GRAHAM COUGHLAN was presented with an expensive bottle of red wine by Eric Ten Hag – but the Newport boss does not drink the stuff.
The Exiles boss – a lifelong Manchester United fan – was proud of his team after they had the Premier League giants rocking after pulling back from 2-0 down to level before falling away at the end to lose 4-2.
GettyErik ten Hag had a post-match gift selected by Sir Alex Ferguson for Newport’s boss[/caption]
GettyThe Man Utd manager handed him a £230 bottle of 2013 Antinori Tignanello[/caption]
But Ten Hag was impressed by Newport’s performance and graciously presented his counterpart with some plonk.
While Coughlan was speaking pitchside to the media, Ten Hag approached him to shake his hand and give him a bottle of 2013 Antinori Tignanello – which retails at £230 – which had been picked by Sir Alex Ferguson.
The Dutchman said: “We have a small gift for you.”
The Dublin-born Coughlan then jokingly responded: “Brilliant. You know I don’t drink wine, I drink Budweiser.”
Ten Hag replied: “Really, Budweiser? American beer? But this is a really very good one chosen by Sir Alex so maybe your wife will enjoy it.
“Maybe take a taste, I think you will like it. Well done for tonight.”
After receiving the gift, Coughlan told SunSport: “He gave me a nice little bottle of red wine – but don’t tell him I don’t like red wine.
“But we had a couple of words afterwards. He congratulated us, thanked us for our hospitality and spoke about the tough times this club has had down the years.
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“It’s tough for him right now. I told him to stick in there because that’s what we had to do. We had to show character and resilience at times and that’s exactly what he needs to do at Man United. I wished him all the best.”
Coughlan said he was gutted that his County team were not able to at least snatch a draw and set-up a big pay-day replay at Old Trafford – revealing that was the goal they played all set after seeing the winner would face either Nottingham Forest or Bristol City.
He said: “It’s unfortunate we weren’t quite able to reach our cup final which would have been a replay at Manchester United. That’s the aim we had
“I thought at 2-2 we had them. I thought they were rattled, they were doing things that were uncharacteristic. We just needed a moment to happen, a moment of quality, but we didn’t test the keeper.
“The better team won and their Premier League quality shone through over League Two.
“It was just a shame that when Luke Shaw’s effort hit the post, it didn’t go out of play or anywhere except straight to Antony. That was unfortunate for us.
“You need a bit of luck and it just deserted us there but I’m still proud of this group of players.”
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