Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was fined £2,155 and criticised by UEFA for "unnecessary provocation" following his comments before the European Cup quarter-final with Inter Milan.

Ferguson launched a war of words with the Serie A giants on the eve of the match at the San Siro on March 17th by claiming the Italian side would use "every trick in the book to try to achieve victory."

ITALY'S AS Roma was fined £20,000 and had two players suspended yesterday after they were sent off in a UEFA Cup quarterfinal against Atletico Madrid.

UEFA's disciplinary committee gave Peter Wome a three-match ban and Francesco Totti a one-game suspension following their dismissals in the March 16th clash in Rome.

INTER Milan president Massimo Moratti revealed the worst kept secret in Italian football yesterday when he announced Marcello Lippi as the team's coach for next season.

Lippi, whose arrival was widely known since last December, resigned last month as coach of Juventus after a poor run of results.

BARCELONA coach Louis van Gaal has his sights set on the Netherlands national team job after his current contract runs out.

Van Gaal, whose side are on course to retain the Spanish league title, is tied to the Catalan club until 2004 when, he says, he will look towards the top job in his native country.

JIM SMITH yesterday ended a three-month odyssey when he beat the transfer deadline to sign Mikkel Beck from Middlesbrough. Beck, who scored at Derby in December, has signed a four-and-a-half-year deal at Pride Park after the Rams paid the Riverside club a nominal fee - believed to be no more than £500,000 - for his services.

WOLVERHAMPTON Wanderers have recalled Dominic Foley from his loan spell with Greek side Ethnikos over a cash dispute. The First Division club were to pay the striker's wages before being reimbursed by Ethnikos, but Wolves secretary Richard Skirrow said: "It has all gone pear shaped. We have tried to recover the money, but we have got nowhere and had no option but to recall him."