Jan 18
United on Top of the league, for now
This is a thread for those finding the older one too sluggish to load. Feel free to add to this thread. I was infected with a mystery illness, right now it’s a case of severe bronchitis, or something. This has made my mobility limited. I should be well by this week though — hopefully. Then I can start posting more regularly. I did read comments from people who were getting disgruntled with this blog more and more. I see your pain and hope to get this rolling soon. But I’ve made my promises far too often now… so I’d rather prove it in action instead of making further excuses. Over to you.
*cough* *cough*
*clearing phlegm*
Related items from Red Rants:
- Valencia’s flying April not enough for stuttering United – Player of the Month April 2012
- Manchester United’s tough, tough April fixtures list
- DeGea has his (safe) hands on the future
Player of the Month, February 2012 - David Gill gets top role
- We’re on the Telegraph’s Top 10 Man Utd Websites
Tags: Site News
Opti (541)
Stephen (485)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (348)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
I think its fitting that DAN got the first 1000 comment of redrants FC
it just proves that hes the star of the team!
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@Dan: Yes I am Irish Dan, any problems with that? From the look on your face, it seems that you think this is an Irish bias on my part, this has nothing to do with Nationality. After nearly every game, somebody gets to be Redrants scapegoat, usually its John O Shea, so i thought that some of you needed reminding of his record for our club, so roll your fuckin eyes somewhere else.
@Gabriel: Maybe Random to you mate, Unwarranted – I strongly dispute this
Mistimed – As far as i’m concerned this has been coming for some time!
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@Dan:
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@phoenix red: dont get rude with me, i havent said anything bad about o’shea. we dont need an article about o’shea saying how great he is for playing in every position(which really isnt hard) he wasnt the scapegoat today, scholes and foster were, so grow up and grow a sack.
yes thats right, im talking down to you and i dont care if you think im wrong for doing it.
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I think its amazing, maybe even disturbing that we have gotten to 1,004 comments.
Proves that we need a new article. This site is really slow now, we need something new. RedRanter, if you here this, just put up a new article. Doesnt need to be interesting, if its only written “Blah blah blah, VIVA RONALDO, Fabio is huge, blah blah blah” its alright. We only need a new topic. This is difficult… 
BTW, Fabio looks the real deal. He looked better defensivly than Rafael to, did you notice that. He is gonna be great for us, and mabe even Brasil.
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@Dan: Easy now Kaka!
You know that you shouldnt be doing that, even though I feel Pheonix was a little rude. Just ignore it, I dont wanna lose you. lol
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@phoenix red: “From the look on your face, it seems that you think…” How can you see his face?
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I think it was clear to see from the short time we got to see of Fabio that he is better with both feet (he is apparently right footed but is strong with his left hence why he plays at left back) than Rafael is. I have to say i love them both and i can’t wait to see them both play more over the rest of the season.
A United side with both Fabio and Rafael at wing back is a damn attacking team. I doubt we’ll see it this season but i’d love to see it against some lesser sides once they’ve both got a good 25-30 performances under their belts.
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@Dan: just a thing here, when someone rolls their eyes at me like you did, i find it condescending, added with “im guessing your irish”, which i seriously doubt, as i’m guessing you dont speak any Gaelic. As far as your english goes, i guess you meant “you’re”.
I didn’t address you in the first place, secondly i’m old enough thanks,and my sack seems to be working fine as my son will attest to!
I thought this was a rant site, or am i wrong? Where do you get the royal “we” by the way? Or are you the moderator of this site?
As far as “how great he is for playing in every position(which really isnt hard)”, i think you’ll find that its actually quite unique!
“yes thats right, im talking down to you and i dont care if you think im wrong for doing it.” You are working off the quite false supposition that you are on some higher ground, dont make me laugh, sorry too late
Guess this Irish: “Pog mo thoin”
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Who else is slightly depressed that Fabio got injured? I was looking forward to him scoring at West Brom
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@Dan: I cannot believe you just accused me of that? At least put a smiley next to it if you were joking otherwise, shutup. Are you serious? I don’t like him because he’s not German? Listen Dan, I like you and I am going to respect you by not getting angry here. I may have a real love for the Germans in football but for your information my favorite keeper in the world is Polish (Boruc).
Dan, seriously mate, you owe me an apology. I may like my German keepers but I am no racist and I do not select my players based on some ethnic preference. I for one am born Canadian from Greek heritage. I’d watch how you accuse me of biases. I think you need to look at your own biases which mean that all players in the youth system or of English heritage must take precedence over far superior and technically more proficient players from other lands. The fact that Germany develops great keepers is no secret in the world of football. The fact that England doesn’t is no mystery either. Regardless of what I think of Mr. Foster, I believe you crossed the line with me today with your comment. It was rude and out of line. And I am bloody well offended by it.
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@Dan: BOO FUCKING HOO!
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@Nico QB: I’ll tell you what really gets under my skin. Madly devoted and blind Manchester United fans who will support and build up all our players into something they are not, then knock or criticize any supporter who does not go along with their useless assessment. I have watched this sport for 40 years like a student my friend and I don’t need to be told how I should think or whether I should be more fair towards a player that does not grab my fancy. Now most of my anger is with Dan but I refuse to sit here and get bombarded by others because they want to be fair to poor little Ben Foster. Fuck Ben Foster. He is third rate British keeper who’d have a hard time getting a job in the Bundeliga 2 as a #2 keeper for some backwater team. He’ barely qualified for the Coca Cola League yet alone the Prem. He may have been decent at Watford but clearly his abilities and confidence have fallen off with his long history of injuries in the past two seasons. He’s simply not good enough to be the number one goalkeeper for United. He is not United class. I want Fergie looking for the next Schmeichel, not settling for the next. If you and others don’t agree with me fine, I respect that, even though I really do not like Foster as a United keeper, I am not nor have I ever been intentionally unfair to a player because of a bias or preference. So take Dan’s poisonous bile and flush it where it belongs and don’t let his BS assist you in forming untrue assessments about me. I am a very good judge of goalkeepers and I have had the privilege of watching and studying many of the greatest of all time. From Maier to Schmeichel, I have seen the very best over 40 years and so I feel like I am a very well informed football observer.
Taibi.
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@Drew Vader: He looked woefully ridiculous and amateurish i=on numerous judgment calls that had nothing to do with his back four. He played the Pavlyuchenko goal poorly by not being aggressive enough and not in the proper position to handle an angled header. What can I say, if you take away the dozen or so errors in judgment, his poor movement on goals scored and his lack of confidence on high balls, he was frakken magnificent.
What really gets me is if this guy was playing for Arsenal or Liverpool you guys would all be letting him have it over his ordinary play. But as United GK he is a frakken God who can do no wrong. Take off the sun glasses already. JEEZ!
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@Drew Vader: He was too far to the right and leaning that way. Poor balance and as soon as the ball was played to Pavlyuchenko he should have come out more to cut off the angle instead of hug his post. How clear is that for you mate?
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@Nico QB: On that mate we are in 100% agreement. The fitness trainer or physio needs to get the sack. I really believe that the rash of injuries has a lot to do with poor prep and work on leg training and preventative measures. I also think the grounds keeper needs to address OT’s soft pitch. Most of our injuries are happening at home and they are often due to poor or deep planting of feet upon contact. No give to the turf because it’s too soft. As for the muscle pulls and strains, that’s just poor conditioning and training thats causing that. Better warm ups and more precise exercises designed to prevent that kind of thing.
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@Rd: He didn’t come back from injury this week mate and that is what training is for. It’s different for keepers than regular players. It’s not like he was out for months and came back to start on Tuesday. Besides, Kuszczak seems to do much better being in the same situation. Truly, I am tired of the excuses being made for this fella. The only time Ben Foster sees a clean sheet is seconds before he wipes his ass.
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@Drew Vader: First off, the Roy Carroll comment was sarcasm based on frustration. Honestly, I do not want Roy Carroll back. Secondly, don’t for a second start bitching to me and others about giving Berbatov more of a chance to prove himself because in case you have not noticed, Berba earned that consideration due to his track record and world class reputation. Ben Foster is far from world class. You and some other sound like a bunch of peasant farmers sticking up for your sub par crops. Enough already, you are not going to change my mind so what the Hell is the point about venting your spleen over one man’s opinion on a keeper? Useless waste of time and energy. Only Foster himself can change my mind and he has done nothing this season for me to rate him any higher. Sorry, just being honest. I don’t fall in line when others start barking. If that bugs you and others, all I can say is…..LIVE WITH IT.
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@Patrick: No Patrick, it’s not pessimism. I am a realist. It’s the facts that people find so frakken offensive about me, not feelings of doom and gloom.
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@realred: Have you even thought that they may be playing him to showcase him for a possible sale.?
If I was Kucsczak, I would be pretty pissed off right about now. No reason for him to get thrown under the bus unless playing Foster was a strategy for use in the transfer market. Maybe, maybe not.
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@Dan: That’s the bullshit excuse for everything. If a guy sucks, play him some more. Even I have been guilty about that with Anderson and Nani. But at least they gave me reasons to think positively about them. I’d like to know what Ben Fucking Foster has done well to deserve to man the pipes for Manchester United. He is not Schmeichel or EVDS class and as far as I’m concerned I say get rid of him yesterday. In baseball there is a term for players like him. He’s a BUSHER.
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@Gabriel: Classic! LOL
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@Dan: The only thing Dan stars at is getting under my skin.
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@phoenix red: Yes mate but it came out of the wilderness based on what the conversations of today were about. It just came out of nowhere. I have to admit, although your intentions were serious, it was rather funny because it was so irrelevant to the stuff we were ranting about today. On the other hand, had O’Shea played a poor game and we had been trashing him today, then we all would have taken what you said more seriously. So don’t get upset, just understand that your timing was a bit off. You should have saved it for a rain on O’Shea day.
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@RedDevilEddy: I have sneaky suspicion Red Ranter is pretty ill. If his bronchitis is really bad or it has turned into a lung infection or Pneumonia, well he could even be in hospital for all we know. If he is home it’s unlike him to let the thread go on this long without a good reason. If you do read this RR, hope you are OK and you come back to us soon. I’d be a liar if I didn’t say this site needs you back ASAP.
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@RedDevilEddy: My boy Danny Kaka does seem like he is in a foul mood today and to be honest, he put me in one with his “I am bias to anyone who isn’t German” rant. Dan, if you read this, calm down mate and stop getting so angry at comments by me and others that may take a swing at players you like. It’s all part of the game and that’s why we rant. Just deal with it and stop blowing your top over it. We’re all friends here. The only time you should lose your cool is when people put you down for your beliefs. Like when you put me down with your little Grognard loves German keepers tirade. That kind of thing is out of line and uncalled for. So just sit back, take a deep breath and have yourself a shot of tequila to calm your nerves. It’s really not worth it. I know sometimes I need to do that so don’t think that I don’t practice what I preach. PEACE.
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@Nick: I was very impressed by Fabio and I personally felt he was the Man of the Match before he left. Nice runs, great composure, good job of recovering and tracking back and a very good passer. His only real weakness is playing behind a world class LB in Evra.
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i dunno Grog- personally i think theres no comparison between PIG (liability) & Foster.
Im a rangers fan at heart but i know Boruc is no use either…the ammount of howlers the guy makes is hilarious.
maybe im wrong just get distinct feelin Benny boy will be our number 1 soon enogh
….so what did everyone make of tosics debut?
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@Grognard: im sorry if you thought i was trying to make you out as some racist. im 100% sure you are not. But when you talk about keepers you do generally talk about buying keepers from eastern europe.
think if it like this, ronaldo has a bad game its fine, same with rooney, carrick ferdinand etc.
But when foster has an average game, he should be sold? its not right or fair. give the lad a proper chance before you judge him.
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Dear Red Ranter/Site Admin
I haven’t watched the game yet but will be later. But it took me almost five minutes to reach the bottom of this thread and no match report or even a match preview.
I sympathise that you are ill. But surely there are other people who can keep the site ticking over? It doesn’t have to be an amazing post. Just a short, considered match report or preview to start a new discussion and keep the thread count manageable. Im sure many people would be willing to do it for free out of love for Manchester United.
There is no shame in delegating if you have taken on more than you can handle or if you are busy with work or ill. You have done a great job singlehandedly running this site for the last two years or so and have a real flair for writing. It would be a shame to let the site slip every time you have work issues, illness etc. This could be easily remedied if you shared the burden with a few other people who could step in when you were unable to post.
This has been going on some time and I ask myself why you aren’t getting someone else to take over temporarily? I put up with it because of the people on here who sustain the debate. But the site has become so slow and cumbersome that IM tempted to migrate to a site that is more professionally run and more up to date.
I do not mean to be a jerk but I hope youy understand my discontent. I wish you a swift recovery from your illness and hope things will improve when you are well again. Remember there is no shame in delegating!
God bless
Colver
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This site seems dead…
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Okey, Ive thought of something for a while. Why dont the club change the pitch? I think I remember Fergie saying in January 2008 that he wouldnt change the pitch because he thought it was doing well. And I dont think we have changed the pitch in a long time now. The grass is almost as good as dissapeared, theres only mud to be seen and the ball is moving incredibly slow and weird. Probably thats why Scholes had so many bad passes yesterday. We seem to have trouble with passing the ball nice and quick, and I saw many bad passes yesterday. Vidic had three really dangerous passes, Berbatov, Carrick, Welbeck and Scholes, as we know, played some passes that was too short and it looked like they had two tons of babypoo in their feet. And the injuries! The pitch is horrible, and Rooney, Evans, Rafael, Anderson, Fabio, Welbeck, Evra, Nani and Neville were all injured at Old Trafford. Between Boro and today, we have played four games at Old Trafford. Against Chelski, Wigan, Derby and Spurs. 9 players have gone off injured from those 4 games. And average of little over 2 players injuring themselves at Old Trafford. Is that a coincidence? Maybe, but Im sure it aint. The pitch is ruining for us, and we will suffer if we dont do anything about it, quick. Thankfully we are playing away in our next game.
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@colver: you sound like a psychiatrist at one of those intervention things…
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As a worst-case scenario, I’d have no problem starting a new, minimalist blog to give us a platform in which to continue our discussions without having to wait 20 minutes for the page to load. I’d prefer not to, but I’d rather do that then have this community dissolve. I’ve run a blog before and would have no problem posting a daily synopsis of United news, as I have done this before.
Hopefully Ranter will return so this won’t happen, but if it comes down to that I’d be willing. Let me know what you all feel about that.
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Speaking of injuries coming because of the field, are you guys also getting worried about the Inter game? Materazzi is probably gonna play, and even though I think he can be sent off at San Siro, Im worried about the damages he can do to Ronaldo, Berbatov or Carrick. Hopefully the pitch will be better by that time.
And dont forget, if our players get injured for three weeks by just running at Old Trafford, imagine what a Materazzi cruncher can do! 
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Actually, on second thought, I retract what I just said. I don’t mean it. Running one of these blogs is endless and thankless, so I don’t think I’d have the endurance for it.
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@realred: Boruc does make some howlers but he explained his off form this season was due to his marriage breakup. Having gone through that myself at one point, something like that can totally fuck up one’s life and focus big time. The many times I have seen him play, he has been a world class keeper with the best reflexes I have seen from a keeper since Schmeichel.
As for Tosic, nothing much to say really. He doesn’t appear as fast as I remember him on the Serbian under 21 side, but that was hardly a debut or a situation where he could have done much. He seemed kind of intimidated to me as I nicknamed him Mr. One Touch for his debut. As soon as the ball was at his feet, he got rid of it. He seemed afraid of making a mistake and losing the ball. No problem, everyone would feel that way in that situation. Good to see him get his feet wet. I say give him a start to really see what he’s got. I’m confident he’ll work out well for us.
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@Patrick: you realise no one replied right?
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@Dan: Fair enough Dan, and apology accepted mate. I realize I am not being as fair as you or others would like with Foster but that is the one position on the pitch I have no patience for. That is the one position that has the biggest shoes to fill. Not EVDS, although he has been great for us but those of Herr Schmeichel. Schmeic set the bar very high for keepers to attempt to jump here at OT. Since 2000 there has only been one keeper that has even come close to making the grade, that being EVDS. And that doesn’t mean he has been anywhere close to Schmeichel’s brilliance. He’s just been steady and rarely makes big mistakes or lets in easy goals. Both Pig and Foster are of the Taibi, Barthez, Howard, Carroll and Bosnic mold. Just not good enough but good enough to be a backup.
I admit to having a favoritism towards German keepers as well as other Eastern European keepers because I have seen for decades now the general consistency of Germany, Poland, Russia and the Czech Republic’s ability to develop great keepers. Germany is to goalkeeping what Brazil is to flair and what England is to work ethic. Whether we like it or not (and I of course like it), Germany is a goalkeeper factory. I could list off ten keepers right now that are much better than Foster who play in the Bundesliga and another half dozen from Russia and Poland. I won’t bore you with a list of the great keepers of the past who have come from these regions but suffice it to say, it’s not a small list. As for right now, United should be on the hunt for a world class keeper. The top names on my list are Boruc, Adler, Neuer, Akinfeev, Frey and Malafeev. For me those are the top six keepers in the world who can be had and who won’t cost Buffon or Casillas money. And frankly, these are the kind of keepers United deserve. We shouldn’t be settling for a project. Foster may or may not work out but I for one do not believe United, as great a team as they are can afford to take chances with that position. Goalkeeping is the Rock of Gibraltar on every team and United owes itself and it’s loyal supporters the ability and the means to not just get any guy to man the posts. They are in a position where they should never settle for anything but the very best up and coming keepers on the planet. And once again I’m sorry but in my opinion, that does not include Ben Foster. Only time will tell me if I am wrong on this.
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@Dan: Yeah, it was preemptive.
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@colver: Colver, I feel your pain mate but I honestly believe this time Red Ranter is really sick. Not just flu sick but serious bronchitis or even pneumonia sick. Having dealt with those beasties myself I know what they are capable of and I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if our favorite moderator was in hospital. He was so busy with work and stressed by it all that his immune system seems to have crashed on him. If he is indeed totally incapacitated due to his illness, this would explain his inability not only to update the site, but to get anybody else to do so. And he also has not come back to us about the writing competition.
All I can say directly from my heart is I hope he is not in a very bad way and that he is on the road back to us because we miss his threads and his wisdom and wit. Get well RR, you are being missed in way more ways than one mate. As painful as it has been to post comments on this blog of late, lets keep our fingers crossed for RR, bit a bullet and have faith and patience that our misery as well as his ends soon.
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@RedDevilEddy: Eddy, stop with the negativity. I know, that’s funny coming from me, but this site is far from dead. I’d hate to think that if this was my site and that you all would have baled out on me when I was in the hospital for two weeks last August. RR is probably really sick based on the information he gave on his last thread. I’m not going to ask this of you and others, I’m bloody well demanding it of all you mates. Show some frakken patience and some loyalty towards this blog and specifically Red Ranter.
This blog is an incredibly great community of like minded individuals who have bonded and help form what I feel is one of the more intelligent and focused football blogs out there today. It would be a shame and absolutely tragic if we all vacated now, after all that we have accomplished in making this blog truly dynamic and very intelligent. So lets cut the negativity and just bide our time. Have faith that RR will return soon and that we can get back to business.
Perhaps Ahmed from SoccerLens.com can assist us right now and put up a new thread for RR? If you are reading this Ahmed, please make it so mate?
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@RedDevilEddy: Because the pitch takes time to settle in and take root, it’s not conceivable unless United have a period where they are away from OT for at least three weeks. Really, this can only be done in the summer when the game isn’t being played.
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@Patrick: I for one don’t mind your idea as it is sound but I think we are all so damn loyal to RR, that the thought of actually moving away to another blog, even if it’s short term, is abhorrent to us. Thanks for the offer and it’s stand up thing to do, but I am willing to wait this thing out and at least get some kind of communication back from RR or Ahmed.
I myself have thought about starting a blog but what has stopped me was the thought of stepping on RR’s toes. Mine would be different in attitude and style but it would offer an alternative. Just a change of pace and a different dish on the menu kind of thing. But I have procrastinated on it because I love this site too much not to put all my allocated time towards it. But you never know what the future holds. It’s not like there can’t be room for another blog and one that could coexist and also support this one at the same time.
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we have derby/notts forrest next round…
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At least all of the big 4 are drawn away from each other… Although, Derby did beat us in the League Cup away.
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Damn…Everton drawing Livpool wasn’t sucha good thing as I’d first thought. Now our game against Everton on Mon, 2nd Feb will be brought forward to Jan 31st it seems. WTF! How many games in this month!
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@Grognard: I have faith in RedRanter. I do not want him to rush anything like Rooney has done previously. It will only get worse!
But this site is very slow ATM. I havent seen Craig for days, neither Karl or Darth Red Diablo! Where is everyone??!! There was only two comments between 7 AM and 16 PM, which should say something. I have faith in RedRanter to come back and make this a great blog again. Its just that its becoming difficult for me to type or refresh this site as its quite slow and hard to manage from my point of view. I have the patience, but I am afraid other people dont… Some people seem to have migrated and left.
BTW, we face either Forest or Derby away in the next round. I think thats good, at least its not Prem opposition.
And: HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!! Arsenal and Liverpool drew! Rematches may cost them, as they both have a small squad. Especially Arsenal, but when Liverpool replace Torres with El Zhar I wont call that squad depth exactly…
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@antsBoy: How can that be a bad thing?
We will get a longer rest to the next game after Everton, and we will be finished with January.
And to answer your question, it will be 9 games played in January.
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@RedDevilEddy: But we play on Wednesday with West Brom. Obviously it’s better to have two days of extra rest, since our next game after the Everton one is only next weekend!
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