Football news

Juventus are planning a move for young Danish defender Simon Kjaer, currently on the books of Serie A rivals Palermo.

Kjaer, a 19-year-old central defender, has made two starts for the Sicilians since signing from FC Midtjylland a couple of months ago and scored his first goal against Chievo on Sunday.

Juventus, who paid Palermo £18m for Amauri this summer, are looking to find a consistent central defensive pairing, also because of the sheer amount of injuries Claudio Ranieri's backline has suffered.

Kjaer, an U-19 international, would offer him another option.

Tottenham role for Ferdinand

Tottenham Hotspur intend to offer Les Ferdinand, the former club striker, the chance to become club coach.

New manager Harry Redknapp, who is seeking to assemble a new backroom staff, has already engaged former midfielder Tim Sherwood on to his staff.

Redknapp believes his strikers would benefit from working with Ferdinand who played 118 matches for the Spurs between 1997 and 2003.

"I did it a few years ago at Portsmouth when I got Luther Blissett to work with Yakubu when he was going through a bit of a barren spell," said Redknapp.

"He ended up having an amazing end to that season with 14 goals in 16 games."

Bologna problems mental - Antonioli

Francesco Antonioli reckons Bologna have fallen in the dire position they are in today due to psychological problems.

The struggling Serie A outfit started the campaign with a victory over Milan but faltered badly in the following matches. Last weekend's humiliating defeat against Cagliari cost Daniele Arrigoni his job.

Antonioli said: "The problem is that we are making mistakes on the ball that we could easily avoid.

"When we have clear heads we are fine and can compete with anyone. We showed that in the second half against Juventus.

"We just need to restore some self-confidence."

Barton escapes FA charge

The English FA will not investigate an incident involving Joey Barton and Gabriel Agbonlahor at St James's Park earlier this week.

Newcastle's Barton was alleged to have made a racist comment towards the Aston Villa striker when the two squared up to each other in the Magpies' 2-0 win.

Agbonlahor later said he did not want to take the matter further.

"The FA wrote to Aston Villa to ask for any information the club could provide regarding allegations reported in the media of remarks made by Joey Barton to Gabriel Agbonlahor," the FA said.

"The club has responded to inform us that they have no complaints to make."

Pulis hits back at Wenger comments

Tony Pulis hit back at Arsene Wenger after the Arsenal manager accused Stoke of using aggressive tactics. Wenger condemned Ryan Shawcross and Rory Delap after Emmanuel Adebayor and Theo Walcott were injured in Stoke's 2-1 win last week.

The Stoke boss said: "On Saturday Mr Wenger confessed that Stoke deserved to win the game.

"He has now tried to re-write history. Rory is an honest guy... don't forget not so long ago he was in hospital with a double fracture."

Pulis also reminded Wenger that Robin van Persie was dismissed at the Britannia Stadium.

"There was only one red card on Saturday and the last time I watched the game it was not a Stoke player who got it," Pulis said.

Welsh FA want UEFA Cup final

The Welsh FA wants to launch a bid to host the UEFA Cup at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, a UEFA graded five-star ground which, however, cannot hold the Champions League final as it does not have enough room for the required hospitality guests.

"It would be great to bring a UEFA Cup final to Wales by 2014," said Welsh FA secretary general David Collins.

"We hope to explore that possibility with the Welsh Assembly Government."

Apart from three major Heineken Cup rugby finals, the Millennium Stadium also hosted FA and League Cup finals while Wembley was being rebuilt.

The 2009 UEFA Cup will be staged in Istanbul, Turkey.

Gazza reprieve in tax case

The Revenue and Customs Department has agreed to allow a nine-week breathing space for Paul Gascoigne to update his pending tax returns. The former England star has not filed any returns since 2005 and the taxman is petitioning on the basis of an estimated £200,000 liability.

Lawyer Craig Montgomery said Gascoigne's financial affairs were complex and time was needed to submit returns and liquidate assets to meet his liabilities.

"There is no suggestion that he doesn't have the funds to meet his tax liabilities. It is just a question of having time to make the returns," Dr Montgomery said.

His case was adjourned until January 9. Gazza did not attend the hearing yesterday.