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sky at night UNITED delight!"
MUFC.SIMPLENET. COM: DAILY NEWS
Date: Mon Aug 17 13:35:53 GMT+00:00 1998
Mail: mufc@netlane.com
Daily RED Trivia 17th August:
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1985: United beat Aston Villa 4-0 at Old Trafford in a Division 1 game
watched by 49,743. Mark Hughes 2, Jesper Olsen and Norman Whiteside scored for
the Reds.
Team was: Bailey, Gidman, Albiston, Whiteside, McGrath, Hogg, Robson,
Moses (Duxbury), Hughes, Stapleton, Olsen. This was the first of a winning
sequence of 10 straight games at the start of the 1985-86 season.
1991: Paul Parker made his debut against Notts County. A nippy defender who
cost £1.7 million from Queens Park Rangers, Parker won Premiership and
FA Cup medals in 1994, and a League Cup Winners medal in 1992. 130
appearances and 1 goal for United between 1991-96. 19 caps for England, playing in
the 1990 World Cup Finals.
PRE SEASON - FIRST TEAM RESULTS
July 25 Birmingham City (A) result: L 3-4
27 Valerengen (A) (Oslo) result: D 2-2
31 Brondby (A) (Copenhagen) result: W 6-0
Aug 4 Brann Bergen (A) result: W 4-0
9 Arsenal (N) result: L 0-3
12 H Widzew Lodz CL result: W 2-0
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Coming Matches Index: http://www.red11.org/mufc/fix9899z.htm
=================================================================
Tue 18/8 H Eric Cantona XI (H) - Munich testimonial
Sat 22/8 A West Ham PL
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Sheringham in Hoddle footsteps
The row over Glenn Hoddle's World Cup book could further
escalate with Teddy Sheringham poised to publish his own
account of France 98.
Sheringham will include details of his infamous nightclub antics
in Portugal before the tournament, which brought a stinging
rebuke from Hoddle, and forced the player to make a public
apology.
The England and Manchester United striker, who was dropped
from the starting line-up mid-tournament to make way for
Michael Owen, has agreed a deal with publishers Little Brown.
David Beckham and Tony Adams have also been reported as
being ready to publish their accounts of France 98 following
coach Hoddle's highly controversial diary.
Little Brown's editorial director Alan Sampson said: "Teddy has
provided full details in his book about the episode involving his
late-night clubbing.
"It is the last chapter which he has just completed and, funnily
enough, I am reading it at the moment."
The Portugal incident is likely to generate the most attention.
Sheringham was pictured in a nightclub at 6am less than a
week before the start of the World Cup.
The new collection of diaries look set to keep the controversy
about World Cup reflections on the boil.
But Little Brown defended Sheringham's right to go public. "To
be fair, all the players are writing their own books giving their
own account of events," Sampson told The Mirror.
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Fergie's missing link
James Lawton
David Beckham and Teddy Sheringham both sang brief verses
of Redemption Song as Manchester United came out from a
first-day crisis which would have sent fresh shock waves all the
way to the Stock Exchange.
But if they saved a point they did not turn away an ominous
question.
Have United, you have to ask, frittered away their summer? Has
the bottom line of profit margin seeped on to the high ground of
true football ambition? Was this a team - just swept aside by
Double-winning Arsenal - good enough to leave standing still?
The preliminary evidence is damning. While Beckham and
Sheringham made vital moves on their own behalf, the reality is
that United outlasted rather than outplayed a team from another
financial world.
Beckham reminded us of his of his classic free-kick against
Colombia rather than the hair-brained act of self-destruction in
the Argentina game. He did it with a strike deep in injury time
which rescued a point and finally silenced the witless Leicester
representatives of the National Hate Club.
Sheringham brought some desperately needed craft to United's
attack as well as re-directing an earlier Beckham rocket beyond
substitute goalkeeper Pegguy Arphexad.
So all's well that ends well? Maybe. Maybe not.
Beckham, who greeted his own success so ecstatically, has a
little bit more to learn about human nature if he thinks
deliverance came in one moment of technical excellence. That
he has the talent to rise above the baiting of the more rancid
sections of the football-watching population has never been in
doubt.
What he has to do is prepare himself for a long running of the
gauntlet. So far he has accomplished one lap, in front of his
own people.
Sheringham, too, walked off the field with the air of a man who
had closed the book on a particularly unsavoury chapter. If he
maintains the wit and relevance of this performance it may be
so.
But you have to worry about these brisk journeys between
heaven and hell. United, this day proclaimed, are both a team
and a club in vital need of self-appraisal.
The possibility provoked by a superbly committed Leicester,
who outplayed United for the first half-hour and might have led
by three goals instead of one at that point, is they are not as
good as they may think.
There was, to be sure, excellent commitment. The scampering
of Roy Keane and Beckham exemplified this, but you look for
considerably more in a team which still proclaims a divine
mission to conquer Europe.
The truth is that on this form United are far from guaranteed to
win back their hold on the domestic game.
One casualty was the theory that Ryan Giggs can flourish in a
free role or as an auxiliary striker. It is a fiction.
Giggs's gifts are instinctive. They are about running wide and
getting in the killing crosses. He is not a naturally intuitive
player.
Give him time and space and he will turn one flank of the
opposing defence into rubble. In the middle he simply brings
clutter, which on Saturday was cleared with magnificent aplomb
by Matt Elliott, before he broke his nose, and veteran skipper
Steve Walsh.
United need an injection of the highest class. Whatever it does
to the balance sheet, they need a Kluivert or a Yorke, a Salas
or, yes, a Ronaldo. They see themselves in the company of
Juventus and Milan, Real Madrid and Barcelona. It is a vision
which lost focus badly when Emile Heskey - a young player
moving into the super-class bracket, be sure - and Tony Cottee
put Leicester into a two-goal lead.
United's response was worthy enough. Keane seemed to cover
every inch of turf. Giggs became relevant again when
Sheringham came off the bench. Beckham doused the moronic
fringe.
"Alarmed?" said manager Alex Ferguson. "After 24 years in this
business I don't get alarmed. I was disappointed."
So, no doubt, were the fans. The ones in suits, who count the
profits, may choose to do something. Certainly the ball has
rolled, with some menace, into their court.
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Manchester United v Leicester City: Beckham shoots back
Monday, August 17, 1998
A lucrative new five-year contract, a pop star girlfriend and celebrity glitz can't
deflect the vicious barbs from opposition fans but match-saving free kicks can.
You don't need a chapter in Glenn Hoddle's book to reveal that David Beckham
is currently the most hated footballer in England.
Even in his own Old Trafford domain, Beckham wasn't spared the senseless
abuse which is raining down on him thanks to one misdemeanour against
Argentina. But he held his nerve and shoved the merciless taunts of the
Leicester followers back down their throats as he provided a one-man rescue
service for Alex Ferguson's threatened side.
Despite disappointment at Beckham's coolly clipped free kick which provided
injury-time respite for United, Leicester midfielder Robbie Savage couldn't stop
himself slapping his old chum on the back.
Savage came through the junior ranks with Beckham long before the Spice
Girls dominated the charts. He drifted off to Crewe and was re-routed to
Leicester. He explained: 'I just said to him: "Great goal, mate" and not to take
any notice of the jeering. He showed what he can do. It's certainly the best way
to answer any criticism. It was a terrific free kick. I honestly feared the worst
when I saw him with the ball ready to take it. I thought, here he goes.'
The decision to commit himself until 2003 at Old Trafford provides proof that
23-year-old Beckham has no intention of running for cover abroad. Yet, Savage
believes that it will be some time before the storm clouds move away from the
high profile England star.
'It was disappointing to hear the jeers from the Leicester fans,' said the Wales
man. 'But then again Leicester is in the heart of the country and they are
fanatical about England and want the best for the national side.
'It is harsh what is happening to Becks. If England had won the penalty
shoot-out, I don't think anything would have been said about his sending-off. I
wouldn't like to be treated the way he has but I am certain he is strong enough
to get through it. He showed that against us.
'He's got to go to West Ham on Saturday and it's going to be difficult. He has
got to get through it. I think all this business is going to go on for a few months
yet. When he comes to Leicester in January, he will probably have to take
some stick again. It's sad.'
There's no hiding place in the great glasshouse of the Premier League and it's
not only Beckham who has to stand up and be counted as patience is an
attribute rapidly being made redundant in the increasing demands for a quick
fix.
Jaap Stam, at £10.75million, was helpless as the big, bustling Emile Heskey
swarmed all over him. A thigh strain which forced Stam's removal at half-time
and will keep the Dutchman on the sidelines for two weeks came after Heskey
had finished smartly from close range to claim the first Premiership goal of the
new campaign.
There could have been more goals as Leicester proved that the rest of the
Premiership empire was capable of striking back at any Super League
aspirants. There was certainly no holding back from Savage, who added: 'We
were very organised. Frank Sinclair has come in from Chelsea and I thought he
had an exceptional game.
'We are well balanced and up front we've got Bruno (Heskey) and I thought he'd
finished Stam's career with the trouble he caused. I don't think Stam knew what
to do against him in the first half. Bruno is strong, quick - unbelievable for his
age.'
His contract is also up next summer - something the big clubs would already
have noted.
It was Savage who provided the perfect cross for Tony Cottee to head Leicester
into a two-goal lead. To their credit, United can scrap with the best when the
odds are stacked against them.
Even Teddy Sheringham threw off that apparent air of indifference and deflected
Beckham's drive past substitute goalkeeper Pegguy Arphexad.
The Frenchman had replaced Kasey Keller, who took a blow from Andy Cole as
United attempted to turn up the heat.
In the fifth minute of injury time they were rewarded with the spectacular
Beckham strike but Leicester can still take pride in the almighty scare they
gave United a season after coming away with a 1-0 win from Old Trafford.
It made nonsense of one prediction that Leicester could be saying goodbye to
the Premiership next May.
Savage said: 'I saw Andy Gray on Friday night suggesting that we could be one
of the teams going down. I don't think he knows what he is talking about.
'He has a go at teams like us who give 100 per cent every game. We were up
for this one after what he said. We're not thinking about relegation, more in
terms of Europe.'
Team-mate Neil Lennon was also delighted to prove the critics wrong. He said:
'Everybody says we are a hard-working team, which we are, but we are also a
good football team. People keep writing us off and we're tipped again for
relegation material and that is just a big incentive for us to keep going.'
You sensed that Ferguson was just glad that his side survived a shock start to
the season. He said: 'I was not alarmed when we were 2-0 down after 24 years
in the business.
'It hasn't been the best preparation for us because of the World Cup Finals. I'm
not making an excuse because other teams have also suffered but it means we
are a little bit behind.
'But we didn't flag. The players didn't take their feet off the gas. Leicester did not
need a goalkeeper. I have never seen defenders get in the road of shots like
they did.'
Ferguson, who had a special word of praise for referee Neale Barry for making
the City wall retreat the full 10 yards for Beckham's free kick, promised his
Premiership rivals: 'We will get better.'
It's already getting better for David Beckham.
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