Aug 16
Manchester United v Birmingham Preview
Manchester United begin their title defence looking to make it a four in a row. There is a buzz of anticipation in the air, as would be expected of a season opener, but surely much less than the hyperbole that would accompany a Sky Sports promotional video. Nonetheless, today is finally a match that matters, and so will every match till May. So onwards and upwards…
Let us start by quoting Ferguson, who has sidestepped the opportunity of having a go at referees — presumably because the Premier League have decided to take a more strict approach regarding managers’ freedoms speaking about referees — and has gone after footballers in general, feigning injury to break the momentum in play:
‘Players who cheat are killing the game, not the referees. Something has got to be done about it. The game is meant to be stopped or the ball kicked out if there is a head injury, but the whole thing is overcooked now.
I can agree with the manager on this one. I have been sick of the Eboues of this game, although his blanket accusation of ‘players who cheat’ could also be reasonably extended towards Ronaldo, for instance — who in the managers words was the ‘best player in the world and streets ahead of Messi.’ But then this is Ferguson, and he will say what he thinks merits mention — contradiction or no contradiction.
But speaking of injuries that stop play, I’d say advantage must be given to the side in possession, unless it is a serious head injury. But this is always going to be a very slippery argument, and requires referees with a sharp sense of judgement.
He also speaks of his motivation, and what drives him on year after year. “I never regard myself as bullet-proof,” Ferguson says. “I might be bullet-proof at this very moment, before a ball has been kicked, but I have always worked under a fear of failure. I think every manager would say the same. Failure for Manchester United might be a poor performance against Birmingham in the first game. What you have won before counts for nothing, in that respect, because the most important thing is keeping a winning mentality going from day to day. I’ve just got something in me that doesn’t think about anything else but winning. You try to transmit that mentality to the players – that winning is what matters and losing matters even more.”
It’s always interesting to pick the mind of a successful manager — at least it’s fascinated me — and Ferguson’s press conferences, when he’s in the mood, are typically forthright and honest. I’ve always felt his success is down to his ability to instill hunger in the players despite prolonged periods of success. A lot of this can be accomplished by pointing out moments of failure even in successful seasons, amplifying its significance, and using that to drive players on. I think that moment of failure in our last season was fairly obvious: Barcelona.
Despite the euphoria of equalling Liverpool’s record the Champions’ League final defeat stung, so much so that it could have been perceived as a failure.
In team news, we seem depleted in defence, with Evans and Vidic not fit enough to make it. However Rio should be fit despite a few worries, and he should partner Brown. However with Neville fit, it worries me that he could be allowed to start. With Rafael also out with an injured shoulder, the romantic in me wants our fast improving starlet, Richie de Laet, earn a start. My head tells me, in typical school headmaster fashion (with cane in hand), it’s not going to happen. Evra would start at left back.
In midfield, we’ll surely see Fletcher and Carrick in the middle. Nani, who played for Portugal should start on the left with Valencia on the right. Rooney and Berbatov will play up top in a pretty attack-minded side.
As most of you know I always get my predictions and team sheets wrong. So you never have to take my view on the XI seriously. But, since I have to do this everytime, here’s the prediction.
Prediction: 2-1 to United. I am conservative because I think we need our defence to be in their best behaviour with our attack clicking into gear for a better margin of a result.
Related items from Red Rants:
- Manchester United 5-0 Birmingham: Berbatov’s Treble Leads Way In United Romp
- Birmingham City vs Manchester United: Match Preview
- Giggs and Brown to Remain Reds | Ex-Reds Clash | Wenger Threat | Takeovers And Other Such Nonsense
- Brum vs Reds: Preview
- Match Preview: Manchester United vs. Birmingham City
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
Stephen (479)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (345)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
I thought the performance was disappointing. We gave away the ball way too easily and our defending was a bit ragged. Basically we were sloppy and didn’t create enough clear chances. Credit to Nani, Rooney, Scholes and Foster. I thought they were our best performers out there. Fletcher didn’t do much for me. He is good defensively but offers very little going forward and his passing at times can be woeful. I agree Valencia was subdued, his final ball in particular was poor.
Still United always seem to start poorly so if we can play badly and get three points everytime Ill be satisfied with that so long as we get better as the season progresses.
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@antsBoy: Heh.
That includes the good and the bad Berbatov. But he’s been hard done by the referee 1 or 2 times.
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Dont care what anybody thinks, Ben Foster saved our sorry asses today… That save was a real match winning save, you dont get better ones than that. Great performance by the lad, looked confident today and you could see that on him!
1-0… Old habits die hard?
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Well, let me try not to sound too negative here. Just to put it lightly – Our performance today was poorer than Arsenal and Chelsea atleast, with Liverpool still to kick off.
I think we missed Carrick today, cos the team looked short of ideas. Rooney was the only shining light and I think that will remain so this season. Evra was the other outshining player. Valencia looked very average – his first touch is not the best is it?
Anyways, we should seek to work out a gameplan that clicks, cos it seemed like the crosses weren’t upto the mark today (thought we did score through one). I somehow feel we’re putting too much pressure on Rooney and we need someone else to look to when he’s not on song – buying another creative player will be great. Aguero please!!
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I swear people have the memory of a goldfish.
Again, this was an excellent performance, considering how we have started the season for the last 2 years. If you want reminding, we won only one of our first 4 games last season. Just 1.
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Yup, I agree guys – Foster saved our asses today. I think we should be pleasantly pleased will the 1-0, considering we had just Evra from our standard defence quartet. Happy with the result, but definitely not with the overall performance.
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@colver:
1. Referee was an amateur
2. Our final passes were VERY poor
3. Our shooting was woeful
4. Berba / Rooney and Rooney/Owen looks promising
5. Valencia was afraid of running at B’ham defense
6. Fletcher was poor
7. I do not trust Foster with the ball at his feet
8. We have too many injuries: Fire the physio and fitness coaches! Seriously!!
9. I wanted more than 1-0 against a newly promoted injury-ravaged side. No good enough but I will take 3 pts today only — against Burnley we better win BIG
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Well I know what could make this day even better – Spurs beating Pool 2-0 with Keane and Crouch scoring!!
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Rio injured
Rafael injured
Vidic injured
Edwin injured
Carrick injured
Nani injured
Now Evans injured…
Thank God our squad stregth is the best in the world!!! Weirdest thing about this is that Owen actually is fit!
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@Dan: You’re right!
But I just hate them!!! Watching a game is so much more stressful when you lead 1-0. Even 0-0 is less stressful than 1-0!!!
@Anthony Los: Yeah, Spot on comments about Owen, Valencia and Scholes. I never thought about Silva as an AM, and its still early days but if Nani is going to be injured for 2 months a year, and Scholes and Carrick not getting their form of old back, we could really use the lad. At 23 he’s about to reach his peak years.
@colver: Scholes was once again poor in the centre mate. Fletch was really good in the first 45 but faded in the second period, but Scholes’ desision making was not good – often shooting when he should have passed – Berbaov would have had a one on one.
Valencia was ok. He is a bit gun shy, I would wish that he would take a few more pot shots, or be more aggressive in the final third. But he contributed to good attacking opportunities.
Defence looks worrying though. Let’s hope Evans will be fine.
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Rooney .. sheer and utter class !!! His chest through pass to Owen was just genius .. sometimes I just laugh when he produces magic like this!
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I’d of taken 1-0 before the match, but only as a ‘last resort’. To be fair we could have had at least 2 or 3 more, Fletch’s miss (!), Owens (!!) and no penalty for a clear trip on Berbatov (the ref was doing his best to even things out for Brum, imo) but good enough. Other than Benitez beating a back pair of Brown and O’Shea for the offside trap, which is going to happen when you’re into the 4th round of CBs, we looked solid enough. Great save from Foster.
Pros: Clean sheet, Evra and Rooney looked good, Scholes, Giggs and Berba all played and we didn’t lose.
Cons: Owen missed another sitter, we look very vulnerable on corners, not sharp enough elsewhere. All of our defense is injured.
Ratings:
Foster – 8 – True wonder save to keep us ahead, no screw ups and came often and early for crosses. Not enough to do to get a higher ranking.
Fabio – 6 – A bit poor imo. Didn’t cross well at all, despite getting into good positions to. Defensively didn’t look great either. Worrying.
O’Shea – 7 – Well I didn’t notice him and we didn’t conceed, so I guess he was alright.
Evans – 6.5 – I did notice him, because everytime he had the ball he played it straight to a Birmingham player. Beckenbaur he is not.
Evra – 8 – Very good, though still got caught upfield a couple times. Had several strange dealings with the ref, who was clearly anti him and Berba.
Scholes – 6.5 – Well, he was alright.
Fletcher – 7 – Great first half, let Scholes take the limelight second half. Functional. Awful, awful awful miss though.
Valencia – 6.5 – Dunno. Wasn’t that but did get balls into the box. First touch is a bit labored, but probably a little nervous.
Nani – 7.5 – Looked very dangerous until being subbed. Left side was definitely stronger than the right side.
Rooney – 8.5 – Fabulous match. Was taken chances, long shots, through balls (off his f*cking chest! Owen, wtf?!) and took his goal well enough. Looked our best player.
Berbatov – 7.5 – Remains the most dangerous player who is not going to score I’ve ever witnessed. Harshly denied a clear penalty after great skill.
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@Footy4Eddy: Carricks not injured.
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@Footy4Eddy: LOL, I bet Owen himself must be wondering how come…
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I could take time and write a review and rate every player but why should I give the effort when the team doesn’t. One word for today’s performance best describes how I feel. UNDERWHELMED.
If this is what we have to look forward to all season, then all I can say is that once again I am right and we truly are in a world of shite. Poorest player on the pitch today? Ben Foster……JUST JOKING. I did that for Dan. Actually Foster wasn’t too bad and he actually did save us with what he does best which is shot stopping. Nope, the worst player today was by far Darren Fletcher. A horrible miss and so many unforced errors and errant passes. He should have been benched at halftime. And this will also hurt me to say but the player of the match is none other than the Skinned Sausage himself Pat Evra. His runs and marking were very good today although once again his end product leaves you cold. He was good on his overlaps with Nani. Other than that, I have nothing more to say on the game. It’s going to be a very long and frustrating season.
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Very impressed with the save from foster against benitez today, was a quality save, he had little to do (like he will most of the time) but when he was called upon to make the save, he did it and he did it well.
I thought nani looked good today, shame he went off at HT, anyone know why he came off, hope it was only as a precaution, not down to injury or fergie simply preffering giggs.
Scholes was ok today, he can still spray the passes when hes not crowded and being hurried, but a midfield of him and fletcher for me was too deep, neither of them were getting into the box much and their link up play with the front 2 wasnt great. Im just praying we make a bid for silva and play him there because he could easily play the iniesta role and really link the midfield and front men excellently. Also not sure why anderson was ready to come on and then didnt come, cant believe scholes lasted the whole 90 minutes tbh.
Antonio was a bit quiet in the 1st half but pirked up in the 2nd, hope to see alot more from him this season, hope he shoots a bit more though because at times he seemed scared to shoot.
Onto the strikers, berba and rooney were pretty good imo, berba looked a threat in the 1st half but drifted off in the 2nd, while rooney was a threat throughout.
Overall the attack and defence looked pretty solid along with foster but once again it comes down to that problem area of the midfield which really concerns me. On the wings today i thought we looked pretty decent, but the CM looked unimaginative and lacking ideas. Fletcher does the hustler job well but his passing at times can be simply dire, and scholes as i said played too deep at times and wasnt linking the front men well.
Carrick imo has been playing poor for a while, from the end of last season to pre season of this year, i hope his form picks up but i still think another body there would provide more competition. Im hoping we see more of anderson this year tbh, hes a player i think links up the midfield and the strikers very well, but he needs game time and i hope fergie doesnt sacrifice that in place of playing his oldies who need to be eased out this season.
Overall it was a decent display but i still think a silva would be a great signing, doesnt seem likely well sign him but i do think that long term further in this season we will struggle as a result of our poor midfield.
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One more thing. The referee was complete amateur hour. Too many calls on small incidental contact and never made one positive call on about half a dozen fouls on Berbatov and especially the one that should have been a penalty. This guy should have worn blue as he was Birmingham’s 12th man all day. Where did they find this fat meat head anyway? Christ the league has terrible refs.
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@Grognard: Mate, look at our last 2 opening games, and look at this, you’ll know this is a good performance.
I cant believe the amount of knee-jerk reactions on here
Thats everyone, not just you grognard.
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Good to hear it wasn’t just me who thought the ref was only seeing things one way. Fletcher’s yellow was incredibly harsh, no pen on Berba, a foul against Evra when he’d nipped in and controlled a ball past the defender, Berbatov in the first half flickin it over the defender at knee height and being given high boot…Ref was definitely making it close. I don’t believe in actual bias, just think we had the most possession and he was sh*t.
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We need to sign a quality LW or CM i feel.
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@Footy4Eddy: Birmingham have far more injuries than us.
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@owen: Errrrr – yeah right
. If it wasn’t for Nani’s ability to get the ball into the box, we wouldn’t have got our only goal. It was an incoming ball from Nani that Rooney headed on goal, and scrambled in the rebound. There is nobody better than Nani getting that ball into the box, and I mean nobody. I am going to call Rooney’s goal a Nani assist – whether you all care to admit it or not!
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@Dan: Foster definitely had a good match. As the game progressed he looked more assured and by the end of the match he even found his footwork back.
Way to go, Ben!
DeLaet should definitely be starting in front of Fabio.
@Footy4Eddy: And what’s strange about this is that our central midfielders rarely if ever get injured! When we’ve got more than a few able youths ready to step in for the veterans…
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@Dan: David Silva.
I still want to see Obertan first though.
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I had a family need call out all bloody day, so didn’t get to SEE the game, but caught snippets only on the radio! From what I HEARD on Radio, these are my thought:-
1. Fabio very good going forward, really POOR defending, and passing needs improving muchly – not impressed. Why De Laet wasn’t on with our defence as it is, I will never understand the psyche of Fergie!
.
. His problem is though – he is so fucking shot shy. He gets through and has opportunity to have a real go at goal, but then turns his back to goal, and looks for another player, thus SLOWING the game right down again. What point is there in being speedy, if you slow it all down again by not having a shot on goal 
.
2. Our MF is fucking lightweight – why is it that only the FANS can see this? All other teams and professionals can see we need STRENGTH in our MF, though some of you may still be in denial!
3. SAF does ALL too often UNDERESTIMATE the lesser teams. It could be our undoing this year, but I hope NOT
4. Valencia is so fast and ACCURATE though IN THE TACKLE. He comes out with the ball when I really can’t see that it should ever be his ball!
5. Berbatov and Rooney CANNOT play together – so sorry if that hurts anybody’s feelings. Neither of them in my opinion can really lead the line. Both are great players individually, NO DOUBT in my mind.
6. Why SAF didn’t start with Owen today, I will never understand.
7. Anybody care to explain why we seem to lose possession so easily, giving the ball away, when we are not even under pressure?
Well, I have given positive and not so positive points, BUT I have tried to be honest. For all Nani haters, if he had been left out the team today, it would have been Man Utd nil, the Brummies nil.
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@Craig Mc: I think you won’t hurt anyone with your ‘honest and fair’ analysis because you didn’t see the match and you are relying on the radio commentator’s opinions.
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@WhiteY: Yeah mate, I hope your right about Valencia – but I will be surprised if he can turn it on against the big teams. Still time will tell eh? It will be good for our club if he can improve against big teams though.
SAF is so unfair to Owen, because he needs to START a game, and keep starting until the goals are flowing. He seems to be finding OT a formidable place, I mean so much more massive an arena than L’Pool. He is VERY good at finding space, and his artistry is good too. Seems to be able to allude defenders more than Berba can
.
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@Nafooy: I see where you are coming from, and I hope you are right mate
.
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@ Craig – to your point 3 – that our blinkered manager always underestimates small squads…we dropped 2 points ALL SEASON last year against the bottom 10 teams. So. Erm. No.
Why do people think Fabio was good going forward? He’s like Lennon – no end product…
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Guys…
Tottenham 1-0 Liverpool
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@Beachryan: Beachy
, we think Fabio is good going forward, simply because he isn’t very good at the back yet. I would like to see Richie De Laet get more games, but who knows how that would turn out. From his 2 appearances though against Hull and Valencia, I am more than impressed with the lad, he is a competent defender from all accounts.
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Why don’t our strikers try and cheap the ball over the keeper’s head when they are one-on-one with the keeper?!?!? Finishing is still the problem…
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Oh and Beachy, I wasn’t meaning with regards to results that SAF underestimated supposedly lesser opponents. I meant from team selection/combination and performance. I guess I am naughty mate, and would like great performance, and exciting football – sorry!
.
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@AndyCR7:
, maybe they can’t CHEAP the ball over the GK’s head, because they are not budgerigars mate – although we could do with a whole lot of cheaping going on – sorry mate, just couldn’t resist capitalising on your little typo in your post comment 
.
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@Red Ranter:
, thanks for that comment RR, but very true mate! I can SEE though by listening – how do you think BLIND football fans SEE eh? Course seeing thru radio comment, one does have to rely on the commentators honesty. Then again, a good few of my comments are not just based on today’s game, but from reading other red rant blogger comments on todays game, I think the Radio folk got it mostly right 
.
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@Dan: I don’t think my reaction is knee jerk. I expected this kind of performance for quite a while now. As for past history, true, we don’t always open full of fire and style but I was very concerned with the lack of passion and pace in todays performance and our absolutely terrible display of passing from our midfield. How on earth are our strikers supposed to get service when our midfield is that inept. And some who might have been impressed with the fact that Scholes attempted 4 shots, let me remind them what I said all last season. Scholes has become an idiot when it comes to taking shots. 95% of all of his shots are always blocked, which tells you that he is taking poor percentage shots and really killing attacks with those highly speculative efforts.
Considering all that has happened since Rome, I think we all were expecting something a lot different. I mean we weren’t playing a top five club so why all the caution and lack of energy and pace? Sure we had injuries at the back but our backups are ten times better than anything Birmingham have to offer. Instead we continue to play chicken shit football but now, we mask it by playing old school 4-4-2 but at half pace, and with players who seem out of sync with it. They may come around eventually but right now, I am not impressed. Then again, we did win but against such a useless side, it should have been 3-0 or 4-0. As it turns out we are lucky we didn’t just get a point. Birmingham had three great chances and should have had two goals had it not been for Foster’s save and Evra’s clearance off the line. Just poor stuff.
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@NicoQB: David Silva used as an attacking midfielder is exactly what we needed today as Fletcher and Scholes were useless. We needed a creative player to string a few finesse lobs or through balls to cut through that ten man back of Birmingham.
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whats the deal with carrick?
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Service resumes
spurs 2-1 liverpool
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well i was one third right. i thought it was a decent performance, but tby i expected nothing less against a championship team.. in fact i would of hoped for a few more goals, but i guess its only the first game, and with burnley as the second (no offence) we should be banging them in left right and centre, Hart had a decent game infact, shame about owens chance right at the end… worse shot choice, why didn’t he go round. my biggest concern was whilst he and his brother share pace and attacking attributes, the DaSilvas defending skills leave a lot to be desired. still 3 points, move on, take each game as it comes. and the next one is on wednesday, which is probably why park and carrick were in the stands, and why Scholes played the entire game, which i doubt he will do too often. Giggs was good i thought and Valencia did ok, quick but got held up an awful lot, as well as
comingstraying into the middle a lot, i want him to stay on the wing and whip the balls in.Like?
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@Craig Mc:
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by the way Modric was outstanding today for spurs…
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@Dan: Yeah Dan, and Torres and some of his L’poo playmates were LOSING IT big time towards the end of the game, when time was fast running out for them. The POO cracking up, and its only PL game one
– SHAME!
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Tits
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@Will: Will – ‘A decent enough performance’, are you a little drunkee mate? Glad you enjoyed it though, and yeah Valencia has started his nomadic wanderings away from the wings. When he turned up on the left, he looked so much like Lil Man Nani, that I thought Nani had been eating his spinach and grew a few inches taller and wider
. Stay away from Nani territory Valencia, or you will get barracked from the terraces by the Craigmeister 
.
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@Footy4Eddy: What ??????, please don’t tell me you are growing a pair of titties Eddi
.
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@Beachryan: Well Scholes was alright??
You said how well Beckham played on Wednesday and I held back because IMO he was shite, some people have something against Scholes, for me he played as good as anyone out there bar Rooney who was superb, he popped the ball about which is more than most players in our side can do.
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So many tits…
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@Footy4Eddy: Are you hacking into my pc or what???
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@Craig Mc: Fear not mate, its far away from that!
Its just that I start on a new school tomorrow, and I just checked my classlist. 31 people. 12 boys. 19 girls. 
damn…
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