News Headlines

Monday's gossip column

Craig Bellamy denies he wants to quit Manchester City, plus other rumours.

Roma show 'big interest' in Toni

Roma are interested in signing Luca Toni after the forward was told he could leave Bayern, his agent says

You are the Ref

Click to enlarge, and debate the strip below the line. Keith Hackett's official answers appear in Sunday's Observer and here from Monday.Keith Hackett's answers1) Disallow the goal. The fact that the striker is face down in the mud, half off the field of play, does not mean he can't be in an...

Premier League: Sunderland 1–1 Everton

Football management can turn the most emotionally balanced, coolly logical men into unhealthy obsessives. After one win in 11 games, even Steve Bruce, noted for his humour-tinged poise under pressure, has succumbed to the syndrome."Last Monday and Tuesday I had to walk out of the training ground...

Allardyce insists Blackburn deserve better

Sam Allardyce has long displayed a statistical bent in his managerial methods. In his analysis of the figures, however, the jaundiced Blackburn manager is increasingly convinced that the numbers do not add up. Allardyce is aggrieved that Rovers do not have the extra six points he believes they...

No sympathy for Hughes from City fans

City supporters were happy to believe the club's Middle Eastern owners have done the right thing by bringing in Roberto ManciniIn the deluge of criticism for the way Sheikh Mansour ruthlessly dispatched Mark Hughes into Manchester City's extensive list of former managers last week some drew a...

Premier League: Fulham 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur

The rehabilitation of Heurelho Gomes is complete. A little over a year since he had skulked away from Craven Cottage with his reputation in tatters and confidence shredded, reduced to a man opponents targeted as Spurs' weakest link, the Brazilian appears an asset to be cherished in the pursuit of...

Championship: West Bromwich Albion 2-0 Peterborough United

Jonas Olsson has condemned the West Bromwich Albion supporters who barracked their side when an insipid home performance threatened to dent their promotion campaign. The Swedish defender and his team-mates were jeered as they left the field at half-time, having been stifled by a workmanlike shift...