Not tickled pinkAll genuine cup final weeks should begin with a story of dressing-room intrigue and Middlesbrough supplied one yesterday at the Riverside Stadium.
Six days before Boro attempt to win the first major trophy, in the English League Cup final against Bolton on Sunday, a rift has appeared in the camp. This is not to do with several players' contracts, which were a forbidden topic yesterday, but rather with what to wear on the big day.
Much to the management's disgust Middlesbrough's players have said they want to wear pink ties along with their grey Hugo Boss suits and pale blue shirts. Steve McClaren went purple when he heard about it. "Pink!" McClaren declared. Schooled under old-fashioned, macho managers such as Jim Smith and Alex Ferguson, he prefers Middlesbrough red.
Even before Liverpool emerged at Wembley before the 1996 FA Cup final against Manchester United wearing cream suits, only to lose to more soberly dressed opponents, anything perceived as "fashion" has been a no-no in cup final circles. Mindful of this, McClaren insisted he will get his way. "It's still up for debate," he said. "I'm the manager . I have the final say."
But a Boro spokesman said later that the decision had been made and the players, not McClaren, had won. "It's definitely pink," said the spokesman "positively pink."
Grant secured
Bohemians confirmed yesterday that they have completed the signing of highly-rated 27-year-old striker Tony Grant from Shamrock Rovers. The former Glenavon player, who was also a target for Shelbourne, will be unveiled today at Dalymount Park along with James Keddy, another close-season arrival from Liam Buckley's side.
While Keddy moves to Bohemians on a free transfer, the signing of Grant, who was a consistently strong performer during 3½ years with the Hoops, will involve a fee and as part of the deal under-21 international defender Jason McGuinness moves in the opposite direction.
Double delight
Leicester City's prospects of preserving their Premiership status were boosted yesterday when the defender Ben Thatcher was cleared of misconduct and the manager Micky Adams escaped a touchline ban. But Portsmouth found themselves plunged deeper in the mire.
Adams had employed a lip reader in his defence after being charged with using insulting language to a match official during Leicester's home game against Birmingham City in December. That charge was not proven, but he was fined £500 for improper conduct after confronting the referee Mike Riley at half-time of the same game. "I didn't use any foul or abusive language or any insulting words and I was determined to prove it," Adams said.
However, Portsmouth received further injury setbacks yesterday. Patrik Berger was ruled out for the rest of the season and Steve Stone and Dejan Stefanovic are expected to follow suit this week.
Berger was revealed to have cruciate ligament damage during an arthroscope carried out by Dr Richard Steadman in Colorado. Stone is awaiting the results of a second scan on a foot injury suffered in the warm-up to the game against Chelsea two weeks ago.
Stefanovic damaged ankle ligaments in Pompey's 1-0 FA Cup win over Liverpool on Sunday.
Maloney doubtful
Young Celtic star Shaun Maloney faces an anxious overnight wait before he learns more about the extent of his knee injury. The 21-year-old was carried off in pain early in his club's 4-0 under-21s' victory over Partick.
From the reaction of Eddie Forrest - who challenged Maloney - it was feared the injury was serious. Maloney is pencilled in to undergo an MRI scan this morning to establish how much damage has been done.
But there was better news for Celtic, who will welcome Didier Agathe back to training today as he prepares for Thursday's UEFA Cup fourth-round tie with Teplice.
Maybury cleared
The Scottish FA's video review panel have cleared Alan Maybury of misconduct. The Hearts defender was tried by television after he was accused of lashing out at Hibernian youngster Scott Brown in the Edinburgh derby draw at Easter Road earlier this week.
But after studying the evidence, the three-man panel decided that the Irish player had no case to answer.
Costly tackle
The days of the hard man soccer player who deliberately fouls opponents to take them out of a game could be over after a former Charlton Athletic player was awarded £250,000 for a deliberate illegal challenge that ended his career.
The damages awarded to Matt Holmes are the second highest ever for an on-field injury case involving a soccer player and is the first time that a player has successfully sued an opponent for deliberately fouling him.
Holmes took legal action against Wolverhampton Wanderers and their player Kevin Muscat for a tackle that broke his leg during an FA Cup replay in February 1998.
Time running out
A second consortium of Yorkshire-based businessmen to declare an interest in Leeds United will table a bid later this week, but there is unlikely to be any decision on the club's future before Friday's deadline.
Investors brought together by the investment house Zeus Capital said they expected to make a bid for the club on Thursday, just 24 hours before the latest extension to the current standstill agreement with the club's creditors expires.
On familiar ground
Bradford have announced that creditors have applied to put the club into administration for a second time. The club's finances have been the cause of a feud between the Rhodes family and former chairman Gordon Gibb, both major shareholders.
The feud took a dramatic new turn minutes before Saturday's game against Crewe when Gibb, who resigned as chairman last month, addressed the crowd from the side of the pitch. Gibb revealed the reason he resigned was because he "felt let down by the family he worked with".
Shearer clears air
Newcastle skipper Alan Shearer has moved once and for all to dismiss speculation that he turned down a request from England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson to return to international soccer. "I have not spoken to Sven, the FA or anyone else about me coming out of international retirement," he said."I made my decision four years ago."
Today'sFixtures
(7.45 unless stated)
ENGLISH FA CUP: Fifth round replay: West Ham v Fulham.
ENGLISH LEAGUE: Division One: Crewe v Sheff Utd; Millwall v Rotherham; Reading v Burnley (8.0). Division Two: Bournemouth v Wrexham; Colchester v Port Vale; Grimsby v Luton; Rushden & D'monds v Tranmere. Division Three: Bury v Southend; Swansea v Leyton Orient; Torquay v Scunthorpe.
SCOTTISH CUP: Fourth round: Clyde v Dunfermline.
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Livingston v Hearts; Motherwell v Aberdeen.
IRISH LEAGUE: Premier Division: Linfield v Ards; Portadown v Institute.
LastNight
UNDER-19 FRIENDLY INTERNATIONAL
(at Richmond Park)
Ireland 2 (Murphy 4, O'Donovan 50 pen) Slovenia 0
