BotN: Giggs causes concern with ageing legs, tendency to invoke ‘Fair Catch’ rule
Tuesday 11 December 2012 14:10
The Manchester United veteran is keeping it old school, as Back of the Net's Paul Watson reports...
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that Ryan Giggs’ career may be winding down after the ageing midfielder marred today’s training session by repeatedly claiming a ‘Fair Catch’.
Undoubtedly one of the greats of his generation, Giggs has played nearly 650 games for Manchester United and won everything there is to win in the club game.
Giggs silenced talk of retirement in the summer, believing his body could withstand the challenges of another Premier League season, but he has become something of a fringe player this term
Physically, Giggs looks to have lost some of his sharpness, but more worrying is his recent tendency to call a ‘Fair Catch’ in training – a rule that was repealed nearly 150 years ago.
“Ryan has been a fantastic servant to this club and I think he can still be a useful asset for us, but this could be his final season,” Sir Alex Ferguson told FourFourTwo.
“Obviously it’s a worry to see him going up to catch high balls with his hands and expecting to be allowed to take a ‘mark’ from 15 yards in front of the goal.
“I don’t know a single referee that’s going to be brave enough to give that in the Premier League.”
A confused Giggs, who turned up to training in a plain red shirt with a laced collar, flannel trousers and a cap, spent the second half of today’s session in an armchair where he was heard to speculate aloud on United’s chances of ‘giving those Blackheath boys what for.’
Blackheath Football Club have been a rugby team since they opted to leave the Football Association in 1870 – the same year that the official laws of association football were modified to outlaw the common practise of shooting a goalkeeper with a musket at corners.
Editor's note: this is satire and not a serious accusation - all
quotes are fictionalised. But you knew that, because you're not stupid.
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