Premier League - Paper Round: The lunatic

Eurosport - Mon, 21 Sep 13:19:00 2009

Referees are in the spotlight again, but which Premier League striker has been described as a "poor-man's James Beattie" and who is "the lunatic"?

gary neville celebrates v Manchester City - 0

Well it's all about a certain North West derby on the back pages on Monday, be it Mark Hughes questioning whether referee Martin Atkinson bought his watch from Ratners or Craig Bellamy lining himself up as Floyd Mayweather Jr's next opponent.

In fairness to Bellamy's it's not a bad right cross and he's sure to come across the radar of the FA but the focus is all about Atkinson and his time-keeping. Four minutes flashed up on the board and you can generally add a few seconds on to that, but THREE minutes? No wonder Sparky blew a fuse.

Gary Neville is fast turning into the Red Devils cheerleader and he has been described as a "lunatic" by Mark Hughes for his celebrations following Michael Owen's late, late winner.

All the drama at Old Trafford threatened to overshadow what was an outstanding game of football and Neil Custis in The Sun champions a certain Ryan Giggs.

Owen took the plaudits for his fine finish but it was Giggs's precision pass that crafted the chance and capped a superb all-round display from United's elder statesman.

There was football going on outside of Manchester on Sunday and once again it's the referee in the spotlight. Chelsea thrashed Tottenham 3-0, but the tide turned only after Spurs were denied what Harry Redknapp describes as a 'nailed-on penalty' for Ricardo Carvalho's challenge on Robbie Keane. Carvalho did appear to get a sizeable chunk of Keane and nothing of the ball, but not in the eyes of a certain Howard Webb.

Reports that Kofi Annan is to be parachuted into Birmingham are wide of the mark, but the Aston Villa players are set to act as peacekeepers this week in a bid to ease the tension between manager Martin O'Neill and midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker.

Skipper Stiliyan Petrov says: "Nobody wants to be in this situation. Nigel knows what he has done, the manager knows as well and we are trying to help the boss get things right."

El-Hadji Diouf could find himself in hot water over allegations he racially abused a ballboy during Blackburn's defeat at Everton. Merseyside Police are investigating, with the Mail suggesting the Senegal forward said: "F*** off, white boy" after the ball was rolled past him.

Arsenal could well have found the hard man at the back to replace Tony Adams and Martin Keown. He goes by the name of Thomas Vermaelen who Arsene Wenger claims first came across his radar two years ago when attempting to kick Robin van Persie off the park during a pre-season friendly. "I loved that!" beamed Wenger. "We watched him from that moment on."

The Sun suggests the FA and Premier League could be on collision course once again, this time over transfers. The paper claims the FA's Quest team have reported 15 suspicious transfers to FIFA, without consulting the Premier League.

Jermain Defoe and Wayne Rooney had better start looking over their shoulders, David Nugent is targeting an England recall. The forward has pitched up at Burnley after a spell in the football wilderness and after scoring twice in the 3-1 win over Sunderland, he said: "I don't see why I can't play for England again if my goalscoring record keeps improving.

"Ever since I got that England cap it has been downhill. But hopefully I can rekindle my career at Burnley, catch some eyes and get back in the squad."

Let's hope the Nuge does not pick up Monday's copy of The Times, as Tony Cascarino was nonplussed by his efforts at the weekend.

"David Nugent is a good Championship striker, but a mediocre Premier League one. He's not bad in the air, but not especially quick and his technique is average. He's a poor man's James Beattie."

When it rains it pours for Roy Keane. He was denied his first win as Ipswich manager by a dazzling strike from Doncaster's Quinton Fortune, a player who could not hit a barn door from ten paces while they were together at Manchester United.

"Don't worry I'll be having a word with him," said Keane. You'd better start running Quinton.

Eurosport

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  1. fergison has a bad memery laughing at mark hughes and­ hugging the4th ref at the end instead of this 6-0 7-0­ garbage he should remember he would not have a job only­ for mark hughes if hughes did'nt score again'st­ crystal palace some years back the big headed king of­ back stabbing would be managing 3rd div teams to make­ ends meet he just a very evil man

    From John, on Mon 21 Sep 9:47PM

  2. Were are those idiotic analist who wrote all the­ horrors about Eduardo, which is even worse for the game­ of football, a match that there were no real delays,­ the fourth official showed everybody 4minutes as time­ added on, the center ref added 3minutes to make it­ 7minutes extra time, what a mess, must be under some­ mafia's payroll, they should equaly be punished for­ that sort of officiating, it is not the first time it­ is happening, lets campaign against such, join the­ campaign, spread this and add a point

    From Da-Bull, on Mon 21 Sep 9:40PM

  3. You all say that United paid the REF to add an­ additional time. Now come to think of it, what if it­ was Hughes who paid the REF to add time (with all his­ money) but unfortunately, United scored. Hughes spent­ time arguing with the REFS instead of encouraging his­ players to score when the additional two mins were­ given.

    From Koolgoody, on Mon 21 Sep 4:09PM

  4. Wow cgrundy61 it's all part of the game try not to­ loose your pants over it
    And us united fans are true­ reds so deal with it and get on with your­ life
    We'll still be coming across Manchester to­ beat you guys at home.....
    Glory Glory Man United

    From orakle77, on Mon 21 Sep 2:17PM

  5. Neville should be banned for his celebration and all­ you United Fans should stop being so­ hypercritical!!!!

    Mind you!!! you all take after your­ manager anyway!!!!

    good to see 2 scousers still doing­ it for you!!!!!

    Forgive me but Nevile is a MANC isnt­ he?????? explains everything!!!!!!

    From cgrundy61, on Mon 21 Sep 2:09PM

  6. Min 4 minutes extra time. Craig bellamy's goal,­ celebration took 56 seconds from goal to kick off, then­ a subsitute was made for which 30 seconds is allowed­ this then bumps up the extra extra time to 95 minutes­ and 26 seconds(stay with me). Micheal Owens goal was­ timed at 95 minutes and 27 seconds. So there you have­ it. ALL THIS FUSS OVER 1 SECOND!!! Thanks for reading­ hope this clears up things for the gutted city­ fans.Well done Utd for playing till the fat lady sings.

    From Pasty Boy, on Mon 21 Sep 1:20PM

  7. Mark Hughes: quote: "comming on to the pitch is­ unacceptable" is punching someone in the face­ while they could not defend themselves­ "unacceptable" is booting a man on the ground­ in the face "unacceptable" Hughes never­ mentioned this term when his out of control thuggish­ players were doing their dirty work, Hughes is­ delusional

    From Solly, on Mon 21 Sep 1:07PM
  8. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Dooooooooooooooooooo you love?­ horse????????????????????? I am a pr etty woman who?­ loves horse very much and i love to meet someone spe?­ cial who loves horse, too. I recently joined?­ ~~~ridermeet, c om ~~~ becasue i just heard that it?­ the best, largest and most effective site for si ngle?­ horse lovers and friends in the world! I just want to?­ try it out.

    From dsmglemrerkldm3, on Mon 21 Sep 1:02PM

  9. So !!!! neville is a "lunatic" at least he­ didn't kick someone in the face while he was on the­ ground, at least he didn't punch someone in the­ face while he was being held, mark hughes, if you want­ to know who the lunatic is ,its your players, who are­ the most cowardly in the land

    From Solly, on Mon 21 Sep 1:02PM

  10. John- yeah maybe we United fans wouldn't have­ agreed with that, but by now, it would have been­ history, cos we will forget it and look forward to­ winning other matches. But i bet you City fans would­ keep complaining till next season.

    From Koolgoody, on Mon 21 Sep 1:00PM

  11. One thing you all refuse to understand and see is that,­ the two clubs had the same score; 3:3. The additional­ minute gave them time to score more and earn the­ 3points. If the match had ended with a score of 3:3,­ Hughes wouldn't have minded. He won't even­ question the additional time. If also City had­ capitalised by scoring 1 more goal to win United by a­ 4:3, Hughes also wouldn't have been complaining­ about that additional time. You LOST!

    From Koolgoody, on Mon 21 Sep 12:58PM

  12. khalidallaoui- yeah you're right. That was a­ mistake. It was truly United vs Hotspur. But you are­ completely wrong about the Fletcher issue.

    From Koolgoody, on Mon 21 Sep 12:54PM

  13. If Man City scored the winner yesterday with 6 mins­ played over the 90,would all you Man Utd agree with­ that?I doubt it very much,it seems to me that all the­ Man Utd fans have the same watch as Alex.When a late­ goal is scored for you that's okay but when a late­ goal goes against you everyone starts pointing at the­ watch.I'm a Liverpool fan and i will always call it­ as it is even where my own team is concerned so come on­ you Man Utd fans, start calling it as it is and stop­ being so biased.J D Navan

    From John, on Mon 21 Sep 12:18PM

  14. good to see neville celebrate like he did, it's­ reassuring to know that some players at least are­ passionate about football and winning local derby­ games...

    From Stench, on Mon 21 Sep 12:11PM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    koolgoody p scholes was sent off against spurs not­ arsenal where fletcher should have been sent off

    From khalidallaoui, on Mon 21 Sep 12:10PM

  16. @ mgdada... I think you should avoid using big words­ unless you can spell them!

    From outfielda, on Mon 21 Sep 12:04PM

  17. This is not the first time G Neville over celebrated­ when his team scored.He did the same against the Pool­ and he was on the pitch that time.Forget the­ passion,club captain and all the other attributes that­ everyone else says he has.He is a wind up merchant and­ the 2 teams he over celebrates against (liverpool and­ Man City)are main rivals to Man Utd.If Owen scored the­ winner against Hull(no disrespect) yesterday id say­ Neville would have just clapped his hands.So i­ don't agree with the other comments about Neville­ being a passionate Man Utd fan.J D Navan

    From John, on Mon 21 Sep 11:57AM

  18. Howard Webb's definitely off my Xmas card list! He­ consistently gets it wrong and Spurs pay the price­ AGAIN.. (He should have awarded 3 penalties (2 to Spurs­ and 1 to Chelsea) and about 4 yellow cards
    Now that­ he's off my list, how about putting hom back on the­ "Conference" list of Referees... Oh no,­ can't do that... why spoil their games too ??!!!­ (Maybe women's hockey will have him?)

    From dennis, on Mon 21 Sep 11:32AM

  19. Michael Owen, welcome to­ Manchester!!!
    HALLELUJAH!!!..GGMU!!!...cherio..:)..

    From Those Rats likes Bin dippin for free Cheeseburger, on Mon 21 Sep 11:30AM

  20. poor man city..haha..loser..born to be a loser..

    From ayee, on Mon 21 Sep 11:20AM
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