Football news

Sam Allardyce cautiously underlined his desire to keep Andy Carroll at Upton Park next season after watching the striker fire West Ham to a vital 3-1 victory over West Brom.

Carroll has endured a difficult time in east London since he arrived on loan from Liverpool last summer, but he looked back to his menacing best on Saturday.

When asked whether he would like to retain the 6ft 3in striker next season, the West Ham manager said: “The answer to that would be yes.

“There is always a possibility. We will look at the end of the season.”

Hernandez stays

Alex Ferguson insists he has no interest in selling Javier Hernandez. The Manchester United striker has scored 16 times this season yet still cannot secure himself a regular starting spot for the club’s biggest games.

However, Ferguson has told any potential suitors not to waste their time by even making an inquiry.

“He’s on a long contract and we won’t be entertaining any interest from anyone,” said Ferguson.

“As far as we are concerned he does something different from the other strikers and any time he comes into a game he changes it.”

Heynckes happy after 9-2 rout

Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes thought his side had played “textbook football” in thrashing Hamburg 9-2 on Saturday. The win, the biggest ever at the Allianz Arena, took Bayern to within three points of clinching the Bundesliga title.

It more than satisfied Heyn-ckes, who had feared his side may not have taken the task so seriously in view of the Champions League quarter-final against Juventus tomorrow.

“It was important that we carried on the way we have been going in recent weeks,” said Heynckes.

“We played textbook football at times and we’ve got to do something similar on Tuesday.”

Coach Fabri fired

Panathinaikos parted company with coach Fabri yesterday and announced academy coach Giannis Vonortas as his replacement in a caretaker role until the end of the season.

“Panathinaikos FC announces the termination of its cooperation with coach Fabriciano Gonzalez and his assistant Ferreira King by mutual agreement,” the club said in a statement.

“The new coach is Giannis Vonortas.

The 52-year-old Polish-born Vonortas, the Greens’ fourth coach of the campaign following Jesualdo Ferreira, Juan Ramon Rocha and Fabri, was a former Panathinaikos player.

Di Canio takes Sunderland job

Sunderland announced last night they have appointed Paolo di Canio as their new coach on a two-and-a-half year deal.

Di Canio will take charge from today after travelling to the north east for talks yesterday.

The 44-year-old Italian, who has admitted to having fascist leanings, replaces Martin O’Neill who was sacked following Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at home to Manchester United, which left the club a single point above the relegation zone.

Meanwhile, David Miliband resigned from his role as vice-chairman of Sunderland due to Di Canio’s “past political statements”, the former MP has announced.

Schmelzer suffers broken nose

Borussia Dortmund defender Marcel Schmelzer needed hospital treatment after breaking his nose in their 2-1 win at Stuttgart on Saturday but could play in the Champions League quarter-finals this week with a face mask, the German champions said yesterday.

Dortmund take on Spain’s Malaga on Wednesday for a place in the Champions League last four.

Schmelzer had to be taken off in the 23rd minute after being accidentally kicked in the face.

His was not the only injury, with Sven Bender and Kevin Grosskreutz nursing bruised feet.

Sa Pinto makes winning start

Former Portugal and Sporting Lisbon forward Ricardo Sa Pinto enjoyed a successful coaching start at 1991 European Cup winners Red Star Belgrade with a 2-0 victory over Serbian first division rivals Radnicki Kragujevac 2-0 late Saturday.

Midfielders Nenad Milijas and Cadu scored either side of half-time as Red Star fans lit dozens of flares at their Marakana stadium to celebrate the goals.

“I’ve never seen an (atmosphere) like this, I will take home great memories from my debut here,” Sa Pinto told reporters.

“I can say we had good fans in my time as a player and coach at Sporting but this was unbelievable and I really wish for a full house in our next home game.”