SOCCER:ALEX FERGUSON, Javier Hernandez and Michael Owen may have all been left feeling insulted but Michael Carrick remained sanguine following Manchester United's latest away draw.
Tuesday night’s goalless stalemate at Newcastle United left Manchester United seven points ahead of Arsenal at the head of the Premier League but, afterwards, their manager claimed the referee Lee Probert had “insulted” Hernandez by booking the Mexican striker for diving in the face of Danny Simpson’s challenge in added time.
While Carrick agreed with the rest of the United camp in suggesting that a controversial 90th-minute penalty should have been awarded, the midfielder retained sight of the bigger picture, reminding his team-mates that they are firmly in control of their own destiny.
“We are still in a good position. We’ve got tough games ahead (against Arsenal and Chelsea), but they have tough games too,” Carrick said. Back on his native Tyneside, Carrick suggested United could do with getting back into a winning groove when Everton visit Old Trafford on Saturday.
“We don’t want to be looking at other results too much, we want to be winning games ourselves but it (drawing at Newcastle) is not the end of the world at all. It’s not what we set out to do but we move on,” he said. “We just roll on. This is what we want to be doing, playing in the big games coming thick and fast and we need to bounce back in another big game on Saturday.”
It proved a rather more turbulent evening for the former Newcastle striker Owen, who was serenaded with boos and choruses of “only one greedy bastard” when he stepped off the bench in the 80th minute.
Owen later addressed the hostile reception on Twitter. “Got a poor reception off the fans which was disappointing. Was desperate to score,” tweeted the former England striker.
Although Owen scored 30 goals in 80 appearances on Tyneside his stay was punctuated by frequent injuries and he was unable to prevent the team’s relegation in 2009. Afterwards he left for Old Trafford on a free transfer.
“Knew I would get booed as that’s what a lot of fans do,” Owen said.
“But if they knew the facts then they may have a different opinion. For the record, I tried my best in every game for Newcastle. Under KK (Kevin Keegan), I played well. By the way, I’m not looking for sympathy. As long as my family don’t boo me when I walk through the door I couldn’t care less.”
Owen is clearly aggrieved by what he perceives as a hypocrisy among the followers of two of his former teams.
“When I meet Newcastle or Liverpool fans they all respect what I’ve done for their clubs,” he tweeted. “In stadiums it changes, one boo and the rest follow.”
As a former Manchester United reserve right back, Simpson now knows what it is like to feel the villain of the piece among a former public. Unconcerned by his part in that late penalty controversy he is well qualified to assess his old team-mates’ title credentials.
“I still think they will go on and win the league,” said Simpson. “I think when they look back they will see this as a good point in the wider context. Coming up here they will have known it was going to be tough and, on another day, we might have beaten them.”
Meanwhile, Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is set to leave Bundesliga side Schalke 04 at the end of the season after opting not to renew his current contract at the club he joined aged five.
Debt-ridden Schalke will allow Neuer to move in the close season – probably to Bayern Munich who have already asked for a meeting to discuss signing the 25-year-old – so they can claim a transfer fee rather than let him leave for free.
Local media estimate he would cost €20 million to buy from Schalke, who have reached the Champions League semi-finals where they face Manchester United but have had a disappointing Bundesliga campaign and are in mid-table.
“I wanted to be honest and explain my decision,” Neuer said at a packed news conference in Gelsenkirchen while fighting back the tears. “I want to develop further and take a new big step in my career. I want to continue playing in the Champions League, at the highest level. As a person I want to take a step that will allow me to stand on my own two feet,” he said.
GuardianService
