Post by Salem6 on Dec 14, 2004 12:18:15 GMT
1st Wolves sacked manager Dave Jones following a disappointing start to their Coca-Cola Championship season...Berti Vogts announced his resignation as Scotland coach, citing "disgraceful abuse" from Scotland fans as a "major factor"...Former Wales scrum-half Rob Howley retired from club rugby after failing to recover from a wrist injury.
2nd Aston Villa were charged by the Football Association with making an illegal approach for Southampton striker James Beattie...Chester manager Ian Rush ruled himself out of the vacant Wales coach's position...Chelsea qualified for the second stage of the Champions League with two matches to spare after a 1-0 victory over CSKA Moscow, while Celtic beat Shakhtar Donetsk by the same score to keep alive their European hopes.
3rd Ruud van Nistelrooy scored all four as Manchester United defeated Sparta Prague 4-1 in the Champions League. Liverpool beat Deportivo La Coruna 1-0 away from home...George Best was offered a role within Portsmouth by close friend and Pompey chairman Milan Mandaric...Hearts confirmed John Robertson as their new manager to replace Craig Levein, who had moved to Leicester.
4th Berti Vogts' assistant Tommy Burns was installed as caretaker Scotland manager following the German's departure...Suitor Sebastian Sainsbury insisted his deal to buy Leeds ould be sealed by the end of the week...Adrian Mutu was suspended for seven months by the Football Association disciplinary committee for testing positive for a banned substance, reportedly cocaine.
5th Jacques Santini quit as THFC manager following just 13 games due to 'personal reasons'...Manchester City manager Kevin Keegan was fined £8,500 and reprimanded by the Football Association for his foul-mouthed tirade at referee Steve Dunn on October 24...Scotland's caretaker manager Tommy Burns made it clear he would consider taking on the post on a full-time basis.
6th Arjen Robben put Chelsea top of the Premiership with his second winning goal in the space of five days, as the Blues edged Everton 1-0 and Arsenal stumbled to a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace...Disgraced Adrian Mutu apologised to Chelsea fans for his drug shame, blamed injury problems and loneliness for his "mistakes" but insisted he never tried to cheat...Wales coach Mike Ruddock spoke of his bitter disappointment after his heroic Wales side were pipped 38-36 by Tri-Nations champions South Africa.
7th Paula Radcliffe bounced back from her Athens nightmare to win the New York City Marathon...Manchester City claimed a brave point after a goalless draw at Old Trafford in the derby, with Manchester United ending the game with 10 men after Alan Smith's late red card...Arsene Wenger moved to ease any concerns over Sol Campbell's future at Arsenal by pledging that the England defender would sign a new long-term contract at the club.
8th Tottenham appointed Dutchman Martin Jol as their new head coach on a two-and-a-half-year contract...Arsene Wenger was charged with improper conduct by the Football Association following his post-match comments after Arsenal's defeat at Manchester United...Snooker mourned the death of Australian Eddie Charlton, a three-time World Championship runner-up, who died aged 75.
9th Former Liverpool and England captain Emlyn Hughes died of a brain tumour at the age of 57...Bryan Robson took over as new manager of West Brom while fellow former England captain Tony Adams resigned his position as Wycombe boss...In the Carling Cup, Watford inflicted a 5-2 defeat on Barclays Premiership Southampton to book their place in the quarter-finals and increase the pressure on Saints head coach Steve Wigley.
10th Rangers beat Celtic for the first time in eight attempts with a 2-1 extra-time win in the CIS Cup...The British Racing Drivers' Club said they were "pretty confident" Ferrari could be persuaded to agree to cost-cutting measures intended to save the British Grand Prix...Muttiah Muralitharan was effectively given the all-clear to bowl his 'doosra' in Test cricket after an International Cricket Council panel ruled all bowlers can bend their arms in delivery.
11th Mansfield manager Keith Curle was suspended pending an internal inquiry...Darren Huckerby signed a one-year extension to his contract, keeping him at Norwich until 2007...Sebastien Sainsbury's £25million deal to take over Leeds appeared to be in jeopardy because of a backlog of legal paperwork.
12th Wales appointed John Toshack as their new manager to succeed Mark Hughes, who quit the post to take over at Blackburn...The proposed £25million takeover of Leeds by Sebastien Sainsbury and his Nova Financial Partners group associates was aborted and the club announced it had sold Elland Road on a lease and buy-back deal...Manchester United's AGM resulted in the departure of legal adviser Maurice Watkins, commercial director Andy Anson and non-executive director Philip Yea after a representative of US tycoon Malcolm Glazer voted against their re-election.
13th Arsenal beat Tottenham 5-4 with nine different players scoring but Chelsea maintained their place at the top at the top of the Premiership with a 4-1 defeat of Fulham...Great Britain beat Australia 24-12 to claim a place in the final of the Tri-Nations series...In rugby union, England routed Canada 70-0, Scotland thrashed Japan 100-8 while Ireland beat South Africa 17-12.
14th Manchester United beat Newcastle 3-1 at St James' Park with Wayne Rooney scoring twice...Rangers beat Hibernian 1-0 to narrow Celtic's lead...Former Tottenham manager Jacques Santini admitted their had been no "personal problems" involved in his decision to leave THFC.
15th England captain David Beckham denied he would quit international football after the 2006 World Cup...Soft drink manufacturer Red Bull bought Jaguar Racing from Ford with just hours remaining before the deadline for 2005 Formula One entries expired...London Olympic chiefs submitted the city's bid to host the 2012 Games.
16th Brian Kerr's Republic of Ireland team beat Croatia 1-0 in a friendly at Lansdowne Road where Robbie Keane got the winner...The Football Association announced they would complain to UEFA after England Under-21 players were subjected to racist abuse during their 1-0 friendly international defeat in Spain...Tim Henman lost his rain-delayed opening match 7-5 7-6 (8/6) against world number two Andy Roddick at the Masters Cup in Houston.
17th The funeral of England and Liverpool great Emlyn Hughes took place at Sheffield Cathedral with almost 2,000 mourners in attendance...England's 1-0 defeat in Spain was marred by racist abuse and the behaviour of Wayne Rooney, who ripped off the black armband worn in memory of Emlyn Hughes after being substituted early following a petulant booking...Scotland lost 4-1 against Sweden at Easter Road under caretaker boss Tommy Burns.