UNDERCOVER SPORT

Mancini wants Eriksson to join him at Man City

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 09:22:00 +0000

Roberto Mancini wants Sven-Goran Eriksson to become director of football at Manchester City.

Mancini does not speak a word of English and has no experience of managing in the Premier League, so wants Eriksson to guide him.

The pair are close friends after Eriksson managed the Italian at Sampdoria and Lazio.

Mancini has already been in touch with Eriksson and City chief executive Gary Cook will make formal contact this week.

Eriksson is keen to leave his post at Notts County. He is owed a six figure bonus and has grown frustrated at doubts about the ownership of the League Two club.

Bond named BBC Sports editor

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:57:00 +0000

David Bond has been named the BBC's new sports editor.

Bond, currently the Telegraph sports editor, replaces Mihir Bose.

It's a calculated gamble by the Beeb because Bond, like Bose has no broadcasting experience.

Bose never adjusted to the screen, looking stodgy and uncomfortable, and resigned his position earlier this year.

This led many to surmise that the Beeb would go for a proven broadcaster like James Pearce or Adam Parsons.

However, there are big differences between Bond and his predecessor. He is young, a quick learner and understands the web. Bose's pitiful blogs were lambasted by punters.

Now the BBC has to appoint it's new head of sports news...

Sloane gets one over the BBC

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:10:00 +0000

ITV head of sport Niall Sloane is wreaking some revenge on his former employers, the BBC.

The former Beeb head of football has snatched two star pundits from his rivals for the World Cup.

The BBC had a gentleman's agreement with South Africa legend Lucas Radebe and World Cup winner Marcel Desailly to work at next summer's tournament.

But Sloane has outmanouevered sluggish rival Phillip Bernie and signed them both up.

Expect the ITV coverage to be far more impressive next summer now that Sloane is in charge. BBC watch out - the gloves are off.

Andy Murray's Twitter fraud

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:56:00 +0000

Andy Murray takes apparent pride in being at the vanguard of "Twitterers", keeping in touch with his fans through the popular website.

So it's very interesting to note that Murray rarely writes his entries himself.

They're mainly done by the editor of his website, Rob Stewart, a former reporter for Five Live...

Mihir Bose and the £150 truffle linguine

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:34:00 +0000

Commentators writing about Mihir Bose's shock resignation have missed the story spectacularly.

Bose resigned as BBC sports editor knowing there was about to be a storm over his expenses.

Investigative journalist Andrew Jennings has submitted a freedom of info request for Bose's BBC expenses. And even Jennings was surprised by the results.

The most eye watering item was the £150 paid for a starter at a restaurant in Zurich two years ago.

The meal in question was a truffle linguine. Bose was unaware that the price depended on the amount of truffle the diner asked to be grated onto the pasta...and he told the waiter to just keep on grating.

Jennings is about to publish the highly embarrassing results in Private Eye.

The papers are poised. Lucky for the BBC that the "lethargic Bose" (as Jennings describes him) has departed TV Centre.

Woodward accused of blood faking

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 20:02:00 +0000

Wondered why Sir Clive Woodward has been so uncharacteristically quiet during the Bloodgate scandal?

Could be because he himself faking of blood injuries.

Former Leicester and England star Richard Cockerill described in his autobiography how a cut on his hand was opened up by medical staff when he played for his country under Woodward.

Other players have, under the promise of anonymity, backed this up, as has a former England team doctor.

Not really the kind of behavious you would expect from a Sir...

Curbishley in line for Newcastle job

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:17:00 +0000

Speculation that David O'Leary could become Newcastle's new boss is wide of the mark, because the man firmly in the frame is Alan Curbishley.

The former Charlton and West Ham manager is represented by First Artists - the same management company that Magpies owner Mike Ashley has used to offload a number of first-team players on big wages, such as Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins.

Ashley trusts First Artists and their chief John Smith implicitly and Smith has been extolling Curbishley's virtues.

Curbishley, in turn, is keen to get back into football and sees Newcastle as a great job - a big team in turmoil which can be turned around with a bit of expert management.

Watch this space...

Bevington passed over for Man City job

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:06:00 +0000

Adrian Bevington, the FA's charmless director of communications, has been turned down for the same role at moneybags Manchester City.

The job instead went to Vicky Kloss, who served under former director Paul Tyrell.

Bevington has already enjoyed a highly fortuitous rise up the ladder at the FA.

He joined as a junior member of their press office after having been a junior member of Middlesbrough's press team. Resignations then helped him to climb to his current role, in which he has had rather mixed fortunes.

I doubt whether Sven-Goran Eriksson or Steve McClaren would say he handled their press very well. He's hardly proactive or good at building relationships with the press, which are crucial to success in such a role.

Dan Johnson, the charming, proactive and intelligent head of communications at the Premier League could certainly teach him a thing or two.

Hammers won't land Moon after tragic road death

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:58:00 +0000

West Ham have had to call off their pursuit of promising defender Bryce Moon, in a story which tells you much about modern South Africa.

Earlier in the summer, the Hammers agreed a fee with Panathinaikos for the 23-year-old right-back and he was keen to move to Upton Park.

Then disaster struck. On Monday 29 June, Moon's Mercedes hit 25-year-old cleaner Mavis Ncube on a road in the Sandton area of Johannesburg and she later died.

Moon was travelling home from a party held by Bafana Bafana captain Aaron Moekena. He admitted he had had two beers at the party, but denied he was drunk.

Initial reports that a blood sample had been taken at the scene and that Moon had been charged with culpable homicide were later dismissed by police and inquiries are ongoing.

Anyone who has visited South Africa won't be surprised to hear these allegations of drink driving, as it seems to be a problem of epidemic proportions in the country.

I encountered seemingly respectable people drink driving when I visited, claiming "it's what we do here".

While Moon might be disappointed that his move to the Premiership has fallen through, our thoughts should be with the victim.

There were reports that three hospitals had refused to admit Ncube because she did not have medical insurance, claims which were denied by the hospitals in question...

Bose leaves BBC

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:47:00 +0000

Mihir Bose, the BBC's lacklustre sports editor, has resigned from his job with immediate effect for personal reasons.

The 62-year-old is currently staying with family in India and has no plans for other roles at the moment.

Bose has been a controversial figure within the Corporation since becoming its first sports editor in October 2006.

He has failed to bring in the exclusive stories of contemporaries such as economics editor Robert Peston, his blog has been derided and his haughty manner has upset some.

The BBC has not yet decided whether it will appoint a replacement.

Bose was unhappy that head of sport Barbara Slater had decided to move his role to Salford in 2011, when he had originally been told he could stay in London.

Truth about Haskell's Stade move

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:31:00 +0000

England flanker James Haskell has always claimed his move to Stade Francais was not for the cash.

So it's interesting to know that his agent, Jamie Salmon, stopped working with him in January after becoming infuriated at his infatuation with cash and celebrity.

After January 1st, Haskell was free to negotiate with other clubs. Wasps made him a decent offer to stay and Salmon urged him to make a decision based on "rugby reasons".

But the player, influenced by his obnoxious father Anthony, had other ideas.

That could backfire on him now. England boss Martin Johnson has made it clear that playing abroad will jeopardise players' international hopes.

Yet Haskell has signed a pre-contract agreement with Stade and pulling out of a move will cost him dear....

Hall cuts ties with Man City

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:25:00 +0000

PR guru Phil Hall has cut his ties with Manchester City after losing patience with chief executive Garry Cooke.

Hal, a former editor of the News of the World, isn't a man known for his scruples. In truth, he seems willing to work for anyone if the cash is good enough.

Fred Goodwin, the disgraced former chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, is one of his clients. And so too was Thaksin Shinawatra, described by Human Rights Watch as "a human rights abuser of the worst kind".

But Hall has had enough of Cooke, who he finds difficult to deal with and "a bit of a prat".

Gallop takes over from Sloane as BBC's F1 supremo

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:31:00 +0000

Ben Gallop, the head of BBC Sport's Interactive operation, is to succeed Niall Sloane as the corporation's F1 supremo.

Sloane told staff on Thursday that he was leaving after 25 years at the BBC. The Irishman had grown disillusioned after being encouraged by Peter Salmon to apply for the head of sport job, only to be eliminated at the first hurdle.

Sloane's junior colleague "icewoman" Barbara Slater went on to land the coveted position.

Gallop has overseen a dramatic increase in the popularity of the BBC Sport website, but has no previous experience of working in television...

Spurs bid £15m for Keane

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 20:16:00 +0000

Tottenham have made an official £15m bid for Robbie Keane, Undercover Sport can reveal.

Following Sunday's 2-0 win over Chelsea, Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez said Keane would be staying at Anfield beyond the end of the January transfer window.

And the £15m bid have been rebutted by Liverpool, but they are only holding out for more money and look certain to offload the Irish striker.

Rafa will also have to work very quickly to find a replacement. Don't be surprised to see Roman Pavlyuchenko moving in the opposite direction...

ECB gave green light to Pietersen revelations

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:54:00 +0000

Kevin Pietersen's newspaper column on Sunday, which aired his differences with coach Peter Moores, was cited as one of the key reasons for his dismissal as England skipper.

When Hugh Morris rang round the other players to canvas their opinions on the dispute, many said they had turned against Pietersen after he had washed dirty linen in public.

What they didn't know, was that the ECB had read the piece in advance and ok'd it.

Director of communications Colin Gibson, conspicuous by his absence in recent days, was the man to give the piece the green light.

Perhaps it's little surprise that Pietersen feels so aggrieved and be sure to hear more about this in the coming days...

Truth about Ince's Blackburn exit

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:35:00 +0000

Senior Blackburn players were sceptical about Paul Ince's coaching and training methods from the day the former England midfielder first walked onto the training pitch at Brokhall.

Several players have told Undercover Sport about the lack of professionalism that undermined Ince's stewardship.

Ince took over from Mark Hughes in June, but was fired on Tuesday after a disastrous run of six straight defeats.

One player said: "We were used to great organisation and scientific methods from Mark, but Incey's approach wasn't up to Premier League standards.

"I think the players at Macclesfield and Milton Keynes were probably in awe of him, but reputation alone isn't enough at the top level. We're used to high standards here and the players weren't afraid to tell Paul that things weren't good enough."

The unnamed players cites two examples that highlight the problems under Ince.

"There was one time when we were training and Paul was at the side of the pitch having a kickabout with his son. The lads weren't happy.

"One of them went up to him and said 'What the f*ck do you think you're doing? We've got a game at the weekend and you're having a kickabout in the park'.

"Then there was the time he had a day off without telling us and didn't turn up at training. Someone confronted him the next day, saying 'We didn't have a day off, so why did you?'

"Top players are cynical, in that they won't respect a manager just because he was a top player. Standards have got to be high or you've got no chance."

And the players weren't impressed with Ince's choice of lieutenants, Archie Knox, Ray Mathias and Nigel Winterburn.

"Archie's the old school sergeant major type," the player said. "Again, that doesn't cut with modern players. It might have when he was working with Fergie in the 80s, but it doesn't now.

"I remember when he told David Bentley to do 20 press-ups because he'd been stood there with his arms folded, and Bents just walked off.

"Ray's a great guy, a really nice bloke, but he's never worked in the Premier League before. And Nigel was our defensive coach, but he only came up twice a week from London.

"What can you learn in that time? He didn't seem to really know much about coaching in any case."

Hughes's reign, in contrast, was characterised by attention to detail, exhaustive analysis and scientific methods.

Ince's successor, Sam Allardyce, is more in the Hughes mould than Ince's, and the players seem to welcome his arrival.

"I think he'll do a good job and we're looking forward to playing under him," the player said.

"Things had to change and I'm glad they did."

Bolt wins BBC Sports Personality award

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:53:00 +0000

Here's another exclusive for you - Usain Bolt has been named the BBC overseas sports star of the Year.

The Olympic 100m and 200m champion was presented with the award in Jamaica earlier this week.

He beat off strong competition from the likes of Rafa Nadal and Michael Phelps to claim the award.

But there will be huge controversy if this news gets out.

The recipients of the awards are not meant to be known until they are announced at Sunday night's ceremony in Liverpool.

Otherwise there could be huge question marks about things like insider betting...

Lawro could sue Mirror and 118

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:31:00 +0000

BBC pundit Mark Lawrenson could sue the Mirror newspaper and telephone service 118-118.

The tabloid reported how it had called the service asking the question "is Mark Lawrenson gay?"

The answer came back "no, but he takes it up the arse".

Lawrenson is one of the funniest and most down-to-earth people at the BBC.

But he was understandably upset by this offensive joke, particularly as it could lead to his son Sam being ridiculed at school.

JFK takes charge at Newcastle

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 22:35:00 +0000

Newcastle's players have given new boss Joe Kinnear the nickname JFK.

And it's not because he reminds them of the legendary US president in terms of his looks and oratory, oh no.

It stands for Joe F*cking Kinnear, because of his fondness for expletives.

Not bad for footballers...

Keown to join Adams at Pompey

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:55:00 +0000

Martin Keown has decided to join his old Arsenal pal Tony Adams at Portsmouth, Undercover Sport can reveal.

Keown, who currently works as a scout for Arsenal as well as being a pundit for the BBC, will focus on the team's defence.

Adams and Keown were at the heart of Arsenal's legendary back four, flanked by Lee Dixon and Nigel Winterburn, for more than a decade.

Like Pompey's new manager, Keown is an intense and even dour character. And that must be a concern for the club's fans.

Where once they had the ebullient, charismatic Harry Redknapp, now there is a humourless trio of Adams, Keown and Joe Jordan.

Undercover Sport's tip is for Pompey to get relegated this season. With the club cash-strapped and the coaching team hardly a barrel of laughs, several players will seek to leave in the January transfer window.

There won't be the money to get adequate replacements and the party will soon be over...

Redknapp takes Spurs job - as predicted by Undercover Sport

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 09:05:00 +0000

Harry Redknapp has taken the Spurs job - and Undercover Sport was the only place to predict it.

On October 5th, we said that several Tottenham board members had decided Redknapp was the right man to take over from Juande Ramos.

The move made sense to both parties. Spurs wanted the antidote to Ramos - an excellent communicator with a proven track record in the Premier League.

And Redknapp, who is in the twilight of his career, was keen to prove himself at a big club.

He will be back in London and, importantly, will be able to commute to training and match days from his multi-million pound house on the Sandbanks peninsula near Poole.

Now it has become reality. The move does rather make a mockery of Spurs chairman Daniel Levy's pursuit of Juande Ramos a year ago and also of the director of football structure he has placed such great store in.

Daniel Comolli has also been fired and Redknapp has made no secret of his antipathy for the director of football structure in the past.

But desperate times call for desperate measures...

Man City register interest in Zaki

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:26:00 +0000

Manchester City have made an inquiry about Amr Zaki with his Egyptian club Zamalek.

Zaki is on a season-long loan with Wigan and has already made a stunning impact, scoring seven goals to top the Premiership scoring charts.

Latics boss Steve Bruce is desperate to make the deal permanent, but faces a struggle to hold onto the Egypt international.

City are the only club to have lodged an official interest with Zamalek so far, but Liverpool are also waiting in the wings.

Blues' boss Mark Hughes is desperate to add a top striker to his squad.

McMahon group ponder Premiership purchase

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:01:00 +0000

Singapore investment company "The Profitable Group", fronted by former Liverpool midfielder Steve McMahon, is weighing up a move for a Premier League club.

The group is keen to invest in the Premiership and has looked at West Ham, Everton and Newcastle.

The Hammers are deemed to be a poor proposition, as their wages are seen as too high a proportion of turnover.

Profitable believe the ratio of wages to turnover is 90%, although West Ham vice chairman Ausgeir Fridgeirsson told Undercover Sport it was actually 55%.

Newcastle are deemed too expensive, because owner Mike Ashley is demanding £400m for the club.

So that could leave Everton, a club that McMahon knows well following his time as a player and supporter of the club...

Ljungberg ponders football future

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 10:56:00 +0000

Freddie Ljungberg will decide whether he is to retire from football by Christmas.

The 31-year-old was released by West Ham in the summer after one injury-hit season at the club.

According to his agent, Claes Elefalk, Ljungberg has had numerous offers since then, including some from Premiership clubs.

Yet he has decided to "take time out" from the game and is thinking things over at his home in London.

His choice will be between taking up a final contract with a club or pursuing his modelling and business career.

England in solo bid for 2015 Rugby World Cup

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Smith) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:21:00 +0000

England will be launching a solo bid for the 2015 World Cup.

The Rugby Football Union has, indeed, held talks with their Welsh and Irish counterparts about them hosting matches in 2015.

But this would not be a joint bid. Only England could realistically host the tournament, as the International Rugby Board wants a £100m guarantee for the competition.

England have already confirmed their interest in hosting the competition and are now putting together a bid document.