Football in Brief: Premier League ties up new deal with Barclays

The Premier League and Barclays have agreed a new three-year title sponsorship deal worth £82.25m to top-flight clubs. The new deal, agreed yesterday, has come after league officials initially rejected a lower offer from the bank. Barclays has sponsored the Premier League since 2004 and its current three-year contract, which expires next year, was worth £65.8m.

The increase in the value of the deal reflects the continuing strength of the Premier League in a sponsorship market that has been badly affected by the economic downturn in other areas of sport. The deal will run from the 2010-11 season until the end of the 2012-13 season.

Strachan must wait for confirmation of Boro job

Chairman Steve Gibson hopes to finally unveil Gordon Strachan as the club's new manager on Monday after it emerged yesterday that an expected announcement of Gareth Southgate's successor will not come over the weekend.

Sources on Teesside insist there is no hitch in the appointment and that the delay is simply down to putting the finishing touches to the deal. It is understood Strachan will not now watch Boro from the stands at Preston today, but his former assistant at Celtic, Gary Pendry, could. Caretaker manager Colin Cooper, assisted by Steve Agnew and Stephen Pears, is in charge of the team at Deepdale and said: "I spoke to the chairman yesterday and he explained what's expected of us."

Allardyce attacks Trapattoni over Reid comments

Blackburn The manager Sam Allardyce has demanded an apology from Republic of Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni for the Italian's "disgusting" comments about Steven Reid's fitness.

Reid, 28, has made only two appearances in nearly a year as a result of a serious knee injury and a niggling Achilles tendon complaint and Trapattoni has said a full recovery would be "very, very difficult", to Reid's own surprise. Allardyce said Trapattoni's remarks were "disgraceful", adding: "He's not talking correctly in terms of Steven's injury. What he is saying is completely untrue and something he should apologise for."