Preston’s favourite son Tom Finney was compared to modern-day marvel Lionel Messi as tributes flooded in following the death of the former forward.
Finney spent his entire career at Preston and according to former team-mate Tommy Doc-herty, he was as good as Bar-celona superstar Messi.
Docherty, who played with Finney between 1949 and 1958, said: “He was the best player I’ve ever seen, alongside Messi.
“When I see Messi, I close my eyes and can see Tom.
“Just like Finney, Messi is always getting fouled, but doesn’t complain and just gets up and gets on with the game.”
Bremen did it for Lukimya says Dutt
Werder Bremen coach Robin Dutt said his side had played for Assani Lukimya after a late equaliser earned them a point against Borussia Mgladbach.
Dutt pulled Lukimya off after less than half an hour of the 1-1 draw on Saturday after two glaring mistakes, the first of which led to Raffael putting the visitors in front.
However, the Bremen coach refused to criticise the full-back and said the way his team fought back in the second half showed how much they wanted to get a positive result for him.
Dutt said: “Anybody who knows Assani will know how sorry we all are.
“Maybe that is the reason why we played such a strong second half because we all did not want him to be stood there after the game knowing we had lost it because of his mistake.”
Rooney contract not signed yet
Reports that Wayne Rooney has signed a record-breaking new contract with Man. United are premature, club sources said.
The Sun on Sunday reported that Rooney had signed a new four-and-a-half year deal, worth £70 million which would make him the best-paid player in the Premier League.
“There is no deal, which is why we haven’t announced it,” a United spokesman said.
Chelsea’s Mourinho branded a bully
Bob Wilson has launched an astonishing attack on Jose Mourinho in which he accuses the Chelsea manager of being a bully.
The former Arsenal keeper, angry at Mourinho’s recent remarks about Arsene Wenger being “a specialist in failure”, also described Mourinho’s comments as “disrespectful”.
And the 72-year-old said Mourinho should behave like the “gent” Tom Finney rather than continue to attack rival managers.
Wilson said: “To call (City boss Manuel) Pellgrini the abuse that he’s called him to do with Arsene, this is a weekend when we honour a gent – Tom Finney – and I don’t like bullies.”
Slomka favourite for Hamburg job
Mirko Slomka has emerged as favourite to replace Bert van Marwijk as coach of Hamburg after the Dutchman was relieved of his duties on Saturday night.
Club bosses held a crisis meeting late into Saturday evening in the wake of a 4-2 defeat to Ein-tracht Braunschweig – the seventh defeat in a row. That result left Hamburg in 17th position, just one point above bottom-placed Braunschweig.
Slomka, who was sacked by Hanover just after Christmas, is expected to be installed as Van Marwijk’s replacement with former Hamburg coach Martin Jol also tipped for a return.
Match disrupted by tear gas
Villarreal’s La Liga match at home to Celta Vigo was halted shortly before the final whistle and delayed by about half an hour after what appeared to be a teargas canister was thrown on to the pitch late Saturday.
Celta were leading 1-0 at the Madrigal and there were about three minutes left when the canister, which local media said contained tear gas, landed near the visitors’ goal and began spewing out a thick cloud of smoke.
The players retreated inside the stadium and fans quickly left the ground. The match was eventually restarted in an almost empty arena and Celta forward Nolito made it 2-0 from a free-kick in the 90th minute.
San Marino hand job to Manzaroli
San Marino, joint bottom of the FIFA world rankings, have handed Pierangelo Manzaroli the Herculean task of coaching the national side.
The 44-year-old, previously coach of the U-21 team, replaced Giampaolo Mazza who resigned in October. Mazza was in charge for 15 years during which the part-timers from the city-state of 31,000 people managed one draw and 75 defeats in 76 competitive games.
Despite that, Manzaroli, formally named at a news conference on Saturday, said he wanted a tough draw in the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
“The chance to face big European teams is very important for us,” he said.
“I’m already excited about the draw and I’m sure we can do well.”