Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will miss today’s match at Stoke after opting not to appeal against his one-match stadium ban.
The ban means Mourinho must stay away from the Britannia Stadium and was imposed following his half-time dismissal at West Ham last month.
Asked if he would appeal, Mourinho said: “No. Because the match is tomorrow (today) and I know the result of that appeal already. I decided to give up.
“I don’t speak about it.
“It’s stupid to fight a fight that you know you have already lost.”
Celtic boss Deila remains upbeat
Ronny Deila remains confident of his Celtic future and the club’s Europa League prospects despite the 2-1 home defeat by Molde keeping them bottom of Group A.
Deila’s side have two points from four games and need to beat Ajax at home and Fenerbahce away to qualify.
Deila has passed up on three chances to qualify for the Champions League since taking over from Neil Lennon in 2014. However, when asked if he was still confident that he would be given time needed, he replied: “Yes, I am confident about that.
“We have done very well domestically. In Europe we haven’t reached that level that we want but we are going to improve.”
Hornets would welcome Adebayor
Watford boss Quique Sanchez Flores has refused to rule out a move for Emmanuel Adebayor.
Adebayor, a free agent after the final year of his contract at Spurs was terminated in September, has this week been linked with a move to Vicarage Road.
Adebayor, 31, has not started a league match in over a year.
But when asked about the free agent, Flores said: “I am focused on the players I have on the training ground, but for me, the most important thing is that good players want to come to Watford.
“This is very good news so we would welcome every good player and every good name.”
Sao Paulo impose limits on coaches
Clubs who fire coaches during next year’s Sao Paulo state championship will not be allowed to hire a replacement who had been with a rival team the same season, the Paulista Football Federation (FPF) said.
“Clubs will not be allowed to exchange coaches between themselves during the championship,” the FPF said.
Officials were unable to provide clearer details but the move appears designed to stop the common practice of hiring and firing managers on a whim.
Last year 10 of the 20 teams fired at least one coach, including eventual champions Santos, who fired their manager Enderson Moreira after he started the season with an unbeaten seven-match streak.
Ronaldo tired of Messi comparisons
Cristiano Ronaldo is tired of comparisons with Lionel Messi and appreciates that some people must dislike his personality or the ways he sees football.
Speaking ahead of the release of his personal portrait film “Ronaldo”, the FIFA World Player of the Year told Reuters TV that he is “not a fake person.”
“I have my style, he has his style, his own style,” he said of Messi, his great personal rival.
“We have to respect that people compare all the time.
“And it is normal, we are compared since we are babies, I don’t mean me and Messi but all the persons in school. Who is more clever, who is more fast, it’s normal, it’s part of the life.
“It does not surprise me any more but some times it makes me tired because it’s always the same thing and they still repeat and repeat, one year, another year, every year.”
Remi Garde can’t guarantee survival
Aston Villa’s new manager Remi Garde believes he can reverse his side’s wretched run but stopped short of guaranteeing their top flight survival this season.
Villa have lost nine of 10 league games, including their last seven, a run that resulted in the club parting company with Tim Sherwood, last month.
Garde said fans should not expect miracles.
“I’m not a dreamer or a magic man, I have strong ideas,” he told reporters yesterday.
“I haven’t got the certainty we will stay in the Premier League because the situation we are in is difficult, but I have a strong belief we will do it.”
New pay deal ends bitter dispute
A long-running dispute over players wages in Australian football ended yesterday with the striking of a new collective bargaining agreement covering the men’s and women’s national teams and the A-league.
The resolution comes after months of acrimonious negotiations following the expiry of the previous CBA on June 30.
The four-year deal offers significantly better terms for Australia’s women, whose meagre salaries relative to the men’s team became a hot-button issue at home during the World Cup.