Sport football

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Hughes quits Fulham, denies Villa approach

Updated June 3, 2011 07:06:00

Mark Hughes resigned as manager of Fulham on Thursday and immediately brushed off speculation linking him with the vacancy at Premier League rivals Aston Villa.

Birmingham club Villa was left without a manager after former France boss Gerard Houllier stepped down on Wednesday following a heart scare.

Fulham finished eighth, one place above Villa, last season and Hughes was immediately touted as the man to replace Houllier.

However the former Manchester United, Barcelona and Wales striker said in a statement: "I hope the supporters and all those connected with the club will understand I wish to move on to further my experiences.

"I would also like to take this opportunity to clarify that neither myself nor my representative have approached or have been approached by another club."

"This decision to leave Fulham has not been influenced by any outside party," added Hughes, who began his managerial career with Wales before spells with Premier League sides Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City.

However, it would be astonishing if Hughes had quit Fulham with absolutely no plans of any kind for another job.

The 47-year-old enjoyed a successful first season at Fulham that also saw the London club earn a return to Europe via the Fair Play League and was understood to have a good relationship with chairman Mohamed Al Fayed.

He said: "I would like to thank the chairman, directors, players and fans of Fulham Football Club for their support over the last 12 months and wish them every success in the future.

"I believe my management team and I have done a good job and the club has a strong foundation from which they can go forward.

"I have especially enjoyed our excellent relationship with the chairman and chief executive (Alastair Mackintosh).

"I sincerely wish Fulham a successful campaign in the Europa League next season and for their continued progress on and off the field."

A brief Fulham statement said: "Fulham Football Club can confirm that Mark Hughes has provided notice, under the terms of his contract, to leave the club at the end of June.

"After discussions with Mark the club has agreed to accept this notice."

- AFP

Tags: sport, football, english-premier-league, united-kingdom, england

First posted June 3, 2011 06:53:00

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Fan throws punch at Messi

Posted June 3, 2011 16:55:00

A rival fan threw a punch at Lionel Messi as the Barcelona star was signing autographs and meeting with fans in his home town in Argentina, witnesses say.

The star forward played down the incident, which took place in the town of Rosario some 300 kilometres north of Buenos Aires, telling local media he did not feel a thing and only found out about the punch later.

Witnesses said the assailant was among a group of young people who had gathered to get autographs and that he pulled a hood over his head and ran away after the attack.

Local residents said he was likely a fan of local club Rosario Central, the arch rivals of Newell's Old Boys, a team the 23-year-old Messi once played for.

Fresh from guiding Barcelona to Champions League glory Messi, widely regarded as the best player in the world, now has his sights firmly set on winning the July 1-24 Copa America with Argentina in his home country.

He was instrumental in Barca's 3-1 victory over Manchester United in the Champions League final this year, scoring the second goal as the Catalan giants dominated the English champions at Wembley Stadium.

He will be looking to turn around Argentina's terrible run in the Copa America, a tournament it has not won since 1993 in Ecuador.

- AFP

Tags: sport, football, football-south-america, argentina

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Media Call: Josh Kennedy

Published:Friday, June 3, 2011 6:03 AESTExpires:Thursday, September 1, 2011 6:03 AEST

Socceroos striker Josh Kennedy said he is confident he will be able to secure a place in the line-up for Australia's World Cup qualifiers later this year.

Tags: sport, football, socceroos, australia

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The Drum - Friday 3 June

Published:Friday, June 3, 2011 6:05 AESTExpires:Thursday, September 1, 2011 6:05 AEST

Peter Wilkins hosts a panel discussion program with Fox Sports News reporter Patrick Stack, ABC News Radio reporter Scott Wales and ABC TV Sport reporter Steve Robilliard.

Tags: gambling, federal-government, fraud-and-corporate-crime, laws, australian-football-league, basketball, cycling, nrl, rugby-union, sports-organisations, football, tennis, state-of-origin, international-competitions, doping-in-sports, australia

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Irish midfielder Miller joins Glory

Updated June 3, 2011 16:30:00

Perth Glory's heartbreak at losing Robbie Fowler has been offset to some degree by the acquisition of former Manchester United midfielder Liam Miller for the next two A-League seasons.

Miller notched 21 games for Ireland and, along with his limited time at Manchester United, also had stints at Celtic, Queens Park Rangers, Leeds United and Sunderland.

The 30-year-old, who has spent the past two seasons in the Scottish Premier League with Hibernian, is expected to arrive in Perth in time for the Glory's July 9 friendly against Celtic.

"I'm thrilled to be heading to Perth," Miller said from Scotland.

"I have heard a lot of wonderful things about the city of Perth but football is the most important thing.

"Perth Glory is a proud club with a great history and I'm looking forward to the new challenge when I join (Glory coach) Ian Ferguson and my new team-mates."

Miller's signing came just two days after Fowler reneged on a handshake agreement to stay at the Glory.

Fowler will instead remain in England to complete his coaching badges.

"Liam brings a lot of experience to the club and he's played at a number of top clubs," Ferguson said.

"It's great to have a player of Liam's calibre at Perth Glory.

"Liam is a midfielder who gets forward and he'll help us become a more attacking team than last season."

The Glory finished a woeful 10th last season, but have assembled a squad capable of pushing for the title next campaign.

Miller joins New Zealand international Shane Smeltz, former Adelaide skipper Travis Dodd, goalkeeper Danny Vukovic and Dean Heffernan as the Glory's major off-season acquisitions.

- AAP

Tags: sport, football, aleague, wa, perth-6000

First posted June 3, 2011 15:30:00

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