Allardyce: West Ham will decide on Carroll at end of season

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce says the club will wait until the end of the season before deciding on whether to try and sign loan striker Andy Carroll on a permanent deal.

The 24-year-old joined the London side on a season-long deal from Anfield in August, but has struggled for form after a number of injuries, leading to just two goals in 12 outings.

Carroll joined Liverpool in January 2011 for a British-record fee of 35 million, before being shipped out on loan, and Allardyce feels more stability for the striker would benefit his on-field displays.

"You always want a top class centre forward," Allardyce told talkSPORT.

"I know he's been short on goals and he's had a disrupted season, but he'll only get better if he's got a settled future, whether that's with us or not [I don't know].

"It would be a long process though. We will have a conversation at the end of the season with Andy and Liverpool. It all depends on h ow he feels and what he does between now and the end of the season.

"It's also about where Andy thinks his future lies. He hasn't thought about that yet, he just wants to play as much as he can."

Allardyce feels Carroll holds a unique set of attributes among todays modern footballers, and feels Liverpool may not be the best home for him as he continues his progression.

He added: "There are not many of Andy Carroll's type. The sad thing for football is that it now seems unfashionable to have a big centre forward in your team, which really disappoints me.

"It excites people when you see him rise above everybody else to get the ball in the back of the net.

"I've known him since he was a youngster. I could see the talent that he had and that talent flourished very quickly into Liverpool paying 35 million for him. It didn't work there for whatever reason but he's such a young man, who's desperate to play football and do well."

Jol key to Fulham loan move, says Urby Emanuelson

Urby Emanuelson says the chance to work with Fulham manager Martin Jol was the key reason behind his switch to the club from Italian giants AC Milan.

Jol was Emanuelsons boss when the 26-year-old was at Ajax and, after an indifferent spell at San Siro, he jumped at the chance to be reunited with the Cottagers manager on deadline day.

"Martin Jol was a big part of the move as I'd worked already with him, he told the clubs official website.

"I need a little bit of trust at the moment and he's a coach who believes in me. That is one of the big reasons why I came here."

Emanuelson made his debut for Fulham as a second-half substitute in the narrow 1-0 loss at home to Manchester United, and the 26-year-old admitted is was a tough baptism of fire.

The London side had two goal-bound efforts cleared off the line and hit the woodwork before Wayne Rooney netted the sole goal 11 minutes from time, and the midfielder recognis ed his new side were unlucky to come away from the clash empty handed.

"It wasn't an easy game to make my debut in," he added. "It was a tough match, but in the second half we really fought well and it looked like we would get at least a point.

"We fought as a team. You saw in the second half that we were getting stronger and stronger. We were unlucky in the box as well. But with the strikers they have, they can always score goals.

"We can be happy with the way we played but, of course, the result was not what we wanted.

"It's a good feeling to make my debut. I just want to play more than I was in Milan. I'd only trained once with Fulham before the game so I'm happy that I could play 25 minutes."

Dowie a more likely candidate than Scholes for manager, says Oldham chairman

Iain Dowie has been singled out as the favourite for the Oldham Athletic managerial vacancy, following chairman Simon Corney's admission that the club couldn't afford to lure Paul Scholes from Manchester United.

Despite masterminding a famous win over Liverpool in the FA Cup, Paul Dickov resigned from his post as head coach on Sunday, after the League One side succumbed to their eighth defeat in their last nine games, leaving them in 20th spot.

As a result 38-year-old central midfielder Scholes, who is based in the town and in the past expressed a desire to head into management following his retirement, was labelled as front runner by bookmakers for the position.

However the Latics chairman has insisted that no contact has been made between theBoundary Park outfit and the veteran playmaker. And although he conceded that any interest expressed by the Manchester United midfielder towards the post would be welcome, he also admitted it wou ld be difficult from a financial stand point to lure him away from Old Trafford.

"If Paul Scholes was to so much as express a desire to come here, it would refresh the whole club and of course I would be interested," Corney said.

"But is it going to happen? No, it isn't and there has been no contact between ourselves and Paul Scholes.

"For one thing, I cannot see him wanting to go from earning 60,000-a-week at Manchester United to 600-a-week at Oldham!

"We have received an awful lot of applications for the job, though, and it has been quite humbling to see some of the names who have expressed an interest."

Dowie who has previous experience with the club, leading Oldham to the League One play-offs during his first spell in charge in 2002-03, has now been touted as the forerunner for the job, while no decision has yet been made, the club hope to announce their decision before their FA Cup tie with Everton.

"Iain and I are good friends and we speak on a regular basis, but the club has time to make the right appointment," added Corney.

"I would certainly expect a manager to be in place in time for the FA Cup tie against Everton next week and hopefully the issue may be resolved before the game against MK Dons this weekend."

It was time for a change, says Willian

Anzhi Makhachkala winger Willian says it was "time for a change", after completing a move from Shakhtar Donetsk in January.

The Brazil international moved to Russia for a reported 35 million fee and signed a contract until 2017 with Guus Hiddink's side, and although many believes the switch was financially motivated, he insists that was not the case.

"I've earned quite a lot of money in Donetsk," the 24-year-old told Sport Express.

"With Shakhtar I also won a set of titles not only in Ukraine but in Europe also. I felt comfortable there. But the time for change has come."

The Corinthians winger also revealed that conversations with the club's owners over their long-term ambitions helped to sway his decision.

"My conversation with Anzhi owner Suleiman Kerimov decided everything," Willian said.

"After that I decided to join Anzhi. The club management are not only thinking about short-term gains, th ey really want to create a serious football infrastructure in Dagestan, to lift the game in the republic to a higher level."

Willian appeared 140 times for his former club Shakhtar, scoring 20 goals in total.

West Ham co-owner Sullivan claims to have been threatened by agent

West Ham co-owner David Sullivan has revealed that he was threatened with violence by an unnamed agent during the January transfer window.

Agents roles in modern football has been the subject of heavy debate in recent times, with QPR manager Harry Redknapp likening their behaviour to gang warfare.

And Sullivan has revealed the lengths some agents are prepared to go to to secure a deal, comparing them to scavengers.

"In this window, I have had an agent threaten me and threaten one of our West Ham players with physical violence, because he thought he was being cut out of a deal, Sullivan told The Daily Mail.

"I heard of three or four agents trying to jump in on other deals. Some of these people are like scavengers.

"It was all deeply unpleasant and I'm glad it's over. Now we can get on with the football.

Sullivan went on to agree with Redknapps comments and called for the Football Association to cap the astronomic amounts that are now commonplace among agents during transfer negotiations.

He continued: "Harry Redknapp was right: it feels like gang warfare out there and I can see it spilling over into violence in the future, unless there is legislation from the FA to curb the practices.

"We are talking millions of pounds here around a transfer and not enough deals to go around. There are too many agents and not enough transfers to feed them.

"Agents who would once demand 57,500 for their part in a transfer, now want 575,000 to 1.1 million to either bring a player or keep a player. It is quite outrageous and the FA should cap the amount paid to agents for their work.

I heard of one agent, who took over representation of a player for one day, and he wanted to be paid between 1.43m and 1.72m for his part in negotiating a new contract."

Drenthe seals Alania Vladikavkaz switch

Alania Vladikavkaz have confirmed on their official website that they have secured the services of former Real Madrid winger Royston Drenthe on a free transfer.

The Netherlands international had been without a club ever since leaving Everton last summer after an unsuccessful one-year loan spell, and will now be looking to get his career back on track at the Russian outfit.

Drenthe, 25, has signed a contract with Alania until the summer of 2016.

"We hope that he will become one of the team's leaders. We did not only bring him in for his fine technique and pace, but also because of his personality," head coach Valery Gazzaev commented on the move.

The left-footed winger came through the ranks of the Feyenoord youth academy, and joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2007 after impressing at the European Under-21 Championship.

He has since had temporary loan spells with Hercules and Everton.

Ibrahimovic returning to Juventus not impossible, says Raiola

Mino Raiola has hinted that Paris Saint-Germain attacker Zlatan Ibrahimovic could return to Juventus at some point in the future.

The Sweden international left the reigning Serie A champions in the summer of 2006, after they were relegated to the second tier following their involvement in the Calciopoli scandal, but his representative has stated that a return to the Turin giants is not out of the question.

"Could Ibrahimovic return to Juve? Nothing is impossible," Raiola said to Radio Radio.

"There is nothing that cannot be done. However, the Bianconeri would really have to believe that a deal is possible, just like AC Milan did with Mario Balotelli.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves on this one, though. I do not want to have to deny all sorts of things again in the French press..."

Ibrahimovic, 31, has a contract with PSG until June 2015.