Football news

Alessandro Del Piero is almost fully recovered and ready to play for Juve after a hamstring injury has kept the 34-year-old on the sidelines for most of the season.

Never in his 17 years at Juve has Del Piero suffered such a long stop at the start of a season. He missed the beginning of the campaign after sustaining a back injury on August 11. That ailment apparently provoked other problems, which culminated in Del Piero tweaking his hamstring last month.

Del Piero will skip today's game against Sampdoria and he will also miss out on the weekend fixture with Napoli. However, he should be part of the Juve squad that travels to Maccabi Haifa on Tuesday.

Kahn urges Van Gaal to stop tinkering

Former Bayern Munich captain Oliver Kahn believes Louis van Gaal must stop tinkering with his team.

The new Bayern coach has made at least one change for each of the first 10 games of the season and Kahn believes this experimentation needs to stop.

"This permanent testing, bringing new players in, switching the system and then sitting them back on the bench is always a problem," he said.

"The hierarchy which Ottmar Hitzfeld always had is lacking. Particularly at a club like Bayern, there are so many top stars who need self-confidence."

The situations of Anatoliy Tymoschuk and Mario Gomez support Kahn's views. Both were signed in summer, but neither have been able to hold down a regular place in Van Gaal's team.

McClaren renews Twente contract

Former England manager Steve McClaren has signed a one-year extension with Dutch league leaders Twente Enschede.

"Twente is an ambitious club and realised their ambition this season," McClaren said. "That is why I'm pleased with this new deal."

The 48-year-old joined Twente in July 2008 on a two-year contract, which now will expire in 2011, after failing to guide England to Euro 2008.

In McClaren's first season, Twente finished second in the league and reached the Dutch cup final. Twente are top of the Dutch league after 11 matches this season.

Ferguson accepts FA charge

Alex Ferguson has accepted a charge of improper conduct following his comments on the fitness of referee Alan Wiley.

The Manchester United manager criticised Wiley following his team's 2-2 draw with Sunderland at Old Trafford on October 3.

Those comments infuriated many referees who claimed it was unwarranted and would leave a lasting stain on Wiley's reputation.

The referees' union, Prospect, subsequently called for Ferguson to be given a lengthy touchline ban.

The 67-year-old United boss has requested a personal hearing with the English Football Association and a date has yet to be set.

Mascherano calls for continuity

Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano will sit out of today's League Cup tie at Arsenal, insisting his colleagues must build on their heroics against champions Manchester United.

Mascherano was red-carded during that 2-0 victory and is banned from the fourth-round clash at the Emirates.

He said: "Beating United was very important for our confidence, but it's just one win, we must do it again in the League Cup at Arsenal and then over and over again in the league and in Europe."

Liverpool follow today's match with a trip back to the capital on Saturday to play Fulham, ahead of next Wednesday's Champions League clash in France against Lyon.

Genoa line up Santon loan move

Genoa have been linked with a loan move for Inter defender Davide Santon, Tuttosport reported. The 18-year-old was a revelation last season, earning a call-up to the Italy squad, but regular first team appearances have been hard to come by this season.

Tuttosport said that Santon would consider leaving Inter in January albeit only for a short time to find the sort of form that would convince Italy coach Marcello Lippi to take him to the World Cup.

Inter and Genoa have a very strong relationship after doing a lot of business together in the summer.

The Rossoblu sold Diego Milito and Thiago Motta to the Nerazzurri in return for a large sum of money and a number of players.

No money worries for Pompey's Hart

Portsmouth boss Paul Hart is keen to meet with the club's new owner Ali Al-Faraj soon, but admits he is not concerned about how the Arab businessman finances the club.

Al-Faraj bought 90 per cent of Sulaiman Al-Fahim's shares in the club just over three weeks ago, after the Abu Dhabi businessman failed to raise the cash needed to pay the players' September wages.

But now further questions are being asked about the club's finances after Israeli mogul Levi Kushnir and Hong Kong-based Balram Chainrai emerged as potential investors in the club.

Hart said: "If you want a straight answer, it doesn't really concern me where it (the club's finance) is coming from."