Scholes out for the season

super_furry

Due to an 'eye condition'. Bad news for United, especially given their thread-bare midfield.

www.rte.ie/sport/2006/0124/scholesp.html

yop

Very bad news for the lad, I hear he is down to 50% vision, possibly never to get back 100%.

super_furry

If it's not football related, I wonder what it is. Remember hearing rumours about his health before this.

county

just commented on another thread about this,in short bad news and worried for the rest of the season:(

Chong

Èxtremely bad news indeed , poor bloke I hope he recovers soon. Wasnt there something last year about scholes having some problem with his eyes. Anyways it must be pretty bad to be keeping him out.

CountryWise

Id have doubts about him playing again to be honest.
Also leaves the United Midfield in tatters, we have none, well its good enough to beat Liverpool still but you know what i mean!
Anyone any idea where Smith is i cant find anything on why he aint playing at the moment??

PHB

I think a replacement could be bought definally.
This is an eye problem from a knock he got, its a football related issue just as any issue.

BKtje

Gah loosing Scholes is a major blow.
The midfield situation is getting worse rather than better

masterK

The rumour was that he retired from international football due to suffering with bad migraines, I don't know if his current problem is connected or not.

scuba steve

bad news on scholes alright. I think Smith is "injured", maybe something got to do with the stitches he got, but that would hardly keep Smith from playing, hes tough as nails

Nimrod's Son

With O'Shea out for 4-6 weeks as well, I hope this will prompt Fergie into the buying some midfield cover. He can't afford to wait til the Summer now. I just hope he can get someone good in.

PHB

De Jong I think could well be a target.
Free transfer, SPurs look like they are about to get him for a nominal fee, could be a decent buy too.

cournioni

Bugger. Fergie will definately have to make a signing now. A loan move for Gravesen or someone wouldn't be a bad idea.

wheres me jumpa

poor scholes. huge blow for united and i hope this isnt the end of his career. injuries are piling up and i have a funny feeling we could see someone come in. although i doubt it will be a quality signing.

i would love to see de jong come in. very versatile and of course cheap cheap cheap.

shepthedog

Yup United need to act quickly.. Looks like Fergie needs to act now instead of waiting until the summer to "land his major target"..

Wont be much use waiting till the summer if United arent in Champions league.

Raskolnikov

Is it really such a bad thing he's out injured? I mean he's contributed very little this season anyway and is only a shadow of the player he was. At least this forces Fergusons hand.

PHB

Scholes has seen a resurgance of form after Keano left and was playing fantastically, and we have missed him once he has gone.

Him and O'Shea out means we have the following central midfielders.

Fletcher - Smith(out injured) - Richardson(barely a CM)

That is it! Nobody else.

3 CM players, two of them below 21, and one of them a striker, is not enough CM players.
Scholes could have made the difference, and would be a decent player to have.
However Fergie now has to act, buying either a player he doesnt completely want, or buying the player he wants over the odds, both of which are bad.
Hence I imagine it will be a cheap buy, of someone who is out of contract or something

cournioni

He was starting to play like his old self before this injury Raskolnikov. That is why.

besty

Pity for the ginger prince, pity for United. He really is hugely important to United in terms of making the attack tick by picking passes and keeping the ball moving, and he started getting back into scoring form. His absence will be sorely felt especially because the midfield is on it's last legs anway. Surely Fergie will have to bring someone in during the transfer window now, even if they are only a stopgap.

Necronomicon

I would have understood Fergy not bringing in a midfielder this month, so he could focus his efforts on someone he really wants in the summer....but now I think a loan deal at the very least has to be reached to bring a player in.

BillyBoy

What is the name of that French u21 international that united are interested in. I think he is in the u21 team anyway but he might be u19 or u18 not quite sure

cournioni

That would be Ribery, hell of a player. He ripped the Ireland U-21's to shreads last year.

Headshot

Ballack could be on the list again ?

Nunu

I'd really like Utd to sign a midfielder who performs to a high standard week in, week out in the Premiership. I admire Bayern Munichs policy of buying proven talent from other clubs in the Bundesliga in the close seasons. It has rarely backfired on them and the main advantage of it is the incoming player is already adapted to the leagues demands. A large bulk of Bayerns current squad joined from league rivals. Players like Ballack, Lucio, Ze Roberto, Jeremies, Lahm, Ismael, Pizarro, Deisler, Scholl and Kahn.

With this in mind I have been watching a lot of the extended highlights on Football First this season and 2 midfielders have shone like beacons: Luis Boa Morte of Fulham, classed by most as a striker but does his best work as an attacking midfielder (ala Scholes) and Steven Reid of Blackburn. Either or both of them could do a fantastic job for Utd domestically and playing with better players would improve thier talent further. Both of these players would be very getable before the transfer window closes and their premier league experience would lessen the risk. Fulham and Blackburn also have other very useful midfielders in Malbranque, Bouba Diop and Gamst Pedersen who would all also fit in nicely at Utd.

It is no coincidence that Van Der Sar bedded in so seamlessly having joined from a fellow Premiership club and I believe the players mentioned would do likewise.

dcarroll

He is more of a winger tho, someone else would be needed to hold the midfield, anyone know what happened to Rio Mavuba, remember him in the Ireland France away game, he looked like another "New Vieira"

gsand

i suspect scholes injury is more than football related...too many rumours for it to be nothing at all

giggs is out injured as well now for possibly 6 weeks they are saying...

midfield is in tatters, surely recall dave jones and/or liam miller and get a loan in...de jong i wouldnt complain about or graveson

Nunu

gsand wrote:

i suspect scholes injury is more than football related...too many rumours for it to be nothing at all

giggs is out injured as well now for possibly 6 weeks they are saying...

midfield is in tatters, surely recall dave jones and/or liam miller and get a loan in...de jong i wouldnt complain about or graveson

Another option gone. De Jong has joined Hamburg.

http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=357526&CPID=22&clid=&lid=2&title=Hamburg+win+race+for+De+Jong

Hamburg have won the race to sign Ajax midfielder Nigel de Jong.

Reports suggest the Dutch side have received a fee in the region of €1 million (£680,000) for the player whose contract was due to expire in six months' time.

Tottenham had been keen on securing de Jong on a pre-contract agreement but Hamburg have clinched the deal with the player signing a four-and-a-half year contract.

De Jong will join fellow Dutch internationals Khalid Boulahrouz and Rafael van der Vaart at Hamburg as the Bundesliga outfit seek to cement their title challenge.

De Jong made his international debut in March 2004 and has gone on to win nine further caps.

Uniteds midfield is decimated. Meanwhile a fully fit international midfielder who has been contracted to the club for the last 4 weeks sits on his hole in Egypt watching his country compete in the African Nations Cup and refuses to join up with the club he is contracted to. He is possibly the only 19 year old on the planet who would refuse to play for Utd, a dreamm come true for all youngsters who will never make it. He is a disgrace, Utd will never need him more than they do now and no one in the football world bats an eyelid at the madness at it all. What exactly is going on here? How can a player hold a club to ransom for so long and virtually nothing is done about it? No matter what happens in the future I will never welcome him at Utd. He represents everything that is wrong with modern football. It stinks.

gracehopper

cant believe United didnt try to sign de Jong, 1million for him is a snip and he's better than any central midfield player we have at the moment

Nunu

John Obi Mikel came off the bench in Nigerias game today and was absolutely class considering he hasn't played in weeks.:mad: He scored one and a set up the other in a 2 - 0 win.

http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=357983&CPID=437&clid=&lid=2&title=OBI+THE+ONE+FOR+NIGERIA

John Obi Mikel climbed off the bench to inspire Nigeria to a 2-0 win over Zimbabwe.

Obi Mikel, who is involved in a transfer tug-of-war between Chelsea and Manchester United, advertised why he is in such demand as he scored one and created the other to put The Super Eagles on the verge of qualification.

The Nigerians, who won their first game in the group, took time to warm to their task but won at a canter once seizing control shortly before the hour mark.

Both sides had quality attacking talented on show and Obafemi Martens, for Nigeria, and Zimbabwe's Benjani both dashed in on goal but were found wanting at the vital time.

Nigeria looked to be running out of ideas at the start of the second half, but the introduction of Obi-Mikel and Kanu revived them and the latter had a decent penalty appeal waved away.

It mattered little as Chris Obodo climbed high to meet an Obi Mikel corner and he powered his header home to break the deadlock.

The goal boosted Nigeria's confidence and Obi Mikel strode forward unchecked on 60 minutes before rifling a shot into the bottom corner from 20 yards.

Zimbabwe, to their credit, fought back and Shingirai Kawnodera wasted a good chance, while Cepes Chimedza forced a fine save out of Vincent Enyeama.

Nigeria negotiated their way through the final 15 minutes without incident, although Enyeama made a fine save to deny Benjani late on, and now top Group D with six points, but they could still be overhauled by both Senegal and Ghana who have three points.

Zimbabwe are bottom without a point to their name, but a good win over Ghana combined with a Nigeria win over Senegal could still see them through.

PHB

No matter what happens in the future I will never welcome him at Utd.

Wait till you see the kid play. The Guy is 18 and being manipulated by many people all after one thing, money. Give him a break.
Just wait till you see him in a United shirt

evad_lhorg

there was a lot of stuff about him having cancer and stuff. hopefully not.

Headshot

PHB wrote:

Wait till you see the kid play. The Guy is 18 and being manipulated by many people all after one thing, money. Give him a break.
Just wait till you see him in a United shirt

when will that be

Pigman II

Does anyone know the name of Scholes condition? I'd like to read up on it but it seems to just be listed as 'medical condition' everywhere.

wheres me jumpa

PHB wrote:

Wait till you see the kid play. The Guy is 18 and being manipulated by many people all after one thing, money. Give him a break.
Just wait till you see him in a United shirt

is he definitely going to united now? when?

PHB

There is no legal case for Mikel not to go to Chelsea, nothing at all at all.
FIFA aren't stupid, they don't like Chelsea, and they know even if they take bribes, they can't forfeit the contract, cause it would totally **** up football.
He will join United up eventually, when that is, I don't know.

But right now, he is contracted to Man Utd, if he breaches that contract, the 2 year ban threat might do something to help him along his way

btw, heres an interview by Obi Mikel after he signed

http://nigeriasports.com/2302

Mikel Joh Obi is the newest Nigerian sensation with his ten million pounds four year deal with Manchester United. in this first of it's kind interview he granted Ralph Chidozie George on 105.5 COSMO FM since signing for the biggest team in the world he talked about his career at club level, Flying Eagles and the world youth championships.
Nigeriasports.com -Could you give us a brief history of your career?
MJO- i started playing from the u-13 in Jos and went to play U-17 for three years and moved to the U-19 for one year and then moved to Plateau united where I stayed for 3 seasons before I traveled.

Nigeriasports-interesting build up to a big transfer to one of the biggest clubs in the world, I recall you first went for a youth trial at Man U, tell us about it.
MJO-it was nice when I went there, everybody welcomed me and I stayed there for over 2 months, the manager was very nice to me. After that I went back to Nigeria and then I went to Chelsea stayed there for almost a year and things did not work out and I had to go to Man U again.

Nigeriasports.com-so how did they contact you and the sealing of the deal.
MJO- well Man U officials have been visiting me secretly in Oslo and nobody new about it, it was nice and they kept asking me if I’m still interested in Chelsea and they kept pressing me and won my heart over Chelsea and then every thing happened so fast after that.

Nigeriasports.com-how did your teammates in Oslo take the deal?
MJO-they took it in good faith, it could happen to any player at any time, football is time and it could happen to any player at any time, they celebrated with me and they also advised me, they were happy because we’ve been together for long. There is no problem, they are all happy with me.

Nigeriasports.com-no agent negotiated on your behalf and this rare in such a big deal to a big club.
MJO-yeah, that’s they way it went, many agents are in touch with me and there is no one that has a complete hold of me that’s why I happened that way. But I am happy the way the transfer was handled despite the fact that Chelsea will be hurt.

Nigeriasports.com-if Chelsea had come earlier instead of waiting till the summer, would have gone to Stanford Bridge?
MJO-ahhhhm, well may be, just may be. Chelsea is also a big club with big money and any player would love to play for them and they just won the premiership which is any players dream but all the same I am happy with my deal with Manchester united.


Nigeriasports.com-as it were you will be in Lyn Oslo till the end of the season, would have preferred to move to Manchester immediately?
MJO-I have to wait and play with Lyn instead of moving immediately and training without a game, the rest of the season in Norway will help me get more experience and maturity while watching Manchester united games that’s why Man U officials told me to remain at Lyn Oslo, that is no problem, I am happy that I have to be here for this season and may be by December I will move and start playing for Manchester in January.

nigeriasports-Manchester has an array of super Stars like Roy Keane, Ruud Van Nistelroy, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and others, are you in any way scared to play with them?
MJO-it’s a very nice thing and that’s what every football player wants, to play with such world stars like that, I am very happy to be going to play with them and it’s going to be fine. I hope to learn from them.

Nigeriasports.com-You were given jersey number 21, is there anything about the number for you?
MJO-no, no, no there is nothing special about it but my manager at Lyn Oslo wore that number when he played at Old Trafford for Manchester United, may be he told them to give it to me and I am very happy to have it.

Nigeriasports.com-Isaac Promise, will he be joining you at Manchester United having gone for the youth trial with you previously?
MJO-(hesitates) I do not know anything about that, I have not seen him for about 2-3 weeks now and I don’t know whether they have contacted him.
Nigeriasports.com-ok, lets take you away from the Manchester United deal, are you happy with the Flying eagles are preparing for the World youth championships?
MJO-yeah, I’m quite happy with trip to Germany and it gladdens my heart, this will be about the first time that will be happening for the Flying eagles and it is really nice for the home based players to go out there and garner enough experience and confidence ahead of the championships. It is good for the team and the coach too but they have to get to Germany on time to practice.

Nigeriasports.com-So when are you joining the team in Germany?
MJO- The moment they get to Germany because we have been waiting for them but I can’t go without an invitation, my club got to get invitation from NFA before they could release me. Right now I have not gotten an invitation and I can not just leave my club like that.

Nigeriasports.com-what do you think about playing Brazil at the World youth Championships?
MJO-I think we would do well playing Brazil, it’s no big deal playing them as long as we prepare well and the players know each other well enough since we are coming from different teams. That is why this Germany trip is good for the team and we have to practice real well. I am not scared about Brazil being in our group. We have to also play some friendly games. With that I think we are going to do well not just against Brazil but in the championship.

Nigeriasports.com-i understand there are about four Nigerians at Lyn Oslo including yourself, could you tell us about the others?
MJO-they are all fine and we are all doing well and the club is happy with us.

Nigeriasports.com- You want to give us their names?
MJO-ok, they are Chinedu Ogbuke, Bala Ezekiel and Emmanuel Seriki.

Nigeriasports.com-Yes, Emmanuel Seriki, we understand Chelsea is also interested in him you want to confirm this?
MJO-yeah, he has been there and tried out with them before he was injured; he is still there receiving treatment. He has not been playing but he will be back soon and hopefully Chelsea will take him, he is a very good player.

Nigeriasports.com-ok Mikl John Obi, sensational Mikel John Obi I want to call you any message to your fans?
MJO-yeah, ahhhhh I don’t know but help me to tell them that I appreciate them and I thanks them very much for being there for me and I wish them well just like they wish me, God bless them all.

Nigeriasports.com-Thank you very much Mikel, we hope to talk to you again in the nearest future.
MJO-No problem Ralph, thanks a lot anytime,bye.

Ruskie4Rent

That is very interesting, i've never read it before. I wonder how ManU "won his heart"

PHB

I'd imagine it was a combination of training facilities, Uniteds history with youth players, uniteds current crop of world known youth players rooney and ronaldo to play with, and money. Also not acting like you have a god given right to everything helped us get him from Chelsea

The Muppet

PHB wrote:

Just wait till you see him in a United shirt

Will that ever happen though? I hope so but I don't really think it will. Still his performances should up his tranfer value when United sell him on to whoever.