WINNERS
Argentine club Rosario Central has hired as coach 76-year-old ANGEL ZOF, who is replacing Victor Pua, the Uruguayan 2002 World Cup coach who lasted two games at Rosario. Zof has had four previous stints at Rosario. … RUDI VOELLER, who resigned as German national team coach after its Euro 2004 debacle, is the new boss at Italian Serie A club Roma, where Voeller played in 1987-1992. … Contrary to Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson's predictions that JOSE MOURINHO would need time to acclimate to the English game, the Portuguese coach has guided Chelsea to a 4-0 start, putting it seven points ahead of Man U.
LOSERS
Newcastle fired 71-year-old BOBBY ROBSON four games (two loses, two ties) into the English Premier League season. But Robson, the former England coach who took charge of Newcastle in 1999, wasn't the quickest coaching casualty of the new European season. Porto, 2004 Champions League winner, fired LUIGI DEL NERI two months after his appointment and before the Portuguese season kicked off. He had replaced Mourinho.