THE BEST OF THE REST

From the Guardian:

Roma escaped expulsion yesterday from the Champions League over last week's abandoned Group B tie against Dynamo Kiev.
A Uefa disciplinary commission awarded the match 3-0 to Kiev, who had been 1-0 up at the time, and ordered Roma to play their next two European games behind closed doors. The matches are against Bayer Leverkusen on November 3 and Real Madrid on December 8.
Mexès was suspended for two matches "for particularly unsporting conduct".

BUTT:
Nicky Butt must wait until today for a Uefa ruling on a possible three-match ban after his red card during Newcastle's 2-0 Uefa Cup win over Bnei Sakhnin at St James' Park last Thursday.


ANDY COLE:
Fulham have fined Pape Bouba Diop and Andy Cole for their dismissals at West Bromwich on Saturday. The manager Chris Coleman said immediately after the 1-1 draw that he would not punish the players but the club has taken a different stance.

Fulham said in a statement: "Having participated at the highest levels of the game, Diop and Cole should have known better than to respond unlawfully to the provocation to which they were apparently subjected by certain West Brom players.

"Violent conduct, whether provoked or otherwise, is totally unacceptable to Fulham FC and both players are to be heavily fined."

Fulham have been charged with failing to ensure their players' proper conduct though the club said in its statement that it did not accept all the charges arising from a stormy match and the refereeing of Mike Dean.

Fulham risk a maximum fine of £250,000 after Dean reported the whole team following the West Brom game for what he called continual harassment. He said: "It seemed to me that they went purposely, every time I gave a decision, to harass me throughout the game."

Fulham were enraged by a first-half penalty decision. Collins John and Edwin van der Sar were booked for protesting. Dean then sent off Cole for lashing out at Clement soon after the midfielder's challenge on Boa Morte. He sent off Diop after a clash with Darren Purse. Coleman described Purse's initial challenge on Diop as "a coward's tackle, a real leg-breaker".

MOURINHO:
The FA has decided not to charge the Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho over his critical comments about the referee Rob Styles after their goalless draw at Aston Villa on September 11.

Styles had turned down Chelsea's appeals for a second-half penalty and booked Didier Drogba for diving. Mourinho had described the decision as "ridiculous" and suggested that it had not been awarded because Chelsea were not as powerful as Manchester United or Arsenal .

POSH AND BECKS:

Victoria and David Beckham are taking legal action against the News of the World over an article which claimed their marriage was in trouble. The couple say the piece, headlined Posh and Becks on Rocks, was untrue and "caused considerable distress to both the couple and their family".

A statement from the Beckhams' lawyers, Harbottle and Lewis, said: "David and Victoria Beckham today initiated legal proceedings against the News of the Worldin relation to an article published on Sunday 12 September 2004.

The News of the World would not comment on the development.

MADRID:

Real won 1-0 last night at home to Osasuna through a Beckham free-kick.
"It was important for us to win and get the fans back on side," said Beckham.

From the Guardian:

A good performance and victory would be essential when Madrid faced Osasuna and, more importantly, the Santiago Bernabéu the following night. And there would be the jeers to prove it. Roberto Carlos was subjected to the greatest vitriol. "I was surprised with some of the criticism, especially for Roberto; I really don't know why they went for him," said Beckham.

"Maybe because the press said that it was the senior players that were the reason why Camacho left, but it was nothing to do with the players. The players worked hard for him. It was his decision.

"I may have scored the goal but the team responded under a tremendous amount of pressure," he went on, but he did concede that it "wasn't the greatest of performances"; and rightly so. Madrid were again disappointing.

After player power saw off Camacho, the new manager Mariano García Remon's starting XI was politically correct: Raúl and Ronaldo started, as well as Beckham but Owen, whose presidential protection had infuriated the dressingroom heavyweights Raúl and Guti, began on the bench. And, when Santiago Solari was later carried off, it was Fernando Morientes not the Englishman who replaced him.

Owen would not make his bow until 10 minutes from time, replacing Ronaldo to warm applause. "It's not ideal to come on then," admitted Owen. "You want to impress and score but really what you should do is take the ball into the corner."

But, if Owen could not impress, then Albert Celades, normally expendable and so often a victim of Florentino Pérez's galácticos policy, did with his neat distribution in the centre of the field. It was, though, to be his delighted partner who stole the headlines and quelled the crisis for the time being.

GAZZA’S SHIRT:
It is enough to make the eyes water. A second hand football shirt, slightly stained, was sold at auction yesterday for almost £30,000.

To be fair, the shirt was that worn by Paul Gascoigne when he shed tears during the 1990 World Cup semi-final against Germany.

Christie's, the auction house, had anticipated that the number 19 shirt, signed by Gascoigne's England team-mates, would go for no more than £20,000. But a private buyer paid £10,000 more.

Meanwhile, a committed David Beckham fan could have picked up a souvenir of the England captain for a relative snip at the auction of 450 items of football memorabilia.

A pair of Beckham's boots, worn throughout the 2003-04 season and embroidered with the names of his sons - Brooklyn on the right and Romeo on the left - went for £1,792.

But Pele is still clearly top of the league with the collectors. His number 10 shirt, worn in the 1958 World Cup final, went for £70,000.