Jul 03
The Battle of Ankles Deep and the Dark Forces of Madrid
J. R. R. Tolkien was a great dreamer. Which was perhaps why the Lord of the Rings was a rather good fantasy novel. It had all those elements one would ask for in a well written fantasy: the good, pure evil, adventure, perils, the good getting lured by the evil.
So forgive me if I spend the next few lines drawing tedious references to that masterpiece.
The Ronaldo saga is one such work of fiction (albeit a bad one), that is incidentally a part of reality — go figure. The involvement of the evil forces of Madrid trying to lure Ronaldo (read Frodo) towards the dark side, has now reached that stage where we’ve moved from small issues, like Ronaldo’s ego, to his ankle.
I’ll save you some trouble here; clearly I’m not doing a good job of drawing a convincing analogy between Tolkien’s work and this, but then it would be doing a disservice to the masterpiece if I did. So I’ll just end it by saying that the title of the post was derived from the Battle of Helms Deep. How that has anything to do with Ronaldo possibly undergoing surgery, I wouldn’t know.
Back to reality, Manchester United Football Club has issued a statement about Ronaldo’s ankle:
Manchester United medical staff met with the medical team from the Portuguese FA and Cristiano Ronaldo in Lisbon today regarding the ongoing treatment of his injured right ankle. As a result, further specialist advice is being sought and an announcement will be made on any action in due course.
That’s the official line, although according to other reports he might undergo an operation. One would suspect it to be minor because it would have seriously inhibited his game had it been any serious; he was carrying the injury for about two to three months according to him.
Ronaldo is scheduled to return to pre-season training on July 14 but the offshoot of his injury concern is that Madrid might be put off, which is what the Telegraph reckons. I think that’s bollocks really. Calderon needs a star signing to satisfy the restless Bernabeu faithful and to strengthen his position in the face of elections. And having made so many advances through the media, they would really be left with egg on their faces if they don’t sign Ronaldo this season.
So whilst all went quiet over the past week in the Spanish press, one reckons that could be due to the hysteria surrounding Spain’s Euro 2008 campaign. Now that the press have gotten over Spain’s victory, focus has shifted back and the latest bit of drivel (this time from Madrid based AS) has something to do with Ronaldo going to Miami, thus sidestepping an opportunity to meet with Ferguson:
As’ claims seem to indicate that the player’s time at Old Trafford is up. The paper reports that Ronaldo will tonight leave the island of Sardinia, where he has been since Portugal’s exit from Euro 2008, but rather than heading back to Manchester he and his girlfriend will join friends for a trip to Miami. Apparently his journey to the Floridian metropolis is confirmed after he procured tickets without first returning home to the Manchester area. As deems this gambit a product of agent Jorge Mendes’ strategy. Mendes allegedly regards this move as integral to angering United and thus increasing their chances of letting Ronaldo leave for Real Madrid.
As much as I have admitted that my efforts at linking this saga to a fantasy novel was a poor one, I can’t help but attempt to make that comparison over and over again. [Not to worry, I won't do it.]
In short, Ronaldo is not due until the 14th. He can go wherever he pleases. All that strategy designed to avoid Fergie is bollocks really. Yes, he’s behaved like a twat all through, but he is not stupid. He knows he has to meet Fergie some day. So let me stick my neck out (although it’s not too much of a neck sticking really) and tell you that nothing is happening until July 14, for sure. Marca can stuff all those copies that proclaimed ‘Madrid to sign Ronaldo by July 7′ up its Castillian hole.
As I’ve said earlier, I think Ronaldo will stay at United this season. Although that does little to change what I think of him. However, all I am going to be doing for the next month and a half is calling the bluff on stories in broadsheets and rags, alike. I think it’s not a very difficult job with these tabloids, to be honest, but sometimes one can get carried away with reports that may sound authentic. I’ll be sure to put on my thinking/second guessing cap on when I read reports for the next month.
* * *
In other reports, there is certainly a big chance of Queiroz seriously considering the Portugal job, but it is not surprising.
Manutd.com is running the Solskjaer story — a good read.
And I guess, I don’t have anything intelligent to say. So I’ll hand the stage over to you.
Announcement: You may have noticed a small Manchester United logo by the side of my comments. That’s an avatar for those not familiar with forums. You could get one too. All you need to do is go to http://gravatar.com sign up by providing your email address (same as the one you use here) and upload a favourite image, and voila, it will show up here like magic. I will tweak the avatar size because it’s currently a bit too small. But, one enhancement at a time.
Over to you…
Related items from Red Rants:
- It’s Still All About Ronaldo, Love
- Spurs, Levy, Ferguson and Berbatov
- How’s the latest episode of the Ronaldo-Madrid soap opera an ‘exclusive’?
- Why Becks and van “the man†were sold so cheaply to Real
- A few thoughts on the poppy fuss
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (89)
Craig Mc (26)
Ian (18)
@Rd: Yes it would definitely call of Grognard’s wolf pack that’s for sure. On the other hand, I hate sites that offer this kind of crap where a friend of a friend said such and such and he knows because his friend washes the dishes of the trainer and shags his wife etc etc. It’s all bollocks mate. I wish it was true but it’s probably just crap.
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@Shyam: I agree. I’d much prefer Crespo to Saha as third striker. As well, he would also be a positive cultural influence on Tevez. But why should United do something that obvious? Honestly, if we aren’t going to sign a big name striker, I’d prefer Crespo over Fabiano or Santa Cruz or even this overrated kid Falcoa. At least I know what we’d be getting with Crespo.
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Grognard:Why should we buy Arsavin…that would be unfear for talents like rooney and tevez…both better and younger than arsavin…what kind of new dimension that would bring to our game…that is like to buy messi when you already have CR …those moves from man utd can destrupt thier chances to evolve and increase their foodball skills…Same story about Huntelar….That man can ruin our attacking model of game… look at my posts and you will understand… and please Look at the post number 116 from Will….to understand that actualy our position on the market is better and stronger than ever…We have cover for every position exept maybe for striker….”Berba” point of view…Wenger, Scolary and Rafa are under huge pressure trom their own funs so they must spend big money. we are on the oposite side …Champions with no “real”
weakness …..1..Best defence in the world…andy and nani…maybe the brightest talents in the game and we owe them cnance to show what are they made of…what about fletcher and o`shea ….where are they in your “bringing in players just to stop another team getting them” point of view…that is not real fun tribute to our boys – they bringed titles this season…dont forget that
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@Jay:
I think the difference between you and most other users on this site is that we share a common faith which you seem not to.
Er, how is that relevant? He can because he can. If that’s your problem with him then you are not going to make a case defending your stand. I don’t agree too (I have faith in Fergie) but I don’t make that a point to force feed my beliefs on to Grognard or whoever has a thought just because it’s contrary to mine.
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@man utd – Aleksandar: I think Grognard’s point is to strengthen irrespective of trophies. His stand is that we have to keep buying players and not standing still.
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fun=fan
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Red Ranter…We already have young talents…to buy another player means less time for them on the pitch…how you expect to evolve….playing football manager or wining eleven?that is what chelsea actualy doing…blind atempt to win everiting and buy everyone and result is destroing potential like SRP,Mikel,Diara,Roben and other young players…That is not our policy and never will be….
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Oh and hello everyone, I was out the whole past day and hardly had access to my laptop. Happy 4th of July to the Americans on the site and, to the rest, have a good weekend.
Sorry for not posting anything but I will post something tomorrow. About the rumours of Glazers resigned to sell Ronaldo, I think it’s a load of rubbish because it’s coming from the Spanish dailies. I’d go with the statement by the spokesman where he rubbished these stories. Of course, I am not sure that Ronaldo is staying or not (although my gut feeling says he will) until I hear from Ronaldo himself but we can give more credit to the spokesman than Marca or AS — considering the shit these dailies have dragged us under all summer.
My thinking is that it’s gone a bit quiet after the Euros and Calderon needs a big signing for his plans — and Ronaldo in particular because of the advances he’s made. The fact that it may not happen, makes it all the more necessary for them to leak stories of the Glazers being resigned to losing Ronaldo.
Regarding the lack of activity, I haven’t lost my cool over it. I know lot of people have been worried over it, but then I shudder to think how they may have been when we lost RvN and signed only Carrick. I had some concerns then, but I always thought we’d do just fine even without Ruud. Of course, the Fulham game got me on my feet straightaway and the rest was history.
Now I don’t want to use history as a way of proving my point — I don’t have any point to prove anyway. But my belief is adding one player [a striker] would be perfect and I will be satisfied. Till then I’ll wait and watch.
Of course, I am a very patient bloke in these matters which might come across as optimism to the others, in some cases I have been unfairly branded as naive and blindly optimistic. But, I’d take all that because, as I mentioned, I’m patient.
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@man utd – Aleksandar: Again as I said, that was Grognard’s opinion. Not mine. Don’t ask me.
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I’m sorry Grog.I’v been reading this blog ever since ahmed said, theres a new man utd blog,on soccerlens.I’v enjoyed your comments ever since and mate i’v agreed with you most of the time but sorry man this time I have to agree with the others.Yes we are all eager for us to sign new players but try being a bit less pessimistic man.I mean just because we havnt signed a big name player yet you comment that united are broke and we cant afford players etc etc.I mean Grog im sure even you yourself, on second taughts, would see how far fetched that assumption is.I guess what the others are trying to say is try being a bit less pessimistic and a bit more realistic. No disrespect mate. Cheers!
OH GREAT SITE RR!
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oh RR perhaps you could do a three part series season preview covering the defence midfield and attack,and discuss the shortcomings,strong points,lack of cover etc etc etc.
PLZZZ?
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@Ishaq(South Africa): I would obviously do a preview but only a week or two before the start of the season. If you are in South Africa, you should go watch United play.
About Grognard, he can be as pessimistic as he wants and I think he has reasons for it. Just because you tell him not to won’t make him change his mind about something he’s spent all summer saying. So really, as long as you feel you are optimistic and if you are sure you are right then I suppose it shouldn’t matter to you what he thinks now, should it?
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@Ishaq(South Africa): Believe me I try mate. I try to be less pessimistic but the more I read and the more I see of what’s going on the less faith I have that anything good will come of this off season. This should have been an off season to savor and celebrate. Instead Ronaldo himself destroyed that for us and then, Fergi has done nothing really to make us feel that their are things to look forward to and to put our minds to rest. Add to that a schedule being released that could kill us off before the first month is over and now we also fear losing Carlos Queiroz too.
For three weeks during the Euros people were saying be patient, nothing happens during the Euros and as soon as it are over United will start to make moves. And now the icing on the cake for me. As if things couldn’t get worse. If we in fact end up keeping Ronaldo, he is due to have an ankle operation on Monday. He is expected to be gone for two months. That’s the first four regular season games and especially the big game at Liverpool. On top of that the first two games will be without Nani and Ronaldo because of Nani’s stupid suspension from last year. I could easily see us losing three or four games in our first 5 this term because of these factors and still, we do nothing to add some power up front and some depth to help nullify this problem and help make us a better team overall.
I adamantly opposed to the idea of standing pat and doing nothing to improve the team. We are sitting on our laurels and living in the past. Forget the past. Our opponents will all be digging in their heels and coming at us with improved teams determined to dethrone us. And all we have to show them is the status quo and wounded one at that. Sorry but I have a right to feel pessimistic because I remember the shite united served up for the first 6 games of last term and that was against bottom feeders mostly. This time the first half of the schedule could potentially be devastating to us due to it’s difficulty and our problems with or without Ronaldo. Will everybody wake up and smell the coffee please. I may not be in panic but I certainly am very concerned.
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Ishaq – thank you for listening to me
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Grog – I guess you should stop reading BS
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Red Ranter; Welcome back. Question for you. My avatar seems to be showing up on your site when I use my laptop which has the old e-mail address which is not my current one with you. Yet my new pc (MAC) which is registered to your site with my new e-mail address and the one I used to create the avatar isn’t showing it. The FAQ section at Gravatar says the problem may be at your end. If it is or isn’t, do you or Ahmed have any ideas what is causing this as I am perplexed by this problem? I’m posting this on the chance others may also be suffering from the same problem. Thanks.
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@Ahmed Bilal: Honestly, it’s hard to avoid because I often use NewsNow’s football section and it’s all there sitting in front of me staring right back and it tempts like the devil spawn that it is.
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@Grognard: Let me clear this up first: no one has to “register” any email address — I don’t require anyone to login to this site (at least not yet). But yes, you have to provide an email address to comment. For your avatar to show up the address you make any comment with must match what you provided to Gravatar. That’s all.
Now if your avatar shows up in one and does not in another it’s a problem with your local browser cache in the system where it does not show up. Try clearing the browser history/cache etc and check it out. Or maybe in a day or two it might show up.
It certainly is not a problem from our side, because I can see your avatar.
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Even with Ronaldo and Nani out we’ll be fine for the first month. We can still play:
EVDS
Brown Rio Vidic Evra
Hargreaves Carrick Scholes/Anderson Park/Giggs
Tevez Rooney
That team is still strong enough to get us through the first month until Ronaldo and Nani are back. It will also do us good to have a little taste of life without Ronaldo and we’ll remind ourselves that we have other stars who can step up when required. Ronaldo will come back and seeing we can do fine without him might finally develop a bit of humility.
I would be happy once we wrap up this third striker who will provide cover when Rooney inevitably gets injured. Last season we always lost our veneer of invincibility the periods Rooney was out and that is why having a third striker is so important.
Fergie promised us a signing and has made it clear in the past he’s looking for a striker. I have faith he’ll deliver.
I think Berbatov could well be one of the targets and that situation depends on whether Ramos can line up a suitable replacement. If he can he’ll drop his valuation and the clubs can talk. It makes sense. Berbatov is a luxury and Tottenham could do with someone a bit more prolific. We on the other hand do not need a 30 goal a season striker so long as we have Ronaldo and we have the kind of players who could benefit the most from Berbatov’s intelligence and link-up play.
With the other targets I think he is playing a waiting game. Remember last season Fergie said that he snapped up Nani and Anderson a bit earlier than he’d planned because other clubs forced his hand. I think if another club made a formal offer for one of our targets we would match it. But until then it makes sense to wait a bit and see if other clubs cool their interest or buy other players which means we can avoid a bidding war.
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@Red Ranter: Thanks for clearing that up for me. I’ll do as you say and hopefully that will do the trick.
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@colver: Yah right! Just like we could play early last year when Ronaldo was suspended and Rooney was injured. We couldn’t score a goal if our lives depended on it. Honestly, does nothing phase some of you? Or is that positivity potion you take that damned good? I need to get me some.
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RR; It worked. I cleared the cache and that did the trick. Thanks again.
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@colver: I won’t go as far. Not having both Nani and Ronaldo wouldn’t be the best way to start our season.
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@Red Ranter: It’s relevant because all I see is Grognard moaning (within his rights of course) that Fergie is idle, complaining that he’s doing this wrong, or not doing that correctly. It comes across almost as if he believes he would be doing a better job, or knows more than Fergie himself.
I don’t have a problem with Grognard, I don’t even know him. I just find it a little unfaithful to read every other of his comments and find him bashing our great manager.
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@Jay: If you are annoyed with what he writes, then dont read it! Simple as that. Lelet a fan be aa fan, evenif he thinks Fergie makes bad decisions, thats his opinion. You shouldnt make him feel bad about himself or make him feel like he is not one of the fans, a fan is a fan even if his thoughts are different to anothers.
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I don’t really get this “Madrid are evil” to be honest. I know SAF likes to say how horrible they are, but we can all see through that can’t we? They are being sneaky maybe, clever certainly. It’s the type of thing our own boss excels at, and we love him for it!
I think the point i’m trying to make is that it is Ronaldo that is the ‘evil’ one in this story. Not once was Frodo tempted by the Dark Lord (well not until the very end), let alone put in a bleedin’ transfre request!
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RR cant go watch them…Matric exams during that time
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@Grognard: So i guess in your words, that makes us a one/two-man team? @Grognard: its six weeks, and if you calculate that correctly, that means he only misses the first two games, and i’m confident being the player that Ronaldo is, he’ll probably recover before the 6weeks are complete.
On the issue of being overly- positive, i speak for myself when i say i’ve supported United through times when we were in MUCH MORE trouble(i wouldn’t even call our situation now ‘trouble’) than we are now, so i guess it doesn’t faze me much cus United have been in a lot much worse situation than this.
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@Jay: “I don’t have a problem with Grognard”. Well clearly you do. First off, there are few who have greater admiration and respect for Fergie than I do. If you have read all my posts (which I seriously doubt) you would know this as well, you would know that my problem is not with Fergie but with the team’s ownership and what I believe is their poor financial state that has Fergie’s hands tied behind his back. Certainly not a slag on Fergie I think. Take the time to carefully read somebody’s rants before you shoot them down and and make assumptions on their character and their loyalty. “I don’t even know him”. No you don’t, so in God’s name how can you make so many unfair and ruthless accusations regarding me and my intelligence?
Like I said before, my problem is not with Fergie but even if it were, how dare you or anyone else for that matter tell me that I cannot have my own views or voice them on this rant site? Have you never had arguments or disagreements with your parents or wife? And if so, did you stop loving them or stop being loyal to them because you weren’t seeing eye to eye with them over something? Of course not. That would be ridiculous. I don’t always see eye to eye with Fergie tactically but I also know my place and realize he has a lot more ability and experience managing a team than I do. That should exclude me from the occasional rant of frustration and questioning over some of his squad and tactical decisions. As great as he is, he is not super human and he occasionally make the odd error in judgment. With that said, I am only a fan and as a loyal fan I occasionally rant and say things that may be controversial or unpopular. But that is my right as a long time fan and student of the game. So imagine how ridiculous it is for you to accuse a 25 year devoted fan of Manchester United of lacking faith or love for his manager after what that man has brought to all of us? Just a load of bollocks as well as complete Bullshit because you sir, know nothing and I mean nothing about me so kindly keep your opinions of my character and allegiances to yourself and stop trying to force others to think like you. You are not my keeper and you have no right to tell me how to think and what to say. When I rant I am not forcing others to think like me but only to see where I am coming from and to share my thoughts on a specific subject. You may think that I ma trying to make others think like myself. That is not true although like anyone, it is satisfying when some do agree with you or appreciate one’s take on a situation. So my advice to you is to start respecting the rights of others and limit your comments on this blog to things that have to do with United players, staff or football in general, and not personally insulting, insinuating or accusing fellow bloggers of falsehoods just because they don’t always see things from your rose colored glasses. Kindly Grow up!
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@Grognard: Fair enough, but you have said this a million times. Clearly it seems to have little effect
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@Rd: Umm… not really because we also had our defence to keep them to draws rather than losses. So then 4 plus the one/two man team, which means any great team shorn of 4 or 5 key players can look ordinary.
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@Rd: Last year we missed Rooney early on and Ronaldo was missing due to a suspension. We played like shite. So although we are not a one or two man team I’d say we were very dependent on those two. This year will be worse because we will be missing the best player in the world for four matches and the winger on the other side of the field for two. Giggs clearly cannot run the ship for us anymore so yes I’d say we are up the creek without a paddle, or two for a while. This team operates based on it’s wide players. We don’t have advanced central midfielders like a Lampard, Ballack, van der Vaart or Deco to help our offense out a bit. We work the ball up and attack with our focus clearly on Ronaldo and Nani. So please illuminate me on how those two players missing isn’t going to hurt us? I’m dying to hear about it because it just sounds to me as nothing more than fan optimism and not anchored in reality. Four games from Hell if we don’t have Ronaldo and two of those will be missing Nani too. That’s to say that going into those games we don’t suffer any other injuries to key players. Yes we are deep but no team can escape injuries to such key players without it affecting it’s chemistry on the field as well as it’s confidence. You make it sound like United are immune to bad runs of play or luck. Remember the bad run of play over 12 games before Fergie bought Cantona? How about when he was suspended for a year? Does anybody remember the garbage we served up last year to start the season off? And that was with a fairly easy schedule. This first half schedule is absolute murder because their are not enough home fixtures versus good teams to help us recover lost points. All our away games in the first half are against our top rivals and better teams. in all my years I have never run across a more brutal schedule than this. But none of you seem to care because optimism is so blinding. Fine be optimism but be prepared for Grognard’s revenge if things go sour early. It may not happen in which I will more than be willing to eat humble pie. But some of you lack that humility which is so deeply submerged that it is drowning from all that optimism. If things go bad the optimists are the ones who will fall hard, not me. I’m prepared for the worst because for me, the writing is on the wall whether Ronaldo is dealt or whether he’s not.
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@Jay:
It’s relevant because all I see is Grognard moaning (within his rights of course) that Fergie is idle, complaining that he’s doing this wrong, or not doing that correctly.
You see the part I bolded in the quote above. That is the most important part. He is within his rights, so really no problem with that.
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@Red Ranter: If it has little effect is that because the problem lyes with me? I think it’s because others are so incredibly stubborn they are a little thick. and if I have stated it a million times it’s because I have been unfairly criticized a million times. That seems to make perfect sense to me don’t you think? I never let a personal dig go without my reply as you know. Wars are started by the one who fires the first shot. That has rarely been me. I will never be the one accused of signing the Treaty of Versailles because like Germany in WW1 I’m not guilty of starting things and I am not the one slinging the personal abuse therefore, I will not capitulate to the rude rants of others. So I say again, if I make the same comments a million times it’s because their are a million individuals out there who need to know respect and tolerance for others.
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@Grognard: Humble pie? This is about humble pie? Did you eat one when Carrick turned out decent? Did you eat one when our season turned around when you were of the opinion that we are going to sink and I said we will start spanking teams because we have been dominating teams but for scoring goals? (As an aside did you remember that we actually played well but couldn’t score?)
No, all you said was that you are willing to come around and accept it when United play well or Carrick turns out to be good. The same will be with us, if United turn out shite — which we will know half way or maybe in April we will accept it for the mistakes the team makes.
To think that this will be about vindication or us eating humble pie would be rather silly. If you scoff at our optimism — okay, at times it is misguided — don’t pass your pessimism off as reality. Because it’s not from where I see it. Your pessimism is based on your assumption of a series of events that hasn’t happened. Which is not reality.
Now I am not speaking for all optimists here. I know a few would immediately turn on Fergie the moment we start losing. In fact I’ve seen a fair bit of United fans will actually start calling for Fergie’s head.
Feel free to be pessimistic but don’t laugh off optimism and then expect people to not knock you for being pessimistic at the same time.
When things go sour everyone will be worried in equal measure. Although I think you will be more worried going by the history of your passionate rants.
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@Grognard: Yes when you respond it grows. And what did I tell you about restraint? So should I call you thick because you didn’t listen to me despite telling you a million times? No, I think you wouldn’t like that would you?
Did you see the smiley conveying something said in jest? Also it wasn’t a knock on you.
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@Red Ranter: The difference RR is that I never attacked others for the love of Carrick. He won me over because he improved as a player with his consistency. I have always been fair and always been willing to get off a player’s back and start supporting him even if I was one of his largest critics. If that isn’t humble, then I don’t know what is? I have a problem with blind optimism. Being optimistic for the sake of being optimistic is just foolish. Be optimistic because you are knowledgeable and confident in the team we have and the players and manager we have. But being optimistic because we are United is just a whole lot of rubbish. The captain of the Titanic was optimistic and arrogant too remember. After all, the ship was unsinkable.
Some seem to think that I’m this constant downer and that all I bring is negativity. That is far from the truth. When I have reason and proof to be optimisitc I am as loudly positive as anyone else. But I won’t be called a hypocrite when I jump of the Happy Days bandwagon because I see something may be broken or something may be wrong with the team. Last season I made a habit of giving my post game player ratings. I had way more reason to be positive than negative based on the season the team just experienced. But you know something, ver rarely would anybody comment on my positive ratings and evaluation of a player or game. Instead, they would jump down my throat on those few occasion when the players or team lost or performed badly and I wasn’t so generous with my grades. I ask you again, where were these people when I was being positive and complimentary? When I was on Carrick’s back he deserved the criticism and you know it. I was the first to praise him when he would turn in a good performance and I was even willing to eat my HUMBLE PIE and admit I was wrong about him to Carrick advocates like JB and others when he turned his game around.. I did the same regarding Scholes as he clearly sucked early in the year too.
The problem I have is when they sucked all the optimists couldn’t see anything wrong with Carrick or Scholes but when they both improved their optimism and praise just increased and went over the top. I’m not like that and I refuse to be. I have no kids of my own but if my child does well in school I will reward him or her and tell them how proud I am as a parent. If he or she does poorly I will let them know that what they have done is unacceptable and I will either punish the child by taking some privilege away if it’s due to lack of effort or bad attitude or I will seek to get them some assistance if there is a learning problem. An optimist would just see 40% on the report card as better than 30%. I on the other hand do not tolerate failure if failure can be prevented. I will do my best to see that the mark improves from 40% to at least a passing grade. It would be my responsibility as a loving and caring parent. I have the responsibility as a loving and loyal Man Utd supporter to cheer on the lads and praise them when they deserve praise. I will not praise them and I will scold them if they are not doing what I know they are capable of. I never expect more from a player or team than what I feel or know they can offer. So forgive me for feeling that if things stay the same, I feel United will fall closer to the pack due to it’s lack of new signings (so far), coupled with the improvement of our opponents, the Ronaldo situations uncertainty and the tough schedule. I think it is my right to see things a little more darker than some. I know you don’t have a problem with that but please RR, do not think me a hypocrite or a person who does not show humility when I’m wrong or when I jump the gun? Because I might add that on numerous occasions when I have had arguments with certain members on this site, I have always been willing to apologize for my part in it even when I think I’m right. I can think of a number of them who have not returned that sentiment. Some of them no longer participate on this blog due to their intolerance and short tempers. Now if that’s not humble, then I don’t know the meaning of the word. I hope you see my point as it is intended with as much humility as I can presently muster?
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@Red Ranter: I wouldn’t call it being thick as much as my stubbornness to let an injustice towards me go without reply. If you think it’s me being thick, that’s fine, i can see your point. But as hard as try, it’s hard to avoid all this because it never ends. Perhaps the people who are really thick are the ones who constantly ignore your rules of behavior for this site and who continually break them by not getting the message that they cannot attack members with personal insults and try to enforce them to think in their preferred manner. Now that seems a lot more THICKY than someone whose pride won’t allow him to not defend himself and his honor and reputation.
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@Grognard: I was not suggesting that you are being thick. But actually getting you to realise that everyone is being stubborn. Just like you.
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@Grognard: dry yer eyes
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Testing.. please moderate
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