A sting in Bees tale for Mark
Lazar hit by ban
BRENTFORD are happy to lose the man who led them up from League One last term and into the Premier League promotion race this season .
Owner Matthew Benham made the decision to part company with manager Mark Warburton at the end of the season after a disagreement over the club’s long- term direction.
It is understood Benham and Warburton clashed in January over the club’s transfer policy, with the manager unwilling to bring in new faces which might have unsettled the current squad.
As part of a remodelling , a head coach will be appointed to work alongside a new sporting director. There will also be a new recruitment structure using a mixture of traditional scouting and other tools, including mathematical modelling.
The head coach will have a strong input into the players brought in but not an absolute veto.
Benham said: “We would have loved Mark to stay, working within the new structure but he feels this is not right for him.
“We had to weigh up the benefi ts of the new structure against losing a fantastically successful manager before taking this decision.
“Under Mark’s stewardship, Brentford have achieved a high league position and played football which is a joy to watch. It is diffi cult to seek to implement change, particularly when things appear to be going so well, but I am single- minded in my resolve that we can leave no stone unturned in our quest for sustainable Premier League football.”
Warburton was appointed Bees boss in December 2013, moving from his role as sporting director, following Uwe Rosler’s departure to Wigan.
He led them to promotion fi ve months later and their form in the Championship has been remarkable – they only slipped out of the top six for the fi rst time this season following a 3- 0 defeat at Charlton on Saturday. Warburton said there had been a disagreement over “key philosophical differences” but added: “In my remaining time at the club we shall move heaven and earth to get the promotion that the players, fans and Matthew deserve .”
Assistant manager David Weir will also go at the end of the season, while sporting director Frank McParland has been placed on gardening leave . BIRMINGHAM City’s parent company have appointed receivers to try to end the infi ghting among the board.
Birmingham International Holdings ( BIHL) have appointed Ernst and Young to manage the company. However, the Championship club moved to allay fears over their future and insist they are not in fi nancial diffi culty.
No winding- up petition has been fi led against BIHL and they are not in liquidation. The Hong Kong- based BIHL board have asked Ernst and Young to run the company without “obstruction and distraction”. LIVERPOOL winger Lazar Markovic has been given a four- match European ban by UEFA.
The Serbia international was sent off in Liverpool’s Champions League clash with Basle in December .
Markovic, right, was given a straight red card by referee Bjorn Kuipers after his outstretched hand glanced the face of Basle midfi elder Behrang Safari. His ban was extended by one game because he was sent off in last season’s Europa League semi- fi nal when playing for Benfi ca.
Markovic will miss tomorrow’s Europa League clash with Besiktas at Anfi eld, the second leg in Istanbul next week and both games in the last 16 if the Reds progress. ❑ NEWCASTLE manager John Carver fears defender Paul Dummett could be sidelined with a knee injury until April. The club will receive the result of scans in the next 24 hours to discover the extent of the problem. FIRST- TEAM coach Scott Marshall has left Aston Villa after the appointment of Tim Sherwood.
Marshall had been in caretaker charge following the sacking of Paul Lambert last week and oversaw Sunday’s 2- 1 FA Cup win over Leicester.
Villa chief executive Tom Fox said: “I’d like to thank Scott for his efforts during his time at the club and especially under diffi cult circumstances at the weekend .”
Lambert is returning to former club Borussia Dortmund, with whom he won the European Cup, to observe a week’s training .