Sir Alex Ferguson claims it is “absolutely unthinkable” that Old Trafford will be re-named in a new sponsorship deal.

As Manchester United are seeking new shirt sponsors after Vodafone ended their deal, there had been rumours in football circles that the Glazer family would accept a sponsorship deal for the stadium as well although Ferguson has flatly denied that.

“The amazing thing about this club is just when you think you have a nice quiet day, you see nonsense like that.”

Ferguson added: “And the problem is we have to respond to it.”

The Sun newspaper claimed the new sponsor could get its name not only on the players’ shirts but also as an addition to the title of the ground.

A spokesperson for Manchester United has also been quick to deny that there is any truth in the rumours.

One of the influential men who will pick the next England manager, Premier League chairman Dave Richards, wants Sven-Goran Eriksson’s successor to be British.

Richards, Football Association chief executive Brian Barwick and international committee chairman Noel White will present a list of candidates for the job to a full FA board meeting on February 27. Eriksson will quit after this summer’s World Cup in Germany, and the views of Richards would appear to rule out Dutchman Guus Hiddink, but tellingly not former Northern Irish captain Martin O’Neill.

“I do believe it’s time for a British manager - somebody who understands our passion, belief and commitment to the game,” Richards told The Sun. “For me, there’s no distinction between English and British. We are the biggest nation in the world that plays this game and we want someone who can really move us on.”

Egyptian star Mido has offered an apology to national coach Hassan Shehata but has been given no indication if he will be allowed to play in the 2006 African Nations Cup final against the Ivory Coast.

Mido had been banned by the Egyptian football association for six months following his touchline row with Shehata after the coach substituted him in the semi-final win against Senegal. He then called the Egyptian coach, team and association “amateurs” before having a change of heart.

Mido, who is currently on loan at English Premiership side Tottenham Hotspur, attended Egypt’s training, apologised to Shehata and asked to be forgiven.

Shehata has accepted the apology but refused to be drawn on whether Mido would play any part in the final which he believes Egypt have every chance of winning for the fifth time,

“We are in outstanding form, and we are very focused and ready to win the final game,” he said. “However, this game is nothing like the first time we met Ivory Coast in this tournament when we won 3-1. This is a completely different story. Now we have no other choice but to win.”

Rangers chairman David Murray has said that manager Alex McLeish has been sacked and will leave his position as Rangers manager at the end of the season with the Glasgow club “some way down the road” on a deal for a new coach.

Murray refused to be drawn on the identity of McLeish’s successor but former Lyon manager Paul Le Guen is understood to be the man who will succeed him. After telling McLeish of his decision on Thursday afternoon, Murray also promised the announcement of a major investment in the club after the Champions’ League ties against Villarreal early next month and met with senior members of the first team squad to discuss the future plans.

With Rangers hopes of catching Hearts in second place in the Scottish Premier League falling further away following a 2-0 away defeat to Aberdeen this week it seems like Murray and the Rangers board have been left with no other course of action but to put McLeish out of his misery after one of the most disappointing seasons in Rangers recent history.

FIFPro secretary general Theo van Seggelen has hit out at the current transfer system, insisting the huge activity by some clubs during the January window states a case for a return to the original year-round policy.

As the worldwide representative organisation for all professional footballers, FIFPro feels that the current rules that state transfers are only allowed during the close season and during a single window in January, have not provided the stability that FIFA set out to provide.

The fact that UK sides Portsmouth and Heart of Midlothian bought nine players and eleven players respectively during the January 2006 transfer window raises serious questions as to the need for a separate transfer window at all.

Van Seggelen told PA Sport: “Our concern is that, for example, one team bought around nine players and from a sporting point of view that is not a good thing.

“The second thing is that at the last moment clubs are buying and selling players without realising what they are doing and seem to be in a little bit of a panic.

“We came to the conclusion that the old system may be even better than the system we have now.

“It’s not that we are in favour of the old system, but it seems to be better than having two periods where clubs are panicking.

“We are not only responsible for what the players are doing but also the football industry in general and you must come to the conclusion that the old system was not so bad after all,” he added.

“With the current attempt at stability, that limits the freedom of movement of a player for sporting reasons and to guarantee the competition, we said maybe give it a try on a international level. But it seems to me that maybe it has worked for a couple of years but, with this window in particular, it has not provided that stability.”

Tottenham Hotspur’s outspoken Egyptian striker Mido has branded Egypt’s coach, team and football association “amateurs”.

He will now miss Egypt’s African Nations Cup final against Ivory Coast on Friday having been banned for six months by his country’s FA because of a furious touchline row with coach Hassan Shehata after being substituted 11 minutes from the end of Tuesday’s semi-final win over Senegal.

“In Egypt they are amateurs. The manager is an amateur, the team are amateurs, the association are amateurs,” Mido told the Daily Express.

“They think they know everything. People can call me an arrogant Premiership player. The fact is that I am a Premiership player and they are amateurs.

“I have not spoken to Shehata since the incident. I don’t care about him. He is a local guy. Before he was in charge of the national team, he managed a second division side.

“I want to play for Egypt again, of course. But I don’t regret what I did.

“I was disappointed by the decision to ban me. I don’t know why they took it. If they win now they can say they took a good disciplinary decision. They will be heroes.

“But if they lose it will be because of Mido, and the trouble he caused. That’s how things go.”

Former England and West Ham United manager Ron Greenwood has died peacefully at his home in Suffolk on Wednesday evening at the age of 84, following a long illness.

Having played for Chelsea, Bradford Park Avenue, Brentford and Fulham during a career which included playing in the Chelsea title winning side of 1955, Greenwood went on to manage West Ham United from 1961 to 1974 and then became the club’s general manager until 1977. Taking over from Don Revie as England manager in 1977 he led his country for five years, taking them to he 1980 European Championships and the 1982 World Cup Finals in Spain.

He leaves a widow, Lucy, two children, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

The English Football Association have denied there is any substance to the rumours in the press that they have compiled a shortlist for the England manager’s job. With Sven Goran Eriksson leaving the post after the World Cup in Germany this summer it had been rumoured that a three man shortlist of Martin O’Neill, Stuart Pearce and Alan Curbishley had been drawn up by the FA with Guus Hiddink and Sam Allardyce also under consideration.

FA communications director Adrian Bevington has said: “No shortlist has been drawn up yet. Any speculation suggesting there is, is inaccurate.”

A three-man sub-group made up of FA chief executive Brian Barwick, international committee chairman Noel White and Premier League chairman Dave Richards - also international committee vice-chairman - will decide on the process of choosing the next England coach. They will then report to FA chairman Geoff Thompson, and back to the FA board on February 27.

As a World Cup on homesoil looms for Germany and the expectation levels amongst fans reaches fever pitch, it is no surprise that national coach Jurgen Klinsmann has tried to steer attention away from problems with the chosen stadia and on-pitch concerns. What is surprising is that he is turning to the coach of the German national hockey team to help him prepare his side for the World Cup.

The DFB have been in talks with hockey coach Bernhard Peters over the newly created post of technical director in a move that has outraged many football traditionalists but has the full backing of head coach Klinsmann. ‘Peters could contribute a lot,’ Klinsmann said at a recent news conference, ‘He has a different way of thinking…There have been talks with the DFB and we’ve been convinced by his way of doing things’ .

While Klinsmann has been calling for some time for a technical director to be appointed, he was initially in favour of former Germany and Scotland coach Berti Vogts being given the role but Vogts ruled himself out of the running, saying he didn’t want to get involved in a power struggle between the German FA and Klinsmann himself.

Bernhard Peters, meanwhile, has been coach of the German men’s hockey team since 2001 and led them to victory at the World Cup in 2002 and to the bronze medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Whether an appointment to the technical director post will be made before the World Cup kicks off in June is another matter as is the question of whether Jurgen Klinsmann himself will extend his contract beyond the end of the summer’s football showpiece.

Birmingham City have announced that the club’s Managing Director Karren Brady is out of intensive care and continuing to make excellent progress. Ms Brady had undergone surgery on Friday on a brain aneurysm and doctors are reportedly very pleased with the results.

Having spent Friday night in the high dependency unit she was transferred back to her ward on Saturday and Birmingham City have said that she is doing very well.

Brady is well known as the most high profile woman in English football having taken on the role of managing director at Birmingham City in 1993 and revived the club’s fortunes, taking them from a lower league club in administration to their current position amongst English football’s elite in the Premiership.

36 year old Karren, who was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm in late January 2006, is married to Derby County footballer Paul Peschisolido and the couple have two children.