Chris lays down law
kick-off 7.45pm BRIGHTON’S players were made to watch their 5-0 home humiliation by Bournemouth – and told to make amends in their relegation showdown with Cardiff City.
Albion are just five points above City and the drop zone following Saturday’s shocker, when winger Anthony Knockaert was sent off for fouling Adam Smith with the score 2-0.
Boss Chris Hughton (above) says a frank team meeting left his players in IGHTON: RDIFF: FEREE: AD2HEAD:
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vno doubt about what is expected of them tonight. “We went through the game, looking at the goals we conceded,” he said.
“They know it was our worst defeat and our worst performance – and we have to put it right.
“I wouldn’t say it was a calm meeting because it’s about opinions, but it was constructive.”
Hughton added: “I’ve spoken to Anthony. It was a bad challenge and he deserved the red card.”
vtomorrow 8pm, Spurs lead 1-0
KEVIN DE BRUYNE has admitted he thought Manchester City team-mate Raheem Sterling was a “bit of a d***head” when he first met him.
Sterling has emerged as one of City’s most influential players, with 21 goals and 16 assists this season as Pep Guardiola’s side chase an unprecedented Quadruple haul of trophies.
England winger Sterling, 24, has been just as impressive off the pitch, tackling the scourge of racism headon with his articulate and forthright views, endorsing his status as one of football’s most inspiring role models.
Team-mate De Bruyne, back from injury to help push City’s quest for a clean sweep, said he thought Sterling would be arrogant and flash – but could not have been more wrong.
“I’m a brutally honest person,” said De Bruyne. “So I will let you in on a little secret. Before I came to Manchester City, I didn’t really know what to make of this Raheem Sterling guy.
“I’d never met him and, from what I’d read about him, I thought he was going to be a very different character.
“I thought, well, I didn’t think he’d be a bad guy, really. But the tabloids were always claiming that he was arrogant. So I guess I thought he’d be, what do the English call it? A bit of a d***head, maybe?
“Raheem and I have this strong connection, as we arrived at City around the same time, and there was a lot of negativity about us. “They said I was ‘the Chelsea reject’. They said Raheem was this flashy guy who left Liverpool for money. They said we were difficult characters.
“Then I got to City and met Raheem, and we’d talk a bit after training, and I thought ‘Wait, this guy seems really cool? What’s the story here?’ “This is the real truth – Raheem is one of the nicest, most humble guys
I’ve met in football.”