Etuhu says his reputation is destroyed
Former Sunderland midfielder Dickson Etuhu was recently accused of match fixing by AIK goalkeeper Kenny Stamatopoulos - and Etuhu, who has been working as a football agent since his retirement, has been charged with bribery in connection with the allegation.
The ex-Nigerian international has been speaking about his situation with Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter and revealed that his reputation ‘that he built for 20 years has been completely destroyed’.
Etuhu maintains his innocence but does not understand why Stamatopoulos made the accusation or why the goalkeeper was taken at his word:
They even awarded him a prize (The Football Channel’s award 2017 as “The Voice of the Year”) because of this - and before the case was settled in court. How is it possible and what happens if it turns out that he is wrong? Will they take back the prize then? To me it is quite obvious that you want a conviction.
I can say that makes me sad, because I thought I had a good relationship with him. We have shared rooms on trips and used to have a coffee every time I came to Stockholm.
Loan roundup
After a spell on the substitutes bench for Gateshead, young Sunderland forward Luke Molyneux broke back into the Heed’s starting XI for their trip to Barnet and the 19-year-old had a big impact on the game.
Scott Boden had given Gateshead the lead before Molyneux almost made it 2-0 in the 52nd minute but for his effort from the edge of the box to cannon back off the crossbar. Barnet quickly equalised after that shot through Jack Taylor but with less than 15 minutes remaining, Molyneux surged from deep inside his own half before finding Scott Barrow on the edge of the Barnet box, his pass found Luke Armstrong who neatly tucked away the winner.
Afterwards, the Sunderland loanee revealed to the official Gateshead website that he was delighted to earn a start and said it shows that manager Steve Watson will give players a chance if they impress in training:
It was a great game. It was an entertaining game to be involved in to say the least. Both teams were creating chances but in the end we were the more clinical team and got the two goals and the three points.
It was definitely all about taking our chances today. Barnet were a good team going forward and created a few good opportunities but we took our chances and they didn’t.
I was really pleased to start today, I felt great, it was obviously a really tough game to come here and play against Barnet who were doing well but it’s good for me to get 90-minutes and more importantly for the team to get the result.
For the goal, I just picked the ball up just outside our own box and making a big 50-yard sprint towards their goal and Scotty [Barrow] played a great pass to Luke [Armstrong] and it was an excellent finish by him.
We’re back into the play-off places now which is where we want to be but we’ve got a tough game away at Leyton Orient next weekend so hopefully we can come away from there with a result too.
That’s definitely the standard if not even better than that, I just want to keep pushing on and showing why I should be in the starting-11 and making sure I don’t get out of it again as I did before.
It also shows all the lads who haven’t been playing every week that the gaffer will give them a chance if we keep our standards high in training which is a very good motivator for everyone.
76: GOAAAAALLL!!!!!! Barnet 1-2 GATESHEAD (Armstrong)
— Gateshead FC (@GatesheadFC) November 24, 2018
What a good goal from the Heed! Molyneux runs 50-yards forward with the ball before playing it outwide to Barrow lays the ball off for Armstrong to poke into the bottom right corner from the edge of the box! pic.twitter.com/lOKUeoiATe
Max Stryjek started again for Eastleigh as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Chesterfield in the National League.
Eastleigh took the lead through Alex Wynter after just 12 minutes and Stryjek kept the scoreline at 1-0 just after the half-hour mark thanks to a superb recovery save when Lee Shaw had gone round the Polish ‘keeper. That lead didn’t last much longer though as Jordan Hallam earned the visitors a point seven minutes later with a shot that left Stryjek with no chance.
Grimsby Town came from behind twice to draw 2-2 at Northampton Town in League Two with Elliot Embleton starting in midfield for the visitors.
Embleton had a couple of efforts at the Northampton goal, with one free-kick being fired into the wall and a left-footed volley being easy gathered by the home goalkeeper shortly before Grimsby made it 2-2 with 10 minutes remaining.
Alloa were already 3-0 up in the Scottish Cup at home to Brechin City before Connor Shields took the lead, with no further additions to the scoreline and Lamine Kone started for Strasbourg as they lost 1-0 at home to Nimes in Ligue 1.
McCarthy appointed
Former Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy was officially confirmed as Republic of Ireland manager yesterday, 16 years after he originally left the role.
McCarthy signed a two-year deal with the Irish, with the FAI having Dundalk boss Stephen Kenny taking over the under-21 role but with one eye on possibly replacing McCarthy after Euro 2020. A deal that worked well for the 59-year-old:
I was never ever going to turn down the chance to take the job.
We’ll see whether it’s a good decision in two years time but I’m looking forward to it.
It [the two-year deal] was explained when I went to see [FAI chief executive] John [Delaney] and Ruud Dokter [FAI high performance director].
You can give me all the scenarios. If we do really well and get to the [Euro 2020] final and we win it, [you will say] they will want me to say. Well there might be a push for me to stay.
There might also be a job in the Premier League as well and I might want to move on. And if we do badly and we don’t qualify, then you won’t want me here anymore. So it kind of fits for me.
McCarthy replaces former Sunderland duo Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane but he says he won’t be turning to either for advice, for differing reasons:
I’m old enough and wise enough to make my own assessments. I’ve done it with players in the past when I’ve been scouting players. I ring somebody up for an opinion and maybe I haven’t signed them because of that opinion when maybe I should have done - I’ve been put off.
I’ll be looking at the games gone past and I’ll be watching our opponents as soon as I know who they are. I know he will be, Martin will be feeling a bit raw, so I’ll leave him alone.
You’re probably right. I won’t be speaking to Roy.