Tuesday's B*ll*x

[Chinners]

Manchester City pair Roberto Mancini and Shay Given hold clear-the-air talks
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has held a clear-the-air meeting with Shay Given and told his second-choice goalkeeper that he doesn’t want him to leave the club.
Given, who is expected to make a rare start in the Carling Cup at West Brom tomorrow night, said over the weekend that he would happily ‘go anywhere’ to play first-team football.

however Sky Sports understands ...

Trapattoni has discussed keeper's situation with Serie A clubs
Republic of Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni claims clubs in Italy would be keen to sign Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given.
The 34-year-old is expected to seek a move away from City during the January transfer window after losing his first-team spot to Joe Hart this season.
Given has yet to make an appearance for City since Hart's return from a loan spell at Birmingham City, although he could be given a chance in the Carling Cup against West Brom on Wednesday.
Newcastle United have played down reports of a move to re-sign Given and a winter to switch to Serie A has been mooted, with Roma rumoured to be interested.
Trapattoni, who retains faith in Given as Ireland's No.1, has confirmed the shot-stopper is highly rated in Serie A and has discussed the situation with clubs in his homeland.
"We have already, myself and Marco (Tardelli), spoken with some Italian teams," said Trapattoni in the Irish Independent.
"In Italy, he is kept in high regard by many. But the goalkeeper is a difficult position.
"There is interest in them, and we have one or two teams who have goalkeepers inferior to them.
"But there are many situations in Italy, like in England. We can only inform them. We cannot force it.
"If he has the opportunity, maybe he will ask to leave City."

Manchester City Boss Roberto Mancini Confirms League Cup Rotation Against West Bromwich Albion
Reserves must prove quality...
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has challenged his reserves to step up to the plate after he confirmed he'd rest his top stars for Wednesday's League Cup commitment.
City come into the competition with a bulging squad after another summer of big spending. The clash against West Bromwich Albion should see players such as goalkeeper Shay Given come in from the cold.
Speaking to reporters, the Italian demanded his second string prove they are capable of replacing Yaya Toure and Carlos Tevez when he unleashes them.
"Every game is important for us this season and it is important the players understand the situation," said Mancini, according to skysports.com.
"We can't leave one competition. We must play at 100 per cent in every competition and that means in the Carling Cup we must change some players - because we can't play every two days."
He added: "If we want to win something we must understand that we can also play without Carlos and Yaya. They are fantastic players but we must also be a team when we are missing them.
"If we don't do that then we will not improve. At the moment we have a problem because we are missing four or five players but when all the players are back it is important we play some games without them."

TRANSFER BOLLOX
Newcastle are weighing up a £12.5m move for 28-year-old Fiorentina striker Alberto Gilardino, according to reports in Italy. Full TalkSport

Manchester United are considering a move for Tottenham's Tom Huddlestone in the January transfer window. Red Devils manager Sir Alex Ferguson is thought to be a big fan of the £16m-rated midfielder. caughtoffside.com

Meanwhile, Ferguson could bring Aston Villa centre-back Ciaran Clark to Old Trafford as part of a deal involving United striker Michael Owen moving to the West Midlands outfit. caughtoffside.com

Nigeria striker Victor Obinna wants to make his loan move from Inter Milan to West Ham permanent because he likes the style of Premier League football. Daily Mirror

Fulham centre-back Brede Hangeland and Ajax goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg could be on their way to Arsenal in a £22m double swoop in January. caughtoffside.com

OTHER BOLLOX
Manchester United want to give a trial to Brazilian youngster Andrigo, who plays for Internacional. Barcelona have also invited the 15-year-old forward for a trial at the Nou Camp. Daily Mirror

Liverpool pair Pepe Reina and Fernando Torres could be on their way out of Anfield as co-owner Tom Hicks plots a £280m buyout of partner George Gillett's shares in the club. caughtoffside.com

Slimmed-down West Ham striker Benni McCarthy says he is ready to play in Tuesday's Carling Cup clash with Sunderland after been fined by the Hammers for exceeding his target weight. Daily Mail

Danish defender Daniel Agger has become the first Liverpool player to openly challenge Roy Hodgson's authority after claiming he will not fall in line with the manager's long-ball mantra. Daily Express

Former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who has made a lively start to the new season at Hamburg in Germany by scoring six goals in five games, admits he could bring an end to his glittering career at the end of the season. Daily Mail

Bolton manager Owen Coyle has revealed that Brian Laws, boss of Coyle's former club Burnley, sent him a text message saying simply "ouch" when the the two clubs were paired together for Tuesday's Carling Cup tie at Turf Moor. Daily Mirror

Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov has revealed the ­reason for his superb form so far this season - running six miles a day in the summer in between watching World Cup matches as a fan. Daily Star

Norwich director and noted intellectual Stephen Fry got some football facts, regarding 1940s Wolves striker Dennis Westcott, slightly wrong on the first programme in a new series of his television quiz show QI. Fry claimed Wolves manager Major Frank Buckley experimented with injecting monkey glands to improve his team's fitness, leading to a goal spree by Westcott. However, Westcott's run of 38 goals in 35 games was in 1946-47, Buckley left Wolves in 1944 and the monkey glands controversy was in 1938. (Daily Mail)

[Tokyo Blue]

I wonder if Signore Trapattoni had MCFC's permission to start pimping one of our players around other clubs. Even if he has, is he a licenced agent? This is a very dodgy thing to come out with, in my opinion. Perhaps he is a really nice bloke, but...

[Ted Hughes]

I wonder if Signore Trapattoni had MCFC's permission to start pimping one of our players around other clubs. Even if he has, is he a licenced agent? This is a very dodgy thing to come out with, in my opinion. Perhaps he is a really nice bloke, but...

Wonder if he'd be making the same comments if Given played for the rags? Doubt it somehow.