Sir Alex Ferguson will rally his troops once again tonight in a season of some ups and far too many downs. Manchester United, fresh from New Years Eve defeat to Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford, travel to Newcastle United seeking victory, and some redemption from Saturday’s “disaster”. Not for the first this season. With title rivals Manchester City having again opened up a three-point gap in the Premier League title race, Ferguson knows that United has little margin for error in the visit to seventh-placed Newcastle.
United’s injury problems are still significant, but the United manager should welcome back veterans Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs to a starting 11 that failed so conspicuously against the Premier League’s bottom club on Sir Alex’ birthday. The duo will add experience and defensive nous, while defender Chris Smalling could also return after a bout of tonsillitis.
Ferguson must also choose between embattled goalkeeper David de Gea, who made mistakes against Blackburn, and Dane Anders Lindegaard.
Ferguson’s line-up is also likely to include Wayne Rooney, the errant striker who was dropped by Ferguson for Blackburn’s visit. Rooney, reportedly aggrieved at his treatment but willing to accept a huge fine, is likely to partner in-form Dimitar Berbatov at a venue that has been a happy hunting ground for the Reds in recent seasons. United has not lost at St. James’ Park for a decade.
But Newcastle’s improvement under Alan Pardew this season, despite losing key players in the summer, means that it is unlikely to be anything but comfortable in the north east, even if the home side’s form has tailed off over the Christmas and New Year period.
“We’re trying hard to get Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs back which would make a good difference to us,” Ferguson confirmed.
“Anderson should be better. He had 45 minutes on Saturday after four months out. Wayne Rooney will be available, of course. We had a few training sessions which he missed. You’ve got to be fit to play in this league, you can’t miss training sessions.”
However, Ferguson once again ruled out signings to patch up a United team that has tasted heavy derby defeat and been dumped out of the Champions League at the group stage. United’s loss to Blackburn on Saturday was only United’s second defeat of the league campaign – both at Old Trafford – but taken in totality the Reds are now out of two competitions, behind in the league and facing the club’s greatest rivals, away, in the FA Cup.
Ferguson says that the players United might want are not available in January, moving on from a previous assertion that there is ‘no value in the market.’
“The reason there may not be many big signings in January is because the players clubs want are not available,” Ferguson said.
“To be honest with you, who would want to sell their best player in January? I don’t see it happening. There are cases of players whose contracts are running out in the summer but they won’t get the same money anyway. It’ll be well reduced. We don’t need to do anything until the end of January. We can take our time with that one. We’ve got, say, three weeks before we can make up our mind.”
However, Ferdinand says that United’s experience will serve the side well as the season moves into its second half. The United defender, in his 10th season at Old Trafford, was in fine form before a long-standing back injury flared up again in the past fortnight. Ferdinand is likely to partner Phil Jones or Smalling in the centre of defence, with Michael Carrick returning to central midfield.
“It’s all about doing it. Many players in our squad have done things but this is the most important one. It’s not about remembering the past, it’s about trying to create more history and be a part of the history of this club. I’ll be honest – and it pains me to say it – but it was probably one of the best things that happened to us.
“We’ve got a crazy amount of injuries and illnesses, yet we’re still managing to get the results and long may that continue. The most important thing is the way the squad is playing now. The manager has said at the beginning of the season it’s not about 11 men. Since we went out of the Champions League we’ve shown a great resolve in our squad.”
That resolve is likely to be tested again, with Newcastle resurgent this season even if the side’s recent form has tailed off. Although the Geordies lost 3-1 to Liverpool last week, Pardew’s lies comfortably in the Premier League top half based on a sound defence, and the potent attacking threat of Demba Ba. This could mean Ferguson is tempted to beef up his central midfield, or deploy Park Ji-Sung in one of the wide berths.
Meanwhile, Alan Pardew will deploy Ba and Cheik Tiote for the final time before the Africa Cup of Nations, which begins in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea on 21 January. However, Pardew is definitely without Danny Guthrie and Peter Lovenkrands, neither of whom has recovered from injury in time for the fixture.
“Looking at Manchester United’s recent games, teams that have sat back have got thumped,” Pardew admitted.
“They’ve got such talent in their ranks, they’re going to cause you problems but we have a striker in form and a central midfield pairing that I think is as good as theirs. Our back line and goalie have been resolute all year, so we’re in a good position to try and attack the game. It’s important to retain the ball against United, to make them work but it’s also important we make sure we offer a threat.”
Former United winger Gabriel Obertan should be fit for the tie with his former club. The Frenchman has featured regularly this season despite two frustrating years at Old Trafford. Indeed, the 23-year-old has broken into the French squad after the £3 million move to the north east, and could make the plane for Euro 2012 later this summer. It’s a far cry from the occasional aimless appearance in Red.
And Obertan will hope to put one over his former employers while turning around Newcastle’s recent form. The Toon has lost four of six league games since snatching a draw at Old Trafford in November.
Match Facts
Newcastle United versus Manchester United, Premier League, St. James’ Park, Wednesday 4 January 2012, 7.45pm.
Potential Line-ups
Newcastle (4-5-1): Krul; Simpson, Coloccini, Williamson; R Taylor; Obertan, Cabaye, Tiote, Ben Arfa, Gutierrez; Ba. Subs from: Vuckic, Elliot, Santon, Perch, Best, Sh Ameobi, Sa Ameobi
United (4-4-1-1): De Gea; Jones, Smalling, Ferdinand, Evra; Valencia, Carrick, Giggs, Park; Rooney; Berbatov. Subs from: Lindegaard, Rafael, Fryers, Anderson, Nani, Pogba, Cole, Diouf, Hernandez, Welbeck.
Form
Newcastle: LLDLWL
United: WLWWWW
Performance stats
- Manchester United was brought back to earth after successive 5-0 victories over Wigan Athletic and Fulham, with a 3-2 defeat to Blackburn Rovers last weekend;
- Nani covered the most ground for United in that game with 4.9 miles, the sixth time the Portugese winger has been the player to cover the most ground for United this season. He has now covered 108.2 miles for United this season, more than any other United playe;
- Despite the result, one positive is Berbatov’s remarkable scoring record since returning to the United starting line-up. The Bulgarian now has six goals in three games from just eight shots at goal, an incredible conversion rate of 75 per cent;
- The streak has sent Berbatov rocketing up the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index to 135th place, a movement of 189 places since last week;
- Patrice Evra completed more passes in his opponent’s half than any other player in the Index in the last round of games, with 51 in total. Evra’s passing performance puts him in the top 20 for a single game this season;
- Meanwhile, Newcastle suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Liverpool last time out, and will be hoping for a better return in front of home fans;
- Cheick Tiote, the subject of transfer speculation, covered the most ground for Newcastle in that game with 6.33 miles. The Ivory Coast midfielder has now covered 89.9 miles for Newcastle in 12 appearances;
- Tiote has also won 56 per cent of tackles attempted this season and made an impressive 31 interceptions.
Officials
Referee: Howard Webb (Rotherham)
Assistants: D Cann, J Collin
Fourth Official: M Atkinson
If its another horrific team then I’m not watching
U simply can’t leave Nani out tonight! The lad is game changer + a match winner. Simples. I’d go with DDG, RAFAEL, Jones, Ferdinand, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Giggs, Nani, Wazza, Welbz.
Don’t you mean the SportsDirect Arena?
would be a standard taggart ploy to drop one of our best players in a must win game for no reason
If Berbatov starts in place of Welbeck it indicates that we will try and walk the ball down the pitch instead of fast attacking football. If we let Newcastle’s defense setup they can be a burden.
“If you don’t put them in, you can’t know what you’ve got.” – Sir Matt Busby
uncle knob head….such an apt name!
lindegaard starts
young dracula benched after that fuck up on saturday
shrek starts too
come on the reds
taggart is going to turn a top draw young keeper into another foster
oh and I see he couldn’t resist at least one player out of position at right back while a right back sits on the bench
home win
United team:
Lindegaard, Valencia, Jones, Ferdinand, Evra, Nani, Carrick, Giggs, Park, Rooney, Berbatov.
Why should Fergie drop Lindegaard? Lindegaard can only do what’s asked of him (i.e – keep clean sheets) and, if he’s performing, I think we should start him. The onus is on de Gea to improve.
lindegaard is a good goalie and the defence obviously prefer him in goal
unclefuckhead cannot stand SAF’s team changes even if they are the right ones
LC’pnHK 2012
good team line up
sweet pea looked jaded past few games and is best when he comes off the bench
shame welbeck is also a sub, would have liked to see him start
Carrick back in midfield
presumedly you have a long and fruitful conversation with our defenders on which keeper they prefer and why then
good looking team line-up
berba deserves to start.
had
please write coherently uncle
it was at the same venue and time you had your moment with SAF
and are still so sore about it
Come on United.
What the fuck does Park bring to this team? Useless cunt spends half the game chasing shadows and the other half falling over.
1-0 cunts
Jones is a liability – the second time in two games he’s cost us.
Great finish, but Jones beaten too easily in the air for me
but isn’t jones the new edwards, robson, keane, cantona, pele etc etc
ffs
Well he’s no Vidic, that’s for sure
Fergies insistence on tinkering with the team has brought this on us. We were on a roll before the bastard rovers game, carrick in the form of his life, strikers scoring goals, clean sheets – then he has to swap every fucker around, drop Rooney, and fuck us up again. He’s got a fair bank of credit Fergie but he takes the piss sometimes.
are you related to uncle by any chance?
need to make some changes for the 2nd half
welbeck and sweet pea need to come on
and viera, gerrard, ince … all in one. he also shits gold bars!!!
Being a defender is enough.
Berba off, show pony cunt.
Rio is a cunt.
Park… I need say no more!
Newcastle planned the goal. The keeper targets Ameobi who targets Jones. They know his crap ability in the air.
Rooney can’t pass
He can’t even find a red shirt
Jones should have got something on that header cos the other fella gets a touch, so its an assist
Ferdinand shouldn’t let Ba get a leg on it either
Newcastle are the better team because they have a better midfield than us. They have players who are younger, technically better and full of energy. We have tired old Giggs who is doing nothing but giving the ball away. What a pathetic sight we are relying on a 38 year old to reproduce the magic.
No wonder Rooney is getting frustrated. He needs to keep a lid on things or he’ll get sent off and we’ll be in a deeper mess.
SPEND SOME FUCKING MONEY FFS.
Jones left his Superman cape at home and Rio was thinking about his next tweet to 50 cents. Lack of concentration, application and leadership.
Have we tested their keeper even once?
he’s far too deep because of the 3 sacks of shit aka as midfield.
I think Berba looked at him once. Does that count?
I feel we will win this, we have been no where near as awful as some people portray.
aye they are all cunts aren’t they
but you definitely are the biggest
berbs was the only player who had a decent header
rio is past it and was lucky with that pen appeal
park is doing what he has been asked
your golden boy missed the defensive header which caused their goal
stick welbeck on for rooney and sweet pea for berba
it will be ok
How can anyone defend Park on here? He is a fucking liability. Like playing with ten men. Cunt
Aye, agreed
I reckon Rooney is frustrated at his own form too
He is atrocious
Berba’s header hit the post
Other than that, fuck all
btw anyone know who lingard is on the bench?
Get an early goal, in second half, we will be ok.
ffs.
ffs
2 down
fucking joke
Christ what a free kick.
Fuck
cunting strike. fuck park off ffs
come on united ffs
get a fucking grip on this
was it calamity jones who gave away the free kick?
Jones…
The parasite policy is coming home to roost. As long as those cunts are there, the quality on the field will go down and down.
LOLOL
We’ll lose this by 3 or more!
Good.
Park will NEVER be top Premiership quality and the worrying thing is Fergie still plays him!
I’m sorry to say Rio is finished and should be retired like an old racehorse. He is dreadful.
Look at Mike Phelan, what exactly does that bowling ball headed cunt do??
Where is Little Pea, this game was for him.
we need to buy players Sir Alex!
so that is two goals he’s helped to piss away, why can’t he fuckin calm down.
i can’t see three goals in us on this form.
Not only are they quicker and stronger, but they have more quality too
yep, as soon as we loose we blame the glazers etc
how about the face up to the fact that we are shit – because – urm – we are shit.
You lot panic easily.
can we blame the glazers that we don’t have newcastles hard-as-fuck midfielders who basically cost fuck all and certainly less than that sack of crap, anderson on the bench?
just look at the hunger of their midfield players – look at how they track back – reminds me of us in the 90’s a proper bunch of hard cunts playing for each other.
we simply are not a team.
SAF is just too old for this job now. He has been a great manager in his day but he just can’t see that he has had this midfield problem for two seasons now and he has no clue on how to fix it. Keeps chopping and changing the team, therefore no consistancy.
Mike Phelan is like all bald headed people – Kenyon, Wilkins and Duncun Goodhue – CUNTS.
PARK YOU DOZY DOG EATING STINKY TWAT
looking sharper with welbeck on
pressure mounting
should have scored 2 minutes ago but cleared off the line
Have we come back from behind to win at all this PL season?
agree han, but the cunts are parking the bus. come on, we need one to give them the shits.
Is Mike Phelan going to replace Fergie when he retires?
Your right! What does Phelan do? Maybe he is there to just bring out the water.
Tim Howard has scored a wind assisted goal for Neverton. Should never have sold him …
couldn’t cope with the pressure at OT
This Tioiti chap is good.
the team is back to last seasons old slow decrepit shite with berbatov park etc
you missed the sarcasm HanRed …
Rooney is back in midfield! Superb!
Rooney in midfield now, FFS.
Yet we don’t need another midfielder according to fuckface!
Welbeck will never be good enough for where we want to go!
didn’t we win the 19th last season? or maybe i just dreamt it
This will be our first loss away from home. Tottenham may jump us into second place. SAF was saying last week that Tottenham was playing the best football in the league. I don’t know why he would say that on BBC.
sorry got u confused with uncles posts which are always tongue in arse cheek
fatty coming on
Mamma Mia’s on station 3
Mamma Mia’s on channel 3
Nothing worse when watching united than knowing we have no chance to get anything from a game.
We could play for 3 weeks and not win this.
he wants 3 more years but i have to agree with you – just too old now
why the fuck do you bother?
what is anderson going to offer?
fatty on for shrek
hmmm
Anderson, lol
Same reason you still pay those crazy rent boy rates….we’re a gluten for punishment!
lol…he’s looking snazzy!
since he is a fat cunt, the only way he can lose weight is to shave the sides of his head. what a joker.
We were looking pretty good until they scored, but since then we’ve offered alarmingly little.
Can anyone remember if we’ve gone on to win after conceding the first goal this PL season?
“snazzy”. you gaylord.
its glutton u cunt
I thought he looked hot ?
ffs
…here we go again
look obviously fergies a bellend
No I meant as in ” is a protein composite found in foods processed from wheat and related grain species”
not only are you a thick ignorant gaylord, but a liar to boot
loved the way toiteh is cunting our midfield to death. take that, Carrick, you geordie twat!
fergie scratching his balls with phelan dreaming about his next game of skittles.
rio is definitely too old and should be put down
The winner takes it all
i’m wearing a pair of long johns and my cock is hanging out the fly bit…lol
can we buy toiteh please and sack our scouts all of which are blind cunts.
and thats why we love you cap’n
Need a hand?
water fucking loo
I’ve got my index finger up my arse. feels like i have a few maltesers up there.
this is disgraceful
brian will help you ease them out
ffs united
what’s the name of the game?
get in line
nani is 1 over rated player
totally head up his arse this game
jones
icing on the cake
what a fucking joker
Newcastle >>>>>>> United.
Raw and athletic – never seen such an powerful performance by a comparatively shit side. How can anyone think that a midfield with Giggs can compete with the young bucks of Newcastle.
cabaye and tiote would walk into our team tomorrow and make us contenders
IS NANI PLAYING?
central defender my fucking arse
This is why jones is better off in cm at the moment.
Park’s a dancing queen
good finish tbf
hahahahhahahahahahahah – Clamity Jones fucks it up again!!
Oh but no but oh, he is the new keane, gerrard, viera, woods, federer, neil armstrong …
CARRY ON JONES
chicharito what is wrong????
yeah he is certainly them playing in defence
ffs
AGREED
… but we spunked 10m on bebe and 18m on Anderson!
6 conceded in 2 games
city going to fist fuck us on sunday with their reserve side
Indefensible shite.
Drop Jones
He’s been done all game
fair enough but I blame the Glazers, season ticket prices, the LBO and Barbara Windsors tits for Fergie not playing him in midfield.
disgraceful
no value etc etc
i just blame fergie for not playing him in midfield
well….fergie and kieran richardson
Shambles of a team , worst team we have had for years, depressing.
or, just play him in midfield
sir alex buy ffs.
this was a newcastle side that looked like title contenders
we looked like spunk dripping off nazereth’s ceiling
rooney needs to fucking grow a pair
nani was fucking shit throughout
no fucking leadership or discipline after their 1st goal
rio is lost without vidic
kiss goodbye to the league after this showing
surrendered abjectly without a fight tonight and against a team that isn’t exactly on a good run of form
lol…to round my night off, i’m going upstairs to see if i can get a shag off the bride
doubt it tbf, but god loves a trier.
fuck off, how dare you suggest playing a person in his proper position!
this is what I mean by Fergal RUINING a player. Jones will be shot to bits.
make sure you tuck your bollock into your long jons
u better make sure shes been blown up properly
don’t want her leaking on the bed
Spot on
They were stronger all over the pitch – more power, and more technique
They scored 2 quality goals
At least conceding 6 in the last 2 games puts pressure on Fergie to spend
He looks fucking ridiculous saying we don’t need to sign anyone
no team has the right to win every time it plays but to lose without fighting is just too much to take and yet we have had to accept this too often this season
SAF won’t buy this month thats for sure, whatever his reasons are we will never be told the truth but the saddest fact is the way we look out fought and worse, out thought too.
we are going to get stuffed on sunday if SAF doesnt pull his finger out
Fuck sakes its a long drive home.Park is shit,Ferdinand’s like an old race horse needs to be put down,Nani is too in consistent,Giggs don’t have the legs anymore,Berbatov shits himself at the big games,Hernandez has the first touch of a subbeto player , weldbeck ( well of the pace ) more like .Not looking good for sunday
3 points behind and 11 now goal difference
big fucking joke
we hauled ourselves back before xmas and then implode after
jones is too busy giving interviews about his bertie big bollox
saf needs to take the blame for shifting the defence around again
fucks sake rafael sits on the bench all match and valencia is being made to look like a cunt
giggs is 30 fucking 8 and we depend on him to create some spark
nani is a fucking over rated twat and carrick who was playing well prior to being dicked around, is now back to his old crap and scared self
no fucking service to the front men means no fucking goals
but ffs we will end up with no fucking new players – fine , don’t buy but play the youung cunts pogba and morrison who at least will show some fight and leave these older work shy mothers on the bench
i got a feeling we will see that on sunday and then at least saf will say that it was a young team that got gang banged by the blue cunts
Vidic is our linchpin and most consistent performer – without him we’re vulnerable at the back. We simply don’t have the quality in other positions to make up for his absence.
Vidic is also almost the only leader we have – he’s the one who galvanises the team when things aren’t going to well. Terribly missed.
there’s no one out there that could improve us, rooney being dropped when in form and returning in shocking form is like a new signing, markets too narrow to play a right back at right back instead of leaving him on the bench and playing a winger at right back, nae value in park not giving the ball away and falling over having killed our momentum whilst trying to control it
An unusually good post for you!
here’s a better one
go fuck yourself
i’m sorry brian
didn’t mean it
just pissed off but no need to take it out on you
Roughly the same midfield as started against Barca. Pretty sure Fegie gave Giggs and Carrick new contracts soon after that match .
I honestly think he needs to sell in Summer . If he sells about six players then he HAS to buy at least two to replace them . But this is obvious stuff, i don’T think he just likes buying goalkeepers for the hell of it.
Smalling is, in my opinion, already an exceptional defender. I kept saying it, he should be easily above Jones in preference.
Jones is a top talent but he needs time. Smalling already is a top player. That’s the difference.
Sir Ryan Giggs? No no no. Sir Paul Scholes say.
Agree, he’s ahead of Jones for CB, though he’s still got a lot to learn (Basel’s second goal a case in point).
Gonna get arse raped by City on Sunday. No spine. No central midfield and no centre back partnership and around that you have players playing out of position.
You can have all the formations tactics etc you want your first priority is getting your spine right. We have no depth in our squad to ensure that we can almost always during times of injury play competent players in their preferred positions and keep a strong spine.
You can’t blame Nani, Rooney and Ferdinand they can’t carry that team in that formation. You could have swapped Rooney for Messi and Nani for Ronaldo and we still would have come up short. We needed more consistency throughout the team, it just doesn’t exist in our squad. Jones isn’t strong enough yet for centre back and doesn’t have the football sense that Smalling has. Carrick is a good player but he should have gone to Italy he would have been a legend in Serie A. But here he gets out muscled and doesn’t break down hard working defences.
If anybody ever needed anymore evidence that the Glazers are fucking us then here it is. It may not be as catastrophic as the headlines or ABU’s would have wanted. I never thought it would. But it will be a gradual decline and particularly noticeable when we pick up injuries. We need players but can’t afford them. Our net spend is practically fuck all. I think Stoke have a higher net spend.
We should be thankful we are only 3 points off the top.
The premiership is shit, were second and were shit, says it all.
lost two in a row, wtf has happened to us
Not so mucb losing 2 in a row, it’s the 2 abject performances in the row that is worrying.
I am absolutely pig sick at that performance.
Retarded cunt that I am, I expected us to put in an improved showing on that Blackburn game.
City are going to batter the shite out of us.
The big queswtion for us United fans is what are we prepared to accept and willing to settle for: runners up, 2nd, 3rd, a narrow or even controversial “honourable” defeat at the Eithad on the weekend?
When we lost to Barca for the 2nd time in the CL final Fergie knew what he would have to do to start the process of getting United up to that level, yet he shirked away from doing anything that would move us in that direction. Maybe he decided that nothing he could do at United could ever bring the team up to that level: that the sense of impossibility corroded hat was left of the old champion and left us with this creature of inconsistencies and contradictions, and with a monumental stubborness and arrogance that is surely a compensation for the sense of frustration and failure that he has felt so deeply since the last Barca final fiasco,
I think the man can’t imagine himself as a winner now and so he has lost the energy and drive that he had and that this negativity has spread to the team,
If we lose to City at the Eithad then it will really be over for us (when last 3 defeats in a row?). We need to beat City big time– to play out of our skins. Who would put money on that happening? If Fergie can accept us playing second fiddle to City, then I think he is totally out of touch with what the fans feel (and fear above all else).
What you on? We haven’t been able to match Barca or even attempt it for the simple fact that we have not been able to match other teams in the transfer market. It’s that simple. All those City players would have come to United if we could have afforded them. Silva, Nasri, Aguero to name a few. Actually they would have come had been able to get close in terms of financial incentive. But we couldn’t thats the reason we are in this mess.
This is part of it, but not the whole story. You mention Aguero — perhaps the most dangerous forward in the PL today — and when on song, almost unplayable. If we had Aguero up front with Rooney then our forward line would have been really deadly. But the issue — as put to the fans — is not that there was no money to buy quality players but that there were (a) no quality players at a price or (b) no quality players period, Fergie’s `no value in the market’ would shift and slide from one meaning to the other. Well this means in the case of Aguero that he was in terms of (a) overpriced and in terms of (b) not up to scratch in terms of Fergie’s player evaluation. But the sliping ans sliding of what the `market’ idea was supposed to mean, meant that Aguero was both (a) and (b): overpriced and not up to scratch. now, if fergie thinks Aguero is not a good player — then he is quite simply, fucked in the head. If he thinks he is not worth the money: then we are talking about money for a player who can transform a side. Which forward line would give defenders more to fear: Aguero and Rooney or Balotelli and Dzeko? We certainly know that Premier League defences fear a Balotelli/Aguero forward line much more than they do whetever we can put on the field currently.
People are saying something is missing and I think it is the will to win: no new top-drawer players has meant no new energies coming into the team to reviatlize things, but there is something that seems to have corroded the players we have: they are losing form, getting crocked, losing the old fire and commitment. What was interesting for me was that Fergie when he spoke of 3 more years. didn’t speak of a desire to win the CL again (unless I missed it). So he would appear to want to stay on for 3 years, just because he is the guy who knows the ropes. This is hardly inspirational.
Lindegaard looks well pissed off after he concedes a goal – right attitude.
Jones is too young to play at centre half- Right back or midfield where he can use his attacking talents.
£8.27 million – thats our net spend under the Glazers if we start at the 05/06 season.
If we don’t include the 09/10 season (when we lost Ronaldo), it’s £20.40 million.
That’s still smaller than the average net spend of £22.5 million beginning from 01/02 season to 04/05.
Net spend on transfers I should elaborate; calculated by what we’ve spent on players vs what we’ve received from selling players
Our key players years ago were Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, Vidic, Evra, Hargreaves (when fit) Scholes, Giggs, Ferdinand and Van der Sar.
With the exception of Nani (he’s key now) and Rooney, the others are injured or have turned average.
Just 2 key players now speaks for itself and including Vidic who’s injured, and Evra who’s on the wane somewhat all our important players have been bought 5+ years ago.
We don’t have a single new player in the last 5 YEARS who’s cemented his position as a top player in our team. Fergie’s recent transfers/youth have done pretty well, but pretty well is well… shit.
Sir Ryan Giggs? No no no. Sir Paul Scholes say.
SAF’s post match interview was surreal
the fight has gone from him
he just didn’t say it like it was
awful defending for their goals – all 3
to concede a free kick for their 2nd was criminal
and the OG was a total fuck up
he really is devoid of the spirit that he has had for the past 35 years
*Switches cricket on*
Oh…..fuck off!
I listened to the comments made by SAF on BBC after the game and its amazing how he stayed so cool. He is not going to buy any players because he claims he has a strong squad with plenty of experience. If Giggs is going to continue on playing at 38 years old, than SAF will remain as manager until he is at least 100 years old. If we do not win anything this season, SAF will stay on another season until he can win the title or the champions league and we will have to put up with another season with the same bullshit midfield and defence. Don’t be surprised if Rooney goes to Real Madrid or Man.City. What the team needs is a player with some spark, a TEVEZ or a Frank Ribery. Not necessarily these players but energetic, skillful players that can motivate and control the midfield and tempo of play.
Fergie’s said 4 or 5 times now that we won’t buy anyone in Jan
Even though he is a bullshitter – and the bullshitting is getting worse – it’s difficult to see him going back on his word
Can’t argue with much of what’s already been said. The root of our problems is the Glazers and our finances. The squad’s not strong or deep enough, we all know it, and I’ll bet if you’d given Fergie 100m net to spend on new players in terms of transfer fees and wages, the squad would look quite different. But we are where we are, until and unless the Glazers decide to sell.
geno, i’m not sure that is true, Fergie has his own preconceptions of value – 50m Torress, 30m Carrol, hell 30m on Berbs? i can’t see Fergie ever spending more than 35m again on principle – same as Wenger, the old dinosaurs won’t do that.
another thing is what if the glazers float united again or sell to another private equity group using debt to finance united. that is not the solution either. would you like a person like ambromovich forcing players like torres and shevchenko on the manager? you are almost better off with a rich sheik who knows fuck all about football but pumps in the cash – but of course united fans would moan about being a play thing too – we are the first to criticise our model but look at the other models.
unless you get contribiutions or a model where you have fan ownership, business involvement in football is something fans will need to accept, rightly or wrongly – and for better or for worse.
with a bit of luck all the subsidies that madreeeeeeeed and barca have been gettting frm their state will bankrupt them. spain is utterly wrecked – theior economy is the next greece – and i am sure that the likes of madreeeed will need to pay back their subsidies.
Dannii, you’re probably right about Fergie’s concept of value, although given that he used to set British transfer records when there was more money in the kitty, I don’t know if I’m completely convinced.
I’m absolutely not with you on “the Glazers aren’t the worst” (hope that’s not an unfair characterisation of your argument) as there seem to be plenty of rich owners who don’t interfere in team operations. Take Joe Lewis at Spurs, Peter Coates at Stoke and Eddie Davies at Bolton – don’t think Arry, Pulis or Coyle have any complaints on that score.
Take Peter Coates – he is far from the richest man in Britain, but he manages to put money INTO Stoke as opposed to taking money out. Man Utd is an absolute cashcow and we don’t need a Russian oligarch or an Arab sheik, but someone who doesn’t suck money OUT of the club would be nice.
Yeah, look, could be worse – we could be saddled with the Venkys. (Whose team beat us on the weekend :(… )
On your 3rd para, I have no problem with Utd being owned by a rich businessman, as long as it’s the right rich businessman. I’m not a proponent of fan ownership for a club as big and complex at Utd…I’m a MUST member now but only until the Glazers go and assuming the next lot are better I won’t be renewing my membership.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens to RM and Barca. 18 months ago, when things were looking dicey in Europe but before it really looked like going tits up, I was reading an article in the FT where the author (think it was John Gapper) was arguing that RM’s 3 main external bank lenders (Santander, who own Abbey obviously, and 2 others who I can’t recall) were fools to lend money to RM as the loans were effectively unrecallable. His argument was that it didn’t matter what the loan contracts said, if the 3 banks called in the loans and put RM into financial strife, Generalissimo Fiorentino Perez would immediately call on any RM supporter who had a bank a/c with any of those banks to withdraw their funds immediately. RM has enough fans that if enough of them took him seriously, it would f*ck the banks.
(BTW I know King Eric tried something similar in France in 2010 with no impact whatsoever, but I would suggest there’s a couple of differences:
A. I don’t actually think King Eric’s that big in France, unlike amongst Man Utd fans; and
B. He was calling for fans to stick the cash under their mattresses – never going to happen. Perez would just get RM fans to move the money to another bank – not that hard if you’re motivated enough.)
Anyway, the point of raising this is that I wonder whether any government in Spain would have the balls to piss off RM and Barca by asking for repayment. I could see the subsidies being cut but not sure about getting the cash back – not if the ruling party wants to win the next election.
If SAF said we are going to buy the price will go up, so he could be saying it as a bargaining tool. The thing is 20 million doesn’t guarantee quality these days. 3 bench players cost about that sum each in the summer.
What we are missing are leaders. Too many passive players, this is especially obvious with no Vidic. Personally I’d put Rooney and Jones in midfield so they can use their energy to effect the key battle in the game. There was no passion and we got bullied last night, Jones and Rooney won’t stand for any of that.
There are too many players coasting, knowing they won’t be sold or dropped. I’d get Morrison in there as he is dynamic and key to impress. For next season Tunnicliffe needs to be in the squad pushing the older players. Hes a battler, and it says a lot when the likes of G Nev speak highly of him. He reminds me of a young Nicky Butt. More battlers needed, it’s football not crown green bowls!
i agree with your short-term emergency solution — but he also needs to offload the players who are not doing anything for us.
don’t really know what to make of that performance. i thought the lineup was good.
demba ba was fucking amazing – outbattled our CB pairing. carrick and giggs just couldn’t get into the game. both wingers and strikers looked out of form.
what really pissed me off was the lack of movement. there were almost no options everytime one of our players was on the ball, no sense of urgency – everyone waiting for someone else to take the initiative.
dunno how things are going to turn around, i expect city to massacre us, not sure i want to watch the game. our performances right now are a bit sad.
Rooney was shocking. Gave the ball away more than any other player.
Park was a joke, waste of a shirt.
Berba should have stayed on as he’s the only one who looks like he knows where the goal is.
Jones should stay in midfield.
Tiote would be a good signing.
Can’t see us winning the title without Vidic.
Han @ 11:17: “3 points behind and 11 now goal difference”
Chicken Little anyone ? Yep, the sky is falling down.
The desperate sense of doom in these comments – not just this one – is amazing. IF TheLads don’t win every match by three or four goals then the sky is falling down and the end of the world is nigh.
And, of course, it’s not as if SAF’s teams haven’t lost games in the past – or reeled in bigger leads than that.
TheLads’ inconsistency is galling and frustrating. So what ? Is the end of the world really nigh ?
The point is not that we lost — but how we lost, and how we are going to reel in these points when we have no form to speak of, have lost our key defender and heart of the team (Vidic) and have no creative flair whatsoever. How do we suddenly discover this. City have had their blip: they dropped five points in two games, but are ahead again and have lots of options to try if things go a bit wrong for them. But they are playing well at the moment and looking very strong. We could have been ahead of them in the new year and had a morale boost — but now we look liuke a team of lost souls and they look the real deal (of all the big teams, they have beaten us, Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal (two of these games away) and only lost to Chelsea away. That’s the form of champions.
The question is: would seeing City take the Premier Leacue title and maybe the Carling of FA Cup as well be seen as somethign that doesn’t touch us really, or will it be seen as `the end of the world’. And how will Fergie cope with such a thing?
geno – thanks, no, I’m not in any way advocating or supporting the LBO which I do believe is harmful to the club. what I am saying is that the troubles are not simply a matter of the LBO – and that it’s effect on our performance is overstated. agree that we shld not be grateful per se that the glazers don’t interfere. i just cannot see us being replaced by anything else other than rich oligarch or another LBO. the ipo will be a classic dividend strip trade – and if fergie does not want to spend, glazers will gobble it up.
not sure about spain, they are so weak and will get weaker. we will get a two stage europe – with the north doing well and the south being utterly ruined. there will be civil unrest i’m sure of it. the subsidies will stop but i agree that it that chances of getting the cash back is close to zero.
you take that out of context
its not the fact we lost but how we lost
after getting on level pegging with the massive, we go and blow it
people talk about them not having the bottle, but thats the problem with this united side
no bollox – you really think guys like buchan, robson, keane to name but 3 ex players would settle for this lack of bottle this side has decided is acceptable?
not 1 player yesterday looked particularly arsed to take the game by the scruff and do something about the shite served up
it is not the united way
even SAF was spending time giving newcastle credit for their goals but they were defensive mistakes that cost us
Han @ 11:03: ” SAF was spending time giving newcastle credit for their goals but they were defensive mistakes that cost us”
Well, yeah; of course he spent time giving Newcastle credit – he’s not going to ream out MrJones in public (and may not even give the kid the famous hair-dryer because he is, after all, only 19 and probably UTD’s fifth-choice central defender.) And what can he say about Rio in public – he’s old, he’s slow and he’s no longer as good as he used to be ?
The gap is still only three points – four if you reckon on goal difference; what was the gap when UTD reeled in TheArse or Newcastle in days gone by ? And, yeah – I know – those teams weren’t bottlers. Whatever.
It was a dire performance and coming after a surprising loss to Blackburn that was uncalled-for, to be generous. But, like I wrote earlier, shit happens. Let’s wait until the end of the season before writing obituaries.
There is something people may not have considered: that chasingt City for the title is differ3enbt from in the3 past when we were chasing Chelsea or Arsenal or Newcastle or trying to keep ahead of Liverpool. If we were a couple of points ahead or behind and then lost aw2ay or drew at home we bounced back immediately beacuse we were cool under pressure, we knew how to cope and din’t get flustered, just stuck to it. With City because the rivalry is at home and in the bone, every points turnaround gets to us big time: suddenly whereasa against Necastle a point ahead or behind didn’t really mean so much, it would be what mattered in the run in, now with City, the three points lead they have gets to us, gtets us to question things and affects morale.
Bollocks!
is it? We shall see.If we lose on Sunday against a weakened City team then you need to be on acid to believe Utd can win the title,
It’s fucking nonsense it is, the team and Fergie in particular have been here time and time again, they know how to manage a finish. We have a similar rivalry with Liverpool as we do City so that point has been proven totally void before.
City and Mancini are stepping into the unknown here, for all there fantastic attacking football they have shown vulnerability and I do think that other teams are learning more how to stifle them. WBA and Sunderland been clear examples.
Stepping into the unknown! What is this : a SAtephen King novel– no its not, its the Premier League: win enough games you win the title — it’s as simple as that. City are also going to start to learn how to take oin the lesser teams prepared to park a bus, and then we have a problem, because we know what happens to teams who come at that hoping to play attacking football — they just get picked off.
We need to beat them in the Cup tomorrow and in the return league fixture, we need not to lose any more of our home games, and in the away fixtures against the big 4 coming up, we need to win 2 and draw one out of every three. Then we can do it. We also need a City blip whilst the Toure brothers are away.
Forgive me for lack of faith — but I do not think that we with Vidic gone, nothing in midfield (Cleverley has to make a big difference here when he returns) and with Rooney out of sorts and possibly disenchanted, I don’t think we are up to it. IUnited could prove me wrong — but if they do — and this is the big point — they will have to play exceptionally from here on in. Anything less won’t cut it.
You say — voyaging into the unknown — I say, eye of the tiger (from Rocky III) — who wants it more and would kill to get it — us or them?
The problem is we have had the easy side of the schedule. City, Spurs, Chelsea and Arse all to play away. There are so many simple pundits on the tv and radio, did they not notice this when they were going on about our great away form!! 2nd at best.
But our away form is brilliant
Much better than last season when all but a handful were total write offs
All those who said I am talking nonsense, I hope that if I am proved right (i.e. a bad result at the Eithad for us leads to us falling off the pace) are prepared to eat you words. I have argued previously that a win at the Eithad could lead to a revitalization and a `charge’ that takes us past City. We lose and I think it will get to us and we will flounder from hereon in, unless we buy superbly.
blackburn beating newcastle.. toon at home.. unbelievable esp when i backed newcastle