Wigan Athletic have completed the signing of James McClean from Sunderland,.
The 24 year old was brought to England by Steve Bruce in 2011, but didn’t break into the Black Cats first team until Martin O’Neill was appointed manager at the Stadium of Light.
He made forty-one appearances last season – scoring five goals but has been allowed to move on following the large influx of new blood on Wearside this summer.
The former Derry City man becomes Owen Coyle’s tenth signing since talking charge of the Latics, and could make his debut at Wembley on Sunday, when the Championship club face Premier League champions Manchester United in the Community Shield.
He has been capped fourteen times for the Republic of Ireland and has, along with new team…
Monaco have won their appeal against a two-point penalty imposed following crowd trouble at the end of last season.
The newly-promoted Ligue 1 club were handed the punishment by the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) in June following the ugly scenes that marred the end of their final home game of the Ligue 2 season against Le Mans on May 17, which confirmed their return to the top flight.
Fans invaded the pitch at the end of the 2-1 win, with the match referee attacked in the midst of the celebrations.
The principality outfit have spent large sums in the close-season as they aim to challenge champions Paris Saint-Germain for the Ligue 1 title, but despite the signings of Radamel Falcao, Joao Moutinho, James Rodriguez and Eric Abidal their star-studded side faced st…
Renato Sanches is content to adhere to Niko Kovac s instruction by remaining at Bayern Munich, so long as he gets opportunities to play.
Restricted to four Bundesliga starts last season, midfielder Sanches boosted his case for first-team opportunities with a strong showing in the 3-1 victory over Real Madrid in the International Champions Cup (ICC).
The Portugal international helped Bayern established superiority during the opening 45 minutes and could take on a more prominent role following the end of James Rodriguez s two-season loan deal.
Speaking ahead of the Madrid match, Kovac confirmed the club had told Sanches to forget about finding new employers, advice that has been heeded by the player.
I m ready to stay, Sanches told Bild.
I had …
Andres Iniesta is anticipating a special game between Vissel Kobe and his former club Barcelona, and feels privileged to be involved.
Iniesta left Barca in 2018 after 16 years in the first team at Camp Nou, joining the J1 League club.
The former Spain international will go up against his former team for the first time in Saturday s friendly.
And the 35-year-old is expecting the match to be a momentous occasion not just personally, but also for Vissel Kobe s players and fans.
For us it is a privilege to play Barcelona. It will be a very special game, he told a news conference.
Personally, it will be special to play against some former colleagues. We will try to compete at our best, also in order to get prepared for our next [J1 League] game, …
Early into Stardew Valley, Willy will give you a fishing pole, which unlocks fishing. Fishing is a big part of Stardew Valley and a great way to make money early on in the game, but there are a few mechanics you won’t be able to use right away. One of those mechanics is bait, which can be used to cause fish to bite faster.
How to use bait
The reason you can’t use bait right away is that the Bamboo Pole Willy gives you doesn’t have the ability to use bait. Instead, you will need to upgrade to the next tier of fishing pole, the Fiberglass Rod, which has a slot for bait Come from Sports betting site VPbet . The Fiberglass Rod costs 1,800G and is unavailable until you reach Fishing Level 2, wh…
Portsmouth manager Paul Hart called on everyone connected with the struggling Premier League side to unite after it emerged chief executive Peter Storrie was facing tax evasion charges.
The charge relates back to the transfer of midfielder Amdy Faye from French club Auxerre to Portsmouth for 1.5 million pounds (2.49 million dollars) in August 2003.
Storrie has been on bail since being arrested in November 2007, while continuing to work at Fratton Park on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting.
It has been alleged Faye was paid a 250,000 pounds (415,000 dollars) signing-on fee on which tax was not paid a charge Storrie denies absolutely.
Storrie s run in with HM Revenue and Customs is the latest off-field problem to hit Premier League bas…
Flamengo qualified for the Copa Libertadores final for the third time in four years with a 2-1 win over Velez Sarsfield on Wednesday rounding out a comfortable 6-1 aggregate semi-final victory.
The Brazilian giants had won the first leg in Buenos Aires 4-0 to have complete control of the tie coming in, but Lucas Pratto created some doubt with the opener in the 21st minute at Estadio do Maracana.
Pedro, who netted a hat-trick in the first leg, settled any nerves with an expert header from Everton Ribeiro s cross shortly prior to half-time to square the match up.
As the game opened up, Marinho thumped in a left-foot winner in the 68th minute, with Pedro s skill setting up the opportunity.
The Brazilians were denied a third goal in stoppage time after a VAR …
Norwich City winger Elliott Bennett has signed a new two-year contract at Carrow Road.
The 24-year-old made the switch to the Premier League side from Brighton and Hove Albion in June 2011, and has since made 64 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring three goals.
Bennett is currently sidelined with a knee injury sustained on the opening day of the season against Everton, but was thrilled to put pen-to-paper on his contract extension, which keeps him at the club until 2016.
I’m delighted. Obviously I wasn’t expecting it being injured, but it’s fantastic, he told the club s official website.
I appreciate the support of everyone at the club, right from the fans to everyone here. Hopefully I can repay their faith in me once I m back fit.
It…
Melbourne Victory defender Adrian Leijer says being stripped of the club s captaincy was a disappointment.
Leijer, 27, took over from Kevin Muscat as skipper in February 2011, but has now been relieved of the armband by head coach Ange Postecoglou, who has installed Mark Milligan as the team s new on-field leader.
Speaking to Goal Australia and Sportal s In Off The Post podcast, Leijer said the conversation with Postecoglou about his demotion had prompted some soul-searching, but he is now looking forward to the next phase of his career.
We had a chat in the pre-season, he said.
Obviously initially you are a little bit disappointed. You wonder what you could have done better.
But in all honesty it s probably done me good. I ve really enjoyed the whole pre-s…
Former Bayern Munich star Lothar Matthaus has taken the time to praise Pep Guardiola and feels the Spaniard has done a great job at the Allianz Arena since replacing Jupp Heynckes in 2013.
Guardiola was heavily criticised by Dietmar Hamann earlier this week, but Matthaus believes Bayern have every reason to be happy with the ex-Barcelona coach.
I have criticised Pep a few times in the past, but I have to admit that he has been doing a great job, Matthaus told TZ.
People always expect you to win the Bundesliga title, but you still have to deliver. He once did so in March and once in April. And they had been consistent all season long.
Bayern want him to stay because they are happy with him. They would not be satisfied if he didn t do a good job.