Weekly Football News, September 17, 2012
Real still in title race: Pique
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has attempted to play down suggestions that Real Madrid are already drifting out of the title race in Spain after just four games of their defence.
Last year's runners-up Barca have won four out of four in La Liga this season, the latest victory the 4-1 thrashing of Getafe on Saturday night, and they now sit eight points better off than their bitter rivals in the table.
But Pique told the club's website: "We've only played four games, this [the gap over Real] isn't that important.
"We're feeling good, though. We've won four out of four games. We have to continue like this."
Real are down in 11th after winning only once in the opening four rounds and face English champions Manchester City in the opening round of the Champions League on Tuesday.
Jose Mourinho blasted his side after their 1-0 defeat to Sevilla over the weekend.
"We were wrong from the first minute to the last. We were lousy and got what we deserved. I did not have a team.
"It is about a state of mind. I could say that two or three heads only are thinking the right way. We had too few heads that were committed and focused on the right priorities.
"I changed two players - but I wanted to change seven. Maybe we should be able to make more changes."
Gasperini returns to Serie A
Former Inter Milan and Genoa manager Gian Piero Gasperini has ended his yearlong exile from management after being named as the new coach of Palermo.
Gasperini has been without a post since being sacked by Inter just a handful of games into last season, and now the same fate has befallen Giuseppe Sannino, who lasted just three games – one draw and two defeats - despite only joining Palermo in June on a two-year contract.
Despite Palermo collecting their first point of the new season against Cagliari on Sunday, president Maurizio Zamparini claimed after the match that he'd "rather get drunk" than discuss the coach's future.
Gasperini enjoyed success at Genoa between 2006 and 2010.
Redknapp "relieved" over England snub
Out-of-work Harry Redknapp has revealed that his was “relieved” the English FA plumped for Roy Hodgson as Fabio Capello's successor in charge of the national team.
Redknapp was the firm favourite to replace Capello after leading Tottenham to two fourth-placed finishes in the Premier League, but ended up being overlooked in favour of former Blackburn, Fulham, Liverpool and West Brom manager Hodgson and then subsequently sacked by Spurs.
"I was enjoying my life at Tottenham and I did wonder how I would cope, if it happened, with what is part-time football," Redknapp said over the weekend. "I do enjoy seeing footballers every day; being on the training ground.
"I was driving when I heard on the radio that Roy had got the job. It happened out of the blue. But I didn't lose any sleep over it that night.
"I was almost quite relieved in a way - that I hadn't been given a decision to make. The decision had been taken away from me."
Del Piero: I'm in Sydney to win
Alessandro Del Piero has insisted that signing for Sydney FC in the A-League is more akin to restarting his career than taking a step towards retirement.
The 37-year-old has inked a two-year deal in Australia after 19 seasons at Juve, where he conceded he was used to the expectation of winning.
"I know there's a lot of expectation, and I love that," Del Piero said in his first press conference since arriving down under on Sunday. "I played 19 years with Juventus, and in Juventus you have to win every game, every year.
"Fortunately a lot of the time that happened, but all my life I play for winning. I'm here for winning ... I'm here because I trust in the win."
Del Piero scored a club record 208 goals in 513 appearances for Juventus and captained the most successful club in Italian football for 11 seasons.
Compiled by Marc Fox
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