Gianluca Vialli has had his say on the FIFA crisis and he recommends the Premier League as a good example of how a football organisation should be run. Vialli played for and managed Chelsea in the top flight and insists FIFA can learn from them. “The first thing to do is to restore some sort of credibility and integrity,” he told Sky Sports News HQ. “One of the secrets of Premier League football is that it is perceived as a very clean game. “(This is not the case) when it comes to FIFA and tournaments run by FIFA, or for the organisation of the next World Cup. FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke insists there are no grounds to accuse him of any wrongdoing “There is a feeling that things are not clear and there is a lot of money changing hands. “In my opinion, it is about finding someone who can restore the credibility, someone who has got the desire.” Follow all the latest news on FIFA and the corruption scandal on Sky Sports News HQ throughout the day.
Rangers First group to back Dave King at Friday's general meeting
Rangers First director Ricki Neill has blasted Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley and confirmed his fans group will back the current board at Friday's general meeting. MASH, Ashley's holding company through which he holds his stakes in Newcastle United and Sports Direct, has tabled a resolution calling for the immediate repayment of a £5m loan given to the club. Rangers chairman Dave King and the board have tabled a counter resolution which will see them attempt to renegotiate merchandising deals with Sports Direct and limit Ashley’s future influence at the club. Neill told Sky Sports News HQ that his group will continue to back King's board and claimed that, despite it possibly being in the interest of those who want to see Ashley further removed from the picture at Ibrox, he will not repay the £5m loan to Sports Direct earlier than the club has to.
He said: “It is very frustrating because you can see yet again that Mike Ashley is only interested in Mike Ashley and Sports Direct. He has got no intentions at all of putting Rangers first. “All our members voted on Monday and we’re voting against the first (MASH) and for the second resolution. “It would make sense (loan repayment) but if you have got a loan out personally, why would you pay it off early? There is a lot of money needed at Ibrox just now. We need to build the team up, we need to build the infrastructure. There is a lot of money needed, so I personally wouldn’t pay it off early.” 'Massive team' Neill claimed many Rangers fans refuse to buy replica shirts now, fearing very little of their money will go into the club, with Ashley's Sports Direct being a 75 percent shareholder in Rangers Retail Limited. He added: “I would like to see Mike Ashley actually open up his eyes and see that we are a worldwide massive team.
"Rangers were once the second-biggest seller of replica shirts. We sold 500,000 jerseys one year, I think Manchester United were first. How can he not see that? We’re down to about 50,000 tops one year now. "I would like to see Mike Ashley actually open up his eyes and see that we are a worldwide massive team" Ricki Neill, Rangers First director “I think if Mike Ashley gave us better profit on the merchandising then I don’t see any reason why the Rangers fans wouldn’t come and start to buy merchandise again.” Neill also urged his fellow supporters to buy season tickets for the new campaign which will see Rangers compete in the Championship for at least another year. He said: “I think the Championship is going to be a cracking league next season and I think the Rangers fans will come out and buy their season tickets and I would urge them to come out. “The board did say there was going to be a five-year plan so we are still behind them and we’re still backing the board.”
WWC: Gloom lifting for England women ahead of Mexico clash
Meanwhile, relief for England that central defender Laura Bassett’s eye injury sustained against France isn’t more serious than first appeared. Bassett mentioned that she had thought about Faye White in the aftermath of receiving a French elbow into her left eye on Tuesday. White, a former England captain, had her cheekbone dislocated and fractured during Euro 2009. Bassett told SSNHQ: “I thought about what happened to her, the thought of having surgery, well fortunately it hasn’t happened. It looks worse than it is. The doctor looked at it and assessed it right after the game and there’s nothing serious there.” She did add, though, that she didn’t want to see any other players get elbowed without the officials taking action as happened during the France encounter. Her manager though, who was furious after Tuesday’s match, was now more considered about the referee, Sampson saying: “They work for hours and hours and they do make human mistakes, no one would like to see a referee sent home from a World Cup just on the basis of a innocent mistake.” He added: “I do feel we are owed one during the tournament now.” For Bassett and England, while goals are key for the team against Mexico, they can be rest assured that the centre back partnership between the Notts County player and captain Steph Houghton, that has yielded over 100 international caps, is still very much in tact.
Sky Sports News HQ's Geraint Hughes brings us the latest from England Women's World Cup campaign in Canada... It appears the England squad wanted to buck up their ideas after the defeat by France. Ahead of the Mexico game in Moncton, a lot of personal grooming has been attended to. Mainly haircuts it seems as head coach Mark Sampson is the latest to literally get the short, back and sides treatment from a barbers that has rarely seen such a steady flow of traffic. Lianne Sanderson appears to be the catalyst for the cuts, she of the blonde Mohican, advised many to go and see a man called ‘Karim’. It is at this point that I must confess that I took Liane’s advice that Karim could cut hair well. Thinking about keeping myself neat and tidy, as one must when on assignment for SSNHQ, Karim said he’d cut out all my grey hair. What I didn’t realise is that he would take away most of the black hair I have as well! Indeed, Sampson when answering a question of mine at his press conference before the Mexico game on Friday said before the assembled hacks “nice haircut by the way…” Ouch! Little did he suspect that just hours later having himself visited Moncton’s finest coiffeur, he would also be wondering where all his hair had gone. After comparing notes and insisting we all asked for "just a little trim", we have all learned a lesson and need less gel on our heads for the time being.
It’s all a bit of fun and that’s the point I’m trying to explain. It felt like there has been a mood change in the England camp. Leading up to the France game and the days immediately after the defeat, there was a sense of anxiousness. However, maybe some of that pent up nervous energy is dissipating and England are relaxing into the World Cup. They know Mexico will provide decent opposition, but if England play well then they should win. They are a better side and Lionesses have better players. The FIFA rankings don’t lie. England are sixth, Mexico are 25th. Without doubt, England cannot be complacent against the Mexicans, but if they can get early control in the game and more important than probably anything else score a goal or two the jitters of last week will be long forgotten. Sampson acknowledged this, telling SSNHQ: “We know if we play to anywhere near our maximum we should beat Mexico. That’s no disrespect to them, but it’s confidence in our abilities. "We have the game plan in place, the tactics worked out how to beat Mexico and we are now itching to get back out onto the pitch and play again.” Sampson also said he told the players on Thursday who would start, who would likely be substitutes and who would not figure in the game against Mexico. “It’s important that everyone knows their role. We have spoken at length that there would be different line ups against different opponents, but we’ve gone 48 hours before the game so everyone knows what their job is," he added.
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder