Wayne Rooney clocks up some overtime [Guardian] Spurs will bid £10 million for Joe Cole [Team Talk] Mido takes a swipe at Sol Campbell [Guardian] Sven set for Inter Milan [Mirror] Tim Lovejoy reckons Shevchenko will come good. Breathe easy, Chelsea fans [The Sun]

Every man and his dog knows Ben Thatcher stuck one on Pedro Mendes, but the police do not think they could get anything to stick on Thatcher. In a statement released today, Greater Manchester Police said that Thatcher would not face charges for his elbow on Mendes and that the matter would be dealt with [...]

At least 20 West Ham fans were arrested and another six injured after ‘a huge battle’ with Palermo supporters in Sicily last night. The two clubs play each other tonight, in the second leg of their Uefa Cup tie. Palermo won the first leg 1-0 and are strong favourites to progress to the lucrative group [...]

Arsene Wenger has been told he has a job for life at Arsenal by vice-chairman David Dein. Dein made the pledge as he congratulated Wenger on his ten years as Arsenal manager. The BBC has put together a very nice feature looking at Wenger’s decade with Arsenal, including this picture looking at Wenger then and [...]

Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes is in hot water with gay rights group OutRage! after an alleged homophobic insult during the match against Benfica last night. Scholes appeared to call Petit a ‘f***ing poof’ after being booked for a tackle on the Portuguese international. Peter Tatchell, of OutRage!, said: "We urge Paul to apologise and [...]

It’s the news we’ve all been waiting for! Barclays has renewed its sponsorship deal with the FA Premier League in a contract worth £65.8m. Phew, that’s a relief. The new deal will take the bank’s sponsorship of the Premiership up to 2010 (the future!), in a two-year extension to Barclays’ current contract. I don’t know [...]

Former Premier League referee Jeff Winter has named Lee Bowyer, Danny Mills and Tomas Repka as the worst players he had to officiate in his time in the game. He said: "The players I used to hate facing were Danny Mills, Lee Bowyer and Tomas Repka, to name three. Most players I could have a [...]

John Terry and Frank Lampard are being lined up to appear in a Bollywood blockbuster. The film, titled Jhoom, stars Bollywood heart-throb Abhishek Bachchan (pictured) as a devoted Chelsea fan. It will be partially shot in London and will include footage of the two Chelsea stars in action. Chelseas boss Jose Mourinho, no stranger when [...]

A survey of LMA Manager 2007 gamers showed that 71 per cent thought David Beckham should be recalled to the England squad, according to Life Style Extra. Rich Eddy, of the game’s developers Codemasters, said: "Becks has been out on the road himself, talking about being dropped from England and saying he’s gutted. This shows [...]

Newcastle to tempt Magnus Hedman out of retirement to cover for the injured Shay Given. Sounds like a good excuse for a picture of his wife to me [The Sun] Quinn and Keane to smash open transfer window to take Freddy Eastwood to Sunderland [Mirror] Kevin Bond to become bung documentary’s first victim [Daily Mail] [...]

Crewe Alexandra have been rewarded for their victory against Wigan in the Carling Cup with a tie at home to Old Trafford Buccaneers under-19s. The third round draw took place at 1.30pm today. Other tasty looking ties see MK Dons take on Spurs and Chesterfield tackle West Ham. Click below to see the full draw. 

Following BBC Panorama‘s squeaky clean bung documentary – which ‘rocked football’ as viciously as a mother might rock her baby’s cot – the Guardian‘s Barney Ronay has conducted his own investigation. He has infiltrated football and unearthed its real dirty secrets. Some of his findings may shock you. For instance, did you know that 98 [...]

When you are the role model of every young striker in the country, who do you look up to? Well, Paul Dickov and Kevin Davies, according to Thierry Henry. The Arsenal striker cited the pair when asked about his role models. He said: "I look at Paul Dickov, the way he moves as he’s always [...]

Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise’s missus, is reportedly set to play Victoria Beckham in a film about her fella’s life. God help us. Cruise suggested the story of the football star’s rise to fame to Paramount film studios before they ended his contract, and they optioned the film. Are they mad? An ‘insider’ told The Daily [...]

Javier Mascherano to continue his tour of unusual destinations for top players with a move to Serie B Juventus [Mirror] Craig Bellamy and Stephen Carr involved in Anfield tunnel ‘spat’ [Guardian] Leeds to move for Dennis Wise after sacking Kevin Blackwell [Mirror] Ljungberg: ‘Arsenal need to get tough’ [The Sun] Mourinho claims Chelsea match is [...]

Fulham fans, rejoice! Your team is currently top of the Premiership injury league, with an impressive eight players stuck on the physio table! They are: Boa Morte (fractured cheekbone), Christanval (knee), Bouba Diop (thigh), Bullard (knee), Elrich (knee), Milsom (back), Pembridge (calf), Elliott (calf). Boa Morte’s cheek injury means Fulham knock Charlton off the top [...]

A small group of West Ham fan screamed abuse at former manager Glenn Roeder, when Newcastle played the Hammers at Upton Park on Sunday. They called him ‘Tumour Boy’ and asked ‘why didn’t you die three years ago?’ Depressing stuff. What with last night’s Panorama, the Cashley Cole/Gallas saga, the Tevez/Mascherano deal and constant reports [...]

I have to agree with Mof that last night’s Panorama offered very little in the way of hard evidence against any Premiership manager. There were lots of dull meetings in horrible chain hotels, and not a lot else. It all amounted to very little. If there is a network of bung-happy managers with offshore accounts, [...]

This evening, at 9pm on BBC1, I’ll be watching Undercover: Football’s Dirty Secrets, Panorama’s much-hyped investigation into corruption in British football. I want to know, what exactly are these ‘dirty secrets’? Does Ian Dowie likes to wear women’s underwear? Is Jose Mourinho is a closet Hollyoaks fan?

Transfer windows? Pah, we laugh in the face of transfer windows! Football transfer gossip stops for no man – not even Sepp Blatter. Newcastle Jets want to take Stan Collymore (pictured) Down Under (insert dogging pun) [BBC Sport] Arsenal to bid again for Southampton youngster Gareth Bale in January [Mirror] ‘Arry wants to bring Ray [...]

Tonight sees the first Premiership involvement of the season in that most prestigious of tournaments – the Carling Cup. Round two of the tournament gets under way, giving lower league players the opportunity to pit themselves against some of the best reserve players in the country. The pick of tonight’s matches see League Two high-flyers [...]

Roy Keane thinks Jose Mourinho has ‘the edge’ over the other Premiership managers, including Sir Alex Ferguson, the man who managed Keane for so many seasons at Old Trafford. Sunderland’s new boss admitted to admiring Mourinho and his team in an interview printed in this weekend’s Sunday Times. Click below to read what Roy had [...]

Newcastle assistant Kevin Bond takes a break amid bung claims [Guardian] Unemployed Swede seeks club to ruin [The Sun] Nottm Forest’s David Johnson retires with back injury [BBC Sport] Welcome to Wembley (pictured): Home of Tottenham Hotspur? [Guardian] Diego Tristan opts for Mallorca after flirting with Big Sam [BBC Sport]

The Who Ate All The Pies campaign to get Jimmy Bullard into the England squad is over quicker than you can say: "Ouch, Scott. Please get off my knee." Fulham‘s chimney sweeping midfielder is likely to be out for the rest of the season after scans revealed damage to the cruciate ligament sustained when he [...]

Arsenal might have had a terrible start to the season on the pitch but they are top of the table in the musical stakes. With accomplished mandolin and guitar player Gilberto Silva already at the club, the samba rhythm is beating well at the Emirates Stadium with the arrival of Julio Baptista. ‘The Beast’ plays [...]