A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Houllier unlikely to return to duties this season
GERARD HOULLIER is highly unlikely to be seen in the dugout again this season, with Aston Villa keen to ensure the Frenchman has an extended period of rest to recover from the health scare that has cast doubt over his long-term managerial future.
Houllier is continuing to undergo tests at the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham, after he was admitted on Wednesday night with chest pains. The 63-year-old’s condition has prompted understandable concern following his health problems during his time in charge of Liverpool.
He underwent 11 hours of open-heart surgery after being taken ill during a match in 2001.
It is likely that he will remain in hospital for another couple of days at least. Villa have made it clear to Houllier that there is no need to rush back to work and that they are comfortable with Gary McAllister, the assistant manager, taking charge of the team for tomorrow’s fixture against Stoke City and the four remaining matches.
Today’s other fixtures
(7.45 unless stated)
ENGLISH LEAGUE – Championship: Coventry v Scunthorpe (3.0); Doncaster v Crystal Palace (3.0); Leeds Utd v Reading live on Sky Sports 1); Nottm Forest v Leicester (live on Sky Sports 1, 5.15). League One: Brentford v Colchester (3.0); Dagenham Redbridge v Plymouth (3.0); Exeter v Oldham (3.0); Hartlepool v Tranmere (3.0); Leyton Orient v Peterborough (3.0); Milton Keynes Dons v Huddersfield (3.0). League Two: Bury v Lincoln City (3.0); Crewe v Morecambe (3.0); Northampton v Rotherham; Southend v Stevenage (3.0); Torquay v Wycombe (3.0).
DUTCH EREDIVISIE – ADO Den Haag v Twente Enschede.
Yesterday’s results
AIRTRICITY LEAGUE – First Division: Waterford Utd 0 Shelbourne 1.
GERMAN BUNDESLIGA – Freiburg 1 Hanover 96 3.
INTERNATIONAL MATCH – Argentina 2 (Yacob 32, Hauche 35) Ecuador 2 (Michael Quinonez 28, Castillo 67 pen).
United still the most valuable club
MANCHESTER United and David Beckham continue to lead the Forbes lists of the most valuable teams and highest-paid players.
The American business magazine ranks United as being worth €1.23 billion ahead of Real Madrid (€618 million) and Arsenal (€481 million).
Two other Premier League sides are in the top 10, with Chelsea (€275 million) in seventh place and Liverpool (€228m) in ninth.
England midfielder Beckham continues to dominate the list of highest-paid players thanks to recent endorsement deals with Pepsi and Electronic Arts.
His earnings last year were estimated at €27.5 million, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo (€15,8 million) and Lionel Messi (€13.10 million).
It is the seventh consecutive year that United have topped the Forbes list.
Spanish clubs top sports pay league
SPANISH football clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid pay their players more than €4.88 million a year, on average.
The two, who are regularly in the top three richest football clubs worldwide, have overtaken the New York Yankees as the best paid global sports teams.
The review, by Sporting Intelligence, found first team players’ average pay for the last season was €5.53 million for Barcelona and €5.08 million for Real Madrid.
The Yankees pay their players an average of €4.7 million.
The highest paid footballers in Britain play for Chelsea, who are in sixth place in the pay scale. The US NBA Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic occupy fourth and fifth spots.
Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal were also among the 30 best-paid teams, making the Premier League the best-paying football league in the world.
This year’ report has been compiled in association with ESPN The Magazine in the United States.
Ramos finds a silver lining
SERGIO Ramos assured all concerned the famous Copa del Rey cup is “fine” after he embarrassingly dropped the silverware from the open-top bus during Real Madrid’s victory parade after defeating rivals Barcelona in last night’s final.
Ramos had the cup on top of his head as the bus inched past thousands of Real fans celebrating in the centre of the Spanish capital. However, as he lowered the silver trophy it slipped from his grasp and in front of the open-top vehicle which ran over it.
“The cup has fallen, the cup has fallen,” local media originally quoted him as saying.
Later the defender tried to clarify and make light work of the embarrassing situation.
“There has been a misunderstanding about the cup,” Ramos wrote on his Twitter account today. “It didn’t fall, it jumped when it got to Cibeles and saw so many Madridistas (Real Madrid fans).”
Later in the day he added a second tweet: “Don’t worry, it’s (the cup) fine.”
Tevez facing a fitness deadline
MANCHESTER City’s Roberto Mancini has warned Carlos Tevez he will be automatically ruled out of the FA Cup final unless the Argentinian can prove his fitness before the game at Wembley.
Mancini has informed his captain he will not be considered for the final against Stoke City on 14 May if he has not been fit enough to play in the home Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur four days earlier.
Agent dismisses Modric rumours
LUKA Modric’s agent has described rumours linking the Tottenham playmaker with a move to Inter Milan as “complete nonsense”.
Modric has enjoyed an impressive season at Tottenham, starring in the club’s league campaign and also helping the Londoners reach the last eight of the Champions League.
Those performances have seen him linked with a move to some of the continent’s biggest clubs, including Inter – the team he helped dismantle at White Hart Lane in Spurs’ Champions League Group stage win in November.
Modric signed a new six-year contract last summer which he intends to honour, his agent Nikki Arthur Vuksan said today.
“I have read somewhere that an Italian club has been given permission to speak to Luka but that is not correct. It is complete nonsense,” Vuksan said.
“Luka has a contract until 2016 which he recently signed. He intends to see out that contract and does not want to leave.”
