Paul The Other One

‘WHEN Manchester United are talked about as being the biggest football club in the world, it means that not only are they more high profile than Real Madrid, Barcelona and AC Milan, but that they are a bigger draw than international teams, and that includes England.

United team doctor issues players with emergency guide on how to avoid broken nail trauma

And to prove the point, the Paul Scholes that was unfit to play for England in Saturday’s friendly with Portugal is the same Paul Scholes who last night played in United’s 1-0 win over Middlesbrough.

The Mail and Mirror say that the move has ”humiliated” watching England manager Sven Goran Eriksson, whose face was set to redden all the more when David Beckham was brought off a minute from full time. ”David has had a calf injury all week,” explained Alex Ferguson. ”He’s not been able to train. We’ve had to withdraw him from the national team.” Well, it’s the only sensible option, isn’t it?

And while we curse the cruel luck that sees the England captain limp of a pitch in the dying moments of a game his side are winning, Arsenal’s Patrick Vieira offers a few curses of his own. And, apparently, he likes to aim them at referee Andy D’Urso. So says the FA, and so reports the Sun, which says that the French dynamo is facing a two-match ban for his outburst.

Such tirades used to be called ”industrial language”, and managers and players would chortle about it afterwards. But that was before television made the game into a form of entertainment for all the family, and before the camera zoomed in on players’ mouths. It’s CCTV evidence that’s to blame.

And mindful of that, the Sun takes a look at he Leeds kids who can ”rule the world”. And the players who can, according to no-nicer-ex-pro-than Norman Hunter, are ”Paul Right” Robinson, ”Rated” Danny Mills, ”Hotshot” Alan Smith, ”Superb” Lee Bowyer” and, get this, ”Class” Jonathan Woodgate. Class! Right on.

As Hunter says of Woodgate: ”But this boy has got the lot and I think he is different class.” Class none of it – he’s a whole different category, Norman. ‘

Posted: 4th, September 2002 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink