JULY 22nd 2008
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John Terry still haunted by penalty miss http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle4379179.ece
John Terry says that achieving success with Chelsea under the leadership of Luis Felipe Scolari would help him forget his penalty miss in the Champions League final defeat to Manchester United.
"Every morning I wake up and it's the first thing on my mind," Terry, the Chelsea captain, said. "I still think of it. I'm still very disappointed by it, but I'm a big man and have a big character and it's down for me to deal with it.
"Having the England games straight afterwards helped flush it away a tiny bit, but hopefully we will be successful with the new manager and players this season and flush away all those bad memories."
Terry believes Luiz Felipe Scolari's new philosophy will be the difference between success and failure for the club this season. "The team are determined to win the Premier League and as many trophies as possible," he said. "When you see the hunger of the new management and the team he has brought in, it's on their minds to do exactly the same."
Scolari has been pleased with his first three weeks at the helm and is looking forward to the club's opening fixture on their tour to China against Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals. "Our players are in a good condition, but not in the condition to win the title," the Brazilian said. "They have been training very well over the last ten days.
"We have started a new job with Chelsea, a new philosophy, different training. We have some little problems but this is normal at this stage. But I have good players and they will not be in the same condition in three weeks. It is my first game in charge and it is a process for the players to get to know me and what I want on the pitch."
Englishman set to buy out Mallorca http://www.teamtalk.com/football/sto...851824,00.html
English businessman Paul Davidson has fought off competition from Freddy Shepherd to buy a controlling stake in Spanish side Real Mallorca.
DRAC, the company which owned the club, announced on Mallorca's website that a pre-agreement had been reached for Davidson - who is known as "the Plumber" - to buy the controlling share in the club.
However, the Englishman will not take over as president of the Barralets, with DRAC owner Vicente Grande remaining in the role.
"DRAC has reached agreement in principle with the business and investment group presided over by Mr Paul Davidson for the aforementioned person to become the majority shareholder of Real Club Deportivo Mallorca SAD, with the firm desire to maintain and improve the position of the entity among the elite of Spanish and European football," the statement read on Mallorca's official website.
"The pre-agreement, which must be formalised in the coming weeks and which is subject to a period of due diligence, assumes, among other clauses, that the current president, Vicente Grande, will remain on and preside over the club board for at least the next five years."
The pipe-fitting company owned by Davidson, Fluid Leader, was recently floated on the Plus Market, earning the Englishman a reported £40million.
It is believed Davidson paid £50million to gain a 96 per cent share in Mallorca, and in the process saw off competition from ex-Newcastle chairman Shepherd as well as an unnamed Russian investor.
The English businessman has admitted he knows little about the sport he is buying into, revealing instead that he hopes to use the club to promote his business activities in Spain.
"I don't know much about football but I will use the club to promote my other business interests," he told the Daily Telegraph.
"We will operate our other businesses from the club, but I will not be taking decisions about football. I will leave that to the current management."
Mallorca have announced Grande will hold a press conference at 7pm local time on Wednesday.
ADEBAYOR REFUSES TO COMMIT TO ARSENAL http://www.football365.com/story/0,1...850761,00.html
Emmanuel Adebayor has reportedly refused to assure Arsene Wenger that he intends to stay at Arsenal for the forthcoming season.
The Togo striker reported back for training yesterday and afterwards held talks with Wenger. It was the first time the pair had spoken since Adebayor indicated he would be happy to leave North London.
According to The Guardian, 'The Togo international did not ask for a transfer but, having been told by Wenger that Arsenal will not stretch their wage structure to keep him - he currently earns £35,000 a week and is believed to want closer to three times that to remain at the London club - Adebayor did not commit his future to the Gunners either.'
Further discussions are expected to be held over the coming week during the Gunners' tour of Hungary and Austria - the squad, including Adebayor, flew out of England last night.
SPURS COUNT COST OF BOSTOCK DEAL
Tottenham could eventually pay more than £2million to Crystal Palace for promising midfielder John Bostock, it has emerged.
Palace chairman Simon Jordan was angered by a Football League tribunal ordering Spurs to give a £700,000 downpayment on the 16-year-old but there are other clauses that could see the total rise.
The Premier League club will pay an extra £1.45million if Bostock makes 40 appearances for his new club and a full international debut.
Palace will also get a 15 per cent cut of any future deal to take the youngster away from White Hart Lane, with the fresh details emerging from a letter to a Palace supporters' group from the league.
Bostock has been earmarked for the future but could make appearances next season following changes in the rules to allow seven substitutes.
Luka Modric and Giovani dos Santos have also arrived at Spurs this summer but strikers Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane want to leave, for Manchester United and Liverpool respectively.
It means head coach Juande Ramos will be required to bring in another striker if they depart, and Zenit St Petersburg have claimed Spurs are interested in Andrei Arshavin but need to raise their valuation of him over the £20million mark.
They have also been linked with his Russia team-mate Roman Pavlyuchenko, and are in the hunt for Blackburn winger David Bentley.
Steed Malbranque, Teemu Tainio, Pascal Chimbonda and Younes Kaboul are among the players Ramos has allowed to leave, with Sunderland bidding for the quartet.
Tainio and Chimbonda have been responsive to the proposal of playing under Roy Keane, while Portsmouth and Aston Villa are both thought to also be interested in Kaboul.
TOFFEES MAY FACE EGM
Everton could be forced to call an extraordinary general meeting by fans opposed to their move to a new stadium in Kirkby.
The club have confirmed receipt of a petition from shareholders calling for an EGM over the 55,000-seater ground, which could be shelved in any case if the Government elect to 'call in' the project for further review.
Under Everton's articles of association, a mandate from 20% of shareholders is required for an EGM to be called.
Mark Rowan, Everton's head of media and communications, said: "The club can confirm that we did receive a petition from shareholders.
"There will now be a process of authentication and validation of the names on petition against the share register.
"Once we ascertain the accuracy of the names then we have 21 days from receipt to announce a date for an EGM."
There has been growing opposition to the Kirkby plans from a section of fans who do not want to see the club move outside Liverpool's city boundaries.
Knowsley Council have approved the scheme - which sees the club link up with Tesco - and are also now waiting for Government approval.
If the Government do call it in, the planning process could be extended by more than a year and kill off the £400million project.
Such a situation would severely damage Everton's dreams of moving the club forward to be able to compete with the big four of English football.
They would be forced to reconsider schemes to extend Goodison, previously dismissed as unworkable.
Attempts to find another site inside the city boundaries have also been abandoned by the club.
Sharing Liverpool's proposed new stadium in Stanley Park has also failed to win the approval of both sets of fans as well as the two clubs.
Shareholders spokesman Mark Grayson wants a debate on the issue regardless of whether the plans are 'called in' or not.
He said: "Our primary concern is that we feel that the club promised a world-class and effectively free stadium with the best transport links in the UK.
"We now know through the Tesco-led planning application that the stadium will only be of 'mid-level quality' that could add a further £78million to the club's existing debt. It is our intention to have a debate regardless of whether it gets called in or not."
