Premier League director set for exit and Mike Riley faces no pressure over VAR

The Premier League is losing one of its most respected executives.

Long serving Executive Office Director Peta Bistany is leaving with no departure date yet fixed and no job to go to but she wants to spend more time with her family, according to a source.

Bistany is well liked among clubs and in the Premier League for the work she has done across the board with charities, business and community projects.

She was unwittingly caught up in the sexist e-mail scandal involving former Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore.

Aussie Bistany was referred to as “Edna” in one exchange while was also reported to have played along with some of the e-mails, but later strongly defended Scudamore which probably helped him keep his job at the time.

These are testing times for new Premier League chief Richard Masters on the back of weekly VAR controversies and that will come under the spotlight again at the IFAB meeting in Belfast on Saturday.

But what is surprising is that Mike Riley, general manager of Professional Game Match Officials Limited, is not under more pressure.

Despite the general feeling among fans that Riley is partly to blame for discouraging referees from checking pitch side monitors, there is no will among most clubs to remove him. One senior executive insisted it is not going away – but must be improved.

IFAB will discuss VAR, offside and handball among other things at their annual general meeting while also likely to be discussed is a proposal to allow a live broadcast of the referees’ feed from the VAR and fourth official as has been used in Australia to offer greater transparency.

Transfer business to be done early

Premier League clubs are trying to get their business done early despite the transfer window being put back until the end of August.

They fear the Euros and this summer’s Copa America will have a big impact and you could see a rush of big moves before clubs embark on pre-season trips.

Chelsea are looking for a new keeper as Kepa Arrizabalaga – who joined for £70m in 2018 – is expected be bombed out this summer because he has not adapted to English football or, more significantly, the club’s coaches and coaching ideas.

Bayern Munich are going to get Leroy Sane from Manchester City this summer with the German winger switching agents and leaving David Beckham’s new set-up as he looks to get the transfer which would have happened last summer but for his knee injury in the Community Shield.

Real Madrid have set their sights on PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe as their big summer target and that may end any thought of going for Raheem Sterling this summer.

Sterling has already said he is not looking to leave City because of the European ban, his comments about Real were respectful but pretty standard and AS insisted that posing with two shirts ahead of a big game (as he did last week) is a normal thing in Spain.

Bye bye Brazil

talkSPORT legend Alan Brazil this week signalled his departure from the ever-popular breakfast show.

Brazil, who has been on holiday for most of this week, said to co-host Sam Allardyce: “See you in a week and then it all changes but I’ll let someone else tell you that…”

Sky’s excellent Laura Woods has been holding the fort with the shake-up first revealed in this column imminent. Talksport will also be using Faye Carruthers, who is an excellent broadcaster, as their Euro 2020 England reporter.

Meanwhile, funniest thing heard this week involves Ian Abrahams who likes to call himself The Moose. After complaining about a lack of hot food at a recent match, he returned to the broadcasting point carrying a plate of biscuits.

But, not looking where he was going whilst protecting his custard creams, he accidentally kicked a cable out of a socket and took the station’s live coverage briefly off air. Perhaps that explains why he seems to have stopped posting annoying pictures of his pre-match grub.

Unique record

Stephen Constantine holds a notable record in English football.

Former Millwall coach Constantine, 57, is the only current English manager to have been in charge of five different national teams.

Constantine has managed Nepal, India (twice), Malawi, Sudan and Rwanda which puts him ahead of Roy Hodgson (four). It is probably worth a shout in the New Year’s honours… He wants to get into club football after leaving India last year.

But it is a tough world out there for managers right now. Incredibly, the Faroe Islands recently had 300 applicants – and the job as national boss was not even advertised!

Wenger Dein double act returns

Arsene Wenger and David Dein were arguably Arsenal ’s greatest ever double act as manager and executive vice-chairman.

Now they are being reunited on stage for one night only at the London Palladium in aid of Dein’s brilliant Twinning Project charity which does great work in prisons and for prisoners. Ian Wright and Alex Scott will host the evening with Dermot O’Leary asking the questions.

They are the best of friends and Dein remains one of the most influential figures in Arsenal’s history. There will be some notable ex-players and club legends in attendance.

Meanwhile, Arsenal remain hopeful that they can tempt Wenger back to the Emirates as their guest of honour. Several club execs have spoken to him about making an emotional return. It’s about time.

Tickets for the event are on sale and can be purchased either by visiting https://lwtheatres.co.uk/wenger-dein or calling 02070877755.