Gossip: Rodgers, Moyes and Pep for England

Matthew Briggs

Do Liverpool have Ten Days To Lose A Guy? Plus, Steve McClaren has David Moyes on his shoulder and Pep for England. Ish.

 

LIVERPOOL HAVE TEN DAYS TO LOSE A GUY?
We are rather inclined to think this Daily Mirror back page is a flier based on a) talk of Jurgen Klopp being ready to end his sabbatical b) Liverpool having three games in ten days before an international break and c) the Mirror’s rather high circulation figures on Merseyside, rather than any inside information from Anfield. It’s telling that the Mirror’s Adrian Kajumba is not claiming any inside knowledge and quotes no ‘sources’ – he is simply pointing out that Rodgers is under pressure and Klopp news does not help.

Inside the Mirror, Merseyside man David Maddock says that ‘crucially, Rodgers has not lost his players’ and claims that backing from the US came ‘surprisingly strongly’ last week. It all sounds a bit wishy-washy to us. Rodgers is under pressure but we doubt that anybody inside Anfield has said anything about him having ten days.

 

MOYES SHADOW HANGS OVER McCLAREN
‘Mike Ashley, the Newcastle United owner, will remain loyal to under-fire managing director Lee Charnley and chief scout Graham Carr as they draw up plans for a risky January overhaul of the first-team squad’, it says here in the Daily Telegraph. Apparently Cheick Tioté, Papiss Cissé, Gabriel Obertan, Vurnon Anita, Moussa Sissoko, Mike Williamson, Sylvain Marveaux and Yoan Gouffran are all up for sale.

But it is a line further down the page that really grabbed us: ‘The faith in (Steve) McClaren could vanish if David Moyes becomes available.’ The fly in that ointment? There is little chance of David Moyes agreeing to a Newcastle set-up where the coach has little say over transfers. He needs to be able to decide when he buys Leon Osman and for how much.

 

PEP NEXT FOR ENGLAND?
The FA are ‘eyeing up’ Pep Guardiola to replace Roy Hodgson as England boss, according to an ‘exclusive’ in The Sun. Quite why Guardiola would take the national team boss job of England – with the chance to work with Jamie Vardy – when he could manage any club in world football (barring Real Madrid), is never really explained. Understandably, because it’s clearly a load of old nonsense. It’s very easy to say that the FA are ‘considering a move for Pep Guardiola’ because they are hardly likely to deny it. Let’s face it, there would be no point putting Liverpool on the back page.

 

AND THE REST
Brentford manager Marinus Dijkhuizen is already fighting for his job after taking charge in the summer…Brazilian Alexandre Pato says he had “a really good offer from Manchester United” on transfer deadline day to move to the Premier League…Everton and Tottenham are considered the front-runners for the signature of Inter Milan club captain Andrea Ranocchia, who has reportedly fallen out with Inter boss Roberto Mancini…Manchester United have been told Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller is not for sale at any price…Liverpool striker Divock Origi may be loaned out in January, with Norwich, Stuttgart and Bordeaux interested in signing the 20-year-old…Watford have turned down the chance to let striker Emmanuel Adebayor train with them, with the 31-year-old unable to sign for a club until January following his release by Tottenham.