Birmingham fans worried over the future of boss Alex McLeish have now been told the Scot is “perhaps inches away” from agreeing a new deal (Birmingham 1/18 – To Stay Up).

Former Aston Villa player Alan Curbishley appears to be in the frame for the vacant manager’s job amid reports he is to be interviewed for the post (Villa 9/1 – top four finish).

Summer signing Christian Poulsen has admitted it will take him a while to settle into life at Liverpool and adapt to the hectic pace of the Premier League (6/4 – top-4 finish).

Newcastle defender Sol Campbell admits he still feels he is capable of featuring for England during the qualification campaign for Euro 2012 which starts on Friday night against Bulgaria (England 3/10, draw 4/1, Bulgaria 10/1 – 90 Minutes).

Rio Ferdinand has been declared fit to return to the Manchester United first-team (11/5 – Premiership Outright) after he came through 45 minutes of the reserve-team’s 2-1 win against Oldham in the Manchester Senior Cup tie at Stalybridge on Wednesday.

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce said he was delighted to pull off a club record £13million deal to sign Ghana World Cup star Asamoah Gyan from Rennes, because he thought he was heading to Turkey (16/1 Sunderland – Premiership Top 6 Finish 2010/2011).

Wigan (10/11 to be relegated) have agreed a £2million deal to bring Chelsea’s Franco Di Santo to the DW Stadium, after being frustrated in their efforts to loan him from the Blues.

West Ham (40/1 – Premier League top six) have tabled a bid for Hamburg defender Guy Demel – as well as seeking to beat Stoke to the signature of Portsmouth’s highly-rated Marc Wilson.

Juventus have promised to clamp down on any fans who racially abuse Mario Balotelli when they meet Manchester City in the Europa League (City 11/2 – Europa League outright).

Birmingham boss Alex McLeish claims the deal to sign Wigan’s Charles N’Zogbia has broken down because it ‘was not in the best interests of the football club’ (Birmingham 15/2 – Premiership Relegation).