March 19 ... Emre's D-Day
Last updated : 04 March 2007 By Footy Mad - Editor
The Newcastle player has been found guilty, and this is his appeal, and sadly I don't think anything has changed to boost his hopes.
Trying to blame a "culture difference" as reason for using the words he used will not wash with the FA, and since the guilty verdict, two more players have surfaced to say he used rascist words against them!
It is not a pretty picture, and Newcastle have been forced to fly in Emre's parents and sister from Istanbul to boost his battered morale ahead of his FA hearing.
But Glenn Roeder insists the player will make his comeback in United's UEFA Cup clash with AZ Alkmaar on Thursday.
Roeder: "Emre has got his family with him now. When I flew back from Holland last week, his father and his agent were on the flight. They have come over from Istanbul.
"He also has his mother with him and his sister, so he is surrounded by his family at the moment. And he is such a family-orientated person that over the next few weeks I think we will see him flying again and playing his best football.
"I have noticed a change in him over the last 10 or 12 days.
"For us and for him it is good that a date has been set for his hearing. The uncertainty of when it is going to be is finally over. For everyone concerned, the sooner it comes the better.
"Now that he can go out and play with the other players, he has picked himself up. He will be back in full training on Monday and I'm hoping he will be available for AZ.
"Having watched the Dutch team, I think it will be a real passing game over both legs and I know he will be an important player for us.
"He still has a very big part to play in our season and he wants to. I speak to him regularly in one-to-ones in my office. He is desperate to get back on the pitch; absolutely desperate. He wants to play football again. That is what he is very good at and what he loves."
