High demandRomania striker Adrian Mutu, banned for seven months for taking cocaine, is to hold talks with Serie A leaders Juventus.
Mutu, sacked last month by Chelsea, has signed a deal with an Italian management company led by Alessandro Moggi. Alessandro is the son of Juventus managing director Luciano Moggi.
A lesson for Pires
France manager Raymond Domenech has left out Robert Pires and Nicolas Anelka for a friendly against Poland next week.
"To do without Robert Pires is a choice based on current form," Domenech claimed yesterday. The Arsenal midfielder slammed Domenech in a recent interview with soccer magazine France Football, accusing him of making the French team "tense" and of treating them like "schoolboys".
Domenech insists he remains an admirer of Anelka. "Nico has great ability, everyone knows that. We are still watching him. The door is obviously not closed to him, but in attack I have ideas which I want to test."
Goalkeepers: Fabien Barthez (Olympique Marseille), Mickael Landreau (Nantes). Defenders: Eric Abidal (Olympique Lyon), Sylvain Armand (Paris St Germain), Jean-Alain Boumsong (Rangers), William Gallas (Chelsea), Gael Givet (Monaco), Willy Sagnol (Bayern Munich), Sebastien Squillaci (Monaco). Midfielders: Ludovic Giuly (Barcelona), Florent Malouda (Olympique Lyon), Rio Mavuba (Girondins Bordeaux), Camel Meriem (Girondins Bordeaux), Benoit Pedretti (Olympique Marseille), Patrick Vieira (Arsenal). Strikers: Pierre-Alain Frau (Olympique Lyon), Sidney Govou (Olympique Lyon), Thierry Henry (Arsenal), Louis Saha (Manchester United)
Artificial horizon
UEFA have approved plans for artificial pitches to be used at national and club level from the 2005/06 season.
"For next season it will be possible to play on artificial turf in the Champions League or UEFA Cup or qualifiers for the World Cup and European championships," UEFA chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson said yesterday. "Now the quality has reached a level where it (artificial turf) is comparable to or even better than some of the natural turfs," he told reporters.
UEFA are also still discussing plans to introduce quotas on home-grown players in club football to combat the dilution of national identity at major clubs and a lack of real competition at the top of domestic leagues.
Six of the best
Cobh's Dave Warren has been named eircom/Soccer Writers' Association Player of the Month for October. Warren was sensational last month scoring nine goals in four matches, including six goals in an 8-1 victory over Monaghan United.
A new first division record, Warren is only the third player to score six goals in one league match in the last 50 years.
Bhoy past
Bobby Petta's Celtic career finally came to an amicable end yesterday when both parties agreed to terminate his contract. The former Ipswich winger, signed on a free transfer by John Barnes in 1999, appeared to have won over the fans when he helped Martin O'Neill to the treble in his first season.
But because of personal problems his career soon hit the rocks again and even a loan spell at Fulham and major Parkhead injury problems failed to bring about an upturn in fortunes.
Four still in hunt
The Football Association of Wales will take a major step forward today in appointing a successor to Mark Hughes. And if everything goes to plan, a press conference is in the pipeline for tomorrow in Cardiff to unveil the the new man. Former Real Madrid coach John Toshack is being widely tipped to get the post.
An 11-man committee will meet today to interview the four candidates
Along with Toshack, Newcastle coach Dean Saunders as well as Frenchman Gerard Houllier and Phillipe Troussier are expected to put their case forward. Meanwhile, Wales midfielder Andy Johnson has retired from international football to concentrate on his club career with West Brom.
Life without Vogts
Scotland began a new era without former coach Berti Vogts yesterday when interim manager Tommy Burns named a 22-man squad for their friendly international with Sweden in Edinburgh next week.
Several injured players return after missing October's 1-0 home defeat by Norway and the poor 1-1 draw in Moldova that prompted Vogts's resignation.
They include Steven Pressley, Jackie McNamara and Nigel Quashie while James McFadden and Paul Dickov also come back from suspension.
Goalkeepers: Craig Gordon (Hearts), David Marshall (Celtic), Alan Combe (Kilmarnock) Defenders: Russell Anderson (Aberdeen), Gary Caldwell (Hibernian), Jackie McNamara (Celtic), Steven Pressley (Hearts), Andy Webster (Hearts), Gary Naysmith (Everton), Kevin McNaughton (Aberdeen), Ian Murray (Hibernian) Midfielders: Colin Cameron (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Barry Ferguson (Blackburn Rovers), Darren Fletcher (Manchester United), Gary Holt (Norwich City), Stephen Pearson (Celtic), Nigel Quashie (Portsmouth) Strikers: Stevie Crawford (Plymouth Argyle), Paul Dickov (Blackburn Rovers), James McFadden (Everton), Kenny Miller (Wolves), Steven Thompson (Rangers).
Steady at 14th
Ireland have maintained their 14th place in the latest FIFA world rankings. However, Scotland plunged to a new low by dropping another nine places to 77th. Scotland are now ranked behind the likes of Congo, Estonia, Ghana, Angola and Thailand.
England are unchanged in seventh place, Wales are down six to 63rd and Northern Ireland up three places to joint 107th alongside Georgia.
Leading FIFA world rankings
(August's position in brackets)
1 - (1) Brazil 847; 2 - (2) France 802; 3 - (3) Argentina 784; 4 - (4) Spain 775; 5 - (6) Czech Republic 768; 6 - (5) Netherlands 758; 7 - (7) England 752; 8 - (10) Mexico 743, (8) Portugal 743; 10 - (8) Italy 736; 11 - (11) United States 728; 12 - (12) Turkey 721; 13 - (15) Denmark 715; 14 - (14) Ireland 713; 15 - (22) Sweden 710.
