Clubs found guilty of poaching talented young footballers face the prospect of

Clubs found guilty of poaching talented young footballers face the prospect of losing League points or paying heavy fines in a crackdown by Premiership authorities. New rules are being drawn up in the wake of allegations that Manchester United have enticed three teenagers away from other clubs. You only have to look at how we performed when he was out with a groin injury to appreciate how important he has been to us.". "It was a very tough decision because he and Steve both had good qualifications for the job," he said."I am hoping that Whelan will take up a coaching position. In the meantime I will be offering him another year on his playing contract to take it up to three years because I feel his influence has been priceless.

We have offered him a very good contract with good earning capacity and all geared towards success. Our future looks in very safe hands."Jobson said Whelan, the former Republic of Ireland international, had been a hot contender for the job. He was chosen ahead of five other candidates, including the club's midfield player Ronnie Whelan, once of Liverpool.Thompson took over as caretaker when Peter Taylor was sacked in mid-February. Now the 39-year-old, who joined Southend as director of football earlier in the season, has been handed the manager's job on a permanent basis.Under Thompson, Southend have climbed out of the bottom four and lost only twice in their last 11 games to ensure their survival in the First Division.Confirming Thompson's appointment, the chairman, Vic Jobson, said: "Steve has done a tremendous job, producing the goods in very difficult circumstances. The 44-year-old is already looking forward to next season, declaring: "We will bounce straight back."Meanwhile, Steve Thompson has been named as manager of First Division Southend United. Taylor, who has been given a contract up until the end of next year, has been in temporary charge at the Abbey Stadium for the last five matches following the dismissal of Gary Johnson.During that time Cambridge beat the promotion favourites, Birmingham City, and drew with Huddersfield Town, but Bournemouth's 3-0 win over Shrewsbury sealed their fate.Taylor, who joined the club as youth team manager at the start of the 1993/94 season, will appoint an assistant and new youth coach shortly.

We've got to restore morale and confidence for the play-offs if and when we get there."Tommy Taylor, the former West Ham defender, has been appointed manager of Cambridge United, whose relegation to the Third Division was confirmed on Tuesday. My fitness is no problem."Aldridge, whose hopes of seeing his club side win the Endlseigh Insurance League First Division title were ended with the 5-1 defeat at West Bromwich on Sunday, has topped 20 League goals for the fourth successive season."We've blown three or four great chances to get ourselves in a position to win automatic promotion Now we've got to get everyone back together. "Jack took me to one side afterwards and told me I'm a key part of his plans until after the European Championships, so that will keep me going for next season. Charlton has told the former Liverpool player that he is crucial to the Republic's European Championship plans after his performance against Portugal at Landsdowne Road last week. "The game gave me a big lift in confidence," Aldridge said. Other doubts surround Efan Ekoku and Marcus Gayle, both substituted against Liverpool.. John Aldridge, the ever prolific 36-year-old Tranmere Rovers striker, has been handed the incentive to play on for another year by Jack Charlton, the Republic of Ireland manager, and possibly finish his career in the Premiership. However, Joe Kinnear, the Wimbledon manager, said: "We've got a good record at Arsenal and if we play like we did against Liverpool, we'll get three points."However, Dean Holdsworth, Andy Thorn, Robbie Earle and Mick Harford all missed the match with Liverpool on Tuesday through injuries, and are likely to be out again.

"But I won't decide the rest of the team until just before the kick-off, because there are two ways of looking at this match."I could field my cup final team to establish the pattern for next week, or I could give some of them a break at the end of a long season. We'll be aiming for a good win to finish the season at Highbury and I know we'll get a wonderful send-off for Paris from the fans who have been marvellous again this season, despite our ups and downs."Wimbledon agreed to bring the game forward two days to allow Arsenal extra time to prepare for Paris, even though it means that the Dons are playing their third match in six days. Furious Tottenham supporters tried to invade the pitch after Wright scored a hotly-disputed penalty in Saturday's north London derby, and a bottle was thrown at the Arsenal player.In the build-up to tonight's League game against Wimbledon at Highbury and the Cup-Winners' Cup final in Paris next Wednesday, police are following up complaints that Wright incited the trouble with provocative gestures."It was those people who tried to start a mini-riot, but I've got the bad headlines and I haven't done anything," Wright said. "To be honest, the less I say about it the better, because some people are trying to make something out of nothing."They look at me and think of a previous reputation, or whatever, and I'm the target. It was pretty scary for a while, but luckily I managed to see the bottle coming and picked it up and handed it to the referee."Now I just want to forget it and concentrate on the Wimbledon match and the massive game we have coming up next week against Real Zaragoza."A police spokeman confirmed: "Only one written complaint about Ian Wright has been received to my knowledge from the Spurs match, but there were also one or two telephone calls, and we have to treat these matters seriously."Our people at the match did not see anything objectionable in the player's behaviour, but when we have time we will study videos of the game, and if there is anything untoward we will report it to the Football Association, which is the usual practice."Wright will lead Arsenal's attack against the Dons, but the main focus of attention will be on the Gunners' defence, where the reserve centre- half, Andy Linighan, steps in for Steve Bould, who is suspended for next week's European final."I must give Andy a game at this stage," said the Arsenal manager, Stewart Houston. Even sixth place may not be good enough."Ian Wright, the Arsenal striker, is trying to focus his attention on matters on the pitch, instead of off-field headlines.

That would mean football all year round and that is not fair on anyone at the club." Francis believes Spurs must win their remaining games if they are to have any chance of playing in the Uefa Cup next season."There's still so many permutations if Manchester United win the League, or Blackburn win the League and United lose the FA Cup. I can't see how we could get the players to play in it or where we would play," explained Gerry Francis, the Spurs manager. "Our pitch will need a lot of work on it in the close-season, players are away on international duty and anyway, they need a proper rest.""I can't see how the Premier League can call for a reduction in the number of games and then offer this as a carrot for teams to get into Europe by playing throughout the summer. Wimbledon have also said that they will not enter the tournament. "We wouldn't want to enter.