Oct 13
On Ferguson and ref rage
This is going to be a delayed reaction to the Ferguson-Alan Wiley incident, but it’s international week, we have little else to talk about, so… sit tight, and read.
Ferguson’s rant, comparing fitness of European refs to butchers’ dogs, was, to put it mildly, genius. You don’t get people with the ability to draw such comparisons every day. Ferguson deserves to rant about absolutely anything just for the brilliance of his spontaneity. He could gone with ‘as fit as a fiddle’, or similar phrases bludgeoned to death by time. But no, he had to pick the butcher’s dog. So, for three days, people will spend time pondering over the culinary preferences of butcher’s dogs. Even a comic strip will be dedicated to the comparison.
But things don’t stop there. There is irony too. The same referee who had the ‘honour’ to share a joke or two with the manager a couple of weeks prior, got a dressing down of his lifetime. Well, dressing down is a euphemism; more like verbal lynching, if words could ever do that. It was enough to get half the world riled up like environmentalists at a newly opened plastic factory. The referees union reacted like displaced angry bees. Calls came from all quarters for the FA to ban Ferguson.
It was wonderful.
But then, something happened that was completely unexpected (well, for me at least). Ferguson released a statement of apology. Yes, the same Alex Ferguson; forgive me… Sir Alex Ferguson! Apologises! When was the last time the manager ever apologised for anything?
“Oh, I’m sorry for boycotting the BBC all these years. Time I apologise for not appearing on MotD all these years. What happened with my son was in the past. I’m sorry I termed them arrogant beyond belief. After all, they run on our tax money. Surely they have our interests at heart?”
“I would like to apologise to the fans of Manchester City, and the club. They are a great club, have the best fans and I should not have called them a small club with a small mentality. I never meant to call their credibility into question. Who am I to question them anyway!”
“I would like to make it clear that I’m sure Filippo Inzaghi was brought up well, and in a good environment. It was just a metaphor, and I didn’t really imply that he was actually born in an offside position. But, nonetheless, I think I will apologize for all the hearts I may have broken with my rant. Especially Inzaghi. I also did not mean to stereotype the Italians when I said they must have invented the smokescreen. I guess, too much obsessing about the Godfather can do that to you.”
“I apologise to Dennis Wise. I am sorry I said that he could start a row in an empty house. I made him look like a raging lunatic. I will revise my statement and say he could start a row with another human being. I mean, who in their right mind would start an argument in an empty house?! I didn’t know what I was thinking back then!”
“I would like to apologise to Beckham and Paul Ince. Incey, you are a great man. When I said you were a big time Charlie, I meant you were the man for the big games. And David, I’m sorry about the boot, I’m sorry I kicked you out of your dream club, and I’m sorry I didn’t approve of Posh. I mean she’s so graceful and lovely. You don’t see an iota of pretension in her. I was too young back then — you know, young men, hormones etc.; doesn’t make you think straight. You are welcome back whenever you’re bored of your American adventure — also, you know, World Cup year, and stuff…”
“I would like to apologise to Rafael Benitez for calling him arrogant, for his gesture against Blackburn. Sam is a good friend, but I think I must admit, I got too friendly with him to the point of not seeing the situation objectively. Also, I think Rafa was right about his ‘facts’. We always get favourable fixtures, and benefit from refereeing decisions. I don’t know why the union of referees are now calling for my ban though. I feel betrayed. Guess it’s all karma… er, where was I?”
See? You never see him apologising. Which is why when I saw the statement published on the Man Utd site, I had to take two steps back, wipe the coffee stains on my keyboard, and re-read that again. You hardly ever see a Ferguson apology, grudging or sincere. So you must spend time savouring the moment. When one looks back to the past, 20-30 years from now, all the United wins would certainly be looked at with fondness. But then, the trophies, the glory, the great players — they’re numerous. A Ferguson apology? Now there’s something unique and beautiful to cherish reading over, and over again.
Yet, you have the Mirror, the Mail, the Times, Jeff Winter, everyone you can think of, saying the apology ‘wasn’t sincere enough’. The gall of Jeff Winter to question his knighthood! Some people don’t please easy. And they say the British love irony.
Oh.
*
A more serious — and hence, less fun — piece on Ferguson’s rant will be up, maybe in a day. But then, it may also be too late and we’d be talking about the Bolton game by then. Oh well…
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- Can you lead Manchester United to the Premier League title?
- Ref shocker sees Barca through
- New Nike Five Live Advert
- Who Is Your Role Model?
- Chelsea vs Manchester United Match Report
Tags: Manchester United News
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@Grognard: I agree on this Captaincy issue as well.
I won’t support the case of Rio as a Captain. Not because he doesn’t deserve it but mainly because his Age and his injury record. I mean very frankly I don’t want our team to play without captain season after season just because the Captain is injured and not playing which is the case with Rednev.
I would like to some one from next generation. I am definitely not sure about the name. But (if fit which is unlikely) my choice would have been OH. But in absence of that who???
May be popular choice Rooney (provided that he will start acting bit more responsible) or if he can keep up his development and progress going then even Fletch, what say guys???
But, in absence of OH case my personal choice would be ‘Monster VIDIC’….
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@Stephen: No where I said that He is Better than Fergie. Not in wildest dreams also I would say that. But then, it is an open secret that Man UTD management was in big “Dilemma” about where Berba is best suited for. And I questioned Fergie’s current tactics (which we all are either unhappy or not sure about) and not Fergie as a manager.
Secondly, I also questioned about the supply (or lack of it) these two striker get from midfield which we all know is not enough and thats why keep dropping deep and very very deep to take the ball.
Thirdly, even when Rooney was not scoring goals on consistence basis for us he was doing the same for England and we all were wondering that how can he manage to score for England. We have to agree that in recent times Rooney is definitely playing better for England than for Man UTD.
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@Grognard: It was good to see him up and about. I’d forgotten what he looked like. Here’s hoping he makes a complete recovery.
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@Onkar: I think Rooney has been superb for us this season and Berba is certianly improving, Wazza is also Englands most important player but in a Group of a poor Croatia, Ukraine, Andorra, Kazakstan and Belarus it isn’t hard to look good.To say he wasn’t scoring goals consistantly bar this season could be the fact the in the past the side has been set up around ronaldo now it isn’t but he did score 20 last season 18 the season before and 23 the season before that coupled with he has been played wide left numerous times that is not bad, plus he adds more to the team than just goals.
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@Stephen: I dont know what peoples view is, but I thought Rooney was fantastic playing as part of a forward 3. The thing with Rooney is he is not a consistent goal scorer and I dont think he ever will be. The thing with Berba is that I think he is a fantastic footballer I just don’t think he is the player for us at this moment in time. He seems to be playing to deep, not as deep as last season where he spent most of his time in the midfield, but he still playes a little to deep. The thing that confuses me is why he is doing this. Is he being told to play that way or not being told to push up more
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@RedTan: Players drop deep mate simply because they want to be involves it is their nature, a lot of players want to play in the hole.
Berba is a superb player and personally I think he looks good so far this season, but he needs to score more goals hopefully it will come.
Rooney is good in a forward three, but sometimes does go missing there I like him through the middle as we really do not bar Owen have a natural goal threat.
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@Stephen: I agree about the point that he adds more to the team then just goals. Thats why may be I said that if he can be more responsible then he is one of the contenders for the Captaincy. But then, same can be said about Berba as well. But then again he is considered as a flop. I mean, we need Rooney to fire in goal scoring department more than anything else. Because, I always felt (may be debatable) that in term of sheer class, ball control, passing, technique and vision Berba is way ahead of Rooney. And thats why we need Berba to play behind Rooney and Rooney needs play more in the box attcking the balls coming in rather than receiving them outside box.
And if he is the one to bail out Man UTD then he need to be 25 Goals+ striker and let Berba do the Job of creation and scoring…
Till then for me he won’t be some one who he made out to be….
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@Stephen: Everything said and done though I have to agree with you that He is the Most Important player for England and Probably for Man UTD as well……
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@RedTan: The reason as I see for him playing deep is lack of supply from our midfield. I mean our midfield in most of the matches was almost absent. They just put square ball to winger and then wingers will either dribble that ball to the death (NANI) or just whip it across not caring whether the ball will reach its intended target (Tony) . In such scenario, Not only Berba but Rooney as well needs to come deep, more deep, more and more deep to receive the ball and then take onus on themselves to start new attack….
May be that can be the reason which be cited for Berba coming deep…
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@Onkar: Interesting point, so if Rooney is not banging them in would you keep Berba in the hole and replace Rooney with Owen for example. The classic little and large strike combo
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@Onkar: Also Rooney has the pace to play off the shoulder, the Premiership is really designed around pace hence really maybe wy Berba has struggled with us as we are essentially a counter attacking side, with pace out wide.
Rooney is United through and through and when people criticise him and talk about other players it makes me smile and shake my head, he is a top player and one of the best in the world and I would not sell him for anything he knows the club the culture and what is expected of him.
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@Onkar: We need our wide players to perform, Nani is frustrating to say the least and simply wants to be Ronaldo, Valencia seems in awe of the place so far and does the safe option, Park is a worker but has no class, Giggs is now more of a centre mid, Tosic simply has not had a kick so will reserve judgement these players need to perform and so far they haven’t or have not had the chance to.
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@RedTan: In fact, I always advocated one thing that always play Berba just of the main striker in the hole. The reason for that is his vision, range of passing and ability to bring other players in the play (the best recent example was his through ball to Carrick against wolfburg which he missed one on one). He probably is the only player on our team sheet who can put those through balls in.
So, what if Rooney will start banging goals like classic No 10. play Rooney up top with Berba on the heels of Rooney. When you need to give Berba Rest then for those mathes only use Rooney’s ability to play in whole and use owen up top who is automatic choice. And Rooney needs to rested (not often you say that) play owen up top with Berba just behing him in whole.
For me this the way you can use all three effectively. Secondly, as Stephen has rightly pointed out Berba is not the quickest so you can’t expect him to sprint into the box meeting the passes. So thats why you have to play him in a position where he will be the passer of the ball rather than the receiver of the ball. And we all know he is one man who more often then not will find the destination with his pass no matter how congested the area. Then use that ability……
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@Stephen: No one want Rooney to be sold bro… I mean NO ONE. I am sure all those Man UTD fans who are not Rooney fans would also hate to see him going or even talk of him going. The whole point that is going on is how to fit in two rather three incredible striker that we have on our book in the eleven so that they replicate the form that they are showing for there country. Thats all……
I repeat “NO ONE WILL EVER QUESTION ROONEY’S COMMITMENT AND WOULD WANT ROONEY TO LEAVE MAN UTD.”
P.S. Sorry RR for all caps but I thought I was a very very very important statement.
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@Stephen: See thats precisely what I am trying to to say. The one reason I see due to which our striker are not performing the way they should is down to our midfield. I mean till GIGGSY has just carried out the burden of 1/4 of the season. But, then others need to step up which they are not doing with an exception of Fletch of course.
The list you have pointed out says it all. All the midfielders you can add Carrick and Ever present of this list Ando to it as well. What it makes is it pushes your strikers further back as they know that if they stand where they should be (in and around opponents box) ball would never reach them in 90 mins.
We seriously need to add at least one quality CAM in January who will cut at the top level immediately like Arshavin did last year for Gooners…
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Boy, ain’t I glad the international fixture is over.
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Onkar, problem is not lack of CAM in our team, I think once SAF starts playing somebody like ando in his right position then our strikers will get required service, I mean, ando is not an essien – sque type of player. I classify his style as that of ronaldinho, jus behind the strikers. As much as i’d like to have silva david in our ranks. Lets first give ando time
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@Man Utd Jaluo: Anderson is a box to box midfielder, he cannot shoot so is not a Ronaldinho style player, he also offers no trickery.
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@Onkar: Like who? Davis silva is the only player potentially available and I think he would prefer to stay in Spain.
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Berbatov has scored in the fatherhood department this morning with a healthy baby girl. A pretty productive few recent weeks for him. Congratulations, Dimitar!
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Anyone here on googlewave?
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fergie sends get well card/letter to Standard Liege midfielder Steven Defour…news out of the blue…apparently he was on his way here before being cursed by the metatarsal…and valencia is desperate for cash…come on fergie get both Davids
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Every one watch this from Ljajic against Shakhtar two weeks ago in the champions league. Im tooooooooo excited about this player
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvBnZ96I7Wk
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fellow ranters,
it is hard following this united team without saying the odd ridiculous thing.
here are a few harsh realities. i could give a monkeys if you disagree. deep down you know i am right
1. honestly i think its time fergie steps aside. i think this is a true transitional period. why not let the next manager comes in and builds the team he wants.
2. wayne rooney is a gem, he is united through and through. but when he first signed he was alot more dangerous- alot more! faster, angrier, ruthless. and he has been deteriorating ever since. i still think he is our most complete player, but is he trully effective for us. no!
which brings me to our second point
2. wayne rooney cannot work w
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fellow ranters,
it is hard following this united team without saying the odd ridiculous thing.
here are a few harsh realities. i could give a monkeys if you disagree. deep down you know i am right
1. honestly i think its time fergie steps aside. i think this is a true transitional period. why not let the next manager comes in and builds the team he wants.
2. wayne rooney is a gem, he is united through and through. but when he first signed he was alot more dangerous- alot more! faster, angrier, ruthless. and he has been deteriorating ever since. i still think he is our most complete player, but is he trully effective for us. no!
which brings me to our second point
2. wayne rooney cannot work w
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We have Anderson, Scholes, Giggs, Hargreaves, Fletcher, Gibson, Possebon, Carrick and Ljajic coming in Jan, I really cannot see us buying a midfielder in the window, actually I cannot see us buying anyone in Jan.
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@mike: Besides his goal and his close ball control, I find him pretty poor in this clip. His passing and shooting is weak.
Is he on loan or waiting for work permit?
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@[OPTI]Madschester United: On loan. I was not to blown away my self. It is good he is getting champions league experience.
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@[OPTI]Madschester United: actually the lad plays more like a winger than central midfeilder..he is all over the place but he has good close control and incredible first touch as someone mentioned before…i think the europa league is a good place to get some much needed experience before he comes here…
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DId any one know of our interest in belgian national CM Steven Defour?? I think he is going to be scholes’ or anderson’s (J/K eddy
or am I… ) replacement:
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_5629476,00.html
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Hi,
On the Telegraph site, your site has been featured in the top 10 Manchester United sites. Well Done! 10th this year, which does include the Rom, the ManUtd official site etc.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/6316489/Top-10-Manchester-United-websites.html
Just wanted to say well done! Hopefully one day my site will appear there. (clicking on the name will direct you)
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@Onkar: It’s not so much that they play better for their countries than they do for United, I don’t agree with that. But they do score more for their countries than they do for United/. It’s about their role for our team and how Fergie uses them that is the issue. Without Ronaldo around, he really needs to open things up and free Berbatov to be more of an attacking presence. Rooney needs to stop roaming the field so much and concentrate on being a striker and building a partnership and understanding with Berba.
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@Stephen: Georgia is no worse than Sunderland or half the teams in the Prem mate. It’s a case of tactics and the Bulgarian manager playing Berbatov in his proper role. Of course he’s not smarter than Fergie but then again sometimes Fergie is known for outsmarting even himself. When it comes to Berba and Rooney, Fergie needs to follow the “KISS” strategy. Simply put it means “Keep It Simple Stupid”. Instead of these dull tactics where our forwards play to high up and are expected to do the job that our central midfielders are to useless and incompetent to do, which is create.
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@Onkar: I personally feel that Gary Neville is one of the most selfish pricks alive. Any player worth his salt in gold would have relinquished the captaincy to another teammate had he been as injured and as washed up as Neville has been for the past three seasons. Instead he holds on to it like it’s the Holy Grail. It’s selfish and the captaincy needs to be passed on to a deserving player permanently rather than spread about from Giggs to Rio to EVDS to O’Shea depending on the lineup.
I disagree 110% with Fergie about the bollocks that a defender or midfielder must be captain. Fergie should show some vision here and some common sense. Wayne Rooney is the heart and soul of this team and its present as well as future. He also needs to grow up a bit and take on a chioces would be Vidic and Fletcher. Inspirational player but also, players that play full time and can be counted on to play full time as well as lead.
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@ManUtd24: Awesome!
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@Grognard: Mate Sunderland would wipe the floor with them, don’t give me that.
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@Grognard: I agree Nev probably should have stood down, but Fergie should have passed the armband onto Rio, it may well lift his game.
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so did berba get a trick yesterday anyone see it or nanis goal?
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Love this thread, best start to a season in god knows how long. Champions of England, Champions of the world, Champions of a can of Carling and we handed our European crown to Barca in the final and to read this thread we are a shit team with a clueless old man in charge. I agree with many of the points raised but come on it aint all that bad it could be worse we could be all sat in a council house some where eating rats and thinking its a tasty treat while a fat spainsh waiter tells us Lucas is a footballer. Get the red flag out now this international shit is over and bring on Bolton then Moscow and then the scum
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@ManUtd24: Cheers mate. I’ve been buried in work all day and I completely missed that.
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@RedTan:
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@Stephen: If you take the best a nation have to offer and put them together, I firmly believe they can beat the minnows of any league. Perhaps not Sunderland as they are pretty decent but certainly Pompey and Wolves. That doesn’t include nations that are ranked higher (worse) than 50th in the world.
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@RedTan: Nero fiddled while Rome burned too mate. If you cannot see the cracks in the foundation, there’s nothing I or anyone else can say to convince you. Everything you brought up are past accomplishments. More importantly, they were accomplishments while we still employed the best player on the planet. So spare me the sarcasm and glass half full mentality because I for one do not buy it. This club is great and has a great history but we can not sit back and just watch it slowly deteriorate because our manager has decided to alter the way he has done things for twenty years and with the Glazer’s taking all the Ronaldo money and pocketing it without putting it back into player purchases. What you need is more time and more evidence that things are in fact starting to come apart at the seams. Lets wait and see how long this club can go on stealing points with luck and playing above it’s talent base. I seriously doubt this club has the ability to finish any higher than third. But lets wait and see.
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@Grognard: Try reading some of me previous posts in the thread and then take a deep breath then read the thread above about cancer and gain some perspective.
But if you want me to agree that we are a club in decline due to the fact that you can not stay at the top for ever BUT mainly due to the fact that uncle Malc is running the club in to the ground, then there you go. Unfortunately that is life and neither you or me can do a f*cking thing about it except continue to support what ever team is sent out to play (although even that is becoming hard the way I am being priced out of the club). The recent success has been fantastic and it was a joy to see the worlds greatest player at Old Trafford. If we did not have nearly £800 million of debt we would still have the greatest player at old trafford and probably the second or third greatest as well
I have loved united since the early eighties so have seen the bad times and the good times and no doubt will see some bad times again. So again I say come on lads a big week ahead UNITED UNITED!
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@Grognard: just another point Grognard do you read beyond the first two lines of a post before you decide it is clever to try and shoot fellow posters down. Is this a mission for you to be seen as the biggest red of all time or some thing or is this early hour making me cynical? I am just asking before that angry voice in your head translates this as criticism, it is just a question
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Hello guys, this is my first post, though have been following for a while.Stephen Defour? Will this be yet another youngster who is wasted at this great club.
Bolton this weekend? Not sure if we fancy playing against teams who press the ball and physical throughout the pitch, heading of the football seems to have died out at old trafford as compared to other grounds. Our central defenders are good at that aspect but if Sir Alex wants to play with width where is our old fashioned target man(Alan She…), a guy who can actually head the football, play football to accomodate your strikers or else strategy needs to be changed. Whats the point of crosses if no one is in the box and those who are cant head the football.Interesting don’t you think?
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@Grognard: Who will finish above us mate? Liverpool have to be pretty much faultless now until the end of the season due to their defeats so for me they will not win the title, Arsenal do not have the squad to compete and are not good enough, Chelsea will push us all the way but will loose Mikel, Essien, Drogba and Kalou in Jan and so far are not allowed to bring anyone else in and City who knows we will certainly be in the top two no doubt.
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@spizzy: No, but I am desperate for an invite. Do you have it and if so how is it. It looks amazing from the presentation video I saw on the web site.
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@RedTan: My my, did we get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? I find your replies to me to be a little rude, and uninformed. You are new to this blog yet I have been hear close to three years and have not been told off in this back handed a manner. I have nothing against you mate but never ever accuse me of not reading other’s comments again. I try to read every comment on this blog as well, I damn well guarantee that I read every comment that is addressed to me.
You assume that your questions will be seen as criticism yet you word your comments in such a mean spirited manner intended to offend rather than examine. You know nothing about me but you should know this. Anybody who gets into a sparring battle of wits with me on this blog will lose. Secondly, I am not looking for a fight with you or anyone. I have a right to my views on the club and this site encourages all views, even those from people who do not tow the conformist line. If you see everything from a glass that’s half full, that is fine and I respect that, but never feel that I have to agree with you or that i have to conform to your mantra. And you don’t have to agree with mine. But we have to both be tolerant of each other’s views and above all, respectful.
I have been a fan of this club longer than you, so don’t throw that card at me because I go back to the mid 70′s with my allegiance. I have seen all the good with the bad too. I see that Fergie is nearing the end of his magnificent reign with the club and that under this current ownership, the future looks far from comforting and secure. I was not shooting you down. I was disagreeing with you. Find me a passage in my comments where I threw an insult or made a statement that is shooting you down. Disagreeing with people is not a crime on this blog mate. The fact I do not share your view is not a crime and by all means, disagree with me on mine, but above all, tolerate people’s rights to differ and respect that. Stop getting personal and “cynical”.
I meant no offense to you and if you saw offense in what I wrote, I think you need to reread my post as well, I think you need to lighten up a bit. Am I the biggest red fan of all time? Don’t be ridiculous. I am however a committed hard core fan who loves his team and who cares enough to not just be an innocent bystander or wallflower and chooses to challenge the status quo and ask the hard questions. If that is a crime in your books, I suggest you try another blog because you will find many like me on Red Rants. If you are just being cranky today, chalk it up as a wake up message, welcome aboard and hopefully we can get beyond your initial impression of me and have many interesting and stimulating debates in the future. But quit right now with the personal attacks. Nobody attacked you mate. Disagreements are not attacks.
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@Stephen: I would never count out Liverpool because they have to extremely world class players that are able to elevate their games at clutch moments. But I believe that Arsenal are much better than you think. They aren’t perfect but they seem to have a drive this season that I think may cause us problems. I also think and believe that Chelsea will win the league. As for Man City, not in our lifetime can I see them bettering us. I HOPE!
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