Showing posts with label Giggs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Giggs. Show all posts

Friday, June 17, 2011

Giggs dismisses Man Utd critics

Date: Saturday 21 MayCoverage: BBC One and online (UK only) 1130 BSTFootball Focus: Michael Vaughan tackles Ryan Giggs

Ryan Giggs has conceded Manchester United have not been at their best this season but rejected criticism of their Premier League-winning campaign.

Only five wins in 19 away league games has led to much scrutiny and Giggs told Football Focus: "Maybe it's because we've haven't played flamboyantly.

"But it doesn't bother us. It's just something we've had to put up with."

The 37-year-old winger secured a 12th league title last week in an Old Trafford career spanning 20 years.

Giggs was part of the team that drew 1-1 at Blackburn to ensure the club clinched a record-breaking 19th league title.

It was a nervy display by Sir Alex Ferguson's men at Ewood Park and typified their uncertain performances on their travels during the 2010/2011 campaign. United drew 10 times and lost on four occasions away from Old Trafford.

Giggs, who made 64 appearances for Wales, added: "It's been a strange season. Early on it seemed no-one wanted to win the league.

"Even though our home form has been unbelievable, our away form has not been the best. After giving two-goal leads away at Fulham and Everton, we were criticised."

The Cardiff-born midfielder was 17 when he made his league debut as a substitute against Everton in 1991 and he has gone to accumulate more silverware than any player in English football history.

After signing a one-year contract extension in February, Giggs looks set to continue playing for at least another season and he admitted his career has been prolonged by longer rests between games and playing in a deeper midfield role.

On the prospect of retirement, the 2009 BBC Sports Personality of the Year said: "I've probably thought about it for the last three or four years because you just never know when the body's going to pack in.

"I have been preparing for it for it four years but I normally assess after Christmas how I'm feeling.

"If I feel I'm not influencing games, not scoring goals or making goals, then that's the time I'd pack it in."

You can see the full interview with Ryan Giggs on Football Focus on Saturday at 1130 BST on BBC1.


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Monday, May 30, 2011

Giggs misses training for Man Utd

Venue: Wembley Stadium, LondonDate: Saturday, 28 MayKick-off: 1945 BSTCoverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live & BBC Sport website, live TV coverage on ITV1 and Sky Sports 1Barca better now than in '09 - Ferguson

Manchester United midfielder Ryan Giggs missed Tuesday morning's open training session ahead of Saturday's Champions League final against Barcelona.

Giggs has been identified in Parliament as the married footballer named on Twitter as having an injunction over an alleged affair with a reality TV star.

The 37-year-old Welshman is not thought to be injured.

When asked about Giggs's importance to United, manager Sir Alex Ferguson said: "All the players are important to us."

Defender Rafael, midfielder Paul Scholes, goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar and striker Dimitar Berbatov also sat out the training session, which was watched by around 200 reporters.

United were beaten 2-0 by Barcelona the last time the sides met in European football's top club competition - the 2009 Champions League final - but Ferguson preferred to reflect on their two-legged semi-final from 2008, when his side kept clean sheets in both matches on their way to a 1-0 aggregate win.

"We showed fantastic concentration in those two ties," said Ferguson, whose side went on to beat Chelsea on penalties in the final.

"That is the key for us. It is an important issue in terms of Saturday."

Ferguson also acknowledged the threat of Barcelona's diminutive striker Lionel Messi, who has scored 52 goals this season and netted Barca's second in the 2009 final.

"We have played against Barcelona three times with Messi in the team," the Scot continued.

"But there is always a solution to every good player. Hopefully we can find one on Saturday.

"They have other good players though, and so do we. That is why it is such an appealing game."


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Saturday, May 28, 2011

Giggs row MP denies flouting law

24 May 2011 Last updated at 16:02 GMT John Hemming Mr Hemming named Ryan Giggs in the Commons John Hemming has denied accusations that he abused parliamentary privilege by naming the footballer at the centre of a super-injunctions row.

The Lib Dem MP argued he had not used privilege at all as he could have named Ryan Giggs outside the Commons - because his name was already public.

But Labour's John Cryer suggested it had been an "act of gross opportunism by a politician on an ego trip".

MPs are protected from prosecution over statements made in Parliament.

Birmingham Yardley MP Mr Hemming named Giggs on Monday as the footballer who had used a super-injunction to hide an alleged affair.

But some of his fellow parliamentarians have questioned whether it was an appropriate use of parliamentary privilege to expose a footballer.

'Above the law'

On Tuesday Labour's Stella Creasy asked Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg: "Could the deputy prime minister update the House on discussions he has had with government and party colleagues on the circumstances in which Parliamentarians should be above the rule of law?"

Mr Clegg replied: "I don't think anyone should be above the rule of law and if we don't like the law we should act as legislators to change the law and not flout it."

Labour MP Mr Cryer went further, telling MPs on Tuesday: "I think a lot of people in [the Commons] and outside find it very difficult to to see exactly what the public interest is in naming that footballer, apart from an act of gross opportunism by a politician on an ego trip."

He asked that the Speaker "reiterate the traditional attitudes of the House towards this kind of gross abuse of privilege".

Commons Speaker John Bercow rebuked Mr Hemming on Monday, telling him that "occasions such as this are occasions for raising the issues of principle involved, not seeking to flout for whatever purpose".

But on Tuesday, Mr Hemming denied he had used parliamentary privilege at all - arguing Giggs's name was already in the public domain, having been published on the internet, and that he would not have been prosecuted for contempt of court if he had named him outside Parliament.

"Privilege is an important issue and it does need to be used responsibly," he said.

"To have abused privilege I had to use it in the first instance, no one has evidenced to me the basis upon which it would have been contempt of court for me to make the speech I made yesterday (Monday) outside the House - and if it wasn't contempt of court outside the House it can not be an abuse of privilege."

'Judge and jury'

The footballer's lawyers have also obtained a High Court order asking Twitter to reveal details of users who had revealed his identity after thousands named him.

Mr Hemming has argued it was that move which prompted him to take action on Monday.

He told MPs he had a "long term concern about secrecy in court processes", adding he was concerned that legal action had been "kicked off against users of Twitter": "Someone should not be able to hide behind anonymity to take action against others."

But he admitted he had not seen the injunction in the Giggs case - Conservative MP Adam Afriyie asked him: "Why he thinks he is the judge and jury on whether or not certain people under court order should be named in this place?"

Mr Hemming is not the only Lib Dem to reveal details of injunctions in Parliament. Last week Lord Stoneham - acting on behalf of Lord Oakshott - also revealed details of the privacy order made in the Fred Goodwin case in the House of Lords.

Conservative backbencher Peter Bone, who told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "John Hemming has had a long history of campaigning against super injunctions and secrecy and if he feels he wants to do that then he has an absolute right - within the rules and regulations of the House of Commons."

But he noted that the Commons Speaker did "jump in and suggest he was a little more careful about what he said".

Last week the most senior judge in England and Wales, Lord Judge, questioned "whether it's a very good idea for our law makers to be flouting a court order just because they disagree with a court order, or for that matter, because they disagree with the law of privacy which Parliament has created".


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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Injunction doubts as Giggs named

24 May 2011 Last updated at 12:24 GMT Imogen Thomas and Ryan Giggs The injunction had blocked the disclosure of details about the alleged affair The future use of injunctions could be in doubt after the naming in Parliament of a footballer who tried to use one to hide an alleged affair.

Lib Dem MP John Hemming named Manchester United star Ryan Giggs in a Commons question on privacy orders.

The prime minister has called for a review into the use of injunctions, calling it "unsustainable".

BBC legal affairs correspondent Clive Coleman said the system was now looking "weak and fractured".

Using parliamentary privilege to break the court order, Mr Hemming said it would not be practical to imprison the 75,000 Twitter users who had named the player.

The High Court rejected two attempts on Monday to overturn the ban, the first after a Scottish paper named the footballer on Sunday, and the second after Mr Hemming's action.

Media lawyers think it is likely that the publishers of the Sun newspaper will try to get it lifted again on Tuesday.

'Law not working'

The player obtained the order against ex-Big Brother contestant Imogen Thomas, who is a former Miss Wales, and the Sun.

The footballer's lawyers have also obtained a High Court order asking Twitter to reveal details of users who had revealed his identity after thousands named him.

Continue reading the main story Clive Coleman Legal correspondent, BBC News

There now seems to be a recipe for melting court injunctions.

The ingredients? Press speculation about the order; publication online through social networking sites; and the intervention of a member of parliament using the protection of parliamentary privilege.

Celebrities and public figures will be far less prepared to apply for injunctions.

And lawyers will have to caution their clients heavily about the very significant risks involved.

If the injunction system is ineffective, the government will have to find an alternative. They are bound under the European Convention on Human Rights to protect the right to private and family life.

If they cannot find a way of doing that, it is inevitable that cases will be taken to the European Court of Human Rights by people complaining the government have failed to protect their right to privacy.

The Attorney General Dominic Grieve has updated the Cabinet following the announcement of joint committee of peers and MPs to investigate the use of privacy orders.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said David Cameron had described what was happening as unsustainable, with privacy law evolving through judgements and information circulating on the internet.

He said the committee had been established at it was a complicated issue and required serious thought.

Our correspondent said if no solution could be found there could be a stream of cases going to the European Court of Human Rights complaining that the government had failed to protect their right to privacy.

Conservative MP John Whittingdale who will chair the committee on privacy, said ministers needed to act quickly.

"The internet is already distributing names of people who have injunctions on a daily basis. The law is clearly not working. And that's not a situation we can allowed to continue for long," he said.

Parliamentary privilege protects MPs and peers from prosecution for statements made in the House of Commons or House of Lords.

Addressing MPs on Monday, Mr Hemming said: "Mr Speaker, with about 75,000 people having named Ryan Giggs it is obviously impracticable to imprison them all."

House of Commons speaker John Bercow interrupted the MP saying: "Let me just say to the honourable gentleman, I know he's already done it, but occasions such as this are occasions for raising the issues of principle involved, not seeking to flout for whatever purpose."

Twitter threat

John Hemming later told the BBC why he had named Mr Giggs.

"Basically when he... showed that he was going to go after relatively normal people and try and prosecute them, for gossiping about him on a matter of trivia, I think he has to be held to account for that," he said.

Lib Dem MP John Hemming named Ryan Giggs during a debate in Parliament

The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, expressed disapproval of Mr Hemming during Deputy Prime Minister's questions in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

"I don't think anyone should be above the rule of law and if we don't like the law in this place then we should act as legislators to change the law, not flout it," he said.

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Carlile said some Twitter users "can and possibly should" be brought before the court for contempt, if they're found to have breached the gagging order.

Continue reading the main story
Obviously the San Francisco-based site did not set out to be at the centre of a British media firestorm”

End Quote image of Rory Cellan-Jones Rory Cellan-Jones Technology correspondent Publicist Max Clifford, who is representing Miss Thomas, said the irony was if Giggs had not taken out a super-injunction, the alleged affair would probably not have become public.

"It's only because of that, and of course the fact that, in that super-injunction that he got to protect his privacy and that of his family, he named Imogen, that the whole thing started down that trail that led to it coming out in Parliament," he told ITV's Daybreak.


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