Blackburn Rovers manager Sam Allardyce became the second mid-table Premier League manager to be sacked in eight days after the club’s new Indian owners announced his departure with immediate effect on Monday.
Blackburn, who lost 2-1 at Lancashire neighbors Bolton Wanderers on Sunday, are 10th in the standings — their finishing position last season — and five places better than where they ended the year before.
Newcastle United sacked Chris Hughton last week when they were 11th in the standings, the first -Premier League managerial departure of the season.
Speculation was rife that Allardyce would follow after a run of overnight bets that caused bookmaker William Hill to slash the odds of him being the next manager to go from 33-1 to 3-1.
“We have taken this decision as part of our wider plans and ambitions for the club. We would like to put on record our thanks to Mr Allardyce for his contribution,” a statement on the club’s Web site said.
Allardyce’s assistant Neil McDonald will also leave with -immediate effect and assistant coach Steve Kean will take over first-team duties.
Blackburn were bought by Indian poultry giant Venky’s for ￡23 million (US$36.66 million) last month
Allardyce, a no-nonsense center back in his playing days, managed Blackpool and Notts County before spending eight years at Bolton.
He moved to Newcastle United in 2007, but lasted less than a season and joined Blackburn in December 2008 following the six-month tenure of Paul Ince.
“I am very shocked and disappointed to be leaving Blackburn Rovers,” Allardyce said in a -statement on the Web site of the League Managers’ Association (LMA). “I am extremely proud to have managed this club and I enjoyed a fantastic relationship with the players, my staff and the supporters during my time in charge. I now wish them and the football club every success for the future.”
Richard Bevan, LMA chief executive said: “When new owners take over a club, sadly, the manager’s position often hangs by a thread. To Sam’s great misfortune this has now happened twice and, on both occasions, it has been extremely difficult to understand the thinking behind the dismissal.”
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
RSS