Lippi rules out Chelsea move

World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi has ruled himself out of the running for the Chelsea job.

The 60-year-old Italian is one of the most successful managers in world football and has admirers in the Chelsea hierarchy.

Yet he says his English is not good enough for him to move to Stamford Bridge this summer.

When asked if a move could be on the cards, he said: "No, no, no. Sharing the language of the players is very, very important for me, and I do not speak English and am not learning it.

"I have to transmit my ideas and philosophy to the team and would not be able to do that, so a move to England is not possible.

"Other managers might be able to do it, but communication is very important to my style.

"I have had several offers from English clubs in the last year or so, but have not been able to accept them for this reason."

Lippi has been out of football since stepping down as Italy coach after winning the 2006 World Cup.

Redknapp to make Bournemouth bid

Harry Redknapp hopes to buy his beloved Bournemouth during the summer.

The Cherries have been in administration since February and were relegated to League Two on the final day of the season.

Portsmouth boss Redknapp managed Bournemouth in the 1980s and says they were the happiest days of his life.

He is now determined the buy the south-coast club and had told friends he would quit as boss of Pompey so he could focus on the Cherries full-time.

However, after Saturday's FA Cup final victory over Cardiff, Redknapp backtracked, saying he did not know where stories of his imminent departure had originated.

Watch this space to find out more in the coming weeks...

Ashton sceptical about RFU offer

Former England coach Brian Ashton is highly sceptical about the Academy job offered to him by the RFU.

Ashton was offered the job after being sacked as England coach last month.

RFU top brass had been confident that Ashton would accept the role. Last month, chief executive Francis Baron said Ashton had a clause in his contract allowing him to be moved to any other role within the organisation.

Yet a close friend of Ashton told Undercover Sport that the RFU should not count their chickens, because the 61-year-old is in two minds about the role.

"Brian isn't sure that he has been offered a meaningful role," the friend said.

"He suspects this is just a ploy to prevent him going to court to sue for the way he was dismissed.

"Let's not forget that he was treated disgracefully by the RFU. They might want him to go quietly, but Brian is not necessarily going to do that."

Murphy threatens to sue Marcotti

Five Live correspondent Pat Murphy is threatening to sue Gabriele Marcotti for slander following comments made by the Italian journalist on the radio station last week.

A pre-recorded piece by Murphy on Liverpool's bid to sign Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry was played on last Friday's Five Live Sport.

Studio guest Marcotti responded to it with a snigger, saying: "What is this, a communique from the Aston Villa press office?"

He then added: "To make the point that Villa and Liverpool are on the same plane right now...is a little bit silly" and described Murphy's assertion that Barry is worth more than Javier Mascherano as "moronic".

Unsurprisingly, Murphy was not amused and has threatened to take the overweight Italian (above) to court.

Bilic still in line for Man City job

Manchester City will turn their attention to Croatia manager Slaven Bilic if they fail to land Luiz Felipe Scolari as their new manager.

Bilic signed a new two-year deal with Croatia, that will take him up to the 2010 World Cup, last week.

Yet Undercover Sport understands that he is still very interested in the City job - and they are still interested in him.

Uber agent Pini Zahavi is acting as an intermediary between Bilic and City's power brokers, Shinawatra and his right-hand man, Jack Srisumrid.

Bilic was a guest of Zahavi's at last week's Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.

The Croatian Football Federation will not stand in Bilic's way if he is offered the City job and would stand to receive significant compensation.

Gary Charles exclusive part 2

It was great to see that most eloquent of sport journalists, Paul Hawyard, mention Undercover Sport in his Daily Mail column yesterday.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/columnists/columnists.html?in_page_id=1951&in_article_id=562872&in_author_id=342

The link is above if you missed it - the Charles piece is the third story down, after the picture.

As he wrote, Gazza's tackle on Gary in that 1991 Cup final "was like a starting gun in a race to self-destruction", such has been the subsequent decline of both players.

When I met Gary, several weeks ago, he looked good and had been sober for many months.

Yet he admitted he was still, and always would be, a recovering alcoholic and, at any moment, one drink would smash his dam of sobriety and submerge him.

Sadly, that is the way things subsequently turned out. That one drink led to Gary drinking himself into oblivion and then repeating the pattern day after day, for weeks on end.

When I had met him, he told me: "I don't know what makes me drink. I've asked myself that question over and over again, and if I knew, my life would be easy.

"I've been to alcoholics anonymous, I've been to therapists, but I still have these problems."

As I mentioned in the previous blog, Roy Keane has been something of a saviour for Gary.

I am sure he would hate to be described in those terms and that he would be reluctant for this story to even get into the public domain, which speaks volumes for the man.

Whereas the rest of the game seems to have turned its back on the fallen former England star, Keane has been there for him since he was released from prison last May.

Despite the pressure and workload that being a Premiership manager must inevitably bring, Keane has offered support, help and advice to his former housemate.

Yet, as Gary himself would acknowledge, he is the only one who can tackle his drinking problem and get his life back on track.

Sadly, that is something he has not been able to do, since his days as a rising first-team star at Nottingham Forest, through to his days with Villa, Benfica and West Ham and then during his time on civvy street.

Last month, Gary's drinking got worse and worse until desperation overcame pride and he called Keane for help. Keane immediately arranged a place at an alcohol rehab centre in the north east, where Charles is now.

When he is ready, he will come back out into the world. He realises that he needs a new purpose in life to fill the void left by his retirement from playing in 2002 and hopes that coaching could be the answer.

Whatever happens, he knows that Keane will be there to help.