www.red11.org DAILY NEWS
Date: Tue Jan 26 08:06:02 GMT+00:00 1999
Mail: barry@www.red11.org
This Issue:
1. Sunday 1400 UK: UNITED v Fulham
2. UNITED SAVIOUR SOLSKJAER ASKS FOR MORE
3. DA's armchair report
4. Report from Scouse point of view
5. News 11/4 favourites...good odds
6. Meanwhile, back at the ranch!
7. Fulham's Pesky is floored by United
++++++=========+++++++========+++++++++========++++++++
Daily RED Trivia Tue 26th January 1999:
26/1/1952: Stan Pearson and an Alf Ramsey own goal help United beat Tottenham
Hotspur 2-0 in a Division 1 game at Old Trafford watched by 40,845. Team
was: Allen, McNulty, Bryne, Carey, Chilton, Cockburn, Berry, Clempson,
Aston, Pearson, Rowley. United went on to be League Champions.
1960: Martyn Rogers born in Nottingham. A former England Schholboys star, Rogers
made his only senior appearance at West Bromwich Albion in October 1977. The
skilful Centre-back moved to Queens Park Rangers in July 1979, and died in 1992.
***************
Barry Daily Comment:
United have been drawn at home to play Fulham in the next round of the FA
Cup. The game will take place on Sunday 14th February, kick-off 2pm.
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
31/1 Charlton (A) 15.00 UK
February
3 Derby (H) 20.00
6 Nottm Forest (A) 15.00
14 Fulham (H) 14.00 FAC 5th round (Date tbc)
17? [tbc] Arsenal (H) 15.00/20.00 (tbc subject to FACUP)
20 Coventry (A) 15.00
27 Southampton (H) 15.00
UNITED Stats v All teams:
http://www.red11.org/mufc/stats/
*** PREMIER RESULTS - MANCHESTER UNITED ***
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 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 Middlebrough Home L 2-3 3 55,152
26/12/98 Notts 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
******
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
Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts
---------------------------------------------------------
1 Chelsea 22 11 10 1 34 18 16 43
2 Aston Villa 22 12 7 3 34 20 14 43
3 Manchester United 22 11 8 3 49 26 23 41
4 Arsenal 22 10 9 3 23 11 12 39
5 Leeds United 22 9 9 4 36 20 16 36
6 Liverpool 22 10 5 7 43 26 17 35
7 Wimbledon 22 9 7 6 29 33 -4 34
8 West Ham United 22 9 5 8 25 31 -6 32
9 Middlesbrough 22 7 10 5 32 28 4 31
10 Derby County 22 7 10 5 22 20 2 31
11 Leicester City 22 7 8 7 25 27 -2 29
12 Tottenham Hotspur 22 7 8 7 28 30 -2 29
13 Sheffield Wednesday 22 7 5 10 25 22 3 26
14 Newcastle United 22 6 7 9 26 31 -5 25
15 Everton 22 5 9 8 13 24 -11 24
16 Blackburn Rovers 22 5 6 11 21 29 -8 21
17 Coventry City 22 5 5 12 21 31 -10 20
18 Charlton Athletic 22 3 8 11 26 36 -10 17
19 Southampton 22 4 5 13 20 46 -26 17
20 Nottingham Forest 22 2 7 13 18 41 -23 13
++++++=========+++++++========+++++++++========++++++++
Super Sub Ole Celebrates the winner!
Subject: Sunday 1400 Utd v Fulham
United tie TV switch
Sky Sports will screen Newcastle's FA Cup clash with Blackburn after
taking their pick of the fifth round ties today.
The Valentine's Day game kicks off at 4pm - ITV have yet to confirm their
choice of match although Fulham's visit to Old Trafford is favourite. (1400 UK)
Meanwhile United face a battle against mounting odds to sign £4 million
Taribo West in time for Saturday's showdown with Aston Villa.
It emerged today that West (pictured) is still in Nigeria for a second
African Nations Cup tie tomorrow night and won't be back in Milan until
Wednesday night or Thursday morning.
That was confirmed today and it means talks with West can't open until late
in the week.
United, having agreed terms with Inter Milan, made an offer to the player's
agent but West's response has not been received and any ensuing
negotiations have still to get under way.
Super Sub Ole Celebrates the winner!
Subject: UNITED SAVIOUR SOLSKJAER ASKS FOR MORE
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer does not want to be Manchester
United's supersub. The Norwegian international,
consistently linked with moves away from Old Trafford,
wants to be remembered as a regular at United and
once again he's vowed to fight for his place.
''I don't want to be remembered as a supersub and I
want more games,'' he said. ''I'm happy at United and
I want to stay here. I would like to play more matches
and I feel I will get more games here. I had a talk two
or three weeks ago with the manager about the
situation and I reckon we were both happy when we
walked out of that meeting. I'm doing all that I can to
show that I need more matches - I need as many
minutes as I can get.''
United boss Alex Ferguson knows Solskjaer would be a
regular at virtually any other Premiership side and he is
determined to give him as many games as he can. But
standing in Solskjaer's way is the hottest striking
partnership in the Premiership of Dwight Yorke and
Andy Cole. The pair have scored 32 goals between
them this season, and Solskjaer knows it will be
extremely difficult to dislodge one of them. The
25-year-old, who arrived in July 1996 in a £1.5m move
from Molde, admits it is frustrating watching from the
bench, but he has faith in his ability.
''I'm a much better player now than I was in my first
year at Old Trafford and I'm sharper,'' he said. ''But
Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole are on fire, and their
partnership is really working. I just have to work hard
and take my chance when I get it - and for now I'm
just taking it a game at a time. As a footballer you
want to play as many games as possible, and I've not
played many this season. Coming on for ten minutes is
not easy, and you never really catch up with the pace
and tempo of the game. It's a difficult situation to be
in, but it's a great team to be involved with. I just want
to stay here and I will do everything I can to get in the
side. The transfer speculation is just paper talk, and -
as I keep saying - I want to stay here.''
Meanwhile, the Premier League has rejected calls from
United fans' groups to oppose BSkyB's proposed
£623.4m takeover of Manchester United.The Football
Supporters' Association (FSA) and the Independent
Manchester United Supporters' Association (IMUSA)
want the league to back their fight against the satellite
broadcaster. The supporters' organisations feel the
League should support them because they are helping
its court case against the Office of Fair Trading (OFT)
over the television rights to the Premiership.
IMUSA might even withdraw its support if the League
does not reciprocate. The League is understood to be
surprised by the fans' timing and believes the two
issues are totally separate. League spokesman Mike
Lee said: "The issues at stake in our current court case
remain the same. "The supporters' organisations have
recognised that the OFT pose a real threat to the fabric
of the game. It would be wrong to trade support on
other issues. These cases have to be looked at on their
own merits and are being judged by different legal
bodies. The issues at stake are too serious to be played
around with in this way."
Super Sub Ole Celebrates the winner!
Subject: DA's armchair report
I thought I would never get to see this match, I had been told two
different starting times for the match, and I had to get family help to
send out the list because I didn't want to see the final score before I
actually watched.
Before I wrote this I read Linda's and Paul accounts of the match, but
I am afraid I must disagree with most of their reports. I thought we were
by far the better side, having 90% of possession, just not getting any
clear cut chances at goal, lets face it, we hit the post twice and had a
couple more efforts narrowly missed, it could (and should) have been 3 or 4
-1.
The atmosphere sounded great on TV, but maybe that was the travelling
hordes, its hard for the Old Trafford crowd to get things stirred up,
especially since they break up some of our more active sections to sell
tickets to the trash from up the East Lancs. Ole carried on the tradition
of 'supersub' and is really racking up some memoriable goals for us to
remember. With 5 mins left in the match I grabbed my dog (who had the
misfortune to be sat on my knee) and told him that the scousers couldn't
win this one, God wouldn't allow that, he gave me a very odd look.
As far as rating the players,
Smikes 7 didn't have much to do
Neville - 5 worst I have seen him, how could he have let that cross in to
Owen?
Irwin - 7 Steady
Stam - 8.5 magnificent performance again, what a great player this guy is!
Berg - 7 continued his good performances
Giggs 6 his crosses just weren't there today
Yorke 8 one of his better matches, worked so very hard
Cole 8 - I don't understand the comments that he was not involved today, he
worked very hard, and laid on the equaliser
Beckham 9 - Worked himself into the ground
Ole Gunnar - 8 took the goal well
Scholes - 8 He made a difference when he came on
Johnsen 7- didn't get to do much, but was steady as ever
My favourite part of the match?
crying scousers!
DA
Super Sub Ole Celebrates the winner!
Subject: Report from Scouse point of view
http://www.liverpool.com/kop/jan99/25thb.html
Reds find solace in executioners song
Manchester United 2... Liverpool 1...
Paul Joyce reports from Old Trafford
It was like sitting on Death Row waiting for the buzzer to ring.
A rare victory at Old Trafford, an even rarer win in the FA Cup over
Manchester United, was just two minutes out of reach. Liverpool have never
been so close and yet ended up so far away.
They did not deserve to lose, but then neither did United after mounting a
tidal wave of second-half pressure which always threatened to yield a share
of the spoils, but ultimately brought more.
A new date at Anfield would have been the fairest option.
For Gerard Houllier, there was solace in the performance of his braves for
88 minutes of a pulsating cup tie. For Alex Ferguson, an unprecedented
treble remains a shining, if still improbable, ambition.
But those late goals from Dwight Yorke, via the free-kick that never was,
and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer proved the margin between agony and ecstasy is
paper thin at the highest level.
While the United players danced for joy, a prostrate Vegard Heggem slumped
to the turf. Robbie Fowler simply held his head. From being on the verge of
feeling sky-high to being utterly demoralised; Houllier's part-time powers
as a psychologist will be needed more than ever this week.
Despite trying to hide it, Ferguson's ear-to-ear grin as he emerged for the
aftermatch Press conference told the story. He was the cat who had snatched
the cream. But he also cut a relieved figure.
Two months ago, Liverpool would not have been able to come so close to
claiming what would have been a famous victory. It may not seem so, and
accepting this defeat may be like trying to swallow a bowling ball, but
yesterday represented progress.
To a man, they showed character, spirit and commitment. They played well.
Really well. Now is not the time to criticise.
"One day we will beat Manchester United," said Houllier, who is charged
with recovering the ground lost in recent years. "It is coming. Today was
close."
And the way he said it, calmly but sternly, you have to believe him.
There were chances for the High Noon showdown to be just that day.
It is apt that the middle name of the FA Cup should be 'Challenge' because
Michael Owen thrives on meeting such tasks. His third-minute goal sounded
the gun in the Battle of the Strikers and was simplicity itself.
Incisive and controlled, the move leading to his header started inside
Liverpool's own half and lasted just four passes. Stig Inge Bjornebye's
throw-in to the impressive Patrik Berger saw the Czech delude Roy Keane and
Nicky Butt with the deftest of touches and link up with Jamie Redknapp.
The overlapping Heggem was the next involved, rampaging down the right and
checking to pick out 5ft 6ins Owen with a measured cross which he powered
past Schmeichel above the sleeping Gary Neville.
"Jesus. God. I wasn't too happy with that," moaned Ferguson.
The breakthrough brought an advantage so often previously denied at Old
Trafford, but with it problems as well. Should they sit back and defend the
lead? Or go for the jugular?
In the event, Liverpool really did neither. It became a struggle to
maintain the kind of possession which had brought them the goal and play
keep-ball in a frenzied, white-hot atmosphere, and yet the better of the
opportunities still fell their way.
Redknapp saw an ambitious 30-yard free-kick whistle wide of a post, Owen's
audacious early shot sent Schmeichel scrambling to cover his ground and
Fowler swung his right-foot at a loose ball which sent an Exocet curling
drive narrowly over the bar.
United struggled to find any rhythm and fluidity, looking strangely out of
sorts. And so Liverpool's failure to build on their advantage was matched
by United's insistence on making a catalogue of unforced errors which
undermined their attempts to retrieve the deficit.
Cross after cross was pumped into the crowded penalty area, by-passing the
Dream Ticket, so we are told, of Yorke and Cole in the process.
One chance did fall their way after 21 minutes when Yorke's elusiveness
enabled him to peel to the by-line and whip over a cross aimed for his
partner. James succeeded in diverting the ball away from Cole, but instead
into the path of Keane who arrived unannounced at the far post. Sending a
header back across goal the ball hit the woodwork, then Ince and then
nestled in James' arms.
When Berger's instinctive snap-shot was saved by Schmeichel and Ince's
header from the resulting corner gathered at the second-time attempt on the
stroke of half-time, you wondered whether Liverpool would rue what might
have been.
The answer was ultimately yes.
The second half constituted a white knuckle ride for both benches and both
sets of supporters. But it was pure theatre at the same time.
Like the accomplished champion against the pretender, they stood toe-to-toe
for the prize of a passage to the Fifth Round.
Liverpool accepted slug after slug after slug; wobbled but were never
really rocked and even offered the occasional jab back themselves.
It would have been the perfect time to claim the goal which at that stage
looked like being decisive, but when counter-attacks were mounted a lack of
support often left Owen and Fowler isolated.
Indeed, Fowler, who worked prodigiously, wasted an excellent chance on 55
minutes when he screwed a sharp chance past the post after more trickery
from Owen had left Jaap Stam and Gary Neville looking like statues.
Owen stood on the ball when he was invited to scamper clear on Schmeichel's
goal, and even before United had equalised substitute Jason McAteer saw his
cross hit Stam and roll towards the goalline before being rescued by the Dane.
They were sporadic incidents, however, and as the clearances in front of
James became a little more ragged, so United began to claim the upper hand
in the undercard duels to the Yorke-Cole versus Fowler-Owen showdown. But
Liverpool were never second best.
Heggem had forced Ryan Giggs to do as much defending as he did attacking in
the first half, but slowly the Welshman became a growing influence.
Redknapp and Ince, before the skipper asked to be subbed because of a
knock, were strangely muted in the engine room; standing their ground but
reluctant to venture too far forward.
It prompted wave upon wave of attack and, although James was not tested
specifically, his goal lead a charmed life.
Beckham's cross found Giggs unmarked, but their was no final touch on 51
minutes. Keane's snap-shot took a deflection which sent the keeper the
wrong way, but went wide. Cole's anguished look shortly afterwards revealed
he had suffered a similar fate and then Neville's low centre saw Dominic
Matteo outstretched leg send the ball screaming into James' stomach.
With Ince now off and Paul Scholes sent on to try and add greater
imagination to the possession United held, the thrills continued.
The sheer determination of Matteo, Harkness and Carragher raised hopes it
would be Liverpool's day; but Ferguson's side showed similar qualities to
continue pushing for the equaliser.
You wondered whether bringing on Steve McManaman to try and stem the flow
of United pressure would have been a telling tactic, but we will never know.
Keane was denied for a third time after 79 minutes when he saw a shot
strike the post from inside the box and then Giggs' rebound drive was
blocked, before their persistence gleaned the greatest of rewards.
If the timing wasn't cruel enough, the way it came was.
When Redknapp challenged Ronnie Johnsen, referee Graham Poll harshly
awarded a free-kick. Your heart told you it was now or never for both sides.
Liverpool defended too deeply, Beckham's dinked cross found Cole and his
header was tapped over the line by Yorke, who for the previous 88 minutes
had done nothing.
The danger was that having managed to claim one, United would land another
blow. This time a knockout punch.
Solskjaer hadn't even figured in the pre-match hype, but the 'Baby-faced
assassin' isn't a bad option to throw on when you need a goal. When Scholes
shaped to shoot, the ball broke to the Norwegian to the left of the penalty
spot. Steadying himself, he looked for the far corner. . . but threaded his
shot through Carragher's legs and in at the near post.
It was heartbreaking, or heartwarming, depending on which bench your focus
fixed upon.
United may still have trophies to chase, but the future isn't as bleak as
it may seem for Liverpool now.
If the same effort and work-rate they showed against the probable title
winners can be applied over the last 16 Premiership games, then the season
may still spring an unexpected reward.
Ferguson's side may still offer up the standard that was once Liverpool's,
but honour in defeat showed the gap is not as great as people may have
thought.
MANCHESTER UNITED (4-4-2): Schmeichel, G.Neville, Irwin (Solskjaer 80),
Berg (Johnsen 80), Stam; Keane, Butt (Scholes 67), Beckham, Giggs; Yorke,
Cole. Subs not used: Van der Gouw, P.Neville.
LIVERPOOL (3-5-2): James, Carragher, Matteo, Harkness; Heggem, Ince
(McAteer 71), Redknapp, Berger, Bjornebye; Fowler, Owen. Subs not used:
Friedel, Leonhardsen, McManaman, Kvarme.
Referee: Graham Poll (Tring)
Bookings: Matteo (foul 22), Butt (foul 27), Keane (foul 67), Giggs (foul
75), Owen (foul 85), Scholes (foul 90)
Attendance: 54,591.
Super Sub Ole Celebrates the winner!
Subject: News 11/4 favourites...good odds
FERGIE TO FACE OLD FOE KEEGAN
Manchester United were installed as 11/4 favourites for the FA Cup after
Alex Ferguson's side fought their way back from a goal down to snatch a 2-1
victory from the jaws of defeat, earning them a home tie against
giant-killers Fulham and old enemy Kevin Keegan in the next round.
Michael Owen's 18th goal of the season looked to have sealed victory for
arch rivals Liverpool, but Dwight Yorke's 88th minute equaliser and an
injury time winner from substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave them a
dramatic win.
Ferguson took a chance by bringing on Solskjaer, Paul Scholes and Ronny
Johnsen as United searched in vein for a goal and Fergie said: "Both Ole
and Scholes are capable of scoring goals and we hoped they would make the
difference when they came on.
"By putting on extra attackers for defenders we hoped that would cause
Liverpool to slacken somewhere. Even at the free-kick I was shouting at
Peter Schmeichel to tell Jaap Stam to stay up in attack and that we would
risk one against one at the back. That's the kind of thing you have to do
if you want to win games."
But Fergie had a few words of sympathy for the Liverpool players: "They
must be feeling absolutely gutted. You can't explain football like that.
They defended fantastically but our sheer determination got us through."
Now the United boss will come face to face with another rival, this time in
Fulham boss Keegan, who has already seen his side dump two Premiership
sides out of the Cup already - Southampton and more shockingly Aston Villa
on Saturday.
Keegan and Fergie were last at loggerheads when the Fulham boss was manager
of Newcastle United in 1996 and launched a TV attack on Fergie as both
teams were duelling for the Premiership title. "I'd just love it if we beat
them, I'd love it," Keegan raged.
**************************************
More: KEEGAN HANDED OLD TRAFFORD TIE
By David Anderson, PA Sport
Kevin Keegan has been handed the chance to gain revenge over Alex Ferguson
after Fulham were paired with Manchester United in the FA Cup fifth round.
The Fulham boss lost his battle of minds with United manager Ferguson and
subsequently the 1996 Premiership race after he famously blew his top live
on television.
Keegan has never lived that down, but he has the chance to settle the score
when his Second Division giant-killers - who have already beaten Aston
Villa and Southampton - visit Old Trafford in three weeks' time.
United, who are 11-4 favourites, set up the intriguing contest after they
produced a magnificent late comeback to beat Liverpool.
With two minutes of normal time remaining, Liverpool were on course to
record their first FA Cup win over their fiercest rivals since 1921 as they
led thanks to Michael Owen's third-minute leader.
The Merseysiders' packed defence had defied the home side and Roy Keane had
seen two efforts hit the post.
But then Andy Cole nodded David Beckham's free-kick across goal for Dwight
Yorke to equalise and in the first minute of stoppage time substitute Ole
Gunnar Solskjaer netted a dramatic winner.
Solskjaer, Paul Scholes and Ronny Johnsen all came on in the final frantic
quarter of the match as United went for broke. For an elated Ferguson it
was an example of who dared won.
"You have to take risks to win," he said. "Liverpool defended fantastically
but our sheer determination got us through.
"Both Ole and Scholes are capable of scoring goals and we hoped they would
make the difference when they came on.
"By putting on extra attackers for defenders we hoped that would cause
Liverpool to slacken somewhere.
"Even at the free-kick I was shouting at Peter Schmeichel to tell Jaap Stam
to stay up in attack and that we would risk one against one at the back.
That's the kind of thing you have to do if you want to win games."
What disappointment for Liverpool, whose manager Gerard Houllier was
adamant referee Graham Poll should not have given the free-kick which led
to United's equaliser.
Poll ruled that Redknapp fouled Johnsen in a dangerous position outside the
Liverpool area and Houllier said: "It was a crucial moment.
"I didn't think it was a foul and Jamie has told me since it wasn't. I've
seen it on TV and it looks like Johnsen fell over the ball.
"That broke our concentration; we were not in the right positions for the
free-kick because we were still arguing about it with the referee."
Liverpool's trophy cabinet is destined to be bare for a fourth successive
season following this latest setback.
It is the club's longest barren run in over 25 years, but Houllier was
defiant in defeat and said: "The players could have written a piece of
history for the club in big letters.
"But I'm still proud of what they did and they have nothing to be ashamed
of. We haven't beaten United in the Cup for over 70 years, but I assure
people that we will beat them at some stage."
United will be without skipper Keane and Scholes for the Fulham game
because they have each picked up a one-match ban following their fifth
bookings of the season against Liverpool.
Super Sub Ole Celebrates the winner!
Subject: Meanwhile, back at the ranch!
BREAKING NEWS - Monday 25 January 1999
LEAGUE REJECTS FANS' CALLS OVER UNITED TAKEOVER
The Premier League has rejected calls from
fans' groups to oppose BSkyB's proposed
?623.4million takeover of Manchester
United.
The Football Supporters' Association (FSA)
and the Independent Manchester United
Supporters' Association (IMUSA) want the
league to back their fight against the
satellite broadcaster.
The supporters' organisations feel the
League should support them because they
are helping its court case against the
Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over the
television rights to the Premiership.
IMUSA might even withdraw its support if
the League does not reciprocate. The
League is understood to be surprised by
the fans' timing and believes the two
issues are totally separate.
League spokesman Mike Lee said: "The
issues at stake in our current court case
remain the same.
"The supporters' organisations have
recognised that the OFT pose a real threat
to the fabric of the game.
"It would be wrong to trade support on
other issues. These cases have to be
looked at on their own merits and are
being judged by different legal bodies.
"The issues at stake are too serious to be
played around with in this way."
Super Sub Ole Celebrates the winner!
Subject: Fulham's Pesky is floored by United
By Ian Chadband
Monday, January 25, 1999
Paul Peschisolido, one of Fulham's Villa Park heroes, watched the Cup draw
on TV pair them with Manchester United at Old Trafford and felt that while
it couldn't possibly have been any worse, it couldn't have been more
wonderful either. First, though, he had to pick himself up off the floor.
'Unbelievable,' reckoned Peschisolido. He had decided to put his feet up
after Saturday's heroics and watch the Man Utd-Liverpool tie on TV.
'Which is not the sort of thing you want to do just before you learn that
you've got to play the winners in the next round,' he smiled ruefully.
'Of course it's an intimidating prospect - you look at them with the
world's most expensive defender, the best goalkeeper, the best strike
force, no weak links and know it could not be any harder than that.
'But this is going to be a great occasion for everyone involved in the
club. People are going to be fed up of watching us on telly at this rate.
'Anyway, we have nothing to lose the way we've been playing.
'We'll give it 100 per cent and though Old Trafford might be the most
difficult place to win, hey, United players are only human; they've got two
legs and two arms like the rest of us.'
Peschisolido had a quiet night at home in Birmingham on Saturday.
Being married to Birmingham City's managing director Karren Brady and being
the man who helped KO the Villa would not have made for a cheery night out
in Aston, he surmised.
'Are you nuts? They'd have strung me up if I'd gone out.'
Pesky is not fussed; he'll just wait for the celebrations which follow
Fulham's win at the Theatre of Dreams.
Super Sub Ole Celebrates the winner!
Pic Link today is http://www.red11.org/mufc/match.htm
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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