Six year post-match boycott comes to an end…

Expect Gary Lineker’s opening lines on next season’s Match of the Day to be even more smug and annoying than usual. New Premier League rules, to be enforced next year, mean all managers will have to give post-match interviews to broadcasting rights holders - meaning Sir Alex Ferguson will have to explain his latest outburst to the cameras himself, rather than sending right-hand man Mike Phelan.

Ferguson promised never to do another interview with the BBC after it broadcast a documentary alleging his football agent son Jason used the family name to gain influence in transfer dealings, in 2004.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp and Blackburn’s Sam Allardyce have also had previous run-ins with the Beeb over corruption allegations, but all will have to give TV or radio interviews or face ‘a sliding scale of punishments’.

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We’ve been waiting for this to appear on YouTube all week

Carlo Cudicini has suspected broken pelvis after motorbike accident
[Daily Mail]

Four players ‘Arry should shift to raise some Big Four-cracking cash
[Caught Offside]

Eureka! I think Rooney’s cracked it! - ‘We must improve to win World Cup’ :/
[Times]

Fergie handed two match touchline ban for boring everyone to death
[Guardian]

Judge tells Defoe ‘good luck for WC2010′, before handing 6 month driving ban
[Off The Post]

No Old Firm in the EPL after all
[The Sun]

Spurs talisman may call time on his career, for his own good…

It was all smiles around White Hart Lane this Saturday, as Heurelho Gomes‘ heroics and a wanky penner from derided ex-Spur Darren Bent propelled Tottenham to 4th spot, after a 2-0 victory against Sunderland. However, not everything went to plan for Harry Redknapp’s men - vice-captain Ledley King was subbed, through injury, 10 mins after the restart.

So far this season King has only played a full 90 minutes five times in eight league games, despite his infamous ultra-low intensity training sessions. Contract up for renewal in the summer, the Spurs backroom have a genuine dilemma on their hands as to whether the defender should stay on - and the cons are stacked against him.

Spurs boss suffers wheel/deal fail…

Harry Redknapp, never one to miss an opportunity to mine some glory out of the most desperate of situations, has brushed off Spurs’ 3-0 humping at the Emirates on Saturday by revealing he knew about one of Arsenal’s best performers this season, Thomas Vermaelen, before Arsene Wenger did:

“I was recommended him as a left-back but we were strong in that position. People who recommended him didn’t speak of him as a central defender.”

‘Arry can’t have done too much research - Vermaelen filled in at centre-back for Ajax for over a third of last season, winning eight of the 12 games he played in the role. If the Spurs boss wants to get a more well-rounded view of Europe’s finest footballers, perhaps he should actually start playing Football Manager, rather than just pocketing the coin from shamelessly hawking it.

Italian is the richest manager in British football

In his most recent book, Richard Branson reveals that rich lists are seldom accurate, based as they are on estimations and public domain information. Nevertheless, the good folks at Four Four Two have this week released the British Football Rich List, and there are few surprises at the top. David Beckham tops the players’ list with a supposed £125m fortune, and the wealthiest person in British football is still the QPR owner who isn’t about to be kicked out of the game, Lakshmi Mittal. The Indian steel magnate is said to be sitting on £18.4bn, nearly £1.5bn more than second-placed Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

In the richest manager top ten, noted money fan Harry Redknapp places at number seven with £10m, while second place is held by under-fire Ipswich coach Roy Keane, who apparently amassed the majority of his £27m fortune in his playing days.

The richest gaffer in Britain is also the one who has to take charge of the least amount of games - England manager Fabio Capello is worth £30m due to his utter refusal to pay tax hugely successful career.

[See the richest player list here, the manager list here and the full top 100 list here]

Manager says thing that probably isn’t true

In the weekly column written for him by a Sun journalist, Harry Redknapp never fails to say something contestable, and this week is no exception. While congratulating his former technical director Avram Grant for re-joining the Portsmouth management team, the Tottenham boss expressed both his confidence in his former employers and a charming naivety concerning the relegation betting market:

There is a new owner, a new man to help Paul and a win under their belts. They will not get relegated this season.

If I were a betting man I’d even put 25 pence each-way on that!

Is ‘Arry right to suggest Avram Grant et al can turn things around, or can they look forward to a couple of fixtures against Hull in the fizzy pop league next year? Let us know below. Or don’t. Whatever…

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Martin Palermo once famous for missing penalties. Now famous for very long headers.
[ 101 GG ]

Roy Keane gives BBC interviewer the skunk eye
[ Off the Post ]

If you think Alan Wiley is out of shape, you should see this guy
[ Dirty Tackle ]

Harry Redknapp defends his tax arrangements
[ The Sun ]

Buy the England left-back’s wife’s shoes. This never happened to George Cohen.

Gaffer suddenly favourite as next manager to go

For reasons that we have yet to establish at the time of writing, Harry Redknapp has shot to favourite in the next Premier League manager to go market. He is at 7/4, with Paul Hart languishing behind in the sack race at 3/1.

In the last hour, Paddy Power have stopped taking bets on his departure.

Has there been a fallout? Is it dangerously close to the annual date when Tottenham traditionally sack their manager? Or is this another Ribery/Benitez-style betting scam?