The sports pages
Joe Cole showed he was a true ‘Red’ yesterday afternoon in Liverpool’s first Premier League match of the season against Arsenal, which ended in a 1-1 draw, and saw Cole receive a straight red card at Anfield.
The report in The Star highlights the fact that both Roy Hodgson and Arsene Wenger have defended Cole over the challenge on Laurent Koscielny. Referee Martin Atkinson had no qualms in dishing out the red card in first-half injury time. It was the first time in Cole’s career to be sent-off.
“He is not one I would like to record as a guy who tries to hurt people. That is not his style,†Wenger said.
Meanwhile, The Sun has spectacularly reported that Diego Maradona wants to become the new Aston Villa manager.
The former Argentina head coach is still licking his wounds from the World Cup and according to his European spokesperson, Walter Soriano, Maradona would love to be Martin O’Neill’s successor.
“Diego is very attracted to English football and the way of life in your country and I know he would be very willing to move there,†Soriano said.
“He loves the English countryside and your respect for privacy, so he would be very happy there, especially at a big club like Aston Villa.
“If the owner Randy Lerner wants to make him a serious offer, I’m sure he’d get a very positive response.”
