Football Talk

Ajax takes action against English poachers, Ricardo Carvalho's son spotted in an Addicks shirt and comic bus drivers at Wembley feature in this week's Football Talk

Ajax kids on contracts in bid to scrub out English poachers
The poaching of Europe's best young talent by Premier League clubs is not just an issue vexing UEFA president Michel Platini. The English are also viewed as a serious threat in Holland, home to the highly-regarded youth development programmes at Ajax and PSV Eindhoven. So desperate are Ajax to hang on to their latest crop of youngsters that the Amsterdam club have taken the unprecedented step of handing out contracts to 15 of their Under-15 squad. Officials from the Dutch Football Association also raised the aggressive Premier League clubs' recruitment strategies at a recent meeting with the Football Association.

Blue isn't always the colour
Chelsea may have grand designs on turning the world Blue but if the club can't convince their own players' families to support them, then the fanbase expansion could be in trouble. Ricardo Carvalho's son, Rodrigo, was spotted attending a Charlton reserve-team game against Watford last month and he was wearing an Addicks shirt. Supporting his Portuguese godfather and temporary housemate, Charlton's Paulo Monteiro, he may have been but with dad reportedly close to signing a new contract, Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon might expect a bit more family loyalty.

QPR fans in cafe brawl shame
A gang of QPR fans were involved in violent clashes at an Essex cafe on their way home from Ipswich on Saturday. According to witnesses, around 15 yobs smashed bottles, threw bar stools and fought with Ipswich-supporting customers at the Manningtree Station Buffet. They are alleged to have burst into the platform cafe bar, shouting: "We are QPR." Windows were damaged, a pensioner was punched and three Ipswich fans were injured. Four men, aged 44, 47, 48 and 50, were arrested for offences ranging from affray to actual bodily harm and public order offences. Cafe owner Paul Sankey said: "There were a lot of women and children in here at the time. They were petrified and some were crying."

Tough going on Wembley way
The threat of a Tube strike to clash with Sunday's FA Cup semi-final highlights a key flaw in designing Wembley as a public transport venue. The 90,000-seat stadium has its capacity for car parking capped at 2,900 by Brent Council and stadium officials have so far been unable to secure an increase. That means all big events will be badly hit if the trains don't run. Not that the infrastructure could necessarily cope with a hike in car journeys. Fans stuck in traffic on the 83 bus from Ealing en route the Carling Cup Final recall an extraordinay tannoy announcement. "Sorry about this ladies and gentlemen," said the exasperated driver. "They spend £800million on a new stadium, and the surrounding road network is sh*t!"

Football Talk on 6 March stated that Leeds United had been punished by the Football League for 'financial mismanagement'. We accept that this is untrue and no such finding was made. Fifteen points were deducted from the club at the start of the 2007-08 season due to them going into administration. We apologise to the club and chairman Mr Bates.