The Professional Football Compensation Committee has ruled Liverpool must pay Burnley £6.5m plus a potential £1.5m fee in add-ons following Danny Ings’ move to the club last summer. Although a record figure, it seems a relatively paltry sum for a 23-year-old England international who would have expected to gain further honours had his season not […]
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Lessons to be learned from Adam Johnson trial
In light of the evidence that Adam Johnson had extreme pornographic material involving animals on his computer, it would be easy to simply dismiss the former Sunderland winger as a very troubled individual. However, the case casts a poor light on many of those connected to him within football. It has certainly damaged the reputation […]
Europa League performance sounds death knell for Louis van Gaal
After Manchester United recently won four matches in a row for the first time this season, people began to suggest Louis van Gaal may survive to see out the final season of his three-year contract that ends in 2017. His side’s performance against Liverpool in the Europa League this week should put paid to that […]
Milan in a muddle
Arriving in Milan this week, it quickly became clear that the the names on the back of replica Inter and AC Milan shirts are not players belonging to the the upper echelons of the beautiful game. In years gone by, fans would wear the names of Ronaldo, Vieri, Shevchenko and Kaka with pride. Today though, […]
Neville’s nightmare in Valencia makes compulsive viewing
This season seems destined to be remembered for two storylines. One is Leicester City’s unlikely rise to the top of the Premier League, the other Jose Mourinho’s demise at Chelsea. While it’s wonderful to see the plucky Foxes maintaining their excellent form, it can’t match the melodrama of Mourinho’s final months at Stamford Bridge. It […]
Swans gamble to protect top flight status
A 60-year-old foreign manager with a nomadic managerial career is drafted in by a club desperate to avoid returning to the lower league football which its fans had previously become accustomed to. It didn’t work out for Fulham and Felix Magath, and questions have to be asked whether it will work for Swansea City and […]