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Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

Mourinho 'worried' by City spending

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 03:00 PM PST

• Chelsea manager fears City will spend lavishly to secure title
• 'I hope financial fair play is for everyone and not just for some'

José Mourinho has claimed Manchester City's "unique" squad has placed greater pressure on them to secure the Premier League title. The Chelsea manager is concerned that City might yet seek to bypass the new financial fair-play regulations and spend lavishly in the transfer window.

Chelsea's outlay on six players in the summer approached £65m, a figure eclipsed at the Etihad Stadium where almost £100m was spent. Yet, while Chelsea believe they are on track to adhere to Uefa's FFP policy and do not anticipate adding to their options in January, they are concerned a rival title contender might sanction a massive outlay which could, potentially, flout the regulations.

Mourinho is far from deceived by the 2012 champions' underwhelming away form. "The team with more responsibilities to win the title, because their squad is quite unique, is Manchester City," Mourinho said. "I mean the quality and profile of the players, the experience of the players, and the average age. They don't have old players or very young players.

"You see all of them, players with big maturity and experience: [Sergio] Agüero, [Edin] Dzeko, [Alvaro] Negredo, even [Stevan] Jovetic … These are their four strikers but go through the positions and you see [Yaya] Touré, Fernandinho … nobody more than 30, nobody below 23. The squad is amazing.

"They have solutions and solutions and solutions. If you ask me which team has more ammunition, I have to be honest. I have to apologise to the other four in case they're not happy with what I say but City are the team with more ammunition. They are a team able to make a run of victories."

Mourinho was asked whether January offered the temptation to buy a game-changer who might thrust them clear of the perceived six-pack of title contenders. His own club spent over £70m signing Fernando Torres and David Luiz a little under three years ago, before Uefa's policy came into operation. "I hope financial fair play is for everybody and not just for some," he said, "because we care about financial fair play. We look at it, we respect it, we prepare ourselves for the future based on financial fair play coming into action. I hope it applies to everybody.

"We are worried about the spending. We have a board, we have an economic department working hand in hand with the sports department, and we want to respect it. We know our owner is a special person in the economic world and has incredible potential to show his passion for this club and for football but financial fair play has an objective to control the differences between owners and clubs. January is a period where we will see whether it is or is not [being implemented]."

Chelsea trail Arsenal by four points going into Wednesday's fixtures, with Chelsea visiting Sunderland and the leaders hosting Hull. Mourinho and Arsène Wenger are the only managers in the division who have won the Premier League title. "But we've forgotten how, it was so long ago," he joked. "Arsène is like me. It's been a long time but there's always a first time (for the others). We don't play. We just try to help from the bench during games. The real pressure is on the players out on the pitch."

While the Chelsea manager seeks to educate his younger players to cope with the pressure of a title challenge, he offered a warning to Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur that they can ill-afford to drop further off the furious pace being set by Arsenal. "United are nine points behind Arsenal, and it's a gap," he said. "Tottenham are 10, no? That's a gap. We are speaking about four points, and that's not a gap. It's something that, in two matches, is over. But nine or 10 points is a gap.

"At the beginning of January we can have a look and say if all six are with short distances, or if someone has opened up a real gap. December will clarify the situation but Spurs and United know that if the next step is to reduce from 10 to seven, nine to six, it's to go again into the race. If the next move is from 10 to 13, or nine to 12, it becomes hard. Some teams know [Wednesday] night can be crucial."

Dominic Fifield

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Stoke City's manager Mark Hughes to be given money in January for a striker

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 02:30 PM PST

• Chairman Peter Coates: a forward is transfer window priority
• Fellow strugglers Cardiff City next up at the Britannia Stadium

The Stoke City chairman, Peter Coates, has promised Mark Hughes there will be money to spend when the transfer window reopens next month, admitting that a striker will be the priority for a club that continues to struggle to score goals and is languishing just above the relegation zone.

Beaten 4-0 at Everton on Saturday, Stoke have won only one of their last 10 league matches and sit two places above the drop zone before Wednesday's crucial home game against Cardiff City, who are behind them on goal difference. Stoke have managed only 12 goals in 13 league matches this season, highlighting the need for a proven goalscorer to add some penetration to a team that was never prolific during Tony Pulis's time in charge at the Britannia Stadium.

Hughes was keen to strengthen Stoke's options in that department in the summer but was frustrated in his attempts to sign Mame Biram Diouf from Hannover and the window closed without a recognised centre-forward arriving. Coates has acknowledged that it is an area that needs addressing next month to give Stoke every chance of climbing the table.

"There will be money available for Mark in January and it's pretty clear that we are looking for a striker," Coates said. "That's the one position where we need to strengthen but they're not cheap and we haven't been able to find one for one reason or another. We tried to do deals before the last transfer window closed but they didn't come off and we couldn't attract the kind of striker we wanted.

"We're looking and it depends on the deal making sense to us. We will look all over Europe and I believe our recruitment is getting better all the time. There is nobody singled out at this moment but it will be Mark's choice and there is money for him."

Coates remains confident that Stoke, who will be without Marko Arnautovic and possibly Jon Walters due to injury for Cardiff's visit, are making progress under Hughes. "It's been a transitional period, as it always is with a new manager, but we've been impressed with Mark," said Coates. "If we were to win [against Cardiff] we'd be about where we expect to be. People will always start asking questions after you've lost 4-0 but we were unfortunate to lose by that score."

Stuart James

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Moyes expects Everton fans' respect

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 02:30 PM PST

• First match for Moyes against his former team
• 'I wouldn't be surprised if one or two visiting fans have a go'

David Moyes takes on Everton for the first time as Manchester United manager on Wednesday night, trusting the fans who make the journey from Merseyside to Old Trafford will respect what he achieved in his 11 years at Goodison Park.

Moyes left Everton on reasonably good terms, if a little suddenly, though he has since been involved in bids for two of their players, one of which was rejected as "derisory" by his former club. "I would not be surprised if one or two people have a go but I think the majority of Everton fans are well aware of what was achieved," he said. "The Premier League has been going for just over 20 years and in the first half of that period Everton had a top-10 finish maybe once. In the second half we finished in the top 10 on a regular basis. I think anyone looking at it would understand that I helped push the club in the right direction."

While at Everton Moyes reacted furiously when Manchester City used their financial might to unsettle Joleon Lescott. He admits he can see why his former employers might be unhappy about him doing the same thing as United manager in his pursuit of Leighton Baines.

"I totally understand that and have no qualms about it at all," he said. "I have got a job to do for Manchester United while Everton supporters have to support their team, which they have always done. Things could maybe have been done a little differently but that is football. I have great respect for Everton, their players, their chairman and their supporters. If I had not received the call from Sir Alex [Ferguson] four weeks from the end of the season I'm sure I would still be working there now. I had a contract and was deciding what my future was going to be at Everton and how we were going to take the club forward.

"I still speak to [the chairman] Bill Kenwright on the telephone, I still have banter with the staff at Everton and after the game I will be the first one to go and say hello to the players. But I am interested in winning the game. Sentiment can't come into it because that is not me. I've got another club now and the one I'm interested in getting results for is United."

Moyes admits a little of the ground gained with victory over Arsenal in the last home match has been lost with successive away draws at Cardiff and Tottenham but United now have two consecutive home games – Newcastle are the visitors on Saturday – to try to climb the table. "We are a little bit concerned about a gap opening up at the top; we've got to make sure we keep ourselves close enough to be competing," he said. "We got ourselves into a really good position after Arsenal, then slipped up at Cardiff when it looked like we were going to win. I thought drawing at Tottenham was a pretty good point."

Moyes said Robin van Persie could return from a groin injury that has afflicted him since he scored the winner in United's 1-0 victory over Arsenal on 10 November.

Phil Jones is suspended and Michael Carrick injured, so Marouane Fellaini has a good chance of playing against his former club. "He's not had the best of starts but this is a difficult club to join and settle in right away," Moyes said of his £27m signing. "Marouane is a good player and has been for a few years at this level. I have no doubt he will go on to prove himself with this club."

United will find opponents in good form and full of confidence after recent results, with Moyes's replacement, Roberto Martínez, not only winning plaudits for bringing through young players but for showing an attacking ambition not always evident in recent Everton sides.

"Romelu Lukaku gives them something they have not had in the past," Moyes said. "He is a loan signing, not a permanent one, but he has been really good for them. We were always lacking a top finisher; that was the missing piece at Everton over the years but it would have cost big money.

" We tried to make do with the players we had. I don't see Everton doing any different to what they have been doing when they come to Old Trafford – they have only been beaten in one game all season. Roberto has been a good choice as Everton manager. They are in good form, have good players and are in a great league position."

Paul Wilson

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Wenger ignores pundits' analysis

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 02:30 PM PST

• 'I have enough experience to analyse how well we play'
• Hull City will be 'no pushovers' for Premier League leaders

It has not escaped Arsène Wenger's attention that the majority of pundits in English football remain disinclined to give much credibility to Arsenal's chances of sustaining a title challenge. Doubts have been expressed over a variety of subjects.

At first it was a lack of squad strength. Then the notion that they had not played challenging opponents. An overreliance on Olivier Giroud, a worry over when Aaron Ramsey stops scoring and the pressure from not being used to winning have all been trotted out.

Wenger sometimes watches Match of the Day but not religiously. More often than not he flicks on Saturday nights, taking in some German and French football too, as his satellite dish is fully loaded with international options, so he is not obsessed by the latest pundit to dismiss Arsenal's chances. "Sometimes I watch it, sometimes not," he says. "On Saturday night there's a lot of football going on, so I juggle a little bit."

He is not averse to taking on board constructive criticism. He is not quite so keen on opinions based on little more than hunches, though. "I take anything from anybody," he says. "I just try to analyse whether he has a point or not. Sometimes it's just someone saying their opinion without an argument. If it's something based on hate or love, or just gut feeling then I just say: 'OK, it's an opinion – he might be right, he might be wrong'.

"Often he doesn't sustain his opinion by some work he has done to support that argument. I have enough experience to analyse what we do and how well we play. I don't need someone else to tell me. I'm not upset by that at all.

"When I arrived here people explained I couldn't win the title as I am foreign. Everybody has their own logic. I just think you win the title through your quality. If we didn't win for eight years it is because we weren't good enough in the important moments of the season. We have a good opportunity to show we are good enough, so let's take it."

Alan Hansen, Mark Lawrenson, Alan Shearer and Michael Owen are among the analysts who seem to barely tolerate the question of whether Arsenal can hold their nerve and form until May. Jamie Carragher recently wondered whether the barren years since their last success in 2003-04 make people "a little bit scared" of backing Arsenal. Wenger is interested in nothing other than the desire to continue the Premier League leaders' positive run. "When you are in the position we are in every game a little bit is deciding our future," he says. "Hull and Everton are two big home games for us."

He is encouraged by a more positive atmosphere around the Emirates Stadium these days. In tough times during recent seasons the tension could get nasty. "There is certainly more support from the stands than this time last year," Wenger notes. "It will be a massive advantage because when we have a difficult patch during a game our fans feel it and support in response. Last year it was moaning when we had a weak period. You feel that. It gives the players more belief and more desire."

Wenger does not think Hull City will be pushovers on Wednesday night. "They have just beaten Liverpool in a very convincing way," he adds. "They look to play in a very positive way, they have nothing to lose when they come to us. We are lucky at the moment, we get good warnings. We had a good warning before we went to Cardiff [when they pegged back Manchester United] and we have another good warning from Hull's performance against Liverpool."

Amy Lawrence

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Roberto Martínez says good defeat to United better than 'scrappy' win

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 02:30 PM PST

• 'I'd settle for playing well, being better side and losing'
• 71 points enough to get Everton into Champions League

Andy Hunter

Roberto Martínez has set Everton a target of 71 points to qualify for the Champions League and claimed their long-term prospects will be enhanced by a good display and defeat at Manchester United rather than a scrappy win.

Everton head to Old Trafford fifth in the table having lost only once in the Premier League since Martínez replaced David Moyes and the Everton manager has challenged his team to break out of the mentality behind their 46 winless visits to United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea during Moyes' 11 years in charge.

However, he insists the quality of the team's performance will provide a clearer indication of their Champions League credentials rather than a first Old Trafford win since 1992.

Asked whether he would prefer an impressive performance and a defeat or to scrape a 1-0 win, Martínez was emphatic: "Play well and lose, 100%, because this game is about us being able to perform at Old Trafford and being able to show to ourselves that we can compete with teams away from home eye-to-eye.

"Sometimes the result in is the lap of the gods; it can be a bad decision from a referee or a piece of magic from a player. We need to have a substance to our performance so we can take ourselves to the next level. I want to play well, be the better side and win. But I would settle for playing well, being the better side and losing. It's about the long-term."

Everton have collected 24 points from 13 league games so far – an average of 1.84 points per game – but Martínez denied his preference for a quality performance over a win could result in his team missing out on Champions League qualification.

"No it won't," he insisted. "To get into the Champions League, you need to get an average of 1.94 points from the last 11 games. That is what we are working towards. Winning at Old Trafford is not going to affect being in that position. You need to get around 70 points. If we get 71 points we will be in the Champions League. It doesn't matter if we are 10th or 15th now."

"We have a very good mixture of experienced players who know the game and what to expect, and we have young, brave, arrogant footballers who are facing the unknown. And when you have that mixture, that pushes you to compete against anyone. It is about making sure the combination is right."

The on-loan Barcelona forward Gerard Deulofeu shone on his full league debut against Stoke City on Saturday, while fellow 19-year-old Ross Barkley has blossomed into an England international this season. But Martínez insists Old Trafford is not a critical test of the youngsters' development.

"You want to see how a player can perform in such an environment, but all Ross, Gerard and the young players have to do is show they are ready to play in this team," the Everton manager said. "If I don't see them doing the right things then it doesn't matter who we are playing against. They will never participate in the side.

"They haven't got a point to prove, they don't have to do anything extraordinary. They just have to be themselves. That will allow them to continue developing as footballers.

"Gerard, John Stones and Ross Barkley have talent otherwise they wouldn't be in with this group of footballers at that age. I don't think Wednesday will determine whether they are going to have a great career or not."

Andy Hunter

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Rodgers targets defensive harmony

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 02:30 PM PST

• Liverpool manager seeks consistency at heart of defence
• Rodgers believes Mamadou Sakho is one for the future

Brendan Rodgers has acknowledged that getting his defensive partnerships right is now a priority at Anfield. Liverpool's manager has seen his side concede six goals in th eir last two games, placing his decision to revert to a back four following a prolonged experiment with 3-4-1-2 under scrutiny.

The return to four at the back came following a 2-0 reverse at Arsenal last month and coincided with an emphatic thrashing of Fulham but, since then, Liverpool have drawn the Merseyside derby at Everton 3-3 and lost 3-1 at Hull on Sunday.

"Central defence is an important area of the team and it's something I need to look at to get that consistency," said Rodgers. "There has been lots of change and some of that has been down to me, knowing every game is an absolute cup final for us. If I feel I need to change the defence going into a game to get a result then I will do so. But from the coaching perspective, I need to consider that a little run in the team (for a settled centre-half partnership) might breed consistency even if we have to change a number of other positions.

"The last couple of games we've been disappointed with the goals we've conceded and obviously we've made mistakes. The difficulty for us has been getting that balance and a partnership that can cope with all types of strikers."

Whether Kolo Touré and Martin Skrtel, Rodgers' preferred centre-back combination at the moment, represent Liverpool's optimal pairing is a moot point. Considerable controversy surrounds Daniel Agger's current role on the bench.

"I know his quality," said Rogers when questioned about Agger before claiming that the defender's omission was "simply tactical" and designed to confound physically imposing strikers.

"I just felt we have struggled at times against big physical opponents so Touré has obviously coped well with that type of player," said Liverpool's manager. "So that was the idea, putting him in, and obviously Skrtel has been excellent since coming in. It was simply tactical."

Like Agger, Mamadou Sakho – previously a key component of Liverpool's back three – is currently benched but Rodgers has always believed Sakho is more one for the future.

"The idea was to bring him in to develop but Sakho came in and challenged (for the first team)," he said. "There's no real change to that. He came in at a time when we went to a back three and did reasonably well. He's now working very hard to come back into the starting lineup.

"That's where we're at. He's a good player, an international and if he's working well enough in training and the team is not doing so well, it could open up the door for him."

Louise Taylor

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Crystal Palace 1-0 West Ham

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 02:18 PM PST

Tony Pulis has had his immediate effect. Crystal Palace, a team apparently bereft of hope a few weeks ago, hoisted themselves off the foot of the table with victory in their new manager's first home game in charge here and, in an instant, safety is only three points away. Life near the bottom does not seem quite so oppressive in that context.

These are very early days for the new man at the helm but, with Cardiff City – currently just outside the cut-off – visiting south London on Saturday, Palace can spy an opportunity. There were nervous moments here, the agony partly self-inflicted given an inability to kill off West Ham early in the second period when excellent chances were spurned, but four games have now yielded seven points. Belief is starting to stir.

This had always felt like a contest which Palace had to win. Pulis had sprung down the touchline prior to kick-off, apparently energised by the considerable challenge facing him. But, while the locals have attempted to maintain an upbeat mood since promotion, this has already been a slog of a season. Ian Holloway had gone after a procession of defeats which highlighted a blunt attack and a defence prone to lapses in concentration.

Palave have been desperate for a glimmer of hope to offer the promise of survival and the lead plucked by Marouane Chamakh just before the interval after a period of West Ham dominance had offered precisely that, even if the look of disgust on Sam Allardyce's face as he slumped back on to the bench was a reflection of disbelief that his team were behind. The opportunities up to then had all been West Ham's, but their profligacy and Palace's frantic defence had prevented them from taking advantage.

The visitors should have chiseled out a lead of their own once Palace's initial urgency petered out. Mohamed Diaméflicked a free header over the bar from Stewart Downing's centre, the winger's delivery from the right increasingly menacing. Carlton Cole, in his first Premier League start since April, had also beaten the offside trap to square across the six-yard box only for the ball to elude a team-mate, while Kevin Nolan could only scuff Mark Noble's cleverly scooped free-kick over the wall for Julian Speroni to claim.

Damien Delaney's block on a Downing volley was just as significant though, because by then Palace led. Their first corner of the half had yielded unlikely reward, Barry Bannan's poor delivery returned to him from the near-post by Joel Ward for the Scot to fizz over a more accurate cross. Chamakh eased himself free of Diamé to send a downward header beyond Noble and Nolan on the goal-line. The majority in the arena spluttered in celebration. This was only Palace's eighth league goal of the campaign, and the second by the Moroccan since moving from Arsenal.

Pairing Chamakh with Cameron Jerome had been bold and the loanee from Stoke should have eased the tension early in the second period as the hosts found a more upbeat rhythm. Mile Jedinak liberated the striker initially, Jerome and Chamakh then presenting Jason Puncheon with a sight at goal only for his effort to deflect from James Collins and on to a post.

West Ham were still recovering from that escape when Kagisho Dikgacoi thumped a free header from Bannan's centre over the bar. It was wasteful, though Pulis was apoplectic in his technical area when a third chance – Jerome bursting clear of Collins only for Jussi Jaaskelainen to save – was passed up in a matter of seconds.

It was a miss to reflect the confidence of a player dogged by 20 scoreless games and, even if the ease at which Palace had pierced their opponents' back-line had been encouraging, merely served to whip up the nerves. The visitors, with Joe Cole and Modibo Maïga introduced and Ravel Morrison flitting through the centre, felt threatening whenever the home side offered space in which they could conjure.

Downing, already infuriated to see a goal disallowed for Joey O'Brien's foul in the build-up, forced Speroni into another smart save but Palace's inability to retain possession continued to invite pressure. This would prove excruciating to the last.

Dominic Fifield

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Crystal Palace v West Ham United – as it happened

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 01:58 PM PST

Marouane Chamakh's header gave Palace a vital, hard-earned victory which took them off the bottom of the table

Rob Smyth

England's chance of tough draw increases as Fifa change plans

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 01:14 PM PST

• Fifa reveals unexpected change of plan for Friday's draw
• England could end up in group with Brazil, and Italy or Holland
• Interactive: create your own World Cup draw here

England's already high chances of encountering a tough World Cup group have increased further after Fifa threw a procedural curveball which could lead to Roy Hodgson's team facing Brazil, USA and Italy or Holland.

In an unexpected change to Friday's draw, Fifa has announced that one of the unseeded European teams in Pot Four, which include England, will be picked at random to switch to Pot Two. That pot currently has only the seven unseeded African and South American teams, so the switch will balance the numbers.

It means that two unseeded European teams will end up facing one another and raises the possibility for the first time that England could end up in a "group of death" with Italy or Holland as well as with Argentina or Brazil. Conversely they could still get lucky and draw Colombia, Greece and Honduras.

The change was announced on the day Fifa admitted that not all of the 12 stadiums required for next summer's tournament would meet existing deadlines amid rising concern over the construction timetable.

World football's governing body had the option of naming France, the lowest-ranked European nation, in Pot Two. But it decided instead that one European team should be drawn at random.

The four South American seeds – Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay – will then be ringfenced in "Pot X". One of them will be paired with the floating European side to ensure two South American countries are not drawn together.

Fifa's secretary general, Jérôme Valcke, admitted the plan was complicated but said it maintained the principle of geographic separation and ensured all 32 teams were involved in a "real draw" with no predetermined outcome.

If England remain in Pot Four with Italy and Holland, potentially the toughest group they could face would include Spain or Germany or one of the South American giants, plus Chile and USA or Mexico. An easier group might feature Switzerland, seeded in Pot One as one of the seven best-ranked countries at the end of October that joined the hosts Brazil, as well as Algeria and Iran.

But Hodgson has said he is more concerned with where England will play their group matches than who they will face. Given the vast distances between host cities and the huge disparity in temperatures and humidity between Porto Alegre in the south and the Amazonian city of Manaus in the north, the logistics and conditions will be testing.

Hodgson was due to arrive on Tuesday night in Rio de Janeiro to make a final check on England's proposed base camp at the Royal Tulip hotel, before heading to the venue for the draw on Brazil's north-east coast.

Valcke said the idea of tinkering with kick-off times to avoid the middle of the day in the hottest cities had been rejected. The Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, added: "In Mexico [in 1986] we played lots of matches at noon at altitude in different cities in big heat."

History also shows that England have often toiled in supposedly easier groups, as in 2010, and played better in ostensibly harder ones.

At a press conference in the resort of Costa do Suípe, 100km north of Salvador, Valcke also admitted not all 12 stadiums would meet a longstanding January deadline for completion.

But Blatter insisted he was confident they would be ready for the tournament to kick off in June.

Valcke said the stadium in Curitiba, on which construction was briefly paused this year due to safety concerns, would definitely not be ready until the end of February.

There are also ongoing concerns about the Arena Amazonia in the heart of the rainforest in Manaus and the Arena Pantanal in Cuiabá near the Bolivian border.

Blatter said he had "trust and confidence" in the government, the various state governments and the host cities to deliver.

"I am an optimist. But remember optimists live better and longer. So we go with optimism into the future."

The collapse of a crane at the new Corinthians stadium in São Paulo last week, killing two construction workers, raised new concerns.

But the Brazilian deputy sports minister, Luis Fernandes, said the accident would not prevent the stadium being finished on time.

Valcke added: "I am confident they can deliver the stadium on time for us to be ready to host the opening game in São Paulo based on the information we have today."

Blatter also faced fresh questions over security in the wake of the protests that swept through Brazil during the Confederations Cup over under-investment in public services and the amount of public money being spent on World Cup stadiums.

"Security is a matter of the state and the country. In relation to what happened at the Confederations Cup, I can only say that finally the security worked well and football was the winner," he said.

Pot 1

Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Belgium, Uruguay, Switzerland

Pot 2

Ivory Coast, Ghana, Algeria, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chile, Ecuador

Pot 3

Japan, Iran, South Korea, Australia, United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras

Pot 4

Bosnia, Croatia, England, Greece, Italy, Holland, Portugal, Russia, France

Owen Gibson

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Aston Villa's Paul Lambert: Christian Benteke is victim of own success

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 12:59 PM PST

• Manager says striker will bounce back from goal drought
• Southampton's Mauricio Pochettino tells players to regroup

Christian Benteke is a "victim of his own success" according to Aston Villa's manager, Paul Lambert. Benteke has gone seven games without scoring and Lambert, who has no doubt it is a blip, says it was inevitable Benteke would be under the microscope this season after a tally of 23 goals in his maiden campaign.

"I'm pretty sure Christian's a victim of his own success but he's created that himself," he said.

"There's nobody he can blame for that other than himself because he set a really high standard for himself and, when you fall below it, that's what can happen. The challenge is for him to bounce back."

Southampton's manager, Mauricio Pochettino, has warned his players not to let successive league defeats by Arsenal and Chelsea derail a promising campaign. "All we can do is recover, to get our energy back and try to fix the mistakes we have made in the past to make sure they do not happen again," he said.


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Big interview: Phil Neville

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 12:27 PM PST

Manchester United coach and member of Class of '92 says his eight years at Everton made him 'a better player and person'

"He was one of those players to whom you could say: 'Phil, I want you to run up that hill, then come back and cut down that tree.' And he would say: 'Right, boss, where's the chainsaw?'" Sir Alex Ferguson, My Autobiography

We are sitting in a ground-floor office at Manchester United's training ground and Phil Neville is reminiscing about the time Old Trafford serenaded him with the old Joy Division number usually reserved for Ryan Giggs.

It goes back to Rene Meulensteen's early days in Manchester when the now Fulham manager was brought in as a skills specialist. "His big thing was that in a game, under the most pressure, you need something to get you out of trouble," Neville says. "And me being a full-back, he thought I should learn how to do a step-over."

Neville would have 30-minute sessions with Meulensteen, along with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ruud van Nistelrooy. "I was serious about it. I practised for six months and then we had a game against Southampton and the opportunity just came to try it out. I turned round, feeling quite pleased with myself, and the first thing I saw was Giggsy and Becks [David Beckham] laughing their heads off."

That was the point the crowd broke out with a chorus of: "Phil will tear you apart again." Emboldened, Neville had another go. This time it was a double step-over. "And Roy Keane was on his way over. 'Stop effing about and play football,' were the exact words."

Neville loves to chat about the old days. They all do from that era and Phil, like brother Gary, always leaves the impression that football - and specifically Manchester United - is what makes the most sense in his life. He will look you in the eye when he says his eight years at Everton were just as special but there is something telling about his response when he is asked what it means to be back at his first club, working for David Moyes. Neville simply blows out his cheeks. "The best four months of my career," is his verdict.Better actually than playing? "Without a shadow of a doubt. I've found something I always wanted to do.

"I'm in for work at 6.30am and one of the last to leave. I don't want to go home. We have beds at the training ground and I go home sometimes and say to my wife: 'Do you know something, I didn't want to leave work today?' It's not a slight on my wife. It's just a great position to be in when you love your job so much. This training ground… you don't want to go home. It feels like it is your home."

Nobody should be surprised. Neville also tells the story about the day he left the club, in 2005, and the sledgehammer of different emotions driving to Wilmslow, after an invitation to Ferguson's house, for the conversation he knew would change his life. Julie, his wife, stayed in the car and when Ferguson found out he sent his wife Cathy out to fetch her. Julie, devastated, burst into tears. She simply could not bring herself to go in.

"Inside - and this is the weird thing - it was probably one of the most magical moments of my career," Neville says. "We were in his front room, having a cup of tea and he was plotting my next career move, where I was going, how I would play, everything. I went outside and my wife was in tears. But it wasn't done in a cold office. It was done with warmth, like going round to your Mum and Dad's for some advice." He pauses. "But don't get me wrong, I went home and cried my eyes out for 24 hours."

Ferguson, he says, has taught him more than he could ever explain when it comes to man-management. "I remember him pulling me at Nou Camp before the Champions League final and saying: 'We wouldn't win titles without Phil Neville.' Probably one of the biggest disappointments of my career, being left out of a European Cup final, yet he made me feel the most special person in the world."

We are talking because Neville is about to encounter Everton for the first time since everything changed in the summer. He, like Moyes, has had this date imprinted on his mind ever since the fixtures came out – two men with different priorities now but with a part of them that permanently belongs to Goodison as well.

"I didn't win a trophy with Everton but that time is just as special as my playing career at United. People leave United and tend to drift out of the game. I actually think I became a better player and a better person. I proved a lot of doubters wrong. I was there on my own. It was a culture shock, being out of the bubble of Manchester United, but I thrived. It was the making of me."

His memories offer a great insight into his own personality but also that of Moyes. "He made me captain after a month. If I'm honest, I didn't want it. I just wanted to bed in and get a few mates. I really didn't want the captaincy and for 18 months it was really difficult, the most difficult period of my career.

"There was a lot of scepticism from the other players. I was close to the boss and I can understand if they were suspicious of me. They had just finished fourth, they had qualified for the Champions League. They had some brilliant characters in that team – [Alan] Stubbs, [Lee] Carsley, [Thomas] Gravesen, [Alessandro] Pistone and many others – and the boss had put all that faith in me.

"David Moyes, from day one, wanted me to lead that team every single day. He wanted me to set a level of professionalism and a standard the rest would follow. And he would never let me fall beneath those standards. He challenged me every day, threatened me every day. There would be days when I might think 'I feel a bit tired today' but the minute he came on the training field I knew he wanted me to be at the front of the running, to be the most intense, to lead the others.

"I was replacing a great guy in David Weir, and he was brilliant, but it did take the others longer to accept me. The fans too, maybe. I had nailed my flag to the mast. Everyone knew I was a United fan. Liverpool's supporters used to sing: 'Your captain's a Manc'. Gary's relationship with Liverpool didn't help either. I really don't think I was properly accepted until I made that tackle on [Cristiano] Ronaldo."

You will remember the one: Neville flying in on the young Ronaldo, who was already on the floor, during a game at Goodison in October 2008. "It's a great club, Everton. You don't just go there to work, you have to be part of the family. And until then, I wasn't part of the family. I was like a stepson. I made that tackle and I became a son.

"The kit-man at Everton, Jimmy Martin, always says 'part of the gang'. To be fair, he said it since day one but I never felt it until that tackle. I was one of them. And by the way, I didn't do it on purpose. But I still had Giggsy, Rio [Ferdinand], Fletch [Darren Fletcher], all in my face."

He always wanted to be a coach/manager, though he talks so well he could easily have joined Gary "on the dark side" (the media). As a youngster in the Class of '92 – and, really, you do not need to be a United fan to enjoy Gabe Turner's film – Neville was brought up on the tough love of the formidable Eric Harrison. He regards himself "more a Brian Kidd… I love positivity, I'm always saying 'well done', maybe too often in fact."

Drawing on his own experiences – "a squad player," he says matter-of-factly –he has also taken great care to work closely with the players out of the team. Wilfried Zaha, for example. "Wilf is a diamond. People say: 'Why is he not playing?' But we're seeing the same with [Marouane] Fellaini and we've seen it with Vida [Nemanja Vidic] and Patrice [Evra] in the past. The first six months... forget the games, just being a Manchester United footballer, the intensity of training, the expectation, it's really hard. It blows you away."

Neville, with a bed upstairs if he wants it, would rather be nowhere else.

Daniel Taylor

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Manchester City's Manuel Pellegrini: return of Vincent Kompany is boost

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 12:12 PM PST

• Captain in squad to face West Bromwich Albion after injury
• 'He is a very important player and a very good defender'

Manchester City's manager, Manuel Pellegrini, says he has faith in all his defenders but cannot deny the return of Vincent Kompany is significant.

Kompany, the influential captain and centre-back, is poised to play at West Brom on Wednesday night after 10 games out with a thigh injury.

The Belgian has been missed for his leadership as well as his organisational and defensive skills, and will be gladly welcomed back, even though Pellegrini believes his deputies have fared well.

"Kompany is in the squad list and he is travelling with the team," Pellegrini said. "Vincent is a very important player. He is a very good defender and, of course, we need him. He is also the captain of the team and he will normally be in the 11 starting. We have other captains but all the team is happy with the return of the captain.

"But, I repeat, we don't have as many problems in defending as the scores say and the results say."


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Sir Bobby Robson a 'beacon' for Alan Pardew in troubled times at Newcastle

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 12:03 PM PST

• Manager has tried to emulate example of famous predecessor
• Hopes people say he handled matters with 'dignity and respect'

Alan Pardew says the former Newcastle United manager Sir Bobby Robson became his beacon when he was engaged in a desperate fight to restore the club's fortunes.

After guiding Newcastle to fifth place in 2012 Pardew was plunged into a relegation battle a few months later. Then Joe Kinnear was appointed director of football and Pardew's team had an inconsistent start to this season before the run of four wins which have taken the club to sixth.

"You have to prove yourself as a manager at any club, but particularly at a big club, that you can handle the tough times," he said.

"I did that at West Ham and got a lot of respect from West Ham fans, more for that, probably, than some of the great victories and getting to the cup final and the promotion we got.

"Maybe it will be the same here. Maybe in the future people will look back on that year and say: 'Well, he still handled it with a bit of dignity and respect', which I tried to do.

"Bobby Robson brought that to this job and for me that's the beacon for me to make sure I uphold those traditions."


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The Class of 92: trebles all round

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 10:21 AM PST

Scholes the joker, Schmeichel scalding his privates, Beckham just one of the lads … Tom Horan on a film that casts a new light on 90s Manchester and its football heroes

How many documentaries can claim to capture the spirit of an era through the reflections of an ex-prime minister – and the story of a Danish goalkeeper scalding his penis on a giant tea urn? Not many. But it is unquestionably true of The Class of 92, the British film that premiered this week in London.

The Class of 92 is remarkable not just for being an excellent film about football, a subject that rarely translates to the big screen, but for being about so much more. Using interviews and archive footage, it follows six Manchester United players who met in their early teens and together won every honour in club football. But what emerges through the reminiscences of David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers is the story of the time and place where they came of age: the optimism of Manchester, and Britain itself, in the 1990s.

"In the 60, 70s and 80s, Liverpool had an incredible time, with music and football," says Gary Neville early on. "And in some ways, this past 20 years has been Manchester's time: the Stone Roses, Oasis, United winning the league." To a soundtrack of the Stone Roses singing Waterfall, we watch Alex Ferguson's whey-faced youngsters win the 1992 FA youth cup, lost inside shirts that seem tailored for giants.

"Manchester reinvented itself," says United fan and film director Danny Boyle, one of a string of non-footballing contributors that includes Tony Blair and Stone Roses bassist Mani. "It didn't wait for a leader to do that for it. In fact, it took the lack of interest that was clearly shown to it by Margaret Thatcher's premiership as the signal to do things for itself. There are some great northern cities that actually aren't beholden to anyone. And no matter how bad it gets, they will always regenerate themselves. The football team – and especially United – is a symbol of that."

While the city around them is blossoming, the group of apprentices are forcing their way into the first team of the club that came to define the decade. "Growing up in Manchester in the 90s was just massive," says Butt. "We would be going to the Haçienda, the Boardwalk, to concerts like Spike Island. It was a special time. I remember one time the whole Man United team went to the Hacienda. It wouldn't happen nowadays."

It is Butt who explains how his dressing-room prank with a tea urn gave United keeper Peter Schmeichel a nasty blister – and The Class of 92 is exceptional in what it coaxes from its football-playing subjects. The usual post-match platitudes are replaced by animated and often hilarious stories.The film's directors, brothers Ben and Gabe Turner, were approached by the players themselves to make the film, which goes some way to explaining the rounded and human characters that emerge. The taciturn Scholes as a master of the sardonic non sequitur – who knew?

As historian Alwyn Turner's new book A Classless Society: Britain in the 1990s demonstrates, the era does now seem to be at the correct remove to be assessed with clarity, which is why the Turner brothers should be praised for lifting their film beyond mere sporting document. "What those young guys felt was possible of them as players," says Tony Blair, "found a curious kind of echo in culture, art, and politics. What, on rational analysis, was impossible became imbued by a spirit of possibility – and was actually done."

Giggs turned 40 last week, the rest of the players are nearing that. The rapport between them is clearly unchanged, with even Beckham – the global brand – just one of the gang. Revisiting the 90s through the film, it is perhaps sad to reflect that so much of the decade's excitement and optimism petered out as the New Labour project lost its way. What has endured, for this group of friends, is what they achieved by working for and with each other: the remarkable treble of league, FA cup and Champions League victories in 1999.

The Class of 92 distils the spirit of an era, but ultimately shows that the power of teamwork is a timeless quality. As Boyle recalls: "In the years preceding, there was a feeling that the public spirit had disappeared. This long period of individuality, selfishness – 'there's no such thing as society' – led inexorably to us wanting to re-establish a sense of idealism."

And what does Eric Cantona, the wise old hand who helped the youngsters make their dreams come true, think of it? "It is a perfect script. Only sport can give you this kind of emotion."

• The Class of 92 is out on DVD now.

Tom Horan

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Fifa admits some World Cup stadiums will miss January completion deadline

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 10:06 AM PST

• President Sepp Blatter says the delays are a minor problem
• He is confident all will be ready for the tournament in June

Fifa has admitted that not all of the stadiums for the Brazil World Cup will be ready in time for its original deadline of January. But the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, said he was confident all 12 stadiums would be ready when the tournament kicks off in June following a meeting with the local organising committee.

"We have just received a report. There are some small delays in construction of stadia. But so small that with one exception we can say everything is ready," said Blatter.

Fifa general secretary, Jérôme Valcke, said the stadium in Curitiba, which is the most behind schedule, would not be ready until the end of February and that extra resources would be devoted to fitting it out.

"Curitiba is the one where we are facing the most problems and won't be delivered before the end of February 2014. That's a fact. We will be ready to get the stadium by the end of February 2014," Valcke said. He later admitted that the stadium in Cuiaba was also likely to make the deadline.

The Arena Amazônia in Manaus, in the heart of the tropical rain forest, the Arena da Baixada in Curitiba and Cuiabá's Arena Pantanal near the Bolivian border are still under construction.

"It's a question of trust and confidence when we go into a big event like a Fifa World Cup. We have to express our trust and confidence in the government, the state government, the different cities," said Blatter.

"I am an optimist. But remember optimists live better and longer. So we go on with optimism in the future."

The collapse of a crane at the new Corinthians stadium in São Paolo last week, killing two construction workers, raised fresh concerns about the building schedule. But the Brazilian deputy sports minister, Luis Fernandes, said the accident would not prevent the stadium being delivered by the January deadline.

"We are very sorry for the accident that took place during the Corinthians stadium construction in São Paolo. We will have a detailed report ready at the end of this week, allowing us to replan," he said.

"All the indications are that there will be no losses to the schedule in order to guarantee we have feasible time for all the preparation work."

Blatter also faced renewed questions over security following the protests that swept Brazil during the Confederations Cup over lack of investment in social services and the money being spent on World Cup stadiums.

"Security is a matter of the state and the country. It is a matter of the guarantees given by the government when a World Cup is assigned," said Blatter.

"In comparison to what happened in the Confederations Cup I can only say that finally the security worked well and football was the winner."

Fernandes said the Confederations Cup was a success, giving confidence for the World Cup.

Valcke ruled out moving kick-off times to deal with the extreme heat in the north of the country. Blatter added: "In Mexico we played a lot of matches at noon at altitude in different cities in big heat."

Owen Gibson

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Chelsea's José Mourinho: 'Pressure to win Premier League is on Manchester City' – video

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 09:10 AM PST

Chelsea's manager, José Mourinho, says that due to its 'unique size', the pressure to win the Premier League is on Manchester City

Manchester United v Everton: David Moyes looks ahead to Premier League clash with former club - video

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 09:07 AM PST

Manchester United's manager, David Moyes, says he has a lot of respect and admiration for his former club Everton ahead of Wednesday's fixture

Juventus fined €5,000 after rowdy children insult Udinese keeper

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 08:52 AM PST

• Zeljko Brkic abused by schoolchildren during Serie A game
• 'It is really troublesome,' says Udinese coach Guidolin

Juventus have been fined after a decision to allow schoolchildren to use seats usually occupied by hardcore fans banned for discriminatory chanting backfired.

The Serie A club let 12,200 children sit at both ends of their stadium for Sunday's match against Udinese but the children behaved little better than the ultras and Juve were fined €5,000 (£4,200) after they shouted abuse at the Udinese keeper Zeljko Brkic every time he took a goal-kick.

"Juventus were fined after their (very, very young) supporters repeatedly aimed an insulting chant at a player from the opposing team," Serie A's disciplinary panel said in a statement. The children were copying a popular ritual in Italian stadiums where the visiting goalkeeper is insulted whenever he takes a goal-kick.

"I wanted to say something right after the game because it bothered me but I didn't want to put any oil on the fire and I decided to stay quiet," the Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin told Italian media.

"For a club such as Juventus where everything is beautiful, in particular where the stadium gives you the idea that you are not in Italy, it is really troublesome to hear those words every time the goalkeeper puts the ball into play."


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Rene Meulensteen demands Fulham step up to plate ahead of Spurs game

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 08:49 AM PST

• 'We need to make sure the players take responsibility'
• Sascha Riether and Dimitar Berbatov expected to play

Rene Meulensteen has challenged Fulham's players to take responsibility for their own form, starting against Tottenham on Wednesday.

The former Brondby manager, who replaced Martin Jol following the Cottagers' 3-0 loss to West Ham, is looking to turn around a run of form which has resulted in six consecutive league defeats and landed them 18th in the table.

"We need to make sure the players take responsibility, with work-rate and their discipline," Meulensteen told BBC Radio 5 Live. "Fulham have had too many poor results and we must now create a platform to get away from our position."

The Dutchman, who previously worked under Sir Alex Ferguson as a member of Manchester United's backroom staff but has limited experience as head coach, has moved quickly to bring in his own men behind the scenes, including the former United academy coach Jonathan Hill. Kit Symons, the current development team coach, will be assisting with first-team training.

The club has confirmed Jol's brother Cornelis, who worked as football operations manager, and coaches Michael Lindeman and Billy McKinlay have left Craven Cottage.

Sascha Riether will return from a three-match suspension in Wednesday's fixture with Spurs, after he was handed a retrospective ban for stamping on Manchester United's Adnan Januzaj. Brede Hangeland could be available after recovering from a sciatic nerve problem, while striker Dimitar Berbatov is expected to be fit following illness.

"We have just got to keep going and believing in ourselves", said Aaron Hughes, the Cottagers and Northern Ireland defender. "When you are in the middle of a bad run the last thing you want to do is let your head drop, feel sorry for yourself and make excuses.

"We just have to pull together and try and get through this busy period coming up when there are a lot of games and you can pick up a lot of points quickly. We have to try and be positive and take the things we are doing on the training pitch into games.

Hughes feels that Fulham's two successive home games, the second a visit from Aston Villa on Sunday, will help the Cottagers turn a corner.

"We will look at the West Ham game and figure out where we went wrong, and then prepare for Spurs and Villa. If we can take six points from the next two games the table would look completely different, so that is what we are aiming for."


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Arsenal back four learn to shut the door but rotation may open cracks | Amy Lawrence

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 08:00 AM PST

The league leaders' defence has lost the air of near panic but will face toughest test before end of December

What a pleasure it must be for a football manager etching out a team sheet when the first five names more or less write themselves.

Goalkeeper. Right-back. Two centre-halves. Left-back. No pauses, no undue worries, as one name weaves seamlessly into the next to make a superglued defensive mass: SzczesnySagnaMertesackerKoscielnyGibbs.

It has felt like ages since Arsenal could feel so secure about their back line. A new resilience was forged at the end of last season as a determined base became the foundation for another late scramble to a top-four finish.

That has carried over to this season and, with the aid of a more cohesive midfield in front of them and a visibly matured goalkeeper behind them, Arsenal's defence has lost that air of being only a second away from a sudden, high-balled panic. The longer they can keep that assurance going, the more confidence grows.

Of course, they are still prone to lapses, as was the case when Robin van Persie found the space to inflict the only blemish on an otherwise perfect November. The single-goal defeat at Old Trafford was the only time Wojciech Szczesny was beaten. Five wins out of six came with the added bonus of five clean sheets out of six. It is not a coincidence that Per Mertesacker, who has become a clear leader of the defence, was absent in Manchester.

It is also telling that Arsène Wenger has been able to pick the same combination of goalkeeper and back four pretty regularly. They have developed a strong sense of trust and increased calmness as a group. Szczesny, Bacary Sagna, Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny and Kieran Gibbs have been selected as an ensemble in 14 of the 20 Premier League and Champions League games Arsenal have played this season. Their contribution is sometimes overlooked as the limelight has been drawn to Aaron Ramsey's blazing form, Mesut Özil's delicate assists, Olivier Giroud's hulking efforts or even Mathieu Flamini's growly hustling. But the defence has become an underrated key to Arsenal's hopes for the campaign.

It is asking a bit much to expect them to continue that meanness into the sequence of fixtures that lie ahead over the next two weeks.

Wenger is adamant his team would be foolish to take Hull City too lightly on Wednesday night, and after that comes free-flowing Everton, then critical away trips to Napoli and Manchester City. There is time for a brief pause for breath before José Mourinho brings Chelsea across town.

Wenger has been pondering how best to rotate to cope with the demands coming up. He doesn't want to over-rotate, as he is keen not to disrupt the team's rhythm. That is particularly the case in defence. In recent weeks any changes have been forced (illness in the case of Mertesacker and Gibbs for one game each). Sagna will miss the Hull game with a slight hamstring strain, and Carl Jenkinson will deputise.

Because the first-choice defence is so settled, it isn't easy for those who suddenly come in from the cold. Thomas Vermaelen performed well enough at Old Trafford, even if Mertesacker's aerial strength was missed, and Wenger revealed he feels bad for his captain that he can't easily get a run of games. "It is a difficult decision," he said of Vermaelen, "because of his attitude, influence at the club, and because he is a top-class player. He certainly suffers but he handles it with great dignity and great professionalism."

Similar could be said of Nacho Monreal who, like Vermaelen, harbours worries about a World Cup place due to lack of regular game time. Wenger says he is more likely to rotate a full-back than centre-back. "Central defence is less physical, it's a little bit less demanding on the physical side, it's more on the concentration side," he explained.

But such is the unit that has emerged this season, Wenger will be hoping that he can confidently jot down his first-choice rearguard as often as he can get away with.

Amy Lawrence

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The Fiver | Please disperse, nothing to see here | Barry Glendenning

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 07:59 AM PST

Click here to have the Fiver sent to your inbox every weekday at 5pm, or if your usual copy has stopped arriving

A BLIGHT ON ONE OUT OF EVERY 14 OR 15 FOOTBALL MATCHES

The priorities of football governing bodies conducting studies into Stuff That Is Wrong With English Football appear to be so skewed they have decided to ignore the serious problems on their own doorsteps – over-priced tickets, lack of atmosphere, greedy owners, ridiculous kick-off times etc, and so on – in favour of hysterical handwringing about the presence of fireworks in football grounds, a Fiver study has revealed.

A survey commissioned by the Premier League has revealed that actual mules have been serving as "eight-year-olds" to smuggle flares and smoke bombs into games on behalf of older fans. The survey also stated that, in the first three months of this season alone, there were 96 pyrotechnic incidents across the Premier League, Football League, Football conference and domestic cup competitions: a worrying epidemic that, according to the Fiver's fairly rough calculations, could be blighting as many as one in every 14 or 15 football matches.

Earlier this season, Tottenham's 2-0 win over Aston Villa was overshadowed when linesman David Bryan was struck on the back of the neck by a smoke bomb thrown by some dunderheaded imbecile at Villa Park. Two men were arrested in connection with the incident, in which Bryan was so badly injured that he required no medical treatment whatsoever and was able to continue running the line. Although fireworks are illegal in football grounds, devices such as coins and pyrotechnic devices known as "cigarette lighters", which regularly cause far more damage when hurled at players or officials, remain inexplicably welcome.

"There have been incidents across the world where people have had bad injuries or died," said a spokeswoman, speaking about the Premier League's apparent determination to remove every last bit of atmosphere from what is actually supposed to be an enjoyable day out. She then went on to provide a detailed breakdown of the number of people who have been hurt or killed by flares or smoke bombs at Premier League grounds: "We've been lucky that our leagues haven't had such major issues yet," she said. "But we want to stop that from happening."

At this point, your buzz-killing Fiver feels compelled to point out that in December 2003, Wolves fan Denise Butler suffered a bad laceration to her face after being hit by a firework prior to a Premier League game between her team and Newcastle at Molineux. The offending firework veered off course into the Billy Wright stand from the pitch, where it was part of a licenced and presumably Premier League-sanctioned pre-match pyrotechnics display. And the predictably over-the-top reaction from the victim's outraged husband? "It was just an unfortunate accident," said Martyn Butler, whose wife was released from hospital after treatment and two nights under observation. "It is just one of those things."

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE TONIGHT

Follow Crystal Palace 1-0 West Ham with Rob Smyth at 8pm.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"There is no frustration. I am privileged to work here. The only frustration comes after performances and results like against Hull" – Brendan Rodgers on life at Liverpool.

FIVER LETTERS – STILL WITH PRIZES

"Given all the ooh-aahing over Aaron Ramsey's non-celebration at the weekend, may I put forward a proposal to get rid of all goal celebrations altogether? Surely all this wasted yardage could be better spent than simply boosting the egos of luddite millionaires. As is the fashion these days for stats to back up statements, I have scribbled a few on a packet of B&H to convince Fiver readers; there were 1,063 goals last season minus 51 own goals, the majority of celebrations involve running 35m (usually to the corner flag) so: 1,012 goals x 35m = 35,420m, or 354km of totally needless running" – Charles Pulling.

"Re: Simon Lea on hairdressers (yesterday's Fiver letters). Reminds me of the supposedly oldest joke in the world. A man walks into a hairdresser and sits down. The hairdresser asks him how he'd like his hair cut. 'Quietly,' he replies" – Simon Moore (and others).

"Simon could adopt my approach. I go to a Turkish barber where they ignore the customer completely while they chat among themselves. Sure, I end up with a neckline above my ears but I feel it's worth it to avoid the inane chit-chat (plus it's only £5)" – Alan Belton.

"Can I be the first of 1,057 baldies to complain that I wish I still had an excuse to be in a situation where hairdressers would ask me if I was off somewhere nice on holiday? Enjoy it while you can" – Alex Gaywood.

"If Owen Coyle is really able to walk through the door he was shown (yesterday's Bits and Bobs) then he is unlikely to be out of work for long. As panto season is upon us, he could start by taking the part of Marley's ghost in A Christmas Carol. In the New Year, maybe, he could join up with David Copperfield. Or if he wants to stay in football management he could apply to help the new manager of Fulham. Their first team does resemble The Old Curiosity Shop" – Andrew Gerrard.

"After partaking in the World Cup interactive draw thingemebob (yesterday's Still Want More?), I got told that England would lose in the final to Uruguay. This is what happens when you let the work experience kid loose. However, it did cause me to briefly chortle, so please get him started on writing the Fiver posthaste" – Craig Fawcett.

"Can I be the first of 1,057 invective-filled, Liverpool-supporting pedants to say that Big Sam accusing AVB of immaturity (yesterday's Fiver) is a bit rich coming from someone who threw his toys out of the pram after Rafa Benítez made a joke after Xabi Alonso scored against Blackeye Rovers, having completely ignored his instructions?" – Graeme Neill (and no other invective-filled, Liverpool-supporting pedants).

"Right, I've had a few attempts at getting letters printed in the Fiver but you've failed to find them up to scratch thus far and I've been constantly overlooked. This time, though, you can't fail to take notice of this piece of 1980s technology-based pedantry: I believe you meant misspending much of your youth playing Bugaboo (The Flea) on the Amstrad CPC464 and not the CBC664 (yesterday's Fiver) which, upon researching, I found to be an HTML Code for a colour that's close to khaki" – Marc Nellis (and 1,056 others).

• Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. And if you've nothing better to do you can also tweet the Fiver. Today's winner of our letter o'the day is: Charles Pulling, who wins a copy of Football Manager 2014, courtesy of the very kind people at Football Manager Towers. We've got more copies to give away this week, so if you haven't been lucky thus far, keep trying.

JOIN GUARDIAN SOULMATES

We keep trying to point out the utter futility of advertising an online dating service "for interesting people" in the Fiver to the naive folk who run Guardian Soulmates, but they still aren't having any of it. So here you go – sign up here to view profiles of the kind of erudite, sociable and friendly romantics who would never dream of going out with you.

BITS AND BOBS

Man Utd executive vice chairsuit and former star of The Equalizer, Ed Woodward, reckons the Glazers might end up looking like really good owners … because of other much worse ones. "I can understand that [the fans' distrust of the Glazers]. Time will perhaps make them look better owners than some think, especially when they are compared to other owners. I expect them to be in an ownership position and involved in the club for many years to come," he soothed, before revving up his Jaguar and racing to the aid of a frightened woman stranded on a New York subway line.

Female referee Andrea Ruddy has decided to quit junior football because of abuse from pushy parents. "I have had enough," said Ruddy, who has officiated more than 100 games for the Teesside Junior Football Alliance. "I have had verbal abuse, have had linesman flags thrown at me and even been spat at. A couple of weeks ago I also had to be escorted to my car because of it." John Topping, Durham FA suit, said: "It is very disappointing that it has come to this situation."

Blast from the past John Gregory has taken over as manager of Crawley Town. "You can't stand still in football," roared Gregory.

Fellow downward-surging League One outfit Bristol City have appointed Steve Cotterill as their new boss.

And Norn Iron 1-0 record goalscorer David Healy has retired from football.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING

Paul Scholes, he (still) scores goals.

STILL WANT MORE?

"Hull City will not die when Assem Allam likes" – fan Mark Gretton has his say on the owner's rebranding plans.

Jonathan Wilson reports from Zaatari on how football has become mother to Syria's traumatised child refugees.

Southampton's Artur Boruc stars as Archer and Fred Astaire in this week's edition of The Gallery.

Can you identify all the whinges about past World Cup footballs in our quiz?

Oh, and if it's your thing, you can follow Big Website on Big Social FaceSpace.

SIGN UP TO THE FIVER

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'TO ALL THE BEGRUDGERS WHO DIDN'T GIVE THEM A CHANCE …'

Barry Glendenning

theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Jason Kreis and the unremarkable success of Real Salt Lake

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Graham Parker

Arsenal's Arsène Wenger: Hull City will play without fear - video

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Arsenal's manager, Arsène Wenger, says Hull City is a very dynamic team and will present challenges to the Gunners when they meet for a Premier League fixture on Wednesday

Cardiff City's Malky Mackay shrugs off hectic schedule ahead of Premier League match against Stoke – video

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 05:33 AM PST

Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay says his team are used to playing twice a week and that they are are better at handling the busy schedule than most Premier League teams

Children used as 'flare mules' for fans

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 05:03 AM PST

• Child as young as eight seen handing flares out to adult fans
• Campaign highlights dangers of flares and smokebombs

Primary school age children are passing through turnstiles at some of England's most famous football grounds with pyrotechnic devices hidden in bags or concealed beneath clothing. A survey commissioned by the Premier League has revealed that eight-year-olds have been detected serving as "mules", smuggling flares and smoke bombs into games on behalf of older relatives

With a third of all supporters complaining of being directly affected by pyrotechnics during matches and 86% expressing concern for their safety, Damian Green, the policing minister, has predicted that "someone could get killed".

A government-endorsed campaign consequently aims to tackle the problem with pyrotechnic detection dogs, amnesty bins, an advertising campaign and improved camera surveillance and body searches.

The survey shows that, in the first three months of this season alone, there were 96 pyrotechnic incidents across the Premier League, Football League, Football conference and domestic cup competitions.

It is both a worrying and growing trend: during the entire 2012-13 that figure was 172, a sharp step up from 72 the previous season and only eight a year earlier. Significantly, last season saw 71 arrests for "possession of a firework/flare at a sporting event", an increase of 154% on the 2011-12 season.

After polling 1,635 fans the survey found that more than 50% had been at a game featuring pyrotechnics, 24% had experienced a smoke-obscured view, 10% had suffered smoke inhalation and 2% had been affected by heat from a flare.

Aware the possession or use of pyrotechnics at UK football grounds is illegal, with the worst instances punishable by prison sentence, the survey highlighted the growing trend of using children to "mule" the devices past stewards. It claims that at one Premier League match last season, an eight-year-old entered the stadium with pyrotechnics in his rucksack and was seen passing them to members of an adult group who let them off.

Cathy Long, the Premier League's head of supporter services, knows English fans have sometimes been lucky to escape far worse consequences. "There have been incidents across the world where people have had bad injuries or died," she said. "We've been lucky that our leagues haven't had such major issues yet, but we want to stop that from happening." In February a 14-year-old boy was killed at a game in Bolivia after being hit by a smoke bomb.

Small wonder two thirds of parents reported that increased pyrotechnic use deterred them from taking their children to matches. Anyone who feels this is being overprotective should talk to David Bryan, the assistant referee hit by a flare at Villa Park during a game between Villa an Spurs. Or the 15-year-old boy who suffered lung damage from a smoke bomb thrown during Villa's visit to Wigan in May.

Louise Taylor

theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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