Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate hopes he can persuade Mark Schwarzer to stay for another year. (Daily Mail). Southgate is doing just the right thing here, aside from being a great servant on Teesside, Schwarzer is a top keeper and local rivals Sunderland’s capture of Craig Gordon shows just how important that position is.

In the same department, Bolton are set to offer contract rebel keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen a bumper new deal (Daily Mail). Sammy Lee has problems all over the park but needs the Finnish shot stopper as a regular at the Reebok.

Meanwhile, it’s being reported from the Bridge that Chelsea star Michael Ballack may need a third operation on his ankle injury (Daily Telegraph). Germany coach Joachim Low is seeking showdown talks with Chelsea over their treatment of Ballack (The Times). And what treatment may that be? Giving the midfielder shedloads of money while he bides his time either on the bench or the physio’s table.

England assistant Terry Venables has told the country’s injured stars they face a fight to get back into the team (The Sun). The oldest maxim in sport, ‘don’t change a winning team', is clearly going to present a dilemma for boss Steve McClaren and Venables. With the likes of Wayne Rooney, David Beckham and Frank Lampard sidelined, should McClaren bring them back at the expense of Emile Heskey, Gareth Barry and Shaun Wright-Phillips, all of whom played well against Israel and Russia?

Reading manager Steve Coppell is convinced the fixture list is loaded in favour of the big clubs (Daily Mirror). Funny that, I always thought that in a league, all played all the same number of times - but maybe Coppell, one of the games more intelligent players and bosses with a degree in Economics, knows something we don’t. It’s always reassuring to know that when a team is doing badly, a boss manages to find any reason other than the team playing rank badly on the pitch as reasons for failure. And anyway, given Reading’s excellent showing last season, aren’t the Berkshire men one of the ‘big clubs’?

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has pledged the rest of his career to the club (various). No surprise here (other than the brilliant Frenchman’s excellent relationship with David Dein, who is not exactly lauded in boardroom circles at the Emirates). For many Gunners, Wenger is the best manager in the club’s history and although George Graham brought plenty of silverware, the football his teams played was not as cultured as Wenger’s. To see out his career at Arsenal is exactly the tonic the fans and his brilliant squad of youngsters need.