Cardiff chairman threatens City

Samesh Kumar, the Cardiff City chairman, has threatened to take Manchester City to court if his club does not receive compensation for the loss of their manager, Phil Neal.

Kumar said that his argument is not with Neal but with Francis Lee, the Manchester City chairman, because nobody from Manchester City had contacted him. "I don't know what the situation is because nobody from Manchester has had the courtesy to tell me," he said.

Barry Hearn has put pounds 500,000 of shares in Leyton Orient up for sale in an attempt to improve the club's fortunes. Season-ticket holders and existing shareholders will have the chance to buy between 100 and 50,000 shares for pounds 1 each. Hearn wants to raise money to strengthen the squad and develop the ground.Pierre Van Hooijdonk is staying at Celtic for the time being. The striker, who scored twice for the Netherlands against Wales on Saturday, had talks yesterday with the club's manager, Tommy Burns, designed to clear the air after their long-running contract dispute.

Celtic claim Van Hooijdonk has demanded an improved pay deal, but the Dutchman has denied he has asked for more money. It is believed the row has yet to be resolved completely, although there seems to have been a temporary settlement as Van Hooijdonk, last season's top scorer in Scotland who has 18 months on his existing contract to run, trained with the first team squad today, having been forced to train with the reserves yesterday.

Neil Ruddock can expect a hostile reception from Manchester United fans if he plays in Liverpool's Premiership match at Old Trafford on Saturday.

It was a tackle by the tough defender in last Saturday's reserve game at Anfield which left the United striker Andy Cole with a broken right ankle and a cracked bone in his left leg.

Ruddock, who is line to replace the injured Dominic Matteo this weekend, insists there was no malice in his challenge and says he asked Cole if he was all right. Cole, who faces a three-month lay-off, disagrees with Ruddock's version of events.

He expressed disappointment at Ruddock's assertion that there was no ill feeling and that the defender had spoken to him when he was on the ground. Cole said: "He didn't. I have had no contact with Neil Ruddock at all. He never said anything to me after the game, nothing whatsoever."