Stories from the Examiner's Soccer section for 5/18/00
http://www.examiner.ie
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Sporting Lisbon and Spurs were interested in Teddy Sheringham.
by Martyn Ziegler
TEDDY SHERINGHAM yesterday agreed to stay at Manchester United for another year after manager Sir Alex Ferguson assured him he would not buy a new striker.
The 34 year old could have changed clubs on a free transfer but instead has signed a new one year contract with the champions.
Sheringham, who came on as a substitute to score the vital equaliser in last year’s Champions League final, had been worried about being pushed further into the background.
But the breakdown of Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy’s £18.5 million move from PSV Eindhoven, combined with Ferguson’s promise not to look for another forward, has reassured Sheringham he has at least another year at the very top of English football.
Sheringham, who joined for £3.5million from Tottenham in 1997, said: “I am really pleased that the matter has been resolved and that I am remaining a Manchester United player.
“All the players retain a real hunger for honours and we want to emulate the success of recent years, particularly that of 1999.
“I have had a fabulous three years with the club, and have decided to stay to win more trophies.”
Sheringham only scored six goals for United this season but most of them were crucial, including the equaliser in the 1 1 draw against Arsenal in January that proved an ß
important psychological blow in the race for the Premiership.
Ferguson accepted the temptations for Sheringham to look for another club had been great.
He said: “I had a chat with Teddy last week to assure him that he was very much part of plans.
“He has had a great time with the club and has benefited from the success we have enjoyed. Equally, so have we. It has been a great partnership for all concerned.
“It would have been easy for Teddy to have gone, but he doesn’t want to leave and that’s good for us all. The players, directors, staff and supporters all want him to stay.”
Sheringham’s agent Barry Nevill said that Ferguson’s assurances had helped the striker make up his mind.
“That played a big part,” said Nevill. “They obviously had a very constructive chat, and the fact that Sir Alex spoke to him helped Teddy make his decision.”
United chairman Martin Edwards expressed his delight, saying: “We have been working on a new contract with Teddy for some time and it’s great news for us that he has decided to stay.
“He has been a very important part of our recent success.”
Numerous clubs, including West Ham, Charlton, Tottenham and Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon, had been linked with Sheringham.
Sheringham had been courted by a number of foreign clubs but in the end he decided against a move abroad for personal reasons.
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Zola denies reports of move and sets date for talks on his Chelsea future
by Simon Stone
CHELSEA striker Gianfranco Zola will discuss his Stamford Bridge future after Saturday’s FA Cup final.
The Italian will form a key part of the Blues front line as they bid to salvage their season with victory against Aston Villa at Wembley.
But there had been fears that the game could be his last for the London club after it was reported that he had already agreed to a summer move to Fenerbahce.
Zola denies a deal has been done but admitted that he needed to talk with club officials to see whether he was still wanted.
‘‘The story that I have already signed a contract is absolutely not true,’’ he said.
‘‘At the end of the season, I will talk to the club and see what position they want to give me next year.
‘‘Once they have told me what they want, we have to decide on the future.
‘‘I am a very competitive person and I want to keep that feeling.
‘‘Although I am 34 next year, physically I feel fine and there is no reason why I shouldn’t carry on playing at the level I am now.’’
The rising number of foreign stars in the Premiership has given English soccer authorities cause for concern.
However, there is no doubt that Zola is one of the few to have been welcomed without reservation.
He has inspired the Chelsea revival over the past two seasons and has aided the development of young English talent such as Jody Morris and Jon Harley.
A hero at Stamford Bridge, the only time the former Napoli player has shown any sign of dissent was during a brief period on the sidelines.
‘‘This has been the best time of my career,’’ he admitted.
‘‘I can’t recall any other period which has made me so happy and I have good memories of Chelsea. The best part of all is the atmosphere around the ground.
‘‘I like the way that people go to the stadium and are so passionate about the game.
‘‘Once the match is finished, you can go home and forget about football.
‘‘It is not something you find anywhere else and it is the type of attitude you need to have when you play sport.’’
After investing such a substantial sum on his team, Chelsea chairman Ken Bates will be bitterly disappointed that he will not play host to Champions’ League combat next term.
A mid season slump left the Blues with too much ground to make up in the title race and despite taking a 3-1 lead into the second leg of their quarter final with Barcelona, they were blown apart by the Catalans in the Nou Camp.
And, after finishing fifth in the Premiership, Chelsea’s big names are also aware that unless they can record a victory on Saturday, the only route into Europe will be via the Intertoto Cup.
But Zola has no need to fear Wembley.
He scored the goal for Italy which defeated England under the Twin Towers during the last World Cup qualifying campaign, was also part of the Chelsea side which defeated Middlesbrough to record their first FA Cup final win for nearly three decades in 1997, and in the side which defeated the Teessiders in the Coca Cola final a year later.
‘‘We need to close the season properly,’’ said Zola. ‘‘After the long months we have spent trying to get something from our season, we deserve a trophy.
‘‘We did well in the Champions’ League, which is a hard competition, and reached another cup final.
‘‘But we are disappointed that we didn’t improve on our league position because that was also one of our aims.
‘‘However, on Saturday we have a chance to put things right by winning the FA Cup again. We are looking forward to doing just that.’’
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FA Cup final’s armchair marathon is no more after Grandstand’s demise
by Bill Pierce
THREE years on and yet, funnily, there will still be that same surge of inner anticipation come Saturday morning - followed all too quickly now by the dull, empty, daunting realisation that BBC Cup final Grandstand is no more.
All due respect to those worthies at ITV and the statistical, technological wizards at Sky, of course, but, since 1997, it has never been quite the same for the army of armchair viewers tuning in for marathon television coverage of what used to be English football’s greatest day of the season.
Up for a lazy breakfast before settling in front of the goggle box for that 11am start to the build up.
The delicious prospect of a lovely long afternoon totally immersed in the build up and drama to a great footballing occasion - all condensed, of course, into a 21 inch frame - lay ahead.
Far better, unless your favourite team was in the final of course, than actually going to Wembley itself.
The familiar theme tune, the sight of that whirling outside broadcast camera and then the simple greeting from David Coleman, Frank Bough or, more recently, Des Lynam: “Welcome to Wembley on FA Cup final day. If you haven’t got a ticket for the game, don’t worry, here’s all the action and insight for you - right in your own front room. Don’t go away.”
And we didn’t, did we? Not for six hours as it all washed over us. Sunshine shone through a chink in the closed curtains, as we sank deeper and deeper into that old armchair. Sheer bliss.
All right, maybe for those of a certain age it is a case of rose tinted memories.
But nobody ever quite did it like the Beeb. For more than 40 years, that old Cup final Grandstand theme stood for all that was excellent in televised sport.
It must be a bitter blow for the Beeb that, for the third year running, Auntie won’t be involved when Chelsea and Aston Villa do battle for the famous silver trophy that is now, in allegedly more enlightened times, firmly attached to a sponsor’s logo.
Now, if you switch onto BBC1 on Saturday you will have to be content instead with a repeat of ‘Allo, ‘Allo, followed by the 1936 musical My Fair Lady. As David Coleman might have said - absolutely extraordinary.
To be fair, the bids are in already for the rights to televise next season’s FA Cup final, and a BBC spokeswoman insists: “We’re hopeful of getting it back for 2001, and so it would be premature to be talking about the death of Cup final Grandstand.
“When ITV took over terrestrial coverage of the final between Arsenal and Newcastle in 1998, it produced the lowest viewing figures for years, which may or may not be a coincidence.”The audience figures improved slightly for Manchester United’s win against Newcastle at Wembley last year, and both networks will clearly be anxious to assess the numbers this time.
But that’s not really the point. Television will never fully capture the special live atmosphere of actually being at a top football match but, as far as the FA Cup final is concerned, unless your own team is involved, the game becomes almost secondary.
It was, for the armchair brigade, all about the build up, the morning visits to the team hotels, the interviews with the fans, the flashbacks to previous rounds - how they got to Wembley - and then the nervous faces in the tunnel soon after the last strains of Abide With Me had died away.
Older fans will never forget Danny Blanchflower’s honest appraisal even after his super Tottenham team completed the League and Cup double by beating Leicester City in the 1961 final.
“It is a great occasion with the pomp and ceremony. Then the players come out onto the pitch and often spoil it all,” said the late whimsical Ulsterman.
In 42 years of FA Cup final Grandstand there were not too many classic matches if we are honest.
Liverpool beating Mersey rivals Everton 3 2 in an emotional, roller coaster final a few weeks after the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989 perhaps.
Maybe Tottenham edging out Manchester City in a five goal replay eight years earlier, a game crowned by Ricky Villa’s wonderful solo winner.Or, going back further, possibly Sunderland’s heroic resistance of odds on favourites Leeds in 1973, when Jim Montgomery’s unforgettable save protected a barely credible 1 0 lead.
There were, of course, all the dramas captured by the Grandstand cameras - Arsenal’s last gasp Alan Sunderland winner against Manchester United, who had clawed back from two down to level with two goals in three minutes in 1979; Everton’s recovery from two down to beat Sheffield Wednesday, sparked by an horrendous mistake by luckless Wednesday defender Gerry Young.
There were other heartaches. Roy Dwight, Elton John’s uncle - of whom we’d never heard - carried off with a broken leg after scoring Nottingham Forest’s winner against Luton in 1959.
And Dave Whelan, Blackburn’s left back in 1960, and now the self made multi millionaire owner of Wigan Athletic, suffering a similar fate but leaving ten men Rovers to lose 3 0 to the then mighty Wolves.
But it is not really the finals and incidents that linger in the memories of us armchair Cup final fans. It was how it was all dressed up, previewed, analysed and eventually dissected by the Grandstand team.
ITV may be a little slicker in presentation, Sky infinitely more technological.
Yet still, there are many of us who just hope that, one spring Saturday morning soon, we will be closing those front room curtains against the sunlight again as the Man from the Beeb sends out that ridiculously early ‘Welcome to Wembley’ greeting with all the old, comforting authority.
Sadly, though, the odds are possibly more in favour of the curtain having fallen forever on Cup final Grandstand.
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Owen’s injury fears only natural, says psychologist
A TOP psychologist says it is understandable that Michael Owen is worried about suffering a recurrence of his hamstring problems.
Owen fears that his suspect hamstring, which has plagued him for 13 months, could give way at any moment.
Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier claims Owen has a psychological handicap which he must overcome. Professor Cary Cooper, who is head of psychology at UMIST, says this is a natural reaction for any footballer.
‘‘Michael is just like any other footballer who comes back from a long term injury - they are frightened about it happening again and they will play a slightly different, more protective game,’’ he said. ‘‘We’ve seen it with numerous players before who come back from injury and play a slightly less robust game to try to protect themselves.”
Prof. Cooper insists neither Houllier nor England coach Kevin Keegan should be alarmed at this stage and thinks Owen just needs time to build up his self confidence.
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Staunton on standby for US tour
by Conor George and
Charlie Stuart
STEVE STAUNTON may be available for Ireland’s three match Nike Cup tour of America next month.
Initially, Staunton declared himself unavailable, as his wife Joanne is expecting the couple’s second child at the end on Sunday, May 28. Now, the Liverpool defender, 31, will inform Irish boss Mick McCarthy that if the child is born as expected he will be available.
“If Joanne is happy and all goes well, I would be ready to report for international duty on Thursday, June 1, the date the squad is due to fly to Chicago for the opening game against Mexico at Soldier’s Field the following Sunday,” said Staunton.
The 84 times capped Irish international would then also be available for the further games against host nation USA in Boston on June 6 and then the final match against South Africa at the Giants Stadium, New Jersey, on June 11.
But Staunton is definitely ruled out of the May 30 friendly international against Craig Browne’s Scotland at Lansdowne Road.
Meanwhile Liverpool will be bringing their full host of international stars to Dublin for the Staunton/Tony Cascarino testimonial match against the Republic of Ireland on Sunday, May 21 at Lansdowne Road. Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier has included his English internationals, Jamie Redknapp, Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen in the squad alongside mid season transfer capture Emile Heskey.
The match offers the players the chance to prove their fitness to Kevin Keegan ahead of England’s Euro 2000 campaign.
Ireland will also have a strong team on duty, despite the late withdrawals of Roy Keane and Gary Kelly this week due to injury. Mick McCarthy will be able to call on Robbie Keane, Niall Quinn and Stephen McPhail, as Ireland salute two great servants.
“I am extremely grateful to both Mick McCarthy and Gerard Houllier for picking full strength squads and I know all the Liverpool team are really looking forward to playing in front of their Irish fans,” said Staunton.
Cascarino said: “I can’t wait for Sunday, although it will be very emotional playing in front of the Irish fans for the last time. I’ve loved every minute of my Ireland career and I know both teams will put on a show for the Irish fans.”
SQUAD: S. Westerveld, J. Nielson, S. Henchoz, R. Song, D. Matteo, S. Hyyia, D. Traore, J. Carragher, D. Thompson, F. Kippe, S. Gerard, J. Redknapp. J. Myles, R. Fowler, E. Herkey, E. Meijer, M. Owen.
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Gregory: Chelsea are under pressure
by John Curtis
JOHN GREGORY yesterday began the FA Cup final mind games with Chelsea by insisting all the pressure is on Gianluca Vialli’s side to lift football’s most famous domestic trophy.
Gregory insists the heat is on Chelsea to deliver the goods after their below par showing in the Premiership and exit from the Champions League when they looked well set to reach the semi final or even final.
He believes that being made underdogs with the bookmakers will work in Villa’s favour and ensure his players are in a relaxed frame of mind as they aim to win the competition for the first time since 1957.
Gregory said: ‘‘I would like to think that winning the cup is just the start of something big, and it would mean a great deal for the supporters and the club.
‘‘Winning a major trophy and getting into the UEFA Cup is very important. There is a lot at stake, but I do feel without any question that all the pressure is on Chelsea.
‘‘We go into this game as second favourites, whereas there is an enormous amount of pressure on Chelsea to produce.
‘‘They went very close in the Champions League, and I thought they were going to do better than Manchester United in that competition and seemed suited for Europe.
‘‘I thought they would get to the final. But they slipped up in Barcelona, went out of the Worthington Cup and in the Premiership we all expected Chelsea to do somewhat better.’’
It all means that Vialli and Co’s season comes down to what happens in one game this weekend.
‘‘Saturday is their last hope in many respects, and they will have the pressure of being expected to win whereas we will go to Wembley with a more relaxed attitude then in the semi final.
‘‘We were favourites ourselves against Bolton, expected to win by three or four goals, and could not handle the pressure quite as well as we would have wanted.
‘‘There were one or two of our guys screwed up with nerves, and for people like George Boateng and Benito Carbone it was the first time they had played at Wembley.
‘‘Playing the semi final at Wembley will definitely help in the sense of people being more relaxed with themselves when going back there this weekend.’’
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Galatasaray take cup as Gunners misfire in penalty shoot out
by Bill Pierce
GALATASARAY scored a sensational 4 1 penalty shoot out victory over Arsenal in the UEFA Cup Final in Copenhagen last night.
Arsenal were forced into extra time after Thierry Henry’s 77th minute piledriver was deflected inches wide and Tony Adams and Martin Keown shored up the defence against a nimble Turkish attack.
Arsenal recovered from a slow start to take command of the first half, but despite the menace of Marc Overmars, Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry were unable to break down the Turkish team’s defence.
And Arsene Wenger’s side were grateful to escape a couple of close calls in their own area, when Arif Erdem shot wide with only David Seaman to beat from what looked an offside position after the same striker had forced the England keeper to tip over a fierce drive from a Gheorghe Hagi free kick.
There was almost the worst possible start for Arsenal inside the first three minutes when, from Tony Adams’ poor headed clearance, Suat Kaya hit a fierce volley that bounced off Lee Dixon’s shoulder and flew just wide of goal with Seaman caught flat footed by the deflection.
And the Gunners looked nervous in the opening 10 minutes as veteran Romanian Hagi weaved his magic with some delicate touches. Silvinho and then Emmanuel Petit both gave the ball away in quick succession near the edge of their own penalty area and it led to unnecessary corners.
But once Arsenal found their stride, the pace of Henry and Overmars began to trouble the Turks down their right flank.
Bergkamp robbed Arif Erdem deep inside the Galatasaray half and neatly set up Ray Parlour who was just crowded out as he moved menacingly into the area.
Then in the eight minute, ex Spurs star Gheorge Popescu got to Bergkamp just in time as the striker picked up a pass from fellow Dutchman Overmars and advanced on goal.
A minute later and Silvinho’s pass sent Henry skating into acres of space down the left but his cross landed harmlessly on the far edge of the area where Dixon collided with Ergun and Spanish referee Antonio Lopez Nieto gave the Turks a free kick despite a blatant dive. Hagi was diving, too, when Silvinho bumped into him and the Arsenal players made their feelings plain.
However, it was Galatasaray who almost went ahead when Hagi played a short free kick and squared the return ball into the path of Arif who hit it first time from just outside the box.
It was probably going just over the bar in any case but the leaping Seaman took a touch to make sure.
Galatasaray picked up the first two bookings of a fast moving contest when, first Okan Buruk slid in dangerously on Vieira and then skipper Bulent Korkmaz tripped Parlour as the winger tried to race onto Vieira’s pass down the right.
Vieira seemed to win a fair tackle when he, also, was booked after Hagi crumpled to the turf, but gradually the two Frenchman in Arsenal’s midfield were getting to grips with the situation.
A miskicked Bergkamp pass squirted through to Overmars who tried to bang it inside the near post, but Brazilian goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel juggled it away for a corner.
Then Overmars again took aim, flashing his shot across the face of the goal and just beyond the far post as Arsenal started to dictate matters.
However, they looked daggers at a linesman who failed to raise his flag in the 39th minute, when Hagi slipped the ball through to Arif, who seemed way offside, with only Seaman to beat but drove wide.
Arsenal, after dominating the start of the second half, when Parlour’s cross struck the side netting after a powerful surge by Vieira set him up, had a remarkable escape in the 49th minute when Hakan Sukur’s shot hit a post after he squeezed past Martin Keown onto a Suat pass.
But two minutes later when Henry stormed to the byline and cut the ball back, Keown had arrived in the Galatasaray six yard box, stretching to connect with the cross in front of an empty goal but ballooning it over the bar.
It looked a terrible miss but it was equally amazing that the big centre back was there to make it.
The Turkish team had a period of pressure after Henry lost his balance trying to get on the end of a delightful break by Bergkamp. Hagi’s cross from the left skewered off Keown’s attempted first time clearance and fell beyond the far post when it could have gone anywhere.
Hagi was posing plenty of problems and was involved again when Suat shot into the side netting from a narrow angle. Then Hakan Sukur threatened again and it took a marvellous block by Adams to deny him at close range after Okan fired the ball into the box.
The outcome was on a knife edge as Arsenal pinned their hopes on fast counter raids. Popescu halted one of them with a blatant trip on Parlour that brought an obvious yellow card.
When Parlour battled through again on the right, Henry found himself in a useful shooting position but drove his 65th minute effort across the face of goal.
Then Overmars got away down the left and crossed long for the arriving Parlour who had to hit it first time. The volley flew well wide and the Arsenal fans must have hoped somebody like Bergkamp had been on the end of the cross.
Overmars also scuffed a shot wide of the far post from the left as Arsenal enjoyed another spell of control but then Adams had to make a decisive interception at the other end to prevent Arif getting through.
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Rampant Peterborough book place in Wembley play off
Peterborough United 3
Barnet 0 (Agg 5-1)
David Farrell was the hero as Peterborough eased past Barnet’s challenge to secure their first Wembley date for eight years at London Road tonight.
The versatile winger rammed home two stunning long distance strikes and a cheeky chip to take Posh to the Division Three play off final next Friday.
First leg goal hero Jason Lee was out with a knee problem, but Peterborough almost got off to a dream start when Barnet keeper Lee Harrison spilled the ball at the feet of Andy Clarke. But Harrison recovered his ground to deflect Clarke’s scuffed effort round the post.
The drab opening left the 10,515 sell out crowd wondering if their teams really were just 90 minutes from Wembley. Posh just edged the opening 25 minutes, but Barry Fry’s men lacked a clinical touch when they had possession around the Bees’ penalty area.
The stalemate ended on 28 minutes when Posh right back Richard Scott showed some initiative. He pushed forward and cut inside, laying the ball square to right winger Farrell. The ex Aston Villa man thundered a deflected strike into the top right corner of Harrison’s net from 25 yards - sending the packed London Road end into raptures.
Knowing they had to score three, Barnet threatened when Peterborough goalkeeper Mark Tyler fumbled a catch. But the ball bounced off former Posh hitman Ken Charlery’s head and into the grateful keeper’s arms.
Andy Edwards came to Peterborough’s rescue on the stroke of half time, blocking Charlery’s close-range shot.
Posh’s Farrell opened the second period with a 40 yard one two with Gareth Jellyman, but Barnet stopper Harrison made a smart near post save from Francis Green’s fierce strike.
The Bees’ Dan Brown was withdrawn on 53 minutes, with Marlon King coming on. Barnet threw four men up front and subjected the home side to a 20 minute barrage of crosses, but Charlery could not quite connect to force the ball goalwards.
Posh wrapped up their Wembley visit when Barnet left space in midfield and Farrell strode forwards to hammer a 20 yarder home.
Posh then had two players booked when Simon Rea and Clarke made unnecessary tackles from behind. Harrison came off clutching his hamstring on 75 minutes, with Burt Bossu replacing him. Posh’s Matthew Gill entered the fray for Jellyman on 85 minutes, then Green came off for Ritchie Hanlon.
Farrell added a daring third goal when he broke down the left and lobbed Bossu from 30 yards, sparking a jubilant pitch invasion.
Darlington 1
Hartlepool 0
(Darlington win 3-0 on aggregate)
Darlington are on their way to Wembley after beating local rivals Hartlepool in tonight’s semi final second.
Chris Turner’s side had travelled more in hope than in anticipation after the 2-0 reverse at the weekend, with the manager gambling on three men in attack to try and plunder back the deficit.
It took the Quakers less than ten minutes to end their neighbours’s hopes of overturning a 1 0 first leg deficit, with Neil Heaney’s pace especially dangerous on the wing.
A nightmare own goal from Pool defender Gary Strodder sealed a 3 0 aggregate victory for David Hodgson’s men after they had already done the hard work at Victoria Park on Saturday.
Leading scorer Marco Gabbiadini almost put the icing on the cake for Darlington, but his curling shot deflected wide off a defender.
First Division play off, semi final, Ipswich 5 Bolton 3. Ipswich won 7 5 on aggregate after extra time.
Second Division play off semi final Wigan 1 Millwall 0 (1 0 agg.)
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©The Examiner, 2000
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