• Written by: admin
• Comments: N/A
• Views: 142

The FA has rescinded Sunderland defender John Mensah’s red card against Liverpool after he appealed the decision.

Mensah, who was booked when conceding a controversial penalty in the 33rd minute of Sunday’s 2-0 defeat, was shown a straight red for pulling back Luis Suarez in the 81st minute.

The dismissal would have seen Mensah suspended for the Premier League game against Manchester City on April 3, but he will now be able to take part in the match.

Steve Bruce told the club’s official website: “We thank the Football Association for considering our appeal and naturally we’re delighted he’ll be available for the game against Manchester City.”

Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

• Written by: admin
• Comments: N/A
• Views: 142

The parent company that owns Manchester United has announced a loss of £108.9 million for last year.

Red Football Joint Venture – owned by the Glazer family – revealed the figure for the year ending June 30, 2010 in their accounts, which also include a number of one-off payments, according to files submitted to Companies House. One of those was the cost of setting up a £526 million bond scheme to provide the American owners with cash in the short-term to service a number of outstanding debts.

While the previous year’s results revealed a profit of £21 million, payment in kind (PIK) loans that have since been paid off were also a contributing cause for the downturn in fortunes. A lack of notable player sales has also been blamed – in 2010 the club could include the £80 million departure of Cristiano Ronaldo as part of their trading.

United’s own club accounts were published in October and revealed losses of £83.6 million. At the time chief executive David Gill remained upbeat about financial matters at Old Trafford.

“We have money in the bank so there is zero pressure on that, no pressure at all to sell any star player,” Gill said at the time. “We have £165 million in the bank but in some ways we would prefer to have £80 million in the bank and Ronaldo on the pitch.”

Sir Alex Ferguson could be set to rebuild his side in the summer, with Manuel Neuer, David de Gea, Javier Pastore and Jack Rodwell all linked with the club in recent weeks. And, even in light of the financial news, Ferguson has been assured he will have money to spend.

A source told ESPNsoccernet: “There have been suggestions that the club are financially handicapped in some way with the latest accounts of the club’s parent company showing more than a £100 million loss for the year, but they are exceptional circumstances.

“There is £165 million cash in the bank, and even as we stand the club would pass UEFA’s fair financial play rules. No one is saying Sir Alex is going to spend all the cash in the bank, but he is going to replace a number of star players, and that is not going to come cheap. If he wishes to spend £100 million the funds are in place for him to do so.

“As for the club’s finances, Manchester United are on course to break the £100 million commercial profits barrier for the year. The club is best judged financially from the last quarterly accounts of the club, which showed the debt in the region of £500 million, interest repayments of £45 million but £100 million profits in a year.”

Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

• Written by: admin
• Comments: N/A
• Views: 212

Liverpool have announced the appointment of Ian Ayre as managing director and Damien Comolli as director of football.

Ayre, who has worked as the club’s commercial director since 2007, replaces Christian Purslow, who left the position in October last year. The owners had been searching for his successor since December.

Ayre worked alongside Purslow and Martin Broughton during Fenway Sports Group’s takeover of the club.

Principal owner John Henry told the club’s official website: “We conducted an extensive recruitment search and met with outstanding candidates who sought this role but, in the end, after having worked with Ian and other top executives within the club, we realised that Ian had all of the attributes necessary to lead the club forward.

“Ian has been doing an outstanding job driving commercial revenues and has a proven track record in successfully leading and developing businesses in a number of different regions and sectors of importance to Liverpool FC.

“But importantly, Ian is also from Liverpool and understands the relationships between the club, the supporters and the city. He will play a key role in all of our future plans.”

Comolli left Saint-Etienne to join Liverpool in November last year as director of football strategy. He has been tasked with identifying potential signings and previously worked at Arsenal and Tottenham.

“I am also delighted to announce the promotion of Damien Comolli to director of football,” Henry said. “In the short time that Damien has been at the club, he has impressed us greatly with his knowledge of the sport, his work ethic and his incisive intelligence.

“He is a clear thinker and understands exactly what is needed to form a long-term, consistent approach with the philosophy we all share here. He has a track record of identifying young talent and has already made significant contributions to the first team and academy.

“Damien played a leading role in our January transfer window activity with the recruitment of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll. These two additions will play a significant role in the future of the club. All of us at Liverpool Football Club who have been working on a day-to-day basis with Damien believe he will be a key contributor for many, many years here as we build a football operation second to none.”

The club’s owners have also officially assumed the corporate name of Fenway Sports Group having initially been known as New England Sports Ventures.

Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

• Written by: admin
• Comments: N/A
• Views: 202

Arsenal have announced that Johan Djourou is likely to return to training in one month’s time.

Arsene Wenger had initially said that Djourou would be out of action for the rest of the season after he dislocated his shoulder during the FA Cup defeat to Manchester United, but the Swiss FA revealed shortly afterwards that the prognosis was not as bad as first feared.

He has since undergone exploratory surgery on the injury and a statement on the official Arsenal website read: “The club can confirm the positive news that there isn’t a need for reconstructive surgery and he will now begin a period of rehabilitation on the shoulder before returning to training in around a month.”

Arsenal have been contending with a number of injuries to key players in recent weeks and fellow centre-back Thomas Vermaelen, who has been out of action with an Achilles problem since August, recently said he did not know when he would be able to return.

Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who sustained a dislocated finger in the Champions League defeat to Barcelona, has revealed he is still taking part in some training exercises despite being unable to play.

“I work in the gym every day, working on my lower body and my distribution as well which will be very good for me,” he told Arsenal TV Online. “I’m not getting bored, I can still do a lot of stuff.

“There’s nothing you can do when it happens – you have to move on, work hard on your fitness and make sure you come back stronger than ever.

“There’s not a lot of joint damage, the tendon is ruptured, so basically I have to keep my finger in a splint for four weeks and let the tendon heal. From then, it will be a couple of weeks before I can be back in the squad.

“It’s very hard, especially at a time when it was going well for me. We have got some big games coming up.”

Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com