Liverpool seal Jovanovic signing

Southend court hearing adjourned

Cardiff winding-up order delayed

Zola's West Ham future is '100% secure'

• Co-owner says: 'We are not sackers. We support managers'
• 'I am confident we will claw our way up the table'

The West Ham United joint chairman David Sullivan has said that the club have no intention of sacking their manager, Gianfranco Zola.

Zola was furious after Sullivan said salaries at the club would have to be cut, in order to get the Hammers' £60m wage bill down to manageable levels. Sullivan's remarks came on the eve of tonight's match against Birmingham City the club Sullivan and his West Ham co-owner, David Gold, sold last October.

"He [Zola] is entitled to his opinion and I respect that," Sullivan told Sky Sports News. "I hope it galvanises the team and the manager to produce a wonderful performance. If we win tonight I have made my point, if we lose he has made his point. All I can say is that in 17 years we sacked two managers at Birmingham. We are not sackers.

"We support managers and he is 100% secure. We will bring in players to improve the team in the summer.

"Birmingham are a very good side. I don't see it as a grudge match or anything like that. I see this as just another game and one where we really do need to get three points.

"If you said at this moment in time who is the better team then statistically you would have to say Birmingham are the better team. But if you say who is the bigger club then all the statistics support that West Ham are the bigger club. I am very confident that over the next 14 games, the team will improve and we will claw our way up the table."

Zola, who signed a £1.9m-a-year contract when he joined the club 17 months ago, said: "I am what I am and I believe in what I do and I think we can produce good results.

"I am too connected and tied up to the players. I have a relationship with them and the supporters. I do not like to leave a situation unfinished. The players are focused on the job.

"I am not here for the money. Last year when I signed a contract I didn't even know how much I was going to earn. I had a plan and a project. It's not about money. It is about working for something positive. I have always enjoyed working for this club. The money was something that came after."

On Sullivan's wage-cut plan being revealed in the media, Zola said: "It would have been better to talk to us before talking to a newspaper. That is my feeling. I think the article should have been done at another time, not just before a match."

Zola did not rule out taking a cut and said he would discuss the matter with the owners, but he rejected Sullivan's claim that he might be "too nice" to be successful.

"I am a person of principles and I am not going to allow anybody to walk on my principles," he said.

Portsmouth fear administration as cash offer rejected by HMRC

• Offer was made and rejected last night, sources say
• Club will ask for adjournment in high court

Portsmouth have had an offer to postpone the winding-up order served on them by Her Majesty's Revenues and Customs rejected.

The club are due at the high court today. They will first ask for an adjournment to prepare an appeal against the petition.

If this is not successful – and given HMRC's stance during negotiations, whether an adjournment will be granted appears to be a moot point – the petition will be heard. Portsmouth could then be wound up, placed into administration or be given leave to appeal.

Sources on the south coast said Portsmouth had offered to pay around £3.7m plus future television income to HMRC in order to avoid becoming the first Premier League club to enter administration.

The sources said the cash offer, which represented nearly half the club's outstanding £7.8m VAT bill, was rejected.

Kasabian unveil England's new away shirt

• Singer Tom Meighan says it was 'brilliant' to wear the shirt
• Umbro planned 'away' launch of away shirt

Umbro has launched the England football team's new away shirt in an unusual fashion – by having it worn by Tom Meighan, the lead singer of the band Kasabian, at a concert in Paris.

Speaking after a concert on Monday night, Meighan was quoted by the Leicester Mercury as saying: "It's brilliant to be the first band ever to launch an England shirt and where better to launch this particular kit than away from home?

"When Umbro approached us to represent England away we jumped at the chance as we are all football fans and loved the idea of revealing the England away shirt when playing in the country of one of our great footballing rivals."

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