Saturday, September 1, 2007

Saturday's gossip column

TRANSFER RUMOURS

Ronaldinho has agreed to join Chelsea from Barcelona - next season. (Express)

Rangers' new loan signing Amdy Faye says his former Newcastle boss Graeme Souness persuaded him to move to Ibrox. (Record)

Celtic are furious at Bobo Balde turning down a loan move to Sunderland, despite not having played a first-team game since last December. (Record)

Southend initially rejected Barnsley's second bid for Jamal Campbell-Ryce after it was smaller than their first offer. (Sun)

OTHER GOSSIP

Accrington Stanley are in danger of going out of business for a second time. Chairman Eric Whalley says their financial situation is the worst it has been since their Unibond League days. (Mail)

Frank Lampard's thigh injury will keep him out for six weeks. (various)

Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko has been told he is now the fourth-choice striker at Stamford Bridge. (various)

FA Chief executive Brian Barwick says Michel Platini's plan to award a Champions League place to the FA Cup winners is "perfectly reasonable". (Mail)

Arsene Wenger will sign a new three-year deal at Arsenal next week. (Express)

PFA chief Gordon Taylor wants annual heart checks for players to become compulsory after the number of recent health scares. (Express).

Derby boss Billy Davies says the step up from Championship to Premier League is like moving from primary school to secondary school (Guardian).

Sir Alex Ferguson says it was "amazing" no-one was killed in crowd trouble when Manchester United visited Roma last season, and he hopes lessons have been learnt for their return there this season. (Independent)

Thierry Henry will make his Barcelona debut this weekend against Athletic Bilbao as Samuel Eto'o is out for two months with a thigh injury. (Independent)

Bolton boss Sammy Lee has hit out at what he calls "malignant rumours" coming from the dressing room about player selection. (Mirror)

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez admits he is "surprised" by the decision of his number two Pako Ayesteran to leave the club, having worked with him for 11 years. (Sun)

Aston Villa's Ashley Young says he thought it was a joke when he was told Steve McClaren had phoned up to say he was in the England squad. (Sun)

Manchester City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson says he offered to pay Blackburn compensation after changing his mind about taking the manager's job in 1997 - but the club said no. (Star)

Veteran Bolton midfielder Gary Speed, 37, says he could carry on playing until he is 40.�(Sun)

Aberdeen director of football Willie Miller has urged Dons boss Jimmy Calderwood to snub the chance to take over as Leicester manager. (Record)

AND FINALLY

Newcastle owner Mike Ashley was refused entry to a nightclub after the Carling Cup win over Barnsley because he was wearing a football shirt. But once he was allowed in, he bought drinks for 150 fans and left a �500 tip for the bar staff. (Mail)

Source: BBC Sport

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