Football news

Alex Ferguson told reporters he hopes Dimitar Berbatov will be fit to face Chelsea in London on Sunday as Man. United aim to get their Premier League title challenge back on track. Berbatov did not play against Villarreal to nurse a knee injury he sustained at Anfield.

"I think he has a good chance and hopefully he is fit," Ferguson said.

"Scholes is back from suspension, which is of course a plus for us. I think if we get Berbatov available and Scholes back then I have some selections to make."

United have made a slow start to the season, winning only one of their opening five games in all competitions.

"We have yet to reach our peak and it is the same as last season. Normally around October you will see us much better," Ferguson said.

Micoud retires

Former France playmaker Johan Micoud, without a club since Girondins Bordeaux decided not to extend his contract at the end of last season, has decided to retire.

"This is the right moment to stop," the 35-year-old Micoud, who also played for Cannes, Parma and Werder Bremen, told L'Equipe sports daily yesterday.

Micoud won a French title with Bordeaux in 1999 and a German league-cup double with Werder in 2004. He left the German club in 2006 to return to Bordeaux.

The fact that Zinedine Zidane played in the same position meant Micoud, who was widely respected both in Ligue 1 and in the Bundesliga, won only 17 caps for France. He was a member of the Euro 2000-winning squad.

Wilkins returns

Ray Wilkins renewed his 35-year relationship with Chelsea yesterday when the Premier League leaders announced he was returning to Stamford Bridge as first team coach.

He replaces Steve Clarke who has moved to West Ham United to work under new Hammers boss and another former Chelsea favourite Gianfranco Zola.

Wilkins, who turned 52 on Sunday, joined the club as a 17-year-old trainee in 1973 and became Chelsea's youngest-ever skipper aged just 18 the following year.

It will be the third time Wilkins has been involved with Chelsea after making a total of 198 appearances for the club as a player, scoring 34 goals, between 1973 and 1979.

Ballotta quits Modena

Marco Ballotta, the former Lazio goalkeeper, is no longer a director with Serie B club Modena.

This summer, Ballotta, 44, decided to stop playing after a 26-year career and accepted a boardroom post with Modena.

However, things haven't gone according to plan and the club said in a statement that Ballotta's contract was stopped with mutual consent.

Modena had a poor start to the 2008-09 season as they are yet to pick up a point after three defeats from three games. Modena's next test is against newly-promoted and top team Salernitana, the revelation of the season so far.

Pizarro facing long lay-off

There were more woes in store for Roma this week as it was confirmed that midfielder David Pizarro is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a torn muscle.

This is no good moment for Luciano Spalletti and Roma who have one point from two Serie A outings to show and lost their Champions League opener at home to unfancied Romanians CFR Cluj.

Pizarro was injured during Roma's final training session before the match with Cluj.

Latest indications from the clinic suggest that Pizarro could be out of action for around a month and he looks likely to sit out of the team's second Champions League fixture, away to Bordeaux.

Hull City backing for Fagan

Hull City forward Craig Fagan will have his club's full support if he takes legal action against Newcastle United's Danny Guthrie for the tackle that broke his leg on Saturday, the club's chairman said.

Guthrie was sent off for scything down Fagan in a reckless challenge towards the end of their Premier League match at St James' Park, which left Fagan with a fractured left leg. Hull won the match 2-1.

"To be frank, this is the sort of incident that, had it happened in the street, would have been regarded as common assault," Hull chairman Phil Duffen told reporters.

"We will be sitting down with him and discussing what to do. He was playing well and you have to take into account his earning ability in terms of performance bonuses and things like that."

Siena experiment backfires

Marco Giampaolo fielded a different formation for the Italian Cup fourth round match at home to Serie B outfit Empoli on Wednesday but his experiment backfired as the Serie A side were bundled out of the competition following an unexpected 2-0 upset.

The match was evenly-balanced but Siena conceded two late goals, the first from a dubious penalty.

"It was a tight game, which was decided by the penalty episode," Giampaolo told reporters.

"I tried an experimental formation. I wanted to see how they would play and I got a positive response from some players.

"I'm sorry that we were eliminated this way because I wanted to use these tactics again in the future."