But I'll bet that at some stage it's reported that the reason is that he's been offered

"But I'll bet that at some stage it's reported that the reason is that he's been offered the job at Leeds United." The People duly obliged yesterday.Another irony of Wilkinson's position is that he is potentially a victim of his own success; of the expectations he has done more than anyone to encourage. Equally, though, it raised the possibility that they would want to install their own man. "George Graham has turned down Manchester City, and I probably know more accurately than the media why he's done that," Wilkinson says. No one ever said it would be.''Caspian's buy-out gave Leeds renewed clout in the transfer market. He is under no illusions as to where the bottom line is drawn."The team has got to win - it's as simple as that. When the season started, the fans weren't saying: 'Well, what a summer of frustration, upset, hold- ups, limbo, injunctions, not being able to sign players, not knowing who's in charge it's been' Whether that's fair or not doesn't come into it.

The bookmakers make Wilkinson one of the favourites for an autumn exit.If it is true that the new owners are monitoring results even more closely than is customary, then the next few weeks could well determine whether Wilkinson stays or goes. After Wednesday's visit to Blackburn, Leeds face home matches against Manchester United and Newcastle, with a trip to Coventry, the club to whom they lost Gary McAllister in July, in between.Wilkinson - never sacked, never relegated - acknowledges that they are "daunting fixtures" while pointing out that David Pleat, his latest successor at Sheffield Wednesday, probably said the same about an opening sequence that was to bring maximum points from Aston Villa, Leeds and Newcastle. Little more than a year has passed since Howard Wilkinson turned up at a hotel near London to speak on behalf of George Graham. The Leeds United manager was effectively a character witness at the "trial" of his former Arsenal counterpart, and their mutual respect has survived a summer of speculation linking the out-of-work Scot with the job Wilkinson has held for nearly eight years. Adding grist to the rumour mill - which also links Kenny Dalglish with a move to West Yorkshire - have been Leeds' poor results since the Coca- Cola Cup final calamity in March and the protracted takeover of the club by the London-based Caspian company during the close season. One of football's darkest ironies involves the tendency for good friends to pass each other in the revolving door of management One man's P45 can be another's clocking-on card.

Marshall, reserve for the last team two years ago in West Virginia, Lisa Hackney and Joanne Morley are three newcomers to the European side. "Selecting the side was not as clean cut as it was two years ago, but it is a great team," Mickey Walker, the captain, said.European Team (Solheim Cup, v United States, St Pierre, 20-22 Sept): M Walker (non-playing captain), H Alfredsson (Swe), L Davies (Eng), L Hackney (Eng), T Johnson (Eng), M-L de Lorenzi (Fra), K Marshall (Sco), J Morley (Eng), L Neumann (Swe), A Nicholas (Eng), C Nilsmark (Swe), D Reid (Sco), A Sorenstam (Swe).. Scotland's Kathryn Marshall and Helen Alfredsson of Sweden were today handed wild-card places in the Solheim Cup team to face the United States at St Pierre on 20-22 September. The news compensated the duo for missing out on the Compaq Open title in Sweden, after they lost in a play-off to Italy's Federica Dassu. I went to see him in hospital and it makes you sit back and think how lucky you are.

It was always in the back of my mind this week."Final scores, Digest, page 21. Miguel Martin, who made up five shots to tie with the Australian, lost on the first play- off hole. Allenby has won three times this year, has a four-nil play- off record and should now play all four majors next year after only making two of them this year.Last week in Melbourne, he attended the funeral of Matthew Fleming, a 20-year-old haemophiliac who died of Aids "He came to my golf day last year," Allenby said "He said I was his hero and he touched my heart. Colin Montgomerie, the European No 1, has repeated he will not be following Faldo full-time to the US Tour, despite increasing his transatlantic schedule next year, but said: "We can't afford for this to happen again." Before leaving the tournament on Saturday, Monty made the point of seeking out the sponsor's marketing manager to "explain the position of the players".The tournament did get a worthy winner in Robert Allenby. Collingtree Park is the nearest thing to it, and after an attack of annual meadow grass decline, the greens were rolled into something resembling the surface of a battered motorway. Collingtree is a European Tour Course, bought from the receivers two years ago by European Design, a joint venture between the PGA European Tour and the International Management Group.