Friday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Manchester United and Real Madrid are both keen on Fiorentina striker Stevan Jovetic, who scored twice against Liverpool in the Champions League this week, but the Italian side are set to offer the Montenegro star a new five-year contract. (The Sun)
Bolton boss Gary Megson insists defender Gary Cahill will not leave the Reebok Stadium in the January transfer window despite interest from Manchester United and Tottenham.(The Sun) 
Birmingham City winger Gary McSheffrey is poised to join Sheffield United on a three-month loan deal. (Daily Mail)
Reading boss Brendan Rogers plans to send Dave Mooney, Julian Kelly, Scott Davies, Michail Antonio and Jay Tabb out on loan.(Daily Mirror) 
Former Everton and Manchester City left-back Michael Ball has turned down a three-year deal at Notts County and could join Portsmouth or Turkish giants Galatasaray.(The Sun) 
Oldham Athletic hope to sign out-of-favour Hull City midfielder Bryan Hughes on loan.(Daily Mirror) 

OTHER GOSSIP

Notts County's players called in the Professional Footballers' Association after the League Two club failed to pay them their win bonuses.(Daily Mirror) 
Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie has secured a £5m cash injection from Saudi property magnate Ali Al-Faraj that will allow the Fratton Park side to pay their players. Storrie and Al-Faraj were part of a rival consortium that lost out to Sulaiman Al Fahim for control of the club.(Daily Mail) 
The Premier League is ready to take over at Portsmouth to stop the club from slipping into administration.(The Independent) 
Football Association chief executive Ian Watmore has called for a crackdown on "hostile and abusive" chanting as part of a campaign against disorder in football grounds. (The Times) 
Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov admits he has been a failure at Old Trafford since his £30.75m move from Tottenham in August 2008 and says his poor form caused him sleepless nights.(The Sun) 
Liverpool forward Ryan Babel says being dropped by the Netherlands ahead of next summer's World Cup finals has scared him into trying to salvage his Anfield career. The 22-year-old has struggled since joining the Reds for £11.5m from Ajax in 2007.(Daily Mail) 
Former Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari is facing the sack at Uzbekistan side Bunyodkor after they were knocked out of the Asian Champions League. The Brazilian, who is the highest paid manager in the world on £12.5m a year, will get a huge compensation package if he is forced out. (The Independent) 
Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner claims only divine intervention saved his life when he crashed his car on his way to training on Sunday. The Danish star says it is a "miracle" that he is still alive, but hopes to face Blackburn this weekend.(Daily Mirror) 
Under-fire Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate says he will not quit the Riverside despite being criticised by fans.(Daily Mail) 
Liverpool striker Fernando Torres says he would never join Manchester United because of his respect for the Anfield club's fans.(The Sun) 
Hotels in South Africa are raising their prices by up to 440% for next summer's World Cup finals.(Daily Mirror) 

AND FINALLY

Gillingham boss Mark Stimson says referees would get less stick if they went back to wearing black rather than multi-colour outfits. Stimson said: "They get enough abuse as it is. As soon as they walk out with pink shirts on, people laugh at them." (The Sun)
Preston legend Sir Tom Finney has told National Football Museum bosses that he wants all his memorabilia back if they leave Deepdale to move to Manchester. (The Sun)
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Tuesday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is lining up a January transfer swoop for Sunderland defender Anton Ferdinand.(Daily Mirror) 
Manchester United are considering an £8m move for Napoli's Slovakian midfielder Marek Hamsik. (Daily Star) 
Everton hope to sign Gillingham's 22-year-old striker Simeon Jackson.(The Sun) 
Wolves striker Sam Vokes is set to join Coventry on loan.(The Sun) 
Tottenham are tracking Sampdoria's Spanish midfielder Pedro Mba Obiang.(Daily Mirror) 
Sheffield United are keen on French striker Fabrice Pancrate, who is a free agent after being released by Paris St Germain.(The Sun) 
Stoke have rejected loan bids from Newcastle and Nottingham Forest for defender Leon Cort.(Daily Mirror) 
Portsmouth are battling it out with Notts County and Turkish side Galatasaray to sign former Manchester City left-back Michael Ball, who is now a free agent. (Daily Mail) 

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OTHER GOSSIP

Manchester United defender Gary Neville may face punishment from the Football Association following his reaction to Michael Owen's late winner in Sunday's derby. Neville, an unused substitute, ran down the touchline towards Manchester City's fans to celebrate.(The Sun) 
Manchester City midfielder Javier Garrido has accused neighbours Manchester United of creating a "climate of hostility" after being hit on the head by a coin at half-time during Sunday's derby. (Daily Mail) 
Meanwhile, Manchester City will complain to the Football Association about the behaviour of fourth official Alan Wiley during injury time in Sunday's derby. City are angry that manager Mark Hughes was shooed away when he questioned where all the added time had come from.(The Sun) 
Manchester United look set to escape a Fifa investigation over their attempted recruitment of Fiorentina teenager Michele Fornasier.(Daily Telegraph) 
Aston Villa midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker has apologised to manager Martin O'Neill following their training ground bust-up and looks to have saved his future at the Premier League club.(The Sun) 

AND FINALLY

Former Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann has been dropped by Stuttgart after attending the Munich beer festival, Oktoberfest. Lehmann said: "The visit was part of a charity event and had been planned for a long time. However, it was not agreed with the club. Of course I accept the measures taken by the sporting management."(The Sun)
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Monday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Tottenham striker Robbie Keane has emerged as a transfer target for Celtic boss Tony Mowbray.(Daily Mirror) 
Chelsea have agreed in principle to sign 17-year-old Croatian goalkeeper Matej Delac from Inter Zapresic for about £2m. However, unless the Blues win an appeal over their transfers ban, they will not be able to sign him until January 2011. (Daily Mail) 
Wigan striker Marlon King has been linked with a loan move to Championship side Sheffield United (Daily Mirror) 
Former Manchester City defender Michael Ball is being targeted by Notts County director of football Sven-Goran Eriksson. The 29-year-old is currently without a club. (Daily Mirror) 
Preston defender Sean St Ledger will be recruited to help strengthen Middlesbrough's rearguard in a £3m deal.(Daily Mirror) 
Roy Keane's Ipswich are hoping to agree a loan deal for Bolton's Nigerian defender Danny Shittu. (Daily Mail) 

OTHER GOSSIP

Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor could be handed a six-match ban by the Football Association for his clash with Robin van Persie, who claims he was deliberately stamped on, and the goal celebration in the game against the Togo international's former club Arsenal. (Daily Star)
Or Adebayor's punishment may consist of a four-match suspension.(Daily Mirror) 
Reading may be the next club in line for a big-money takeover, with chairman John Madejski weighing up a £80m deal to sell the Championship club to a Middle Eastern consortium. (The Sun) 
George Burley is poised to axe assistants Steven Pressley and Tommy McLean if he keeps his job as national manager after a review by the Scottish FA. (The Scotsman) 
Rangers manager Walter Smith saved Madjid Bougherra from a second red card by telling the defender to say sorry for the outburst that led to him being sent off against Motherwell on Saturday. (The Sun)
St Johnstone defender Dave Mackay has accused St Mirren midfielder Stephen McGinn of cheating by diving to win a penalty in Saturday's 1-1 draw. (Various) 
St Mirren manager Gus MacPherson has complained that his side have had novice referees in three of their four games this season. (The Sun)
Hibernian striker Colin Nish, who was sent off in injury time in the 2-0 defeat by Hamilton, claims he is being targeted by referees. (The Sun) 

AND FINALLY

There were no draws in the Premier League this weekend and there have only been three in the 46 top-flight matches played in England so far this season. (The Sun)
John McVeigh is to appeal against a four-year touchline ban from the junior FA after allegedly hitting a referee with his own notebook, after which the former Partick Thistle and Airdrie boss resigned as Lanark United manager. (The Sun)
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