MANCHESTER UNITED skipper Roy Keane has admitted that Rio Ferdinand’s eight- month ban had a negative effect on the Old Trafford outfit.

LIVERPOOL expect Milan Baros to report back for pre-season training in two weeks time despite the forward being linked with a move to Real Madrid.

HOW fickle is confidence? A week ago, Arsenal were set to conquer the football world. Now they’re having difficulties coping with their own nerves.

UNDER pressure SDLP leader Mark Durkan last night pulled off the political triumph of his life.

KIERON DYER believes his scrap with team-mate Lee Bowyer last week could have been “the final nail in my Newcastle coffin” had the Newcastle supporters not forgiven him for the incident.

ALEX FERGUSON has told his Manchester United team he wants to keep his atlas shut this summer and has demanded they finish second in the Premiership.

CHELSEA chief executive Peter Kenyon last night opted to concentrate on the prospect of two more scintillating games of football against Barcelona instead of stirring up any ill-feelings left over from last year’s acrimonious meeting between the two teams in the Champions League.

MANCHESTER UNITED striker Ruud van Nistelrooy wants Wayne Rooney to team up with him at Old Trafford.

ALEX FERGUSON has vowed that Manchester United’s collective spirit will get them through one of the toughest runs of fixtures he can ever remember.

IT should be a time for a new coat of paint, the smell of freshly-mown grass and a joyful lift of the spirits as a new football season approaches.

GERARD HOULLIER is expected to include Steven Gerrard for the UEFA Cup clash with Vitesse Arnhem.

MANCHESTER UNITED legend George Best has revealed his disdain for the perpetrators of the food fight which took place at Old Trafford last weekend after the highly-charged game with Arsenal.

LIVERPOOL defender Jamie Carragher will not face any disciplinary action from the FA in the wake of his outspoken criticism of referee Mike Riley.

John Skilbeck

ARSENAL'S miserable week took a turn for the worse yesterday as captain Patrick Vieira was handed a two-match ban and £25,000 (€30.500) fine for insulting referee Andy D'Urso.

MANCHESTER United fans were recently showing symptoms of post takeover traumatic disorder.

KOPPITES won’t like the comparison but the thought just struck - could Liverpool be this year’s Greece?

ROOKIE title winner John O’Shea does not want to be landed with the tag of Manchester United’s ‘Mr Versatility’.

Charlton 0 Chelsea 2

MANCHESTER United goalkeeper Roy Carroll is hopeful of signing an extension to his contract early in the new year.