WHEN Manchester United arrive at Stamford Bridge a week on Saturday, with Chelsea needing just a point to retain the Premiership title, Alex Ferguson’s men will need no prompting to give every last drop of sweat.

ARSENE WENGER turned up the psychological pressure on Chelsea by warning they are not ‘untouchable’ and may come under pressure in the title race.

THOUGH brave faces were plentiful in public, one suspects that behind the scenes, the power brokers of the Premiership must be left a little bewildered by the imprint of Lady Luck at Nyon, Switzerland, yesterday.

WITH HIS omnipresent smile, Roman Abramovich looked the image of benignity last month on the day Chelsea picked up their first championship title in 50 years at Stamford Bridge.

Manchester United 2 Deportivo La Coruna 0

JUST when we thought we had heard the last of it, the Roy and Mick row could soon take centre-stage once more.

MANCHESTER UNITED could become a mutual organisation owned solely for the benefit of its fans, according to a secret finance plan being drawn up by Irish financier Dermot Desmond, it was reported yesterday.

ENGLAND footballer Wayne Rooney has been banned from coaching youngsters at a schools match because he was not considered a “good role model.”

FIRST it was Liverpool in the ’80s and then Manchester United in the ’90s. Now Patrick Vieira is warning that Arsenal’s decade of domestic domination has begun.

ALEX FERGUSON is facing a test of his managerial juggling skills just two weeks into the new season.

RONALDINHO was named FIFA’s world player of the year for the second successive season last night as Frank Lampard had to settle for second place.

ARSENAL Football Club has won its battle to stop a street trader selling pirated goods with the club’s logo in a landmark decision by the European Court of Justice.

HARRY REDKNAPP and Jim Smith quit Portsmouth because of the appointment of Velimir Zajec as executive director of the club, it was revealed yesterday.

MICK McCARTHY yesterday suggested that only outright victory for Ireland in the European Championship of 2004 would keep him in the job as manager of the national team beyond his current contract.

RANGERS and Celtic are set to be seeded in the final qualifying round of next season’s Champions League

ROY KEANE could face a criminal investigation over his tackle on Alf Inge Haaland if the Norwegian international makes an official complaint, police in Britain said yesterday.

NEWCASTLE boss Sir Bobby Robson saluted his defence after watching them fend off battling Bolton as the club worked behind the scenes to tempt Jonathan Woodgate to Tyneside.

REPENTANT Rio Ferdinand has thrown his European Championship dream at the mercy of a three-man Football Association appeals panel.