Premier League

FORMER Manchester United star Patrice Evra has revealed how he almost killed Gary Neville in training.The Frenchman took out his ex-team-mate with a shocking tackle as he sought revenge for an earlier bad challenge by Neville.
Patrice Evra revealed he “almost killed” Gary Neville in trainingCredit: Getty
Evra sought revenge after Neville refused to apologise for a bad tackleCredit: Alamy
But Evra’s recklessness endangered the United icon and led Sir Alex Ferguson to suspend training.
Evra revealed a red mist descended after Neville had failed to apologise for catching him with a heavy tackle.
The Frenchman said on his YouTube channel: “I nearly killed Gary Neville, I’ll be honest with you.
“Sir Alex Ferguson stopped the training about that.
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“So I remember, I get the ball. Then Gary Neville comes and he tackled me. He got the ball but he got a little bit of me so I was on the floor. And I looked at him and he was standing there.
“And I said ‘Gary, you won’t say sorry?’ He looked at me and said ‘f*** off’. When he said that, that’s what brought me back to the streets, the hood. I was like ‘ahhhh fine’. I just stood up. I cleaned my shin. I said ‘game on’.
“The ball arrived to his chest. I go and run and I put my two legs into his chest. He jumped also, so I put my two legs into his chest. He did a backflip.”
United legend Wayne Rooney fumed at the likeable left-back saying Neville ‘could have died’.
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Evra added: “Ferguson stopped the training session. Everyone was in. Wayne Rooney said, ‘You’re crazy! He could have died the way he fell’.
“I said, ‘Next time, he will say sorry!’”
Despite the incident, Evra says he had a brilliant relationship with Neville, who even helped him find a new house when he first arrived at the club. More

NEIL ‘RAZOR’ RUDDOCK played in the Premier League for the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham and West Ham.The 54-year-old former defender also won his solitary England cap in 1994.
Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock scooped £20k-a-week in his primeCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
Ruddock has recently shed seven stone after gastric surgeryCredit: instagram/neilrazorruddock25
Ruddock had a gastric sleeve procedure to help him slim downCredit: instagram/neilrazorruddock25
He spent five years with Liverpool, and in his prime scooped a cool £20,000-a-week wage at Anfield.
But footballers’ wages have sky-rocketed in the last 30 years, with reports suggesting the Prem’s current top earner, Kevin De Bruyne, rakes in a mind-boggling £425,000-a-week.
And Ruddock, who recently had a gastric sleeve procedure to help him slim down, admitted he would not have been able to cope on that sort of money.
He said, via the Daily Star: “If I signed a new contract [now], 300 grand a week, a three-year contract, I’d have a month and I’d go to the gaffer and say, ‘Gaff, this is not for me, I’ve had a think about, it’s not for me…’
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“I bet there’s players out there who don’t want to play because football’s hard work. There must be hundreds of players out there taking a fortune.
“The last six months of my Liverpool career was one of the best six months of my life because I was getting 20 grand a week and Saturdays off. Thinking about it, what a six months that was!
“There must be hundreds of players that ain’t played 10 games that are multi-millionaires.”
Ruddock even declared he would have been “dead” if he were picking up £300k on a weekly basis.
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He continued: “In 10 years you’ll have players saying, ‘We only got 300 grand a week. How can you survive on that!’
“I’d be f***ing dead! I’d be dead if I had that.”
Ruddock recently confessed he had concerns about his health after his weight ballooned when his eating and drinking spiralled out of control.
Razor first suffered a health scare while filming an ITV show with Harry Redknapp in 2019, called Harry’s Heroes: The Full English.
He was told he was at a risk of a heart attack and needed to lose at least five stone.
So he decided to have a gastric sleeve procedure to help him slim down, and has shed seven stone thanks to the surgery. More

THIS former England international made over 500 Premier League appearances playing for sides like Liverpool and Manchester City.But he maintains the best dressing room he ever shared was at Bournemouth.
David James says Bournemouth had the best changing room in his careerCredit: Getty Images – Getty
David James, 52, played for the Three Lions 53 times in a glittering career lasting 24 years.
Starting at second-tier Watford, James spent seven years in the top flight playing for Liverpool.
He then took in Premier League spells at Aston Villa, West Ham, Man City and Portsmouth.
And James also later starred in the Championship for Bristol City.
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But the iconic gloveman insists the best changing room atmosphere he ever experienced was at League One Bournemouth.
James joined the Cherries for the 2012/13 campaign —  Eddie Howe’s first season in charge.
He played 19 games as Bournemouth secured promotion to the Championship.
And with aces like Lewis Grabban and Tommy Elphick in tow, James reckons Howe created an incredible buzz in the dressing room.
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He told Lord Ping: “We had a dressing room of very interesting and lovable characters.
“In fact, the best changing room I’ve ever been in was at Bournemouth.
“We had an amazing harmony. It was bizarre. Every morning we would get changed and train at the stadium.
“There was a lot of banter in there, but you knew that the club was going to be successful because the group of players were so close.” More

RUUD VAN NISTELROOY was a lethal finisher and scored a whopping 150 goals for Manchester United.But the Dutch striker drove Roy Keane mad and got scolded by the captain for four months.
Ruud Van Nistelrooy angered Roy Keane with his appearance at Manchester UnitedCredit: Getty
The Dutch striker explained the situation to Gary NevilleCredit: YouTube The Overlap
And it was so bad that it forced him to change his look to appease the fiery Irishman.
Van Nistelrooy joined the Red Devils from PSV in 2001 – despite initially failing a medical – and spent five successful seasons at Old Trafford, averaging 0.68 goals per game and winning the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup.
Speaking about a row with Neville, Van Nistelrooy explained how he had an inflamed toe and couldn’t run properly – but there was no chance of telling the legendary boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
And the conversation quickly moved on to trying to tell Keane about an injury – and the furious response to be expected – before Van Nistelrooy recalled how his appearance angered the United skipper.
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The 46-year-old PSV manager told The Overlap: “Roy with my hairband, do you remember that?
“He killed me for four months.
“Remember when I came I had longer hair with the hairband.
“I put it on for training. I went into the changing room in front of the mirror and put the hairband on.
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“He was like, ‘F***ing hell,’ and I had enough of it and I cut my hair.
“I thought after one month, ‘I’m not going to cut my hair for this guy.’
“But then every day for two months and then three months I just gave in and took my hairband off.”
Van Nistelrooy left United in 2006 under a cloud and moved to Real Madrid.
He knew his time was up when he was an unused sub in the 4-0 League Cup final win over Wigan and then Ferguson dumped him from the squad on the final day of the season.
‘I SNAPPED AT SIR ALEX’
Van Nistelrooy added: “I snapped at Sir Alex when I wasn’t coming on. I can’t remember what I said.
“The last game of the season, Charlton at home. We needed to win to get into the Champions League and he pulled me aside at the Lowry and told me I wasn’t in the squad.
“He told me to bring my car to Old Trafford and I knew that was the end, I was being moved on. I came to pre-season but I knew.
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“I texted him a year later and asked to call him, after I had reflected.
“I apologised for the League Cup final comment and he accepted it directly. We kept in touch, the apology was worth it with the relationship still intact.”
Van Nistelrooy repaired his relationship with Sir Alex FergusonCredit: Action Images – Reuters More

DAVID BARNARD has been at Chelsea since 2002.In that time, the Director of Football Operations has seen the Blues sign over 3,000 players, from youth stars to world class talent.
David Barnard recalled a crazy transfer story from his time with ChelseaCredit: Getty
Signing Oriol Romeu took Barnard all over the worldCredit: Action Images – Reuters
The influx of players seen during the Roman Abramovich era has continued under current chief Todd Boehly.
But none of the transfers Barnard has overseen in his Chelsea days quite match a 2011 deal with Barcelona.
Before documents could be signed online, the only way to get a deal over the line was by physically signing contracts in person.
And securing the capture of midfielder Oriol Romeu from Barca took Barnard all over the world.
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Speaking on the deal, Barnard told the London Is Blue Podcast: “Negotiations started while I was in Malaysia, it then continued when I was in Thailand [on pre-season tour]. Now you’ve also got to bear in mind the time difference when things are taking so long.
“Then we completed the transaction in Hong Kong.”
After wrapping up the deal, Barnard jetted back to London to collect the paperwork.
He then flew on to Madrid, but with Romeu in U20s World Cup action for Spain in Colombia, he had to fly on to South America.
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Barnard continued: “I got to Bogota, and as I got to the hotel, there was two armed guards.”
He added: “They carried my bags, escorted me into the hotel.”
After getting to his room, Barnard switched on the television.
He said: “The first thing I saw on the television was a truckload of bodies on a bridge, and all the bodies were then being thrown into the water. 
“So the first thing I did was get the chair, put it up against my hotel room, and rather than have a meal, I ended up eating all of the M&Ms and everything out of the fridge.”
Barnard then had to catch another flight from Bogota to the city of Manizales, where Spain U20s where due to play, to finally get the deal done.
Despite all the effort to get him to Chelsea, Romeu went on to play just 33 games for the club.
After leaving the Blues in 2015 the midfielder did enjoy a successful seven years with Southampton.
The 31-year-old now plies his trade for LaLiga side Girona. More

RICHARLISON has hit out suggestions he would have issued an ultimatum over his future if Antonio Conte had stayed at Tottenham – claiming he had a lot of respect for the Italian.Reports emanating from Argentina claimed the Brazil striker and club team-mate Cristian Romero were considering quitting Spurs if Conte had not left.
Richarlison hit back at claims he led a mutiny against Antonio ConteCredit: Getty
It came after Conte laid into his “selfish” players in what would turn out to be an explosive final press conference as Tottenham boss – before he left the club eight days later.
But Richarlison last night took to social media to refute the claims, insisting he was no “mutiny leader”.
Instead he praised Conte for helping him after he joined from Everton for £60million last summer and apologised for not doing more to keep the ex-Chelsea chief in his job.
The 25-year-old wrote: “Questioning and criticising me as a player for my performance is part of football and I get it.
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“However, telling lies about me, I don’t accept! I’ve always had a lot of respect for Conte and for all my coaches.
“He helped me a lot in my coming to the Spurs and, whenever we had a problem (even if it was public) we solved it based on conversation and professionalism — and this he can confirm.
“I wasn’t a mutiny leader against him, it was quite the opposite.
“I’m sorry I didn’t deliver as much as he expected of me and I didn’t do enough for him to stay.
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“When he left, I sent him a message thanking him for everything and wishing him the best because that’s what he deserves!
“On the other hand, the journalist responsible for this awful lie did not even do the least which would be talking to my PR or listening to me. Bad professional and bad character! And shame on you, Tyc Sports!”
Richarlison confessed to having a “s*** season” earlier this month in a lively interview with Portuguese media, having scored in just one game since arriving from the Toffees.
He appeared to criticise Conte and his staff for suggesting he would start against AC Milan in Spurs’ Champions League second leg, which he did not.
Conte later disagreed that the comments about team selection were a pop at him, agreed with Richarlison that his season had been “s***” and branded the forward “selfish” for using the first person “I” rather than “we” during the interview.
Spurs are in flux following the exit of Conte and the fact that the 30-month ban issued to managing director of football Fabio Paratici has been extended worldwide. More