Thought I'd get the thread going before I go to bed and wake up for it at 4 a.m. Melbourne time to get ready for "The Battle of Britain", at Ibrox. Tim Howard will almost certainly start for Manchester United. This, I'm 99.999999999999999 per cent certain of, as I'm sure we all are. Kickoff at 11:45 a.m. PT/2:45 p.m. ET Wednesday (and 4:45 a.m. Thursday in Melbourne). Broadcast rundown... I've got it here live, on pay/cable TV across Australia, on ESPN International. And with ESPN2 airing the Real Madrid v Partizan Belgrade game as their live offering, I'll handle the PbP duties. Otherwise, I'm sure that Setanta PPV has the only other live TV on it, but likely for bars and pubs and other commercial establishments only. Audio webcasts can be found, for those of you trapped at work, on the www.manutd.com (free webcast) and www.uefa.com (pay webcast) websites. Will get the news round-up together now, but if anyone else has other information and/or articles, feel free to add them in accordingly...
* * *PREGAME ARTICLES* * * Match preview, from the BBC, with all kinds of facts and figures: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/champions_league/3210020.stm Also from the Beeb... "Ferguson ready for Rangers": http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/champions_league/3203407.stm From Yahoo's UK site, via AFP... "Fortune doubtful for 'Battle of Britain' as Fergie feels pressure": http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/031021/323/ebrd6.html From skysports.com... "Giggs back, but Fortune doubtful": http://www.skysports.com/skysports/article/0,,53-1108197,00.html Tim Howard feature, from sportinglife.com, "Howard ready for Ibrox": http://www.sportinglife.com/footbal...ER_Man_Utd_Howard.html&TEAMHD=championsleague Also from sportinglife.com... "No revenge mission for Sir Alex" (regarding the links between Fergie and Rangers manager Alex McLeish): http://www.sportinglife.com/footbal...R_Rangers_McLeish.html&TEAMHD=championsleague Howard piece on Soccernet, virtually the same as on sportinglife.com: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=281148&cc=3436 Match preview, from Soccernet: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/preview?id=128473&cc=3436 Match preview, from uefa.com: http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/news/Kind=1/newsId=121312.html Also from uefa.com... "No room for sentiment", includes other team news: http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/fixturesresults/round=1712/match=1056838/Report=PR.html From manutd.com... what the morning tabloids are saying, in 'blurb' format: http://www.manutd.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=45336&itype=466&icategoryid=365 Also from manutd.com... "Fergie's View": http://www.manutd.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=45337&itype=466&icategoryid=122 From the Manchester Evening News... "Ryan wary of Rangers threat": http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/s...terunited/stories/Detail_LinkStory=70742.html Also from the Manchester Evening News... "Fletcher set for central role": http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/s...terunited/stories/Detail_LinkStory=70750.html That's it for now-- and wow, 14 articles. More previews available on the major sites as the day unfolds towards kickoff, undoubtedly...
Unless they changed it again (which is possible)... The webcasts on ManUtd Radio are no longer free. I think it was last week they moved that into the pay section of their site. Shame as that was how I listened to most games and without it, it's much harder to follow the games. Any PbP you can do would be greatly appreciated.
Re: Re: 10/22 CL -- Howard: Man Utd @ Rangers [R] Might be worth it to pony up the money via our credit card, just for the convenience of these webcasts. And that's from my perspective. That's as long as my wife will approve me undergoing that spending. My pleasure. And will do... which means I'd better get to bed now, for a four-hour nap.
Re: * * *PREGAME ARTICLES* * * Interesting quotes from Howard and comments that stand out in the article making the rounds via syndication from England's Press Association... Even as an American, Howard is already aware of just how high passions are likely to escalate during the Group E encounter as he prepares for what he describes as his biggest match so far for United. The £2.3million summer signing from Metrostars, an integral member of United's best start to a Premiership campaign, was given a taster of what to expect by a partisan Leeds crowd in Saturday's 1-0 win at Elland Road. The Rangers fans are certain to raise the temperature even higher - yet for Howard, it is a case of 'bring it on'. "In the States it is nothing like over here in terms of the full crowd singing and yelling," said Howard, whose performances have kept Fabien Barthez on the sidelines and forced the France international into a loan move to Marseille. "But I like crowds because whether they are for you or against you, they keep you focused on the game. "It was a hostile atmosphere in the game against Leeds, one I had heard about but never experienced. "Yet it was good for us. They kept us going, and I am sure it will get the juices going again for this game with Rangers." Also: "The Stuttgart result has put us under pressure," added Howard. "We didn't want to take a loss. There is pressure now, and we are going to have to raise our game to a different level (than against Leeds). I think we would all agree with that. "Every time you play Leeds it is a battle; you know it is not going to be easy, because it is a big game for them and us. "If took 80 minutes to get the breakthrough. But we were prepared to work that hard, and I feel this one could be a similar sort of game. "We can't afford to relax - because against Stuttgart we went into the locker room at half-time comfortable, but instead of coming out and fighting we let it slip a little bit. "We will have to go into it and prove ourselves again."
I still can't quite believe that our boy is the #1 Kepper for MANCHESTER FRICKEN UNITED. I mean wow. It's like I'm just sitting here thinking, ManU is playing, so I better read the PBP thread. And then I'm looking at the thread and I'm reading all those quotes by Timmy about his team. And then it hits me, when he says "we", it includes guys like Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs, Ruud Van Niestelrooy, Paul Scholes, and Ole Gunnar! man, I'm still in awe of Tim Howard and I don't think I'll get over this any time soon.
funny but just read that Rangers will have a line up of foreigners no scots at all, wow, what a shame really. The fans will be in it, but will the players ? This is from the Man U site what tabloids are saying. " Rangers will take on Manchester United tonight without ONE Scot on the pitch. The Scottish champions are likely to start at Ibrox with players from NINE different countries — Holland, Germany, Australia, Norway, England, Brazil, Georgia, Spain and Denmark. But there is a distinct lack of Tartan at the club apart from boss Alex McLeish. And former Gers striker Ally McCoist admitted: “I’m not sure the Battle of Britain means that much to the Rangers team. There’s not one player from Scotland among them. When I played it meant something because we had English players like Mark Hateley and Terry Butcher. They were desperate to prove themselves against English teams. That gave us an extra incentive and desire.”
Which is why I am largely indifferent towards this game. If Fletcher plays (and plays well) and United win, it is better for Scottish football than if Rangers win. His development is more important to us than any coefficient points that Rangers might gain for the league by winning/drawing. One of the better events for Scottish football recently was a Motherwell team, largely filled by young Scottish players, drawing 1-1 with Rangers on Sunday. Fergie was watching the game and can hardly have been quivering with fear.
Howard starts, as per lineups from uefa.com and confirmed by Soccernet. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=128473&cc=3436 RANGERS 1 Stefan Klos 18 Michael Ball 25 Henning Berg 15 Zurab Khizanishvili 3 Craig Moore 2 Fernando Ricksen 16 Paolo Vanoli 23 Mikel Arteta 7 Shota Arveladze 26 Peter Lovenkrands 10 Michael Mols Subs (from) 22 Allan McGregor 21 Maurice Ross 4 Moises Emerson 27 Stephen Hughes 8 Christian Nerlinger 20 Nuno Capucho 9 Egil Ostenstad MANCHESTER UNITED 14 Tim Howard 5 Rio Ferdinand 2 Gary Neville 3 Phil Neville 22 John O'Shea 27 Mikael Silvestre 25 Quinton Fortune 11 Ryan Giggs 16 Roy Keane 18 Paul Scholes 10 Ruud van Nistelrooy Subs (from) 13 Roy Carroll 8 Nicky Butt 19 Eric Djemba-Djemba 24 Darren Fletcher 7 Cristiano Ronaldo 12 David Bellion 21 Diego Forlan
Man. United 14 Howard 2 Gary Neville 3 Phil Neville 5 Ferdinand 10 Van Nistelrooij 11 Giggs 16 Keane 18 Scholes 22 O'Shea 25 Fortune 27 Silvestre Bench 13 Carroll 7 Ronaldo 8 Butt 12 Bellion 19 Djemba-Djemba 21 Forlán 24 Fletcher
And for the record, he's on the subs bench. Might indeed be a sad statement about the state of Scottish soccer at the moment, but Rangers are topping the Group E table at the moment.
The game is on (and good morning from here). 1st min. -- O'Shea booked for United, after just 40 seconds, for a hard tackle, late and perhaps from behind, against Lovenkrands.
btw the korean feed will be slow at first but the longer you leave it on the better it gets, by 10-20 minutes it should stay good
5th minute -- 1-0, United. Phil Neville rolls his shot past Klos, after a nice four-man move on the counter by the Red Devils. Phil's brother Gary instrumental for getting things going there. Tommy Smyth comments on the "lax defending" by Rangers-- and yes, they were guilty of backtracking and giving up too much space to Gary Neville and RVN.
Quick start for United... glad I didn't sleep late. 9th min. -- Giggs shoots over, after a nice 1-2 with RVN opens things up from the midfield.