Toon make UEFA last 16
Rangers in, Rovers out
City for sale
—– Newcastle United progress to the last 16 of the UEFA Cup despite an uninspiring performance against SV Zulte Waregem at St James’ Park.
The hard work was done with a 3-1 win in the first leg in Belgium.
Obafemi Martins adds the only further goal after 68 minutes.
United now go on to face AZ Alkmaar in the next round, and Toon boss Glenn Roeder is looking forward to pitting his wits against Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal: “There’s a discussion he’s arguably the best coach in the world. He has had periods in his career where he has been to the very top.”
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—– Rangers will now meet Osasuna after they soundly beat Hapoel Tel Aviv at Ibrox.
Trailing 1-2 from the first leg, the Gers secure a comfortable 4-0 win to go through 5-2 on aggregate.
Skipper Barry Ferguson scores twice.
—– There’s a night of frustration for Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park as their European quest comes to an end after being held to a goalless draw by Bayer Leverkusen.
They fail to overturn a 2-3 deficit from the first leg.
Although he wasn’t impressed by the visitors’ time-wasting tactics, honest Rovers boss Mark Hughes identified the true stumbling block: “The referee isn’t the reason we were beaten over the two legs; we made too many errors.
“We had a couple of gilt-edged chances that we needed to put away and didn’t, so that’s it.”
On a positive note, despite the unusual 6pm kick-off time (due to the demands of German TV) and incessant rain, the game attracts a well-above average crowd of over 25,000.
The healthy attendance - due to vastly reduced ticket prices - backs up Blackburn’s intention to introduce much more affordable admission prices next season.
The Football Supporters’ Federation has recently launched an on-line petition demanding a maximum adult away admission price at Premiership games of £15 and, generally, using the money from televised games to subsidise ticket prices.
—– In a statement to the Stock Exchange, Manchester City confirm they are in ‘preliminary discussions’ with potential investors.
The Premiership club’s major shareholders are chairman John Wardle and David Makin.
Mr Wardle explains: “Talks are at a very early stage and accordingly we are not yet in a position to disclose the identity of the possible investor.
“Hopefully, something comes of these talks because I would be prepared to pass the baton on if it allowed the club to get back into the honours.”
Reports suggest as many as four groups have expressed an interest.
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