| Bolton Wanderers manager Owen Coyle fuming over points lost at West Bromwich West Bromwich Albion 1 Bolton Wanderers 1Bolton manager Owen Coyle was left feeling hard-done-by after claiming his side were denied all three points by a goal that should never have been allowed. telegraph.co.uk |
Everton break Birmingham's run Everton won in the Barclays Premier League for the first time this season as they ended Birmingham City's 18 league game unbeaten home run with a 2-0 victory at St Andrews. foxsports.com.au |
Reports: Wayne Rooney tells Man United he wants out Wayne Rooney has reportedly told Manchester United that he wants to leave the Premier League club, although the club said speculation that the ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
SOCCER: In Rooney, Ferguson Is Facing His Ultimate Test Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who has reduced players to quivering wrecks and sold the biggest names, is discovering the limits of his powers after failing to persuade Wayne Rooney to stay. feeds.nytimes.com |
Bale advertises himself to Inter Gareth Bale restored some Spurs pride at Inter but Harry Redknapp needs a 'Not for sale' sign to hang around the WelshmanHarry Redknapp had promised, in that upbeat and breezily confident manner of his, to "have a go" at Internazionale, the defending European champions. The Tottenham Hotspur manager, speaking on the eve of a tie that his club had long dreamed of, suggested that his players knew no other way. They were invariably more comfortable on the front foot.Redknapp stopped short of saying that it was because his team could not defend but, after 14 minutes in which any best laid plans were unceremoniously ripped up, the evidence was etched all across the wide expanses of San Siro.Tottenham's backline excelled themselves in one regard. In the first leg of the qualifier away to Young Boys, it took them 28 minutes to fall 3-0 behind. On that occasion, they managed to dig themselves out of a hole but there was little prospect of such an escape act here against a team as streetwise as Inter, despite Gareth Bale's stunning one-man campaign late on.Inter's interest in signing the Wales flyer is already known. Their appetites would have been whetted further by his direct running, strength and sumptuous left-footed finishes, never mind his never-say-die spirit. Inter fans will tell you that they have not had a left-sided midfielder that they have loved since Andreas Brehme and the clamour to bring Bale to San Siro will now surely intensify.It was rumoured that Inter's directors would take the opportunity to inform Tottenham of their desire to be kept informed of Bale's status. At present, Redknapp insists that a "Not for sale" notice hangs figuratively around his neck.Tottenham had travelled in numbers, with 5,000 of their supporters packing one end of San Siro's upper tier. As the Champions League aria played before kick-off, the flashbulbs exploded. This was a moment for the scrapbooks.What followed in the first-half was more Hammer Horror. Twice in the first seven minutes, Tottenham allowed themselves to be grievously undone by passes inside their full-backs – well, on the first occasion, into the space where the right-back, Alan Hutton, ought to have been.First, Javier Zanetti finished gloriously from Samuel Eto'o's pass. Then BenoĂ®t Assou-Ekotto trailed in Jonathan Biabiany's wake following Wesley Sneijder's incision and we saw the kind of rush of blood from Heurelho Gomes of which Redknapp hoped he had seen the last.The goalkeeper's lunge on Biabiany could be described as reckless at best, or kamikaze at worst. Although Gomes initially pretended that he had not been sent off, he could have no complaints when the Slovenian referee, Damir Skomina, showed him the red card again at rather closer range.The symbol that the match looked over was not so much Eto'o's arrogant penalty conversion but the sight of Redknapp being forced to sacrifice Luka Modric, his creative midfielder, to get the reserve goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini on.The first half was pure torture for Redknapp and the scoreline at the interval might have been worse but for some defiant moments from Cudicini. The dug-out can be a horribly lonely and exposed place on nights like this.Inter popped the ball into Eto'o or anybody else who had advanced and threatened to score at will. The third goal, scored by Dejan Stankovic, was a case in point while the fourth, laid on by the excellent Coutinho for Eto'o, was another simple ball in behind the Tottenham defender, in this instance William Gallas. Tottenham were rabbits in the headlights.It surely cannot help Redknapp that he is forced to chop and change his central defensive partnership almost every game. The one that he used here – Gallas and SĂ©bastien Bassong – was his 11th different starting pairing in the season's 14th game.A glut of injuries, coupled with Ledley King's chronic knee complaint – which means the club captain is unable to play in back-to-back matches – has forced Redknapp's hand.Gallas, the former Arsenal defender, has annoyed sections of the Tottenham support by wearing red boots, which is something of a taboo colour in N17, although he finished here in garish yellow. His performance here was a greater crime but he was hardly alone.Damage limitation with 10 men was nobody's idea of fun for Tottenham before the game yet their supporters commendably retained their voices. By full time, they could puff out their chests. Bale's first two goals felt like glorious consolations but his third briefly hinted at the ludicrously dramatic. Wasn't Rafael BenĂtez supposed to have the patent on impossible European comebacks?Tottenham, and Bale in particular, may have left with their heads held high but it is surely not best policy to hand arguably the best team in Europe a four‑goal start.Tottenham HotspurInternazionaleChampions LeagueDavid Hytnerguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |