Bolton manager Gary Megson claims he has ended his interest in Joey Barton.

Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion has defended his company following another attack by Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary.

BOTH as outstanding athletes and as citizens, Sonia O'Sullivan and Roy Keane are fully deserving of the Freedom of the City of Cork.

THE Football Association are expected to charge Rio Ferdinand with misconduct on Thursday as a result of his failure to attend a drugs test last month.

EVERTON manager David Moyes yesterday challenged his squad to make sure all their hard work so far this season does not go to waste.

Alex Ferguson has admitted he will move in for Italy defender Alessandro Nesta once the World Cup is over.

Luis Enrique has confirmed he will stay on as head coach of treble winners Barcelona by signing a contract extension.

LIVERPOOL forward Ryan Babel has admitted a charge of improper conduct in relation to him posting remarks about, and a picture of, referee Howard Webb on Twitter.

MARIO BALOTELLI will miss tomorrow night’s Manchester derby after accepting his red card against West Brom but Manchester City have lodged an appeal against the automatic three-match ban.

MANCHESTER UNITED have dismissed claims they will sell Wayne Rooney during the January transfer window as “nonsense”.

STEVE BRUCE has revealed he attempted to persuade David Beckham to join Sunderland on loan last season.

CHELSEA passed up the chance to sign Manchester United-bound Chris Smalling, right, for free, according to the player’s former manager at Maidstone.

ARSENAL will be without striker Emmanuel Adebayor for three weeks due to the ankle injury he picked up in Saturday’s controversial defeat at Stoke.

MANCHESTER UNITED and Northern Ireland legend George Best opened his eyes yesterday and started to breathe without the help of a ventilator.

FORMER Manchester United midfielder Karel Poborsky has been named general manager of Dynamo Ceske Budejovice in his native Czech Republic.

ROY KEANE has been offered some dates at the end of the season to play the testimonial which was agreed as part of his severance package with Manchester United.

RYAN GIGGS maintains he is still hungry for success - and refuses to accept Chelsea have left Manchester United behind in English football’s power battle.

KEVIN KEEGAN fears the dominance of English football’s ‘big three’ clubs threatens to kill the popularity of the sport.

MARK HALSEY has been handed the task of refereeing the potentially explosive Carling Cup tie between Manchester United and Arsenal on December 1.