Stephen Warnock has hailed the impact of Aston Villa keeper Shay Given and believes he has justified his decision to quit Manchester City after being frozen out by Robero Mancini.
The Ireland keeper has been in outstanding form in a transitional season for Villa.
Left-back Warnock said: “It’s the pride of a footballer to come back and prove people wrong.
“If your face fits, then great.
“Shay’s face didn’t fit at Manchester City at the time. But he’s come here and his face fits and we are reaping the rewards of a great buy.”
Bresciano returns
Midfielder Mark Bresciano was drafted into the Australian squad for the first time in 18 months as they prepare to face Saudi Arabia in a World Cup qualifier in Melbourne next week.
The 32-year-old, who played in Italy for 12 years, went on a self-imposed break after the 2010 World Cup but his form for UAE side Al Nasr convinced Socceroos coach Holger Osieck that he was good enough to make a comeback.
Long-time Socceroos Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton were also called up along with captain Lucas Neill and Mark Schwarzer.
Beretta... Cesena’s third coach
Cesena have joined Palermo and Cagliari in hiring their third coach of the season after Daniele Arrigoni was fired and Mario Beretta hired in his place yesterday.
Cesena dropped to the foot of Serie A at the weekend following a 3-1 defeat at home to Milan.
The coaching change was the 13th this season in Serie A.
Arrigoni was only hired in November to replace Marco Giampaolo, with whom Cesena began the campaign.
Beretta, 52, comes into the job with ample previous Serie A experience having coached Chievo, Parma and Siena.
Bayern quartet expected to stay
Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is confident that a quartet of players will soon commit their futures to the club.
Ivica Olic and Daniel van Buyten are both out of contract in the summer, but Rummenigge expects them to remain with the club while Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben appear tempted to extend their contracts prema-turely.
“I believe that Olic and Van Buyten will stay,” Rummenigge told Kicker magazine.
“Both of them have shown an interest in staying and they have shown good character too.”
Despite starting the last three games on the bench, Rumme-nigge believes Robben is also happy to stay with the Bavarian club.
Sneijder says no to Zenit SP
Wesley Sneijder has revealed that he declined an attractive offer to join Zenit St Petersburg last week.
Zenit boss Luciano Spalletti recently confirmed his interest in the Inter playmaker as Russian clubs have until February 24 to sign new players.
“Yes, there was a bid and it was interesting,” Sneijder said.
“They wanted to push ahead with it. There was absolutely nothing wrong with their proposal, but I didn’t think it was the right time for me to leave Inter.”
Bin Hammam hearing in April
Former FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hammam’s appeal against a lifetime ban from all football activity imposed by the sport’s world governing body will be heard by the CAS on April 18 and 19.
Bin Hammam, who was also the head of the Asian Football Confederation, was banned after being found guilty of bribery by FIFA’s ethics committee last year.
His appeal against FIFA’s decision, which was lodged in November, is listed on the CAS website among their upcoming cases.
The Qatari national was found guilty of attempting to bribe members of the Carib-bean Football Union at a meeting on the FIFA presidency campaign trail in Trinidad in May.
McDermott tops Wolves’ shortlist
Wolves are set to seek permission from Reading to speak to manager Brian McDermott after identifying the 50-year-old as a prime candidate to replace the sacked Mick McCarthy, Press Association Sport reported.
The midlands club have altered their stance after initially stating Premier League experience was a vital ingredient for any possible successor to Mick McCarthy.
Steve Bruce remains a contender after holding initial talks with Wolves owner Steve Morgan and chief executive Jez Moxey on Friday.
But McDermott is now at the forefront of Wolves’ plans although they have denied speculation claiming they have already held talks with the former Arsenal player.