David Beckham’s return to Old Trafford will add some spice to the confrontation between Milan and Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson will warn his players not to get caught up in the ‘David Beckham media circus’.
“Our job is to concentrate on the football match and let the David Beckham media circus carry on,” Ferguson told United’s club magazine. “He’s such a high-profile celebrity – not just a high-profile footballer – and we haven’t really seen anybody else return to the club in that situation.”
Beckham is in his second loan spell at Milan. The 34-year-old Los Angeles Galaxy player hopes his performances will persuade England boss Fabio Capello to include him in the squad for this summer’s World Cup.
“I think I told him myself last year when I saw him before our game against Inter that he should be thinking about getting back to Europe if he wanted to go to the World Cup,” said Ferguson.
“It looks like he might just get his wish now. He had a good spell with Milan last time, so it made sense to me to see him back there again.”
Manchester United and Milan will face each other on February 16 and March 10. United starts with an away match. “The European Cup is always special to us and we’ve had some marvellous nights at Old Trafford. I just hope we have another one.
“We’re away from home in the first leg, which won’t be easy, but I’m certain the tie will be decided back at Old Trafford.”
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Harry Redknapp underlined the remarkable job carried out by Alex McLeish this season when he observed recently that Birmingham could not be discounted in the race for a top four finish in the Premier League.
It was not something the Tottenham boss would have said when the two clubs met at White Hart Lane back in August, at which point McLeish’s squad were still seen as more likely candidates for relegation than European football.
McLeish would surely walk the manager of the year award if the season were to finish now and, although Chelsea ended Birmingham’s 15-match unbeaten run in midweek, Tottenham know they face a serious test when the two clubs resume hostilities at St Andrews on Saturday.
An added time winner from England winger Aaron Lennon secured the points for Spurs in the first meeting and their defender Sebastien Bassong admitted he had been surprised how well Birmingham have done since.
“I think a lot of people are very surprised about what they’ve done, but if they’re in this position after more than 20 games then maybe they deserve this position,” Bassong said. “They’re playing well and they’ve got no pressure, so it’s a good time for them.”
The defender added: “We saw how difficult they are to beat earlier in the season at White Hart Lane. Aaron scored the winning goal in the 95th minute or something, and I think it’s going to be the same type of game again. But we played well on Tuesday (in a 2-0 win over Fulham) and we will try to do the same on Saturday.”
Tottenham, who go into the match sitting in fourth place in the table, are hoping to have completed the loan signing of Eidur Gudjohnsen from Monaco by Saturday although it appeared unlikely the Icelandic forward would be involved at St Andrews.
McLeish is also battling to add a high-profile signing to his ranks before the transfer window slams shut, with Spurs misfit Roman Pavyluchenko and Lens striker Aruna Dindane among his potential targets.
He was promised up to 40 million pounds by Hong Kong tycoon Carson Yeung but has only recruited two midfielders – Craig Gardner and Miguel Marcos Michel – so far, to the tune of around five million.
It promises to be a interesting few days for the former Scotland coach, who has made no secret of his desire to bring in at least one forward.
“I’ve given the board a couple of names, and I’m hoping they will get something done for us,” he said. “The strikers need help. Kevin Phillips has a small injury and we need to add something to help the others because we’ll burn them out playing these guys every week of the season.
“I’m fearful they will lose a little edge if we do, so an extra striker would spice things up a wee bit.”
McLeish admitted that his side faces a test of character after the end of their unbeaten run. “It’s a new challenge for them because they have not been in this position for a long time,” he said.
“It’s now how they react.
“We knew that someday we would drop points and we have gone over old experiences.
“Manchester United have gone on unbeaten runs knowing that one day they would lose. It’s coping with that and not beating up ourselves over the Chelsea defeat.
“The good thing about the Chelsea game was that afterwards I could see in the dressing room that the players were really upset and cared. You can tell a player’s character when you get that sort of reaction.
“We haven’t achieved anything. They say pride comes before a fall so we do not want to be thumping the drums until we have done something.
“The Chelsea game was a little reminder that we still have some hard work ahead of us. I do not judge my team over a season on what happened at Stamford Bridge.”
BIRMINGHAM (AFP)
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Notts County manager Hans Backe has quit after only seven weeks in the hotseat at the League Two side.
The 57-year-old Backe replaced Ian McParland on a three-year contract on 27 October and is close to former England coach and County’s director of football Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Backe told the squad he was leaving ahead of training.
Last week chairman Peter Trembling completed a takeover from Middle East owners Munto Finance, only five months after the latter took control with an ambitious bid to turn County into a top-flight side within five years.
Backe was in the dugout for just nine matches, his final game in charge being Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat by Accrington Stanley.
Assistant manager Dave Kevan will take charge for next week’s trip to Bournemouth.
Munto promised to invest millions of pounds when the consortium took over the club but former Arsenal and England defender Sol Campbell was the only high-profile arrival and he walked out after just one match.
County also had to deal with a winding-up petition issued by the High Court in November in relation to a six-figure debt accrued before Munto took over.
NOTTINGHAM (AFP)
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Nine people have been arrested, accused of illegal betting in Italian football, police said on Monday.
Amongst those arrested was the president of third division team Potenza, Giuseppe Postiglione and Pro Vastese sports director Luca Evangelista.
They are accused of being involved in organised crime and of sporting fraud relating to a number of bets placed on matches in the second and third divisions from 2007 to 2009.
One match under investigation is the Serie B encounter between Ravenna and Lecce on April 26, 2008, won 3-1 by the away side, on which Postiglione alledgedly placed a bet that won him 86,000 euros.
Giovanni Colangelo, the public prosecutor in Potenza, claimed match-fixing had been taking place.
If that was the case it would be the second such in Italy in the last three years, although the 2006 Calciopoli scandal involved high-profile Serie A teams and resulted in Juventus being relegated to Serie B and stripped of their last two league titles.
AC Milan, Lazio, Fiorentina and Reggina were also punished for their roles in the match-fixing.
ROME (AFP)
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Much like a homeowner who decided to hold out for a higher offer and now finds himself stuck in a credit crunch, negative equity nightmare, Premier League side Portsmouth have made a highly regrettable financial faux pas.
Amidst the crazy antics of the January transfer window, Portsmouth decided to reject a 3.5 million pounds bid for midfielder Sean Davis from rivals Bolton Wanderers. On Wednesday he joined Gary Megson’s side for free.
Liverpool losing Steve McManaman to Real Madrid for free in 1999 when he would have certainly commanded a big-money transfer in the two years leading up to his exit, springs to mind as another high profile example.
Let us know if you can think of any others.
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HANOI (AFP) – Former Brazilian international Denilson scored in his Vietnam debut on Sunday after disappointing fans by sitting out two earlier matches following his high-profile signing, reports said.
Denilson wasted little time in repaying his fans at Hai Phong Cement Football Club, scoring from a free-kick in the first minute of Sunday’s match, the state Sports and Culture newspaper said on its website.
Denilson, whom his club claims to be the most famous international footballer ever recruited by a Vietnamese side, also assisted in the team’s second goal and played throughout the first half, the report said.
The Brazilian’s efforts helped Hai Phong Cement to a 3-1 victory at home to Hoang Anh Gia Lai in the V-League.
There had been uncertainty over whether Denilson, once the world’s most expensive footballer, would be part of the lineup on Sunday.
Thirty thousand fans packed the team’s stadium early this month in expectation that he would play in the first match after his signing. When Denilson instead sat in the stands while his team lost, anger escalated and some supporters burned stadium seats.
Denilson then reportedly announced that he had an unspecified injury. He sat out one more match — which the club also lost — and was vague about when he would play.
Denilson’s goal “has removed the huge pressure from the fans and has encouraged him to play in the coming matches”, Hai Phong coach Vuong Tien Dung was quoted as saying in the Sports and Culture report.
But Dung said his star player was lucky to be in a position to score, “as he has not recovered yet”.
Denilson was a member of Brazil’s 2002 World Cup-winning squad.
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DOHA (AFP) – Lyon’s long-serving Brazilian playmaker Juninho arrived in Qatar for talks about a transfer to Al-Garrafa, the Doha club said on their website Tuesday.
Recruiting the Brazilian to play in Qatar will cost the club about 2.5 million euros, a record in the Gulf state’s championship, sources at the club said, but no details were available about the length of Juninho’s contract.
The 34-year-old scored 100 goals for the French club and was the inspiration behind Lyon’s seven titles, including last year’s domestic double, since joining from Vasco da Gama in 2001.
When he announced he was leaving Lyon at the end of last season, the club described it as the end of an era.
The 44-times capped Brazilian reached three Champions League quarter-finals with Lyon and was their leading scorer in the competition with 18 goals.
Historically the Qatar championship has been a retirement location for a number of high-profile footballers, including Brazilian Romario, the Argentine Gabriel Batistuta and Frenchmen Marcel Desailly and Frank Leboeuf.
On Monday, Juninho’s agent Jose Fuentes suggested his client was also considering playing in Italy, following reported interest expressed by Lazio and Genoa.
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Elen Rives has started dating ‘baller Lawrie Wilson… Someone’s trying to make a certain someone jealous me thinks!!
It is obvious to most that Elen Rives has been struggling to get over Lampard… So what’s the best way of mending a broken heart, why dating a new ‘baller of course.
The WAG has been spotted canoodling with 22 yr old, Stevenage Borough player Lawrie Wilson.
But why are we so sure this is a rebound case??
Well let’s look at the facts, Elen Rives is a 34 yr old Mother of two who shouldn’t really be dating boys.
Secondly, Frank has already moved on to Saskia Boxford, so she’s obviously trying to get back her man’s attention…
And lastly, isn’t it funny that the paps just happened to be there to witness Elen’s date, because let’s face it, Wilson isn’t exactly high profile!!
We feel for Elen it must be really tough going from a premiership ‘baller to fifth tier!!
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MANCHESTER, England (AFP) – Manchester City manager Mark Hughes is determined to surround Robinho with enough world-class talent to help the Brazil star shine more regularly next season.
Robinho has often been criticised for failing to live up to his club record 32.75 million pounds price tag since his shock move from Real Madrid in August.
But, despite questions about his appetite for the more mundane fixtures in the Premier League, Robinho is still in contention to end as the division’s top scorer.
The forward is finishing the campaign with a real flourish and took his tally to 15 goals for the season in the 3-1 win over Blackburn on Saturday that kept City in the hunt for a Europa League place.
Hughes concedes that his star player has not always lived up to his billing but feels Robinho can improve even further next season.
He said: “Robbie’s an easy target. He’s a high profile player and he’s got a price tag that people will highlight and it’s understandable and predictable.
“On occasions he’s disappointed but he’s not the only one and on occasions we’ve all disappointed ourselves and our fans.
“But he’s an outstanding talent and he played well again against Blackburn and scored an outstanding goal.
“We’re delighted that he’s here and the key is to bring more players that will enable us to grow as a team and enable Robbie to shine as brightly, if not more so, next year.”
Hughes accepts that his side have been inconsistent during the current campaign but feels that they will benefit from their struggles.
He added: “People can see that we’re a good side when we’re in full flow and we can produce good football.
“We’ll try to add quality in the summer and if we can do that we’ll build on what we’ve done this year.
“If you look at the make-up of our team going into most Premier League games, invariably we lack Premier League experience by virtue of the fact that players have come in from other leagues and players will benefit from the events of this year and have a better understanding of what the Premier League is all about.”
City enjoyed a comfortable three-goal lead at half-time thanks to goals from Felipe Caicedo and Robinho and Elano’s penalty.
Blackburn pulled one back when Shay Given saved El-Hadji Diouf’s penalty and Keith Andrews tapped in the follow-up.
Rovers are still not guaranteed Premier League safety and remain six points above the relegation zone with three matches left.
Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce is confident that Benni McCarthy and Chris Samba will both be fit for next Saturday’s crucial home game against Portsmouth.
South Africa forward McCarthy came off at half-time with a foot injury and Samba was substituted with a similar problem midway through the second half at Eastlands.
One more win is likely to be enough to take Rovers to safety and Allardyce is hoping the duo will be available for the run-in.
“Benni could have played on but he kicked the bottom of somebody’s boot after a few minutes and at 3-0 down, we decided not to risk him.
“Chris Samba complained about his foot being sore and we just wanted to make sure they were fit for next week.
“The situation we’re in with our injuries is a concern but we’ve got next week to get everybody fit and hopefully get the three points that we’re looking for.
“We’re just hoping we can get everybody fit for the game next week. It’s about us doing what we need to do and there are games of football that need to be won.
“We want to control our own destiny by winning games and not rushing to the television and hoping that other teams have slipped up as well. We want to make sure we do that next week and if we get three points it’ll be in the bag.”
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LONDON (AFP) – The pitch at the new Wembley Stadium is to be dug up and replaced in the wake of damning criticism from Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, the Football Association confirmed Friday.
Wenger branded the surface ‘a disaster’ after Arsenal’s FA Cup semi-final defeat by Chelsea while Ferguson claimed his selection for Manchester United’s penalty shoot-out defeat to Everton 24 hours later had been influenced by fears the likes of Wayne Rooney could be injured on the “spongy and dead” turf.
The new pitch is to be laid in time for the FA Trophy final clash between Stevenage and York on May 9, the first of a series of high-profile matches next month, culminating in the FA Cup final on May 30.
It will be the sixth time that the pitch has already been re-laid in the two years since the stadium, which cost 750 million pounds to build, opened.
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