Terry sidelined: Chelsea's defender John Terry will miss England's next two World Cup qualifiers because of a knee injury that will sideline him for at least four weeks, coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said yesterday.
Terry, who suffered the injury during a 2-0 Premier League win over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, has been sent back to Stamford Bridge for treatment after being checked over by England medical staff.
"He will not be ready for Wales (on Saturday), he will not be ready for Northern Ireland (on September 7th) and we'll have to see if he will be ready for the October games," Eriksson said. "The doctors said they think he's out for at least four weeks."
England's two final qualifiers are at home to Austria on October 8th and Poland on October 12th.
Fulham defender Zat Knight has been called into a squad which is now desperately short of central defenders with Terry, Sol Campbell, Ledley King and long-term injured Jonathan Woodgate all unavailable.
While the 30-year-old Campbell has been in full training for several weeks, his manager will not take any chances in recalling him too soon. "He has been out for a long time and he has worked hard," said Arsene Wenger. "His fitness is very good, he just needs games now. He has not had one for a long, long time. The last one was against Birmingham in May. I don't want to fix any time for his return, but he will come back into first-team contention at the time I think he is ready."
Bouma for Villa
Dutch international defender Wilfred Bouma moved to Aston Villa from PSV Eindhoven yesterday for a fee of around £3.5 million. Villa said the versatile 27-year-old centre-back had joined in a three-year-deal. "I had a good feeling about Villa - with their history of being a big club," Bouma told the English Premier League side's website. "The manager David O'Leary was a massive reason for my signing for Villa. I had a great talk with him and he made it clear that he believes in me and my ability."
Bouma, part of the PSV side that achieved the domestic double last season and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, began his career as a winger but was converted into a central defender.
Job cuts at United
Manchester United is to make 25 administrative staff redundant, but denied yesterday that the cost-cutting was a result of Malcolm Glazer's takeover of the club.
The figure represents about five per cent of United's 450 non-playing personnel and the cuts will extend as far up as the executive committee, the level below the main operating board led by chief executive David Gill. All main departments will be affected, including IT, finance and marketing.
Three of Glazer's sons - Joel, Bryan and Avi - joined United's board in June, but a club spokesman said the cost-cutting process had been initiated before their arrival.
"The Glazers have not been substantively involved in the review at all," he said. Instead, United argued the review was prompted by the need to cut costs in the face of a drop in television revenues.
Spurs denied
Livorno president Aldo Spinelli claims to have turned down a Tottenham bid for striker Cristiano Lucarelli. The 29-year-old was last season's top scorer in Serie A with 24 goals. However, Livorno insist they have no intention of selling Lucarelli to Tottenham or any other club. "For me, it's a closed chapter, as long as I am in charge of Livorno, either Lucarelli plays for us or he watches the rest of his team-mates play."
Tottenham, meanwhile, will know today if striker Mido's appeal against his Chelsea red card is successful. Spurs have appealed against the decision by Rob Styles to dismiss the Egypt international for an alleged elbow on Blues left-back Asier Del Horno during their 2-0 defeat at White Hart Lane on Saturday.
Dreaded vote
Norwich manager Nigel Worthington has been given a vote of confidence by chairman Roger Munby following the club's poor start to the Championship season. City, relegated from the Premiership last season, have yet to win a league game and were beaten 3-1 at Stoke on Monday night. They are currently in the bottom three, but Munby is convinced Worthington will turn things around. He told the club's official website, www.canaries.premiumtv: "It (looking for a new manager) is just not on the agenda - it's unthinkable."
Collina plea
Italian Referees Association president Tullio Lanese has refused to accept Pierluigi Collina's resignation from football.
Collina brought an end to his 28-year career as a professional referee yesterday after recent controversy surrounding his sponsorship deal with car manufacturer Opel.
The 45-year-old's decision to to sign a contract with AC Milan's team sponsor has been seen by critics as a conflict of interest, and has ultimately forced Collina to tender his resignation.
Collina, who has forged a reputation as the world's best referee, received a special exemption to continue refereeing this season, having reached the Serie A's official age limit of 45 in February. "What has happened is a surprise," admitted Lanese. "No one expected it. I will call for an AIA (Italian Referees Association) meeting to take place in order to reject Collina's resignation."
Collina was due to referee the World Cup qualifier between Spain and Serbia & Montenegro on September 7th but has now been replaced by English official Graham Poll.
In brief . . .
Rangers have completed the signing of Sotirios Kyrgiakos on a one-year deal after the Greece international impressed in the second half of last season while on loan from Panathinaikos . . . Blackburn defender Andy Todd will serve a three-match ban with immediate effect after he admitted a Football Association charge of violent conduct. The charge related to an incident involving Tottenham's Andy Reid during the match at Ewood Park on August 24th.
