IT'S the blood-curdling tale of horror that will give Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson sleepless nights.
Manchester City, so often the helpless victims in derby-day massacres, will go into the first all-Manchester showdown of the season in a fortnight ABOVE their bitter rivals if they beat Portsmouth today.
City boss Stuart 'Psycho' Pearce believes his team will get a massive Psycho-logical boost if they are ahead of United going into the derby.
And though it might all sound like a tall tale of terror for Fergie - City have NEVER been above United going into a Premiership derby - it will become gruesome reality if Pearce's men collect three points today.
"We're well aware if we can beat Portsmouth it would mean we go into the derby ahead of United in the table," said Psycho.
"From our point of view, to go into the derby unbeaten would be a massive bonus and it's a great incentive for our players to go out and beat Portsmouth in front of our home crowd."
City are unbeaten in 11 games under Pearce, their best run for more than 20 years, and they briefly topped the Premiership after the midweek 2-1 win at Sunderland. Though City are lying third in the table, a United victory at Newcastle tomorrow would put them above their big rivals if City fail to collect three points today.
Pearce has set his sights on a top-six finish after the disappointment of last term when they narrowly missed out on a UEFA Cup place.
"It was great to be top of the Premiership, but it was only one game and we have to make sure we finish as high up the table as possible," said Pearce. "We've seen Everton and Bolton get into Europe, so we've got to have that dream. We've still got to play the top three or four sides at home and away, so we won't get carried away.
"But we've got to be buoyed by the start we've had. We're not good enough to take our foot off the gas and cruise.
"We're not Chelsea, we're the big boys who can maybe go half-cock in some games and still win matches. We're not that good. So every game we've got to be flat-out."
City are closing in on their own modern-day club record of 14 games unbeaten, set by the team back in the 1976-77
IP卡
狗仔卡
發表於 2005-8-27 17:01:24
顯身å¡
發表於 2005-8-27 17:10:05
