Soccer

El Dakhleya ( 2 – 0 ) Ittihad El Shorta , Egypt on The 23rd of May, 2013 at twenty five past four Podcast:

James Richardson is joined by Barry Glendenning, Raphael Honigstein and Gregg Bakowski as the pod runs the rule over two great clashes. First, the top two sides in the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, tear up the Wembley turf in what promises to be a sizzling Champions League final.Then, Crystal Palace battle Watford for Premiership promotion in the Championship play-off final.Sid Lowe is in Spain to update us on the many transfer rumours floating around Iberia. And finally the pod discuss Tony Pulis's departure from Stoke City and Michael Owen's duck.• Join us on Sunday for a special Football Weekly podcast to look back on the Champions League finalJames RichardsonIain ChambersRaphael HonigsteinBarry GlendenningGregg Bakowski

Click here to have the Fiver sent to your inbox every weekday at 5pm, or if your usual copy has stopped arrivingTHE ROONEY BLUESWith all that fuss over Lord Ferg's retirement, the Fiver kind of forgot about Wayne Rooney's transfer request. It's easily done. It's not so much that the news is irrelevant, it's just that, well, with other stuff going on, it's just kind of hung around like an aimless prog-rock album track. Only now that there is ABSOLUTELY EFF ALL ELSE HAPPENING, is it actually making itself heard, so it's handy Rooney's Mr 15% has piped up to remind the world that his client still exists. And having spent the last week busy thinking of another boy's name that began with K that wasn't Kai, apparently Rooney is still very much interested in being paid £300,000 a week to play second fiddle to a better striker than him somewhere else.Namely, baguette-swinging, garlic-peeling, cool-electro-music-producing nouveau riche Ligue 1 champions, Paris Saint-Germain and Mr Zlatan. Now the Fiver's not saying that PSG wouldn't want Rooney or be willing to entice him to the banks of the Seine by buying him the Eiffel Tower and cladding it in mock tudor boards. It's just that you get the feeling that Rooney was probably hoping that there was going to be a little more interest from some other clubs. Perhaps even in England.But here's the problem. There probably won't be. Rooney is vast becoming the new Norman Whiteside. He's 27, but to this tired old tea-timely email's eyes, seems older than time. He's perhaps a more rounded footballer these days but lacks the Va Va Voom of the barrel-chested street-footballing crew-cutted Croxteth wunderkid who scored those goals what feels like a long, long, time ago. He's worth buying, at the right price. But the price won't be right. Not in England. So it's probably Paris or Salford. And the Fiver's guessing it will be Salford. Maybe David Moyes could remind him of how it used to be. When he had a Ford Ka – the vehicle, not a child – at Everton and played like he even enjoyed himself.Anyway, in Manchester United news that has definitely happened, Rio Ferdinand signed a one-year contract deal to stay at Old Trafford. "Who wouldn't want to play in this fantastic team in front of 75,000 fans each week," whooped Ferdinand. "I can now fully concentrate on my club career, which has worked well for me over the past few years." It'll work better for him than Ferdinand and his new broadcast colleague will for the Fiver, that's for sure.QUOTE OF THE DAY"Sport is sport. It is not war" – Robert Mugabe wades in to the old Luis Suárez biting row. Where to start?FIVER LETTERS"According to everyone's favourite Murdoch-owned UK tabloid, Sergio Ramos is quoted as saying that Gareth Bale is 'in the right mould' for Real Madrid. I presume by that he means that Bale doesn't turn up for the big matches, dives a lot and looks poor for most of the time but gets away with it with one shot or free-kick (against the smaller teams)" – Noble Francis."I wanted to thank Noble Francis for suggesting the link on procrastination (yesterday's Fiver letters). I spent most of the afternoon thinking about owls that look like Rafa Benítez and vultures that look like Paolo Di Canio. It's OK, it's not like I needed to work" – Bruce Cooper."Re: the productivity puzzle. Noble Francis may have overlooked the Fiver's contribution. The last five Fivers had five contributors, whereas the five before that only had three. Employment appears to be rising but output (mercifully) is a flat line; unless output is defined not just by quantity but also quality, in which case there has been a marked decline" – Guy Mawson.• Send your letters to the.boss@guardian.co.uk. Also, if you've nothing better to do you can also tweet the Fiver. Today's winner of our prizeless letter o' the day prize is: no-score draw.JOIN GUARDIAN SOULMATESWe keep trying to point out the utter futility of advertising an online dating service "for interesting people" in the Five

Manchester City look set to embark on a major overhaul of their squad when the summer transfer window opens, as owner Sheikh Mansour targets regaining the Premier League title and a vastly improved performance in the Champions League. Much of the speculation has focused on which stars the big-spending Citizens want to sign, with Napoli’s £50 million-rated Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani and Cagliari defender Davide Astori said to top their shopping list. However, UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations and the Premier League’s squad size restrictions mean there are likely to be more exits than arrivals at the Etihad Stadium over the close season. With Mancini now gone the new in coming manager will have to agree to off-load much of his squad. Ex-Arsenal centre-back Kolo Toure, third-choice goalkeeper Richard Wright and forgotten men Wayne Bridge and Roque Santa Cruz will definitely be wearing different football kits next season, but they won’t be the only ones. At least one of City’s big-name strikers will leave to free up space on the wage bill, although any offers for Sergio Aguero would be rejected. Carlos Tevez would like to return to Argentina, but none of the clubs in his homeland can afford either the transfer fee or his wages, so Edin Dzeko is the most likely departure. Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich are both interested in the Bosnian and could afford to match the £27 million the Blues paid for him in 2011. Samir Nasri is the other major name likely to move on, this would have been more likely had Mancini stayed. The former boss was known to be frustrated by the French midfielder’s inconsistent form and attitude in training, so the club will view favorably an offer in the region of £20 million from Paris Saint-Germain. England centre-back Joleon Lescott will also be told he is free to find a new club, after losing his place in the starting line-up to Matija Nastasic, who has been one of City’s most consistent performers this term following his move from Fiorentina last summer. There will be no shortage of interest in Lescott, with Everton and West Ham both ready to offer him deals. City may consider offers for Gareth Barry, who has just 13 months remaining on his contract, and Aleksandar Kolarov, who has fallen behind Gael Clichy in the first-team reckoning. Officials will also actively try to offload Scott Sinclair, John Guidetti, Dedryck Boyata and Maicon after concluding they have no chance of becoming first-team regulars.

Financial Analysis – What next for Queens Park Rangers? is a post from: Just Football Big spending Queens Park Rangers could face a range of financial difficulties after being relegated from the Premier League. Being a Championship club next season allows QPR to escape Michel Platini’s Financial Fair Play rules as they do not have to apply for a UEFA license. However, as this article notes: “in early 2012, the Football League, which comprises the second through fourth divisions of English football, announced its own set of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules aimed to reduce the levels of losses being incurred and establish a league of financially self-sustaining professional football clubs.” With a potential transfer ban being imposed on clubs that over-spend and incur losses in a failure to meet the Football League’s FFP rules, let’s take a look at QPR’s current financial status: 2010/2011 2011/2012 £ million £ million Turnover 16 64 Wages 29 58 Loss -25.4 -22.6 Debt 56 89 (Figures obtained via ESPN from links here and here.) In their most recent accounts QPR have posted a loss of £22.6millon. Furthermore wages have doubled from the prior year with an alarming wages-to-turnover ratio of 90% in 2012. If we do a quick estimated projection for the current period ending 31 May 2013, QPR’s financial outlook continues to paint an even darker picture. According to transfermarkt.co.uk £22million was spent in January on Loic Remy and Christopher Samba and further cash outlays would have been incurred on the sacking of managers Neil Warnock and Mark Hughes. See also: The Champions League and Financial Fair Play – who’s affected? (Part I) Furthermore, QPR’s wage bill will certainly be significantly higher than the £58million for 2012. If we assume revenue will be roughly the same, then we can safely predict that QPR will incur a loss for 2013 considerably greater than the £22.6 million loss for the period ending 31 May 2012. If we look ahead to next year, QPR will be somewhat boosted by a parachute payment but this will not offset the lost TV revenue from no longer being in the Premier League. The club will more than likely offload a few high profile players and thereby also reduce their wage bill. Despite this, the club seems destined to fail to break even once more in 2014. What does this mean for QPR? The 2013/2014 accounts will be assessed under the new strict FFP rules for the Championship. QPR are in grave danger of being penalised with a transfer ban for failing to meet these requirements. Fair Play Tax Should QPR not gain immediate promotion back to the Premier League next season, a transfer ban will adversely affect their ambitions of doing so the following season. However, if QPR were to bounce back immediately to the top flight they could be slapped with a “Fair Play Tax” under the new regulations. All clubs that achieve promotion based on overspending and fail to meet the FFP rules will pay a ‘tax’ based on predetermined calculations. QPR are 66% owned by Tony Fernandes, the executive officer of Malaysia’s Air Asia Bhd (AIRA) and 33% owned by the Mittal family. Both are exceptionally wealthy multi-billionaires and their continuous support of the club will ease supporters’ fears that QPR could face suffer the same fate as Portsmouth and Leeds United. Despite a worrying escalating debt figure QPR fans can be comforted by the fact that they had no external debt at 31 May 2012. The debt of £89 million on the Balance Sheet represents loans from Fernandez and the Mital family. A £15 million loan was secured with Barclays Bank in Hong Kong in March 2013 for the development of a training ground and this now represents QPR’s only external debt. Fernandes’s willingness to fund QPR’s losses and commit to a long-term project will ensure QPR escape bankruptcy. However while the wealthy owners may be prepared to pump continuous money into

By Chris Wright Apparently even Diouf’s fearsome new bodyguard couldn’t save him from an arse-whuppin’ It’s been a slow last couple of days on the footballing front but it’s worth all the clock-watching when a story like this comes along. El-Hadji Diouf has been beaten up by a gang of kids after the Leeds forward was reportedly bundled into the toilets of the “Five” restaurant in Dakar and subsequently pulped for calling them all “poor”. According to reports emanating from Senegal, 32-year-old Diouf was on a night out in the “upscale area of the jetset in Dakar” when he was set upon at around 4.30am by a gang of youths who trapped him in the toilets and proceeded to tonk several shades of scheisse out of him. This from the Modern Ghana website: “A witness who saw Diouf’s bodyguards – reportedly Senegalese wrestlers and local thugs – come to his aid, said Diouf was drunk and [verbally] attacked almost everyone with insults and inappropriate comments like “you’re all zero, you’re poor, you’re not connected.” “Workers and restaurant regulars confirmed the incident but said they preferred to stay anonymous for ‘security reasons’.” Poor El Hadji. We do so hope he’s alright.

STATS ZONE OVER EUROPE: FourFourTwo's award-winning FREE app now also covers the top flights in Italy, Spain, France and Germany (as well as England, Champions League and Europa League). Paul Wilkes – editor of laligauk.com – uses Stats Zone to analyse the fourth force in La Liga... Sitting in fourth position with only two matches remaining, Real Sociedad are on the verge of Champions League football. They're equal on points with Valencia, and their better heade-to-head record means they'll be in Europe's top competition provided they at least match the results of Los Che.Manager Philippe Montanier has confirmed he won't be renewing his contract in the summer, instead returning to his native France to take the job at Rennes. It's a shame as he is beginning to reap the rewards of a youth structure put in place many years ago, although personal reasons seem to be the driving force behind the move. With the right appointment there's no reason why the progress at La Real has to suffer: after all, the club were considering replacing the coach anyway before his side put together their brilliant run of just two defeats in 27 matches, which stretches back to November. As long as the new man at the helm keeps within the philosophy, then their proficiency should continue.Their style doesn't fit the lazy stereotype of a Spanish team. Although they line-up in the familiar 4-2-3-1, they're essentially a counter-attacking side. They're only eighth in La Liga in terms of possession and pass completion, but they top the league in crosses attempted. That in itself goes some way to describe the attributes in which this team has acquired. Spreading the ball out wide quickly, they use pace in transitions to punish defences. Old-school wingers look to beat players and whip in balls for their strikers to take advantage of. In defence, there aren't any standout characteristics: they're as likely to tackle as they are to intercept. Centre-backs will play long diagonal balls into the channels and often in behind the opposing full-backs. The team aren't aggressive – only Deportivo and Barcelona have conceded fewer fouls – yet only Espanyol have been on the receiving end of more indiscretions, as the opposition struggle to deal with the speed of the attacking players.Whilst Montanier prefers to select a consistent first XI – which has led to a number of muscular problems within the squad as they deal with fatigue and tiredness – he has considerable options to assist his favoured line-up if they have any injuries or suspensions. Should Antoine Griezmann or Carlos Vela be missing, then Gonzalo Castro can deputise. If Asier Illarramendi is unavailable, then Rúben Pardo could fill the void. They don't depend on one player, yet have a number of key personnel for their system to work. Striker Imanol Agirretxe has grown in importance in recent weeks with seven goals in eight matches, but that hasn't always been the case, as former Arsenal man Vela is the club's leading scorer this term.This weekend, they host Real Madrid at the Anoeta. The first time these two teams met this season at the Bernabéu it produced a seven-goal thriller, with Xabi Prieto netting a hat-trick. It was only the second match where Iker Casillas was dropped in favour of Antonio Adán prior to the arrival of Diego López, although Adán was sent off after just six minutes so Casillas was reluctantly reintroduced by José Mourinho. With Madrid down to 10 men it made for an open match: no teams have scored more goals this season from counter-attacking situations than the two Reals. On Sunday evening, Sociedad need to win to maintain their charge for Champions League qualification, while this is the penultimate game of Mourinho's managerial career in Madrid. There could be plenty of goals in store once more.Stats Zone is bigger and better than ever! Our FREE Opta-powered app now features the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga

The Viola boss says the club could be tempted to sell the player if one of his suitors were to make a sufficient bid Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Montella has admitted that Stevan Jovetic could leave the Artemio Franchi during the summer transfer window. The Montenegrin was a transfer target for Juventus last year but the Bianconeri are set to face competition from Arsenal this time out. And the former Roma striker says the club could be tempted to sell the attacker if the right bid comes in. “You know Jovetic is a player with great talent who could have different ambitions,” he told Tuttosport. “So, I think, as president [Andrea] Della Valle said, there is the possibility of him leaving if we were paid properly. I’m aware of this.” Viola enjoyed an extraordinary season, finishing fourth and just two points shy of a Champions League berth but Montella feels it will be hard to make a European challenge next term. “Next year it will be difficult to come third and maintain the trend of this season but I hope the fate of the end of this season, however, gives as more anger and ambition to achieve something,” he added. Fiorentina were robbed of a place in Europe’s top competition by Milan on the final day of the season. A controversial Mario Balotelli penalty and a late Philippe Mexes strike saw the Rossoneri stage a late comeback against Siena, as they emerged 2-1 victors to seal third spot.

Chairman Dave Whelan feels Roberto Martinez will commit to the club although he will not confirm his decision until Monday.

The Royals have hit the skids while the Cleveland Indians go on a power play; Aroldis Chapman fills up on dessert; Gary Carter honored in Montreal; Major League Baseball in Blighty?Royals humbledThis was supposed to be the breakout season that fans in Kansas City had been waiting forever for, and for the first 27 games of the season, that prospect seemed like a distinct possibility. However, after a 17-10 start, their best early effort in recent history, the upstart Royals have faltered, winning just four of their previous 16 games. Whether or not this is just a bump in the road for a young KC team ready to rip it up is a question that will need more time to answer, but for now, the Royals have reverted to their doormat status, most recently dropping four straight one-run games, including a sweep at the hands of the Oakland A's and a loss to the lowly Astros. Veteran outfielder Jeff Francoeur told mlb.com:"At Spring Training, Ned [manager Yost] said you're going to hit a couple of rough patches. This is obviously our first big rough patch. The key is to get out of it as fast as we can as a team offensively."Frenchy has been an enigma since his Atlanta days, regularly posting some ungodly on base percentages - he's at .264, which will surprise no one. More frustrating to watch has been their youthful tandem of Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas, who lie at the core of an offense that's shaking at the knees, struggling to put up runs. Moustakas has been seen as a can't miss player for some time, but that's all he's been doing lately - his sub-.200 batting average has plummeted nearly 50 points in just 12 days thanks to an extended slump. It's something the Royals' face-of-the-franchise and fellow third baseman George Brett knows a thing or two about. "We all know what he's capable of doing," the Royals Hall-of-Famer told the Kansas City Star. "But I just think he has to relax, see the ball and hit it. Breathe, smile, have fun. The game's no fun when you're on a one for 34."The Kansas City Star points out that Brett struggled as a young prospect, taking a .205 average into the All-Star break before coming around in the second half of the season, something that Moustakas can take solace in, even if the 23-year old has already experienced success in the Bigs, hitting 20 jacks last season. Still, he needs to show progress sooner rather than later in order to become an anchor of KC's lineup as was expected. Meanwhile, Hosmer has just one home run in a position where power is mostly seen as mandatory - first base. As a rookie in 2011, Hosmer hit 19 homers and slugged close to .800, but that pop fizzed somewhat last season and has been non-existent this time out. There are other holes on the team - take second base for example, a position that the Royals have failed to fill adequately in at least 20 years. Chris Getz has completely fallen off the shelf since his strong start. All these struggles with the bats come in a season in which their pitching has come to fruition, with James Shields, the reclamation of Jeremy Guthrie and Ervin Santana leading the way. Even Luke Hochevar, a total bust as a starter, has found a home in the pen, and so all these Royals need to compete are a few runs. On Tuesday, they got some. Staring a second straight defeat to the Astros in the face, the Royals rallied from three runs down, busting out for seven runs in the late innings. Moustakas came through with the key hit, a bases loaded single that snapped that four-game losing streak. They had momentum, but an evening. On Wednesday the Royals were back to their losing ways, dropping yet another game to Houston, putting just a single run on the board against one of the worst pitching staff in baseball. Pitchers' mistakes wind up in the lakeThe Cleveland Indians, who came into 2013 with a new manager, a handful of new recruits and slightly higher expectations than a season ago had just suffered their latest defeat - a 9-0 beating by their AL Central rivals, the