Lee Clark
has revealed one of the reasons why Fulham beat Newcastle United at Craven
Cottage on Saturday.
For Fulham had the Geordie's former side well and truly taped.
Explained the Fulham midfielder: "Our manager Jean Tigana is very thorough
in all his preparations and before games every one of us is given our own
personal video of the players we will come up against. "So on Friday
night all the Fulham players were given a tape to take home and study. "Mine
was all about the Newcastle midfielders but to tell the truth, I didn't
really need it because I know most of the things I need to know about United."
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Fulham midfielder Lee Clark
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Clark watched from the Fulham bench before getting his first chance to play
against United when he substituted John Collins, another Newcastle fan,
in the 68th minute.
Clark said: "I thought Newcastle started off well and it looked as
though we were going to be in for a tough game after the first 15 minutes.
"But we were really up for this game. A lot was always going to depend
on the first goal and when we got it, we grew in confidence and dominated
things after that."
Tigana finally sent Clark on two minutes after Gary Speed had put United
back into the game. However, Clark missed United's goal: "I missed
it because I was busy tying up my boots. But I could not help thinking that
if they did get an equaliser everybody would blame me but, fortunately,
we soon got that third goal.
"It was really weird for me playing against a team I have supported
all my life but I was moved by the reception I got from the Newcastle fans.
"They must have been very disappointed on the final whistle but they
still gave me a great send-off.
"And while I know it is not much consolation to Newcastle, it took
Fulham's best performance of the season to beat them. "We passed the
ball well and really should have scored more than three goals.
"We definitely deserved to win," added Clark.