MiddlesbrougH and the owners of a nightclub have moved to refute reports of a fracas allegedly involving Republic of Ireland international Keith O'Neill. The 23-year-old wingback and international team-mate Alan Moore were said to have been involved in an incident at the Tall Trees Hotel at Yarm last weekend, and there were initial reports that O'Neill had suffered a broken jaw.
However, the former Norwich City winger has been training this week and is included in the squad for the derby clash with Sunderland today. And now his club and the hotel have issued a joint statement in a bid to set the record straight.
The statement said that after "a full and frank exchange of views" it had been agreed that there had been errors of judgment on both sides, and the hotel management had apologised to the players and their families. "It has been agreed that, having heard the players' version of events, it (the hotel) will carry out a further extensive internal investigation following which, if it can be established that any of their security staff used undue force in this matter, they will be immediately and severely disciplined."
Meanwhile Manchester City director Dennis Tueart claimed last night that the club's fans have welcomed BSkyB's investment in the club with open arms. Tueart, a playing legend at the club before he moved onto the board, said the Maine Road switchboard had been inundated with calls of support from fans.
Murdoch's empire have bought a 9.9 per cent stake in Manchester City which could see £12 million of new money flooding into the coffers via a share issue.
UEFA last night confirmed Tottenham have lodged an official protest after Kaiserslautern changed their starting line-up 40 minutes before the kick-off of Thursday night's second round, second leg in Germany. Tournament rules dictate that the German side should have handed in their starting XI on a teamsheet to match officials an hour-and-aquarter before the game starts, with Spurs handing in theirs 15 minutes later.
Tottenham boss George Graham was angry that Kaiserslautern manager Otto Rehhagel changed his line-up after apparently seeing that David Ginola had been left on the bench.
Rangers striker Michael Mols has been ruled out for the rest of the season, after tests revealed he has damaged his cruciate knee ligament. The Dutchman was injured in Wednesday's Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich.
Bayern's president, Franz Beckenbauer, has joined Stefan Effenberg by attacking the Champions League format. Beckenbauer believes the heavy schedule is putting too much strain on players and ruining the quality of the game.
Effenberg had claimed the Champions League schedule shortens the career of professional footballers.
