Sporting briefs...

Cologne: Andreas Rettig quit as general manager of Bundesliga club Cologne following yesterday's 3-2 defeat by Arminia Bielefeld. Cologne are third from bottom with just 12 points from 17 games at the halfway stage in the Bundesliga season. "I'm responsible for the make-up of the squad and I must be judged by numbers," Rettig said. "Twelve points are not enough." Rettig worked above Uwe Rapolder, who remains the first team coach.

Kohler: Former West Germany defender Juergen Kohler is the new coach at Duisburg, the struggling Bundesliga club announced yesterday. Kohler played 105 times for Germany, winning the World Cup in 1990 and the European Championship in 1996. He formerly held the post of director of sport at Bayer Leverkusen but has never coached a Bundesliga club. Duisburg sacked coach Norbert Meier on December 8 after he was suspended by the German FA for headbutting a player. The club are second from bottom in the Bundesliga table after a 1-1 draw with Mainz yesterday.

Houllier: Lyon coach Gerard Houllier preferred to dwell on his team's achievement in going 18 league matches unbeaten from the start of the season after the run was ended by Lille on Friday. "I'm proud of what we have achieved so far," Houllier said after his men lost 3-1 at home in their last match of the year. "We will learn from this. It does not change the fact that the team have improved a lot in every department." Lyon, who are chasing a record fifth successive title, were unbeaten in 23 Ligue 1 matches in all stretching back to a 1-0 home defeat to PSG last April.

Ayala: Valencia's Argentina defender Roberto Ayala is to have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, the Primera Liga club said yesterday. The 32-year-old centre-back twisted his knee in training on Friday and will miss the last two league games before the winter break, against Alaves today and Real Mallorca on Wednesday.

Mourinho: FIFA boss Sepp Blatter has credited the outstanding talents of manager Jose Mourinho, and not Roman Abramovich's millions, for Chelsea's success. Russian tycoon Abramovich has spent over $500 million on players since buying Chelsea in 2003 and they won the Premier League title last season in Mourinho's first year in charge. "With respect to Roman Abramovich and his involvement in football, I think if Chelsea is such a good team it is because they have an outstanding manager," Blatter said.

¤ Villarreal president Fernando Roig said his wish had been granted after his side were drawn against Rangers in the last 16 of the Champions League on Friday. "I always wanted us to get Rangers," Roig told reporters. "I wanted us to get them because of the close relationship we've got with the Celtic fans, although that doesn't mean I think it's going to be an easy tie. I'm looking forward to going back to Glasgow and remembering the game we had against Celtic which was a great occasion." Villarreal beat Celtic in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in April 2004 and the fans from the two teams ended up forging a close alliance as a result of the tie. A section of the Primera Liga side's fans now wear Celtic shirts at their home games.