More from Sir Alex Ferguson, who claims it would be "bad management" for Chelsea to sack Jose Mourinho.

The champions are 17 points behind leaders Leicester but Ferguson says: "There is no point in sacking one of the best coaches of all time; he's won the European Cup twice, he's won the league in each country he's managed in. 

"It would be foolish to take that step to sack him. That would be bad management. It's not leadership."

Sri Lanka have sent wicketkeeper-batsman Kusal Perera home from their tour of New Zealand after he tested positive for a banned steroid.

Hibernian boss Alan Stubbs insists he has not been contacted by Reading over their managerial vacancy.

"As far as I am concerned it's speculation. I'm firmly focused on my job here and that will never change," said Stubbs, whose Hibs side are currently second in the Scottish Championship.

Not sure that is the current state of the playing surface at Brunton Park.

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David Beckham believes the 2022 World Cup should be held in Qatar despite uncertainty over its hosting rights.

Swiss and US authorities are looking at claims of corruption in the bidding for both the 2018 (Russia) and 2022 events.

In the Radio Times' Christmas issue, Beckham said: "Whether it's corrupt or not, those countries have been chosen. People need to get behind that.

"It's about bringing football to new countries. They should stick with it. They'll make it work."

Nigel Clough prepares for his return to Burton. A little bit less scrutiny than a Fifa press conference.

Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez has been named Player of the Year by the Football Supporters' Federation. 

The 26-year-old forward scored 20 goals in 2015 and topped the fans' vote ahead of runner-up Jamie Vardy, with Sergio Aguero, David de Gea, Harry Kane and John Stones also on the shortlist. 

Image source, PA

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Former Sheffield Wednesday boss Stuart Gray took training at managerless Fulham today, according to PA Sport.

The club is yet to find a replacement for Kit Symons, sacked a month ago.

Fulham initially agreed terms with Steve Clarke, only for the then Reading manager to pull out.

Birmingham manager Gary Rowett and Rangers boss Mark Warburton have also been sounded out, but now Fulham's chief football officer Mike Rigg belatedly appears close to naming Symons' successor.

Gray has been considered for a role overseeing coaching at the Cottagers or as their new manager.

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New Valencia coach Gary Neville has taken a step towards endearing himself to the club's fans by allowing supporters to watch his first full training session in charge.

Neville was appointed on Wednesday but watched on from the stands at the weekend as Valencia salvaged a 1-1 draw against European champions Barcelona under the caretaker charge of Voro and Gary's brother Phil.

Open training sessions which the fans can attend are a long-running tradition in Spanish football, but many clubs have scaled back the practice in recent seasons seeking greater privacy to prepare for games.

Indeed, Valencia hadn't had an open training session for nearly a year and the news was warmly welcomed by fans on social media. 

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Of all the things you don't want to happen when you sign for a new rugby club overseas it is possibly this ... to mistakenly circle “female” when filling in your immigration document.

Tomas Cubelli, who starred for Argentina during the World Cup, was supposed to begin training with Australian club ACT Brumbies last month.

But when immigration officials noticed that Cubelli’s passport listed him as a male - as opposed to the female his management team had mistakenly circled - they blocked his entry to Australia while investigating the blunder on his immigration form.

Full story in the Australian Daily Telegraph., external

We sincerely hope the PA people at Brumbles play a bit of Shania Twain before Cubelli's first game, perhaps Man, I Feel Like A Woman...

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Sir Alex Ferguson has been quizzed this morning, and he is candid on the subject of Jurgen Klopp at rivals Liverpool. 

"I'm worried about him because the one thing United don't want is Liverpool to get above us," said Ferguson, whose former club have 20 league titles, compared with Liverpool's 18.

"I know him quite well from the coaching seminars. He's going to make a difference at that club with his personality, drive and knowledge. Things are looking up there." 

A leading bookmaker suspended betting on the next Premier League manager to be sacked amid a rush of wagers on Monday that Garry Monk would be dismissed by Swansea. 

Image source, Reuters

With Nigel Clough returning to Burton as boss, we're asking for your favourite sporting returns.

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A fine choice.

Abidal underwent surgery on a tumour in his liver while at Barcelona in March 2011 and returned 13 months later, when he replaced Gerard Pique for the last 20 minutes of a 5–0 home win against Mallorca.

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A final word from Manuel Pellegrini.

"We are going to find tomorrow a difficult team – not only because they beat Bayern but their results over the last two months," says the Blues boss.

"It’s important for the team to at least do their task and we’ll see what Juventus do versus Sevilla."

And that's that.

Remember, Man United boss Louis van Gaal will be speaking later too, but that press conference won't start until 18:30 GMT - it is in Germany ahead of the Reds crunch game against Wolfsburg.

Manuel Pellegrini says the weekend defeat to Stoke "is gone".

Which is, of course, correct. It happened about 44 hours ago.

But we know what he means.

"We were disappointed on Saturday as we didn’t perform as we wanted but we want to come back now play as a strong team," he adds.

Pellegrini reveals that centre back Martín Demichelis has a problem in his tendon. "He should be OK in 2-3 days," he says.

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Manuel Pellegrini confirms midfielder Yaya Toure is fit and in the squad for tomorrow's encounter.

"The players missing today (from training) are Kompany, Demichelis, Nasri, Zabaleta and Fernando," says the Blues boss.

"We don’t have many players to rest tomorrow – maybe there will just be two or three changes."

Man City defender Bacary Sagna hopes the team will rally following Saturday's surprise 2-0 defeat at Stoke. "We were disappointed on Saturday as we didn’t perform as we wanted but we want to come back now play as a strong team," he says.

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Manuel Pellegrini and Bacary Sagna have arrived to speak to the media ahead of Manchester City's Champions League tie tomorrow - and he kicks off with bad news about star striker Sergio Aguero.

"Sergio has an injury which means he can't work. He needs time to recover - it's not serious, it's a pain injury," says the boss. 

Aguero has been struggling with a hamstring injury since October.

Valencia have tweeted a video of Gary Neville arriving for his first day at work.

We'll be honest, it's not the most enthralling video. It basically shows Neville, new boss of the La Liga club, walking purposefully towards a door marked 'Oficines', which - we're taking a punt here - is possibly Spanish for 'office'.

If you want to see Neville walking purposefully towards an exotically-named office, then this is the video for you.