News round-up:The Ajax coach, Henk ten Cate, has told Chelsea he will not work under Avram Grant and he has demanded assurances he would instead be part of a Dutch team headed by Guus Hiddink.
Ten Cate spoke to Chelsea's director of youth development, Frank Arnesen, last week about a move to work with the current assistant manager, Steve Clarke. It is believed Arnesen pledged Hiddink would eventually follow as manager. However, Chelsea yesterday countered reports in the Netherlands that Hiddink is being lured from his post as Russia manager.
Political tensions at Stamford Bridge may be re-emerging. Where once Jose Mourinho's Portuguese faction faced a Dutch-Danish group headed by Arnesen, it appears there may now be Israeli - as represented by Grant and the agent Pini Zahavi - and Dutch-Danish interests.
Chelsea yesterday reissued a statement from Roman Abramovich's Moscow office that had been released after Mourinho's departure last month. "Information that Mr Abramovich is preparing to, or already has, offered Guus Hiddink a management post at Chelsea is untrue," it read. "Mr Abramovich is very pleased the Russian Football Union has offered to renew Mr Hiddink's contract until 2010."
Hiddink's agent, Cees van Nieuwenhuizen, refused to comment beyond reiterating he remained in talks with the Russian federation. One Chelsea insider said Grant would be the club's manager "for years to come".
Ten Cate has not been offered a job and no approach has been made to Ajax. It is believed the Dutch club have a succession plan that would see the Holland coach, Marco van Basten, installed. They would not stand in Ten Cate's way if he left.
Sources say Abramovich is determined to ensure Chelsea remain at the top of the English game. "He'll do whatever it takes to make it work," said one insider. "He wanted rid of Jose Mourinho because it was all about Jose Mourinho; he'd had enough of that."
Meanwhile, Manchester United have been forced into a midfield reshuffle for their next four games after Michael Carrick joined fellow England international Owen Hargreaves on the injured list. Carrick was yesterday ruled out for up to six weeks with a fractured right elbow suffered during the latter stages of his side's Champions League victory over Roma at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
While Carrick will probably not be in action until the trip to Bolton on November 24th, Hargreaves could return to face Arsenal three weeks earlier.
Sunderland manager Roy Keane will make a decision on whether to offer Kiki Musampa a contract during the next 48 hours. The 30-year-old former Manchester City midfielder, who has been training with the club since last week, was watched by Keane as he played in the reserves' 1-0 win at Liverpool on Tuesday evening.
Steve Bruce expects to find out today whether he has a long-term future at St Andrew's, with the Birmingham City manager hopeful the club's prospective new owner Carson Yeung will sanction a new contract. Bruce agreed an improved deal at the end of last season after winning promotion but since then Yeung has become the club's largest shareholder as he seeks to complete a protracted takeover which still has no end in sight.
West Ham striker Craig Bellamy has seen the surgeon who treated Michael Owen in an attempt to shake off his groin injury. The 28-year-old has missed the Hammers' last three games with the problem, and is out of tomorrow's trip to Aston Villa. Bellamy is also likely to miss Wales' European Championship qualifiers in Cyprus and San Marino later this month.
Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari's four-match ban for the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign has effectively been reduced to three matches following a meeting of Uefa's appeals body. Uefa said yesterday the ban had been changed to three months including one month suspended, allowing Scolari to resume his duties one day before his team's final qualifying match against Group A rivals Finland on November 21st.
Guardian Service
