Will Hoey show Mellor red card?

What will Katy do next? By giving Manchester United a piece of her mind on her very first day in office, Britain's new sports minister made it clear that her stewardship is likely to be just as tempestuous as that of her predecessor. Indeed, she will prove equally adept at getting up noses, and perhaps even more capable of getting rid of irritants. High on the Hoey hit-list, I believe, is David Mellor, head of football's Task Force, an organisation which could also be in jeopardy once the Manageress gets her trainers under the table. Hoey is unlikely to be as tolerant as Tony Banks with Mellor's incessant spouting off and the man in the number six shirt could become the first of his signings to be dropped. Such a move would certainly endear Hoey to most in the game who can't abide Mellor's abuse of the position as a platform for his own opinions. Meantime Hoey has a little smoothing over to do with another very public figure; her aides winced when she castigated Manchester United over their FA Cup withdrawal and, in the light of Fergie's fiery response yesterday, when he labelled her comments "ignorant and disgraceful" and claimed United had been hung out to dry by the government and the FA, a clear-the-air meeting with the club, the FA and the sports minister is on the cards. But it is unlikely to change a thing. As Banks said here recently, he'd recommend a knighthood for anyone who could get United back in the Cup. The only man who could do that already has one and, as Hoey will discover, the laddie's not for turning.

Hoey jousts with a knight, page 5