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:
- 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
- It’s Still All About Ronaldo, Love
- A few thoughts on the poppy fuss
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
Stephen (485)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (345)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
I think we are all now fed up with talking about the Ronaldo sarga it needs to be resolved once and for all.
The Euro’s are finished, Portugal were knocked out over two weeks ago, and we are none the wiser on where we stand with regards to our winger.
The club took a very tough stance at first, now is it me or is that stance dwindling? Or do we now want to sell, and we are waiting for Ronaldo to come out and say he is leaving? or are we being being blase’, and just being strong sticking by our original stance know one knows, lack of infomation.
I think us fans just want to know what is happening, are we selling him in order to purchase other players? or are keeping hold of the player?, hence our lack of activity in the market (not being paranoid). Either or, the fans would respect the clubs decision, but not knowing is in my view not fair on the fans, but what do we expect.
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Wow. There is more paranoia here than one would expect from Radiohead and Muse combined. A few things to keep in mind.
Those in the Uk might not be used to it, this sort of leveraged buyout with what appears to be heavy debt is common practise in North American sports and rarely leads to the sort of doom and gloom being discussed here (although, I concede that the situations are not identical given that North Americans trade rather than buy players). So unless there is evidence to the contrary, the debt is not really that big of an issue (despite what that t#@t Platini has to say).
SAF said earlier that funds were available to strengthen the squad and that he would indeed strengthen the squad in the areas that it required. Since I can’t recall him ever outright lying to the fans, why all the concern that there is no money available? I agree that the wait is annoying, but you can’t infer that we won’t sign anyone from the fact that we haven’t signed anyone.
Finally, what are all these big signings that other clubs have apparantly completed. Deco is the only one that might truly qualify as ‘big’ but he is 30 and surely not what we need. Sure, there have been a couple of nice signings, but nothing earth shattering and surely no one has been signed that is world class. So nothing has changed that drastically in the big 4 pecking order.
Bottom line: colour me puzzled?!?!?
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100
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berbatov could be on our cards, link.
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we might have some pre season injury problem
manucho injury
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@Stephen: Mate Arsenal have to sign players because they’ve already lost Flamini and looks like Hleb will also leave and Adebayor might. So they need to look for replacements. Chelsea sign players for the sake of doing it. The y have Paulo Ferreira who was offered a 4 year contract last year and they brought in Belletti only last year now they’ve brought in Bosingwa for big money. Liverpool have brought in a 2nd grade centerback. Spurs are the only ones to have made meaningful signings and they have to build a good squad if they want to challenge the top 4. We don’t need to be signing a lot of players coz there’s no need. We are looking for 1 or 2 players and I’m sure SAF knows who that’s going to be and talks must be going on.
So I don’t see the need for all this fuss from most of us here.
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Damn, I´ll have to wait ´til i´m back from holidays to set up my avatar by which point all of the good ones will probably be gone
@Stephen: As regards the debt I think that the Glazer´s business plan may be to sell the club before the loan runs down. The club is worth over 1bn and the debt is something like 700m. That translates into huge profits for them
@Grognard: As regards Arshavin, yes he is good when he is given time on the ball but when he isn´t getting much of the ball he doesn´t do very much for his team. What I´m trying to say is that he is slightly one-dimensional. For example if Ronaldo, Messi or Henry isn´t seeing much of the ball they will switch positions and try to get on the ball as much as possible. Arshavin against Spain was being completely choked by Senna but continued playing the exact same style and was kept quiet for the whole game. Another thing is that he is the star of both St. Petersburg and Russia and it is unknown how he would adapt to not being at the centre of his team´s plans. Like i said he is a good player, just not world class.
@everyone; just be patient, there is still 2 months left in the transfer window, the signings will come, the real world is not like football manager and FIFA 08 (and if not we still have a fantastic team so I´m not worried)
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Any debt that exists is Glazer debt, not United debt. The Glazers could sell United to a Chinese or Saudi group for £1bn easy. It’s not like if the Glazers can’t pay the debt, they will sell of Old Trafford for houses and shit like that.
Anyway, we just won the 2 biggest titles available to us, prize money coming out of our arses, £40mil less of wages than Chelsea and only £3mil more than Arsenal. I hated the Glazers at first, but the transfer funds have been there EVERY YEAR, even when we won nothing.
Everyone needs to stop panicking, and stop talking about Djembax2 like he is relevant to anything!
In Fergie We Trust.
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@ Chris Traverse
Yes, I agree in Fergie we trust. He was quoted as saying the Glazers where good owners, plus I just read stuff concerning our debts and the fact that our HUGE profits will “service” them in the long run. But you do agree also that we should get on with the transfer biz, don’t you? Don’t want to be too optimistic but fact remains, I have faith in Fergie. Would he lie to us? Don’t think so.
What’s this nonsense with Ronaldo’s entire clan? Who’s next? He’s cousin form he’s mother’s side twice removed? Silently though, I pray the latest rumor apparently from he’s sister holds water
@Grog
40 days is a real long time mate! If there’s one thing common to we United faithful, it’s faith. Have faith, the Glazers CAN not ruin us.
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@Tomas: Arsenal have already signed Ramsey and Nasri and are actively pursuing Arshavin and a replacement for Adebayor. Chelsea have signed Deco and are strongly linked also to Arshavin, who they apparently flew in to discuss terms, Ronaldinho who Scolari wants badly and Etoo are also very interested to go to Chelsea. I’m sure it won’t stop there. Liverpool are aggressively going after Barry, while having just agreed to terms with the Italian defender whose name escapes me at present. They also have tapped up Robbie Keane and have him demanding a move to them from Spurs. Tottenham have made the signing of the off season so far in landing Modric and also Dos Santos. They are close to finalizing the deal for the Brazilian keeper and are actively pursuing others. Barca have signed Daniel Alves and are strongly linked with a number of players. Inter is actively going after players as Mourinho is trying to get Lampard and is also pursuing numerous names while trying to get a feel for who is available.
My point is you hear from these teams. They make inquiries, invite players to negotiate terms, discuss openly the players they want and hope to get. Sure the media creates a lot of bullshit but the bottom line is that these teams are making changes and trying to move aggressively. United is doing nothing and everyone there is acting and sounding like they are at a funeral. They are totally tied up with the Ronaldo affair and they are stuck in limbo until that gets resolved. Fine, so be it. But if Ronaldo is transferred in a week or two or three, will there be anyone worth going after to help replace him? Will the Glazer’s cough up the Ronaldo profits in order to go buy players, and if so, will there be anybody left or will those monies go straight into debt payments?
If we don’t lose Ronaldo it’s not the end of the world this non activity. If we do lose him however, we will not have to buy just one player to replace his impact on this team. And waiting to find out what that impact will be is fatal. At least buy the bloody striker we need right now. Manucho went down with a metatarsal bone fracture the other day. We can’t even count on him to be with the team now. It would be lunacy and complete folly to not buy a top striker now while there are a half dozen available. He is needed even if Ronaldo stays. He is absolutely vital and shoots all the way to the top of the class if Ronaldo leaves. I honestly get amazed how many of you cannot see the writing on the wall. That many of you are so blinded by your faith and loyalty that you dare not question the lack of desire and expediency that is not be taken in dealing with our team’s needs and the Ronaldo affair. Should I have faith in Fergie? Perhaps, but lets put it this way, I have more faith in his coaching and managing of the team in the dressing room and on the pitch than I have in his attempt to tempt and persuade players to sign with us or his power to get a deal done when the team seems to me to be in financial trouble. This calm seems to be a sign of surrender by Fergie. He may feel he has lost Ronaldo and the money he needs to rebuild the team is not present nor will it be in the near future. Now he also has to deal with the probable loss of Queiroz too. When it rains it pours!
I’m probably wrong with all this and if so, no problem. I’ll be happy as Hell to admit my mistakes and move on. But it amazes me how so many of you here love to be spoon fed with only positives and pablum. It’s important for members like myself to occasionally rock the boat and bring up concerns that may in fact be relevant and accurate based on current situations and inaction by our team’s brain trust. So forgive my doom and gloom because somebody has to offer up a dose of it since so many love to look at things from rose colored glasses. If I’m wrong and Fergie goes on a buying binge and picks up a major striker and keeps Ronaldo, then I will come out and apologize for being wrong. However, how many of you will apologize to me for questioning my sanity if Ronaldo is sold, we buy a scrap for a striker and nobody else arrives unless it’s part of the deal with Madrid? Is this calm before the storm? Lately we have been led to believe that Ronaldo has had a change of heart and has decided to stay. I don’t believe it, not for a second. Real’s inactivity in the transfer market is because they are awaiting to make the big announcement. Ronaldo to Real for 70 million and Robinho. The Glazer’s will have spoken and that is what will happen. And then we will pursue and buy Santa Cruz, or probably Fabiano or Falcao and that will be it. Certainly not the value on the pitch for what we will have lost I feel. In the end, this whole off season may even cause Fergie to chuck it all and announce his retirement sooner than later. He’s used to being given the resources to fight the fight. All of a sudden I get the feeling we are acting more and more like West Ham. No way Fergie’s ego amd pride can handle that I feel.
There, I’ve said my peace. Paranoia and worry personified. Now how many of you are honest enough to admit that the very same feelings have bounced around in your heads over the past month? Don’t kill the messenger if you don’t agree with the message. Someone had to deliver it.
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@Tomas: Tomas if the sports media in Europe can go around and deliver garbage and lies as well as rumors and innuendo then I feel I can be forgiven for adding a little paranoia and concern on a fan based rant site. Unlike them, I don’t even get paid for my paranoia and speculation. You say that my actions are fine with you and that you are not judging me but clearly you are. Clearly I have my defense mechanism working but I feel that I have the right to do so and that there is nothing wrong with that. It’s how I deal with disappointment. And right now I am feeling a great deal of disappointment. To know how I think and why I am like this you would need to know the number of bad things that have happened to me in my life to create this defense mechanism. I won’t bore you with the details but suffice it to say, I have been burned and betrayed by people who I never suspected and never expected such treachery from.
It has ruined my faith in a lot of things and my faith in people in general. Oh trust me I am not a walking bitter angry old fool who can’t get along with anybody. But I am a cautious person who is very astute these days when he sees symptoms or warnings of impending problems.
I personally believe that you and others are setting yourselves up for a major hurt and feeling of betrayal because you refuse to see the obvious and the possibility that I just might be right. What if I am? At least I prepared myself for the doom and gloom that may come. For many like you it will hit you like a brick falling from the top floor of the Empire State Building. Now if you are right and I am wrong, I end up feeling incredible rapture and relief while you maintain yourself with the status quo. You don’t get high or low. Great for you, not great for me. I experience all the emotions fully and I prepare myself for them so that they don’t hit me to hard. I certainly don’t think I’m a fool nor am I accusing you of calling me one, but my theories and beliefs are not those of a fool. I consider myself a good reader of people and I do have an experienced and accurate intuition on how I read people and their actions. Sure I’m not always right but you’d be surprised how often I am. I personally see and read warning signs all over the front of OT. And Fergie and Gill will have to work hard to prove to me that I am wrong. From where I am standing right now, I am looking more and more correct every day. Two and three weeks ago many posters on this blog claimed that I was paranoid and that Fergie would immediately take care of business once the Euros were over and he was back from vacation. Ronaldo’s Euros were over ten days ago. Nothing has happened. Where is the urgency man? Nero is playing his harp while Rome burns, and I for one don’t like fire.
God what I would give for Fergie to prove me wrong. GO AHEAD FERGIE….MAKE MY DAY!
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@jstar7: You are out of line with your comments mate and I for one do not appreciate it.
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@dan(u-ol): Your posts are becoming more and more difficult to understand mate. What exactly does “100″ mean?
and if you are replying to somebody’s comment or question, use their name before you make the comment so you don’t put me and others into a state of confusion. Not a criticism, just a suggestion.
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@Grognard: 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. That is the faith in the man who has done more for this football club than any other manager has, for any other club out there; Sir Alex Ferguson. If you cant put your trust in him to do Manchester United right, then who can you?
The man is the key figure in the last two decades of Manchester United’s success. Have a little faith.
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@Liam: So let me get this straight. You are basing this theory on one game against Spain. What about all those games for Zenit where he is given free reign by Dick Advocaat and where he goes from one side to the other and interchanges positions. Did you ever stop to think that maybe Hiddink restricted him or the fact that maybe the Russian team as a whole were not good enough to overcome Spain thus allowing a blanket of coverage to be placed over Arshavin that he could come out from under? All great players are only as good as the players around them and the system they play. Arshavin has shown me that he is capable of doing all the things you say he isn’t. How many times was Ronaldo invisible for Portugal. He certainly was against Germany. Or how about Ronaldinho when Barca won their European Cup or in the last World Cup? I guess they just aren’t up to snuff. Sorry Liam but I am not going down on record and placing an unfair label on a player for one game at the Euros. It is after all a team game and one player does not make a team, nor should he be relied on to carry a team.
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we Will sign someone.. just be patient… Grog have you ever considered that we don’t and haven’t often revealed openly interest in a player… bar perhaps Hargreaves, just cos were not seen to be going after player X and player Y just credits how good Utd are in going about there transfers (re last year.. no one saw the portugse Job) any way my point is i think Wenger has to rebuild the crux of his squad which is why he seems to be desparate to bring in players… what we have is a group of CHAMPIONS! Champions of Europe and England and considering for 4 of those players it was their first season at Utd with only one of them having Premiership experience, i’d say we have a pretty awesome squad.. and like SAF said, one player will probably do, it will mean minimum disruption to the flow of the team who can kick off not having to settle into a new team or getting to know how each other play, so i think thats a big advantage to us. also as someone mentioned i reckon Ronaldo features heavily in our future plans so he needs to be secured then we can look at bringing in this “one player”
Foster
Neville Ferdinand Vidic Evra
Ronaldo Hargreaves Anderson Nani
Rooney Tevez.
this is gonna be our first choice squad sooner or later… and other than a replacement for Gary and the outright purchasing of Tevez… all these players are in the squad, just because Chelsea and Arse have finally realised their squads weren’t good enough, and they are having to invest more than us to try and match us… we are the dominant team and will be for years to come, and that will only be harmed by bringing in players just to stop another team getting them,.. i mean come on aint that the chelski way of doing things.
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United club spokesman about Real Madrid’s attempt to get Ronaldo : “It is utter nonsense and totally laughable. Cristiano Ronaldo is not for sale.”
Let that be the end of that. Going nowhere. Ronaldo’ll get an improved contract. His agent used possible Real interest as a bargaining chip, and Real in their desperation to stop the slump pulled out all the stops to land him, and have ended up with a big red omelette on their face.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11667_3776679,00.html
also, I completely agree with Will. Our lack of signings is a Strength, not a weakness. we are the benchmark for others to strive to.
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@Jay: So now we are slinging mud are we? How fucking insulting can you get? It’s not lack of faith in Fergie it’s lack of faith in the Glazer’s and and the debt they are servicing. Fergie’s inaction comes from that, so try not to insult me by calling me less of a fan or less faithful to the great man than yourself. Nobody and I mean nobody loves or respects Sir Alex Ferguson more than myself. But make no mistake, I am not a fucking sheep and I will question my mother and my father if I feel they are dropping the ball. That doesn’t make me less of a son.
Oh, and I don’t need a Fergie history lesson from you either. And people accuse me of talking down to them. God give me strength!
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@Chris Traverse: Do you watch politics much? Because if you do then you’ll know that professional spokesmen are born liars. They are paid to lie and they are rarely ever held responsible for it because that is their job. I’ll believe it when it actually happens and Ronaldo puts pen to another contract that has commitment written all over it. No spokesman’s verbal diarrhea will make a Hell of beans difference. Hell i trust the media more than I trust team spokesmen.
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Hallelujah…Jay
We are the champions of CL and EPL….we dont need this paranoia and dark thoughts before new season….relax!
If we keep Ronaldo and buy Berba (or Eto maybe)…There will be glory again….so, dont panic….Ronaldinho is going to Milan , lamps in Inter, Ade in Barsa and their clubs are not going to be stronger than Man utd…We just need one striker and that`s all…Enjoy!
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@Grognard: I think Fergies wife loves him more than you…
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@RedDevil: God I hope you are right. If not, I have a problem.
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@Grognard: Hi-hi
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grognard, 100, means 100th comment, not a hidden message or anything like that.
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@man utd – Aleksandar: And i certainly don’t need all this phony positive as Hell blind faith that is being force fed to some of us that have different personalities and different temperaments. I often wonder to some of you who find my posts annoying or negative, why the hell do you read them? You do, or you wouldn’t comment on them. All I hear is we will, if we, if what, but nothing concrete ever happens and yet I’m supposed to be positive. Like I said before, I’m nobody’s fucking sheep and I won’t be told how do feel and what I should feel.
And contrary to some accusations thrown my way, I am not telling any of you to agree or follow my lead. All I am doing is saying how I feel and making my views felt. For those of you who can’t deal with it, get help. Honestly, some of you act like local sheriff’s and I’m the bad guy wearing black. Get of your high horses and let me rant to my heart’s content. I’m not crying for a following, I just want the right to be heard and not put down or censored for my beliefs. Disagree if you must, but stop the personal insults, digs on my character and allegiances and all will be fine with me.
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@dan(u-ol): Thanks for clearing that up for me Dan. Now I know.
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@dan(u-ol): What do you mean with 100th comment? It was 103.
More pictures of our new CL away kit/3rd kit. I sure will get one with Andy on the back. It looks amazing.
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@Grognard: You shouldnt be afraid to write your meenings and feelings. Those who have rea your comments from back in time knows that you are just as much a United fan like others. That people disagree with you doesnt meen that you are wrong. I have disagreed with you pleanty of times, but I respect your thoughts. That is important for everyone to do.
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If Ronaldo has indeed decided to stay with us the reason may have to do with the fact his relationship with his girlfriend may be on the rocks. Why do I say this? Just a hunch but I ask you this. If you were a young man with deep Christian and old fashioned rootd haviing been brought up on an island in poverty, would you feel pride and joy seeing your girlfriend pose in the nude? Well apparently she has and the pictures are there for all of you to see at
http://www.thefootie.com/cristiano-ronaldos-girlfriend-nereia-gallardo-poses-nude/
I know that she would be yesterday’s news if she embarrassed and shamed me like that. I for one am not prone to sharing my woman’s privates with the world and I doubt Ronny or his mother feel very good about this tramp doing this. I don’t know but this may have a lot to do with his recent about face. I said many times in the past that she was probably the main reason why he wanted to go to Madrid in the first place. Check out the headline on top of the nude photos too. Funny as Hell.
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@RedDevil: Thanks a lot for those words. I’ve never ever questioned your intentions or the way you disagree with me because you don’t make it personal or derogatory. If more were like you.
By the way, I am reading a number of reports that claim that Arshavin to Chelsea is a done deal. In fact Abramovich came down personally to make sure pen went to paper. If true, another one lost and another reason for me to fume and get all bent out of shape. What do we get for our satisfaction as United fans? United coming out and saying that Ronaldo is not for sale. Well on the chance he is sold, are they going to come out and apologize to us all for lying to us? Just wondering. I wouldn’t hold my breath.
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@RedDevil: its 103 now, before it was 100, im guessing RR accepted 3 comments from a new user or users.
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@Grognard: Thanks!
People should not talk bad about others just because becuase they disagree. That is a major problem in the world these days. You dont know what do when others think different like you, so yu just harras them. Thats just worng…
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@Grognard: there is no need to panic. What happened when we only signed Carrick and Chelsea signed Sheva and Ballack? did we finish 4th like most newspapers and so called experts said we would? no we won the league. I would be content if Fergie signed someone who would come on in the 65th minute if the game is still 0-0 or something like that and just offer us something different. I would be happy to start next season with the same starting 11 as started the CL final. I even think that Frazier Campbell would be able to become that substitute player for us because he made absolute mincemeat out of the Championship defences last season. All we need is one cover striker and if Saha can (unlikely but I´ll give it a shot) prove his fitness then we might not even need that.
A few weeks ago I was really on Ronaldo´s back but now I hope that he does stay and prove that he is worthy to play for us. A lot of his proclaimations of intent to go to Real were from tabloid newspapers because every interview he made he said that he was happy at United and to play at Madrid was a dream and dreams sometimes don´t come true. I would accept Ronaldo back and even if everyone says otherwise I´m sure that they would too. I´m sure he can do a decent job down the right side
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@Liam: The point is we pursued Carrick openly and showed some aggressiveness in getting him. Some might even say we tapped the player up to get him. We did the same to get Rooney, Ferdinand, Tevez, Nani, Hargreaves, RVN, Andy Cole, Yorke etc. These weren’t silent signings that came out of nowhere. We all heard about United’s serious interest in signing them and then we saw United go out and get them. players like Evra, Anderson, Ronaldo, EVDS, Vidic and Park may have been surprises that came out of nowhere but lets not be fooled into thinking that United always do their business on the sly. They can be just as loud and sometimes just as ruthless as Madrid in going after a player. I see none of that now and the silence is deafening.
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End of Euros +5 and all is quiet.
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Ajax have smashed the Dutch transfer record after agreeing a fee with Heerenveen for forward Miralem Sulejmani. That folks is going to be Huntelaar’s replacement. That obviously means Huntelaar is definitely going and may have already agreed to terms with somebody. Why do I get the feeling it’s not United. A striker, a striker, my kingdom for a striker! And please make him world class.
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@Jay: I agree 100% with this, call it mudslinging or whatever, but i’ll say this again, if Arse fans can still say In Wenger we trust after three years of nothing, we United fans should be able to believe that the man who had brought us nothing but glory in 2x decade he’s been with us.@Eric the Red: For some reason, the doom and gloomers didn’t notice this post, if i remember well too, Fergie before the season ended(before we won anything and got the EPL and CL prize money), said he was going to buy and i don’t believe he’ll say this if we were broke, as much as i hope to God that we don’t buy an inferior striker, i know that if we do, it’d be because thats what Fergie wanted not because we didn’t have any money. If you call it blind faith or stupidity, then i’m blind and stupid enough to say that i believe in the man who has been consistent(bar a year or two) in winning us trophies.
@Grognard: And no offense intended, but after reading your fickle comments about you possibly dumping United if they were relegated and didn’t come back up in time(can’t remember the post you made that comment), you can mark me down in the category of readers who question your allegiances. I just wonder what you’d be saying about Fergie now if like Wenger he hadn’t brought us success for a while.
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@Grognard: Oh man, I love you. How great are you for this site. I’m a little drunk right now, but that doesn’t change the fact that any site needs someone like you who stands by his beliefs no matter how many people disagreeing.
I’ll try to make a comment tomorrow, when I sober up.
Cheers Grognard, and everyone else in here.
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41 days until the Premier League starts.
Liam- I was one of the fans that hated Ronaldo a few weeks ago. But that was because I was confident he wouldleave us. But for every day that goes I become more and more sure that Ronny will stay. Instead of thinkng of the bad stuff he has done thiese last weeks, I started remember ing the shy guy that joined us and didnt even understand the word confident! He is happy everytime he scores for us, he started crying when United won the CL in Moscow, he has saved our butts so many times since 2003 so I will forgive him. Just come out and say that you want to stay and I will forget everything that has happened. Then it will be good times again…
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I miss this guy! I dont miss the player so much cause he has become the best one, but I miss the shy person.
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http://www.redcafe.net/f9/according-insider-ajax-we-signing-klaas-jan-huntelaar-209792/
From the guys at Redacfe, i know they’ve posted some muppetish things in the past, but i do hope this is true, hopefully it’d get Grog off United’s case.
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We going to have a great season.
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i have a feeling we will sign some one before we go to south africa.
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@ebrahim: I think thats a given, cus i think the SA trip is towards the end of July and if we don’t sign someone, we’d have only about 2weeks+ till the season starts which i don’t think is enough for a new signing to bond with the team.
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lmao. That thread has to be one of the funniest I’v seen.Feel sorry for the guy though.The way they mocked him with the sarcasm.
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If i was Fergie, i would have gone and picked up Crespo now…Cause like Larsson he is an experienced player who certainly know to put the ball in the net with his foot or head…I think whenever he played he did okay with Chelsea..he also got big game experience playing with Inter and Milan….and think about a big name signing in January depending on the situation then….Now all the players are just too overrated and over priced…..more than 25M for Berba …over 35M for Etoo are so ridiculous…
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@Tucsred: Honestly I really don’t care what you think regarding my allegiance. Secondly my allegiance is none of your business. Worry about your leanings and kindly leave mine alone. You don’t know me and you know nothing of me to be able to question my faith and loyalty.
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@Tomas: Have a drink on me Tomas. On second thought, make it a double.
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@Grognard: Yeah, actually I do. Enough to know that United wouldn’t be coming out saying this stuff if they weren’t COMPLETELY 100% sure of their situation.
And also enough to know that Real Madrid, and more importantly Calderon are constantly smacking of desperation. Calderon has pretty much promised Ronaldo to the fans, as has Berndt Schuster. Because of this Calderon will get voted out in their stupid ‘elections’. A new president almost certainly means a new manager. Both of their jobs are on the line. All the promises of crazy money and daily stories from their media mouthpieces have been to try and get Ronnie to break his United contract, which is the only chance in hell they have of getting him, becuase WE DO NOT WANT TO SELL and hold every single one of the cards.
If it was going to happen, United would have done it by now. We don’t wait around for players to ‘make decisions’ about their future, we make them for them. We did it with Beckham, Rudd and Heinze. Nobody dictates to United.
Ronaldo is going nowhere. I wish people would stop ignoring the only solid news from any of the parties involved in this. Satements from United, rather than Madrids posturing, or what Ronaldo’s mom’s dog groomer thinks.
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@Shyam: Crespo couldn’t settle in London, so he sure as hell wouldnt’ be able to settle in Manchester.
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