Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson defended his squad’s play despite the team receiving seven yellow cards in Sunday’s 1-1 draw vs. Chelsea. Ferguson insisted that there wasn’t a bad tackle in the bunch despite referee Mike Riley getting a sore arm from lifting so many cards.
"It was a competitive game but I did not think there was one bad tackle in it," Ferguson said. "People are saying what is going on here but it is difficult to say anything about the referee. I do not want to get involved."
Manchester United is likely to face some sort of sanction from the FA for the seven cards drawn. The FA investigates any match where a team receives six or more cards.
Reading open to replay after phantom goal vs. Watford
When is a goal not a goal? When it doesn’t go into the net? Wrong. Reading scored a goal on a blown call from a linesman who incorrectly thought the ball had gone in the net when it actually went wide of goal. The goal was the first in Reading’s 2-2 tie vs. Watford on Saturday and now Reading manager Steve Coppell has said he would be willing to replay the game if the league decides to replay it.
While a replay wouldn’t be the worst thing for the league to decide to do, I can’t help but wonder of Coppell would be so open to a replay if Reading had actually won the game.
Nigerian group interested in buying Newcastle
A report out of Africa has revealed that a group of wealthy Nigerian businessmen are preparing to make a bid for Newcastle United. Embattled current owner Mike Ashley has put a £400 million price tag on the team, with the Nigerian group currently possession £350 million.
Somewhere, Obafemi Martins is throwing a party.
If the group succeeds in buying Newcastle, it would become the first African ownership group in the English Premier League.
Inter Milan considers hiring Maradona
Just when you thought that hiring relatives to secure recruits was a trick only used on American college sports, now comes word out of Italy that Inter Milan is considering hiring Diego Maradona as a consultant. Now you might think that Maradona has enough appeal to merit the job on his own, but several reports believe the move is motivated, at least in part, by Inter Milan’s desire to sign Argentine starlet Sergio Aguero, who just happens to be the father of Maradona’s grandchild.
What do you think of the above stories? Does Man Utd deserver punishment for its play vs. Chelsea, or was Mike Riley just a bit too card happy? Do you think the Reading-Watford match should be replayed? What do you think of Maradona potentially moving to Inter?
These are just some of the stories making the rounds today. Please feel free to share your thoughts on these, and any other stories from today and Sunday, in the comments section below.