OH GREAT
Graham Poll will be entrusted with refereeing Manchester United's match at Arsenal on February 1, a fixture made all the more incendiary by the latest bitter exchanges between the two clubs' managers.
An increasingly exasperated Football Association is considering its response to the current round of public squabbling between Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger.
An increasingly exasperated Football Association is considering its response to the current round of public squabbling between Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger.
The FA is desperate to prevent a repeat of the bad-tempered displays from both sets of players, which seem to be becoming usual in their fixtures. After Mike Riley's widely derided performance in the last match - which ended Arsenal's unbeaten run on 49 games - it is felt that Poll's authority will help achieve a more measured tone. He is the only English referee to be short listed for the 2006 World Cup.
None the less the FA fears that further outbursts between the managers will add fuel to what is already a heated fixture and hopes the two men recognise that this could have implications for their players' safety.