LONDON:Norwegian manager Henning Berg has been sacked as coach of Blackburn Rovers after only 57 days in the job, the Indian-owned English Championship club announced on Thursday.
Berg signed a three-year contract on October 31 but he guided Blackburn to just one victory in his 10 matches at the helm and Wednesday’s 1-0 loss at Middlesbrough was the team’s fifth defeat in six matches in England’s second tier.
“Blackburn Rovers FC has announced the departure of manager Henning Berg, assistant manager Eric Black, first team coach Iain Brunskill and goalkeeping coach Bobby Mimms with immediate effect,” read a statement on the Blackburn website.
“This decision has been taken following a very disappointing sequence of results. The club thanks the four men for their efforts and wishes them every success for the future.” As a player, Berg played an important role in Blackburn’s 1995 Premier League title success, but the club’s owners, Indian poultry firm Venky’s, were not prepared to show him patience.
Venky’s director Balaji Rao was quoted in The Times of India on Thursday as saying: “We have not been doing well and dropping points and losing matches quite often. I want to go up (to the Premier League).” Wednesday’s loss to Middlesbrough left Blackburn in 17th place in the 24-team Championship, eight points below the play-off places and seven points above the relegation zone.
Blackburn sack Berg after just 57 days
Blackburn sack Berg after just 57 days
Undefeated boxing great Terence Crawford announces retirement
- Crawford, (42-0, 31 knockouts), retires as the reigning WBA, IBF and WBO supermiddleweight champion after defeating Alvarez by unanimous decision in a masterful performance
- Crawford’s career straddled three different decades, with the southpaw making his professional debut in 2008 and rapidly becoming one of boxing’s brightest talents
LOS ANGELES: Undefeated world super middleweight champion Terence Crawford announced his retirement from boxing on Tuesday, hanging up his gloves three months after a career-defining victory over Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
The 38-year-old from Nebraska, who dominated Mexican legend Alvarez in Las Vegas in September to claim the undisputed super middleweight crown, announced his decision in a video posted on social media.
“I’m stepping away from competition, not because I’m done fighting, but because I’ve won a different type of battle,” Crawford said in his retirement message. “The one where you walk away on your own terms.”
Crawford, (42-0, 31 knockouts), retires as the reigning WBA, IBF and WBO supermiddleweight champion after defeating Alvarez by unanimous decision in a masterful performance.
Crawford had also held the WBC super middleweight belt, but was stripped of it earlier this month following a dispute over sanctioning fees.
Speaking in his video, Crawford said his career had been driven by a desire to keep “proving everyone wrong.”
“Every fighter knows this moment will come, we just never know when,” Crawford said.
“I spent my whole life chasing something. Not belts, not money, not headlines. But that feeling, the one you get when the world doubts you but you keep showing up and you keep proving everyone wrong.”
“I fought for my family. I fought for my city. I fought for the kid I used to be, the one who had nothing but a dream and a pair of gloves. And I did it all my way. I gave this sport every breath I had.”
Crawford’s career straddled three different decades, with the southpaw making his professional debut in 2008 and rapidly becoming one of boxing’s brightest talents.
He won his maiden world title, the WBO lightweight crown, with victory over Scotland’s Ricky Burns in 2014.
Crawford won 18 world titles in five weight classes, culminating in his win over Alvarez.
He retires having never been officially knocked down in a fight.
All of his 42 victories have come by way of unanimous decision or stoppage, with no judge ever scoring in favor of an opponent during his career.
