8 April 2005 Allardyce Has Eyes on Owen "If Michael Owen was available, he would be first on our list. You wonder whether he  would want to come and play for us (Bolton) and there would be an obvious problem with his wages and transfer fee but Michael Owen is an England international and the best goalscorer we will have for a long time to come. It would be an achievement if were even to consider us. We already have two former Real Madrid players here in Fernando Hierro and Ivan Campo, so you could never actually write off the fact we might get a third. To have any chance at all, we would have to qualify for Europe. After that, who knows? Regular first-team football is important for most players. Money becomes secondary when you are sitting on the bench every week or sat in the stand. Michael Owen is a match winner. If he is not getting that adrenalin rush often enough, he probably wants it back." - Sam Allardyce 7 April 2005 Flasher Perrin Appointed Portsmouth Coach Portsmouth have unveiled Alain Perrin as their new coach. Perrin was appointed coach of Marseille after gaining three successive promotions with Troyes and taking them into the UEFA Cup. He last 5 months at Marseille and was dismissed in January 2004 after a loss to Auxerre left the club 15 points behind leaders Monaco. They had already been eliminated from the Champions League and League Cup. Perrin is locked in a court case with Marseille, suing them for £3 million outstanding on their contract. At the hearing the club claimed that some of the reasons for Perrin's dismissal included sexual harassment of employees and exhibitionism at the workplace. UEFA Confirm Frisk Approach Having given Jose Mourinho a two match touchline ban for claiming Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard made an illegal approach to referee Anders Frisk during half time at the Nou Camp, Uefa's venue director Pascal Fratellia backed up Mourinho's claims : "The referee told us he had contact with Rijkaard from the pitch to the front of his dressing room door. Rijkaard wished to say hello at the beginning of the tunnel and then tried to talk to him climbing the stairs. Frisk told him it was not the place or moment to speak about the match." 6 April 2005 Iran Security Blamed for Deaths Judiciary spokesman Jamal Karimi Rad has blamed security forces for the deaths of seven fans in a post match crush following last month's World Cup qualifier against Japan at Tehran's Azadi stadium : "The lack of unified management in the security forces, positioning a helicopter in front of the main 60-metre wide gate and diverting the spectators to a secondary seven-metre wide gate are the main reasons for the incident." 18 year old Bahzad Akandi, who broke a thigh in the crush, made the following comments in a newspaper interview : "The main gate was closed so the crowd dashed towards the secondary doors, but they were closed with the crowd pushing, we were ground through the bars. I had to wait for 15 minutes for rescuers to come and cut through the bars." 5 April 2005 Nedved Considers Retirement "I don't know how my body feels at the moment. In these last months I have played very few matches. Since last year's European Championship many things have happened to me - knee injuries, head injuries. I have not played for two months, so I cannot say if I have 90 minutes in my legs and if it continues like this until the end of the season, I'll quit. It's better quitting when you are not a wreck. Health is too important. Football is not the only thing in my life." - Pavel Nedved Ferdinand and Mourinho Take Top Honours in Fashion Poll Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand and Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho took the top honours in GQ magazine's Britain's best dressed poll. Dylan Jones, the editor of the British version of the magazine, said of Rio Ferdinand : "He is the unlikely hero of the hour, a footballer who takes himself just seriously enough. He is a clotheshorse in the best sense of the word and has got great dress sense." Mourinho finish second with actors Jude Law third and Clive Owen fourth. David Beckham, who won the award three years in a row, came top in the worst dressed list and was described by shoe designer Manolo Blahnik as "the original fashion victim". Gerrard Ruled out of Juve Clash Steven Gerrard will miss the second leg of Liverpool's Champions League quarter-final against Juventus in Turin with a groin injury. Xabi Alonso, who has just recovered after three months out with a broken leg, will take Gerrard's place in midfield. Toon Duo Banned Newcastle's Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer have been banned for four and three games respectively following their punch-up against Villa on Saturday. Bowyer has also been fined six weeks wages (€291,000) for instigated the fight. Newcastle coach Graham Souness said : "It was all regrettable. I can assure the fans that we will be focused on trying to do our best between now until the end of the season. We have got everything to play for and the important thing is that we put this thing behind us and concentrate on trying to win a trophy for this football club. They have been speaking over the weekend and had a laugh about it - they regret it." 4 April 2005 Dumitrescu Blasts Own Fans For Racism 27 year old Ghanaian defender Kofi Amponsah was racially abused by his own fans during his clubs 1-0 win over Iraklis. Aegaleo coach Ilie Dumitrescu said : "He was crying. I do not respect those fans who say racist remarks. They are nothing. We don't need them. I would prefer they shout at me for the next 100 matches than my players." The Greek Association of Professional Footballers released a statement condemning the racism : "Such incidents are not only saddening, but at the same time cause special concern. The incident with the unacceptable behaviour towards the player can only irritate those of us who love Greek football, as it would seem that the situation is getting out of control." Hitzfeld & Mourinho Can't be Friends Former Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld made the following comments ahead of Bayern's Champions League clash with Chelsea : "Jose Mourinho is an arrogant coach. He is cool but that sounds like a compliment. He is not a sportsman. In comparison to Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger he was a disappointment on a personal level. I have met him but we are not going to be friends." "He is among the best managers in the world. Winning the Champions League with Porto is sensational and now he has guided Chelsea to the brink of the English title in his first season." Yartsev Resigns Georgy Yartsev has quit as coach of the Russian national team. Despite only trailing group leaders Portugal and Slovakia by three points in their World Cup qualifying group Yartsev came in for some stinging criticism following their 7-1 loss to Portugal. 2 April 2005 Serie A Cancelled A statement by CONI (Italian Olympic Committee) president Gianni Petrucci reads as follows : "In the light of the latest medical reports that make clear the imminent death of his holiness (Pope John Paul II) and in respect for the sentiments expressed by the players, Coaches, directors and fans, we have invited the Federations of all Italian sports to immediately suspend all activity planned for this weekend." Manchester United to Raise Ticket Prices A statement on the club's website read : The club said the increases, which average out at 10 percent across Old Trafford's 67,500-capacity stadium, will earn them an extra four million pounds a season and insist their prices remain among the lowest in the English Premiership. "The club realises that no price rise will ever be welcomed and that many fans would like to see ticket prices cut. However, there continues to be excess demand with over 7,500 ticket requests, on average, being turned down for each Premier League game. These price rises are announced at a time when the club's media revenues are under a pressure that is unlikely to ease in the next couple of years, leaving it facing a significant challenge in increasing its income to make up for that loss. The impact of these proposals will increase the Premier League match day gate receipts by around four million pounds next season but the amount raised is still significantly below the loss of over 14 million pounds of media revenues this season. (blamed on 'early' exists from the Champions League)" Ferreira Out For a Month Chelsea defender Paulo Ferreira faces upto five weeks on the sidelines after breaking his foot while on international duty with Portugal. Carlos Alberto Apologies to Owen Azerbaijan coach Carlos Alberto has apologised to Michael Owen after branding him a midget : "I see Owen claims he did not say those things. If that is the case then I accept his apology and apologise back to him. I believed he had promised to score five against Azerbaijan and that made my players and me very angry. I was still very upset after a match in which Owen did not look like scoring even once and that is why I said those things but now, for me, it is finished." Owen denied making the claims : "If he checks my pre-match quotes he will realise that I never said anything about scoring five goals, I would never be so disrespectful. He would, though, be perfectly within his rights to criticise my performance. I've certainly had better games in an England shirt. Fortunately I am a mentally strong person and believe I will learn from the experience and continue to improve as a player and person because of it." Shearer to Play on Next Season Newcastle striker Alan Shearer has confirmed that he will stay on next season as player coach. Shearer was expected to retire at the end of this season having resisted numerous calls to extend his contract : "I went through a hell of a lot of people and the response was unanimous, that I should play on. I stayed on because I think the club is moving in the right direction, not because I want to break the record (Newcastle's all time goalscoring record which is held by Jackie Milburn, Shearer is 9 goals short)." "I believe I'm making the right decision. I probably haven't scored as many goals as I have before, but I feel I have contributed a lot more than I did last season or even the season before. The people I spoke to felt I was playing too well to retire. I admit I was a bit hasty and I felt I couldn't retire just because I said I would. I'm carrying on because my performances have been at a level I've been happy with, and more important what the manager and chairman have been happy with." Newcastle Chairman Freddy Shepherd said : "It is the news every fan wanted to hear, and also the news the board and the manager Graeme Souness wanted to hear. His new contract will read 'player-coach' and we are looking forward to another year of Alan Shearer at Newcastle."