Liverpool fans have been urged not to taunt Steve McManaman following his decision to join Real Madrid in the summer. The midfielder was booed when he came on as a substitute during last Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Coventry.
Former Liverpool skipper Mark Wright said: 'He didn't get too good a reception, which is a shame. Steve has been there a long time and he's done a lot of good things for Liverpool. If you get offered a chance to play for Real Madrid you are going to take it.' Reds manager Gerard Houllier added: 'The last thing to do is to blame Steve. He has never hidden the fact he wants to play abroad at some stage of his career.' Emmanuel Petit has revealed he considered leaving Arsenal after just a month.
The French midfielder admitted he had struggled to adapt to life in London after leaving Monaco. 'When I arrived here I asked myself, 'What am I doing?' I had an irresistible urge to clear off,' he said.
He recalled how he felt after a match against Southampton when he was hurt in a skirmish with Carlton Palmer. Petit said: 'My girlfriend asked me, 'What's wrong?' I replied: 'I'm disgusted. I've finished a football match and I feel I've just met Jackie Chan or the teenage mutant ninja turtles.' I thought then you had to be trained as a Buddhist monk to cope with English football.' Leeds full-back Gary Kelly has suffered another injury setback that will keep him out for the rest of the season. The Republic of Ireland international, 24, who underwent surgery on his shins last summer, was forced to pull out of a reserve game on Monday after he felt a tingling in his shins. Within 24 hours it became clear he would be forced to sit out the remainder of the season.
'This is another huge blow for us,' said Leeds boss David O'Leary, who has already lost defenders Martin Hiden and Robert Molenaar to cruciate ligament injuries. 'We've missed Gary and now we'll continue to miss him. He's a quality right-back.' John Spencer has ended his unhappy spell at Everton by signing for Motherwell for ?400,000. Spencer, who had been on loan at the Scottish Premier League club, hoped the move would revive his international career. 'I know I need to be playing regularly to get back into (Scotland coach) Craig Brown's plans. At Everton I was totally out of the picture,' he said.
Wolves managing director John Richards has warned the club cannot continue operating in a 'suicidal manner'. The ex-Molineux goalscoring star said the club was operating on a deficit of ?40,000 a week and owner Sir Jack Hayward had invested ?25 million in the club over the last five years with little to show for it.