Football: Kenny sent packing

(First Edition)

BILLY KENNY, the England Under-21 midfield player, has been dismissed by Everton for 'gross misbehaviour'. Mike Walker, the club's manager, took the decision after losing patience with the 20-year-old following a series of incidents culminating in Kenny's refusal to be named as a substitute for a reserve match.

Kenny was named man of the match against Liverpool last season, but Howard Kendall, the previous Everton manager, fined him for refusing to turn up for training. Walker's first task at Goodison was to give the player a second chance and fine him two weeks' wages for again going absent.

Walker said yesterday: 'He has been dismissed for gross misbehaviour. I arrived in the middle of the last incident. I told him if he stepped out of line again there would be only one course of action.'