Gazza sues News Of The World

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Gazza sues News Of The World The tabloid News of the World is about to get sued again, and maybe by a whole host of aggrieved celebrities.  The latest is Paul Gascoigne, whose attorney said that he would instigate proceedings within days.  Mr. Gascoigne’s complaint is exacerbated, according to attorney Gerald Shamash, because the phone hacking has undermined the former footballer’s efforts to overcome drug and alcohol problems.  Shamash said that believing his private voicemail has been tapped is no help to Gascoigne’s state of mind.

According to the Observer, comedian Steve Coogan is already taking action against the newspaper, and other celebrity names are on the list of potential claimants.  Jockey Kieren Fallon and TV presenter Chris Tarrant have both indicated that they plan to sue the paper’s publishers as well as the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who supposedly tapped hundreds of mobile phone accounts while he was working for News of the World.

The ‘rogue’ reporter Clive Goodman, the one News of the World claims is the only reporter involved in the phone hacking, was jailed for four months in 2007 after it was determined that he had tapped voicemail left for aides of Princes William and Charles, amongst others.  Mulcaire served a six-month sentence on the same charges.  However, further investigation revealed by Scotland Yard has confirmed that Mulcaire had at least 91 voicemail PIN’s in his possession.

Andy Coulson, now the Prime Minister’s communications chief, was editor of the newspaper when the phone hacking was discovered, and he quit the paper in 2007, saying that he took responsibility even though he had no knowledge of the illegal activity.  The Crown Prosecution Service announced that a new investigation is underway to determine just who the injured parties are and when the invasion of privacy took place.  The paper has already settled out of court on four other claims in this regard, including a reported £1 million to celebrity publicist Max Clifford.

West Ham Boss Still on Borrowed Time

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While Avram Grant may be enjoying a reprieve after Martin O’Neill turned down the offer to take on the task of managing West Ham, the reprieve may only be silent as word is that he will be replaced before the season closes.

The West Ham team is still sitting at the bottom of the Premier League and after finishing the Arsenal match on Sunday with 3-0 the rumour was that Martin O’Neill would move in as coach by the end of this week

O’Neill has since turned down the job but that hasn’t stopped punters betting that Grant will be the next manager to be shown the door, with Boylesports.com offering 15/8 that he is still the manager of West Ham on the last day of the season.

The former Chelsea manager is 1/6 to not be in charge at Upton Park on the first day of the 2011/12 season, against 7/2 that he is.

The Hammers are currently the 4/7 favourites to drop down to the Championship and 5/4 to stay up.

“Martin O’Neill may have turned down the job at West Ham but we still think that Avram’s days are numbered,” said Boylesports.com Head of Public Relations Leon Blanche.

“With reports already linking some big name managers to his job and hard-nosed owners like Gold and Sullivan in the boardroom, Grant looks to be on borrowed time.”

Avram Grant Specials
Will he last the season? Yes manager on the day of last game 15/8
Will they stay up or be relegated? 4/7 relegation 5/4 stay up
Will he be in charge on the first day of the 2011/12 season? Yes 7/2 no 1/6

Olympic Stadium takeover to be announced soon

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Olympic Stadium takeover to be announced soon This argument has been brewing for a long time and finally there’s an end to it that’s near at hand. We should know the results of who’s going to be taking over the running over of the stadium for the Olympics after the games of 2012 in Stratford. There are only two, aggressive competitors, West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur.

While they have both handed in their plans, Tottenham has caused the most stir. They want to move nearly 5 miles and remove the athletic track and this has everyone up in arms, from the guy at the corner pub to the man upstairs, in the government top tiers.

There is even a rumbling of a parliamentary debate.

The alternative plan is to renovate White Hart Lane. However, the difference in cost is not insignificant. Estimates have it that the difference is £200 million. Before you slough it off as just another sports figure that’s too large for mortals to comprehend, consider that it is almost 100% more expensive for the Hart Lane project than to move the stadium.

Money is a different beast when it comes to football. It doesn’t just talk. It’s shouting and yelling, while it’s running around wild. Finally it won’t stop until its throat is worn out and bleeding. The game today depends more on money than ever before, and on more money than ever before, that’s for sure. A trivial amount gets done without big money being swapped to do it. This is exactly the reason Channel 5 and ITV have been given the go ahead to air the matches.

It’d be a sad sight to see Tottenham lag behind Chelsea or Manchester City, simply due to lack of financial punch to nab the top players. Changing stadiums fro White Hart Lane might seem a pity, but it doesn’t have to elicit such sad emotions as some are expect to yield. It is a huge step forward and that’s for sure.

Home nations championship in 2013

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Home nations championship in 2013 To mark the 150th anniversary of the English Football Association in 2013, home nations are talking about having a one-off tournament.  The last home international tournament took place in 1984, one hundred years after the very first championship.

The FA would like to make the tournament a one-time tournament and not revive the home internationals, which involved England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland on a regular basis.  Of course no one is saying what their plans are as far as the tournament goes and how many years it will go on for.

With the new sponsorship with Vauxhall, who are sponsoring all of the home nations, it might encourage England to enter yearly.  This year Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Wales will take part in the Carling Nations Cup in February and May.

General Secretary for the FA, Alex Horne, has stated that the tournament planning is still in the early stages and is not ruling a yearly tournament out in the future.  On March 26 England is due to face Wales twice in their first game in Cardiff.  The two games are part of the Euro 2012 qualification campaign.

Nationwide ends FA relationship

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Nationwide ends FA relationship The Nationwide building society has ended its 11 year FA sponsorship deal.  Wondering what company was going to take their place did not take long to find out.  Six months after the sponsorship deal ended, carmaker Vauxhall took over with a three-and-a-half year, multi-million pound deal.

The car firm is very excited on their new sponsorship and has many ideas for the FA.  They have started to complete deals with national associations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.  Vauxhall will sponsor not only the men’s national team but also the other 23 representative England teams.  The deal will cover sponsorship of the women’s teams, men’s youth teams and all the England disability sides.

BBC sports have stated that the car firm wants to revive the Home International championship that ran for 100 years until England and Scotland lost interest in 1984.  With the new sponsorship Vauxhall has become the official vehicle supplier to the FA.

In the time period of the sponsorship agreement they will be covering Euro 2012 in Poland-Ukraine and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.  Managing director Duncan Aldred of Vauxhall has a strong history with supporting football.  He believes in not only an amazing senior team for England but also youth and junior football.