Jamie Carragher has fired back at a tabloid journalist after he reported on the ex-footballer being turned away from the Borussia Dortmund away end during their meeting against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium this week.
The former Liverpool and England player was reporting on the Champions League match as part of his usual ‘Golazo’ duties for the US on Wednesday, 5 November, and was hoping to join in with travelling fans during the game.
Carragher became part of the ‘yellow wall’ last year during their UCL fixture against Chelsea, being adopted as a Dortmund supporter for the day, but was not granted the same privilege upon arriving at the Etihad this time around.
Daily Mail journalist Mike Keegan wrote a piece explaining how the working presenter was turned away due to safety concerns raised by security at Man City, but the 47-year-old has now given his own retort.
Just trying to have a good time with the Dortmund fans Mike, it was no problem it wasn’t allowed. Next time message me & I’ll tell you all you need to know, rather than Simon at Man City giving you a story. Probably explains why you’re so sympathetic around the 115 charges.
As you can see, the retired defender turned Sky Sports and CBS pundit was less than pleased with the piece, clarifying that there was “no problem” over the decision, asking instead why he didn’t contact him directly for a comment.
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In addition to seemingly naming names, he also couldn’t resist the urge as a rival Red to take a jab at City’s ever-looming FFP breaches, suggesting that the outlet has been somewhat biased in its coverage of the ongoing saga.
However, Keegan didn’t let the spat pass without his own right of reply.
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Reacting directly underneath the response, the sports writer added: “I already knew the facts, Jamie, but you clearly don’t.
“Next time you’re covering a game at City, you should probably apologise to Simon for wrongly accusing him of being the source on the story.”
Either way, this is as far as Carragher got on his way to the ground:
While it is still unclear as to who exactly ‘Carra’ and Keegan are referring to in their exchange, many have speculated that it could be Simon Pearce: a non-executive director at the club and part of the CFG (City Football Group) board; he has been tied to the ongoing allegations of financial deception.
Onto the action pitchside, not only did scoring machine Erling Haaland come back to haunt his former team once again, but the Blues ran, maybe not riot, but much closer to their vintage best, with Stockport’s very own bagging a brace and Rayan Cherki scoring his first UCL goal under Pep Guardiola.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.