A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Tevez poised for reserves tonight
CARLOS Tevez is poised to make his return for Manchester City in a rearranged reserve fixture tonight.
City have officially confirmed a Central League Cup game against Preston that was due to take place at Chorley FC tomorrow has been brought forward 24 hours and will now be staged behind closed doors at their Carrington training ground.
The understanding is it will take the spotlight off Tevez.
Benitez to get Trinity reward
FORMER Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez will join a diverse list that includes the likes of Al Pacino, Bono and Naomi Campbell when he is awarded the Gold Medal of Honorary Patronage from the University Philosophical Society of Trinity College at a ceremony in Dublin next Monday.
The 51-year-old Spaniard will receive the award for his “outstanding patronage to sport” and will also make an address to the “Phil Society” entitled “Belief, Determination and Success”.
After a playing career cut short by injury, Benitez joined Real Madrid’s coaching staff at the age of 26, eventually working his way to assistant first-team coach under present Spain boss Vicente Del Bosque. After spells with various Spanish clubs, he took up the manager’s job at Valencia, leading them to two league titles.
He is best remembered for Liverpool’s 2005 Champions League victory over AC Milan in Istanbul.
Bent’s Euro 2012 hopes may be over
DARREN Bent’s hopes of playing for England in the Euro 2012 finals appear to be over after it was confirmed he will be sidelined for up to three months with ruptured ankle ligaments.
The Aston Villa striker visited a top ankle specialist in London yesterday and his worst fears were confirmed by the midlands club.
It means he is unlikely to be available until the end of May, with the Euro finals getting under way just over a week later in Poland and the Ukraine.
With Wayne Rooney suspended for the opening two games of the tournament, Bent was set to play a key role.
Bent, 28, has scored four goals in 13 matches for England. He was desperate to play in a major tournament for the first time after being overlooked for the 2006 and 2010 World Cup squads.
But the setback suffered during Villa’s goalless draw at Wigan on Saturday looks to have put paid to those hopes.
Rangers fined ¤59,000 over Whyte
RANGERS have been fined £50,000 (€59,000) by the PLUS Stock Exchange for failing to disclose Craig Whyte’s previous disqualification as a director when the businessman completed his takeover of the club in last May.
Whyte was disqualified in 2000 for seven years but Rangers did not announce this until November 30th, six weeks after the Insolvency Service had confirmed the fact in a BBC documentary.
Rangers have been issued with the fine and a public censure following an investigation by the stock exchange, which suspended trading in the club’s shares last month because of their failure to publish audited accounts.
Arsenal report huge pre-tax profit
ARSENAL’S decision to sell Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri helped them report a huge pre-tax profit of €58.4 million for the six months to the end of November. The club, who lost €7.2 million over the same period in 2010, might have made only a small profit but for the controversial departures of Fabregas and Nasri last summer for a reported €63.7 million. Arsenal enjoyed an overall profit on player trading of €54.4 million, having made a loss of €6.9 million the previous year.
They made €74.4 million overall in player sales, while there was an investment of €88.2 million in new arrivals and contract extensions, the cost of both being spread evenly over the length of an individual’s deal.
Cash reserves swelled to €136 million, up from €130 million, with turnover from football rising to €134 million from €115 million. Arsenal are on the brink of a seventh successive season without a trophy and are struggling to qualify for the Champions League.
Villas-Boas now unsure of backing from Abramovich
ANDRE Villas-Boas is now unsure if he has the backing of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and wonders if he will be sacked in the same way as predecessor Carlo Ancelotti was last May, the Portuguese coach said yesterday.
“We are now in the exact same moment as last year,” the under-fire Villas-Boas told Portugal’s TSF radio. “It is an exact copy. I think I have felt the confidence from Abramovich but . . . the pattern of behaviour of the owner has led to a downfall [of coaches] in similar situations or even ‘better’ situations.
“What will be the reaction? It will be one of the two, a continuation of the project and full support or just the cultural pattern that has happened before. We don’t know.”
Villas-Boas has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks with Chelsea in a form slump and media reporting a rift with several players.
