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“Arrogant and disrespectful” – Italian Sport’s minister tears into Cristiano Ronaldo over Covid-19 protocol shambles

Video: PSG star lucky to escape injury after horrific red card challenge but injury woes worsen ahead of Man United clash

Done Deal: Fulham bolster their defence with the late signing of ace with Premier League experience

Given how long the Hammers have been pursuing the player, and whom they’ve also allowed to leave on loan to make room in their squad for him, it will be a bitter blow to Moyes if Benrahma is unable to be secured.

The post Deadline day chaos at West Ham as Said Benrahma fails medical appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Gary Neville sets out his Manifesto for Change in English football

Jason Pettigrove — Fri, 16 Oct 2020 08:39:54 GMT

The conversation around English football is set to be brought front and centre again as Gary Neville and an eight-person group that also includes David Bernstein, David Davies and Andy Burnham put forward their Manifesto for Change regarding independent regulation in English football.

The former Manchester United and England full-back has always been a vocal exponent against the way in which the English game has been run, and he now has the platform with which to potentially enforce real change at all levels of the game.

The latter is something the Neville was keen to espouse.

“The principle is that we don’t trust that football can govern itself and create the fairest deal for all, whether that’s the Premier League, EFL clubs, non-League clubs or the fans,” he said to Sky Sports News and cited by Sky Sports.

“It has been proven over this past six months that football has struggled to bring everyone together and proven to be incapable over a 25-30 year period of transforming the money in the game into something that works for everybody.

“I want the best Premier League in the world, but I want sustainable football clubs.

“There is enough money in the game to be able to have an elite Premier League, a sustainable and competitive EFL, money passed down to non-League and grassroots and where fans can get a fair deal.

“That’s where an independent regulator, with that spirit at the heart of it, can come in and say ‘that’s not fair’.

“I know we’ve got a big task in front of us, but we’ve got a group of people who love football and want the best for football.”

Saving the Beautiful Game – Manifesto for Change’ key recommendations

Create a new regulatory body for football that is independent of the current structure of the game
Decide on new ways of distributing funds to the wider game based on a funding formula and a fair levy payable by the Premier League
Set up a new and comprehensive licencing system for the professional game
Review causes of financial stress in the English Football League, including parachute payments and salary caps
Implement governance reforms at the FA which are essential to ensure it is truly independent, diverse and representative of English football today
Liaise with supporters’ organisations
Learn lessons from abroad and champion supporter involvement in the running of clubs

More Stories / Latest News

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The fact that Neville has some real industry heavyweights alongside him in this latest endeavour suggests that they may well have a chance of forcing some kind of positive change.

Developments over the the next few weeks will be interesting indeed.

The post Gary Neville sets out his Manifesto for Change in English football appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Chris Hughton: 'It’s a good feeling to be the manager of a big club' | Ben Fisher

Ben Fisher — Fri, 16 Oct 2020 07:00:04 GMT

Nottingham Forest’s 14th permanent manager in 12 years is fully aware that returning to the Premier League is the main goal

Off a corridor in the offices behind the main stand at the City Ground, around the corner from a bronze bust of Brian Clough and inspirational quotes and images of Nottingham Forest’s most revered era, the club’s new manager, Chris Hughton, is putting the challenge that lies ahead into perspective.

“It is very early in the season,” he says. “The ideal time to take over a club is always in the summer, but I’d certainly rather take over with four games having gone than 10, 14, 20 played.”

Liverpool urged to sign highly-rated Championship keeper to replace Adrian

Jason Pettigrove — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 21:39:51 GMT

After a confidence-sapping 7-2 defeat at Aston Villa, Liverpool would do well to take goalkeeper, Adrian, out of the firing line.

Although the Spaniard wasn’t at fault for all of the goals against him, he was certainly to blame for one or two, and it seems clear that he doesn’t inspire confidence in his defence in the way that Alisson does.

Unfortunately for Jurgen Klopp and his squad, the Brazilian is out for at least the next few weeks, and with Adrian’s form in question something needs to be done.

Fortunately for the German, the transfer window for deals with the Championship and League One and Two clubs is open until the end of the week, and Tim Sherwood has urged Klopp to sign one highly-rated keeper.

“I’m surprised they (Liverpool) never went to the market,” he said on The Kelly & Wrighty Show, cited by the Daily Express.

“I’ll be very surprised if they go for Jack Butland because he’s making mistakes playing in the Championship.

“If they were going to go the Championship, I would think they’d go and get the best goalkeeper in the Championship.

“They’re in that market now. I’d go and get a Ben Foster. Someone who’s got that wealth of experience who you know who will go in there where your back four you will think, ‘yeah, we’ve got him behind us, we know’.”

More Stories / Latest News

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Video: PSG star lucky to escape injury after horrific red card challenge but injury woes worsen ahead of Man United clash

Done Deal: Fulham bolster their defence with the late signing of ace with Premier League experience

There isn’t long for Liverpool to dwell on this particular transfer, and a decision will need to be made one way or the other by the weekend.

Frankly, the Reds can’t really afford to keep the status quo as it is, knowing how out of form their back-up keeper is at present.

The post Liverpool urged to sign highly-rated Championship keeper to replace Adrian appeared first on CaughtOffside.

‘Stunned, shocked and disgusted’ – EFL chairman furious at bailout package put forward by the Premier League

Jason Pettigrove — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 19:54:03 GMT

It was only a matter of time before Project Big Picture drove a huge wedge between the Premier League clubs and their counterparts in the English Championship and Leagues One and Two.

As it turned out, when the first news emerged of a multimillion pound bailout package for the lower division clubs, most appeared to be in favour with those clubs in the Premier League mainly against it.

However, that seemed to be on the basis of £250m filtering its way down the English footballing pyramid.

After a meeting on Thursday, it seems as though the Premier League are only willing to now offer a fifth of that, and £30m of the proposed £50m bailout would be a grant.

It’s no wonder that some chairmen have been left incensed, and Gillingham’s Paul Scally let rip.

“I’m stunned, shocked and disgusted by it. They are a disgrace coming forward with an offer like that,” he’s reported as saying by the Daily Mirror.

“I was on the League One [call] and there was not a single person from the 24 people who spoke up for it.

“The reality is it comes down to about £20m because the rest is a grant. £20m? Really. It’s shocking.

“Let’s see what their next step is because I can’t believe even fans of Premier League will be comfortable with clubs spending £1.2billion while smaller clubs go out of business.

“The Premier League will have to be careful because fans will get fed up of their greed.”

More Stories / Latest News

“Arrogant and disrespectful” – Italian Sport’s minister tears into Cristiano Ronaldo over Covid-19 protocol shambles

Video: PSG star lucky to escape injury after horrific red card challenge but injury woes worsen ahead of Man United clash