Mellberg set for farewell
Defender Olof Mellberg will make his final appearance for Aston Villa in Sunday's Premier League clash with West Ham at Upton Park. The Swedish international is joining Juventus on a three-year contract after spending the last seven seasons with Villa.
Villa manager Martin O'Neill has no fresh injury problems as his side try to make sure of a European spot, via either the UEFA Cup or the Intertoto Cup depending on results in other games involving Everton and Blackburn.
Midfielder Craig Gardner has not recovered from the thigh injury suffered when on England U-21 duty five weeks ago.
Provisional squad: Carson, Taylor, Mellberg, Laursen, Knight, Bouma, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Barry, Young, Osbourne, Salifou, Maloney, Routledge, Carew, Agonlahor, Harewood.
Thomas Crosbie Media, 2008.
Floriana definitely out of UEFA club competitions next season
Floriana FC will not be able to take part in any of UEFA's club competitions next season. Out of the running for the Bank of Valletta championship title and a place in the Champions League qualifying round, the Greens had not even applied for participation in the forthcoming UEFA Intertoto Cup and their only hope had been participation in the UEFA Cup thanks, perhaps, through an FA Trophy win, where they have reached the semi-final stages.
However, such hopes were also dashed to the ground earlier this week when the MFA Council approved an Executive Committee recommendation that the Greens are not to be granted a UEFA licence. This means that the Greens will be unable to take part in any UEFA competition next season. The MFA Club Licensing Board had turned down a late application for a licence by the Greens. The Greens, however, had applied one day late, claiming that secretary Dione Borg was sick and therefore unable to hand in the application.
The Greens appealed against the decision of the Board, but the Appeals Board of the association confirmed the Board's decision. The MFA Executive Committee then passed the issue for the approval of the Council earlier this week, and this again confirmed the decision taken earlier by the Licensing Board and the Appeals Board.
Independent Online. Standard Publications Ltd 2004
WHITES TO FACE TPS IN INTERTOTO CUP
THE draw for the last UEFA Intertoto Cup was made in Nyon on Monday with clubs from 50 nations set to compete for eleven berths in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup second qualifying round, one of those teams will be Lisburn Distillery. The Whites have been drawn against Finnish opposition in TPS Turku and will be at home for the first leg on June 21/22 with the second leg on June 28/29.
If the Whites are successful they will face a team from Denmark in the next round, again at home first, on July 5/6. The winner of that round will then face the Premier League representative.
"This is the last Intertoto Cup so we will be one of the last teams to compete in it," said Distillery boss Paul Kirk. "We will give the players May off and then get them back in about the second week of June and begin our preparations for the home leg."
There was also good news for the Whites this week when Hamilton secured the Scottish First Division title, it means they will receive another GBP 10,000 as part of the transfer of Andrew Waterworth. Initially the Whites received GBP 20,000 and they also have a sell-on clause if Waterworth is transferred.
2008 Johnston Press Digital Publishing
Hibs apply for Uefa Intertoto Cup!!
Hibs boss Mixu Paatelainen has revealed that the club has applied to play in next season's Intertoto Cup.
The Hibees are in a three-way fight for 3rd spot, with Motherwell and Dundee Utd, for a crack at next season's Uefa Cup, but have applied for the Intertoto in case the fail to do so. Falkirk have also applied and the place will go to whichever club finishes highest in this season's SPL table. Paatelainen's side currently sit five points ahead of Falkirk, with one game to go before the split. Hibs have scored their spot in the top 6 but Falkirk have not.
If Falkirk fail to do so this weekend, Hibs will automatically qualify for the Intertoto Cup berth, if they then finish 3rd Falkirk will seal a place in the competition. Hibs have already competed in the tournament before, in 2004/05 Tony Mowbray had just been appointed and the Hibees fell at the first hurdle, going down 2-1 on aggregate to Lithuanian minnows FK Vetra. The Hibees then re-entered the competition in 2006/07 hammering FC Dinaburg 8-0 on aggregate, winning 5- at Easter Road and 3-0 over in Latvia and advancing to the final round.
Up next was Danish crack's OB Odense, the Hibees lost 1-0 in the first leg away from to a controversial penalty. In the return leg Hibs ran out 2-1 winners and went out on the away goal rule, thus meaning OB Odense went through to play in the Uefa Cup proper. Hibs boss Mixu Paatelainen was positive about the possible entry to the Intertoto and said:
"I think it's good to play competitive games pre-season rather than friendlies. We are pretty inexperienced in regard to European football and it would be a good experience for the younger players. It is also, of course, a possible avenue into the Uefa Cup itself and it's an additional source of revenue for the club, so there are plenty of benefits to be gained."
www.scotland-mad.co.uk
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Hamburg-Preview
It is the 32nd all-German UEFA club competition tie and the 26th in the UEFA Cup. The two sides have never met in European competition before, but have been regular competitors in the Bundesliga for decades.
After thrashing Eintracht Frankfurt 4-1 in the Bundesliga last weekend, HSV will be keen to keep up the good work on Thursday night, by laying a good foundation for the second leg which will take place at the HSH Nordbank Arena in Hamburg on March 12th. There is a long history of German encounters in the UEFA Cup. There have been six all-German semi-finals, and in 1979/80 all four semi-final teams came from the-then West Germany. Eintracht Frankfurt beat Bayern in one semi, while Borussia Monchengladbach beating VFB Stuttgart in the other. Eintracht won the final on away goals, losing 3-2 away but winning 1-0 at home in the second leg. The most recent all-German encounter took place in 1998, as Bayern and Kaiserslautern met in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. Bayern won the tie 6-0 on aggregate. Leverkusen have already played in an all-German UEFA Cup tie, meeting Werder Bremen in the semi-final of the 1987/88 competition. They won 1-0 at home, and then drew 0-0 at the Weserstadion to progress.
Leverkusen went on to win on penalties in the final, losing 3-0 against RCD Espanyol in Spain but winning by the same margin at home and prevailing 3-2 in a shoot-out. HSV have played in two previous all-German ties, one in the UEFA Cup and one in the-then European Champion Clubs' Cup. Leverkusen and HSV have met 60 times in league and German Cup games over the years, with the Hamburg side holding a slight head-to-head advantage with 24 games won to Leverkusen's 21. The remaining 15 games all ended in draws. Those statistics include two one-legged DFB Cup ties between the two sides. Leverkusen won 2-1 at home against Hamburg after extra time in the second round of the 1997/98 competition, while Hamburg beat Bayer 3-2 at home at the same stage in the 2005/06 competition with Sergej Barbarez, now a Leverkusen player, scoring for HSV. The teams have already met twice in the league this season. HSV won 1-0 at home against Leverkusen in August, with a Rafael van der Vaart penalty proving decisive.
They met again on 9 February, with Van der Vaart opening the scoring at the BayArena before Manuel Freidrich levelled. Both sides had chances to win in an exciting encounter but the game ended in a 1-1 draw. Leverkusen have won all four of their home games in the UEFA Cup this season, scoring ten goals and conceding just two. Leverkusen's Stefan Kiessling is currently the joint top scorer in the UEFA Cup, one of four players to have registered six times since the first round. HSV are the sole survivors from the UEFA Intertoto Cup and will receive a plaque to recognise them as the official winners of the 2007 competition from UEFA, before the second leg in Hamburg on 12 March. European football's governing body recognises the winners of the traditional summer tournament to be the side which goes on to survive longest in the UEFA Cup. Leverkusen finished top of Group E to qualify for the Round of 32 where they drew 0-0 at Galatasaray Istanbul before winning 5-1 at home.
HSV won Group D and then beat FC Zurich 3-1 on aggregate in the first knockout round. Hamburg's Nigel de Jong and Vincent Kompany are within a booking of a one-match ban, as are Leverkusen's Gonzalo Castro and Kiessling.
Bayer Leverkusen will miss the 28 y.o. Russian forward Dmitri Bulykin (8/3), torn knee ligaments, and the 30 y.o. Slovakian left back Vratislav Gresko (19/1 and 4/0 with Slovakia), pulled stomach muscle. So the team is almost full for this important first match of the German Uefa Cup derby against Hamburg.
Hamburg will miss the 31 y.o. Argentinian left back Juan Pablo Sorin (0/0), who was back doing some light training with his team mates after months out of action following knee surgery during last days, the 24 y.o. Dutch midfielder Romeo Castelen (20/2), HSV will be without Romeo Castelen for several weeks because on Monday (3.3.08) the Dutch winger underwent keyhole surgery on his right knee to remove a piece of gristle, and the last long term injured is the 26 y.o. left back from Cameroon Thimothee Atouba (21/0 and 6/0 in ACN with Cameroon), minor bladder operation.
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BIG BLUES FUTURE FOR BAINES
David Moyes has assured injury-plagued defender Leighton Baines he still has a big future at Everton. In a season of growing achievement at Goodison Park, the failure of Baines to break into the first team consistently has been one of the few problems for boss Moyes.
A GBP 6million signing from Wigan last summer, Baines was on the brink of an England breakthrough when he arrived from the JJB Stadium. But a succession of hamstring and ankle problems has curtailed his progress, and he has made just 14 starts in the club's 41 games so far. And there was even a point last month when he was due to have an ankle operation, before it was called off at the last moment in the hope that he could overcome the injury by playing on.
Since then Baines has figured occasionally in the senior side, but is now confronted with the outstanding form of Joleon Lescott at left-back, with Phil Jagielka fitting into the centre of defence equally effectively. Moyes went to see Baines play for the reserves in their 4-2 defeat at Manchester City on Tuesday, and has assured the Liverpool-born 23-year-old of his future at the club.
Moyes said: "I've spoken to Leighton. I've reassured him. But he has got nothing to worry about because he is got a big future as a left-back here. If we are going to challenge for trophies in the future, I honestly don't think there can be a guaranteed place for anyone. We have got competition everywhere. The three central defenders have been absolutely top drawer."
He added: "There are people here who we are desperately trying to get games, just look at Leighton. e think the world of him and he is going to be our left-back for a long time to come. But, just at the present time, for different reasons, he is finding it hard to get in. He has picked up one or two niggling injuries and that has cost him. But I can see him being Everton's left-back for many years."
As the season hots up for Everton, Baines can expect to be more involved in an increasingly hectic programme. Everton's desperation to maintain their place in Europe has been underlined by a decision to apply for a place in the Intertoto Cup this summer. With Spurs winning the Carling Cup on Sunday, it means only the top five in the Premier League will be assured of a European spot. Sixth place will now only offer a UEFA Cup spot if Manchester United and Chelsea meet in the FA Cup final.
Everton are in the last 16 of this season's UEFA Cup and currently hold fourth spot in the top flight, but they see the Intertoto Cup as an insurance policy should they finish outside the top five. Everton join Aston Villa, Manchester City and Blackburn who have already confirmed they want to take part in the Intertoto competition.
Everton's chief executive Keith Wyness said: "Clearly European qualification through our league position or via the UEFA Cup is our main priority. However because of the deadline for Intertoto Cup applications, it would be remiss of us not to put our name forward."
2007 Sporting Life UK Ltd, All Rights Reserved.
PSV chief calls for end of play-offs
PSV Eindhoven director Jan Reker has called for the Eredivisie play-off system thrown out after this season.
The play-offs were introduced in the 2005/06 campaign to determine which teams will represent Holland in Europe.
Only the title-holders are assured of a place in the Champions League with the teams placed second to fifth then battling it out for the remaining berth in Europe's elite club competition. The next four clubs in the standings compete for the UEFA Cup while the sides placed 10th to 13th are involved in a tussle for an Intertoto Cup spot.
The teams finishing 16th and 17th in the 18-team league are also involved in a relegation play-off with sides from the Dutch Jupiler league, while the last-placed outfit automatically face the drop. However, the system has been unpopular since its introduction and Reker plans to appeal for an end to the play-offs during the next meeting between the Eredivisie sides.
"Everyone who knows football, knows that the play-offs are unfair," Reker told the Eindhovens Dagblad newspaper.
"The football calendar is packed with too many fixtures and that burden means the achievements of our clubs in Europe and the Dutch national team are hampered. Because the decision about the competition is with the clubs and the fact that the negotiations about the TV rights are in full swing, we must meet each other quickly. The top clubs are against the play-offs no matter what, as are Heerenveen. I expect a huge majority will see our football doesn't benefit from the play-offs."
2008 TEAMtalk.com
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