LONDON (Reuters) – Manchester United play a European match outside the Champions League for the first time since 1995 on Thursday when they meet Ajax Amsterdam in the Europa League with manager Alex Ferguson convinced they are unlucky not to be challenging for the European Cup as usual.

United, who have reached the Champions League final three times in the past four seasons, failed to advance past the group stage this season after dropping vital points drawing and losing to Basel.

They now face Ajax in a round of 32 first leg game – their first at this level of European competition since they played a UEFA Cup tie against Rotor Volgograd of Russia in 1995-96 when they were beaten on away goals in the first round.

Since then they have had 16 successive seasons in the Champions League and were European champions in 1999 and 2008 as well as losing finalists in 2009 and last season.

Ferguson, talking ahead of their trip to Amsterdam, told FIFA.com that United’s early exit from the Champions League was a blip and as much down to bad luck as anything else.

“I feel we had the ability to go all the way to the final,” he said. “Luck wasn’t on our side, but I think we’ve got the ambition to compete with Barcelona and Real Madrid, and I don’t feel we’re that far away from them. I’m sure we’ll show that soon.”

United, as ever, are in contention for the Premier League title again and after their 2-1 win over Liverpool on Saturday, are just two points behind rivals Manchester City with 13 matches to play.

LONDON, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Manchester United play a European match outside the Champions League for the first time since 1995 on Thursday when they meet Ajax Amsterdam in the Europa League with manager Alex Ferguson convinced they are unlucky not to be challenging for the European Cup as usual.

United, who have reached the Champions League final three times in the past four seasons, failed to advance past the group stage this season after dropping vital points drawing and losing to Basel.

They now face Ajax in a round of 32 first leg game – their first at this level of European competition since they played a UEFA Cup tie against Rotor Volgograd of Russia in 1995-96 when they were beaten on away goals in the first round.

Since then they have had 16 successive seasons in the Champions League and were European champions in 1999 and 2008 as well as losing finalists in 2009 and last season.

Ferguson, talking ahead of their trip to Amsterdam, told FIFA.com that United’s early exit from the Champions League was a blip and as much down to bad luck as anything else.

“I feel we had the ability to go all the way to the final,” he said. “Luck wasn’t on our side, but I think we’ve got the ambition to compete with Barcelona and Real Madrid, and I don’t feel we’re that far away from them. I’m sure we’ll show that soon.”

United, as ever, are in contention for the Premier League title again and after their 2-1 win over Liverpool on Saturday, are just two points behind rivals Manchester City with 13 matches to play.

LONDON (Reuters) – Carlos Tevez is due back in England on Tuesday and could be playing for Manchester City in the “next two to three weeks” following a thawing in relations between the Argentina striker and the club, an advisor to his representative said on Monday.

Tevez, 28, has not played for City since his refusal to follow the instructions of coach Roberto Mancini and warm up during the Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich in September.

His last appearance was in a League Cup win over Birmingham City on September 21 and that looked like being the last time he ever played for City after Mancini said he was “finished” at the club.

Tevez has been back in Argentina on unauthorised leave since November, but Paul McCarthy, an advisor to Tevez’s representative Kia Joorabchian, told Reuters the player was returning to England.

“He is due back in England on Tuesday and hopefully will start training this week. He has not just been playing golf in Argentina he has done a lot of fitness work too but is probably still two or three weeks away from being match-fit,” McCarthy said.

“Roberto Mancini has more than opened the door for him and now it’s a case of getting his fitness back.

“There have been a lot of very productive, sensible discussions over the last 10 days or so and a thawing in relations on both sides.

LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Carlos Tevez is due back in England on Tuesday and could be playing for Manchester City in the “next two to three weeks” following a thawing in relations between the Argentina striker and the club, an advisor to his representative said on Monday.

Tevez, 28, has not played for City since his refusal to follow the instructions of coach Roberto Mancini and warm up during the Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich in September.

His last appearance was in a League Cup win over Birmingham City on Sept. 21 and that looked like being the last time he ever played for City after Mancini said he was “finished” at the club.

Tevez has been back in Argentina on unauthorised leave since November, but Paul McCarthy, an advisor to Tevez’s representative Kia Joorabchian, told Reuters the player was returning to England.

“He is due back in England on Tuesday and hopefully will start training this week. He has not just been playing golf in Argentina he has done a lot of fitness work too but is probably still two or three weeks away from being match-fit,” McCarthy said.

“Roberto Mancini has more than opened the door for him and now it’s a case of getting his fitness back.

“There have been a lot of very productive, sensible discussions over the last 10 days or so and a thawing in relations on both sides.

LONDON (Reuters) – Wolverhampton Wanderers sacked their manager Mick McCarthy on Monday, a day after they lost 5-1 at home to local rivals West Bromwich Albion and slipped back into the bottom three of the Premier League.

McCarthy, 53, was appointed Wolves manager in July 2006, winning promotion to the Premier League in 2009 but has lost his job following Wolves’ fourth successive home league defeat.

In a statement on their website (www.wolves.co.uk), the club said it was “a difficult decision to terminate Mick’s contract” but that assistant Terry Connor would take charge of training until a new manager is appointed.

Sunday’s defeat means Wolves have picked up only one point from their last six home matches and have won only once in their last 13 in all competitions.

McCarthy apologised afterwards to Wolves fans, many of whom protested by the statue of Billy Wright, who skippered them to three League titles in their 1950s heyday.

McCarthy said on Sunday: “I would say this is my most difficult day as a manager. I have apologised for the performance and I have never done that before.

“But I feel it is warranted – we were awful in the last half an hour. We capitulated which is not something associated with me or my teams. It was very disappointing.”

LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Wolverhampton Wanderers sacked their manager Mick McCarthy on Monday, a day after they lost 5-1 at home to local rivals West Bromwich Albion and slipped back into the bottom three of the Premier League.

McCarthy, 53, was appointed Wolves manager in July 2006, winning promotion to the Premier League in 2009 but has lost his job following Wolves’ fourth successive home league defeat.

In a statement on their website (www.wolves.co.uk), the club said it was “a difficult decision to terminate Mick’s contract” but that assistant Terry Connor would take charge of training until a new manager is appointed.

Sunday’s defeat means Wolves have picked up only one point from their last six home matches and have won only once in their last 13 in all competitions.

McCarthy apologised afterwards to Wolves fans, many of whom protested by the statue of Billy Wright, who skippered them to three League titles in their 1950s heyday.

McCarthy said on Sunday: “I would say this is my most difficult day as a manager. I have apologised for the performance and I have never done that before.

“But I feel it is warranted – we were awful in the last half an hour. We capitulated which is not something associated with me or my teams. It was very disappointing.”

LONDON (Reuters) – One of the most remarkable weeks in the life of Harry Redknapp ended on a high when his entertaining Tottenham Hotspur side crushed Newcastle United 5-0 in the Premier League Saturday.

Redknapp, widely tipped by the media to be the next England manager, sat in the dugout after a rousing reception from the fans to watch his team make a blistering start with two goals in the first six minutes and they were 4-0 ahead by halftime.

Emmanuel Adebayor epitomised the home side’s determination with a hand in all four first-half goals before scoring a spectacular volley of his own to give Spurs their biggest league win of the season and consolidate third place in the table.

The supporters, faced with the prospect of losing their manager to England, let their feelings be known.

On a night of freezing temperatures at White Hart Lane, they repeatedly chanted Redknapp’s name, singing “We want you to stay” at the 64-year-old coach who has transformed Spurs from relegation candidates to title contenders in three years.

He applauded the crowd after his own personal emotional roller-coaster, which saw him cleared Wednesday of two charges of evading tax after a 13-day trial before being installed as favourite to replace Fabio Capello as England boss.

Redknapp said again that as far as he knew the FA had not approached his chairman Daniel Levy about the job and he was totally focused on Spurs who are on track for a place in next season’s Champions League, if not their first title since 1961.

LONDON, Feb 11 (Reuters) – One of the most remarkable weeks in the life of Harry Redknapp ended on a high when his entertaining Tottenham Hotspur side crushed Newcastle United 5-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.

Redknapp, widely tipped by the media to be the next England manager, sat in the dugout after a rousing reception from the fans to watch his team make a blistering start with two goals in the first six minutes and they were 4-0 ahead by halftime.

Emmanuel Adebayor epitomised the home side’s determination with a hand in all four first-half goals before scoring a spectacular volley of his own to give Spurs their biggest league win of the season and consolidate third place in the table.

The supporters, faced with the prospect of losing their manager to England, let their feelings be known.

On a night of freezing temperatures at White Hart Lane, they repeatedly chanted Redknapp’s name, singing “We want you to stay” at the 64-year-old coach who has transformed Spurs from relegation candidates to title contenders in three years.

He applauded the crowd after his own personal emotional roller-coaster, which saw him cleared on Wednesday of two charges of evading tax after a 13-day trial before being installed as favourite to replace Fabio Capello as England boss.

Redknapp said again that as far as he knew the FA had not approached his chairman Daniel Levy about the job and he was totally focused on Spurs who are on track for a place in next season’s Champions League, if not their first title since 1961.

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – England could take part in the European Championship in June with a caretaker coach in charge, English FA chairman David Bernstein said on Thursday.

The FA will meet on Friday to begin their search for a new manager following the sudden resignation of Italian Fabio Capello on Wednesday, with Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Redknapp the hot favourite.

Stuart Pearce, England’s Under-21 manager who is also boss of the London 2012 British Olympic squad, will take charge for the friendly against the Netherlands at Wembley on Feb. 29 but Bernstein said after that they had a totally “open mind” about the future.

When asked at a news conference if England could go to the tournament with a caretaker coach, Bernstein replied: “I would say that is a possibility, all options are open.

“We are not prepared to restrict ourselves at this stage. He might be English, he might be British, he might not be, he might be for the Euros only, he might be long-term.

“We need to look at all the options. It would be pointless, 24 hours or less after we have lost our manager, to start limiting ourselves.”

Following the friendly against the Dutch, England play Norway on May 26 and Belgium on June 2 before the Euros where they face France on June 11, Sweden on June 15 and Ukraine on June 19.

LONDON (Reuters) – Stuart Pearce will take temporary charge of England for this month’s friendly against the Netherlands while the search for Fabio Capello’s permanent successor as boss gets underway ahead of June’s European Championship.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp, the hot favourite to fill the vacancy, said on Thursday he was paying no attention to speculation linking him with the job and was concentrating on Saturday’s Premier League match against Newcastle United.

“I don’t know anything about the England job, I’ve not thought about it. I’ve got a big job to do, I’ve got a big game on Saturday with Tottenham so Tottenham is my focus,” he told reporters as he left his home on the south coast.

Capello, who quit the job on Wednesday after a disagreement with the Football Association over John Terry being stripped of the captaincy, issued a short statement as he flew out of London.

“I would like to thank all players, staff and Football Association for the professionalism they have shown during my years as manager of the English National Team,” said the Italian, who helped England qualify for two major championships but flopped at the 2010 World Cup.

“A very special thanks to all the supporters – they’ve always supported the team and me in our job. I wish all of them every success in achieving all their sporting goals.”

Capello resigned after 42 matches in charge leaving England without a manager or captain four months before the start of Euro 2012, where they will be aiming for their first major trophy since 1966.