ALL THE REST OF THE NEWS
From the Guardian:
Ryan Giggs has stayed out of trouble his whole career - and then two disciplinary cases come along at once.
The 30-year-old Wales and Manchester United winger is still seething at the FA's decision to fine him £7,500 for his part in the "Battle of Old Trafford" against Arsenal in September. His frustrations could multiply today when Uefa investigates his use of an elbow in Wales's European Championship play-off with Russia last month.
Giggs is still considering whether to appeal against the fine, which has scarred an almost unblemished disciplinary record. Uefa officials have confirmed that if Giggs receives a suspension for the elbow he swung at Vadim Evseev in the play-off's first leg in Moscow last month, they will ask Fifa to make sure it is imposed for Wales's next competitive games.
From the MEN:
Rivaldo has been offered deals by three Premiership clubs according to his associate. The Brazilian is currently without a club after being released by European champions AC Milan.
His associate Jorge Gama told BBC Online:
"We have three offers from English Premiership teams who are interested in Rivaldo. At the moment, they are the only three offers that will be put in front of him."
"I know there has been speculation in the English papers linking Rivaldo with Liverpool, but all I can tell you is that they are not one of the clubs whose offer will be put before him."
"He had an offer to play in Qatar for 1million US dollars a month, but he turned that down. It's not a question of money with him, he wants to play in the right team.”
Liverpool are still a few games from greatness by all accounts. Houllier last night:
"We let ourselves down, and we didn't deserve to go through. I am very, very angry, very unhappy with the result and the performance. I am extremely disappointed with my players - and I'm not used to saying that. I am exceptionally upset, and they will know just how much when I get them into training in the morning.
"When you score two goals and get back into the game like that, you have to be clever, and we weren't. We defended badly, we passed badly and we wasted chances. It just wasn't good enough.
"Now we will have to redeem ourselves when we go to Newcastle on Saturday. I can't believe how angry I am, and I have told them as much."
City went out too. 28 Years!
Quarter-final draw:
Bolton v Southampton
Aston Villa v Chelsea
West Brom v Arsenal
Tottenham v Middlesbrough
From the Guardian:
Leeds United will tell the City this morning that they have secured a temporary lifeline after reaching an agreement with their major creditors which will allow them to avoid calling in the administrators.
The club, who have debts of about £80m, last night emerged optimistic from urgent talks with their creditors and are also expected to announce that Allan Leighton, their deputy chairman, will resign from the board, allowing him to avoid any accusations of having a conflict of interests should he consider leading a takeover bid.
Leighton, a high-profile businessman who also chairs the Royal Mail, had offered to put £2.2m of his own money into the club to help buy some time from the creditors, which include the insurance company Prudential.
Under the arrangement being hammered out by Trevor Birch, the former Chelsea chief executive who now holds the same position at Leeds, the club last night convinced their creditors that they should agree to a standstill on repayments for the next month or so.
Leighton is expected to throw his hat into the ring and form a consortium to launch a bid for the club if a takeover proves necessary. He could find himself pitched against other investors, including the Bahraini sheikh who has told the stock market he is considering making an offer.
However, Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Mubarak al-Khalifa is facing questions about his commitment to launch a bid because, despite all the talking, the Leeds board have still not received a draft proposal of what he is offering.
It emerged yesterday that the sheikh had a previous association with the club under Peter Ridsdale's regime. He was first invited to have a financial input in the Yorkshire club three years ago.
Peter Ridsdale believed that the sheikh could provide the money for a £60m, 50,000-seat stadium on the outskirts of the city. However, much to Ridsdale's dismay the sheikh pulled out of the deal, leaving Leeds to question whether he actually had the financial muscle claimed for him.
European pots for World Cup qualifying draw:
POT A: France, Portugal, Sweden, Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, ENGLAND, Turkey
POT B: Holland, Croatia, Belgium, Denmark, Russia, REPUBLIC OF IRELAND, Slovenia, Poland
POT C: Bulgaria, Romania, SCOTLAND, Serbia and Montenegro, Switzerland, Greece, Slovakia, Austria
POT D: Ukraine, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Israel, Bosnia, Latvia, WALES
POT E: Hungary, Georgia, Belarus, Cyprus, Estonia, N IRELAND, Lithuania, Macedonia
POT F: Albania, Armenia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Faroe Isles, Malta, San Marino, Liechtenstein
POT G: Andorra, Luxemburg, Kazakhstan
From the Guardian:
Chelsea may be top of the Premiership and have the richest owner in the game, but Manchester United still boast the thickest wads in football. That is according to a list of football's 100 richest people, published in FourFourTwo magazine today.
Roman Abramovich is No1 on the list with a personal fortune estimated at £5.5bn. But United also feature prominently with no fewer than 13 of the top 100 connected to the Old Trafford club.
That includes the only manager to make the list, Sir Alex Ferguson, the captain Roy Keane, and investors Malcolm Glazer, Dermot Desmond, John Magnier and JP McManus.
Glazer, the owner of Superbowl champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers, increased his stake in United to just over 14% last week, and is reportedly worth £650m.
Keane is one of only nine current players to make the top 100, along with his team-mates Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs, while the former United star David Beckham is ranked the richest player - although his estimated £60m fortune is boosted by his wife Victoria's earnings.