24 Jan 2014 12:25:34
I would like to see Rooney sign a new contract if only to enhance his resale value, and prevent the risk of him leaving for little or nothing.

The last few years of the Ferguson era were marked by a weak youth and transfer policy. SAF's ornery cantankerous nature, and his refusal to move with the times in respect to the market and value, coupled with a lack of available funds, were a pretty lethal combination. Not only were our signings relatively poor, but the digging in against agents representing great youth prospects resulted in inexcusable losses. United went to great lengths to get hold of Pogba in the first place; it might have cost some extra wages and some playing time assurances, but the potential gain was far higher than the loss - a player/asset worth 40m compared to 2m in wages over a couple of years. Not signing Bebe would have more than covered the wage expense.

This stubborn recalcitrance, Presbyterian thrift and incredible hubris may have led to a final championship, however that may also be considered to be something of a Pyrrhic victory. A mortgaging of the future to satisfy the short term goals of the general.

If that policy is the one that's changing, and the money's loosening up, I'm all for it. In the process of transitioning into the modern era the Board may or may not get the right manager first time around, but if they bring in players of inherent quality and retain young prospects, I am confident they will eventually get the manager right too.

United, we'll rise again.

1.) 24 Jan 2014
Peashooter, the Pogba case was far more complicated than just giving Pogba a little more in wages. For a start his agent was whispering in his ear as he wanted to move Pogba on to recieve a big 2m agents fee.

Look at Pogba's current situation, he is on high wages(reportedly 45k a week) and he is in the first on a regular basis at one of the top european sides, everything he should want and yet there are still stirings that he could move on yet again to either us or PSG. And once he moves to PSG in the next year or two then he'll be there for a year or two before he moves on to Madrid or City or Chelsea or whoever else would pay his agent hansomely to get him to sign on the dotted line.

This is the same agent as Ibrahimovic and Balotelli, and Pogba is destined to have a similar career as those two.

So if we caved in and paid Pogba the extra money and gave his agent a slice of the cake to get him to sign on with us we would just be in the same situation a couple of years down the line.

But we would have created a rod for our own back by setting a prescident of caving in to agents and players demands. Thus we would be held to ransom by every talented young player who comes through our academy. It may even have lead to us being unable to tie Januzaj down to a new deal or at least paying through the nose to do so.

That would have been a crazy and reckless move, the day we start allowing 19yo unproven youth prospects dictate to us is the day United start to fall down the slippery slope that Leeds went down.

2.) 24 Jan 2014
Peashooter . A lot of different ways to define Fergies "arrogant/stubborn" mentality, but hey why use everyday English when there's a chance to flex the auld cerebrum and show others that you have / appear to have a greater grasp of the vernacular .
Anyway my point is this, it's a bit of a stretch to describe last seasons league win as being tantamount to a defeat . It was always going to be hard to replace fergie regardless of who came in . He did a great job winning the league last year and over time I believe Moyes will get it right . I suppose you will be advocating a director of football as most other teams have one .
Also why would you mention "Presbyterian Thrift", you should never bring religion into a football conversation plus Fergie is a Protestant not a Presbyterian

3.) 24 Jan 2014
To the much justified criticisms:

I am sure my generalizations were misplaced, and a tad hyperbolic. Yesterday was crass poetry, this morning it was unsupportable and overly simplistic invective. Still, I think the general gist holds some water. Without wishing to give in to agent infused hot heads, there needs to be some acceptance that in this environment we have to pay to get and retain quality players. Agents are real, and Pogba was a very costly mistake. There is no point in railing against reality.

As for Protestants and Presbyterians, I believe the latter is a reformed version of the former. It was more supposed to be a deeply subtle but playful jab at the oft referenced carefulness of our northern brethren.

4.) 24 Jan 2014
I think your missing the point Peashooter, even if we gave in to Pogba and his agent we would still be in the same boat a couple of years down the line.

Your acting as if Pogba is the only midfielder in the world.

Yes we have to pay the going rate for the right players, and hopefully with Mata we are showing that we are prepared to do that.

But Pogba was the wrong player with the wrong agent, he may have had all the qualities to be a huge success but with his attitude and his agents greed he would not have been worth us making special exceptions for.

5.) 24 Jan 2014
Shappy, my response is really based on financial/business considerations. Sometimes, giving in one an issue allows you to profit on the next. I think everyone recognized that Pogba had exceptional talent, correct? So, had we done a deal, and he had grown into half the player he is now but with us rather than Juventus, then we would now be in a position to profit either on the field or through the transfer market.

I have a suspicion and concern that our competitors are not adopting such an intransigent transfer policy and this in part (along with a lack of funds) is/has been causing us to miss out on both ends of the spectrum. Agreed however that this is not a pretty situation; it's all become rather grimy.

Can we at least agree on the need for United to spend some money on top players at the price the market dictates?