Leicester City’s stunning rise has shaken up the Premier League’s pecking order this season and their fans’ celebrations after Leonardo Ulloa’s late winner against Norwich City last month shook up the city by causing an “earthquake”.
The minor quake with a magnitude of 0.3 was picked up by a seismometer installed near the King Power Stadium by a team from the University of Leicester after Ulloa netted in the dying minutes to open up a two-point lead at the top of the table.
Labelled the ‘Vardy Quake; after the league’s top scorer, Jamie Vardy, the event was caused by the energy released by 30,000 fans celebrating Ulloa’s strike. “It says something about the nature of football, it’s so tense and then we get four or five seconds of unexpected magic,” seismologist Paul Denton, who works with the British Geological Survey, told the BBC.
Brondby coach Frank quits, CEO dismissed
Brondby coach Thomas Frank has decided to leave the Danish top-flight club after being criticised by the chairman on an online fan forum, while the chief executive has been sacked.
Frank’s departure came after media reported that Brondby’s chairman and major shareholder, Jan Bech Andersen, had criticised him on the online fan forum SydSiden Online under a pseudonym using his son’s account.
Andersen has since acknowledged he was behind the criticism and has apologised.
Brondby also announced they had fired CEO Soren Vadmand shortly before posting a loss of $2.5 million for 2015.
Klopp will get time to succeed – Rodgers
Former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers expects his successor Juergen Klopp to be given time to realise the Merseyside club’s ambitions of ending their long wait for an English league title.
“The expectancy of course is to win the league, we went very close in my time (2013/14) and obviously Juergen will go in and feel that he can improve on that and that’s why the owners made the change,” Rodgers told the Belfast Telegraph.
“To improve on runners-up would be to win the league but it is going to take time. I’m sure the owners will give him that time.”
Hodgson future
England manager Roy Hodgson has said he will step down after Euro 2016 if the public demand his resignation.
The 68-year-old’s contract expires after the June 10-July 10 tournament in France and although he would like to stay on and lead the team to the 2018 World Cup in Russia he said it wasn’t just down to him.
“If it’s the time for me to walk away and leave it to someone else, then so be it,” Hodgson said.
“I certainly won’t be looking to walk away from it. But I won’t be clinging on when most people are wishing I wasn’t there any more.”
Moshiri’s Everton investment approved
The Premier League has approved the proposed investment into Everton by British-Iranian billionaire Farhad Moshiri, the Merseyside club said in a statement.
Moshiri, a former Arsenal shareholder, ended Everton’s long search for investment when he bought a 49.9 per cent stake in the Goodison Park outfit last month.
His close relationship with Bill Kenwright and willingness to allow the chairman to remain in a position of power at the club, at least in the short term, was believed to be a factor in clinching the deal.
Kenwright, a leading film and theatre producer, bought a controlling stake in Everton from Peter Johnson for £20 million in 1999.
Boca Juniors train with volleyballs
Boca Juniors trained with volleyballs on Tuesday as a way of simulating the effects of the thin air they will face in tonight’s Libertadores Cup game against Bolivar in the Bolivian city La Paz.
“We have practised with the volleyballs because of the weight of the balls they use in the Copa and the movement that occurs at altitude,” Boca’s goalkeeping coach Juan Jose Romero said.
La Paz is one of the world’s highest cities. The thin air means there is less resistance, so balls move more in flight, which often outfoxes goalkeepers.
Eboue awarded Sunderland deal
Former Arsenal full-back Emmanuel Eboue has joined Sunderland for the remainder of the season after impressing during a trial.
The 32-year-old former Ivory Coast international, who was released by Turkish club Galatasaray last summer, has been training with Sam Allardyce’s squad for several weeks.
Allardyce revealed last week that Eboue would be offered a deal and will now hope he can regain the form and match-fitness he showed during his six-and-a-half seasons with the Gunners.