Feb 03
FA Double Standards Come to the fore… again
This harks back to the Evra-Bethell scuffle at Stamford Bridge. The video evidence provided were scarcely convincing. Evra gets a four match ban slapped on him, more because there was contradiction in witness statements than actual incontrovertible evidence. And an FA official might have as well put his arms around Sam Bethell and gone for a pint or two telling him to stay away from such ‘minor’ scuffles in future.
Now the FA have rescinded Lampard’s red card — rightly so — but have not found video evidence of Jose Bosingwa planting his studs on Benayoun’s back convincing enough to warrant a red card or suspension. If a post game scuffle with a non-playing staff member, with dodgy proof can cost a player 4 games, then surely there’s got to be some price to be paid for an on-game offence involving an act that couldn’t be described unintentional even in hell? Especially when said offender admitted what he did was wrong (despite the nonsensical “my intention was not to hurt him” claim)
“I apologise for what I did and it was never my intention to hurt him”
And especially after even his manager admitted, whilst arguing Lampard’s case, that Bosingwa, perhaps, may have deserved a card for it.
“What Bosingwa did was not correct, he made a mistake. But if he is punished when the FA look at the video, maybe they will change the decision over Lampard.”
This nonsense that if the referee had seen the incident it prevents the FA from taking action is another instance of rules which expose gaping holes in the system. So, I suppose, when a person kills someone under the watchful eyes of a policeman and he takes no action, then the hands of the justice system is tied. Oh, the world would be a much better place to live in then eh?
Plus: You can also follow us now on twitter now where I’ll post byte sized updates/rants through the day. For those wondering what twitter is, here’s an explanation.
Related items from Red Rants:
- United blow chance to close gap
- United Will Rebound And Reload After Barcelona Defeat
- Heinze and Huntelaar – A Look at the Two H’s
- Derby Day Preview
- A Few Words…
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
Stephen (490)
RedDevilEddy (461)
Craig Mc (349)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@johnsom33: You are right about Cech. He was a great keeper before his accident but he is a shadow of his former self since that unfortunate day. As for all the others, sorry mate but he is right, they are all overrated and in the case of Drogba, incredibly dislikable too.
But don’t be too upset, it’s just subjective debating. We can’t all love the same players and see eye to eye on everything. If we did, it would be a dull world.
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@jos: Fantastic article mate. Thanks for sharing that with us.
Easy to admire Carlito after reading that. Also, any man that’s a friend and says nice things about Riquelme, is OK in my books. Viva Carlito!
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@johnsom33: Shearer scored goals for a lesser team, Raul couldn’t score goals for Real, simples.
Sorry but Ibrahinovic stays in the list, he is overrated, and I hate Lampard.
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@jos: Thanks for the brilliant article. I just love Carlito a thousand times more. I just hope this contract rumour is true. (I have a suspicion that once he get signed, my love/admiration for Berbatov will also increase more).
@Grognard: Re: Buffon – I must admit, I’ve never really seen/studied him playing in goal. The only reason I asked is because he is so highly rated in each and every FIFA PS game version.
@johnsom33: Shit, I hope this movie becomes a reality, and soon.
@the three Rs: Brilliant article. Thanks for sharing.
@Stephen: I agree with your list completely (almost). Just have some reservations about Drogba. I think under Mourinho, he was just as feared (and perhaps good) as what RVN was for us at the time.
@Grognard: I know what you mean with Paul Scholes. I sometimes get annoyed when watching football on television whenever the commentator make such a big hoo-hah about Paul Scholes. It really gave me an inferiority complex because I always blamed myself for not seeing what was so bloody obvious to other people. I’m just happy now to know that ‘I’m not alone’. (and I don’t mean this in a derogitory way towards Scholes, whom I respect tremendously and am happy is playing for us). It’s tough to explain this to someone. Hell, its tough to even let it out in the open becuase you know your inferiority complex will be challenged. (As they say, let the show begin)
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@Karl: I could swap him for Adebayor?
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@Stephen: Definitely overrated in my books. He had one ok season and is regarded as ‘one of the best strikers in the world’ commanding 25m-35m transfer to Barca? I can’t help it, but I hate him, and I don’t think he has any real skill whatsover. I get the impression he is a ‘Drogba-wannabe’
I still have an issue with the fact that nothing happened to him after his fight with his own teammate Bendtner, on a live internationally televised match. (Talk about bringing the game in disrepute?)
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@Karl: He is an arsehole mate, like Drogba an ego the size of South America, and Bendner jeez he is an awful footballer and wearing pink boots, he doesn’t do himself any favours does he?, if I was that bad I would not want to attract any attention to myself.
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@Grognard: I was tempted to add Massimo Ambrosini, as AC Milan vice captain, but does anyone rate him!?!?!?
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@Stephen: I never liked Bendtner. After that incident, I kinda felt sorry for him and thought, maybe he’s not too bad…but then he went and got himself some pink shoes…
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FEB:6…1958 ..41ST ANNIVERSARY
United’s flag is deepest red,
It shrouded all our Munich dead,
Before their limbs grew stiff and cold,
Their heart’s blood dyed it’s ev’ry fold.
Then raise United’s banner high,
Beneath it’s shade we’ll live and die,
So keep the faith and never fear,
We’ll keep the Red Flag flying here.
We’ll never die, we’ll never die,
We’ll never die, we’ll never die,
We’ll keep the Red flag flying high,
Because Man United will never die.
Its a huge, if tragic part of our history, it helped make us into what we are. There’s not much else to say really. RIP.
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@Stephen: Raul couldnt score goals? Go back and check his goal record. Lack of goals is one thing you cant take away from him.
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now a couple of months ago, i heard about a player named ra’vel morrison. He was 15 at the time and was fast tracked into the u18. i was gobsmacked at the time and couldnt believe it, but i thought, dont get your heart up yet dan, it just means hes better then some of the other players in the youth teams and will be a bench warmer for the u18. then last week, i realised that he was starting most of his matches, meaning that hes better then i had realised.
thten today, i saw this youtube clip, some fans say hes got the skill of ronaldo, pace of walcot, and the finishing of Ruud.
well, now im getting my heart up, I reckon this player is going to be the next big thing to come out of the manchester academy, and hes english!
hes already better then lucas
i for one want to know what has happend to our academy? before we were producing players like richardson and eagles, now we have players like campbell, evans, welbeckk and cathcart who all seem to be able to make the grade at old trafford.
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RIP The Busby Babes.
Gone but never forgotten.
Man Utd Forever
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@jos: Great read. A true role model. I hope the film is an inspiration to kids….. thery sure need one.
Grog, Love Schmeics every bit as much as you. The one aspect I thought he lacked was as a penalty stopper. He made that momentous one against Bergkamp in Giggsy’s semi final in the Treble year but I can’t remember many more. For someone who was so imposing one on one and in command of his area, he didn’t generally have the same aura when facing penalties. It would be interesting to know how many he faced and how many he saved.
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@johnsom33: I wouldn’t call 12 goals in 43 games a lot of goals in 06/07 or in 05/06 7 in 33 or in 04/05 13 in 43 a lot either, I admit he has scored goals but so could I playing for Real, he is overated, and Arragones obviously thinks so to, and Spain have done Ok without him.
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a fitting tribute to Munich. A ‘must watch’. A sad part of why Manchester United is so special. King Eric brings class even to this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PVFIUqrUPQ&feature=related
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RIP Busby Babes.
Never forgotten, always loved.
You will always belong in my heart…
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@Karl: Never ever ever trust how a video game rates a player. Those games are designed here in Vancouver where I live by a bunch of geeky kids at EA Sports that for the most part know nothing about the game. A few years back I sat and had lunch with one of them who was a top programmer and he took down pages of notes of ways to improve the game after I gave him an hour long bitch fest on how poor the game was and how unrealistic it was. The guy even told me that if EA had brains they would hire someone like me as a supervising director of quality control. As I used to make a living as an IT recruiter, I had many previous business dealings with EA and I told my little friend that the chances of EA hiring anybody for anything over the age of 30, was slim and nearly impossible. They wanted kids to work long hours and be abused and then spit out like the week end garbage.
They completely depend on information sent to them by FIFA and from what they can find on the Internet and in magazines. What they get from FIFA in some cases but not all, is names, kit styles, face composites, and general club and stadium statistics. They form the ratings of a player like Buffon from the fact he plays for a super club team and was the World Cup winning keeper. This will maintain his rating as high in their opinion. Notice how Tosic isn’t even in their game. That’s because he’s never been on tv and because they never found anything on him in any print material. Some countries like Serbia and even Argentina are ghosts to them because they cannot find the print material to do the work from. This is why we do not see teams like Zenit and the entire Russian League.
Trust me, their research is no different than what I do to create players and teams in Pro Evolution Soccer. Except that I also use a great memory and my hours and hours of viewing time to design players and teams from the past. I have created Bundesliga seasons from the 70′s and 80′s with the use of my memory of experience and the many “Kicker” Yearbooks I have collected as well as a good German database available to me on the net
and still, after it’s all said and done, I as well as EA rate players
based on reputation and accessibility more than on real skill. If you play for a top club in Italy, England, Germany, Spain and France, you will get a fairly accurate but also very biased rating based on easy to access information. If you play for VfL Bochum CSK Moscow or Betis, forget about it. In those cases one must be happy if they just got the race and skin color of the player right. Finally, players are often ranked based on FIFA’s player rankings over a three year period. Not based on hard science. Just FIFA’s PR Department releasing their biased diarrhea to the masses. Buffon is good, he’s not great. Watch ten games in a row with him this season and let me know if you think he isn’t overrated. Italian keepers have always been overrated because for the most part, they always have ten men defending well for them and get relatively fewer shots at their goal. For me the only truly worthy Italian keeper in the past 30 years has been Dino Zoff. The rest are technically good keepers but I would stop at rating them in the top 30 or 40 of all time. Buffon would make my top 40.
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@Karl: In regards to your feelings about Paul Scholes, I must thank you for voicing your honest opinion. Too often being honest about one’s indifference towards a favorite son can get us in hot water with the blindly faithful. All I can say is that I don’t follow my religion with blind faith, why would I then do so with a football club?
It’s hard to be honest about Scholes because all the things that I don’t like about his game and get misinterpreted by the die hards as “I don’t like Scholesy or I hate him”. Not true, I don’t hate Scholes and I am glad he is a United player and that he has given his career to the team and it’s supporters. But his playing style just isn’t my cup of tea. Why does that bug so many people?
My God there are legions out there that never cared for the way Pele, Maradona, Cruyff or Beckenbauer played. I don’t see Scholes as a player in their league but I see him as a player that was more of a calming effect on the pitch than as a dynamic offensive threat. Sure he scored his share of goals but it was his smart and often boring distribution of the ball and maintaining possession that has made him valuable and endeared him to many. He would have been a massive player in the 70′s playing for the Dutch “Total Footballers”. Their game was based on patient buildup and retention of the ball. There was a rhythm and set of beats to their style of play and Scholes style would have suited that. He is and always will be an Arie Haan type player who was a great distributor of the ball, ultra cautious but who had a cannon leg that could score goals. Mind you Haan never scored as many as Scholes but his were often from 30 to 40 yards out. He never moved as forward as much as Scholes and never had the luck of picking up as many stray balls or deflections in the box. His latest goal for United is a typical staple goal for his career.
As much as I love the principle and practice of “Total Football”, it required great discipline, incredible diversity in skills by every player and a lot of patience and vision. It wasn’t for everybody and certainly not for every team. Germany (then West Germany) adopted the principles of the system but adapted them to suit their game which was a bit faster and less patient. Use many of the same principles but don’t strike after 15 consecutive passes, strike after only 7 or 8. This is why the Dutch beating England by only 2-0 in 1977 was seen as a such a clinic despite they only scored two goals. They ran the English ragged that night and never let them have the ball. The Germans however totally destroyed England 3-1 in 1972 with a more Blitzkrieg approach where they attacked with speed and menace and never showed so much patience. One more goal for their efforts but also, they could have come away with 6 that evening. As dominant as the Dutch were in the 1977 game, they never created the same number of chances.
This is a long way of saying that Scholes reminds me of the Dutch version of “Total Football”, where I much prefer the German version. I prefer speed over patience, and for that reason I have always felt a little bored by the way Paul Scholes controls the tempo of a game. I am not a believer in the safer than sorry theory. I’ve always been more of a believer in the idea one has to break a few eggs to make an omelet approach. I hate caution in football.
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@Karl: Yabbadabbyour as I like to call him is a tall waste of space time and money. His last game is a perfect example of how useless, lazy and overrated he is. And a real good example why Bendtner and he do not get along. I might be in the minority here but I would prefer Bendtner over Adebayour any day of the week. He is often selfish on the ball but he is committed and has the right attitude. Adebayour is often not involved in the game both physically and mentally. He is the black Ibramiovich but with far less finesse skill. Both are lazy players and both can be found sleeping at the wheel during a game.
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@Stephen: Ambrosini is a good defensive midfielder. He is also a good distributor of the ball and is capable of the killer ball that can dissect a defense. United should remember this from two years ago. He’s also a terrific header of the ball and is a real threat on corner kicks or high balls played into the box. A good choice. Not that overrated at all.
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@Karl: The pink shoes say a lot about a man’s character to be sure. Ribery and some others have worn the pink lately and I just don’t get it? Can you imagine a player form the 70′s or 80′s wearing the kind of boots players are wearing today? It’s like I have said over and over, the game today is being played by girly men who are way more immature, tacky as Hell, and far too theatrical for my tastes. What has happened to men being a little more masculine and hard in this sport?
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@Dan: Dan, my handicapped mother is better than Lucas. As for this lad you are all hot and bothered over, consider the terrible marking he was receiving before you go overboard. Also, what I have noticed over the years with young talented prospects is that once they get their chance to show their stuff for the “A” team, they usually cower down and slip back into their little protective shell. The courage and lack of inhibition to pull off moves like that disappears and all they are concerned about is not making a mistake that will piss off the Boss. This is why Ronaldo is so incredibly special. Because he came and within 20 seconds of his debut, was doing step overs and tricks that most young players would be scared shitless to try. Ronny had courage and the inflated ego to say, this is my chance to shine and shine is what I will do. Until a young player can show me that in front of Fergie, my jury will be out on them. Look at Tosic in his first few cameo’s. If there was a tent on the field he could have gone to hide in, he would have. He was completely intimidated by the occasion. Yet his YouTube video looks way more impressive than this Morrison kid. Lets wait and see how he performs his magic against men. Preferably men who don’t wear pink boots.
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@the three Rs: I actually remember seeing him stop four or five for United but he also stopped quite few for Denmark as well. The one against Bergkamp in that situation in extra time….WOW! A keeper has to have ice water running through his veins to stop one like that.
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Does anyone have a link to an Inter blog in english, I would love to find out how their fans are thinking about the Man Utd-Inter CL clash
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@the three Rs: They were certainly “the Flowers of English Football”. But from a slightly more cynical perspective, would the Heysel disaster not mean that Liverpool were the stink weeds of English football?
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@Stephen: I cant believe Im defending a Madrid player, and a cunt as well. Didnt he just tie Di Stefano’s goals scoring record at madrid? And it he is the all time leading Champions league goal scorer. As for him being left out of hte Spanish squad, thats cause he is a well known cancer. The man is a complete asshole and too be honest he is not as good or Torres or Villa so it was an easy decision for that racist aragones.
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@Grognard: Adebayor may be overrated, but you cant honstly prefer Bendtner of him. That dude epitomizes the word fairy. First he has the pink boots, Ribery can get away with it because he is already hideous to look at, plus he is worlc class. I still cant believe Bendtner tried to get Adebayor sent off in the spurs thrashing. Say what you want about “Wink gate” atleast Ronaldo was playing on a different team than Rooney. Bendtner actually complained to the ref about his own damn strike partner. If I was Wenger, I would never let him pull on an arsenal shirt again. I would have preferred that he head butted Ade back, instead he acted like the little bitch he is and “tattled on him”.
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RIP Our Brilliant Babes.
You give us the strength to fight on for our club, for your memory.
We never ever ever will forget.
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yes RIP all who lost their lives on that terrible day. Opposition fans say we can be lucky at times, and they reckon God is a united fan, maybe its our lads up there just giving us that little bit extra helping us to win. Seriously though, its cos of these people are legends and will never ever be forgotten. Im glad were not a club like chelsea and actually celebrate our history and never forget those who worked their ass off for this club. Our fans will never forget these people, it just goes to show what a great club we are that 51 years after this disaster we still remember them. RIP all of you.
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@Matthew: Amen.
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@johnsom33: I think it’s because he’s played for as long as Di Stafano was old. Average players can always break records if they play long enough. Raul played next to Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and so many great Galacticos. He’s have to be in a wheel chair to not score the goals he has. I can’t tell you how many easy tap in goals I’ve seen that bastard score. I mean easy goals into open nets or off of deflections or rebounds. Rarely did he score a goal of quality. I mean, even a hard earned Gerd Mueller or RVN style poachers goal. The guy reminds me of those little sucker parasite fish that cling on to a Great White Shark, go along for the ride and pick up scraps. Raul is useless and he’s also a piece of shit as he has created a clique environment in the dressing room. He runs the team more than the President. If he doesn’t want you at Real, you won’t be coming there, or you won’t last long there.
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@johnsom33: Sorry mate, I rather like Bendtner. He has a classic Northern European style to his striking and I just like his polish. He needs a striking partner that isn’t as selfish as Adebayour for him to flourish. Regardless, of his pink boots, players like Adebayour and Drogba really get on my nerves. It’s not a racist thing as I couldn’t care what color a player is or his boots, I just want them to show passion, commitment and team spirit. These two have none of that. They are rare indeed. Black men without soul.
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@Grognard: bendtner is a sack of useless crap! hes not good enough to play for WBA or stoke let alone Le arse!
with out a dobt one of the worst strikers in the league.
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Grognard, agree with your comment about bendtner, i personally feel he looks a good player, just needs the right partnership. He is a big relatively tall lad and he looks excellent at set pieces. He needs to build a strong partnership with some1 tho and to me adebayor is not that. Actually last year when adebayor looked pretty good he played up fron on his own most games and when it came to partnering some1 up front he looked half the player. I personally think a pairing of bendtner and say van persie (a hugely under rated player in my opinion) would be a good partnership and im sure he would do better with him. Cant believe wenger didnt do a deal with AC for adebayor in the summer, especially when your talking about over £25million. However with eduardo to come back who i think is also quality i cant see bendtner getting many chances, especially jay simpson gets some games nect year.
Gotta say about the boots tho, god those pink ones were just horrible. I have never seen the need to wear such expensive weirdly coloured boots. I personally in my playing days just used to wear a pair of black mitres or something along those lines. All the guys in my team wore £100+ flashy boots when they hardly were worthy to be wearing such flashy boots. For me tho, seeing roy keane and neville, even giggs with the reeboks i preffer the other brands shoes over nike. Mitres especially were so strong i never got injured in any boots mitre made and for £20 i had a few pairs. Only nikes i ever liked were the total 90s and the red and white nike legends. But pink boots ffs, just keep it simple please.
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@Grognard: Scoring off of deflections and rebounds so much prove he is a good striker, finding himself in the right place at the right time. Nothing wrong with that at all. RVD scored plenty of goals this way too. When he does it, it’s a great poacher’s goal, but when raul does it, he purely got lucky. Aye right. You’re being very unfair.
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@Dan: Agreed. Bendtner’s useless. I reckon he might be able to get a regular game for one of the bottom teams in the premiership, but that’s about it. Another aliadiere.
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Diablo’s back!!!!
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raul is over rated tosh to! he hasnt been able to score a decent goal since about 2003!
Ra’vel is better
Just joking
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@Grognard: Why on earth are we arguing about Madrid and Arse players? Is it really that dull right now In Red Devil land?
@Dan: who is the Ra’vel kid? you have me intrigued.
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@Dan: Nevermind, I stopped being lazy and did a little of my own research. I must admit the kid looks promising. The question I always have about young kids in any sport always revolves around athletic ability. I have seen countless kids with loads of talent, but sadly their genetics let them down. In basketball this usually manifest itself in size and athleticism. In football, size can be negated(see under Messi) but it is very hard to overcome lack of athleticism. From what I have read this kid has bags of pace, so I dont really see it becoming a problem for him. And that one clip where he rounds the keepers then drags it back before laying it off for his teammate was incredible. I look foward to watching this kid and seeing if he will eventually make the grade(somehow John Oshea did, so every kid has hope
)
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@Dan: What ever you say Dan. As always, you are right.
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@tevez: Yes I am. Live with it. I’m pretty tired of the fairness card always being played. Who cares about being fair? I’m not running for political office. I call it as I see it and as I feel it. So sorry mate, you’ll just have to grit your teeth, turn the other cheek and live with it.
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@Darth Red Diablo: You have to answer to your master for your long absence. Have you done my bidding young apprentice?
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@johnsom33: First off it wouldn’t be an argument mate if everybody knew their damned role and agreed with me.
With that said I guess you can say it has been that bloody boring around here. 
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@johnsom33: Great point about genetics mate. They often are the difference between make or break. I also think that the athlete has to have something upstairs, not just the God given talent. Too many kids have the talent but a two cent brain. Hopefully this young Morrison kid turns out but it’s still so early to tell. One that I am very sure will turn out well is Welbeck. For me he has shown maturity and composure in his brief outings for the club and with time and more solid experience, he will be a great player. There is no mental weakness in him or choke mechanism. Too many kids just choke under the pressure of playing for a club like United.
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@Grognard: Stop playing the fairness card yourself then lol, you used it to defend beckham not too long ago
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Hers an article on the young morrison kid, if anyone is interested…
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/manchester_united/s/1095308_young_red_ravel_a_net_hit
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@tevez: Yes I did but I never boiled over on any of you by calling you unfair. I just made my case for him without getting personal. We all have our likes and dislikes and there is no rule that says we have to agree. It’s just nice to defend your taste against someone else’s without being called unfair or an idiot. And before you get upset, I am not saying you called me an idiot. I’m just making a point.
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yesssssss pool down 1 nil
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