UEFA CL - Manchester United vs Celtic - Oct 21
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THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN (I)
VS 
Manchester United vs Celtic
UEFA Champions League
Tuesday 21 Oct 2008
Channel 23: 02:45 am - (Live) (Wed Morning)
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We’ll all enjoy Old Trafford - and not just for the football
The old maestro and the young pretender are about to cross swords again. Whenever Sir Alex Ferguson and Gordon Strachan are due to face each other across dugouts, there is always relish in the media, partly due to some famous narking between the two which broke out in the past. Strachan this week was keen that we should move on from this, but football is all about the drama and the personalities involved, and so the Ferguson-Strachan plot has remained irresistible.
Strachan and Celtic have plenty to worry about ahead of tomorrow night’s Champions League encounter at Old Trafford. For one thing, just getting a team on the park with two strikers will be a start. The Scottish champions are riven by injuries, and the truth is, there is potential for Strachan’s team to be humiliated in Manchester.
But it is the unspoken tension between Ferguson and Strachan, and the natural clash of their two prickly personalities, which will be equally enjoyable to watch over the next 48 hours. “Look, it’s boring, it’s tedious, and we’ve both moved on from that,” Strachan protested last week when asked about the bad blood between the two.
Tedious? I’m afraid not. On the contrary, these types of spat are the stuff of fascination in sport. It stems back years, to when Ferguson was a fiery, sometimes malevolent dictator in his role as manager of Aberdeen in the 1980s, and Strachan was his little genius-midfielder, loving his football and respecting his manager, but with the faintest whiff of a human rights infringement in his nostrils.
These were the days before the Bosman ruling, when footballers were still treated like fatstock by their clubs, to be shunted around when and where a manager or club chairman decreed. Back then the tension between Strachan and Ferguson simply grew and grew, as both recognised the worth of the other, almost to a point of resentment.
Then in 1985, while agitating to leave Aberdeen much to Ferguson’s fury, Strachan got involved in a daft episode when, via a foreign agent, he promised his services to Cologne the following season. With hindsight, and in a peculiar way, this was only a foretaste of how it would be for footballers of the future, but at the time none of that assuaged Ferguson, despite the political radical that he claimed to be back in 1985. On the contrary, he went berserk at Strachan.
When their paths diverged and then met again at Manchester United three years later, another incident took place, with Ferguson again accusing Strachan of being slippery and downright devious while negotiating a transfer away from Manchester United to, of all clubs, Lens in France. It was a second piece of Strachan skul-duggery which fixed in Ferguson’s mind his distrust of his former protégé, and which later became the origin of the following barbed comments in his autobiography.
“I always knew there was a cunning streak in Strachan,” Ferguson wrote. “But I never imagined he could pull such a stroke on me [negotiating behind Ferguson’s back] after everything I had done for him. I decided that this man could not be trusted an inch. He could break his word without a qualm, it was sickening. I would never be able to have full trust in Strachan again and I wouldn’t want to expose my back to him in a hurry.”
It wouldn’t do to blithely take these words of Ferguson as gospel – they were evidently written with a certain emotional indignation, and Strachan has offered his counter to Ferguson’s version of events in his own autobiography. Nonetheless, when you read these withering words of Ferguson, it is faintly comical to imagine the pair, as Strachan claims they do, sitting down today and chuckling over cups of tea together. Yes, the past is in the past, but the football community doesn’t forget.
Ferguson is proud of all his former pupils who drifted into management – Strachan, Alex McLeish, Willie Miller, Mark McGhee, Mark Hughes, Steve Bruce, Eric Black and others – but the Celtic manager remains the one with an asterisk beside his name in the Manchester United manager’s mind. Deep down, Ferguson would be quite happy if his side gave Celtic a mauling tomorrow evening, if only to reassert his superiority over his former upstart. There remains, too, a sense of grievance in Ferguson about Celtic’s 1-0 win the last time the sides met – however improbable that victory was on the night – thanks to Shunsuke Nakamura’s goal back in November 2006.
We will all enjoy Old Trafford tomorrow evening, and not just for the football. There will be far more going on than that.
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Evra fights for United return
MANCHESTER UNITED hope to have Patrice Evra back for tomorrow's Battle of Britain with Celtic.
The left-back was forced off during Saturday’s win over West Brom after aggravating his hamstring problem.
But Evra was doing some light jogging today to test out his injury ahead of the Champions League match.
Boss Alex Ferguson is hoping to have the French ace back as they attempt to stay top of Group E.
John O'Shea is likely to come in if Evra fails to return in time.
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Must must must watch, so dam caught up with work work work i can't find the time to watch soccer live :(
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Manchester United without Patrice Evra for 'England v Scotland' game with Celtic
Manchester United will be without Patrice Evra when they face Celtic at Old Trafford, a game Sir Alex Ferguson still sees as "England vs Scotland".
The France international suffered a hamstring strain against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday and Ferguson has decided his involvement is too risky. John O'Shea is likely to replace Evra.
Ferguson could also include Argentina's Carlos Tevez and Brazil midfielder Anderson, but believes the cosmopolitan nature of both squads will not detract from the cross-border rivalry.
Ferguson's Rangers past adds even more spice to meetings between the two sides, as does his uneasy relationship with Celtic manager Gordon Strachan. "What I relish is that it's going to be a game of fervour because Celtic play with a big heart," said Ferguson. "They always have done."
The two sides were drawn in the same Champions League group in 2006, with Celtic famously winning 1-0 in Glasgow. But Ferguson believes his Champions League holders are a far more formidable proposition today.
"Last time we could have scored more goals in the home game but at Celtic Park we forgot the essential issue of putting the ball in the net," Ferguson said. "We played brilliant football but forgot the real reason for going to a game of football is to win it.
"We're a more mature side now and have a more complete squad," he added. "I don't think Celtic have changed much. At home they have one of the best records in Europe and their away form is still one of the worst.
"Celtic will be fired up because their fans demand that. Their supporters will always have an expectation of their team to attack. I don't think Celtic will come here to attack but they will have a go when they can."
Celtic will be most fearful of Rooney, who is enjoying some of the best form of his career. "The team are really helping me in everything I do at the moment," he said. "Hopefully that will continue and I can help this team win some more trophies."
Rooney failed to score in United's first seven games this season, but has now scored eight goals in his last six.
"Wayne does tend to score goals in spurts which is probably a sign of his immaturity," Ferguson said. "He's young so he'll have a barren spell again and then come back to scoring. But when he gets older his scoring will spread out better. I think that's a natural thing that will happen."
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2 hr 30 mins more!
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Originally posted by Dead_Man_Inc:
2 hr 30 mins more!
its 1 hr and 30 mins more.
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Originally posted by Pitot:
its 1 hr and 30 mins more.
eh ya pai seh, count wrongly
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i was like wtf, so long to go. heng ah.
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haha, i now abit blur already
drinking kopi to tahan~
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This is going to be an interesting match, can't wait for it to start...
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United don't even have Rio on the bench for this match... Evens steps in... Hope he has another good match.
Tevez again on the bench...
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jialat, short of 2 regulars for our defence tonight
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But I think the match will be played more in the Celtic half tho... So maybe give Rio a rest cos he has been playing for England and United recently non-stop and they have an early match on Sat against Everton...
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hopefully its an exciting one
but have to look out for nakamura's free kicks
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Boruc ftfw~!
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Half time now!
Manchester United 1 : 0 Celtic
Berba with another tap in, wonder if its offside? Fletcher should have score instead of blasting over. Now awaiting second half!
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Full time
Manchester United 3 : 0 Celtic
Its Berba again, scoring the goal after Celtic's keeper punch out Ronaldo's free kick. Third goal was by the in form Rooney with an assist from Tevez!
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Nani had a darn good game.
Evans was very solid again. good prospect. good thing that pique left. xD
I really wanted tevez to score. he deserves the price.
And yes, i purposely left out berbatov.
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Was dam tired so I slept after the 1st half.
Berba is the perfect striker for MU IMHO.
Poaching goals from out of no where! -
I agree that Berbatov has kinda got to my liking ABIT only..nice goals from him..got power and accuracy...but his goal celebrations...pls ah..ask him change la..
sibei cocky like that.. -
by the way, i was being sarcastic ah
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Originally posted by Master -_-:
I agree that Berbatov has kinda got to my liking ABIT only..nice goals from him..got power and accuracy...but his goal celebrations...pls ah..ask him change la..
sibei cocky like that..
i agree, he should be like Nani celebrating his goals hahaha!
btw when i turned on the tv, i thought MU was playing against Aus! Their away jersey sucks hahaha! -
Berbatov's style is such a pleasing to watch... The way he move on the pitch and controls the ball... was just great... His passing and vision is also very good...
I have no doubt that he will hit their target of 15 to 20 goals this season...