Football: Stoke seeking Jordan

JOE JORDAN is expected to succeed his former Scottish international team-mate, Lou Macari, as Stoke City manager before the weekend.

Jordan, 42, previously in charge of Hearts and Bristol City, became assistant manager at Celtic during the summer and agreed to take over on a temporary basis following Liam Brady's resignation last month.

However, Jordan left the following day as it became clear that Celtic's main target was Macari. Chic Bates, the former Shrewsbury manager who has led Stoke to three successive First Division victories as caretaker manager, will now link up with Macari again at Parkhead.

Eric Cantona was yesterday banned by Uefa from attending his own 'trial' on charges of alleging corruption among European referees. Neither the French striker nor any Manchester United representative will be allowed to attend when a Uefa disciplinary commission discuss Cantona's conduct in Zurich tomorrow.