Diomede: The Premier League's bottom side West Bromwich Albion are giving France's 1998 World Cup winger Bernard Diomede a trial after losing out on Argentine midfielder Matias Almeyda. "Diomede was at Liverpool for a few years but he never really had a good chance there," West Brom manager Bryan Robson said. West Brom said free agent Almeyda, having agreed on an 18-month deal in December, decided against joining the Midlands club to stay at home in Buenos Aires for family reasons.
Pandiani: Deportivo coach Javier Irureta has called for the club to punish Uruguayan striker Walter Pandiani after the player launched a stinging attack on the way he was running the team. "His comments were unjust and damaging to the team," Irureta said. Pandiani made his criticisms in interviews published in newspapers, accusing Irureta of not being tough enough and of selecting players who were not pulling their weight.
Have A Break... York: Former English league club York City have decided to risk ridicule for the sake of security by renaming their stadium KitKat Crescent. The announcement came yesterday following a sponsorship deal which will secure the future of the ground, York's home for the last 73 years and known previously as Bootham Crescent. The deal is with with confectionery company Nestle-Rowntree whose many products include KitKat chocolate-covered wafer biscuits. "KitKat Crescent was the obvious choice of name," York managing director Jason McGill said after ignoring the seemingly more obvious claims of Nestle-Rowntree's Yorkie chocolate bar to go instead for the country's biggest seller.
Dumitrescu: Former Romanian international Ilie Dumitrescu is to coach the Greek first division team Egaleo. Dumitrescu, who coached AEK Athens for six months in 2004, replaced Belgian Stephane Demol, who was fired last year. Dumitrescu, 36, was a talented forward with the Romanian team that reached the 1994 World Cup quarter-finals. As a player, his clubs included Steaua Bucharest, Tottenham, FC Sevilla and West Ham.
Lualua: Portsmouth striker Lomana LuaLua was charged with improper conduct by the FA yesterday. The Democratic Republic of Congo international initially refused to leave the pitch after being sent off for violent conduct in his club's 1-0 Premier League defeat at home to Blackburn Rovers last Saturday. LuaLua, who had just returned after a month out with an ear infection, butted Blackburn defender Andy Todd to become the first of two Portsmouth players sent off in the match.
In Italy: Serie A - Messina 1 (Sullo 54) Atalanta 0.
In Scotland: FA Cup third round replay - Hearts vs Partick 2-1.