TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
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| Jets out for revenge against Glory Revenge will be on Newcastle Jets' mind in Saturday's Boxing Day A-League clash with Perth Glory at ME Bank Stadium. foxsports.com.au |
Chelsea debt wiped off by Roman Abramovich but club still record loss Chelsea are operating effectively free from debt after Roman Abramovich wiped off £340 million owed to him. telegraph.co.uk |
Manchester United's form is hardly disastrous, says Gary Neville • Neville says cup defeat to Leeds 'wasn't the end of the world'• United players don't let criticism get to them, insists defenderGary Neville has robustly denied that Manchester United's faltering performances amount to anything more serious than a blip and criticised the way "everyone treats it like a disaster" when the team have a bad result. Neville was part of the United side that was eliminated from the FA Cup by Leeds United, of League One, eight days ago, the first time they have been knocked out of the competition in the third round, or by lower-league opposition, in the Sir Alex Ferguson era.The Premier League champions have already lost five times in the league, and are having to operate with newly imposed financial restraints because of the debts accrued by their American owners. Neville, however, believes the Leeds defeat "wasn't the end of the world" and that it has been exaggerated because of the intense media focus that falls on Old Trafford."It's been the same over the past 10 to 15 years," Neville said. "Every time we have a bad defeat people say we are in crisis. Sometimes even when we draw a game people will write that we are having a crisis. It's part and parcel of playing at our club and it doesn't annoy us because we accept what comes with playing for Manchester United. Everyone treats it like a disaster and it brings criticism upon us which other clubs don't get. But you expect that if you play for United."We are placed on a pedestal for so long with our level of performance that when we drop below those standards people will willingly criticise and, to be honest, we deserve criticism for the Leeds game. We just didn't perform and it wasn't acceptable. To lose in the FA Cup to a team two divisions below us is extremely disappointing for Manchester United and very unusual. It was a performance well below our best and a bad day for us. Leeds were sharper, quicker and better on the day, and we can have no complaints. We want to get games like that out of our system as quickly as possible."United are in Qatar on a four-day break to get away from the frozen pitches at their own training ground and the club have been boosted by Edwin van der Sar's return to training. The goalkeeper had been on compassionate leave since his wife, Annemarie van Kesteren, suffered a brain haemorrhage on 23 December but the latest medical tests have shown no permanent damage and Van der Sar has flown to Doha to be with the rest of his team-mates as they prepare for Saturday's home game against Burnley."You can go back through the past 20 years and there have been times when people have lost faith or started questioning things," Neville continued. "As players, we just get on with it. We never get too high in moments of great victory and we never get too low in moments of defeat. We have always kept level heads."People are asking questions about us now but if we'd beaten Leeds nobody would be asking those questions. It was a bad defeat last week and I'm not going to brush it under the carpet, but let's put things in perspective. We're still second in the league, still in the Champions League and we've got the Carling Cup semi-final coming up."We've had bad days before and we just have to come through it. It could be the best thing that happens to us, although it doesn't feel like it now. But if we try and make the most of the bad situation then we could say it has given us some free weekends, which enables us to prepare better for Champions League games and league games. That's all we can do now – try and take the positives out of a bad situation."A lot of our players have been around for a long time and we've had bad defeats in the past. We have been knocked out of the Champions League in the group stages, we have finished third in the league – people forget that the players at our club, with few exceptions, have suffered these types of moments before."We don't panic in these moments and we've got a manager who won't let us panic. We look forward to the next game and think we can win it, simple as that. We play for Manchester United and we go on to the field believing we can win the match regardless of what happened in the match before."Manchester UnitedPremier LeagueDaniel Taylorguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Celtic will not sell McGeady, insists Mowbray • Birmingham reportedly preparing £8m bid for winger• Mowbray sees McGeady as crucial to Celtic's title hopesTony Mowbray has insisted Celtic will not sell Aiden McGeady following reports that Birmingham were preparing an £8m bid. McGeady has been among Alex McLeish's top targets at Birmingham for some time but Mowbray, who this week allowed Gary Caldwell, Barry Robson, Chris Killen and Willo Flood to leave Parkhead, insisted there was no chance of the winger following them out of the door."Aiden's a very important player for our club in what we're trying to build here," said Mowbray. "There's no interest whatsoever in listening to bids. Other clubs would be wasting their energy picking the phone up."Mowbray sees McGeady as crucial to Celtic's hopes of wresting the Scottish Premier League title from Rangers."I wouldn't sit here and say one player makes the difference," he said. "But what Aiden McGeady brings is that x-factor for us really, the ability in the Scottish game - where we do play against teams with a lot of men behind the ball - to eliminate individuals, to go past packed defences, to beat two and three men."Our financial situation is we don't need to accept bids for players that we don't want to sell."Mowbray's stance will be welcomed by supporters concerned over the loss of Caldwell and Robson to Wigan and Middlesbrough, respectively. Caldwell's departure was inevitable after talks over extending a contract, which expired in the summer, broke down. Robson still had 18 months to run on his existing deal and appeared to be a key component of Mowbray's squad."Barry had done very, very well for us over the last month," said Mowbray. "He's a wonderful personality, he's great to work with on the training ground."Contractually, I think the deal that Barry got at Middlesbrough suits Barry Robson. The club are happy with the deal they got also."If there's a frustration amongst the fans then, ultimately, myself as a manager will be judged on the team as we move on. Players do leave football clubs; new players come in and the team will progress."I've stated from day one that I'll try to build a team, try to mould a team over a period of time."Mowbray suggested that not only were Celtic unable to compete with Barclays Premier League wages but they were now struggling to match those offered by the bigger Coca-Cola Championship teams, adding: "Middlesbrough are not a Premier League side now but a team with parachute payments of millions of pounds."CelticTransfer windowBirmingham Cityguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Manchester United complete deal for Fulham defender Chris Smalling Sir Alex Ferguson has edged out Arsenal in race for Fulham's young defender. telegraph.co.uk |