No legacy is so rich as honesty...

West Ham supporters were not the only ones celebrating the Hammers' victory in the Championship play-off final on Saturday, writes the Telegraph's Paul Kelso. The beleaguered London Legacy Development Corporation (the new name for the Olympic Park Legacy Company) and its political paymasters will also have been relieved as it should, in theory, make a viable solution to the Olympic Stadium saga more likely.

Antonio Cassano spent the bulk of his AC Milan season "high-fiving" players during training sessions, dancing TO "Ai Seu Te Pego" with Robinho, cracking jokes at everyone's expense all the while recovering from his heart operation. So of course (naturalmente), his call-up to Prandelli's Azzurri squad was highly unexpected and had more to do with his bubbly personality than his goal average.

According to the Daily Mail, Arsenal will offer Robin van Persie a club record £7million-per-season.

Arsene Wenger, chief executive Ivan Gazidis and Van Persie are set to meet today where Arsenal will present RVP with a three-year deal worth around £130,000-per-week plus a £5million signing-on fee if he signs a new deal with the club.

Aston Villa have fired manager Alex McCleish after a disappointing 2011-12 English Premier League season. Villa, who have recently been a team finishing in the top half and contending for a Europa League spot struggled and nearly were relegated. The club released their following statement on the website about the decision.

Alex McLeish has been sacked as Aston Villa manager after just one season in charge of the Premier League club.

A vocal minority of Villa fans did not want McLeish, who used to manage bitter rivals Birmingham City, in the first place and they got their wish as today he was terminated "with immediate effect" because "the club has been disappointed with this season's results, performances and the general message these have sent to our fans.

The season from hell is finally over and Alex McLeish's Aston Villa career has, as expected, been terminated. His tenure has passed on. It's no more. It has ceased to be. Expired and gone to meet its maker. A stiff, bereft of life. It rests in peace. Its metabolic processes are now history.

Ron Gourlay has been speaking to the media today. Yeah, I was just as enthralled as you probably were to read what the man had to say. It really wasn't much, either (shocker).

Phone's ringing oh my god

Gourlay, talking it up at Chelsea's official announcement of the club's Sauber F1 Team Partnership at Cobham on Wednesday, discussed a few choice topics.

More "lies"? Rangers co-administrators, Paul Clark and David Whitehouse have been relatively normal in at least one aspect of their Ibrox operations. Wherever there are co-administrators, one dominant personality emerges. When insolvency practitioners such as Andrew Andronikou (Portsmouth) and Brendan Guilfoyle (Plymouth) are involved, these dominant personalities tend to be.

The Scottish Football Association (SFA) yesterday banned Rangers owner and director Craig Whyte for life for misconduct on his part arising from unclear dealings since he took over the club last May after buying it from Sir David Murray for £1.

A tough talking Whyte who was hit with a £160,000 fine and 12 month transfer embargo however scoffed at the SFA's decision saying that it would not affect him one bit.

By Chris Wright

Norwich City saw fit to call in the police the actual bloody police after a 17-year old fan leaked photos of the club's new kit online on Tuesday night, the day before it was due to be officially unveiled.

Norfolk Police were called in after IT student Chris Brown slapped a few images of the Norwich 2012/13 kit (here's a hint: it's yellow) on his Twitter account after lifting them from a corner of the club's official website that was still under construction.

Another case of a football club being run poorly, with Norwich City calling in the police after a 17 year old season-ticket holder leaked pictures of the clubs new kit on the Internet prior to its launch.

Chris Brown managed to obtain pictures of Norwich's latest kit, which, by the way, is still yellow and green (surprise surprise.

News today that a Newcastle MP has received official backing for the St James' Park name – from Government map makers. St. James' Park home of Newcastle United Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah has persuaded the chief executive at the Ordnance Survey, that the current Sports Direct name is only temporary, and they should keep with the St.

The premature post-mortem into the league campaign begins, and if criticizing a popular manager is too hard to stomach, there is usually an array of boardroom executives, owners or Liverpool players who are more convenient targets.
Nowadays, there is an even more vulnerable object of the fans' ire: the director of football.

Chelsea have announced two dates for their pre-season tour of the U.S. this summer. They will play Seattle Sounders in Seattle on Wednesday 18 July. A second game, against AC Milan at FedEx Field has also been announced for July 28th

Chelsea last played in Seattle in 2009, when they set an attendance record of 69,000 to see them play the Sounders.

"It's not potential civil war. It's on."
So threatened an unnamed SPL chairman on Wednesday.
The spark of our latest top flight conflagration is a move by the SPL's non-Old Firm teams to flex their muscles.
They want changes to the leagues voting structure which, with an 11-1 mechanism kicking in on certain issues, has long been seen by many as a way of allowing the Old Firm to exert a degree of control over the rest of the clubs.

Chelsea have been drawn against Portuguese side Benfica in the quarter finals of the Champions League. This is a pretty fair draw as nothing can be taken away from Benfica who have impressed in every stage of the tournament so far this season.

Benfica open the fixture on the 27th of March at the stadium of light before traveling to Stamford Bridge for the return leg two weeks later.

Arsene Wenger will take Arsenal to play Hong Kong Champions Kitchee FC at the HK Stadium on Sunday, July 29, as part of the club's Asia Tour 2012.

The club says the game will give the Gunners' huge fan base in Hong Kong the opportunity to see AW's team play live ahead of the 2012/2013 season.

The Arsenal Chief executive Ivan Gazidis says that the board understands that the fans are not very happy with the way things have gone this season, but he asks the disgruntled portion of the crowd to put aside their concerns for now and cheer the Gunners on to win the coveted Fourth Place in the [..

For anyone who was asleep for the whole of last week, you missed probably one of the biggest stories in recent sporting history. Rangers FC were sent into administration because of an overdue tax bill which stretched back to over 11 years ago. And although Rangers Chief Executive Craig Whyte stated how this is not the end for Rangers, it can be deemed as somewhat wishful thinking.

Arsenal announced today that they have chosen to loan out Andrey Arshavin back to his former club Zenit St Petersburg for the rest of the season.

A marquee signing when he joined in January 2009, the captain of the Russian international team proved an instant success, lifting the team to a 4th place finish almost single-handedly.

Very interesting reports from Arsenal quarters this week. According to the club's chief executive, Robin Van Persie will not be allowed to leave Arsenal this summer "at any price" even if he refuses to sign a new contract.

Talk about an executive order, so anyway RVP will have to remain content with finishing another season trophyless and with his current contract set to expire in the summer of 2013, Van Persie's future is in the hands ofIvan Gazidis.

By Alan Duffy

"Just give me money, that's what I want..."

Ahead of Chelsea's Champions League last 16 clash with Napoli, a tie which may go some way to deciding Andre Villas-Boas' future at the club, the Portuguese coach has appealed to the Blues' board to start being more vocal in their support for his re-building project.

That's of the fire kind, not dodgy trousers Wigan's DW Stadium is not exactly renowned as a Turkish-style cauldron of atmosphere, and that's not likely to change any time soon after 17 fans were banned for setting of a flare at their away match at Bolton. A 16-year-old was charged with possession of a flare [.

The fuss about handshakes is all the rage at the moment, after the FA cancelled the pre-match handshake between Chelsea and QPR following rumours that Anton Ferdinand's teammates would all be willing the snub John Terry's hand.

Last weekend we had more fuss, with speculation then suggesting that Rio Ferdinand wouldn't shake Terry's hand in support of his brother.

Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis was interviewed by Fox on Sunday and he said that Arsenal will never be able to compete with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City in the transfer market but believes Arsene Wenger's focus on developing young players is the correct way to run a football club.

Liverpool have apologised after they used footage of a fan making a racist gesture towards Manchester United defender Patrice Evra in a highlights package on their official website. A spokesman for Liverpool FC told the BBC: "We can confirm that footage was mistakenly included in the highlights package that appeared on the website.

The Pitch Invasion podcast, presented by Peter Wilt and Tom Dunmore, is now available on iTunes, so please take a second and leave a rating there if you enjoy the show!

If you haven't listened to it, the inaugural episode was released last week, and featured Wilt discussing how to start an MLS club with Montreal Impact Jesse Marsch, along with Dunmore interviewing former Supporters Direct chief executive Dave Boyle about UK and US fan culture.

By Chris Wright

The Welsh FA have just confirmed that Chris Coleman will be the new manager of the Welsh national side, following the tragic death of former incumbent Gary Speed in November of last year.

Chief executive Jonathan Ford announced the decision a short while ago, admitted it had understandably been a tough few months for the FAW:

"This has been a very difficult process.

Arsenal could be set to join Aston Villa and their Villa Park plan to introduce a safe-standing area by replicating the scheme at the Emirates.

Villa will put forward their suggestion at a meeting of the Premier League later this season. And if given the go-ahead, the club hope to have the safe standing zone in place in the Holte End by the 2013/14 season.

Hockey kit for Liverpool as Adidas puck off Liverpool have announced a £25m-a-year kit deal with little-known American manufacturer Warrior, amid reports that long-term supplier Adidas no longer felt they were getting value for money from the teams on-pitch performances. Boston-based Warrior Sports Inc.

Hockey kit for Liverpool as Adidas puck off Liverpool have announced a £25m-a-year kit deal with little-known American manufacturer Warrior, amid reports that long-term supplier Adidas no longer felt they were getting value for money from the teams on-pitch performances. Boston-based Warrior Sports Inc.

By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 16, 2012) US Soccer Players -- Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore's interview with the Daily Mail's Martin Samuel has something for almost everyone. Depending on your constituency, there's something to confirm a position, challenge a view, or generally set you off.

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It's safe to say Alex has not enjoyed the new year thus far. After Andre Villas-Boas kicked the bold, bald Brazilian to the Cobham curb earlier in the winter, he was left to fend for himself on just £50k per week. Just really, really terrible.

Thankfully for Alex, the nightmare looks to be coming to an end.

AVB has spoken to the press ahead of this weeks game coming up against Sunderland. Putting the game to one side, there are important transfer dealings that were addressed by AVB putting the record straight regarding the situation with a number of players, and this is what I want to focus on right now.

At Tuesday's Supporters Club Q&A, manager Steve Cotterill and chief executive Mark Arthur sought to address fans' concerns. Peter Blackburn reports. Despite a litany of mediocre questions, and mediocre answers, in amongst the usual discussion about recent performances, relationship between club and fans, and the hope that Forest would beat The Rams in the next [.

Goal: Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre calls on club to work with Manchester United to ensure FA Cup match will be 'a great day'

Following further controversy on Friday night, the Anfield boss is after an amicable showing and has reiterated the importance of taking a tough stance on racism

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2012-01-10 08:18:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Goal: Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre calls on club to work with Manchester United to ensure FA Cup match will be 'a great day'

Following further controversy on Friday night, the Anfield boss is after an amicable showing and has reiterated the importance of taking a tough stance on racism

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2012-01-10 08:18:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish insists he has not had any contact with Liverpool about a possible move for Darren Bent.
Rumours have suggested Liverpool are weighing up a move for Bent as they look to bring in cover in attack with Luis Suarez currently serving an eight-game ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra.

PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor suggests Liverpool striker Luis Suarez's eight-game ban is a warning to the Premier League

The Liverpool striker accepted the suspension on Tuesday for racially-abusing Patrice Evra, with the 67-year-old suggesting the punishment will be a deterrent to others

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2012-01-04 17:13:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.