Football News: Review Of The Day 31st January 2019

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Review of the Day

Transfers

American international defender Matt Polster has signed for Rangers after a successful trial. The 25 year old joins from MLS side Chicago Fire.

Sheffield United striker Leon Clarke has joined Wigan Athletic on loan for the rest of the season.

Livingston have made a double signing. Lyndon Dykes has been signed from Queen of the South, but will stay there for the rest of the season on loan. Hakeem Odoffin has come in from Northampton Town.

Full-back Aaron Taylor-Sinclair has joined Crewe Alexandra on loan from Motherwell.

French winger Georges-Kevin Nkoudou is set to return to French football. The 23 year old is joining AS Monaco on loan from Tottenham Hotspur for the rest of the season. Monaco have also taken Brazilian striker Carlos Vinicius on loan from Napoli.

The Premier League's bottom club Huddersfield Town, who have scored just 13 goals this season, have signed Karlan Grant from League One side Charlton Athletic. The 21 year old striker has 14 goals so far this season.

Shrewsbury Town have made a double defensive signing. Free agent Scott Golbourne has joined on a short term deal. The 30 year old had been released by Bristol City in May. Pacey defender Ro-Shaun Williams has joined from Manchester United.

Ben Stevenson has returned to Colchester United. The 21 year old was loaned to Colchester from Wolverhampton Wanderers for the second half of last season, but has now moved on a permanent deal.

Stoke City defender Harry Souttar has joined Fleetwood Town on loan.

Rekeil Pyke has joined Rochdale on loan from Huddersfield Town.

Walsall have taken Aramide Oteh on loan from QPR for the rest of the season.

Veteran Scottish international Craig Mackail-Smith will spend the rest of the season on loan at Notts Country from Wycombe Wanderers.

Dundee United's Billy King has joined Gillingham on loan.

Winger Lloyd Isgrove has joined Portsmouth on loan from League One promotion rivals Barnsley.

Rabbi Matondo has completed a nearly £10m move to Schalke 04 from Manchester City.

Barcelona midfielder Dennis Suarez has joined Arsenal on loan for the rest of the season.

Real Valladolid have released Spanish midfielder Antonio Cotan.

Serie A's Sassuolo have taken Turkish defender Merih Demiral on loan from Sporting Club de Portugal. Sporting have brought in Colombian full-back Cristian Borja from Toluca in Mexico.

MLS side New England Revolution have taken Spanish winger Carles Gil on a free from Deportivo La Coruna.

Full-back Miguel Layun has moved to Mexican Liga MX side Monterrey from Villareal.

DC United have taken Argentine full-back Leonardo Jara from Boca Juniors on loan.

Chilean midfielder Manuel Iturra has moved on a free transfer to Maccabi Haifa from Villareal.

Sandro Wagner has taken a big payday by making a move to Tianjin Teda in China from Bayern Munich.

Scott Sutter has swapped Orlando City for Vancouver Whitecaps on a free transfer.

Peterborough United have cut short the loan spell of Jason Cummings. The Scottish forward has returned to parent club Nottingham Forest.

Chelsea full-back Abdul Rahman Baba has moved on loan to Reims.

Seagulls Hand Out Lifetime Bans

Brighton & Hove Albion have handed lifetime bans to a trio of fans who were involved in what the club termed "serious disorder" at Saturday's FA Cup tie with West Bromwich Albion. Brighton's chief executive Paul Barber said: "Once again we find ourselves dealing with a number of issues we do not want at this club. Firstly a small group of so-called supporters initiated a very cowardly attack on unsuspecting West Bromwich Albion supporters as they made their way along Station Approach. Another individual assaulted a steward and then threatened to stab him in full view of other fans including several children. Just as shockingly, another chose to assault and abuse a female crowd doctor, while she was tending to him. Our warnings may occasionally offend some people who wouldn't dream of behaving in this way, but I can assure you it's nowhere near the offence caused to us when our colleagues or our visitors are assaulted. We know it's a tiny minority of people that engage in this kind of serious disorder. We also know that the overwhelming majority of fans come to our games to enjoy a day out at the football with family and friends, and, like us, don't want these people anywhere near our club. Any individual who still thinks that they can behave in a violent or anti-social way, just because they are inside a football stadium, either needs to think again or stay away from our matches. We will continue to take a zero-tolerance approach as we do not want these type of individuals associated with Brighton and Hove Albion, or with our sport, in any way."

Lampard Calls For Defensive Signings

Derby County manager Frank Lampard has sent out a call for the club to sign a centre back. Lampard told the BBC: "We need to strengthen in the centre-back position. That is clear. It is hugely important. We have two centre-backs who have played a lot of minutes. We need competition and cover. It is an obvious area of the team and squad that we need and when you look at fixture list, with the FA Cup included, it is very congested. To ask two centre-backs to get through the season is a big ask so that is something we seriously need to look at. It is absolutely crucial and that is a conversation I am having with the club so we will see what we can do."

Lennon Officially Leaves Hibs

Hibernian have said that head coach Neil Lennon has "not been dismissed" and has "not resigned" but he has still left the club after a fractious team meeting led to his suspension by the club. Assistant Garry Parker has also gone. Former Hibs boss Alan Stubbs has already registered his interest in returning.

Benkovic Ruled Out For A Month

Celtic defender Filip Benkovic has been ruled out for a month with an ankle injury he suffered at the weekend. Manager Brendan Rodgers said: "Initially he'll be out for around 4-5 weeks. He will have his ankle in a boot for the next couple of weeks and then we will assess it after four weeks and it will take a week to 10 days to get back into training rhythm again. It is disappointing but Jozo Simunovic came in and was excellent tonight, concentrated, alert, defended well, passed it well and when he is like that he is a very good player."

Cote D'Ivoire Agree 2023 Afcon Hosting Deal

Ivory Coast has agreed to host the 2023 African Cup of Nations, instead of the 2021 edition they were previously set to hold, allowing Cameroon to take over the 2021 hosting rights. This year's Afcon was meant to take place in Cameroon, but they were stripped of the rights due to slow progress on their preparations and instead told they could hold the 2021 version. However Ivory Coast did not initially agree with the decision.

Vale Boss Aspin Quits

Neil Aspin has quit Port Vale after just over a year in charge. The 53 year old had seen his side struggling of late having won just once in their last 12 matches and slipping to 18th in the league.

FA Investigate Emirates Coin Throwing

The Football Association is looking into an alleged coin throwing incident during Arsenal's defeat by Manchester United in the FA Cup. There had been a melee towards the end of the game, following Arsenal left back Sead Kolasinac and Marcus Rashford squaring up on the touchline. A number of other players got involved before Ashley Young picked up an object believed to have been thrown from the crowd. Young later posted on social media a picture of himself holding the coin towards Gunners' fans and titled it: "Heads we win, tails we lose."

Referee Alleged To Racially Abuse Player

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) is looking into a claim that Serino's Senegalese goalkeeper Gueye Ass Dia was racially abused by the referee in a non-league game against Real Sarno. Serino walked off in protest over the incident and the FIGC are now investigating.

PSG Without Neymar

Brazilian forward Neymar Jr is set for 10 weeks on the sidelines after suffering a broken metatarsal. A Paris Saint-Germain statement read: "Paris St-Germain gathered together a group of world-renowned medical experts at the Ooredoo Training Centre to carry out a thorough review of the injury to Neymar Jr.'s right foot. After detailed analysis by the specialists, a consensus was reached of a conservative treatment of Neymar Jr.'s injury to the fifth right metatarsal."

UEFA Elect Al-Khelaifi

Just to show FIFA is not the only corrupt football organisation to be bought by Qatar, UEFA have elected PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi to their executive committee. The 45 year old Qatari's club is currently being investigated by UEFA over breaches in FFP rules and he has been questioned by Swiss authorities in relation to a bribery investigation over his role as BeIN Media chairman and their deal for FIFA World Cup rights in 2026 and 2030.

Search Moves Underwater

The search for missing footballer Emiliano Sala's downed plane is moving underwater after debris from the plane was found washed up near Surtainville in France. Cushions believed to be from the plane where spotted by a lady taking a walk on the beach and it has allowed the search to be narrowed down to an area of 4 square miles.

Written by Tris Burke January 31 2019 06:15:06