Manchester United Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 11/12

Frisbee

If Fergie doesn't by a CM in January now it will become clear he has some mad bet with someone on how long he could troll United fans and get away without buying a centre mid.

super_furry

I suppose mentioning 'squeaky bum time' wouldn't be appropriate right now?

J. Marston

Get well soon, Fletch.

stesaurus

Frisbee wrote: »

If Fergie doesn't by a CM in January now it will become clear he has some mad bet with someone on how long he could troll United fans and get away without buying a centre mid.

Will Wilshire be fit by then?

v3ttel

This is awful, awful news for the lad himself and for MUFC. How long is an extended break?

Get well soon Fletch.

Kylo Ren

Manchester United midfield now consists of:

CM: Giggs, Park, Carrick, & Gibson. (Our CB Jones covering in here too.)

Wingers: Nani, Young, Valencia.

Youths: Pogba & Morrison.

Injured: Anderson, Cleverly and now Fletcher.

*Gulp*

Blatter

If Fletcher is likely to be out for longer than a couple of months, surely SAF will try to sign a midfielder in January.

Don't expect him to say he will in his next presser when asked though.

MagicMarker

Extended break certainly sounds like he won't be back until next season, if at all.

Handsome Bob

At least we know now that there was a lot more to Fletch's drop in form than originally thought.

Huge respect for the bloke for how he fought his way into becoming arguably United's most influential CM before injury. Hope he has a speedy recovery.

flahavaj

How could they have thought what Fletch had was a f*cking virus for so long? As far as I know UC is a very serious condition that would be bad news for a normal person, but really really bad news for a professional athelete. We may never see him play at the level he did before. The treatment alone can be very tough.

Necronomicon

Best of luck Fletch.

It'd be terribly sad to see him retiring prematurely, hopefully this break will allow him to put the condition to bed. Beyond his general wellbeing I hope he can get back to the level he was playing at, because he was indispensable.

flahavaj

Still not sure Fergie will make any move in January. I could see him trying to make do rather than having to sign someone to fill a short term hole in the squad. He's never really worked like that.

Blatter

MagicMarker wrote: »

Extended break certainly sounds like he won't be back until next season, if at all.

Impossible for us to know really, all we can do is speculate. It could be anything from a couple of months out to possibly never playing again. All depends on how serious his case is obviously.

Hopefully SAF can shed a little more light on it at his next presser.

Nunu

A close friend of mine has the very same condition. It's similiar to Crohns disease.

It's incredibly debilitating when it strikes at it's worst. My friend had a very hard time of it 2 years back, in and out of hospital over a few months including a prolonged stay.

Good news is though full health and fitness is achievable when it goes into remission.

Get well soon Darren

Mgoraf

flahavaj wrote: »

How could they have thought what Fletch had was a f*cking virus for so long? As far as I know UC is a very serious condition that would be bad news for a normal person, but really really bad news for a professional athelete. We may never see him play at the level he did before. The treatment alone can be very tough.

They only said it was a virus for privacy reasons...

Anyway, all the best Fletch!

Kylo Ren

Blatter wrote: »

Impossible for us to know really, all we can do is speculate. It could be anything from a couple of months out to possibly never playing again. All depends on how serious his case is obviously.

Hopefully SAF can shed a little more light on it at his next presser.

Jesus I never comprehended that it could be that bad. An already depleted MF just lost one of its best. Talk about hitting a man when he's down.

homerjay2005

flahavaj wrote: »

How could they have thought what Fletch had was a f*cking virus for so long? As far as I know UC is a very serious condition that would be bad news for a normal person, but really really bad news for a professional athelete. We may never see him play at the level he did before. The treatment alone can be very tough.

exactly, how did it take almost a year for this to be diagnosed like this? we are supposed to have the most advanced medical team there is, yet this happens?

hope he gets well soon.

homerjay2005

Nunu wrote: »

A close friend of mine has the very same condition. It's similiar to Crohns disease.

It's incredibly debilitating when it strikes at it's worst. My friend had a very hard time of it 2 years back, in and out of hospital over a few months including a prolonged stay.

Good news is though full health and fitness is achievable when it goes into remission.

Get well soon Darren

eddie, does full health though mean peak physical condition to be a premiership midfielder?

and how long did it take?

keane2097

I took it from the press release that they've known what his condition was all along but chose to keep the information to themselves.

Kylo Ren

keane2097 wrote: »

I took it from the press release that they've known what his condition was all along but chose to keep the information to themselves.

I would of thought that but surely they would of never allowed him to play this season if they knew?

Mgoraf

keane2097 wrote: »

I took it from the press release that they've known what his condition was all along but chose to keep the information to themselves.

This is correct.

"Over the past year he has had several absence periods which we have attributed to a viral illness in order to respect his right to medical confidentiality. "

helimachoptor

flahavaj wrote: »

How could they have thought what Fletch had was a f*cking virus for so long? As far as I know UC is a very serious condition that would be bad news for a normal person, but really really bad news for a professional athelete. We may never see him play at the level he did before. The treatment alone can be very tough.

They didnt from reading the report, they said he had that because they wanted to keep the real reason private.

FatherTed

One of my friends has UC. His condition basically means all carbs save for simple carbs are off limits to him, not to mention a host of other types of foods. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that such a diet is totally incompatible with any kind of active individual, much less a Premier League footballer.

Blatter

flahavaj wrote: »

Still not sure Fergie will make any move in January. I could see him trying to make do rather than having to sign someone to fill a short term hole in the squad. He's never really worked like that.

Yeah he might have had plans to buy a CM in the Summer and push them forward though. He won't spend big money on a player he doesn't really want, that's for sure.

He could either get a CM that he really wants or bring in a stop gap like Larsson in January '07. A lot will depend on whether he trusts Anderson to come back and make an impact or not.

Mitch Connor

Depends on who he wants - a player like Martinez could possibly be got in January, and would fill long term needs.

PHB

Lads, this isn't an out for a couple of months. This is an extended break from football, i.e. a temporary retirement. The temporary thing is what's up for debate, but I'd wager quite a bit of money we won't see him at all this season or the next. At best, we'd be seeing him report for pre-season at the beginning of the 13/14 season.

PHB

Blatter wrote: »

He could either get a CM that he really wants or bring in a stop gap like Larsson in January '07. A lot will depend on whether he trusts Anderson to come back and make an impact or not.

This isn't the Anderson type player we need.

Hargreaves and Fletcher were our two high energy defensively talented midfielders in our squad. They are both gone.

Now, our best defensive midfielder is Carrick, after that, it's probably Jones, i.e. not a central midfielder.

We need to buy two central midfielders, have for a while. Martinez would be a very welcome addition, with us looking to get another one in next summer.

VW 1

Martinez would certainly be a most welcome addition, looked fantastic in the u21 Euro's.

I would imagine he would end up costing big money, if he was even interested in leaving Bibao.

JP Liz V1

Nunu wrote: »

A close friend of mine has the very same condition. It's similiar to Crohns disease.

It's incredibly debilitating when it strikes at it's worst. My friend had a very hard time of it 2 years back, in and out of hospital over a few months including a prolonged stay.

Good news is though full health and fitness is achievable when it goes into remission.

Get well soon Darren

Hope he makes a good recovery and also your mate

lordgoat

Best of luck to Fletch, at times like today it's very sad to hear one of our best players is out of the game for at least the season. Best Fletch memory, CL semi's having a stormer before picking up that non-yellow card. Hope he's back sooner rather than later.

_blank_

Weird timing just before the Transfer Window. Club gonna get raped for whatever midfielder they go for now.

Mitch Connor

VW 1 wrote: »

Martinez would certainly be a most welcome addition, looked fantastic in the u21 Euro's.

I would imagine he would end up costing big money, if he was even interested in leaving Bibao.

He may cost big money - but if we want a top class CM, thats what we'll have to pay.

token56

Very sad to hear about fletcher and in particular what he has. A cousin of mine who I'm close with has it and it can be quite serious. If its active it would make it impossible for a professional athlete to work anywhere near their top level. My cousin was just about to run his first international race until he got and he has not been able to get even close to that level since. So I can only imagine what it means for a full time professional athlete. It can be got under control but the length of periods when its under control can vary a lot and it may never be under control for long enough for a professional footballer to get back to their top level I'm sorry to say. I really do hope he can make a recovery from and play at the top level again.

stesaurus

This looks like it will be a Hargreaves type situation. Hoping he gets back to a fitness level only to have hopes dashed. Such a pity, hand on heart he's my favourite player at the club.

Slightly ot but what's the situation regarding insurance when this kind of thing happens. Does the club receive any kind of payoff? Not that I'm worried about United, just interested in how reiterments, semi-retirements and long term injuries work.

homerjay2005

so fergie knew this was happening, he was willing to let hargreaves go and also wanted rid of gibson. he doesnt trust pogba and morisson enough yet, so who the f*ck did he expect to play in midfield?

did he not expect injuries. basically we have carrick, anderson and cleverly left now and 2 of them are injured.

mind boggling.

duiggers

lordgoat wrote: »

Best of luck to Fletch, at times like today it's very sad to hear one of our best players is out of the game for at least the season. Best Fletch memory, CL semi's having a stormer before picking up that non-yellow card. Hope he's back sooner rather than later.

Well said! The type of player you don't realise how valuable they can be until they're absent for a while.

We badly need at least one midfield signing now, Carrick doesn't cut it and Jones will probably have to go back into defence soon enough.

jonnyfingers

Terrible news about Fletcher. Hopefully it won't be the end of his career, but it may well be. I hope he makes a swift recovery either way.

VW 1

Mitch Connor wrote: »

He may cost big money - but if we want a top class CM, thats what we'll have to pay.

I know that, I should have expanded.

With the player that is in question (imo the most exciting prospect at a Spanish club that isnt Barca or Madrid) and the club that is enquiring, it would be my fear that the asking price would be heading towards the level that Fergie would deem to be "no value in the market".

If he cost 30-35million, but alleviated our midfield problem, it would be money well spent because in all reality his price isnt exactly going to go down by playing for us is it.

He is of an age where he has experience, but also has youth on his side, and would compliment the players we have nicely. His combination of defensive abilities and passing range lead him to be a better all round midfielder than anyone in the squad.

There are three things in question here. Does Alex think he is worth it? Would Bilbao let him go? Even if the first two are true, would he want to come?

mike65

Just saw this on the Guardian, that's a big loss. Don't see how Utd can challenge for the title without some spending now.

There are some threads about UC on boards

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055228989
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055903937

Pepe LeFrits

As I understand it UC is quite similar to Crohn's, and the only certainty is that every case is different. I was diagnosed with Crohn's when I was 9; during my teenage years I was in and out of hospital and was very sickly, however I've been in remission for a decade and there's no reason I couldn't be a professional footballer now (except for a lack of talent!). However for a lot of people it can be extremely debilitating and an even a moderate case of it would finish his career.

I'm not sure Fletcher's doctors will even know if/when he'll be back. Ferguson will have to plan without him.

citytillidie

I had that when i was 14 and would not wish it on anyone.

Leaves you with no energy, i could not even walk 15 mins from my house to school with out been exhusted. Not having a social life as you needed to be near a bathroom at all times is not good either at that age

Lost a ton of weight, at one stage i weighed in at just under 5 stone.

Get well soon its not nice to experience.

Took me 7 years to get off the meds but still have a yearly blood test and 3 year check up

Quandary

Terrible news about Fletcher. Short term and long term, we are really screwed in midfield now. I hope he can make a proper comeback at some stage For us.

I can see it now. Sorry lads, no value in the market so we're gonna drop Rooney into the middle with Jones until the youngins are ready to blow us away in 2 years. Oh yeah, we're gonna extend Giggs' contract by another 2 years!

Problem solved!

Nunu

homerjay2005 wrote: »

eddie, does full health though mean peak physical condition to be a premiership midfielder?

and how long did it take?

Ye to be honest I'd say Utd will have to plan without him and anything else is a bonus.

Each case is different but when it goes into remission no reason why he couldn't go back training professionally. The question is how long will it take though?

Definitely will not see him until next season though however quick he recovers.

Skud

Hope Fletcher gets well, awesome goal against City, people don't remember because we lost so heavily.

Darren Can on twitter seems to think our options are limited:
http://twitter.com/#!/Darren_Can/

smokedeels

homerjay2005 wrote: »

so fergie knew this was happening, he was willing to let hargreaves go and also wanted rid of gibson. he doesnt trust pogba and morisson enough yet, so who the f*ck did he expect to play in midfield?

did he not expect injuries. basically we have carrick, anderson and cleverly left now and 2 of them are injured.

mind boggling.

Good point

I've posted in favour of the squad we have but that included Fletcher, considering the club knew this was on the cards I'm surprised that we didn't sign cover, shocked really. Unless SAF feels Phil Jones can fill Fletcher's place in cm

clubberlang12

First off, hope he has a speedy recover, not just in the sporting sense but in normal living life. Have a cousin who suffers from a form of Crohn's Disease and its a very debilitating disease.
Obviously would love to see him back in a United jersey again but football isn't the priority here.

shadowcomplex

I think fergie will ask scholes to come out of retirement for 6 months

curry-muff

Had a good laugh at this a while ago, obviously its taking the p1ss out of our CL exit, but still pretty funny nonetheless:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNdakb96MPY

Mars Bar

Ah, feel so bad for Fletcher. Such a workhorse.

Health is primary though so this is probably the right thing for him to do.

coach23

Another blow to our already dismal midfield. I'd like to see Tiote brought in to harden the midfield and rumors in the british papers today that spurs are looking for kaka on loan in January, im sure he could squeeze in somewhere to our midfield!