Chris Hutchings is confident his gamble of signing the controversial Stan Collymore will pay off.

Hutchings was warned by Bradford chairman Geoffrey Richmond this week that he will be sacked unless results dramatically improve, which has forced him into one last roll of the dice.

Collymore is seen as the saviour to resurrect Bradford from the depths of 19th in the Premiership, where City have scored a miserly four goals despite the acquisitions of Benito Carbone and Ashley Ward.

The failure to win silverware last season plunged Tottenham Hotspur into the red this year, the football club showed yesterday.

For the year to July 31st, the club reported a pre-tax loss of £757,000 sterling, compared with a profit of £1.3 million last time round.

FIFA will today announce proposals to change the current transfer system that they hope will shape the future of the game.

After an exhaustive two-month cycle of discussions and negotiations, the six-man Transfer Task Force will present its conclusions to FIFA president Sepp Blatter before they are handed on to the European Commission in Brussels next week.

Colin Todd's proposed move to Derby was still on ice yesterday. However, Todd has returned to second division Swindon to try and negotiate a settlement to the dispute.

Swindon have turned down an offer of compensation for the 51-year-old former England defender. Derby see Todd taking on the role of assistant manager to Jim Smith.

Diego Maradona is set to take over as coach of Argentine first division club Almagro, the club's vice-president Dardo de Marchi said yesterday.

Maradona is currently in Havana recuperating after treatment for his drug problems but has accepted the offer.

The disciplinary commission of European football's governing body UEFA will examine the case of Juventus' French midfielder Zinedine Zidane today.

The French star is facing at least a three-match ban after his sending off for headbutting Hamburg's Jochen Kientz during the Italian side's 3-1 Champions league defeat to the Germans last Tuesday.

Rudi Voeller has given himself a few more days before deciding whether to rescue German football by staying on as national coach. Voeller, hired as a caretaker after Euro 2000, is now under mounting pressure to stay in the job after coach-designate Christoph Daum was dropped for failing a drug test.

AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani has promised his club will be fully committed against Leeds United in their final Champions League group game even though they have already qualified for the second phase.

The Italian club face Leeds at home on November 8th.