• RBS places club's loans into its toxic-assets division
• Deadline for refinancing of owners' loans is 6 October

Tom Hicks and George Gillett's ill-starred reign as owners of Liverpool looks like having less than a month to run after the club's loans with Royal Bank of Scotland were placed into its toxic-assets division.

The deadline for the refinancing of the owners' personal loans from RBS is 6 October, and that now looks set to be the date that Hicks and Gillett's association with England's most successful club will end. The bank's decision to switch the debts to its Global Restructuring Group is the strongest possible signal that these loans will not be extended.

The co-owners' previous attempt to refinance the debts in June, when they are believed to have offered to secure the loans against their US assets, was overruled by the club's board, led by the chairman, Martin Broughton. Now, with the loans having been shifted into RBS's so-called "bad bank", where all toxic assets have been housed since last year, it is clear the club's lender has also adopted a more steely stance towards the Americans.

One source with a knowledge of Liverpool's dealings with RBS said: "If it has been taken out of the hands of the corporate banking department they'll have a much more ruthless approach on 6 October." An informed view from another source close to the situation is that the bank would hope to sell the club, possibly at a knockdown price, in the coming weeks or as soon possible after 6 October.

According to the club's accounts to July 2009 Liverpool's owners owe £237.4m to RBS. Through companies in the UK and overseas, Hicks and Gillett are also personally exposed to tens of millions of pounds in other commitments to the club and its lender. These have been a mixture of cash, which the pair have injected through equity, and guarantees to the RBS loans. Last year's accounts stated these amounted to £145.3m, but it is believed to have risen dramatically after the last refinancing agreed five months ago.

RBS would hope to achieve an orderly sale without having to take control of Liverpool. However, depending on the terms of the April refinancing agreement – which have never been made public – that may prove difficult if the co-owners, who value the club at £800m, refuse to go quietly.

One tool at RBS's disposal is to force the insolvency of Liverpool's UK parent and associated companies. It is clear from mortgage documents lodged with Companies House that in the event of default RBS has the power to place Kop Football and Kop Football (Holdings), as well as Gillett's loan-security vehicle, Football UK Ltd, into administration. However that would be unpalatable for the bank, Liverpool's board and the Premier League since it would require the imposition of a nine-point penalty on the club.

By exercising those clauses the bank would also effectively take control of Liverpool. Although RBS's restructuring group describes itself as being responsible for "the management of any problem lending portfolios", the bank has no long-term plans to hold the club as its subsidiary. Instead it is expected RBS would prefer to fulfil another of its stated aims – the "maximising [of] debt recoveries" – by selling the club in short order.

That means there are also strong signs RBS will now be prepared to accept a knockdown price in order to cut its ties. During negotiations with prospective buyers Broughton, and the investment bank advising him, Barclays Capital, have maintained that Liverpool's debts with RBS must be paid in full as a minimum sale price.

Provided buyers still retain an interest in taking over Liverpool beyond 6 October, it will mean a more orderly sale process. There would be only one party for purchasers to negotiate with and the club's debts would be manageable.

The departure of Hicks and Gillett is an outcome that would delight Liverpool fans. The Kop Faithful group wrote in an open letter to the RBS group's chief executive, Stephen Hester, this week: "Hicks and Gillett were proved to be no more than a pair of liars. The promised 'no Glazer style buy out' was all of a sudden [a leveraged buy out] – a club £350m in debt to effectively buy itself, when it had been sold for less than £180m in what seemed no time before."

• Manager 'not discussing any of my players' personal lives'
• United play Rooney's old club, Everton, tomorrow

Sir Alex Ferguson has refused to discuss Wayne Rooney's off-field problems.

The Manchester United and England striker has been at the centre of newspaper allegations about his private life. United are away to Rooney's former club, Everton, tomorrow. There has been speculation over whether the 24-year-old will play. The Everton and England defender Phil Jagielka said that Rooney could expect a hostile reception at Goodison Park.

Ferguson said: "Let's put it to bed straight away. I am not discussing any of my players' personal lives."

The Brazilian midfielder Anderson is unlikely to play tomorrow after picking up an injury while playing for the reserves last night.

"Anderson came off with a little niggle yesterday but it is nothing serious," said Ferguson. "It is just the fact he has been out for a long time and he is just coming back. I don't think it will knock him back any length of time."

• Manager wants repeat of victory in February
• Says of poor start to season: 'Our football hasn't been bad'

The Everton manager, David Moyes, believes that a repeat of last season's victory over Manchester United could kickstart his side's season.

Everton have taken one point from their first three games but Moyes is convinced they should be challenging at the top end of the table and is looking for a lift tomorrow as United visit Goodison Park, where they were beaten 3-1 in February.

Moyes said: "It would give us all that belief that we can mix it with the top sides. We feel if we play well we can be a match for any side, and that includes Manchester United.

"We went into the season with high hopes, rightly so, we had played so well. At the end of last season we lost two out of 24 and we had a pretty good pre-season.

"I could come out and say we want to avoid relegation and let's see where we go from there. I probably come out with that statement every year but I didn't this year. I said we had a good team and probably our best squad. I stand by that but we have not shown it in results so far."

Everton have lost at Blackburn and Aston Villa. Last season, hampered by injuries, they took 15 points from their first 14 games. Moyes is anxious to avoid a repeat.

He said: "We have tried changing the pre-season, we have tried changing all things to try to find a reason. I have heard people saying, 'David Moyes has no excuses now, he has no injuries,' but I never made any excuses last year.

"All we have done is try to do the best we can, do the right things. We have not started the season very well. It is something every year I try to address but I have not found a magic solution at this time. It has been frustrating but our football hasn't been too bad. We have merited more but not taken it."

A Carling Cup thrashing of Huddersfield aside, Everton have struggled for goals this season, scoring once in their three league games. With Louis Saha out for three weeks with a calf injury, that places extra pressure on the summer signing Jermaine Beckford.

The former Leeds striker has not yet scored in the Premier League but Moyes does not want to overburden the 26-year-old, who is almost certain to start tomorrow. Beckford scored the goal for Leeds which knocked United out of the FA Cup in January.

Moyes said: "To come from League One and start scoring goals in the Premier League, it is a big ask – but I have got no doubts he will. He should be given the same time, the same opportunities [as others], but it can take a little bit of time to establish yourself."

Moyes will be without the injured England Under-21 midfielder Jack Rodwell for three months. He said: "He's got lots of time on his hands, he'll come through. It's just disappointing we have lost such a good player.

"I was ready to play him as often as we could, he is maturing all the time now. There is a lot of competition for places, especially in central midfield, but he would play his games.

"I could see Jack coming into it more in the second half of the season."

Asked about recent newspaper headlines concerning the private life of Wayne Rooney, United's superstar former Everton striker, Moyes said: "I think if you are a good football journalist you don't ask those kind of questions.

"If you are a gossip journalist you ask me those questions. I am interested in talking about the game and that's what I'll do."

• Striker has surgery on ankle ligaments
• Injury was suffered while playing for England

Jermain Defoe will not play for "around three months" after undergoing surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right ankle last night.

The Tottenham Hotspur striker may miss all of his club's Champions League group matches and two England internationals.

A statement on Spurs' official website read: "Following a review by an ankle specialist, Jermain Defoe underwent surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right ankle yesterday evening.

"The striker was forced off with the injury during England's European Championship qualifier in Switzerland on Tuesday and has been ruled out of action for around three months."

Defoe, 27, scored a hat-trick in England's first Euro 2012 qualifying match, against Bulgaria, at Wembley a week ago.

From Mr Fallrueckzieher to Roger Boli, via Mark Hughes, here are half a dozen of the best acrobatic belters ever

NB: The point of the Joy of Six is not to rank things, only to enjoy them

1) Klaus Fischer, WEST GERMANY 4-1 Switzerland, international friendly, 16/11/1977

To write a piece on overhead kicks without mentioning Klaus Fischer would be as remiss as doing an essay on Scottish psychos with imaginative use of pool cues and beer glasses and not citing Francis Begbie. When it came to acrobatic goals he was the Fischer King or, as the Germans put it Mr Fallrueckzieher (Mr Falling Kick).

Fischer was an underrated player who scored 32 goals in 45 games during that semi-forgotten era of West German football between the sides of Franz Beckenbauer and Lothar Matthäus (what any other country would give for a semi-forgotten era that included a European Championship win and two World Cup finals), and he is largely remembered for one thing: an extraordinary, incomparable portfolio of scissor kicks. In fact, ridiculously, he's still doing it at the age of 60. (Sexagenarians are advised not to try this at home, unless they are into the pain thing and want to pull 15 different muscles simultaneously.)

His most important came in the epic 1982 semi-final against France, but his most celebrated came in a friendly against Switzerland five years earlier: a ridiculous effort that was voted Germany's Goal of the Century. Fischer scored an even better one a year later in 1978, but it was tediously disallowed for dangerous play. He could manufacture an overhead kick from almost any position in the box; it gave a whole new meaning to the idea of pumping it high towards the big man.

The Germans have loved such acrobatic efforts ever since Fritz Walter's famous scorpion kick in the 1956, and they were frequently voted Goal of the Season. But only one person won the prize on three different occasions with them: Mr Fallrueckzieher.

2) Mark Hughes, WALES 3-0 Spain, World Cup qualification Group 7, 30/04/1985

The internet has largely been a disaster, turning us into dumbed-down, self-indulgent eejits, but it does have some good going for it. Before YouTube and the like, it was extremely rare that you would be able to see that second tier of great goals, because they were never shown on TV. Growing up, Mark Hughes's life-changing scissor volley in Wales's famous demolition of Spain in 1985 had an almost mythical quality: it was so adventurous and full of derring-do that every time it was described he seemed to get higher in the air until it got to the point that he was doing it from a parachute, having been dropped out of a fighter aircraft in the middle of World War II before time-travelling back to 1985 while in mid-air.

For once, reality didn't disappoint. It's an incredibly athletic effort, and even more remarkable because the ball actually spins sharply back towards Hughes when it bounces, yet he still manages to control the volley perfectly. Quite how Hughes was able to consistently lift those tree-trunk thighs so high is anyone's guess, but when it comes to scissor kicks he is right up there with the likes of Hugo Sanchez, just a rung below Fischer. He even managed to partially redeem a 5-1 defeat in a Manchester derby. But this will always be his masterpiece. Not even a commentator screaming "brrrrrrrrrrrrrrilliant!" in the most extreme Welsh accent this side of the Fast Show doctor can tarnish it. God bless the internet!

3) Guti, REAL MADRID 4-0 Villarreal, La Liga, 14/04/2001

This is a scissor kick, but not as we know it. For two reasons. One, Guti is vertical - which evokes similar turn-of-the-millennium efforts by Paolo Di Canio and Gus Poyet - but more importantly because he uses the side of the foot rather than the laces. Athleticism, improvisation, grace and most of all perfect control: this goal is as unique as a snowflake.

4) Manuel Negrete, U.N.A.M. 2-0 Puebla, Liguilla quarter-final second leg, 12/05/1985

The hosts of major tournaments split broadly into two types: those who hope to win it (1988, 1990, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2006), and those who know they won't (1986, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2008, 2010). The latter group have two aims: to overachieve and to have one moment that will keep them warm as the grim reaper lumbers towards them with that look in his eye. Mexico certainly managed both in 1986. They reached the quarter-finals (the only occasion came in 1970, when they also hosted the tournament), and Manuel Negrete scored one of the World Cup's most memorable goals, a gloriously accurate scissor-kick against Bulgaria.

To most of the world it was revelatory, but to those who knew Mexican club football it was not a surprise, for Negrete had scored a much better effort (no, really) 13 months earlier. Scissor kicks are notable for their physical dexterity, but here he also shows remarkable mental dexterity to work himself into position, like a speed chess grandmaster, while under extreme pressure from two defenders. It was a crucial goal too: a late equaliser in the second leg of the Liguilla quarter-finals that took the game to extra-time (Negrete's U.N.A.C. eventually won on penalties). When it comes to scissor kicks, non, Negrete ne regrette rien. Sorry.

5) Juan Carlos Oblitas, PERU 2-0 Chile, Copa America Group 2, 20/08/1975

Some goals are bigger than others. For almost a century, Chile and Peru have been arguing over who invented the bicycle kick, like neighbours squabbling over a backyard fence. (Although, bizarrely, the former Aston Villa P45 manufacturer Doug Ellis also claimed to have created it.) And while Juan Carlos Oblitas's legendary goal in 1975 doesn't really change anything in historical terms, it's such a perfect moment that Peruvians can ignore all logic, show this video and endeavour to end this argument with imperious, Brentish 'NEXT!'.

It's also, just ahead of the inevitable Fischer and Dennis Tueart, the earliest overhead kick of which we could find footage. We might take such goals for granted now, but back then they were as young, fresh and new as The Beatles' song structures. And, almost as an afterthought, it helped Peru to win their only Copa America of the last 70 years.

6) Roger Boli, WALSALL 3-1 Southend, 30/08/1997, Division Two

It is a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a bloody Walsall footballer! The scissors kick isn't always the most graceful of manoeuvres, involving as it does the sort of whirl of arms and legs you usually only see when horny* freshers play drunken Twister, but sometimes it can look impossibly beautiful. Marco van Basten, a man who could make an extended sojourn around the inside of the nostril with the index finger look elegant, scored a wonderful effort against NAC Breda, but we've gone for this flying effort from Roger Boli, part of a memorable hat-trick for Walsall in 1997.

It's goal that you can, to tweak one of the naffest album titles of the 1990s, file under easy viewing; a negligee-smooth feast for the retinas. It is also, we can say without fear of contradiction, the greatest goal ever scored against Southend by a man whose brother put the head on Stuart Pearce.

* Yes, on reflection, this word probably is tautologous

Rob Smyth is joint editor of retrombm.com, a site devoted to football history.

• Milan defender Massimo Oddo outlines planned strike
• Dispute is over proposed collective contractual rules

Serie A players plan to strike during matches on 25 and 26 September because of a dispute over contracts, the Italian footballers' association said today.

The Milan defender Massimo Oddo told a news conference: "The association, in perfect symphony with the players of Serie A, has decided not to go on the field for the fifth round of matches of the Serie A championship on 25 and 26 September, in protest against requests to impose new contractual rules."

A full programme of Serie A games is planned for that weekend and if the strike goes ahead it will cause problems for broadcasters and the league schedule for the rest of the season.

The Italian players' association has threatened to strike over a number of disputes but it has always stepped back. This time there is a considerable weight of ill-feeling over a complex contractual issue.

A collective contract between the association and the league, guaranteeing players' rights, expired in the close season and attempts to draft a new deal have not succeeded.

Serie A, which broke away from the rest of the Italian league at the start of the season, had said it would propose a new collective deal on Monday.

The players' association is also alarmed by the trend of clubs trying to force players to accept transfers in the last year of their contracts.

• Caretaker will go back to being reserve-team coach
• Frenchman has to negotiate release from national job

Kevin MacDonald will go back to coaching Aston Villa's reserve team, the club's new manager, Gérard Houllier, said today. Houllier said he had spoken to the club's caretaker manager in an "amicable conversation" and that MacDonald did not wish to become the club's assistant manager.

Asked if he was disappointed that MacDonald did not wish to be assistant, Houllier said that he was but that sharing the management was not a possibility. Houllier was joint-manager at Liverpool with Roy Evans for a short spell in 1998.

Houllier said: "In some capacity as an assistant manager he [MacDonald] would have been helpful to me. I understand and share his disappointment. I have told him I want him to stay at the club."

Houllier has brought his own coach, Patrice Bergues, to the club. Bergues worked with Houllier at Liverpool, where the latter was in charge between 1998 and 2004.

Houllier will not take charge of Villa until at least after Monday evening's Premier League match at Stoke City. At a news conference today he said that he was negotiating his release from his job as technical director with the French federation and hoped to be in place at Villa for next weekend's match against Bolton. However, he added that securing his release from the FFF could take three months.

The former Liverpool manager has shaken hands with the Villa owner, Randy Lerner, on a three-year contract.

MacDonald, a former Liverpool midfielder, will now be in charge for a sixth successive game. Houllier will not meet the Villa players, formally, until next week.

Houllier previously said that he had rejected other offers and that he hoped to build on the success achieved under O'Neill.

He said: "It was really starting to tickle me. I wanted to go back pitch-side. I had, of course, other proposals but this one seemed to be the most interesting in terms of working conditions and environment.

"Aston Villa is not a club on the same level as Liverpool, let's be objective and honest. It's a club that according to me has belonged between seventh and 12th place in the Premier League.

"But, above all, it's a historic club which has won the European Cup. It's a club which has got good infrastructure and a fine team which is after one thing – to improve year on year."

• Stuart Pearce's side to play Group 1 winners
• Scotland drawn against Iceland

England will play Romania in the play-offs for a place at the Uefa Under-21 Championship in Denmark. Stuart Pearce's side, who finished second in Group 9 and qualified for the play-offs as one of the best-placed runners up, will take on the winners of Group 1 for a place in next summer's finals.

Pearce took the England U21s to a runners-up finish in the 2009 finals, losing 4-0 to Germany in the final in Sweden.

Scotland, who won Group 10, will play the Group 5 runners-up, Iceland.

All ties will take place over two legs between 8 and 12 October. The 2011 U21 Championship will be played in June at venues in Aarhus, Herning, Aalborg and Viborg.

In January Arsenal disposed of Bolton twice in four days but Owen Coyle's team have begun the season looking more resilient, as their recovery in coming from 2-0 down to force a draw with Birmingham showed. With Jussi Jaaskelainen suspended Bolton will give Adam Bogdan, their Hungarian goalkeeper, his first Premier League start. Arsenal are without Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie but the return of Samir Nasri should help their attacking momentum. Bolton won well at West Ham three weeks ago but would be happy with a point at the Emirates. David Lacey

Venue Emirates Stadium, Saturday 3pm

Tickets Sold out

Last season Arsenal 4 Bolton 2

Referee S Attwell

This season's matches 2 Y16, R0, 8.00 cards per game

Odds Arsenal 1-4 Bolton 14-1 Draw 5-1

Arsenal

Subs from Fabianski, Gibbs, Eboué, Djourou, Denílson, Rosicky, Vela, Cruise, Emmanuel-Thomas, Lansbury, Nasri

Doubtful Nasri (match fitness)

Injured Vermaelen (achilles, 18 Sep), Bendtner (groin, 15 Oct), Van Persie (ankle, 15 Oct), Walcott (ankle, 15 Oct), Ramsey (broken leg, Nov), Frimpong (knee, May)

Suspended None

Form guide WWD

Disciplinary record Y3 R1

Leading scorer Walcott 4

Bolton

Subs from Lainton, Gardner, Ricketts, Klasnic, Cohen, Taylor, M Davies, Samuel, A O'Brien, J O'Brien, Blake, Eaves, Alonso, Rodrigo, Ward, Obadeyi

Doubtful Klasnic (groin)

Injured Davis (knee, 23 Oct), McCann (ankle, unknown)

Suspended Jaaskelainen (first of three)

Form guide DWD

Disciplinary record Y7 R1

Leading scorer Elmander 2

Match pointers

• Arsenal have not lost at home to Bolton in a league match since January 1962

• Kevin Davies has been booked more times against Arsenal (nine) than against any other top-flight team

• Arsenal have scored in the final 15 minutes in each of their last six league meetings with Bolton

• Owen Coyle has kept one clean sheet in 22 Premier League away matches as manager of Bolton and Burnley

• Arsenal have had more shots on target (33) than any other Premier League side this season

• Lyall and Greenwood families have season tickets taken away
• West Ham failed to give any prior notice of their decision

West Ham United have sparked anger among their fans by taking away privileges from the families of John Lyall and Ron Greenwood without notice. The late managers are East End royalty, having been responsible for the only meaningful trophies West Ham have won in their 115-year history.

That was recognised last year when the main gates to Upton Park were renamed in Lyall's honour and a Greenwood and Lyall Lounge was opened. Both families had received complimentary directors' box tickets but, following the takeover by David Sullivan and David Gold - who have made great play of their credentials as West Ham fans – last season, that privilege was downgraded to a pair of season tickets.

The families only learned that these too had been taken away when calling the club in early August to ask what the arrangements would be for the new season. "I fully appreciate the financial plight of the club and can understand the reasoning why the season tickets have been withdrawn," said Lyall's son, Murray. "But what I do find unacceptable is that no one in authority had the decency to contact us and explain in person."

Lyall's widow, Yvonne, added: "After my husband's 34 years' loyal service to the club in a playing, coaching and managerial capacity, I feel my family should have been shown greater respect and understanding given our tragic loss four years ago and the legacy he left behind."

It has "appalled" Amanda Jacks, a lifelong Hammers fan, who said: "West Ham trade as a family club but no supporter would treat their family this way. The strength of feeling from the West Ham support will only demonstrate what an ill-considered decision this is."

Portsmouth's paperwork

The transfer of Portsmouth's Football League share to a company said to be controlled by Balram Chainrai was not rubber-stamped by the League's board yesterday. And so the club remain in administration, which is not the outcome anyone would have expected when the administrator, Andrew Andronikou, was talking about "blue sky ahead" and how the club would soon be "out of the clutches of the Football League".

It is believed there was insufficient paperwork for the League to ratify the club's takeover by PFC Realisations. If so, it would not be the first time Pompey have had a problem with their paperwork this week, with Liam Lawrence's loan from Stoke City to Fratton Park also held up over late filing of documents.

"From our end, all documentation was sent on time, well before the 6pm deadline," Andronikou said. "I was there myself to see it." According to what Digger has heard, from the League's end it did not arrive until after 8pm. Who to believe?

Friends in high places

Aston Villa fans may be underwhelmed by the arrival of Gérard Houllier in the Second City but his appointment can have done the club no harm in the eyes of Uefa. The former Liverpool manager has served as a technical assessor for the European football body and has a close relationship with its president, Michel Platini. Indeed, he was having dinner with Platini when the latter was taken ill at the World Cup in South Africa. Indeed it is believed he even accompanied Platini to hospital. With Platini widely expected to succeed Sepp Blatter as Fifa's president in a few years, it surely cannot hurt Villa to have friends in such high places.

West Brom Kick It Out

West Bromwich Albion supporters have teamed up with the anti-racism campaign Kick It Out to create banners hitting back at Lokomotiv Moscow fans who directed a banana jibe at the Nigeria international, Peter Odemwingie, when he left to join the Baggies. One has a picture of Odemwingie celebrating his winner against Sunderland last month with the words "Thanks Lokomotiv". The other, with pictures of Lawurie Cunningham, Cyrille Regis and Brendon Batson – the club famously broke new ground by fielding three such influential black players – as well as Odemwingie, states: "The only colours here are blue and white."

Redknapp court hearing

Harry Redknapp faces a court hearing over alleged tax evasion within 24 hours of his club's home Champions League tie against Werder Bremen. A scheduled hearing involving lawyers for Redknapp, Peter Storrie and Milan Mandaric – who deny charges of tax evasion – was due at Southwark Crown Court next week but has been postponed after legal teams requested more time. It will now take place on Thursday 25 and Friday 26 November, meaning it begins the day after the Bundesliga side travel to White Hart Lane. Southwark Crown Court's diary clearly does not pay too much heed to Redknapp's football commitments. Next week's scheduled hearing would in any case have clashed with his club's trip to Werder Bremen.

• Manchester United manager says 'It will not happen'
• Ferguson: 'I am not even prepared to negotiate'

Sir Alex Ferguson has ruled out any chance of Ryan Giggs succeeding John Toshack as Wales manager.

"I spoke to him. It will not happen," said Ferguson.

According to Ferguson, Giggs cannot combine management with a high-profile playing career.

"It is impossible to do both," he said.

Stories in recent days have appeared in which Giggs talked positively about launching a management career. He is in the process of collecting the relevant qualifications.

However, Ferguson sees the Welshman as a key player in his squad and does not feel Giggs would stand the best chance of extending his playing career by taking on international commitments.

"We have to be selfish here," Ferguson said. "I am not even prepared to negotiate on this matter. At his age, Ryan needs to use all his energy and concentration to be here. It is a big season for him. It maybe his second last, it may be his last. We want it to be the second last. The best way for that to happen is for him to concentrate on being here."

Once it became obvious Toshack would be leaving his post, following last week's Euro 2012 qualifying defeat by Montenegro, Giggs was linked with the job. The Football Association of Wales is searching for a replacement.

Giggs retired from international football in 2007 after winning 64 caps for Wales.

• England striker was wanted by Liverpool and Birmingham
• New deal will keep him at Craven Cottage until 2014

Bobby Zamora has agreed a new four-year deal with Fulham that will keep him at Craven Cottage until 2014. The England striker's contract was due to expire at the end of the season and he had attracted interest from other clubs.

Fulham's manager, Mark Hughes, said: "We're delighted that Bobby has signed. It was important to tie him down to a new contract.

"Bobby's a focal point of what we're trying to do here and is an important figure in the team and dressing room. This new contract is just reward for his efforts in recent times. He's playing exceptionally well at the moment.

"I've been very impressed in the short time I've worked with him. I quickly came to understand the quality he has."

Zamora attracted interest from Liverpool and Birmingham City in the transfer window. The 29-year-old enjoyed a fine season in 2009-10, scoring 19 goals in 48 appearances as the club reached the Europa League final, which they lost to Atlético Madrid.

The England manager, Fabio Capello, said Zamora would have been considered for the World Cup, but for an achilles injury. Capello then gave the striker a first cap, as a substitute in last month's 2-1 friendly victory over Hungary at Wembley.

In November last year, Zamora was jeered by Fulham fans. However, a string of spectacular goals, against Basel, Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus and Wolfsburg, a good first touch and impressive strength on the ball have seen Zamora's value rocket to £10m. The £4.8m signing from West Ham has scored three goals in four games this season.

• Midfielder says 'I'm not ready to finish yet'
• May make playing return for Galaxy next week

David Beckham believes he can resurrect his international career, after talking to the England manager, Fabio Capello.

The Italian said last month that he considered the 35-year-old Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder to be too old for selection but a public outcry caused him to back-peddle on his comments. The former England captain said he had since spoken to Capello and he said he was confident that he would be picked if his form warranted selection.

"If you're performing and you're playing well then you have a chance of being in the squad," the midfielder said, after training with the Galaxy yesterday. "The thing about my situation now is just getting back on the field and getting back fit. Then what happens after that, we'll see."

Capello said that he was no longer interested in picking Beckham, though he had not consulted the player, hours after Beckham, who missed this year's World Cup in South Africa because of injury, said that he was fit enough to resume playing and talked about his dedication to the England cause. Beckham ruptured an achilles tendon while playing on loan with Milan last season.

"Obviously it was a surprise at the time but I spoke to him shortly after that and he explained everything to me and it was brushed under the carpet, so to speak," Beckham said. "He's always supported me. He's always looked after me in many ways and I've got the utmost respect for him.

"I think I've learned that a) I'm not ready to finish yet and b) how much I love the game. I know it sounds very cliched but being out six months and being away from the game, I didn't enjoy it one bit. So that's when I knew that I'm not ready to just get on the beach and relax."

Beckham had hoped to play for the Galaxy this weekend but he may have to wait another week.

"The biggest thing is that I've been taken off the [injured] list now," he said. "I'm back in now. I'm back in with the squad, I'm back in with the team."

The Newcastle striker stars as a blue alien and Ms Vorderman. Next: send us your Bébé's and you could win a £100 bet

Plus: Forgotten man-of-the-match performances (2); Stefan Schwarz: spaceman; Kevin Street gets in touch; and When did Iceland beat Zaire in the World Cup final? Send your questions and answers to knowledge@guardian.co.uk. You can now follow the Knowledge on Twitter at twitter.com/TheKnowledge_GU and buy the latest edition of our book, More Knowledge too

GROUNDS CLOSE TO MAJOR ROADS

"Driving past Colchester United's ground the other day I remarked to myself how close it was to the A12 - seemingly less than a goal kick from the road. Also, the stands are not the biggest, and it's not a 'bowl' stadium, so I reckon it's very possible to kick a ball out of the ground on to the A12," wrote Philip Genochio last week. "So two questions: Has a ball yet been kicked out of the ground on to the A12 and can any other stadium lay claim to being closer to a major road?"

Well, no one has managed to reach the A12 from the Western Homes Community Stadium thus far, say Colchester United, although David Prutton did belt the ball out of the stadium in the process of being sent off against Tranmere last season. The ground, though, was built with safety in mind, and the distance between stadium and road carefully calculated.

Plenty of grounds share Colchester's proximity to a major throughfare. The A23 in Crawley is certainly a road to avoid on a Saturday afternoon:

"Blue Square Premier Division team Crawley Town's Broadfield Stadium is situated right next to the A23 and that is without even a stand separating them," writes Jamie Morrison. "Rather there is a net but that is regularly cleared by the non-league defenders' efforts to put the ball into touch." (You'll notice in the above map that another unusual aspect of the Broadfield Stadium is the Ferrari F1 car parked close to the touchline).

There were several nominations of Walsall's Bescot Stadium and its proximity to the M6:

"In fact the Bescott is generally thought to be the most seen football ground in the country due to its clear visibility from the M6." reckons Tom Bason. Although it would take a serious hoof for the ball to reach the motorway.

"The nearest corner of Elland Road is all of 300 feet from the M621 motorway, well within goal kick range," writes Chris Jones:

"And I wouldn't be surprised if young Kasper Schmeichel could reach it from the goal facing the motorway in front of the South Stand about 800 feet away! (Just the tricky matter of getting it over the Kop first …)"

But in mainland Europe they really know how to combine football stadiums and major transport routes. First, to Frankfurt and FSV Frankfurt's Frankfurter Volksbank Stadion:

"By my reckoning the distance between the east stand and the motorway is no more than 150m," writes Harvey Mayne. "In fact, it is so close that when the new floodlights were being installed and tested, the motorway had to be closed in case it was found that the drivers were being dazzled. Thankfully this was not the case."

But two grounds squash all the other pretenders like a bunch of bananas under the wheels of a juggernaut on the M25. First, Madrid and the spectacular Estadio Vicente Calderon:

Calle 30 runs underneath the 55,000-capacity home of Atlético, and it's not a particularly popular feature with the home fans. Sid Lowe wrote about the subject a few years ago, rather wonderfully describing a journey to the ground as "like a human game of Frogger only without getting three lives".

But the big question is: why on earth is the motorway going under the stand? We asked the good doctor. "Boring answer but it appears to be very simple," writes Dr Lowe. "The M30 was always planned, from way back in 1940s, but not actually built until 1970. The Calderón, on the other hand, was built in 1966. Because the river is right next to the stadium and on the other side is the Mahou (beer) factory, there was no room, except to run it under the stand." As you can see from this picture, the Calderón was reduced to three sides during the road's construction.

Equally spectacularly, the Périphérique (the evocatively-named Parisien equivalent of a kind of combined North Circular and M25) runs underneath PSG's Parc des Princes:

The original velodrome on the site was demolished to make way for the Périphérique, but the city council approved a proposal to construct the road under a newly-built football stadium, though the exact chronology isn't entirely clear. Again, though, it would take a seriously misjudged Hollywood ball to trouble the local motorists.

FORGOTTEN MAN-OF-THE MATCH PERFORMANCES (2)

Last week we looked at players with little or no memory of their most memorable performances and, as ever, there's a few we neglected to mention. One of Chris Waddle's finest hours came in a Marseille shirt on 20 March 1991. The winger struck a superb volley with 15 minutes to go of Marseille's European Cup quarter-final, second leg against the mighty Milan (the match at at the San Siro had finished 1-1), but in the celebrations appeared to take a hefty clonk on the head (although Marseille claimed he was punched by a Milan player close to the end of the game, he also clashed heads with Paolo Maldini and some versions of the story have him banging his head early in the first half before producing a virtuoso performance). "My head is still very dizzy," said Waddle after the game. "I still don't know where I am really. I do know I got a blow on the head before I scored but I can't really tell you what happened."

And the early 1990s was clearly a dangerous time to be scoring vital goals. "Lee Martin scored the only goal in the 1990 Cup Final replay against Crystal Palace," writes Paddy MacLachlan. "Immediately upon scoring, whether through excitement or a bang on the head as he was mobbed by the others, he completely passed out. When you watch it, you can see quite clearly, with the benefit of hindsight, that he is non compos mentis. Apparently his team-mates were screaming at him to pull himself together as Palace were battling hard for the equaliser, but he remained away with the fairies until the full-time whistle blew."

STEFAN SCHWARZ: SPACEMAN

"Through the use of the internet I am deperately trying to prove to my friend something which I am certain of - that a player around about 5-10 years ago, when signing for their new club, possibly Middlesborough, had contractual agreements set in place that they could not fly to space," writes Andy Simpson. "Can anyone shed some light on this?"

The frustrated spaceman was, and possibly still is, the former Sweden and Arsenal midfielder Stefan Schwarz, whose dreams of intergalactic travel we're never going to be realised during his time at Sunderland, due to the killjoy Black Cats board fearing a clash with a vital midweek fixture. Here's the Guardian's Michael Walker back in 1999:

He could become the club captain, lift the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Premiership title, he could even score 100 goals in his first few seasons back in English football, yet if he achieved all this and more, one comment we will not be hearing from Sunderland's record signing Stefan Schwarz is that he is over the moon.

The route to football's favourite cliche was denied Schwarz the moment he completed his £4m transfer from Valencia as the 30-year-old Swede was forced as part of Sunderland's negotiations to forgo the two tickets he's booked on one of the first commercial flights into space, a tourism venture due to begin in 2002.

Having signed a four-year contract, the former Arsenal player will still be at Sunderland then, and the club have gone as far as to insert a clause in Schwarz's contract forbidding space exploration. As Sunderland's chief executive John Fickling said: 'It means that Stefan cannot turn around and ask for time off to travel to the moon.'

Fickling explained that Sunderland's official position is that any Schwarz moon walk could clash with a potentially crucial midweek fixture. 'Lets face it,' he said, 'in four years' time anything could be possible. I've never dealt with anything like this before and our board had a chuckle to themselves when the details were sent off to the FA.

'We were chatting about the final details of the player's insurance policy when this cropped up. It is normal for the club to protect its interests when we have players with unusual or dangerous hobbies. It just so happens that we found out about these tickets from the player's agent.'

Perhaps it's the agent, rather than Schwarz, who is on another planet.

GOD'S FOOTBALLERS (2)

A few weeks ago we had a look at the footballers who turned to the cloth after hanging up their boots. And, we're very pleased to say, one of their number has been in touch. Here's the former Crewe Alexandra midfielder (and current Nantwich Town manager) Kevin Street:

"I would like to say how interesting this subject is and how it engages usually quiet Christians to come forward and confess their faith. Throughout my career it has been obvious that the majority of footballers are believers in Christ. Some chose to be open and prophetic while others prefer to keep their beliefs to themselves. A survey would provide very interesting results. May I add that being manager of Nantwich Town Football Club is a privilege, I haven't hung up my boots yet and I am now an RE teacher, also there is nothing wrong with being short. But I am even more surprised that you really got your information wrong when you labelled me as skillful!"

KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE

"When I was at school in the early 80s, I remember our teacher reading us a novel about a future World Cup (I think it was 1998) in which the finalists were Zaire and Iceland," recalled Colin Leckey back in the innocent days of 2007. "I seem to remember Iceland winning after nobbling Zaire's Pele-like talisman, who played in bare feet. Have I completely imagined this, or does anyone else recall the book?"

Don't worry Colin, your mind isn't playing tricks on you. The Ice Warrior, from The Ice Warrior and Other Stories (published 1976) by Robin Chambers, tells how Zaire's star player is killed in a bizarre freezer-related accident. The all-conquering, efficient Iceland (a case of taking symbolism too literally) meet bare-footed and mercurial Zaire in the World Cup final - and the evil Iceland manager plots the downfall of Zaire's star player, Odiwule, who can, apparently, bend the ball 90 degrees. When Zaire are awarded a free-kick, Iceland's equivalent of Douglas Jardine swaps the ball with a special refrigerated one he had been keeping under the team bench (how he did this without anyone else seeing in unclear).

When the Zairean maestro strikes the ball his foot and leg shatter (it's those modern boots, you know) and he is killed instantly. The chilly northern cheats win the final. Fast forward 10 years and a vengeful ghost of the victim returns to haunt the Iceland manager, who has, rather unusually, become the county's prime minister.

For thousands more questions and answers take a trip through the Knowledge archive.

Can you help?

"Is the Vicente Calderon also the closest in the world to a river or other body of water?" wonders Stefan Agren.

"Can you tell me which team, club or international, has the worst record in penalty shoot outs?," asks Tranmere Kev. "I ask because last Tuesday my team, Tranmere Rovers, lost their eighth consecutive penalty shoot out."

"When I played low-league soccer in Norway in the 70s sending-offs were rare and you really needed to put in something special. Half a sending-off per team per season at the most," writes M Kare Antonsen. "One of my team-mates was sent off for uttering the word 'matchsticks' to the referee. Anybody else being sent off for such a blatant insult? The story is, of course, that my friend had been intimidating the referee for more than an hour of the game. The referee finally lost his patience, ran up to the player and said: 'One more word from you and you are off!' And he kept his word!"

"When Liverpool won the Champions League in 2005, they had a certain Malian international Djimi Traore in the squad," writes Edward Crick. "At the time of the final Mali were ranked at a lowly 61. Which player comes from the lowest ranked international team at the time of them winning a Champions League winners medal?"

Send your questions and answers to knowledge@guardian.co.uk, or twitter.com/TheKnowledge_GU.

Click to enlarge, and debate the strip below the line.

Keith Hackett's verdict

1) Stay calm and think clearly. First, disallow the goal, because a team cannot change a penalty taker once he has been identified. Second, show yellow cards to both the team-mate who took the kick and the identified penalty taker for unsporting behaviour. And third, award a re-take, with the kick to be taken by a properly identified player. Time has not run out – you extended stoppage time to allow for the conclusion of the penalty. William Lai wins the shirt for this question.
2) You can only award a penalty if you or your assistants saw a holding offence. But stop play either way. Having inspected the shirts, order the whole team – not just these three players – to replace their shirts, and check them carefully. There might be sponsorship implications, but that's not your problem. Restart with a penalty if you saw any holding, or a dropped ball if not. Report the facts after the game to the appropriate competition. Thanks to Justyn O'Hara.
3) Yes: because you had signalled for the corner to be taken, the player has effectively kicked the replacement ball out for a goal-kick. Speak to the player about his angry reaction too, and use his captain to get him to calm down if need be. Thanks to Daniel Brett.

Competition: win an official club shirt of your choice

For a chance to win a club shirt from the range at Kitbag.com send us your questions for You are the Ref to you.are.the.ref@observer.co.uk. The best scenario used in the new Observer YATR strip each Sunday wins a shirt of your choice from Kitbag. Terms & conditions apply.

For more on the fifty year history of You Are The Ref, click here.

Tickets to see Tottenham v Aston Villa in the Premier League could be yours

Also featuring the greatest ever tennis drop-shot, Hamit Altintop's mindblowing volley and a brilliant 800m comeback

1) Is there a finer sight than the baseball manager having a meltdown? This perky fellow acts like a four-year-old, is ejected from the game, acts like a three-year-old and then decides to give something back to the fans.

2) Another week, another OTT Scandinavian goal celebration. This time Finnish side Jaro roll out the 'Lady Gaga' (Estesark also spotted this one shortly after us, you can collect your spotters' badge below).

3) One of the all-time great batting collapses as Surrey, chasing 237 to beat Lancashire in the 1993 B&H Cup, reach 212-1 when ...

4) Forget Roger Federer's flurry of through-the-legs winners: Victor Hanescu offers up some US Open magic of his own (SpartakKapokovic also gets dibs for this).

5) How to score a goal very, very quickly.

6) Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton attempt to put a Formula One car together. Yes, it's part of a cynical marketing ploy by a certain mobile phone company but the pair seem to be having a genuinely good time and our hearts are duly warmed. Curse you advertising men!

Our favourites from last week's blog

1) Fiona Pocock is trotting towards the try line in the Women's Rugby World Cup and then Nicole Beck decides to intervene...

2) Oh, for the days when commentators said what they really thought.

3) Spurs's new signing Rafael van der Vaart is so good he can create goals at both ends of the pitch, although you probably wouldn't want to sit next to him on the bench.

4) Now nobody likes losing a penalty shoot-out but is it really worth taking a shinty ball to your (helmetless) head?

5) Hamit Altintop went all the way to Kazakhstan and all he got was this mindblowing volley.

6) Our last badge goes to rowingrob, who makes a late, late burst for glory. But not nearly as late and glorious as becapped 800m genius Dave Wottle at the 1972 Olympics.

Spotters' badges: JimmyTheMoonlight, DamTomsk, kayakking, scottyirnbru, leonarpe, Estesark, rowingrob, SpartakKapokovic.

Brighton and Chesterfield look worth following on this weekend's coupon, while we launch our predictions contest

The less said about last week's tips the better. Apologies. Time to get back on the horse, as well as launch our new predictions contest.

Brighton to beat MK Dons @ 11-8

Having had their trip to Plymouth postponed due to international call-ups last weekend, the Seagulls were able to sit back and watch the Dons sneak a thoroughly fortuitous 1-0 home win over Hartlepool. The visitors were denied a nailed-on penalty against the Dons' 10 men in the dying minutes, sending a chap in the bar where I was watching the game through the roof. Literally, it was a low ceiling. While the Dons look to be in a somewhat inflated position, Brighton haven't performed to pre-season expectations thus far and boss Gus Poyet is likely to shuffle his pack, with forward Fran Sandoza in line for a possible debut, plus returning winger Kazenga LuaLua another option. Expect better tomorrow.

Chesterfield to beat Morecambe @ 13-8

Stat of the day? Twenty-one of the 48 League Two matches to be played so far this season have ended in draws, a whopping 44% of them. Don't be fooled, when it comes to this game, mind. The unbeaten Spireites maintained their 100% home record last weekend with a 2-1 success over Lincoln (oh), at the same time as Morecambe were keeping up their 0% away record in a 4-0 thumping at Oxford. The Shrimps head home this weekend, where they've drawn both of their league games, but they've now gone six games without a win and will be without the suspended defender Laurence Wilson, as well as striker Phil Jevons (head injury). Chesterfield have no such worries and should have plenty in hand.

NB: all prices with Betfair and correct at the time of publication

Tipping contest

Thoroughly ripping off Paolo Bandini's NFL Pick Six competition, today we're launching a tipping contest of our own. Make your result (not scoreline) prediction for each of the following games, with one point per correct result, and we'll tot them up at the end of the season. We'll also rummage through our cupboards to provide as-yet-unnamed prizes. So, with no further ado, feel free to post your picks for:

Cardiff v Hull
Burnley v Preston
Brighton v MK Dons
Yeovil v Tranmere
Morecambe v Chesterfield
Rotherham v Burton

I'll go with: Cardiff win, draw, Brighton win, draw, Chesterfield win, Rotherham win.

The England striker may be happy to stay but United should fear the cranking and grinding of corporate motivation

Today's billboard footballer is a corporation and with that mutation comes rootlessness, unless you are Paul Scholes or Ryan Giggs. When a household name moves clubs, his machine acts first, as if BMW were relocating. David Beckham did not move to Real Madrid in isolation. His industry made it happen.

At Manchester United's end there will be jitters that the chaos in Wayne Rooney's personal life increases the risk of him fleeing abroad when his contract expires in the summer of 2012. The reality is that he would move sooner, because United could hardly allow his transfer value to plunge in the last 12 months of his current deal. It's his life, not ours, and all that, but it would make no sense for him to depart an institution where protection comes with a chance to be part of a deep identity.

Gary Neville, Scholes and Giggs are different creatures, you protest. True, to the extent that those senior warriors swallowed the Fergusonian culture 20 years ago. They started at United and they will end there. They are Sir Alex Ferguson's unofficial sons. Rooney is imported Evertonian talent. He bit straight away on United's ethos of insatiability but he represents a more restless breed. His blood is not Old Trafford red.

Allegiance is under the magnifying glass this weekend as Rooney returns to Goodison Park to face his boyhood love in a Saturday lunchtime kick-off. Evertonians murmur that he seldom shines on his old patch. It must be comforting to think the local lad is answering to some inner voice that tells him not to hurt his old comrades. Not that psychological nuances will be on show at Goodison. Phil Jagielka, Rooney's England colleague, has already paraded insensitivity on that count. "It should be amusing on Saturday," Jagielka says. "There's a good chance he'll be slaughtered. I'll be giving him a bit as well."

Amusing? Hilarious. A twisted comic sense is needed to recast a family's week from hell as a new reservoir of banter. Best to move on sharply to the question of whether England's best player would really think it a wrench to leave Manchester for Madrid, say, given that United managed to extricate him from his blue bedroom shrine in Croxteth without too much emotional fuss.

Rooney's marriage and its potential for withstanding the acid drip of salacious headlines need not detain the football pages, except where personal calamity might tempt him to embrace the old hypothesis that an Englishman travels to mend a broken heart. Unlikely. Poetic self-dramatisation is not his natural state. The noise United fear most is the cranking and grinding of corporate motivation.

This is how it works. Advisers get ideas. Advisers think ahead. A notion that starts in a sleepless night becomes a possibility and then a desired objective. Already we see that Rooney is not on the Scholes longevity chart. He smokes and drinks and blunders across the minefield of our front pages. When precocity collides with hedonism, agents tend to calculate that their star ought to make one big move before deterioration sets in. That way the whole camp can shake the money tree.

There is no hard proof that this is the way the Rooney corporation is plotting but there is anxiety. There are 18 months left on his contract and a suspicion of drift. United always aim to secure extensions before deals reach the 12-month danger zone. This requires Rooney to grab the initiative and accept the huge offer that is already on his table. By definition the delay cannot be at United's end because they want him to stay, for a much higher wage, but there may now be a period of brinkmanship in which Paul Stretford, Rooney's agent, does what agents are bred to do: ask where his client might get top dollar.

At United's Carrington training ground a rebuke awaits anyone whose task it might be to seek condemnation of Rooney's private conduct from Ferguson, whose creed throughout his time in management has been loyalty to his players, if they are loyal to him, and a wagon-circling resistance to scrutiny.

"The one danger is that Wayne's almost had a full career at 24. He should be 28 now and have four years left," Gary Neville told the Observer earlier this year. "To get where I am now he's got 11 years left and he's already played eight or nine. I suppose all he's got to do is look at Ryan Giggs every single day: a guy who's improved every day from 16 or 17 when he made his debut to the age of 36. He's got a living example in the changing room."

Money's carrot is the one thing missing from Neville's analysis: a bad temptation, if it leads Rooney away from the safety he has now.

With Fabio Capello leaving in 2012, the FA has plenty of time to produce future English-born England managers

Where the England team is concerned critical opinion is as changeable as the wind, one moment a howling gale the next a benign breeze. After the World Cup fiasco it appeared that Fabio Capello's future as coach would be numbered in days, but this week he confirmed he would stand down after completing the remaining two years of his contract and the reaction amounted to little more than a shrugging acceptance of the obvious.

Of course timing was everything. Convincing victories against Bulgaria and Switzerland as England began the task of qualifying for the 2012 European Championship suddenly made the idea of another two seasons of Capello more bearable than it seemed two months ago. For the humiliation of Bloemfontein read the blessing of Basle.

And at least the Football Association now has a timescale as it considers Capello's successor, having already declared, not altogether wisely, that the next England manager must be English. Certainly he should be able to speak better English than the present incumbent but insisting on an Englishman would appear to narrow the choice to the point of invisibility. For a start the two Premier League managers most likely to come into the frame, Roy Hodgson and Harry Redknapp, are already into their 60s while the few others spend more time thinking about the 40 points needed to avoid relegation than winning World Cups.

Either way the FA needs to address itself to creating a system more likely to produce future English-born England managers. When Ron Greenwood retired from the job after the 1982 World Cup he had set up an England coaching dynasty of likely successors, among them Bobby Robson and Terry Venables, each of whom managed to get the team to the semi-finals of major tournaments – Robson at Italia 90, Venables at Euro 96. But the idea, while it persisted in spirit for a time after Glenn Hoddle had taken over from Venables, never really caught on with the FA which even now tends to make knee-jerk appointments as a reaction to what has gone before.

Maybe dynasties are no longer practicable. The German line of succession, in which the job of national coach was handed down from Sepp Herberger to Helmut Schön to Jupp Derwall, worked smoothly for decades so long as the team was successful but foundered when West Germany flopped in the 1984 European Championship, whereupon Derwall gave way to Franz Beckenbauer who, while he had been an icon as a player, did not even possess basic coaching qualifications. The increase in the size and spread of international tournaments and the intense media scrutiny to which players and coaches are subjected has made long-term planning much more difficult.

That said, the certain knowledge that before long the FA will again be short-listing candidates for the England job should further concentrate minds as the nation's bid to host the 2018 World Cup approaches the December deadline. If the next tournament but one does come to this country the game's ruling body will have eight years to cultivate a crop of coaches to match the Wengers, Ancelottis and, yes, the Capellos now holding sway. In fact seven of the team that finished the Switzerland game on Tuesday were from clubs managed by Italians – the six Manchester City men plus Chelsea's Ashley Cole.

Thankfully Capello ignored the vuvuzelas honking on about Wayne Rooney's state of mind following newspaper allegations about the player's private life. Rooney must have known what the Sunday papers had in store when he dominated the qualifier against Bulgaria on the Friday, so it was no surprise when he turned in another impressive performance against the Swiss four days later.

Ever since footballers achieved pop star status they have been subjected to the sort of lurid gossip which sells newspapers. The stuff now appearing smacks of the scandal-mongering which Hollywood lived with in its heyday. Once Hoddle had refused to drop Paul Gascoigne, who was never quite football's Fatty Arbuckle, following allegations that he had beaten up his wife it was clear that England team selections would not be decided by heavy-breathing headlines in the squaloids.

Incidentally, one of the principal heroes of England's latest wins has barely received a mention. So let's hear it for Frank Lampard's hernia, the catalyst which freed up Steven Gerrard, who until recently had been performing for his country like a man with an ill-fitting truss. Lampard may return but surely not to cramp Gerrard's free-ranging style.

Tom Hicks and George Gillett have cut the club adrift from title contention and from the faithful

Until Tom Hicks and George Gillett are officially consigned to Liverpool history, there will be no dancing around the streets of Anfield at reports of their imminent demise. Imminent will not suffice for supporters more accustomed to refinancing deals than record signings since the Americans arrived in February 2007 with promises to put spades in the ground, to manage debt and to sit on the Kop once fans accepted them as true custodians of a rich tradition. There may not be the energy for the send-off they deserve when it is all over.

News that the Royal Bank of Scotland is preparing to cancel £237.4m worth of debt next month, thereby ending Hicks's and Gillett's involvement in Liverpool and costing the credit-crunched businessmen a fortune, raises hope among the club's support that the end is indeed nigh. Another uncertain period awaits while a buyer is found, but the Americans' track record of resisting pressure from the banks, the Middle East, fellow directors, a former manager and the financial opinions of prized footballers to remain in control ensures judgment on a state-owned Liverpool must be reserved.

Doubt over the future of Liverpool will not lessen the significance of the co-owners' exit, however, whenever that comes. Hicks and Gillett have been accused of a litany of failure by the numerous protest groups they have unwittingly created. Some of the charges – such as never putting their own money into the club – are imagined; most – the stadium, the debt, transfers, undermining Rafael Benítez and their own dysfunctionality – are real. Alienating a mass fanbase from their club would also be high on that list.

That Liverpudlians cannot identify with a fundraiser for George W Bush (Hicks) is no surprise, nor a fundamental reason for the anger today, but an interminable saga of financial misery and broken promises has dismantled the traditions they vowed to protect. It is not simply that they have handicapped Liverpool as the club that "existed to win trophies" by making a profit on player-trading for the past two years. It is that for many – and yes, this does sound trite – the fun has gone.

As the MP for Walton, Steve Rotheram, whose constituency covers Anfield, said this week when calling for greater supporter ownership at all levels of the game: "Look at what's happened at Anfield. The fans there do not feel engaged. The owners have seen the supporters as part of the problem instead of the solution." They still do, and the removal of Benítez this summer illustrates that also applies to management level.

Gérard Houllier's return to English football with Aston Villa provides a reminder of how little and everything has changed about Liverpool since the need for new investment prompted former chairman David Moores to accept the Americans' £5,000 per share offer. Houllier spent years bemoaning Liverpool's inability to compete financially with Manchester United and Chelsea (though Arsenal's achievements at that time always undermined his argument) and was sacked after an alarming dip in form, bad buys and with Liverpool fearing they could be cut adrift while losing the services of two disillusioned stars – Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard.

Replace Owen with Fernando Torres this summer and the parallels are clear yet, even though the calls for Houllier's removal far exceeded those for Benítez, Liverpool's support is now politicised like never before. Instead of bridging the gap, Hicks and Gillett have cut Liverpool adrift – from title contention, the Champions League and from the faithful. Hicks hoped to win the latter back by ceding to Benítez's demands on his last, powerful contract at Anfield, but he had no chance.

Offering Jürgen Klinsmann a European Cup-winning manager's job turned the tide of public opinion against the co-owners, but a bigger mistake was to redraw plans for a new 60,000-capacity stadium on Stanley Park within weeks of their takeover. It was pre-credit crunch, and planning permission and European funding was in place for a stadium that was estimated to cost £215m.

The American dream of bigger and better then got in the way. Hicks wanted his own architects to create a grander vision (or cash cow) for 72,000 spectators. Gillett objected but not forcefully enough, and their business relationship began to deteriorate just as the financial storm approached. Only a succession of short-term refinancing packages, under increasingly stringent conditions, have maintained their grip on Liverpool to this point, but at a cost beyond what they stand to lose should the RBS assume control.

"We didn't come here to milk the franchise or the club, we are here to try and build a winning tradition on what is already a winning tradition," said Gillett on the day he first set foot inside Anfield. "I don't think it is appropriate for me or Tom to try to convince the fans we understand the sport, the history or the traditions as well as they do. But respect is what we genuinely feel about the history and legacy of this franchise. I hope we can earn the respect of the fans. Give us a few years and then measure us."

The verdict was returned long ago. And they never did buy Snoogy-Doogy.

Despite the criticism that goes with the job, there has been a surge in the number of people becoming officials in this country

It was, you might have thought, not possible to be among the estimated 700 million people who watched the World Cup final and not be thankful you were not the English referee Howard Webb, who took charge of the encounter between Spain and Holland. According to the Football Association, however, since that night of Dutch thuggery in Johannesburg there has been a dramatic increase in the numbers of football fans and players wanting to get into refereeing.

Tempting, though, it may be to put this down to an overwhelming desire on the part of the public to put a bunch of cheating, foul-mouthed and obscenely over-paid yahoos firmly in their place, for most aspiring new refs the appeal actually has nothing to do with a desire for retribution.

"It's about pleasure, fresh air, exercise, social contact, a little pocket money and a genuine love of the game," said the FA's senior refereeing-manager Ian Blanchard. "As we all know, without a referee the sport doesn't go much further than a kickabout in the park.

"But it's also the case that officiating is increasingly being seen as a route to participation at a higher level. Last year the number of new referees coming into the game between the ages of 14 and 19 was 2,614. This year it's already over 4,400."

It is true that those on the National List of referees – those eligible to referee Premier and Football League games – are reasonably well paid. As well as a basic salary of between £45,000 and £65,000, determined by seniority and experience, referees receive a match fee (currently £350, whether you are at Old Trafford or Gigg Lane), and an annual bonus (based on performance assessments) of up to 20% of your salary.

Referees like Webb, who are Fifa-rated and officiate European and international matches, receive additional match fees and expenses. With the education and development programmes now in place, the likes of Michael Oliver, who at 25 has become the youngest referee to officiate in the Premier League, are a good example of how quickly the new breed of career officials can hope to progress.

Whether it is enough to compensate for the pressure and abuse from supporters, players and managers is another matter. Or the shame when you get a decision wrong, and know you did.

Based on the embarrassment felt by this one-off assistant referee after awarding a throw-in to the wrong side when Daventry Town Under-12s met their counter-parts from Bugbrooke St Michaels in a pre-season friendly last month, how bad must Webb feel about not sending off Nigel de Jong for planting his studs in the rib cage of Xabi Alonso in the World Cup Final?

The problem, as I explained red-faced to watching Premier League referee Peter Walton, was that I instinctively tried to stop the ball as it went past me to save someone having to go and get it. And then got flustered. "Lesson one; don't get distracted," said Walton, grinning.

Other than a couple of looks of disbelief, there is not the slightest hint of dissent from the boys, which if anything makes me feel worse. Nor (that I can hear) from the watching parents, which suggests the FA's ongoing Respect campaign is paying dividends.

According to Bugbrooke parent Nicki Kilshaw, problems at this level of the game are increasingly rare: "The clubs are very keen to make parents understand that they're there to support, not criticise, and that includes the officials as well as the players. In terms of quality, the younger refs tend to be better than the older ones. We had a 15-year-old girl recently and she was the best of the lot – brilliant, she was."

With a couple of hours of guidance and role-playing from Blanchard and Walton having served to emphasise the superficiality of my knowledge of the laws of the game, it is something of a relief when Walton describes my refereeing as 'commendable'.

"You were absorbed in the game, kept up with play – though you were maybe a bit too close to the ball sometimes – and made your decisions clear," he said. "In fact, your communication with the players was probably better than with your assistants."

For me, the constant involvement of refereeing makes it an infinitely more enjoyable – and therefore easier – experience than running the line. It certainly helps to be so wrapped up in the game that you become unaware of anything being said or shouted from the touchline. Walton – who contrary to the widespread belief that no referees can actually play the game was a semi-professional before training to become a referee – suggests this absorption also applies on the field.

"Believe it or not I don't suffer too much direct abuse from players as the game is played out so fast that you don't enter into many conversations," he said. "You might hear the crowd sometimes, but they are fans who see only one side, and judge accordingly. What does annoy me is when fans are ignorant of the law and do not [or don't want to] understand why I have to give certain decisions.

"Of course a natural empathy for the game is important, but like any job the key to enjoyment is competence. With the training programmes the FA are producing increasing numbers of competent, confident young referees, and that can only be good for the game."

The FA's Get Into Refereeing campaign in association with Carlsberg is part of the National Game strategy, a £200m investment in grassroots football. For more information about becoming a referee visit www.TheFA.com/referee

• Midfielder wins award for fourth time
• Chelsea's Carlo Ancelotti is manager of the month

Paul Scholes has been named as the Barclays Player of the Month for August. The midfielder's Manchester United team are unbeaten in the Premier League. The former England player shone in United's first match of the season, setting up goals for Dimitar Berbatov and Ryan Giggs in a 3-0 win over Newcastle United at Old Trafford.

He continued his great form with his 150th goal for the club, a drive from the edge of the area to give United the lead in a 2-2 draw at Fulham. He ended the month by playing a key role in a 3-0 home win over West Ham United.

The 35-year-old midfielder has won the award four times, once fewer than Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard. Alan Shearer, Cristiano Ronaldo, Frank Lampard, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp have also won the award four times.

The Chelsea manager, Carlo Ancelotti, won the Barclays Manager of the Month award. The Premier League champions scored 14 goals without reply as they took nine points from three matches.

Ancelotti's side beat West Bromwich Albion 6-0 at Stamford Bridge and repeated the feat at Wigan Athletic. They then beat Stoke City 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Ancelotti was the only manager to see his team win all three of their matches in August. This is the second time he has won the Manager of the Month award since taking over at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2009.

Sol Campbell, Hatem Ben Arfa – aka the new Laurent Robert – and Cheick Tioté are hoping to make their Newcastle debuts but Chris Hughton may well be reluctant to disrupt his starting XI. Marlon Harewood, a loanee at St James' Park from Aston Villa last season, will aim to jog Tyneside memories with a goal while spearheading Blackpool's attack. Not that Ian Holloway is overly optimistic. "We'll be doing fantastically if we get one point from our next two games at Newcastle and Chelsea," he said. "We have to scrap, bite and kick for anything we can get." Louise Taylor

Venue St James' Park, Saturday 3pm

Tickets £25-40 (www.nufc.co.uk)

Last season (Championship) Newcastle 4 Blackpool 1

Referee L Mason

This season's matches 1 Y3, R0, 1.00 card per game

Odds Newcastle 8-13 Blackpool 5-1 Draw 3-1

Newcastle

Subs from Krul, Campbell, Kadar, Tavernier, Ben Arfa, Tioté, Ameobi, Ranger, Lovenkrands, R Taylor

Doubtful Campbell (match fitness), Carroll (ankle)

Injured Simpson (ankle, 18 Sep), Guthrie (ankle, 26 Sep), Best (ankle, Nov), S Taylor (shoulder, Nov), Gosling (knee, Mar)

Suspended Xisco (first of three)

Form guide DWL

Disciplinary record Y10 R0

Leading scorer Carroll 4

Blackpool

Subs from Halstead, Coid, Eardley, Martin, Ormerod, Grandin, Varney, Basham, Euell, Sylvestre, Edwards, Demontagnac, Keinan, Carney, Phillips

Doubtful Baptiste (hand), Southern (knee)

Injured Rachubka (knee, 18 Sep), Almond (shoulder, 23 Oct), Clarke (knee, May)

Suspended None

Form guide DLW

Disciplinary record Y2 R1

Leading scorer Harewood 2

Match pointers

• Newcastle last lost at home to Blackpool in August 1970, although they have played them only six times since

• There have been 17 goals scored in Blackpool's three away games in all competitions in 2010-11

• Joey Barton has been booked in all three of his appearances this season and has now collected 49 yellow cards in his Premier League career

• Blackpool have been caught offside 13 times, more often than any other side

• Newcastle have hit the target with 65% of their shots, the best rate in the division

• Winger signs to stay until 2015
• Chief executive says club 'very keen' for new deal

The Wolves winger Matt Jarvis has signed a new five-year deal that will keep him at Molineux until 2015. The 22-year-old had two years left on his contract, following a season in which he made 34 Premier League appearances.

"We've been talking to Matt and his representative for a long period of time," said the Wolves chief executive, Jez Moxey. "He was very keen to commit to us and we were very keen to commit to him.

"Matt is highly talented and fits in with our policy of developing good young players and aiming to keep them at Molineux. He had less than two years remaining on his contract, and it was the right time to do something.

"There was a lot of speculation linking him to a possible England call-up for the recent [Euro 2012] qualifiers, which shows the progress he has been making. And we are confident he still has more improvement to come."

Jarvis arrived from Gillingham in June 2007.

• Sir Alex Ferguson says 29-year-old out for three weeks
• Midfielder has not made Premier League start this season

Michael Carrick has been ruled out of action for three weeks with an achilles tendon injury.

The Manchester United midfielder has made only one Premier League appearance this season, replacing Paul Scholes late on in a 3-0 win against West Ham United at Old Trafford on 28 August. He started the Community Shield victory over Chelsea before the start of the league season.

Carrick, 29, was a member of Fabio Capello's England squad at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa but did not take the field. He was an unused substitute for the recent Euro 2012 qualifying victories against Bulgaria and Switzerland.

It means Carrick will miss tomorrow's visit to Everton and the home matches against Rangers and Liverpool that follow in a busy week.

Ferguson had some good news to impart, however, as he will have Rio Ferdinand available for the first time this season.The defender has made a quicker than expected recovery from the knee injury he suffered on the first day of World Cup training in South Africa.

"Rio Ferdinand could have played for the reserves against Stockport last night," said Ferguson. "He wanted to play but his training performances are so good I didn't see any point.

"He is in the squad. With three games this week, it is good that he is back in the fold."

• Everton midfielder suffered injury at Aston Villa
• Rodwell may struggle to play in Christmas programme

The Everton midfielder Jack Rodwell is facing up to three months out with an ankle injury according to a report in the Liverpool Daily Post.

The 19-year-old damaged ankle ligaments in a challenge with the Aston Villa defender Stephen Warnock in a 1-0 defeat at Villa Park almost a fortnight ago. He was withdrawn from the England under-21 squad, although swelling around the injury meant that Everton's medical team were unable to ascertain the full extent of the damage immediately.

Rodwell, who faces a battle to return in time for the busy Christmas and New Year period, was making his first Premier League start of the season at Villa Park but was forced to leave the field with 20 minutes left.

Everton's manager, David Moyes, had hinted that he would be sparing with his use of Rodwell until the second half of the season.

Today's flim flam has discovered that Italy is a different country

Wayne Rooney sex-marriage-hooker-hell-torment-nightmare latest: the England ace has told Sir Alex Ferguson that he may need to go on compassionate leave for a while in a bid to save his marriage. "I'm desperate to get her back. I'll do anything to get her back," he told a friend, while arranging for a fleet of vans to deliver loads of flowers to his marital home yesterday. "I realise what a fool I've been." His marriage is in such a precarious state that Mrs R went shopping yesterday without her wedding ring before putting it on again later, leaving commentators frankly at a loss over what to say.

Yet more bad news for Rooney in The Star, who reveal that both of the women involved in his alleged threesome were at the time in relationships with extremely dangerous gangsters. One was going out with a convicted armed robber, while the other was involved with a man who is this very morning in prison awaiting sentencing for illegally smuggling gun parts into the UK. One "senior security source involved in celebrity protection" told the paper: "Listen, you've clearly just made me up so just write whatever you want."

If Rooney really wants to get close to his wife all he needs is to slap on a bit of David Beckham's new aftershave and wait for Mrs R to get overcome with irresistible urges. He can, if he chooses, follow this handy instructional video guide. But he should not, repeat not, get himself stuck in a lift with Nolberto Solano, not only because the stubble burn could rule him out for six to eight weeks but also because the Peruvian might be a bit bitter about women given that his house has been repossessed and it's all his ex-wife's fault. "She's moved to Greece and she was supposed to be in charge of the situation," he said. Solano and Rooney could however have a lovely chat about their respective vices: trumpets and strumpets.

Confirmation that the England job will be up for grabs in two years has provoked a string of premature applications. "You've got to take the job if you get offered it," said Harry Redknapp. "To go on the international stage would be exciting," added Sam Allardyce. "I would love to have a go. It must be the proudest moment of your life," tub-thumped Steve Bruce. So there we are then, sorted.

Redknapp didn't stop there, though, thoughtfully issuing a lay-off-the-booze plea to footballers everywhere. "People have a drink, we all drink. We've all done it. I'm not sitting here saying I never have. Of course I have. I've liked to drink all my life," he said. "But these lads now, you can't do it any more. The days now, everyone's got a camera."

Redknapp almost certainly needed a drink last night to cope with the flashbacks of Marco Boogers he must have experienced after Tottenham's big-name Dutch signing Rafael van der Vaart talked about his caravan-dwelling past. "The caravan was the way my family lived. My father was born in one and it is a lifestyle. Maybe it is not a normal one but I always liked it."

But Van der Vaart was resoundingly outwackied by fellow deadline-day arrival Asamoah Gyan. "In the national team everybody knows I can sing," said the Sunderland new-boy. "I like any kind of music with a good rhythm. I write my own songs and sing them to my team-mates." And here's proof of his vocal prowess, a duet with Castro the Destroyer, "Ghana's 50 Cent". Sample lyric: "African girls they be, them be sweet, them be sexy like cheese."

Can the Mill be the first to suggest that Gyan should not be allowed to follow Beckham into the personal aftershave brand business? The erstwhile England captain's new fragrance is called Intimately Beckham Yours, which is quite cheesy enough. The thought of Gyan touting an effort entitled Stinking Bishop is nearly enough to have us getting all Van Gogh with our noses.

Anyway, Sunderland's lyrical gangsta also revealed why he likes to wear the No3 shirt – though he's been saddled with No33 at the Stadium of Light – "It is a powerful number. I'll give you an example: if you are lifting something heavy, you count to three before you lift." You've got to say, the man's got a point. You do count to three before you lift.

Scott Parker has signed a new four-year deal at West Ham, with his weekly wage flying up by almost 3% from £67,000 a week to £70,000. "I always knew this was where I was going to be," he said. Avram Grant is set to miss West Ham's visit to Stoke next Saturday because it clashes with the Jewish festival Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and he is going to be busy repenting that day. "It is difficult to stand in the way of religious conviction," said David Gold.

I can do no better than repeat verbatim this item by the Press Gazette's entertainingly acerbic diarist, Grey Cardigan:

The Daily Mail's take on the Wayne Rooney affair:

Miss Wood, 23, a university lecturer's daughter, and Miss Thompson, 21, the privately-educated child of a wealthy oil company executive, have turned out to be flag-bearers for the celebrity-mad, lascivious culture that has consumed the nation.

And at the bottom of the piece?

Have you got a story on a celebrity? Call the Daily Mail showbusiness desk on 0207 938 6364 or 0207 938 6683

Brilliant!