Andy Greeves
I’ve never been the most patient of individuals and on the eve of watching Tottenham Hotspur in their first cup final in six years, frankly, I’m a mess.
I’ve often heard footballers talk about how they can’t sleep the night before a big match, or how the preparation for a game is much harder than actually playing. It’s the same for us fans. Ever since the final whistle sounded at White Hart Lane on Tuesday 22 January, the night we beat Arsenal 5-1 in the League Cup semi final, second leg, my mind has been focused on nothing other than Sunday’s final. I’ll take this opportunity to apologise to my girlfriend, my family, work colleagues and friends, who have had to endure my hyperactivity and constant cup final talk ever since.
While fans of Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United are all to used to playing regularly in cup finals in recent years, for Spurs supporters, it’s a far rarer experience. Especially for the younger generation of Lilywhites, who have been brought up on the tales of the double side of ‘61, the great European nights and FA Cup triumphs, yet never experienced such success for themselves. Spurs competed in just two finals in the nineties and including Sunday, have managed only a further two in the 21st century. For that reason alone, I think my hysteria ahead of the showdown with Chelsea is fully justified.
Football supporters often assimilate events in their own lives with that of their team. They can remember a certain year on the basis of what kit they were wearing that season or where they finished in the league. I’m the same and in the run up to the Carling Cup Final, I can help but indulge in some shameless nostalgia. My first Spurs final was nine years ago, when we beat Leicester City 1-0 at Wembley. The game was far from a classic and my predominant memories of the match itself are of Justin Edinburgh’s sending off for striking (or should that be stroking!) Robbie Savage’s hair and Allan Nielsen diving to head a stoppage time winner. Moreover, I remember the excitement in the build up to the match, seeing Wembley for the first time and jumping up and down with my dad when we scored. Sol Campbell captained the side that day and who would have thought at the time that, just two years later, he would be turning out for Arsenal instead. I’ve avoided watching too many replays of that game as the sight of Campbell holding the League Cup aloft in a Spurs shirt angers me, in light of his subsequent defection.
Back in 1999, I studying for my GCSE’s, I had massive crush on Britney Spears and thought my brick-sized Nokia 5510 mobile was the best thing since sliced bread. I was using fake ID to get into clubs, had a particularly shocking haircut, encrusted in five layers of wet look gel and unsurprisingly, I hadn’t really had a proper girlfriend. My one true love was Tottenham Hotspur and having started going to games at the beginning of the 90’s, I was already completely hooked by this date. My bedroom was covered in posters, I had a Spurs rug, lamp, bedspread, curtains… the list is endless. David Ginola was my idol and I’ll never forget watching him. One of the most natural footballers you could ever hope to see and a man who could bring life into the most ordinary of matches. To this day, the Frenchman probably rates as my favorite Spur, despite having also seen the likes of Lineker, Sheringham, Gascoigne and Berbatov ply their trade in the famous Lilywhite shirt.
By our next cup final appearance in 2002, things were a little different for both myself and Spurs. I was in my first year of university, handily enough in Cardiff, where the Worthington Cup Final against Blackburn Rovers would played. Glenn Hoddle was still enjoying a honeymoon period as manager of his beloved Tottenham Hotspur and in the semi-finals, we had delightfully beaten Chelsea 6-3 on aggregate. Having a cup final involving Spurs play in Cardiff in my first year their as a student seemed like fate. I could see the Millennium Stadium from the pitches I played football on in university and I lived just a 15 minute walk from town. As soon as we beat Chelsea in the semi-finals, up went the scarves and balloons in my student halls of residence. However, my build up to the big game was far from ideal, when a friend of mine delayed in posting our application for final tickets, ultimately meaning we would miss out. To say I was annoyed with my ‘friend’ is an understatement, in fact I’ve hardly spoken to him ever since.
From the feeling of total jubilation I had experienced only a few weeks earlier, when I was at the Lane to see us beat Chelsea 5-1 in the semi-final, second leg, I now had to resign myself to the fact I wasn’t going to the match. I cut a sombre figure, happy for my team, but ultimately devastated that I wouldn’t be at the Millennium Stadium. My friends, all supporters of other teams, cheered me up by offering to come and watch the game in a pub near the ground. They all promised to be Spurs fans for the day, despite their allegiances with the likes of Oldham Athletic, Bristol City and Sheffield Wednesday. So the Sunday came, I donned my Spurs shirt and bought a programme as if I were heading to the match. I also brought a sign I had written with me which pleaded for a spare ticket and I had £150 in my wallet which I was prepared to part with to get in. I spoke to various touts who wanted £500-600 for one ticket, including Spurs season ticket holders and members that had travelled all the way to Cardiff, just to make a profit rather than go the game themselves. I was sickened by these individuals and despite the fact I wanted to go to the match more than anything, refused to negotiate with these types of characters.
Just as the game was about to kick off, a man approached me offering me a ticket in the Spurs end for £150. I bartered with him and got the price down to £120, at which point I swapped cash for ticket and dashed into the ground. I feel immense sympathy for the thousands of supporters that have missed out on tickets for this Sunday’s game, because nobody should have to pay over the odds to see their team, especially when it is their own so-called ‘fans’ that are ripping them off. Unfortunately, people with a similar attitude as mine will always be part of the problem, in that they will pay what it takes to see their team in a cup final, through love for their team.
After all the stress of getting a ticket, the match proved to be highly disappointing for me and the 30,000 odd Spurs fans that had made the journey to Cardiff. Blackburn won, what was a highly entertaining match, by two goals to one. But having been overriding favourites going into the final, this seemed and ultimately proved to be yet another false dawn for our long suffering supporters. It was also the beginning of the end for legendary players like Teddy Sheringham and Darren Anderton. Despite playing on to this day, the 2002 Worthington Cup Final was their last chance to win something for Tottenham Hotspur, having playing nearly 600 games for the north London club between them in their career. It was also my last opportunity to see Spurs play in Cardiff while living there, as I headed off to London upon graduating three years later.
So for myself, the team and all our great supporters, Sunday’s game is absolutely massive. The front of the official match day programme for the final reads, ‘For today, nothing else matters’. That just about sums it up. I’m preparing for the big day as if it were a wedding. My specially embroidered cup final shirt and scarf have been hanging outside my wardrobe for over a week now and my choice of jeans, footwear and pants has been planned with similar detail. It’s the first final I’ve experienced Spurs going into the game as underdogs., yet ironically, this is by far and away a better Tottenham team than graced the 1999 or 2002 games. It will be time for me to stop the nostalgia as I step out of my door on Sunday, for then, my focus will be entirely on the day. Such single-mindedness will be needed by all the players I’ll be cheering on, if we are to be successful. Old cliché I know, but you go to Wembley to win and this is what I want and believe Tottenham Hotspur can achieve against Chelsea.
Copyright Andy Greeves & Soccerphile.com
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Showing posts with label tottenham. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tottenham. Show all posts
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Friday, January 4, 2008
World Soccer News
World News for week of January 5th
Tyrants not relinquishing rule in top leagues
In three of the top European leagues the champions are on top, and in one they are a step behind. Inter, Lyon and Real Madrid have a solid lead at the start of the year, Manchester United just trail Arsenal and only Stuttgart are out of play at this stage.
Spain: Real Madrid have a seven-point advantage over Barcelona, whom they defeated by 1-0 at Camp Nou in the last match of the year. Real also have the League's most potent attack with 37 goals, 2.17 per game.
France: Lyon had their worst start to a season in a decade with two defeats in the first three rounds, but at the start of 2008 they are four points ahead of Nancy and six ahead of Bordeaux. And both closest rivals have yet to travel to Lyon.
Italy: The unbeaten Inter lead Roma by seven points with two games to go until the end of the first half of the season. Since the nerazzurri have mathematically clinched the honorary winter title, the statisticians claim it is a good sign because on the previous 14 occasions the winter leaders ended up champions (not counting the 2005/06 title stripped from Juventus and awarded to Inter by the Italian FA).
England: Manchester United briefly made it to the top on Boxing Day, when Arsenal got stuck in Portsmouth. Still, just before the New Year, United were defeated by West Ham and allowed the Gunners to overtake them again.
Germany: Stuttgart are the only champions to have abdicated at this early stage. Stuttgart are 11 points behind Bayern and Werder, a deficit impossible to overcome in any realistic scenario.
It will take a record fee to snatch Berbatov from the Spurs
Juande Ramos may have one of the least effective defenses in the Premiership, but at least he boasts one of the Premier League's most coveted strikers in Dimitar Berbatov.
Chelsea are reported to have offered 26 million pounds to Tottenham and Manchester Unted are also considering a bid.
According to the Spanish coach, the amount will not be enough to persuade Spurs to sell the Bulgarian.
"Some one would have to offer more than the 30 million pounds Chelsea paid to Milan for Andriy Shevchenko," said Juande Ramos. "It would be normal to require as much, since they are so few players of his class."
Still, the former Sevilla coach recently threatened to replace the entire defense, after another disappointing display by the Spurs' back four. With the wealth they could obtain by selling Berbatov plus whatever they can get for the defenders they have, maybe Juande Ramos will have enough funds to build the defense of his dreams.
Ronaldo voted the biggest flop in Italy
Ony twelve months after returning to Italy, the unfortunate Brazilian Ronaldo collected another resounding prize: the trophy for last year's biggest flop in Italian soccer in a poll conducted by the Corriere della Sera daily.
The Phenomenon, as he was called by the Italians ten years ago when he joined Inter, won over the hearts and minds of the Roman paper readers by collecting 40% of the vote. The Emperor Adriano of Inter, currently on loan to Sao Paulo, had to settle for second spot with a decent 29% of the vote. Two other Brazilans made it to the top ten – Milan's Emerson and Roma's Cicinho.
Ronaldo's return to action after recovering from a muscular injury is now set for January 20th.
Top Ten Italian League flops of 2007.
1. Ronaldo (Milan) - 40%
2. Adriano (Inter) - 29%
3. Tiago (Juventus) - 7.6%
4. Emerson (Milan) - 6.4%
5. Vieira (Inter) - 5.4%
6. Almiron (Juventus) - 3.2%
7. Muslera (Lazio) - 3.1%
8. Cicinho (Roma) - 2%
9. Diego Tristán (Livorno) - 2%
10. Recoba (Torino) - 1.3%
O'Donnell: sixth tragedy in four months
Phil O'Donnell's demise late last month raised to six the number of soccer-related deaths in a space of four months. Before Motherwell's captain, four players and one referee lost their lives after falling ill during a soccer game. Although the casualty figure amounts to a tiny fraction of the total number of athletes and officials who come on to the field each week, the new death must increase the concerns within soccer institutions.
Only a week before O'Donnell (35), an 18-year old Italian referee died after collapsing during a game of the Veneto region youth championship.
The dark four months began on August 28th with the death of Sevilla's Antonio Puerta from a cardiac arrest after three days in intensive care. Just a day after Puerta, Chashwe Nsofa (27) of Hapoel Beersheva suffered a fatal heart attack in an Israeli second division game. The terrible week ended on September 1th when Jairo Andres Nazareno (21) of the Ecuadoran third-division outfit Chimborazo felt chest pain during a match against Politécnica. As soon as he reached hospital, he was declared dead.
Finally, on December 20th, 31-year old Brazilian Cleber from Bahia died after two months in a coma due to a brain stroke.
Di Stéfano: It used to be 40,000 times harder to win the Champions Cup
One of the most important soccer player of all time, Alfredo Di Stéfano, marked the early years of the European Champions Cup by leading Real Madrid to five consecutive titles, scoring at least once in each final.
Today's incarnation of the competition he did so much to popularize is not entirely to his taste.
"They call it the Champions League. Champions of what? They should look it up in the dictionary. The press should know the meaning of the word," said the Hispano-Argentinian to the Spanish daily El Mundo.
"Maybe the current formula is more interesting because there are more teams and more possibilities, but if they had to expand the competition for financial reasons, let them change the name. Here it is: it is possible to finish fourth in the domestic League and then be crowned champions of Europe! In my time it was not possible."
Asked whether it was more difficult to become European champions, the two-time Golden Ball winner replied emphatically.
"You bet it was more difficult. Fourty thousand times more. It was a cup system back then and we were not eliminated in five consecutive seasons."
Copyright Ozren Podnar/Soccerphile
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Tyrants not relinquishing rule in top leagues
In three of the top European leagues the champions are on top, and in one they are a step behind. Inter, Lyon and Real Madrid have a solid lead at the start of the year, Manchester United just trail Arsenal and only Stuttgart are out of play at this stage.
Spain: Real Madrid have a seven-point advantage over Barcelona, whom they defeated by 1-0 at Camp Nou in the last match of the year. Real also have the League's most potent attack with 37 goals, 2.17 per game.
France: Lyon had their worst start to a season in a decade with two defeats in the first three rounds, but at the start of 2008 they are four points ahead of Nancy and six ahead of Bordeaux. And both closest rivals have yet to travel to Lyon.
Italy: The unbeaten Inter lead Roma by seven points with two games to go until the end of the first half of the season. Since the nerazzurri have mathematically clinched the honorary winter title, the statisticians claim it is a good sign because on the previous 14 occasions the winter leaders ended up champions (not counting the 2005/06 title stripped from Juventus and awarded to Inter by the Italian FA).
England: Manchester United briefly made it to the top on Boxing Day, when Arsenal got stuck in Portsmouth. Still, just before the New Year, United were defeated by West Ham and allowed the Gunners to overtake them again.
Germany: Stuttgart are the only champions to have abdicated at this early stage. Stuttgart are 11 points behind Bayern and Werder, a deficit impossible to overcome in any realistic scenario.
It will take a record fee to snatch Berbatov from the Spurs
Juande Ramos may have one of the least effective defenses in the Premiership, but at least he boasts one of the Premier League's most coveted strikers in Dimitar Berbatov.
Chelsea are reported to have offered 26 million pounds to Tottenham and Manchester Unted are also considering a bid.
According to the Spanish coach, the amount will not be enough to persuade Spurs to sell the Bulgarian.
"Some one would have to offer more than the 30 million pounds Chelsea paid to Milan for Andriy Shevchenko," said Juande Ramos. "It would be normal to require as much, since they are so few players of his class."
Still, the former Sevilla coach recently threatened to replace the entire defense, after another disappointing display by the Spurs' back four. With the wealth they could obtain by selling Berbatov plus whatever they can get for the defenders they have, maybe Juande Ramos will have enough funds to build the defense of his dreams.
Ronaldo voted the biggest flop in Italy
Ony twelve months after returning to Italy, the unfortunate Brazilian Ronaldo collected another resounding prize: the trophy for last year's biggest flop in Italian soccer in a poll conducted by the Corriere della Sera daily.
The Phenomenon, as he was called by the Italians ten years ago when he joined Inter, won over the hearts and minds of the Roman paper readers by collecting 40% of the vote. The Emperor Adriano of Inter, currently on loan to Sao Paulo, had to settle for second spot with a decent 29% of the vote. Two other Brazilans made it to the top ten – Milan's Emerson and Roma's Cicinho.
Ronaldo's return to action after recovering from a muscular injury is now set for January 20th.
Top Ten Italian League flops of 2007.
1. Ronaldo (Milan) - 40%
2. Adriano (Inter) - 29%
3. Tiago (Juventus) - 7.6%
4. Emerson (Milan) - 6.4%
5. Vieira (Inter) - 5.4%
6. Almiron (Juventus) - 3.2%
7. Muslera (Lazio) - 3.1%
8. Cicinho (Roma) - 2%
9. Diego Tristán (Livorno) - 2%
10. Recoba (Torino) - 1.3%
O'Donnell: sixth tragedy in four months
Phil O'Donnell's demise late last month raised to six the number of soccer-related deaths in a space of four months. Before Motherwell's captain, four players and one referee lost their lives after falling ill during a soccer game. Although the casualty figure amounts to a tiny fraction of the total number of athletes and officials who come on to the field each week, the new death must increase the concerns within soccer institutions.
Only a week before O'Donnell (35), an 18-year old Italian referee died after collapsing during a game of the Veneto region youth championship.
The dark four months began on August 28th with the death of Sevilla's Antonio Puerta from a cardiac arrest after three days in intensive care. Just a day after Puerta, Chashwe Nsofa (27) of Hapoel Beersheva suffered a fatal heart attack in an Israeli second division game. The terrible week ended on September 1th when Jairo Andres Nazareno (21) of the Ecuadoran third-division outfit Chimborazo felt chest pain during a match against Politécnica. As soon as he reached hospital, he was declared dead.
Finally, on December 20th, 31-year old Brazilian Cleber from Bahia died after two months in a coma due to a brain stroke.
Di Stéfano: It used to be 40,000 times harder to win the Champions Cup
One of the most important soccer player of all time, Alfredo Di Stéfano, marked the early years of the European Champions Cup by leading Real Madrid to five consecutive titles, scoring at least once in each final.
Today's incarnation of the competition he did so much to popularize is not entirely to his taste.
"They call it the Champions League. Champions of what? They should look it up in the dictionary. The press should know the meaning of the word," said the Hispano-Argentinian to the Spanish daily El Mundo.
"Maybe the current formula is more interesting because there are more teams and more possibilities, but if they had to expand the competition for financial reasons, let them change the name. Here it is: it is possible to finish fourth in the domestic League and then be crowned champions of Europe! In my time it was not possible."
Asked whether it was more difficult to become European champions, the two-time Golden Ball winner replied emphatically.
"You bet it was more difficult. Fourty thousand times more. It was a cup system back then and we were not eliminated in five consecutive seasons."
Copyright Ozren Podnar/Soccerphile
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Monday, October 29, 2007
Weekly Soccer News Roundup
Weekly world news
for week of October 30th
Thuram against DNA tests for immigrants
The French international Lilian Thuram is known for his political and social commitment, notably when the interests of his race are threatened. Barcelona's defender has once again risen against a controversial move of his country's government by signing a manifest against the obligatory DNA analysis that the president Nicolas Sarkozy plans to have imposed on all foreigners wishing to move to France in order to reunite with their families.
Such an obligation would according to Thuram be discriminatory and racist.
Argentina stage a reality show with soccer fans!
An Argentinian television prepares to produce a Big Brother-type show under the name of "Reality Goal". The show will feature 20 guys, each one a fan of one of the 20 teams of the First division.
Although the condition for participation is a fanatical support for one of the clubs, the producers hope to convey a message on a peaceful coexistence and tolerance among followers of different colours.
"We wish to show that even the supporters of rival teams can live together without any violence," said Fabián Olemberg, the creator of the program due to start in February.
Argentina is one of the countries where the soccer-related crowd trouble is the most prominent, specially when archrivals are involved like River and Boca in Buenos Aires, Rácing and Independiente in Avellaneda or Newell's and Central in Rosario.
Germany confirms Löw until 2010
Joachim Löw has won a reward for taking Germany through to the European Championship finals in Austria and Switzerland: the German FA has extended his contract until 2010 so the current manager will stay in his seat regardless of his team's showing at Euro 2008.
However, Löw plans to impress the soccer public with his team's prowess at next year's competition.
"Our goal is to play attractive soccer and win the European title, even though I'm aware that each player must work to improve physically and technically," said Löw, whose three assistants, former German internationals Hans-Dieter Flick and Andreas Köpke, and Swiss national Urs Siegenthaler were also all extended.
Cristiano Ronaldo replies Pelé: "I'm better than you think"
Manchester Utd's ace Cristiano Ronaldo says he is a bit offended by Pelé's somewhat unenthusiastic comments regarding his qualities.
"He must show more and keep the quality level high for a longer period of time so that we could consider him the best," said the King of Soccer regarding the Portuguese winger.
"I respect everybody's opinions, but I do not agree with all of them. I know what Pelé thinks of me, but other soccer greats think something else. Whoever saw my play over the past few seasons will agree that Pelé's statement is a bit injust," said Cristiano, candidate for the two most prestigious awards in soccer: FIFA's player of the year and France Football's Golden Ball.
Brasileirao: Sao Paulo virtual champs
With five matchdays to go, Sao Paulo have practically won the Brazilian title, although mathematically they need a point out of the available 15 to officially call themselves the champions of Brazil.
The leaders have defeated Sport Recife 2-1 and could now only be caught up by Santos or Palmeiras if they lose all the remaining games, and if either of their persecutors win all five matches with an astounding scorelines.
Sao Paulo have a superior goals difference by 24 with respect to Santos and by 29 in relation to Palmeiras, which makes their loss of the top spot highly unlikely.
In their next game Sao Paulo entertain the bottom-placed, already relegated America when they plan to make their conquest official.
Hacker doctored Ramos' statement: "I am so greedy"
New Tottenham manager Juande Ramos had only a few words to say to his players after he saw his team waste the 1-0 lead to lose by 1-2 to Blackburn at White Hart Lane.
"The hard work starts tomorrow," said the Spaniard who led Sevilla to five trophies in the space of 15 months.
Back in Spain, Sevilla's fans must be fuming over Ramos' abrupt departure from Sánchez Pizjuán so one of them hacked ADN.es website and doctored the coach's farewell statement to the Spanish public.
"I went because of the financial challenge. God! Seven million euros per season, hahaha. Yes, I'm greedy, what can I do about it? (...) Since my only goal in life is money, I leave this great team because of an amount you cannot imagine. I want my Ferraris," read Ramos' fake statement after an intervention of an unknown hacker.
The sabotage remained on the net only for a five minutes but long enough for many media to take note.
Bernd Schuster set up by his son
Real Madrid's coach Bernd Schuster is already thinking of Barelona-Real clásico due on December 23rd and Lionel Messi has deserved his special attention:
"I am following and thoroughly analysing Barça's game. Most of all I'm observing Messi since he made my life bitter when I coached Getafe. Now we're not giving him an inch of space. If he turns nasty, I'll put on him my dog's collar to slow him down a bit," said the German on his web page.
Only, these were not Bernd Schuster's words. When the press confronted him with the strange wording, the coach said, "ehm, this was my son's doing."
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for week of October 30th
Thuram against DNA tests for immigrants
The French international Lilian Thuram is known for his political and social commitment, notably when the interests of his race are threatened. Barcelona's defender has once again risen against a controversial move of his country's government by signing a manifest against the obligatory DNA analysis that the president Nicolas Sarkozy plans to have imposed on all foreigners wishing to move to France in order to reunite with their families.
Such an obligation would according to Thuram be discriminatory and racist.
Argentina stage a reality show with soccer fans!
An Argentinian television prepares to produce a Big Brother-type show under the name of "Reality Goal". The show will feature 20 guys, each one a fan of one of the 20 teams of the First division.
Although the condition for participation is a fanatical support for one of the clubs, the producers hope to convey a message on a peaceful coexistence and tolerance among followers of different colours.
"We wish to show that even the supporters of rival teams can live together without any violence," said Fabián Olemberg, the creator of the program due to start in February.
Argentina is one of the countries where the soccer-related crowd trouble is the most prominent, specially when archrivals are involved like River and Boca in Buenos Aires, Rácing and Independiente in Avellaneda or Newell's and Central in Rosario.
Germany confirms Löw until 2010
Joachim Löw has won a reward for taking Germany through to the European Championship finals in Austria and Switzerland: the German FA has extended his contract until 2010 so the current manager will stay in his seat regardless of his team's showing at Euro 2008.
However, Löw plans to impress the soccer public with his team's prowess at next year's competition.
"Our goal is to play attractive soccer and win the European title, even though I'm aware that each player must work to improve physically and technically," said Löw, whose three assistants, former German internationals Hans-Dieter Flick and Andreas Köpke, and Swiss national Urs Siegenthaler were also all extended.
Cristiano Ronaldo replies Pelé: "I'm better than you think"
Manchester Utd's ace Cristiano Ronaldo says he is a bit offended by Pelé's somewhat unenthusiastic comments regarding his qualities.
"He must show more and keep the quality level high for a longer period of time so that we could consider him the best," said the King of Soccer regarding the Portuguese winger.
"I respect everybody's opinions, but I do not agree with all of them. I know what Pelé thinks of me, but other soccer greats think something else. Whoever saw my play over the past few seasons will agree that Pelé's statement is a bit injust," said Cristiano, candidate for the two most prestigious awards in soccer: FIFA's player of the year and France Football's Golden Ball.
Brasileirao: Sao Paulo virtual champs
With five matchdays to go, Sao Paulo have practically won the Brazilian title, although mathematically they need a point out of the available 15 to officially call themselves the champions of Brazil.
The leaders have defeated Sport Recife 2-1 and could now only be caught up by Santos or Palmeiras if they lose all the remaining games, and if either of their persecutors win all five matches with an astounding scorelines.
Sao Paulo have a superior goals difference by 24 with respect to Santos and by 29 in relation to Palmeiras, which makes their loss of the top spot highly unlikely.
In their next game Sao Paulo entertain the bottom-placed, already relegated America when they plan to make their conquest official.
Hacker doctored Ramos' statement: "I am so greedy"
New Tottenham manager Juande Ramos had only a few words to say to his players after he saw his team waste the 1-0 lead to lose by 1-2 to Blackburn at White Hart Lane.
"The hard work starts tomorrow," said the Spaniard who led Sevilla to five trophies in the space of 15 months.
Back in Spain, Sevilla's fans must be fuming over Ramos' abrupt departure from Sánchez Pizjuán so one of them hacked ADN.es website and doctored the coach's farewell statement to the Spanish public.
"I went because of the financial challenge. God! Seven million euros per season, hahaha. Yes, I'm greedy, what can I do about it? (...) Since my only goal in life is money, I leave this great team because of an amount you cannot imagine. I want my Ferraris," read Ramos' fake statement after an intervention of an unknown hacker.
The sabotage remained on the net only for a five minutes but long enough for many media to take note.
Bernd Schuster set up by his son
Real Madrid's coach Bernd Schuster is already thinking of Barelona-Real clásico due on December 23rd and Lionel Messi has deserved his special attention:
"I am following and thoroughly analysing Barça's game. Most of all I'm observing Messi since he made my life bitter when I coached Getafe. Now we're not giving him an inch of space. If he turns nasty, I'll put on him my dog's collar to slow him down a bit," said the German on his web page.
Only, these were not Bernd Schuster's words. When the press confronted him with the strange wording, the coach said, "ehm, this was my son's doing."
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