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| 31 March 2003 Ridsdale Quits As Leeds Chairman Peter Ridsdale, blamed by fans for the teams current problems, has resigned a Chairman following interim accounts which showed the club had debts of £78.9 million upto the end of December 2002. Professor John McKenzie will succeed Ridsdale as chairman and despite claims that the club will not sell anymore of their star players the likes of Kewell and Smith are almost certain to leave in the summer. 30 March 2003 Houllier Admits He Can't Work With Quality Players Liverpool's tactically naive coach Gerard Houllier responded to rumours linking Milan forward Rivaldo to the club with the following comments : "Don't get me wrong, Rivaldo is a fantastic player, but bringing in high-profile players is not the way I work. They cost a lot of money for a limited number of years and I don't like that kind of risk." 28 March 2003 Real Dismiss Beckham Rumours Real Madrid director Jorge Valdano has dismissed rumours linking the club to a summer move with David Beckham. He said "The possibility that Beckham will one day play for Real Madrid is very remote." 18 March 2003 Totti Named Ambassador For Unicef Roma playmaker and captain Francesco Totti has been named as a goodwill ambassador for children's charity UNICEF. Totti accepted the role at the Di Donato primary school in Rome. Totti said "As soon as I have the chance I will go to the places in the world where kids are suffering the most. I have taken this decision because I love children. I want to stay in contact with them because I know how important it is for kids to have a famous person close to them. I want to do my best to help them as much as possible. As an ambassador I will try to be an example for them both in and off the pitch." 21 March 2003 Venables Sacked Leeds have sacked Terry Venables after 8 months in charge. Former Sunderland coach Peter Reid has been named as Venables temporary replacement. The club are in being dragged into a relegation dogfight and have crippled debts which have forced the sales of Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler and Jonathan Woodgate. 20 March 2003 Gullit Back In Coaching Ruud Gullit has been named new coach of Holland's Under-20 team. Gullit has been out of coaching since he quit Newcastle three years ago. 17 March 2003 Moratti Denies Meeting With Posh Spice "People have been suggesting I met the player's wife during her recent stay in Milan, but it's not true. All I can say is that he's a great player, not just because he's English and I like English players, but because he's very skilful and often decisive for his club. There's no deal going on. We couldn't afford such an expensive operation." - Inter President Massimo Moratti 6 March 2003 World Youth Championships Postponed FIFA have postponed the World Youth championships, which were to be held in the UAE between 25 March - 16 April, because of the impending war on Iraq. 4 March 2003 Wolfsburg have sacked coach Wolfgang Wolf. He will be replaced by Juergen Roeber. 3 March 2003 Keegan Loses Faith in Cloggers The Manchester City careers of Steve Howey and Richard Dunne could be over after coach Kevin Keegan dropped both players following their shambolic performance during the clubs humiliating 1-5 home loss to Arsenal : "I thought defensively we looked much better (against Blackburn). I am going to look at other options now in his (Howey's) position, in Richard Dunne's position and maybe one or two other positions. I wouldn't be doing my job properly if I didn't do that." Former Inter Player Slams Cuper Former Inter star Giuliano Sarti, who played in the teams European Cup winning sides in the mid 60's, has criticised coach Hector Cuper following the teams meek display in their 3-0 loss to Juventus on Sunday : "It seems to me that Cuper rotates the team too often. On Sunday Cuper chose to play Guly, who has never been convincing. It's true that Cuper is an honest man and admits when he has made a mistake, but this does not change things. Inter need to find the right balance." Sarti was also critical of the teams strikers : "At the moment Vieri looks irritated and Batistuta looks overweight." 2 March 2003 2003 Worthington Cup Final Review I know its not a Prem game, however it may interest some here. The report is my own and not taken from any site. Liverpool (1) 2 (Gerrard 39, Owen 86) Man United (0) 0 Goals at the end of either half from Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen gave Liverpool their second Worthington Cup success in three years as Manchester United were beaten at the Millennium Stadium, although a series of fine reaction saves from Jerzy Dudek were equally responsible for the victory. Defences were on top for the majority of the first half with Liverpool showing little in attack whilst United struggled to break down the Merseysiders compact backline. Ruud van Nistelrooy came the closest in the early stages when his effort from a Ryan Giggs cross bobbled agonisingly past the far post. The pace increased slightly as the half wore on, culminating in a good five minute spell for Liverpool as they finally broke the deadlock. John Arne Riise found Steven Gerrard in the inside left position and he decided to try his luck from 30 yard. Unfortuntely for United, the shot clipped off of David Beckham, giving in just enough height to beat Fabien Barthez and sail into the top corner. The pace moved up a few gears from it's sedate beginnings and United were again unlucky not to find the net when Juan Veron's shot was parried by Jerzy Dudek and Paul Scholes' follow up effort was hacked off the line by Stephane Henchoz, using fair means rather than foul at Cardiff for a change! The second half was more open and entertaining for the neutrals as United pressured Liverpool almost constantly with the Anfield side relying on quick breaks for their opportunities, indeed early in the half, Owen, Emile Heskey and Danny Murphy all wasted half chances. United always looked most likely to grab the second goal of the game though as Dudek saved well from Van Nistelrooy from a tricky angle after the Dutchman turned well in the area and then pushed a shot wide from Scholes. Liverpool brought on Milan Baros to replace the injured Heskey and he came close to helping his side double the lead as he broke clear to set up Gerrard again, however his side-footed effort was superbly saved by Barthez. As time wore on, Dudek, whose last game against United ended in humiliation, rose to the occasion as he twice denied Van Nistelrooy, including one excellent save from a fierce drive from the striker. The sucker always looked a possibility from Liverpool and it duly arrived with four minutes remaining. A hacked clearance on the edge of the area fell to Mikael Silvestre in the centre circle. His underhit pass put Rio Ferdinand in trouble and allowed Dietmar Hamann to nick the ball. His well timed pass sent Owen through and he used his pace well to ultimately drill a shot into the bottom corner. A classic sucker punch goal! It effectively killed United and Liverpool almost snatched an undeserved third when Murphy set up sub Vladimir Smicer who couldn't bundle the ball in from close range. The final whistle confirmed Liverpool's seventh league cup win and ended a game which could have easily gone either way until the final few minutes. Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Topica Premier-L list Leeds United and Scotland and proud of it http://www.topica.com/lists/premier-L Superbowl Champs Owner Buys Into Man United Malcolm Glazer, who owns the current Superbowl Champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has bought a 2.9% stake in Manchester United at a cost of €13. 1 March 2003 Keane Hints Retirement is Close Manchester United's Roy Keane has stated that due to injury problems he will retire from football before hitting his mid 30's : "I haven't got a clue how much longer I've got. With the injuries I have had it could well be before the three years I have left on my contract. Seriously, all I can do physically is look at the next match because injuries take their toll in the end. They catch up with you. I just feel good that I am in this final because I could be looking to leave football sooner rather than later. I'm 31 now and people say I could play into my mid-thirties but that's nonsense talk. I think it is sooner rather than later that I will be looking to leave it. I think it will be very, very unrealistic that I will be playing in my mid-thirties." |