Melbourne Victory yesterday unveiled Ange Postecoglou as their new coach just days after he led Brisbane Roar to back-to-back A-League championships.
The Greek-born Postecoglou on Tuesday announced he was quitting Brisbane after two-and-a-half years in charge.
The former Socceroo, 46, will be the Victory’s fourth coach in 13 months.
“It’s a massive club, it’s got a massive fan base and that presents different challenges for me as a coach,” Postecoglou told reporters after signing a three-year contract.
McCoist ‘disgusted by threats’
Rangers manager Ally McCoist has defended his calls for transparency regarding the Scottish FA’s judicial panel and insists his comments were not a signal for fans to engage in threatening behaviour.
Strathclyde Police have given security advice to the three members of the independent panel after their identities were revealed.
In a statement released yesterday, McCoist said: “I would not for one moment want anyone to interpret my remarks as a signal to engage in any form of threatening behaviour.
“Such activity disgusts me and anyone who engages in it does Rangers FC nothing but harm.”
Knee injury ends Adam’s season
Liverpool midfielder Charlie Adam has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury, manager Kenny Dalglish has confirmed.
The Reds boss also said the Scotland international would not be fit to be considered for selection for Great Britain’s Olympic team for this summer’s London Games.
“There is no operation needed but he won’t play this season,” Dalglish said. “And I would think if they had any designs on having him in the Olympics he wouldn’t be fit for that either.”
Fenerbahce drop CAS case
Fenerbahce have dropped a court case against UEFA and the Turkish Football Federation over their exclusion from the Champions League due to a match-fixing investigation, the club said.
Fenerbahce, the 2011 league champions, said in a statement to the Istanbul Stock Exchange they were dropping the case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Fenerbahce were barred from the Champions League because of their alleged involvement in the match-fixing scandal and the club’s chairman is among 93 defendants, including leading soccer officials and players, being tried in a case that has cast a shadow over Turkey’s multi-billion dollar league.
Chelsea to wait on Di Matteo
Roberto Di Matteo will have to wait until the end of the season to discover whether he has a long-term future as Chelsea manager.
The Blues’ form has picked up remarkably since Di Matteo replaced Andre Villas-Boas on an interim basis – culminating on Tuesday when they completed a 3-2 aggregate win over Barcelona to reach the Champions League final.
Chief executive Ron Gourlay has ruled out an early appointment as club owner Roman Abramovich and technical director Michael Emenalo continue to consider their options.
“We are going to wait until the end of the season,” Gourlay told the Daily Express. “Robbie has done a fantastic job but we will stick to our view.”
Ticketless fans urged not to travel
Newcastle have urged fans without tickets not to travel to the club’s vital Premier League clash with Wigan tomorrow amid security fears.
Earlier this week, manager Alan Pardew urged as many supporters as possible to make their way to the DW Stadium to roar their side on in what could be a crucial game in the Magpies’ bid to achieve a top-four finish.
The Latics later moved to insist that there would be no increase in the visitors’ 4,500-ticket allocation and expressed concern about travelling fans attempting to buy seats in the home stands.
Newcastle yesterday issued a statement advising supporters without tickets to stay on Tyneside.
Griga, Hipp named Slovakia coaches
Stanislav Griga and Michal Hipp will take over the Slovak national team from Vladimir Weiss who quit in January, the Slovak football association SFZ said.
“Both coaches will have equal competences,” SFZ head Jan Kovacik told journalists.
Hipp, who has been acting as Slovakia’s interim coach since Weiss quit, was an assistant coach with the national team in 2003-2006 and from 2008, assisting in Slovakia’s surprise advance to the last 16 of the 2010 World Cup.
The 50-year-old Griga currently coaches Slovak team FK Senica, the runners-up in the country’s top flight last season.