Trabzonspor suffer Szymkowiak setback

Trabzonspor

Superliga club Odense BK signed Moroccan international Bouabib Bouden on a free transfer from French club RC Lens just before the closing of the Danish transfer window last night. The 23-year-old forward has represented his country seven times. At the same time, Viborg FF signed 22-year-old midfielder Mikkel Rask from first division club Randers FC.

NK Slaven Koprivnica have beaten NK Varteks to the signature of the former Croatia striker Miljenko Mumlek. The 32-year-old returns to his homeland after two years in Belgium with R. Standard de Liège following the expiry of his contract. Mumlek scored once in eight outings for his country.

Real Zaragoza goalkeeper César Sánchez is expected to be out of action for at least four weeks after sustaining a calf muscle injury in Sunday's 2-2 draw against Valencia CF. César was taken off after half-an-hour yesterday after reportedly tearing muscle fibres in his right calf while celebrating Rubén Cani's second goal. Meanwhile, Brazilian forward Ewerthon has been given a clean bill of health after a clash of heads earlier in the match left him concussed.

Mircea Rednic has signed a two-year contract as coach of Romanian first division club FC Vaslui. He has taken over from Basarab Panduru who left the club by mutual consent yesterday. The 43-year-old Rednic won a first promotion to the top division with Vaslui in the latter half of the 2004/05 season. He previously won the Romanian title, Romanian Cup and Romanian Super Cup as coach of AFC Rapid Bucuresti.

In Iceland, Teitur Thordarson has signed a five-year contract to take over as coach of KR Reykjavík. Thordarson, whose clubs as a player included Lens in France and Sweden's Östers IF, has previously been in charge of Norwegian side SK Brann and the Estonian national team.

Three successive Azerbaijani First Division defeats have led to the resignation of FK Khazar Lenkoran coach Rasim Kara. Despite signing seven high-profile Azeri internationals and several players from abroad over the summer, Lenkoran lost out to Romania's FC Nistru Otaci in the UEFA Cup first qualifying round and have won only once in their last four league matches. Sunday's 2-0 home defeat by FC Inter Baku prompted Kara to step down, with Nazim Suleymanov taking over on a temporary basis until a permanent replacement can be found.