NEMANJA Vidic has always given the impression that he is a pretty tough bloke.

So why has the Serbian defender taken the coward's way out after revealing in a Russian magazine his misery in Manchester?

The United player issued a statement through the club on Wednesday claiming, as Glenn Hoddle once insisted, that "I never said them things".

At least among all the guff in the denial, he admitted: "I spoke about the difficulty I had settling in to life in Manchester, but that does not reflect how I feel now."

Maybe someone reminded Vidic that before joining United he spent 18 months in freezing Moscow and he revised his opinion, but he joins the ranks of foreign players who haven't quite taken to these shores anyway.
Vidic said: "In England they say that Manchester is the city of rain. Its main attraction is considered to be the timetable at the railway station where trains leave for other, less rainy cities."

Other hilariously undiplomatic players have included Italian Rolando Bianchi at Manchester City, who said: "I am learning the language but I have raised the white flag with English food. I don't like it.

"I think I am the only teetotaller in the whole Premier League. My teammates were surprised when I refused a mouthful of beer. They looked at me as if I was an extraterrestrial."

But best of all was Macedonian Georgi Hristov who, when at Barnsley, said: "The local girls are far uglier than the ones in Belgrade. Our women are far prettier and they don't drink as much beer."

l When Liverpool were in the grip of their bitter internal power battle earlier this year co-owner Tom Hicks claimed he was "working on the money to make Liverpool's finances more sound".

So why after agreeing a ceasefire with partner George Gillett and chief executive Rick Parry is he prepared to spend STG9 million (RM57 million) on Albert Riera?

The Espanyol winger was on loan at Manchester City two years ago and failed to impress.

His price tag then was STG3.5m and he not is more than twice as good now.

This deal, like so many others at this point in the transfer window, smacks of desperation.

Average wide player James Milner being valued at STG10 million by Newcastle says it all.

Signing Riera looks like a gesture towards Rafael Benitez by the Liverpool owners after they vetoed the move for Gareth Barry.

But Everton were also after him and they will take some consolation after missing out that they drove the price up to a ridiculous level for their rivals.