Soccer Shorts

A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Tranfer listed Barton hints at Newcastle unrest

NEWCASTLE midfielder Joey Barton has accused the club’s hierarchy of not understanding what it means to wear the shirt after being told he can leave on a free transfer.

The St James’ Park club confirmed this afternoon that the 28-year-old, who still has a year of his contract left to run, can leave with immediate effect.

The move comes after another prolonged Twitter outburst from Barton, who has become increasingly disgruntled with off-the-field matters.

He took to the social networking site on Sunday afternoon to hint at behind-the-scenes unrest, and has seemingly tipped owner Mike Ashley over the edge in the process.

Barton cryptically said earlier yesterday that he would make an announcement about his future at 4pm, but the club pre-empted that by an hour and revealed he was able to leave, with a short statement saying: “Newcastle United can confirm that Joey Barton has been placed on the transfer list today.

“The player has been advised that he can leave the club on a free transfer”.

In response, Barton tweeted 55 minutes later than expected, getting in another dig at the board.

He wrote: “Somewhere in those high echelons of NUFC, they have decided, I am persona non grata.

“I am on a free but the honour of wearing those B+W stripes, surpasses that.One day the board might realise, what the shirt signifies. HONOUR and PRIDE”.

Spain crowned under-19 champions

SPAIN were last night crowned under-19 European champions after defeating the Czech Republic 3-2 in a dramatic final in Romania.

The Czech Republic opened the scoring at the start of the second half, with Ladislav Krejci unleashing a shot into the bottom corner of the goal.

However, with just five minutes remaining in normal time, Spain equalised through Jon Aurtenetze, who instinctively deflected Pardo’s powerful drive into the bottom corner of the net.

Patrick Lacha restored the Czech Republic’s advantage early in extra-time. Krejci’s battling run down the left flank culminated in the striker rolling the ball across the face of goal to leave Lacha with the simple task of poking home.

However, parity would be restored once more through Alcacer and he then emerged as the hero for Spain five minutes from time, slotting the ball into the net after Pardo’s accurate lofted pass.

Gascoign clames Sunspied on him

PAUL Gascoigne has accused the Sunnewspaper of spying on him while he was at a clinic receiving treatment for alcohol addiction.

Gascoigne, who is separately suing over phone hacking at News Corp's News of the World, said in a June 29th court filing the Sunpaid two people to spy on him while he was in a rehabilitation facility.

Gascoigne is suing for breach of privacy and libel over articles appearing in the Sunin July 2010.

The articles “caused such distress that the challenge of rehabilitation became ever more difficult”, Gascoigne said in the lawsuit.

The allegations come as News Corp. fights to contain the scandal engulfing its U.K. publishing arm over the conduct of journalists and investigators at the News of the Worldtabloid.

Guardian Service

Arsenal's Mata bid hits a snag

ARSENAL’S pursuit of Juan Mata has encountered a complication with the expiry of the Valencia forward’s €25 million buyout clause on Sunday night. The Spanish club do not want to sell the 23-year-old and are now free to price Arsenal and other would-be buyers out of the market.

Tottenham attempted to exploit the clause on Saturday by offering to meet it, only for Mata to indicate that he did not want to go to White Hart Lane.

Zhirkov sale may up Blues' Modric bid

CHELSEA are close to selling Russia international Yuri Zhirkov to Anzhi Makhachkala for around €15 million, a move that will free up a space in their 25-man squad ahead of a third bid for Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Luka Modric.

Zhirkov has found his opportunities limited at Stamford Bridge following a €20 million arrival from CSKA Moscow in 2009. The left-sided defender or midfielder made only 29 league appearances and is expected to sign a four-year deal with the Russian Premier League side.

His sale would leave Patrick van Aanholt or Ryan Bertrand as Chelsea’s second-choice left back behind Ashley Cole and free up one of the 17 places available for senior non-home-grown players.

Spurs’ chairman Daniel Levy has said the playmaker is not for sale, only for assistant manager Kevin Bond, to tell TalkSport yesterday: “We desperately don’t want to lose him, but everyone has a price.”

Juventus sign up Vucinic for €15m

JUVENTUS finally managed to sign a new striker yesterday when they confirmed that Montenegro’s Mirko Vucinic was joining them from Roma for €15 million.

Juve, who had missed on out Sergio Aguero, who joined Manchester City from Atletico Madrid, and Giuseppe Rossi, after Villarreal decided they did not want to sell him, had been competing with Tottenham Hotspur for the 27-year-old.

“Juventus have finalised the agreement with AS Roma to acquire on a permanent basis the sporting rights of footballer Mirko Vucinic,” said the club, adding that the transfer fee would be paid over three years.

Vucinic was at AS Roma for five seasons having previously played at Lecce. He has been a regular for Montenegro since the team was formed in 2007 and has scored 11 goals in 22 appearances.

Change at Hearts on the cards

HEARTS will appoint Paulo Sergio as their eighth permanent manager in less than seven years after Jim Jefferies was relieved of his duties and offered the post of director of football.

The surprise move came after the controversial Hearts owner, Vladimir Romanov, flew in for Sunday’s 1-0 defeat by Dundee United.

Yesterday, Romanov met Jefferies and his assistant, Billy Brown. During that meeting Brown was sacked and Jefferies was handed the possibility of a new role, which he was due to consider overnight.

Romanov has Jefferies’ successor lined up. Sergio, a former Sporting Lisbon manager, will meet the players – including Ireland’s Stephen Elliott – today.

Leaving the ground following a players’ meeting yesterday, Ryan Stevenson said: “We don’t know anything about it.

“We have to wait until tomorrow. I don’t want to say anything. I think it’s all getting made . . . I think it will come out tomorrow.”