Search: ' Lex Gold'

Tom Davies gives us an update on clubs in crisis

Barnet fans hope to use May’s council elections to break three-and-a-half years of deadlock surrounding their attempts to find a new ground. Club and council have been at loggerheads since 2002, when the Conservatives won control and scuppered plans approved by the previous Labour administration for a stadium on land immediately south of their existing, and inadequate, Underhill home. The Tories refused to sanction the sale of the land necessary for the stadium.

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Tuesday 2 “Pride, sadness, injustice – they are all rolled in there,” says Gordon as Celtic beat Artmedia 4‑0 in the second leg of their Champions League tie. Liverpool complete a 5‑1 aggregate victory over Kaunas. Joey Barton makes a public appeal to his missing stepbrother, whom police want to question regarding the murder of black teenager Michael Walker in Liverpool. Milan Baros won’t be moving to Schalke, whose general manager says: “We could only justify the move if we were guaranteed to play in the Champions League for the next three seasons.” Andy Johnson won’t be moving anywhere, for a few months at least, after signing a five-year deal with Palace, with no help from his agent, who has been banned from the club. Michael Owen concedes that his advisors have been in contact with several Premiership clubs, but adds: “I am confident that Real Madrid will have my best interests at heart whatever happens.”

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Why would anyone spend £48 to watch a foregone conclusion? The champions could guarantee a win, but that seems to have hit their chances of a full house Barney Ronay was sufficiently intrigued to go along

Chelsea fans are an unusual breed. But then, Chelsea is an unusual place. A house here will cost you upwards of £2 million. As for renting – unless you’re considering where to station the consulate building for your oil-rich Middle Eastern state – probably best to forget about it. In spite of which Chelsea FC remain wedged in between some of the most expensive real estate in the world. Consider the Chelsea fan in these circumstances. If you actually live anywhere near the place you’re either a) extremely wealthy; or b) someone forced to spend their whole life with their nose pressed up against the über-consumption, the impossible lifestyle, of your extremely wealthy neighbours. Or you could be someone who lives nowhere near the place but wants to support the most successful team. Either way this is a club, a place and a brand name that carries serious economic weight for ten million class-conscious Londoners. Shouting out the name “Chelsea” every Saturday – that’s got to do something unusual to you. Particularly when suddenly you’re winning everything in sight. And there is, definitely, something about Chelsea fans.

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The Dinamo Moscow striker was so eager to come to England after early success for Russia that his career has all but ground to a halt, writes Dan Brennan

From England’s north-west to its south coast, the considerable frame and increasingly weary visage of Dmitri Bulykin were familiar sights at training grounds in January. In fact, one in five top-flight clubs have had the pleasure of his company – a decent record if ground-hopping is your game, but not if you’re a Premiership wannabe with a dislike of hotel rooms.

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Sympathy for Ashley Cole has been hard to find in his battle for the right to talk to Chelsea behind Arsenal's back. But, as  Neil Rose points out, the rule cole is battling costs less well paid players dear and he might yet win on principle in the courts

To most people, the Ashley Cole affair, with meetings in posh hotels and squabbles over whether an extra £5,000 a week really was promised, seem far away from everyday life. It was Shaka Hislop’s evidence to the disciplinary commission that brought it down to earth. He was called by Cole’s lawyers to show the unfairness of Premier League rule K5, which prevents a contracted player making an approach to another club without the consent of his employer and under which Cole was fined. Near the end of his career at 36, Hislop did not know at the time whether his contract, expiring on 29 June, would be renewed by Portsmouth.

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