Paper Talk: Mourinho's mind games stir Moyes, Gerrard to be Reds' regista, and Pardew's pardon.

MOURINHO'S mind games stir up Moyes, Gerrard to become the Reds' regista and Pardew's pardon. It's your Saturday Paper Talk.

Steven Gerrard could play til he's 40, while Mourinho stirs up Man United.

MOURINHO'S mind games stir up Moyes, Gerrard to become the Reds' regista and Pardew's pardon. It's your Saturday Paper Talk.

MOU'S MIND GAMES

Good old Jose Mourinho. With no Alex Ferguson anymore, the Premier League must rely on the mischievous Portuguese to stir things up.

Ahead of Chelsea's big clash against Manchester United, Mourinho has gone back to scratch his favourite Utd itch - Wayne Rooney.

With rumours abounding that the Blues could launch another big bid to take the Scouse striker to Stamford Bridge during the transfer window, Mourinho did his bit for the pre-match build-up by claiming United would sell Rooney to a European club in the summer, rather than to one of its English rivals.

"Manchester United were very clear last summer, they don't swap or sell players to their direct rivals in this country," Jose said. "I don't see that changing this summer. But I think maybe they will try to sell to a non-direct rival, not in England."

News_Rich_Media: Chelsea goalkeeper and former Socceroo previews Manchester United's trip to Stamford Bridge and Brett Emerton's retirement on Kick Off.

David Moyes wasn't overly pleased, saying the only place Rooney is going is Brazil for the World Cup, and then hit back at Mourinho's attempt at mind games.

"I wouldn't do it," the Scot said, "but everybody has their own style." Like, erm, the old bloke you replaced.

Meanwhile, Mourinho has said he will stay at Stamford Bridge forever - or until the club gets rid of him.

"I stay until they want me not to stay," he told the BBC. "No club moves me from Chelsea until Chelsea wants me to move because I want to be where I am loved."

If being loved is the criteria, Mourinho's options could be pretty slim.

Watch all the Premier League action LIVE on Fox Sports this weekend:

News_Rich_Media: Manchester United striker Robin Van Persie is calling for fans to be patient as David Moyes attempts to bring the Red Devils back on track.

Saturday

Sunderland v Southampton, 11.35pm (EDT), FS1HD

Sunday

Arsenal v Fulham, 1.50am (EDT), FS1HD

Crystal Palace v Stoke City, 1.50am (EDT), Viewer's Choice

Manchester City v Cardiff City, 1.50am (EDT), Viewer's Choice

Norwich City v Hull City, 1.50am (EDT), Viewer's Choice

West Ham United v Newcastle United, 1.50am (EDT), Viewer's Choice

Liverpool v Aston Villa, 4.20am (EDT), FS1HD

Monday

Swansea City v Tottenham Hotspur, 12:25am (EDT), FS1HD

Chelsea v Manchester United, 2.45am (EDT), FS1HD

West Bromwich Albion v Everton, 6.50am (EDT), FS1HD

News_Rich_Media: Sunday sees Swansea host Tottenham while Manchester United face a difficult trip to face Chelsea.

SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT

Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke says Luis Suarez is his role model. That's Aston Villa's one-goal-in-12-games striker Christian Benteke, up against Liverpool's 22-goals-in-16-games Luis Suarez.

But it's Suarez's willingness to bounce back from adversity, rather than his strike rate, that Benteke is using as a guide.

The Belgian broke his drought against Arsenal midweek and as Villa prepare to face the Reds at Anfield, Benteke says he admires the Uruguayan's determination and persistence.

"It's a lesson for every player. You can see what happened with him last season and he came back stronger. It's a good motivation for every player, me also. Sometimes a striker can try to dribble, to do some skills and you lose the ball.

"If for example a striker tries to do something and loses the ball he will lose his hope and his confidence. But Suarez never, he will always try, try, try again. He will shoot one time outside of the net but he will try again until he scores a goal and that's why he is a great player."

PARDEW'S PARDON

News_Rich_Media: Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini is December's EPL manager of the month.

Alan Pardew's foul mouth could make a sailor blush - but the Newcastle manager is now punishing himself for his outburst against Manuel Pellegrini.

Pardew's sideline rant at the Manchester City boss made headlines last week but now he says he will be making amends by doing some charity work - after his daughters told him off.

"There are a couple of things I would like to do outside my work hours in the local community," Pardew said. "I have heard from John Carver there are a couple of Boys' Clubs struggling and I am going to do something with a housing association.

"That will be my penance to my two girls, who are a little bit miffed about my behaviour. They were very, very shocked. We don't have a swear jar at home. I will just say my two daughters made it clear to me, 'Daddy. Not appropriate, Daddy'."

RED REGISTA

News_Rich_Media: Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has backed Manchester United manager David Moyes to make his mark at Old Trafford ahead of the clash between the two sides on Sunday.

Steven Gerrard is best known as a rampaging midfield dynamo, the definition of the Premier League's box-to-box physicality.

But Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has something in different in mind for his captain. Gerrard has this season been used in a deeper lying role - called a "quarterback" by some - and Rodgers believes the England skipper could follow the example of Italy legends Javier Zanetti and Andrea Pirlo by changing his style to the regista role and extending his career

The Reds manager says it has taken some getting used to but now Gerrard knows the Luis Suarez-Daniel Sturridge strike force can supply the goals, he is more willing to sit back in the midfield.

"Tactically, once he does more work on when to become the third man dropping in or pushing on, he's got a great chance of playing that role to the level of a Pirlo or a Javier Zanetti. They are doing it late in their 30s - Zanetti is 40 - and because of the way Stevie looks after himself, that is a position he can play for sure."

News_Rich_Media: Monday's EPL action sees West Brom host Everton.

AVB'S PAIN

You have to feel for Andre Villas-Boas. He was given a pile of cash to spend on some of the highest rated players in the world and when he couldn't turn them into a team capable of scoring goals or not getting thumped by their rivals, he was dumped.

And AVB won't be going back for more in a hurry. Still clutching tissues and eating ice cream after his Tottenham sacking, the Portuguese coach said his next job won't be in the Premier League because it's too 'unstable'.

"England is a great country full of very open-minded people. But the reality is it [football] is a results driven business and you have to achieve that immediately because the world is about the next second," he told talkSPORT.

"'Unfortunately in England we are losing that era we had with the likes of Arsene Wenger of giving stability to managers. It's not just related to clubs, but also to society. What is new is what is best. People expect change immediately and no time is given [to build] and when that is the case you can't really judge people."