A round-up of today's soccer news in brief
Play-off plan fails to get go ahead
THE PREMIER League’s proposal to introduce a play-off for the fourth Champions League place has stalled after clubs voted against looking into the idea for the time being.
At the Premier League’s board meeting yesterday, chairmen decided against looking into the proposal any further at this stage after the idea surfaced following last month’s meeting. The “big four” clubs of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal were reportedly quick to voice their opposition while other clubs were keen on the idea in principle.
The Premier League were looking in to the possibility of bringing in a new system which could mean teams finishing fourth to seventh playing a mini-knockout competition.
PRESTON STRIKER Stephen Elliott is to join League One leaders Norwich on loan until the end of the season. The Republic of Ireland striker has fallen down the pecking order at Deepdale in recent times.
Worthington backs IFA stance
NORTHERN IRELAND manager Nigel Worthington has fully endorsed the Irish Football Association’s decision to raise the matter of player eligibility with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The governing body have taken this stance after promising Everton defender Shane Duffy opted to play for the Republic of Ireland.
Duffy follows a path taken by Manchester United midfielder Darron Gibson, who also came through the Northern Ireland age groups before deciding to switch allegiance. Worthington wants the trend to stop, especially as he only has a small pool of players to call on. He said: “The association is right and proper in what it is doing because no one else is looking after us. We have to look after ourselves.”
McGinley the UCD hero
COLLINGWOOD CUP FINAL
UCD 0
NUIG 0
(aet) UCD won 4-2 on pens.
GOALKEEPER MARK McGinley was the UCD hero with two fine penalty shoot-out saves against NUIG in the final at the Brandywell yesterday to help the Belfield side retain the trophy.
Following the saves Gavin Falconer beat Liam Grant in the Galway goal to claim the trophy for the second year in-a-row.
Both teams were feeling the effects of four days of football and few chances were created in what was a tense final.
UCD: M McGinley, J Timmons, D O’Connor, M Kelly (S Houston 89), M Leahy, M Langtry, S Belhout (R Creevy 50), P Corry, D McMillen, D Fallon (CMelvin 50)(G Falconer, 100), P McMahon.
NUIG: L Grant, S Conneely, C Larkin, M Conneely, S Murphy, C Burke (P Flaherty 105), E Dunne (B Gaffney 46), A Lee (M Gilmore 80), C Foley, G Cheevers, (S Browne 55), P Reilly.
Referee: P McFadden (Derry)
Givens defends under-21 role despite results
DON GIVENS has launched a resolute defence of his role as manager of the Republic of Ireland under-21 team following Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat to Armenia in the European Championship qualifier in Tallaght.
The team lie bottom of the qualifying group after seven matches without a victory.
After a decade in the job, Givens has helped move more than 50 players on to the senior international scene.
He retains the same mantra that he judges his performance on those results rather than score-lines.
“We work with what we have and we’ll do our best to get people through,” he said.
When asked if he was considering his position, the former Republic of Ireland striker said: “No, not in the slightest. Sections of the press have their own agenda. I’m here to develop players. I’ve said that from the first day. That’s what I’m here for.”
Twelve 'interested' in Portsmouth
PORTSMOUTH ADMINISTRATOR Andrew Andronikou has revealed he has heard from 12 parties interested in buying the debt-ridden club.
Portsmouth went into administration last Friday with estimated debts of €86 million, including an outstanding tax bill of €13 million.
The club lie bottom of the Premier League, but Andronikou claims there has been no shortage of interest.
“We have received about dozen expressions of interest,” said Andronikou, who added he now had to assess “the quality of the interest.We need to sit down first and look at funding,” he added.
The administrator revealed he had already met with two parties who had shown him proof of funds and he had sent them away and asked them to bring him even more “transparent proof”.
“There is no timescale,” Andronikou added. “We are not rushing. We want to do it properly.”
Celtic 'amazed' at Brown decision
CELTIC HAVE continued their spat with the Scottish Football Association by criticising the “amazing” decision to reject their appeal against Scott Brown’s Old Firm dismissal.
Referee Dougie McDonald upheld his own decision to show Scotland midfielder Brown a straight red card for his clash with Kyle Lafferty during Celtic’s late 1-0 defeat by Rangers on Sunday.
In a statement on their official website, a Celtic spokesperson said: “We are amazed at this decision and believe it is the wrong one.
“Given the general consensus that the initial decision was incorrect and the availability of supporting video evidence, at the very least, the incident should have been referred to a separate review panel.”
