Manchester United Banter Archive August 21 2013

21 Aug 2013 23:26:10
Oh how I wish I was a fish so I could swim through the sea,
Or be heard like a bird who sings in the breeze,
But I am a supporter and I'm down on my knees,
So please would Woodward just sign a player for me,

I'm hearing a rumour that you have money to spend,
On ronaldo and fabregas but as we're nearing the end,
We even resort to the scots old friends,
But not even they have a hand to lend,

It may seem we'll make do with a make-shift midfield,
Cos without fergie to lead us, we've lost our appeal,
But my source says from Spain a player will come,
In the next few days a deal will be done

Red prophet

Classic!

Hope "prophet" your right!

Nice job.

21 Aug 2013 22:48:25
I'm not sure what's going on with Bayern but it seems like any deal for Sebastian Rode is on hold. I think he would be an excellent addition to our midfield. He was one of the youngsters I was most impressed with in the Bundesliga last season along with Heung Min-Son.

21 Aug 2013 22:40:54
Hi Eds,

Have United ever shown any interest in Lamala? I know you have previously stated about complications around his ownership but he's a fantastic player.

Rewzy {Ed007's Note - His ownership has been sorted out and he can now move to England. I don't know of any Utd interest.}

We were interested in him before his move to Roma.

21 Aug 2013 22:19:05
Interesting. It maybe meaningless but Barcelona dropped Fabregas to play the axis of Xavi, Busquets and Iniesta and then they have to fit in Neymar, who is also on the bench.It is a game against Athletico away so you wonder if this is the coaches "go to" first team. Plus they still need a central defender which will cost a notable amount. You wonder how Fabregas feels after the performance he put in at the weekend even if he later comes on as a sub. The message could be taken that he isn't first choice, but we shall see.

If they haven't by now, united should put that 3rd bid in. 40 - 43 million should do the trick. He's worth every penny of it, especially if it's true fab is open to the move.

I only noted where he came on for the second half but their manager did not break up the Xavi Iniesta Busquets axis for Cesc when he did come on. I can't see he would be happy with that but we shall see. Certainly if Moyes answer is Fellaini for midfield it will not be the right answer.

21 Aug 2013 20:22:57
So, Webo, of Fernebache, raises his boot to head height and kicks koscielny in the face, splitting his eye open, and gets a yellow card for it.
Yet when Nani raises his boot against Real Madrid and makes no contact at all, he gets sent off.
All I ask from referees is consistency!

Nani did make contact but it shouldn't of been a red. let's just get over it and look forward to this years CL.

JK92

Gotta get over it mate, it happens its football.

21 Aug 2013 22:12:31
Yeah fair enough, that was last season and in the past, get over it, I understand that. But my point is that there needs to be consistency and this needs to be cleared up for FUTURE cases. Is a high boot a red card or a yellow card? You can't have different refs giving different punishments for what is essentially the same offence. That's all I'm trying to say.

21 Aug 2013 20:03:44
Just before the end of last season fergie and gill said that there would be signings which had been worked on for the last few months. Are we to assume now that it was a load of tosh? Or is it moyes didn't want any of them. Or is wooden head clueless?

Moyes would not come in and gut the team with changes. I believe next summer is when we will see a lot of squad changes.
The next two/three seasons will see United needing to replace Rio or Vidic, plus Evra, Valencia, and Young will need to be replaced .

ZanySteve -

We need to replace all of those players now - let alone over th next two/three seasons.

redseven

21 Aug 2013 19:36:08
At one point seemed like Garay was nailed on now has gone really quiet, goes to show nobody really knows what is going on behind the scenes. let's just hope a job is being done and if by 3rd September nothing is done I will start my moaning. It is frustrating tho!

Leebo

21 Aug 2013 18:37:53
Eds/Guys do we have any news on Nani, Young, Chicharito and Powell?

Nani & Powell back training with first team squad & Will Keane back training with u21s. Chicarito still carrying an injury.
Raffa

The 1st three u talking about r injured matey

21 Aug 2013 18:18:04
Seen a few rumours about arsenal being interested in pogba. Eds is there any truth in united having a clause which allows them to match any bids from other clubs? Seems pretty unlikely to me. Thanks in advance!

How is that possible he left on free mate and it is not like we did a deal with Juve.

Why would he have that clause in his contract? His contract ran out for us and he left we never sold him
I don't want him back anyway even if he is what we need

21 Aug 2013 18:28:36
David Moyes took the players and their wives out for a meal in Manchester last night. Jesus have you seen Ashley Young's wife I wouldn't touch her with Honey Badgers never mind mine. Nice work from Vidic though

Was thinking he same thing kloot! No wonder he's always inured being in bed with that. Must say Evans jones and cleverly are lucky boys haha.

Park 3 lung

How comes you haven't mention "The Brand's" wife? Surely she's stunning?

diego

I thought that was Ashley Youngs mum. :0)

Leave 'mine' out of this. You certainly don't control what 'mine' gets up to!

LMAOF and agree 100%, Now we know why he is constantly getting injured :)

Kloot big girls need love too.

This is brilliant! Nice to have something new to debate, that was like a flower power hand grenade KLOOT!

Personally I wouldn't touch Honey Badgers, let alone grab it and touch something else with it! ;)

Thanks Dodgy that's good to know. I worry about Kloot sometimes ;0

21 Aug 2013 18:09:46
I have just realised that despite having all of the available a website channels, BT sports 1 and 2 and also ESPN, I am unable to watch the Chelsea match tonight. I was looking forward to watching Benteke destroy Chelsea! ;) is this match definitely not on TV at all? And if not, where else can I watch it (websites etc.)?

If that is not possible I will just have to watch Arsenal crumble in the champs league. :)

Arsenal crumble, isn't that a desert?

Google prem live streaming

stalyvegas red

If you want to watch the Villa game then jump on the PC / laptop - google myp2p and then follow the football links. I do warn you though that its on NBC and one of the commentators will be stereotypical American.

The website to check is myp2p. Google that and you'll be able to watch the match. NBC have every prem game this season.

Firstrowsports or cricfree.tv

Just watched it on vipbox, chelsea very lucky an own goal and a winner from ivanovic who should of got a straight red 2 minutes earlier for a forearm smash worse than taylors on monday night.villa played really well and should have had a penalty in the last minute for a john terry handball

Sorry DaveUTD, you are completely wrong.
With NBC and NBC Sports Network now covering the EPL, none of the main announcers are actually American, that includes the pre-match, match, and post match shows. Of the six live matches this past weekend, 5 were English and Arlo White (NBCs main announcer) is British.

21 Aug 2013 17:01:13
If woodward is as bad at transfers as everyone says perhaps we should get a director of football to handle all transfers and work directly with the manager then all woodward has to do is set the director a budget and get on with making the club money with random sponsorship deals like an official diesel engine partner
Browred

Do you mean someone like Joe Kinnear?
Raffa

No I don't it can work at some clubs like chelsea look at the young talent they have got in. Newcastle is a strange club and it won't be like that if we had one at united. I just feel if it is one person in charge of transfers deals will get done earlier and quicker.
Browred

Raffa, probably a bit more like baldini at spurs

21 Aug 2013 16:22:02
Rumours circulating today United have entered informal negotiations with Chelsea for Rooney.
This certainy shows they are planning for the future without him.I always thought he was going once the media drawn saga started.Despite the hatred for him amongst almost everyone he is still a world class performer and will be very hard to replace.Also we are directly strengthening our rivals.
When did we turn into Arsenal?
Word is we have enquired about Mata too.

Two very different things are being said today. Personally I do not believe we will see Roo in Bloo (Cheeky sun headline for you) this year.

I would swap Rooney for Mata. Then spend the supposed "£80m kitty" on Baines, Fellaini & Cesc. Or swap Rooney for Mata and use the "£80m kitty" to buy Ronaldo. Stick Jones in midfield and suffer another season with Evra's defending ;)

Sydney! {Ed004's Note - Id love to swap mata for Rooney then sell Nani and fringe players to fund a move for Kondogbia or McCarthy while spending the whole budget on Ronaldo}

The club should tell Chelsea that Mata has to be part of any deal. Mate plus 10 million would represent a great bit of business IMO.

21 Aug 2013 15:04:57
Sources coming in that Willian is due a medical at Spurs!record fee of 30m agreed!Why oh why haven't we put a bid in for this player?its very frustrating!theres also cabaye and eirikson?!come Moyes get the finger out!

Maybe we already have our transfers lined up. It's the only explanation. I think we'll hear at leader 1 before the Chelsea game.

In a nutshell - we don't need him. He is another advanced attacking midfield player. He is not a central midfield player, which is what the club needs. We already have kagawa and Adnan to play that role.

He plays mostly left wing and drifts inside. we already have Young and welbeck, who play there and sometimes nani. Where the hell are you going to fit him if you buy him, granted he is better than what we have but not 30 million pounds better.

21 Aug 2013 14:00:59
Mr. Woodward is so busy arranging sponsorship deals making more money for that horrible little ginger leprechaun Malcolm Glazer he's forgotton the transfer part of his job.
This is probably the reason why we haven't been pro-active in the transfer market.
Really starting to get annoyed with this whole transfer thing now.

Simmo

Simmo come back on Friday, after United press con. I don't think you are even a red as all we hear from you is whinge whinge, signings are coming one of which will blow yer socks off!

Don't mind him Simmo, I'm extremely frustrated aswell!we'l believe it when we see it!Willian going to Spurs now?30m agreed!i suppose he's not the type of player Moyes wants eh?Cabaye thiago and eirikson aren't what he wants either?there's certainly something a miss here!

Anniewithoutmakeup, care to go into a bit more detail? what have you heard

Willian has played in, brazil, Ukraine and Russia, he does not warrant and £30m price tag. {Ed007's Note - I 100% totally agree with you on that Hex. It's a lot of money for someone who hasn't played in any the top leagues and he has only a handful of caps to his name. I actually don't see why Utd fans are moaning about why he has went to Spurs and Utd never went in for him.}

God stop whinging. We are all frustrated but moaning like you do every single day makes reading this site boring sometimes. We will sign players, pretty sure they have them more or less nailed or we would be in for players like Willian. Be interesting to see what all the moaners do when we sign players. Jump on the 'I knew all along bandwagon' I suppose.

Anniewithoutmakeup

Sorry. are you going to come back on Friday and admit your wrong if nothing happens?

Simmo

Muelensteens comments suggest he is a good player. And I'd be willing to take his word for it.
I think he described Willian as a "trump card"

Spot on, Bond. Some on here think that we should be bidding for anyone who's available, no matter what the player's pedigree. After all, he MUST be brilliant if Spurs are prepared to pay 30 million for him.

StevieK

Fact: None of Tottenhams signings –with the exception of Saldado - are United class, hence why we were never in for any of them.

If William was such a world beater, he wouldn't be signing for Spurs.

My post wasn't aimed at Willian. It's aimed at the total lack of transfer activity on a whole, and also the lack of imagination with Fellaini seeming to be our main transfer in this summer.

Simmo

By the way anniewithoutmakeup

I have been a season ticket holder at Man United for 26 years and I follow them away at least 5 or 6 times a year so don't even go there saying i'm not a man united fan.
This is why I am annoyed, I pay out a lot of money every season watching United and I think that I have the right to whinge whenever I want to.
So what's your background, I take it you go to every home match and travel away do you?

Simmo

Season ticket holder simmo, west stand upper tier and yes I DO go to some away games Europe too! Do you honestly believe that United have let our rivals go about their business buying players without us having deals pending. If so you are a fool. Manchester United made a statement saying there was unlimited funds to bring in whoever we wanted. Imagine the embarrassment if they were now to say sorry we`re not buying anyone! There are deals about to happen, I will stick by my original post of several weeks ago, 3 signings coming in, 1 of which IS a major marquee. If I`m wrong then my source WITHIN the club will feel my wrath because I would have to come back on here and apologise. Humble pie is not a dish I wish to eat. I hope some on here are ready with a spoon too!

Simmo

I understand the frustration, I'm there too. But your opening sentence is ridiculous, surely you don't believe that.

Anniewithoutmakeup

that's the whole reason that they are looking like fools, because they come out blarting about unlimited money to spend and here we wre looking at Baines andf Fellaini.
do you honestly think that Fellaini is the kind of midfileder that we should be looking at? If you do then your the fool, yes he improves the squad but let's face it he doesn't really excite anyone does he and united fans are split on hin.

Simmo

21 Aug 2013 13:47:35
Hi Guys,

I am always on this site but never really post but I did put up one post last year about my mate who works for SEG and that RVP would be signing for Man U should they be able to agree a fee with Arsenal long before we were even mentioned in the press. I was shot down by most not all on the spot but when rumours of our interest started to surface in the press a couple of people started to asked for further info which I got which was relayed and all turned out to be spot on.

This post is not to brag but I have some further information nothing huge but some that I am sure will ease some of your worryings with regards to the way Man U has gone about its business in this window.

Obviously its clear were I got my info from but I have been assured for certain that Cesc Fabregas is keen on a switch to Man U and naturally asked was this a few weeks ago which would indicate as to why Man U came in with a bid to which I was told that no Cesc was still keen on moving to Man U as of now well last Friday to be precise and that deal was by no means dead in the water at all and this info had come face to face with a certain player who plays for us who knows Mr Fabregas.

Now I called RVP weeks before slight interest was sighted so take this as you will but its seems Cesc Fabregas is keen on the switch to Man U so I would not say that this is dead in the water.

Darren the red

It's funny you should mention that. I read that last wek in The Mirror, The Sun, The Daily Mail to mention a few.
Come on, that's not inside infor really.

Simmo

Darren,

I from remember you from last year mate, gave us spot on information and I have just had a quick search to remember the stuff you said. Either you had a mad punt and it was spot on and now you are playing on it a year later or you are genuine and have a real contact.

I have heard (and said on here) the same about Fabregas a few weeks ago that he was the one who asked us to bid for him, whether things changed when they got a new manager I am unsure.

Simmo, you have turned back into what people hate on here, a pessimist and moaner with nothing really interesting to say. Turn it in and lighten up, you support the greatest club in the world.

GDS2

I'll moan about what I like.
If you don't like reading my posts then scroll down, it's easily solved.
By the way your posts arn't much kop as well my friend.

Simmo

Darren, I remember your post and remember most poster's shooting you down then. Thanks for posting again, let's hope there's some truth to this one.

Simmo, stay calm ;)

Simmo

Feedback is a gift my friend and let's be honest, you can be a bit glass half empty can't you. As for the 'well your posts are rubbish too', come on mate. There are some dodgy posters on here (no offence DB) but GDS isn't one of them

21 Aug 2013 13:40:41
The fact Woodward said he wanted to put 'football club' back on the badge because we are not just a business just makes him look silly. Since he said that he's agreed numerous sponsorship deals but signed no players for the football club.

21 Aug 2013 13:16:03
Guys,
We need to be realistic. We are not signing a big name player this year.
How many current first team players have come out and said they are happy with the current squad, we're good enough to defend the league title etc.

I'm not being pessimistic, but we have to read the writing on the wall. We are not signing anyone that will improve the first 11.

If fergie was still here, I would not be as concerned.

We certainly have a challenge ahead of us this year. But we will rise to this challenge. We always do best when our back is against the wall.

This is a real test for Moyes - i'm hoping we are not looking for blood when he goes through a bad patch (all manager do).

Lets just get behind Moyes and the team - we still have a great squad.

I'm concerned the club are trying to stretch these deals out until the last minute, in order to get the cheapest price. This seems the case with both Felliani and Baines. Moyes' and the club are probably hoping that they will both push hard for a move, forcing Everton to sell to us at a lower price. Problem is, we could realistically end up signing no-one as a consequence of the negotiating stance United seem to be taking, which is worrying, considering we 'desperately' need a new Centre-Midfielder.

I couldn't agree more samthered. I think that is the situation also, but let us remember that since we were distroyed in midfield by barcelona in 2009 champions league final - we have been fully aware that we need a central midfielder. we have not bought one. that's a long time to address a very obvious difficiency in our midfield.
I can't see it happening. The best we can hope for is that an upcoming youth player stands up and gets noticed.

21 Aug 2013 15:15:18
Sorry but I am definitely expecting a couple of class signings (Fellaini is not in this category) why shouldn't we for God's sake?!? We have an ok squad but by no means is it great, too much below standard dross in there. And don't give me the "We won the league easily last year" line because we were flattered last year and had a bit of luck as well.! That will not happen this year.! We need, and I am expecting, 2 or 3 "class" signings this window. If not we will finish third at best, more likely fourth.!

Cherk,

we had Fletcher and Schole's still about back then. Even last season, Scholes still gave us options in the middle of the park, due to his excellent passing range. Problem is, we have no Scholes to rely on now, and no Fletcher, who we all could rely on to put in a shift. What worries me is the fact that we are basically pinning our hopes on Carrick playing at the highest level - all season long, and not getting any injuries, which is a bit of an ask for any player, let-alone one who is now hitting the end of his peak.

The good thing is, Moyes' does know this. SAF new it too; but his style of play was always dependent on our wingers and the quality of our centre-forwards, so it mitigated the lack of quality we had in CM. Moyes' on the other-hand, does not use out and out wingers, and prefers to use his full-backs to deliver the width. Even when he played his 4411 system at Everton, his wide players would play quite narrow. Last season, it seemed to me that he perfected that system with Everton: Pienaar and Mirallas enabled Everton to be a lot more expansive due to their positioning and movement, which often saw them operating as free-roaming attacking midfielders, as opposed to natural wide-men.

Anyway, I hope we get some good news soon. Some could really do with it by the sounds of it.

21 Aug 2013 13:11:49
Yes! We have signed another sponsorship deal. This ones a tyre one and I'm very excited about this!

Music to my ears

Mad Hatter

21 Aug 2013 12:50:33
Hi guys

I was on fanzone yesterday talking to leeroy and alan curbishley. We spoke about the possible transfers. Alan did say that he thinks we would would be making two signings and he thinks one big marque signing but when asked by leeroy, he didn't want to mention. I also think we would get fellani, baines or luke shaw and one big signing. He probaly knws what's going on but does not want to mention. Fanzone is everyday at 14h00 uk time. I am always on the show. Donny from south africa

21 Aug 2013 12:22:24
Why did sir Alex tell public rooney asked for transfer its made the whole thing very messy don't understand why he went public maybe cause he was leaving could not see him saying that if he was going to stay in charge

Ppl seem to forget he was asked! Rumours had been doing the rounds for weeks before that saf just confirmed it!

21 Aug 2013 12:05:52
Our biggest transfer target should be Daniel Levy!

Haha! Agreed! He's an utter knob but always gets the best deal for Spurs. Very good at what he does. Bale will have funded 6 player fee's. They'll be top 4 this year I think.

21 Aug 2013 11:12:17
Ed's why are none of my posts being put on the site? I haven't said anything too controversial or anything that's false! {Ed004's Note - I have deleted none of your posts}

21 Aug 2013 11:09:18
Would be interested to hear views on what is going on with Spurs.

Their spending in this window is something extraordinary and seems to be continuing if you believe all the rumors. Although I don't have access to their finances, this seems to be way out of their league given when you factor in player wages into these deals, agents fees etc etc.

This leads me to believe that the bale Deal is done and for whatever reason it is not being announced. I can see why Levy would want to delay the announcement, which in theory should kick off a merry go around of players moving but what is puzzling is why would Real delay the announcement as they would have surplus players that would need to go with a lot of surplus midfielders i.e. modric, Ozil, Khedira, Kaka given the fact they have Isco and Illimandari(spelling).

I might be wrong with my entire assumption and spurs might actually have the money without the need to sell bale and interested in peoples opinions

shahram

21 Aug 2013 11:51:48
I think it makes sense for both Spurs and Real Madrid to delay an announcing a deal. For Spurs it allows them to sign the players they want for reasonable fees, if clubs know they have 80m+ in the bank they will be held to ransom.

As for Real, if they announce the signing of Bale for a huge fee then clubs looking to sign the players they are trying to offload will know they need to recoupe the Bale fee and will play hard ball with them offering them low fees for their players knowing Real will have to deal as they need the money.

So it makes sense for both clubs to delay announcing the deal until both clubs have finished their other business in the window.

Spurs have been saving for a few years, plus they have all but cashed in on Bale so they are flush with cash. They have done some very good business and I am not just talking about their signings. They have shifted their big earners without much fuss and they are certainly going to be in the top four this season. They may take a year or two to gel, but I think they may be title contenders in a couple of year's time. I think Spurs have all but put the final nail in Liverpool's top four coffin. So every cloud and that .

Sydney!

Maybe real have agreed with other clubs to sell players to fund bale deal but all party's are tied into an agreement not to make it public till later in the window.just a thought. andog

I'm not sure, everything points to fact that spurs have agreed a deal for bale and are spending the cash but I just wonder if levy has decided to go all out this year for cl maybe even league.
Jred

21 Aug 2013 13:16:28
I think this will be the year arsenal drop out the top four. Its been on the cards last couple of years but for spuds choking. Sydney I don't think the scouse had a chance at top for anyway, only in their dreams. MrE

MrE, I agree.

Sydney!

21 Aug 2013 10:54:54
I saw a report this morning that we were going to move our attention to Luke Shaw instead of Leighton Baines. Personally, I think this makes more sense for a number of reasons.
Firstly, I think that Everton seem unwilling to sell Baines and we would have to pay well over what he is really worth in order to sign him.
Secondly, he is not actually THAT much younger than Evra and would probably only be a short term fix for our left back position in the long run whereas Luke Shaw is only 18 I believe.
I also think Evra has looked pretty decent this so far this season (even getting into Garth Crook's team of the week over the weekend) and think Baines does not improve on him enough to merit spending 15-20 mil which Everton seem to want for him.
I would much rather Keep Evra for another season and he could tutor Luke Shaw for a year, giving Shaw some game time every now and then until next year when he can take of the starting spot if he impresses. We than have a 19 year old English left back with great ability and potential who has already had a year to settle in at Utd.

The only think I didn't like about this report, was that it was written by the Sun. So is almost certainly not true and not going to happen :(

I stand corrected. It was not written by the sun. Maybe there is hope after all. Although I have since learnt that he is a massive Chelsea fan so when, and if he does leave Southampton, that will most likely be his chosen destination if he has the choice.

Why should rooney have to say anything! the daily bull. reports have us think he wants to go Chelsea make a cheeky bid Moyes says he staying. no problem.

If chelsea was his prefered destination though I can't see him dispossesing ashley cole for between 2-4 years.if he wants regular 1st team starts maybe were a better option, if we are interested that is and its not just paper talk.
johndenton

Ashley Cole will leave either next summer or the summer after IMO.

Sydney!

Sorry Giggs11 but the report might as well have been written by the man on the moon and there's no hope. Apart from the club nailing a NO SALE placard on his back, Luke has publicly said he has no intention of leaving the club where he's been since age 7. Yes, he's a Chelsea fan but he has no need for tutorage from Evra or Cole per the Chelsea fans who finally gave up when he signed a new 4 year contract. He's better than Bale was at the same age and has the maturity of someone a lot older than 18. Unlike Bale, however, we no longer have any need to sell and our Chairman, Nicola Cortese is a very different animal than bloody Rupert Lowe!
SaintGazza

And go where syd? he's not on a downward cycle yet and still performing
johndenton

Neither is Petr Cech, but Chelsea plan on replacing him with Courtois next summer. Cech IMO has several years left in him.

Sydney!

Sorry SaintGazza, but unfortunately for you lot, if he does become as good as everyone thinks he will (including myself) then he will be leaving Saints at some point in his career to play Champions League football. Whether it is in 2 years or 5 years time. That is just how things work these days. Maybe not to Utd but he will be leaving Saints if he ever wants Champions league football. which I'm certain he will do some time soon. ;)

The special one has come hone cech ain't going

21 Aug 2013 10:07:55
Jesus Christ what the hell is going on with the transfers at the club!

Are we actually broke or do players just not want to sign anymore? Spurs are making a holy show of us with the players wanting to join them

Very disheartening to say the least

As much as my patience grows thin too, I think we should reserve judgment until after the window closes. That said, it would be nice to have a new CM by the time we play Chelsea. It is a must win game for Moyes'.

Can you imagine us loosing that game; the type of pressure he would be under.

Totally Agree sam I shouldn't judge quite yet

We do need to improve massively in Midfield to even stand a chance in Europe, if Rooney stays I can see a situation where the roles of RVP, Kagawa, Rooney change with one taking turns to take the 10 role, with either Zaha and Toni V cutting in to the left/right to tighten up the midfield with the 2 full back to cover the hole.

Fellani or carrick will be additional support to clean up in front of the back 4 feeding the interchanging 10 role

As for the Chelsea game it will be a very compact game and We will need to push Chelsea out to the wide area's to soak any pressure, I can see a 4-5-1 with Giggs Carrick Valencia, Anderson and Welbeck putting pressure and chasing the ball and hopefully getting Chelsea on the counter like Swansea. i'd prefer Jones doing the role he had against Madrid than right back for this one.

I like the idea of Carrick and Felliani sitting in front of the back four. I would imagine Fellaini would be encouraged to get into the box as often as possible. He could score quite a few goals for us with the amount of crosses we put into the box.

If we have to go into the the Chelsea game with the same squad as we have of today, playing the players' you mentioned in a 451 system, would be our best bet. Chelsea are not that great defensively; and with RVP up front, in the kind of form he is in at the moment, I can see us scoring a few against them. We just have to do our job defensively, which I think we will judging by our defensive performance against Swansea, which I thought quite impressive.

21 Aug 2013 10:47:04
Just heard from a close friend, the reason Woody has been missing in action, a bit like new signings is he triped in the bathroom on his flight back from oz and got his head stuck up his ass. I am told he is due to see a world renowned proctologist on 3rd September to get his head removed.

Mr A. Hoal.

21 Aug 2013 09:15:33
can somebody tell me why its taking so long to sign somebody what's going on dm all the decent players are going because we are to slow in the market look at how many teams have bought and what have we done jack s**t is it going to be a last minute thing or are we going sign no-one and get destroyed in the champs league, how long have we needed a decent midfielder(s) and a good couple of wingers because in my point of view we havnt had any decent ones for a few seasons

21 Aug 2013 07:35:07
There seems to be two parallel worlds most of us are currently living in. The first suggests the Woodward is an incompetent fool whose seemingly bounding from one inept bid to another.
In the other world Woodward is a maverick genius whose currently in the process not only playing hardball with Everton over Fellaini and Baines but still has a plans to bring Fabregas whose arrival in turn is just the appetiser for the eventual return of Ronaldo.

I am hoping for the second Woodward world, but am fully prepared for the first.

scol

Lets go with facts. the guy is a clown currently damaging our reputation and not helping DM at all.

Hoping that I am wrong and on this occasion happy to be proved wrong!

I think anyone who thinks Fabregas and ronaldo are on their way, will fall into your first description of Mr Woodward.
He is incompetent and has shown us up to our rivals. One minute there is no need for major retooling, the next, we're bidding for Fabregas, baines, fellaini and possibly the whole real Madrid team!
A genius he's not, glazer puppet he certainly is.
Nomidfield

Not calling him a maverick by any stretch of the imagination. However, I think the second scenario is more likely, I'm convinced we'll sign big before september 2nd.

Is it Woodward that's playing hardball with Everton or more realistically is it Kenwright that's playing hardball and holding out for £40m +?
I think utd board/fans etc don't realise that you hold no cards in this process, Everton aren't desperate to sell, the banks aren't on our backs for the £30m that we owe unlike the astronomical amount utd owe, but not only that now that saf is no longer at the helm you have no pulling appeal (Moyes has no appeal)
What are you going to do once rvp gets injured? There won't be no cr7 or Rooney to save you, 4th at best for utd this season

Baz

Completely agree with you. I think we will end up with first scenario. Yet, I think we are good enough to beat Chelsea this weekend. I can see JM trying to play a mind game with us by submitting a new bid for Wazza close to the match during the weekend, but hopefully that shouldn't distract DM and players too much.
RumourNo.1

21 Aug 2013 10:00:40
Woodward is excellent at finding and negotiating commercial deals. In the world of business he is one of the best. But football doesn't quite work the same way, I think he's gone in abit hard nosed and its upset teams which means things have got off to a bad start. He needs to learn more tact when dealing with football clubs. a lot of the time he will be dealing with people who are ex footballers or people who have spent most of their career in football, they are businessmen second. He needs to appreciate that.

In the world of business you always start off with a very low bid more to let your interest known. Then you work up from there. But in football that comes across like you either don't value the player or your insulting the intelligence of the club.

You also need to open up talks by asking whether the club would be willing to do a deal for the said player.

His way of just sending in a very low bid is taken as arrogant and insulting by most clubs.

In an ideal world Gill would have stayed for one more year to help Moyes settle in and he could use his contacts and good relationship with most clubs to help David get the players he wanted. Woodward could have shadowed him for that year and see how Gill did things.

Lol we are all praying for the second world but then we are brouht back to reality and realise we are living in the first.

Coups

Baz go away now, u are like a bad smell and u obviously no nothing at all about ure club and its finances, if ure not desperate to sell why did YOUR club announce this offer, u are so desperate its unreal!

He was in every paper on the planet in June, saying United have unlimited transfer budget. Then he puts in fairly low bids in a very long negotiation to buy a player that wasn't interested in joining us. Which funnily enough was allowed to become public knowledge. Then he puts in low bids for players, when the selling club think we have unlimited budget. My suspicion is that he's a smart guy, but we have a very limited transfer budget.