National coach Luboslav Penev has received the backing of Bulgaria’s authorities despite growing criticism over a poor start to the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.

Former Bulgaria striker Penev, one of the country’s soccer icons, has been under the spotlight after his side were beaten by Croatia and Norway, leaving them fourth in Group H.

“Penev remains coach of the national team,” BFU president Borislav Mihaylov told reporters.

“He gets a second chance, it’s not the right time to change.”

Bulgaria’s next match is at home to Malta on November 16.

Ingesson dies

Former Elfsborg manager and Sweden midfielder Klas Ingesson, who played a major role in the team’s third-place finish at the 1994 World Cup, has died of cancer at the age of 46.

As a player Ingesson represented a string of clubs including IFK Gothenburg, Sheffield Wed-nesday and the Italian trio of Bologna, Bari and Lecce.

Capped 57 times for Sweden and a driving force in the side that beat Bulgaria 4-0 to claim third place at the World Cup in the US, Ingesson was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2009.

Thai media giants eye Bolton takeover

A Thai consortium are in discussions over a 40 million pound takeover of English second tier strugglers Bolton Wanderers after being approached by the cash-strapped club.

BEC-Tero, an entertainment conglomerate which runs television and radio stations in Southeast Asia as well as concerts and sports events, and local sports media giant Siam Sport Syndicate have joined hands for the bid, reports said yesterday.

Bolton finished sixth in the Premier League in 2005 but have fallen on hard times of late and now find themselves in 22nd place in the 24-team second flight with huge debts.

The consortium could become the third Thai owners of an English club after Premier League side Leicester City and Bolton’s second tier rivals Reading.

Clattenburg dropped

Mark Clattenburg has been dropped for this weekend’s Premier League fixtures after breaking protocol so he could watch an Ed Sheeran concert.

Reports said Clattenburg drove home alone after officiating West Brom’s home game against Crystal Palace so he could get back to Newcastle to watch Sheeran perform at the Metro Radio Arena.

The rules of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited state officials must travel to and from the ground together to protect their integrity and security.

It has also emerged that Clattenburg broke another rule by speaking to Crystal Palace manager Neil Warnock on the phone after the 2-2 draw at the Hawthorns.

Andy Carroll is targeting Europe

Andy Carroll hopes to help Sam Allardyce’s rejuvenated West Ham challenge Euro qualification on his return to fitness.

The England striker is yet to feature this term due to an ankle injury he suffered in the summer, but is now back in training. In his absence, the Hammers have beaten Liverpool and Manchester City and are fourth in the standings after nine games.

“I think we can push right on for Europe,” Carroll said.

“I don’t see why not – I think all the lads are positive about that.

“The gaffer has signed some great players and we’re showing the quality we’ve got with the goals we’re scoring.

“That’s why we are where we are in the league.”

Rio suspended after Twitter comment

QPR defender Rio Ferdinand has been suspended for three matches and fined £25,000 after he was found guilty of misconduct by the FA for an “abusive” comment he made on Twitter.

The 35-year-old was also ordered to attend an education programme as part of the punishment handed down following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing.

The tweet – which was broadcast to Ferdinand’s 5.9 million followers – used the word ‘sket’, which is a derogatory term defined as “a promiscuous girl”.

The defender had been tagged in a message that read: “Maybe QPR will sign a good CB (centre back) they need one.”

In response, he tweeted: “get ya mum in, plays the field well son! #sket.”

Bumper payday

A Saudi prince has offered Al-Hilal players and team officials a bonus of $26,000 each if they can beat Australian club Western Sydney Wanderers and win the Asian Champions League.

The twice Asian champions lost the first leg 1-0 in Sydney last weekend but will be in for a bumper payday if they can overturn the deficit at the King Fahd Stadium on Saturday.

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is worth $21.5 billion, Forbes reported.

The Saudi royal also said he would be paying for free entry for all fans of the club for Saturday’s second leg in Riyadh, where a crowd in excess of 65,000 is expected. Fourteen Wanderers fans have travelled from Australia for the match.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.