Fowler dismisses talk of return to England

July 8, 2009

MELBOURNE (AFP) – Former Liverpool and England striker Robbie Fowler on Wednesday dismissed reports he would leave Australia to play for ex-teammate John Barnes at English League One side Tranmere Rovers.

The 34-year-old signed a two-year contract with A-League debutants North Queensland Fury in February and said he had no intention of walking away from the deal.

“It looks like somebody’s put two and two together and come up with six,” Fowler said.

“I’ve got a two-year contract with North Queensland Fury and I’m a man of my word — I’ll play it out.”

Fowler, whose goal-scoring exploits once saw him idolised in the red half of Merseyside, said his family had recently arrived in Australia ahead of his A-League debut later this month.

“They wouldn’t have travelled all this way if I had any intention to leave,” he said.

Fury coach Ian Ferguson said he had not been contacted by Barnes and was confident his marquee signing was staying.

“When you’ve got a world-class player in your team there’s always going to be speculation about him going to other clubs,” he said.

Fowler scored 120 goals in 236 league appearances for Liverpool and also played for Leeds United, Manchester City, Cardiff City and Blackburn Rovers.

Tags: Australia, blackburn, blackburn rovers, cardiff city, debutants, England, English Premier League, exploits, Ferguson, Ian Ferguson, intention, john barnes, league appearances, league debut, LEEDS, leeds united, Liverpool, man of my word, manchester city, Melbourne, Merseyside, north queensland, robbie fowler, speculation, striker, teammate, tranmere rovers

Whitmore replaces Barnes as Jamaica manager for Gold Cup

June 9, 2009

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Former Jamaican international Theodore Whitmore has been appointed as the new manager of the Reggae Boyz to replace John Barnes, who left to take over English third-division club Tranmere Rovers.

The appointment of the 36-year-old Whitmore came following Jamaica’s 3-2 friendly victory over Panama on Sunday. Jamaican Football Federation spokesman Nodley Wright explained that Barnes’ contract was to expire June 30 and that the federation installed Whitmore to prepare the team for next month’s CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States.

This will be the third time Whitmore has served as manager of the Reggae Boyz. He replaced Bora Milutinovic on an interim basis in November 2007, winning two friendlies before ceding to Rene Simoes. He then filled in for Simoes in September when the Brazilian was fired following a pair of losses in five days that virtually eliminated Jamaica from the semifinal round of World Cup qualifying.

Whitmore coached the team for two games, a pair of 1-0 World Cup qualifying victories over Mexico and Honduras, before giving way to Barnes. The former Jamaican-born English international then guided the team through the Caribbean Championship finals, winning the Reggae Boyz’ fourth title in front of a home crowd.

Besides the national team, Whitmore also served as player-manager of Jamaica club team Seba United in 2006. He scored 24 goals in 105 appearances for Jamaica, including two goals against Japan in Jamaica’s World Cup debut in 1998.

Jamaica will begin the Gold Cup on July 3 against Canada in the first game of the tournament opening doubleheader. It is returning to the CONCACAF nations championship for a seventh time after missing the biennial event in 2005.

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