Premier League

LEICESTER CITY HELICOPTER CRASH: WRECKAGE REMOVED

Published

6 years ago

November 2, 2018

The wreckage of the helicopter, which crashed near to Leicester City’s stadium last Saturday has been removed.nnClub owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s body has also arrived in Thailand ahead of his funeral on Saturday.nnAccording to BBC, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has begun examining parts of the wreckage and the in-flight recorder.nnMr Vichai died with two members of his staff, the pilot and a passenger when the aircraft came down near the King Power Stadium on Saturday.nnAn AAIB spokesman said the wreckage had arrived at its specialist facility in Farnborough and inspectors gathered all the evidence that could be collected from the scene.nnThe wreckage will be “laid out and more detailed examination can continue”, he said.nn”The digital flight recorder is in our laboratory. Although subject to intense heat in the post-accident fire, initial work on it has allowed us to successfully download the recordings.nn”Our inspectors are verifying the extracted information and have started the detailed analysis of its contents,” the spokesman added.nnA black vehicle, thought to be carrying Mr Vichai’s body, was seen travelling from Don Mueang airport to the temple where the funeral is scheduled to take place on Saturday.nnNusara Suknamai, Kaveporn Punpare, pilot Eric Swaffer and his partner, Izabela Roza Lechowicz, also died in the crash last Saturday.nnPolice said the coroner has now formally identified all five of the victims.nnLeicester City are due to play Cardiff on Saturday, which will be their first game since the crash. They were due to play Southampton in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, but the match was rescheduled.nnThe club has confirmed that some players and staff will be flying out to Thailand after Saturday’s game.nnIn a press conference on Thursday, Leicester manager Claude Puel said the result at the Cardiff game was “not important”.nnHe added that Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, named as one of the first people on the scene after the helicopter crashed, “saw a lot of things”.nnAn eyewitness saw Schmeichel run out from the stadium on Saturday night followed by “loads of security guards and stewards”.nnPuel said: “Kasper, like the other players, has a lot of history with the chairman and they are all devastated.”nnAhead of Saturday’s game, Leicester striker Jamie Vardy told Sky Sports: “For us as players, we want to get a positive result.”nnThe 31-year-old added: “We need to make sure we go out there and honour his name and put in a performance that will hopefully get the win.nn”We all spoke about wanting to play. It’s what Vichai would have wanted and that’s what we are going to do.”nnAll Premier League games this weekend will be preceded by a minute’s silence, and players will wear black armbands.nnOn flying to Thailand for the funeral, he said: “It’s been the hardest week of everyone’s lives.nn”It’ll be massively important we attend. We are a close-knit group and one big family and one of the main reasons for that is Vichai – so it’s massively important.nn”He wasn’t just a chairman, he literally was part of your extended family.”nn nnThe night before he died, pilot Mr Swaffer emailed a carpet company requesting a blue runner for the helicopter.nnThe firm’s managing director Myles Shaw said it had now been personalised with the Leicester City logo and was being sent to the club.nn”It was something we needed to do,” Mr Shaw added.nn

Premier League

Ten Hag’s Man United future not my call, Ratcliffe says

Published

17 hours ago

October 4, 2024

Kunle Solaja

FA Cup - Final - Manchester City v Manchester United - Wembley Stadium, London, Britain - May 25, 2024 Manchester United co owner Jim Ratcliffe is pictured in the stands before the match Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge/File Photo

Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe said a decision about under-fire manager Erik ten Hag is not his call, and was reticent about whether he still has faith in the team’s boss amid their worst start to the Premier League season since 1986-87.

“I don’t want to answer that question,” Ratcliffe told the BBC. “I like Erik. I think he’s a very good coach but at the end of the day it’s not my call, it’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.

“That team that’s running Manchester United has only been together since June or July. They weren’t there in January, February, March or April — Omar (Berrada, CEO), (Sporting Director) Dan Ashworth — they only arrived in July.

“They’ve only been there . . . you can count it in weeks almost — they’ve not been there a long time so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.”

Ten Hag’s job was the subject of speculation for much of last season en route to the team’s lowest Premier League finish of eighth. After an FA Cup final victory over Manchester City and an end-of-season review, however, Ten Hag signed a new contract to extend his stay at Old Trafford until 2026.

“Our objective is very clear, we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it’s not there yet, obviously, that’s very clear,” Ratcliffe said.

Ten Hag continues to plead for patience from fans with the team languishing 13th in the Premier League table, having lost three of their six opening games. They were headed towards defeat by Porto in the Europa League on Thursday before Harry Maguire scored a last-gasp goal to salvage a 3-3 draw.

-Reuters

Premier League

Saka says this is Arsenal’s year after back-to-back Premier League misses

Published

3 days ago

October 2, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Champions League - Arsenal v Paris St Germain - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - October 1, 2024 Paris St Germain's Nuno Mendes in action with Arsenal's Bukayo Saka REUTERS/Hannah Mckay

Arsenal can go all the way and end their 21-year wait for a Premier League title this season, winger Bukayo Saka said after his side beat Ligue 1 champions Paris St Germain 2-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Arsenal finished runners-up in 2022-23 and took the Premier League title race to the final day last season before once again finishing second behind Manchester City.

The north London side are in the mix this season, sitting third in the league standings, and their impressive victory over French heavyweights PSG underlined their title credentials, with Kai Havertz and Saka scoring in the match.

“I don’t want to put too much pressure on us but I do think that this is the year (that we can win the title),” Saka told CBS Sports.

“I think we’ve been close the last two years and we’re getting closer but this hopefully will be the year.”

Saka, who has established himself as a key player at Arsenal and was their top-scorer in the Premier League last season, said the club’s near misses had left him hungry for success.

“Previous years, I’ve come runners-up a lot. It’s just that spirit in me that I want to win this season and of course, I believe in myself a lot,” the 23-year-old told Amazon Prime.

“With those two things, it helps. We believe in ourselves, we believe we’re a top team. We showed that tonight (against PSG). I did tell the boys we have to make a statement when big teams are coming to the Emirates.”

Arsenal next host 19th-placed Southampton in a league match on Saturday.

-Reuters

Premier League

In ‘Battle of Four Super Eagles’ Aina and Awoniyi are lost in the Forest as Bassey and Iwobi triumph

Published

7 days ago

September 28, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Four Super Eagles players were in a contest Saturday night in an English Premier League battle that paired two on both sides.

Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi were in the Fulham side that raided Nottingham Forest who paraded the duo of Ola Aina and Taiwo Awoniyi.

It was one of the late Premier League matches of the day. Iwobi and Bassey were in the winning side as Nottingham lost 1-0 at home.

Awoniyi had a good chance to score in the 19th minute after getting on the end of a nice pass. Unfortunately for him, he smashed his volley just wide.

The first half did not see many chances and it ended goalless. Awoniyi had just one shot on goal and by the break, coach Nuno Espirito Santo decided to take him off for Anthony Elanga.

However, that did not give Forest the attacking edge they were looking for.

Rather, just three minutes into the second half, they conceded a penalty. Fulham striker Raul Jimenez made no mistake as he converted with aplomb to make it 1-0 to his side.

Iwobi had a good chance to score in the 61st minute after a nice build-up from the midfield.

But his strike was blocked by a defender. Despite the fact that they were searching for goals, Nottingham Forest failed to create much in the final third.

Aina was decent, but could not do much in the attacking third. On the other hand, Bassey was sturdy at the back for Fulham. After 90 minutes, the game ended 1-0 to Fulham.