Fergie Hit With Touchline Ban

Age does not seem to mellow Alex Ferguson. The 66-year-old manager was hit with a two match touchline ban and a £10,000 fine today following the row that ensued at Old Trafford after Manchester United's 4-3 victory over Hull City.
Ferguson was incensed that referee Mike Dean did not send off Hull defender Andy Turner for a foul on Michael Carrick. He was further inflamed when Dean later awarded Hull a penalty for a Rio Ferdinand challenge on Bernard Mendy.
The Scot’s latest suspension begins on December 2 and means he will not be in the dugout for the Carling Cup match against Blackburn the following day.
He will also be in the stands when Sunderland visit on December 6, preventing him from a touchline reunion with Roy Keane, perhaps to the relief of the fourth official.
There were also signs of Fergsuon's famous paranoia when he claimed that the FA were "dying" to hit him with his latest charge.
Despite this, Ferguson did admit to the offence against Dean, and this was taken in to account by the FA's Regulatory Commission when they met in Manchester today, as was the manager's previous disciplinary record.
Ferguson served a similar ban last season for a finger-pointing rant at referee Mark Clattenburg following a defeat at Bolton Wanderers.

Rosicky backed to shine again

Czech Republic head coach Petr Rada is convinced Tomas Rosicky will be back in contention for a start in the near future.
The midfield schmer has not played for Arsenal since picking up a ligament injury in January and went under the knife last month to remedy the problem.
Arsene Wenger issued an upbeat bulletin on Rosicky recently and Rada feels the 28-year-old is making good progress.
Rada has his eyes trained on the World Cup qualifier with Slovenia on March 28 and feels Rosicky will be in contention.
“I am 100% convinced he will play in this match,” Rada told Czech TV Nova.
“Tomas is physically fine, he is on his way to recovery.”

Now Mourinho Wants Tevez!!

Reports in The People suggest that Portuguese coach Mourinho has already sounded out Kia Joorabchian, the president of Tevez's parent company Media Sports Investments, about a move.Talks between Tevez, United and MSI over a permanent stay have stalled of late, with the Argentine growing increasingly unsettled at Old Trafford. He's flitted in and out of the first-team this season and appears to have lost a bit of spark after falling out with Sir Alex Ferguson.Fergie has given the bullish forward more playing time of late and will continue to do so with Wayne Rooney crocked. However, Angolan international Manucho came on for Tevez in the win over Stoke as the boss considers his options.Mourinho would relish doing transfer battle with old foe Ferguson, but it must be said that the move seems somewhat unlikely. Tevez will be aware of Hernan Crespo's Nerazzurri woes and would be more likely to seek a guaranteed staring slot if he leaves Old Trafford.Real Madrid will remain favourites as they seek to replace long-term absentee Ruud van Nistelrooy, although transfer plans may change depending on the fate of under-fire boss Bernd Schuster.

The World Doesn't Like Italian Football - Mourinho

The former Chelsea man, who has experience in Spain from his time at Barcelona working as a translator as well as Portgual and England, thinks football in Italy is being shunned by the other major leagues."Italian football is not liked by the rest of the world, even though it doesn't seem like it," said Mourinho at a meeting in Coverciano as reported by Tuttosport."I feel like one of you. My family in Portugal has to wait until midnight to see a game in Serie A where as at seven they can watch a poor game like Getafe against Valladolid."All the leagues are difficult as is winning, even if a coach is good. We Portuguese are like Italians. It's very important to win a game, even if it comes in the 89 minute without playing well."Italian football is difficult, this is true. The coach needs to prepare the team very well."However, as a coach I think it's brilliant, spectacular. I made four changes against Genoa and they adapted every time."I am interested in Italian football as a product, but people abroad don't like it - especially in Asia where it's not sold very much."We have to improve upon this in future."The coach was speaking at the Panchina d'Oro awards where, ironically, clubless coach Roberto Mancini scooped the prize. Mourinho will be hoping he wins it next year.

Arsenal Keen On Fiorentina Star - Reports

The Brazilian midfielder has been outstanding for the Tuscan side this season, and he has raised a number of eyebrows around Europe - none more so than those of Gunners boss Arsene Wenger.Firenzeviola.it claims that the North London club sent their scouting team to watch Melo in action against Bayern Munich last week and against Atalanta on Sunday, when the player scored his first Serie A goal.Melo was in red hot form in both games and thus Wenger will be recieving good news from his assistants.Reports suggest the midfielder's reprasentative Jose Rodri Baster was approached with an offer from the English club, although it is unlikely Fiorentina will let their player go.I Gigliati bought the star from Spanish side Almeria last season for €8 million and he is considered one for the future.Felipe's contract runs until 2013 and it doesn't seem as through the Artemio Franchi side will be keen on selling one of their most prized assets.Arsenal have always been keen on youth, but Cesare Prandelli is a huge fan of Melo and thus any future deal may be impossible.

Rio Drowned Sorrows With Irons After Gunners Defeat

Depressed and disoriented, Rio Ferdinand escaped from the scene of Manchester United's recent defeat at the hands of Arsenal and drowned his sorrows with West Ham fans in an East London pub.The former Hammers ace has admitted that he was so down after the 2-1 Emirates defeat that he had to seek the bottom of a pint glass and he didn't care what anyone thought - even the Irons-daft locals."When you lose against Arsenal it does your head in," the stopper admitted."It was my birthday and I was supposed to be meeting family; it was meant to be a happy time."It wasn't, though. I told my driver to stop off at some pub. He said ‘I can’t let you go in there,’ because I had my United tracksuit on in a West Ham area."I said, 'Nah, drop me off.' People were looking at me, wondering what I was doing there, but I just had a couple of drinks, three packets of crisps...normal things."No, Rio, that's far from normal...

Karim Benzema Leaves Transfer Options Open

Arguably the hottest young striking prospect in Europe, 21-year-old Karim Benzema of Olympique Lyon is continually linked with moves to a variety of the world’s biggest clubs. The forward has been reticent to close off any potential alleyways, though, leaving his future destination largely ambiguous. This was again the case when he spoke to l’Equipe TV.“There are many clubs interested, such as Barça [Barcelona] or Real [Madrid], but we should not forget clubs like Manchester [United] or [AC] Milan,” he said, “All are big clubs that footballers dream of playing for.“I like Spain, but I could really make progress in Manchester or Milan. I want to continue to a very high level and become among the best in the world.”Assertions that Jean-Michel Aulas will not let Benzema leave for anything short of €100 million have not been totally dismissed by the Lyon-born star, who has eight goals to his name already this season.“We must see [about the transfer fee], but this lies with the president,” Benzema asserts, “People were shocked because it is such a large some of money but, the day I leave, I will speak to the president about it… “At the moment, I am not thinking of my departure. At the end of this season, we’ll see, but I have a project here and that’s it.”

Milan Set To Offer Shevchenko To Madrid?

Los Merengues continue to struggle on the field following last Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Real Valladolid. Their impotent front-line was cruelly exposed and the recent news that hot-shot Ruud van Nistelrooy’s will be ruled out for the remainder of the season has not helped the team’s confidence.
The Madrid hierarchy are planning to open their cheque-books during the winter transfer period in a bid to recruit several big names players to revive their flagging campaign.
Players such as Andrei Arshavin, Hernan Crespo, Carlos Tévez, Diego Milito and Klaas Jan Huntelaar have so far been linked to the capital giants in recent weeks and now, it appears that Andriy Shevchenko is the latest name to be added to the list.
According to Madrid-based daily, Marca, the Ukrainian striker’s current club AC Milan are prepared to offer the Bernabéu outfit the 32 year old’s services as he looks unlikely to fit into coach Carlo Ancelotti’s plans for the rest of this season.
Shevchenko was a starter in Milan’s opening Serie clash against Bologna, which they lost 2-1 but he has since been consigned to the substitute’s bench as Ancelotti has opted to adopt a 4-3-2-1 formation, with Kaká and Ronaldinho playing behind a lone striker.
Sheva is believed to be the Rossoneri’s current fourth choice option upfront, behind Filippo Inzaghi, Pato and even young Marco Borriello, who albeit, is out injured at present.
The relationship between Madrid and Milan is believed to have improved significantly ever since the Spanish giants stopped hassling the Italian behemoths about playmaker, Kaká.
A move could be beneficial for all parties concerned, especially for Los Blancos as Shevchenko will be eligible to play in the Champions League.

Almunia angry with Arsenal flops

Manuel Almunia has ripped into his Arsenal team-mates after a disappointing defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday, with the Spaniard describing the performance as ‘embarrassing’ and admitting that urgent change is required at Emirates Stadium.
The 2-0 defeat to Villa confirmed Arsenal’s worst start to a Premier League season under Wenger in terms of games lost and having already dropped three points on four occasions, a title challenge looks to be beyond their reach despite the recent win over Manchester United.
Wenger admitted that morale is low following the game at Emirates Stadium and Almunia has made no attempt to disguise his team’s shortcomings given that The Gunners are now a full nine points shy of joint leaders Liverpool and Chelsea.
The keeper has questioned why the team did not respond to a first half penalty for Villa when Almunia kept out Ashley Young’s spot-kick, with Gael Clichy going on to head into his own net and Gabriel Agbonlahor then scoring a breakaway goal to compound a miserable display for the home side.
And with just one win in the past four Premier League games, Almunia has urged the Arsenal squad to think deeply about their own contribution to the cause.
“We have to continue doing our job,” said Almunia on the club’s official website. “First of all because of respect for the fans. Anything is possible but we have to change many things from today.
“We are the same team [as last Saturday against United] but each player has to analyse his performance because today’s game was Arsenal’s worst for a long time.
“It is very disappointing because after the penalty I thought the team would be more excited and grow with desire to win the game. But the penalty did not change anything and that is embarrassing for us.”

LAMPARD: WHY BLUE IS MY COLOUR

Frank Lampard is '100 percent' certain that he made the right decision in committing his future to Chelsea.
The England international plumped for The Blues despite being coveted by his former Stamford Bridge boss Jose Mourinho at Inter and, after seemingly interminable contract negotiations, he put his name to a new five-year contract in the summer.
While admitting that the death of his mother earlier this year did leave him considering the possibility of a change of environment, Lampard revealed that his return to pre-season training with Chelsea helped to make up his mind.
“Inter made a bid for me, and it was a possibility, for sure,” Lampard told the Sunday Times.
"It was a very tough time for me personally after the death of my mum, and my head was in a spin in the summer, he said
"I didn't really know what to do and I felt it might suit me to get away and change my surroundings and my life.
"But when I came back pre-season, I realised how much I loved this place - and, through speaking to my family, I knew what I had to do.
"I'm sure now 100 percent that I made the right decision."
Lampard’s decision-making process has been vindicated by the team’s impressive start to the season under Luiz Felipe Scolari and the former West Ham star believes the current league leaders have all the attributes necessary to finish the season as champions.
“I do believe we’re going to win the league this time,” said Lampard.
“Manchester United deserved to win it last time but with the squad we’ve got, the belief running through the players and the quality of the manager, I think we’ll do it.”
And who does Lampard believe to be Chelsea’s biggest threat?
“I would still say Man U."

INJURED GERRARD OUT OF GERMANY GAME

England will be minus Steven Gerrard for next week’s friendly international against Germany after the midfielder injured his thigh in Liverpool’s 2-0 win at Bolton on Saturday.
Gerrard suffered a tear to the adductor muscle in his right leg and will be unable to play for at least seven days, making him a doubt also for The Reds’ next Premier League game against Fulham.
Liverpool FC spokesman Ian Cotton confirmed: "Steven picked up an injury in yesterday's game at Bolton. "A scan this morning has confirmed a tear in the adductor magnus muscle in his right leg, and he is expected to be out between seven to 10 days."
Gerrard is the third influential player already out of England’s game in Berlin, with the injured Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney not included in the squad named by Fabio Capello on Saturday.
Captain Terry would become the fourth, if, as expected, a foot injury sustained while playing for Chelsea at West Bromwich Albion precludes his involvement.