SOCCER:NEWCASTLE UNITED'S Irish internationals Leon Best and Stephen Ireland have expressed "regret" after being photographed at a nightclub in the city on the eve of the club's 4-0 Premier League defeat by Stoke City but have claimed they had not been drinking when they posed together.
The pair were pictured along with Irish under-19 international Stephen Folan lifting their shirts to show off their torsos at the Tup Tup Palace nightclub which then displayed the photograph on its Facebook page prompting reporters to ask the club’s manager Alan Pardew about their behaviour immediately after Saturday’s game. Pardew admitted to having heard nothing of the incident up until that point.
At the time the photograph was taken, the two senior players had already been ruled out of the trip to the Britannia Stadium through injury but in a statement issued through the club last night they accepted their behaviour on the night before an important game had been inappropriate.
“We realise that going out to a bar was inappropriate ahead of Saturday’s game and we fully regret doing so,” they say. “We were asked to have our photograph taken and we removed our shirts as a tongue-in-cheek joke between friends, but of course the resulting coverage in the press suggests a far different night out.
“Whilst our actions were wrong, neither of us had consumed alcohol and we were out for only a very short period of time. However, with the team having an important game at Stoke the following day, we should never have put ourselves or the club in that position.”
Best, who is due to join up with the Republic of Ireland squad in Dublin this morning, has been having a decent season with Newcastle having returned to the team after a long spell on the sidelines through injury. In his second game back, against West Ham at the start of January, he scored a hat-trick and had got another three in his last five games to bring his tally to six goals in 11 appearances.
Ireland has yet to kick a ball for Newcastle almost two months after joining the club on loan from Aston Villa. The midfielder, who retired from international football in controversial circumstances during Steve Staunton’s time as manager and who accused Giovanni Trapattoni of “arrogance” after meeting to discuss his possible return, was carrying an injury when he arrived at St James’ Park and, just as he appeared to be approaching fitness, picked up a knock in training. Despite his problems, however, Pardew had suggested prior to Friday’s incident he might well be interested in making the Corkman’s move to the club permanent in the summer.
Shay Given, meanwhile, has suggested his current club, Manchester City, just need to make the breakthrough and win a trophy to enjoy more sustained success.
“It’s 35 years since we’ve won a trophy and I think that, with the new owners and the way the club has been structured now, the first trophy is going to be the probably hardest one to get,” he said yesterday while on a promotional trip to Abu Dhabi where the club runs a soccer school.
