Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini considers appeal after rivals offer support
Roberto Mancini received public backing from the most unlikely figures yesterday as Manchester City considered whether to lodge an appeal after their manager was charged by the FA with improper conduct over his touchline bust-up with David Moyes.
Mancini has until Tuesday week to respond to the charge, although he is expected to escape a touchline ban given that it is his first brush with the English authorities and he has apologised to Moyes and Peter Walton, the referee. The case will be heard by an FA regulatory commission by April 19.
A formal written warning or, at the worst, a fine are the most likely punishments after Mancini barged into Moyes. The Italian took exception to the Scot holding on to the ball, rather than throwing it straight back, during second-half stoppage time of Everton’s 2-0 win on Wednesday.
The FA has written to Moyes to remind him of his responsibilities but will not take disciplinary action against the Everton manager, who, along with Sir Alex Ferguson, his Manchester United counterpart, launched a surprise defence of Mancini, arguing that it was “big of him” to apologise publicly while claiming that the Italian should not “be brought before the FA”.
Another fracas involving the clubs was also diffused yesterday, with George Downing, an Everton fan, and Garry Cook, the City chief executive, speaking to each other by telephone to draw a line under their heated exchange in the directors’ box at Wednesday’s game.
City, though, are investigating an incident at the end of the match when Craig Bellamy was alleged to have made comments in support of Moyes after his stand-off with Mancini. Moyes declined to comment when asked about the matter yesterday.
Ferguson has renewed his attack on the FA, accusing the governing body of double standards after Thomas Vermaelen, the Arsenal defender, escaped an additional one-match ban despite failing in an attempt to have a red card overturned this week.
By contrast, Rio Ferdinand, the United defender, received an extra one-match suspension on top of a mandatory three-game ban for violent conduct last month after an independent regulatory commission ruled his appeal to be “frivolous”.
“It’s so inconsistent it’s difficult to analyse why Rio’s was frivolous and that wasn’t,” Ferguson said. “Only the FA can answer that. They don’t come out with a report on it, do they? It’s sitting in the chambers of their minds.”
Game over for football’s sugar daddies
English football’s super-rich owners, including Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour, face drastic curbs on their influence under Uefa proposals.
The extent of the crackdown on “financial doping”, championed by Michel Platini, the Uefa president, is laid bare in a 60-page document seen by The Times. In it, Uefa sets out its detailed plans to force clubs towards break-even, allowing them to spend only what they earn.
Owners would be allowed to inject cash to cover losses for a transitional period, but the amounts will be restricted and closely monitored.
Over the initial three-year period of regulation up to and including 2015, owners would be allowed to cover losses totalling "45 million (about £40 million). The “acceptable deviation” from break-even would then fall to £30 million over three years and then less, with the amount to be determined.
In other words, an owner such as Sheikh Mansour would eventually be permitted to put less than ¤10 million a year into Manchester City on average, unless the money is spent on infrastructure or the youth team, which have no limits on investment. That compares with City’s most recent loss of £89.69 million.
While Platini has talked for months about introducing “financial fair play”, the working draft has brought those proposals into sharp focus.
The European Club Association continues to haggle with Uefa for concessions. It is arguing for a five-year accounting period, rather than three, and for owners to be allowed to invest extra funds through equity rather than debt.
Platini is determined to bring in regulations that will mark a watershed in the English game.
While the proposals will be phased in over several years, many clubs will have to make significant changes — drastic in the cases of Chelsea and City — if they are not to fall foul of the new regulations and face a possible ban from European competition.
TRANSFER BOLLOX
Wolves boss Mick McCarthy is planning a raid on Portsmouth for forward Tommy Smith and midfielder Aaron Mokoena - and could get the pair for £1.5m. The Sun
Blackburn winger Steven Reid is keen to join West Brom on a free transfer if his loan spell is extended and the Baggies are promoted to the Premier League. Daily Mirror
Rafael Benitez says Liverpool have no cash to give him for a summer spending spree. Independent
OTHER BOLLOX
Alan Curbishley has been lined up to replace Roy Keane as Ipswich manager if the Tractor Boys lose at Swansea today. Daily Mirror
West Ham co-owner David Sullivan called some of the team "fat, lazy and useless" after he hijacked manager Gianfranco Zola's get-together on Thursday. Daily Mirror
But then, Zola is considering walking out after Saturday's vital relegation battle against Stoke City - even if his team are victorious.
Daily Telegraph
On the contrary, the last thing Zola is going to do is walk out. Daily Star
Regardless of whether Zola does or does not leave West Ham of his own volition, co-owners Sullivan and David Gold have a list of 10 potential replacements. (The Sun)
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted having the jitters in the run-up to the end of the season - and believes the title will be decided on the final day. Daily Mirror
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has blasted "idiots" for booing his players ahead of their clash with Portsmouth. Daily Telegraph
One Irish bookmaker is threatening to ignore all goals Thierry Henry scores at the 2010 World Cup, following the French striker's handball incident against the Republic of Ireland in their qualifying play-off last November.Daily Telegraph
Ji-Sung Park and Chung-Yong Lee are about to cause an outbreak of insomnia in their homeland. More than one million South Koreans are setting their alarm clocks for 3am on Sunday - the time in their country when Park's Manchester United take on Lee's Bolton at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday. Daily Telegraph
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