Fans seek loyalty pledge

Newcastle United fans have called on Alan Shearer to pledge his future to the club publicly in the wake of transfer speculation linking him to Aston Villa.

The vice-chairman of the Independent Newcastle United Supporters' Association, John Regan, said yesterday: "Clearly the club and the manager have all stated that he is very much part of their plans, so it is all down to Shearer himself. So it would be nice if Shearer came out and committed himself to Newcastle."

The former Newcastle winger Chris Waddle has signed for third division Torquay on a month-to-month basis. The 37-year-old, fresh from a disastrous spell in charge of Burnley, will join his former Newcastle team-mate Wes Saunders, now the Torquay manager.

Former Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar has been appointed caretaker-coach of Zimbabwe in one of several international appointments announced yesterday.

His first task will be to get the national side through a regional cup tie against Zambia later this month.

The Harare clash on September 27th will determine who tops the Castle Cup Southern Africa Championship standings, with Zimbabwe needing a draw, while holders Zambia must win.

Grobbelaar, cleared of match-fixing charges last year, replaces Roy Barreto, who was fired. Several long-serving players - including Birmingham City striker Peter Ndlovu - have been axed from a 30-strong squad that begins preparations tomorrow for the showdown at the 60,000-capacity National Stadium.

Meanwhile, Jose Antonio Ca- macho yesterday agreed to a two-year contract to coach the Spanish national soccer team.

The move brought to an end a frantic search by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) for a successor to Javier Clemente, who departed last week after a shock 32 defeat to Cyprus.

Camacho, 43, who will earn £560,000 a year at the helm of the national side, enjoyed an incredibly successful playing career with Real Madrid, winning nine league titles, five Spanish Cups and two UEFA Cups during his time at the club. He was capped 81 times by his country.

He left Real in 1991 to take the coaching job at Rayo Vallecano and was immediately successful, winning promotion from the second division in his first season in charge.

He repeated the feat with Espanyol in 1993 but has struggled a little since then.

Although his record as a coach is relatively modest, he does have the support of the press and public - something Clemente conspicuously did not have as a venomous campaign for his departure eventually succeeded.

Meanwhile Real Madrid star Roberto Carlos revealed yesterday that the father of his Brazil team-mate Ronaldo had thanked him for saving his son's life before the World Cup final, when Ronaldo suffered convulsions.

"Ronaldo's father thanked me for saving his son's life. As we were sharing the same room he knew I was the first one to become aware of the situation," Roberto Carlos told a Spanish sports newspaper.

Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo will be on opposing sides in today's long-awaited Champions League clash between holders Real Madrid and Inter Milan, whom Ronaldo led to the UEFA Cup last season.

Scotland fans have been voted the best in the world and received an international award in Monte Carlo yesterday to mark the occasion. The Per Ludos Fraternitas trophy, presented annually by the International Association for NonViolence in Sport, was received by Kevin Donnelly, a long-standing member of the Scotland Travel Club.