Sir Shomes: The only way prices will go down if fans boycott games! What's the point of buying a ticket and missing part of the game.

Aston Villa

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Aston Villa have hired an "independent financial firefighter" to look into big cut-backs if the club are relegated, according to the Mirror.

The paper says an email was sent to all staff last week, informing them of likely cut-backs in the event of relegation to the Championship.

The article adds: "Spending is expected to be slashed across commercial, academy and community departments, while in recent weeks Villa have already started to lay off match-day stewards and corporate hospitality staff because attendances at home games have fallen."

More on that here., external

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Pep Guardiola says Poland striker Robert Lewandowski is the most professional player he has ever worked with.

Guardiola helped develop the careers of the likes of Lionel Messi and Andrea Iniesta but he says it is Poland striker Lewandowski who is the most dedicated to his profession.

"He is the most professional player I have ever met," said Guardiola. "In his head, he thinks about the right food, sleep and training: 24 hours a day.

"He is always there, never injured, because he focuses on these things. He always knows what is important to be in the best condition." 

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Some exciting news for darts fans... the first ever Champions League of Darts will be broadcast live across the BBC in what is being billed as an "exciting new era" for the sport.

The eight-player tournament will be held in Cardiff on 24-25 September.

It will feature the leading eight players from the PDC Order of Merit come the end of July's World Matchplay, and the champion will earn £100,000.

PDC chairman Barry Hearn said the "very best players" will be participating in an "exciting, quick-fire tournament".

The eight players will be split for a round-robin group phase, with the top two from each group progressing to the knockout stages.

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Good news for Real Madrid fans, not so good for Manchester United supporters ... Cristiano Ronaldo says he will not leave the Spanish club before his contract expires in 2018.

The 31-year-old Portugal captain - who  has been continually linked with former club United, who sold him to Real in 2008, and Paris St-Germain - said: "I want to stay here two more years. The two years I'm talking about take me to the end of my contract.

"And the future, we'll see."

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Manchester United forward Memphis Depay should not be blamed for the misplaced pass that allowed Chelsea's Diego Costa to score a late equaliser in Sunday's Premier League game, says skipper Wayne Rooney.

"Memphis is a fantastic player and that happens, we all give bad passes away," United skipper Rooney told the Manchester Evening News., external

"A lot of things happened from when you give the ball away to when they've scored the goal, so I don't think we can stand here and blame Memphis."

Tottenham Hotspur

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Tottenham striker Harry Kane says the unity within the Spurs dressing room is the reason for their success this season.

Mauricio Pochettino's side are second in the Premier League, and star striker Kane told the London Evening Standard:, external “If you have one or two bad eggs, it can bring others down others - and we don’t have that.

"Everyone is fighting for each other and we are in a lot of competitions, so people know they will play games to try to impress the manager. We’ve got to try to keep that belief high."

John Bennett
BBC World Service

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"It’s not just in the English Premier League where there are protests about ticket prices this week.

"Tonight, 30% to 40% of Borussia Dortmund fans attending the German Cup match at Stuttgart are expected to stay outside the stadium for the first 20 minutes of the game.

"The fans are angry that Stuttgart are charging Dortmund fans €19.50 (£15) for standing tickets and €38.50 (£30) for the cheapest seats. And that 25% of the seated tickets allocated to Dortmund cost €77 (£60), including booking fee."

Manchester City

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We're going to hear lots of stories of footballing superstars joining Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, but perhaps there's some truth in a potential move for Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets.

That's because the Spain international has spoken fondly of Pep in an interview with ESPN:, external "I have always said there are just two people who could make me change my decision to stay at Barcelona.

"One of those two people is my wife. The other person is Guardiola. It's clear that I owe Pep a lot and I would be honoured to work with him again."

Arsenal

Arsenal have signed Leicester scout Ben Wrigglesworth - the man who is credited with helping to discover Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kante.

Journalist Jeremy Wilson, who wrote the story for the Telegraph, said:, external "It is part of an ongoing investment in the recruitment and analysis processes around manager Arsene Wenger and is also further proof of how talent identification and the interpretation of football data is becoming such a valued area of expertise."

It sounds like Arsenal have landed themselves a bit of a coup.

Bournemouth

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Good at cutting your lawn? Pruning your plants? Watering the flowers?

Well, Premier League side Bournemouth are looking for a green-fingered individual to work with their groundstaff team. 

Head here, external for more. And if are successful, remember the Sportsday live team when you're organising an end of season kickabout on the hallowed turf...

Italy have called Robert Barbieri and the uncapped Andrea Buondonno into their squad as injury cover ahead of Sunday's RBS Six Nations match against England.

Full-back David Odiete suffered a sprained ankle in Saturday's defeat against France while flanker Jacopo Sarto missed the game with a hamstring injury. George Biagi is another doubt to face England with a thigh problem and will be assessed during the week. 

BBC Radio 5 Live

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Algerian football journalist Maher Mehazi has revealed how a "street style of play" affected Leicester's Riyad Mahrez so much that he didn't know how to take a throw-in.

There's some more great insight in this clip from BBC Radio 5 live.

Just some quick news to bring you from the world of racing: Wednesday's meeting at Ludlow has been abandoned because the course is waterlogged.

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What's the one thing French striker Anthony Martial is missing since he moved to Manchester from Monaco?

In an interview with 'Inside United',, external he said: "One thing [I miss from France] would be going to the cinema," he said.

"I can't go over here because I wouldn't understand what was going on!"

He added that he prefers the quiet family life, ruling out many trips to the local nightclubs.

Thanks to all those who voted in our Sportsday poll. The results are in... and a whopping 76% of you said you would support a walkout at your club because of ticket prices. Just 5% said they wouldn't and a further 19% believe there are better ways to protest.

Here's some news which will cheer fans of Wales. The WRU have tweeted:, external "Dan Biggar has made excellent progress with ankle injury. Indications are it is not considered long term. Decisions over his availability for this weekend to face Scotland will be made later in the week."

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Kortney Hause and Jordan Graham have signed new contracts with Championship club Wolves.

Defender Hause and winger Graham, both 20, are both recovering from long-term injuries but have agreed to stay at Molineux until 2019 and 2018 respectively.

Graham's contract has the option of a two-year extension in the club's favour.

Mark Cavendish was beaten to the line by Alexander Kristoff in stage two of the Tour of Qatar - but the Manxman retains the leader's gold jersey.

Dimension Data's Cavendish, who won stage one on Monday, finished second at Qatar University as Kristoff (Katusha) prevailed in a stage that served as a test event for October's World Championships in Doha.

As the race neared its conclusion, a big crash in the peloton held up much of the field but Cavendish, the 2011 world champion, was safely ahead of the carnage.