It has been a fine season for Arsenal’s Frenchman who broke the club’s all-time goalscoring record and has
It has been a fine season for Arsenal’s Frenchman, who broke the club’s all-time goalscoring record and has now led the Gunners to their first European Cup final against Barcelona, in Paris on 17 May. Henry is the first player in 59 years of the award to receive the accolade three times. I will sit down and talk with him and he has to be a main driver in the decision.”. Thierry Henry was yesterday named Footballer of the Year for a record third time by the Football Writers’ Association while his team-mate Ashley Cole, who has barely played a game this year, continued his recovery from injury with 90 minutes for the reserves. “If it goes as well as Monday and Tuesday went, he will be mightily close to being able to start a game. However, with two games of the season remaining before he heads off on World Cup duty, the player himself will dictate how his comeback is handled.”We will see how training goes on Thursday and Friday,” Roeder said. That case will be heard separately.Elsewhere, Newcastle’s caretaker manager, Glenn Roeder, will let Michael Owen decide how big a part he will play in the Premiership game at Birmingham City tomorrow.The England international has returned to full training after recovering from a fractured metatarsal.
Chelsea denied the charge at the hearing.It was one of a number of incidents during Chelsea’s 2-1 win. The Chelsea winger Arjen Robben was sent off for a foul on Jonathan Greening while Mourinho clashed on the sidelines with his Baggies counterpart, Bryan Robson. Chelsea face a similar charge of failing to control their players during a game against Fulham on 19 March. Against West Bromwich they encircled Halsey in the 43rd minute after a foul by Ronnie Wallwork on the Chelsea midfielder Claude Makelele. Bayern and 1860 co-owned the new stadium, which was built for around €300m (£210m) and will host the opening match of the forthcoming World Cup.The smaller club have seen their hopes of promotion back to the Bundesliga slide as the season has gone on and they may yet even be demoted to the third division.. Chelsea have been fined £10,000 by the Football Association after their players surrounded the referee Mark Halsey during the clash against West Bromwich last month. The Premiership champions were found guilty of failing to control their players and also warned about their future conduct in games following a disciplinary hearing.
Jose Mourinho’s side have been criticised for attempting to intimidate officials as they head towards back-to-back domestic titles.
It is a good day for the SPL, our clubs and their supporters, Setanta Sports and for Scottish football.”Trevor East, Setanta’s director of sport, added: “A good season just got better. This brings our investment in the Scottish Premier League to £71m.”In Germany, Bayern Munich have bought out TSV 1860 Munich’s share in the new Allianz Arena for €11m (£7.7m) to save the Lions from the threat of bankruptcy. It also answers the call from supporters for more coverage of games that do not involve the Old Firm. This £54.5m deal is the biggest in the history of Scottish football and provides a very welcome boost for our clubs. Setanta Sports has been an excellent partner delivering great coverage of the league with excellent production values.”It is no secret that a number of our clubs have faced a tough time financially. We know how important the final is.”In Scotland, the Scottish Premier League has signed a two-year extension to its current television deal with Setanta Sports.The new agreement, which runs until the end of the 2009/2010 season, is worth £54.5m over four years – the biggest in the history of Scottish football.In addition to covering the current 38 live games per season, Setanta will feature a further 22 live matches between non-Old Firm clubs taking the number of televised games to 60 per year.Lex Gold, the SPL executive chairman, said: “I am delighted that we have agreed an extension to our contract.
“In Spain we have the possibility of banning for two games, three games, four games. Suspending the players for two games [and leaving them available for the final] would be enough because it was not a serious incident,” he said.”We will try to appeal. We will appeal and express our feelings and I hope there is some common sense there and that they will show some sympathy.”I hope it can be downgraded. If they want to do three matches, maybe two this year and one next year.”Rafael Benitez, the Liverpool manager, suggested the FA should follow the Spanish system and judge the situation on its merits. Alan Pardew, the West Ham manager, said after the match: “By the letter of the law, perhaps they should have been sent off – but we are all in agreement the FA should show some clemency on this.”We are both playing each other in the final so it is not affecting anybody else. A tiny little incident has cost them both a very special day.