Saturday, January 21, 2012
5pm Blues News Headlines
The Sweeper: Why Wayne Rooney felt he was singled out by Sir Alex Ferguson for Boxing Day antics of Manchester United stars
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TIDYING UP ALL THE LOOSE STORIES IN FOOTBALL THIS WEEK
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Wayne Rooney grumbled about his recent punishment for a lacklustre showing in training following a night out with team-mates Darron Gibson and Jonny Evans after Manchester United’s Boxing Day victory over Wigan.
Rooney was fined a week’s wages - worth around £220,000 - and dropped for the New Year’s Eve clash against Blackburn after the evening out in Southport, while he was also forced to train on a scheduled day off.
When asked if he had complained about his fine, Rooney told Italian newspaper La Repubblica: "Yes, but for reasons that I can't say. I accepted it.”
The Sweeper can reveal that the reason behind Rooney’s response was the feeling that he had been unfairly singled out by Sir Alex Ferguson for actually going out, rather than for the reason stated by the manager of delivering a below-par performance in training the following day.
Rooney, 26, felt doubly aggrieved because he knew a number of his team-mates other than Gibson and Evans had been out on Boxing Day night, when there was no curfew in place, and had not been punished.
The Sweeper has seen photographic proof that Ryan Giggs spent the night in bars in the Deansgate area of Manchester city centre, including Irish pub Mulligans, while Phil Jones tweeted that he went to Chinese restaurant Wings.
In the interview, Rooney admitted the punishment made him “tense”, although he acknowledged: "You can't always agree. Football is made up of all kinds of conflict in a dressing room - between players, between us and the manager, between us and loads of people who don't seem to matter. It's constant and harsh sometimes."
Both Rooney and Ferguson have been at pains to send out a clear message that the situation has now been put behind them, but the revelation by The Sweeper again raised questions about the relationship between the manager and star player at Old Trafford.
The pair had a damaging stand-off in October 2010 after Rooney handed in a transfer request before signing a new contract, and there has been speculation that he may even leave the club in the summer.
HARRY REDKNAPP WANTED PAUL HART AT WHITE HART LANE
Paul Hart, who has managed Portsmouth in the Premier League among a series of short-lived managerial posts in recent years, joined Charlton Athletic as academy director last June.But The Sweeper understands he could have taken on an even more prestigious London post had Harry Redknapp got his way.
The Tottenham manager wanted to bring Hart’s vast experience of developing youthful talent to White Hart Lane and re-jig the academy set-up, which is currently headed by John McDermott.
But Hart was encouraged to go to Charlton partly by the promise that he would step in and take the reins if rookie manager Chris Powell failed to turn around a troubled start to his tenure.
It appears that Hart will have to bide his time. Charlton sit at the top of League One and will extend their lead to seven points if they defeat second-placed Sheffield United at the Valley today.
LOWLY ROLE FOR FIFTH MEMBER OF HUGHES' BACKROOM TEAM
Spare a thought for Glyn Hodges, the one member of Mark Hughes’ well-established five-man coaching team who is yet to join up with his fellow Welshman at QPR.Mark Bowen, Eddie Niedzwiecki and Kevin Hitchcock have worked alongside Hughes at Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Fulham and now Rangers, as well as the Wales national team.But Hodges is in the second year of a two-year contract at Fulham that did not have the same break clause as Hughes, who was followed out of Craven Cottage shortly after his exit last June by Bowen and Niedzwiecki.
Hitchcock stayed on working for the Fulham academy until being invited to join Hughes at Loftus Road last week.
Meanwhile, Hodges, the 48-year-old former Wales international, remains in a comparatively lowly role, working as a matchday scout.
WORKING FOR SOUTHAMPTON PROVES COSTLY
Southampton might have prised a potential £15million out of Arsenal for the signing of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain last summer.
But that has not stopped the Championship leaders coming up with a novel way of meeting running costs.
The Sweeper has been told that most club staff now have to pay to park their cars at St Mary's Stadium on match day, a decision that has been greeted with universal anger.
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Redknapp rules out Kranjcar sale
Harry Redknapp has insisted Tottenham have no intention of selling midfielder Niko Kranjcar in January.
PA PhotosNiko Kranjcar celebrates with his team-mates after grabbing a late winner
Kranjcar has found first-team chances limited this term and Queens Park Rangers boss Mark Hughes is reported to be keen on signing the playmaker in January.
Redknapp, though, is intends to keep hold of Kranjcar, who has made just ten appearances in all competitions this season.
"No chance. I wouldn't sell Niko," Redknapp said. "He might play Sunday. I love Niko. He's a real footballer, a good player. He's just been unlucky, but he's important to me.
"You could say, 'Well, why don't you bloody play him?' But I've got Gareth Bale. It's been hard to get him in the team."
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Fergie: Fletcher out for the season
PA PhotosManchester United's Darren Fletcher scores to give his side a brief lead.
Fletcher, who spent a large spell on the sidelines last term due to illness, has not played since November on account of a chronic bowel complaint.
The club revealed at the end of last year that the Scotland international was taking an indefinite break from the game.
It had recently been claimed that the 27-year-old was progressing to the extent that he could be in line for a return, but Ferguson has quashed the talk.
"I don't expect Fletcher to come back," said the United boss. "Darren will be out for the season."
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Warnock 'disappointed' by Barton
Former QPR boss Neil Warnock is "disappointed" Joey Barton has fiercely criticised him but says he will not enter a war of words with a player he made captain at Loftus Road.
GettyImagesNeil Warnock signed Joey Barton from Newcastle for QPR last summer
Warnock was sacked as QPR manager two weeks ago, seven months after winning promotion to the top-flight, and Barton has not minced his words when offering his opinion on the 63-year-old and his departure.
Earlier this week Warnock, perhaps aiming a dig at frequent Twitter user Barton, claimed forces inside and outside of the club had been "poisoning" owner Tony Fernandes against him via social networking sites.
His comments sparked an angry response from Barton, who tweeted that Warnock was an "embarrassment" and told the veteran boss to "look in the mirror".
Despite the disparaging remarks, Warnock says he is not interested in getting into a slanging match with his former skipper.
Writing in the Independent, he said: "I'm told Joey Barton had a few things to say about me on Twitter last night. Obviously, I'm disappointed with the comments, but I don't feel there's any need to respond.
"I don't have a problem with anybody at QPR and when I tuned in on Sunday to watch their match at Newcastle I was cheering them on.
"That might surprise people since I was sacked but most of the QPR players I brought to the club, many of them are the same players who did me so proud in winning the Championship last season, so obviously I want them to do well."
Warnock also re-emphasised he feels no bitterness towards Fernandes, and believes his comments about the club's owner have been taken out of context.
He said: "I'm not bitter at all towards Tony Fernandes and I was disappointed at the way some comments I made on TV this week were sensationalised by the tabloids.
"I was asked about tweeting and said it was a dangerous path to go down, when players and fans are tweeting the chairman, as one person's opinion could get undue weight, and it's hard to have much context in 140 characters.
"Then I picked up the papers and read I was 'poisoned', which wasn't what I meant at all."
Friday, January 20, 2012
