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--------------------------------- [20] Top 3 tonight --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by tb: After Derby lay down and get relegated at Anfailed: Liverpool 35 74 Man Utd 35 73 Arsenal 33 72 --------------------------------- [19] Fergie on Leverkusen --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by tb: "I think that you saw from both games against Liverpool they are an outstanding football team," he said. "Their football won the second game against Liverpool and for us now it's a challenge to play against that type of football. "You've got to use imagination and discipline against them, but I think we've got a chance." --------------------------------- [18] Fergie on Wednesday night --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by tb: On the injuries: "These things happen in football." "That's why we have what we consider to be a very strong pool of players. "If you look at the maturity of Nicky Butt's performance against Deportivo La Coruna in both legs you would say that we are fortunate to have a player like him. "We have Paul Scholes coming back from his one-match suspension so I'm not without hope for the semi-final. "I'm sure Juan Veron will be okay for the first leg after a recurrence of his Achilles and we have Ryan Giggs and Quinton Fortune. "You look at the performance of Giggs against Deportivo and the front players Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ruud van Nistelrooy and I think there are a lot of positive things for us. "The players have handled this before. It's not as if it's something that has dropped out of the sky." --------------------------------- [17] Rent Boy sulks over having the mickey taken --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by tb: John Terry: "It was poor right from the word go.". "But fair play to them, they were a different class. "They were keeping the ball and taking the mick out of us to be honest and deserved the win. "It was embarrassing and I could not wait for the whistle. "But that is what they are about - they can keep the ball for fun and make it difficult for teams." --------------------------------- [16] Fergie hails the defence --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by tb: "They have two of the best strikers in the business and to make sure you don't have a goal against you in that situation speaks volumes. "I am very pleased for Wes Brown because he has had a torrid time. If it had not been for injuries, I think he would have been going to Japan for the World Cup. "I think he is an outstanding player and you just pray now that the boy gets a break, stays clear of injuries and we will get more performances like that from him." --------------------------------- [15] Fergie on title --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by tb: "We just have to sit and wait - it is a long wait for Arsenal too," he said. "Anything can happen in football. We have done our job right today. The form of the team is fabulous and we just look forward to Wednesday night now. "We are waiting on a result tomorrow that would help us. That is the situation we are in. "Arsene is quite right, he is in the driving position - but we will just have to wait and see. "Ipswich are fighting for their lives. All the people down at Ipswich will be hoping they can get a result which will save them from relegation. "You have got to think Ipswich will be doing their very best. "If the game against Arsenal comes to Old Trafford and we maybe need to win it to win the league, it will be an incredible atmosphere." --------------------------------- [14] Sir Nicholas Butt on Rent Boys victory --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by tb: And he was Sky's Man of the Match: "All we can do is win all of our games and hope others slip up. "We got a good start and got the goal - that is always important in big games like this. "If we can keep winning who knows? We could yet win league yet. "There were a lot of great performances out there. It was a good team effort and the lads up front were great. "Every game we go into, we expect to win if we play at our best and that is all we can do. "We can't have any impact on any other results and will be training tomorrow ahead of the Champions League semi-final with Bayer Leverkusen." --------------------------------- [13] Latest team news --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by redend: Latest team news: Veron out Barthez plays - despite rumours it would be Roy Carroll (whose confidence must be high after this week) Wes Brown comes in alongside Larry, despite missing midweek England U21 due to ball in the eye Quinton comes in along with Giggs, Scholes (back from suspension) and Butt in the middle Ruud does play up front - alongside Ole --------------------------------- [12] Fergie: This the best side --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by tb: "The '94 team was a fabulous team. It had great mental strength, it was a strong physical team and a good age group. "The '99 team was exceptionally talented but it didn't have the experience or mental strength. "But by winning the European Cup, adding experience, they are almost at their peak now. Without question, it's the best team I've had." --------------------------------- [11] Fergie: Determined --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by tb: "What I try to do is to maintain the success we've had at this club. "Whether we win the league or lose it, we'll be more determined next year because the main driving force of this club is determination." --------------------------------- [10] Fergie on 4 in a row --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by tb: "I was particularly pleased to win the title three times in a row, as I'd never done that. "I had won it twice in a row three times, but never got that third one. So it was a special time for me and the club to do that. "But a fourth one? Well, it is very difficult to think anyone could match that. That's a great challenge for us. It's a great incentive to us also." --------------------------------- [9] Fergie: Arse due a blip --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by tb: "We had a terrible result against Middlesbrough, obviously, and it has put us on the back foot. "We need teams to drop points, which is certainly possible. "What we hope is that if Arsenal can draw a game and Liverpool can draw a game, then in the last week of the season we'll get Arsenal coming here in a game which we need to win." "Only Arsenal have not had a damaging blip. "They seem to have kept their consistency quite well, whereas we clearly had a terrible blip early in the season. "Liverpool have had a few blips, Chelsea, Newcastle and Leeds United have not really gone on this season, so maybe Arsenal, with a few games left, are due that blip they have not yet had. "Maybe it will be an injury blip, because they have been suffering.Robert Pires is out for the season and they also have a discipline problem at times, so you never know." --------------------------------- [8] Ranieri on today --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by tb: "It was important to get into the FA Cup final, but I still want to improve on last season and finish in the top four. "The Manchester United game has the complete attention of myself and the Chelsea players. It is the most important game for us now. "The Champions League has been my ambition all along. "Of course the Cup final will be a very big day for the club, the fans and the players. "But we have to think about this game as just as important. "In fact, because of the situation with the Champions League it could be even more so for the future of the club." --------------------------------- [7] Wenger won't see us shocker! --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by tb: "I will be in training when the game kicks off," he said. "Maybe I will watch the second half but that is not important to me - my team is the only thing that matters. "We don't expect any favours from anybody because we don't need any favours from anybody. It's just down to us." "We have a big advantage so we don't have to worry about the other teams and their results." "It's just down to us and how we play. That's a great advantage." --------------------------------- [6] Transfer gossip --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by tb: According to the Moral/Soccernet Fergie is after Fulham right back Steve Finnan, with the plan to move Gary Nev to centre half --------------------------------- [5] Our record at the Bridge --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by tb: >From Sky: HEAD-TO-HEAD (AT STAMFORD BRIDGE) Played 59 Chelsea Wins 16 Manchester utd Wins 28 Drawn 15 Chelsea have won only one of their last 7 home Premiership games against Utd - came in 5-0 win in Oct 1999. Poyet (2), Sutton, Morris and a Berg own goal were the Chelsea scorers. Man Utd have won 3 and lost only one of their last 7 Premiership visits to Stamford Bridge - their last win came in Feb 1998, Phil Neville scored the 1-0 winner. Man Utd have won 9 and lost only 4 of their last 19 League visits to Stamford Bridge. Three of the last 5 League meetings here have ended in draws. --------------------------------- [4] Head to Head with the Rent Boys --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by tb: >From Sky: HEAD-TO-HEAD (LEAGUE OVERALL) Played 119 Chelsea Wins 32 Manchester utd Wins 51 Drawn 36 Chelsea won 3-0 at Old Trafford on Dec 1, with goals from Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen and Melchiot. This was Utd's 5th defeat of the season. Chelsea have won 2 and lost only one of their last 7 Premiership games against Utd. Man Utd's only win in the last 7 Premiership games, came in 3-2 win at Old Trafford in April 2000. Yorke (2) and Solskjaer scored for Utd, Petrescu and Zola scored for Chelsea. Utd had already won their 6th Premiership title, 2 days before this game. Six of the last 10 games have been drawn. Honours even in the 19 previous Premiership meetings, with 5 wins apiece and 9 draws. Chelsea are one of only three clubs to have achieved the Premiership double over Utd. They were the first to do so in 1993-94. Arsenal (1997-98) and Liverpool (2000-01 & 2001-02) are the others. Chelsea will today be looking to become only the second club to complete the League double twice over Man Utd. Liverpool have done it in the last two season's. There have been 52 goals in the 19 Premiership meetings between the clubs. Chelsea have scored 14 goals in their last 5 League games v Man Utd. The home team has won only 2 of the last 16 meetings (both in 1999-2000). --------------------------------- [3] Seagulls player of the year --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by tb: >From Ananova: Robert Pires has been named as the Football Writers' Association Player of the Year. News of the award came as he prepared to undergo an operation on the knee injury which has curtailed his season. Pires won the award by just five votes from Ruud van Nistelrooy in a record poll, with David Beckham finishing a close third. --------------------------------- [2] Sqauds --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by tb: Chelsea (from): Cudicini, de Goey, Melchiot, Ferrer, Babayaro, Desailly, Terry, Petit, Lampard, dalla Bona, Gronkjaer, Zenden, Stanic, Jokanovic, Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen, Zola. Manchester United (from): Barthez, Carroll, G Neville, Blanc, Brown, Irwin, P Neville, Silvestre, Fortune, Veron, Butt, Scholes, Giggs, van Nistelrooy, Solskjaer, Forlan, O'Shea, Stewart, van der Gouw. --------------------------------- [1] Injuries update --------------------------------- Posted Saturday, April 20, 2002 by tb: Them: Babayaro, Stanic doubtful Le Saux, Gallas, Forssell out. Us: Fab - knee, Ruud - groin, Sabre - Achilles all doubtful Wes in squad Keano, Becks, Ronny all out --------------------------------- [39] A Red Perspective --------------------------------- Posted Friday, April 19, 2002 by bar-knee: I'm skck of hearing Reds say the league is over. It's not. It mighr be soon but whilst it is possible in theory we, the fans, and the team should try their damndest for that four in a row. And the theory is the simple equation that if Arsenal and Liverpool draw just ONE of their remaining games and we win our four, we are Champions. Is that such an impossibility. I know a few at the club read this, so hear this. Come on United. We can do it. It has to be the best eleven available, no resting and nothing but the usual positive attitude. For me, someone who lived through the bleak 26 year wait, Chelsea is as important as the game on Wednesday. If not more so, because we will never get the chance for 4 in a row again. Every year I beg, plead and prey for just one more bit of success. Greed, of course but here goes - let us win, let them slip up and I'll never ask for anything more again (like I said in the Nou Camp). You know it makes sense, we're much nicer than Arsenal and Liverpool and have scored more goals, so there. Whatever, defeatism is not a word Fergie understands so I just hope that come kick-off time we're not seeing United's second team in action but a team going hell for leather for victory, and to go back to the top of the table, where, in theory, we could stay there. Stranger things have happened. Fergie once mentioned Devon Loch. Believe. Peter Shaw --------------------------------- [38] More from Bosnich --------------------------------- Posted Friday, April 19, 2002 by bar-knee: "Claudio has been brought up in a different footballing environment. Alex Ferguson is basically an old-fashioned manager. His tactical prowess is negligible. What he can do is spot a player a mile away and motivate people very well. His motivational techniques - right or wrong - over the past 13 years have proved to be successful and he does pick the best players. He also has the might of Manchester United behind him. If you have a fantastic horse, the jockey doesn't have to be great." The best was Terry Venables and then, love him or loathe him, Alex Ferguson. Terry can get a message across without raising a voice and he knows how to treat players. Some players need an arm around them and others need their backsides kicked. He has that intuition and can read a character very well. Tactically, he is by far the best manager I've ever played for." --------------------------------- [37] Bosnich attacks Fergie --------------------------------- Posted Friday, April 19, 2002 by bar-knee: Perfect for team spirit tomorrow I'd say. Thanks Mark. "Alex and I had a long history together. He brought me over from Australia when I was 16 and when I left the club because of reasons out of my hands, he wanted me to come back later to Manchester United. I didn't do that for another reason, which I won't go into, so he was very upset. When he came back for me from Villa, I was very surprised. He said he would forget the past but he didn't in the end. So we will call it a draw." --------------------------------- [36] So that's who they are --------------------------------- Posted Friday, April 19, 2002 by bar-knee: for the record O2 is the rebadged BT Cellnet --------------------------------- [35] More massive ex United targets --------------------------------- Posted Friday, April 19, 2002 by bar-knee: I thought you played in Red once.... Both football365 and the Guardian are reporting rumours that Danny Higginbotham is a target for Kevin Keegan - rated at £4m (Higginbotham, not Keegan...). Paul. ---------------------------------------------------------- This email has been filtered for swear words which cause some email systems to block messages. ----------------------------------------------------------
