Alan Pardew has dismissed talk of a rift between strikers Jermain Defoe and David Connolly during his first two days in charge of West Ham.
Pardew had to wait five weeks before taking over from caretaker Trevor Brooking at Upton Park this week under the terms of his release from Reading. But he admitted his first job was to get to the bottom of allegations the pair do not pass to each other after a string of performances in which they have looked like strangers.
Pardew said: "The fans are ultimately our most important people and they want to know if there is a problem so I actually asked them. They assured me there wasn't. I think there's some naivety in Jermain's play, certainly, because he's so young and eager to do well, and that can be misconstrued as not passing to David."
Moyes wary
Everton manager David Moyes has expressed his unhappiness at the arrangements for Wayne Rooney's 18th birthday party.
Rooney turns 18 on Friday, with the bash at Aintree Racecourse planned for next week and with Robbie Williams and Atomic Kitten apparently on the guest list.
Moyes has gone to great lengths to protect Rooney from the media and it's no wonder Moyes has voiced his concerns at the attention which will be lavished on Rooney.
"I don't think he needs this. It wouldn't be the advice he would get from me. I disagree with his people on this occasion. It smells too much of publicity. The thing that comes to my mind is trying to remember David Beckham's 18th birthday party or Ryan Giggs's. Can you? No. Exactly."
Real Madrid's Portuguese midfielder Luis Figo, 31 next month, has announced he is quitting international football after Euro 2004 . . . Barcelona have arranged showdown talks for tomorrow which should decide Patrick Kluivert's future at the club and could smooth his path to the English Premiership . . . Alpay Ozalan trained with Aston Villa yesterday, the first time since his much-publicised spat with David Beckham, although there was no meeting with the manager David O'Leary. Tensions have been running high in Birmingham since the defender's run-in with the England captain during England's draw in Istanbul 11 days ago, and the next day an effigy of the Turk was hung up in the city centre clad in a Villa shirt . . . Spurs striker Frederic Kanoute will be out for two months with an ankle ligaments injury he received in Sunday's win at Leicester, his agent said yesterday
. . . Leeds United have hired the former Chelsea chief executive Trevor Birch in an attempt to turn the club's finances around . . . The highly-rated Real Madrid right back Michel Salgado is reported to be on the target list of a number of leading European clubs including Chelsea and Manchester United.
