Other soccer stories in brief
Neill set to move
Neill set to move Liverpool will sign the Australia international defender Lucas Neill in a cut-price deal from Blackburn Rovers next month with the Merseysiders' manager Rafael Benitez aware that the anticipated transfer funds from the takeover of the club by Dubai International Capital will not materialise until the summer.
Neill, who is out of contract at Ewood Park at the end of the season, will complete his move to Anfield having almost joined on deadline day in August only for the clubs to fail to agree a fee at the last minute. Blackburn had explored the possibility of taking the Liverpool full-back Stephen Warnock in part-exchange, but they are close to signing a replacement with the Dynamo Kiev defender Andriy Nesmachnyi in Lancashire and due to take a medical.
Rovers will hope to raise around £1.5 million from Neill's sale. Benitez's move for the 28-year-old reflects the reality that DIC's proposed takeover is unlikely to be completed until the end of January.
Liverpool schedule
Liverpool face a testing fixture schedule that will stretch manager Rafael Benitez's squad to the limit over the next six weeks. Tuesday's League Cup quarter-final against Arsenal was postponed because of fog and has been rearranged for January 9th - the date set aside for the semi-final first leg.
That means Liverpool must play a minimum of 10 matches in 43 days and it could be more if they overcome the Highbury club in the League Cup, or if they draw their FA Cup third-round game with Arsenal at Anfield on January 6th.
Liverpool's entire domestic season rests on the opening weeks of 2007, with tough matches against Chelsea, Bolton and Everton as well as the two cup ties with Arsenal.
That was partly why both Benitez and counterpart Arsene Wenger were so keen for the match to be played on Tuesday night, both disagreeing with referee Martin Atkinson's decision to postpone a second inspection of the conditions.
If the FA Cup tie between the clubs does go to another match, there could be three clashes between the clubs in 10 days, reviving memories of the FA Cup semi-final saga of 1980 when the clubs met five times in 20 days.
Bury to appeal
Bury manager Chris Casper confirmed yesterday the club will appeal against the decision to expel them from this season's FA Cup for fielding an ineligible player in their second-round replay against Chester. The League Two club were penalised after Stephen Turnbull, currently on loan at Gigg Lane from Hartlepool, was included in their side for the return clash at Chester on December 12th.
Casper said he had offered his resignation to the Bury board earlier this week.
Sheffield in talks
Sheffield United are in talks over a proposed exclusive partnership with Brazilian club Sao Paulo. Preliminary negotiations are due to start early next year with the Brazilian club who have produced a number of star names over the years. If the talks are successful, the Sheffield club would have the opportunity of bringing over several rising young players from Sao Paulo.
In brief . . .
Former England assistant coach John Gorman has resigned as manager of Northampton . . . FIFA officially lifted its international ban on Iran yesterday . . . Middlesbrough have dismissed suggestions that Jonathan Woodgate could return to Real Madrid next month . . . Barcelona's Brazilian forward Ronaldinho handed in the papers to complete his application for Spanish citizenship . . . Barcelona have said tests have confirmed full back Gianluca Zambrotta will be out of action for a month after tearing a muscle in his left leg . . . Newcastle yesterday confirmed they have received a potential takeover approach from US hedge fund Polygon.
