Helmer has confirmed that he is in negotiations with the Merseysiders and awaits a conclusion to the talks, but the answer will be no unless the fee drops. The Anfield manager, Gerard Houllier, had hoped to acquire Helmer on a free transfer after talking to his agents in Manchester last week. However, Bayern now say that they want compensation, possibly as much as pounds 1m and Liverpool will not pay for a player of his age. The Danish coach had come under increasing pressure following the club’s dismal performance in the Champions’ League and poor results in the domestic league.. LIVERPOOL’S ATTEMPTS to sign the German centre-back Thomas Helmer have stalled after Bayern Munich demanded a transfer fee for the 33-year- old defender.

The France striker Lilian Laslandes scored twice, taking his league tally to eight, as pacesetters Bordeaux strolled to victory over Le Havre.Marseilles beat Metz, down to 10 men from the 42nd minute when the striker Bruno Rodriguez was sent off for dissent, having already been booked for a similar offence.The Dutch champions, Ajax, have removed their coach, Morten Olsen, and replaced him with the second-team coach, Jan Wouters. The goalless draw meant that Clemente’s flawless home record came to an end.Positions at the top of the French championship remained the same as Girondins Bordeaux and Olympique Marseilles, separated only by goal difference, both won by 3-0 scores. Michael Ballack had put the German champions ahead after four minutes, but Damir Stojak equalised for Frankfurt in the 74th minute.Elsewhere, Hansa Rostock broke their nine-game winless streak by beating a depleted VfL Bochum 3-0, thanks to a pair of goals by Swiss-born Oliver Neuville in the 21st and 86th minutes.Denilson’s appalling run of luck continued when the Brazilian missed a penalty 12 minutes into Real Betis’s match against visiting Atletico Madrid on Saturday as their Spanish League encounter ended in a 0-0 draw.Denilson has yet to score this season and was starting for Betis for the first time in three weeks after last month being relegated to the substitutes’ bench by his coach, Javier Clemente. Parma had conceded just five goals before Sunday while Roma had scored 26. The Argentinian Hernan Crespo gave Parma a first- half lead after Roma keeper Antonio Chimenti had parried a shot from Enrico Chiesa in the 39th minute.Roma’s arch rivals Lazio hammered Sampdoria 5-2 at the Olympic stadium thanks in part to a hat-trick of free-kicks from Yugoslav defender Sinisa Mihajlovic.

Milajlovic’s compatriot Dejan Stankovic grabbed Lazio’s fourth and Marcelo Salas added a fifth in injury time to take the Italian Cup holders into sixth place.A last-gasp goal by Egyptian defender Hani Ramzy gave Kaiserslautern a 2-1 victory over relegation-threatened Eintracht Frankfurt and lifted them into third place in the Bundesliga. Yesterday Inter managed to put their differences behind them as they recorded their sixth league victory of the season.George Weah also hit a late winner to give 10-man Milan a 1-0 win over Vicenza, the Liberian sliding in a cross from Oliver Bierhoff after 86 minutes after having had midfielder Massimo Ambrosini sent off for diving in the penalty area – his second bookable offence.Roma and Parma were tied on 23 points following their 1-1 draw in a game pitting the tightest defence in the Italian top flight against its most prolific attack. AN 89TH-minute winner yesterday by Ronaldo – only his fourth league goal of the season – gave the Romanian Mircea Lucescu his first Serie A victory since he took over from Luigi Simoni as coach of Internazionale at the start of the month The 1-0 win at Udinese put Inter back in the title hunt. The Brazilian moved on to a pass from Roberto Baggio following a scramble in the Udinese penalty area and stroked a left-foot shot past goalkeeper Luigi Turci from close range.
Lucescu made two tactical substitutions in the game, throwing on the Nigerian Taribo West for Fabio Galante and adding Baggio to his front line.

West had been dropped after he threw his shirt at Lucescu in disgust last weekend when he was substituted in the first half of Inter’s unconvincing 1-1 draw with Salernitana. “I think that first 45 minutes today was the worst since I took over,” Francis complained.Tranmere earned a late reprieve when their captain, Kenny Irons, secured a point in the last minute against Bolton at Prenton Park.Ade Akinbiyi took just a minute to equalise for Bristol City after a Mickey Bell own-goal appeared to have set Crystal Palace on their way to a first win in five games.A James Quinn brace, along with Lee Hughes’ 24th of the season, saw Huddersfield lose 3-0 at home to West Bromwich.. “Personally, from what I’ve seen, I would put them on a par with Sunderland.”Bradford came from behind to inflict a 4-1 defeat on Swindon at the County Ground. But Lee Mills, who scored twice, was sent off for a second bookable offence after kicking the ball away.”He knows it is very silly but having been booked already the referee had no option but to send him off,” the Bradford manager, Paul Jewell, said.The Wolves defender Kevin Muscat was fortunate to stay on the field after a horrific tackle on Norwich’s Craig Bellamy in the 2-2 draw at Molineux.Bellamy was taken off on a stretcher to receive nine stitches in his knee while Muscat played on without even conceding a free-kick for the incident.”I want my players to be competitive but I certainly don’t want them kicking people and there were instances which got a little bit out of hand today, I must admit,” the Wolves manager, Colin Lee, said.The Queen’s Park Rangers manager, Gerry Francis, was furious after his side failed to capitalise on a glorious chance to move up the table by losing 1-0 at home to bottom-placed Crewe. “I thought his passing was exceptional and he knocked a lot of balls around the field that got us going forward, as well as winning the ball back for us.”The Stockport manager, Gary Megson, is tipping Watford to catch up with second-placed Ipswich at the top after his side lost 4-2 to the Hornets.”They are the best team we have played,” Megson said. The Scottish midfielder returned to the side after personal problems which included a spell at the Marchwood Priory clinic in Hampshire, where Paul Gascoigne was recently admitted.”Alex’s response was top class,” Reid said. “Every time Birmingham went forward they looked like scoring,” he said.Sunderland increased their lead at the top of the table to seven points following the 2-0 defeat of Port Vale at the Stadium of Light, but their manager, Peter Reid, was more satisfied with the performance of Alex Rae.

But rest assured no one is going anywhere and we shall try to get our way out of trouble on and off the pitch.”The victorious Grimsby manager, Alan Buckley, who saw Paul Groves head the only goal of the game, sympathised with the home side. “Of course I feel sorry for Alan and I know what I would do in his situation, but it is not for me to tell a great manager and a great player what he should do,” he said.Birmingham took revenge for a home defeat earlier in the season when they thrashed Oxford at the Manor Ground. Speaking from a microphone in the directors’ box, Ball to persuade the fans to go home after Pompey’s 1-0 defeat. Supporters also staged a sit- down protest at half-time against the Pompey chairman, Martin Gregory, after the first-team squad was put up for sale to meet huge debts.
Ball told the fans: “Everyone knows how you feel and we sympathise.