Damiano set to join Liverpool as coach
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Your support makes all the difference.Liverpool will maintain their French connection with Gérard Houllier appointing the former Fulham assistant manager Christian Damiano as his new first-team coach. The move comes just 24 hours after it was announced that another Frenchman, Jacques Crevoisier, would be leaving the coaching post for family reasons.
The Liverpool manager has consistently employed French coaches he has worked with either at the French FA or at their Clairfontaine youth academy. Damiano is no exception; he was Houllier's assistant when the pair took the French Under-18 side to victory in the 1996 European youth championships.
Since then Damiano has coached Nice and then acted as Jean Tigana's No 2 at Fulham before leaving when the former French midfielder was sacked towards the end of the season, with Chris Coleman taking over at the west London club.
Houllier said: "All things being well, Christian will join us for next season. He's an excellent coach who is responsible for helping to nurture some of the biggest talents in France, including Thierry Henry and William Gallas."
Everton are considering responding to Wayne Rooney-mania by imposing a cap on season ticket sales for the first time in their 125-year history.
With sales now booming towards an all-time high, the Goodison Park club are experiencing the impact of having English football's brightest young thing in David Moyes' rejuvenated team.
With a ground capacity of 40,170, Everton topped 40,000 for the final five games of last season when they finished an impressive seventh. Now they are approaching 27,000 season ticket sales, which would break their 1996 record. And that is the point where they may decide to introduce a cap.
"Last season when we sold 24,000 was our second-highest season ticket sale ever, said the club's chief executive, Michael Dunford.
"We will certainly break our record now and there are only around 600 left before we hit 27,000 which is the figure we have talked about as a cap."
Everton will make a decision after 21 June, which is the deadline for renewals. They want to keep 10,000 tickets for general sale, along with 3,000 for visiting fans.
Moyes will start the season without Duncan Ferguson who has been hit with a three-match ban by the Football Association. Ferguson had pleaded not guilty by letter to the FA after being charged with violent conduct after an alleged elbowing incident with Aston Villa's Joey Gudjonsson in April.
The Everton striker also declined the chance of a personal hearing.
Television cameras captured Ferguson's clash with the Icelandic midfielder, but the incident was missed by the referee Graham Poll. The FA then referred the incident to its video panel, who decided that the Scot should be charged.
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