Mar 01
Man Utd v Tottenham: Carling Cup Final Preview
Roman Pavlyuchenko made some very strange remarks. Very, very strangely timed remarks indeed. Either the import of his remarks may have been lost in translation (the quotes attributed to him clearly seem from someone with a reasonable command of the Queen’s language), or he needs to be coached on the benefits of good PR. Or, perhaps, he’s another victim of, what I call, a feeder-club complex.
‘Now, what is that?’, you may ask. That, gentle reader, is a condition which afflicts players who feel they are too big for their club and aspire to be among a higher level of footballing fraternity. In recent times, it’s become a way of life in Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. They’ve been feeding the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and, more specifically, Manchester United. We thank them profusely for Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov. But I wouldn’t be too excited over Roman Pavlyuchenko.
Flippancy aside, I would be particularly concerned about the type of comments the Russian had made if I were a Tottenham fan — thank heavens I am not.
“It would be wrong not to dream about this. I have realised that the English Premier League is exactly why you should start playing football in the first place. And Manchester United is the leader of it. Once your first dream comes true you must start dreaming of another target.”
Er, it would never be wrong of you to be dreaming about anything. But opening your mouth ahead of a Carling Cup final feels about as right as George Bush expounding the nuances of quantum physics. He also goes on about how Dimitar Berbatov was arrogant, at which point, I ascertained his head might be well close to his rectal cavities and realised I’d already made up my mind on what I think of him. Twat!
Anyway we must move on to things of greater significance here because, this match, as you must have all by now known, is a must win for us: it’s our door to qualifying for the UEFA Cup (or the Europa Cup). And considering it’s one tournament Fergie’s never entered with this lot, I suppose this game will be like a cup final for us.
Oh.
Tottenham are the defending champions of this trophy, although their squad has seen 1,678,953 changes in personnel ever since. So maybe, there’s our chance in nicking it from their grasp.
I think we’ll start as underdogs, because injury to Rafael and Fergie deciding to give Gibson and Welbeck a chance will surely make Spurs a much stronger side. Surely they’ll teach our side a footballing lesson?
Oh.
Prediction: 2-0 to United.
PS: fingers firmly crossed lest cocky nature of above post jinx our beloved side.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Man Utd v Tottenham: Preview
- Man Utd v Stoke: Preview
- Man Utd v Everton: Preview
- Man Utd v Spurs match thread
- Rooney Out For A Month
Tags: Manchester United News
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@Dan: “Honestly mate, sometimes you can frustrate me so.
Still, I love ya. 
”
Now does that sound like a man who has felt greatly insulted? Mildly frustrated yes, insulted hardly. I just couldn’t see your point and I still don’t. Vidic has been good this season but he’s also a limited one dimensional defender with 1/10 the skill that Ronaldo has. Nobody and I mean nobody on the team is in the same universe as Ronaldo and to think there is just ain’t so. Sorry. And like RR said, this is more a disagreement. Where do you get off assuming that was insulted? Jeez Dan you are impossible to debate with without getting hot under the collar. You make wide eyed and quite often outrageous statements that are designed to get a negative response and then you get all upset if somebody challenges you on it and basically destroys your argument. No one said you are the bad guy, I just said you were wrong. Big difference. Calling you wrong does not mean I don’t like you or don’t respect you. It means that I believe you are WRONG and that I can prove it. With a player like Ronaldo and his record, I feel that I can defend him as being the best against anybody but Messi. Even this year when he is half of what he was last year. If we were having this conversation this time last year then my argument would be even stronger and even Messi wouldn’t be able to compete with Ronny. No defender as good as he may be would ever rate as highly in my books with the great skills of an attacking player. Much more is demanded of the attacker. As if there is anyone on our squad right now that is better than Ronaldo. Hell only Cantona and Best are better than Ronaldo in the history of United. And that is my not so humble opinion. So don’t get so hot and bothered over a little debate. Can we learn to disagree without getting so bent out of shape? PEACE AND LOVE BRO!
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@Grognard:
The fact that you told Dan to get out of his “soap box” alludes to him being delusional. I’m sure, in my time here, I’ve seen you get hot under the collar if you’re called deluded. It’s easy to say those things and try to balance it out with “a still love ya”. But sometimes people don’t take kindly to their statements being labelled “rubbish” and “lame”.
I’m sure Dan does at times succumb to personal biases, like we all do. But when you wouldn’t personally appreciate being called deluded/constructor of lame arguments (presumably because you take yourself seriously) so do others take themselves seriously here. I’m pretty sure it’s what made Dan go berserk.
And regarding the insult, I suppose he meant when you said: “don’t insult my intelligence…”
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@Red Ranter: Yes I said all those things but in a friendly and joking manner. That is why I highlighted a quote from me that shows my intent was never to insult but more to poke a little fun at a fellow ranter that I have had many many debates with and many debates in which we have gotten frustrated with each others stubborn ways.
Much too much has been made over comments I made in the friendliest of moods. The fact that Dan and yourself could not pick out the intentions of my words despite my attempts to show that I was only having some fun making a point to Dan is unfortunate. Despite this unfortunate occurrence, I will take the responsibility of not making my intentions clearer.
The problem however, is this has blown into another wrist slapping session where I get chastised over absolutely nothing. Look around RR, I have more than behaved myself for months now and have gotten into no trouble. And any time there has been any minor trouble, I have calmed the waters and cleared up any misunderstandings. Dan and I quite often get under each other’s collars because we are both stubborn and and have our severe biases, but we are also two ranters who tend to let bygones be bygones and we generally get along and even have the occasional joke between us.
I’m not going to accuse Dan of getting overly emotional and touchy over what I said because that would make me a hypocrite, but I will say that both you and he misunderstood the intentions of my comment and the nature in which it was made. Sorry for that but honestly, when you jokingly tell somebody that he frustrates you but you still love him, that should cause one to think before they retaliate with anger or bitterness.
If one of the regulars who I have respect and familiarity with tells me to get off my soap box, I’d think twice before I took that badly. If it was a newbie on the other hand, perhaps I would feel insulted. I was just trying to strike home a point where I felt my frustration with the subject needed a little more expression. It was very early in the morning and I was tired and perhaps with more sleep I would have thought a different ways to phrase the statement. But still, I really hate being brought into the Principals office and given the strap for this. To be honest, I don’t feel it’s justified and I don’t feel I deserve it after all this time.
Honestly RR it makes me feel disrespected and under appreciated because I have noticed some other stuff that has gone on over the past several months that went unpunished and unnoticed but the first sign of me misbehaving and Hawaii Five-O comes out in full force to make an arrest. It’s just making me think and wonder about what’s going on? Sorry for feeling this way but that’s to be expected considering that there has been no real reason to police this site for a long time.
I take some credit for the relative peace on this site because of the great relations I have with the members of this site and my strong effort to mend some of my past relationships with a few individuals. Something that was never forced on me but something I felt was necessary for the betterment of this blog. So forgive me if I am trying to understand why I needed to be scolded in public like this? Perhaps I am being overly sensitive but then again, when you feel you are being targeted for something due to a misunderstanding, then it’s necessary to stand up for yourself and express your feelings of frustration.
To Dan my buddy, I apologize if my comments were taken in the wrong way. That was never the intention but as we know form some of our past debates, we do occasionally get under each others collar. The good thing is that we both get over it and I for one have never harbored any bitterness or animosity towards Dan, but his view frustrate me quite often as I’, sure mine do with him. So poking some fun at each other is part of whole process.
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@Grognard: I didn’t try to knuckle-rap you. I was trying to clarify what I thought might have provoked said reaction from Dan.
And over the past few months I’ve seen several transgressions from everyone including you but I kept quiet because I have a sense of an increased trust in you all to settle your disputes like adults. Even this is not said in bad taste. I was just trying to say what might have caused the disagreement.
I have been mostly appreciative of you, if you recall, so I don’t even count this occasion as me trying to police things here. I have tried to stay away from that aspect as much as possible lately. It takes far too much of my energy to be invested in quarrels as long as it doesn’t spiral out of control. I have placed more trust on you all. So you’ll have to give me credit for not generally choking your creative expression on the blog. I was trying to take part in the debate, and somehow pointed out the reason for the difference in opinion.
Peace out.
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@Red Ranter: Fair enough RR but please tell me in the past several months the so called transgressions that I committed? I am kind of shocked by that statement because I think I have been more than peaceful for quite a while now and i have gotten along well with everyone. I remember three months a go a guy who decided to troll onto the site and get under my skin but as far as regular contributors, I can’t recall getting into any scraps. And anytime there has been a disagreement you are right, we have all done a fine job policing each other and keeping things happy and mellow. Anyway, I thank you for your response and explanation. Now hopefully Dan will contact me to let me know if things are OK between us because causing friction was not my intent. Cheers.
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