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Fresh from the saga that was the ill-fated and closed shop idea of a European Super League, UEFA made considerable changes to the Champions League and Europa League set up in the hopes of placating the bigger European sides and ensuring that such an idea was never floated again.

It now seems they are going one step further in their panicked efforts to ‘improve’ the beautiful game and could effectively be introducing a form of the European Super League via the back door after discussions were held at last weeks Executive Committee meeting about bringing in wildcards for historically successful clubs, and making the first ever step away from qualifying for European competition being based solely on the finishing position of last season’s exploits.

A vote to ratify this monumental change away from sporting integrity is expected to be held at the UEFA Congress in Vienna on May 10 – and unsurprisingly there are many clubs unhappy with this proposed suggestion.

If the vote goes UEFA’s way which would be like betting on the house to win at onlinecasino-southafrica.co.za, it would mean that from 2024 there would be two extra places reserved in the Champions League for European clubs who did not qualify via their domestic league, but have historically fared well in the European Cup/Champions League competition.

To put this into practice, hypothetically speaking, it would mean reigning European Champions Chelsea could finish fifth in the Premier League this season, but they would still have a very good chance of qualifying for the Champions League in 2022/23 as they rank fourth in UEFA’s 10-year club coefficient table. Whereas, if say West Ham United were to finish in fifth place, they would miss out on a Champions League spot because of their historical coefficient rating – there are 89 clubs rated higher than David Moyes’ side at this moment in time and that’s almost as many options that are available to you on Online casino games india.

To put it bluntly, UEFA would be introducing a two tier system of qualification that would for the first time in the history of the game, deliberately and by design, favour and protect the biggest European teams of the last decade, whilst also making it harder for them to be challenged by the rest of football as the growth that can be gained by a club through the riches of European competition would now effectively be out of reach and ring fenced around those clubs who have already gained and grown on the back of European success.

As was rightly pointed out by one Premier League executive, what is also then stopping UEFA from further tweaking this two tier system to be even more favourable in future years.

“It’s almost like this is ‘European Super League Lite’, and the fear is that two might become four, might become eight – with the Champions League becoming more and more of a closed shop.”

Such a move could also see the bizarre situation where a club finishing in fifth place would automatically go into the Europa League, but a team finishing below them in sixth spot would get bumped into the more profitable Champions League.

Given the reaction by fans to the ESL idea, UEFA would be wise to ensure that whatever changes they do plan to make, don’t give rise to a similar reaction from fans again but in their direction this time. With social media, sites like FootballFanCast.com and similar all available for fans to vociferously make their feelings known in this day and age, UEFA might find that pandering too far to the wishes of the big boys, could see the presumed smaller boys in the game take their proverbial ball back home and work out a system that would be far fairer to them and far fairer to fans given the switch to the game only being about money now.

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Ange Postecoglou has been handed a big Celtic injury lift over centre-back Christopher Jullien… 

What’s the latest?

According to Football Scotland, the central defender was sprawled out on the floor in the 70th minute of a B team match on Tuesday, causing concern over a potential injury setback for the gem.

However, he was able to recover from the blow and see out the full 90 minutes to allay any fears that he will now face another spell on the sidelines.

Supporters will be relieved

This news will surely come as a relief to supporters as it means that he will remain on track in regards to getting back to his best after a long-term injury.

He was out of action for a year between December 2020 and December 2021 with a knee injury as he missed 59 matches for the Hoops, before missing a further eight games due to illness in January.

The 29-year-old has not played a single match in the Premiership this term but the fans will be excited to see him eventually make his way back out on the pitch as he has previously showcased his quality at this level.

However, he will need to be patient to get his chance to make a first-team return. Postecoglou spoke about his return from injury earlier this year, saying:

“I get the level of anticipation with Chris as he’s had a long-term injury and he’s a significant player for the club.

“Chris has been here long enough to know that it doesn’t matter who you are, you are always going to be competing for places – and you want to be.

“It’s not just Cam and Carl, Stephen Welsh has had to be patient as he’s done nothing wrong every time he’s played.”

In the top-flight last term, he averaged a sublime SofaScore rating of 7.43 as he won a whopping 67% of his duels and made 2.4 tackles and interceptions per game. Meanwhile, full-back Anthony Ralston (7.49) is the only Celtic defender with a higher average score than that this season.

This shows that he has the quality to be a major player for the Hoops when he is at his best, which is why fans will want to see him back in action as quickly as possible. It will be a big boost for Postecoglou to have Jullien fit and firing and that is why this injury relief will delight the head coach and the supporters this week.

AND in other news, Sold in 2019, now facing relegation: Celtic sealed masterclass over “stupid” liability…

Sri Lanka’s series-winning hangover allowed Australia to end their seven-match losing streak as Clint McKay and Mitchell Starc set up the eight-wicket victory

The Bulletin by Peter English at the Gabba07-Nov-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsClint McKay’s 5 for 33 floored Sri Lanka and ensured an easy victory for the hosts•Getty ImagesSri Lanka’s series-winning hangover allowed Australia to end their seven-match losing streak as Clint McKay and Mitchell Starc set up the eight-wicket victory. The result meant Australia avoided their worst sequence of defeats and gave them a much-needed boost with the Ashes starting on November 25.Despite the strength of their performance, Australia’s opponents were not fully focused after achieving their first series win Down Under on Friday. McKay gained his maiden five-wicket haul and Starc picked up his first four international wickets as Sri Lanka fell to 115 on a bouncy surface with only a hint of green.Kumar Sangakkara won the toss, batted and was soon regretting the decision. Only two batsmen reached double figures and 25 extras, including 14 wides, boosted the total in front of only 9,037 spectators. The total was the worst crowd for an ODI involving Australia at the Gabba.The local batsmen had no real problems in their reply and Shane Watson (15) and Brad Haddin (31) were the only casualties, both going to Dilhara Fernando (2 for 47). Michael Clarke, who was in charge during Sri Lanka’s stunning win in Melbourne, made sure of the win in the 22nd over, with his glide for four taking him to 50 off 51 balls.Clarke peaked with back-to-back boundaries off Thisara Perara and lofted a straight six off Suraj Randiv shortly before the finish. The innings ended a difficult week for Clarke and gave him something to smile about.McKay’s three early strikes floored the tourists and Starc, the 20-year-old left-armer in his second ODI, did not let them get up as the batsmen lasted only 32 overs. McKay’s damaging burst left the visitors at 3 for 14 in the fifth over and he returned to mop up Randiv and Perera to grab 5 for 33 off nine. Starc stepped in during his second spell to prevent a recovery on the way to a highly encouraging 4 for 27 off nine.McKay produced a double-wicket maiden in the third over of the match and followed up with another breakthrough in his next effort. Aided by the extra lift, McKay forced Tillakaratne Dilshan (1) to pop a simple catch to Michael Hussey at square leg and then watched Sangakkara (0) aim a big drive and edge behind.Mahela Jayawardene was also keen to attack but his thicker nick was taken by Cameron White at second slip. Upul Tharanga (28) resisted for a while before being lbw to Watson and then it was Starc’s turn to collect his first victim, with Angelo Mathews playing on for 9.Starc didn’t have to wait long for his second breakthrough, which came when Jeevan Mendis (5) nicked a shorter ball to Haddin. Chamara Silva had been in charge of Sri Lanka’s fightback but he inside-edged Starc and was bowled for 33, ending Sri Lanka’s hopes of a decent total.The tail didn’t last long and the innings was over when Lasith Malinga swung Starc to deep midwicket. Sri Lanka, who were without Nuwan Kulasekara and Muttiah Muralitharan, came to Australia aiming for a first series win here and deserved their overall success, but they will be disappointed with the way the drought-breaking trip ended.

West Brom followed on from their disappointing 2-0 defeat against Preston North End in midweek with yet another loss by the same scoreline, this time in their away clash against Millwall on Saturday.

A brace from striker Benik Afobe secured the win for the east London club and handed the Baggies their fourth defeat in their last six league games.

One player who stood out for West Brom today, but for all the wrong reasons in terms of his performance, was full-back Darnell Furlong.

Furlong did Ismael no favours

In his 90 minutes on the pitch at The Den, the 26-year-old – who is currently picking up £15k-per-week according to Salary Sport – had 46 touches of the ball but lost possession 25 times whilst making just seven accurate passes out of the 20 he attempted, as per SofaScore.

Things weren’t much better for him off the ball either, with Furlong losing seven of his 12 duels and failing to make even one interception or clearance.

This display ultimately earned the Englishman an overall match rating of 6.2/10, making him the lowest-rated outfield West Brom player on the day according to SofaScore, showing just how much of a liability he was against Millwall.

Birmingham Live also picked up on his underwhelming performance by giving him a match rating of 4/10 and saying that his “sloppy challenges often disrupted the flow of play”.

Given West Brom’s disappointing run of form over the past few weeks, with Ismael reportedly clinging on to his job amid speculation that he would be leaving The Hawthorns after their midweek defeat at Preston, this latest disappointment could have sealed the Frenchman’s fate in terms of his future in charge of the club.

With that in mind, the pressure will be on Furlong and the other Albion players to start performing and get their season back on track if they want to have any chance of securing promotion by the end of the campaign.

If that doesn’t happen, they could well cost Ismael his job at West Brom and force the hierarchy to seek yet another new manager to take charge of the team – and potentially end up navigating another season in the Championship.

In other news: West Brom must launch late transfer swoop for “humble” £5.5k-p/w gem, Ismael needs him

Ashes tickets go on sale to England supporters from Tuesday after more than 160,000 were sold to Australian fans last week

Peter English18-Jul-2010Ashes tickets go on sale to England supporters from Tuesday after more than 160,000 were sold to Australian fans last week. Members of the Australian Cricket Family received a head start for the series beginning on November 25, but there are still spots available for the public release.Four years ago approximately 42,000 English supporters, including 20,000 from the Barmy Army, attended the contests, which ended in a 5-0 victory for Australia. There is no chance of a repeat of the record-breaking crowds at the end of the year.”We’re not expecting the same extraordinary numbers,” Cricket Australia’s public affairs general manager Peter Young said. England held the Ashes after a 16-year drought when they arrived last time and there was huge excitement from their supporters at the prospect of retaining the urn.”That series was one out of the box, probably an all-time record,” Young said. “The UK-Australia exchange rate is also very different this time, making it more expensive for UK visitors.”The Barmy Army has been allocated a block of seats at each venue and one of their supporters will be the trumpeter Bill Cooper, who was banned from playing his instrument on the previous tour. “He is coming into venues on an agreed basis to work within our guidelines,” Young said.He said Cooper would provide entertainment but fans nearby would not be subjected to all-day tunes. Cooper, who does like to watch cricket, will be the only one blowing any sort of trumpet as vuvuzelas are not allowed.General sales are available for the Tests at the Gabba and Adelaide Oval on Tuesday, the SCG on Wednesday and the MCG and the WACA on Thursday. Cricket Australia has warned that scalpers are already offering seats at inflated prices and that those tickets can be cancelled at the admission gates.

Wolves are interested in signing Mexico and Napoli winger Hirving Lozano in the summer transfer window, according to a latest report.

The Lowdown: Lozano in-and-out at Napoli

The 26-year-old has found himself in and out of Napoli’s team this season, with injuries and illness holding him back at times but the wide man still managing to contribute.

Lozano has chipped in with four goals and assists apiece in Serie A, in just 16 starts, and he has helped them compete in a tense title race with AC Milan and Inter Milan.

The Mexican’s current deal doesn’t expire until the summer of 2024, but according to a fresh update, a move to Molineux could be on the cards.

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The Latest: Wolves keen on move

According to Napoli Today [via Sport Witness], Wolves have been ‘following’ Lozano ‘for some time’, as they weigh up a potential summer move.

The idea of him staying pout at Napoli is ‘not entirely a foregone conclusion’, which further gives Wanderers hope of sealing an exciting signing.

[freshpress-poll id=“388780″]

The Verdict: Audacious swoop by Wanderers

Lozano has proven himself on the biggest stage of all, catching the eye for Mexico at the 2018 World Cup, registering one goal and assist each and standing out with his pace and directness.

For that reason, it is hugely exciting to see Wolves being linked with a move for him and he could be someone who takes their attacking game to the next level in the Premier League.

With Adama Traore likely to leave permanently this summer and Francisco Trincao expected to leave, too, Lozano could fill the void out wide, and much more, becoming the latest attacking hero at Molineux.

In other news, a journalist has dropped an exciting Wolves transfer claim. Read more here.

When Tim Paine, 25, sets foot on Lord’s for his debut next Tuesday as the youngest Australian Test gloveman since Ian Healy, he will appreciate his good fortune

Brydon Coverdale10-Jul-2010Talented Australian wicketkeepers can spend a lifetime waiting for a shot at Test cricket. For some, like Brad Haddin and Graham Manou, it has come only after a 30th birthday; for others like Wade Seccombe and Darren Berry, it never arrives. So, when Tim Paine, 25, sets foot on Lord’s for his debut next Tuesday as the youngest Australian Test gloveman since Ian Healy, he will appreciate his good fortune.Haddin’s elbow injury has given Paine two Tests to cement his place as the country’s No. 2 behind the stumps. Competition is strong – Manou played Test cricket a year ago, Matthew Wade has grabbed his chances with Australia A, Luke Ronchi will continue to push for selection and Chris Hartley is a perennially accomplished gloveman – and Paine knows this is his window of opportunity.”I’m absolutely thrilled to be given the opportunity to play Test cricket,” Paine said. “It’s a pretty rare thing for a wicketkeeper. I realise I’m very fortunate, to get it before you normally would. It’s definitely a bit of an audition, if you can perform well in these two Tests, it puts me clearly as number two going down the track and if anything happens to Brad or he’s rested or when he retires, performing well in these Tests will hold me in good stead.”But there are challenges. If he drops a few catches, or looks out of his depth, he could be overtaken next time Haddin is absent. Haddin didn’t find Lord’s an easy place to keep wicket during last year’s second Ashes Test, when he let through 31 byes, and the famous slope of the venue is hard to get used to.Then there’s the red Duke ball, which behaves slightly differently to the Kookaburra Paine is accustomed to at home. Until the tour match in Derby, Paine had never before kept to the red Duke and he dropped Chris Rogers down leg side, although shortly afterwards he pouched a catch and felt much better for it.”To have my first catch with the Duke ball was good,” Paine said. “To get that away and not cop one on the end of my fingers was good. It’s a slightly different ball. It feels a little bit heavier when you catch it, but apart from that, a red ball’s a red ball.”I’ve spoken to Tim Nielsen about it [the ball and the Lord’s slope] and I’m trying not to read too much into it. I know if I’m watching the ball and am nice and relaxed, if it does swing or dip, I’ll catch the ball no matter what it does. I’ve enjoyed keeping at Lord’s with the slope in one-day cricket.”It is in ODIs that Paine initially made his mark at international level. Last year, he was given several chances and thrived in the format, making his maiden century at Trent Bridge. During this year’s one-dayers in England he has been less fluent opening the innings, although his results have been far from terrible, with 54 at Lord’s and 44 at Old Trafford.The rate of his scoring was the main concern during the limited-overs games, and he believes his slower batting style will be better suited to Test cricket. In the tour match, he finished unbeaten on 52, and it was a valuable innings for his confidence.”I was trying to keep it nice and straight and keeping it simple,” he said. “I felt I was batting reasonably well through the one-day series, it was just the forced pressure to score quickly was what was getting me out at times. In Test cricket you haven’t got any of that, so my batting is in a good place and I’m looking forward to trying to bat for a very long time.”Perhaps the most pleasing aspect for Paine ahead of his Test debut, from a personal perspective, will be the presence of his grandmother Elizabeth Shaw, who is in her eighties. She has watched Paine’s career closely from the sidelines and to have her in the stands at Lord’s alongside his parents will make his debut all the more memorable.

Tottenham Hotspur are pushing ahead with their plans to bolster Antonio Conte’s playing squad this January, according to emerging reports…

What’s the word?

Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth dropped a fresh transfer claim live on air this week, suggesting that the north London outfit were on the lookout for additions in two key areas, in which a familiar name was just one of their targets.

“It’s not all about departures as far as Tottenham are concerned. They are working very hard behind the scenes to strengthen the priority positions, and what they see as those priority positions – right wing-back and a striker,” he revealed to ‘The Transfer Show’ on Monday evening (as relayed by Football Daily).

“And remember, we brought you the news last week, [they have] strong interest in Wolves winger come wing-back – potentially if he were to fit into that formation at Tottenham – Adama Traore.”

Interesting…

This is certainly an update which is sure to leave many supporters around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a little intrigued, if not hugely excited.

It could be argued that Conte needs options right across the pitch this month, so it’s interesting to learn that he sees his two weakest spots being up front, where an out-of-form Harry Kane is his only senior option, and perhaps more surprisingly at right wing-back, where Spurs strengthened in summer by signing Emerson Royal from Barcelona.

The Times reported earlier this week that the Italian head coach does not believe the Brazilian fits the system, especially going forward, whereas the powerful Wolves star does.

They also have Matt Doherty, a tried-and-tested wing-back, but it appears that his future may lie elsewhere, so even if he departs, the club will need to replace his presence in the squad.

Meanwhile, a viable alternative to Kane has long been a problem in N17. Last season, the loan signing of Carlos Vinicius paid off as he pretty much did the job asked of him but he was not replaced in the summer, even despite intense speculation over the England skipper’s future.

Truth be told, no centre-forward is going to want to play second-fiddle to the 28-year-old but given Conte’s tactical history – especially more recently at Inter – they should be encouraged by the fact that he has often deployed two up top. It was Romelu Lukaku’s partnership with Lautaro Martinez which spearheaded the Italian giants to their first Scudetto in over a decade.

However, there is a case to be made in needing a central defender. Davinson Sanchez and Japhet Tanganga have been inconsistent and at times, calamitous. Joe Rodon just isn’t fancied by the 52-year-old, whilst Cristian Romero remains on the treatment table, for the time being.

Elsewhere, another central midfielder wouldn’t go amiss, particularly if someone like Dele Alli or Tanguy Ndombele departs before January 31st.

But all in all, there is plenty of hope for Spurs fans that they will do some much-needed business this month, and Sheth’s recent behind-the-scenes update is sure to provide plenty of excitement heading into the back end of the transfer window.

The Lilywhites faithful will surely be buzzing by this update.

AND in other news, Bid made: Spurs eye club-record swoop for “frightening” machine, Conte will be buzzing…

Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, has refused to apologise for suggestions he made that England fixed a match in the recent one-day series

Osman Samiuddin27-Sep-2010Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, has refused to apologise for suggestions he made that England fixed a match in the recent one-day series. Speaking on his arrival at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday, he said he thought the matter would be settled in days.Butt and the PCB’s legal advisor are expected to hold meetings with the lawyers of the three players at the centre of the spot-fixing scandal. Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, is also headed to London, but ESPNcricinfo understands his is a pre-planned visit.Butt and Taffazul Rizvi are expected to be in the UK for four to five days on a trip that was finalised only last week. The meetings with Elizabeth Robertson, the Addleshaw Goddard lawyer representing Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir in the spot-fixing case, were confirmed to ESPNcricinfo by a PCB official.The board expects there to be some movement from the Crown Prosecution Service on the fate of the case against the trio within the next week or so. Scotland Yard passed on their file of evidence on claims that Pakistan cricketers were involved in spot-fixing to the CPS on September 17.It is not known whether there will be meetings between Butt and the ECB while the PCB chairman is in London. The English board have demanded a full, public apology from Butt for claiming England players took “enormous amounts” of money to lose the third one-day international at The Oval earlier this month.That claim came in the wake of another spot-fixing story, this time in , which had sparked an investigation by the ICC over scoring rates during the match at The Oval. Following Butt’s outburst England came close to withdrawing from the fourth game at Lord’s but late-night meetings between Andrew Strauss and the ECB ended with the decision to continue with the series.However, both Strauss and the board came out with strongly-worded statements and have said they will pursue legal action if Butt doesn’t apologise. “We would like to express our surprise, dismay and outrage at the comments made by Mr Butt,” Strauss said at the time. “We are deeply concerned and disappointed that our integrity as cricketers has been brought into question. We refute these allegations completely and will be working closely with the ECB to explore all legal options open to us.”

The MCC World Cricket Committee has made several proposals to help overcome match-fixing, including the use of lie detector tests and the legalisation of betting markets in India

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Dec-2010The MCC World Cricket Committee has recommended that the laws of the game be amended in a bid to rid the sport of corruption, and has called for the use of lie detector tests to reinforce the need for transparency in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal that erupted during Pakistan’s tour of England in August.Following a two-day meeting in Perth ahead of the third Ashes Test, the club’s working party, including two former Ashes-winning captains in Steve Waugh and Mike Brearley, issued a statement containing a wide range of proposals including “the legalising and regulating of betting markets in India as proposed by the Delhi Court; the length of bans; non-selection of tainted players; the possible use of lie detector tests; the provision of integrity officers; and the inclusion of anti-corruption clauses in all professional playing contracts in all countries.””The greatest issue facing the game right now is match-fixing,” said Waugh. “How can we make players more accountable for their actions? Personally, I think if you’ve not done anything wrong, why wouldn’t you want to have a lie detector test? You can’t make it compulsory but like I said, if you’ve got nothing to hide, why wouldn’t you take it? If we sit back and don’t do anything about corruption, it’s going to get worse.”In its statement, the committee also complimented the ICC and its Anti-Corruption & Security Unit (ACSU) for its work to clean up the sport, but urged the game’s governing body to commit more resources – and increased powers – to tackle the single biggest menace to the integrity of cricket.”The education of players should not be a meaningless formality; the message should be pressed home with regularity by figures known and respected by the players,” the statement read. “Furthermore, the committee believes that team captains – as enshrined in the Laws and Spirit of Cricket – should accept greater responsibility for the conduct of their players.”Speaking on the eve of the Perth Test, England’s captain, Andrew Strauss gave a cautious welcome to the notion of introducing lie detectors to the game. “That’s hard for me to answer at this stage,” he said. “I don’t know about the accuracy of lie detector tests. But what I do know, and is probably more important, is that we don’t want the whiff of anything suspicious going on in the game.”We’ve seen how disruptive and detrimental to the game of cricket it is,” added Strauss. “The devil of all these things is in the detail. If we have to take extreme measures in order to be 100% confident the game is being played in the right spirit, then I’d certainly be happy to do that.”I’d have to think about the arguments [for lie detector tests] one side and another first. But the principle, of having 22 guys on the pitch that the supporters are absolutely 100% certain are playing the game for the right reasons, is a good thing.”