Capello happy with England target

Fabio Capello believes ambitious targets set for him by the Football Association are achievable.
The Italian is expected to lead England to at least the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup or Euro 2012 as part of the FA's four-year strategic vision.
And despite England's failure to reach Euro 2008, Capello says the targets have not put him under undue pressure.
"We must be positive and my personal objective in every team I have coached was to go to the top," he said.
"I am not under any pressure. It's no problem for me and it's no surprise these targets have been set. I believe that it's important to have these targets and to work towards them.
"We should all be confident of this because the team I have at the moment is capable of reaching these objectives." Capello led England to a 2-1 victory over Switzerland in his first game in charge in February, but this was followed by a lacklustre 1-0 defeat away to France.
Both games were friendlies and the 61-year-old Capello will not get his first taste of competitive action until the World Cup qualifiers in September.
Before then England have further friendlies lined up with the United States, Trinidad and Tobago and the Czech Republic and Capello is likely to continue to experiment as he searches for a permanent captain.
FA chairman Lord Triesman insists the targets, imposed after an extensive review by English football's governing body, are realistic.
"We've got to work fast in order to get into tournaments and get through at least to the semi-finals, preferably win them," he told BBC Radio 5 Live. "I'm no different from anyone else, I want us to win them, but I want us to at least make the final mix where you are playing the Brazilians or the Italians or where you are really in against the sides at the top.
"It's not only an immediate thing but it's a middle-term thing. Just doing it once wouldn't be good enough."
The FA's review also recommended the appointment of an international performance director and approved plans to have the National Football Centre (NFC) at Burton up and running by 2010.

FA chairman Lord Triesman will not factor in failure

Lord Triesman said that whoever takes up the role of performance director will not be Capello's boss, but will be charged with looking after the teams directly beneath the senior side.
"I want the very best person we can get and my clear preference is for someone who is English, if we can find the right person who can do it," he said.
"We need someone who understands sports performance but I feel strongly that unless that person understands football performance as well, they will not be able to do the job properly.
"The performance director needs to be able to understand what it is among our competitors that makes them so successful. "You look around the world at other countries who have done well tournament after tournament, such as Brazil, Italy and Germany and we have to make sure we learn everything they are doing."
Capello backed plans for the NFC, which he believes will play a major part in the development of talented young players.
"It is important to have a centre, to have a home - a place where we can go back and be together, spend time together, feel the spirit of the shirt we are wearing, regroup and achieve the targets that we want to achieve," he said.
"As we all know, only 38% of players in the Premier League are English.
"But having said, that there are lot of young players at the Under-21 level and younger that are very good so there is plenty of talent."

Man City make approach to Scolari

Manchester City have made the first moves to appoint Luiz Felipe Scolari as their next manager. BBC Sport understands contact has now been made between City and Portugal coach Scolari's representatives in a bid to bring him to Eastlands.

Scolari is Manchester City's top managerial target

City will sack current boss Sven-Goran Eriksson at the end of the season.
Scolari, 59, is believed to be interested in succeeding Eriksson but owner Thaksin Shinawatra is still not certain he will land the Brazilian.Thaksin is believed to want a swift answer from Scolari, with a deal worth a reported £3.2m-a-year ready to be rubber-stamped, but any moves could yet be held up by his commitments to Portugal at Euro 2008.
He has also previously been reluctant to uproot his family from Portugal and cited intrusion into his private life as one of the reasons he rejected the chance to succeed Eriksson as England coach in 2006.
Scolari has two sons who are being educated in Portugal but Thaksin wants to tempt him to the Premier League with a huge financial offer.
City fans have reacted angrily to Eriksson's imminent departure and Thaksin hopes to head off further unrest with a quick announcement that he has captured the man who won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002.
Despite his treatment at the hands of Shinawatra, Eriksson is willing to lead City on their post-season tour of Thailand and Hong Kong next week, a source close to the Swede has told BBC Sport.
The source said it was "business as usual" for Eriksson and his coaching team and that no further talks were planned with Shinawatra before the end of the season.

Liverpool 1-0 Man City

Fernando Torres took his tally to 32 goals for the season as Liverpool eased to a win over Manchester City.

Torres has 23 goals in the Premier League this season

Torres left Richard Dunne trailing and angled in a shot to put the Reds ahead just after Martin Petrov's free-kick hit the post at the other end.
The Reds had chances to wrap up the game but Dirk Kuyt's header struck the crossbar and Ryan Babel skied a shot.
City rarely threatened but almost punished the home side only for Pepe Reina to save Benjani's late free-kick.
The visitors had gone into the match with boss Sven-Goran Eriksson expecting to be sacked after the end of the season but he was given firm backing by the club's fans at Anfield.
The away contingent regularly and passionately sung out his name and had Eriksson masks as they showed their support for the Swede in a game that struggled to get going. There was a distinct end-of-season feel to proceedings early on and only a near post Ryan Babel header, which went over, threatened to break the deadlock.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard saw a long range effort power just wide as he was invariably the man trying to cajole his side into a degree of urgency.
The Reds skipper again went close when he forced keeper Joe Hart into a full-length save to tip away his curling shot before Liverpool upped the pace the other side of the interval.
A sublime pass with the outside of the right foot by Gerrard released Torres on goal but he failed to get the bend needed on his shot as he opened up his body and aimed for the far corner.
City then almost caught Liverpool out with a sucker-punch after barely having had an attack worthy of the name. Elano stepped up to take a 25-yard free-kick only to see his effort hit the outside of the post.
The Reds heeded the warning and Torres scored for the eighth league game on the trot at Anfield by bursting past Dunne and shooting through Hart's legs.
Hart was quickly forced into action again as he blocked a Kuyt volley and kept out the follow-up overhead kick from Lucas.
The chances were now flowing for the home side and Kuyt guided a header on to the crossbar before finding Hart with another header when left unmarked eight yards out.
A battling Torres set up Babel for a clear strike at goal from six yards only for the Dutchman to sky his effort as the Reds failed to put the game to bed. At the other end, Reina blocked a powerful Benjani free-kick as City sensed an opportunity to steal a point against their dominant opponents.

Eriksson gives City fans the thumbs up for their support

But Liverpool completed the win as they finished their home league campaign with a record of 12 wins, six draws and one loss at home ahead of their final game of the season at Tottenham.

Stoke 0-0 Leicester

Stoke clinched promotion to the Premier League as Leicester went down to the third tier of English football for the first time in their 124-year history.
In a first half wrought with nerves, Ricardo Fuller came closest when Paul Henderson made a superb double save.
Henderson denied Fuller after the break but Gareth McAuley's header hit the post as the Foxes poured men forward.
Carlo Nash saved brilliantly from Iain Hume and Richard Stearman, and a win for Southampton sent Leicester down.
Stoke's fans invaded the pitch for a second time to begin partying, while the 2,000-strong Foxes contingent contemplated a dramatic fall from grace for their club.
Four years after exiting the top flight, they face the prospect of a dogfight in League One despite an injection of cash in the past 12 months from owner Milan Mandaric.
He was not present to witness Stoke, who needed only a draw, secure their return to the elite for the first time in 23 years.
A predictably nervous first half featured more fierce tackling than clear-cut openings.
Leicester's Steve Howard and McAuley were somewhat fortunate to escape with cautions for rash challenges on Andy Wilkinson and Liam Lawrence.
Stoke carried the greater attacking threat and could have been in front 10 minutes before the break when following a long punt forward Henderson superbly parried Fuller's volley and saved bravely at the dangerous striker's feet from the follow-up.
Leicester's midfield struggled to get up to support Howard and Barry Hayles in attack, who were left to feed off scraps.
Hayles, who fired one effort woefully wide, at least forced Nash into a save - albeit a comfortable one - just before the break, when he shot on the turn.
Stoke continued to enjoy the bulk of the possession after the interval but lacked composure in the final third.
But, with news filtering through that Southampton had gone 2-1 up against Sheffield United, there could have been a hammer blow to Leicester.
The ball broke to Fuller in the six-yard box following a long Rory Delap throw-in but Henderson somehow pulled off a fantastic instinctive save to keep his team level.
From then on it was pretty much all Leicester, and they came agonisingly close when McAuley got a clean head on the ball from Matt Oakley's corner and hit the outside of the post. On a typical final-day roller-coaster of nerves, the visitors threw men forward in the knowledge Southampton were now 3-2 up.
And they thought they had a penalty when Stearman was felled just inside the area but a free-kick was given and Hume fired over.
Nash then produced stunning saves to keep out Hume's deflected strike and Stearman's header from the resulting corner.
With play deep into time added on, some Potters fans invaded the pitch after hearing Ipswich had beaten Hull to confirm their elevation.
The final whistle came moments after the resumption and Leicester's players trudged off past delirious Stoke fans who engulfed the pitch.

Leicester fans must come to terms with life in League One

Stoke manager Tony Pulis:"I have to say a special 'thank you' to the chairman. Peter showed a lot of character to buy this club and spent a lot of money on it."When he rang me I was at a decent club at Plymouth - they're a good club.
"But if Peter had the nerve to come back and take this club forward I couldn't say 'no'.
"Last time I was here I got criticised on a budget that was a bottom-three budget and there was no way I was going to come back unless he gave me a chance to compete.
"He said I would be able to compete and he has kept his word. Everything he said and promised he has been true to. "This is a great day for this club and an opportunity for us to build and push on for next year."

Holloway's men paid the price for struggling in front of goal

Leicester boss Ian Holloway:"It's a devastating day for all of us. Too many times this season we haven't done it, we haven't scored and the table doesn't lie.
"Our character needs to be looked at, the overall team and squad. The fans have known it but we've let everyone down.
"We have to hold our hands up, we were the ones with the responsibility and couldn't deal with it."The Foxes slipped into the third tier for the first time in their history after they failed to beat Stoke and Southampton saw off Sheffield United.
Asked if he feared owner Milan Mandaric would axe him he said: "Of course I do.
"Milan's going to be as devastated as anybody - we did the worst thing and got relegated. Nearly everything we've touched here hasn't worked."
Holloway became Leicester's fourth permanent boss in a year when he took charge after leaving Plymouth last November.
The club were 17th at the time and their struggle to score goals led to a sequence of poor results which saw them slide down the table.
Victory over Stoke would still have ensured safety, but Gareth McAuley hit the post and Potters keeper Carlo Nash made some outstanding saves. "Our fans have been different class and they deserve a team that fights and battles and plays like we did at Stoke every week.
"It's a marvellous club and it's had far too many changes but I will say Leicester City will be back, probably in a very different form with different people playing for them.
"We'll have to wait and see how it pans out but the overall season has been a disaster and it's culminated in this."