Football Dispatch

Tuesday Football
04 December2007
by Jerrad Peters

RUMORS of a players' revolt swirled around St. James' Park, today. Varying reports had three, senior Newcastle players delivering their own ultimatum to under-fire manager Sam Allardyce after the weekend's debacle at Blackburn Rovers. Goalkeepers Shay Given and Steve Harper were immediately named as two-thirds of the unhappy trio. Foremost among their growing list of concerns -- Big Sam's awarding of the captain's armband to newcomer Geremi. Defiant, the manager squashed any notion of a rebellion within the ranks when querried about the matter. "Players are not happy about a lot of the stuf that I do," huffed Allardyce. "They're players, I'm the manager. I'm the one who knows what's right for them; and I know it more than they do. That's why I sit in this chair." He continued, "I just find it disappointing it ends up in the paper." In a joint statement, Given and Harper rubbished the speculation that they are orchestrating a coup d'etat on Tyneside. Still, with just one point from five matches, Allardyce is in a precarious position. Tomorrow's contest with Arsenal could not have arrived at a worse time.

Rob Styles served-up another dismal performance, yesterday. The 43-year-old referee yellow-carded Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo for diving in the latter stages of United's 2-0 triumph over visiting Fulham, Monday night. Having sprinted clear into the box, Ronaldo was rushed by goalkeeper Anti Niemi, who made no apparent attempt at the ball. Tumbling over, Ronaldo raised his head to a booking from Styles. He had this to say after the match: "I don't think he (Styles) did a good job tonight. It's a penalty. If he watches the replay, he'll see that the 'keeper doesn't touch the ball." The 22-year-old continued, "It's frustrating to get a yellow card for it. But that's the way football goes; and sometimes referees make mistakes." On the lighter side, the runner-up to Kaka in Ballon D'or voting reminisced about his mother's desire that he score a hat-trick for United. "My mum sometimes says to me, 'Why do you never score a hat-trick?'"

Manchester United are targeting Nicky Shorey. Despite having ruled-out moves for one of Dimitar Berbatov and Nicolas Anelka, manager Sir Alex Ferguson is keen to bolster his squad's left-back position. Last season, United possessed two of the Premier League's best players at the role in Patrice Evra and Gabriel Heinze. The Argentine's move to Real Madrid, however, coupled with the long-term injury of Mikael Silvestre, has left John O'Shea as Ferguson's second choice. Shorey, at Reading since a 2001 move from Leyton Orient, made two appearances for England in 2007 and, at 26-years of age, could play at a high level for several more seasons. Royals boss Steve Coppell attempted to sign Shorey to a long-term extension over the summer. But, like Steve Sidwell last season, he declined and will be available on a free transfer in June if Reading do not sell him in January. Shorey would be sure to fetch upwards of 5M-pounds on the open market.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Juande Ramos will make a double-swoop for a pair of Espanyol players when the transfer window opens in January. The former Sevilla boss is unhappy with the play of central defenders Younes Kaboul and Ricardo Rocha -- both of whom were bought by former manager Martin Jol. And although Ledley King will debut in a reserves match this week, Ramos will make a 7M-pound offer for 24-year-old defender Daniel Jarque. Espanyol, however, are holding-out for upwards of 10M-pounds. Albert Riera has also caught Ramos' eye. The 25-year-old winger has been capped three times by Spain and played 15-matches in English football while on loan at Manchester City in 2006. He has also played at Mallorca and in France with Bordeaux.

England's next international match will be a friendly against Switzerland in February. The co-hosts of EURO 2008 will visit Wembley on 06 February -- six weeks before the Three Lions travel to Paris for a friendly with France. The FA are unlikely to name a new manager before either match and have yet to name an interim boss to replace Steve McClaren.