No sooner had he helped to cut the ribbon for the official opening of the towering new Centre Court at the Foro Italico yesterday than Roger Federer became its first conspicuous victim.
For the first time in seven visits here since he assumed the world No 1 ranking, Federer was hurried from the scene at the BNL d’Italia Masters as Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis reannounced himself as a class act.
Only last month, British tennis was lamenting the progress of Lithuania as a force as the Balkan nation won a Davis Cup tie between the countries, a result that cost the captain, John Lloyd, his job, prompted a review of priorities at home and was cited as one of the reasons why Andy Murray’s game suddenly went Awol. The signs last night were that Murray’s recovery process has begun with a vengeance, an emphatic 6-2, 6-4 first-round victory over Andreas Seppi, of Italy, halting a run of three consecutive defeats.
Murray served with particular aplomb to secure his place in the third round; Gulbis produced a succession of bullet-like deliveries that peppered Federer’s defences. The 21-year-old — ranked outside the top 100 last September — has recovered his teenage poise, surged to No 40 and his 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory as thunder rumbled, will cause the Swiss to stop and think about what he must do on clay to add to his 16-strong grand slam title collection when he starts the defence of his French Open crown in 3½ weeks.
If anyone can do it, Federer can. He is the master of compartmentalising defeats, steadying the ship and turning on the grace and style when it really matters, in best-of-five-set occasions. It was clear from watching him practise that the Swiss was loose and apparently unconcerned that he was shanking so many routine shots. Although he sped through the first set, the minute Gulbis sharpened his range-finder, he took great delight in imposing his game on the world’s best.
Gulbis needed seven match points to secure victory, six being squandered in the tenth game with a mixture of outrageously brave serving and monstrous mis-hits. “I was shaking, it was a terrible feeling,” Gulbis said.
But Federer’s serve had been hit and miss throughout the final set and he conceded the advantage Gulbis had given him right back to his opponent. The Latvian then served out to love.
“You cannot be 100 per cent all the time,” Federer said. “Sometimes it takes a loss like this to wake up and shake your mind. It can be that things are too simple, and days like this make you realise how difficult it is to dominate the tour. I didn’t feel safe at any time today, my game wasn’t up to its normal standard. Of course Roland Garros is in the back of my mind but I have two tournaments to get the wins I need. And I’m still in the doubles.”
Once you heard the first “C’mon” from Murray in the opening game against Seppi, there was a sense that his focus, so woolly in Monte Carlo the week before last, had returned. The movement was good, the serve clinical, the double-handed backhand had verve, his whole demeanour was enhanced. A good evening’s work.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Racecourses glimpse the benefit of free enterprise
Alan Lee says that free entry at nine racecourses, this week, challenges the entrenched belief that racing is an extortionate day out
The best ideas can be both simple and daring. Twenty-overs cricket restored innocence and spontaneity to a game suffering from lazy preconceptions that it could last forever and still end in stalemate. Free entry at nine racecourses, this week, challenges the entrenched belief that racing is an extortionate day out.
On early indications, free racing is working in just the way Twenty20 has done - by attracting a previously reluctant audience. This will not only shame those who scorned the initiative as worthless sham, it could also bring an overdue rethink on pricing policies, both in racing and other sports.
Sedgefield shut its gates last night, the little Co Durham track full to its 5,000 capacity for a meeting that drew 600 paying spectators in 2009. Mighty Ascot still has ample space today but is expecting 12,000, a 300 per cent increase on last year. Goodwood, Saturday's free fixture, is already a sell-out.
These are uplifting figures for the Racing For Change (RFC) group, which negotiated the barriers of timid pragmatism in securing enough willing courses to comprise a week of free meetings. Yet the overwhelming response asks more questions than it answers.
Jill Williamson, general manager at Sedgefield, confirms that the bumper crowd yesterday was “nearly all people new to racing - and we're turning plenty more away”. The theme is similar elsewhere. Surely, the something-for-nothing tendency cannot account for so many thousands?
The vast majority must have some interest in racing, even if it has been dormant for a generation or amounts to nothing more than idle curiosity. So the challenge is how to win them back again.
On Monday, I went to Towcester, where free entry was nothing new. The course pioneered the idea six years ago, when the place was a building site and it hardly seemed fair to charge. It was such a success that it continued when the new stand was complete.
Only its two biggest days - Boxing Day and Easter Sunday - now command an entry fee. This quiet Monday card drew 3,400 - 28 per cent up through the RFC marketing. True, Towcester is not like other courses. Independent in every sense, it has neither clogging committees nor demanding shareholders - and Lord Hesketh, its owner, is a self-confessed maverick. Yet there is nothing fanciful or philanthropic about throwing the gates open. The business plan is proven.
Kevin Ackerman, the young and enterprising general manager, explained: “This used to be a loveably run-down place and our locals had stopped coming. By getting people through the door, we can showcase the new facilities. You'll always get the odd freeloader trying to smuggle in a packed lunch but most people are happy to spend once they are inside.
“It has other spin-offs. Not everything is free here and I call it tiered racing. Some may come back to use the restaurants, or book a VIP box as a treat - we have a very good corporate product. Or they might think of us as a wedding venue.”
Final payments on the new stand and stabling are about to be made but Towcester still expects to return a profit of £400,000 this year. Understandably, Ackerman now wonders why other tracks - especially in the netherland of all-weather racing - do not follow its lead.
Sedgefield, certainly, are thinking of more free days. “We're targeting families,” Mrs Williamson said. “If we don't get younger people coming, the sport will disappear.” Even at Ascot, where decimal odds in the betting ring will also be trialled today, there is a sense of wonder about the take-up for free racing.
Up to yesterday morning, 8,500 tickets had gone out and Ascot will not charge any walk-up customers today. Charles Barnett, the chief executive, has a throat infection and little voice. But he still managed to croak two words. “Quite amazing.”
Source:The Times
The best ideas can be both simple and daring. Twenty-overs cricket restored innocence and spontaneity to a game suffering from lazy preconceptions that it could last forever and still end in stalemate. Free entry at nine racecourses, this week, challenges the entrenched belief that racing is an extortionate day out.
On early indications, free racing is working in just the way Twenty20 has done - by attracting a previously reluctant audience. This will not only shame those who scorned the initiative as worthless sham, it could also bring an overdue rethink on pricing policies, both in racing and other sports.
Sedgefield shut its gates last night, the little Co Durham track full to its 5,000 capacity for a meeting that drew 600 paying spectators in 2009. Mighty Ascot still has ample space today but is expecting 12,000, a 300 per cent increase on last year. Goodwood, Saturday's free fixture, is already a sell-out.
These are uplifting figures for the Racing For Change (RFC) group, which negotiated the barriers of timid pragmatism in securing enough willing courses to comprise a week of free meetings. Yet the overwhelming response asks more questions than it answers.
Jill Williamson, general manager at Sedgefield, confirms that the bumper crowd yesterday was “nearly all people new to racing - and we're turning plenty more away”. The theme is similar elsewhere. Surely, the something-for-nothing tendency cannot account for so many thousands?
The vast majority must have some interest in racing, even if it has been dormant for a generation or amounts to nothing more than idle curiosity. So the challenge is how to win them back again.
On Monday, I went to Towcester, where free entry was nothing new. The course pioneered the idea six years ago, when the place was a building site and it hardly seemed fair to charge. It was such a success that it continued when the new stand was complete.
Only its two biggest days - Boxing Day and Easter Sunday - now command an entry fee. This quiet Monday card drew 3,400 - 28 per cent up through the RFC marketing. True, Towcester is not like other courses. Independent in every sense, it has neither clogging committees nor demanding shareholders - and Lord Hesketh, its owner, is a self-confessed maverick. Yet there is nothing fanciful or philanthropic about throwing the gates open. The business plan is proven.
Kevin Ackerman, the young and enterprising general manager, explained: “This used to be a loveably run-down place and our locals had stopped coming. By getting people through the door, we can showcase the new facilities. You'll always get the odd freeloader trying to smuggle in a packed lunch but most people are happy to spend once they are inside.
“It has other spin-offs. Not everything is free here and I call it tiered racing. Some may come back to use the restaurants, or book a VIP box as a treat - we have a very good corporate product. Or they might think of us as a wedding venue.”
Final payments on the new stand and stabling are about to be made but Towcester still expects to return a profit of £400,000 this year. Understandably, Ackerman now wonders why other tracks - especially in the netherland of all-weather racing - do not follow its lead.
Sedgefield, certainly, are thinking of more free days. “We're targeting families,” Mrs Williamson said. “If we don't get younger people coming, the sport will disappear.” Even at Ascot, where decimal odds in the betting ring will also be trialled today, there is a sense of wonder about the take-up for free racing.
Up to yesterday morning, 8,500 tickets had gone out and Ascot will not charge any walk-up customers today. Charles Barnett, the chief executive, has a throat infection and little voice. But he still managed to croak two words. “Quite amazing.”
Source:The Times
Open galleries will be free to have their say about Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods has always described St Andrews as one of his favourite places in the world of golf, yet he can expect no special treatment when he attempts in July to add to the two Open Championships he has won there.
Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the R&A, which organises and runs the Open, said yesterday that although spectators will be expected to show respect to the players, they were entitled to express their views.
There has been speculation that Woods might be heckled after revelations about his private life, and Dawson admitted there was little he could do to prevent it. “We’re not a police state,” he said. “People can say what they like.”
Woods has yet to confirm that he will help to celebrate the championship’s 150th year, but it is difficult, now that he has returned to the game after five months away, to think of the oldest of the majors going ahead without him.
While the R&A is keen not to be heavy-handed over security, Dawson pointed out that bad behaviour of spectators would not be tolerated. “If they start putting players off, we’ll have something to say about it,” he said at St Andrews. “They are asked to stop and if they don’t, they are asked to leave.”
Asked if he expected a negative reaction to Woods, whose extra-marital affairs have battered his public image, Dawson took heart from what happened at the Masters three weeks ago. “I don’t think I do, although I could be badly wrong,” he said. “The Augusta fans are people just like everybody else and I think there was genuine relief that Tiger was back. I think the reaction to him was measured. It wasn’t enthusiastic but it wasn’t hugely negative, either. I expect something similar here.
“I remain the biggest fan of his golf game that there could possibly be. I’m just very sad at what has happened and I’m sure that he is, too. I don’t know anybody who saw this coming. It was a great shock to all of us in golf. Let’s hope he returns a stronger person.”
Unlike Billy Payne, the chairman of the Augusta National Golf Club, who criticised Woods, Dawson is not going to express disapproval in public. However, as one of the guardians of the game, he remarked that Woods’s on-course behaviour needs cleaning up. “It had deteriorated,” he said. “No one who has a care for the etiquette of the game could be happy with that and I’m sure Tiger, when he looks at the pictures, isn’t happy with it.
“I thought Billy’s comments were measured and well crafted. He had the disadvantage of being [Tiger’s] first event back.
“The Masters had a major problem in having no idea what to expect. If the Open had been his first back, we’d have been scratching our heads.”
As yet prize money has not been set for this year’s championship and will be dependent, among other things, on the prevailing exchange rates nearer the time. Stewart Cink, the 2009 champion, won £750,000 and Dawson said that the prospect of a £1 million first prize was on the horizon, “but not this year”.
Source:The Times
Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the R&A, which organises and runs the Open, said yesterday that although spectators will be expected to show respect to the players, they were entitled to express their views.
There has been speculation that Woods might be heckled after revelations about his private life, and Dawson admitted there was little he could do to prevent it. “We’re not a police state,” he said. “People can say what they like.”
Woods has yet to confirm that he will help to celebrate the championship’s 150th year, but it is difficult, now that he has returned to the game after five months away, to think of the oldest of the majors going ahead without him.
While the R&A is keen not to be heavy-handed over security, Dawson pointed out that bad behaviour of spectators would not be tolerated. “If they start putting players off, we’ll have something to say about it,” he said at St Andrews. “They are asked to stop and if they don’t, they are asked to leave.”
Asked if he expected a negative reaction to Woods, whose extra-marital affairs have battered his public image, Dawson took heart from what happened at the Masters three weeks ago. “I don’t think I do, although I could be badly wrong,” he said. “The Augusta fans are people just like everybody else and I think there was genuine relief that Tiger was back. I think the reaction to him was measured. It wasn’t enthusiastic but it wasn’t hugely negative, either. I expect something similar here.
“I remain the biggest fan of his golf game that there could possibly be. I’m just very sad at what has happened and I’m sure that he is, too. I don’t know anybody who saw this coming. It was a great shock to all of us in golf. Let’s hope he returns a stronger person.”
Unlike Billy Payne, the chairman of the Augusta National Golf Club, who criticised Woods, Dawson is not going to express disapproval in public. However, as one of the guardians of the game, he remarked that Woods’s on-course behaviour needs cleaning up. “It had deteriorated,” he said. “No one who has a care for the etiquette of the game could be happy with that and I’m sure Tiger, when he looks at the pictures, isn’t happy with it.
“I thought Billy’s comments were measured and well crafted. He had the disadvantage of being [Tiger’s] first event back.
“The Masters had a major problem in having no idea what to expect. If the Open had been his first back, we’d have been scratching our heads.”
As yet prize money has not been set for this year’s championship and will be dependent, among other things, on the prevailing exchange rates nearer the time. Stewart Cink, the 2009 champion, won £750,000 and Dawson said that the prospect of a £1 million first prize was on the horizon, “but not this year”.
Source:The Times
Wheels falling off for Michael Schumacher
MERCEDES are preparing an extensively modified car for Michael Schumacher to drive at the Spanish Grand Prix in two weeks’ time. This could make or break Schumacher’s so far ill-starred comeback. If the new car doesn’t deliver the characteristics Schumacher says he needs to be competitive, serious doubts will be raised over him seeing out his three-year contract.
After a woeful 10th place in the Chinese Grand Prix, Schumacher reiterated that his car does not let him drive in his natural way. Team boss Ross Brawn explained further: “Our car does not have enough front downforce. New regulations have made the front tyres narrower, which means you need to generate more downforce at the front than before. Michael needs to be able to lean heavily on the front of the car to make his driving style work.”
The modified car is thought to feature a significantly longer wheelbase, allowing the front wheels to be sited further forward in relation to the cockpit. This will speed the airflow along the car, in effect pulling the air over the front wing faster and increasing the downwards thrust upon the front tyres.
Schumacher needs a car that changes direction sharply, which has so far proved elusive with the Mercedes. His attempt at creating that artificially has worsened his problems, if the observations of a former F1 technical director are accurate: “Michael always liked a car with a positive turn-in. He was at his fastest with no understeer. If a car inherently understeers then you can only get it balanced by artificially degrading the rear grip. This means less overall grip and Michael’s car in Shanghai had visibly awful traction, making me suspect that he has screwed up the rear just to try and get it to turn in.”
Whatever the car’s limitations, Schumacher has clearly adapted less well than his teammate Nico Rosberg, who is 17 years younger and has soundly beaten him in all four races so far.
Perhaps the most telling moment came when Lewis Hamilton drove around Schumacher’s outside through the fast turn eight, a move almost unthinkable in the German’s prime.
But it’s probably significant that Schumacher seems to be pinning his hopes on changing the car rather than finding more from himself. He says working on the development of the car is “fun for me”. It will be fun only if the process proves fruitful. His display in the new car in Barcelona may determine if that process ever reaches fruition.
Mark Hughes writes for Autosport magazine
After a woeful 10th place in the Chinese Grand Prix, Schumacher reiterated that his car does not let him drive in his natural way. Team boss Ross Brawn explained further: “Our car does not have enough front downforce. New regulations have made the front tyres narrower, which means you need to generate more downforce at the front than before. Michael needs to be able to lean heavily on the front of the car to make his driving style work.”
The modified car is thought to feature a significantly longer wheelbase, allowing the front wheels to be sited further forward in relation to the cockpit. This will speed the airflow along the car, in effect pulling the air over the front wing faster and increasing the downwards thrust upon the front tyres.
Schumacher needs a car that changes direction sharply, which has so far proved elusive with the Mercedes. His attempt at creating that artificially has worsened his problems, if the observations of a former F1 technical director are accurate: “Michael always liked a car with a positive turn-in. He was at his fastest with no understeer. If a car inherently understeers then you can only get it balanced by artificially degrading the rear grip. This means less overall grip and Michael’s car in Shanghai had visibly awful traction, making me suspect that he has screwed up the rear just to try and get it to turn in.”
Whatever the car’s limitations, Schumacher has clearly adapted less well than his teammate Nico Rosberg, who is 17 years younger and has soundly beaten him in all four races so far.
Perhaps the most telling moment came when Lewis Hamilton drove around Schumacher’s outside through the fast turn eight, a move almost unthinkable in the German’s prime.
But it’s probably significant that Schumacher seems to be pinning his hopes on changing the car rather than finding more from himself. He says working on the development of the car is “fun for me”. It will be fun only if the process proves fruitful. His display in the new car in Barcelona may determine if that process ever reaches fruition.
Mark Hughes writes for Autosport magazine
Neil Carter undermines Hampshire with fine spell of swing bowling
Edgbaston (first day of four: Hampshire won toss): Warwickshire, with nine first innings wickets in hand, are 238 runs behind Hampshire
It is not easy to concentrate amid the cacophony of drills, diggers and cement mixers laying the foundation for the £30m redevelopment of the pavilion end at Edgbaston but Michael Carberry, England’s newest opener, and Sean Ervine, the former Zimbabwe all-rounder, got their heads down to lift Hampshire to a total of 283 against Warwickshire.
Carberry, who had scored a double-century, two hundreds and four fifties in his eight previous championship matches against Warwickshire, again showed his liking for their bowling but when he was out for 74 Hampshire were in trouble at 120 for five.
Warwickshire picked two spinners in Imran Tahir, formerly of Hampshire, and Ant Botha but it was Neil Carter who undermined Hampshire with his left arm swing and went on to finish with four for 59 in 23 demanding overs.
Carter had Jimmy Adams caught behind and claimed Chris Benham and James Vince lbw before Darren Maddy, playing his first championship match for a year, picked up the wicket of Neil McKenzie when he was caught at slip.
Carberry, who made his England debut in the first Test against Bangladesh at Chittagong in March, looked the part, scoring his runs off 127 balls with 11 fours and a six, but then he pulled a long hop from Chris Woakes to mid on and left the field shaking his head in annoyance.
Another wicket then and Warwickshire would have been right on top in this contest between two sides who have both lost their first two matches but they simply did not bowl well enough as Ervine joined Nic Pothas in a sixth wicket stand of 83 in 20 overs.
Pothas had scored 47 when he was brilliantly caught at slip by Rikki Clarke off Jonathan Trott and Ervine went on to make 70 before he gave Clarke a more straightforward catch off Imran Tahir.
Kabir Ali and James Tomlinson gave Ervine some support and when Warwickshire went in with 13 overs remaining Kabir soon claimed Westwood for a duck.
Maddy, who had not played since the corresponding game last season because of knee trouble and a nasty facial injury suffered in pre-season practice in South Africa, stood firm, however, and Ian Bell looked in good touch to take Warwickshire to 45 for one by the close.
Hampshire: First InningsM A Carberry c Westwood b Woakes 74J H K Adams c Ambrose b Carter 4C C Benham lbw b Carter 8N D McKenzie c Trott b Maddy 13J M Vince lbw b Carter 6*†N Pothas c Clarke b Trott 15S M Ervine c Clarke b Tahir 70K Ali c Ambrose b Carter 16J A Tomlinson c Tahir b Woakes 29D R Briggs b Tahir 0D A Griffiths not out 0Extras (b 4, lb 10, nb 2) 16Total (80.5 overs) 283
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-18, 3-61, 4-84, 5-120, 6-203, 7-238, 8-273, 9-273.
Bowling: Woakes 16.5-4-60-2; Carter 23-6-59-4; Maddy 17-3-53-1; Clarke 6-0-32-0; Trott 8-1-29-1, Tahir 8-0-23-2; Botha 2-0-13-0.
Warwickshire: First Innings*I J Westwood lbw b Ali 0D L Maddy not out 21I R Bell not out 17Extras 0Total (1 wkt, 13 overs) 45
I J L Trott, J O Troughton, †T R Ambrose, R Clarke, C R Woakes, N M Carter, A G Botha and Imran Tahir to bat.
Fall of wicket: 1-2.
Bowling: Ali 5-3-9-1; Tomlinson 5-1-15-0; Ervine 1-0-5-0; Griffiths 1-0-7-0; McKenzie 1-0-2-0.
Umpires: M R Benson and P J Hartley.
Source:The Times
It is not easy to concentrate amid the cacophony of drills, diggers and cement mixers laying the foundation for the £30m redevelopment of the pavilion end at Edgbaston but Michael Carberry, England’s newest opener, and Sean Ervine, the former Zimbabwe all-rounder, got their heads down to lift Hampshire to a total of 283 against Warwickshire.
Carberry, who had scored a double-century, two hundreds and four fifties in his eight previous championship matches against Warwickshire, again showed his liking for their bowling but when he was out for 74 Hampshire were in trouble at 120 for five.
Warwickshire picked two spinners in Imran Tahir, formerly of Hampshire, and Ant Botha but it was Neil Carter who undermined Hampshire with his left arm swing and went on to finish with four for 59 in 23 demanding overs.
Carter had Jimmy Adams caught behind and claimed Chris Benham and James Vince lbw before Darren Maddy, playing his first championship match for a year, picked up the wicket of Neil McKenzie when he was caught at slip.
Carberry, who made his England debut in the first Test against Bangladesh at Chittagong in March, looked the part, scoring his runs off 127 balls with 11 fours and a six, but then he pulled a long hop from Chris Woakes to mid on and left the field shaking his head in annoyance.
Another wicket then and Warwickshire would have been right on top in this contest between two sides who have both lost their first two matches but they simply did not bowl well enough as Ervine joined Nic Pothas in a sixth wicket stand of 83 in 20 overs.
Pothas had scored 47 when he was brilliantly caught at slip by Rikki Clarke off Jonathan Trott and Ervine went on to make 70 before he gave Clarke a more straightforward catch off Imran Tahir.
Kabir Ali and James Tomlinson gave Ervine some support and when Warwickshire went in with 13 overs remaining Kabir soon claimed Westwood for a duck.
Maddy, who had not played since the corresponding game last season because of knee trouble and a nasty facial injury suffered in pre-season practice in South Africa, stood firm, however, and Ian Bell looked in good touch to take Warwickshire to 45 for one by the close.
Hampshire: First InningsM A Carberry c Westwood b Woakes 74J H K Adams c Ambrose b Carter 4C C Benham lbw b Carter 8N D McKenzie c Trott b Maddy 13J M Vince lbw b Carter 6*†N Pothas c Clarke b Trott 15S M Ervine c Clarke b Tahir 70K Ali c Ambrose b Carter 16J A Tomlinson c Tahir b Woakes 29D R Briggs b Tahir 0D A Griffiths not out 0Extras (b 4, lb 10, nb 2) 16Total (80.5 overs) 283
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-18, 3-61, 4-84, 5-120, 6-203, 7-238, 8-273, 9-273.
Bowling: Woakes 16.5-4-60-2; Carter 23-6-59-4; Maddy 17-3-53-1; Clarke 6-0-32-0; Trott 8-1-29-1, Tahir 8-0-23-2; Botha 2-0-13-0.
Warwickshire: First Innings*I J Westwood lbw b Ali 0D L Maddy not out 21I R Bell not out 17Extras 0Total (1 wkt, 13 overs) 45
I J L Trott, J O Troughton, †T R Ambrose, R Clarke, C R Woakes, N M Carter, A G Botha and Imran Tahir to bat.
Fall of wicket: 1-2.
Bowling: Ali 5-3-9-1; Tomlinson 5-1-15-0; Ervine 1-0-5-0; Griffiths 1-0-7-0; McKenzie 1-0-2-0.
Umpires: M R Benson and P J Hartley.
Source:The Times
Manchester City can bring in Marton Fulop after talks over Joe Hart collapse
Manchester City conceded defeat last night in their battle to re-sign Joe Hart after the club refused to bow to Birmingham City’s attempts to cash in on their rival’s desperate bid to resolve their goalkeeping crisis.
City will bring in Marton Fulop from Sunderland on a temporary basis this morning after being granted special dispensation by the Premier League to sign the Hungarian in the wake of an injury crisis that had left the club with only one fit senior goalkeeper.
With Shay Given expected to have an operation in London today on a dislocated shoulder that has ruled the Ireland goalkeeper out of City’s final three matches of the season, the club’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League may rest on Fulop after their efforts to recall Hart from his season-long loan at Birmingham collapsed at the end of a day of negotiations.
City had offered to waive the £460,000 loan fee owed to them by Birmingham for Hart, pay the England goalkeeper’s £30,000-a-week wages and settle any agents’ fees.
But with Birmingham understood to have been demanding a compensation package that could ultimately have totalled close to £3 million, City pulled the plug after hours of talks between Garry Cook, their chief executive, and Peter Pannu, the Midlands club’s vice-president.
In addition to City’s proposals, Birmingham are believed to have asked for a further £1.5 million to compensate for the prospect, without Hart, of the club dropping down the table, another £500,000 if City finished fourth and a percentage of any lost season-ticket revenue culminating from a lower than expected league finish. Each Premier League place is worth £750,000.
“I understand their [City’s] predicament,” Pannu said. “But if we let Joe go then we lose two positions in the Premier League, we lose £1.5 million in merit money.”
Although City had been given the green light by the Premier League to pursue Hart, in addition to Fulop, the organisation appeared to perform an about-turn by saying they would not have sanctioned the goalkeeper’s return to the club even if a compromise had been reached with Birmingham.
The Premier League later appeared to soften its stance, although City had no desire to meet Birmingham’s demands. In a statement last night, City said: “The club have been in contact throughout the day with both Birmingham City and Sunderland with regards to bringing either Joe Hart or Marton Fulop to the team on an emergency basis. Agreement has not been reached with Birmingham, but we anticipate that Marton Fulop will join us in training [today].”
Fulop, 26, has not played a first team match since January 16, when Sunderland were beaten 7-2 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but is expected to start City’s game at home to Aston Villa on Saturday. Gunnar Nielsen, the Faeroe Isles international, was City’s only fit senior goalkeeper after injuries to Stuart Taylor and David González.
Source:The Times
City will bring in Marton Fulop from Sunderland on a temporary basis this morning after being granted special dispensation by the Premier League to sign the Hungarian in the wake of an injury crisis that had left the club with only one fit senior goalkeeper.
With Shay Given expected to have an operation in London today on a dislocated shoulder that has ruled the Ireland goalkeeper out of City’s final three matches of the season, the club’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League may rest on Fulop after their efforts to recall Hart from his season-long loan at Birmingham collapsed at the end of a day of negotiations.
City had offered to waive the £460,000 loan fee owed to them by Birmingham for Hart, pay the England goalkeeper’s £30,000-a-week wages and settle any agents’ fees.
But with Birmingham understood to have been demanding a compensation package that could ultimately have totalled close to £3 million, City pulled the plug after hours of talks between Garry Cook, their chief executive, and Peter Pannu, the Midlands club’s vice-president.
In addition to City’s proposals, Birmingham are believed to have asked for a further £1.5 million to compensate for the prospect, without Hart, of the club dropping down the table, another £500,000 if City finished fourth and a percentage of any lost season-ticket revenue culminating from a lower than expected league finish. Each Premier League place is worth £750,000.
“I understand their [City’s] predicament,” Pannu said. “But if we let Joe go then we lose two positions in the Premier League, we lose £1.5 million in merit money.”
Although City had been given the green light by the Premier League to pursue Hart, in addition to Fulop, the organisation appeared to perform an about-turn by saying they would not have sanctioned the goalkeeper’s return to the club even if a compromise had been reached with Birmingham.
The Premier League later appeared to soften its stance, although City had no desire to meet Birmingham’s demands. In a statement last night, City said: “The club have been in contact throughout the day with both Birmingham City and Sunderland with regards to bringing either Joe Hart or Marton Fulop to the team on an emergency basis. Agreement has not been reached with Birmingham, but we anticipate that Marton Fulop will join us in training [today].”
Fulop, 26, has not played a first team match since January 16, when Sunderland were beaten 7-2 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but is expected to start City’s game at home to Aston Villa on Saturday. Gunnar Nielsen, the Faeroe Isles international, was City’s only fit senior goalkeeper after injuries to Stuart Taylor and David González.
Source:The Times
Portsmouth farce should have been prevented, says Michel Platini
Michel Platini, the Uefa president, declared last night that the Premier League’s spirit of “liberalism” was to blame for Portsmouth’s descent towards financial oblivion.
In an interview with The Times, Platini rejected persistent accusations of Anglophobia, tipping Fabio Capello’s team as one of three favourites to win the World Cup and dismissing theories of a power shift away from England in the Champions League.
But he condemned the situation at Portsmouth, who have become the first Premier League club to go into administration and still face the threat of liquidation unless they can satisfy their creditors, who include Revenue & Customs.
Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, has said that Portsmouth’s problems “can only be down to rank bad management” under a succession of owners, but Platini believes that greater financial regulation would have prevented a situation whereby excessive spending allowed them to run up debts that stand at more than £100 million by building an FA Cup-winning squad that they could not afford.
“I’m not in favour of the big liberalism of what has happened with the English clubs,” Platini said. “I’m not an expert of finance, but it was easy to understand that clubs like Portsmouth would be in big danger of going bankrupt and going down. We have to protect them. Why was this club winning [the FA Cup in 2008] with losses of £50 million?
“When I was younger, I remember seeing people with no money buy Ferraris — and then, because of the Ferrari, they would get the best girls! That’s not correct, but it’s what has happened in football: you don’t have the money to buy the players, but you get the players and in the end you cheat and win the competition. That’s not correct.”
The Premier League introduced tighter financial regulations this season — partly in response to Portsmouth’s situation — that, according to Scudamore, have “reduced the risk of a repeat situation down to the absolute minimum”.
Platini has welcomed that as a step in the right direction, but it is a long way short of his “Financial Fair Play” initiative — a scheme that Scudamore expects the leading Premier League clubs to oppose “if it comes to an absolute regulation of their income”.
In response to Platini’s comments, a Premier League spokesman said last night: “Had we been able to introduce our financial criteria a year earlier, that would have certainly helped ease the problems faced by Portsmouth. The new rules, which we believe will help clubs operate in a more sustainable manner, combined with further regulations to be introduced this summer, should prevent another club in the Premier League reaching the point where their very existence is threatened.
“Having said that, regulation is not a cure-all. There are numerous examples of clubs in leagues deemed to be more heavily regulated than the Premier League that have got into difficulties.”
It was also reported last night that the League is considering a radical change to transfer rules to force all clubs to pay fees within a year of the signing rather than in instalments over the length of a player’s contract.
Platini plans to introduce the “Financial Fair Play” regulations for clubs involved in Uefa competition in time for the 2012-13 season, which will restrict owners such as Roman Abramovich at Chelsea and Sheikh Mansour at Manchester City to a maximum €45 million (about £40 million) investment on players over an initial three-year period. That sum will be reduced to €30 million over the three years from 2015 to 2018, ending what Platini calls “financial doping”.
Source:The Times
In an interview with The Times, Platini rejected persistent accusations of Anglophobia, tipping Fabio Capello’s team as one of three favourites to win the World Cup and dismissing theories of a power shift away from England in the Champions League.
But he condemned the situation at Portsmouth, who have become the first Premier League club to go into administration and still face the threat of liquidation unless they can satisfy their creditors, who include Revenue & Customs.
Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, has said that Portsmouth’s problems “can only be down to rank bad management” under a succession of owners, but Platini believes that greater financial regulation would have prevented a situation whereby excessive spending allowed them to run up debts that stand at more than £100 million by building an FA Cup-winning squad that they could not afford.
“I’m not in favour of the big liberalism of what has happened with the English clubs,” Platini said. “I’m not an expert of finance, but it was easy to understand that clubs like Portsmouth would be in big danger of going bankrupt and going down. We have to protect them. Why was this club winning [the FA Cup in 2008] with losses of £50 million?
“When I was younger, I remember seeing people with no money buy Ferraris — and then, because of the Ferrari, they would get the best girls! That’s not correct, but it’s what has happened in football: you don’t have the money to buy the players, but you get the players and in the end you cheat and win the competition. That’s not correct.”
The Premier League introduced tighter financial regulations this season — partly in response to Portsmouth’s situation — that, according to Scudamore, have “reduced the risk of a repeat situation down to the absolute minimum”.
Platini has welcomed that as a step in the right direction, but it is a long way short of his “Financial Fair Play” initiative — a scheme that Scudamore expects the leading Premier League clubs to oppose “if it comes to an absolute regulation of their income”.
In response to Platini’s comments, a Premier League spokesman said last night: “Had we been able to introduce our financial criteria a year earlier, that would have certainly helped ease the problems faced by Portsmouth. The new rules, which we believe will help clubs operate in a more sustainable manner, combined with further regulations to be introduced this summer, should prevent another club in the Premier League reaching the point where their very existence is threatened.
“Having said that, regulation is not a cure-all. There are numerous examples of clubs in leagues deemed to be more heavily regulated than the Premier League that have got into difficulties.”
It was also reported last night that the League is considering a radical change to transfer rules to force all clubs to pay fees within a year of the signing rather than in instalments over the length of a player’s contract.
Platini plans to introduce the “Financial Fair Play” regulations for clubs involved in Uefa competition in time for the 2012-13 season, which will restrict owners such as Roman Abramovich at Chelsea and Sheikh Mansour at Manchester City to a maximum €45 million (about £40 million) investment on players over an initial three-year period. That sum will be reduced to €30 million over the three years from 2015 to 2018, ending what Platini calls “financial doping”.
Source:The Times
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