Manchester United fan could take over Liverpool & Vucinic would get into Capellos side ahead of Rooney (Chris McGrath)

Comment & analysis round-up

Quote of the day:When I started as England manager, I decided who would be vice-captain and captain. Ive changed nothing from that. Rio is back and he is captain. I spoke with Steven and he understands. I was really happy when he played like a captain, with a fantastic display every time. He played like a leader on the pitch. But rules are really important. We know who is the captain and who is the vice-captain. Fabio Capello.

Runner-up:Its an absolute honour to be captain of your country. I was named that in the summer but wasnt able to go through with it due to injury. But to be able to lead out England again is fantastic. Rio Ferdinand.

Zlatko Kranjcar, coach of Montenegro on Wayne Rooney: Im sure that it is very difficult for him, but he got himself into that situation and he has big difficulties to handle that psychologically, said Kranjcar. There is always a big media pressure upon the players so he is in a very difficult situation right now. I also believe that the invitation he got from Mr Capello will help him get back his self-confidence and resurrect his game. I think England have much more quality with him than without him.

Todays overview: D-Day for Liverpool at the High Court and Englands Euro 2012 qualifier with Montenegro dominate.

The papers predict it will be a disappointing outcome for Hicks and Gillett in London, whilst there is also conjecture over a late late Singapore bid from Peter Lim who just happens to be a Manchester United fan.

On England, both Paul Hayward and Matt Barlow concentrate on the constant central defensive changes and Barry Glendenning plays down the importance of the captaincy.

On Montenegro, Marko Vucinic continues to be bigged up with Chris McGrath claimin! g the Ro ma striker would get into Capellos side ahead of Rooney.

Elsewhere there is news of Owen Hargreaves return, Edgar Davids going crazy and Ledley Kings 30th birthday party.

Liverpool: Phil Thomas has bad news for the current Yanks. Tom Hicks and George Gilletts desperate bid to hang on to Liverpool looked doomed last night. The clubs future will be argued out in the High Court today as the Yank pair fight to stop the Anfield board accepting New England Sports Ventures 300million takeover bid. Hicks and Gillett were sent reeling yesterday when Liverpools biggest creditor, the Royal Bank of Scotland announced: They had won an injunction preventing the Yank duo sacking independent chairman Martin Broughton or any other board members. They could have closed Liverpool down before now because the Americans had defaulted on their refinancing agreement for some time.

The Daily Mail report on further developments, Singapore billionaire Peter Lim, who lost out to NESV, is reported to be ready to make Liverpool a late improved offer. Lim believes his offer was just as attractive as that of John W Henry. He is willing to pay off all of RBSs and Wachovias 200m of long-term debt as well as taking on 60m of further debt. Royal Bank of Scotland PLC v Hicks & others is among a number of cases to be heard by Mr Justice Floyd at 10.30am. The dispute to be settled revolves around whether chairman Martin Broughton has the authority to sell the club to NESV.

David McDonnell adds on the late late Singapore bid, Lim believed his original offer was more attractive than those of his rivals because it was being financed from his own personal fortune, rather than through borrowing. But the current board are determined to push through their agreement with NESV. Lim is said to be ready to pounce with his revised offer, particularly if Liverpool co-owners Tom Hicks a! nd busin ess partner George Gillett emerge successful from todays High Court hearing, despite having lost all credibility with fans. Mr Justice Floyd will hear Hicks protest that chairman Martin Broughton sold the club to NESV without the legal authority to do so. The judge will make a ruling today or tomorrow.

Rory Smith addsthatPeter Lim, the Singaporean billionaire looking to take over Liverpool is a Manchester United fan. Lim, revealed on Monday as the second excellent bidder in the running to buy the club before Liverpools board opted to accept a 300 million offer from New England Sports Ventures (NESV), is ready to make an improved bid, though he is likely to come into play only should NESV pull out or the club be plunged into administration. Regardless of the outcome of the Royal Bank of Scotlands court case against Tom Hicks on Tuesday, both of those scenarios remain plausible and Lim who believed he was in pole position to land the club until NESV improved its offer at the 11th hour has clearly not given up hope of gazumping his rivals.

England: Paul Hayward fears the Englands centraldefence is now a weakness. Less significant than the ceremonial restoration of a captains band to the arm of Ferdinand is the return of a defender who was born to be the new Bobby Moore and has matched those expectations, in spurts, in his best years at United. Now 31, and increasingly infirm, Ferdinand has observed a whole Ryder Cup of centre-back couplings since he broke down in Englands first training session in South Africa: a mishap that felt ominous at the time and turned out to be entirely emblematic of their prospects.

Matt Barlow also ponders the central defensive problems. Fabio Capello will select his 13th different central defensive starting partnership for England on Tuesday night. Lucky for him? Not really, if there is one thing a manager cr! aves it is reliability. This Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro will be Capellos 32nd game in the job, during which time the identity of his top two central defenders has rarely been questioned. John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, who have played alongside each other only nine times during the Italians reign, are hugely experienced and talented individuals who balance nicely as a pair. Left and right, pace and aggression, ready to accept responsibility. If only they were fit to play together more often. In the last World Cup qualifying campaign of 14 games, they started only four times together and have not played in tandem in a competitive game for a year.

Barry Glendenning wonders if the England captaincy even matters. One cant help but feel that England might have gone some small way towards sorting out the big tournament malaise with which they have long been dogged if, rather than making an increasingly restrictive bungee rope out of what is little more than a length of gaudy ceremonial elastic, Ferdinand had called upon Englands players, supporters and media cheerleaders to stop being so ridiculously hung up on which particular players biceps it ends up being wrapped around.

Steven Howard laments the fact Steven Gerrard is not England captain this evening. Only time will tell whether Capello has made the right choice. But judging by some of his past decisions, he could well have made the wrong call once more. Like going with Joe Hart as his third-choice keeper at the World Cup. Like deciding to omit Adam Johnson from his squad for South Africa. Like taking the injury-ravaged Ledley King. Like writing off David Beckham in a TV interview without forewarning him with the words: Hes too old, bye bye. Like 4-4-2, even. And what of removing the captaincy from Gerrard, who has done so much as skipper to help revive England after the South African disaster?

Henry Winter says Don Fabio may regret demoting Stevie G. If Gerrard appears inhibited or distracted, contrasting with his outstanding displa! ys again st Hungary, Bulgaria and Switzerland, then Capello will be assailed with questions. The captaincy debate occupies so many minds, phone-ins and column inches because Capello has prevaricated in recent weeks, indicating after the success against Switzerland on Sept 7 that Gerrard might continue in the post, a suggestion he repeated on Oct 3, so raising the midfielders hopes. He should have informed Gerrard after Basle that it was always his plan for Ferdinand to regain the captaincy when fit.

Charles Sale picks on Fabio Capellos English. Fabio Capello went into his round of media conferences yesterday fresh from an English lesson, which he still has on a regular basis. But his teacher, who stayed to listen to how the England manager fared, would not have given him many marks out of 10 for progress after nearly three years of lessons. He didnt understand or chose not to answer a question about whether deposed captain Steven Gerrard had kept him a job with his two goals in the toxic post World Cup friendly against Hungary and he said Kevin Daviess wife had crowed rather than cried when she heard of his England call-up.

Jason Burt hails Peter Crouch as a key man for England tonight. Crouch will play but will also feel hard done by, surely, that he has in effect fallen even further down the pecking order despite making a strong start to the season with Tottenham. He has also scored seven times in the last seven games he has started for England, but while he boasts an impressive goal-scoring ratio for his country 21 goals in 40 appearancess it is clear that Capello is suspicious about the way Crouch fits into his team. He is effectively fourth choice at best.

Montenegro: Chris McGrath claims Vucinic would get into Capellos side ahead of Rooney. In the likes of Adam Johnson, Joe Hart and Jack Wilshere, meanwhile, Capello is blood! ing play ers whose chances of helping England do better would be greatly helped if we both understand and respect our limitations. Montenegro may have a smaller population than Birmingham, but it isnt the setting for some Tintin adventure. And while Barry is the cornerstone, Davies strains at the leash, and Vucinic is whipping off his shorts, it would be graceless to disparage positive achievements for either side.

Mark Fleming also reports on the Roma striker. Mirko Vucinic has promised to whip off his shorts and put them on his head if he scores at Wembley tonight, but if that happens it will be England manager, Fabio Capello, and his team who will be looking exposed. No one could possibly complain that they had not been warned about Montenegros most famous, and most dangerous, player their captain and national hero, a man who loves the limelight so much he celebrated his goal in Fridays 1-0 win over Switzerland by prancing around in his smalls.

Euro 2012 qualifying: Paul Doyle wonders how the minnows cope. Being beaten and ridiculed is a fact of life for some teams. Take Europes tiddlers: San Marino, Andorra, Malta, Luxembourg, Faroe Islands and Azerbaijan. They were the bottom seeds for the draw for Euro 2012 qualification and will likely remain bottom of their respective groups throughout the entire qualifying campaign. And while they are being thrashed they will also have to endure folks berating them just for being there. How often have you heard people grumble that such countries are mere nuisances? That some of them exist solely to give Uefa more votes in Fifa elections and that matches against them serve no purpose? That they should be forced to play among themselves before one of them perhaps earns the right to compete against a proper team?

Owen Hargreaves to return: Neil Custis reveals Fed-up Owen Hargreaves says his latest comeback bid will be his last. The 29-year-old Manchester United star is on the verge of making his first start for the club i! n two ye ars. He has twice been close to returning in that time only to be hit by major setbacks. And if this latest comeback does not work, he will retire. Alex Ferguson is full of admiration for the England midfielders determination to return. And the United boss has been so impressed with him in training he wants Hargreaves to start in the Carling Cup clash with Wolves on October 26.

Nigel De Jong: Ian Wright is typically late and forthright on Manchester Citys Dutch midfielder. I am behind Marseille taking legal action. I do not really want to see the game we all love being dragged through the courts. But if football cannot sort out its own problems, then I dont really see what alternative there is. We have seen so many wild tackles go unpunished in recent seasons. The game is now too big for those in charge of it to deem an incident beyond reproach just because it was not seen by three blokes with two flags and a whistle between them. This way of working no longer does football justice. Neither is it fair on the clubs, the officials, the fans or the players, who need protection with livelihoods at stake.

Mental Edgar Davids: It had to happen didnt it. Tony Little: Edgar Davids has been involved in a furious training-ground bust-up at Crystal Palace. The Dutch hothead, 37, stunned players and staff by grappling with left-back Julian Bennett and shouting: Im the boss around here. Tempers boiled over when Bennett, on loan from Nottingham Forest, blasted the veteran for giving the ball away in a practice session. Davids, who joined the Eagles in August, took exception to the criticism and squared up to the defender. The incident took place two weeks ago at Palaces training base near Beckenham.

Smut: The Sun report on Ledley Kings 30th birthday party. England ace Ledley King celebrated his 30th birthday with a booze-fuelled party for a handful of mates plus THIRTY girls they rounded up. The fellas were outnumbered three to one after pals toured! a hotel bar handing out VIP pink wristbands for women to join them in the penthouse. A source at Londons five-star Mayfair Hotel said: It all seemed a bit tame at first, with a dinner in the restaurant. Then they really cranked it up. Ledley and a couple of his friends went upstairs while the rest handed wristbands to the best looking girls in the bar.

The Daily Mail report that David Beckham took his sons to the beach and that Mrs Rooney and Mrs Gerrard met up for some lunch.

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