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Football News: Review Of The Day 4th November 2019

Review Of The Day 4th November 2019
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Review of the Day

 



Injury Round-Up

Northampton Town midfielder Shaun McWilliams is ruled out for up to a month after an appendix op. The 21 year old fell ill before the 2-2 draw at Oldham Athletic on Saturday and was taken to hospital where he had an operation that evening.

Everton midfielder Andre Gomes suffered an horrific-looking leg injury following an innocuous challenge by Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-Min. Son, who was extremely distressed after seeing the damage caused, was sent off due to the injury. Referee Martin Atkinson changed his initial yellow card to a red after seeing the consequences of the initial challenge.

 


Dons Waste No Time

Less than 24 hours after MK Dons sack manager Paul Tisdale they have a new man in place. Former Norwich City and Rangers player Russell Martin, who had been signed by Tisdale in January, has stepped into his first managerial role by replacing Tisdale. Dons chairman Pete Winkelman said: "Ever since Russell joined the club, we recognised his potential to one day become a manager. It's certainly happening faster than we expected but I'm excited to give Russell the chance and show us all what we can do."

 


Gerrard Certain Of Morelos Stay

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has said he is "100% sure" of holding on to star striker Alfredo Morelos for the rest of the season. The Colombian scored two more in the Scottish League Cup semi-final win over Hearts to reach 20 goals for the season already but Gerrard said: "I'm not confident - I'm 100% sure he's not going anywhere." This is despite Morelos hinting to a radio station in his home country that he could be sold in January.

 


Yaya Lasts Just Ten Seconds

In what is believed to be Yaya Toure's final game in China, the former Manchester City and Barcelona midfielder was sent off after just 10 seconds for kicking out at an opponent. It was his second tier side, Qingdao Huanghai's final game of the season. They won the title and promotion to the Chinese Super League but it is expected the 36 year old will not be staying with them after their promotion.

 


Ihattaren Goes Dutch

PSV Eindhoven's teenage prodigy Mohamed Ihattaren has pledged his future to The Netherlands despite being included in the past in Morocco's provisional squads, only to withdraw from them. The 17 year old had wanted to consider his options, with the option to continue on playing for Holland, where he was born, lives and has played at youth levels, being chosen over playing for the country of his father, Morocco. Ihattaren said: "I thought about it for a long time, I also consulted a lot with my family. In the end we decided to opt for the Dutch national team. The Dutch federation did a lot for me in representing the youth teams. I went through everything there and that makes it difficult to leave. I have been playing for the Oranje since Under-14. I have won the European Championship with Under-17."

 


Berlin Derby Halted

The first-ever Bundesliga derby between east and west Berlin had to be halted after flares were thrown onto the pitch. Union Berlin, the first club from east Berlin to reach the German top flight, eventually ran out 1-0 winners over Hertha Berlin due to a 90th minute penalty. It was at the beginning of the second half that the game had to be stopped for ten minutes as fans threw the flares onto the pitch, leading to the players leaving the pitch. Hertha have since condemned the "unsightly scenes".

 


Lampard Unhappy With VAR

Like most people watching the Premier League this season, Chelsea manager Frank Lampard is unhappy with the way VAR is being used, despite his team's 2-1 win over Watford. Lampard said after the game, which included a contentious decision to award the Hornets a penalty which allowed them to halve the gap: "We're not in a great place with it. Any [decision] that takes that long means they aren't sure, so why aren't we using screens on side of pitch? I know [using screens] is a bit contentious, I know it could mean every fan might call for it and there might be pressure on the referees. But if we are saying they are grey areas and we are overturning decisions because one referee somewhere else thinks it was more of a penalty than the referee on the pitch, then I think we are in a really dangerous place. You're going to be tossing a coin every week. I have to be careful but last week we saw a clear change in VAR with penalties getting overturned. I was at a managers' meeting in the week and we spoke a lot about it and the absolute consensus from managers, from referees and from the Premier League was that decisions were not going to get overturned unless they were absolutely clear and obvious or VAR saw something that the referee on the pitch didn't see. [In Jorginho's case] it didn't, it nowhere near shows that. The longer it took the more worried I got and I'm so, so surprised after the meeting on Thursday to then have that decision today."

 


Balotelli Subjected To Racist Abuse

Former Manchester City and Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli has once more been subjected to racial abuse while playing for his club side. The 29 year old was playing for Brescia against Hellas Verona when the mercurial Italian stopped playing in the 54th minute, picked up the ball, booted it into the crowd and threatened to walk off the pitch due to the abuse. The referee suspended play while an announcement over the tannoy was made that any more abuse would see the game abandoned. Eventually Brescia teammates and officials persuaded Balotelli to continue and he scored his side's goal in a 2-1 defeat with a screamer into the net just in front of where the abuse came from. Balotelli said afterwards: "Thank you to every colleague, on the pitch and out, for the solidarity towards me and for all the messages received from you fans. A heartfelt thank you. You proved to be real men, not like who denied the obvious. #notoracism" Denying the obvious was obviously a pointed reference to Verona manager Ivan Juric, who denied there was anything other than boos aimed in Balotelli's direction: "I'm not afraid to say it, there was nothing today, no racist boos. There were a lot of whistles and a lot of stick towards a great player, but today there was absolutely nothing racist. I've often been called a 'gypsy', the whole country is going towards this direction, but there was nothing today. Why did Balotelli react like that? You'll need to ask him, I've only heard stick but nothing more. I am disgusted by racist chants and I am the first to condemn them, but I've only heard stick today. Let's not talk about racism because it's a lie, let's not create a case when there is none." Verona also denied that AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie was the target of racist chants earlier this season, with the club tweeting: "The boos to Kessie? Maybe someone was left dazed by the volume of the Verona fans. What did we hear? Inevitable boos for refereeing decisions that left us very perplexed once again, and then a big applause to our 'gladiators' at the end of the game. Let's not fall for these stereotypes. Respect for Verona and its people." Balotelli has had a frequent issue of racist abuse from Verona fans, six-years ago the then-mayor of the city, Flavio Tosi claimed Balotelli brought racist abuse upon himself. Just to make it worse for Balotelli today, the Verona president claimed the Verona fans were just being ironic and not racist! All this despite footage circulating that has clearly audible monkey chants aimed in Balotelli's direction. Still I am sure the Italian FA will once more sweep it under the carpet and claim it is a sign of respect, not racism.

 


Kovac Leaves Munich

Following a big 5-1 defeat at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, leaving Bayern four points behind the leaders in the Bundesliga, manager Niko Kovac has left. Kovac said: "The results and the way we've played lately have led me to this decision. My brother Robert and I would like to thank FC Bayern for these past 18 months. During that time our team won the Bundesliga, the DFB Cup and the Supercup. It was a good time. I wish the club and the team all the very best."

Written by Tris Burke November 03 2019 22:18:35

 

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