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Agent poised to take chair if bid for Leicester succeeds

Alan Nixon
Tuesday 24 December 2002 01:00 GMT
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Gary Lineker's consortium, which is bidding to take control of Leicester, yesterday announced the board of directors that will run the club if it succeeds with the bid.

The former England and Leicester striker will himself have no role on the board, which will be chaired by the football agent Jon Holmes, who will relinquish his Fifa licence and take no further part in the football transfer and contract business of his SFX Sports Group. Holmes will remain as the managing director of that company and concentrate on their television and broadcasting activities.

The consortium has also named seven prospective directors. The appointments would hold until the end of the season, when the board would be elected by the shareholders.

The new board would then elect its chairman. A place on the board will also be allocated to the Foxes' Trust, subject to it investing an agreed sum in the club.

The Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard faces an anxious festive season as he waits to discover whether he will face any action from the Football Association following his two-footed lunge at Gary Naysmith on Sunday.

The Everton defender cleared the ball down the touchline with three minutes remaining of the Merseyside derby, only to be caught by Gerrard. The referee Graham Poll took no punitive action, but the FA's video panel could request a viewing of the incident once it has assessed the report from the match official.

It was revealed yesterday that Everton had the official Eddie Wolstenholme removed from duty for Sunday's derby.

The Blackburn referee was booked to be the fourth official for the game less than a month after sparking mayhem by sending off David Unsworth against Chelsea. Wolstenholme dismissed the Everton defender for jostling with Chelsea's Jesper Gronkjaer and stuck by his decision despite protests by the Danish winger and afterwards by Everton.

The Everton manager, David Moyes, complained about Wolstenholme's handling of the match against Chelsea, which the Toffees lost 3-1. Wolstenholme refused to review his decision to dismiss Unsworth, who picked up a four-game ban for the offence although television pictures showed that it was not serious. After protests from Everton, the FA withdrew Wolstenholme from his touchline job on Sunday.

Celtic may be set to miss out on the services of the Brazilian midfielder Kleberson, as Leeds United look favourites to secure the World Cup winner. The Atletico Paranaense player was a target for Martin O'Neill before the transfer window closed in August. However, the South American club wanted a commitment on a permanent deal once the initial loan period had expired, which O'Neill was not prepared to agree to.

Bolton Wanderers are ready to offer Mark Bosnich a job if he is not banned from football after testing positive for cocaine. Their manager Sam Allardyce wants to speak to the Chelsea goalkeeper about joining the Trotters for the rest of the season. But Allardyce has turned down the chance to sign the Russian World Cup striker Vladimir Bechastnykh and the Ukrainian defender Alexander Holovko.

Graeme Souness has turned to South America to solve his left-back problem, with a bid of about £2.5m for the Colombian international Gerardo Bedoya. The Blackburn Rovers manager has sent his chief scout Terry Darracott to watch the 26-year-old play for Racing Club of Buenos Aires, to whom Bedoya has been loaned by the Colombian club Deportivo Cali.

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