Source: Daily_Mail
Charles Sale: Sir John Walker is called to unravel the Notts County set
One of the country's elite spymasters has become involved in thefall-out from the Notts County ownership fiasco which led to thedeparture of Sven Goran Eriksson.[LNB]Air Marshal Sir John Walker is former Chief of Defence Intelligenceand an ex deputy chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee. He hasbeen asked to pool his information into a collective effort to unravelthe meltdown at the League Two club which attracted Eriksson toNottingham on the back of a promised multi-million package.[LNB]Putting his head above the parapet: Sven's arrival at Notts County is under investigation[LNB] More from Charles Sale... CHARLES SALE: Alan Curbishley case strikes new Hammer blow to West Ham23/02/10 Charles Sale Sports Agenda: Keep off the pitch, all except Capello22/02/10 CHARLES SALE: Morrisons inject £1m into England's 2018 World Cup bid19/02/10 Charles Sale: Globetrotter David Dein is on board with the England 2018 World Cup bid at last18/02/10 Charles Sale: John Terry too exposed for ITV cover shot17/02/10 CHARLES SALE: Official BBC report bares all in Ben Jacobs sabotage saga16/02/10 CHARLES SALE: West Ham seek £40m injection as to reduce £100m debt15/02/10 CHARLES SALE: Olympics on alert after Ipswich Town owner Marcus Evans' offers14/02/10 VIEW FULL ARCHIVE Walker's link is through his position on the advisory board of FirstLondon Securities, an international merchant banking business withconnections to the Jersey-based financial trio of Russell King andfather and son Nathan and Peter Willett. They were behind the proposedfive-year plan to take County to the Premier League.[LNB]Former County executive chairman Peter Trembling has sent an emailcopied to Sir John, Eriksson's agent Athole Still, sports broadcasterMatt Lorenzo, cricketer Mike Gatting, PR executive John West and others.[LNB]It included the phrases: 'Gentleman... I think we ought to belooking for recourse. Certainly I think it would help to collectivelygroup our information and tales of woe as I suspect we will have muchin common i.e. empty promises, involvement of the Bahraini royal familyetc. Can I suggest we meet in London to discuss further.'[LNB] [LNB]BBC's John Inverdale showed a surprising lack of basic sports knowledge while chairing a Question Time-style panel of Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe and opposition shadows Hugh Robertson and Don Foster.[LNB]First Inverdale announced he was unaware that the Sports Minister was not in the Cabinet. Then he called England Cricket Board's high-profile chairman Giles Clarke, who was sitting in front of him: 'Giles Smith.'[LNB] [LNB]Hugh Robertson, Tory sport spokesman, revealed he wrote to all 20 Premier League club chief executives requesting the opportunity to visit. Nineteen sent back welcome invitations, while one club didn't even bother replying Manchester United. [LNB]Robertson recalled this lack of correspondence after describing United manager Sir Alex Ferguson as 'sport's most famous Labour supporter'. A further missive to Old Trafford was finally answered by one of CEO David Gill's underlings.[LNB]A United spokesperson said: 'We clearly felt it appropriate to channel the communication through our Foundation.'[LNB] [LNB]Ashes cricket would not be returned to terrestrial TV under a Tory government, despite the David Davies report into listed crown jewel sports events recommending the move. Shadow sports minister Hugh Robertson described the proposal as 'very foolish.' [LNB] Set to go: Nani[LNB]Nani next for Hammers exitThe next West Ham cost-cutting casualty will be technical director Gianluca Nani, whose £300,000-a-year role has been in jeopardy since the recent takeover.[LNB]Nani was somehow given a three-year notice period by his extravagant employers and the new owners will only offer a fraction of that especially in the aftermath of the £2.2million pay-out to former manager Alan Curbishley. [LNB]Meanwhile, the talk at West Ham's training ground is how often during the day beleaguered manager Gianfranco Zola is receiving calls from demanding owner David Sullivan.[LNB] [LNB]England boss Fabio Capello might have been his usual aloof self, but other World Cup coaches were happy to be seen enjoying themselves at the tournament workshop in Sun City.[LNB] Italy's Marcelo Lippi was spotted on the slot machines, France's Raymond Domenech on the roulette table and Spain's Vicente del Bosque with his hands full of beers for the Spanish press corps Fabio please take note![LNB] [LNB]
