The Offside Daily: France suspend star striker indefinitely, Costa denies Mourinho rift and Naismith’s wonderful gestures

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1. Karim Benzema has been suspended from the French national team due to the ongoing investigation over allegations he was involved in a blackmail attempt against team-mate Mathieu Valbuena.

2. Diego Costa has commented on the bib-throwing incident which was lapped up by the media after Chelsea’s game against Tottenham recently, saying he in no way attempted to hit his manager, Jose Mourinho, and that he has to improve his overall play if Chelsea are to climb the table.

3. Arsenal’s excellent victory over Olympiacos yesterday has resulted in Laurent Koscielny being hailed as the best defender in the Premier League, according to former England and Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand.

4. As his club manager suggested he performed below-par against Wolfsburg in the Champions League on Tuesday, German national team coach Joachim Low has backed Bastian Schweinsteiger’s quality, promising that the midfielder’s place as German captain is safe.

5. The managerial rumour mill is in full swing at Swansea City as Brendan Rodgers, David Moyes and, surprisingly, Avram Grant are being touted as the names to replace Garry Monk in the Liberty Stadium hot-seat.

6. The situation at Carlisle United given the recent flooding took an unexpected twist recently, as the club acquired three potential new squad members on a very short-term loan (The Daily Mirror).

7. This is a fantastic gesture from Everton’s Steven Naismith (The Guardian).

8. Everton as a club seem to be in the giving mood recently too, as they made this 89-year-old fan’s evening recently (The Daily Mail)

9. We’ve all seen some great reactions from mascots over the years, but this youngster in Stamford Bridge last night was absolutely blown away by a particular attribute of Thibaut Courtois’ (Bleacher Report).

10. Gareth Bale is following the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo and creating a brand of his own, but Bale’s brand logo seems to have confused a fair few (ESPN)