Birch has 'unfinished business'

Trevor Birch, Chelsea's new managing director and a former Liverpool reserve team player turned insolvency expert, has "unfinished business" in the game.

Birch, who was Bill Shankly's last signing for Liverpool and cleaned Kevin Keegan's boots during five years at Anfield, considers his playing career to have been a relative failure.

Therefore, he sees his new appointment as Colin Hutchinson's successor at Stamford Bridge as an opportunity to become a first-team player.

Birch, 43, learned about the game "on the shop floor" but also has considerable business experience, having trained as a chartered accountant after his seven-year playing career came to an end.

"I specialised in dealing with underperforming companies, designing strategies and implementing them," he said. "But football was always my first love and I have some lost time to make up."

Birch takes up office on 2 April and will work alongside Hutchinson for six weeks before taking over the job on his own.

Chelsea's Jesper Gronkjaer had his first game in five months last night when he turned out for the reserves at Watford.

It was Gronkjaer's first taste of match action since he injured his knee in September. He played as a second-half substitute in a 4-2 victory and showed no signs of discomfort.

The Dane has been beset with injury problems since he arrived at Stamford Bridge from Ajax for £7.8 million last year.

His last appearance for Claudio Ranieri's side was in a 3-2 win at Tottenham. He has played for the first team only 20 times.

Midfielder Jody Morris, who has been out for a month with a broken rib, was booked during his 90 minute-outing.