Montpellier coach Rene Girard will leave the club at the end of the season after failing to agree a contract extension, club president Louis Nicollin said yesterday.
“He said three weeks ago that he had taken his decision; I’m not going to beg him to stay,” Nicollin told reporters.
Girard took the reins at Montpellier in 2009 and guided them to the Ligue 1 title last season.
They are currently sixth in Ligue 1 after 27 matches.
Zhang opts out of AFC race
China’s Zhang Jilong, the acting head of Asian soccer, will not run for the AFC presidency in its upcoming election, local media reported yesterday.
The Asian Football Con-federation has been without a permanent president since Qatari Mohamed Bin Hammam was banned for life by FIFA for corruption and bribery.
“I made this decision totally out of my own will and with careful thinking,” Zhang, who has held the role since May 2011, said.
“I am really honoured that I was entrusted with the caretaker job while AFC was in its most difficult time.”
Bremen struggles surprise Schaaf
Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf admitted his side are struggling more than he had expected following a 1-0 defeat at home to Augsburg on Saturday.
That result left Bremen nervously looking over their shoulders at the battle for survival rather than challenging for a place in Europe, and while Schaaf says he never expected it to be an easy season, he had not quite imagined it being so difficult.
“We’ve got to be realistic and we knew what kind of a season we were going to be up against, but certainly we had not planned on this today (Saturday) or the defeat in Munich,” he said.
“They should not happen either, but we are really struggling right now.”
‘Paris SG not suited to Ligue 1’
Paris SG director Leonardo has claimed his team are not suited to the style of play in their own league after they slumped to an embarrassing defeat against the 10 men of relegation-battling Reims on Saturday.
It was a second away defeat in a row for PSG and Leonardo warned there could be more as his expensively-assembled team was constructed for grander stages.
“We are perhaps not made to play in these types of games,” the Brazilian told said. “We created a team to play in the Champions League, not the championship.
“We don’t know yet how to handle games where the situation is against us, where the surface is difficult and we have an important game every three days.”
Kroenke has no plans to sell
Stan Kroenke has no plans to sell his majority stake in Arsenal, a spokesman for the Premier League football club said yesterday, responding to a report that a Middle East consortium planned a 1.5-billion-pound bid.
The Sunday Telegraph said the consortium, backed by funds from Qatar and the UAE, had already requested a meeting with the American billionaire Kroenke, who owns a two-thirds stake in the famous north London club ahead of what would be a record takeover bid for a football club.
“Stan Kroenke is committed to Arsenal for the long term and has no intention of selling his stake,” Arsenal communications director Mark Gonnella told Reuters.
“There has been no contact from any potential investors,” he added.
Karanka lauds fringe players
Real Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka was delighted with the performances of Real Madrid’s fringe players after their 2-1 win over Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu.
First-team coach Jose Mourinho made seven changes from the side that beat the Catalans 3-1 on Tuesday at the Camp Nou in the Copa del Rey.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Karanka said: “You need all your players to deliver in a big game like this, including the ones who play less often.
“Of all the performances of the team, I was particularly impressed with those players. The team have shown that, whoever is playing, they deserve to be trusted.”
Bendtner arrested
Juventus striker Nicklas Bendtner was arrested in Copenhagen for drink-driving.
The Danish international is currently recovering from injury and returned to his homeland over the weekend.
According to Danish website bt.dk, Bendtner was arrested on Saturday night after driving the wrong way up the Strand in Copenhagen.
H also failed a breathalyser test after going out with an old friend and visit a sports bar, according to his advisor Jesper Lynghus.