STAN COLLYMORE has told angry Aston Villa supporters: I didn't snub you on purpose.
The £7m striker didn't join the rest of the Villa squad on a lap of honour at the end of Sunday's home win over Arsenal in the final game of the season. Furious fans jammed the phone lines of a local radio station to protest at his no-show and the player could now be facing a fine.
But - surprise, surprise - consistently-misunderstood Stan insists that he didn't join his teammates because he was in the medical room getting ice put on a sore ankle when they ran back out to say their goodbyes.
Collymore, a Villa fan since childhood, scored only six Premiership goals in his first season at Villa but promised more next term: I had a lovely reception from the fans when I was warming up before going on as a substitute and that, as well as your own professional pride, makes you want to succeed. You have good seasons and bad ones and this has been a dreadful year for me. I hope next season is much better."

DON'T PUSH ME WARNS DURKIN ENGLAND'S World Cup referee Paul Durkin wants the FA to crack down on players who manhandle officials. Durkin, who sent off Arsenal's Emmanuel Petit for pushing him during a game in October, spoke out after Newcastle midfielder David Batty shoved ref David Elleray when he was sent off at Blackburn on Sunday. When this happened to me I was genuinely shocked, not just by the incident, but also by the response to it," said Durkin. "In 23 years as a referee it was the first time I had been touched by a player. This awful trend has to stop. The authorities have to make a stand and do it now because this problem is escalating. It must be nipped in the bud. Young kids and supporters see it and they ape whatever the professionals do. "What annoyed me even more was the fact that I was made to be the villain of the piece. There was certainly no public comment from his club denouncing Petit, which I found extraordinary, added Durkin, who thinks the one match ban the Frenchman received wasn't enough. Someone must ensure that the punishment fits the crime.

CAPELLO'S NOT SO FAB FALLEN giants AC Milan are ready to sack coach Fabio Capello at the end of a nightmare season which has seen the club fail to qualify for Europe. There were going to be big changes over the summer anyway but, after watching the fans turn on their heroes this weekend, club president Silvio Berlusconi could decide that simply shuffling the squad isn't the answer. Hundreds of frustrated fans blocked the roads around the San Siro before Sunday's game against Parma, preventing the team bus from entering the stadium grounds until half an hour before kickoff. Then, with 30 minutes to go in the 1-1 draw that leaves Milan in 10th place, the die-hard fans in the San Siro's equivalent of the Kop started to leave the stadium en-masse. They bombarded the pitch with anything that came to hand as they went, forcing play to be stopped for seven minutes. "In moments like this, it's better not to say anything," said Berlusconi. "We'll wait a week, until the championship is over, and then take all the decisions together. We'll look each other straight in the eye and talk it through." Capello is in his second spell with Milan. He led them to four domestic and one European championships in six seasons before moving to Spain and taking Real Madrid to the title last year. The current favourite to take over at the San Siro is Alberto Zaccheroni, who was steered unfashionable Udinese to third place in Serie A this season.

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