Friday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Tottenham are keeping tabs on striker Ruud van Nistelrooy's situation at Real Madrid as the Dutchman is out of contract at the end of the season. (The Sun) 
Liverpool are lining up a January move for Hamburg's Dutch midfielder Eljero Elia.(Daily Mirror) 
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney will resist the chance to join former Old Trafford winger Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid, pledging himself to the club for life. (Daily Mirror) 
Middlesbrough manager Gordon Strachan says he is powerless to stop £10m-rated winger Adam Johnson from leaving the club. (The Sun) 
Blackpool and Plymouth are interested in Hull midfielder Peter Halmosi. (Daily Mail)
Sheffield United are preparing a bid for Oldham winger Chris Taylor. (Daily Mirror) 

OTHER GOSSIP

Chelsea look set to follow Newcastle's example and become the latest club to sell the naming rights for their stadium. (The Sun) 
The Blues want £100m for the Stamford Bridge naming rights. (Daily Mail) 
Or, the club could demand up to £150m to tie a sponsor into a 10-15-year deal.(The Independent) 
Chelsea meanwhile will launch a £50m January spending spree if Fifa lifts its transfer ban on the Blues. (Daily Express) 
Liverpool striker Fernando Torres has flown to Spain to see a specialist, amid fresh concerns he requires a hernia operation. (Daily Mirror) 
Gunners manager Arsene Wenger has accused Atletico Madrid of 'tapping up' Arsenal's young midfielder Fran Merida.(Daily Mirror) 
The 19-year-old Merida will be offered a new two-year contract by Arsenal to stay at the club.(The Sun) 
Manchester United keeper Tomasz Kuszczak has claimed that fellow Old Trafford stopper Edwin van der Sar offers him no advice and believes the Dutchman does not like him.(The Sun) 
Former Aston Villa manager John Gregory is in contention to become Brighton's new boss after former Reading chief Steve Coppell turned down the opportunity.(The Sun) 
Chelsea defender Jose Bosingwa could be out for a month after being told he needs knee surgery. (Daily Mirror) 
England's top-flight clubs will discuss the proposal of a two-tier Premier League, involving Scottish sides Rangers and Celtic, at next Thursday's Premier League meeting.(The Guardian) 
Arsenal's major shareholder Stan Kroenke has provided reassurance to supporters that his involvement with the Gunners will not replicate the controversial model of leveraged takeovers which have caused such anger at Manchester United and Liverpool. (Daily Telegraph) 
Rangers fans claim Romanian police spat in their faces and shouted "Celtic" in their faces during Wednesday's Champions League tie against Unirea Urziceni in Romania. (The Sun)
Superintendent Mike Dean of Strathclyde Police has backed Rangers' claims that poor organisation and heavy-handed policing sparked the trouble in Romania. (Daily Record) 
Uefa will take into consideration the poor disciplinary record of Rangers fans when considering the latest crowd scenes during the Champions League tie with Unirea Urziceni. (Daily Record)
Rangers face being forced to play future European games behind closed doors should Uefa rule against the club's fans. (Daily Express) 
The Scottish FA will launch its own investigation into the violence in Romania with president George Peat warning that Uefa is planning its biggest-ever crackdown on fan violence. (The Sun)
Rangers must find a buyer before June or Lloyds Banking Group will introduce cuts to dramatically scale down the ambition and status of the club. (Daily Mail) 
Celtic manager Tony Mowbray thinks his side can still qualify from their Europa League group despite sitting bottom after the 0-0 draw with Hamburg. (Various)
Falkirk chairman Martin Ritchie has backed under-pressure manager Eddie May, pointing out that he has less money to spend than previous boss John Hughes. (Daily Record) 
Falkirk will back manager Eddie May with £500,000 to spend in the transfer market in January. (Various)

AND FINALLY

Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina has described his side's Champions League form as a disgrace. (Various) 

But former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso has backed his former manager Rafael Benitez to turn things around at the troubled club. (Daily Telegraph)

www.bbc.co.uk

Man Utd 1-0 Wolverhampton

Danny Welbeck marked his first start of the season with the winning goal as 10-man Manchester United edged past Wolves into the Carling Cup fourth round.
The United substitute was set free by a superb Michael Owen pass and he slotted in to send the holders through. 
That came after Fabio da Silva had seen red for a deliberate foul on Michael Kightly, who was clean through on goal. 
But Wolves played their part in a fine game, David Jones and Kevin Doyle both forcing saves from Tomasz Kuszczak. 
The Premier League new-boys lived up to their pre-match word that they would go for the victory at Old Trafford, despite not having won a top-flight match there in almost 30 years. 606:
But the game's one moment of true class told as United overcame the first hurdle of their defence of the trophy they won on penalties against Spurs last February. 
Not that Sir Alex Ferguson ranks that as his greatest priority this season if his selection is anything to by, with the Scot selecting an entirely different XI to the one that started Sunday's derby win over Manchester City.
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson:
"You can't argue with the red card, but Fabio is only 18 and this experience will help him grow. 
"Even before we went down to 10 men Wolves were a threat on the counter-attack, but for the last hour we kept our discipline and that was very pleasing. That never-say-die attitude runs through this club and the goal was of magnificent quality. 
"Who do I want next? (Son Darren's side) Peterborough at home. All the family should be happy with that." 
Wolves boss Mick McCarthy: 
"My assessment was that we weren't good enough to win it - we've been sat down, patted on the head and sent on our way. 
"Nice old Wolves, come up put on a show but don't upset the apple cart. It annoys me."
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