The old Man Utd Thread

[redbloodcell]

Benzema's not going to get the start when he's scoring though.

[Graham S]

Ive seen lots of Utd fans on boards today saying things like "Good luck to him" etc etc. Mayve Im being churlish but I dont share that view at all. Ive been shouted at all day by the wife for calling him a fat gippo scouser. She has pointed out that I wasn't this mad when Ronaldo or Tevez left (well I was quite mad at Tevez, because of his destination). But it strikes me that there are two types of player leaving situations- the Ronaldos- who rightly or wrongly, leave to join the club they dreamed of as a boy, and then theres the Ashley Cole effect- greedy little no-marks who think they're the next coming of Christ. And Rooney is in this category.

The only parallel that comes to mind if he moves from us to City is Figo when he did a bunk from Barca and pitched up at Real, and didnt they (the Barca fans) throw a pigs head at him?

Is it really that different from Ronaldo? Most of that touchy feely stuff is just better PR surely? Football fans are suckers for the sentimental. For most footballers the big move is about the mountain of cash and the associated trappings that they've dreamed about since they were a boy.

[little che]

However its painted, Ronaldo left for foreign shores and Champions league aside, it doesn't have much of an impact on Utd on a week to week level. Rooney on the other hand is almost certainly going to pop up 5 miles across the city in a blue shirt. he's going to take the Sheikhs cash and kick us in the teeth. Im sure the Glazers have got a striker from scunthorpe or Hereford in mind to replace him though, the cheap American morons.

[phresh]

Is it really that different from Ronaldo? Most of that touchy feely stuff is just better PR surely? Football fans are suckers for the sentimental. For most footballers the big move is about the mountain of cash and the associated trappings that they've dreamed about since they were a boy.

Ronaldo had made it clear he wanted to leave and still went all out in his last season, a few minor hissy fits aside. There was no fannying about with contracts being accepted or rejected and Ronaldo saying he wanted to be a United player for life. For all Ronaldo's egotistical tendancies he handled the situation a whole let better, and with a lot more respect, than many other players could/would have. I also don't think it was ever about the money, he genuinly wanted to play for Real Madrid. Quotes from both Ferguson and Ronaldo suggest that they did have a close relationship and nothing either have said since has done anything other than support that.

The Rooney situation seems quite different, the turn around from wanting to be a United player for life and not signing a new contract was a matter of months with the only major event in that time being his indiscretions. All the talk of not signing a new contract does begin to scream of leaving for a reduced transfer fee to presumably get a much bigger signing on fee.

[exwhyzed]

So it turns out Ronaldo is less of a cunt than Rooney. Who knew?

[bowser123]

Ferguson won't allow a sale to an English club, doubly so with it being that lot. Maybe the consequence will be a lesser fee from a foreign team, so be it. It's Heinze x1,000,000, you don't weaken yourself and strengthen the direct opposition

Thought Ferguson played it well today. Thought he rightly assassinated Rooney with the talk of surprise, respect and disappointment, albeit without ranting or appearing negative. I doubt there's a fan whose taking the players side after hearing the manager, yet he hasn't slammed the door shut. Fergie has a habit of being duplicitous and I don't think he's revealed all; we haven't heard from Rooney and I'd bet there's more to the story.

What did disappoint was the revelation that he knew in August yet failed to source adequate creative replacements. Ah well.

[stephen129]

Ferguson won't allow a sale to an English club, doubly so with it being that lot. Maybe the consequence will be a lesser fee from a foreign team, so be it. It's Heinze x1,000,000, you don't weaken yourself and strengthen the direct opposition

If Man City come up with serious money I can't see us turning down the offer, considering the financial situation.

[Boobni82]

I can sort of see now where Rooney is coming from with wanting out of the club now. If you look at the difference of when he joined the club to this point now the changes are massive.

If anyone was in the position of joining a company that had the ability to recruit the best people in the world you are bound to be interested and excited to be there. A few years down the line and the better people seeming to be leaving and are being replaced with nowhere near like for like replacements while any left over money is being funneled out to finance the owners debts leaving the future success uncertain.

Anyone in a similar position in a normal day to day job would probably have the same feeling and have little interest in continuing in the same place.

United really are not the force they were 6 years ago when he joined and I can really see us doing a Liverpool of letting go of being the best club in England. No one believes the line about the club having a healthy bank balance and there being money for players to come in and Rooney must fear signing a long term contract with the club only to be faced with having to carry a team along.

There is no longer any point in moaning about the Glazers being there as i'm sure they dont give a fuck about people on the Internet and down the pub moaning about them being leeches whilst sat wearing their Replica tops and pumping money into the club in various forms.

[Guest]

Ive seen lots of Utd fans on boards today saying things like "Good luck to him" etc etc. Mayve Im being churlish but I dont share that view at all. Ive been shouted at all day by the wife for calling him a fat gippo scouser. She has pointed out that I wasn't this mad when Ronaldo or Tevez left (well I was quite mad at Tevez, because of his destination). But it strikes me that there are two types of player leaving situations- the Ronaldos- who rightly or wrongly, leave to join the club they dreamed of as a boy, and then theres the Ashley Cole effect- greedy little no-marks who think they're the next coming of Christ. And Rooney is in this category.

The only parallel that comes to mind if he moves from us to City is Figo when he did a bunk from Barca and pitched up at Real, and didnt they (the Barca fans) throw a pigs head at him?

Well the story is different now he doesn't like your team so much! Where were these words when he was banging in countless goals?

A few months later and he's turned upon.

Yet you don't mind Owen there do you.

[ckny]

I can't get over how angry I am. Really, really can't believe what is happening.

[phresh]

I can sort of see now where Rooney is coming from with wanting out of the club now. If you look at the difference of when he joined the club to this point now the changes are massive.

If anyone was in the position of joining a company that had the ability to recruit the best people in the world you are bound to be interested and excited to be there. A few years down the line and the better people seeming to be leaving and are being replaced with nowhere near like for like replacements while any left over money is being funneled out to finance the owners debts leaving the future success uncertain.

Anyone in a similar position in a normal day to day job would probably have the same feeling and have little interest in continuing in the same place.

United really are not the force they were 6 years ago when he joined and I can really see us doing a Liverpool of letting go of being the best club in England. No one believes the line about the club having a healthy bank balance and there being money for players to come in and Rooney must fear signing a long term contract with the club only to be faced with having to carry a team along.

The squad was pretty gash 5/6 years ago IIRC, worse than it is now anyway.

[Boobni82]

The squad was pretty gash 5/6 years ago IIRC, worse than it is now anyway.

The depth of squad may not have been great but if you look at the quality of the 1st eleven and subs it would have been as high if not higher than now. You had Scholes, Giggs, Neville, Ferdinand and van Nistelrooy plus the likes of at the close to the peak of their game, players like Keane and Solskjær and money to replace the players on their way out. Looking at the squad now can you the say the same?

[ckny]

Great Guardian article.

This horrible turn of events has probably put another five years on to Sir Alex's career. We'll rebuild again.

In Fergie We Trust.

[futureshock]

If he goes to City, it's because of money. If he goes abroad, it's because of the whores/wife.

[Poppalarge]

I still don't beleive he will go, it's Rooney/Rooney's agent playing hardball about a new contract and United/Fergie playing him at his own game.

I just wonder what will happen now, will he not play until he says he wants to stay?

[MojoChin]

Great Guardian article.

This horrible turn of events has probably put another five years on to Sir Alex's career. We'll rebuild again.

In Fergie We Trust.

The most important part of that article is:

Reliable sources say there will be big-name replacements by the summer.

I hope they're right.

[redbloodcell]

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink signing confirmed

[phresh]

[carlito]

The depth of squad may not have been great but if you look at the quality of the 1st eleven and subs it would have been as high if not higher than now. You had Scholes, Giggs, Neville, Ferdinand and van Nistelrooy plus the likes of at the close to the peak of their game, players like Keane and Solskjær and money to replace the players on their way out. Looking at the squad now can you the say the same?

I am not a United fan, but seeing Djemba-Djemba, Kleberson, Bellion and Fortune on the bench didn't really send a shot of panic through your heart back then, and to fair, despite his endeavours that followed in Spain, neither did Forlan. I was predicting a massive fall from grace for Man U in that period. Those couple of seasons after Beckham left looked pretty grim for you guys, particularly as it was before Ronaldo started eating steroids for breakfast and all he could do was dive. Let's be fair Keiron Richardson was playing most weeks for for a couple of seasons wasn't he? That's not a good sign!

I don't think your squad is that poor at the moment, unfortunately Chelsea happen to be the benchmark in this league and they are so far ahead in terms of depth and quality it's just ridiculous.

I do think there is perhaps a case to say that you are longer on players who will thrive playing with great players than you are in the great players themselves, but when you lay it on the table things are looking pretty decent for you - you've a great defense with plenty of depth (as proven last season through that insane run of injuries), a very good defensive midfielder in Fletcher, a choice of quality widemen in Nani and Valencia and then Rooney and Berbatov up front (I would like to note, I have never doubted Berbatov - disgracefully good player) You could do with a real quality playmaker in midfield, a replacement for VDS and obviously a replacement if Rooney goes and with a bit of luck some of your youngsters can fill in the cracks a la Nani this season and you are not in a bad situation at all.

[phresh]

The depth of squad may not have been great but if you look at the quality of the 1st eleven and subs it would have been as high if not higher than now. You had Scholes, Giggs, Neville, Ferdinand and van Nistelrooy plus the likes of at the close to the peak of their game, players like Keane and Solskjær and money to replace the players on their way out. Looking at the squad now can you the say the same?

I think it's probably touch and go on the first 11, i'd say defense and the wide areas are better now but everything else was better then. My point wasn't really to accurately compare the two squads but rather you saying that the squad is much worse off now than it was then when it's quite clear that isn't the case.

[cantonarv]

I still don't beleive he will go, it's Rooney/Rooney's agent playing hardball about a new contract and United/Fergie playing him at his own game.

I just wonder what will happen now, will he not play until he says he wants to stay?

As in most football clubs the manager has NOTHING to do with contracts. Its up to Gil not Fergie how much he gets. The same as transfer fees.

[Guest]

As in most football clubs the manager has NOTHING to do with contracts. Its up to Gil not Fergie how much he gets. The same as transfer fees.

Yeah, but after Gill told Fergie that Rooney didn't want to sign, the first thing Fergie would have done would be to try and persuade Gill to give him the money. He might not have the final sign-off ability, but he'll definitely play a part in deciding what players are getting.

[exwhyzed]

I still don't beleive he will go, it's Rooney/Rooney's agent playing hardball about a new contract and United/Fergie playing him at his own game.

I just wonder what will happen now, will he not play until he says he wants to stay?

He's fucked himself now though. Fergie has made him look like a complete twat and I'd rather he left knowing what I know at this moment.

A huge positive to come out of this is that hopefully we'll see Berbatov and Hernandez playing together, I thought they were probably our two best players against WBA.

[exwhyzed]

Wayne Rooney: "I met with David Gill last week and he did not give me any of the assurances I was seeking about the future squad"

[Guest]

Rooney statement just read out on SSN!

Apparently he wanted assurances regarding new signings coming in. Gill said he couldnt.

Thats why he wants to leave.

Is he still the horrible gobshite who can go jump then? Sounds like man u don't have enough cash to compete now.

[redbloodcell]

Fergie passes it on to Rooney, Rooney passes it on to the Glazers, Glazers might try to pass it back on to Fergie but will fail because everyone hates them. Well played Wayne('s PR guy), well played.

[Poppalarge]

Yeah it was a very clever response. Play into the fears of the fans. It's like chess.

I STILL don't believe he'll go.

On another note this kind of stuff really brings out the muppets. Someone told me that their mate worked at City's training ground and that Rooney had been there all morning.

[Guest]

I can sort of see now where Rooney is coming from with wanting out of the club now. If you look at the difference of when he joined the club to this point now the changes are massive.

If anyone was in the position of joining a company that had the ability to recruit the best people in the world you are bound to be interested and excited to be there. A few years down the line and the better people seeming to be leaving and are being replaced with nowhere near like for like replacements while any left over money is being funneled out to finance the owners debts leaving the future success uncertain.

Anyone in a similar position in a normal day to day job would probably have the same feeling and have little interest in continuing in the same place.

United really are not the force they were 6 years ago when he joined and I can really see us doing a Liverpool of letting go of being the best club in England. No one believes the line about the club having a healthy bank balance and there being money for players to come in and Rooney must fear signing a long term contract with the club only to be faced with having to carry a team along.

There is no longer any point in moaning about the Glazers being there as i'm sure they dont give a fuck about people on the Internet and down the pub moaning about them being leeches whilst sat wearing their Replica tops and pumping money into the club in various forms.

Spot on! Big prize for this man!!

[bowser123]

Calling the manager a liar (twice) is a good PR move? Having his people leak stories a good thing, timing his statement to be released a few hours before a Champions League game wise?

The manager said he was told the player wanted to go in August but wasn't given a reason. The player has said this never happened, that he only said it last week and did give a reason.

It was yesterday I called Ferguson duplicitous, yet you know what, I think there's more truth in his statement than Rooneys. It doesn't add up for me, the club would have told him they were going to sign players be that the case or not. I'd like to know who the fuck he thinks he is anyway, he's there to play and not try and do the managers job.

I think Madrid have engineered this from the start and they, with the agent, have got in his ear. It was odd that Mourinho said he wanted to manager the player a few weeks ago out of the blue. You now have them denying interest one day (drive down the price), saying different a day later. I think the City scare stories are just that, force United into accepting a lesser bid for fear he'll join the neighbours.

Plus he said he wants to leave to win stuff. 34 years and all that jazz...

Yet you don't mind Owen there do you.

I, for one, most certainly do.

[exwhyzed]

The lack of ambition card is the only card Rooney had left to play. It's hardly clever and completely transparent.