BITS AND BOBS

Last updated : 18 March 2007 By Editor

* The Times:

Wayne Rooney, the England footballer, and Coleen McLoughlin, his childhood sweetheart, are to marry in the summer of 2008 after agreeing a deal worth more than £1.5m with the celebrity magazine Hello!

It is the most the magazine has paid for exclusive access to a celebrity wedding, beating the £1m paid to Elizabeth Hurley this month for coverage of her celebrations in Britain and India.


* The Indie:

Leeds have never been at such a low ebb, and despite claiming an equaliser two minutes from time the fact is things could get worse before they get better. Bottom of the Championship, they are still three points adrift of safety. The third tier of English football beckons for the first time in the club's history, it is not the sort the men in white want to create.

The travelling fans even started to turn on their manager , Dennis Wise, and assistant Gus Poyet. The supporters have suffered a lot since Leeds' fall from the Premiership in 2004 but their patience appeared to have finally run out here at Roots Hall.

A largely insipid performance was to blame but the replacement of Eddie Lewis by Ian Moore, rather than David Healy, was the straw that broke the camel's back and led to angry chants of "Chelsea boys taking us down".


* NOTW:

A Premier League club bunged a secret payment of £339,000 into a Swiss bank account over the shady transfer of a foreign star, the News of the World can reveal.

Crisis team West Ham made the hush-hush deposit to a company linked with a controversial soccer agent just days after signing Argentine ace Javier Mascherano last September.

But a major News of the World investigation into the greed and dodgy dealings threatening our national game has discovered West Ham FAILED to disclose the money to the FA.

That is a clear breach of FA rules which state that ALL payments in relation to transfers have to be made through the proper channels.

Last night chiefs at the Football Associaton promised a full probe after we handed over our evidence.

If found guilty the struggling London club, favourites to be relegated, could face a huge fine, a fixed-term ban on all transfers AND even a possible points deduction at the beginning of next season.

The money West Ham paid—500,000 euros—was given to the firm Global Soccer Agencies which has links to Mr Fixit soccer agent Pini Zahavi.

The News of the World has seen the official Swiss bank payment report for September 4 last year—just after West Ham's shock signing of Argentinian internationals Mascherano and Carlos Tevez on Aug 31.

The transfers of midfielder Mascherano and striker Tevez, 23, were shrouded in mystery. But Zahavi boasted how he helped broker the deal.


* Ruud feels reason to defend David Beckham:

"I have played in some great teams, in Holland, England and now in Spain.

"Among all the players, there is nobody who can pass the ball like David.

"The way he can pass is a gift which has only been passed to one person on this planet.

"Like every player at top level, he will make the odd mistake. But nobody in football can play the perfect game.

"What really annoys me is that so many people like to criticise David when he doesn't have a perfect game.

"People seem to prefer to emphasise the things he does not do right nowadays, rather than look at the great things he does for the team.

"There is a negative attitude towards him.

"I also get tired of people who make out David behaves like a superstar. I work with him every day, I have had the chance to watch him more closely than anyone else.

"David never gives his team-mates or his fans the impression he is above the rest.

"Despite everything the media have written or said about him, he is still a fantastic lad - and he is enjoying football again."