Five-man shortlist for Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast officials have revealed a five-man shortlist as they seek to appoint Sabri Lamouchi s successor as the country s head coach.

Francis Gillot, Frederic Antonetti, Herve Renard, Jose Manuel De Jesus and Luis Fernandez are the men being considered by the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF).

Lamouchi stepped down from his role after Ivory Coast failed to reach the knockout rounds of World Cup for the third straight tournament.

Drawn against Colombia, Japan and Greece in Group C, Lamouchi s side opened their campaign with a 2-1 win over the Asian nation before defeats to Colombia and Greece, the latter via Georgios Samaras injury-time penalty, sent them out.

Of those shortlisted to take the job, only Renard and Fernandez have previous international ex…

Gustavo Bou 6/5 to score anytime against Toronto in Thursday’s MLS contest

Market: Gustavo Bou to score anytime

Odds: 6/5 @

Smelling a real chance when they return to the Gillette Stadium on Thursday, New England will be looking to pile even more pressure on a struggling Toronto in midweek.

Starting with the hosts, throwing away their two-goal lead over the weekend and eventually having to settle for a point away at Columbus Crew, there is no doubt that New England will be glad to make a return to home soil. Despite mustering just a single point from their back-to-back MLS matchups, The Revs still find themselves leading the race in the Eastern Conference. Gaining a reputation for their continued success at the Gillette Stadium, Head Coach Bruce Arena will be hugely excited by Gustavo Bou s free-scoring purple patch. Once again getting…

´I got it wrong´ – VAR official Dean accepts mistake of not punishing Romero for hair pull on Cucure

Video Assistant Referee Mike Dean has admitted he got it wrong by not encouraging referee Anthony Taylor to go to the pitchside monitor and consider sending off Tottenham defender Cristian Romero in the feisty 2-2 draw with Chelsea.

The hosts led 2-1 going into the dying seconds at Stamford Bridge, before Spurs were awarded a late corner with Argentina international Romero appearing to pull Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella to the ground by his hair during the build-up.

There was a pause in play while Dean took time to review the incident at Stockley Park, but he decided against sending Taylor to the pitchside monitor to consider a red card and play was restarted.

Harry Kane then headed in a dramatic late equaliser before head coaches Thomas Tuchel and Anto…

Conte wants clarity on Cuadrado future as Chelsea target more signings

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte says he is waiting for clarity on Juan Cuadrado s future as he attempts to make further signings before the end of the transfer window.

The Colombia international spent 2015-16 on loan at Serie A champions Juventus but returned to Chelsea for pre-season, with Conte stating that he was keen to keep the winger at Stamford Bridge.

However, Juve CEO Giuseppe Marotta has claimed that the club are interested in another loan deal for Cuadrado, who was left out of Chelsea s 2-1 win over West Ham on Monday.

And Conte is keen for a resolution to the 28-year-old s future as he aims to bring in further reinforcements before August 31, with defenders Kalidou Koulibaly and Ricardo Rodriguez reported targets.

It s difficult to speak about th…

QPR v Sunderland: Redknapp desperate for points

Harry Redknapp is keen to put a difficult fortnight behind him when QPR host Sunderland in the Premier League on Saturday.

Newly promoted QPR have endured a disappointing return to the top flight thus far, having opened with a home defeat to Hull City before suffering a 4-0 loss at Tottenham.

Redknapp s unhappy return to his previous club last Sunday will be of particular concern, as QPR looked out of their depth against a Tottenham side who were in control throughout and could have won by an even bigger margin.

A trip to fourth-tier Burton Albion in the League Cup on Wednesday should have provided the men from west London with a chance to boost their confidence ahead of Sunderland s visit this weekend.

However, it proved to be another humiliating outing …

Huddersfield Town appoint Powell

Huddersfield Town have appointed Chris Powell as the club s new manager on a rolling contact.

Former England defender Powell replaces caretaker coach Mark Lillis, who had stood in for Mark Robins for almost a month.

Robins parted company with Huddersfield just one day after their season started with a 4-0 home defeat against Bournemouth.

The 44-year-old Powell last worked at Charlton Athletic but was sacked in March after reportedly falling out with the club s owner, Roland Duchatelet.

Huddersfield Town chairman Dean Hoyle said Powell s experience made him the right man for the struggling Championship club.

We re delighted to be able to welcome Chris to Huddersfield Town as the new manager, Hoyle told the club s official website.

We ve t…

Gourcuff thrilled to be back in French fold

Lyon midfielder Yoann Gourcuff says he is delighted to be re-called back to France squad for their friendly against Italy on Wednesday.

Despite not being included in Les Bleus last match, the 1-1 draw against reigning champions Spain in the World Cup qualifier, the ex-Bordeaux man is still grateful for the call-up this time around.

All selections are privileged, Gourcuff told the France Football website.

My career also depends on (how good) the team does. Everything is connected.

Hopefully my team-mates know that I play for them, and that should be enough.

Domestically, for Lyon, the midfield playmaker has seemingly returned to top form after knee troubles have disrupted his career since joining Les Gones in 2010.

His goal last week …

Abdallah Sima on target as Rangers beat Hearts again

Rangers beat Hearts for the third time in six weeks with a first-half goal from Abdallah Sima at Tynecastle.

After a cinch Premiership defeat at Ibrox and a loss against the Light Blues in the Viaplay Cup semi-final at Hampden Park, Steven Naismith’s side again came up short against Rangers.

Having scored twice in the 2-0 home win over St Mirren on Sunday, Brighton loanee Sima struck again in the 34th minute to take the three points back to Govan.

With Celtic beating Hibernian 4-1 at Parkhead, Rangers are still eight points behind the leaders having played a game less with Philippe Clement extending his unbeaten run since taking over as boss to 11 matches.

The third-placed Jambos went into the game with four straight home league wins for the first time …

Andy Robertson furious as Liverpool star appears to be elbowed by assistant referee

Liverpool were fuming as defender Andy Robertson appeared to be elbowed by an assistant referee at the end of the first half of Sunday s game against Arsenal.

The left-back approached the official, who was identified by Sky Sports as Constantine Hatzidakis, and seemed to be making a point to him.

It was unclear from a distance what was said, but television pictures then looked to show the assistant referee raise his right elbow and make contact with the Scotland international.

What was not obvious was whether the linesman had intended to catch Robertson.

Asked if he had ever seen anything like it, pundit and former Manchester United hard man Roy Keane said: No, not really, but Robertson, does he grab the linesman first? I m not sure, but Robertson then is…

Championship Review: West Brom and Leeds held as Stoke dramatically climb off bottom

West Brom and Leeds remain separated by three points in the Championship s automatic promotion places after each being held to draws on Boxing Day.

Leeds needed an 89th-minute equaliser from Stuart Dallas to earn a 1-1 draw at home to fellow promotion hopefuls Preston North End, while West Brom conceded in the 90th minute to share the same scoreline with Barnsley.

Brentford, 3-1 victors over Swansea City, were the only winners in the top six as Fulham came from behind three times in a thrilling 3-3 draw at Luton Town and Sheffield Wednesday conceded twice in stoppage time to lose 3-2 at Stoke City.

There was also late drama at Wigan Athletic, with Derby County s Martyn Waghorn snatching a 1-1 draw against the division s bottom side.

 

THREE DRAWS…