Pat Rice: 'The group is wide open now'

Last updated : 19 February 2003 By Chris Parry
Interestingly the Manager didn't give his normal pre-match interview either, the stadium announcer saying that "Mr.Wenger has lost his voice, unlike Mr.Ferguson who has lost his mind".

Pat Rice was characteristically blunt with his view the game:

"It's a game we obviously wanted to win but we are still confident that we can go to Amsterdam and get a victory there next week. It was exactly the start we wanted but we didn't defend a straight ball forward as we should have done when they equalised."

He was asked why we're struggling to win our Champions league games at home this season, and said in response:

"If we knew the answer, we would put it right. We went at teams last season and we are doing that again. Maybe we are just not getting the rub of the green now."