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2021-22-23-24-25 News Thread

jeffbear said:
Speaking of manager changes ... Rangers dumped Russell Martin after only 4 months in charge. 1 win and 5 draws through the first seven games will do that.
www.skysports.com

Russell Martin sacked by Rangers: Ibrox side dismiss head coach following Falkirk draw after 123 days in charge

Rangers have sacked their fourth manager in under three years; ex-Southampton manager won one of his seven league games in charge and lost both Europa League ties, although did progress in the League Cup
www.skysports.com www.skysports.com
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Steven Gerrard and Rangers held talks on Thursday and Friday but he ultimately turned down a chance to return to the Ibrox. Gerrard felt the timing wasn’t right. He’s been out of coaching since leaving Saudi club Al Ettifaq in January.
 
Jack Wilshere is on the verge of being named manager at Luton. It would be his first permanent senior position, having previously coached Arsenal’s U18s and taking charge at Norwich as a caretaker the last 2 matches of last season after spending the season as an assistant.

Luton sit 11th in League 1 after back to back relegations.
 
andyt said:
Steven Gerrard and Rangers held talks on Thursday and Friday but he ultimately turned down a chance to return to the Ibrox. Gerrard felt the timing wasn’t right. He’s been out of coaching since leaving Saudi club Al Ettifaq in January.
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Good call. Their summer recruitment was ... let's go with subpar
 
CONCACAF announced a 4 nation bid to host the 2031 Women’s World Cup. The 4 nations are the US, Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica. This comes after the US, Canada and Mexico will split the 2026 Men’s World Cup and Spain, Portugal and Morocco will split the 2030 Men’s World Cup, along with special matches in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.

The 2030 bid set the tone for geographic idiocy. A single match in Uruguay to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the World Cup would have been OK. But adding matches in Argentina and Paraguay is ridiculous. The other hosts? Morocco is only separated from the Iberian peninsula by the 9 mile wide Strait of Gibralter. But a 2031 bid with Costa Rica and Jamaica makes no geographical sense.

 
Yeah, FIFA is basically demanding these dumb combo platters. Just more evidence that FIFA is eventually going to drive this clown car off a cliff.
 
Sheffield Wednesday entered administration and were deducted 12 points. They had 6 points from 11 matches and were already bottom of the table, and now have -6 points. That almost certainly condemns them to relegation after 2 years in the Championship. They finished 12th last year.

news.sky.com

English Championship side Sheffield Wednesday deducted 12 points after entering administration

The Owls, one of the oldest surviving clubs in world football, have been deducted 12 points.
news.sky.com news.sky.com
 
andyt said:
Rodgers is out at Celtic, Hearts are 8 points clear at the top of the table. What’s going on in Scotland?
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Money, honestly ... as in a shortage thereof ... and a lack of vision. Without the recruitment budgets of their friends in the south, Celtic managers have to bring something to the party aside from tactical competence. Bringing back Rodgers was always a bad idea, but Ange did enough good stuff recruiting from under-scouted markets that he left a roster than could be squeezed for a couple of years. That time's up and nobody wants to come to Scotland to play for the freaking Brodge.

In olden times Celtic generally mined other Scottish clubs for young talent and then added a couple of rough gems from Europe to level up the skill. Their stadium revenues and the cash from Europe generally meant that they had enough cash to outspend their SPL neighbors, plus winning just breeds winning to some degree. But once you break that momentum, it's tough to put the toothpaste back in the tube. Ange gave them a way forward by digging players out of the Asian leagues, but they stupidly and stubbornly went back to the old ways when he left for Spurs.

The story at Rangers isn't all that different at its root. The ambition simply out-paces the funds, which means you have to be creative. And it turns out that that's a lot of work and kind of easy to get wrong.
 
And in a sign that Celtic's board haven't really gotten the memo, they went even further back to the past for the interim, bringing back Martin O'Neill ... who, though I love him like my own family, hasn't been relevant since he ran out of steam managing Ireland 7 or 8 years ago. Yeah, they're hoping that Sean Maloney can get a quick education as his right hand man this year and take over from there, but that's the kind of magical thinking that rarely pays off. Again, I've got a deep appreciation for Maloney as an old boy of both clubs I support, but they need fresh ideas and turning to the Old Bhoys Club is hardly likely to yield results on that front.
 
The Turkish Football Federation has suspended 149 match officials for between 8 and 12 months over a betting scandal. Investigations continue for 3 more referees. Their investigation found that 371 of the 571 active match officials in the country have betting accounts and 152 of them actively gamble. The Istanbul Prosecutors Office has also been investigation, looking at possible match fixing since April.
 
The NWSL announced that an expansion team was awarded to Atlanta, to be owned by AMB Sports and Entertainment, the owners of the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United and Mercedes Benz Stadium, where the team will play. They‘ll begin playing in 2028. The expansion fee is reportedly $165 million, 50% more than Denver Summit FC paid less than a year ago.

www.espn.com

Sources: Atlanta in line to get 17th NWSL franchise

The NWSL has awarded an expansion team to Atlanta as its 17th franchise, sources confirmed to ESPN.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 
With these expansion fees, they're going to HAVE to loosen up the Salary Cap ceiling. You can't be asking people to fork over $165 million and then limit them to a team payroll that's like 60% of a competitive WSL roster.
 
MLS is switching changing its schedule to align with the International calendar beginning in 2027. The league will run a shortened 2027 season on their existing calendar from February to May and then start the new season in July. They’ll build in a break from mid-December to early or mid-February. The league has t reached agreement with the MLS Players Association over the change. And after being bent over a barrel in the last negotiations, the PA may not be in any mood to give the league an easy win. This could be contentious.

www.espn.com

MLS switching schedule to align with world soccer

The MLS board of governors voted Thursday to align with the international soccer calendar by shifting the regular season to a summer-to-spring campaign, beginning in 2027.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 
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