Paper Round: Manchester United players 'staged revolt' against Van Gaal

Man United players revolted against Van Gaal - A group of players went to Louis van Gaal and demanded changes to the team's training methods, according The Sun. The players felt that Van Gaal kept training too rigid and that he didn't grant them enough freedom. That confrontation came in the opening weeks of the season and while the manager listened to the players' concerns, nothing has changed.

Paper Round's view - Nobody has ever called Van Gaal particularly affable or easy. Every place he's been, players have felt he was too strict and didn't let them express themselves enough. It's no surprise that the same is happening at Manchester United and the board had to know this was coming when they hired him. At this point, it's unrealistic to expect him to change, but it may cost them some points if the players get extremely unhappy.

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Stones wants release clause in new contract - John Stones is willing to sign a new contract with Everton, but only if it comes with a £38 million release clause, according to The Mail. Stones currently makes £30,000-per-week and a new contract would double his pay, but the defender doesn't want to be locked into the Toffees. After Everton refused to sell him, dismissing a £38m bid Chelsea made for him, he wants a guarantee that he can leave if a similar offer comes in.

Paper Round's view - Everton have made Stones the face of the club's future. They don't really have a choice but to offer him a new contract, but the possibility of a release clause makes it tricky. They don't want to sell after everything that happened over the summer, but they may not have a choice. They'll likely try to push the release clause over £40m, but Stones will almost assuredly demand one.

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United only paid £6.5m for Schweinsteiger - Reports claimed that Manchester United paid £15m for Bastian Schweinsteiger, but TSV 1860 Rosenheim say it is much lower. The German club, which developed the midfielder and is due payment for him, claim that the Red Devils paid Bayern Munich just £6.5m to sign Schweinsteiger. Rosenheim will collect nearly £15,000 for the two years he spent at the club before going to Bayern.

Paper Round's view - If United really did pay £15m for Schweinsteiger then they paid way too much. He's obviously a class player, but he's also an aging, injury-prone one on big wages. Schweinsteiger made it clear that he wanted a move to experience something new and Bayern weren't going to play hard ball with him so getting his wages off the books and letting him go when he wanted to, even at a cut rate price, is believable.

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Gerrard won't re-join Liverpool on loan - There had been talk that Steven Gerrard could spend the MLS off-season on loan at Liverpool, but MLS commissioner Don Garber ended that speculation, saying “I don't think so. And I had not heard that was something that was being contemplated.” The MLS season ends in early December and MLS players have gone on loan to European clubs from January to March, something that Ian Ayre previously called "conceivable" with Gerrard.

Paper Round's view - Gerrard going on loan to Liverpool never made sense. The longer off-season afforded by MLS is probably good for the 35-year-old's health and allows him to recuperate. Taking just one months off, then going into three months with Liverpool, followed by eight months with the Galaxy would be a toll on his aging body. Bringing him back to Anfield for just three months would be strange, too.

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Southampton fear they'll lose Koeman to Netherlands - Could Ronald Koeman leave Southampton to be Netherlands manager? The Sun understand that there are very real fears at St. Mary's that he could do just that. The Dutch are on the verge of missing the Euros and manager Danny Blind is under fire. Several officials at the Dutch FA are keen on Koeman and would like him to rescue their qualification chances.

Paper Round's view - Netherlands are a mess right now. They had Guus Hiddink, but fired him and appointed Blind in July. Now, after two more qualifiers, they're considering sacking Blind too. Koeman is an excellent manager and it wouldn't be a surprise if he answered his country's call, leaving Southampton in the lurch, but it's hard to argue that Netherlands is a better job right now.