Soccer Shorts: Fifa have informed the Football Association of Ireland that, in the interests of fair play, the final games in the World Cup Group Four qualifiers on October 12th will have simultaneous kick-off times.
Therefore the Republic of Ireland match versus Switzerland at Lansdowne Road and the France -Cyprus match will both kick-off at 7.45pm Irish time on that date.
Rooney counselled
Wayne Rooney is already seeing an anger-management expert and the Professional Footballers' Association in England last night told Manchester United that other options were available , including "lifestyle coaching" at Tony Adams' Sporting Chance clinic, writes Daniel Taylor.
"There is a much broader use of counselling and psychology among footballers these days," said PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor. "Clinics such as Sporting Chance can help."
However, the indications are Ferguson feels he has sufficient experience of handling volatile players to deal with Rooney in-house, and it is enough that the 19-year-old occasionally has one-on-one sessions with anger-management counsellor Jeannie Horsfield.
Meanwhile, Ferguson could be without Gabriel Heinze for a long spell if scans today confirm the full back suffered medial ligament damage during Wednesday's Champions League draw with Villareal.
Guardian Service
Whelan pans Sven
Wigan chairman Dave Whelan has accused the FA in England of "lacking the guts" to sack Sven-Goran Eriksson.
The England coach has been lambasted for his side's humiliating defeat in Northern Ireland last week, after an unconvincing victory in Wales and the worst loss of his time in charge against Denmark last month.
"Sven-Goran Eriksson would have been sacked by now if it was up to me," said Whelan. "It's obvious the FA don't have the guts to get rid of the England manager, even though he has had his chance and should be replaced."
U-17 squad named
Manager Seán McCaffrey has named his Republic of Ireland squad for the Under-17 Uefa Championships, first qualifying phase , which starts on Sunday week in Kiev. Their group includes Italy, Latvia and Ukraine .
SQUAD: G Breen (Manchester City), K Byrne (Belvedere), P Cahillane (Celtic), A Callaghan (Millwall), G Carey (Celtic), S Duggan (Fairview Rangers), M Daly (Cherry Orchard), T Dixon (Tottenham), G Donoghue (Sunderland), L Fitzgerald (West Ham), S Lawless (Cherry Orchard), T Lyons (Crystal Palace), D McDermott (Manchester City), M O'Toole (Tottenham), S Redmond (Nottingham Forest), C Sheridan (Belvedere), P Skinner (Celtic), C Treacy (Cherry Orchard)
Smart ball debuts
The Adidas "smartball" will make its official debut in the Fifa Under-17 world championship in Peru today.
The ball is fitted with a microchip designed to help a referee decide whether the ball has crossed the line for a goal to be scored -- and will also be used to determine whether the ball has gone out of play.
Lennon stays gone
Neil Lennon will not come out of international retirement, he confirmed last night. The Celtic midfielder quit the Northern Ireland team after a death threat, but said he won't be returning despite the recent victory over England .
In brief . . .
Aston Villa defender Martin Laursen has been ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on his knee.
