News round-up.

Quite a few bits of news floating around over the last couple of days, starting with both Antoine Sibierski and Stephen Ireland have put pen to paper on news deals - Sibierski a one-year extension and Ireland a new three-year deal.
Good to get Ireland signed up for the next few years to follow the other younger players such as Barton, Onouha and Jordan of those who have cracked the first team. Perhaps not so popular is the decision to offer Sibierski a new deal, with mcfcblog being one. I always think Sibierski has suffered a little for his 'versatility' (ie/ no-one knows his best position so he fills in everywhere we are short). A one-year deal will not hurt the club financially or lumber us with a long contract (a la Danny Mills) so to me it isn't the worst move whilst we build up the squad and let a couple of the younger players develop further.
However, despite his impressive start of the season and ability to win over the fans, it is not certain Andrew Cole will be offered a new deal just yet. Pearce has no argument with his form but is not 100% convinced of his ability to remain injury free to warrant another year on his contract.
“We are both quite honest people and it suited both him and us not to resolve anything on the contract side until the end of the season.
“Performances are not a problem and neither is ability - it is managing the slight niggles.
“We have already lost him for three matches this season and he has only played 10, so I have my fingers crossed we can keep him fit and he can carry on scoring goals and winning games for us.”
Probably suits the club a little more this as I can't see Cole being keen to uproot and move on to another club at this stage of his career, but I would be extremely suprised if he wasn't offered a new deal come the end of the season.
Congratulations to both Colin Bell and Bert Trautman, who have been named as some of the inductees for the 2005 entry to the Football Hall of Fame. A well-deserved honour for both, and just a shame that Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison didn't join them in the managerial category.
And finally - an interesting piece that I came across regarding Rio Ferdinand. Just proves what a forgetful lad he is after all eh?