DUNDEE United chairman Eddie Thompson last night dismissed suggestions that manager Craig Levein could be tempted back to Hearts.
The Tynecastle club are searching for a new manager and Levein, who served them for 19 years as a player and manager, has been linked with a return. But Thompson, who has developed a close bond with his manager since appointing him in October 2006,
admits he would be "astounded" if he moved on.
Thompson said: "Craig Levein and I have a special relationship which, as has been demonstrated by reaching the CIS Cup final, clinching a top-six place and having a wee chance of qualifying for European, is proving highly successful. I'd be astounded if he would consider such a move (to Hearts]."
Kirkland pulls out A BACK injury has forced goalkeeper Chris Kirkland to withdraw from Fabio Capello's England squad to face France this week. West Ham's Robert Green is added to the party set to travel to Paris for Wednesday's friendly.
Green becomes the second goalkeeper to be added to the squad, with Tottenham's Paul Robinson called up following an injury to Aston Villa's on-loan Liverpool man Scott Carson.
Kewell commits to RedsAUSTRALIA winger Harry Kewell has refused to give up on earning a new Liverpool contract, dampening speculation that he may be a summer transfer target for Celtic.
Kewell has struggled to nail down a place in the first XI at Anfield and the 29-year-old has been allowed to link up with the Socceroos for their World Cup qualifiers in the Far East.
But Kewell insisted: "I've got a contract until the end of the season and I'm still fighting for another one."
Valencia stun RealREAL Madrid blew their chance to stretch their four-point lead at the top of Spain's Primera Liga when they went down 3-2 at home to Valencia. Despite two goals from Raul the Galacticos were undone by a goal from Javier Arizmendi in the final minute after a brace by David Villa. Meanwhile, Bojan Krkic scored two second-half goals and set up two others yesterday as Barcelona brushed aside Valladolid 4-1.
In Italy, Mauro Camoranesi and David Trezeguet both scored on Saturday to give Juventus a 2-1 victory over Serie A leaders Inter Milan. The defeat was only Inter's second in the league this season. Inter stayed on 68 points, while AS Roma, who beat Empoli 2-1, have 64. Juventus are third with 58.
Meanwhile, Rangers' Uefa Cup opponents Sporting lost the Portuguese League Cup final to Vitoria Setubal , 3-2 on penalties after the game finished goalless.
Anderson in for BrazilMANCHESTER United's Anderson will replace the injured Kaka in the Brazil squad for Wednesday's friendly against Sweden at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. Brazil will also be without Ronaldinho, after he was left out of the squad by coach Dunga.
The full article contains 483 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
