Shanghai  is disputing Drogba’s Galatasaray transfer, claiming it still holds the former Chelsea’s striker’s sporting rights. The Chinese club is preparing a case, which it intends to submit to FIFA, according to the BBC.

“The club is deeply shocked,” Shanghai Shenhua said. ”Drogba is still a player of Shanghai Shenhua Football Club. The contract between the two parties is still within the period of validity.

“We understand that Drogba is eager to participate in the European Champions League.

“Shanghai Shenhua Football Club and Drogba, on 1 July, 2012, officially signed a formal contract for a period of two-and-a-half years. The club has acted in accordance with this contract and has effectively fulfilled the responsibilities and obligations of the club. Shanghai Shenhua is prepared to collate all the evidence and information and submit it to FIFA in order to protect its interests.”

On Monday, Galatasaray announced that it had reached an agreement to sign the 34-year-old.  He expects to join his new club after the Africa Cup of Nations, but Shanghai’s reaction has cast doubt on the transfer. Drogba intends to help Galatasaray compete for domestic and European honors this season.

“The opportunity to play for this great club was an offer that I could not turn down,” Drogba said through his management company’s Twitter account. ”I am looking forward to playing in the [UEFA] Champions League again, against the best clubs in Europe.”

The Turkish transfer window for shuts on Jan. 31. Drogba’s fate could rest with FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, or the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). There is a possibility that Drogba will not complete his Galatasaray transfer in time to participate in his new team’s Champions League Round-of-16 matchup against FC Schalke. The first leg is on Feb. 20, and transfer disputes can take a long time to come to a resolution.

Have a question for Marcus Kwesi O’Mard? Send it to him via Twitter at @NESNsoccer, NESN Soccer’s Facebook page or send it here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.

Red Sox Nation lost one of its own as legendary player, coach and mentor Johnny Pesky passed away at 92 earlier this month.

Pesky meant a great deal to everyone in the Red Sox organization, from the front office all the way to the players. Manager Bobby Valentine wanted to make that very clear during his interview on The Bobby Valentine Show on Friday.

The current Sox skipper was passionate when speaking about Pesky, saying that while Pesky may not be here physically, his
"spirit" will always surround the franchise.

Check out the video above for more from Valentine.

Thumbnail via Twitter/@Jose3030

Bobby Valentine

At his daily media briefing, Valentine refused to enter the
debate, saying only "I
think it's very insulting to the Pesky family for people to be thinking that an
organization that loved him so much did anything other than the right
thing. That's my answer to that."

While taping an interview for the latest edition of The
Bobby Valentine Show on NESN, Valentine shed a little light into why more
players may not have been on hand.

"When we got the notification of the ceremonies when we got
off the road, there was a list of ceremonies for Johnny and one of them was what
we were going to do on the field, one was what we were going to do later in the
week, and it was a real optional situation," said Valentine. "I knew the
guys were going to do the charity event with Josh Beckett that night and they
were talking about that.

"As far as David [Ortiz] showing up and Vicente Padilla and
I'm not sure who else — I saw Clay [Buchholz] was there and [Jarrod]
Saltalamacchia — I guess that's what they had to do that day and they thought
it to be important to do in their life. I'll be willing to bet that there are
many players that passed the church, maybe lit a candle, thought of Johnny
during that day, came to the ballpark the next day, obviously when we lined up
had Johnny in mind, so I don't think it was a neglect in any way, but, you know,
possibly could have been a bigger turnout."

It would certainly seem the team could've made the visit a
bigger priority for the players, who returned from a 10-game road trip in the
wee hours Monday morning. As Valentine said, it was clearly optional, and
all but four of the team's current players opted not to go.

"I think that everyone got an email, and,
you know, maybe that communication line isn’t set up the way it's supposed to
be," Valentine said.

Communication has been one of the buzzwords of the 2012 Red
Sox. While Pesky was being laid to rest Monday, the Red Sox were relieving
pitching coach Bob McClure of his duties. Valentine continues to talk
about communication in the clubhouse being a "work in progress," so I asked him
if it's normal for that progress to take a full season to complete.

"Normal is a really silly word, Tom," said Valentine. "This isn’t normal. There's nothing normal about being this manager this
year, with this group, and this staff. Nothing normal at all. What do you
mean normal? I think it’s getting very good.

"I'm texting guys when they get their days off now.
They wanted that and people think of that as the communication. I don't think
of that as the communication. I think the idea of communication is that there is
one voice, and that voice is heard throughout, and I think we need to continue to
work on that."

Was it tough to establish that chain of communication?

"Yeah, of course,"
said Valentine, "because you have to set up communication lines you know and
you have to teach what's being said. When Jesus came on earth, he chose 12 guys
to go around and spread the word. It wasn't easy for them to spread the word. Okay, I'm not Jesus, but there is a communication situation where you have to go
from one to many and that's not easy."

A lot of uncertainty accompanies a career as a professional baseball player, and this is never more true than during the last few weeks of July, as the MLB trade deadline draws close. But it's no picnic for managers, either.

Having to consistently field a lineup knowing that your roster might look different in a couple of days — or a couple of hours — is a difficult task. It's especially tough if a veteran player with whom the skipper has a long relationship is on the chopping block. Navigating these waters is why managers get paid the big bucks, and the best ones are able to integrate the new pieces so that the team is better after the trade deadline than it was before.

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine sat down with NESN's Tom Caron in the latest installment of The Bobby Valentine Show, presented by People's United Bank to discuss one of the most difficult periods of the season.

Check out the video above for his take.

Bobby Valentine

The Red Sox are still hanging around the .500 mark on the season, even amidst a bevy of injuries, and are hoping to improve on their inconsistent play as the likes of Carl Crawford, Jacoby Ellsbury and others return.

David Ortiz has been the most consistent and dangerous Red Sox bat in 2012, hitting .313 with 18 home runs and 49 RBIs heading into the weekend series with Atlanta. Ortiz’ on-field play has been important, but what’s been of even more significance is the DH’s leadership in the clubhouse.

While Ortiz has been the vocal leader for the Sox, All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez has been a silent but effective leader for the team this season as well. In the middle of a lineup overload, given the combination of Will Middlebrooks and Kevin Youkilis, Gonzalez has played 18 games in the outfield this season to better accomodate all of the Sox pieces.

The pitching staff continues to be an enigma, as Clay Buchholz has proven inconsistent each time he takes the mound and Daisuke Matsuzaka continues his trend of slow starts in each of his first three outings.

With all this and much more, NESN’s Tom Caron will have plenty to discuss with the Red Sox manager during this month’s edition of The Bobby Valentine Show. But he’ll still need your help to cover all the concerns of Red Sox Nation.

If you’ve got a question for Bobby Valentine send it in via @NESN on Twitter and use #AskBobbyV.

Fans can also leave questions in the comments section below, on Facebook or by sending questions to his mailbag.

The Red Sox pitching rotation was the focus of great scrutiny to start the season, as neither the rotation nor the bullpen could seem to get their act together.

Recently, the Red Sox have looked solid in both factes of their pitching staff, and manager Bobby Valentine feels much more confident in his decision making, given the strong performances.

Valentine told NESN's Tom Caron that he feels much better when he can "select his relievers" rather than "being forced" to use certain guys.

Check out the video above from The Bobby Valentine show to hear more of Valentine's thoughts on the pitching staff.

NESN is asking fans to submit questions for Bobby V to answer on The Bobby Valentine Show by sending them to NESN's Twitter handle using the hashtag #AskBobby. The next episode will air May 15.

Fans can also leave questions in the comments section below, on Facebook or by sending questions to his mailbag.

Bobby Valentine was named the 45th manager in Red Sox history Dec. 1, 2011. Valentine came to the Red Sox after managerial stints with the Texas Rangers, Chibe Lotte Marines of the NPB and New York Mets, and after a brief broadcast career with ESPN, where he served as baseball analyst on Sunday Night Baseball. The Stamford, Conn., native was drafted fifth overall by the Dodgers out of USC in 1968 and enjoyed a professional baseball career that ended with the Mariners in 1979. Have a question for the Red Sox skipper? Send it to his mailbag.

Bobby Valentine had a successful career in the big leagues as a player, and has been even more successful as a manager. But would Bobby V. have been a football star?

Apparently during his high school years, Valentine was such a tremendous athlete that he not only had the chance to suit up on the diamond but he also had an offer to play football at the University of Southern California.

Valentine never took USC up on the scholarship offer, instead choosing to pursue his dreams on the diamond. In the end, Valentine says he made the right call and even noted that experience has had some impact on his managerial career.

Check out the video above to hear more about Valentine's history and to see more from the first episode of The Bobby Valentine Show.

The Sox skipper has plenty on his mind and plenty of things to talk about so NESN is going let him loose starting April 19 when The Bobby Valentine Show debuts. NESN is asking fans to send in some questions for Bobby V to answer on the show, by sending them to NESN's Twitter handle using the hashtag #AskBobby.

Fans can also leave questions in the comments section below, on Facebook or by sending in questions to his mailbag.

Bobby Valentine was named the 44th manager in Red Sox history on Nov. 21, 2011. Valentine came to the Red Sox after managerial stints with the Texas Rangers, Chibe Lotte Marines of the NPB and New York Mets, and after a brief broadcast career with ESPN, where he served as baseball analyst on Sunday Night Baseball. The Stamford, Conn., native was drafted fifth overall by the Dodgers out of USC in 1968 and enjoyed a professional baseball career that ended with the Mariners in 1979. Have a question for the Red Sox skipper? Send it to his mailbag.