Manchester United Banter Archive January 18 2013

 

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18 Jan 2013 23:22:38
This isn't a case of match of the day fever. More of a question. I watched the second half of the Leicester game this evening. Casper schmeichal put in a fairly good showing with a penalty save. I don't really watch much Championship football, can any one fill me in on him. Will he be good? Is he already good?

Andy S

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He is okay nothing that stands out he will probably end up at a lower premiership team.... He always has a mistake in him.

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He's only 6 feet tall, not ideal for a keeper!

snakey

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18 Jan 2013 22:32:02
A lot of talk on ins and out on here as always. Would just like some opinions! With many players possibly leaving in the summer, would you like to get a few million for Evra and sign Cole for free? Or would you rather keep Evra? Now, I know Cole can be a bit of a prat, but try and keep your opinions based on current ability :) I'm torn.

Fresh!

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I thought you were fresh!

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19 Jan 2013 09:33:12
cole's no longer the best left back in the league and even his england place no longer seems as guaranteed as it was. He's better than evra defensively but not attacking wise. Personally i'd either stick with evra for one last season and phase him out for fabio as the season progresses or if paris are willing to make a good offer sell him and try for baines with fabio as cover. But that depends if everton will play ball. In all honesty a lot depends on fabio and if he can keep his fitness. Its perhaps not the priority it was and midfield still remains in more urgent need if we can sort that it'll take some of the pressure off the defence.

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I'd rather have baines

Andrew b

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Baines would be my choice,
would hate to see ashley cole in a united shirt, no thanks.

Will Red

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Baines is better than Cole. But have to admit that Shaw looks very promising, and would suit united... Fabio isn't too Shabby lately either ;D

Patzi

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18 Jan 2013 21:46:41
Hey Everyone!

Just couple of things to talk about.

In terms of defence, Yes! player like Hummels and Subotic with their experience, composure and considering how young they are would improve our defence and for long time.

But! We have to look at our own players giving them chance to prove themselves. M. Keane at Leicester is so talented and he seems to have put himself in the first team( he just need to keep himself fit).
Regardless of Ferdinand's future. We have Vidic who gives that experience. And Evans has been doing very well despite all the criticisms. There is C.Smalling who in 1 or 2 years will be one of the best CB. And ofcourse there is the Beast Phil Jones.
In Rb, there is Rafael for many years and M.Vermijl super talented, he would benefit from a Loan to Premier league, bundesliga or la liga). I understand that man utd want him at the academy as cover for first team because he can play rb or lb.
Lb We have Shaky Evra, Buttner and ofcourse Fabio( who I still think that if fit, he will our first choice Lb.
And there is players in youth aswell..
So Defensive we are good. I know people will argue that we are conceding so much. But I don't we can blame it entirely on defence.

I would blame it on 2 things
Firstly to our style of play, man utd style of play seems to give our opponent far too many space and freedom to attack and take a shot. Dortmund has perfect example of closing down and playing as a team. Whenever opponent attacks, they close down with 2 players. Typical eg. would be physique of Yaya toure and creativity of Silva couldn't do anything against such style of play.
Secondly our midfielders for giving so much space. I don't expect tackle of Keano but atleast close down for god sake!

The only area of Concern is our Midfield which includes our wingers. Last year Witsel fits the bill but he cost so much(hopefully he will hate russia and it will cost us less then £15m). I think Saf and Wenger is right. Defensive midfielders are thing of a past. Now it is about intercepting the pass, closing down, holding the ball and spray the ball. I think man utd might have to spend even if it cost in the region of £35m. They are players like Modric(who might come for cheaper then £18m and Fabregas(who Saf did say are best midfielder in their respective time couple of years ago). Probably Witzel, Vidal or Erikson and there is Lars Bender. To be honest I haven't seen any games of Strootman
Jack Wilshere has to be the perfect player for us(although it wouldn't happen even in my dream) and maybe McEachran, he is known for his ability of unlocking defenses with his close control on the ball, vision and composure.
In terms of Wingers. Our wingers seems to lack the confidence. Nani needs to communicate with his rb or lb more, Valencia lacks the confidence and suprisingly young has played best out of those three past couple of months.
They are so many options out there. I think I have said this millions of time and I am going to say it one more time. ISCO!! There is Munian, Rodriguez, Iturbe and to be real honest I don't rate Zaha or Ince that high. I'd rather we give chance to our Daelhi and Januzaj both of whom is going to world class! or even to Bebe, Van Velzen or Buttner!

At Attacking we have abundance of class with RVP, Chicha, Kagawa, Welbeck ( to be fair he hasn't been playing out of position) and Rooney who still needs to get fit and get back his confidence( the numbers of his penalty miss will depress any player)!

Opinions welcome!

Red Samurai

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18 Jan 2013 20:08:24
There is this young Emirati lad called "Omar Abdulrahman", he is only 21 years old and is known as the Arabian Messi. You might remember him from the olympics as the guy with the big afro. YouTube the guy, I mean he is world class and won't cost over 6 mill.

THE SHINING KNIGHT

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Didnt he go on trial with Man City ?? No thanks one trick pony once again a world class find on youtube... Some people really do amaze me..

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Glad I'm not the only person who watches the Gulf Cup. This guy is so classy, and underrated.


T-O-I

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18 Jan 2013 20:44:46
Got a feeling Macheda will do well at Stuttgart. And put to bed his last 2 loans that were awful. He completely tears the the U21s apart, it must count for something?..

Patzi

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I watch the u-21's too and Macheda stands head and shoulders above everyone..... I think the problem is he doesn't have a stand out asset, he doesn't have pace, strength, aerial ability.... He is decent at most things but great at none of them..

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Stuttgart have an option to buy, so if he does well then he moves to Germany permanently.

Sydney!

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It's got Forlan/Rossi written all over it IMO. He'll be sold for pittance and worth 3 times more a season or 2 later! But hey, that's the way it goes.. He still isn't going to bring what a Lewandowski could bring and I accept that space needs to be created throughout the squad.

Patzi

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18 Jan 2013 17:53:42
Lampard has agreed terms with L.A Galaxy

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18 Jan 2013 17:52:49
KLOOT

Please explain to me why I am a "a Glaze Puppet"

Marky Mark

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Because its kloot........ It's not you it's him

CAIN

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Hi guys, his kloot always like that, heard he was saying if you are not from manchester then you are not a fan, why does he say stuff like that zee;)on sunday we will beat spurs 1-3 but I hope we crush them 0-4 or 0-5 come on the red devils lets take our devil with us and get our revenge, they beat us and everton and the little yellow bird(norwich)this time I know we will take them and at the end of the seson we will have won the league, sorry I meant at the end of the feburary the title nr 20 will be ours and they say barcelona is crushing every body in la liga well in la liga it is like to teams figthing for the title and in pl we are crushing every team who can challenge us so I don't know who is better us our barcelona.it is us we can do well without our good players but can we say the same about barcelona what are they without messi xavi they are nothing.united for life, zee:)

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Hey zee, how come you dislike Barcelona and Messi so much?

snakey

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18 Jan 2013 17:52:14
God knows why were going after Zaha, another winger is the last thing we need.

Simmo
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Sorry Simmo, but surely this isn't right,

the most important signing is CM yes but we do need a winger as well, we have:

Nani: I would give him a break about it being his 1st game back, if he wasn't playing exactly the same as he did when he got injured. Just hasn't improved enough since we bought him and doesn't seem to have an intelligent football mind. Need flair players but not liabilities and has had enough chances, hense why we will be getting rid of him this summer.

Then we'll be left with Young and Valencia next season (not including Giggs more a CM if anything).

Young: Decent squad player, plays his part and generally plays consistantly well (not amazingly but well) and is happy to get back and work hard. You need players like that.

Valencia: Maybe needs a kick up the a** with some more competition in his position. Just like Hernandez was given through the signing of RVP. Can see him getting improving again next season.

To only have 2 out and out wingers at United next season. That's pretty thread bare in my opinion.

So to sum up Zaha will put pressure on Valencia and Young, is faster then all of them. Brings youth, hunger and athletism in. He can be frustrating but he's only 20 and imo already has as much of an impact on games as Nani.

Red Joe

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18 Jan 2013 21:05:42
well said would be a good signing

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18 Jan 2013 17:39:16
Zaha has pace, power and skill and he's twenty. What more do people want in young winger? He reminds me of Nani but younger and probably more likely to develop. Ok he's only played championship football. But against stoke he looked comfortable. Remember bale, walcott and oxlade at one point had only played championship and they turned out ok. How many people on here wanted us to sign oxlade two years ago? A few I remember. How many people on here still cry over not getting bale? Plenty o boo hoo. Good talented lad, wants to play for england, wouldn't have any issues that the likes of lucas moura and co would have such as language or settling into a foreign country. Would look back in five years and think he was a bargain.

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Totally agreed. Zaha could become exceptional. He certainly can't play any worse than Nani currently is or any more one dimensional than Valencia!

Fresh!

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Agree aswell, we need something new nani has gone backwards valencia is having a bad run. Young has got better for me noticed him tracking back a lot more now

bazzacs

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If we could get any consistency out of our wingers, they all have the talent to be world class. They just aren't consistent. I find it hard to believe there aren't consistently great wingers available, but if there aren't, why don't we pick up one of the many ACM that have been available recently and go with a slightly more narrow formation? Hell, Chelsea has signed about ten of them in the last two years. -KG

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I don't think anyone is against the Idea of Zaha at a decent price but when it is the only activity that we have seemingly going it brings up the same old question why another winger and where are the midfielders.

I have no idea if Zaha transfer happens and depending on the fee it could be a decent purchase for the future,

However if we end up forking out 12- 15 million, I say we are stupid as that money should be used for a midfielder that can contribute 25 to 30 games a season now.

Shahram

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18 Jan 2013 17:30:43
i think in summer we'll solve the midfield issue. We'll sign christian eriksen from ajax to replace scholes in the deep lying role. We'll also bring in kevin strootman from psv to replace fletcher in the short term but long term as carricks replacement.

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I feel that we may have quite strong interest in Eriksen - I've thought this ever since Meulensteen spoke about him. I'm not sure how well he would adapt to the EPL however.

Fresh!

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Would be good signings along with Carrick and Cleverley, Powell and maybe Anderson..

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Im going to Ajax v feyenoord sunday. il run the rule on him!
ms85

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Erisksen isnt a deep lying midfielder

marlow

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Marlow - He plays where he does for Ajax because he is the main man and everything goes through him so a more advanced role is better for the team but I think he would be far better suited sitting deeper and spraying passes and getting the key through balls... He could be a great in the deeper position.

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18 Jan 2013 17:29:11
Another interesting little bit of trivia for you before this weekend's game. In the 75 times we have played Spurs away we have won 25 lost 25 and drawn 25. I AM KLOOT

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Nice anorak KLOOT

AJH

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Glazer puppet ;)

DodgyBanter

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Brand KLOOT

Puzzled

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18 Jan 2013 17:16:56
Ed can you confirm that there has been no contact between United officials and Wes Sneijder? Thanks!

Fresh! {Ed007's Note - There has been no contact.}

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Thanks ed, hopefully that will put the Sneijder crap to bed for a bit. I just wish he'd sign for someone (not here).

Fresh!

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Fresh", why have you pursued the Sydney! Erroneous exclamation mark?

AJH {Ed007's Note - It's secret code.}

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Ahhhhh.....The explanation mark with no explanation.

Sydney!

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18 Jan 2013 17:10:20
£6.2m For Sneijder.. Got to be worth it. I call this value for money even with wages (120-140k) per week.

Karni

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I am sure the club would be interested if his wages were that amount, however if you double them you will get closer to what we would have to pay him. Unless he drops his demands considerably we will not have an interest.

Sydney!

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It makes my heart sink when I see us being linked with Wes. He has whored himself round Europe looking for the biggest pay day. Anyone looking at his record knows that on average he only plays half a season. So it's a no thank you from me. I AM KLOOT

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Would love Sneijder to come but can't see it happening the guy is a class act on his day. Anybody know why Powell has not featured lately? Also anyboy know is Whiteside employed by the club as he seems to be at every home game and are there many ex players employed by the club still?

Cheers

Damian M

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Except he wants something like 130k net so it takes it nearer 200k p/w, no thanks he blew his chances let himgo to the nutters in Turkey

Pardoe

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Powell has been injured for a few weeks now.

Sydney!

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What is the difference between rooney wanting more money and sneider he is a class midfielder at that price a bargain ........phil {Ed004's Note - Rooney earned it through years of devotion and hard work for the club whereas Sneijder had one good season and has had quite a few injuries since}

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18 Jan 2013 16:17:55
Good news for some, ?...

Wes Sneijder's agent has been in talks with david gill.
Money been offered is around 8.2million.
Wages have already been discussed last time round its expected to be £130k per week With a review depending on appearances and champions league progression, come summer time where his wages will possibly be matched to those of Rooney and Van persie.
The initial payment to Inter is believed to be 6million.
Also mentioned was nani who may go there other way come summertime.

Simon x

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Wont he be cup tied for cl

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Correct me if i'm wrong bt Inter weren't even in the CL this season, So there for noo he won't be cup tied. T45

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Inter are in the Europa, aren't they? So they wouldn't be cup tied

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He wants £130k a week net, not gross.

Sydney!

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No idea pal, i'm only passing on what I have heard, although if he is I don't see how that would make any difference.

if he was cup tied I think he would still do a better job than scholes that guy is a liability.
every challenge is either a yellow potential career ender or a foul.
Schole mi old ginner bow out now your a bit like Liz taylor atm

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No, he wouldn't be cuptied.

Fresh!

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18 Jan 2013 17:45:46
i'm off to shoot myself. Would rather wait till summer for strootman and eriksen

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Shoot yourself instead of passing to Nani? ;)

DodgyBanter

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18 Jan 2013 16:26:33
With fletcher out I do think fergie will buy a midfeilder

Maybe not a world class one but a midfeilder for cover!

This summer I think we will have a mini clear out!

Big V

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Not until Fergie leaves will we have a mini clear out. he is set in his ways and will continue with quite a lot of the players we have sunk a lot of money in.

Shahram

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We have already had a mass clear out over the past two seasons. I expect many more to leave this summer.

Sydney!

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18 Jan 2013 18:08:53
so who's on the hit list then?

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I'd say any of these will be available:

Lindegaard, Amos, Wooton, Evra, Ferdinand, Nani, Valencia, Macheda, Lingard and one or two others. A lot of these names depend on form. Realistically we will probably keep Evra and Ferdinand, however they could be replaced, maybe with Cole and Garay. Nani will go, Valencia might if we think that his form will not pick up. Lindegaard could leave and be replaced, others like Macheda don't need to be replaced but will leave.

I would think that in summer we will be in for 4 or 5 players. We will have quite a long list, but certainly Eriksen, Strootman, Zaha, a GK, maybe a CB & a FB will be on the list. And I think Ronnie will be on the list too.

Fresh!

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Highly likely - Amos, Bebe, Kiko. Wootton, Brown, Nani & Scholes.

Maybes - Anderson, Evra, Ferdinand, Giggs.

Sydney!

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Fresh! there won't be that many changes IMO, there never is.

Gav

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Anyone else think its a stupid move replacing Evra with Cole their both around the same age and IMO Evras in better form and also Coles to old.If we are going to replace Evra get a young replacment like Willems for example.

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18 Jan 2013 15:18:16
i hate it when people involve kagawa in the midfield talk

he is not a cm he is a final 3rd player and not a playmaker

has anyone evere seen him playmaking or do they see him sprinting into the box taking a shot ?

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I would say you are much more likely to see him being a playmaker (albeit in the final 3rd as you said) with lots of little well chosen passes than you are to see him running into the box to take a shot.

I agree he shouldn't be included in cm talk, but he is still more of a playmaker than a scorer.

Jaxer

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18 Jan 2013 16:37:49
i think your confused on what a playmaker is and confusing a trequartista and a deep lying playmaker

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Last year he had 17 goals yes but he has most assists for borrusia with 13. Have you even watched kagawa in the german league?

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Kagawa has played frequently in midfield this season mate.

Sydney!

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I wish people would realise that there is more to football than the position descriptions given on Football Manager.

TK-Red

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18 Jan 2013 15:11:25
Hey Guys

Just wondering what the possibility of sunday's match being called off?

I'm from Belfast so not sure how bad it is in london, starting snowing here but not too bad at the min.

Giants14

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I can't see it personally. There's too much horse sh!t on the roads around White Hart Lane for the snow to settle.

TK-Red

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TK, lol, you're rising to DB's standards.

AJH

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Rising or falling? Sorry DB. I know, I'll get my coat.

TK-Red

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Lol!

Everyone will eventually sink down to my level ;)

DodgyBanter

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18 Jan 2013 13:54:56
Whatever happened to ngiak? Haven't noticed his 3rd person post's for quite some time.

Supasub

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He spoke in first person and went crazy, he is currently rehabilitation.
Sparky

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Gan's not speaking to him until he gets a 3% annual pay rise. Times are hard in the South Pole, so Ngiak's refusing to negotiate anything other than a pay freeze.

DodgyBanter

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18 Jan 2013 13:48:30
Not united related, but it is really strange to see Nigel Adkins sacked, what has he done wrong? Back to back promotions and 15th in the premier league.


T-O-I

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And just got a 2-2 draw with chelsea....

crazy

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Agree its a complete joke two promotions and not in bottom three at the minute

bazzacs

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What an appalling decision. After a poor start they have really started to move up. The owner seems like another Roman - instant success demanded.

AJH

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Should have done better then!

;-)

Shocking IMO. What was the point in giving him past the hard start if this decision was for 'the long term future of the club'! Terrible! Was even trying to play the correct way which I think was his downfall.

From what they have said about the new guy being tactically great I read as will try and play more defensive instead of playing expansive football Atkins was sticking to.

Jono

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Too true, he's done an excellent job

Gav

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I think they are hoping he will attract European playing talent, maybe some La Liga loans?

Madness, hope he gets a massive payout... Guy deserved better.

I would not be at all surprised if they go down now. Not fans fault, but club owners deserve relegation.

DodgyBanter

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18 Jan 2013 13:47:46
i think wilshere will request a transfer from arsenal within the next 2-3 seasons he is the next big thing plays similar to scholes but I don't think utd have a chance to sign him because no doubt the sugar daddy clubs will offer $$$$$$$$ while utd will aim for a striker

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Wilshere said that he doesn't need an agent as he has no intention of leaving Arsenal, ever! So I doubt he'd move anytime soon..

tbir.

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18 Jan 2013 13:30:59
Hi guys,

Yes our midfield could be improved quite easily in terms of personnel with some of the players on the market currently but when your'e 7 points clear at the top, ahead of team s with outstanding midfielders do we really need to tinker this month?
Bren,

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Adding quality players to a squad isnt tinkering.

IrishRed

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Is it really strange that were top by 7 points with the strikes we have?Anyway I think we should still buy a strong cm if we want better performances, not just results and possible further progress in CL.

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18 Jan 2013 12:36:51
get well soon fletch true warrior

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18 Jan 2013 11:39:49
does anybody agree with me..

OUR MIDFIELD IS SUBSTANDARD

now fletch out for season...this is rediculous...giggs is now considering....NO ..you are stopping the development of younger talant by staying in the game same as scholes...im sorry to all the loyal fans of them... i'm a massive fan of giggs, scholes, rio but this needs to said.

we maybe need to make a defensive midfield signing but we have youth talent ie Petrucci and Ekangamene

do we really need Zaha ( a player not proven in EPL)

i love this site..i can vent some anger on it cheers!

red sqauddie

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I agree to a point but anderson cleverley and carrick aswell as kagawa have all looked very good this season and powell hasnt looked to bad either

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Completely disagree with the mr no name above.
Kagawa hasn't even got going but I think there is plenty more to come from him. Cleverley has been sub standard, mainly running around in circles playing short passes and running away. Powell hasn't hardly payed. The only one I agree with on your list is Carrick, we would of been lost without him this season.
We definately need to strengthen, there is no excuse about the right players not being available and there being no value in the market.
Victor Wanyama, Christian Eriksen, Kevin Strootman to name but a few. God knows why were going after Zaha, another winger is the last thing we need.

Simmo

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18 Jan 2013 11:30:58
Get well soon Darren, YNWA Simonpw

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Cheers mate. Classy.

DodgyBanter

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18 Jan 2013 10:32:05
Really bad snow everywhere. Seen some terrible accidents already. Stay safe.

Jamesmack8

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Good post James. Just shoveled the path way and turned into Luis Suarez, went down and there was no one near me!

Stay safe guys.

Ports

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Thank you Ports for making my day!

Stay safe guys & expecially girls ;-)

Jonny8

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18 Jan 2013 14:22:38
Ports very funny. Jonny thanks I will. Letty

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18 Jan 2013 10:29:31
Lampard made a verbal contract with LA Galaxy and will join them in the summer as a free player.

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18 Jan 2013 10:16:38
This is a really worrying time. Giggs has a couple of good games, mostly against young inexperienced defenders and he is now "back to his best" Scholes is just passing through games a mere ghost of his glorious past. As for Darren Fletcher god bless him his only real asset was his ability to get up and down the pitch and keep running. Well given his age and condition that is now gone. Anderson is still flattering to deceive showing glimpses of what could be a great forward attacking midfielder but these are brief and never for a full 90 minutes. The Brand has still to learn that you are allowed to pass the ball forward or actually run with it. Carrick has been a wonderful massively underated player for United but his age is not helping the situation. When ever we play against any team with energy who actually run at us with the ball we are left very vulnerable. We have shown that if you buy a genuine world class player as in RVP you get world class performances. So why have we not gone out and bought a genuine world class midfielder. We have all been saying it since the embarrassment against Barcelona and yet it doesn't happen and Fergie talks about Giggsy staying another year and Fletcher coming back. Hopefully Scholes has some kind of professional pride that will prevent him from staining the memory any further. For gods sake we are Manchester United we should have the best players in the world desperate to wear our red shirt. Robson Keane Ince Scholes Beckham Carrick, yes we have been spoiled but that is why we expect more than we are watching at the moment. Most teams in the Premiership have at least one midfielder who would improve our midfield. We need class and we need quality and we need it now. I AM KLOOT

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Sometimes I think your a little extreme but I totally agree with you on this one. Our squad isn't good enough and a shadow of its former self. Excluding RVP we lack quality in all areas of the field, yes we got some exciting young talent but they just not at that level yet.

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18 Jan 2013 12:06:31
and yet we're seven points clear at the top. Done the double over newcastle and liverpool. As well as winning at st james and anfield we've won at the bridge and wastelands, and beaten arsenal at home. Yes we need signings

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We can all see that we need a top CM'er to become a quality all-round outfit but I think we'll have to be patient and stick it out til the summer. I'm not sure there are many world class midfielders available in Jan and I didn't expect us to be very active this month anyway. We all have opinions on the relative quality of our midfielders but one thing that is proven is that our current options have got us to 7 points clear at the top and into the knockouts of the CL, and that without Anderson for the most part.....so plenty of room for improvement but all is not bad! That would be my message

Gav

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You are absolutey right Kloot we have seen united squad decrease its quality in recent years and current squad is no way closer 2 united standard. Who is our next best option in left back after Evra, Buttner he was 4th best in dutch league rember and even evra is not the player he was years ago. we don't have a natural rb option after rafael (who is still learning) and playing smalling and jones there.. In midfield we don't have a worldclass talent no top team will buy our midfielders excpt kagawa who signed this season when you see kagawa you believe how weak our squad is in comparison to him......

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With Fletch out, Scholesy not good enough and Giggs too old, a midfield signing in January is now a must. We are talking about the best club in Europe and our midfield is just not good enough to maintain a challenge in 3 competitions. Wake up SAF.
PerthDave

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RFT, Do you have a little file saved on your computer with pre-typed posts that you just cut and paste from? You post this almost every other week. We get it, you want a new midfielder bought, you want Scholes to retire gracefully, you want Carrick's children. Honestly, we get it. Repeating yourself every week without prompting isn't going to make it happen any sooner.

TK-Red

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Only one man is to blame for the shocking state of our midfield. SAF.

He's spent £100m+ in recent times without once strengthening our weakest area. He's allowed it to stagnate, fullstop. He's in limbo - he no longer has the stones to give youth a chance but he's not big enough to admit that his old guard aren't what they used to be.

We will start next season with the exact same midfield. Nothing will be done until a new manager comes in - SAF is too stubborn to change his mind now and even if he did, he mgiht be tentative to spend big knowing a new manager might want to buy for himself in CM.

I honestly can't believe we've allowed our CM to look like this. No other big European would fear playing our CM, regardless of what combination SAF chooses.

The likes of Basle embarassed us there last season. And what does SAF do? Nothing.

Add to this -
1) a very shakey goalkeeper situation;

2) a patchwork back 4 that chops and changes a lot, with our two 'main' CBs being ridiculously injury-prone and slower than they were;

3) Wingers - Nani (on his way out, Mr Inconsistent), Valencia (shell of his former self) and Young (not United quality, decent squad player)

......apart from our striking options, how have we convinced ourselves that we have a strong squad?

Serious question.

We're top of the league due to our winning mentality/never say die attitude and the shortcomings of our rivals. Not because we are a great side, by any stretch.

RED_SKY

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Who do you suggest Kloot?


Anon

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Very well said and agree 100%. I still do not believe we will win the league and will get booted out of cl by real and all the" we are leading the league" will have to take their rose tinted glasses off.

Shahram

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Shahram, I think we can win the league but only because every else is crappier. We all smell, we just don't smell quite as badly as everyone else. Sadly, I think you are right about the Champs League.

AJH

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The champions league game v rel Madrid will be a marker. The quality of the Prem is low at the moment. How we are seven points clear is a mystery probably down to RVP's goals.

Our midfield is lightweight and fergie is in Niger of repeating Sir Matt's mistake of sentiment of keeping older players past their prime like Bobby Charlton.

Get rid of scholes, Giggs, Valencia, nani and fletcher in midfield and evra and Ferdinand at the back.

Bryn Mez

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AJH

I hope you are right on the league. If I am Mancini and looking at the table, I only see a 4 point gap and would genuinely believe that they can beat us in the return leg at old Trafford.

A four point gap with 16 games left is not much given how we are winning games and we are so thin where a Carrick or RVP injury will leave us very exposed. I don't see Rooney as the Rooney of old who can carry us and don't see how we can cope if the above two get injured and are out for a month or two.

Momentum is a funny thing and great whilst it lasts but can go the other way too.


Shahram

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18 Jan 2013 09:27:51
Another rubbish of rumours to the bad... Lampard agreed terms with LA GALAXY.
What a week. First pep.. Then ronaldo.. Now lampard. I quickly want cole to psg declered quickly as well so all the rubbish headless paper talks end quickly.

Rodio17

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18 Jan 2013 08:26:27
Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes is set to leave the club after announcing his decision not to sign a new contract his current deal expires in June 2014.
So they will probably sell him in the summer to avoid losing him for free.
I really hope we don't sell De Gea to Barcelona I think it would be a huge mistake.
Andy H

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18 Jan 2013 08:25:59
does anyone think sneijder would be worth a gamble for around 8.5 mil personally I would take a gamble on him he's only 28 well worth a shot utd could always neg his wages give us what we need in mid

m.w

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He had his chance, don't want him anywhere near Old Trafford.

-JakeW

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18 Jan 2013 18:54:07
I wish he would just sign for galatasaray

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Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

It's like Groundhog Day.... Please, make it stop!!!

Why don't we post about something else, selling Rooney and buying 12 players.... New left back.... Strong box to box midfielder.... Two / Three / Seven new wingers.... ANYTHING but the money grabbing Bar Steward Sneijder!

DodgyBanter

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18 Jan 2013 08:11:27
Jeffery who? Any info on the Jeffery Shlupp guy we signed on trial?


T-O-I {Ed001's Note - he was a striker, scored a few goals on getting into Leicester's first team, then hit that difficult patch kids often get. Unfortunately for him, it also coincided with him being used in a number of different positions, mostly on the wing, but this season he has even acted as cover at left back! Oh and he is left footed, so maybe he could be the left footed winger United fans have been wanting?}

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Would be great if we got someone young in the side, I think we have missed a Oxlade/Sterling type player for a while.

Would also give us a little excitement.

-JakeW

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18 Jan 2013 11:06:27
ed most of them moaned over ince. Look at the comments at zaha. Wait for all the comments of who the hell is this guy.

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Ed001 - I am from Leicester so most of my mates are Leicester fans and they all went crazy over him when he first arrived on the scene and then as you said he hit a patch and they ought in reinforcements so got pushed down the pecking order.... Do you know if he is being looked at for a certain position or do you think the club will just see where they think he will be best utilised as you said left wing..... Also what do you think of him? {Ed001's Note - I think Fergie likes that he can play a number of positions, but I do wonder if he is taking him mainly as a left back. Buttner is not working out so far and Evra is aging. Personally I think he is extremely talented, but he reminds me of Jagielka before settling down as a centre back at Everton, he needs to find a position and settle into it. I don't think we will see the best of him until he does, when he does I think he will blossom.}

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He will play for the U21's to see if he is good enough for the first team. This is another Veseli type signing.

Sydney!

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18 Jan 2013 08:05:41
TK-red

How typical that you would miss the point

Stoner

Not long now Sydney!

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Stoner, "You miss the point" is right up there as a last resort for a man who doesn't even have a point. You'll have to do better than that.

TK-Red

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18 Jan 2013 04:28:07
who do you think are our current best cb pairing?
vidic is an absolute must but who should partner him? his partnership with rio is argueably the best ever but, rio is particulary vulnerable to pace and injury.
for me smalling is the best partner for vidic but would his versatility actually hinder his long term chances? (same goes for jones) as for evans, he has proved that when given the game time he is a quality player, but will he ever be more than a sqaud player?

dags

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Personally for me, I believe Smalling is the must and not Vidic. I do love Vidic and he is certainly world class....when healthy. Due to his injuries I don't feel he is at that level at this moment and I'm not sure he will ever be again. One thing that stands out to me about Smalling is we lose VERY FEW headed balls in the box whilst he is on the pitch.

So for me Smalling is the first cb on the team sheet and you can mak an argument for his partner between Rio, Jones, Evans. I could agree with either three.

ussoldier77

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Vida and Smalls easily IMO.

Jono

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How can being a versatile player hinder anyone's long term chances? Silly statement IMO. Ferguson has always loved versatile players and our ranks have been filled with players who can perform many roles throughout the years. I honestly think our best CB partnership at the minute is Vidic and Evans and in the future it will be Evans and Smalling...both have matured so much in the past year.

Andy!

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It's a tough decision for SAF imo. I'm a huge fan of Smalling but he has time on his side. I think Evans may have played himself into the starting 11 for now so I'd try to create a partnership between Vidic & Evans til the summer. Then over time we'd be looking at Smalling to replace Evans and Jones to hopefully replace Vidic. Rio would be good backup until summer 2014 imo.

Gav

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Smalling is the best choice by miles. Rio was past it 2 years ago, Evans makes the occasional howler and Jones is nowhere near good enough to be a CB for an elite team.

IMO Smalling is the best young CB in the world. Shocking that we play him at RB sometimes just to accommodate 2 inferior CBs in Rio and Evans.

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One thing people forget about Evans IMO is he is actually a relatively experienced player these days, and has blossomed with this maturity. It's because of this added experience that I believe Evans will partner Vidic at first (SAF does value experience). Although I see Smalling taking over in the near future based on his ability and progress. Just to add, I've been impressed with Jones sice his return and think he'll blossom into a top combative CB given time.

Gav

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Carrick and scholes as cb pairing for big games.

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Evans is overated he is nothing more than a squad player

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No name

Smalling is not the best young cb in the world!

Shahram

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There isn't many, if any better than Smalling IMO. 23 and under is classed as a young player. Varane, Caulker, Jones, Nastasic, Coates are the only other young decent CB's I can think of. Smalling is by some distance better than the above.

Evans, Luiz, Subotic, Shawcross, Hummels, Pique are all 24/25.

Sydney!

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There is also Zouma, but he isn't nowhere near Smalling yet either.

Sydney!

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18 Jan 2013 01:11:42
We sold Tosic, Obertan, Brady & Diouf (who could play left wing) because they weren't good enough apparently.
Now Bebe has been sent on loan with an option to buy.

We've gone from: Gaitan, DiMaria, Iturbe, Hazard, Lucas Moura, James Rodriguez, Vadillo & even rumours of Cristiano Ronaldo coming back to play on the wing.

Then Ince & Zaha were named as potential buys who few fans don't think they are good enough. We've even called van Velzen back from his loan incase Nani leaves.

None of this matters now we've signed the most talented young player in the Championship. Jeff Schlupp.............
Jeff Schlupp, who the flip is Jeff Schlupp?

How can we go from Hazard or Lucas Moura to Jeff Schlupp.

TJ

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Wanted to post something like this awhile ago, but I knew i'd get loads of replies about "potential", I honestly don't rate zaha, we've never give certain players a chance, look a diouf and tosic never got a sniff, now there both established players for there clubs, diouf top scorer for hannover while tosic has almost 50 caps for serbia.

Nani is miles ahead of valencia and young but because he doesn't play it safe he gets ridiculed. people don't seem to understand that he plays out of posistion, he should be on the right but because valencia is so 1-dimensional he is forced to play on the wrong side. All his best football, goals and assists came when he played on the right.
p.s hopefully barca don't steal de gea where he then becomes a world beater.
Sulei

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I can't see the potential signing of Jeff Schlupp changing our plans much in the summer TBH. Would he not be a backup option and perhaps used in the reserves?

Gav

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Tosic felt like another very odd transfer. We've had a few in recent years that seemed peculiar

AJH

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I don't think that Schlupp will be seen as the answer by the club. He is a young player with potential who will take a while to break through to the first team - very similar to us signing Veseli.

Fresh!

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18 Jan 2013 10:57:33
calm down schlupp is only on trial with a view to a deal. It might be they deem him not good enough. Or they might think yeah he's going to be great and we get him in cheap. You moan about potential but that's the principle this club was founded on. And I don't mean Busby and Murphy either. As to the players you mention, well most on here have never rated bebe. Obertan wasn't mentally strong enough to play for united. Brady wasn't good enough. Tosic by all accounts wasn't patient enough and because he couldn't dislodge players he left as he wanted to play regularly which is fair enough but if he'd stayed he'd be first choice now. And diouf was best up front but he was never going to dislodge the players infront of him so had to move. Sometimes for whatever reason it just doesn't work out. Both nani and valencia have been superb on the right. But as you say valencia is limited positionally whereas nani is more versatile. But a world class player should an able to do a better job there. Mort

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18 Jan 2013 11:03:40
well said gav it won't affect summer at all. Though the whole how can we go from hazard to shlupp comment was pretty silly.

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Schlupp is no more than a Veseli type signing, he will join our U21's squad and will be monitored like the rest of the U21 squad players.

To think this is a Schlupp or Rodriguez decision just goes to show how some people are getting a little carried away. Van Velzen wasn't called back just in-case Nani is sold, his loan ended at Antwerp and he will join up with the U21's.

Sydney!

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Who was a certain Nick Powell until we signed him? Fergie's been in this game a while now, he knows what he's doing I think.

ALDUtd

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18 Jan 2013 00:15:39
Sad news today about Darren Fletcher, i'd like to wish him the best and I hope he has a speedy recovery. It does cast a huge doubt over his long term future as a footballer, but he is lucky that he is at a club who won't give up or abandon him. If he is unable to continue with his playing career then we'll help him take his future career where ever he wants to go with it, be that coaching, management or what ever.

This is why we are the greatest club in the world, it's not about what you win but how you act. We look after and treat our own with a kind of loyality and respect that you just don't get at other clubs. Maybe our past has something to do with it, maybe that's why we pull together and look after each other. Either way I couldn't be prouder to be a Red Devil.

Shappy

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