Former Manchester City and Inter coach Roberto Mancini told reporters he was not interested in coaching England for now despite seeing the Three Lions in action earlier this month.
Mancini was seen at Wembley on October 8 as interim boss Gareth Southgate led England to a low-key 2-0 win over Malta in a World Cup qualifier.
“There’s nothing for now with the England national team,” Mancini was quoted as saying.
Mancini is a free agent after terminating his contract with Inter in August.
Fixture frustration for Liverpool boss
Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp has voiced his frustration at changes to the fixture schedule.
The German was surprised after learning of his side’s fixture changes over Yuletide.
The home match against Manchester City has been moved back to a 5.30pm kick-off on New Year’s Eve ahead of a trip to Sunderland at 3pm on January 2, leaving them less than 48 hours between the two.
Klopp said: “Forty-eight hours is an interesting idea but less than 48 hours I cannot believe.
“I learn more and more about this English league… really, I don’t know why we play Monday.
“Is January 2 a special day in England?”
Favre stays grounded
Nice coach Lucien Favre insists his side are not getting carried away after they strengthened their position at the top of Ligue 1 following a 2-0 win at home to Lyon late Friday.
Paul Baysse’s sixth-minute goal and Jean Michael Seri’s effort late on earned the un-beaten hosts their seventh win in nine league games this season.
Italian striker Mario Balotelli had a chance to score a third for Nice, but his penalty was stopped by the Lyon keeper.
Favre said: “We are maintaining our philosophy of taking things match by match.
“Nice are the only undefeated team but the championship is very long. It is good we are first so we must keep working hard.”
Park decides to leave Celtic post
John Park has decided to leave his post as Celtic’s head of football development, the Parkhead club have announced.
Park joined the Scottish champions in 2007 from Hibernian, where he had been youth academy director. Celtic revealed that Park is leaving his position to move on to new challenges.
Club chief Peter Lawwell said: “John has played a key role in the identification of some fantastic Celtic players over the years.
“I would like to thank John for the excellent job he has done for the club over the past nine years.
“I have enjoyed working with John and I am sorry that he has decided to move on. I wish John every success for the future.”
Infantino fires back at Germany’s Loew
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said Joachim Loew needs to be more open to helping football’s development after the Germany coach criticised plans to expand the World Cup.
Loew, whose Germany side won the 2014 World Cup, has criticised Infantino’s plans to increase the amount of teams from 32 to 40 or 48 and said it would dilute the quality of the tournament.
“It’s easy for the world champions to have an opinion about the World Cup,” Infantino said.
“What can I say to him?
“That he must be open to renewal, for football and for football development. Not everyone has the chance to qualify for the World Cup every time like Germany do.”
Girls need more push to play football
Boys are five times more likely than girls to be encouraged to play football by their parents, according to new figures released by the English FA.
The research showed there has been a 63 per cent increase in female participation following the introduction of girls-only training sessions through the FA skills programme.
However, the poll also revealed that girls between the ages of five and 16 are five times less likely to be encouraged to play football than boys of the same age.
Since autumn 2015, the number of girls attending the sessions has risen from 762 to 1,239 but the result of speaking with more than 1,000 UK parents of children in the same age bracket suggests there is still work to be done to bring females into the sport.
Barton hearing moved to Nov. 17
Joey Barton’s Hampden hearing over alleged betting offences has been put back to November 17.
The Rangers midfielder was originally due to face a Scottish FA judicial panel on October 27 but it is understood he asked for extra time to prepare his case.
The former Newcastle player had been given until Wednesday last week to respond but the SFA has confirmed the hearing date has been changed.
The suspended Rangers player was charged with placing 44 bets on games between July 1 and September 15 this year.