Manchester United have announced the death of former coach Brian Whitehouse at the age of 81.
Whitehouse – a striker for the likes of West Bromwich, Norwich City, Crystal Palace and Charlton Athletic – joined United’s staff under the management of Ron Atkinson in 1981.
He was Atkinson’s first appointment and would go on to coach the reserve side at Old Trafford.
During a previous coaching stint at West Brom he gave an 18-year-old Bryan Robson his debut.
Fenerbahce bid for Sosa turned down
Milan chief Adriano Galliani told reporters that the Rossoneri had turned down an offer from Turkey league side Fenerbahce for midfielder Jose Sosa.
“We won’t sell Sosa, we decided with coach Vincenzo Montella that he will remain at Milan,” Galliani was quoted as saying at the end of a meeting with Fenerbahce officials.
Sosa wants to stay at Milan and fight for his place in the team.
The Argentine is expected to start against Napoli on Saturday as Manuel Locatelli will be unavailable due to suspension.
Dwyer hopeful of United States call-up
English-born Major League Soccer forward Dominic Dwyer expects to move closer to a call-up to the United States national team after revealing he will apply for US citizenship next month.
The 26-year-old from Sussex was part of Norwich City’s youth teams but suffered a series of injuries and moved to the United States on a scholarship in 2009.
He was drafted by Sporting Kansas City in 2012 and has scored 53 goals in 113 appearances for the club.
“February 14 marks five years of me having my green card so I will be eligible for citizenship on that day and my paperwork is sitting waiting to be sent on that day,” Dwyer said.
The striker said he had talked to the United States Soccer Federation about the process and how to become available to the national team.
Abelardo sacked
Sporting Gijon parted company with coach Abelardo Fernandez following a downward spiral of results that has left them in the relegation zone, with Joan Francesc Ferrer Sicilia “Rubi” taking his place.
Club president Javier Fernandez said that former Girona, Valladolid and Levante coach Rubi is taking charge for the remainder of the campaign.
Abelardo, a native of Gijon, came through the club’s academy and played as a centre-back for them for five years until joining Barcelona in 1994.
He coached the club’s reserve side in two separate spells before taking over the first team in 2014.
Vertonghen suffers ligament damage
Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen damaged ankle ligaments in Saturday’s 4-0 league win over West Brom.
Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino said it looked “very bad” when he spoke to reporters after the match in which Vertonghen rolled his ankle chasing down the ball on the touchline.
Vertonghen, 29, tweeted: “Gutted to be injured but will be back as soon as I can.”
Tottenham have been playing a 3-5-2 formation with fellow Belgian Toby Alderweireld and Eric Dier alongside Vertonghen.
Pochettino played Ben Davies on the left of a back three for the second half on Saturday and could keep him there or play Austrian Kevin Wimmer.
Chile’s Orellana set to leave Celta
Celta Vigo’s Chile winger Fabian Orellana said he was being forced out of the La Liga club after coach Eduardo Berizzo declared he would never play for them again under his watch.
Berizzo told a news conference on Tuesday Orellana had “shown an unacceptable lack of respect” towards him, although neither coach nor player has revealed what the disagreement was over.
“I would like to stay at Celta but they have closed the doors to me,” Orellana said yesterday.
Orellana has been with the club since 2011, when they were in the second division, although he spent the 2012/13 campaign on loan at Granada.
Sporting Lisbon fans protest after defeat
Riot police were called in after angry Sporting Lisbon fans gathered outside the team’s headquarters to protest following a Portuguese Cup defeat to modest Chaves, continuing an unhappy season for their team.
Sporting were beaten 1-0 on Tuesday night, ending any realistic hopes of winning a major trophy this season.
The players faced their first protest as they left the stadium where dozens of angry supporters waited by the team bus, forcing riot police to form a cordon around the vehicle.
After flying back to Lisbon, the players were greeted by more irate fans when they arrived at the Alvalade stadium.