Premier League Diary: Sky start making regions fight one another for glory

Say what you like about Sky Sports – within the bounds of libel laws and common decency, obviously, you filthy-mouthed animal – but they know how football works. They know where the buttons are; they know what makes the ordinary fan tick. To any other television company, this weekend’s Premier League scheduling might have been a curiosity, something to mention in passing. But Sky, bouncing from the success of Red Monday a few months ago, saw their chance to create a whole new institution from whole cloth:

Premier League: 'Football is our life' - Conte wants long coaching career

Antonio Conte wants a long career in management as the Chelsea head coach described football as life.

Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte described football as his life as he looks to emulate the long careers of Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.

FA Cup: Rooney hits out at Evans shirt 'snub' coverage

Omnisport - Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney is far from happy that his record-equalling goal has been overshadowed by shirt-swapping nonsense.

Wayne Rooney has taken a swipe at media coverage of his shirt swap with Reading's George Evans following Manchester United's FA Cup win over Reading.

 

Premier League: Conte weighing up January exits for Chelsea duo

Charly Musonda and Kenedy struggled on initial loans this season but Antonio Conte says they could leave Chelsea again this month.

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte says Charly Musonda and Kenedy could be sent out on loan again during the transfer window.

 

FA Cup: Returning to Old Trafford, Jaap Stam shows managerial promise

Stam is targeting promotion with Reading this season.

It’s a testament to Jaap Stam’s character that he had failed to notice Reading’s FA Cup draw last month that reunited him with Manchester United. “I knew it [the draw] was in the beginning of December, and Stevie [Reid] sent me a text message with the draw,” he said. “At first, because he was talking about ‘an interesting game’ I thought he was talking about the game on Saturday [against Sheffield Wednesday].”