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Talking a good game
1st September 2008

TALKING A GOOD GAME

"The referee was too strict."
Cuban taekwondo coach Leudis Gonzalez after seeing Angel Matos respond to being disqualified by kicking the referee in the face.

"If a player didn't want to play for me, I'd drive him myself to wherever he wants to go, just to get rid of him. I had a player two years ago when I got my job who I heard had been speaking to another club and I just sold him and said, 'off you go', and he went 'OK' and off he popped."
Sunderland boss Roy Keane doesn't suffer fools gladly.

"Usain's my good little friend. He's my nightclub partner when we are on holiday back in Jamaica and we go for a night out - although he's by far the better dancer."
Stoke forward and former Hearts man Ricardo Fuller on going dancing with Usain Bolt, the fastest man in the world.

MURRAY SURVIVES US OPEN SCARE

British number one Andy Murray looked to be heading out of the US Open after losing the first two sets to Jurgen Melzer in their third round tie.

However the Scot managed to fight his way back to victory, eventually winning 6-7 (5-7) 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 6-3 in a five-set thriller.

Long gone are the days when Andy Murray was regarded as merely a promising youngster who struggled to go the distance in hard-fought encounters. The Dunblane dynamo was again flexing his bulging biceps after clinching victory against Melzer, in tribute to his intensive fitness regime that has allowed him to step up to the next level in world tennis.

The big question will be how much Andy has left in the tank. The US Open is probably the most-suited major to his game but whether he can get close to the final this year remains to be seen. He is far from playing his best tennis but if he racks up another couple of wins you just never know.

ANOTHER THREE POINTS FOR THE DONS

Darren Mackie's strike two minutes before half-time was enough to earn Jimmy Calderwood's men all three points against St Mirren. Jamie Langfield had to be at his best to deny Billy Mehmet on a couple of occasions to help the Reds hold on for the win.

After the disappointment of losing to Inverness Caley on the opening day of the season the Dons have showed some decent form to pick up two victories over the Buddies and Motherwell, as well as a draw against Rangers. The Dons will now look to build on this promising start in their next two home games against Hamilton and Dundee United.

While in an absolutely absorbing Old Firm encounter, Rangers came out on top with a 4-1 thrashing of their eternal rivals in a match that included red cards, goalkeeping blunders and terrific goals.

Kenny Miller returned to haunt his former side by netting twice while Pedro Mendes and Daniel Cousin ensured Rangers would record their most impressive win at Celtic Park in recent times.

Goalkeeper Artur Boruc had a game to forget and was at fault for two of Rangers' goals. However Celtic fans may point the finger of blame at Jan Vennegoor of Heesselink who got himself dismissed only a couple of minutes after the visitors had been dismissed to ten men.

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