The talk in football

Standard Sport14 April 2012
Tottenham in fear of yet more capital punishment

What a difference the New Year and two league wins in a row has made for Tottenham. In the depths of their poor December run it appears the White Hart Lane hierarchy were so worried about the prospect of relegation - and the affect it could have on finances - that they phoned compatriots at West Ham to see if they could offer any tips on how to deal with the situation given the Hammers' Premiership experience last season.

Fergie and the sleepy spy

Amid all the accusations of spies, lies and actresses doing the rounds in the Sir Alex Ferguson v John Magnier dispute, Talk has discovered an interesting sub-plot. One of the so-called private detectives hired by Magnier to confront Ferguson with damaging questions at the United AGM last November has had his undercover work shown on television. Andy Terrington was a producer/director on 2001 Channel 4 series Sleepers, which featured three fly-onthewall programmes entitled Undercover In The Sex Trade, Undercover With The Racists and Undercover In The Black Economy.

James adds bit of spice

Across Manchester at City, it has not been lost on Talk that Kevin Keegan is adding to his former Liverpool "Spice Boys" clique with David James now joining Steve McManaman and Robbie Fowler, players not necessarily known for their abilities to tough it out in a relegation fight.

Sam's the main man, City

Still on the subject of the under-pressure former England boss, the word in the North-West is that if City owner John Wardle decides to get rid of Keegan, he won't have far to look for a replacement. Sam Allardyce, despite the excellent job he is doing at Bolton, would regard City as a great challenge and they could improve on his wages at The Reebok.

Fayed's costly obsession

Mohamed Fayed's obsession with proving there was something wrong with the Steve Marlet transfer has cost him around £1million.

Fulham were last week ordered to pay the final £3.2m instalment on the striker's £11.5m transfer from Lyon by the Court of Arbitration in Sport. Their appeal to the Lausanne body was the final throw of the dice after various other legal battles and appeals and they now have no choice but to pay. Additionally, they will have to pay £160,000 in interest because the payment was due a year ago and they have also run up legal bills in excess of £800,000.

Havelange's Holy Grail

And finally . . . if anyone knows where the Jules Rimet trophy is, please e-mail Talk and we'll make Joao Havelange's day. The former FIFA President, now 87, was asked by FIFA magazine about his biggest disappointment in football. He replied: "In 1970 Brazil won the World Cup for the third time and were therefore allowed to keep the Jules Rimet trophy. But in the 1980s, the trophy was stolen and it has never been found. We received a replica trophy, but it is not quite the same."

Contact us at: talkinFootball@standard.co.uk

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