RIO FERDINAND has lost his privacy action over a “kiss and tell” story.

PICTURE the scene: it’s a bright and airy Saturday morning;, and down the marina in Cork city, somewhere between the free-wheeling cyclists and the huff and puff of the joggers, skirting around the pram-pushers and the dog walkers, one figure is standing out from the crowd.

IT IS ludicrously early on a Friday morning.

SO Carlos Tevez is finished at Manchester City. The club’s normally urbane and outwardly composed manager Roberto Mancini finally came clean on Tuesday after a tumultuous night in Munich and told the world something we’d suspected for many months already — that he could no longer stand the sight of his former club captain, top scorer and talisman.

MANCHESTER UNITED have left themselves with a lot of hard work to do if they are to win their Champions League group after being stunned by Swiss side Basel at Old Trafford, midfielder Michael Carrick has admitted.

NEIL LENNON has warned his Celtic defence against conceding yet another early goal in Europe when they take on Italian side Udinese in their Europa League clash at Parkhead tonight (6pm).

REAL MADRID made it two wins from two in Champions League Group D with a clinical dismissal of Ajax at the Bernabeu last night.

ASHLEY YOUNG rescued Manchester United from an embarrassing defeat by Basel in a match which exposed worrying defensive shortcomings for Alex Ferguson’s men.

LIVERPOOL’S vice-captain Jamie Carragher yesterday admitted his career could be over in a year’s time.

WAYNE ROONEY has told Fabio Capello he has no concerns about leading England’s attack in Montenegro tonight.

ALMOST £100 million was spent by Barclays Premier League and Football League clubs on changing managers last season, the League Managers’ Association (LMA) has revealed.

FORMER Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes has come clean on his reputation as a poor tackler and admitted he was “just getting people back” after being fouled himself.

SHAMROCK ROVERS moved level on points with Sligo Rovers on top of the Airtricity Premier Division with a comprehensive victory over second from bottom Drogheda United at the Tallaght Stadium yesterday.

LIVERPOOL winger Stewart Downing believes the squad have proved they have the character to succeed after responding to successive defeats with back-to-back victories.

LONG gone are the days when the Merseyside derby brought a nation to a standstill.

THE mounting speculation that shrouds Frank Lampard and his future role under new Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas shows no sign of adversely affecting the England midfielder’s form, as struggling Bolton will testify after he marked his 350th league appearance for his club with a devastating hat-trick.

ARSENE WENGER accused Clive Allen of wanting to be in the headlines after the Arsenal boss and the Tottenham coach were involved in a furious argument after Tottenham won the north London derby at White Hart Lane yesterday.

BEING sworn at by a member of the opposition coaching staff, called almost every name under the sun by over 30,000 people and a crushing defeat in the north London derby; it would be fair to say Arsene Wenger has had better Sundays.

A WOMAN convicted of stalking Manchester United footballer Rio Ferdinand failed to appear at her own appeal hearing yesterday.

HEART rates quickened and temperatures soared in a hospital yesterday as soccer legend Roy Keane arrived on home turf to open a cancer information centre.