UK Roundup

Sinking Baggies take on Manchester United

LONDON (AP) -- His team is next-to-last in the Premier League, is rated as 1-12 favorite to be relegated back to division one, and has no cash to sign new players.

Could things get any worse for Gary Megson's West Bromwich Albion?

How about this: The Baggies face star-studded Manchester United this weekend.

Failure to bring American World Cup player Tony Sanneh and Macedonia midfielder Artim Sakiri to the Hawthorns underlines the fact that the club from just outside the industrial city of Birmingham has little attraction.

Level on points with West Ham at the foot of the standings, the Baggies simply don't have the talent to compete with the clubs who have more money.

Even TV revenue and sellout crowds of 26,000 at its Hawthorns stadium have not created enough income to allow the owners to lure top players to the West Midlands.

How different that compares with Manchester United, the richest club in the world, which can go out and spend up to 30 million pounds (US$48 million) a time for the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Juan Sebastian Veron.

Megson, who is a big favorite with the Baggies fans for gaining promotion last season for the first time in 16 seasons, has worked miracles on a shoestring budget and is clearly envious of counterpart Alex Ferguson.

"Whoever they field, we will be up against 11 full internationals, the best club manager in the world, the biggest club on the planet and the richest club in the world," he said.

"It has been 18 years since Manchester United last came to the Hawthorns and I am sure a lot of our fans would have circled this fixture as our most glamorous home game this season.

"But this game is reason enough for us to give it everything humanly possible to stay in this league so we can look forward to staging this caliber of fixture next year."

While West Brom is scrambling to avoid the drop, the Reds are in second place,with five points to make up on defending champion Arsenal.

A victory at the Hawthorns will cut that to two points and put some pressure on the Gunners, who aren't in action until Sunday when they also visit the same part of the country to meet Birmingham City.

United defender Ferdinand says his team shouldn't relax against lowly clubs such as West Brom.

"We need a winning mentality," the England World Cup star said. "The most important thing now is to keep progressing, put in decent performances and get results.

"It wouldn't matter who we were playing, West Brom or someone in the top five, we would still need to win."

United may have Roy Keane back in the side. The Irish midfielder suffered a hamstring injury and missed Tuesday's League Cup semifinal 1-1 tie with Blackburn Rovers.

The Gunners likely will take on a new-look Birmingham lineup but with one familiar new face.

Christophe Dugarry, a World Cup winner with France in 1998, has joined the Blues on loan from Bordeaux along with Lens fullback Ferdinand Coly and two Englishmen, Tottenham's Steve Clemence and Jamie Clapham of division one Ipswich.

Third-place Chelsea, which is eight points behind Arsenal, hopes to stay in contention by beating Charlton at home. Bobby Robson's Newcastle, level on points but with a game in hand, bids to add more misery on last place West Ham by winning at Upton Park, where the Hammers haven't won in the league all season.

Lee Bowyer, who moved to West Ham from Leeds United on a six-month contract Wednesday, should make his Hammers debut against the Magpies.

Hammers manager Glenn Roeder has decided to take on the talented but temperamentally volatile attacking midfielder to add beef to his attack, which is still without injured Italian star Paolo Di Canio.

For the London-born Bowyer, who was banned by UEFA for six European games on Wednesday for stamping on an opponent's head in a UEFA Cup game against Spain's Malaga, it means a return to the club he supported as a youngster.

"I can't be any happier than I am at the moment," he said. "I am back with family and friends to play with the club I supported as a kid and I am going to try and help us avoid relegation.

"I think it is a good challenge and I wouldn't like to see the club go down. So if I have got the chance to come here and help in any way I can, I am going to do it. I am following my heart."

Of the two other relegation-threatened teams, third-from-last Bolton hosts Fulham, which is just one place above and is in danger of getting sucked into the struggle.

And Sunderland takes on eighth-place Blackburn, which impressively held Manchester United 1-1 at Old Trafford on Tuesday in the League Cup after falling behind.

Liverpool and Leeds, two clubs which were expected to be among the title contenders at the start, now find themselves far off the pace.

Gerard Houllier's Liverpool has won just one of its last 10 league games and, on Wednesday, lost 2-1 at division one Sheffield United in the first leg of a League Cup semifinal.

Having slipped to seventh in the league, its lowest position since the start of last season, Liverpool takes on Aston Villa, which is close to the relegation zone and hasn't won any of its 10 games away from home.

Now reviving under Terry Venables after a dangerous slide towards the relegation zone, Leeds visits Manchester City, whose form under Kevin Keegan is equally erratic.

While Leeds has won five and lost four away from home, City has done the same at its Maine Road ground, so the result could go either way.

Southampton, which has climbed to sixth under Gordon Strachan, goes to Steve McLaren's Middlesbrough, which has slipped to 12th despite being unbeaten in 11 home games.

Sunday's other game is Tottenham against Everton. The Toffees, 10 points off the lead in fifth place, are badly in need of a victory to stay in contention.

The top game in division one is leader Portsmouth against third-place and League Cup semifinalist Sheffield United. Second-place Leicester, five points behind Portsmouth and eight ahead of the Blades, hosts struggling Stoke.

Barca defender Reiziger visits Man. City

MADRID, Spain (AP) -- FC Barcelona's Dutch international Michael Reiziger was to pay a visit to Manchester City on Thursday to discuss a switch to the English club until the end of the season.

News reports said Thursday that the 29-year-old defender would take a look at City's training facilities and hold talks with the club's officials and its coach Kevin Keegan.

Reiziger expressed his interest in a move on his Web site although he added that he hadn't been shown the door by Barcelona's Dutch coach Louis van Gaal.

"It's not true that van Gaal has told me I do not figure in his plans. But I have always wanted to play in the Premiership and because of the problems at Barcelona now might be the right time for a change," Reiziger said.

Reiziger has appeared in just four league matches this season and has not played since suffering a thigh injury in Barcelona's Champions League match with Newcastle on Dec. 11.

"This could be the closest I've come to a move -- although you'd have to talk to Barcelona about that one. Anyway, first I must talk to Manchester City and then I will look at my options. I have heard great things about City under Kevin Keegan. They have made some good signings and may even have a chance of winning a place in Europe," the Dutchman said.

Keegan said on City's Web site that Reiziger's switch was far from decided.

"He is a great player who has a terrific footballing CV but it is too soon to talk of him being a City player or being included in the squad for (next weekend's) clash with Leeds," he said.

Reiziger was signed by van Gaal at the start of the coach's first spell in charge of Barcelona in 1997. He previously played for AC Milan and Holland's Ajax, with which he won the European Cup in 1995, Vollendam and Groningen.

Sunderland's Kyle extends contract to 2006

LONDON (Reuters) -- Scotland striker Kevin Kyle has agreed a three-year extension to his contract with Sunderland, the English Premier League club said Thursday.

The new deal will keep Kyle, who joined Sunderland from Scottish side Ayr United in 1998, at the club until 2006.

"Kevin is one for the future," the club's official Web site quoted manager Howard Wilkinson as saying. "He has a lot of attributes that are difficult to acquire, such as his physique, size and height."

Kyle, 21, has won seven Scotland caps and scored one goal.

Sunderland is third from bottom in the Premier League on 18 points with just four wins from 22 games.

Southampton's Pahars undergoing surgery

LONDON (Reuters) -- Southampton's Marian Pahars will undergo an ankle operation Thursday that will keep him out of action for six weeks.

Southampton, sixth in the league and battling for a place in Europe next season, said on its official Web site it hoped the striker would be back in time for the end of the season.

"It is a crushing blow for the little Latvian who has already been sidelined by the injury for almost two months," the Web site said.

Southampton has enjoyed an excellent season, boosted by 13 goals from league joint top-scorer James Beattie, but niggling injuries mean Pahars, 26, has only scored one goal -- a penalty.

The Latvian international had a fine run last season as Southampton's top league scorer with 14 goals and is signed up to stay with the club until 2006.

 

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Both the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.