Football news

QPR captain Joey Barton claims he held talks with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger about a move to the Emirates Stadium before signing for Neil Warnock’s team.

Barton joined QPR from Newcastle just before the transfer deadline but he believes he could have ended up in north London instead if he had not clashed with Gunners forward Gervinho on the opening day of the season.

Barton said: “If I hadn’t played against Arsenal on the first day, I may have signed for them. There were a couple of conversations with Wenger but that’s different to actually signing.

“The Gervinho incident hap-pened and there’s nothing I can do about it now. Things happen for a reason. Right now, we sit above Arsenal in the table – hopefully that’s the case in May.”

Arnesen lost belief in Oenning

Hamburg director of sport Frank Arnesen sacked Michael Oenning after deciding the manager could not arrest the team’s slump.

Despite assuring reporters on Saturday that Oenning would be in charge for the match against Stuttgart tomorrow, the Dane changed his mind 48 hours later.

“After our games against Cologne and Bremen, I had a bit of hope, but Gladbach (1-0 defeat) was disappointing,” Arnesen said.

“After letting it sink in a bit, I analysed the situation again and it was up to me to decide whether Michael could still do it.

“You have got to be honest... I could not wait until Stuttgart.”

Pardew welcomes Ben Arfa return

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew is hoping to see much more of Hatem Ben Arfa after watching him play his part in a thrilling League Cup 4-3 victory at Nottingham Forest.

The Frenchman turned in an encouraging display on his return from a 12-month lay-off before being substituted late on.

Pardew said: “He just started running out of steam towards the end. But he made one burst through the middle – that just sets him apart from other players when he does things like that.

“If we get him up to speed and get him into what we do in the first team, he is going to be a massive bonus for us.”

Phil Neville a top pro – Round

Everton assistant boss Steve Round has hailed the professionalism of Phil Neville. Neville was an unused sub for the 3-1 home win against Wigan on Saturday, the second match he sat through on the bench.

“Phil is a consummate pro – not only a terrific player, but an out-standing person,” Round said.

“I can’t speak highly enough of him and he is arguably the best professional I have ever worked with. If he is not in the team, he rolls his sleeves up and says ‘how can I get in the team?’ He goes out there and works and his attitude is first-rate.”

Schalke to offer Raul new deal

Schalke president Clemens Tonnies is hopeful striker Raul will play another year with the club after his contract expires next summer.

“Such an experienced player is very important for our young team and he proves that in every game,” Tonnies said.

“He is incredibly endearing. I have made it absolutely clear to him that he belongs with Schalke. We are proud for every minute Raul plays in a Schalke shirt.

“When somebody plays good football, gets involved and identifies himself with the club, then there is nothing to say you should not continue with him.”

Villas-Boas denies ref influence claims

Andre Villas-Boas has denied he was attempting to influence referees by complaining to Mike Riley about the officiating in Chelsea’s Premier League defeat at Manchester United.

Chelsea fell 2-0 behind at Old Trafford on Sunday to goals which replays showed should not have stood as both scorers had been offside, with United eventually running out 3-1 winners.

Villas-Boas revealed he had contacted referees’ chief Riley about those incidents and also the decision to award Manchester United a “soft” penalty.

But he added: “Nothing is going to change regarding the performance of the referees and I’m not trying to influence decisions, just calling attention to the fact that this situation happened and it played an extremely important part in the result.”

Tesser savours ‘perfect evening’

Novara coach Attilio Tesser was over the moon after his team beat Inter 3-1 on Tuesday night, describing the win as the ‘perfect evening’.

The former Cagliari and Ascoli coach, in his third spell in Serie A, has guided Novara to their first Serie A win in 55 years, and their first over Inter since 1940.

“It was the perfect evening, with the setting of large enthusiastic audience – it could not get better than that,” Tesser said.

“Then we played a great game against a great team like Inter, and have won the match to collect three points.

“In my opinion, it was the essence of football.”