Premier League news

Ferguson to talk to Rio about Terry

Published: 03 Feb 2012 - 12:16:47

Click To Enlarge

Sir Alex Ferguson intends to speak with Rio Ferdinand ahead of Manchester United's Premier League encounter with Chelsea on Sunday to try and calm concerns about the pre-match handshake.

As John Terry is doubtful for the Stamford Bridge encounter with a knee injury, the issue over whether Ferdinand should shake his England team-mate's hand may not arise.

But Ferguson admitted: "John Terry might not play but I would have a word with Rio about the situation."

On Thursday it was confirmed that Terry would not face a court case into his alleged racial abuse of Ferdinand's brother, Anton, until after Euro 2012, and a tweet sent by Rio the same day seemed to indicate the 33-year-old was not too impressed by the situation.

The elder Ferdinand believed to be in two minds about whether to shake hands with Terry after the Premier League confirmed they had no plans to scrap the traditional pre-match greeting.

And Ferguson added: "Rio has been fighting racism for many years and the lad must rise above it.

"It doesn't detract from anything to shake John Terry's hand. He (Rio) has done nothing to be ashamed of."

It is the first of two such cases United are faced with on successive weekends given Luis Suarez is set to be in the Liverpool squad to face the Red Devils at Old Trafford on February 11.

It would be the Uruguayan's first meeting with Patrice Evra since he was banned for eight matches for making racist comments towards the Frenchman.

"Patrice Evra has already shown the courage to fight it by complaining about it," said Ferguson. "It is nothing to be ashamed of. There is not a problem shaking hands."

Read More

Barclays Premeir League

Suarez return delights Dalglish

Click To Enlarge

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish admits it is 'fantastic' to have striker Luis Suarez back from suspension.

The Uruguay international has served the eight-match ban imposed after he was found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United Patrice Evra.

He is available for Monday's home game against Tottenham, and Dalglish admitted: "It is great for everybody that we have Luis back in the squad."

Considering his lack of action he may be inclined to put him on the bench.

"He's been back training a couple of weeks now and he's stayed pretty fit," the Reds boss added.

"It is fantastic for us to have him available

"There is a lot to be taken into consideration: the fact he's not played for over a month and more importantly how well the other players have done in his absence.

"But it is good for us - and Steven [Gerrard] will be back so we should be pretty strong."

Read More

International Football News

Terry stripped of England captaincy

154 Views 0 Comments

Click To Enlarge

John Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy due to concerns about his racism court trial.

The Chelsea defender was informed of the decision by Football Association chairman David Bernstein in a phonecall at 10am.

It comes after Bernstein contacted all the other members of the 14-strong board to seek their views following the announcement that Terry's court case will not take place until July 9 - after Euro 2012.

The FA have refused to confirm the action but Press Association Sport understands Terry will still be eligible for the England squad for Euro 2012.

Terry denies racially abusing Anton Ferdinand in a match against QPR last year.

Read More

Barclays Premeir League

Coyle insists Bolton spent Cahill money well

Click To Enlarge

Bolton boss Owen Coyle feels the club have made sound use of the funds that came from Gary Cahill's sale to Chelsea.

Since Cahill left for a reported £7million, Coyle has brought in another centre-half in United States international Tim Ream, 24, from the New York Red Bulls, and 20-year-old England Under-21s striker Marvin Sordell from Watford.

And given their respective ages, Coyle believes their acquisition also represents good business, and said: "I think we all accepted that Gary was going to go and once it was decided on the football side that it would happen, what we had to do on the business side was look to try to maximise the situation that we were in."

He added: "In doing that, we have then reinvested that money. We have not gone and spent the money on 32 or 33-year-olds where there is very little or no resale value.

"We have tried to invest it in young players who will become assets for the football club and whose value will appreciate.

"That is opposed to a quick fix, somebody who will do you a turn for a year and then all of a sudden you are back to square one. We are not in a situation where we feel we need to be doing that.

"I always look to try to put in place a plan where you invest in youth and bring them on year by year."

Sordell's move was finally confirmed in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and the player revealed he knew nothing about it until the last minute, saying: "I heard about it on Tuesday (deadline day). I was originally set to go to Cardiff and I got a call later on asking if I wanted to go to Bolton.

"Obviously I said yes, it was a no-brainer really. Straight away I said 'let's get it done'.

"I didn't expect it at all. I was ready to stay at Watford the rest of the season. Now I just want to do as well as I can here."

Read More