Todays News

john the tinca · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:09 pm Post subject: Todays News

England Women beat Northern Ireland 2-0 in Thursday night's Euro 2009 qualifying match at Mourneview Park.
Fara Williams and captain Faye White scored as England maintained their 100% record in Group One, but Hope Powell's team made hard work of the win.

"It wasn't a great performance," admitted the national coach, "but give credit to Northern Ireland.

"They stifled us and we lost a bit of discipline. But we got the three points and that was the most important thing."

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john the tinca · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:10 pm Post subject:

Liam Brady will help new Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni get to know his players after agreeing to take up a position with the team.
Brady is director of Arsenal's youth academy - but the English club have agreed to him working with Ireland.

"The board of directors and Arsene Wenger are quite happy for me to do this and to keep my job at Arsenal," Brady told Irish broadcaster RTE.

"Trapattoni needs to get to know the players and I can help him with that."

Brady played under Trapattoni during his spell at Juventus in the 1980s.
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john the tinca · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:10 pm Post subject:

Winger Chris Kingsberry and midfielder Peter McCann have signed new deals with Lisburn Distillery.
Kingsberry has signed up for a further two years while McCann's new deal will kept him at New Grosvenor until the end of the 2011 season.

"It was a good bit of business by the club and we are obviously delighted," said Whites' boss Paul Kirk.

"They are two quality players who like what we are trying to achieve both off and on the pitch at Distillery."
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john the tinca · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:11 pm Post subject:

Kenny Jackett returns to the Liberty Stadium on Friday for the first time since he walked out as Swansea boss in February last year.
Jackett brings new club Millwall to League One leaders Swansea who are managed by Roberto Martinez, the man he released in his final year at the club.

But Martinez says there are no hard feelings towards his former boss.

"We have both moved on since then and that's what we have to do in football," he said.

"It would be very easy to create a story out of the situation, but I'm looking forward to the game.
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john the tinca · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:12 pm Post subject:

Former Cardiff City captain Graham Kavanagh is backing the Bluebirds to knock Premier League side Middlesbrough out of the FA Cup on Sunday.
Cardiff beat Boro after extra time in a replay at the third round stage in 1994 where Kavanagh was on the losing side.

The Irishman arrived at Ninian Park from Stoke for £1m in 2001 before being sold to Wigan in a shock move in 2005.

And he said: "I can certainly see Cardiff causing an upset. They are due a good performance and a good result."

Kavanagh, who is currently on loan to Sheffield Wednesday from Sunderland, points to Middlesbrough's struggles in getting past lower league clubs in the FA Cup this season as the reason he is backing the Bluebirds.
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john the tinca · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:24 pm Post subject:

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has called for lifetime bans and criminal prosecutions for players guilty of making dangerous tackles.
He has demanded a "zero tolerance" policy ahead of the International Board's weekend meeting at Gleneagles.

Blatter told The Times: "Dangerous tackling is one of the most important issues in football at the moment.

"Therefore players who do this kind of thing intentionally should be banned from the game."

He added: "Attacking somebody is criminal, whether it happens on a football pitch or elsewhere. It is a crime and should be treated as such."

Blatter also suggested managers were not helping the problem and he said: "The mechanism where this happens today is obvious.
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john the tinca · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:24 pm Post subject:

England coach Fabio Capello says David Beckham is in contention to earn his 100th cap in the friendly against France in Paris on 26 March.
He was left out of Capello's first game against Switzerland in February because of a lack of fitness as the season in the United States has not started yet.

Midfielder Beckham, 32, has 99 caps and Capello will have the former captain watched playing for Los Angeles Galaxy.

The Italian said: "There is a strong possibility that he will be selected."

The Major League Soccer season begins on 29 March but LA Galaxy play FC Dallas in a pre-season charity game on 15 March and Capello added that he or a member of his coaching team will be at that match to see Beckham play.
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john the tinca · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:25 pm Post subject:

Scotland have been invited to play Iran in a friendly in Tehran in the summer, the Scottish FA has confirmed.
If the game goes ahead, George Burley's side will play Iran on 28 May - the week after the Scottish Cup final is played at Hampden.

The SFA is considering the offer and is consulting the Foreign Office about the safety issues surrounding the trip.

The invitation will trigger memories of the sides' only meeting when they drew 1-1 at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.

World football's governing body Fifa officially lifted its ban on Iran playing international football in December 2006.

Fifa originally suspended Iran because of excessive government interference.
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john the tinca · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:25 pm Post subject:

Dundee striker Derek Lyle has been ruled out of Saturday's Scottish Cup quarter-final after falling through a glass table at home.
The 27-year-old, who left Queens to join Dundee in 2006, would have been in line to start with both Colin McMenamin and Mickael Antoine-Curier cup-tied.

But Lyle required stitches in his stomach after the freak accident.

It means that Bob Davidson, who scored as a substitute against Stirling on Saturday, could start against Queens.
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john the tinca · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:26 pm Post subject:

The Scottish FA is to submit an application on behalf of Queen's Park for the Fifa Order of Merit.
Queen's Park, founded in 1867, are the oldest club in Scotland, the second oldest in the world and the oldest amateur club in the world.

The Order of Merit is Fifa's highest honour and is awarded to those who are considered to have made a significant contribution to the game.

It has been awarded to just two clubs - Sheffield FC and Real Madrid.

Individual recipients include Joao Havelange, Jules Rimet, Henry Kissinger, Nelson Mandela, Zico, Bobby Moore, Gerd Müller, Franz Beckenbauer, and Pele.

Queen's Park, currently playing in the Scottish Second Division, introduced international football to the world with a Scotland v England tie in 1872.
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john the tinca · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:26 pm Post subject:

Stranraer have secured the services of several players on new agreements.
Scott Black, John Kane, James McKinstry and Danny Mitchell have all signed up with the Blues until May 2009, according to the club website.

Manager Derek Ferguson and assistant Keith Knox are also hoping that James Creaney, Darren Gribben and Kevin Nicoll will put pen to paper shortly.

The Stair Park club are starting the process of retaining the nucleus of the squad for next season and beyond.
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john the tinca · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:27 pm Post subject:

Gretna will hold a crisis meeting with their financial backers on Friday after caretaker manager Mick Wadsworth revealed they could go out of business.
Just 501 spectators - a record Scottish Premier League low - turned up at Fir Park to watch the bottom club lose 3-0 to Dundee United on Thursday.

Chief executive Graeme Muir hopes that Gretna will not go into liquidation.

"I don't think it is just as bad as that, but we have a difficult situation at the club," he told BBC Sport.

"Does any club have a future when only 501 fans turn up?

"Dundee United did not bring many fans through, so I think many Scottish clubs are facing problems.
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john the tinca · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:27 pm Post subject:

Eighty Celtic supporters are due to finally make it home after being trapped in the Pyrenees by a blizzard.
The group, from the Saltmarket supporters' club, had travelled to Barcelona where they saw their team lose in the Champions League.

They ran into white-out conditions on the coach journey home in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Local police advised them to stay on board until daylight before taking shelter in a ski lodge a mile away.

Many of the fans were dressed only in shorts and football tops as they hiked through blizzard conditions.

Ronnie Mitchell, who is from the supporters' club, said: "Even the police said they hadn't experienced those kind of conditions in years.

"We were all dressed for travelling on a bus so it came as a bit of a shock."

He said the fans remained in good spirits. Celtic were beaten 1-0 by Barcelona and knocked out of the Champions League.
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john the tinca · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:28 pm Post subject:

Dundee United boss Craig Levein was delighted to get back to winning ways with a triumph over Gretna.
"I was pleased with everyone who came in," said Levein, who made five changes for the 3-0 victory at Fir Park.

"It was a massive game for us because we have drawn the last four games, although we should have won every one of them," he said.

"It was beginning to get nerve-wracking for me. So it was good to put on a good performance."

A comfortable win, watched by just 501 fans, was secured thanks to goals from Garry Kenneth, Morgaro Gomis and David Robertson.

Bottom-of-the-league Gretna had beaten United twice this season but rarely threatened as Levein's men moved to a point behind Motherwell in the chase for third spot.
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john the tinca · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:28 pm Post subject:

Aberdeen midfielder Derek Young has been ruled out for the next six weeks with a knee injury.
The 28-year-old has missed the last six games with the problem and is now unlikely to play again until mid-April.

"He got it against Celtic here and they've found out it's ligament damage in his knee," explained Dons manager Jimmy Calderwood.

"It's going to be six weeks at least which is a massive blow, because the lad has done really well this season."

Young was a surprise summer signing, with Calderwood bringing him back to Pittodrie after spells with Dunfermline, St Johnstone and Partick Thistle.

However, he has featured in 30 games this season, scoring three goals.
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