Chelsea captain John Terry has said the players remain behind manager Jose Mourinho and need to rediscover the hunger of old to improve on a dreadful start to their title defence.
Saturday’s 3-1 home defeat by Southampton left Chelsea 16th with eight points.
“We have the best manager who we remain behind and we remain together,” Terry said.
“That is what you do in tough circumstances. I have been here a long time and I have seen managers come and go and if anyone is going to get us out of this hole it is going to be Jose Mourinho.”
Blatter will quit in February – daughter
Sepp Blatter, facing a criminal investigation as part of football’s corruption scandal, will “definitely not” stay on as president of the FIFA governing body after the election of a new leader in February, his daughter said.
His former public relations adviser Klaus Stoehlker said last week that Blatter had not ruled out trying to stay on as head of FIFA beyond the Feb. 26 vote.
But Corinne Blatter-Andenmatten said in an interview published by Swiss newspaper Blick am Sonntag there was “no way” he would continue, and at some point he would publish his memoirs.
“I know he wants to quit, and he will do it,” she said.
Klinsmann opts for experience
United States coach Jurgen Klinsmann has turned to experience for next Saturday’s important CONCACAF Cup play-off match against Mexico in Pasadena.
With a berth in the 2017 Confederations Cup up for grabs, Klinsmann has decided that now is not the time to experiment with youth.
Instead, he has turned largely to players from the 2014 World Cup, with 16 returning from the squad that reached the last 16 in Brazil.
“This roster is obviously full of experience,” said Klinsmann.
“This is about belief and a high-level of aggressiveness in a one-off game to beat Mexico and to get to the Confederations Cup.”
Hodgson tells Kane to ignore doubters
England manager Roy Hodgson has told Harry Kane to ignore the doubters and carry on bringing him to the edge of his seat.
Last year Kane took English football by storm, scoring 31 goals for Tottenham but this term, it took him nine matches before breaking his duck for Tottenham in the 4-1 win over Manchester City.
“I have seen him play several times this year and I don’t think he is playing badly at all,” Hodgson said of Kane.
“What worries me is that the players hear from people like me and (Spurs manager Mauricio) Pochettino: ‘Don’t worry, the goals will come. You are a good player. Keep doing what you are doing’, but he is reading ‘You are no good’.”
Advocaat resigns as Sunderland manager
Dick Advocaat has stepped down as manager of Sunderland after less than seven months in the job, the club said in a statement yesterday.
The 68-year-old took over from Uruguayan Gus Poyet in March and although he saved them from relegation last season, Sunderland have failed to win in eight games this season and are one from bottom in the table.
Sunderland said the Dutchman had left the Stadium of Light with immediate effect and assistant head coach Zeljko Petrovic had also departed.
“I feel it is the right time to do this – not for me, but for the club,” Advocaat told the Sunderland website.
“I have made the decision to go after only eight games as I felt it was important to give everyone time to turn things around – like we did last year.”
I rejected top clubs to join Lazio – Kishna
Ricardo Kishna has revealed he shunned offers from Juventus, Roma and Arsenal to join Lazio.
The former Ajax talent, 20, made an instant impact, scoring on his Serie A debut.
“I had a good rapport with the Biancocelesti from the first moment,” Kishna was quoted as saying in the Dutch media.
“I was a fan of Serie A and Lazio were one of the most entertaining sides to watch. They had a fresh and enjoyable style of football, plus they scored lots of goals.
“When I met the coach and director of sport in Brussels, they convinced me straight away.
“For Lazio I turned down sides like Juventus, Roma and Arsenal.”
Celtic win to close gap on Aberdeen
Dedryck Boyata atoned for an early blunder to help Celtic close the gap on Aberdeen after a 2-1 victory over Hamilton at New Douglas Park.
Some poor defending from Boyata allowed Gramoz Kurtaj in to fire Hamilton ahead inside four minutes but the Belgian volleyed home an equaliser in the 26th minute.
And Leigh Griffiths headed a winner five minutes later to move Celtic a point behind the Premiership leaders and inflict Hamilton’s first home defeat in 10 games.
Celtic had struggled in the opening quarter but largely controlled the game after their burst of goals.