Soccer news

New Royals manager Brendan Rodgers has revealed he plans to adopt his 'non-traditional' methods on the training ground in pre-season.
Rodgers is looking forward to getting started as Royals chief and he plans to do things differently to a lot of coaches over the summer - something he believes the players will benefit from. Rodgers said on the club's website: "I'm really looking forward to the first day of pre-season. I'm not a traditional coach so there won't be a lot of time in the gym or a lot of time just running.


Cardiff City are believed to have rejected a second bid of around £5million from Birmingham for defender Roger Johnson.
Birmingham boss Alex McLeish has made the 26-year-old one of his top summer targets and had an initial £3million offer turned down by the Bluebirds last week. Now Blues have come back in with an improved offer that could eventually be worth £5million to Cardiff but that too has been rebuffed.Johnson had a fine season last term and boss Dave Jones is desperate to keep him as he looks to build a squad capable of securing promotion up to the Premier League.Birmingham could yet come in with another improved bid that would test Jones' resolve to keep him while Portsmouth, Sunderland and Middlesbrough are also thought to be monitoring his situation.


Scunthorpe are ready to battle it out with Norwich for the services of Hartlepool defender Michael Nelsen.
Nelsen's contract is due to expire at the end of the month and it looks almost certain he will leave on a free transfer with a number of clubs ready to offer him a deal. The Canaries are known to be in the hunt but now reports claim Scunthorpe are also keen and that could see him opt to join the Iron, who could offer him Championship football.


Arsenal are lining up a swoop for Manchester City defender Micah Richards and could be ready to offer Kolo Toure in part exchange.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is looking to rebuild his defence this summer and has targeted a move for Richards, who could be on his way out of Eastlands. City chief Mark Hughes is reported to be unhappy with the player's attitude and will allow him to move on if a rival club come in and offer a fee in the region of £6million.Wenger will not offer that much but could throw long-term City target Toure in as part of the deal. Toure almost joined City back in January and now he has just 12 months left on his current deal, Wenger is happy to use him as bait to land Richards.

Blackburn are ready to move for Valencia striker Nikola Zigic, who has been told he is free to leave at the right price.
Sam Allardyce is scouting around for a new striker as doubts surround the future of Benni McCarthy and Roque Santa Cruz and Zigic is said to be high on his wanted list. The giant striker has all the attributes to be a success in the Premiership and Valencia officials say he can go if someone gets close to the £13.5million they paid for him back in 2007."We have decided to sell but at the right price in the market," the club's sporting director Fernando Gomez revealed. "We have paid a lot of money for Zigic and it is necessary to recuperate a (sizeable) part."Aston Villa are also keen on the talented Serbian attacker.

Liverpool have opened a football academy in India, as the club looks to tap the country's growing interest in the Premier League.
The Reds academy in Pune, south of Mumbai, is a logical step as the club looks to appeal to India's young talent, which in a nation of 1.15bn people, offers huge potential. The Reds will offer scouting and coaching support, in return for raising its profile in western India where the wealthy middle classes represent a considerable commercial opprtunity.Many other Premier League clubs are also targeting India, but the LFC-backed centre at Pune is the first of its kind and could give the Reds a head start in one of the world's largest markets.