Chelsea's new chief executive Peter Kenyon yesterday gave Claudio Ranieri the sort of lukewarm endorsement the manager would dread.
Kenyon began his work at Stamford Bridge this week after a period of gardening leave, having left the chief executive's post at Manchester United last September. Kenyon is rumoured to be earning the wages of a star Premiership player at £50,000 a week and is determined to produce success commensurate to the £200m investment from the club's owner Roman Abramovich.
"As we sit here today Claudio has a contract until 2007 and we are still involved in all the major competitions," said Kenyon. "What we really have to do, Claudio and myself, is to focus on winning something.
"We should not forget that the team are still third in the Premiership and have done better in Europe than many expected. Let's put the shutters up on the speculation and deal with the reality."
Ranieri has admitted this week that he may not be the manager "who can close" Chelsea's success and Kenyon's comments suggest he may well concur. It is understood Abramovich would be keen to entice Sven-Goran Eriksson to Stamford Bridge should he quit the England post after the summer's Euro 2004 finals.
And Kenyon's latest statement will do nothing to end such talk. "If you leave the investment aside it will be a huge disappointment if we don't win anything and I'm sure the fans would agree with that," he said. "If you include the investment, however, it will be a failure if we don't win something. That's the way the manager will see it and the way we see it because we're expected to win things."
Arsène Wenger will let his contract run into its final year before deciding whether to commit his long-term future to Arsenal.
The manager's deal expires at the end of next season and he hinted yesterday he would stay on but was in no rush to clarify matters. Asked whether he would look at the issue this season, Wenger said: "No. There are one and a half years to go. We are not in a hurry. I don't think at the moment it will raise any concern."
Arsenal are due to move into their new stadium at the start of the 2006-07 campaign, a year after Wenger's contract expires. The Frenchman has committed such energy to the Ashburton Grove project that it would be a surprise if he does not remain in charge to see in the club's time there. "I think I will be there," he said.
The Football Association is preparing to contact Francis Jeffers after Luis Boa Morte told the governing body that he believes the Everton striker heard allegedly racist comments aimed at him by Duncan Ferguson.
Boa Morte listed Jeffers in the official complaint which Fulham faxed to the FA on Thursday. Also mentioned is the Fulham defender Zat Knight, who is backing Boa Morte's claims about Ferguson's conduct at Goodison Park last month.
The FA will take a statement from Knight as part of its investigation into Boa Morte's allegations, which have been strongly denied by Ferguson. The governing body is also expected to speak to one of the assistant referees, who is thought to have been close when the incident took place.
