A group of Newport County fans went viral during this weekend’s FA Cup tie against Manchester United after their comedic sign mocking Marcus Rashford and his night out controversy was caught by the cameras.
Man United managed to progress to the next round of the FA Cup following a 4-2 win away at Newport, despite making hard work of it, but one of the standout moments of the night turned out to be the small group of home supporters who got very creative with their sign-making skills on Sunday night.
Just a day after the news broke that Rashford had been dropped from the squad following a cheeky and unsanctioned night out in Belfast — one which he lied about and claimed illness — the South Wales supporters did their best to make light of the situation.
As caught on the BBC’s live feed and by various other broadcasters, the Newport fans jokingly asked, “Rashford can we have your week’s wages?” ahead of his inevitable fine. The Metro has reported that he is set to be fined around £650,000, i.e. two week’s worth of wages.
Newport fans with a great sign vs Manchester United, "Rashford can we have your weeks wages". pic.twitter.com/9pSFw7dFPa
Rashford will likely be fined for his absence and the Newport fans saw their chance for an easy gag — and who doesn’t love a funny sign?
Fair play, you’ve got to laugh at that — hopefully, Rashford’s had a sense of humour about it too.
ADVERTISEMENT
You can also always rely on Newport fans to have a laugh; we still watch the video of that ‘I’ve conquered all the chippies’ chant at least once every couple of months and it never gets old.
As for Rashford himself, the United and England star has yet to address the situation but was obviously left out of the matchday squad after footage and images on the night out in Northern Ireland began circulating online.
ADVERTISEMENT
Meanwhile, when quizzed multiple times by reports on what action the club had taken, Erik ten Hag insisted that it is “an internal matter”, simply repeating, “I’ll deal with it”.
"It's an internal matter, I will deal with it!" 💬
Erik ten Hag responds to questions around Marcus Rashford's absence from Manchester United's FA Cup win 👇pic.twitter.com/fHoGHHWNii
It remains to be seen how big a deal this will turn out to be and what ramifications it will have on the relationship between the player and the United boss, but let’s just say Rashy isn’t the first person to try and pull a sickie.
However, there were some more wholesome scenes after the game as ten Hag also surprised Newport manager Graham Coughlan, a huge Red himself, with a bottle of wine.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Dublin-born coach did joke that he’s more of a Budweiser man but he still graciously accepted.
You can watch the highlights of Newport County vs Manchester United down below:
Wayne Rooney joins the cast of Gary Neville’s The Overlap
Danny Jones
Wayne Rooney has secured a new job just a few months on from departing as Birmingham City head coach, with the Manchester United and England legend being named as the latest member of The Overlap team.
Set to join the cast of the popular Stick to Football online series alongside the likes of former teammates Gary Neville and Roy Keane, as well as the rest of the recurring panel.
Rooney is also set to feature on various other shows across The Overlap channel, including the likes of their regular fan debates and other interviews with athletes and well-known figures.
They announced the signing in true transfer window fashion as well.
As transfer expert Fabrizio Romano quips in the video, Rooney “has signed an agreement with The Overlap” and is expected to make his debut very soon
‘Wazza’ has appeared as a pundit on Sky Sports in recent weeks and has even been spotted playing some FIFA with comedy YouTuber AngryGinge as part of his pro clubs series, but hasn’t been in a steady role since being sacked as the Birmingham manager at the start of the year.
Having already appeared as a guest in one of the most popular episodes of Stick to Football and clearly sharing a strong chemistry with his old friends – as well as the likes of fellow Scouser Jamie Carragher, Jill Scott and Ian Wright – it looks to be a natural fit for the sport-based channel.
The 38-year-old revealed some pretty interesting details about his playing and managerial career last time around, not to mention some of the other offers he’s had since…
Rooney reiterated during his own interview that his primary focus is still on coaching and finding his next managerial role, but for the time being, he’ll be bringing the insight of another ex-pro to the popular YouTube channel.
Speaking on his latest move, the former striker said, “I’m excited to announce that I will be joining my good mate Gary Neville and the team at The Overlap to appear on the channel across some of their brilliant shows on YouTube and the podcast. I can’t wait to get started”.
With an episode from at least one of their series going out most weeks, you can expect to see the footballing legend back on the channel soon.
Featured Images — The Overlap/Wayne Rooney (via Instagram)
Sport
Manchester City star Erling Haaland is now a playable character in Clash of Clans mobile game
Danny Jones
In yet more proof that footballers just live in an entirely different world from us, Manchester City star Erling Haaland has popped up in the popular mobile game, Clash of Clans – and it’s not just a little cameoeither.
Haaland‘s no stranger to the odd brand deal, so when we saw him cutting a promo for Clash of Clans we weren’t too surprised, but it’s safe to say we weren’t expecting to see footballers pop up in video games besides FIFA (sorry, EA FC) at any point this year.
The big number nine is not just a famous face to help push the already hugely popular mobile strategy and city-building game, they don’t need it; it turns out the lethal goalscorer is now going to be an actual playable character in the latest Clash of Clans update.
He even turned his hand to a bit of acting in the trailer:
As you can see, the 23-year-old stars in the new advert which sees troops appear in his home whilst he’s playing the game before being sucked into the game world.
Starring as the Barbarian King, he’s the first real person to ever feature in the game and will be available through a month-long football-themed seasonal event in-game.
When we stop and think about it, the Norwegian striker is pretty much a perfect fit given his Scandinavian heritage and the obvious Viking theme surrounding the franchise – not to mention the fact that he’s apparently been playing the game since he was 10.
He’s also been dropping a hint or two of late, in case you didn’t pick up on them.
Speaking on the collaboration, Haaland said: “I’ve been a huge fan of the game for a long time and know everything about it, so to appear as an in-game character is really cool”.
As for Finnish developer-publishers Supercell, CoC’s general manager Stuart McGaw said in an official announcement: “When we heard Erling Haaland was a fan of our game and that he wanted to partner with us, it was really a dream scenario.”
Haaland will be available to recruit in the game until 31 May, plus, if players raid his village and take down the Barbarian King himself, they can win additional rewards and a place on the leaderboards.
Danny Jones -
29th January 2024 
