Georgi Kinkladze yesterday joined Derby on loan until the end of the season. Midfielder Kinkladze, who will train with Derby today, has joined Jim Smith's side with a view to a permanent move from Ajax, who signed him from Manchester City 18 months ago.
The signing is a coup for Smith, who is looking to bring in new faces after his side's poor start to the season. "I think Georgi is the type of player the Derby public would enjoy," he said.
Kinkladze, 26, will definitely miss Saturday's trip to Liverpool but there is a chance he could make his Derby debut at home to Manchester United on November 20th if his work permit comes through.
Leeds manager David O'Leary is on a collision course with FIFA after his defiant insistence that Harry Kewell will not be allowed to play in two friendlies for Australia against Brazil later this month. FIFA have confirmed that Soccer Australia have grounds for an appeal to force Leeds to release their midfielder.
"I am sorry to disappoint the Australian nation," said O'Leary, but the bottom line is that Harry is a young player and I've got to look after him. It's only the beginning of November and already we are having a very hard season."
Under FIFA regulations, clubs are obliged to release players for seven international matches - either a friendly or tournament - during a calendar year. Kewell has only played once for Australia since January.
The row over the allocation of seats for the European Championship play-off between Scotland and England in Glasgow degenerated into farce last night when council workers who queue-jumped to get tickets threatened to call in police if they do not receive them.
The threat came as the latest twist to the saga of the bungled allocation of thousands of tickets for the play-off at Hampden Park on November 13th. When thousands of fans tried to buy tickets via a jammed telephone hotline on Friday, the council employees used the internal phone system to which the ticket hotline was connected.
Meanwhile, Kevin Phillips has eased Kevin Keegan's fears of a striker shortage ahead of the European Championship showdown. Phillips, the Premiership's top scorer with 13 goals already this season, was stretchered off during Sunderland's 2-1 victory over Tottenham on Sunday.
There were initial fears that Phillips might be set for another lengthy spell on the sidelines following the toe injury he suffered at the start of last season. But the 26-year-old striker gave both club and country some welcome news after a scan revealed he had only suffered bruising.
Rangers and Scotland defender Colin Hendry hopes to prove his fitness ahead of the play-off with England when he plays against Celtic in an under-21 match next Monday.
