Stoke Punchup...Hull Admin Fight...Leeds Ownership

[QPR Report]

Another hyped up story (which I'm repeating!)

Guardian

Stoke's Abdoulaye Faye and Glenn Whelan in 'punch-up' after thumping• Faye's flip-flop warm-up provokes Stoke City team-mate
• Whelan 'belted in the face' by Faye after 7-0 defeat
Dominic Fifield The Guardian, Tuesday 27 April

For the second time this season Stoke City have been left to deal with the fallout from an ugly dressing-room row after Abdoulaye Faye allegedly punched Glenn Whelan in the face after Sunday's 7-0 thumping at Chelsea.

The incident comes only four months after Tony Pulis, the Stoke manager, was widely reported to have been embroiled in a confrontation with James Beattie in which he is alleged to have head-butted the striker following a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal. Sunday's spat leaves the club with another embarrassing internal disciplinary matter on their hands as the season draws to a close.

The latest altercation is said to have taken place after an alleged row between Faye and Whelan in the dressing room at half-time erupted again at the final whistle, although the seeds for the argument had been sown before a ball had even been kicked.

Whelan, 26, was apparently frustrated with Faye's attitude before the game because the Senegalese had been the only player taking part in a warm-up drill in the dressing room prior to kick-off wearing flip-flops rather than boots. It is alleged that the Stoke midfielder felt that Faye was not approaching the match in the right way and, when the defender subsequently lasted nine minutes against Chelsea before pulling up with a thigh strain, he took the opportunity at half-time to tell his team-mate that his failure to take things seriously was contributing to his injury record.

The 32-year-old centre-half is said to have reacted furiously and squared up to Whelan, asking the Republic of Ireland international how many games he had played in the Premier League. It is alleged that Whelan stood his ground and told the former Bolton and Newcastle player, who was being restrained by Ricardo Fuller, that he should speak to him at the end of the game and not during the interval, at which point Stoke were losing 3-0. When the half-time buzzer sounded to return to the pitch the argument was still in full flow.

A club source suggests that Faye decided to take Whelan up on his offer once the players had returned to the dressing room at full-time and, after Pulis had finished his post-match team-talk and confirmed the players would be forfeiting their day off because of their abject performance, he confronted Whelan again. The Irishman reiterated that he had been unimpressed with the Senegalese's attitude before the game and in training, and Faye responded by, in the words of a club source, "belting him in the face".

Most of the players and some of the backroom staff then became involved as they separated Faye and Whelan. Pulis is understood to have spoken to both players on an individual basis today although it is unclear at this stage what disciplinary action, if any, he proposes to take. He will, however, inevitably face fresh questions about his control of the dressing room.

Stoke City declined to comment.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/apr/27/stoke-city-abdoulaye-faye-glenn-whelan

[QPR Report]

Guardian/Owen Gibson
Leeds United may be forced to come clean over the ownership issue• Premier League and Championship to standardise rules
• Promotion could force Leeds to remove smokescreen

If it's not quite up there with the existence of the Loch Ness monster, for some Leeds United fans it is not far off. The mystery of who owns their club could finally be solved this summer, if the team gain promotion.

It had been assumed that Leeds, sitting in an automatic promotion place in League One, would not have to reveal the identity of the shareholders in the offshore companies that make up their ownership structure unless they returned to the Premier League.

But a Premier League proposal for the Football League to align the Championship's rulebook with its own, as part of a package that will deliver a new deal on parachute and solidarity payments, could see the Leeds chairman Ken Bates required to do so far sooner. The Football League, which has satisfied itself that the club's owners are "fit and proper" but does not require them to be named, is likely to put the plan to its clubs at the annual meeting in June.

The Guardian has highlighted the issue of opaque ownership in a campaign backed by MPs and supporters' groups. The Premier League's offer will increase parachute payments from £23.4m over two years to £48m over four and "significantly" increase the solidarity payments shared between other Football League clubs.

It also wants to standardise rules with clubs in the Championship. That would require all those with shareholdings above 10% to be revealed on that club's website. The Football League's chairman Greg Clarke, in talks with the Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore over the package from 2010 to 2013, said on getting the job that he had "a propensity to think that transparency is a wonderful thing". This may be his chance to prove it.


Scots SFA targets Thomson

Another pressing task in Greg Clarke's intray could be to deal with a likely raid from Scotland for the commercial director Stewart Thomson. While the former chairman Lord Mawhinney received plaudits for sponsorship and broadcasting deals with npower, Carling, Coca-Cola, Sky and the BBC, it was Thomson who was responsible for bringing them in. With the messy departure of Gordon Smith as the Scottish Football Association chief executive Thomson, who has held senior marketing roles at Rangers, the Scottish Premier League and United Distillers, has emerged as one of the favourites to replace him. Whether he would want to walk into the political minefield of the SFA is another matter.

Indecision bad for bid

An inconclusive election result may be good news for political journalists guaranteed months of intrigue, but it would be bad news for England's 2018 World Cup bid. As Labour and the Conservatives were yesterday warning of the perils of a hung parliament, there are fears that the lack of an outright winner would leave the bid lacking vital heavyweight political support during the run-in. England's team are felt to be doing a good job in reaching out to the executive committee members who will decide their fate, and are on course to have delivered presentations to all 24 by the time bid books are handed in on 14 May. But with the leaders of other bidding nations, including the fancied and well-financed Russians, reaching out personally to Fifa's president Sepp Blatter, below, and other committee members, it is feared that a lengthy spell of political uncertainty amid parties consumed by backroom horse trading could damage England's bid.

Boom amid Pompey bust
The financial travails of Portsmouth may not have been good news for the 400-plus small creditors, but football-related business is at least booming for insolvency practitioners such as Andrew Andronikou, the less than publicity shy Hacker Young partner and joint administrator. In this month's FC Business magazine, Hacker Young reminds readers of its work at Swindon Town (where it found a buyer but left supporters far from convinced of its talents) and Portsmouth (where the jury is still out) and advertises its services under the heading: "A new financial era for football clubs: Are you prepared?" The answer at most clubs, judging by recent events, would have to be a resounding no.

www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/apr/27/leeds-united-mystery-owners

[QPR Report]

Guardian/Louise Taylor

Hull City face battle to avoid administration beyond relegation• Hull will seek to restructure loans with assorted creditors
• Club anxious not to start next season with 10-point penalty
Hull City face a battle to avoid going into administration or entering a creditors' voluntary agreement as they attempt to trade through their financial crisis. Despite being £35m in debt, the east Yorkshire club is frantically renegotiating a series of loans with assorted creditors and hopes to make a formal announcement about a financial restructuring plan at the end of this week.

By side-stepping both administration and a CVA, Hull – who, privately, have no intention of reinstating Phil Brown as their manager – would avoid starting life in the Championship burdened with the 10-point deduction automatically imposed by the Football League in such circumstances.

Hull were effectively relegated – it would take an arithmetical miracle for them to retain their Premier League status – on Saturday when they lost at home to Sunderland and today the club's owner, Russell Bartlett, and his chairman, Adam Pearson, convened an emergency board meeting.

Afterwards a club source said: "The owner has reiterated his belief we can manage to continue trading through the process of restructuring the club's cost base. There should be a formal announcement to this effect by the weekend."

The Essex-based Bartlett is a reclusive figure but, before that meeting, he made a rare public comment to play down talk of administration at the KC Stadium. "We face a tough period to trade through the transitional period and readjust the business to life in the Championship but I am confident we can do that," said Hull's owner, who must bitterly regret failing to insert mandatory relegation clauses, which would have lowered remuneration by 40% or 50% in the event of a fall into the Championship, into the contracts of Hull's players.

"We are presently preparing plans to trade through, to significantly lower the wage bill and potentially restructure other liabilities," he added.

Pearson, who succeeded Paul Duffen as chairman late last year, shortly after Hull's auditor, Deloitte, warned the club faced a struggle to continue as a going concern, has been charged with the not inconsiderable task of trimming Hull's £40m-per-annum wage bill to £15m.

A fire sale seems inevitable but Pearson will struggle to part company with Jimmy Bullard, the club's biggest earner. The injury-prone £45,000-a-week midfielder has three years left on his contract, uninsurable knees and would almost certainly fail a medical.

While George Boateng is out of contract this summer, other high earners already being made available include Stephen Hunt, Geovanni and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.

The identity of Hull's manager for the 2010-11 campaign remains unclear but the only way Brown – on gardening leave after being replaced by Iain Dowie in mid-March – could return to his post is if an administrator decided to reappoint him.

Brown, the subject of a verbal savaging by Boateng on Saturday evening, had fallen out with several players and his relationship with Pearson is understood to have become untenable. He was put on gardening leave because Hull could not afford to pay him off in full and it is hoped a settlement on the remaining year of his contract will soon be agreed.

Although on Saturday Pearson, whose bond with Bartlett is believed to be strained, said he could conceivably work with Brown again, the chairman was merely answering a question diplomatically lest administration became a reality. Dowie, whose short-term deal ends next month, is keen to stay on but his future will not be determined until at least the end of the week.

It could yet hinge on whether he manages to keep Hull in 18th position on the season's final day – finishing a place above Burnley would be worth £750,000 to a board counting every penny.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/apr/26/hull-city-administration-relegation

[QPR Report]

And at Man City...

The Times April 27, 2010

Manchester City already employ nine goalkeepers. Why bring in another one?Tony Barrett, Russell Kempson

Manchester City insist that they are acting within the spirit of the laws of the game by applying to the Barclays Premier League to be given special dispensation to sign a goalkeeper on emergency loan.

An injury crisis means the club have only one fit senior goalkeeper available, Gunnar Nielsen, the Faeroe Isles international, and although City are examining the terms of Joe Hart’s season-long loan to Birmingham City to ascertain whether he can be recalled, they have asked the Premier League to allow them permission to sign Marton Fulop from Sunderland on a temporary basis.

Emergency loans are permitted under Premier League rules, even at this stage of the season, as long as the circumstances are deemed to be exceptional. The rule of thumb applied to determine what constitutes “exceptional circumstances” is that the club making the application must have fewer than two available senior goalkeepers, a criterion that City insist they meet.

City have submitted medical notes detailing the injuries that have instigated their request, which follows Shay Given, their first-choice goalkeeper, being ruled out for the rest of the season with the dislocated shoulder he suffered away to Arsenal on Saturday.

Also included in the dossier are details of the recovery of Stuart Taylor, the back-up goalkeeper, from knee surgery and the groin injury that has rendered David González, their fourth choice, unavailable.

That the club dubbed the richest in world football have had to go cap in hand to the Premier League because of a shortage of players in such a key position will inevitably raise eyebrows, particularly as City are involved in a cut-throat race to finish fourth with Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Liverpool and to claim the remaining place in next season’s Champions League in the process.

The Premier League board will meet today to discuss City’s application and is likely to approve it, despite the presence of nine professional goalkeepers on the club’s books. None of their rivals for that all-important fourth place have raised any objections as yet, with Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham manager, insisting that he is unconcerned by the development, which could have a significant impact on the run-in.

“I have no problems with it,” Redknapp said. “If City have injuries and need a goalkeeper, what can you do? It happened to me once at West Ham United [in 1996]. Les Sealey and Ludo Miklosko were injured but the League would not give me permission to bring in a goalkeeper. I had to play Neil Finn, who was 17, against Manchester City. It was his only game for the club.”

Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager, is adamant that Hart will not return to City before his season-long loan deal concludes, although officials at the City of Manchester Stadium are examining that possibility. Should that not transpire, they will step up their pursuit of Fulop, who has not made an appearance for Sunderland since their 7-2 mauling by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in mid-January.

The principle of such a move, rather than the identity of the possible signing, has drawn criticism from rival supporters. Jonathan Fear, a lifelong Villa fan, is angry at what he perceives as City arrogance. “It’s obscene the amount of money that City have been throwing around and there’s no way they should be cut any slack at all,” Fear, the editor of astonvilla.vitalfootball.co.uk, said. “Let the Moneybags struggle. They’ve got nine ’keepers, anyway. It’s just City throwing their weight around, like we saw with Chelsea a few years ago.”

If City fail in pursuing their other avenues, their hopes of finishing in the top four will rest with Nielsen, a goalkeeper of whom, until he was brought on as a second-half replacement for the stricken Given at Arsenal, few in English football had heard.

Nielsen, 23, had a five-match spell on loan with Wrexham last season, in which he conceded only two goals, but it came to an abrupt end in April when he broke a bone at the base of his right thumb. He returned to City for surgery but has not been forgotten by the Blue Square Premier club.

As the Wrexham players returned to North Wales on the team coach after their 1-0 win away to Hayes & Yeading on Saturday, Nielsen’s cameo appearance on television drew generous applause from his former team-mates.

“Everyone was cheering,” Geraint Parry, the Wrexham secretary, said. “Gunnar was 6ft 5in, he really filled the door frame when he walked into a room. He was a nice lad, very amicable, who worked really hard. He has got all the attributes to play at a higher level.”

Brian Kerr, the Faeroe Isles coach, also believes that Nielsen has what it takes. “He made his debut against Iceland before I took over and I was very impressed,” Kerr said. “He will be my top choice for the Euro 2012 qualifiers.”

Take your pick
Shay Given cannot have envisaged the goalkeeping crisis that he had sparked as he left the field at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday night. He was in too much pain from his dislocated shoulder to care, anyway. Given’s injury forced City into putting pressure on the Premier League yesterday to allow them to sign an emergency replacement.

Joe Hart, 23

Became No 1 under Sven-Göran Eriksson but, with Given’s arrival, is now on loan with Birmingham City.

Stuart Taylor, 29

Signed by Mark Hughes in July 2009 after being released by Aston Villa. Recently had knee surgery.

David González, 27

Colombia international. Free agent last year, joined City after trial. Sidelined with a groin injury.

Loris Karius, 17

German persuaded to move to City from Stuttgart by Hughes in May last year.

Tobias Johansen, 19

Norwegian who has been loaned to Kongsvinger in his homeland. Signed extension to his contract in 2008.

James Wood, 19

Welsh-born Scot, son of the former Arsenal, Everton and Scotland goalkeeper, George Wood.

Nathan Dean, 18

Manchester United-supporting youngster. Spotted as a schoolboy in St Helens in 2004.

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_city/article7108967.ece