Football: Akinbiyi gets a hearing after staging sit-in protest

THE LIKES of Craig Bellamy may resolve disputes with their clubs by telling all to the media, but Ade Akinbiyi has hit upon a less conventional approach.

Unhappy at not having yet been offered a new contract by Stoke City, and dissatisfied with the direction in which he feels his side are heading, the forward staged a sit-in protest against the club's chairman, Gunnar Gislason. The 30-year-old, who has been the subject of transfer bids from Sheffield United and Wigan Athletic, is frustrated at seeing Stoke's promotion push fall away after five consecutive Championship defeats.

"I sat down in John Rudge's [director of football] office, made myself comfortable and refused to move and, after about an hour, John finally gave in and agreed to call the chairman," he said. "My persistence paid off and after speaking to the chairman for an hour I was able to make clear how we all felt, myself and the other players, and the atmosphere at the club."