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Saturday’s Postponed Football Matches
Premier League
Arsenal v Stoke
Birmingham v Newcastle
Liverpool v Fulham
Wigan v Aston Villa
*Sunday’s games:
Blackpool v Spurs
Chelsea v Manchester United
West Brom v Wolves
have also been postponed.
Championship
Cardiff v Burnley
Millwall v Barnsley
Portsmouth v Scunthorpe
Watford v Preston
League One
Brentford v Huddersfield
Bristol Rovers v Colchester
Dag & Red v Peterborough
Hartlepool v Charlton
Leyton Orient v Plymouth
MK Dons v Oldham
Rochdale v Bournemouth
Swindon v Tranmere
Walsall v Southampton
Yeovil v Carlisle
League Two
Accrington v Burton
Aldershot v Lincoln
Bury v Stevenage
Cheltenham v Stockport
Crewe v Bradford
Gillingham v Chesterfield
Hereford v Macclesfield
Northampton v Morecambe
Oxford v Shrewsbury
Port Vale v Barnet
Southend v Wycombe
Torquay v Rotherham
Blue Square Bet Premier
AFC Wimbledon v Wrexham
Altrincham v Histon
Barrow v Tamworth
Bath v Southport
Cambridge v Darlington
Gateshead v Hayes & Yeading
Grimsby v Forest Green
Kidderminster v Kettering
Rushden & D v Eastbourne
Scottish Premier League
Aberdeen v Motherwell
Hamilton v Celtic
Rangers v St Mirren
St Johnstone v Dundee Utd
Scottish Football League Championship First Division
Queen of South v Morton
Raith v Cowdenbeath
Ross County v Dunfermline
Scottish Football League Championship Second Division
Ayr v Forfar
Brechin v East Fife
Dumbarton v Peterhead
Stenhousemuir v Livingston
Scottish Football League Championship Third Division
Albion v Annan
Berwick v Montrose
Clyde v Arbroath
Stranraer v East Stirling
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Paul Trollope Sacked As Bristol Rovers Manager
Trollope Sacked By Pirates
Bristol Rovers have sacked manager Paul Trollope.
The move comes after the Pirates were knocked out of the Johnstone Paints Trophy area semi-final lat night in a penalty shoot-out by Exeter City.
Rovers chairman Nick Higgs said “We have become concerned with results and performances this season and the recent slide down the table. We now find ourselves in the bottom four, with attendances dropping off rapidly, and the board felt that immediate action was needed to make the necessary changes and try and reclaim something from this season.”
Trollope has been placed on ‘gardening leave’ while Rovers search for a successor. The club will announce its caretaker manager later this afternoon.
Higgs added: “We would all like to thank Paul for everything he has done for the club over the last five years. He presided over a very successful period for us, and became one of only five managers in the history of the club to secure promotion with Bristol Rovers.”
The 38-year-old Trollope joined Rovers as a player in 2004 following a career that began at Swindon Town where he followed in the footsteps of his father, Swindon legend John Trollope. He failed to make the grade at the County Ground and moved on to Torquay United before spells at Derby, Fulham, Coventry and Northampton.
Following Ian Atkins’ dismissal as manager in 2005 Trollope was appointed first-team coach alongside Director of Football Lennie Lawrence. Trollope’s title was changed to team manager in September 2009 when he signed a rolling one-year contract.
Under Trollope’s guidance Rovers reached the final of the Johnstone Paints Trophy in 2007 and won promotion to League One via the play-offs the same season.
Rovers’ 6-2 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday left them in 21st position on 22 points from 19 games, level on points with Rochdale, Notts County and Tranmere but with an inferior goal difference.
Last night’s defeat by Exeter saw them eliminated from this season’s JP Trophy after leading 2-1 with just a minute to go. After the match Trollope pointed out that his side finished the game with four players that had come through the club’s youth set-up and that he was satisfied with the resolve his side had showed after Saturday’s heavy defeat.
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Sheffield Wednesday Shareholders Approve Mandaric Takeover
Near-100% Backing for Wednesday Takeover
Sheffield Wednesday shareholders have almost unanimously approved Milan Mandaric’s takeover of the club.
In an Extraordinary General Meeting at Hillsborough this morning around 250 shareholders approved the Leicester chairman’s £8 million takeover in a meeting that last less than 15 minutes.
Club chairman Howard Wilkinson informed the meeting that 99.7% of postal of proxy votes had approved the takeover and a show of hands of those present was unanimous in favour of the takeover.
Wilkinson now stands down as chairman in favour of Mandaric but will remain as part of a three-man board along with chief executive Nick Parker.
After the vote Mandaric said: “I thank you for your votes and your trust.
“I will do everything I can not to let you down. We are going to be in the same boat, we are going to be loyal. It’s not going to be me – it’s going to be us.”
Wilkinson said he hadn’t hesitated to accept Mandaric’s offer to remain on the board and added: “It’s time to start to think about the time when the club could begin looking to where Sheffield Wednesday should be, which is in the Premier League.
“Let’s hope we go to where we want to go.”
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Sheffield Wednesday Confirm Mandaric Takeover
Mandaric To Take Control
Sheffield Wednesday have confirmed that the club is to be sold to Leicester City chairman Milan Mandaric.
The club announced today the proposal to sell the club to Mandaric’s UK Football Investments subject to ratification at an Extraordinary General Meeting of the club’s shareholders on 14 December.
Mr Mandaric is proposing to buy the club for £1 but has given under takings to the Co-operative Bank, who are believed to be ready to accept around £7 million of the £23 million owed them by the club, as well as HMRC, to whom Wednesday owe £300,000 and which would have been the subject of a winding-up order in the High Court on 1 December. Mr Mandaric has also come to an agreement with former director Dave Allen, who was owed around £2.5 million by the club. Mr Allen will receive a payment on completion of the sale of the club with an additional payment to follow when the club is promoted to the Premier League.
Current directors Kenneth Cooke, Robert Grierson and Geoffrey Hulley will resign and a new board will be formed consisting of Mr Mandaric as chairmen, current chief executive Nick Parker and current chairman Howard Wilkinson.
Mr Wilkinson expressed his gratitude to Mr Mandaric for showing the determination to save Sheffield Wednesday and added: “I believe this to be one of the most important days in the recent history of our great club. Our trials and tribulations have been well documented, but I can now see a brighter future for Sheffield Wednesday.
“Our Club has been on the brink of administration, and if this were to happen then so many people around our Club would have suffered.”
Mr Mandaric said “Sheffield Wednesday is one of the most famous names in football. I have been able to speak to a lot of people in and around the Club in recent weeks, and their passion for Sheffield Wednesday has helped inspire me to get to this point.”
Wednesday boss Alan Irvine expresses his relief that the club’s future has finally been resolved. He told the club’s official website:
“As a manager, you know that if the club does go into administration not only do you lose ten points that you’ve had to work very hard to get, but you also find that control is completely taken out of your hands and that is something that makes life very difficult for any manager.
“I am looking forward to sitting down with Mr Mandaric to find out what his plans are.”
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Sheffield Wednesday Takeover: Mandaric Completes £8m Deal
Mandaric To Take Over At Hillsborough
Milan Mandaric has completed his takeover of Sheffield Wednesday.
The 72-year-old Serbian-born businessman is believed to have paid £8 million for total control of the club having agreed a £7 million payment to the club’s main creditor, the Co-operative Bank, with another £1 million to the pay off the loan notes of the club’s former directors.
Mandaric, who sold his stake in Leicester City to a Thai company in August, will step down as chairman at the Walker’s Stadium before taking over at Hillsborough. Co-operative Bank will write off the balance of the £23 million it is owed by the club.
The takeover will be agreed at an Extraordinary General Meeting of the club which will take place in the middle of next month. Following that Mandaric will take over as head of a three-man board that also includes chairman Howard Wilkinson and chief executive Nick Parker.
Mandaric was owner at Portsmouth before taking over at Leicester and has previously owned clubs in the USA, Canada, Belgium and France.
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Mandaric Edges Towards Sheffield Wednesday Takeover
Mandaric In Talks With Parker and Wilkinson
Milan Mandaric has held talks with Sheffield Wednesday chief executive Nick Parker and chairman Howard Wilkinson as the Leicester City chairman attempts to seal a takeover of the League One club.
Discussions between Mr Mandaric and the club’s representatives took place last night and were described as ‘cordial and progressive.’ The club are optimistic that a deal can be reached with Mr Mandaric and while sources at Hillsborough suggest it is possible a deal can be announced on Friday, the complexity of the situation means a more realistic scenario will see an agreement finalised by Monday.
Mr Mandaric is believed to have reached an agreement to pay of £7 million of the £23.5 million the club owes the Co-operative Bank and is still in discussions with holders of the club’s loan notes. Last night Mr Mandaric said he will speak today with former Owls director Dave Allen in a bid to come to an agreement over the £2.4 million Mr Allen is owed by the club.
The Owls are just five days away from another appearance in the High Court to fight one of two winding-up orders that threaten the club’s existence and Mr Mandaric is believed to be the club’s best hope of avoiding administration and the ten-point penalty that goes with it. Another consortium, One Wednesday, backed by supporters is believed to have pledges of £4 million to keep the club going if the Mandaric deal falls through.
Although perhaps best known for his time as owner of Portsmouth from 1998 to 2006 Mr Mandaric’s has been involved with a number of clubs on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 1978 the Serbian-born businessman bought the San Jose Earthquakes before buying another North American Soccer League franchise, the Connecticut Bicentennials and moving the team first to Oakland in California where they played as Oakland Stompers and then to Canada where they were known as the Edmonton Drillers. He then moved to Europe, buying Belgian side Charleroi and then French side Nice before buying Portsmouth in 1998. He bought Leicester City in 2006 and sold the club to a Thai company in August of this year though he will resign as Leicester chairman if he is successful in buying Wednesday.
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Mandaric Set To Finalise Sheffield Wednesday Takeover
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Mandaric Set For Wednesday Takeover Deal
Milan Mandaric is set for a meeting with Sheffield Wednesday to finalise a deal that will see him take over the club.
The 72-year-old businessman was in talks with the club on Wednesday having had his proposal to buy the club accepted at the second time of asking.
Mandaric is believed to have come to an agreement to pay the Co-operative Bank up to £8m of the £23 million they are owed by the club with the bank agreeing to write off the remaining £15 million. Mandaric has also agreed a deal with former Wednesday director Dave Allen who last week turned down an offer to settle his £1.5 million loan. Other directors with loan notes totalling £4 million have also come to an agreement.
Allen is no longer in opposition and the holders of other loan notes – totalling £4m – have also fallen into line.
Meanwhile, rival consortium One Wednesday say they are not competing with Mandaric and say they now regard themselves as a ‘Plan B’ in case the Mandaric proposal falls through. One Wednesday is a fans’ group backed by local businessman Gary Scotting and claim to have received £120,000 in pledges in the space of 24 hours.
Mandaric will meet Wednesday officials on Thursday in the hope of finalising a deal before a deadline of Friday imposed by the Co-operative Bank.
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Sheffield Wednesday Given 28 Days To Find New Owners
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Judge Cites ‘Exceptional Circumstances’ As Tax Bill Doubles To £1.4m
Sheffield Wednesday have been given another 28-days to find a buyer and clear a tax bill that has risen from £600,000 to £1.4 million.
The club was given the extension by a judge at the High Court in London where HM Revenue and Customs had brought a winding-up petition against the club. The judge said the club was trading insolvently and granted the extension because of what he described as “exceptional circumstances.”
Negotiations are continuing with four different consortia hoping to buy Wednesday but after the hearing the club’s chief executive Nick Parker blasted would-be buyers who, he said, had spoken to the media about buying the club without showing proof of funds.
“There are people out there who say they have money when they do not,” Mr Parker said
“The one glimmer of hope I can give to Sheffield Wednesday fans and the community is that there are other people out there who understand how important Sheffield Wednesday is.
“It’s now time for those people – they know who they are and I know who they are – to step forward in private and do a deal with the bank and no longer shilly-shally and make excuses for doing it.
“They will not get a better deal by us going into administration and if they were doing that then that would make me very upset.”
The identities of two of the four consortia are known and both are believed to offer an immediate cash injection with the promise of more to come if the League One side climbs back through the divisions.
One of the consortia is ‘Wednesday Forward’ put together by Sheffield accountant John Roddison and Rotherham businessman Spencer Fearn, a former Sheffield United player and, until May of this year, the owner of Scottish Third Division side East Stirlingshire. Another bid has been out together by former Wednesday director Mick Wright, one of six current and former directors owed money by the club. Of the two remaining bids one is believed to have been put together by a Middle Eastern group while the other is rumoured to be Leicester City chairman Milan Mandaric, who previously announced he was pulling out of negotiations.
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Paul Ince Favourite For Notts County Job
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Ince Favourite As Notts Sack Short
Paul Ince is favourite to take over as manager of Notts County. The former Macclesfield, Blackburn and MK Dons boss has been installed as the bookies’ favourite after Craig Short was sacked yesterday. County currently lie in 16th place in League One after being promoted last season.
Ince, 43, is said to be keen on the job. He has been out of work since leaving MK Dons at the end of last season.
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Sheffield Wednesday Set For Arab Cash Injection
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Middle East Consortium Set To Take Over At Hillsborough
Sheffield Wednesday look set to fall into Middle Eastern hands as part of a £15 million takeover deal.
An Arab consortium is believed to be ready to take over the club by paying £5 million for a majority stake in the club with a further £10 million to be injected to rebuild the club.
The deal has been brokered by former Wednesday manager Chris Turner who would return to Hillsborough as director of football. Turner left Hartlepool in August to work on the deal and is likely to be joined at Wednesday by former Hartlepool chairman Russ Green who is in line for the chairman’s role at Wednesday.
The former Premier League side have been threatened with administration over an unpaid tax bill.
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Southampton v Rochdale Team News
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Southampton Team News
Adam Lallana will be out for up to six weeks after suffering a knee injury.
Guilherme Do Prado is set to replace Lallana but striker Lee Barnard is out through suspension.
Rochdale Team News
Rochdale midfielder Jason Kennedy has completed a one-match suspension and goes straight into the squad for today’s game.
Defender Craig Dawson makes his first appearance for Dale as a loanee. Dawson signed for West Brom during the week but will remain on loan at Spotland for the rest of the season.
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Manchester City Keeper Loaned To Tranmere
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Nielsen Heads To Rovers
Manchester City goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen is to spend six months on loan at League One side Tranmere Rovers.
The 23-year-old Faroe Islands international has made just one appearance for City – deputising for Shay Given during the match with Arsenal last season – but he has signed a one-year contract extension and will be given the opportunity to continue his footballing education at Tranmere.
City signed Nielsen from Blackburn at the beginning of 2009 and he spent a period on loan at Conference side Wrexham during the early part of last season. Five games into his loan spell he broke his hand during a game with Oxford United and the loan spell had to be cut short.
Tranmere boss Les Parry praised Nielsen saying “I’m delighted to bring a goalkeeper of Gunnar’s quality to the Club.
“He’s highly rated at Manchester City, and I’ve been impressed with him every time I’ve seen him play in their reserves.
“He’s an excellent shot stopper who commands his area and he’s a great addition to our squad.
“I’d like to thank Roberto Mancini for allowing Gunnar to join us.”
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