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Michael Duberry
Birth Date: October 14 1975
Birth Place: Enfield
Birth Nation: England
Height: 185cm
Weight: 89Kg
Nationality: British
Position: Defender
Michael Duberry was a talented product of the Chelsea youth system but couldn't get regular first team football at Stamford Bridge because of the expensive foreign imports. So Duberry moved, when given the chance to join David O'Leary's young side in July of 1999. He cost Leeds £4.5 million Straight away he was placed in the first team but unfortunately he was injured in September of 2000 which took him out of the game for two months and ever since he recovered has found it difficult to get a place in the first team either through injury or the form of others.
His Leeds career prospects were further hindered when Duberry was implicated in the court case involving Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer in 2001/02. Duberry had picked the players up on the night in question after the event. But Duberry wants to put injury and controversy behind him and return to first team action
Michael Duberry Transfer Rumours 15 08 2007 Jose Mourinho's half time gamble paid off as Chelsea recovered from a goal down to win their 2nd Premier League match of the season away to Reading.
Mourinho made his final 2 changes at the break and the response was immediate as Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba both netted within minutes of the restart and it proved enough to give the Blues all 3 points and they were helped by a red card shown to Kalifa Cisse on his debut.
It was a substitution for Reading that led to the breakthrough in the 1st half as Andre Bikey scored only a minute after being introduced following an injury to former Chelsea defender Michael Duberry.
However, there is to be no surprise slip up for the Blues as a very animated Jose Mourinho introuduced Claudio Pizarro and John Obi Mikel for Steve Sidwell and Paulo Ferreira at the break inspite of having had to replace Ricardo Carvalho due to injury in the 1st half.
Being withdrawn so early will have breen a major disappoinment to Sidwell, who was making his return to the Majedski stadium following his free transfer transfer to Chelsea in the summer.
12 08 2007 Wayne Rooney is looking set for an extended spell on the sidelines after Man Utd said the £27 million forward suffered a hairline fracture of his left foot during the 0-0 draw with Reading
The incident occurred nearer to the end of the opening period when Rooney fired a low cross from Michael Carrick just over the crossbar.
In attempting to make a tackle, Michael Duberry accidentally trod on Rooney's foot.
It was clear instantly Rooney had a problem, as he went down and removed his boot.
Although he was able to continue briefly, he did not reappear for the 2nd half, with Ferguson sending the 21 year old for a scan.
Although the United manager expressed the hope the damage would not be too bad, his worst fears now appear to have been confirmed, even though the precise extent of the injury is not known.
However, having already suffered 2 broken metatarsals in his career already, the last against Chelsea in 2006 which nearly cost Rooney a place in that summer's World Cup finals, it could be a big surprise if the former Everton man was not sidelined for a few months at least.
Certainly, he will miss United's forthcoming Premier League encounters with Portsmouth and Manchester City, plus England's friendly with Germany on August 22.
In all probability England coach Steve McClaren will also be without his 1st choice forward for the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Russia at the starting of next month.
Ferguson said, "There was no point in him continuing because there is a lot of swelling and he has quite a lot of pain."
With Rooney out and both Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer only returning to training after long term injuries last week, Ferguson seems certain to hand Carlos Tevez his debut at Fratton Park Wednesday.
"I was thinking about using Carlos at Portsmouth anyway however obviously, he will come into our thoughts even more now," mentioned Ferguson.
The United manager had no hesitation in saying that his side could have won had Rooney remained on the pitch.
Undoubtedly, the 21 year old was the Red Devils' most effective performer until his departure and though United huffed and puffed afterwards, the nearest they came to breaking Reading's resistance was when Paul Scholes nodded straight at Marcus Hahnemann in the last minute.
"If Wayne was staying on, we could have gone on to win the match," claimed Ferguson. "That lack of a central forward cost us."
The hosts did not even benefit from the dismissal of substitute Dave Kitson, whose appearance was one of the briefest in Premier League history.
Kitson had only been on the pitch for 37 seconds before was sent off by referee Rob Styles for a lunge at Patrice Evra.
"I have looked at it again and his foot probably was a little bit high," mentioned Reading manager Steve Coppell.
"The difference between a malicious, red card challenge and a very good challenge is a milli-second. Possibly he deserved to be sent off however Dave is not a dangerous player."
Although his conservative game-plan, aimed at avoiding the trouncing Fulham suffered at Old Trafford on the opening day of last season, worked to perfection, Reading manager Steve Coppell was upset at the reaction afterwards.
"After watching the guys on TV, I almost feel like I must apologise," he said.
"It does bother me because I would like people to think we are more than only a defensive side. However, your season long dreams can be shattered very quickly here. I could have loved to have gone 4-4-2 and seen what happened however we could have got hammered."
On a weekend when Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea all won, Ferguson's team already find themselves adrift of their major rivals.
However, the United manager remained upbeat, confirming he has no intention of bringing in any striking reinforcements, even though he was forced to pair John O'Shea with Cristiano Ronaldo up front midway through the 2nd period.
"There is no criticism at all today," he said. "We did everything we could; played with good panache and urgency and good tempo. It was everything you look for in the 1st game of the season, we only did not get the goal."
Kitson was stunned by his dismissal and urged Styles to look at it again.
He informed Sky Sports News, "I cannot think it was a straight red card and I'd implore Rob Styles to have a 2nd look at it. I know I caught him (Evra), I was trying so desperately to stop him clearing the ball up the pitch...sometimes you are successful and sometimes you miss. The last words to me were 'show passion on the pitch, stop them playing and attempt to sneak a goal'. It is a yellow card, however a straight red...I am lost for words."
12 08 2007 Man Utd dominated the game however lacked a clinical finisher on the day, something to which Ferguson was quick to point out as the main reason behind the 0-0 result.
'Well its there for everyone to see, we had so much possession and we had to take our chances however it was not our day. We had good movement in the 1st half and made good chances in the 2nd half, however credit to [Reading] they battled, fought and scrapped.'
Reading's man of the match was goalie Marcus Hahnemann, who after battling back from a pre season hand injury made a few vital saves and was understandably elated.
'United are an unbelievable side and with only 10-men it is a good result to get a draw here."
Upon being questioned about Reading's negative tactics the American responded by emphasising the situation his team faced.
'No, we came to get a result, we think we could have got one, however it was not our day up-front however we played well to get a draw.'
Team mate Michael Duberry was equally as happy with the result as he admitted that the man to man system Reading used was hard to implement however paid off in the end.
'Going man-for man is hard – I think I lost about 2 stone out there! – however it was testing going 10-men down because we had no outlet, however we stuck it out and luckily got a point.'
A further headache for Ferguson could be the extent of Wayne Rooney's foot injury which worryingly occurred on his previously injured left foot, however the Scot played down the fears of a long term absence.
'We'll send him for a scan, however I cannot tell you how long he will be out for – it does not look like the metatarsal – however he would not walk so we were not going to take any chances, however we have Ole and Tevez to come into the team so we will not be looking for a new striker'
Ferguson also pointed to Rooney's half time substitution as a pivotal point behind his team's inability to finish the chances they created
'If Rooney was on the pitch we could have won the match, however with him off injured we had no central striker'
12 08 2007 10 man Reading earned an excellent goalless draw at Old Tafford as champions Man Utd slipped up on the opening day.
United wasted several good chances and Royals keeper Marcus Hahnemann made a string of important saves as Steve Coppell's side frustrated United, who have a big worry over Wayne Rooney after the forward limped out of the action at half time.
It is unclear how bad Rooney's injury is however he was clutching his foot after a clash with Michael Duberry and Alex Ferguson will wait nervously to see how he is after the problem is assessed.
It was a memorable start to the season for Reading, though, inspite of Dave Kitson being sent off for a poor tackle on Patrice Evra only 37 seconds after coming on as a substitute in the 72nd minute.
Rooney and Michael Carrick had gone close early on before Ryan Giggs struck the outside of the post however the champions were struggling to find any sort of rhythm.
Rooney then headed wide before volleying over as he picked up his injury however the Royals, marshalled superbly by Ulises de la Cruz at the back, defended brilliantly.
12 08 2007 Wayne Rooney lasted only 45 minutes of the new Premier League season after injuring his foot in Man Utd's opener against Reading.
The 21 year old suffered the problem when Reading defender Michael Duberry accidentally landed on the forward's foot in the 37th minute.
Rooney received treatment on the pitch however hobbled off, bootless, at the interval to be replaced by Nani.
Boss Alex Ferguson mentioned Rooney was in too much pain to stand on his foot.
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