Scotland make it big in Japan

Royle quits Ipswich

– Huddersfield Town and Brentford have the better of the first legs of the League One Play-Off semi-finals.
In the Yorkshire derby at Oakwell, a late goal from Gary Taylor-Fletcher gives Huddersfield Town the advantage at Barnsley.
Brentford survive the sending-off of keeper Stuart Nelson to come away from Swansea City with a 1-1 draw. Jay Tabb had given the visiting Bees a first-half lead and, after Nelson’s dismissal on 53 minutes, they held out until three minutes time when Sam Ricketts rescued a draw for the Swans.

– An inexperienced Scotland team open the Kirin Cup tournament in Japan with a 5-1 thrashing of Bulgaria in Kobe.
Rangers duo Kris Boyd and Chris Burke both score twice on their debuts with Everton’s James McFadden also on the scoresheet. Yordan Todarov nets the Bulgarians’ consolation.
It’s the first time the Scots have scored five in a game since they beat San Marino 5-0 at Hampden Park in November 1995. The last five on foreign soil was during the 1982 World Cup finals when they beat New Zealand 5-2 at Malaga.

– In a surprise move, Ipswich Town part company with manager Joe Royle.
Although the Tractor Boys only finished in 15th position in the Championship, the former Everton boss was forced to rebuild the Town team after a number of leading players were sold last summer to fight off mounting debts.
Speculation links Royle, took over at Portman Road in October 2002, to a move to the manager’s post at Derby County.
Chairman David Sheepshanks explained their mutual decision: “Joe and I met and agreed that this is the right moment to go our separate ways.
“The parting is entirely amicable. I would like to place on record our warm appreciation and thanks for the tremendous job Joe Royle has done.”
Colchester United boss Phil Parkinson is one of the names immediately linked with the Town vacancy.

– In an unsurprising move, after rescuing Torquay United’s Football League status, Ian Atkins is confirmed as the Gulls’ new manager.
The ex-Northampton Town and Carlisle United boss steered the Devon club away from relegation in a six-match spell in caretaker charge at Plainmoor. They won four of their last five matches.

– Tamworth seem set to avoid relegation from the Conference after Canvey Island formally confirm that they are withdrawing from the top tier of non-league football.
Canvey are to seek election to a lower league following owner / manager Jeff King’s decision to with draw his financial support.

– Most of the Liverpool supporters who have had their FA Cup final tickets stolen will now get a chance to attend Saturday’s game with West Ham United.
Chief executive Rick Parry announces that tickets originally allocated for a ballot amongst the club’s Fan Card scheme members will now be handed to fans affected by the theft of 1,000 tickets from a delivery van last week.
The Millennium Stadium refused to bow from their no duplicates policy.

Tears on the Tees as Boro fail at final UEFA hurdle

Dan no longer a Don

- Middlesbrough’s first European final ends in disappointment as Sevilla clinch the UEFA Cup with the biggest winning margin since the final went to a single game in 1998.
Its manager Steve McClaren’s 250th and last game in charge of Boro before he leaves to become England coach. He misses out on becoming the first English manager to win a European trophy since Howard Kendall in 1985 (when Everton won the Cup Winners’ Cup) as the Spaniards powered to a deserved 4-0 victory in Eindhoven.
It could have been very different though had referee Herbert Fandel not waved away a clear penalty claim when Mark Viduka was blatantly bundled over in the area by Javi Navarro. That was after 76 minutes with only a Luis Fabiano header separating the sides.
As in the previous UEFA games against FC Basel and Steau Bucuresti, McClaren had gone for broke by now by employing four forwards. This time it backfired.
Sevilla’s superiority was rewarded with two goals in six minutes by former West Bromwich Albion midfielder Enzo Maresca. It went to 4-0 in the Final’s final minute as ex-West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur striker Freddie Kanoute completed the rout.
It’s a salient lesson for Steve McClaren who - should he believe the newspaper headlines - has gone from the greatest thing since English sliced bread to the most abject manager of all-time in the space of less than a week and one game.
To his credit, the departing boss remained defiant in defeat: “This is just a small town in Europe and we’ve proved we can live with the best. This is the club’s reward, getting to a final, but it doesn’t stop there. This is just the beginning.”
Terry Venables and Tony Mowbray are rumoured to be amongst the early favourites to replace McClaren at the Riverside.

- Following their relegation to League Two on Saturday, Milton Keynes Dons part company with manager Danny Wilson.
The former Barnsley, Sheffield Wednesday and Bristol City boss had said that he hoped to stay on at the National Hockey Stadium.
Chairman Pete Winkelman commented: “I am deeply disappointed that we have reached this position. We may have taken a step backwards in the past few days, but our ambition is still to secure the highest level of football possible for our supporters.”
Including their previous guise of Wimbledon, the Dons have joined Swindon Town in becoming the first clubs to fall from the Premiership to the basement division.

- Caretaker boss Glenn Roeder seems set to be named the new manager of Newcastle United in the next few days after they are granted special dispensation by the Premier League. The 50 year-old former West Ham United chief does not currently have the required UEFA Pro Licence.
The Premier League had earlier rejected United’s request and their about-turn is met with disapproval by the League Managers’ Association.
An official LMA statement blasts: “This sends out the message qualifications are not important and players looking for a future in the game as a coach or a manager do not have to concern themselves with obtaining these qualifications.”
Roeder was diagnosed with a brain tumour as he was about to start the course in 2003. Following he recovery, he joined Newcastle as a youth coach.
The club are due to hold a press conference on Monday when it is expected that it will be announced that the newly-retired Alan Shearer will be a member of Roeder’s management team.

Arsenal’s farewell to Highbury on Sunday was a marvellous occasion. A Thierry Henry hat-trick lead the Gunners to a splendid 4-2 win against Wigan Athletic as they signed off from the 93 year-old home in style.

Having the advantage of video to review the event, the problem we’ve encountered is the criteria that should be followed to deduce just exactly how quick the dismissal was.

We’d appreciate your opinion so please read on for further explanation….

We’ve timed the moment that Johansson crossed the touchline to referee Uriah Rennie blowing his whistle for the foul being committed (Johansson held Freddie Ljungberg to deny his fellow Swede an obvious goalscoring opportunity) to be 44 seconds.

However, much of that time was taken up with Arsenal also making a substitution with Ljungberg replacing Robert Pires.

So should the correct timing be from the re-start of play, after Johansson came on, to the referee blowing for the foul? That was timed at 7 seconds.

But do you think that’s right? Should it be from the re-start of play to the referee actually showing the red card? That was 51 seconds.

AFS member Stu Basson from Chesterfield has already been kind enough to give us his opinion. Stu reckons: “To me, it should be from the re-start of play to when the ref blew for the foul.

“As regards the 51 second question, we might have had to wait for a ref to separate players, issue other cards or pick the thing up after dropping it - all of which, again, should have no bearing on the player’s length of participation. Seven seconds gets my vote.”

We’d like as many opinions as possible so that we have the evidence to provide a standard criteria that could be followed in future by your fellow statisticians.

In the meantime, of course without the benefit of available video evidence, it will be difficult to establish the exact timing for earlier very early baths.

However, for reference purposes here are some of the other quick dismissals that we’ve found:

- The previous Premiership earliest sending-off had been recorded as Tim Flowers, the Blackburn Rovers keeper, who was dismissed after 72 seconds of the game with Leeds United at Ewood Park on 1 February 1994.

- The ultimate quick dismissal must be Swansea City’s Walter Boyd. On 23 November 1999 at The Vetch, the Jamaican striker was red-carded for elbowing Darlington’s Martin Gray. Boyd came on as a substitute after Swansea were awarded a free-kick, but referee Clive Wilkes dismissed him for his attack on Gray before it was taken so, arguably, he was dismissed after zero seconds. To compound the story, play had been halted for the ref to send off Darlington’s Steve Tutill for a foul on Steve Watkin. By the time referee Wilkes had turned around, courtesy of Boyd’s elbow, Gray was lying face down on the ground clutching his head.

- On 21 August 2004 Stephen Hunt of Colchester was brought on as a sub to make his Football League debut at Chesterfield. His enthusiasm got the better of him as launched himself into a reckless challenge within seconds of coming on and was deservedly red-carded without touching the ball.

- The quickest sending-off in a World Cup match is believed to be Jose Batista of Uruguay who was red-carded for an over zealous tackle Gordon Strachan of Scotland during Mexico 86. The timing was reported as 56 seconds.

- The quickest dismissal in English senior season is said to be Sheffield Wednesday keeper Kevin Pressman who was sent off after a quoted figure of only 13 seconds of their opening game of the 2000-01 season. Pressman handled a shot from Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Temuri Ketsbaia outside his area.

- Similar to Tim Flowers and Kevin Pressman, Crewe Alexandra goalkeeper Mark Smith was sent-off after 19 seconds of the game with Darlington on 12 March 1994. At the time it was reported as a Football League record.

- Bologna’s Giuseppe Lorenzo was allegedly sent off after just 10 seconds for striking an opponent in an Italian league match against Parma on 9 December 1990.

- And there must have been something about Uriah Rennie and Highbury. On 14 October 1997, Jason Crowe came on as a substitute in extra time to make his Arsenal debut in a Coca-Cola League Cup tie with Birmingham City. He immediately launched himself into a high tackle and Uriah invited him to leave the pitch after a reported 33 seconds.

Ruud misses Keano party

Liverpool hit by Cup Final ticket row

- Having won 3-0 at Crystal Palace on Saturday, Watford duly reach the final of the Championship Play-Off after a goalless draw at Vicarage Road in the return leg.
The Golden Boys are rarely troubled as Palace fail to mount the expected early onslaught. It means none of last season’s relegated clubs will make an immediate return to the Premiership.
Although it’s another impressive addition to manager Adrian Boothroyd’s growing reputation in his first full season in charge, he is involved in the night’s unsavoury incident.
He appeared to kick the ball away from Palace defender Fitz Hall and, as the duo tangled on the touchline, an all-out pitchside brawl broke out between opposing players and coaching staff.
As a result, referee Steve Tanner sent Boothroyd to the stands while Hall was the only recipient of a yellow card.
That will presumably only heighten fellow finalists Leeds United’s sense of injustice as they were shown a total of 12 cards (including two reds) in last night’s other semi at Preston.

- Ruud Van Nistelrooy appears certain to leave Manchester United after he is ‘not allowed’ to take part in Roy Keane’s Testimonial at Old Trafford tonight.
Earlier reports had suggested he had stormed out of the ground before Sunday’s game with Charlton Athletic. It now transpires that he was told to stay away following an alleged training ground bust-up with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Van Nistelrooy had expected to play in Keane’s testimonial against Celtic but instead travelled to Holland’s World Cup training camp. He explained: “I wanted to pay my respects to Roy. I wasn’t allowed to so that was the most painful thing.”
A crowd of 69,591 watched United win 1-0 with 34 year-old Keane playing for his current club in the first half then United for the second-half as he donned the famous red-shirt for one last time.
Keane, who is set to donate the event’s proceeds to charity, will decide in the next fortnight if he is to continue his playing career.

- The Millennium Stadium’s policy of not issuing duplicate tickets mean that more than 1,600 Liverpool supporters whose FA Cup Final tickets have been stolen will now not be able to attend Saturday’s game.
The tickets for the showcase meeting West Ham United were taken from a Royal Mail delivery van in Liverpool city centre on Friday.
Stadium chief executive Paul Sergeant insists they will not back down: “We are standing by our no duplicates policy. We cannot compromise on segregation or the safety of our employees. We’re full and there is no other way of managing this situation.”

- League One Rotherham United live to fight another day after a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) is accepted by around 79% of their creditors.
Under Football League rules, the Millers will face a ten-point deduction next season. They do have the right to appeal against the sanction.
Relieved chairman Denis Coleman explained: “Now we look forward to the continued future of Rotherham United, although there is still a lot of hard work to be done.
“Today’s decision is the only way Rotherham United have a future. The alternative was liquidation.”
Creditors have accepted the payment of just a penny in the pound.

Leeds march on as lights go out on Preston

Spurs food poisoning incident leaves nasty taste

- Sven-Goran Eriksson’s reputation as a cautious coach is blown out of the water as his provisional 23-man squad selection for the World Cup includes two untried uncapped youngsters.
Teenagers Theo Walcott and Aaron Lennon are chosen ahead of such as Chelsea’s Shaun Wright-Phillips, Ledley King of Tottenham Hotspur and Charlton Athletic’s Darren Bent, while Jermain Defoe is on the five-man standby list.
19 year-old Lennon’s recent form had generated speculation that he might be called up, but Walcott - who was 17 in March - is an almost totally unexpected selection.
Signed by Arsenal from Southampton in January for a fee that could rise to £12million, he has not played in the Premiership and Eriksson admits he has never seen him play in a match situation: “It’s a big gamble, I know it is. I am excited to see him, he’s a big talent. And pace in football today is worth a lot.”
The lightening quick forward would break Wayne Rooney’s record as England’s youngest-ever player if he makes his international debut before the World Cup semi-final.
As well as surprise, there’s also concern as only four recognised forwards are chosen. In addition to rookie Walcott, there’s Wayne Rooney (who is highly unlikely to play due to his foot injury), Michael Owen (whose fitness still has to be proved) and the relatively inexperienced Peter Crouch.
While the long-standing left-sided problem could be resolved with the inclusion of Stewart Downing, as the midfield ranks appears to be overloaded with nine players, the selection of Owen Hargreaves is perceived by many as excessive luxury.
The England head coach must name his final squad on Monday 15 May, although he has until 24 hours before their first game on 10 June to replace any injured players.
The provisional squad is:
Goalkeepers
Paul Robinson (Tottenham Hotspur), David James (Manchester City) and Robert Green (Norwich City)
Defenders
Gary Neville (Manchester United), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), John Terry (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Arsenal), Sol Campbell (Arsenal), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool) and Wayne Bridge (Chelsea)
Midfielders
David Beckham (Real Madrid), Michael Carrick (Tottenham Hotspur), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Owen Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham Hotspur), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Joe Cole (Chelsea) and Aaron Lennon (Tottenham)
Forwards
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Michael Owen (Newcastle United), Peter Crouch (Liverpool) and Theo Walcott (Arsenal).
Standby
Scott Carson (Liverpool), Luke Young (Charlton Athletic), Nigel Reo-Coker (West Ham United), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur) and Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace).

- Leeds United are living the dream again as they are only one game away from a return to the Premiership.
They win 2-0 in the second leg of their Championship Play-Off semi-final at Preston North End to go through 3-1 on aggregate.
After a goalless first-half, the interval is extended to nearly 45 minutes due to a local power failure. Leeds seem to take the disruption in their stride as they clinch victory with goals from Rob Hulse and Frazer Richardson in a fluent five minute spell.
The Whites will be without Stephen Crainey and Richard Cresswell in the final though after both were sent-off. Leeds also had six other players booked to leave manager Kevin Blackwell seething at the performance of referee Mick Thorpe: “I don’t understand why we should have a rabbit in car headlights refereeing a game like this, but that’s exactly how it ended up.”

- Tottenham Hotspur are also left with a nasty taste in their collective mouths after yesterday’s food poisoning incident that left a number of the players under the weather for the vital game at West Ham United.
As tests are being taken on the food that was served at the Marriott Hotel in Canary Wharf, Spur have time to consider whether they will take legal action against the hotel.
Whatever the outcome, it’ll be no consolation to manager Martin Jol: “I can sum up the players who were not sick. There was Paul Robinson, Stephen Kelly, Anthony Gardner and Jermain Defoe and the rest were sick so we had to call for some reserve players.”

Spurs are sick at the Marriott

Ruud runs out on United

- It had seemed like a run of the mill end of season afternoon, but the last day of the Premiership turns in to a tale of intrigue, drama and mystery.
The key clashes are a North London contest for the fourth and final place in next season’s Champions League. Basically, Arsenal needed a better result than Tottenham Hotspur but that was just the start of it.
The Gunners visit from Wigan Athletic was their emotional last-ever game at Highbury as they said farewell to their home of 93 years.
In 1939, the famous old ground was the backdrop to a film called the Arsenal Stadium Mystery. On this day in 2006, Arsenal’s bitter rivals became embroiled in the Tottenham Lasagne Mystery as, following their eve of match meal at the Marriott Hotel in Canary Wharf, ten Spurs players are laid low by food poisoning.
Tottenham explored the possibilities of calling their game at West Ham United off but, having considered the possible consequences, agreed to go ahead.
With a number of their players clearly struggling, Spurs fell short to a gut-wrenching (!) 1-2 with Yossi Benayoun netting the late winner for the FA Cup finalists.
It left the way clear for Arsenal to sign-off from Highbury in style. Wigan played their part in a brilliant game but, inevitably, it was Thierry Henry - maybe on his last league appearance for the Gunners - who stole the show with a superb hat-trick in a thrilling 4-2 win.
To add to an extraordinary afternoon, in conceding the penalty for Henry’s third and Highbury’s final goal, Wigan’s Andreas Johansson is sent-off less than a minute after coming on.
The afternoon is completed when the ground’s closing ceremony includes a parade of 80 Gunners legends.

- There’s more intrigue at Old Trafford. Manchester United ease past Charlton Athletic (in Alan Curbishley’s last game after 15 years as their manager) by a 4-0 margin in front of a new Premiership record crowd of 73,006 - also a record for a United game at Old Trafford - to secure second place.
The headlines however are grabbed by Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Although fully fit, the Dutch striker is not included in the United 16. It is reported that he drove away from the ground before kick-off and went home.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s track record in similar circumstances would suggest it is highly likely that Van Nistelrooy has played his last game for United.

- Despite a 3-1 win at Portsmouth, Liverpool finish in third place. Robbie Fowler celebrates his new one-year contract with the opening goal but Xabi Alonso is a major doubt for Saturday’s FA Cup Final after suffering an ankle injury. The Reds are already without the suspended Luis Garcia.

- The other outstanding issue to be settled is the Intertoto Cup place. It goes to Newcastle United who beat Chelsea 1-0 at St James Park with a Titus Bramble goal.
Bolton Wanderers miss out although the finish with a 1-0 win against Birmingham City at the Reebok Stadium.

- Sunderland finish the season with another defeat. The Black Cats lose 1-2 at Aston Villa.
It means, a week after losing the record for the most points in a Football League season to Reading, Sunderland’s total of 15 points is a new record low for the Premiership, and for the top flight since three points for a win was introduced in 1981.
They also finish 15 points adrift of next to bottom West Bromwich Albion.

Colchester make it an Essex double

Watford punish Palace in Play-Off

- Only 18 years after being a top-flight club, Oxford United’s 44-year Football League existence comes to an end in dramatic circumstances as Leyton Orient clinch their first automatic promotion for 36 years with a last gasp goal from former Oxford striker Lee Steele at the Kassam Stadium in a 3-2 win.
Oxford - the League Cup winners in 1986 - had to win League Two’s Match of the Season to avoid the drop while the Os needed to win to ensure promotion.
As the game drew to a close, Grimsby Town were beating Northampton Town 1-0 at Blundell Park but the tables were turned when Ryan Gilligan - the son of former Grimsby striker Jimmy Gilligan - equalised for the Cobblers to condemn the Mariners to the Play-Offs and help send Orient up.
Jim Smith - the manager who took Oxford into the old First Division in 1985 - couldn’t rescue the club from the drop to the Conference following his return in March but he vows to stay on.
New Us’ chairman Nick Merry pledges: “This is day one and we are going to build this club up again. It starts today.”
The days events are bound by a remarkable footballing symmetry. When Oxford came up into the Football League in 1962, they replaced Accrington Stanley who, of course, have just won promotion back to the League. And, back in the spring of ‘62, Leyton Orient were going up to the old First Division for their first and only time in their history.

- Elsewhere in League Two, on an afternoon when seven clubs were under threat of joining Rusden & Diamonds in the Conference next season, as events developed around the grounds it seemed that Notts County - the world’s oldest senior club and founder members of the Football League - were on their way out. They trailed 0-2 to Bury at Meadow Lane but saved their own skins with goals in the last five minutes from Dan Martin and Julien Baudet.

- In League One, Colchester United are up to the second tier of English football for the first time in their history as manager Phil Parkinson’s heroic team earn a goalless draw at Yeovil Town.
It’s an Essex double as Southend United clinch the title with Wayne Gray’s winner against Bristol City at Roots Hall.
Brentford miss out on automatic promotion as they are held to a 2-2 draw at AFC Bournemouth. The Bees will be joined by Huddersfield Town (0-0 at Swindon Town), Barnsley (2-1 at Walsall) and Swansea City (4-0 at Chesterfield).
At the bottom, Milton Keynes Dons - who under their previous guise of Wimbledon were a Premiership club in 2000 - complete their fall to the basement division despite a goalless draw at fellow strugglers Rotherham United. The Dons will be joined in League Two by Hartlepool United who draw 1-1 with Port Vale at Victoria Park.

- Watford have one foot in the Championship’s Play-Off Final after a 3-0 first leg win at Crystal Palace.
After a goalless first-half at Selhurst Park, the Golden Boys storm to an emphatic win with goals from Marlon King, Ashley Young and Matthew Spring.

Leeds and Preston all square

‘We were compromised’ - Barwick

- Setanta - Irish pay-TV broadcaster - breaks BSkyB’s monopoly of live Premier League matches by winning the rights for two of the six available packages.
They will show 46 matches a season from 2007-08 from Package C (minimum of 12 matches at 8.00pm on Monday, the rest either at 1.30pm on Sunday or 5.15 on Saturday or other times) and Package D (minimum of 18 matches at 5.15pm on Saturday, the rest either at 1.30pm on Sunday, 8.00pm on Monday or other times).
Sky retain 92 live matches including the blue riband A Package of Sunday 4.00pm kick-offs.
Fears that the Premiership rights cash bubble would burst are totally unfounded as there is 65% increase on the exclusive deal with BSkyB three years ago.
The total generated is a massive £1.7billion with BSkyB paying £1.3billion and Setanta £392miliion.
It remains to be seen if the increased revenue will end up on players’ wages or to subsidise ticket prices, although we actually all know the answer on that one.
Other Premiership rights, including mobile rights, television highlights packages and overseas rights, have still to be determined.

- The Play-Offs kick-off with Leeds United and Preston North End drawing 1-1 at Elland Road in front of 35,239 in the first leg of their Championship semi-final.
David Nugent opens the scoring just after the break but Leeds hit back through former North End winger Eddie Lewis.

- Football Association chief executive Brian Barwick admits that mistakes were made in the selection process to replace England head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Barwick concurs: “We will review the process. We probably need to go away and have a look at it. This process lasted nine weeks. At times it felt longer. In any other major industry, nine weeks, ten weeks wouldn’t be an issue but we learned that in the football industry it’s difficult to sustain.”

- Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson is more forthright in his condemnation of the FA’s handling of the appointment of a new coach.
Having lost his manager Steve McClaren, he is unhappy about the role played by Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein: “The FA is there for the good of English football, but was Arsene Wenger interviewed? Why was he protected? It has taken so long. Has it damaged our football club? Definitely.
“I think the structure of the FA makes their life difficult. I think there are some great individuals - and I would not want to be critical of them - but I would be critical of the structure.”

Soho Square appointment receives mixed reaction

Sunderland avoid home discomforts

- A week after the opportunity had seemed to have passed him by, Steve McClaren is named the new England head coach.
The Middlesbrough manager and member of the current England coaching staff will succeed Sven-Goran Eriksson on 1 August armed with a four-year contract said to be worth £10million.
McClaren’s last game in charge of Boro will be the UEFA Cup Final against Sevilla in Eindhoven next Wednesday - the Teesside club’s first-ever European final.
Thrust before the intense media spot light for the first time, Steve - who appeared to have been beaten to the post by Luiz Felipe Scolari last week - gets off to a confident start: “I don’t see it as a case of first choice or second choice. I am the choice and I sit here as the next England coach.
“I am results-orientated and I’m here to do a job, win matches and make sure England over the next four years win a major trophy.”
“This is the biggest honour that any coach can have, and is obviously the highlight of my career. It’s a massive challenge and one that I welcome. However, this was an opportunity I couldn’t refuse and I’m probably the proudest man in England today.”
Football Association chief executive Brian Barwick has to fight off accusations of a bungled selection process.
He maintains McClaren was the first choice: “It’s been seen by many as a torturous process. I think we tried to appoint a senior person in a major industry. We hit the target early today.
“It may have been tedious from where you were, at times it’s been tedious from where we are, but it’s taken as long as it has.
“I saw Felipe Scolari on three occasions. There were potential developments. He then declared he had no interest in the job. We never offered him the job.
“My first choice was always Steve. That might be difficult for people to get their heads across.”
A day after his 45th birthday, the announcement of McClaren’s appointment comes a day before the 26th anniversary of his playing debut (for Hull City against Bury at Boothferry Park in the old Third Division).
The former Manchester United assistant manager’s first game in charge will be a friendly against European champions Greece at Old Trafford on 16 August.

- Despite fulfilling many people’s criteria for an Englishman as England’s head coach, Steve McClaren’s appointment is greeted by a generally underwhelming reaction:
Sven-Goran Eriksson (current England head coach): “I have worked closely with Steve ever since I came to England and know how good a coach he is. I have no doubt that he has all the credentials to be very successful in the job.”
Sir Trevor Brooking (FA’s director of football development): “As a holder of the UEFA Pro Licence he will also play an integral part in our coach development scheme.”
Shaun Custis (The Sun): “Even McClaren was not convinced when Brian Barwick tap-danced round the question of Big Phil Scolari being offered the job and declared ‘Steve McClaren was my first choice’.”
Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United manager): “I think it is a good appointment. He knows the England players and has had a good apprenticeship.”
Oliver Holt (The Mirror): “Misconceptions about him have spread because he has refused to court public opinion and shied away from building relationships with the media. Think of our 20 Premiership managers and pick one with a lower profile than McClaren. It’s not easy.”
John Barnwell (League manager’s Association chief executive): “This is not a popularity contest. The England manager is appointed to help improve and develop the international team.”
James Lawton (The Independent): “No one would say that McClaren is a donkey. But then who could seriously argue that he has not, in a particularly abject way, been elected the flavour of the month? He is not so much a choice as a fallback position.”
Jermain Defoe (England striker): “Steve McClaren is a top man. I like him. He’s a great coach. Always smiling, making it different and he’s top man.”
Max Clifford (McClaren’s publicist): “After the prime minister it’s probably the most media-scrutinised job in Britain. I like the man, he’s got a wider view and realises that there’s more to the media than the sports media.”
Henry Winter (Daily Telegraph): “The manager of the 15th-best side in the Premiership certainly did not ride into Soho Square on a wave of euphoria.”
Alan Hansen (BBC TV pundit): “If you pick an England boss, results over five or six years are important. What they achieve over five or six weeks is neither here nor there.”
Richard Williams (The Guardian): “If McClaren were ever going to make a head coach of England, now would be the time. And perhaps, when all is said and done, the lack of excitement surrounding his appointment is no bad thing.”

- Arsenal set up a dramatic last-ever game at Highbury on Sunday as tonight’s 3-1 win at Manchester City means they will need a better result (against Wigan Athletic) than Tottenham Hotspur (away to FA Cup finalists West Ham United) on the final day to take their North London rivals anticipated place in next season’s Champions League.
Freddie Ljungberg, playing in his 300th game for Arsenal, opens the scoring on the half-hour with his first Premiership goal of the season.
David Sommeil hits back for City but two late goals from Jose Antonio Reyes leaves the Gunners a point behind Spurs.

- At the last attempt, Sunderland avoid becoming the first-ever club to through an English league season without winning a home game.
Chris Brown’s clincher in the 2-1 win against Fulham means it’s the first time they’ve scored twice in the Premiership at the Stadium of Light this season. It’s also their first home top-flight win since 15 December 2002.
The last team to win only one home game in an English season was Rochdale in the old Third Division in 1973-74. The most recent example in the top flight was Blackpool in 1966-67.

- The Premier League reject Newcastle United’s request for dispensation to appoint Glenn Roeder as their permanent manager.
The former West Ham United boss took over in a caretaker capacity in February following the dismissal of Graeme Souness and has led them into 7th place in the Premiership.
He does not have the required UEFA Pro Licence and the Premier League says its rules ‘do not provide for any dispensation’.
A statement explained: “The only way the board would be prepared to allow Newcastle to appoint Glenn Roeder is if so directed by member clubs. In the event of permission being sought sufficient support from clubs would have to be obtained and a formal resolution tabled at the Premier League AGM in June.”

- Billy Davies, boss of Play-Off qualifiers Preston North End, has been named as the Championship’s Coca-Cola Manager of the Month for April.
Bristol City’s Gary Johnson takes the award in League One while Ian Atkins, who was only appointed on 13 April, is the League Two winner after leading Torquay United’s near-miraculous bid for League survival.

Roo needs a miracle - Sven

Hearts and Gretna book Euro tickets

- With manager Steve McClaren widely tipped to be named the new England head coach tomorrow, his Middlesbrough team draw 1-1 at Sam Allardyce’s Bolton Wanderers.
Boro - with nine English players in their starting line-up - take the lead through Adam Johnson but Wanderers soon reply via Ricaro Vaz Te.
While Boro await their managerial fate, Bolton now need a better result than Newcastle United in their last game of the season on Sunday to qualify for the summer’s Intertoto Cup.
Allardyce is one of McClaren’s main rivals for the England job and he admitted he thinks his Boro counterpart will get the nod: “I’m going to be disappointed. I’ve heard nothing but you get the sense and the feeling.”

- A second scan on his foot injury reveals that Wayne Rooney has more than one fracture.
Although Sven-Goran Eriksson still wants to include the Manchester United striker in his World Cup squad, he admits it’s not looking good: “I knew yesterday that he had more than one fracture. Miracles happen in life now and then, but I don’t really know.”

- At the end of a season packed with drama and intrigue, with a 1-0 win against Aberdeen at Tynecastle, Heart of Midlothian become the first team outside of the Old Firm to qualify for the Champions League.
Paul Hartley’s second-half penalty ensures they cannot be caught by Rangers and will finish in second place behind Celtic.
Matchwinner Hartley reflects: “Playing in the Champions League is what you dream of as a kid. We’ve had our critics all season, but I’m delighted for the owner, Vladimir Romanov, whose invested lots of money.”
As a consequence of their qualification, Gretna - who were playing in England’s Unibond League only four years ago - will play in the UEFA Cup next season (they meet Hearts in the Scottish Cup Final).
It is confirmed they will play their European ties at Motherwell’s Fir Park stadium.

- Former Liverpool defender Richard Money is surprisingly named the new manager of relegated Walsall.
The 50 year-old began his managerial career at Scunthorpe United and has been in charge at Swedish clubs AIK Stockholm and Vasteras in Sweden and Newcastle Jets in Australia
Also previously a coach at Nottingham Forest, Manchester City and Coventry City, Money ambitiously states: “My task here is straightforward - to get this club back into League One, and to do it next season.”
Ian Atkins, John Rudge, Keith Curle, Paul Hart, Ian Rush and Colin Lee had been linked to the Bescot post.