UNDERCOVER SPORT

Joorabchian's guide to transfer negotiations

2012-01-18T03:20:00.000-08:00

Don't believe everything you see when it comes to transfers.

Take the example of the Carlos Tevez transfer saga, expertly marshalled by his "adviser" Kia Joorabchian.

First of all, Tevez started to want out of City after Joorabchian had fallen out with ex City CEO Gary Cook. Joorabchian had been a pivotal figure at the club.

He helped to bring Cook in in the first place - under Thaksin Shinawatra's regime - and brokered the deals for several players who moved to the club, such as Jo, Paolo Zabaleta, Nedum Onuoha and Tevez himself.

But then he got frozen out by Cook and the club's new Abu Dhabi owners, and became angry. Tevez then also started agitating for a move.

Anyway, back to the latest transfer negotiations we hear so much about. Corinthians "came in" for the striker in the summer.

Their £35m bid was accepted by City, but the Brazilian club failed to prove they had the money.

Was the bid legitimate, or was it an attempt to provoke bids from other clubs?

It's worth noting that Joorabchian once part-owned Corinthians and is a close personal friend of the club's president, Andrés Sanchez.

Then onto the latest bids. Joorabchian, Tevez and AC Milan president Adriano Galliano were pictured together in Brazil as they negotiated a transfer.

Worth noting that the picture was distributed to Gazzetta dello Sport by Joorabchian. Was the same summer ruse being used again?

Inter Milan have also made a bid apparently, despite their sporting director Marco Branca dismissing a bid for the player out of hand in the summer.

Smoke and mirrors...

Chelsea refuse Terry's request for support

2011-12-29T00:22:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Liverpool's Luis Suarez T-shirts, John Terry asked his Chelsea team-mates for a show of support as he fights allegations of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.

Terry wanted his team-mates to do something similar to the Liverpool players, who all wore Suarez T-shirts against Wigan last Wednesday.

The Chelsea players gave a lukewarm response to the suggestion though - and then manager Andre Villas-Boas killed it dead in the water, saying he would not allow such a gesture.

Villas-Boas has been very vocal in support of his skipper though.

Terry faces a criminal charge of using racist language towards Ferdinand during Chelsea's match against Fulham on October 23rd.

Spurs will make move for Frank Lampard

2011-12-26T07:58:00.000-08:00

Spurs manager Harry Redknapp has said he is ready to make a move for a "special" player in the January transfer window, and Undercover Sport can reveal who he is after - Chelsea and England midfielder Frank Lampard.

It would undoubtedly be one of the most eyecatching transfers of the window, and Redknapp is confident he can carry it off.

The duo already have a close relationship. Redknapp is Lampard's uncle, and managed him at the start of his career at West Ham. He has remained a big admirer of the prolific midfielder ever since.

Privately, Lampard has admitted to those closest to him that he is ready to leave Chelsea.

The 33-year-old has no relationship with Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas, who has made it clear that Lampard is not a surefire starter at the club.

Lampard wants regular games and believes he has another two seasons at the highest level in him. His advisers have been making discreet soundings that he will consider a January move.

So, you heard it here first. Remember Undercover Sport was the ONLY outlet to reveal that Redknapp was going to move to Tottenham (look back in the archive). We have sources in high places.

Di Matteo considering Chelsea future

2011-12-13T03:14:00.000-08:00

Chelsea assistant manager Roberto Di Matteo is on the brink of leaving Stamford Bridge.The Italian is growing increasingly frustrated at being ignored by manager Andre Villas-Boas and would rather be a manager at a club.He was sacked as number one at West Brom last season, before being appointed by Chelsea in the summer.However, crucially, he wasn't appointed by Villas-Boas, who rarely consults him on the touch-line on match days and has made him a peripheral figure at Chelsea's Cobham training ground.Rather, he was appointed by the Chelsea hierarchy, who thought a former Chelsea player - who is close to some players including John Terry - was needed to assist the young Portuguese.

Gary Speed had row with wife night before his death

2011-12-09T05:34:00.001-08:00

Mystery still surrounds the reasons for Gary Speed's decision to take his own life. However, Undercover Sport has been able to glean a few more details.

Speed, 42, had a row with his wife Louise on the evening before he was found dead, at 7:08am on Sunday November 27th.

In fact she slept in their car that night, rather than at their house in Huntington, near Chester.

Speed was found hanged at the house the next morning. A distraught Louise phoned Speed's close friend Alan Shearer, among others, to tell him the awful news.

England ready to take Rooney case to Court of Arbitration for Sport

2011-12-06T00:05:00.001-08:00

Fabio Capello believes Wayne Rooney is so key to England's chances - and is so angry about the three-match suspension the striker has been given - that he is willing to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

UEFA will decide on Rooney's appeal against the ban - which would rule him out of the group stages of Euro 2012 - on Thursday.

If England are not successful in the appeal, Capello is ready to take the case to CAS.

That would mean the FA further aggravating UEFA - and would show just how pivotal Rooney is to England's hopes.

Portsmouth to get minimum 10-point deduction

2011-11-29T09:49:00.001-08:00

I exclusively revealed in March that Vladimir Antonov was to buy Portsmouth FC.

The story attracted much ridicule, but turned out to be 100% true. Sadly, Antonov has turned out to be another disastrous owner of the club.

He has been arrested, his assets frozen, and his company, Convers Spirts Initiatives, has gone into administration.

Insiders at the club and at the Football Association tell me that is almost certain to see the Club hit with at least a 10-point penalty.

Pompey will not be able to show that the club and it's parent company, CSI, are not one economic entity.

The FA is very strict on the issue of administration and, knowing the facts as they do at this stage, are expecting to hit Portsmouth with a heavy points deduction.

That, in turn, will leave the club facing a relegation battle.

Joey Barton claims Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley refused to pay him when he was in prison

2011-11-29T04:14:00.001-08:00

QPR midfielder Joey Barton has claimed that Newcastle refused to pay him when he was sent to prison.

Barton served 77 days of a six-month jail term for common assault and affray in 2008.

He claims Newcastle's hierarchy of owner Mike Ashley and managing director Derek Llambias - who he describes as "cretins" - did not pay him while he was in jail and tried to reduce his wages to a fifth of their value.

"I just wouldn't want to go to work and work for those cretins (Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias)," Barton said.

"I really want the club to do well though, as much as I don't like them. The flip side of my happiness is that if Newcastle do well then the people who I don't like are doing well.

"The people who owned the club made my position untenable. In my opinion they tried to fuck me when I was having a bad time and then they demanded loyalty three years down the line when I was playing well.

"People say to me 'Newcastle paid your wages when you were in jail', but they never did, I wasn’t paid.

"I was given a contract from Wise saying that if I didn’t sign a renogtiated deal on a lot less, on a fifth of the wages, they would sack me. That obviously came from Mike Ashley. I was sitting in a jail cell at the time. I said to my agent 'I'm not signing, fuck 'em, lety them sack me'.

"(But) legally they either had to sack me or keep me on the contract I was on. At the end of the day at that football club Mike Ashley is the ayatollah, nothing happens without his say so.

"In my opinion it came from Mike, he must have signed off on it."

He also claims Chris Hughton was sacked as Newcastle boss last year following a dispute over the players' bonus pot.

"Newcastle were the only side in Premiership history not to sign a bonus sheet," he said. "It fundamentally cost Chris his job in my opinion, because Chris couldn't get us to sign the bonus sheet.

"Here was a guy who had kept the side together when they went down to the Championship, did a fantastic job and got the side back into the Premier League."They thought we were sports direct and should do what the subordinates at Sports Direct do.

"For me it's all about power and control. It's going really well for them at the moment, but that's more testament to the players and manager."

He was also critical of his current club, QPR. "I'm here to take this club to the next level with a lot of other players," he said. "The project and the ambition of the new owners appealed to me.

"Look, it's not ideal. There are a lot of things about the club that are lower-league mentality and need changing and we are in the process of changing that. This is an exciting time to be a QPR player."

Lineker in talks with ITV

2011-11-28T00:12:00.000-08:00

Gary Lineker has held talks with ITV about becoming their football anchor from next season.

The Match of the Day presenter met with Niall Sloane, ITV's head of sport, who used to be his boss at the BBC.

Lineker is unhappy about having to travel to Salford Quays every week from his Surrey home to film MOTD.

He is keen to work as one of the main anchors on the 2012 London Olympics for the Beeb, but then wants to move on.

Signing the former England captain would be a huge coup for Sloane and ITV. It would be another setback for the BBC though, who do not have an obvious replacement ready to step into Lineker's shoes.

BBC Sport journalists unhappy with Inverdale

2011-07-16T09:11:00.000-07:00

John Inverdale, once a stalwart of the NUJ, was their nemesis on Friday.

The BBC Sports presenter worked during the strike on Friday - and even covered for colleagues who didn't come in, anchoring Radio Five Live from 9am until the evening.

Several BBC journalists have told me they felt extremely let down by their esteemed colleague.

Joorabchian takes charge of Modric transfer

2011-07-14T06:57:00.001-07:00

Spurs face a much tougher fight to hang onto star player Luka Modric now that Kia Joorabchian has started representing the diminutive Croatian.

Joorabchian first got involved at the behest of Chelsea, who have had two bids for Modric requested.

Arsenal unease over Dein link

2011-07-01T05:54:00.000-07:00

What do Samir Nasri, Cesc Fabregas and Gael Clichy all have in common?
Yes, they're all agitating for moves away from Arsenal. But there's another link - they're all represented by Darren Dein, son of former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein.

The power brokers at the north London club are very uncomfortable and angry about the link.

Is Darren urging them to leave out of spite against the club? After all, his father is still bitter about the way he was forced out of Arsenal in August 2007.

Clichy looks destined to move to Manchester City, we all know that Fabregas is on his way to Barcelona and Nasri is the subject of a tussle between City and Manchester United.

Dein's other high-profile Arsenal client is Robin van Persie. Now that's sure to worry the already jittery Emirates board.

Man City set sights to Mourinho again

2011-04-13T07:57:00.000-07:00

Manchester City's 3-0 defeat by Liverpool on Monday has galvanised the determination of their Abu Dhabi owners to land Jose Mourinho as manager in the summer.

As revealed by Undercover Sport, City tried to sign up Mourinho last year. And the "Special One" was seriously considering the offer until Real Madrid came in for him.

Things are different now though. Owner Sheikh Mansour and chairman Khaldoun Mubarak are adamant that they must replace Roberto Mancini as boss.

The Italian seems to have lost the dressing room, his personal signings - most notably Mario Balatelli but also Aleksandar Kolarov - have been expensive failures and his style of play has often been defensive and dull.

And Mourinho is now disillusioned with life at Madrid. General director Jorge Valdano, who in 2007 described Mourinho's style of play as "shit on a stick", has interfered in transfer policy at the Bernabeu, while many fans have been unhappy with the Portuguese's style of play and the distance they trail Barcelona by in La Liga.

So watch this space, Mourinho is very likely to be at Eastlands this summer.

Pires: I would only get chauffeur in England

2011-03-30T05:33:00.000-07:00

Veteran Aston Villa midfielder has admitted that he gets a chauffeur to drive him from his home in Hampstead to training in Birmingham every day - and admitted it would only happen in England.

The former France international, who has rarely played for Villa since moving there earlier in the season, said: "What I can tell you is that he (the chauffeur) is very nice.

"Steve has been a friend for a long time now. And for me, travelling in the back of this car is so convenient.

"I can sleep, watch movies, make calls. It is a nice way to commute and I feel totally prepared for the training sessions at 10.30am.

"In any other country in the world, eyebrows would be raised because a car takes me from my home in Hampstead to the Midlands. Not in England, where players are always put in the best conditions."

Antonov & Dubov buy Leaders in Football

2011-03-16T00:51:00.000-07:00

The duo closing in on Portsmouth FC - Vladimir Antonov and Roman Dubov - have bought a 65% controlling stake in the Leaders in Football business.

The business, which was set up by a former Football Association director, puts on an annual conference, which has proved extremely influential.

In its three years, the conference has attracted more than 1,000 director level delegates.

So what's the motivation of Antonov and Dubov here? Are they trying to gain some legitimacy, and influence with the upper echelons of English football, as they try to finalise their Pompey purchase?

Baldini: Carroll can be England great

2011-03-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

Forget all the fuss about John Terry and the armband, because these are looking like exciting times for England.

Fabio Capello has said 19 year old Jack Wilshere is the best young midfielder he has ever worked with. And the Italian and his trusted lieutenant Franco Baldini are also raving about striker Andy Carroll, 23.

"We obviously knew that Carroll had a lot to offer physically," Baldini told Undercover Sport.

"But we were surprised at how good his technique and touch were when he joined up with us.

"He is also faster than you might think. Andy can only improve now he has moved to Liverpool and I think he can become a great player for England."

Stuart Rowson named new editor of BBC Sport website

2011-03-14T13:56:00.001-07:00

BBC Sport online, Europe's biggest website, has named a new editor today - Stuart Rowson.

Rowson is sports editor of the Hull Daily Mail and a former football writer for the Grimsby Evening Telegraph.

He takes over from Lewis Wiltshire, who is going to be editor of the BBC's Olympics website.

Antonov & Dubov ready to takeover at Portsmouth

2011-03-14T13:08:00.000-07:00

Russian duo Vladimir Antonov and Roman Dubov are on the verge of taking over Portsmouth FC.

They've completed due diligence and tabled an offer that has been accepted by current owner Balram Chainrai.

Chris Akers, the former chief executive of Leeds, is also involved with the duo as part of the vehicle Conver Sports Initiatives.

The trio are promising to rejuvenate the south coast club and finances should not be a problem, because Antonov and Dubov are each worth upwards of £300m.

They have enlisted the help of Phil Hall, the former editor of the News of the World, to deal with all their PR.

And they are likely to need him, because passing the Football League's Fit and Proper Persons test will now come into focus.

Antonov is the biggest shareholder in the Lithuanian bank Bankas Snoras and in 2008 they were refused a UK licence by the Financial Services Authority after regulators stated that the company had given them "misleading and incomplete answers".

The FSA also added that Antonov's "failures are not an isolated instance but are examples of an ongoing pattern of behaviour by institutions controlled by Mr Antonov."

Watch this space...

Alred return could be shortlived

2011-03-01T09:23:00.001-08:00

Interesting to see that there's been a bit of publicity recently about England's kicking supremo Dave Alred.

He was sacked in 2006 - without justification in my view - and brought back at the behest of Toby Flood in particular last Autumn.

And, as has been highlighted, he's had spectacular results, with England missing only one kick in their first three Six Nations matches.

But his return could be very shortlived.

Not only is Alred - a colourful and outspoken character - unpopular with some members of the RFU board, and chairman Martyn Thomas in particular.

But he's also been the subject of an official complaint from England's big paying kit sponsor, Nike.

The US behemoth was unhappy that Alred wore Adidas kit on the Twickenham turf when he helped Jonny Wilkinson with his warm-up before the Italy match.

They made an official complaint, and this could be further ammunition for the RFU to dispense with a man they see as a difficult character.

Pepe Reina to join Arsenal this summer

2011-03-01T09:12:00.000-08:00

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina is to join Arsenal at the end of the season, according to his former boss Rafa Benitez.

Benitez has been conducting interviews recently as he tries to establish his profile in this country once again and land a Premier League job.

And he's been telling reporters, off the record, that Reina has agreed to join Arsenal. The duo have remained in close contract, despite Benitez's Anfield exit at the end of last season.

Arsenal made a bid for Reina last summer, but their offer was rebuffed.

Sunderland's Gyan in line for Real move

2010-12-14T04:20:00.000-08:00

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho is lining up a surprise move for Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan.

Mourinho is desperate to add a strong, mobile target man to his squad and sees Gyan as the next Didier Drogba.

The striker has two other attributes which Mourinho regards as pre-requisites for any signings - he is young and very hungry.

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is now resigned to losing Gyan and has lined up Celtic's Georgios Samaras to replace him.

Dietmar Hamann to become Aston Villa assistant

2010-09-09T11:37:00.000-07:00

Dietmar Hamann is to team up with his old boss Gerard Houllier at Aston Villa.

MK Dons were desperate to retain the German as a player-coach, but Houllier has persuaded his former charge to move to Villa Park.

Houllier first sounded out Hamann last weekend, and got back in touch after being appointed as Villa boss on Wednesday.

Houllier signed Hamann for £8 million from Newcastle when he was Liverpool boss and the German became a key member of his side, winning the treble in 2001.

Hamann has gained a reputation as a very capable and promising young coach during his fledgling stint at MK Dons.

Redknapp in f-word tirade at Sky man

2010-08-30T00:08:00.000-07:00

Harry Redknapp angrily stormed out of his mandatory post-match interview with Sky's Rob Hawthorne on Saturday.

Things were going well until Hawthorne said: "You've made your name as a wheeler and dealer Harry..."

Redknapp, whose side had just been beaten 1-0 by Wigan at home, erupted. "I'm not a wheeler and dealer... No, Fuck off." He then walked away.

Hawthorne pleaded: "No Harry, I didn’t mean it like that Harry..."
Redknapp (walking away, now off camera): "Fucking wheeler dealer. Don’t even say that - I'm a fucking football manager."

Hawthorne had clearly touched a raw nerve.

England v Pakistan cricket expose in News of the World

2010-08-28T13:42:00.000-07:00

The News of the World is going to break a big front page cricket exclusive tomorrow, concerning the first day of England's fourth Test against Pakistan on Thursday.

That's all I know at the moment, because the paper is being very secretive about a scoop it promises "could blow the recent Sarah Ferguson story out of the water".

I suspect it could involve match fixing though...

Hodgson wanted England job

2010-07-06T03:57:00.000-07:00

New Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson was holding out for the England manager's job before moving into the Anfield hotseat, Undercover Sport understands.

Liverpool first approached Fulham about Hodgson three weeks ago - and sounded out the 62 year old several weeks before that.

But Hodgson kept the Anfield club waiting until last week before signing on the dotted line - because he was holding out for England.

Only once it was made clear that Fabio Capello was staying on, did Hodgson decide to join Liverpool.

BBC Sport in disarray after defection of Mark Demuth to ITV

2010-06-02T13:49:00.000-07:00

The BBC are reeling just days before the start of the World Cup following the departure of broadcasting sport editor Mark Demuth to ITV.

Demuth was a rising star at the Corporation, that rare combination of a broadcasting expert with journalistic expertise.

He was die to be a key editor in South Africa and a key figure in BBC Sport's move to Salford next year.

Yet today he announced he was moving to become head of football at ITV, where he will be reunited with Adrian Chiles. The duo launched the hugely successful Match of the Day 2 at the BBC.

Another renewed link will be with ITV head of sport Niall Sloane, who recruited Demuth at the BBC.

The obvious successor to Demuth at the BBC was Football Focus editor Mark Cole, but he too is leaving, to join IMG. And BBC's England producer Stephen Booth will join him there.

Suddenly BBC Sport looks to be struggling for TV experience and nous ahead of one of it's biggest years.

All the departees were reluctant to move to Manchester, while the new head of sport Barbara Slater and her number two Phil Bernie have hardly inspired their workforce. Difficult times indeed.

BBC Sport in disarray after defection of Mark Demuth

2010-06-02T13:41:00.000-07:00

The BBC are in disarray just days before the World Cup following the shock news that broadcast sport editor Mark Demuth is to leave for ITV.

Demuth was a rising star at the Corporation, that rare combination of a broadcasting expert with a strong journalistic background.

West Ham owners refuse to play fair with Zola

2010-05-12T09:36:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I reported that West Ham owners David Gold and David Sullivan had sacked a number of senior staff and refused to honour their contracts.

Chief executive Scott Duxbury and director of football Gianluca Nani were dismissed without pay-offs, because the owners said they had breached their contracts...

This has happened to more than a dozen staff at the club.

So it should be no surprise that the same has been done to manager Gianfranco Zola.

He should be owed £1.9 million, as he has a year left on his contract and that's his salary.

Yet the owners claim he breached his contract by speaking out against Sullivan. Yet, unlike the other employees, Zola has cash and oodles of pride and is going to fight the two Davids in court.

Expect to see an out of court settlement, because the Italian has a very strong case.

Ater being publicly lambasted on numerous occasions by dwarf-like pornographer Sullivan, he merely said the interventions "weren't helpful".

This is what the two Davids and their henchwoman Karen Brady claim put the Italian in the wrong.

West Ham fans will be ashamed that their admired club is being run in such a grubby, underhand way.

Past suspicions about Higgins

2010-05-02T07:42:00.000-07:00

John Higgins wasn't picked out as the target for a News of the World sting at random. The paper knew there had been questions about the Scot's integrity in the past.

Victor Chandler have a list of matches that aroused suspicion.

They include Maguire v Burnett at the 2008 UK Championship, Ebdon v Wenbo and Higgins v McManus a few years ago.

The duo are good friends and Victor Chandler were very concerned about some of the betting patterns for the match.

Snooker star John Higgins implicated in corruption by News of the World

2010-05-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

Snooker will face a crisis on its biggest day of the year. On the day of the world championship final, the News of the World will carry a front page story implicating defending champ John Higgins in claims of corruption.

I don't know the exact details at the moment, but the story will dominate the paper.

And the timing couldn't be worse for snooker. Higgins is world champion and one of the biggest names in the sport.

Gold and Sullivan to up West Ham stake

2010-04-30T12:59:00.000-07:00

David's Gold and Sullivan are to increase their joint stake in the club to 60%.

The duo, who hold a combined 50%, will each acquire a further 5% in the next two weeks.

That will mean £10m being put into the club for transfers.

Icelandic bank Straumur hold the other 40% and have been taking a back seat ever since Gold and Sullivan came in in January.

Meanwhile, Gold and Sullivan have defended themselves against accusations that Gianfranco Zola had no knowledge of a move gor Graham Dorrans this week.

Gold says the approach to West Brom - made via agent Barry Silkman - was an 'exploratory' approach. This is why Zola wasn't informed....

Drunk Cardiff players let themselves down at PFA awards

2010-04-26T00:15:00.000-07:00

Main award winners Wayne Rooney and James Milner showed they were the consummate professionals at last night's PFA awards dinner.

It's a shame that the Cardiff City table couldn't follow suit.

The Bluebirds' players were clearly very drunk from the start of the event at 645pm.

They were noisy throughout a speech by guest of honour Jimmy Greaves and had to be asked to quieten down by Rooney's agent, Paul Stretford.

Then some of them made very obvious yawns during Milner's acceptance speech for young player of the year.

Perhaps if they stopped to watch Rooney - who drank water throughout the night and was dignified throughout - they wouldn't be playing in the Championship.

The Cardiff table included Michael Chopra and Peter Whittingham.

Follow me at www.Twitter.com/undercoversport

Truth about Maguire and Burnett

2010-04-18T13:27:00.000-07:00

Strathclyde Police have referred the match between Jamie Burnett and Stephen Maguire at the 2008 UK Championship to the procurator fiscal - after an 18 month inquiry.

Why gas it taken so long to charge them???

Here are the facts - Victor Chandler suspended bets on the match more than 24 hours before it started. They were alarmed that a number of new accounts had been opened in Glasgow, betting on a 9-3 win for Maguire.

No-one in the whole country bet on 9-2 or 9-4. The players are good friends and practise partners... from the Glasgow area.

When the match was played , it finished 9-3 to Maguire.

Burnett made a series of strange shots and decisions in the match and his form veered from the sublime to the ridiculous.

He had to lose the 12thframe to make it 9-3, leading to some comical scenes. He missed the final pink by a distance. No problem, if it wasn't for the fact it rebounded off the cushion into the middlepocket.

His face dropped, and he had to miss the final easy black. John Parrott said even a club player wouldn't have missed the shot.

PR guru Phil Hall in firing line over John Terry story

2010-04-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

Interesting to read that Vanessa Perroncel intends to sue over coverage of her affair with John Terry.

Perroncel says she was defamed by newspaper reports that basically portrayed her "as a prostitute" and that one paper breached her privacy by tapping phone conversations she had with her best friend.

If the case goes to court, it promises to shed light on the dark practises of PR guru Phil Hall.

The former News of the World editor advised Terry during the affair. He was the man behind the Sun story about Perroncel bedding five members of the Chelsea team, as well as other tabloid stories attacking her character.

Ironically, he was also sacked from the NOTW when the paper's systematic use of tapping was unveiled.

Jose Mourinho set for Man City job

2010-04-06T12:56:00.000-07:00

I've brought you some scoops here on Undercover Sport, but get set for the best of the lot - JOSE MOURINHO LOOKS CERTAIN TO BECOME MANCHESTER CITY BOSS AT THE END OF THE SEASON!

City have made an approach to the Inter Milan boss, offering him a huge salary and massive transfer pot.

And the self-annointed Special One has been very encouraging to the Eastlands club in response. He had made no secret if his desire to return to English football in recent weeks and City are a perfect fit for him.

Manchester United and Arsenal are obviously happy with their managers, Carlo Ancelotti will stay at Chelsea for another season (Roman Abramovich would never go back to Mourinho in any case) and the Portuguese will not move to Liverpool while Hicks and Gillett are there.

So City are his choice.

This is not idle speculation from a half-baked blog. This is FACT, from an author with impeccable sources. Just wait and see...

You can now follow me on Twitter... http://twitter.com/UndercoverSport

West Ham mortgaged future to buy Behrami&Diamanti

2010-04-04T12:17:00.000-07:00

West Ham jeopardized their future to buy Behrami and Diamanti.

The club mortgaged their season ticket sales for 2009, 2010 and 2011 to buy midfielder Behrami.

This happened under the ill-fated ownership of Bjorgulfur Gudmundsson.

The next owners, Straumur, then compounded the problem by taking shirt sponsorship money for the next three years... to buy mediocre striker Diamanti.

Incredible. Mortgaging your future for two mediocre players.

And if the club goes down, these disastrous decisions could kill the club.

Angry Lewis Hamilton lambasts BBC man

2010-03-31T03:57:00.000-07:00

Is Lewis Hamilton having anger management issues?

We all know that he slammed his team's decision to pull him in for an extra pitstop during the Australian GP.

But he was also moved to call a BBC producer to apologise for his rude and boorish behaviour during a pre-season shoot in Switzerland.

At least we can say fair play to the Brit for realising the error of his ways and calling the producer on his mobile phone the next day.

Woodward: class of 2010 better than 2003

2010-03-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

Sir Clive Woodward, who will take over from Rob Andrew as the RFU's elite director before the end of the year, believes the players available for Enhland today are better than they were when he won the World Cup.

Woodward believes young players are available who could develop into world stars - only they aren't being given the opportunity by England manager Martin Johnson.

Undercover Sport understands Woodward would make Danny Cipriani his England skipper. He would play Ben Youngs inside the fly-half, who has been cast into the international wilderness by Johnson.

Outside, he would field the likes of Shane Geraghty, Nick Abendanon and Twelve-Trees.

And remember you heard it here first - Woodward will be working in tandem with Johnson by the end of the year.

Woodward set for England return

2010-03-21T03:47:00.000-07:00

Sir Clive Woodward will return to lead English rugby before the end of the year.

Woodward has long coveted a return - and there has been a lot of support for him at Twickenham.

But the big obstacle has been RFU chief executive Francis Baron. Baron has never forgiven Woodward for the personal onslaught directed at him when he resigned in 2004.

This is why Baron made the perverse decision to make Rob Andrew the elite director of rugby when Woodward was the other- and outstanding - candidate.

Baron will be gone in September though - and RFU chairman Martyn Thomas wants Woodward to return. So it will happen.

Woodward has been briefing against Andrew this week and he is now coming under huge pressure.

Expect Woodward to replace him and then to overhaul Martin Johnson's coaching team.

Once again, you heard it here first.

So it

Draper's LTA largesse laid bare

2010-03-19T13:47:00.002-07:00

British tennis has been slipping further and excellent facilities like the indoor centres in Slough and Cardiff have been closing.

Yet LTA bigwigs have been living like kings.

Chief executive Roger Draper is the highest paid head of any British sport, earning £500,000 a year, plus an annual bonus of £100k.

A lamp on the desk in his office cost £100k. The cappucino machine at the LTA's Roehampton HQ cost £20k, while the canteen there cost £500k.

Carl Maes, the head of women's tennis, took home a bonus of £50k in the last two years despite missing his targets.

Scandalous. It all adds credence to Mark Petchey's call for the LTA to have its funding withdrawn.

Draper

2010-03-19T13:47:00.001-07:00

Liverpool & Arsenal cool on Carlton Cole

2010-03-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

West Ham could struggle to sell Carlton Cole this summer, even if the striker impresses at the World Cup.

Cole failed his medical before he joined the Hammers three seasons ago but the club decided to press ahead with a cut-price deal nonethless.

With the burly front man still troubled by the persistent knee problem, suitors such as Liverpool and Arsenal are likely to be scared off though.

As an aside, you should put your money on Cole going to the World Cup. Fabio Capello is a big fan of the striker's raw athletic ability and sees him as an ideal back up for Emile Heskey as the team's target man.

Remember, you heard it here first. I told you about Redknapp going to Spurs before anyone else. I told you about Mihir Bose quitting the Beeb. And I told you about Brian Ashton being sacked as England coach.

Wells & Ford in England firing line

2010-03-13T02:19:00.000-08:00

Barring two superb performances in their remaining Six Nations matches, England coach Martin Johnson will be forced to make changes to his coaching set-up at the end of the tournament.

The RFU hierarchy have been hugely disappointed by England's progress under Johnson and want changes.

Johnson is safe for the moment, mainly because of his status on the game. The RFU are also aware they need stability after changing coaches so many times in recent years.

But they will demand changes - and forwards coach Wells and defence coach Ford are in the firing line.

A senior RFU source said: "Unless things improve miraculously, Wells and Ford will have to go. They've been in place for a long time and aren't having the impact we require."

Johnson is fiercely loyal to his coaching team, but this will be a case of "they go or you go".

Peter Storrie in Pompey line of fire

2010-02-28T01:20:00.000-08:00

Portsmouth going into administration was Peter Storrie's worst nightmare.

When the administrator goes through Pompey's books, he's sure to find some very interesting things. Insiders at the club say they are sure prosecutions will follow, with Storrie first in the line of fire.

Here are some facts:

* Storrie charged finders fees every time a new owner came to the club

* He took £1.2m in salary and bonuses last season, making him the third highest paid chief executive in the league

* Storrie and his mate Harry Redknapp received cash every time one of their signings was sold on. So quite convenient that four of them were signed by Redknapp at Spurs.

* Storrie's nephew has been working as a player liaison officer at Pompey, earning £60,000 a year

* Tom Bower's Broken Dreams contains a whole chapter about Storrie and Redknapp taking bungs at West Ham. Neither ever sued. Chairman Terence Brown was infuriated by the behaviour of the duo.

Trembling bloodied but unbowed after Notts County farce

2010-02-12T03:40:00.000-08:00

"If something seems too good to be true it normally is."

It's a slightly pessimistic saying, but a good one nonetheless. And one which Peter Trembling Sven-Goran Eriksson and Notts County's fans would have done well to heed.

I listened to Trembling on Five Live this morning and the contrast with a previous appearance on the station back in July could not have been greater.

Back then Trembling had just become County's executive chairman and was the frontman for their new owners, Munto Finance. He was cocky, arrogant and bombastic. He talked about surpassing Nottingham Forest, reaching the Championship within five years and then even the Premier League.

He got a bit spiky when he was asked about the identity of the club's owners and whether they had the funds to match their promises. How dare anyone ask him about that.

Yet he later admitted he didn't know who some of the club's new backers were. All he would later admit was that Munto had Middle Eastern connections, but that these backers were "very private people".

The club's fans didn't seem to care though. They were seduced by the dreams of Trembling and the new owners.

Supporters chief Glenn Rolley welcomed the new owners, even though he admitted he knew next to nothing about them. Other fans were vitriolic when journalists questionned the takeover in columns and blogs.

Now the club is saddled with debts of £1.5million and an unpaid tax bill of £600,000. They seem to be in a worse position than they were before Munto arrived.

So Trembling was almost contrite when he appeared on Five Live this morning, although he stopped short of apologising for the sham takeover he had fronted.

"There is perhaps some letdown and some disappointment there," he said. "It's just a shame we were let down by Munto on the finance side which left us with a huge hole in the accounts."

Yet he was the mouthpiece and apologist for Munto! Quite some hide.

BBC Sport website's Vancouver scandal

2010-02-10T05:03:00.000-08:00

The BBC Sport website has sent FIVE journalists to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver - and if their work so far is anything to go by, they won't be contending for the Pullitzer Prize.

The famous five are busy tweeting away and have come up with some profound, thought-provoking gems.

http://twitter.com/bbcsportwebsite/vancouver2010

Take this from Ollie Williams: "Matthew Pinsent currently taking a tour around our appartment!"

Or this from Anna Thompson: "Now in Vancouver, stayed awake for 24 hours to combat jet lag got up at 6am and have been swimming...now time for work!"

Goodness me. This is what we pay our licence fee for. We are expecting top-quality journalism and are served up with this.

Mancini wants Eriksson to join him at Man City

2009-12-20T01:22:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-18T08:57:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-15T07:10:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-29T03:56:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-28T12:34:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-13T03:17:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-13T03:06:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-10T04:58:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-04T02:47:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-20T14:25:00.001-07:00

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

2009-02-26T04:31:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-01T12:16:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-08T12:54:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-19T12:35:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-12T13:53:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-03T14:31:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-16T14:35:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-03T04:55:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-26T02:05:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-23T07:26:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-14T04:01:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-14T03:56:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-13T08:21:00.001-07:00

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.

West Ham won't be taken into state control

2008-10-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

Contrary to some rather far-fetched reports, there is no possibility of the Icelandic or British governments seizing control of West Ham.

There had been a report in a reputable British newspaper that the Iceland government was looking into the possibility of seizing the UK assets of Lansbanki owner Bjorgulfur Gudmundsson.

And West Ham is probably the biggest of those assets.

But Undercover Sport, which is proving more scrupulous than prominents newspapers such as the Daily Telegraph, called the Iceland Treasury to check for verification of this story.

A spokesman checked with the business minister, who said there was no chance of this happening.

The UK government has looked into the possibility of freezing Landsbanki's UK assets. But this wouldn't include West Ham either, which is a private investment of Gudmundsson's.

So there you go. A bit of a dry story, but it's correct...

I'll have some juicier stories for you this week.

Spurs keen on Redknapp

2008-10-05T01:06:00.000-07:00

Several influential members of the Spurs board have decided that Harry Redknapp should replace Juande Ramos as manager.

They believe Redknapp's motivational skills and knowledge of the Premier League can quickly revive the league's bottom team.

His style is also seen as the ideal antidote to the shortcomings of Ramos, who has struggled to grasp English or to motivate his charges.

The board also now has doubts as to whether the Spaniard will be able to adjust to the unique demands of the Premier League.

Redknapp loves his life on the south coast. He lives in a huge, multi-million pound house overlooking the sea on the Sandbanks peninsula near Poole and has a short commute to work at Portsmouth.

Yet he is willing to listen to offers of other employment. Portsmouth are in serious financial difficulties, with owner Alexandre Gaydamak looking for a buyer for the club, and preparing to offload several players in the January transfer window.

Redknapp, who was born in Poplar, would see the Spurs job as his last big chance to prove himself at the top level in English football. It wouldn't involve uprooting himself and his family and he would back himself to quickly turn around a side that boasts several superb, but underperforming, players.

Remember, you heard it here first. Undercover Sport hasn't got anything wrong so far...look back through the posts.

Rugby's PR genius demoted

2008-09-30T13:03:00.000-07:00

Richard Prescott, the RFU's arrogant and inept communications manager, has been demoted.

It's the best public relations move by the RFU in years. Although Prescott regards himself as a PR genius (remember this quote from an earlier post: "The RFU has a structure for media access that has even been used by the media as a template when dealing with other governing bodies") his employers' patience has run out with him.

The RFU top brass have had to endure numerous PR disasters as well as complaints about Prescott from the chief rugby writers of national newspapers, radio and TV.

Do we need to list all the PR gaffes? Well, here goes...Danny Cipriani being dropped/ Andy Robinson's sacking/ rape allegations in New Zealand/ Brian Ashton's sacking/ recruitment of Martin Johnson/ club v country row.

All these episodes cast the RFU in a very bad light, largely because the RFU failed to get their point across to the media.

As one senior RFU source told Undercover Sport: "All Richard ever does is send out a shitty email, rather than speaking to journalists."

The final straw for the RFU was Ashton's exit, which saw the governing body get panned for its treatment of the Lancastrian.

The RFU has now, finally, decided to recruit a PR expert, leaving Prescott to deal solely with the England team.

He could still cause some considerable damage there. Good luck Martin Johnson.

Rusedski return a ruse

2008-09-30T12:59:00.000-07:00

GB Davis Cup captain John Lloyd has rubished reports that Greg Rusedski is to make a shock return to the team.

The story was in Monday's Times, by respected tennis journalist Neil Harman, and the source was...Lloyd's brother David.

John Lloyd told Undercover Sport that the story was "complete nonsense" and that he was amazed to hear about it. I bet he's not too happy with his motormouth sibling.

Joorabchian offers Tevez to Man City

2008-09-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

Despite his declarations to the contrary, Kia Joorabchian has been offering striker Carlos Tevez to Manchester City.

Tevez is still yet to sign a permanent deal with Manchester United and his loan deal with them expires in the summer.

A senior source at City told Undercover Sport: "Kia has been telling us we can have Tevez if we want him. It hasn't been raised at an official level, but it's something that has been raised at the dinner table."

That's the truth, even though Joorabchian has been telling the newspapers, such as his personal newsletter... I mean favoured publication, the Daily Mail, to the contrart.

Joorabchian is very close to Mail sports editor Lee Clayton, which is why you will always see favourable coverage of the businessman and his clients in the paper.

It's why they write glowing pieces about Thaksin Shinawatra, a man described by Human Rights Watch as "a human rights abuser of the worst kind", yet someone who has had a close working relationship with Joorabchian.

It's why they have the inside track on "the Carlos Tevez affair" and have access to damaging information about West Ham chief executive Scott Duxbury, with whom Joorabchian has personal animosity.

Joorabchian wields increasing power in the Premier League, yet he stamps on anything other than favourable coverage.

On Tuesday evening, his lawyers issued a letter to all major media outlets warning that they could be sued if they made defamatory comments about him in their coverage of the Carlos Tevez story.

The letter insisted that Joorabchian did not own in whole or in part Tevez or his compatriot Javier Mascherano.

Blogs that have been critical of Joorabchian, questionning the source of his wealth and claiming links to Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, have now been removed from the internet, under threat of legal action.

Here is someone who wields power, yet does not seem accountable.

Lloyd and Bates had harsh words for Bogo

2008-09-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

Perhaps it wasn't surprising that Alex Bogdanovic, who has a history of choking on the big occasion, was again the fall guy as Britain were beaten by Austria in the Davis Cup.

Yet it was a surprise that the British number two was chosen in the first place. It serves to show how desperate a state British tennis is in at the moment.

Back in June 2006, after Britain had lost to Israel and Bogo had again flopped, Lloyd, who was touting himself as an ideal replacement for Jeremy Bates as captain, was scathing.

"Alex has not performed well at all - it's not just how he's hit the ball, but the whole presence he brings onto the court," he seethed.

"His body language was not good and he seemed to accept defeat way too early. He sent everyone in the crowd to sleep.

"When you have someone who has a suspect temperament, you shouldn't assume they will play.

"You need to look the player in the eye and say: 'Do you really want to play this match?'

"I would much rather have someone who might not have the talent, but is willing to run through a brick wall for you.

"To be fair, I haven't spent any time with him, but if I did have some involvement he'd have to spend some serious time with me and convince me he wanted to play.

"There would have to be a lot of proving before I think he could be put in again.

"Never say never, but there would have to be a lot of convincing."

Bates still blames Bogo for that Israel defeat, which led him to resign.

Bates told Undercover Sport that Bogo has "a heart the size of a pea" and is "completely gutless".

Ouch!

Back tarnished by Loffreda treatment

2008-09-21T13:58:00.000-07:00

For Neil Back's sake, let's hope he is getting more help from his coaches at Leeds than he gave Marcelo Loffreda at Leicester last season.

Back made Loffreda's life impossible from the moment the Argentinian arrived at Welford Road, undermining him to the players and refusing to go along with any of his suggestions.

Loffreda handed a season review to the Leicester board in June. The main recommendation was that Back and fellow coach Richard Cockerill must leave the club if Loffreda was to stay.

The Argentinian was fired the next day. Back later left for Leeds, fulfilling his long-held ambition of being a head coach.

It doesn't reflect well on the former England forward that he treated Loffreda in such an underhand and petulant manner because of this ambition.

West Ham execs in the spotlight

2008-09-07T12:51:00.000-07:00

Alan Curbishley might not be the last high-profile casualty at West Ham.

Chief executive Scott Duxbury and technical director Gianluca Nani are also under pressure to deliver.

The future of Duxbury, in particular, hangs in the balance following a series of gaffes.

First of all, he presided over the club's disastrous dealings with Carlos Tevez, which have already led to a substantial Premier League fine and an out-of-court settlement with Kia Joorabchian.

Sheffield United are also suing the Hammers, which could lead to a huge, multi-million pound payout.

And it has now emerged that he allowed a clause to be inserted in Alan Curbishley's contract, guaranteeing him the final say over players sales and purchases.

That doesn't seem to have happened and Curbs is planning to sue the club for constructive dismissal.

A senior source at the club told Undercover Sport: "It is up to Scott and Gianluca to prove they can manage the resources we have already given them.

"They haven't proved that yet. Until they do, we won't be investing serious funds in the playing squad."

Agnew and his imposter

2008-08-14T11:30:00.000-07:00

BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew took the corporation's obsession with interacting with the public a little too far last week.

Agnew was furious about the personal abuse he was being subjected to in the comments section of his Test Match Special blog.

The former Leicestershire bowler had been critical of Kevin Pietersen's character and batting after the third Test against South Africa.

And, needless to say, the punters weren't slow to remind him of the folly of these remarks after Pietersen's heroics as England's new skipper in the final Test.

This left Agnew apoplectic. He logged onto another blog from home late at night and told his critics that they were idiots who knew nothing about cricket.

Following a night's sleep, Agnew realised that this might not have been the wisest thing to do.

So he emailed the website staff asking them if they could put up message saying an imposter had posted the angry messages under his name!

I don't think this would have gone down to well at a corporation rocked by cases of deception for the last two years...

Bellamy not for sale - Hammers

2008-07-29T13:17:00.001-07:00

West Ham vice-chairman Ausgeir Fridgeirsson has warned Manchester City that striker Craig Bellamy is not for sale.

City boss Mark Hughes has been linked with a move for the Welshman, who he managed for Wales and Blackburn.

But Fridgeirsson told Undercover Sport: "Craig has been magnificent on our pre-season tour of Canada and is a key part of the team.

"His partnership with Dean Ashton should be lethal if they can both stay fit.

"And, contrary to some reports, we have not suddenly become a selling club. We want to reduce the size of the squad, because it's far too big, but we do not want to sell key players like Craig."

Joorabchian urges patience over Jo

2008-07-29T13:08:00.000-07:00

Super-agent Kia Joorabchian has warned Manchester City that they are unlikely to see the best of new striker Jo until January.

City boss Mark Hughes paid a club record £18m for the Brazilian earlier this month.

But Joorabchian, who brokered the deal between City and CSKA Moscow, has warned City fans not to expect too much too soon.

"Jo has all the attributes you need to succeed in the Premiership - he's fast, strong and a superb finisher," Joorabchian told Undercover Sport.

"But he is going to the Olympics and won't get a full pre-season. That will mean he's not at his best until January.

"Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano found it difficult when they first went to West Ham and missed out on pre-season, but we saw the best of Tevez at the end of that season, when he was magnificent."

Inter turn to Muntari

2008-07-23T01:55:00.000-07:00

Jose Mourinho has turned his attention to Portsmouth midfielder Sulley Muntari after giving up hope of signing Frank Lampard.

Inter's new boss has accepted defeat in his attempts to land the Chelsea ace this summer.

But he is still desperate to add a goalscoring midfielder to his squad and believes Ghana midfielder Muntari is the best alternative.

Inter will offer Pompey £12m for Muntari - a sizable profit on the £7m they paid Udinese for him in May 2007.

And the 23-year-old will be offered a bumper four-year contract worth almost £2.5m a year.

Mourinho will then turn his attention back to Lampard when the England midfielder's contract expires at the end of the season.

Thanou set for Olympics

2008-07-15T05:57:00.001-07:00

Controversial Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou has decided she wants to compete at the Athens Olympics.

The 33-year-old ran Greece's B qualifying time for the 100m in Crete on Monday and has been named in the country's provisional Olympic squad.

Thanou had been uncertain about whether or not to go for the Games following a spate of niggling injuries and concern at the publicity her appearance would arouse.

But Undercover Sport has been told that Thanou is now almost certain to compete in Beijing, by her lawyer Gregory Ioannidis.

Because make no doubt about it, an appearance by Thanou in Beijing will provoke worldwide controversy.

She and compatriot Kostas Kenteris both missed drugs tests on the eve of the Athens Olympics four years ago.

It was the third time they had missed tests, resulting in a two-year suspension that expired at the end of 2006.

The pair still face criminal charges of perjury and falsifying evidence in Greece after claiming they had been injured in a motorcycle crash on the eve of the Games.

One person who might be grateful for a Beijing appearance by Thanou would be Dwain Chambers, as it would deflect some of the flak away from him...

RFU's media mastermind revealed

2008-07-04T06:41:00.000-07:00

I'll start the day with a challenge:

Trawl the newspaper archives; scan rugby message boards and blogs; listen to radio and TV... and try to find some positive comments about the Rugby Football Union.

It's not an easy task. Perhaps I shou1d even offer a prize to anyone able to manage it.

Even the coverage that the Football Association - that other much-maligned English sporting body - gets is positive when compared to its rugby counterpart.

The man responsible for the public-relations strategy of the RFU is communications manager Richard Prescott, who has held the job since 1997.

I spoke to a few rugby hacks to find out more about Prescott and they weren't very complimentary.

He seems to be one of those "media managers" who sees his job as obstructing the press rather than building relationships with them.

Shock horror, this leads to disgruntled rugby correspondents who don't want to go out of their way to give good coverage of the RFU.

Contrast that with what Max Clifford, the doyenne of PR, told the BBC last year.

"It's important to be as helpful as possible - you have to know the pressure that journalists are under," Clifford said.

"I've been in the industry for the last 40 years, working with people like The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Muhammad Ali and Simon Cowell, and I do my best to play the game by them.

"You have to be open and approachable and build relationships."

Prescott also appears to like to see himself as one of the players, donning a tracksuit and rugby boots at England training sessions.

And have a look at the picture of him above, trying, unsuccessfully, to get in on the players' huddle at the end of the World Cup final.

He's the one with glasses peering over the considerable shoulders of Lee Mears and Phil Vickery.

This self-delusion is rather amusing, but it also goes some way to explain the high-handed defensiveness with which Mr Prescott is said to go about his job.

He misguidedly sees himself as part of the team, rather than someone on the periphery who acts as a facilitator for the press.

Yet, despite the terrible press the RFU receives on his watch, Prescott has the audacity to boast about the performance of his department.

I discovered an interview he had done with the Motor Industry Public Affairs Association earlier this year.

In it, he comes up with the following vignette:

"[The RFU has] a structure for media access that has even been used by the media as a template when dealing with other governing bodies."

Astonishing.

Perhaps the following line has more of a ring of truth about it:

"I have one of those bosses who supports almost everything we request and subsequently do - which is just brilliant."

Well, that certainly must be the case.

Radcliffe faces race against time

2008-06-26T06:58:00.000-07:00

Paula Radcliffe has started light running again following a stress injury to her left thigh - but with just 42 days to go until the start of the Beijing Games, it is likely to be too little too late.

Radcliffe, 34, is renowned as a formidable trainer who pounds the roads.

Yet following the injury which she sustained in May, Radcliffe had to rest before progressing onto a cross-training machine.

The marathon world record holder has been training at her base at Font Romeu in the French Pyreneesm.

England to unveil Smith next week

2008-06-24T07:22:00.002-07:00

London Irish director of rugby Brian Smith will be announced as England's new attack coach next week.

Smith will be the final piece in the coaching jigsaw for team manager Martin Johnson.

Johnson retained defence coach Mike Ford, forwards supremo John Wells, kicking coach John Callard and scrum coach Graham Rowntree when he took over from Brian Ashton.

Ashton had always taken responsibility for the attacking side of the game and his departure left a hole in the set-up.

England stars 'will compete in IPL next year'

2008-06-16T14:16:00.000-07:00

Players' chief Sean Morris has warned the ECB that several England stars will compete in the Indian Premier League next season, despite the recent agreement with Sir Allen Stanford.

The ECB had hoped that the announcement of the five-year £50m winner-takes-all series between England and the Stanford all-stars would be enough to persuade players not to compete in the IPL.

But Morris has moved quickly to dismiss such hopes.

"There are several lucrative offers from IPL franchises on the table," he told Undercover Sport.

"I am sure that three or four England players will be competing in the IPL next season.

"They want to compete against the best - and that means playing in the IPL, not the Stanford matches.

"The Stanford games and the IPL do not clash, so I don't see how the ECB can prevent the plyers competing in the IPL.

"Were they to try and contractually stop the players taking part in the IPL, that would be very restrictive. I don't think they will do that."

Sheva influential in hunt for new boss

2008-06-11T02:58:00.000-07:00

Chelsea's prolonged and messy search for a new manager has revealed even more about the internal divisions and fiefdoms at the club.

Chief executive Peter Kenyon told the BBC's Mihir Bose (Bose predictably described him as a "top-level source") that there were three names on the shortlist to succeed Avram Grant.

The trio were Mark Hughes, Roberto Mancini and Luis Felipe Scolari.

A day later, Roman Abramovich offered the job to AC Milan's Carlo Ancelotti, which suggests that Kenyon has not got a very firm hand on the tiller.

There are many, many advisers who have the ear of Abramovich... his "personal scout" Piet de Visser, director of scouting Frank Arnesen, uber agent Pini Zahavi and now, Serbian agent Vlado Lemic.

Yet Chelsea flop Andriy Shevchenko was the man who persuaded Abramovich to offer the job to Ancelotti, Undercover Sport understands.

Shevchenko worked with Ancelotti for several seasons at Milan and holds the Italian in the highest regard.

And despite his dismal two seasons at Stamford Bridge, Shevchenko is still very close to Abramovich.

This explains why the club turned down an offer from Milan to re-sign the striker, and why Abramovich quickly turned to Ancelotti without even informing his chief executive.

Lippi fears for Capello chances

2008-06-09T02:53:00.000-07:00

World Cup winner Marcello Lippi fears the number of foreigners in the Premier League will make it almost impossible for Fabio Capello to succeed as England boss.

The number of English players in the league hit an all-time low last season.

"Only 38% of players in the Premier League are English - that is why it is difficult for Capello to put together a national team," Lippi told Undercover Sport.

"England do have some great players - Gerrard, Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Joe Cole - but there are not that many."

Lippi stepped down as Italy's coach after leading them to their World Cup triumph in 2006.

He added: "The impression I have is that once you go beyond the top eight to 10 English players, there are not that many of the same standard.

"In Italy, the figure of Italians playing in Serie A is closer to 70%."

Lippi pitted his wits against Capello in Italian football for 20 years and offered some hope to England fans.

"Let's just say, if anyone can make it happen, Capello can, because he has always got the best out of the people he has worked with," he said.

"England have certainly put their trust in a manager who could make anything happen. As to whether England will return to the heights of world football, I can't say.

"But if they have the chance to do it, they will do it under Capello."

Lippi rules out Chelsea move

2008-05-28T01:30:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-20T05:53:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-13T09:36:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-09T05:14:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-08T01:08:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-01T04:15:00.000-07:00

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.

Exclusive Gary Charles interview

2008-04-25T04:47:00.000-07:00

Many people trace the origin of Paul Gascoigne's problems with addiction and mental health back to the afternoon of May 19th 1991.

After 15 minutes of the 1991 FA Cup final, Gascoigne launched into a wild, knee-high tackle on Nottingham Forest's Gary Charles.

The impact snapped Gazza's cruciate knee ligaments and he was never the same player, or arguably the same person, again.

His problems have been exhaustively documented in the media, unlike those of the victim of that wild tackle.

Charles's life has followed a tragically similar path to that of Gazza since that infamous tackle.

He has battled alcoholism and been to prison three times. When I searched for stories about him on the internet and in the newspaper cuttings library, there were plenty of stories about his court appearances, yet no word from the man himself.

This impression of a forgotten man was enhanced when I spoke to some of the people who had known him when he was a player, turning out for Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and West Ham.
I spoke to some of his former team-mates and managers, the Professional Footballers' Association, the Football Association, his ex-agent, yet no-one had spoken to Charles for years.

They knew all about his problems, but had not even tried to get in touch with him. It seemed astonishing. After all, here was a man who had played for England three times, and who was universally described as a nice guy by those who had known him during his playing career.

So I decided to track him down. This proved a long and laborious process, but eventually I got his address, wrote him a letter, and was amazed when he called me.

After a few convivial conversations we arranged to meet at his home in Derbyshire. I was worried that he wouldn't be there, but he answered the door immediately.

The first thing that struck me was how good Charles looked, as you can see from the picture above. For someone who had abused his body with alcohol for so long, often drinking
himself into oblivion, he looked lithe, healthy and younger than his 38 years.

And during our five hours together, I found him to be frank, open and friendly. It was very difficult to believe that this was a man who had been found guilty of assaulting a woman in a taxi office in 2006 and of attacking a friend of his girlfriend a few years before that.

But that is the nature of alcoholism.

So what had he been doing recently? He was released from his third spell in prison - for breaking the terms of a suspended prison sentence by threatening a nightclub bouncer with an imaginary knife in Derby - last May.

Then he found a saviour in the form of his former Forest team-mate Roy Keane. The duo had lived together for a year when they were teenage trainees at Forest in the 1980s, but lost touch when Keane moved to Manchester United in 1993.

"Roy was absolutely brilliant to me," Charles told Undercover Sport. "I went to live with him and his family when I came out of prison and he invited me to train with the Sunderland lads.

"I went with them on their pre-season tour of Holland and had a great time. It reignited my enthusiasm for football and made me realise what I'd missed about the game, the banter with the other lads, the cameraderie."

Keane helped him to enrol on a coaching course in Wolverhampton, which he completed last summer.

But since then, he had been a little aimless. His time has mainly been taken up with rebuilding his fractured relationship with his three sons.

NEXT WEEK: SECOND INSTALMENT OF THE CHARLES INTERVIEW

Sullivan admits interest in West Ham

2008-04-24T02:45:00.000-07:00

Birmingham owner David Sullivan has admitted he would consider buying West Ham in the future.

Sullivan, who lives in a mansion in Theydon Bois, Essex, believes the Hammers are heading for financial problems because of their "unsupportable" wage bill.

The 59-year-old is monitoring the situation closely and could be ready to make a move.

"I am being honest, you can't rule it out," he said.

"They have built up a wage bill that is unsupportable.

"All the rumours in the game are that the owners have looked at the business model, it's not working and they will be jettisoning all the players."

RFU investigation a sham

2008-04-23T04:05:00.000-07:00

Rugby Football Union chief Francis Barron made a big play of launching an inquiry into "unauthorised briefings" of the media as he unveiled Martin Johnson to the press on Friday.

He said it to ward off inevitable criticism in the wake of the catastrophic way the recruitment process was handled.

After all, the press had been kept far better informed about Brian Ashton's job than the man himself had.

The culprits were all members of the RFU management board. Yet one prominent member didn't seem too worried when I spoke to him.

"This was just part of the firefighting process," he told Undercover Sport.

"There would be nothing to be gained from this kind of investigation and I'm confident that nothing else will happen."

Big-spending days over at West Ham

2008-04-21T03:33:00.000-07:00

West Ham boss Alan Curbishley will have to sell before he can spend this summer.

Although large sections of the Hammers' faithful seem to have turned against Curbishley, billionaire owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson is sticking with him.

Curbishley is expected to be at Upton Park for the start of next season, but he will not be allowed to spend as lavishly as he did last summer.

Vice-chairman Asgeir Fridgeirsson told Undercover Sport: "The transfer strategy has to be carefully planned.

"West Ham have a first-team squad of 40, so there is considerable room for manouevre. Now is a time to stabilise.

"We are convinced that success comes through stability."

It's true that spending of £30m was just about balanced by the sale of players such as Marlon Harewood and Nigel Reo-Coker.

Yet Curbishley massively increased the club's wage bill, forking out £80,000 a week for the likes of Kieron Dyer, Lucas Neill and Freddie Ljungberg.

The man who authorised that spending, former chairman Eggert Magnusson, was shown the door by Gudmundsson because of his profligacy.

Iceland has experienced terrible financial problems recently and Gudmundsson is chairman of the country's largest bank, Landsbanki.

Yet Fridgeirsson said this would have no impact on the Hammers.

"We finalised the financial arrangements of West Ham before the credit crisis hit and the club is on a very stable footing," he said.