Under-fire Tottenham Hotspur manager Martin Jol would be "better off without" Dimitar Berbatov, according to Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp.
The Bulgarian striker made a big impact in his debut season at White Hart Lane last season, scoring 23 goals.
But Spurs' poor start to the new campaign has left Jol on the brink of unemployment and, Redknapp says, brought out the worst in Berbatov.
The former Bayer Leverkusen striker appeared reluctant to come on as a substitute in the Londoners' 3-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Monday, and Redknapp is clear on what he would do.
"The very last thing Martin Jol needs right now is Dimitar Berbatov spitting his dummy out because he's not in Tottenham's starting team every week," Redknapp said in his column in a newspaper.
"You only find out the true character of your players when the chips are down and the pressure is on. And we all saw what Berbatov is made of when he was sat sulking on the bench at Newcastle the other night with a face like a big baby. Everyone knows what a terrific player the Bulgarian can be. But he's not the striker he was a year ago and, from what I've seen, he looks to be disinterested and playing for himself rather than his team. His attitude is terrible and his behaviour at St James' Park sent out all the wrong signals."
The 26-year-old front man had been linked with a move to Old Trafford over the summer, but Redknapp believes Berbatov has blown any chance of that now.
"Maybe he's sulking because he didn't get a move to Manchester United in the summer," Redknapp added.
"But he's done himself absolutely no favours on that account because I know for a fact Alex Ferguson would never stand for any player who behaves the way Berbatov has done this week. When your team is in trouble you need the big characters to stand up. That's just what Robbie Keane has done for Spurs and Berbatov should show the same attitude. I have always believed that when you lose a player's support you get him out as quickly as possible."
Spurs play Getafe in the Uefa Cup on Thursday evening and it will be interesting to see if Jol heeds Redknapp's words.
"No matter how good, you're better off without him."
15 October 2007
Borussia Dortmund midfielder Diego has been voted player of the 2006/07 season in a ballot of players from Germany's top three divisions.
The Brazilian got 31.4 percent of the vote, ahead of VfB Stuttgart's Mario Gomez (12.1 percent) and Bayer Leverkusen's Bernd Schneider (10.2 percent), the professional soccer players' association announced.
Striker Miroslav Klose won the honour the previous season with 64 percent of the votes.
15 October 2007
Bayer 04 Leverkusen midfielder Pirmin Schwegler is likely to miss at least two UEFA Cup group-stage matches after suffering a knee injury on international duty.
Schwegler ruptured a knee ligament playing for the Switzerland Under-21s in Norway on Friday and is expected to require two months of rest and rehabilitation.
The lay-off will rule the 20-year-old out of Leverkusen's Group E games at home to Toulouse FC, on 25 October, and away to FC Spartak Moskva, on 8 November.
His availability for the Bundesliga club's concluding two group fixtures – the December meetings with AC Sparta Praha and FC Zurich – remains a question mark.
Schwegler had been sidelined for several weeks at the start of the season by another knee injury. He has managed four Bundesliga appearances this term for eighth-placed Leverkusen. Switzerland lost the match in Oslo 2-1.
12 October 2007
Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Simon Rolfes has extended his current contract with the club until 2010.
His current deal was due to expire at the end of this season, but the German international has committed to a further two years at the Bay-Arena.
'We have a very good and interesting team here at Leverkusen, which has great potential' Rolfes explained.
'I want to develop here further as a player. I had other offers, but I came to the conclusion that Bayer was the right choice.'
The 25 year old joined the club in 2005 from Alemannia Aachen and has subsequently become a regular German international.
'I'm delighted that Simon will be staying with us' beamed Leverkusen trainer Michael Skibbe.
'He is one of the pillars of our team in midfield and is bearing more and more responsibility. He will massively help the development of our young team.'
08 October 2007
Tottenham have missed out on a top seeding for Tuesday's Uefa Cup group stage draw in Switzerland.
Spurs were rated ninth in Uefa's seedings and join Bolton in pool two, while Everton are in the third tier with Aberdeen in the bottom eight.
This means they could face a top seed such as Villarreal or Bayern Munich.
The 40 clubs will be drawn into eight groups of five, with each playing two home and away matches. Clubs from the same country cannot be paired together.
The top three in each of the groups will join the teams finishing third in the Champions League groups for the knockout rounds, which start with 32 sides.
Werder Bremen midfielders Torsten Frings and Tim Borowski are back in Germany's squad for the upcoming European Championship qualifiers against Ireland and the Czech Republic, but striker Miroslav Klose and captain Michael Ballack are still missing.
Klose has re-injured his right knee and Ballack is still recovering from an ankle operation. The Chelsea midfielder has not played since April. Klose leads the Bundesliga with eight goals for Bayern Munich.
Also missing are defenders Philipp Lahm of Bayern Munich and Christian Pander of Schalke and Stuttgart midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger.
Frings and Borowski return after missing the start of the season with knee injuries. Also back is Werder defender Clemens Fritz.
Stuttgart striker Mario Gomez is also back in the 22-man roster announced by coach Joachim Loew on Friday. Gomez missed last month's qualifier against Wales and the friendly against Romania.
Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is in the squad although he hasn't played for more than a month because of an elbow injury.
Germany leads Group D with 22 points from eight games. The Czechs have 20 points from nine games and Ireland 14, also from nine games.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Timo Hildebrand (Valencia), Jens Lehmann (Arsenal)
Defenders: Gonzalo Castro (Bayer Leverkusen), Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Manuel Friedrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Clemens Fritz (Werder Bremen), Marcell Jansen (Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Christoph Metzelder (Real Madrid)
Midfielders: Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen), Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen), Roberto Hilbert (Stuttgart), David Odonkor (Betis Sevilla), Simon Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen), Bernd Schneider (Bayer Leverkusen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburger SV)
Forwards: Mario Gomez (Stuttgart), Patrick Helmes (Cologne), Stefan Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen), Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke 04), Lukas Podolski (Bayern Munich)
01 October 2007
Oliver Kahn is to undergo surgery on his elbow injury and is facing up to five weeks on the sidelines.
The veteran Bayern Munich goalkeeper aggravated an existing problem during the warm-up for Saturday's Bundesliga clash against Bayer Leverkusen.
Kahn was replaced by Michael Rensing for the BayArena meeting and he kept a clean sheet as the visitors won 1-0 to open up a four-point lead over Schalke at the top of the table.
Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld confirmed that the former Germany No.1 requires an operation, but as yet a date is still to be set for the procedure.
Bayern could also be without Miroslav Klose for Thursday's Uefa Cup first round second leg with Portuguese outfit Belenenses due to a knee complaint.
