Wise After The Event
‘ITS easy to be wise after the event, especially if your name happens to be Dennis Wise.
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| No one likes him |
But the Millwall player-manager was said to be furious with himself for allowing skipper Kevin Muscat to take a penalty in yesterdays FA Cup quarter-final against Tranmere.
Needless to say, Muscat missed the spot-kick, the tie ended 0-0 and the Lions face a difficult replay at Prenton Park.
Ray Wilkins, Wises assistant, told the Star: Dennis is disgusted with himself that he did not take the penalty, but Kevin just grabbed it and you cannot fault any player who has the courage to do that.
To the untrained ear, it might sound as if Wilkins has done just that but football, as Jimmy Greaves has never tired of reminding us, is a funny old game.
If Millwall do win the replay, they will face either Arsenal, Manchester United or Sunderland in the semis.
If it is Sunderland, who yesterday had Tommy Smith to thank for booking their passage with a 1-0 win over Sheffield United, then we will be guaranteed a non-Premiership club in the final.
However, the Sun says Manchester United are looking to bolster their squad, irrespective of how they fare in the FA Cup.
Alex Ferguson has apparently been sending his brother Martin to watch Porto right-back Paulo Ferreira and is lining up a £6m summer swoop to shore up his dodgy defence.
If that means Gary Nevilles place is under threat, then it is nothing compared with Englands rugby players who must fear a big post-World Cup shake-up after their defeat to Ireland on Saturday.
Scrum-half Matt Dawson tells the Express that none of the players was particularly proud of the way they played in the 19-13 home defeat.
But least proud, one imagines, was hooker Steve Thompson who had a nightmare with his line-out throwing.
The hardest thing to stomach for me is the feeling that Ive let the nation down as well as myself, he tells the Mail. There are worse things in life, of course, but to be one of the major contributors to Englands first defeat as world champions is not easy to live with.
It had to be one of the worst days of my life in rugby.
Sunday had to be one of the worst days of Kieren Fallons life in horse racing with the News Of The World alleging that he was involved in a race-fixing scam.
But the Mail says the champion jockey is to receive only a two-month ban after failing to win a controversial race at Lingfield last week in spite of being 10 lengths clear and cruising to victory.
The defeat was made worse by the weekend revelations that he tipped Rye, the heavily backed horse that pipped his mount on the line, to win.
But the Mail says Fallon will only be charged with bringing the sport into disrepute a far less serious charge than selling information for money.’
Posted: 8th, March 2004 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
