May 17
18 Titles, Champions of England — and those are actually facts
There was a side show — an Arsenal game, which threatened, briefly, to become a party pooper — that ended 0-0. On an ideal day we would have wanted to win the game, but a draw is the next best option. The relief on the United players faces were palpable by what ended up being a case of holding on for the last minutes.
United have played far more number of games this season than their rivals — any arguments people make about footballers getting paid a lot, and hence they should break brick walls with their heads, and having deep squads can hold only so much water — and that showed in the dying minutes of the game. The players wanted the game to be over; the relief of getting done with a long, gruelling season was rather too tempting to pass up.
Today we must rejoice as United fans. It’s a historic occasion for the club to have earned its 18 titles. Ferguson’s done something that began as a dream in 92-93 and have shown good signs of continuing. May we never rise from this slumber, may that dream go on for many more years to come.
*
I could talk about the interviews with Carlos Tevez, and Ronaldo, which have sort of rained on our parade, so to speak. But I think these things, as well as a more objective look back at our season are best kept for another day.
We’ll Never Die.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Revisiting the Ronaldo Debate
- Liga de Quito v Manchester United, Club World Cup Final Match Thread
- Hargreaves Facts / Nani’s Goal / And Other News Updates
- United Will Rebound And Reload After Barcelona Defeat
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Stephen (454)
Craig Mc (344)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@Stephen: Well am I right in the respect in this instant Stephen? The lad has never MOUTHED off about being so Fergie invisible this year, and he could have been, as he had as good a season as Tevez last year
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@Craig Mc: It is a good point and I do agree, I would him to get a run and this Valencia talk is getting on my tits as I really don’t see the point of the signing if and I suspect it will.
Carlos has whored himself to the press, the fans and to Joorbachian, I will fall for it as I believe he will end up at the Dippers or the Rent Boyz and all along that is what he has wanted.
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@Grognard: who do you rate higher, pato or aguero, and who do you think will have the better career when its all said and done
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http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/87447964/Manchester-United?axd=DetailPaging.Generic|1&axs=0|87744737%2c87744747%2c87744769%2c87413000%2c87412999%2c87413003%2c87413007%2c87447982%2c87412994%2c87413006%2c87413015%2c87412952%2c87413012%2c87412946%2c87412945%2c87447964%2c87447990%2c87413130%2c87413141%2c87413112%2c87413120%2c87413172%2c87413176%2c87413047%2c87450302%2c87413173%2c87413129%2c87413048%2c87413087%2c87413148%2c87413075%2c87413179%2c87447994%2c87447954%2c87412686%2c87412683%2c87412709%2c87412703%2c87412736%2c87412559%2c87413177%2c87447950%2c87412514%2c87413060%2c87412449%2c87412588%2c87412677%2c87412625%2c87412702%2c87447956%2c87447962%2c87412637%2c87412616%2c87412915%2c87412928%2c87412888%2c87412788%2c87412740%2c87447959%2c87412794|0
well, fucking done son, well fucking done!
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@Mr.Muhozi: at the minute, Aguero, but being Maradonas son in law, I doubt that he would be encouraged to join us.
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@Craig Mc: For once I agree with you. Ronny last year reached my breaking point. Tevez is getting there quite fast. Nani has been quite good, though he did have a pouty face on after the Arsenal draw when Fergie hugged him. He will not stay. Tevez will and so will we.
Ronny for 75 million would be an emphatic yes. Anything less than 70 mill should be rejected.
Tevez I do not care for as I would love to see Macheda/Wellbeck/Campell juke it out for 3rd and 4th striker.
We need one more winger (quality not youth) to give Nani some competition and allow Giggs to retire from Left wing for good. Ribery if less than 30 mill else Valencia or Henri Saivet (ok, Manager kicking in again
)
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@Traverse: Exactly my thoughts about Campbell. He has not exactly been lucky not to start more games at spurs. The thing is that more often than not when he was given oportunities to perform he didnt disappoint.
Shame as I think he really wanted to go to Hull…
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@Madschester United: if we’re talking about footy manager, guilherme, classy signing he is, hes got me 15 goals in 20 apps and i signed him in january!
But hes yet to produce magic for me in a big game.
But we cant use FM all the time, rooney got 25 goals in 35 appearances, and he hasnt scored for me in about 6 or 7 games now!
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@Dan: Of all the WAGs on show, Fletch certainly doesn’t have the worst!!!
She could certainly be a model!
http://www.football365.com/Gallery_Detail/0,17732,13282_5333509,00.html
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@Dan: FM is really poor when it comes to taking into account the culture shock and difficulties that foreign players experience when trying to settle in a new league. But then if they were realist, one of their most important game concepts would be rendered uninteresting…
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@Craig Mc: “No mate it is not Simpson, it is Kiko Macheda, well it looks like Kiko to me. Simpson is on the back row of players, 1st player left of the picture with a scarf
”
The question was who was that next to Anderson? Anderson is in the back row and the player next to him, not behind him or in front of him is Simpson. Your statement says it’s Kiko Macheda. Macheda is not next to him mate. He is in front of him and below him to his left. Simpson is right beside him at the back. So really, I’m not smoking anything or drinking anything Bro. You just didn’t describe things well enough.
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@Stephen: Ancelotti is overrated? God give me strength!
You cannot be serious? My God, Ancelotti is a great manager. If he has one fault it’s his lack of faith in young players which suits Chelsea just fine as they do not like young players either. Everything that you see that United have done the last two years to reach to CL finals and become a more ball control oriented team has been borrowed directly from Ancelotti’s AC Milan play book. Fergie is a big admirer of Ancelotti and his greatest lesson learned was the way AC Milan dispatched us three years ago in the manner we just dispatched Arsenal. Chelsea won’t be exciting to watch but they will be more like the Mourinho led Chelsea. He’s an outstanding manager.
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@Red Ranter: I’ve said all along that he was going nowhere and I still believe he is staying. And yes I see him moving to that position more and more because he seems comfortable at it and because Rooney seems comfortable on the left side. Add to that the strong rumors that Zidane has convinced Ribery to go to Real and that would mean that Real may have given up on their long quest. That 6-2 loss to Barca may have also been a wake up call to Ronaldo that he is better off staying put.
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@Grognard: The player next to Anderson is Anderson. He is so good that he is more than one person!
*btw, meant as a joke. Im in a real “Andy mood” today, very happy and making jokes like I have got a chillipepper in my ass!*
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@Craig Mc: And that’s fine mate you are entitled to feel the way you do. I on the other hand have always battled and mistrusted the machinations and motivations of management in the corporate world and so I will always take the side of a the disgruntled employee over the greed and unfair policies of the corporation.
I have said it over and over again about how unfair Fergie and Gill have been to Tevez since the beginning of the season. They disrespected him in their treatment of him and then they started making promises of a new contract that ended up being nothing but hot air. No I don’t like Tevez talking a lot but then again I have often said how footballers are not the most intelligent people and how they often act based on their heart’s and their emotions. I won’t fault him for that but I will fault United for being dishonest towards him and acting very cold and clinical while also ignoring his requests and plea for an answer. I can love the team but I do not have to love the way they do business or treat their people at times. Think about what I just wrote when you think about Nani.
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@Mr.Muhozi: Honestly, I have not seen enough of Pato to rate him as high as Aguero. Oh he is a great young talent but from what I have seen, and I have seen a lot of Aguero, I would rate Aguero higher. But that could change in a few years. Aguero seems much more aggressive and his first touch is better, from what I have seen.
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@RedDevilEddy: Man you have got to stop taking those uppers. You are happying us to death.
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@Grognard: Uppers= United winning. NO WAY MAN!!!
BTW, Im currently working on a Wayne Rooney video for FIFA 09. Its gonna be a history of his life, starting with his goal for Everton against Arsenal in 2002(01?), then finishing with what may be a goal in the game against Barca in teh Champions League final.
It will take som time to make, because of the difficulty of scoring the goals against Newcastle, Pompey and Boro from his United career and such things. If there are any Englishmen here who can remember some of Rooneys great goals for England it would be good to know, because I want the video to include him playing for Everton, United and England. I will keep you updated… 
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@RedDevilEddy: Im not a huge england fan at all but to be honest from my memory his best goals have been in united colours. 2 goals i think you should try to do would be the 2 against middlesbrough he got in his debut season i think it was. 1 was the chip over schwarzer from 25 odd yards which was pretty special and the best 1 was the long goal kick headed on by saha which rooney volleyed into the top corner. Dont know if you remember these 2 and they would be hard to do but especially the volley was absolute quality.
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@Grognard: The difference is Bro, Nani has acted with absolute dignity (so far) in his response to being left in the leper colony! Tevez on the other hand, (who has not been in the Leper colony) has been a mouthy gobshite and pouting PRIMA DONNA
. We are not going to agree on this one Grog mi man 
.
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@Grognard: Grog, I couldn’t have said any plainer that it was Simmo next to Anderson
. Go back thru my posts mate 
. My initial mistake was that I thought Redb was asking who the player was beside Rio to the left, and that indeed was Kiko. Which I did say 
. Anyway I’ll leave it there, because wires have been crossed here 
.
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@NicoQB: Bro did you see Lil Man Nani’s blonde bombshell of a GF he had with him on the field during the celebrations. She is outstandingly gorgeous mate, really tasty. Last season he has this gorgeous brunette, and now an equally gorgeous lush blonde. How the fuck does he get all these FIT birds
. Jealous much 
.
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@Craig Mc: Agree, i love tevez but i have been hurt by his attitude and his comments he would play for a rival. Is all this down to his supposed lack of playing time or not feeling valued. Well in my opinion hes had pretty good playing time, if he thinks he not had enough he should think how nani feels. And as for not feeling valued i cant work that one out. The fans love him, so it seems do the players and from what ive seen obviously as an outsider is him and ferguson have a good relationship but i guess not.
In my opinion i agree with you craig, nani has been very dignified and his attitude has impressed me alot. I was thinking nani would be making these tevez comments public complaining about his lack of playing time and all that crap, yet hes been very honest and said he wants more playing time and hopes he will play more next season. Thats a nice thing to hear and in my opinion he has been unfairly treated but to still stay dignified i have even more respect for him and would hope he gets alot more games next year.
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@Madschester United: What do you mean Bro for ONCE you agree with me? Surely you agree with the Craigmeister MUCH of the time
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@Matt: Both the Boro goals will be in there, as I said. I remember all his United goals, just not his England goals.
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@Craig Mc: I am with you on this. Say what we may about Nani’s exploits on the pitch (or the lack of them this season), he’s conducted himself very well — despite being chums with Ronaldo, that mouthing to the press — only God knows — habit hasn’t rubbed onto him yet.
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@Matt: Yeah Matt Bro, lets hope the Tevez and Ronnie whining and big girls blouse behaviour, doesn’t rub off on Nani eh? The Nani responses have been OK so far. He said he loves the club, doesn’t want Fergie to let him go, does loads of extra training working on his game, and hopes if he stays, that Fergie will keep his word and give him more pitch time next season
. I think he would be better elsewhere, because Fergie says, but doesn’t always DO what he says. That may have something to do with the fact that Tevez, Ronnie, Berba and Rooney play merry hell if they are left out for a game every now and then 
. So Fergie is trying to accomodate them all, and people like Nani etc get left with splintered arses from prolonged time on the bench. I have heard that Tevez is NOT going to Rome, so maybe someone else will get their chance 
.
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@Red Ranter: Yeah Boss, and long may it continue
. Nani does seem very good natured mostly doesn’t he? Or perhaps he is just fortunate that he hasn’t got an arsehole press hound of an agent 
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@RedDevilEddy: Ok mate must have missed that, sorry. Sounds like your gonna be trying for all his great goals huh, man they may take you bloody ages lol.
@Craig Mc: yeah, i just hope fergie keeps his word too and gives him a hell of a lot more playing time.
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@Craig Mc: Haha! I can see alright!
Maybe they are just Ronaldo’s leftovers!!!
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@NicoQB: No way Nico, Nani’s birds have never been within an inch of Ronaldo. Besides Ronaldo loves LOOSE LADIES, the prostitues etc! Nani’s birds are classy and FAITHFUL! That Nani is one lucky bastard Nico, and I think it must be down to his always smiling and good naturedness. My GF tells me that the girls like happy, goodnatured and fun guys – sooooooooooooooooo
. Course Grog will say that it is Nani’s money that is the deciding factor, such a sceptic is our Grog 
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@Craig Mc: Well, they have the same agents
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@Craig Mc: I hope that you are right about them girls, mate!
That made me think about the occasion where Ronaldo organised his all-night orgy with his portuguese-speaking mates -you know, the one where Anderson got his reputation of being “class with a brass” – surely that was the very same Nani there!
Oh well, by all accounts, I’ve read that Nani is apparently a practical joker kind of guy… No wonders he woos the feminine gallery…
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Just recently we’ve been musing about how good, old fashioned, strikers – basically the breed who put the ball in the back of the net – were a dying breed.
Here’s Steve Savidan.
ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnwy28kvUBo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoDPHrm_9Mo
A thirty year old proven striker who would be happy to sit on the bench for Uniteds! Good technique, good pace, good finishing, striker’s instincts… Plays for relegation candidate Caen, but that means nothing (Di Canio played for derby for a while, right?) so he would be available for peanuts. I’m surprised he has never been linked to a team in Europe.
First and foremost I’m still for giving MAcheda, Campbell or Welbeck a chance though.
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Hensen views on Ronaldo and United :
Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo is simply irreplaceable
If Manchester United beat Hull on Sunday, they will end the season on 90 points, which, in the best league in the world, underlines that they are more than worthy champions.
By Alan Hansen
Last Updated: 7:46AM BST 18 May 2009
Maybe they haven’t been at their scintillating best this year as they have been in the past, but you cannot question their position at the top of the table.
What happens next season will revolve around what happens with Cristiano Ronaldo this summer, though. If he leaves United and Liverpool make two or three key additions, the balance of power could shift away from Old Trafford.
If a player shows the kind of petulance that Ronaldo displayed against Manchester City last week, then more often than not Sir Alex Ferguson puts them on their bike.
Ferguson has never had a player of Ronaldo’s importance show petulance like that, but if he were to get rid of him, the odds on United winning the big prizes next season would lengthen dramatically.
Nobody steamrollers the lesser teams like Ronaldo. Wayne Rooney might regularly be better than Ronaldo in terms of his work rate and other qualities, but Ferguson will never find a player who hammers opponents like Ronaldo.
Ferguson will want to keep Ronaldo, not because he likes him, but because he is so important to United. When he got rid of David Beckham and Ruud van Nistelrooy, they were both still great players, but you could argue that they had seen their best days at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo is still only 24, so this summer is not the right time to get rid of him. United have to keep him and put up with his idiosyncrasies because he is simply a sensational player.
It was always impossible for him to better last season’s performances, but he has still scored 25 goals this season. He has helped United overcome the lesser teams that Liverpool failed to beat.
The only person who could come close to replacing Ronaldo if United sold him would be Steven Gerrard, but Manchester United are not going to get Steven Gerrard, so that’s a non-starter.
Ronaldo is simply irreplaceable and that’s why Sir Alex will turn a blind eye to certain things and put up with his petulance.
People talk about the likes of Gianfranco Zola, Thierry Henry and Eric Cantona as the best players the Premier League has ever seen, but none of them compare to Ronaldo in terms of the impact they have made.
Ask any manager which player they would choose out of those four and they would all say Ronaldo. No matter how much you dislike him, you just cannot deny that he has everything and that’s why the Ronaldo factor is so important to United and all of their rivals this summer.
When I lifted the league championship trophy for Liverpool in 1990, it was my last game in football and I would never have believed it if somebody had told me then that, almost 20 years later, United would have gone from seven titles to go level on 18 with Liverpool.
It has now happened, but Liverpool are getting closer and next season could be the year for them and Rafael Benitez.
It’s clear that a rift has grown between Benitez and Ferguson, but the only person who wins those kind of rivalries is the guy who wins the trophies.
Alex has had his spats with everybody, from Arsene Wenger to Jose Mourinho, and now Benitez, but when he comes out on top, he isn’t interested in what has been said.
You cannot accuse Benitez of lacking humility towards Ferguson after the West Brom game yesterday because Ferguson has never had any humility towards opponents.
But Ferguson and United have won the title and that’s all that people will remember, not who said what.
Benitez probably needs to put an end to it and say nothing. If you lose, don’t keep going on about it. He should just get on with it now and look towards next season.
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@jos: Mate, next time link to the story. Don’t copy paste it entirely. small extracts are ok, but don’t copy the entire thing.
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@Craig Mc: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBym5407ouk&feature=channel_page
24 secs, wow, just wow.
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@Red Ranter: Huh?????? Joor-SCAB-chian isn’t Nani’s agent Bro. Or were you talking about Ronnie’s agent?
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@Craig Mc: That could also be mistaken for not having any heart mate.
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@Matt: Nani says nothing because he is suffering from loss of confidence and has an inferiority complex. Tevez on the other hand thinks he’s great and knows it as well.
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@Dan:
Yeah Dan, I echo that Wow just Wow 
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I cannot believe the ignorance of Alan Hansen
. He defends Rafa’s inhumility, by saying Fergie has no humility to opposing managers who have won the PL – yeah right 
. When Arsenal won, even though Le Arse and Man United were fierce enemies at the time, I distinctly remember Fergie congratulating Wenger and his team, and mentioning that anybody who goes a record number of games without losing deserves the PL title. Also with Mourinho, he said when Chelski won, that he liked Mourinho, and thought he brought a lot of colourful character and fun to the game 
. So Hansen you are as usual WRONG 
.
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@Grognard: That is a load of Tosh Grog, and you know it
. Tevez may think he is one of the greats, (big headed prissy) but most of us with insight at all, know he isn’t. He could have gone on to be a United legend, but now his greed and vanity have shown his true colours. Hope he does go to Anfield as he says, because he will know what it is like to be with the losers.
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@Grognard: So everyone at Manchester United who keeps their mouths shut, and settles matters INSIDE the club, and not bring our great club into disrepute by name calling through the press HAVE NO HEART. I think your philosophy of what it is to have HEART is flawed Grog. But as always Bro, we agree to disagree and still remain buddies
.
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Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, here comes my 1st rant of the day! I think Fergie will have a lot to answer for, IF as we are being told, he fields a team that have ONLY one or two experienced players at Hull. He will make a mockery of himself and the FAIRNESS to other teams that he always PURPORTS. He talks the talk, and now he should walk the walk! The teams in the final day DOG fight for PL survival deserve to see that the opponents of all the other teams playing them that last day, field a TEAM that is FAIR to all those involved in the fight. Ronnie wants to play some part in the game, because Anelka is playing in Chelseas final game, and he only needs ONE goal to steal the top scorer golden boot from Ronnie. Rio wants to play half the game, because he doesn’t want to be rusty for the CL game. I dont think any UNited fan really believes Fergie when he says that putting out MAINLY our reserve players will in his opinion WIN the game – BULLSHIT of the worst stinking kind. Hull will be FIGHTING for their lives, as will the other bottom clubs, and it is highly unfair to all the bottom teams involved. Benitez was SLAMMED for fielding a reserve team last season when facing same circumstances, and RIGHTLY SO! So I will have no sympathy for Fergie if he is castrated and crucified by the press if indeed we put out a juvenile team, when so much is at stake for the bottom teams. Fergie was the 1st one to shout last year, to ensure Bolton put out their FIRST teamers against Chelsea, when we were fighting for PL title.
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@Craig Mc: why shud we care for hull or others in relegation battle? fergie has the CL final to think of. And others have no business indicating what players or team should go out against the opposition. its entirely the manager’s prerogative.
I would like it if we test our youngsters in hte final game. if they are good for man utd then they shud be good enough to win against relegation fodders like hull. Why the fear?
I remember reading somewhere one of fergie’s musings about his class of 99 in their younger days. Basically he had fielded a team of his youth players (the likes of giggs, scholes, butt etc) against one of the lesser opposition and he was having to take in lot of abuse from the stands because of that. Fergie mused : People wanted to see man utd stars (robbo, hughes etc) but what they didnt realise was they were watching ever greater stars on the pitch!
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@Craig Mc: The difference being our reserves are better than most peoples first teams, and every one of our players will be out to get on the bench for the Champions League final. I think we’ll beat Hull anyway.
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@Traverse: I don’t think that at all Trav, we are not talking about our reserves that have had a lot of first team experience here
. I also will be VERY surprised if we beat Hull!
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@jos: Who mentioned FEAR Jos, I was talking about FAIRNESS. But if you don’t see it, fair enough mate!
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@Grognard: Ancelotti at Juventus he was there 2 Seasons and won nothing
, and also I can also see peoples view that he is a good manager, the Premiership is a hard place and a ruthless one as Scolari found out and he will have to dadpt very quickly.
At Milan, 9 Seasons – 1 Serie A, 2 ~European cups, 1 Coppa Italia, hardly a record of a great manager?
Look Ancelotti is a good manager, but he is dated as Milan show in practically every game. He will get along with our really old players as he is used to the geriatric ward from Milan, but his tactics and football philosophy belongs to a former period for me.
He could not find a place for Zola at Parma and sold him to Chelsea, he is also the manager in charge of two of the most vivid capitulations in recent Champions League history, when his Juventus lost a two-goal lead in Turin to us in the Champions League semi-final of 1999 as we all should rememeber, and whose Milan were 3-0 up at half-time in the Istanbul final of 2005 and lost to the Dippers.
This maybe just me hoping
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