JOHN TERRY'S BEEN SNIFFING ABOOT
Roberto Mancini revealed three of Manchester City's players wore shirts bearing the words "Team Bridge" in support of team-mate Wayne Bridge during the Premier League win over Portsmouth ... after John Terry was alleged to have been sniffing in places he shouldn't have been.
Bridge has found himself at the centre of a media storm following allegations of an affair between the 29-year-old's former girlfriend and the England skipper.
In a statement released on Saturday, Bridge outlined his intention not to speak about Terry's alleged relationship with Vanessa Perroncel and was interested only in the welfare of their three-year-old son.
But the City defender is known to be deeply distressed about the situation, not least because he regarded Terry as his friend, having developed a close bond with the defender during their time at Chelsea.
HOWEVER ... England internationals Gareth Barry nor Shaun Wright-Phillips wisely opted not to wear the shirts.
Fabio Capello is weighing up Terry's future as captain, but he sees the armband in a different light to the people of England.
In Italy it is given to the player with the most caps - NOT to anyone with any leadership qualities.
CLOUGH GIVES THE SMURF A KICKING
Let's admit it, Nottingham Forest's 2ft 6" boss Billy Davies is an easy target.
Small (tiny in fact!), mouthy, got a chip on his shoulder, and the sort of bloke you would love to smack in the gob but you would think better of it because he wouldn't reach yer knee-caps if he fought back!
Well ... SOMEBODY didn't see it that way. They allegedly did smack the little gobshite.
Davies has accused Derby counterpart Nigel Clough of hitting him during Saturday's Pride Park clash.
Davies claims he was kneed in the back of the leg by Clough following a mass melee in the closing stages of Derby's fiery 1-0 win over Forest.
Davies: "I'll tell you what happened and you can ask Nigel Clough this, because I said to him that he was out of order when I was in the middle [of the skirmish].
"He came in and kneed me in the back of the leg. I said to him that I wouldn't have minded him doing it to my face but to do it to my back was a bit cowardly and that's why I never shook his hand at the end.
"He tried to claim it was an accident but he knows as well as I know that it wasn't an accident.
"I have no doubt in my mind over what happened, hence why I never shook his hand."
Clough declined to comment.
'CAF' DECISION OUT OF ORDER
Togo captain Emmanuel Adebayor has labelled the decision to ban his national team from the next two editions of the African Nations Cup as "outrageous" ... and who can blame him?
The west African side were banned from the next two tournaments and hit with a fine following their withdrawal from this year's competition in the wake of a terrorist attack on their team bus.
Three people were killed in the January 8 attack, which occurred while Togo were en route to the team hotel two days before their opening match.
The competition has been a joke from the start, with two teams playing out a 0-0 draw (all the needed to qualify) and showing no shame in obviously "fixing" the match ... and ther have been rumours of corruption right from the first game to the last.
But there decision probably comes as no shock when Sep Blatter was "guest of honour" for the final, and allegedly had some say in the matter.
I wouldn't be surprised if that man has club cards for the Mafia, Triads, KKK and Taliban.