Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has stated that he has serious doubts over whether Paul Scholes would consider a return to playing for England.
Potential new Three Lions boss Harry Redknapp stated that the Red Devils veteran should be included in the nation’s Euro 2012 squad after impressive performances this season, but Ferguson is not so sure.
“Do you really honestly believe that?” Ferguson asked reporters at a press conference, published in The Telegraph.
“I don’t think there’s any chance of that. To go back again to play for England, eight years after his last game, is a big, big step.
“I think Paul will be concentrating [on United], if he decides to go on. Whether he decides to stay is a part that hasn’t been settled yet, but with the form he has shown, there is no reason why he can’t play on next season. I just think it is too big a step to go back to England,” the Scottish coach admitted.
Scholes has been a critic of the England set-up in the past, and is famed for his achievements for club rather than country.
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As confirmed by Tottenham Hotspur on their official website, Nuno Espirito Santo will still be without defender Matt Doherty for their highly anticipated London derby clash against West Ham United today.
The Lowdown: Doherty injured…
Looking to reignite his Spurs career under the manager who made him a success at Wolves, it’s safe to say that the 29-year-old hasn’t exactly achieved that so far.
Once labelled ‘fantastic’ by Nuno, the Republic of Ireland international has cut a bit-part figure yet again so far and is arguably third-choice right-back behind the likes of Japhet Tanganga and summer signing Emerson Royal.
He also isn’t helped by his fitness levels as Spurs shared an update prior to today’s match.
The Latest: Doherty out of West Ham clash…
As confirmed in an update from Tottenham on their official website, Doherty will miss the clash against West Ham today, and Nuno is expected to bring back many of the players who missed their midweek trip to Vitesse Arnhem.
As well as the 29-year-old, Spurs will also still be without left-back Ryan Sessegnon, who still hasn’t recovered from a knock sustained during the torrid September international break.
The Verdict: Blow for Doherty…
Doherty will be personally gutted to miss out on one of Tottenham’s highly-anticipated London derby clashes of the year against bitter rivals West Ham, especially as his future hangs in the balance.
While it is a point of contention whether he would have actually featured, the right-back represents a different outlet for Nuno, and it has been a debate whether the Portuguese could start using him in a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 system akin to his time at Molineux.
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Alas, the Irishman will not get the opportunity to do so this afternoon.
In other news: Paratici may now be willing to offer ‘frightening’ player more than £200k-p/w to join Tottenham! Find out more here.
Manchester City maintained their impressive start to the season with a hard fought victory at the Etihad Stadium.
Second half goals from Mario Balotelli and James Milner ensured a 2-0 victory against a resilient Everton side who made it tough for Roberto Mancini’s men. You can understand the nervousness of the home crowd, given the Toffees have won on their last four visits, but their patience was rewarded when the impressive Balotelli’s deflected shot made its way past Tim Howard.
The visitors certainly played their part; however their lack of potency in the final third was clearly evident and they were unable to breach the City backline. David Moyes was clearly upset with some of the decisions awarded by Howard Webb; but it wasn’t Everton’s day compounded by injury to Tim Cahill.
The breaking of the deadlock galvanised City and they went close on numerous occasions to double his advantage before James Milner finally sealed the win finishing off a wonderful pass from the impressive David Silva.
The result puts City top of the table temporarily and the professional performance clearly pleased Roberto Mancini at the final whistle.
Are you in the money tonight? Have you become a millionaire? The Results are in…
Everton have made an impression in the Premier League this term and now look poised to try and tempt an exciting offensive talent to the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Everton pushing to land January arrivals
Despite a frustrating defeat to Brentford last weekend, Everton are still on course for a successful campaign and remain in the mix for European qualification at the halfway point of 2025/26.
Nevertheless, there is a feeling signings will be necessary for the Toffees to kick on under David Moyes, especially through the middle as Thierno Barry and Beto struggle to find their feet consistently in front of goal.
With that in mind, reports suggest that Everton have been offered the chance to sign Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Jorgen Strand Larsen. However, they may need to compete with the likes of Newcastle United, Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur for his services.
Concerning their defence, Blackburn Rovers star Ryan Alebiosu could be on his way to Merseyside as Moyes looks to find a long-term successor to club captain Seamus Coleman.
Watford captain Imram Louza is also wanted at Everton, though again, it remains to be seen whether the Premier League outfit stump up enough cash to tempt the Hornets into a mid-season sale.
Truthfully, January is a difficult window and clubs are notoriously hard to deal with as they don’t want to lose their best players. Regardless, the Friedkin Group have work to do, and they will be keen to show that Everton are capable of reaching significant heights under their stewardship.
Now, they could be set to make their move for a star who is thriving on the continent, potentially providing competition in the wide areas for Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye.
Everton enter race to sign Zuriko Davitashvili
According to Foot Mercato, Everton have entered the race to sign Saint-Etienne winger Zuriko Davitashvili, who is also on the radar of Besiktas and Fenerbahce after his excellent start to the campaign.
Further reports from Georgian outlet, Geo team suggest that Everton “will try to sign” him throughout the next few weeks. Besiktas have already seen a bid of around £10m knocked back.
Scoring nine times and laying on an assist in his first 17 appearances this campaign, he has earned comparisons to the likes of Marcus Rashford and Pedro Neto, via FBRef.
So good have his performances been that it has caused concern among key officials at the Ligue 2 outfit as they fear he may leave during their promotion bid to reach the French top-flight.
Moyes’ own Lukaku: Everton still keen on dream move for “remarkable” CF
Everton could win a dream January move if they can land David Moyes his own version of Romelu Lukaku.
ByKelan Sarson
Benfica are also keen to land the Georgia international, though his current employers have made it clear that he won’t be sold during the January window, providing a theoretical deterrent to keen suitors.
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Nevertheless, elite clubs circling may prove too lucrative to ignore for Saint-Etienne, who will know more than anyone that every player has their price in the modern market.
Everton aren’t short of attacking talent, though you can never have too many technicians when looking to carve sides open, hence why Moyes may be making a move for another wide reinforcement.
Everton have now reportedly launched their first move to sign a Premier League striker, whose price-tag has just plummeted.
Moyes has "no complaints" about Brentford thrashing
It was about as bad as it could get for Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium when Brentford raced into a 3-0 lead, before eventually sealing a 4-2 victory.
The Toffees felt the full impact of their absentees, with Iliman Ndiaye a particular miss once again, and David Moyes admitted that he could have “no complaints” about the result against the Bees.
The veteran manager told reporters: “I’m disappointed we didn’t play better. We were just a bit short in some areas. We were disappointing defensively today and not as strong as we have been.
“We are short on a lot of cour creative players which showed at times. [But] we didn’t do our defensive duties as well as we could have done.
“When your centre forwards score goals that’s what we want. Today they didn’t have the support and back-up. If we’d kept a clean sheet we could have won. But no complaints, Brentford deserved the victory.”
Looking at any potential silver lining, the defeat at least exposed the problems that the Friedkin Group still have to solve in Merseyside. This is still a squad lacking in depth, especially going forward, and one which also need a reinforcement at right-back.
With that said, Friedkin have plenty of time to act in the January transfer window and a number of potential targets have recently emerged as a result.
Everton now keen on signing £4m AFCON star who Victor Osimhen called "exceptional"
The Toffees could land a January addition.
ByTom Cunningham
This includes the likes of Ivan Toney, who is reportedly a dream signing for Everton, and now Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Jorgen Strand Larsen.
According to TeamTalk, Everton have made contact to sign Strand Larsen, who is now available for just £40m just months since Newcastle were told to pay around £60m to secure his signature.
Everton make contact to sign Strand Larsen
The Wolves striker has struggled ever since failing to get his move in the summer and has far from helped his side’s attempt to avoid the drop. As things stand, after picking up their first victory of the season over West Ham United last time out, the Midlands club are 12 points adrift of safety.
It’s times like these that sides near the bottom so often turn towards their best players, but Strand Larsen has scored just one Premier League goal all season and looks a shadow of the player who netted 14 times in his debut campaign.
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Whilst Wolves desperately need him to get back to his best form, the Norwegian desperately needs a move away that Everton could offer him this month.
Jorgen Strand Larsen celebrates late Wolves winner.
Despite his current form, the context of Wolves’ season should be considered before Strand Larsen is judged too harshly and this wouldn’t be the first time that Moyes has got players back to their best form.
For just £40m, Everton could land an instant upgrade on Beto and Thierno Barry, especially if they find a way past his £95,000-a-week wage demands.
Chelsea shocked the football world on New Year’s Day by parting company with manager Enzo Maresca following a spectacular breakdown in relations between the Italian and senior figures at Stamford Bridge.
The 45-year-old’s eighteen-month tenure ended following his decision to step down after feeling his position had become untenable, though disputes currently rage over whether he resigned or was dismissed by the club.
Sky Sports report that Maresca endured several disagreements with Chelsea’s medical department regarding player workload and availability throughout his spell in charge, with particular tensions surrounding captain Reece James’ minutes despite his history of hamstring injuries.
The situation exploded publicly when Maresca stunned reporters following December’s victory over Everton by claiming he had experienced “the worst 48 hours” at the club and stating “many people didn’t support us,” comments which shocked his own close circle and prompted agent Jorge Mendes to contact the hierarchy seeking explanation.
Chelsea considering hiring Rosenior upgrade who's "so similar" to Maresca
This manager could help Chelsea become a more dominant force once again.
ByJoe Nuttall
Maresca missed his post-match press conference following Tuesday’s chaotic 2-2 draw with Bournemouth, which was officially attributed to illness.
Supporters booed the team off while chanting “you don’t know what you’re doing” when he substituted Cole Palmer, highlighting the lack of fan backing despite winning the Club World Cup and Conference League titles alongside securing Champions League qualification last term.
Strasbourg boss Liam Rosenior has now emerged as the overwhelming favourite to replace Maresca following impressive work at the French club owned by Chelsea’s parent company BlueCo.
The 41-year-old nearly guided Hull City to the Championship play-offs before joining Strasbourg, where his possession-based philosophy mirrors Chelsea’s preferred style.
He’d also be a relatively straightforward appointment considering Rosenior is already under the BlueCo umbrella, yet reports suggest that Chelsea are also considering alternatives.
Now, according to one Spanish media source, the Blues have been offered a big name in the form of legendary former boss Jose Mourinho.
José Mourinho prepared to join Chelsea after Maresca exit
Indeed, it is believed that Mourinho is willing to return to Chelsea after Maresca’s departure, and has offered himself to the club as an alternative to Rosenior.
The 62-year-old, who has won almost every major honour as a manager including multiple Premier League titles in west London, guided Chelsea through one of their most successful periods near the start of this century.
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Mourinho only took charge of current club Benfica last September, but the Portuguese is now prepared to strike what would be his third Chelsea reunion and come back to England.
Given Mourinho is already in work and will likely cost a compensation package to buy him out of his current Benfica contract, it would still be a surprise to see the ex-Man United and Tottenham boss back at Cobham — especially with Rosenior already in talks.
However, as we’ve already seen at Chelsea this year with Maresca’s shocking and sudden departure, you can never say never.
French paper shares bizarre Rosenior to Chelsea claim from sources close to Eghbali
Rosenior has been the frontrunner for the vacant role at Stamford Bridge.
New Zealand’s hopes of upsetting India’s World Cup campaign will hinge on how quickly their medium-pace attack – especially new-ball bowlers Tim Southee and Trent Boult – adjust to unfamiliar conditions at the Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur. The semi-final will be New Zealand’s first game at the venue, having played all their group matches in Johor and the quarter-final at the Royal Selangor Club in Kuala LumpuSouthee is the leading contender for Man of the Tournament, with 13 wickets, while left-arm medium-pacer Boult has ten including the best figures of the competition, 7 for 20 against Malaysia. Dav Whatmore, India’s coach, singled out the pace attack as New Zealand’s strength.”We [India] have a sense of understanding why New Zealand have made the final four. It’s because they have a strong medium-pace attack and their fielding. We’ve got a very good economy-rate as a group [bowling attack] but they are better than us. They consistently bowl better in terms of economy.” None of New Zealand’s regular bowlers have conceded more than four runs per over. Southee and Boult, who are both from Northern Districts, have gone forless than three.However, New Zealand’s games in Johor were on pitches that were damp earlyon and assisted the fast bowlers. Boult felt that the ball swung a lot more in the air in Malaysia while back home the assistance was primarily movement off the pitch. Southee agreed, and said that getting accustomed to the swing was the only major adjustment that the bowlers had to make.”Obviously with the white ball and humidity here, it swings around more than it does in New Zealand,” Southee told Cricinfo. “The wickets have generally been pretty good though the one yesterday [against Sri Lanka at Royal Selangor Club] was quite slow and quite low. It was quite uneven as well: I got the odd one to kick through but there were a few that kept low. I bowled the opening batter with one that crept under his bat. I think we had the better of the batting conditions yesterday and it got tougher to face the pace bowlers in the afternoon.”None of the New Zealand players, apart from Southee, have played under lights before and that could prompt them to bat first so that their batsmen don’t have to face a run-chase for the first time under lights. If that is the case, Southee and Boult could avoid bowling in the searing heat and gain additional assistance with the white ball moving around in the evenings.Dipak Patel, the New Zealand coach, said the team that handles the “mental pressures” of such a tense encounter better would emerge victors, while pointing out that for most players on both sides, the stakes have never been higher. Southee, however, has played on a larger stage – two Twenty20 internationals against England in front of packed houses in Auckland and Christchurch. He held his nerve and did well for himself – taking 1 for 38 and 2 for 22. How he, and Boult, fare against the Indian top-order could make or break it for New Zealand.
Grand Old Duke of York There was more than a frisson of worry in the England camp when Trent Johnston and Andrew White started to find the boundaries late in the innings. Michael Vaughan turned to Andrew Flintoff, and he settled it, spearing the ball into the blockhole to devastating effect. One-day tactics have evolved constantly down the years, but there’s still no match for the yorker at the death.One for the auld enemy The wicket of Flintoff – chopping one on – and two sixes in a breezy cameo would have been satisfying for most allrounders, but perhaps Johnston relished it a little bit more because of his New South Wales roots. He tries to play it down now that he’s Irish captain, but some old rivalries linger.Look who’s clucking now Johnston had unveiled the chicken-dance celebration when he dismissed Mohammad Yousuf in the famous victory against Pakistan, and there was a reprise as Flintoff became another prized victim. Chickens don’t fly though, and England plucked his feathers ruthlessly, with 47 coming from the last five overs he bowled.SuperColly The ICC rankings may have Kevin Pietersen at the top, but Paul Collingwood’s the man in prime form. A soaring six over midwicket was one of three that he hit as 56 came from the last 31 balls that he faced.Palm Pilot No, we’re not agents for Johnston, but he had a hand, literally, in the day’s exceptional fielding moment as well. Collingwood was on course for a century when Andrew White’s throw from mid-on came arrowing in. Stationed in front of the stumps, Johnston palmed it on with his left hand.I’m an Irishman, get me out of here For Ed Joyce, this was a day to forget. Boyd Rankin got him shouldering arms to one that nipped back, and Ireland’s top scorer in the 2005 ICC Trophy trudged off with just one to his name. Later, with Niall O’Brien on 9, Joyce appeared half-asleep when he grassed a high chance at midwicket off Sajid Mahmood. O’Brien cashed in to the tune of 54 more runs. Joyce’s two matches against his old mates have now fetched him 11 runs. Ouch.Seen and heard During a slow phase of play, the roaming cameras zoomed in on a little fella in an orange vest. Perhaps aware that millions of eyes were on him, he took guard and executed a textbook loft over midwicket. Not content, he took guard again and bent low for a sweep shot, holding the pose for about five seconds. The gloves were a size too big, but he certainly looked the part.
Herschelle Gibbs, the South Africa batsman and Garnett Kruger have been dropped for the remaining two Tests against New Zealand. South Africa won the first Test at Centurion by 128 runs last week, but Gibbs put in another disappointing performance with a match aggregate of eight runs.In his last ten Tests, he has made just 437 runs at an average of 25.70. His last hundred was made against England over a year ago.”Herschelle and I had a meeting yesterday (Friday), and we agreed that a break and a fresh start next season will do him a world of good”, Haroon Lorgat, South Africa’s convenor of selectors, said. “Garnett is most unfortunate to have picked up a shoulder strain when he was set to play in the first Test at Centurion.”With the outstanding performances of Makhaya Ntini and Dale Steyn in this match, and with Andre Nel in reserve, we have decided to release him.”Lorgan confirmed that South Africa will not be replacing Gibbs or Kruger.”At the start of the series we had carried an unusually large squad of 16 players. This was designed to take into account the fact that there was no domestic cricket being played,” he said. “With one Test completed, we are now able to reduce the squad to 14 players and will reduce it further to 13 for the last Test at Liberty Life Wanderers.”South Africa team (from):Graeme Smith (capt), Jacques Kallis, Boeta Dippenaar, Ashwell Prince, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher (wk), Shaun Pollock, Nicky Boje, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Andrew Hall, Jacques Rudolph, Hashim Amla
Barry Richards, the former South African batsman, has said that Twenty20 should become a global competition featuring teams from a number of cities.”If you had 16 or 20 sides you could float it around the world and you could sell it into America and Canada,” Richards told BBC Sport. “You could have a team from Toronto, a team from Miami, teams from Cape Town and London. You could have the best players, not representing a country but a town.”It would be the 200 or 300 best players in the world and it’s up to the franchise-holders to decide who are the best players. You always associate Test cricket with the best players but it’s not the case anymore. If you’ve got 15 in each side then we can see all the Australians that are not playing that are good enough to play Test cricket.”Richards comments are hardly likely to be warmly received by the authorities in some countries, but the rapid growth and remarkable popularity of the format where it has been tried means that his ideas are not as far-fetched as they might have been even a year ago.Richards has been at the forefront in recognising the need for the game to appeal to new markets and audiences if it is to prosper. At the Cowdrey Lecture in 2003, he urged the authorties to consider where cricket would be in 20 years, and said that it had to revise traditional thinking in favour of new concepts that stimulated the young.