The Page Which Would Indeed Love A Good Night's Sleep
Tuesday March 22 2005
'Instead, they fell a goal behind to a well struck Steven Gerrard drive from a free-kick which had looked highly dubious. It was 'earned' by Garcia.' The Liverpool Echo.
'Gerrard scored the first, in the 27th minute, after García went to ground a little too easily to win a free kick on the edge of the area' The Times.
'Everton will argue - rightly - that luck still intervened heavily. For instance, they can point to the fact that the free kick from which Gerrard scored the opening goal should not have been awarded. The referee saw a foul on Garcia on the edge of the box when it was clear he had already lost control and was looking for the award.' The Daily Mirror.
Selling Jose
Befitting a newspaper which apparently believes itself to be the conscience of the nation, The Independent have refused to taken a sensationalist approach to their coverage of Chelski's latest bother.
While the Daily Mirror and Sun settle for announcing that the 'poisonous liar' Jose Mourinho is set to receive a touchline ban for casting aspersions on Anders Frisk, the Independent's back page is rather more dramatic:
''Lying and bullying' Chelsea could be thrown out of Europe'
Such a possibility is conspicuous by its absence in the storys lead, however:
'Jose Mourinho was accused of lying by Uefa yesterday when European football's governing body served the Chelsea manager with a disrepute charge that could result in him being fined and banned from the touchline for the Champions' League quarter-final against Bayern Munich.'
Only later in the story is the suggestion that the club could be 'thrown out of the Champions' League.' As the Indy then swiftly adds, the possibility remains unlikely.
So unlikely that even the Mirror and Sun didnt bother to suggest it.
Ironic Headline Of The Day
From The Daily Telegraph:
'Dickov injury leaves Smith short up front'.
And the Scots' frontline would have been positively gargantuan if Dickov was available, of course
Retiring Folk
While Sven deals with the furore over the summer trip to the States, his Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts are talking of retirement.
Not theirs, you understand, but their players. And it seems that Lawrie Sanchez, who announced on a television show last year that Steve Lomas had retired from international football, may have talked a tad too much.
Lomas has categorically denied ever retiring. And Sanchez has now owned up to an error.
"I did go on the TV show and talk about players who had indicated they had retired from international football. If I said that about Steve then I apologise but what I meant was that he hadn't played for some time because of injury."
It's an easy thing to confuse. And that being the case, expect Sven to appear on Richard and Judy this afternoon to announce that Jonathan Woodgate has retired from international football at the tender age of 23.
Over on Today With Des And Mel, Andy Robison will confirm that Jonny Wilkinson actually quit international rugby 18 months ago.
Meanwhile, John Toshack is rather perturbed at the state of his Welsh squad.
"You have to ask, how is it that so many people in the Welsh side arrived at retirement age all at the same time?"
And you have to wonder if Toshack ever received the birds and bees talk.
"We went to Azerbaijan for the start of the World Cup qualifiers last autumn, 10 months after missing out against the Russians with an average age of 30.
"What had happened in that time?"
Er, they aged, presumably. Possibly by approximately ten months.
Dont Move To Rio
One player who won't be moving to Chelski this summer is Rio Ferdinand.
"There has been talk in the media about Real Madrid and Chelsea but there have been no offers for me while I have been at United and if there were I would dismiss them straight away," he told a fanzine.
"I am enjoying my football. I am enjoying my life where I am living. I don't think I have ever woken up somewhere that is so comfortable since I left London."
High praise&except that considering the composition of Rio's three-club career, what that equates to is: 'Living in Manchester is better than Leeds, but it's still not as good as London'.
For Your Licence Fee Today
Comes news on the BBC website that the semi-finals have already taken place in secret:
'Though United will contest the FA Cup final with outgoing Premiership champions Arsenal, it will surely be seen as small consolation.'
It's certainly no consolation to Blackburn and Newcastle.
Tasteful Times
Full marks to The Times for using 'Looking Forward' and 'Looking Backwards' as their subheaders for their weekend interview with David Blunkett.
Worst Headline Of The Day
'James: England return would be glovely' From, er, Football365. Still, we recommend the site. You should try it sometime.
Runner-Up
'Get Eur Coat' The Sun.
Quote Of The Day
"He is a toerag for doing this" - Kevin Phillips in The Sun on the man rogering his wife.
Rumour Of The Day
'Fifa, the international football association, is to develop its own shops and clothing ranges following a deal announced yesterday with Jonathan Sieff, 38, a member of the Marks & Spencer retailing dynasty.' The Guardian.
Thanks to today's Mediawatch spotters: Andrew Dodd.
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