The FA maintained the only discussions with Leicester were over whether Taylor can continue in his assistant’s role with England.The Nationwide Conference is to implement a play-off system to decide promotion to the Football League. Proposals to introduce a two-up-two-down system of promotion and relegation with the Third Division were thrown out last Saturday at the League’s annual meeting but the Conference, at its own agm, has responded by introducing a play-off to decide the single promotion place.From next season the top team in the Conference will automatically progress into the play-off final and will play whichever team wins a play-off, comprising semi-finals and a final, involving the second, third, fourth and fifth-placed sides.. Mixed reaction to the low- key appointment of Glenn Roeder as West Ham United’s new manager will have club officials anxiously checking over the next few days how many supporters take up the offer of a refund on their season tickets. Roeder’s path to Upton Park
1955: Born Woodford, 13 December.1971: Joins Leyton Orient as 16-year-old apprentice defender.1976: Moves to Queen’s Park Rangers for £250,000.1983: Joins Newcastle United for £150,000.1989: Joins Watford on free transfer.1992: Becomes player-manager of Gillingham.1993: Takes over from Steve Perryman as manager of Watford. Feb 1996: Sacked by Watford.March 1996: Joins England coaching staff.Feb 1999: Glenn Hoddle leaves England job and Roeder joins West Ham coaching staff.May 2001: Harry Redknapp leaves West Ham, Roeder made caretaker manager.June 2001: Roeder appointed West Ham manager. Mixed reaction to the low- key appointment of Glenn Roeder as West Ham United’s new manager will have club officials anxiously checking over the next few days how many supporters take up the offer of a refund on their season tickets.Fans were originally offered their money back if dissatisfied with the choice of Harry Redknapp’s successor at a time when the club were confident of landing a rather bigger fish than the 45-year-old Roeder. Alan Curbishley and Steve McClaren decided that Charlton and Middlesbrough respectively were a better proposition than West Ham and, with Preston’s David Moyes, Bolton’s Sam Allardyce and Hibernian’s Alex McLeish all deciding to stay put, the Hammers’ board decided to look in-house.In turning to Roeder, who was brought to Upton Park as a coach by Redknapp two years ago, they have maintained a tradition of keeping the job in the family: only two of the eight previous managers, Ron Greenwood and Lou Macari, had no previous connection with the club.As reserve-team coach, Roeder worked with a number of the current first-team squad and appears to have their respect Joe Cole was among the first to welcome the appointment “He really is a top-quality coach,” said Cole.

“I can assure the fans we work with Glenn every day and he is one of the best.”Some supporters are nevertheless questioning Roeder’s managerial credentials, previous tested only at a lower level and with modest success. Known officially as coach at Gillingham, but effectively in charge of team affairs, he did well to save the side from relegation in 1993, then upset fans by leaving for Watford. After just missing a place in the play-offs in his second season there, he was sacked the following February with the team on their way down to the Second Division. His great triumph in the transfer market, buying Kevin Phillips from Baldock Town for £10,000, was balanced by failures with signings like Devon White, Kerry Dixon and Jamie Moralee.He was then appointed an England scout under Glenn Hoddle, continuing as mentor and adviser to Paul Gascoigne, a former Newcastle United team-mate with whom he worked closely when Gascoigne went to Lazio and needed a more reliable minder than Jimmy “Five Bellies” to keep him vaguely adjacent to the straight and narrow in Rome.Born locally in Woodford, Roeder was brought up as a West Ham supporter, and played for Leyton Orient, Queen’s Park Rangers and Newcastle before finishing with short spells at Watford and Gillingham. A thoughtful and elegant defender particularly well-suited to the sweeper’s position, he will not be a ranter or raver in his new role, which he filled with characteristic calmness in the final match of last season, after Redknapp and his assistant, Frank Lampard, had left the club.Yesterday he acknowledged the need to win over West Ham supporters: “I understand the fans and I accept what they are saying. I’ve got to prove as quickly as I can I am the man for the job, and I’m sure I can change their minds and do that, particularly with a good back-room staff behind me.” That staff is likely to include Roger Cross, a coach under Redknapp, and possibly Ray Lewington, who Watford had been expecting to join their new team of Gianluca Vialli and Ray Wilkins.Much will depend on how well Roeder, shopping in a much classier mall than before, spends the £11m West Ham agreed yesterday for the sale of Frank Lampard to Chelsea. On top of that, there will be a maximum of £4m available, which explains the disenchantment that led to Redknapp’s immediate departure after his discussions about finance with the club chairman, Terence Brown.”It is a great shame to lose Frank because he is a terrific player,” Roeder said yesterday.

“I’m sure he will go on to play for England many times in the future, but we have to respect his decision It means I have a decent amount of money at my disposal. Unfortunately, other clubs I will be trying to buy from now have an idea of what I have to spend. So it makes it very important for me to invest the money wisely and improve the team. Hopefully we will have two or three players in by the start of the season.”. The Swedes Maria Hjorth and Sophie Gustafson both had cause to celebrate as Europe’s richest women’s event, the £1.3m Evian Masters, reached the halfway stage in France yesterday.

The Swedes Maria Hjorth and Sophie Gustafson both had cause to celebrate as Europe’s richest women’s event, the £1.3m Evian Masters, reached the halfway stage in France yesterday. Hjorth packed eight birdies into a seven-under-par 65 to take the lead on a 10-under 134, while Gustafson won a car for a hole-in-one and finished one shot behind after a round of 66, alongside the veteran American Beth Daniel.
Catriona Matthew was the leading Briton, but trailed by eight shots on 142 after repeating her opening 71, while her compatriot Laura Davies, the winner of the Rochester International in New York on Sunday, recovered from her opening 76 with a 70.Hjorth had a poor 2000 season and missed out on a place in the European team for the Solheim Cup. However, she has hit form in recent weeks, with two seconds and a third in the last four LPGA events in the United States. “I struggled with my swing and my putting last year, but I changed coach at the beginning of the year and my game is now much more solid,” she said.Gustafson, the British Open champion and European No 1, picked up the keys to a new car after holing her sand wedge tee shot at the 109-yard 17th.