Give up on a passing game when you have a player of Kinkladze’s class in the

“Give up on a passing game when you have a player of Kinkladze’s class in the team? I couldn’t begin to think about it,” he said.As the West Ham manager, Harry Redknapp, put it, Georgi Kinkladze alone is worth the price of admission, the Georgian’s touch, vision, imagination and the weight of his passes an example to every aspiring footballer “I could watch him all day,” Redknapp said. From the bottom upwards they are all trying to pass their way out of trouble. “It wouldn’t make any sense to give up on things we have been urging all season,” Alan Ball, the Manchester City manager, said after a 4-2 defeat at West Ham increased the threat of relegation. Ball was standing in a corridor at Upton Park, reflecting on lapses in concentration that resulted in West Ham scoring twice from corner kicks. “The players involved have no explanation for why they were caught out of position,” he said ruefully “That’s the hard part. You go over things time and time again and just when you think they have become second nature, someone forgets and the job becomes even more difficult.”
Not enough, however, to persuade Ball that there is now a case for abandoning principles that were central to his upbringing “No, I won’t be changing the way we play,” he said.

An encouraging feature of the Premiership presently is that none of the threatened clubs favour an ugly method. I know there have been call-offs and I am not first choice, but if you are there, at least you have a chance to stake a claim for Euro 96.”O’Neil, who has been capped for Scotland at various levels except full, said playing in the European Championship did not even cross his mind as he fought back to fitness earlier this season.Chelsea’s John Spencer is a strong contender to start up front while Brown will assess the Rangers striker, Ally McCoist, in training before deciding if he should win his 50th cap.n A back injury has forced the Sheffield United goalkeeper, Alan Kelly, to withdraw from the Republic of Ireland squad for Wednesday’s friendly against Russia at Lansdowne Road.. The 23-year-old defender suffered a serious knee injury on the eve of last season’s Scottish Cup final and only returned to the Celtic side in February. After four full games he was dropped back in the reserves by Tommy Burns and was not in the squad for Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Motherwell.”I got a call telling me to report to Hampden,” O’Neil said yesterday “It was a huge surprise but a nice one. The Rangers trio of Andy Goram, Alan McLaren and Stuart McCall are injured and have been withdrawn from Brown’s original 23-man pool, which also lost Celtic’s Tosh McKinlay and Colin Calderwood of Spurs.
However, O’Neil is the only addition to the squad to complete an 18-man selection. Substitute not used: Hillier.Newcastle United (4-4-2): Srnicek; Barton (Watson, 60), Howey, Albert, Beresford; Beardsley, Lee, Batty, Ginola; Asprilla, Ferdinand. Substitutes not used: Peacock, Gillespie.Referee: P Durkin (Portland).Bookings: Arsenal: Bergkamp, Keown.

Newcastle: Batty, Barton, Albert, Beresford, Beardsley.Man of the match: Keown Attendance: 38,271.. Brian O’Neil jumped from Celtic’s reserves to the full Scotland international squad as Craig Brown left the Euro 96 door open for Duncan Ferguson, one of six players who have pulled out of Wednesday’s friendly with Australia at Hampden Park through injury. He seems able to score goals whatever the system and whoever his team-mates.Goals: Marshall (3) 1-0; Wright (17) 2-0.Arsenal (3-4-1-2): Seaman; Keown, Linighan, Marshall; Dixon, Merson, Platt, Winterburn (Helder, 90); Bergkamp; Wright (Parlour, 40), Hartson. While Keegan got away with selling Andy Cole, it is hard to believe Wright would so helpfully lose his touch if he left Highbury. Bruce Rioch is developing an attractive team which, with some strengthening, could challenge for the title. But he also appears to have fallen out with Wright, the Highbury hero.

Who should the faithful back?They will hope for a reconciliation, and so might Rioch. I would not argue with the bookies.”For Arsenal, the game was a great success, but with a sting For a half they played neat, adventurous football. Their own three centre-back system formed the platform for the 17th-minute second goal which was created by the persistance and poise of Nigel Winterburn at left wing-back.Its scorer, inevitably, was Ian Wright, whose 142nd goal for the club underlined the dilemma of Arsenal fans. Peter Beardsley is nominally filling in wide on the right, but seems uncomfortable.