By KEVIN KOCZWARA
Wayne Rooney’s transfer saga continues, and, like Liverpool forward Luis Suarez, the England forward has been told it’s time to train away from the first team by his manager.
Manchester United manager David Moyes sent the 27-year-old to train with the Under-21s this morning, which means Rooney will certainly miss Rio Ferdinand’s testimonial game against Sevilla, reports the Daily Mail.
Rooney is being courted by Jose Mourinho and Chelsea. United has already turned down two bids for the England international. The latest was made on Sunday. Reports in England say the forward has told Moyes he wants to leave United for Chelsea.
Rooney has not been with the senior team since leaving United’s preseason tour of Asia and is currently recovering from a shoulder injury.
Here are some more stories to get you through Friday:
HULL CITY ADDING TIGERS TO NAME
Branding is important in sports and Hull City is trying to strengthen its brand by changing its identity and name to the Hull Tiger or Hull City Tigers, dropping the AFC at the end of its official name, which has been used since the club was established in 1904.
Hill Tigers Vice-chairman Ehab Allam told the Hull Daily Mail that the AFC will be on the club’s badge and shirts this season, but will be removed after the season, and the club, promoted to the English Premier League this season, will be known as the Hull City Tigers locally and Hull Tigers nationally and internationally.
“We just feel that, now being on the international stage, we need to strengthen the brand identity,” Ehab Allam told the Hull Daily Mail. “AFC is redundant, it is not used by the club, the fans never mention AFC, nor do the media.”
Ehab Allam went on to say he doesn’t like the word City because it is common and associated with other clubs across England and that he wants the Hull Tigers to be “special.”
ETIENNE CAPOUE TO JOIN SPURS
Tottenham continues to improve its midfield depth and strength with the signing of French international Etienne Capoue from Toulouse, who chose to sign with Spurs instead of Cardiff City, where he has also agreed to personal terms.
The Guardian reports that the French midfielder is set to complete a medical after Toulouse accepted an offer from Spurs.
Capoue, a defensive midfielder, will join a midfield that already boasts Sandro, Mousa Dembele, Jake Livermore, Lewis Holtby, Gylfi Sigurosson, Scott Parker, and newly signed Paulhino.
QUICK KICKS
Bolton Wanderers confirm the signing of Jay Spearing from Liverpool. Spearing was Bolton’s player of the season last year while on loan from the Reds. (REPORT)
Valencia left back Aly Cissokho wants to join Liverpool. The French defender says he’s already agreed to personal terms with the club. (REPORT)
Javier Mascherano thinking about leaving Barcelona. (REPORT)
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I feel bad for Hull fans. Unfortunately this is the way the sport is headed. Football clubs will no longer be football clubs but brands.
Hull City Tigers? I guess Jacksonville finally moved their franchise.
OH NO! NOT TIGERS! It’s too… sporty and aggressive!
They should have rebranded as Hull City United Sporting Athletic Football Club.
Seriously, why do you care so much? It’s Hull City!
Maybe they wanted to step away from centuries old tradition and create a unique identity among British clubs.
I think the Cardiff revamp is slick.
At least they haven’t given in to name themselves after an energy drink.
Why do WE care so much? Your post may be the most aggressive, emotional post on here. Lol.
And, sorry but Hull City Tigers is dumb.
Yeah,….they should have rebranded as “The Hull City Real Salt Lake Crew”
Brilliant! Could only be topped by Real Hull City United Sporting Athletic Football Club…
terrible idea to make the official name Hull City Tigers. English clubs traditionally have nicknames separated from the official name of the club. There are exceptions like Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers, but these names came to be because the clubs did not have an official ground to play on.
A name like Hull Tigers or Hull City Tigers doesn’t fit into English football culture.
I think they were more focused on D mids. Bale is almost forward like.
Report fails to mention one of Spurs’ midfielders. What’s that guy’s name? Gareth something-or-other? Probably he’s pretty low on the depth chart so he wasn’t included in the list of Tottenham middies.
Bale is no longer a “middie”. There is a missing midfielder though – Huddlestone.
Tigers ? What a crap name. Should have picked something more English like Hull city Hufflepuffs or Hull city Dementors
Hullksters!
If we’re going to go all Harry Potter nerd, then it needs to be pointed out that Hufflepuff wouldn’t really be English.
Helga Hufflepuff was Welsh, and Hogwarts was in Scotland.
So, definitely British, but NOT English.
OK, back to your regular, non-nerdy talk.
I think Rooney’s returning male pattern baldness, jaw shape, and deep set eyes make him look kinda like Iron Man, no? The scowl probably doesn’t hurt the comparison either.
He looks like a shaved ewok.
Rooney trained with the reserves because he is trying to gain fitness and the first team was having a lighter training session. This isn’t a punishment.
I hope he’s in great shape and plays with a chip on his shoulder all season. This is a huge coup for Chelsea if they can pull it off, and if Rooney is capable of getting near the level he was at during his prime. Not in regards to practicing with the youth team, but I think Man U will regret how they handled this one.
“2,4,6,8 who de we appreciate? The Tigers, Tigers, Tiiiiiiiiiiiigeeeers!!!!”
Wow, the name change will upset the eurosnobs.
I’m not a eurosnob but I think it’s lousy. I’m unhappy.
no such thing as a euro snob
Not as much as when English people or media say “soccer”, but they will definitely “arrbargle!!!” over it.
Disappointed to see Hull ditch a part of their name that has been around since 1904. Can not exactly act stunned though, I mean Cardiff changed their color scheme (blue to red) which is an even bigger deal honestly.
Good move by Cardiff. There’s real evidence that players wearing red perform slightly better than players in blue. Maybe why united keeps a stranglehold on top three finishes!
Wait, did I miss something here… when did Hull reach the “international stage”?
The Tiger is a native animal to Hull, makes perfect sense 😉
Well kind of. Their original kits were black and orange stripes.
Because nothing screams originality like the Tigers.
Elementary School: Tiger
Middle: Eagle
High School: Lion
Univ: Tiger (again)
High School – Cougars
You forgot one:
Breakfast cereal: (Tony the) Tiger. I guess we could call them the Hull City Flakes.
Yeah, because this approach has worked so well for the Barcelona Wildcats. That American high school football name change really catapulted them into a respected brand on the international stage.