Carlo Ancelotti Gives Support To Troubled Chelsea Captain John Terry
by Tim Rich (Profile/Interview | Guardian - January 31)
Carlo Ancelotti has given his unequivocal backing to John Terry after the Chelsea and England captain was accused of having an extra-marital affair with the former partner of his international team-mate, Wayne Bridge. more details | go to article

David Beckham: I Can Still Deliver For England
by Tim Rich (Profile/Interview | Telegraph - March 19)
After taking a Beckham-sized salary to decamp to Los Angeles to recreate the glories of The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night for Hollywood, F Scott Fitzgerald remarked sadly that "there are no second acts in American lives". Fitzgerald conclusively proved his point by drinking himself to death while producing unusable scripts that had no chance of ending up as a film. They said much the same, if in less elegant language, when David Beckham arrived in Los Angeles from Madrid. more details | go to article

Glazer's United Is A Family Affair
by Tim Rich and Mark Ogden (Article | Telegraph - June 8)
It did not take the Manchester United chief executive, David Gill, long to discover how Malcolm Glazer intends to run his new piece of real estate. more details | go to article

Supporters See Faults In Glazer Offer
by Tim Rich (Article | Telegraph - March 14)
Malcolm Glazer's attempts to win over Manchester United fans to his takeover bid have been condemned by the very people he hoped to impress. Given the antipathy towards the Florida-based entrepreneur from most who follow United, his offer to guarantee them 25 per cent of the club in shares did not stand much chance of ever being endorsed. more details | go to article

Old Feud Diverts Ferguson From The 'Mammoth' Task Of Chasing Chelsea
by Tim Rich (Preview | Independent - December 1)
A little over a month ago, they were the invincibles of the Premiership, but tonight Arsenal return to Old Trafford with Sir Alex Ferguson claiming that Chelsea are the real threat to Manchester United's hopes of regaining their title. more details | go to article

Double Dose Of Rooney Proves Just The Medicine For United
by Tim Rich (Preview | Independent - November 15)
All honeymoons end but Graeme Souness's relationship with Newcastle United is threatening to head straight into a loveless marriage without the usual hand-in-hand walks through the park which normally come in between. more details | go to article

Bank Dumps Glazer After United Are Left In Crisis
by Tim Rich and Damian Reece (Article | Independent - November 13)
Malcolm Glazer's attempt to destabilise Manchester United by voting to dismiss three members of the club's board backfired spectacularly last night when his bankers and the PR company handling his proposed takeover both resigned. Glazer's attempt to take control of Old Trafford now appears fatally damaged. more details | go to article

Hollywood Script Fails To Impress Liverpool
by Tim Rich (Analysis | Independent - September 25)
In Germany they call Bayern Munich "FC Hollywood" but yesterday Liverpool reacted with some disdain to news that they were being targeted by a couple of minor Los Angeles movie moguls. The club, which has attracted bids good, bad and ugly in its quest to find adequate funding for a new stadium, distanced itself from reports that a Merseyside-born film-maker, Mike Jefferies, and his business partner, Stuart Ford, had begun takeover talks in a deal that might be worth £100m. more details | go to article

Rio's Reassuring Presence Encourages United's Conspiracy Theorists
by Tim Rich (Commentary | Independent - September 21)
According to a French saying the absent are always wrong but in sport, they are invariably right. Eric Cantona would have performed sublimely in every one of the matches he missed in the closing months of the 1994-5 season. more details | go to article

After 247 Days And 32 Matches, Rio Returns To Rescue United
by Tim Rich (Preview | Independent - September 18)
It is almost a year since a car drove by the North Cheshire Equestrian Centre, took a left into Isherwood Road with the dark girders of an electricity sub-station on the horizon, past the lorry park and on to a small, single-track lane that leads to Manchester United's training ground. more details | go to article

Ferguson Key As Hughes Gambles On A Rovers Return
by Tim Rich (Profile/Interview | Independent - September 17)
A telephone conversation with Sir Alex Ferguson provided the reassurance Mark Hughes required to leave Wales for Blackburn Rovers. Although it is nine years since he left Old Trafford, Hughes is still close to the Manchester United manager, on whom he leant for advice once it became clear that he topped a list of 50 serious candidates to replace Graeme Souness as manager at Ewood Park. more details | go to article

Hughes Takes Over At Blackburn After Wales Give Up The Struggle
by Tim Rich (Profile/Interview | Independent - September 16)
Mark Hughes was named the new manager of Blackburn Rovers last night after the Football Association of Wales realisedit was futile to attempt to hold him to his contract. Yesterday morning, Hughes was given permission to talk to Blackburn, which given that he had already met their directors on Monday night, became a formality. more details | go to article

Shearer Leads Newcastle's Return To Form Right On Cue For Souness
by Tim Rich (Analysis | Independent - September 13)
Even if Graeme Souness had not been approached to take charge at St James' Park, he would in all probability no longer be running Blackburn Rovers. He was rumoured to be on the point of being sacked before Newcastle's chairman, Freddy Shepherd, came calling, and another lifeless performance like this by Blackburn would probably have settled his fate. more details | go to article

Smith's Double Lights Up Lite Reds' Night
by Tim Rich (Result | Independent - August 26)
If signing a hero of the Revie Stand to perform in front of the Stretford End was a risk by Sir Alex Ferguson, then comparing him to Eric Cantona could only have increased the pressure on Alan Smith. more details | go to article

From Village Idiot To Galactico: A Journey To Confound Sceptics
by Tim Rich (Article | Independent - August 21)
Jonathan Woodgate's nickname in the Leeds United dressing-room was Village - short for village idiot. These days, he is called a Galactico - short for very famous and very wealthy footballer. more details | go to article