Wayne Rooney revealed last night that he was inspired to become a footballer by watching Alan Shearer.

Rooney, who was named Europe’s young player of the year, said Shearer was the player he looked up to as he grew up on Merseyside.

"Alan Shearer was and is a fantastic player, a leader of men," said Rooney. "He’s someone who gives everything he has for his team and he was my inspiration." (Daily Mirror)

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Sir Alex Ferguson believes Jose Mourinho has yet to be tested in the Premiership.

United are ten points behind Mourinho’s Chelsea and Ferguson said: "We know it will be a hard task for us to catch Chelsea.

"But we also know that they don’t have the experience of winning games when it really matters in the Premiership. That’s what anyone going for the league will tell you.

"Teams have to live through that and come out the other side still in one piece. You don’t know until you get to that period how you will react. Only ourselves and Arsenal have the experience to cope with that." (The Sun)

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New Southampton boss Harry Redknapp is backing Portsmouth’s ambitious plan to try to persuade Gordon Strachan to be their next manager.

Pompey are searching for a successor to Redknapp, who quit Fratton Park just over a fortnight ago before agreeing a controversial move to St Mary’s.

Pompey chairman Milan Mandaric is planning to hold talks with Strachan this week and Redknapp believes he they could not make a better choice.

Redknapp said: "Why shouldn’t he go there? Why should he have to manage a team in Scotland or somewhere because he has managed Southampton? He’s a football manager and that’s what we do for a living." (Daily Express)

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Fulham boss Chris Coleman has praised keeper Edwin van der Sar for keeping his mouth shut while out of the team.

Van der Sar spent last month on the bench, regaining his starting place at Norwich last week when veteran Mark Crossley, 35, was injured.

Coleman insists Fulham do not want to off-load Van der Sar in January, with tonight’s opponents Manchester United among clubs showing an interest.

He said: "When I told Edwin he wasn’t playing of course he was not very happy. But he has worked hard on the training pitch and kept his mouth shut. We want to keep him at this club when his contract is up." (The Sun)