Monday, August 13, 2007

Unsettled Diouf in talks over Bolton future

El-Hadji Diouf is set for talks with manager Sammy Lee after warning he may have to leave Bolton if he is not given a regular first-team place.


The 26-year-old striker was a substitute for the Trotters' opening game of the Premier League season on Saturday, coming on in the second half as they went down to a 3-1 defeat by Newcastle.


Now the Senegal forward wants Lee to outline what the future holds for Diouf at the Reebok.

He said: 'I just want to get everything clear in my head.

'I want to talk with the chairman and the manager because I want everything to be clear.

'If the manager tells me he has confidence in me, I do well. If I don't see that, I don't think I can stay.

'Right now as I talk, this is my crowd and this is my club.

'I don't know tomorrow, it is another day. Maybe tomorrow I go.

'Of course I was disappointed not to be on at the start. I am a footballer and I want to play every game.

'This is my crowd and everybody loves me here - that is why I want to play against Newcastle and every time there is a game.

'They decided I wasn't playing, though, and that was it.

'I respect the boss and his decision and I am here for the time.'

soccernet

Rooney to miss two months of the season


Manchester United have revealed England striker Wayne Rooney is likely to be out for two months after suffering a hairline fracture of his left foot.


The forward is likely to miss England's next four Euro 2008 qualifiers after suffering the injury in yesterday's Premier League opener at home to Reading.


After taking on Germany in a friendly next week, England face qualifiers at home to Israel and Russia on September 8 and 12 and the following month meet Estonia at home and Russia away on October 13 and 17.

Sir Alex Ferguson has already ruled out the possibility of plunging into the transfer market to solve Manchester United's striking crisis.

Confirmation Wayne Rooney suffered a hairline fracture of his left foot during yesterday's goalless draw with Reading only worsened an already difficult situation for the United boss.

Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have only just returned to training after long-term problems, while Carlos Tevez is effectively only a week into his pre-season after an extended lay-off following Argentina's Copa America campaign.

Ferguson is so short of orthodox forwards he ended up with John O'Shea partnering Cristiano Ronaldo up front against Steve Coppell's men, so it was probably little surprise they failed to find a crucial breakthrough even against a side reduced to 10 men after the dismissal of Dave Kitson.

But Ferguson will resist the temptation to splash the cash once more, insisting he is happy with his current options, with Tevez almost certain to be handed his debut against Portsmouth on Wednesday.

'Carlos Tevez is available now and Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer are training,' said Ferguson.

'With Wayne as well, we have four strikers so I am not looking at a situation where I have to add to that number.'

Nevertheless, the loss of Rooney for an extended period, following hot on the heels of the sales of Alan Smith and Giuseppe Rossi, presents a problem United could well do without.

Old Trafford officials have so far declined to reveal either the precise nature of Rooney's injury, nor offer a recovery time.

However, given he left the ground with his foot in plaster last night, it would be a major surprise if Rooney was back in action within two months, ruling him out of a succession of key fixtures for club and country, including four crucial Euro 2008 qualifiers.

'There was a bit of swelling around the injury,' said Ferguson.

'There was no point him continuing because we have a long season ahead.'

Rooney's injury overshadowed a strange contest in which United dominated and created plenty of chances without managing to put Reading's goal under sustained pressure.

Ryan Giggs did hit a post, while the best of a string of saves from Royals keeper Marcus Hahnemann denied Paul Scholes near the end.

As Reading boss Steve Coppell reflected, not a bad effort from the USA keeper, who had surgery on his hand only six weeks ago.

'When he got back to us he couldn't have saved a tennis ball,' said Coppell.

'He had no strength in his hand whatsoever. But the progress he has made and diligent work he has undertaken over the last six weeks is a credit to him.'

Although Coppell claimed he felt like apologising for the smothering tactics he employed against his old club, he had no need to given they worked to perfection.

In fact, the only thing that went wrong for Reading was Kitson's loss of control which resulted in a rash challenge on Patrice Evra just 37 seconds after his introduction as a second-half substitute.

Coppell, while defending his player, admitted referee Rob Styles was probably correct to brandish the red card.

Ferguson was in no doubt either.

'It looked a terrible challenge,' he said.

'There was real intent there and the referee had no option.'

soccernet
nani or tevez?