Football News: Review Of The Day 29th May 2018

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Review of the Day

Murray To Mentor Hibs Players

Former Wimbledon champion Andy Murray is to become a mentor at Hibs academy after his management company took two young Hibs starlets, Ryan Porteous and Fraser Murray, on as clients. Murray said: "Ever since my grandad played for Hibs in the 1950s, my family have supported the club. We were impressed with the quality of the facilities and the people working there. It feels like a natural and authentic partnership. Football is a huge passion of mine and I'm looking forward to working with the club - and with Ryan and Fraser and helping them with every aspect of their careers. Hibs have a great youth set-up and with the team of people I have around me, we'll be helping them in any way we can." Just so long as he is not teaching them how to smile for the cameras!

Simon Out Of World Cup

Nigeria will be missing KAA Gent's Moses Simon for the World Cup after the 22 year old limped out of training on Thursday. The winger's injury was revealed to be serious by a scan and he will be out for about a month. Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr said: "Yes, Moses is injured and our medical staff told me he is out for at least three or four weeks. This is a confirmation that he will not be with us for the World Cup. This is unfortunate because he was an important player for us during our qualification matches."

Shrews Boss In Tractor Boys Talks

Following Shrewsbury Town's failure to win promotion through the play-offs they have given their manager, Paul Hurst, permission to talk to Ipswich Town. Ipswich are still looking for a replacement for Mick McCarthy and have agreed a compensation package with the Shrews.

R.I.P. Neale Cooper

Former Aberdeen, Aston Villa, Rangers, Reading, Dunfermline and Ross County player Neale Cooper has passes away at the age of 54. Cooper was a member of Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen side that won the 1983 European Cup Winners Cup and is a legend at Aberdeen.

Potter Confirms Swansea Talks

Ostersund manager Graham Potter has confirmed that he is in talks with Swansea City to fill their managerial vacancy. Ostersund have also confirmed that Potter has been given permission to speak to the Swans. Ostersund appointed Potter in December 2010 when they were in the Swedish 4th division. Under Potter they won back-to-back promotions to the second tier and reached the top flight in 2016. Since becoming the first manager to take them into the top flight, Potter has also become the first manager to lead the club into European competition.

Barca Ranked Number 1 In Europe

Another of those lists has been released which ranks clubs according to whatever data set they think will give them the most publicity. This time a company called Gracenote has ranked the clubs based on results, using a metric which gives clubs more points for beating higher ranked clubs based over the last 4 years. Each league also gets bonus points for the entire league if one of its clubs performs well in Europe. So, in other words, it is rubbish, but no less interesting for being nonsensical.
1. Barcelona 4333 points
2. Real Madrid 4190 points
3. Bayern Munich 4053 points
4. Juventus 4037 points
5. Manchester City 3852 points
6. PSG 3850 points
7. Atletico Madrid 3798 points
8. Napoli 3542 points
9. Tottenham Hotspur 3540 points
10. Manchester United 3528 points
11. Liverpool 3487 points
12. Chelsea 3478 points
13. AS Roma 3429 points
14. Sevilla 3239 points
15. Arsenal 3233 points
16. Shakhtar Donetsk 3219 points
17. AS Monaco 3178 points
18. Porto 3162 points
19. Borussia Dortmund 3100 points
20. Valencia 3082 points

Transfer Round Up

Stefan de Vrij has revealed he will be joining Inter Milan in the summer, after signing a 5 year contract with the Serie A giants. The Dutch defender's contract with Lazio expires this summer.

Liverpool have agreed a deal with AS Monaco for their utility Brazilian Fabinho. The 24 year old can play in central midfield or as a right back and he is set to arrive at Anfield on 1st July.

Chapecoense, the Brazilian club decimated by a plane crash a couple of years ago, have signed Douglas. The 28 year old centre back moves on a free transfer from Sao Paulo.

Borussia Dortmund have signed midfielder Marius Wolf from Eintracht Frankfurt for around £4.5m.

Eintracht Frankfurt have also released forward Alexander Meier.

Chievo Verona have taken Polish forward Mariusz Stepinski from FC Nantes for a fee of around £2.25m.

Blackburn Rovers have released Liam Feeney.

Scottish wideman Ross Wallace has been released by Sheffield Wednesday.

Messi 'Increasingly Sure' He Will Never Play For Another European Club

Barcelona's Argentine forward Lionel Messi has suggested he could one day play in Argentina, but only for Newell's Old Boys. Messi told an Argentinian TV station, El Trece, "I always said I wanted to play in Argentine football one day. I don't know if it will happen but I have it in my mind. It would be at Newell's, nowhere else. I would like to do that for at least six months, but you never know what will happen. I'm increasingly sure that in Europe, Barcelona will be my only club."

Draxler Tells German Players To Move Abroad

PSG's Julian Draxler has told fellow German players they should move abroad to improve their footballing education and see the world. Draxler told reporters: "It is only an advantage if you play abroad. There is a new language, a new environment, a new mentality. You have to overcome big challenges and I can understand (German players) who want to move aboard and I can only advise them to do it. Everyone has their experiences playing abroad, you get to learn from different coaches from different countries, different systems and all of these experiences can then be integrated into the national team."

Police Investigate KKK-style Promotion Celebration In Germany

German's lower-league football has been the subject of a lot of scrutiny over the rise of right wing white supremacists and the lack of action by the relevant officials to deal with it. Nazi symbolism has been rife among supporters for a while now. Police have decided to investigate one incident after FC Energie Cottbus won promotion to the third tier in Germany when a group of fans wore Ku Klux Klan-style hoods and marched holding a red banner with "The rise of the evil ones" emblazoned on it. Cottbus have called the fans behaviour "inhumane, repugnant and in no way tolerable" and have said they will ban for life any fan identified as being involved. This follows on from an incident involving Cottbus fans chanting "gypsies, ticks and jews" at fans of another lower league side Babelsburg, which nearly led to Babelsburg's expulsion from the leagues after they refused to pay a fine levied on them after their fans responded with chants of "Nazi pigs out". While Cottbus have claimed the KKK hoods have damaged their reputation, unfortunately for them, their reputation is that they are a team with a problem following and this has merely reinforced the perception, not damaged their already terrible reputation.

Written by Tris Burke May 29 2018 12:23:03