield Road.


theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Fifa chief investigator to interview members over Qatar World Cup vote

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 10:23 AM PDT

• Twelve of original 24 remain on executive committee
• FBI looking into alleged payments, according to reports
• Is there no end to damaging paper trail?

Fifa's chief investigator Michael Garcia is expected to interview all the remaining members of the executive committee who took part in the controversial vote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Only 11 of the 24 members, plus the Fifa president Sepp Blatter, who took part in the vote in December 2010 are still on the committee, with the others having either retired or in some cases been banned or resigned while under investigation.

Last September, Garcia said his probe into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups would see investigators interview representatives of every bid team and interviews have already taken place with a number of officials who worked on England's unsuccessful 2018 bid.

Sources connected to the world governing body say Garcia is now expected to interview those 12 executive committee members who are still in office.

It comes after a report that the FBI is investigating payments from a company owned by Qatari Mohamed Bin Hammam to fellow former Fifa member Jack Warner and his family. Both men left Fifa in disgrace following a 2011 corruption scandal.

The former head of Australia's unsuccessful bid for the 2022 tournament said he hoped the investigation would come up with "the right answers".

Frank Lowy said he still hoped Fifa would refund the £25m of public money spent on the Australian bid if Fifa moves the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to the winter.

Lowy said: "It is generally known that the process was not exactly a good one, to say the least.

"I've read the papers and while I would not use the word 'corruption', I think the process wasn't quite clear to everybody and the jury is still out.

"It was not a level playing field and I said at the time that we had not heard the last word about the process.

"I still don't think it is going to go away. These stories are coming up from time to time and until Fifa makes the final decision it will regurgitate each time."

In terms of a winter World Cup, Lowy added: "I feel if Fifa changes the date, then I think they hope to refund the people that bid on a certain time [in the summer]. Whether we get the money back or not is hard to say, but I certainly put the claim in."

Qatar's 2022 World Cup organising committee said its bid committee strictly adhered to Fifa's bidding regulations.


theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Arsenal to lose Terry Burton after overlooking him for academy job

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 09:56 AM PDT

• Arsenal Under-21 manager to leave in the summer
• Burton overlooked as Andries Jonker appointed

Arsène Wenger's decision to bring in a Dutch coach to replace Liam Brady at Arsenal has led to problems with another member of his backroom staff and will prompt a reshuffle behind the scenes at the end of the season.

Terry Burton, Arsenal's Under-21 team manager, has decided to leave in the summer after being overlooked to take over from Brady as the head of Arsenal's academy and youth development setup. Wenger is bringing in Andries Jonker, currently assistant manager at Wolfsburg, and Burton will move on, two years into his second spell on the club's coaching staff.

Burton was appointed in July 2012 after the retirement of Pat Rice, with Steve Bould and Neil Banfield moving up to work for the first-team in the most significant re-organisation of backroom staff since Wenger arrived in 1996. However, the Arsenal manager chose against promoting him into Brady's role, preferring to go abroad to bring in a coach who has previously worked as an assistant to Louis van Gaal at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Burton, a part of Arsenal's FA Youth Cup-winning team in 1971, helped to bring through Tony Adams, Paul Merson and Martin Keown during his first coaching spell at the club. He has since had a spell as manager at Wimbledon, as well as various coaching roles at Watford, Cardiff City, West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield Wednesday, and he was among a four-man shortlist recently to become the new manager of England's Under-20 team. The Football Association decided instead to give the job to Aidy Boothroyd.

Wenger is preparing for his 1,000th game at Arsenal in their match at Chelsea on Saturday. Arsenal are planning to mark his long-service with a presentation on Friday and the League Managers' Association also intends to honour the Frenchman.

Daniel Taylor

theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Cristiano Ronaldo says Real Madrid have their sights set on treble

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 08:59 AM PDT

• 'It will be difficult but we have to aim high'
• Barcelona up next in El Clásico on Sunday

Cristiano Ronaldo welcomed the chance to play in Real Madrid's 3-1 win against Schalke, despite the Champions League tie being virtually a dead rubber and a meeting with Barcelona approaching this weekend, and said it was time to start focusing on the treble.

The coach Carlo Ancelotti picked Ronaldo even though Real were leading 6-1 from the first game in Germany, and the Portuguese winger scored twice to prompt talk of a rare treble of Champions League, Spanish League and cup.

"I feel good and the coach, who makes these decisions, decided it was good for me to play," Ronaldo told Uefa.com.

"I scored two goals and helped my team achieve a very important win to keep our good run going. We must continue on this path. Let's see what happens in the next few games."

Barcelona are the only Spanish team to do the treble, which they achieved in 2008-09, but the La Liga leaders Real are in a strong position to match their arch rivals after Ronaldo's goals helped them put together a 31-match unbeaten run since the end of October, the World Player of the Year having scored 41 goals in 37 matches this season.

Real will find out on Friday who they will face in the Champions League quarter-finals and they could be drawn against Barcelona or neighbours Atlético Madrid.

"We have to take things step by step," Ronaldo said. "We had a very good group stage, scoring a lot of goals while accumulating points.

"Let's see who we get next but I see the team doing well at the moment and, one step at a time, we will try to achieve our objective of winning three competitions.

"We know that will be difficult but at Madrid we have to aim high. With that attitude, anything is possible."

With 13 goals in seven games, the 29-year-old former Manchester United player has surpassed his best Champions League haul and is one short of the record of 14 set by Barça's Lionel Messi in 2011-12.

He also climbed above Real's Ferenc Puskas into fourth on the list of the club's top scorers with 243 compared with the Hungarian's 242 but still has some way to go to catch Raúl, who scored 323.

"Ronaldo didn't become World Player of the Year for nothing," Schalke's coach Jens Keller said. "His qualities are outstanding."

Real host Barça, the last team to beat them, in El Clásico on Sunday, when a win would stretch their lead over the champions to seven points and deal a severe blow to the Catalan side's chances of a fifth title in six years.


theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

The Fiver | Lasso the moon and attach it to the end of an easy-access stick

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 08:33 AM PDT

Click here to have the Fiver sent to your inbox every weekday at 5pm, or if your usual copy has stopped arriving

A SONG FOR EUROPE, IN B-FLAT MINOR

Anyone paying even the minimum amount of attention will be aware of what's been going on at Manchester United recently, with the unfortunate north-west club becoming the first in the history of All Association Football to string a few bad results together. How must their poor fans, who have only had 12 league titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups, two Big Cups, one Intercontinental Cup and one Club World Cup to cheer in the last 20 years, be feeling right now, having not seen so much as a glimpse of major silverware for over nine months? To soundtrack their inner turmoil, the Fiver has commissioned a bespoke recording of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, to be performed on very tiny violins tuned three octaves higher than usual, and played at five times the normal speed by an orchestra of three-year-olds high on 1970s orange squash.

We haven't commissioned that. Partly because it would sound dreadful – three-year-olds are idiots, inept fools almost certainly unable to cope with the four time-signature shifts in Barber's movement, even if we take things back down to the usual 55bpm tempo – but also because, despite all the moaning, life's not that bad for United right now. One good comeback performance tonight against Olympiakos, and they're in the quarter-finals of Big Cup! Where, boosted by the result, they could feasibly draw Chelsea, whereupon a rejuvenated David Moyes could see off the man he's constantly, tiresomely, being measured against. OK, chances are that probably won't happen. But it might. And were the narrative to be written that way, even the folk who normally enjoy watching Manchester United lose may experience a warm glow of satisfaction at Moyes's vindication, if only because it would irritate the hell out of the braying bully-boy mob which has gathered to take cheap pops at a man simply because he's failed to win a trophy in his first year at Old Trafford like Sir Alex Fer … like Sir Matt Bu … oh that's right, like nobody's ever managed before.

"The most important thing now is to get the game played and hopefully get through," said Moyes, trying his best to keep a level temper in the face of a world demanding he lasso the moon and attach it to the end of an easy-access stick. "If we can it would be a massive lift but we know we have got ourselves in a poor position being 2-0 down. We have got a lot of belief and we have got to try to make it show in the game." If United's 100% home record in Europe this season doesn't give them succour, Olympiakos's record on English soil should do the trick: played 11, lost 11, goals scored three, goals against 34. The Olympiakos manager Michel might insist that his players "are not scared of anything – all we have to do is play our game", but surely even the current United vintage must fancy their chances of turning this around and recording a famous victory. If they can't, expect Po' Moyes to come under even more intense pressure: United will be nearly 10 months without a trophy soon, after all, and surely nobody in their right mind can tolerate a disgrace like that.

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE TONIGHT

Join Scott Murray from 7.30pm for MBM coverage of Manchester United 3-1 Olympiakos (agg: 3-3, Olympiakos win on away goals), and Ian McCourt for Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Zenit St Petersburg (agg: 6-3).

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I hope our team will be ready and we can walk the streets without any problems and that our fans can give us hugs. When you win these games, you can walk down the streets. Not when you lose" – Manchester City's Fernandinho, worried about the practicalities ahead of next week's derby.

FIVER LETTERS

"Re: yesterday's Fiver main picture. I'm sorry but I couldn't help but notice the similarity" – Anna Jarvey.

"That thing about allowing a team to do a goal unopposed (yesterday's last line) is a load of rubbish. Returning the ball to a team who have sportingly put it out so one of your players can receive treatment is all well and morally highfalutin, but that process surely doesn't extend to accepting responsibility for the recipient's Buster Keaton impressions. What next? Disqualify every comedy own goal? For many of us these glimpses of fun are the only moments of levity that break the depression of supporting teams that consistently play cr@p football" – David Moore.

"Long-time reader, first-time pedant; may I be one of perhaps 1,057 of my fellow mailbox debutants spurred into action to point out that a 'blank piece of paper' cannot be marked 'long-term vision' (yesterday's Bits and Bobs)? Thanks awfully, keep up the … er … whatever it is you do" – Matt Flenley (and, seemingly, 1,056 other mailbox debutants).

"Usually spoiler alerts are issued to prevent plots being revealed or viewers being exposed to distressing material. Vinnie Nambisan failed to do this (yesterday's Fiver letters) and as a result I was subjected to an Austin ad, with which I was involved, in – I now realise – 1988. I had managed to forget about it and my life has been better as a result. I look to the Fiver to provide me with a moment of levity towards the end of a working day. OK, I'm usually disappointed by the absence of humour, but at least until now you've manage to avoid inducing trauma. Please, in future, avoid distributing harmful viewing of this nature, otherwise I'll have to share the ad we did around the same time with Nigel Mansell, and that would distress your other readers as well" – Gerald Kreinczes.

• Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. And if you've nothing better to do you can also tweet the Fiver. Today's winner of our prizeless letter o' the day is: David Moore.

JOIN GUARDIAN SOULMATES

We keep trying to point out the utter futility of advertising an online dating service "for interesting people" in the Fiver to the naive folk who run Guardian Soulmates, but they still aren't having any of it. So here you go – sign up here to view profiles of the kind of erudite, sociable and friendly romantics who would never dream of going out with you.

BITS AND BOBS

Flirting's Louis van Gaal has offered another big wink at Daniel Levy and the Glazers. "My ambition is to coach a top team in the Premier League," he come-and-get-me-plead. "I've never experienced the atmosphere in England."

Adam Johnson says the only way to attract Mr Roy's attention is by playing for a big club. Not Sunderland. "I don't think it really matters how well you are playing – it's who you play for," he foot-stamped. "Some players, if they weren't playing for the big clubs, wouldn't be anywhere near the squad."

Upstanding Arjen Robben has signed a new deal at Bayern Munich. "I am in my fifth year at Bayern. Now there are three more to come," he observed, taking care to avoid any last-minute stumbling blocks.

Conference strugglers Hereford United have parted company with manager Martin Foyle and his No2 Andy Porter.

And former Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard has turned his back on the game he doesn't really love that much. "I won't become a head coach again," he trumpeted. "I have no desire to make a comeback. I'd rather do other things."

STILL WANT MORE?

The Premier League's tactically-principled, consistent pass-and-move visionaries are prospering. David Moyes is not. Louise Taylor explains.

Former Everton ace turned Orlando City coach Adrian Heath is leading his side to the promised land of MLS, and to their new ground inside Disney World. "It's the ultimate reality TV show," he tells Simon Veness. Next week: Palace relocate to Chessington World of Adventures.

Denying wrongdoing's Jack Warner has again shown up Fifa's "football family" for what it is: a clan slightly more dysfunctional than the provisional wing of the Munsters, reckons Marina Hyde.

And Arsène Wenger's 1,000th game in charge gives Amy Lawrence a chance to pick a best post-1996 XI. No, Nicklas. You didn't make it.

Oh, and if it's your thing, you can follow Big Website on Big Social FaceSpace.

SIGN UP TO THE FIVER (AND O FIVERÃO)

Want your very own copy of our free tea-timely(ish) email sent direct to your inbox? Has your regular copy stopped arriving? Click here to sign up. And you can also now receive our weekly World Cup email, O Fiverão; this is the latest edition, and you can sign up for it here.

'IT'S YOUR WORLD AND I'M JUST A SQUIRREL'

Scott Murray

theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Robben extends Bayern Munich contract to 2017

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 08:11 AM PDT

• Dutch winger having 'incredible fun' with champions
• 'Arjen is an important pillar of team' says Rummenigge

Arjen Robben has extended his contract with Bayern Munich, which was due to expire in June, to 2017.

The 30-year-old Dutch winger said he was having "incredible fun" with the European champions and was looking forward "to plenty more trophies".

"I'm delighted we've now signed the new contract and I'll continue pursuing trophies with FC Bayern," he told the club website. "I'm now in my fifth season in Munich and there will be three more after this.

"There can be no better indication of how happy my family and I feel to be here and how much I enjoy playing for this club and with this team. I'm looking forward to the years ahead – and to plenty more trophies with FC Bayern."

Robben, who has 55 goals and 36 assists in 98 Bundesliga matches for Bayern, scored the deciding goal in the 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final last season, when Bayern also won the Bundesliga and German Cup.

"We are very pleased that Arjen has extended his contract," the Bayern chairman, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, said. "He is a great player and he's shown his importance for Bayern, not only in the Wembley final. Arjen is an important pillar of our team and will remain so in the coming years."


theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Real Madrid v Barcelona: 'It's going to be complicated,' says Carlo Ancelotti – video

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 07:24 AM PDT

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti says his team is enthusiastic ahead of the upcoming clásico against arch-rivals Barcelona

Ross Barkley: Roberto Martínez more tactical than David Moyes

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 07:12 AM PDT

• Everton player's comments add to pressure on United manager
• 'Roberto Martínez has given everyone confidence'

The Everton midfielder Ross Barkley claims Roberto Martínez is more tactical than the previous manager David Moyes.

Moyes is coming under increasing scrutiny as Manchester United's disappointing season comes to a head in the next week with Wednesday's vital Champions League second leg against Olympiakos followed by the derby at home to Manchester City next Tuesday.

Barkley's comments, coming after the Everton under-18 coach Kevin Sheedy criticised the Scot's lack of interest in the youth team during his time at Goodison Park, only add to the growing focus on the United manager.

"Roberto Martínez has come in and given everyone confidence," the 20-year-old told Match of the Day magazine. "He's a positive man and doesn't say anything negative.

"He's similar to David Moyes as they both like to take over the training session and be the main man, but Martínez is more tactical. We do a lot more tactical work which is good for me because I'm young and still learning."

Barkley has become an integral part of the work Martínez has done at Everton. The England midfielder has made more Premier League starts (18) this season than his total number of appearances in his two years under Moyes.

Martínez is benefiting from having a more mature player who was allowed to spend most of last season on loan at Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds, but the way he has embraced the youngster's talent should not be underestimated.

The Spaniard has regularly praised his squad for the way they have adapted so quickly to his methods after he replaced Moyes in the summer.

His brand of attractive passing football has won many plaudits and the Toffees were in the running for the top four for a long time, although now they are realistically setting their sights on the Europa League as they sit nine points adrift of Champions League qualification in sixth.

"I always said that to have the dressing room we have is a real honour and privilege," Martinez told the Barclays Premier League podcast.

"Everyone has been keen to understand what is needed for the team and been open-minded in how we want to play.

"We are ready to finish the season as strong as we can be due to the attitude of the players."


theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Sport picture of the day: focus on David Moyes

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 06:59 AM PDT

Press conferences can be difficult places to shoot – trying to make a compelling photograph out of an otherwise visually 'boring' situation. This image of David Moyes is haunting

Steven Bloor

Football manager purists prospering over pragmatists in Premier League | Louise Taylor

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 06:16 AM PDT

Premier League's pass and move visionaries stand by their principles and are prospering while the Manchester United manager's mish-mash of systems and styles is faltering

It is nearly nine years since David Moyes's Everton were thrashed 5-1 in a Uefa Cup tie at Dinamo Bucharest. These things happen to the best teams and the best managers but those present on that sultry September night in Romania may not be entirely surprised by Moyes's travails at Manchester United.

The overriding sense was that he suspected his players could not out-pass Dinamo on their home turf, so the Scot attempted to counter technique-suffused Eastern European invention with long, high balls, strong set-pieces and a defensively configured five-man midfield. In other words, with pragmatism - tactically his default setting.

Given precisely the same Everton players, Brendan Rodgers, Roberto Martínez, Gus Poyet, Mauricio Pochettino and Arsène Wenger – to name just five, others such as Manuel Pellegrini could also be included – would surely have taken an alternative route.

Forget the subtle differences between them. Their respective variations in formation and assorted nuances when it came to natural width versus diamonds – let alone the vexed question of deploying one or two strikers – are mere semantics. The important thing is that the quintet would all have tried to pass and move their way through the tie.

All five might well have lost that tie but the philosophy and principles which have defined their football careers contrast with Moyes's essential pragmatism and arguably explain why they are impressing while Manchester United's Scottish manager is not.

Although Pochettino's Southampton and their near unique style of pressing sets them a apart, the Argentinian shares one integral feature with Rodgers, Martínez, Poyet and Wenger: an unwavering faith in his football philosophy and a determination to stick to principles through thick and thin.

Rodgers endured a bit of a slow, sticky start at Liverpool but the former Swansea manager held his nerve, set out his slick passing vision, imbued the club with a coaching culture big on control and cleverness, both on and off the ball, and is now reaping the rewards in thrilling fashion.

Admittedly Rodgers' Liverpool feature a few more accurate long passes – often delivered by Steven Gerrard – than his old über-pure Swansea side but their superb football is the realisation of a long-cherished dream nurtured between the pages of the 180-page dossier - or personal managerial manifesto - he submitted to the Anfield board before being offered the job.

While Moyes's United, like his Everton, have at times played some pleasing enough football, the mish-mash of different systems and styles Sir Alex Ferguson's successor has experimented with suggest a pragmatist too busy fire-fighting and attempting to achieve reasonable short-term results to properly address the need for a defined ethos.

The result is that no one really knows what United currently stand for. True Moyes lacks, among others, strikers of the calibre of Luis Suárez and Daniel Sturridge but would he really have re-invented Jordan Henderson as successfully as Rodgers?

On the subject of discernible identity, the good news for Sunderland is that Gus Poyet's side are beginning to possess one. After years of, at their best, being all about energy and effort, Poyet is creating a club culture based on patient possession, building from the back and smart passing along the ground.

His arrival may have come too late to save them from relegation but at least the Wearsiders now have a belief system to cling on to - along with the hope that if the drop to the Championship can be avoided, Poyet's passing game will not only entertain but prove the best way of breaking the cycle of perpetual struggle into which the former "team of all the talents" have become locked. His wish that "the ball should want to be cared for by our team" is not only endearing but emblematic of a man capable of grasping the bigger picture.

Should Sunderland go down and Crystal Palace survive, Tony Pulis's advocates may claim that the high priest of anti-football pragmatism has scored a key victory – but can anyone really envisage a Pulis team thriving in the top half of the Premier League?

Tellingly just as Pulis seemed to hit a ceiling at Stoke City, Sam Allardyce's West Ham have spent much of this season demonstrating that such playing the percentages style anti-football can only take you so far.

The road between purist high priest - think Everton's Martínez - and Allardyce or Pulis-esque fundamentalist is winding and scenic with the Moyes and Alan Pardews of this world operating half-way houses.

José Mourinho is one of their neighbours but the Portuguese, cleverer and better resourced than the rest, has elevated pragmatism into something so close to an art form that he ranks as a special case.

That high priest of the counter-attacking game – Aston Villa's Paul Lambert – loosely belongs in this broad church, too – even if neither Moyes nor Pardew would ever be inclined to echo Lambert's recent claim that "possession is over-rated".

Like a lot of managers, the former pair are more about convenient coalitions of ideologies. Such mixing and matching has generally served them both well during fine careers. And yet … clubs such as Manchester United and Newcastle surely need to be coached by dreamers and visionaries convinced that philosophy matters – not conservatives with a small 'c'.

Good as much of the work Pardew has done on Tyneside undeniably is, it was depressing to hear him suggest that the team might have to "go a bit more direct" once Yohan Cabaye defected to Paris Saint-Germain. Granted he lacked a playmaking midfield of Cabaye's calibre to pull everything together but surely with players as gifted and intelligent as Hatem Ben Arfa and Vurnon Anita on his books he could come up with some aesthetically pleasing, opponent-damaging way of tweaking his midfield system - while somehow unlocking Moussa Sissoko's mislaid creative talent?

Maybe what Pardew really needs is not some "personal managerial counsellor" – one is to be appointed in the wake of his pitchside head-butt on Hull's David Meyler – but new-found faith in the sort of defined vision that has sustained Wenger for decades.

Either that or spend a few weeks in a Buddhist retreat … which is where Moyes could shortly be heading.

Louise Taylor

theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Adrian Heath guides Orlando City to the promised land of MLS

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 05:46 AM PDT

Interview: Former Stoke and Everton star Adrian Heath has one last season in USL Pro to prepare Orlando City for the top tier

Simon Veness

FA will not try to extend Alan Pardew ban for David Meyler head-butt

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 05:26 AM PDT

• Independent commission punishment widely seen as lenient
• 'Sanction was fair, reasonable and proportionate,' said FA

The Football Association will not appeal against the decision of an independent regulatory commission to hand Alan Pardew a three-game stadium ban followed by a four-match touchline suspension.

Newcastle United's manager was widely seen as having received a fairly lenient punishment for his head-butt on Hull City's David Meyler during a Premier League game at the KC Stadium this month but the FA has accepted the panel's reasoning. Although English football's governing body could have attempted to have the ban extended on appeal it regards the matter as closed.

Although the commission considered subjecting Pardew to a five match stadium exclusion order in addition to fining the 52-year-old more than the £60,000 it eventually settled for, it was swayed by a series of mitigating factors.

"In considering the sanction to be imposed, the commission considered initially a five-match stadium ban and a higher fine," it said in a written statement released by the FA in order to explain the panel's logic.

"But, based on the mitigation presented together with the action taken by both the club and Mr Pardew, the regulatory commission came to the conclusion that the sanction set out below was fair, reasonable and proportionate."

Pardew, who served the first game of his stadium ban at Fulham last Saturday, was accompanied by legal counsel, club secretary Lee Charnley and Richard Bevan, chief executive of the League Managers Association, at the hearing.

Already fined £100,000 by Newcastle, he accepted the charge but argued that he did not instigate the altercation with Meyler and intended him no physical harm.

Expressing his deep remorse for the incident he also indicated an intention to enrol on an executive leadership and management programme with the LMA in an effort to address his behaviour.

The commission, who took Pardew's previous offences into account, viewed video footage of the incident and studied written reports from match officials.

"The commission also considered the impact of this type of incident in football in general and could not escape from the fact that a vast number of people would have seen the incident on national and international television," it said.

"Mr Pardew is a high-profile and very experienced manager at a high-profile and well-respected club in a high-profile league and where matches are watched worldwide. This is, on any view, a serious incident which has to be sanctioned accordingly, but at the same time proportionately."

Louise Taylor

theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Written by TBMU Admin

We are Manchester United Fan located around the World which provides user friendly, effective and easy to browse info regarding our Team. Each support/info is free. Support us by clicking the ads located in this site. Thanks

0 comments :

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )
Click Picture Below for More Info

Popular Posts

Share

 





© 2013 TBMU . All rights resevered. Published by The Best Manchester United Admin Blogger

Back To Top