Ruthless colt of the gringo

Bit of a quiet day today, with few stories of interest about.
On days like this what do the papers do? Make stories of nothing...
Both The Independent and The Times return to the "Tevez is frustrated at his lack of permanent deal" story. Why 2 papers decide to run this story today is anyone's guess, but from what I can see there's nothing new there. The story is pretty much "Tevez is a quality player and x club and y are watching the situation to see what happens. So here's the essence of the story:

Internazionale are believed to be interested, as well as Real and Chelsea, but the most intriguing prospect is a move across Manchester to Eastlands.

Yet, as both papers make clear, "It is Tevez's ardent desire to stay at United when his loan deal expires this summer." So there you go.
And, just imagine, another story rears its ugly head again this morning - Ronaldo? Real Madrid? Srsly? Suppress yawns as you read this, from The Times:

Sport, the Catalan daily newspaper, reported yesterday that Jorge Mendes, the Manchester United forward’s agent, has signed a long-term agreement with Real Madrid worth about £91 million. The deal reportedly includes a penalty clause that would force Ronaldo and his agent to pay Real €20 million (about £18 million) if he does not appear at the Bernabéu at the start of next season.

Having read that imagine what the next sentence is... let's have a look:

The accuracy of the news as reported by Sport is dubious

(That's my emphasis btw) So, we'll print this story and just say its dubious, that'll sort it. It's almost the end of the transfer window, isn't there enough real stories floating around? Or at least silly rumours relating to this transfer window?

There's a few quotes from Rio around, commenting on our experience, from The Daily Star:

“It is easier when you have experienced players, like Giggsy, Nev and Scholesy, who have won the league before.”

Ferdinand, 30, said: “Maybe that is the edge we have on the other teams.”

But, he warned: “It is not the be-all and end-all.

“You’ve got to have momentum. If you’ve got momentum going into the last few games of the season, you are in a good position to strike then. That counts for a lot.”

Sir Alex won't be in charge of the proposed British football team at the 2012 Olympics according to quotes from Inside United, reported in The Mirror:

Sir Alex Ferguson has ruled out taking charge of a British football team at the 2012 Olympics in London.

"No. I won't turn to international management," he told a special 200th anniversary edition of the club's magazine Inside United.

"When I've finished here, I think I deserve a rest. After here, I'm finished."

I'm already yawning but it has to be done... Tony Mowbray just can't let it lie. You get beat 5-0, wouldn't you just want to move on, forget about it? Or would you bleat endlessly? And he's got the red card rescinded, what more does he want? Stranger still given that immediately after the game he said this about the red card:

“It’s a debating topic,” the West Brom manager said. “Some people will say it was a disgraceful challenge. Other people will say it wasn’t a red card. It’s all about opinions.”

Which is fair enough, the panel thought it didn't merit a red. Be happy about it. Why go on about the ref now? It's because its Rob Styles who has somehow become this whipping boy, every decision he makes is now wrong, regardless of anything. It is acceptable to have a go at him, even the FA do it, given they seem to like to overturn his decisions. The Sun labels him "Cock-up ref". I don't even want to defend him, he's not the best ref, far from it, but just because he makes a decision, it doesn't automatically make it wrong, which seems to be the situation we're in at the moment. I've already spent far too long on this subject so I've only one thing more to say (this BBC report seems to have the longest version of his comments) which is that given the way his players badgered and complained to the referee all game and got several players booked for dissent (and given the "Respect Campaign" I don't think he can complain about them) how useful is it for the manager to come out and say this? Wouldn't he be better off saying to his players "don't get booked for something stupid like dissent (especially when you've already seen a couple of your team get booked for it and hopefully noticed how picky this ref is, oh, and while I'm on the subject, don't dive in with both feet, some people might construe that as a dangerous challenge and send you off. Thanks."
One last thing. This interesting opinion piece by Simon Barnes in The Times in which he plays with certain stereo types about us, but in the right way, to make a good point about sport in general:

Sir Alex Ferguson was in a good mood on Tuesday night, never the most attractive sight. Manchester United had just beaten West Bromwich Albion 5-0 and Ferguson was happy because of his team's belated rediscovery of their “ruthless streak”.

He meant that he was pleased because his team were horrid. They were beastly to the poor Baggies. They showed them not a jot of courtesy, consideration or chivalry. The milk of human kindness had run sour, no wonder Ferguson rejoiced.

...

Every victory in sport is based on a willingness - an eagerness - to see the other guys lose. Victory in sport has its basis in a readiness to cause disappointment, suffering, pain and, yes, humiliation. This is not entirely admirable, it must be admitted, but the fine and admirable things we find in sport would not be possible without it.