The least shocking of this morning’s revelations is that “friends” of Sam Allardyce have confirmed that he is interested in the Sunderland job. Considering these “friends” have already told the press that he would be interested in managing Blackburn, Portsmouth and his local corner shop (probably), it should now go without saying that will take any job he can get.

Gallas: I feel humiliated
That’s the headline in today’s Sun for a story where a close relative of William Gallas (his aunt’s stepson’s second cousin?) revealed that he has no friends at Arsenal, feels humiliated and hopes to join Milan in January.

The Truth: Arsenal can’t afford to lose their best centre-back unless there’s a replacement lined up

Fowler decides to stay at Blackburn
In what must have been one of the easiest decisions of his career, Robbie Fowler has spurned the advances of Grimsby, the League Two club who have won just one of eighteen games this season, in order to prolong his Premier League career.

The Truth:  Expect to read tomorrow about how Robinho turned down a late offer from Droylsden to sign for Manchester City

Ilunga calls West Ham second rate…or does he?
Setanta’s website yesterday revealed that left-back Herita Ilunga had called West Ham second rate, evoking memories of when Eyal Berkovic compared the club to a pub team. However, a glimpse at the original article makes it clear that he is just stating that West Ham are on a second level of teams below the Big Four, in which case he’s probably being too generous! He also speaks about how much he loves working for Gianfranco Zola and how impressed he was that West Ham went to Anfield to win, whereas his old Toulouse side were only concerned by the margin of the defeat. Unsurprisingly, those less controversial snippets failed to reach the tabloid radar.

The Truth: He has impressed so far but probably isn’t good enough for the Big Four