BORE DRAW GETS RECORD NUMBERS
O’neill: When Milner was at Villa, players mocked him for being a teacher’s pet ..but they’d love to have his career now
THE Merseyside derby may have been a Sunday snooze fest – but it still attracted a record TV audience.
The goalless draw at Goodison attracted 5.5 million viewers, as Everton held Liverpool on Sky Sports.
The figures – boosted by the game being free to air – made it the most watched Premier League game on UK TV in history. It broke the old record of 4.3m who saw Manchester City beat rivals United in 2012.
But Liverpool’s clash with City next Thursday could set a new record again. 653 Gareth Barry 632 Ryan Giggs
609 Frank Lampard 572 David James 535 James Milner 535 Gary Speed
516 Emile Heskey 514 Mark Schwarzer 508 Jamie Carragher 505 Phil Neville 504 Rio Ferdinand 504 Steven Gerrard 503 Sol Campbell 499 Paul Scholes 496 Jermain Defoe 492 John Terry
491 Wayne Rooney
LIVERPOOL’S frustrated players have admitted they must arrest a worrying trend that has taken some of the shine off their title charge.
The Reds were desperately disappointed by a lethargic display at bitter local rivals Everton, which had skipper Jordan Henderson admitting:
MARTIN O’NEILL admits there was a time when he was seriously brassed off with ‘teacher’s pet’ James Milner.
Now, as the Liverpool midfielder closes in on a third Premier League winner’s medal, his former boss could not be more delighted.
It’s hard to believe model-pro Milner could upset any of his managers, but his decision to quit O’neill’s Villa in 2010 rankled at the time. The Villans were sixth in the table, with a wealthy and enthusiastic American owner, and O’neill was looking to have a real crack at the big boys.
He recalled: “Perhaps I took it too personally when he (Milner) wanted to leave because we were getting a lot of money for him from Manchester City.
“He was consistently excellent for us. We were doubling our money, but he was irreplaceable for me. James was going there to further his career and certainly further his future financially. But we were trying to compete with the likes of City and Tottenham at that time. Maybe another season and we might have done it. It was disappointing.
“But I could not be more pleased for him for getting the
“We know we can do a lot better.” The Reds have now failed to score in their last four away matches, and have won just two of their last seven games home and away.
Henderson (left, with boss Jurgen Klopp) believes his men must now shrug off the dropped points – only seven in total now in 30 Premier career and the medals he so thoroughly deserves.” Since making his top-flight debut with Leeds at 16, Milner has bagged FA Cup and Champions League winner’s medals along with 61 England caps and, now 34, there’s still plenty of miles left in his engine.
O’neill considers Milner (with Jurgen Klopp, below) to be a living, breathing, identikit version of what any manager would look for in a model professional. And that’s why he’s so happy his former charge has answered the ‘teacher’s pet’ jibe that was aimed at him by some of his team-mates.
He added: “He can run with the ball, score you a goal. He was terrific. He was never my teacher’s pet, but he was terrific for me. I’m glad he went on to win so much in the game, while I’d politely suggest those who called him ‘teacher’s pet’– the likes of Steve Sidwell and Curtis Davies – haven’t gone on to have careers anything like the one Milner has enjoyed.
“He is like the identikit pro. He doesn’t drink and puts everything into his training and his game. He’s put football at the top of his list of priorities, so it’s no coincidence he’s still going strong.
“Klopp’s played him in virtually every position at Liverpool. You’d take 11 James Milners in your side, if that were possible.”
League matches – and bounce back with a performance worthy of the Champions-elect against Crystal Palace tomorrow.
“We’ve just got to take it, move on and try to be better in the next game,” he said.
“It is different without fans, but we’ve just got to adapt as best we can. We lacked that bit in the final third – we can be a bit more clinical, and will try to be better for Palace.
“We tried to adapt to the situation against Everton, but overall obviously we are disappointed with ourselves because we wanted to come to Goodison and get the three points – winning games is what we are focused on.”