Six degrees of soccer separation
Ryan Giggs' new Manchester United contract kicks off this week's review
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Tuesday, 23, Oct 2007 05:50
A week is a long time in football...
InTheNews' looks back at the last seven days' news from the world of football.
The last week began with veteran Ryan Giggs signing a new contract with Manchester United and ended with another United - Newcastle this time - adding to the woes of Tottenham Hotspur.
As the six degrees of separation theory goes, everything in between is inextricably linked. Here we go...
Tuesday
Ryan Giggs was left to celebrate this time last week when he signed a new contract at Manchester United, which is likely to cement his future - and his career - as being a one-club man.
Giggs is part of a dying breed in today's world where big-name players move clubs for big-time paydays. But the Welsh winger has been at Old Trafford since the beginning and witnessed the ups and downs (though mostly ups) of being a United star, from their illustrious start to life in the newly-formed English Premier League to their being crowned champions of Europe in 1999, and beyond.
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Wednesday
Giggs set up the equalising goal for Teddy Sheringham in that famous Champions League final victory against Bayern Munich eight years ago.
Sheringham is a former Tottenham Hotspur stalwart and hero of the terraces at White Hart Lane, and on Wednesday the north London club announced that vice-chairman Paul Kemsley would be resigning his post on the board.
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Thursday
Kemsley leaving the club is further upheaval at a difficult time for Spurs, both on and off the field.
Manager Martin Jol is under pressure to get results after it emerged in the press that the board had targetted Sevilla coach Juande Ramos to take over because they had no confidence in the Dutchman.
One of the reasons for this is Tottenham's worryingly leaky defence, which is shipping goals like nobody's business and is the main reason for the club languishing in the relegation zone.
And it emerged last Thursday that Russia coach Guus Hiddink had a similar opinion of England prior to their 2-1 defeat in Moscow, saying he thought putting pressure on the back four would create chances - which, as we all know, it did.
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Friday
Following England's disappointing showing in Russia, manager Steve McClaren came in for a pretty rough ride in the press the next day.
Many pundits and most fans were calling for his head, if not immediately then as soon as the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign is over - regardless of the result.
But McClaren found a somewhat unexpected rock of support for his regime - Croatia coach Slaven Bilic.
England play Croatia at Wembley knowing nothing less than a win will do. And perhaps it is some kind of sly way to get England to stick with a below-par coach, but Bilic was nothing but complimentary about McClaren.
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Saturday
Between 1997 and 2000 Bilic played for his last ever English club, Everton.
But, on Saturday, the blue half of Merseyside did not have a good day as they suffered a controversial 2-1 defeat to local rivals Liverpool at Goodison Park.
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Everton manager David Moyes' comments on the controversial incidents during the game are also worth a read.
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Sunday
While Bilic would have been downhearted at Everton's loss, one man who was likely to have raised a smile would have been former Reds schoolboy Michael Owen - now a star at Newcastle United.
On Sunday the England striker hit out at what he claims were press misrepresentations suggesting he values his country over his club.
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Monday
And finally on Monday, Mr Jol saw another nail hammered into his managerial coffin by Owen's current club as the Magpies easily dispatched a poor Tottenham Hotspur side 3-1 at St James' Park.
The bell tolls ever louder at the Lane.
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Alistair Potter