Football News: Review Of The Day 16th March 2019

Image from: freelargeimages.com

Review of the Day

Contracts

Luke McCormick, the former Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper who killed two children in a car accident while drunk, has had his Swindon Town contract extended for a further year until 2020.

Transfers

Former Manchester United, Birmingham City and West Ham United defender Jonathan Spector has signed a short-term deal with Hibernian. The 33 year old former US international had spent a year in Major League Soccer with Orlando City, who he captained.

Colorado Rapids have sent a pair of players on loan to Switchbacks FC. Defender Kofi Opare and goalkeeper Clint Irwin will both spend some time with the USLC club.

Staying in MLS, Chicago Fire have completed the signing of Argentine winger Nico Gaitan from Dalian Yifang of the Chinese Super League on a free transfer.

Another free transfer sees defender Cedric Hountondji leave City Group side NYCFC to join Levski Sofia.

Another player heading to USLC on loan is Jonathan Campbell, who has switched from Seattle Sounders to Tacoma Defiance.

PSG Suspend Rabiot

After being forced to train with the youth team and told he would not be selected for the first team unless he signed a new contract, relations between French midfielder Adrien Rabiot and Paris Saint-Germain have declined rapidly. While PSG were being knocked out of the Champions League by Manchester United, Rabiot was publicly partying in a nightlub and then liked a video on social media of an ex-Manchester United player celebrating the victory. All childish nothings really, a bit like the childish tantrum PSG threw banning him from the team, but the Parisian club's sporting director Antero Henrique has now decided to suspend Rabiot for 2 weeks. Henrique said: "I find this is unacceptable behavior and an unprofessional attitude from a player like Adrien Rabiot towards the club, his team-mates and supporters." I would say it was extremely unprofessional, but so is refusing to pick a player purely because he is not going to sign a new deal. I get Rabiot is a pain in the backside and his mother/agent is even worse, but this is sheer arrogance from the club, trying to force a player to sign a new deal. Perhaps that is how the owners work in Qatar, but this is not slavery, players can choose to walk away at the end of their contracts, no matter how much it annoys fans when they do so. If PSG ever want to be a truly big club, rather than the French version of Millwall but with a lot of money, they are going to have to start treating others with respect and earn their place, rather than buy it.

Morelos Appeal Rejected

Rangers' attempts to get Alfredo Morelos's yellow card for diving, given in the Scottish Cup defeat to Aberdeen, overturned have been rejected. Despite footage showing contact from defender Andrew Considine, the SFA have upheld the booking, which means Morelos will serve a 1 match ban in the Scottish Cup, the next time he is due to play in it.

Johnston Offloads Killie Shares

Former Kilmarnock chairman Michael Johnston no longer has any stake in the club or Park Hotel, next to the ground, after transferring his shares in both to club director Billy Bowie. Bowie, as well as taking the 1,961,699 shares from Johnston, has converted £76,502 of his shareholder loan into equity.

Colley Back For The Gambia

Sampdoria defender Omar Colley has been recalled by The Gambia, for their final AFCON qualifying match. The Gambia have to win in Algeria and hope for a draw between Benin and Togo to qualify for their first even finals. It is the first time they have even had a chance of qualification going into the final game and it shows how well they have done when you realise they are recruiting from English non-league football in the shape of Salford City left back Ibou Touray and Ebbsfleet United midfielder Ebrima Adams.
The Gambia squad:
Goalkeepers: Modou Jobe (El Kanemi Warriors, Nigeria), Baboucarr Gaye (Arminia Bielefeld, Germany)
Defenders: Bubacarr Sanneh (Anderlecht, Belgium), Omar Colley (Sampdoria, Italy), Mamadou 'Futty' Danso (unattached), Mohammed Jallow Mbye (Mjallby AIF, Sweden), Ibou Touray (Salford City, England), Ngine Faye Njie (Gamtel FC), Simon Richter and Dawda Ngum (BK Bronshoj, Denmark)
Midfielders: Kalifa Manneh (Calcio Catania, Italy), Ebrima 'Ebou' Adams (Ebbsfleet United, England), Ebrima Sohna (unattached), Ebrima Colley (Atalanta, Italy)
Forwards: Nuha Marong (CD Atletico Baleares, Spain), Ablie Jallow (Metz, France), Musa Barrow (Atalanta, Italy), Bubacarr Jobe (Mjallby AIF, Sweden), Adama Jammeh (Etoile Sportive du Sahel, Tunisia), Muhammed Badamosi (FUS de Rabat, Morocco)

Zaha Recalled

Cote D'Ivoire have recalled Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha for a dead rubber match in African Cup of Nations qualifying, as Group H has already been decided, with Ivory Coast and Guinea qualifying.
Goalkeepers: Sylvain Gbohouo (TP Mazembe, DR Congo), Badra Ali Sangare (Free State Stars, South Africa), Abdoul Karim Cisse (Asec Mimosas)
Defenders: Bamba Abdoulaye and Traore Ismael (Angers, France), Eric Bailly (Manchester United, England), Serge Aurier (Tottenham Hotspurs, England), Mamadou Bakayoko (Red Star, France), Wonlo Coulibaly (Asec Mimosas), Simon Deli (Slavia Prague, Czech Republic), Wilfried Kanon (ADO Den Haag, Netherlands)
Midfielders: Jean Michel Seri (Fulham, England), Serey Die (Neuchatel Xamax, Switzerland), Victorien Angban (FC Metz, France), Franck Kessie (AC Milan, Italy), Jean-Philippe Gbamin (Mainz 05, Germany), Ismael Diomande (SM Caen, France)
Strikers: Jonathan Kodjia (Aston Villa, England), Roger Assale (Young Boys, Switzerland), Nicolas Pepe (Lille, France), Max Gradel (Toulouse FC, France), Maxwell Cornet (Olympique Lyon, France), Yakou Meite (Reading FC, England), Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace, England)

Africa Give Backing To World Cup Expansion

FIFA's new Blatter, Gianni Infantino is wanting to increase the number of teams in 2022's World Cup in Qatar to 48 teams. Unsurprisingly support has come from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) with their allocation set to double under the plan. CAF vice-president Amaju Pinnick said: "Caf will definitely support the vision of (Fifa president) Gianni Infantino if he wants this. Why wait until 2026 if we can achieve it now? If you do it now, there will be more money and more participating teams. In Africa we are going to have another 4.5 (places), which makes more sense to us - rather than just going with five nations. That's why Africa will always support Infantino." With Qatar being too small a nation to host a World Cup of that size, a good reason for not expanding is that most countries in the region are almost at war with the Qataris, who they accuse of supporting terrorism.

Machin Sacked

Sevilla have sacked manager Pablo Machin following the Europa League specialists being knocked out by Slavia Prague 6-5 on aggregate after a 4-3 defeat in Prague. Sevilla are currently in 6th in the league, 5 points off a Champions League place, having lost their way after Monchi headed to Roma.

Cannavaro To Lead China

China have turned to Italy's former World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro as their new head coach following Marcello Lippi's resignation. Lippi quit after China exited the Asian Cup at the quarter-stage but will stay on as an advisor to Cannavaro. Cannavaro is currently the manager of Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande, a role he will now combine with that of national coach.

Europa League Draw

Europa League quarter-finals:
Napoli v Arsenal
Villarreal v Valencia
Benfica v Eintracht Frankfurt
Slavia Prague v Chelsea

Europa League semi-finals
Napoli or Arsenal v Villarreal or Valencia
Benfica or Eintracht Frankfurt v Slavia Prague or Chelsea

Club World Cup To Expand

Despite a threat of European clubs boycotting, FIFA have backed Gianni Infantino's plan to expand the Club World Cup to 24 teams from 2021, replacing the Confederations Cup in the footballing calendar. The European Club Association had written to UEFA informing them that their members would not be taking part in any expanded tournament. It will be interesting to see if that was just an empty threat or not.

Champions League Draw

Quarter-finals
Ajax v Juventus (April 10 at Johan Cruijff Arena, April 16 at Allianz Stadium)
Liverpool v Porto (April 9 at Anfield, April 17 at Estadio do Dragao)
Tottenham v Manchester City (April 9 at Spurs' stadium, April 17 at Etihad)
Barcelona v Manchester United (April 10 at Old Trafford, April 16 at Nou Camp)

Semi-finals
Tottenham/Manchester City v Ajax/Juventus
Barcelona/Manchester United v Liverpool/Porto

Written by Tris Burke March 16 2019 04:48:36