QPR striker Adel Taarabt has hit back at manager Harry Redknapp who called him overweight and unfit at the weekend.
“It’s not true to say I’m not fit. He tried to give an excuse,” Taarabt told reporters yesterday.
“I was desperate to play before the game. I was fuming when I didn’t play.
“He should have said ‘when he is fit he will play’. He is an experienced manager and he should have controlled that situation.”
Redknapp had criticised Taa-rabt after his side crashed to a 3-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
“He played in a reserve game and I could have run about more than he did,” Redknapp said.
Serie A TV rights awarded for €557m
Italy’s soccer league has awarded international TV rights for top-flight Serie A games for €557 million for the next three seasons, almost 60 per cent more than the previous auction, sources close to the matter told Reuters.
MP & Silva, the sports rights company which has been managing and distributing Serie A rights outside Italy since 2004, won the bidding for the coming period running to 2018, beating rivals IMG and B4Capital.
MP & Silva co-founder Riccardo Silva said the loss of many star football players underscored how Italian soccer was losing ground to other leagues, adding that the trend including in 2014 for international viewers had not been encouraging and that he hoped this could change.
‘Ronaldinho lacked professionalism’
Twice World Player of the Year Ronaldinho sold himself short by lacking professionalism, according to the manager who offloaded him to Mexico’s Queretaro last month.
Levir Culpi suggested that although the playmaker helped Atletico Mineiro to their first Copa Libertadores title last year, the footballer almost as famous for his carousing as for his fine skills could have done more.
“It’s a shame he doesn’t want to pay the price of being a professional athlete because he has done it all,” Culpi said.
“I can tell you that big stars such as Kaka help themselves. It’s all about professionalism.”
Experts to assist fan ownership
English government is to set up a group of experts aimed at making it easier for fans to run clubs.
The Supporter Ownership and Engagement Expert group will meet for the first time next month with representatives from Government, the Premier League, the FA, the Football League, Supporters Direct, lawyers, insolvency and tax experts and representatives from clubs that are run by supporters (Portsmouth FC, AFC Wimbledon and Wrexham).
The group will led by Joanna Manning-Cooper, from the Ports-mouth Supporters Trust.
Gareth Bale to miss Liverpool clash
Gareth Bale has been left out of Real Madrid’s squad for today’s Champions League clash against Liverpool as he battles a muscle injury.
Bale was unlikely to feature at Anfield after Madrid announced on Monday that the forward was suffering from a gluteal injury, and yesterday the world’s most expensive player was a confirmed absentee from Carlo Ancelotti’s 20-man squad for the trip to Anfield.
The 25-year-old was an un-used substitute in Saturday’s La Liga win over Levante.
Reports suggest that Bale is also set to miss this weekend’s Clasico showdown against Barcelona at the Bernabeu, as well as the possibility of further matches.
Gasperini unhappy after Empoli draw
Genoa coach Gian Piero Gasperini was left fuming after his team was denied a win in Monday’s 1-1 home draw against Empoli.
The Grifoni had led for most of the match thanks to Andrea Bertolacci’s 14th-minute goal and were heading for victory, before Em-poli’s Lorenzo Tonelli scored la late equaliser.
Gasperini felt Tonelli’s goal should not have counted but Italian referee Andrea Cervellera allowed the goal to stand.
“Tonelli’s goal should have been disallowed because the player controlled the ball with his hand,” Gasperini said.
“According to the referee, he didn’t see the Empoli goal.
“Had he seen it, he would not have given the goal.”
De Jong to return in two months
Newcastle midfielder Siem de Jong has said his rehabilitation from injury will take at least another eight weeks.
De Jong suffered a serious thigh injury just three games into his Magpies career. The initial prognosis was that he would not be fit to return until after Christmas.
The 25-year-old Holland international posted an upbeat message on his Facebook page but admitted he was still a long way from returning.
It read: “On my way back to Newcastle. Just saw the surgeon in London and all looks good.
“I can slowly start building up strength again and start walking without crutches. Still a couple of months to go but I’m going to work hard and I’m sure I will get back stronger!”