9th August 2000
9th August 2000 ANDY RITCHIE has declared himself happy with Athletic's pre-season progress — despite their crushing defeat against Manchester City last night. After Joe Royle's Premiership newcomers triumphed 4-0, Ritchie insisted he was looking forward to Saturday's big Boundary Park kick-off against Port Vale. "We are ready for the season," he said. "We have had one comprehensive defeat, which came last night, and we didn't play all that well against the Isle of Man a couple of weeks ago. "But we were good against Burnley and Leeds and we defended quite strongly against Bury. If we had played a full team against City, we would have given them a much better game — I'm sure about that. "It was our last chance to change things, so we decided to protect a few people and now everyone should be okay for Saturday."
Defender
Mark Hotte was one of the players left out against City as he has been
suffering from a slight muscle strain. The 21-year-old will benefit from
a few days' rest and is expected to step back into the side against Port
Vale. Paul Jones will also be available,
although he was a relieved man after being reprieved by last night's referee,
Scott Mathieson. Jones was warned for
a tackle from behind on City striker Paul Dickov and, instead of sending
him off, the referee advised Athletic to remove him from the action. It
was the second time an Athletic player has escaped disciplinary trouble
under the common-sense code of conduct which operates pre-season. Teenage
midfielder Danny Boshell was also withdrawn after a fracas in the Isle
of Man. Vale could be without striker
Tony Rougier, their top scorer as they dropped out of division one last
term. Rougier is a Trinidad and Tobago international and could be called
up for a World Cup qualifier.
Classy
City Weah above Athletic ATHLETIC
were engulfed by Premiership quality last night as their build-up to a
planned promotion push ended in a damp squib. City
swept through Boundary Park on a tidal wave of attacking football and washed
away Athletic’s hopes of an unbeaten pre-season run to match that of last
year. Defeat won’t be too big a blow
for Andy Ritchie, who joked after Sunday’s win against Leeds that he was
a worried man. Last season’s record was
the prelude to an atrocious start in the league. At least this time, expectation
will be at a more realistic level when Ritchie’s men face rivals who are
chasing points, rather than simple prestige. Premiership
new boys City were overflowing with well-known talent, but it was tiny
teenager Shaun Wright-Phillips who really caught the eye. He
was behind many of his side’s best moments, while there were few such bonuses
for Athletic — the display of Carlo Corazzin being one, a crowd of 10,691
being another.
It
is doubtful there will be an attendance to match it during the league campaign. City
fielded a strong team featuring five full internationals and a former Boundary
Park favourite in Richard Jobson. The
star attraction was Liberian George Weah, a former World Footballer of
the Year and around £22,000-a-week’s worth of striking talent. Weah
doesn’t look the player he once was — then again, who does at the age of
33? — but he is still a class act who should be a huge success for Joe
Royle. And, not too long ago, Athletic
defender Paul Jones could have hardly expected to encounter a rival with
a New York skyscraper for a reputation. This
time last year, Weah was an AC Milan player being eyed up by the likes
of Chelsea for a mega-money transfer. Jones,
meanwhile, was a kitchen fitter turning out for Leigh RMI in the Unibond
League.
It
would be tough on Athletic, and also flattering to City, to say the two
players’ backgrounds were a summary of last night’s sides. Despite
the chasm in quality, this wasn’t a case of champagne and caviar versus
brown ale and meat pies. But there was
a feeling that City could have gorged themselves on goals if the hunger
had been more intense. For Athletic,
it was a game to put down to harsh experience and try to forget about when
the real action begins this weekend. They
won’t meet a side of anything remotely approaching this calibre, nor —
if they can possibly help it — will they name three midfield players who
all prefer creativity to crunching tackles. With
an eye on Saturday’s big kick-off, Ritchie shuffled the pack to bring in
four new faces. Craig Dudley was recalled
at left wing-back, Danny Boshell and Mark Innes were in midfield and Steve
Whitehall played up front. The men to
make way were Mark Hotte, Lee Duxbury, Paul Rickers and Mark Allott, the
rejig meaning Andrew Holt moved to centre-half. But,
just like against Leeds, Athletic fell behind within four minutes of the
start.
The
opener stemmed from a loose pass picked up by Robert Taylor, who slotted
a simple ball through to Weah. The striker
was as cool as a cucumber as he advanced on Gary Kelly, persuading the
’keeper to commit himself before sliding his shot into the bottom corner
from 12 yards. Good work out wide by
Dudley could have produced a quick reply for Innes, but City’s attacks
were quick and incisive enough for both Weah and Wright-Phillips to have
further chances. The visitors’ countless
options made it desperately hard for Athletic’s defence and midfield, both
of which were stretched to breaking point and beyond. But
the hosts didn’t help themselves by surrendering possession and, on the
few occasions they did have time and space, being far too cautious to go
forward in numbers. The City domination
was summed up beautifully by their second goal, inspired by a superb move
after 29 minutes. New signing Alf Haaland
sent a slide-rule pass to Weah as he darted in between two covering defenders. Weah
calmly back-heeled square to Taylor, who clipped his finish over the diving
Kelly with the deftest of touches.
Corazzin
had his only real sight of goal moments later — hitting the outside of
a post after John Sheridan’s quick free-kick — but Kelly was again called
into action when Mark Kennedy crashed a 25-yard drive which would have
dipped under the bar. Kelly made another
fine save from Kennedy, but the Irish winger made it third time lucky before
the break when he latched on to Taylor’s low cross and tapped in from six
yards. The fourth arrived in the 54th
minute when Weah sent through substitute Paul Dickov for a clear run at
goal. The little Scotsman drew Kelly,
rounded him with ease and rolled the ball into an empty net. Athletic
had a rare opening when sub Matthew Tipton’s volley was kicked away by
Tommy Wright. Jamie Pollock missed a
sitter at the other end, while Whitehall and Tipton were denied late on
to ensure that City’s superiority was reflected by the scoreline. As
long as they stay tight in defence, Royle’s team have the goalscoring potential
to survive their first season back in the top flight. Despite
this result, Athletic can also enjoy the next few months. And now the serious
business can begin.
FRIENDLY
FIRE IT
may only have been a friendly, but manager Andy Ritchie still had some
strong words for his players after Athletic’s 4-0 defeat. Ritchie
was angry with the performance and insisted that a much sterner challenge
should have awaited his former boss, Joe Royle. “We’ve
had a heated debate, as they say,” admitted Ritchie. “But that’s healthy
and the game may even have helped us. “We
have to learn that you can’t give the ball away in stupid areas or hang
on to it when you should be passing. “We
gave City their first three goals — the first with a square ball which
should have gone forward; the second when Danny Boshell had three chances
to pass but didn’t; and the third because we didn’t do things properly
at a corner. “When you are up against
top-quality players, you have to give yourself some modicum of a defensive
rearguard. “We played ever so well in
pre-season last year and it might have lulled the lads into a false sense
of security. But that won’t be happening this time.”
Ritchie
also thought City’s rapid attacks were a lesson which could be heeded for
the league matches ahead. He said: “We
have told the lads they should learn from the way City played on the break. “They
hit us with pace as soon as the ball broke down. And we should be busting
a gut to do the same, instead of jogging out as we do at the moment.” The
Athletic boss left out at least three of his first-choice players last
night, partly to try something new but mostly to give them a rest. He
also wanted keep a few tricks up his sleeve as Brian Horton — the manager
of Saturday opponents Port Vale — was on a spying mission at Boundary Park. Ritchie
added: “We gave Danny Boshell and Mark Innes their heads against good opposition,
but we needed to make sure everyone would be fit and ready for weekend. “It
ended up as a very indifferent night for us, but we would have given City
a better game if everyone had been playing.” A
happy Royle paid tribute to his exciting forward line, especially star
signing George Weah, who scored for the second time in successive games. “George’s
goal was terrific,” Royle said. “And his set-up for our second was absolutely
magnificent. “The clue to our season
will be how we do at the back. But we did very well going forward — there
were a lot of stars there.”
Scunthorpe
United have taken central defender Stuart Thom on a month’s loan from second
division Oldham Athletic — with a view to a permanent move. The 23-year-old
player looks set for a place in the Iron’s squad for Saturday’s opening
game of the new season at Macclesfield. The former Nottingham Forest centre
back arrived at Glanford Park yesterday and took part in a behind-closed-doors
practice match. “Stuart has done all the pre-season work at Oldham and
did well for us yesterday,” said manager Brian Laws. “He is a big, strapping
centre half who showed he can be commanding in both boxes — and he has
a bit of pace too. “I just remember him from my days at Forest. He had
just arrived at the club before I left.”Thom
failed to establish a first team place at the City Ground and had a loan
spell at Mansfield before joining Oldham for £45,000 in October 1998.
He made 25 appearances for the Latics in his first season there but last
term he was sidelined for a spell by a broken collar bone. Thom is fit
again now and available for transfer at Boundary Park as Oldham look to
reduce their wage bill. But he is still under contract there so could cost
Scunthorpe money if they make the deal a permanent one. Thom’s arrival
puts a question mark against the long-term future at Glanford Park of trialist
Rob Dewhurst who has signed on a monthly contract — but is battling to
reduce his weight. A second new player who took part in yesterday’s private
practice match for United was Jamaican international goalkeeper Aaron Lawrence
(27), who later played in a United XI in a friendly at Bottesford Town.
He will remain
on trial with the club for the rest of the week. Laws was pleased with
the practice match. “It enabled us to get last Saturday’s disappointment
against Grimsby out of our system,” he said. “The players responded in
just the manner I would expect them to. “It was just what we needed as
we prepare for this Saturday’s game at Macclesfield.”
The Latics can
make it to the play-offs ... and that's the view of the man who took them
all the way to the Premiership Joe Royle. Former boss Royle had just watched
his Manchester City side put four goals past them without reply in an exciting
pr-season friendly at a nearly-packed Boundary Park. But he insisted: "They
will be okay next season. The new boy Carlo Corazzin looked a busy lad
and if he can get amongst the goals I can see them threatening the play-offs."
They were of
little threat to a strong City side although they did create a number of
chances. Once again it was the same old story of failing to find a finish.
The Latics were also destroyed by former World Player of the Year George
Weah. He scored the first after four minutes then carved out an easy goal
for Bob Taylor on 29 minutes. Mark Kennedy made it three on 41 minutes
and it was Weah again setting up another goal chance, this time for Paul
Dickov nine minutes after the break. The Latics, to their credit, never
gave up the chase and Wales under-21 striker Matthew Tipton
Thom
set to join Iron
Stuart Thom
has been training with Scunthorpe with a view to joining them on a month's
loan. The 23-year-old defender has failed to win back his first team place
after missing most of last season with injuries. Thom, a £40,000
buy from Nottingham Forest, will be guaranteed first team football with
relegated Scunthorpe. Andy Ritchie said: "Stuart is unlikely to figure
in the side at the start of the season and he needs match practice to help
his fitness." There are a couple of loose ends to tie up on the deal but
Thom is expected to play for Scunny at Macclesfield on Saturday.
Ritchie
not worried by angry exchanges
Andy Ritchie
revealed there was some "heated debate" in the dressing room after the
defeat against Manchester City last night. But he said: "It can be healthy
and there is nothing wrong with that." He also insisted: "Perhaps it is
a good thing this has happened to us. We gave away three goals and we have
to learn how to defend against Premiership players. If we do that then
it won't have been a bad thing." Ritchie added: "Our pre-season has been
a mixed bag even though that was our first defeat in six games. It was
a good work-out and we can also learn how they attacked us on the break
-- we need to catch sides like they caught us. Basically we got caught
out because we didn't do the things we have been doing in our other pre-season
games. We haven't played as well as we did last pre-season and we have
been a bit indifferent. But the priority has always been to get everybody
fit in time for the opening league game at home to Port Vale on Saturday.
"
This is Scunthorpe