CHELSEA coach Carlo Ancelotti has set his team a target of 86 points to win the Barclays Premier League.

MANCHESTER UNITED are only “taking baby steps” with their new commercial strategy, despite managing to unveil three major deals in a week.

A FATHER-OF-TWO was hacked to death in a pub beer garden on Sunday after watching a football match.

IPSWICH manager Roy Keane blasted his side’s defending as they began the Coca-Cola Championship season with a 2-1 defeat at Coventry yesterday.

ALEX FERGUSON last night launched a fierce attack on Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack and referee Chris Foy in the wake of Manchester United’s penalty shoot-out defeat in the Community Shield.

PERHAPS the time has come for the FA to rename their prize shield: on the basis of this spiteful evidence, any semblance of community spirit has long since evaporated where Manchester United and Chelsea are concerned.

DARAGH O CONCHÚIR: IS the county jersey as important as it ever was?

NEMANJA VIDIC will miss the start of the Barclays Premier League season, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson revealed yesterday.

ROY KEANE is famous for his focus. As a player he claimed he forgot about what he won within seconds of winning it. The target was always the next match, the next season, the next trophy.

ARSENAL and Celtic could be set to meet for a place in the lucrative Champions League group phase.

ARSENE WENGER believes Jack Wilshere can be Arsenal’s Wayne Rooney.

DARREN BENT has admitted his career had come to a standstill at Tottenham and expressed his relief at leaving a club that he claims was rife with “politics”.

MANCHESTER UNITED goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar will miss the start of the season after undergoing surgery on a broken finger and bone in his left hand.

MICHAEL BALLACK is set to return to action for Chelsea against old rivals Manchester United in the English season’s curtain-raiser in the Community Shield on Sunday.

MILLIONAIRE footballer Wayne Rooney and his wife Coleen are being sued for £4.3 million (€4.9m) after being “exploited” by his agent, a court heard yesterday.

JOHN TERRY’S week of misery showed no signs of improving as his Chelsea side dropped two vital points at struggling Hull City to blow the race for the Barclays Premier League title wide open last night.

FOOTBALL’s Champions League final has, for the first time, replaced the NFL’s Super Bowl as the world’s most-watched annual sports event, according to a survey.

JOE KERNAN insists the prospect of further All-Ireland success and the pool of talent in Galway were enough to dispel any fears about tarnishing his managerial legacy with an unsuccessful comeback.

CHELSEA captain John Terry will get the chance to let his football make headlines when the Barclays Premier League leaders travel to Hull tonight.

DEFIANT Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas maintains his side can prove their doubters wrong and challenge for the Barclays Premier League title.