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www.red11.org DAILY NEWS Date: Mon Feb 22 00:52:18 GMT+00:00 1999 Mail: barry@www.red11.org This Issue: 1. Who's got the Copper's Helmet?? By OUR SALFORD LASS 2. And then the sun came out by RED KELLY 3. FERGIE'S GROUND FOR OPTIMISM 4. SCHMEICHEL IS STILL NUMBER ONE - BOATENG 5. Inter Watch + general footy news ++++++=========+++++++========+++++++++========++++++++ Daily RED Trivia Monday 22nd February 1999: 22/2/1947: 2 goals from Jack Rowley and one from Jimmy Hanlon see United beat Blackpool 3-0 at Maine Road in a Division 1 game watched by 29,993. Team was: Fielding, Aston, Walton, Warner, Chilton, Cockburn, Delaney, Morris, Hanlon, Pearson, Rowley. 1986: Jesper Olsen bags a Hat-trick as United turn over West Bromwich Albion 3-0 in a Division 1 game watched by 45,193. Team was: Turner, Gidman (T.Gibson), Albiston, Blackmore, McGrath, Moran, Strachan, C.Gibson, Hughes, Stapleton, Olsen. *************** Barry Daily Comment: If anybody is struggling for a ticket,they can be purchased over the internet at the following site: http://www.milanoticket.it/ The Inter site is: http://www.inter.it/ Url correction from yesterday: http://www.red11.org/mufc/sound/mp3/99/irwinarse99comms.mp3 Great Dennis interview about Arse game and Alex 2mins More: http://www.red11.org/mufc/sound/mp3/99/ 272728 Feb 19 13:08 81forestreport.mp3 98588 Feb 19 13:08 alexarseh99.mp3 1807662 Feb 20 05:00 arse99summ.mp3 443862 Feb 20 05:20 irwinarse99comms.mp3 70976 Feb 19 13:07 matfderh.mp3 78172 Feb 19 13:08 penaltyarseh99.mp3 Previous News: Brian Kidd Press conference, pic, real audio http://www.iol.ie/~redcafe/kidd.htm Peter Schmeichel's last Season at United! http://www.red11.org/mufc/news/schmeichel.htm Next games: ALL Result/Fixture Index: http://www.red11.org/mufc/fix9899z.htm 27 Southampton (H) 15.00 March 3 Inter Milan (H) ECLl "Quarter Final" 1st leg 19.45 7 Chelsea (H) 14.00 FAC6 *SKY SPORTS* LIVE* + DkTV1 Scand. 10 Liverpool (A) 19.45 PL (moved due to FAC) 13 Newcastle (A) 15.00 PL 17 Inter Milan (A) ECL "Quarter Final" 2nd leg 19.45 21 Everton (H) 15.00 PL UNITED Stats v All teams: http://www.red11.org/mufc/stats/ *** FULL LEAGUE TABLE AS AT 20/02/99 *** Pos Team P W D L F A W D L F A GD Pts ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 Manchester United 27 9 4 1 33 14 6 5 2 28 14 33 54 2 Chelsea 26 8 5 0 19 7 5 6 2 20 14 18 50 3 Arsenal 26 8 5 0 21 4 5 5 3 13 8 22 49 4 Aston Villa 25 8 2 3 24 17 4 5 3 13 10 10 43 5 Leeds United 26 8 3 2 21 6 3 6 4 18 19 14 42 6 Liverpool 26 7 4 2 33 16 4 2 7 16 16 17 39 7 Derby County 26 5 5 3 13 12 4 5 4 12 12 1 37 8 West Ham United 26 7 3 3 18 19 3 4 6 11 19 -9 37 9 Wimbledon 24 7 4 1 18 11 2 4 6 11 24 -6 35 10 Newcastle United 26 7 2 4 20 16 2 5 6 14 19 -1 34 11 Middlesbrough 26 4 8 1 16 10 3 4 6 17 26 -3 33 12 Sheffield Wednesday 25 5 3 4 13 7 4 2 7 18 17 7 32 13 Tottenham Hotspur 25 5 5 2 19 16 2 6 5 10 15 -2 32 14 Leicester City 25 5 3 4 17 18 2 6 5 8 16 -9 30 15 Everton 26 3 7 3 8 6 3 2 8 11 22 -9 27 16 Charlton Athletic 26 4 4 5 18 13 2 4 7 13 24 -6 26 17 Blackburn Rovers 26 5 3 5 15 16 1 5 7 12 20 -9 26 18 Coventry City 26 5 4 4 17 14 1 2 10 7 23 -13 24 19 Southampton 25 5 2 6 20 22 1 3 8 5 26 -23 23 20 Nottingham Forest 26 1 6 6 11 24 2 1 10 11 30 -32 16 *** TEAM RESULTS - MANCHESTER UNITED - AS AT 20/02/99 *** Date Opposition Score Pos. Attend. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 15/08/98 Leicester City Home D 2-2 11 55,052 22/08/98 West Ham United Away D 0-0 11 26,039 09/09/98 Charlton Athletic Home W 4-1 9 55,147 12/09/98 Coventry City Home W 2-0 5 55,193 20/09/98 Arsenal Away L 0-3 10 38,142 24/09/98 Liverpool Home W 2-0 3 55,181 03/10/98 Southampton Away W 3-0 2 15,251 17/10/98 Wimbledon Home W 5-1 2 55,265 24/10/98 Derby County Away D 1-1 2 30,867 31/10/98 Everton Away W 4-1 2 40,079 08/11/98 Newcastle United Home D 0-0 3 55,174 14/11/98 Blackburn Rovers Home W 3-2 2 55,198 21/11/98 Sheffield Wednesday Away L 1-3 2 39,475 29/11/98 Leeds United Home W 3-2 2 55,172 05/12/98 Aston Villa Away D 1-1 2 39,241 12/12/98 Tottenham Hotspur Away D 2-2 1 36,079 16/12/98 Chelsea Home D 1-1 2 55,159 19/12/98 Middlesbrough Home L 2-3 3 55,152 26/12/98 Nottingham Forest Home W 3-0 3 55,216 29/12/98 Chelsea Away D 0-0 3 34,741 10/01/99 West Ham United Home W 4-1 3 55,180 16/01/99 Leicester City Away W 6-2 2 22,091 31/01/99 Charlton Athletic Away W 1-0 1 20,043 03/02/99 Derby County Home W 1-0 1 55,174 06/02/99 Nottingham Forest Away W 8-1 1 30,025 17/02/99 Arsenal Home D 1-1 1 55,171 20/02/99 Coventry City Away W 1-0 1 22,596 ****** Champions League: Group D P W D L F A Pts Bayern Munich 6 3 2 1 9 6 11 Man United 6 2 4 0 20 11 10 Barcelona 6 2 2 2 11 9 8 Brondby 6 1 0 5 4 18 3 Dec 9 Brøndby 0-2 Barcelona Dec 9 Man Utd 1-1 Bayern Munich ****** CHAMPIONS' LEAGUE QUARTER-FINAL DRAW Manchester Utd v Inter Milan Real Madrid v Dynamo Kiev Juventus v Olympiakos Bayern Munich v Kaiserslautern Ties to be played on March 3 and 17 FAC Quarter Finals Draw ties to be played the weekend of Saturday, March 6: Newcastle United or Blackburn Rovers v Everton Barnsley v Leeds United or Spurs Arsenal or Sheffield United v Huddersfield Town or Derby Manchester United v Chelsea (Sunday 7/3 1400 hrs UK) ++++++=========+++++++========+++++++++========++++++++Subject: Who's got the Copper's Helmet?? By OUR SALFORD LASS It might have been a crap game, but I enjoyed my day out in the Midlands. The train into Manchester in the morning was full of Cockneys Blues - on their way to Maine Rd for City's big derby game against Macclesfield - and there was I, thinking they all come from Manchester!! Arriving on Piccadilly Station, I found the place full of Chelsea rent boys on their way to Nottingham (I wonder what they were doing up here - surely they all live 5 minutes walk from the "Village" - don't they?). They were too busy reading the back pages of the morning papers to notice me. Altogether now - "There's only one Graham Rix ....." The rest of the journey to Coventry was without incident. It was very pleasant sitting on the coach, reading the papers, with the sun shining through the window (much pleasanter than standing in 4 inches of water getting hypothermia!). Unusually, there were no traffic problems on the M6 and we were the first coach to arrive at Highfield Rd an hour-and-a-half before kick-off. We headed straight into the ground, bought a couple of pies, and stood in the very pleasant sunshine, watching the fans arriving and listening to what the DJ thought was the pick of pre-match entertainment. The son-and-heir was very impressed, and was soon reminiscing about long nights dancing in the clubs of Manchester. I was not so impressed, being an old trout, I find modern dance music tedious in the extreme, but it made a change to the usual Keith Fane-type crap we get before games. Just before kick-off, the dancing girls arrived on the pitch. This time the son-and-heir was disappointed as none of the girls looked over-16. Since he doesn't work for a London-based football club, they were not to his taste! We were then asked by a very polite steward to "please take our seats". Now I might be trifle pedantic here, but if we had really "taken our seats" they wouldn't have been very pleased would they? Just like the copper and his helmet later in the afternoon. I couldn't be bothered arguing, so we headed off down to the front of the lower section where we were in the second row. These seats might be too close to the pitch for some fans, but we love it - one of our most fondly remembered away trips to Coventry is a couple of seasons ago when we stood in a similar position singing "Big Fat Ron has f***ed it up again". So there we were, only feet from the touchline, close enough to abuse the Coventry players and the linesman and get a reaction. Close enough to our own players to feel that we are a small part of the game. The son-and-heir was going into ecstacy imagining Stam scoring and then coming over the barrier to give him a hug after he scored - personally I found the thought of Stam coming over the barrier towards me at great speed, a bit scary to say the least! Eventually, the teams came out on the pitch and spoiled all the fun! Seriously, the game wasn't that bad, but we were bad enough that most of the fond memories of the afternoon will be about what went on off the pitch rather than on it! The atmosphere, as usual at Highfield Rd, was excellent with the Reds in fine form, all standing throughout the game, without any bother (as were the Coventry fans to our right). All the old favourites were sung along with The Calypso, "Who made Keegan cry?", "Who put the ball in the scousers' net?" and of course, "There's only one Arsene Wenger". The Blues to our right (we can ignore the rest of the stadium, they were as quiet as Maine Rd in the Auto Windscreen Trophy) sang their one-song lustily for a while, but it didn't take long for the Reds to take over all the singing. Apart from a chorus of "Do you come from Manchester?" (to which we replied "Reds are here, Reds are there, Reds are every f***ing where), they very quickly sank into silence. Early in the first half, there was a bit of excitement off the pitch as a United fan scuffled with a copper just behind us. We couldn't see what had happened to cause it, but it might have had something to do with the policeman's helmet bobbing up and down around the away end!! Unfortunately, on the pitch there wasn't much to get excited about. We were very ordinary and Coventry played as well as I've ever seen them play before. But our ordinary is still as good as their best, so it was a frustrating game to watch, to say the least. As in a number of games this season, we seemed unable to keep the ball for more than a few passes. Either we were passing to the opposition or we were trying fancy back-flips when we should have been playing simple passes. Constantly, a move would be started from the back, or Becks would provide a perfect pass, only for the ball to again be given away and we were back to square one. A couple of excellent saves from Schmeichel kept us in the game, and we were lucky to go in at half-time still on level terms. Half-time brought more entertainment from the dancing girls, except that this time they were joined by a young lad (a Red, I assume). He danced along with them quite happily, to applause from the fans, for a few minutes whilst the Coventry branch of SPS closed in. Eventually they made their move, which he evaded, and the chase was on. It was hysterical, watching 6 or 7 middle-aged, overweight blokes in yellow jackets trying to catch one young lad. Everytime he escaped we cheered. Eventually, they brought him down and he was escorted off the pitch with rather more violence than was necessary, to the boos of the crowd. Much abuse was heaped on the security men as they walked across in front of us looking red in the face and with steam coming out of their ears. Half-time also brought a trip to find the Ladies (I found it, but I couldn't get bloody near it!) and a meeting with the Leaminster Skinhead, Mick Meade and (a very drunk?) Richard Martin, who were being watched over by (a very sober) Dr Mark. With a neck aching from trying to converse with these man-mountains, I returned to my seat to prepare for the avalanche of goals that was to come from the Soul Brothers in the second half! Oh well, when you get to my age you get used to disappointments! The second half was only an improvement on the first half in that we scored a goal and won the game! Again, we were giving the ball away with gay abandon and the linesman in front of us was getting plenty of abuse (and the crust of a meat and potato pie!). Stam hadn't come out after the break, and that was a worry, but Berg and Johnsen looked secure at the back as Beckham continued to run the game. One special moment - Becks was screaming for the ball in front of us. The rest of the team were ignoring him and generally messing around getting nowhere. So Becks decided to get the ball for himself. He ran the whole width of the pitch, took the ball off a Coventry player and brought it back over to the right - all to the cheers of our section of the crowd! Burrows and McAllister were coming in for plenty of stick ("You scouse bastard", and "If you play for Leeds United, then you must be f***ing scum") and the half-hearted booing of Beckham by the Coventry fans led to a rousing chorus of "There's only one David Beckham". I think he was also getting some stick off the Blues to our right, judging by his reaction at the end of the game. In the boring bits we sang "Cheer up Kevin Keegan" and "Who made Keegan cry?" About 15 minutes from the end Fergie finally brought Ole on. Unfortunately, he took Cole off - most of the fans seemed to think that it should have been Yorke going off. Personally, however, I thought it worked well. Ole is just that bit bigger and stronger than Andy, and that was just what we need against the Coventry defence. Peter's throws had been awesome all afternoon (one went all of 60 yards) but this time one led to a goal - Peter threw the ball to Yorke, he passed to Becks, Becks waited for Giggs to get into just the right position and put a lovely, curling ball into the box. The actual goal itself was scrambled but that doesn't take anything away from the wonderful movement that led up to it. So it was celebration time and a chorus of "We shall not be moved" and "United, United, top of the league". The game wasn't over yet, and there were a few scares just before the end, but Peter was on form and we survived to take 3 very valuable points. Whilst the Coventry fans streamed out of the ground, we stayed behind to clap the lads off the pitch. All the usual suspects came over to applaud the fans - the Nevilles, Ole, Scholes and Beckham. Becks was, yet again, the star. As usual, he was the first to come over and clap the fans. He then punched the air, turned to the Coventry fans to our right, put his hands together in supplication and did a little bow! Turning back to us, he grinned and waved and off he went. Even if he wasn't one of the best players on the planet, this lad would be a favourite - he's not just a player, he's one of us. Luckily, it was another trouble-free journey back to Manchester listening to that prat Mellor slagging off United and United fans at every opportunity. Star of the show though, was a caller ringing live from Toronto who mentioned his internet connections - this couldn't be anyone I might know, could it? My man-of-the-match? It's got to be Beckham but also mention has to be made of Peter Schmeichel. Despite a couple of iffy kicks down field, he was back to his superb best - can we really not change his mind about leaving? Copyright © 1999 by OUR SALFORD LASS. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced without permission of the author
More pics click on Ryan! Subject: And then the sun came out by RED KELLY It was a grey and overcast afternoon in Coventry as we gathered in the pre match pub for a couple of pints and a last chat with DA before he goes back to South Carolina. The intellectual conversation was more focused on the huge sausages on DA's platter than football, but I don't think I'll go into any details!! We hoped it would be a good day for DA making hay up Sky Blue Way and despite United's lack of sparkle in most departments the result was everything we had hoped for. Well it was everything that most of us hoped for anyway, but Mick was talking about the possibility of ten goals after performances at Leicester and Forest which were the last time we were together at an away fixture. I mean, we would have taken ten goals for sure, but rather felt his heart was ruling his head. We arrived at the ground with Tony deciding he would buy a lucky programme (good job you did) and made our way round to the M&B stand which was jam-packed with Reds as per usual. It has never ceased to amaze me that we continually bump into people we know even in a crowd of thousands, but the first person we see was Linda! A few of us were in the same section so were stood close together while we were being entertained by Sam the sky blue elephant and some very young pom pom wielding females which would have caught the attention of Graham Rix had they been playing Chelsea, who must surely now be looking for a replacement. The elephant was lucky to escape with his trunk in tact as he danced about in front of the United supporters at the front, but eventually we were spared any more of the meaningless dross as the teams came out. Trouble was they were just as lacklustre as the so called entertainment most of the time. No wonder the Coventry fans are a boring bunch if this is what they have to put up with every game, it's positively insulting to any reasonably intelligent human being. At least Fred the Red stays down at the family stand end of OT, but blue elephants and pom pom girls are going too far. I'm sure they would welcome fanny Fane with open arms into Sky Blue heaven. Apathy reigns supreme in this city - they renowned for their lack of action. The United team on the park yesterday was arguably the strongest Fergie could play. It would certainly rank as my strongest if I were fortunate enough to be manager, so expectations were high as the game kicked off. But the first half was far from inspirational. There was a great opportunity set up by a magnificent long ball from Becks to Andy who held it up 'til Giggs arrived to blaze it over the bar. He seemed to be doing that al afternoon. The Cov boo-boys were out in force of course, giving Becks some stick every time he touched the ball. This confirmed their smalltime status on a par with their Midlands neighbours. At least we were letting rip with the usual Coventry away atmosphere. It's a game which a lot of Reds put down as one of the more desirable aways. I don't know why this should be, but it is, and we all enjoy ourselves - well, we do most of the time anyway! The highlight for me was the rendition of "United, United, rah rah rah. City, City, ha, ha, ha. Leeds, Leeds, baa, baa, baa. Scousers, Scousers where's my car, and the sight of a copper's helmet flying through the air from the back of our stand to the front. Don't know what happened to the copper himself but there were rumours. The rest of the boys in blue stayed firmly rooted to their spots like good Coventry coppers should do! The Coventry fans sang their one song which is a corruption of the Eton Boating song which Jimmy Hill introduced when he first became manager in the early sixties. He also introduced the sky blue strip at that time as Coventry used to play in white with a dark blue trim, this was the moment which assured their smalltime tag as you cannot possibly be serious when playing in a washed out shirt - ask any Bitter. We taunted them about their one song to which they replied by taunting us for our one song - eh!! They are so incredibly dumb they can't even count!! They are not even worth considering never mind taking seriously. They chipped in with a version of the scouse song but changed words to "In our Coventry home" What a sorry load of sad b......s you lot are. We wound them up a little with the Ingerland stuff and sang the "cheer up Kevin Keegan" song, but as I said before apathy is endemic in this city so they found it difficult to muster up a decent response. A few of us met up at half-time on the concourse between the upper and lower tiers and were still reasonably upbeat but with the ball pinging around everywhere without any real direction, we were concerned at the eventual outcome. Full marks to Dr Mark though for not displaying his usual pessimism, his glass was obviously half full and not half empty at half-time!! The rest of the half time show was taken over by a Red who had stolen in amongst the pom pom girls on the pitch and was dancing along with them doing a very passable impersonation without the rah rah skirt. The stewards had to go and spoil it though, didn't they. They waded in with arms and legs flailing, but the lad was adept at the body swerve and managed to keep the first wave of attack at bay. A second wave came in and formed a pincer movement but still the lad evaded capture. A third came in and almost surrounded him, but still he evaded them. By this time there must have been eight to ten stewards making absolute arseholes of themselves while the lad danced in front of them taunting them into making a move. This went on for some time as we cheered and sang our approval from the stands. But the lad got carried away with his moment of fame and missed his opportunity to escape back into the crowd and instead went back for one last taunt and was captured and lead away. The crowd booed their collective displeasure, but I felt we could have done with him on the pitch. It was a bloody sight more interesting than the other 'entertainment' on offer though, despite what Dobson says! The game restarted with Berg on instead of Stam and we were subjected to more of the same misdirected passes and no composure. It seemed nearly all of the United team were having an indifferent day. One or two ran their socks off, not least of them was Andy Cole, but there was little service from midfield and for reasons only known to himself Yorke spent more time facing his own goal than theirs. It seemed as if every time he got the ball he would turn back and let half the Coventry midfield go past him before playing a square ball. I hope this isn't a sign of a temporary lack of confidence due to his penalty miss on Wednesday night, but he wasn't anywhere near as decisive as he has been all season. Maybe Andy should have a word in his ear. The game was a tetchy affair not helped by the cheating Richard Shaw, the balletic dying swan impersonator, Huckerby and the inept linesman on our side of the pitch. How Shaw managed to get away with half the things he did is beyond me, but he always seems to including a wrestling match with Becks which was conveniently missed by our favourite man with the flag. Andy did put the ball in the net but was adjudged offside. The linesman's flag went up about half an hour too late, but despite 3 United players looking offside, I think it was a lot closer than it looked. We were dead in line and Cole was playing off the shoulder of the Coventry defender and was most aggrieved at the linesman's late call. There were a couple of moments in the second half and a wonderful flashback to that game in 93 when Dennis scored the only goal to put us well on the way to the title. Just as it was that day, Dennis ambled into the box to take a pass from Giggs, but this time the ball failed to reach him, but it was nevertheless a deja-vu highlight for me. Scholes sent a scorcher past the post and Becks had a shot blocked by a Coventry defender when we were positive he would score, but we were fast becoming convinced the game would end as it had began until the sun came out. From where we were stood high up at the back of the stand we could see the Coventry skyline through the gap at the corner of the stadium. The sky had been as overcast as the game up to that point, but divine intervention was at hand. Suddenly a bright shaft of sunlight lit up our part of the ground. Was it a reason for optimism, or really a devine moment. We were buoyed up by the new upbeat tempo on the pitch though. Coventry had a corner at the far end of the ground and when Schmeichel gathered the cross and hurled it out to Yorke there seemed to be nothing on at all. Giggs took over as Yorke dallied about, turning back on himself yet again. He passed out to Becks who sent the ball flying over to the far post. Giggsy met it well for once and blasted the ball back towards the goal and it finished in the back of the net along with, who else but Richard Shaw. What joy to see Giggs turn and celebrate and what joy to see Shaw tangled up in the rigging. What sweet irony! We spent the final ten minutes in a raucous rendition of the United Calypso started by BDS himself. It is always a marvellous sight to watch a swaying mass of Reds celebrating - thousands clapping and singing their hearts out. At the end of the game we were glad of the victory and as we clapped the team off the pitch Becks came over and paid us thanks for his support, turned to the Coventry fans in the West End and with both hands together in the praying position, bowed to them and smiled. A top moment for a club at the bottom. The journey back to the car was amusing as one or two Coventry fans were a little upset about the result and were desperately trying to motivate themselves into real anger without a great deal of success! With the Arse destroying Leicester it was a very important result for us yesterday, it may not have been an aesthetic performance, but it WAS three very valuable points. Copyright RED KELLY 1999
More pics click on Ryan! Subject: FERGIE'S GROUND FOR OPTIMISM Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson admitted that his side's uninspiring victory at Coventry was as significant as any of their recent illuminating goal-laced displays. United had hammered Leicester 6-2 and Nottingham Forest 8-1 on their previous two visits to the Midlands this year. But a single goal effort from Ryan Giggs was all they could manage in a fortuitous victory against a battling Coventry who have slipped into the bottom three. Ferguson said: ''After Wednesday's exertions against Arsenal it was always going to be a difficult game and Coventry work so hard to stop you playing. ''With the pitch being so difficult as well we never got the forward game going like we normally do - but I'm fed up with entertaining everyone! It was a day where we ground out a result and they are just as significant. We never made many chances and in the first half we treated the ball like a hot potato. ''But Coventry is a hard place to win and other leading sides (Chelsea and Liverpool) have been beaten here this season. ''I would think that Arsenal and Chelsea would have looked at this fixture and expected us to drop points. ''That shows how important this win was.'' Ferguson expects Jaap Stam to be fit for the crunch Champions' League clash with Inter Milan in 11 days' time despite him having to be substituted at half-time with a hamstring injury. Ferguson said: ''It was tight and we didn't want to risk him. We took him off as a precaution but he should be okay for the Inter Milan match.''
More pics click on Ryan! Subject: SCHMEICHEL IS STILL NUMBER ONE - BOATENG Coventry midfielder George Boateng believes goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel is back to his best at just the right time to boost Manchester United's bid for Champions League glory. But he is backing the great Dane's decision to quit at the top with the Red Devils at the end of this campaign in the same way as Eric Cantona did two seasons ago. The cracks that have been evident in Schmeichel's game this season look to have at least been temporarily plastered over judging by his display in United's hard fought win at Highfield Road. He made two crucial saves from the on-song Boateng and then, in the dying seconds, from Darren Huckerby whose wonder goal had broken United's hearts in the corresponding fixture last season. But equally important was Schmeichel's dominating presence in the air and the total command of his penalty box which have been the trademark of his Old Trafford career. And it was a typical piece of quick thinking by Schmeichel which turned defence into instant attack and started the move which saw the fit-again Ryan Giggs grab the winner 12 minutes from time. Schmeichel gathered a cross and within an instant had sent Dwight Yorke speeding away on the half-way line with one of his long and accurate throw-outs. David Beckham then supplied the killer ball and in came Giggs at the far post to fire past Magnus Hedman and extend United's unbeaten record to 12 matches. Boateng said: ''For United to have a really on song Peter Schmeichel back is a big boost for them, especially with the European tie with Inter Milan just around the corner. ''We all know how far he can throw the ball and that has killed us, that one moment when maybe the concentration was not 100% from our point of view, and we paid the penalty. ''But his overall game was spot on and you can see just why he has been playing at the top level for so many years. ''I believe he could play until he is 80 - but I think he is right to give up at the end of the season. You have to stop when you are still at your best. ''If you look at Eric Cantona, he did exactly the same. He quit at the top and so will always be a hero when he comes back at any stage to Old Trafford.'' United manager Alex Ferguson admitted: ''Schmeichel is back to his very best. He made one great save from Boateng and his dominance and presence in the box was really emphatic. That was a big plus for us.'' The other big bonus for Fergie was Giggs coming through his first full outing since damaging his hamstring against Derby County. The Welsh international could have had a hat-trick but was delighted just to be playing again. He said: ''When I did the injury I have to admit that thoughts of last season, when I did a similar thing at a similar time and was out for quite a while, crossed my mind. ''I missed out on the latter part of the European battle but thankfully things haven't turned out to be as serious this time. ''I feel fine after getting a full game in and hopefully should be ready for Inter.'' Ferguson said: ''I think he needed a game under his belt and there was no point in waiting for another week or so and then finding he had not got the stamina for the Milan game. ''He is the type of player in any case who needs games and he came through fine on Saturday.''
More pics click on Ryan! Subject: Inter Watch + general footy news Lazio 1 - 0 Inter Inter lose to top of the table Lazio through a goal by Concecaio after 39 minutes. Inter pressed a bit towards the end, Baggio hitting the crossbar with a long-range free-kick, but generally our CL opponents didn't impress. One aspect that does worry me a bit is their diving skills. Italian refs know all about the players' antics in Italy ... Zamorano in fact got booked today for diving in the box ... but foreign referees are likely to be fooled more easily. United had better be very careful on 3 March. Inter now slip down to 6th in Serie A, 11 points behind Lazio, and must now have lost all hope of the championship. A couple of other points I gleaned from Teletext today. We thought we had a gloryhunter problem? According to a recent research, 10,600,000 Italian fans consider themselves to be Juve supporters, which is 32% of all Italian football fans. According to the research, and this is a bit hard to believe, Juve's internet site gets over one million hits per day. Barry Leeming, eat yer heart out! In one of the European leagues next season UEFA are going to try out having TWO referees in addition to the two assistant referees and the fourth official (presumably to be known as the 'fifth official'). It's enough to give any self-respecting footy fans nightmares: imagine having that nice Mr. Rennie AND Mr. Durkin on the pitch at the same time. Will there be any players left on the pitch at the end of the 90 minutes? But it may not be as bad as it sounds if one of the referees is Senora Carolina Domenech. She's to be Spain's first professional league referee in today's Espanyol - Deportiva match. She's 22 years old, tall and blonde. I bet the boys will all be fighting to get their names in her little black book. ____________ Terry Saudi
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Singalong
Calypso available here: mp3
If ever they are playing in your town
You must get to that football ground
Take a lesson come to see
Football taught by Matt Busby
Manchester, Manchester United
A bunch of bouncing Busby Babes
They deserve to be knighted
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