Football News: Review Of The Day 16th September 2018

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Review of the Day

Mansour Pledges To Continue Spending

Sheikh Mansour, the head of the Abu Dhabi United Group with a stake in a number of clubs around the world, has pledged to continue spending in an effort to win more with Manchester City. Mansour penned an open letter to the fans on the 10th anniversary of his takeover of the Manchester side. It read: "There is much more to do and there is much more to win. That is why you will continue to see us strive to recruit the best talent." Spending in those ten years has already surpassed £1.4bn on players alone. Despite the spending the club has made a profit in the last 4 years in a row, breaking through the half a billion pounds in revenue barrier in the last accounting year. Mansour also points to the fact that he sees football as more than just a business saying that "football has a bigger role to play than any normal 'business'. Whether it be the simple joy of watching our beautiful game, helping combat obesity, improving fitness levels in children, supporting the battle to alleviate depression, combating anti-social behaviour, or sometimes just giving people a new sense of direction after a trauma or when they have lost their way... Football and football clubs not only have the power to do this, they have the responsibility to do so." Which is something that is a big part of football is his native land, the UAE, where the football clubs are seen as much more than just a sports team, with the youth academies there as much social clubs to keep kids off the streets as they are to develop players for the future.

Prem Claim VAR Would Have Overturned Just One Decision

The Premier League have claimed that just one decision in the five matches that were trialling VAR technology would have been overturned. The trial only took in the 3pm kick offs, which means incidents in the Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool match (where Spurs looked to have been denied a penalty as unjustly as they were awarded one last season at Anfield) and the Watford v Manchester United game were not under consideration. The one decision they decided would have been overturned was a Leroy Sane goal against Fulham for Man City would not have been disallowed. Does anyone who has ever watched football at any level believe that 5 sets of officials made just one clear and obvious error? This reminds me of those nonsense statistics the PGMOL pump out every few weeks about how they get a completely fabricated %age of decisions correct. Who decides which of those decisions are correct? Yes the referees themselves, the same people who made them in the first place. Why they cannot just be honest and admit they are human and so make mistakes, particularly linesmen, who have the most difficult job in the game trying to look at two places on the pitch at once, is beyond me. Honesty would earn them a lot more respect than a blatant refusal to accept they are human and so make mistakes.

PSG President Hits Out At La Liga President

PSG's president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has hit out at La Liga president Javier Tebas and Real Madrid. Tebas is under fire for the way he has very publicly criticised a number of clubs outside of Spain, including Paris Saint-Germain, while Real Madrid's pursuit of Neymar was also criticised. A pursuit which has taken a form very similar to the one Madrid themselves filed a lawsuit against Inter Milan over, with regards to Luka Modric. A lawsuit which FIFA dismissed. Al-Khelaifi said: "I never talked about Tebas behind his back. While he does, I would prefer things to be said to his face, he attacked Juve, Inter, and us at PSG...the whole world! let others work. Real Madrid would like Neymar, it's an attitude that we do not like at all that other clubs talk about our players. We respect Real Madrid and their President Florentino Perez, but I think it's advisable not to work behind the scenes. Acting in this way is not what PSG does and neither should the others."

Kante Confirms He Rejected PSG Interest

Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante has confirmed that he had the possibility to join PSG but turned it down as he is happy at Chelsea. Kante told RMC Sport: "There was no urge to go elsewhere after the World Cup. There were other clubs interests but after talking to Chelsea, things were clear. The club is counting on me and I feel good. The next logical step was to continue to Chelsea. There were some contacts [from PSG]. But after a discussion with Chelsea I realised that the main thing was to feel good where I was. I am at Chelsea. It's good for me to stay at Chelsea." How on earth could PSG have afforded Kante after the Neymar and Kylian Mbappe transfers of the last couple of seasons? Is Kante even a human or a cyborg sent back from the future with the ability to replicate itself?

Balotelli Dismisses Overweight Rumours

Nice striker Mario Balotelli has hit back at rumours circulating in the media that he was fined for being overweight on his return to training. Balotelli said on social media, in his own understated style: "Me fined for being overweight? 1 Look at the physique I've got! It's laughable that you talk of me being overweight. 2 Now go **** yourselves with your invented garbage! Now you even say I've been fined? Whoever wrote that ought to lose their job."

Caen Install Pitchside Hot Tub

In a partnership deal that is very nearly as exciting as the boiler mascot at West Bromwich Albion, French side Caen had a hot tub fitted pitchside for their 2-2 draw with Lyon at the weekend, where 2 people watched the game from. The pair had won a prize to watch the game from the tub from club sponsors Hotel SPA. As you do like. Now there is something that definitely would not handle a cold, wet, windy day in Stoke!

Written by Tris Burke September 16 2018 06:30:26