--------------------------------- [24] Becks latest --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: He met R&B star Usher at Old Trafford, who said: "Becks is my ultimate hero"
--------------------------------- [23] Fergie denies Scot talk --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: "I have said I am going to reture and I mean to do just that. I am not interested in the Scotland job. I took Scotland to the World Cup in 1986 and it was a great experience. Craig is a friend and that's what friends are for - to say nice things. But it's not for me" --------------------------------- [22] Frankenstein on Becks --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: Martin Keown "It was a roller-coaster ride and a bit like the qualifying campaign overall. Teddy came off the bench, had a dream start and then there was a fairytale finish for Beckham. He is inspirational in the way he runs around. He leads by example and that helps to make a good team spirit. People may say David is quiet but he has things to say. He says his piece and is there for the players. He has added a bit extra to the game and is an outstanding player. I had a feeling he would do it when he shaped to take the free-kick. The scene was set for him and he came up with the goods." --------------------------------- [21] Smith quits as Derby manager --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: "This is a really sad day for me. I appreciated the chairman offering me the position of director of football, but felt I had more to offer the club. I will always appreciate Derby County and their magnificent fans for everything they have done for me and my family. I sincerely wish the club and the players every success this season and in the future." Derby chairman Lionel Pickering: "We wanted to continue to use Jim's vast experience in football for the benefit of Derby County. He thought carefully about the new role but decided it would be better to leave. We respect that decision and wish him well." --------------------------------- [20] Guess what --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: Fowlup was spotted in bluebar in dipperland, drowning his sorrows on Saturday night --------------------------------- [20] Media goes Becks crazy --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: With lots of calls for him to be Knighted, and little irony as many ignore the OTT shite they wrote about him in 1998 after the France sending off. Anyone to condense all this coverage down Becks went for a curry at Shimla Pinks in Manchester after the game on Saturday. He was given a cake by the owner. "David did not let us down. I think david was genuinely surprised by the reception he got" Giggs joined the call for a Knighthood. "He deserves it" said Ryan. Tony Blair "punched his car roof" when Becks scored said a Downing St spokesperson. The Mirror and the SUN have countless pages, columns, quotes, talking heads on Becks - you wonder how it would have been without last night's events. Ted Beckham said "I am the proudest dad in the world" Sanity for once comes in the form of Alan Shearenvy: "The things he had to endure, with his family in 1998...people have changed their minds..." And on and on and on it goes - yet we don't forget 1998. --------------------------------- [19] Cubic Expression buy more of Utd --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by redend: The rest are catching up now on the news that we gave you 3 days ago on Friday. For those who missed it the story is repeated below. [29] Its Cubic Expression again Friday, October 5, 2001 RED NEWS - first with this story - again - RN's very own "City" snout (Red Braces) reported unusual dealing activity in United shares earlier today with a big trade done today of 4.1m shares but this was cancelled shortly afterwards. This would equate to 1.5% of the company - which could only be 1 of 14 shareholders. Then, later, almost 5 million shares were traded - and the buyer was Cubic Expression again. If you've forgotten - thats the company set up by "Irish horse racing magnates" J.P. McManus and John Magnier. The company is now the club's second largest shareholder, behind Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB which owns 9.9 percent. Cubic Expression only bought in with 6.8 percent in July.and have now raised their holding to 8.65 per cent with a holding of 22,470,519 shares. >From a value of £1 billion in March 2000, the total value of United has dropped >steadily and is now down to £318 million. Anyone who has been reading this site over >the past year will know that this is exactly as predicted by RED NEWS's "Red Braces" >on these pages on numerous occasions. Lets just hope they don't want to take over the whole club and thus deprive ordinary fans of the opportunity to own a share in their own club. If you're interested in buying United shares - not for profit - but to keep hold them and increase the holding in fans hands then the Shareholders United Share Scheme is a great mechanism - especially for those who want to invest small amounts on a regular basis. More info here: ( http://www.shareholdersunited.org ) http://www.shareholdersunited.org --------------------------------- [18] That's it - I'm off! --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: Thanks to Eugene for this 'A referee stopped a Dutch first division match because fans were shouting obscenities about his wife and taking the mickey out of his name! Eric Braamhaar's surname - which translates literally as "raspberry hair" in English - also rhymes with the Dutch obscenity for female genitalia! And when fans at Fortuna Sittard v NEC Nijmegen relentlessly mocked Braamhaar, he crumbled. Former Bristol City and Crewe star Colin Cramb was playing for Fortuna Sittard was in the middle of the bizarre scenario. "I was totally bewildered," Scotsman Cramb told the Daily Record. "I've never seen anything like it before in my whole career. There we were, playing away as normal, when the referee suddenly stopped the game and walked off.' --------------------------------- [17] Sven on Becks --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: "You could see that he wanted really, really hard to win this game and he showed once again that he is such a big captain because he took his chance. It was a very difficult afternoon because I don't think we played very good today, and the reason was difficult to understand. We lost a lot of passes especially in the first half and they seemed to be first to the ball every time. We came out a little bit better in the second half and we finally scored a goal and it looked better, then some minutes later they score for 2-1. In the last minute Beckham hit his marvellous free-kick and the tickets for the World Cup were ready. We knew from the second half that it was 0-0 and we knew as soon as Beckham scored that the game in Germany was finished." --------------------------------- [16] Vieira still wants out --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: "Juventus, Real Madrid and Manchester United are all chasing me. But I can't deny the Juventus offer is the really interesting one. I'm a professional and as a professional my mind is open to all kinds of options for the future. But now I can't say that the road back to Italy for me is closed, especially when the team that looks for me is Juventus. The 'Old Lady' is a club built to win and projected to win. And a player there, whatever his religion, colour or nationality, is sheltered for 365 days a year. Turin may not be the same as Paris, London or Milan, but Turin is Juventus and Juventus is a very big attraction. Juventus looked for me last spring but Arsenal said no and didn't want to let me go. And so I am here waiting for some news." Sounds like he as much chance of staying at Highbury as Keegan has at city! --------------------------------- [16] Vieira still wants out --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: "Juventus, Real Madrid and Manchester United are all chasing me. But I can't deny the Juventus offer is the really interesting one. I'm a professional and as a professional my mind is open to all kinds of options for the future. But now I can't say that the road back to Italy for me is closed, especially when the team that looks for me is Juventus. The 'Old Lady' is a club built to win and projected to win. And a player there, whatever his religion, colour or nationality, is sheltered for 365 days a year. Turin may not be the same as Paris, London or Milan, but Turin is Juventus and Juventus is a very big attraction. Juventus looked for me last spring but Arsenal said no and didn't want to let me go. And so I am here waiting for some news." Sounds like he as much chance of staying at Highbury as Keegan has at city! --------------------------------- [15] Press pick up on our Silvestre quotes --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: How they reported our breaking story from Saturday and his quotes Mikael Silvestre: "We've let in a lot of goals already this season which I have been blamed for, but I believe they've been coming through the middle of the field. But it is me who has paid the price and I am very bitter. I'm going through some very hard times at the moment and I don't think it's fair. I want to let it all out and say what I really think but I have to hold myself back a lot because it will only make things worse. The World Cup is only just around the corner and, with the French team in mind, it would be better for me playing in the centre of defence - but I'm not. I have to be careful, but I don't agree with the manager's assessment. When we look at the way we play on a TV screen, Ferguson tells me things but I don't see the same problems." --------------------------------- [14] Where have all the hypocrites gone now --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: FA chief executive Adam Crozier: "Some of the emails and letters I received following Sven's appointment were quite nasty. The really daft ones I passed on to police in case there was anything in them. I could understand people saying 'we want an Englishman' because long-term the FA do as well. That is why we set Team England in place with the likes of Peter Taylor and Steve McClaren helping Sven. But I said at the time we had to have the courage of our convictions. We had to stick with our decision and make sure we got it right. I am absolutely delighted we have qualified automatically for the World Cup finals. Sven really has done a magnificent job." --------------------------------- [13] First tip for Fergie as Scots boss --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: Can't see him wanting all that hassle. Craig Brown: "Obviously everyone in Scotland would think it would be nice if Sir Alex would just come up and take the job. Everyone has respect throughout the world for him. I don't know if that would be possible, but I think when we've got a Scotsman who is the best in the world, he's worth a try. I think if the SFA are wise I'm sure they will give him a call anyway and give him at least first refusal. But it would be marvellous if Alex thought 'okay, it's a winding-down time, it's not day-to-day involvement.' He's been there, he was 10 games as Scotland manager on a temporary basis, and he knows the hassle but it would be fantastic for Scotland." --------------------------------- [12] FIFA denies Old Firm switch --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: Despite cuddly Pete saying he and Utd might be in favour. Fifa vice-president David Will: "The Old Firm switch would not be permitted by Fifa or Uefa. In recent years there have been only two occasions where Fifa has given permission. A New Zealand club play in the Australian league and the two clubs in Liechtenstein are in the Swiss league. There is no professional set-up in these countries. Football would fall apart if Austrian clubs played in Italy, Dutch clubs in the Bundesliga. They would have to move lock, stock and barrel to a home in England. A team cannot be based in one country and play in the national league of another." --------------------------------- [11] Swedish coach replies --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: "I feel there were other players better suited for this match" --------------------------------- [10] Young Red quits international football --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: Bojan Djordjic quit the Swedish Under-21 team after being dropped for the game against Azerbaijan. "I felt really good in training and you can ask all of the players that I was in good form but Goran Goransson has a thing against me. And I won't come back as long as he is coach. I am not prepared to be trampled on and insulted by small-minded people every time I turn up for practice. I want an explanation but he won't even talk to me. He just smirks.I want to show the Swedish people what I can do and it is impossible now. I am not going to waste my time and talent just because he is making a fool out of himself.But my time will come. Alex Ferguson has said that I will get the chance soon" --------------------------------- [9] A look at the France-Algeria game --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: Which was abandoned. An insightful view by our French correspondent Branded all the week as a game of "peace", "love" or a sign of mutual respect, the first Algeria-France of the history ended in shame after just 75 minutes. Pitch invasion, game over. France were convincingly leading 4-1. Barthez did not have much to do but did it well, Silvestre (on at h-t for Monsieur Connard - aka Leboeuf) looked solid at centre back. A first guy jumped on the pitch in the hirst half but was quickly stopped. 15 minutes from time, another came on the pitch, followed by another, another and then 200 others, all Algerians ex-pat...As soon as the first guy came on the pitch, Fab asked to be taken off and went close to the bench. Thuram went absolutely ballistic (hair-dryer, big time!) at a young pitch invader guy (I guess he is now a hero with for mates ). All the players left the pitch without too much problem but they looked absolutely gutted afterwards, all blaming the invaders. The calm came back really quickly, afer 5 minutes and just a few guys were arrested. Why this pitch invasion? Some said to avoid a heavier defeat, probably not. Others said that it was something to do with Bin Laden, terrorism, etc...a way of supporting, I don't think so. Algeria is a former french colony (Algeria won his independance after a long war), and a lot of Algerian ex-pats now live in France and their integration is a real problem here. They are victims of racism, can't find good jobs, etc, hence lots of trouble...It was maybe for some a way of protesting against this, maybe for the first one who jumped on the pitch with an Algerian flag... But the explanation is probably more simple: you are young, you want to have fun, what about going on the pitch at le Stade de France, driving the stewards and the police mad, having your face on the frontpage of all the papers... But one thing is sure: it won't help integration. Unfortunately. --------------------------------- [8] Coruna latest --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: Deportivo 2 (Fran m.50, 68) Barcelona 1 (Kluivert m.37) Molina; Hector, Donato, Naybet, Romero; Duscher, Sergio; Makaay (Victor m.42), Valeron (Emerson m.81), Fran; Diego Tristan (Pandiani m.61) While the rest of Europe and most of South America were busy with some friendlies, the Spanish league nipped in two sets of games. This was a bit controversial as some teams were missing up to half a dozen regular players. Deportivo got off comparatively lightly on this front as most of their foreign players are not regular internationals. In many ways the story was similar to recent games: let the first goal in, fight back in the second half, important player injured - but in reality they played probably their best game of the season so far. They were up against an admittedly weakened Barca side, who despite being top of the league at the start of play have not really been firing on all cylinders yet, but even so considerable opponents, and the manner of the Depor comeback this weekend was much more impressive. No last minute goals the products of Cavalry charges, nor dodgy penalties or own goals as had been the case against Celta last weekend. Here they comprehensively outplayed Barca in the second half, and won comfortably and deservedly with two finely crafted goals. Left-wing captain Fran was the scorer this week, but Valeron is still the player who catches the eye and unlocks defences. I now realise what our real error in Riazor was - scoring first. The way they only start playing once behind may sound familiar, and should lead to a fascinating opening spell at OT as both teams attempt to concede first - I reckon we have the edge here, but Keano is probably right in suggesting that 3 goals down is overdoing it a bit. Otherwise the good news is that they seem to be picking up a lot of injuries. This weekend it was Makaay's turn. He was carried off in evident pain clutching the back of the thigh.To my expert eye it looked hamstringy and serious. That makes four first choice-ish players injured at the moment (Djalminha, Mauro Silva, Manuel Pablo and now Makaay), though Mauro Silva could well be ready for next week. by Basque Dave --------------------------------- [7] As well as the Becks heroics --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: Keano scored for Eire in a 4-0 win over Cyprus and Ruud scored twice in a 4-0 win for Holland over Andorra. --------------------------------- [6] More from cuddly Pete --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: "What I want to do is connect Manchester United to its total fan base, which is enormous. United is a pioneer. We represent a pretty unique type of football club in that we want to develop a business model that enables us to be seen as a winner in business standards as in sports standards. People look to Manchester United today for the model both on and off the field. What we're starting to build is one United and reducing the conflict between PLC and football club. The success of Manchester United on the field drives our business activities off it. The Nike, Vodafone and financial services deals were the first of their kind. But just because they're the first doesn't mean they're wrong, and doesn't mean it's cutting through the heart of the club. Football is at the core of everything we do. Manchester United is a football club." So say it on the shirt then? --------------------------------- [5] Cuddly Peter goes brand crazy --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: Kenyon: "Commercially, Manchester United can be significantly bigger than it is today. We have a long-term strategy and Manchester United will be stronger in five years time, and 10 years time, than it is now...All I'm saying is that this is a growth business. It's not about having to convert all 50m to make this business sing and dance. It's about having a conversion that grows those customers year on year...Merchandising is one of the accepted ways for fans to buy into the club, Crudely, we'll be putting more shirts in more places because there is a big, untapped demand for Manchester United products from keyrings to shirts." --------------------------------- [4] FA count the money after Becks goal --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: Paul Barber, the FA's head of marketing: "This gives us a fantastic platform from which to commence our negotiations. It will increase the appetite for people to be involved with us, even if it will not actually put the ink on the contracts. We look forward to sitting down with our current partners over the next few months to discuss the way forward." --------------------------------- [3] Will the ABUs get to praise Becks even more --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: As the rights to the World Cup are seeing BBC and ITV being priced out of the water. FA chief executive Adam Crozier: "In fairness to the BBC and ITV, I think it's obscene what they are being asked to pay. It doesn't bear any relation to either market reality or the reality of when the games are played, which will be the morning for European viewers. That will have a serious effect on audiences. England's games should be available anyway but we want the whole tournament to be available on free-to-air television and Prisma don't have to sell the rights to every country. In the end, it's down to the BBC and ITV to come to some kind of sensible deal but we want the Government to help them get there and protect them on the way. It really needs the Government to be strong on this issue and not to waver one iota." --------------------------------- [2] Talking of betting --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: Fergie was in Paris yesterday for "Le Grand Prix de l'Arc de triomphe" (one of the biggest horse races in the world). He was interwieved by french TV before the race and our French correspondent reports that he gave the 3 first horses in the right order. His horse - Rock of Gibraltar - won a first class race in the afternoon, before the big race. We'd bet - and bet he did! - that big money was involved...and one very flush Gaffer after the races were over. --------------------------------- [1] Hope you got on it --------------------------------- Posted Monday, October 8, 2001 by bar-knee: For if you opened an account with our Sporting Odds partners for the England game you'd be £20 up on the deal even before placing the bet thanks to one of their generous pre-match betting offers for Red News readers.
