Manchester United Talk/Gossip/Rumours Super-di-dooper-thread 12/13

SK1979

I've been very happy with Moyes but I'll be unhappy if the coaching staff is changed drastically.

DM_7

I love when you tube throws up a random memory

Copper_pipe

Red Crow

I'd say players who were on the verge if being sold will be given a chance. I'd say Moyes will probably take a look at the squad himself before making any signings.

I don't know how anyone could want Rooney at the club after this.

Mitch Connor

IamtheWalrus wrote: »

Fergie, Gill, Martin Ferguson, Scholes all gone. The new Utd starts here.

I'd love if Moyes started a clear out. Brought in his own players.

De Gea, Rafael, Smalling, Evans, Jones, Cleverley, Kagawa, Zaha, Hernandez, Welbeck all a good age to build the future around. Fabio another that could, potentially, be a good squad/first team player - started a CL final for us! Buttner too, arguably, I suppose.

Powell, Januzaj, Wilson, W.Keane, M.Keane in the youth sides that have the potential to be good players. A lot of youth football watchers rave about Ben Pearson aswell - combative and composed central midfielder. Carrick with bite, seemingly.

POSSY

IamtheWalrus wrote: »

Fergie, Gill, Martin Ferguson, Scholes all gone. The new Utd starts here.

I'd love if Moyes started a clear out. Brought in his own players.

In all fairness Fergie has left a good young squad there, needs some tinkering, not sure anything too radical is needed. Maybe midfield needs a bigger job, but the bones of a very good, title winning side (next year) is there.

alchemist33

IamtheWalrus wrote: »

Fergie, Gill, Martin Ferguson, Scholes all gone. The new Utd starts here.

Albert Morgan too.

Mitch Connor

Eli Manning wrote: »

I'd say players who were on the verge if being sold will be given a chance. I'd say Moyes will probably take a look at the squad himself before making any signings.

I don't know how anyone could want Rooney at the club after this.

some chatter on twitter that Rooney isnt in the squad for tomorrow - had a fight with Jones and has been dropped as a result.

UWSOnline have some update on the Rooney situation on their site as well but I am not subscribed to their site so I don't know if that is what they have heard and updated, and no one on RedIssue Sanc would let on what they have read, out of respect.

Could all be bull and Rooney could be in the starting line up along with Jones.

jimjamcos

The man at his brilliant best..

And how will we ever forget this one?

Great player, great professional.

shrewdness

DM-ICE wrote: »

I love when you tube throws up a random memory

Big Pete the legend!

He'd probably get a long ban for that these days.

heyheyhey1982

This week my heart strings are being pulled in all directions. Paul Scholes is the best Midfieleder of the last 20 years. His technical skills were perfect. His control and touch. His passing was sublime. His shooting was class. His positioning was fantastic. I'll miss him. Sad week at Utd this week.

Pro. F

IamtheWalrus wrote: »

Fergie, Gill, Martin Ferguson, Scholes all gone. The new Utd starts here.

I'd love if Moyes started a clear out. Brought in his own players.

How many and what type of players are you talking about?

Pj!

Mitch Connor wrote: »

some chatter on twitter that Rooney isnt in the squad for tomorrow - had a fight with Jones and has been dropped as a result.

Some Utd supporter with 289 followers started that as far as I can see.

He also said: "Rooney can **** off the treacherous ****. never forgave him for that ****e he pulled 2years ago. **** off you fat money grabbing prick"



Or is there a better source?

Red Crow

I regained a lot of respect for Keane when he talked about Fergie today. He was my favourite player growing up. I supported him through Saipan but as he was on the television more I think he became a bit bitter instead of being his opinionated self. But it's refreshing hearing Keane show his respect for Fergie.

b757

Eli Manning wrote: »

I don't know how anyone could want Rooney at the club after this.

I certainly don't. I have lost a lot of respect for the lad and I'm pretty sure plenty of others have too.

Was dreading Moyes coming in, after I heard the news on Wednesday; but I am actually looking forward to what he can do with the club in the near future.. Hopefully winning something before the season starts can give him that extra little boost.

Mitch Connor

Pj! wrote: »

Some Utd supporter with 289 followers started that as far as I can see.

He also said: "Rooney can **** off the treacherous ****. never forgave him for that ****e he pulled 2years ago. **** off you fat money grabbing prick"



Or is there a better source?

Ah - i'd leave off it for the moment so. Red Issue have tweeted the same story, but I don't know if they have stood it up for themselves. I would be surprised if they went off that one fella's tweet unless they know him.

Soldie

Eli Manning wrote: »

I regained a lot of respect for Keane when he talked about Fergie today. He was my favourite player growing up. I supported him through Saipan but as he was on the television more I think he became a bit bitter instead of being his opinionated self. But it's refreshing hearing Keane show his respect for Fergie.

What did he say?

Vertigo100

Go on Phil ****ing give it to him.

Giggsy11

Soldie wrote: »

What did he say?

"I wasn't as shocked as everyone else has been that he retired, and I think he made the right decision," Keane told ITV Sport. "The man is 71 years of age, and the demands of working with modern players are probably a little more difficult than it was in my day.

"I am disappointed, because it is always sad to see a great manager leave the game, but I think he has made the right choice. I have massive respect for him for what he has done as a manager, and I am very lucky to have played under him."

Keane suggested the outgoing United manager's understanding of what made a footballer tick made him special, and insisted he had escaped a blast from Ferguson's famous 'hairdryer' during his time at Old Trafford.

"He just knew how to handle a player," added Keane. "When to give a pat on the back, what to say on big days, how to deal with players like myself when we stepped out of line.

"I might need different treatment to Nicky Butt or Eric Cantona, but he always got it spot on. He may have made a few mistakes, especially with me at the end, but he was a great manager.

"I remember one game when I wasn't doing well, and he just sat down with me in the dressing room at half-time and said: 'Come on, Roy. You can do better.' That hurt me more than shouting, bawling.

"The hairdryer was a gimmick the media used. He never did that to me. What was important for the great players I played with at United is we didn't want to let the manager down - that is what the best leaders bring out in people. When we lost a big game, we felt bad for letting him down."

http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1443388/roy-keane-praises-manchester-united-boss-sir-alex-ferguson?cc=4716

Pj!

Pj! wrote: »

Some Utd supporter with 289 followers started that as far as I can see.

He also said: "Rooney can **** off the treacherous ****. never forgave him for that ****e he pulled 2years ago. **** off you fat money grabbing prick"



Or is there a better source?

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Ah - i'd leave off it for the moment so. Red Issue have tweeted the same story, but I don't know if they have stood it up for themselves. I would be surprised if they went off that one fella's tweet unless they know him.

I don't even know if that's a real Red Issue twitter account.

Mitch Connor

Pj! wrote: »

I don't even know if that's a real Red Issue twitter account.

it is yeah, certain of that.

bedrock#1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1GmIgq4S_s

scudzilla

Scholes is playing tomorrow

SAF: "Paul will play at Old Trafford on Sunday against Swansea & will collect an unbelievable but well-deserved 11th Premier League medal."

Now what if we take this thread to 10,000 posts while the mods are out on the piss? Will boards explode?

Lord TSC

The West Brom game is going to be really akward. Having the big send off tomorrow, only to have another next week?

Pj!

Mitch Connor wrote: »

it is yeah, certain of that.

Ah cool. Thought that they (@redissue1) were fake because they don't have many followers and seem to talk a lot of ****e. eg:

RedIssue1 ‏@RedIssue1 9 May
Ronaldo has commented - "Every top player I know has always had a desire to work with David Moyes, I can't wait to come back now" #mufc

RedIssue1 ‏@RedIssue1 8 May
Wayne Rooney-"I would have gone almost anywhere just to get away from David Moyes.If noone had come in I would have joined Newcastle" #mufc




@redissue on the other hand have 24,000 followers


I take it they have 2 accounts?

jimjamcos

Great to see Keano speak so honestly, without cynicism, in tribute to Fergie. Whatever misgivings there was/is between the pair, they are both United legends.

Mitch Connor

Pj! wrote: »

Ah cool. Thought that they (@redissue1) were fake because they don't have many followers and seem to talk a lot of ****e. eg:

RedIssue1 ‏@RedIssue1 9 May
Ronaldo has commented - "Every top player I know has always had a desire to work with David Moyes, I can't wait to come back now" #mufc

RedIssue1 ‏@RedIssue1 8 May
Wayne Rooney-"I would have gone almost anywhere just to get away from David Moyes.If noone had come in I would have joined Newcastle" #mufc

@redissue on the other hand have 24,000 followers


I take it they have 2 accounts?

Ah - you may be right - given the way they tweet about the site and the content on it I assume they were 'official', as I never seen anyone on the forum bitch about them. A check on the forum though says RedIssue is the official account and RedIssue1 is not.

I'd be surprised if it isn't ran by someone in charge, but it mightnt be ran by the main runners of the forum/mag.

Blatter

The Mirror putting a very different slant on recent Rooney stories.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/wayne-rooney-fears-manchester-united-1883942?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

When he walked into Sir Alex Ferguson’s office ­almost three weeks ago, Wayne Rooney wanted ­answers about why he no longer ­appeared to be part of Manchester United’s plans, writes the Sunday People.

Sources close to the Rooney camp claim the England striker, one of United’s outstanding ­performers since his arrival in 2004, was determined to find out why boss Fergie had seemingly lost faith in him.

Rooney was seeking clarity over the role Ferguson saw him playing in the future, with the striker telling his manager he didn’t want to ­experience another season of frustration, being shunted around the team.

But when he left that explosive summit around 25 minutes later, Rooney was left fearing for his Old Trafford career after ­getting no assurances from Ferguson about his role in the side.

Details of the meeting were subsequently leaked and Rooney now feels he is being backed into a ­corner and forced out, with the Red Devils making the first move in what he sees as the end game.

Sources say Rooney feels the ­discussion should never have been made public, although there is no suggestion the United boss was behind the leak.

But the incident has left Rooney feeling betrayed – and deeply ­concerned about what the future might hold at United.

The 27-year-old striker was shocked to see initial claims he had handed in a transfer request ­– an allegation he strenuously denies.

United later confirmed Rooney had NOT slapped in a transfer request and was not for sale.

But I can reveal Rooney DID ask if it was time for him to go, and ­offered to leave if the manager felt there was no dedicated role for him at United.

As he left Ferguson’s office at the Carrington training complex, both parties agreed to speak again after United’s final match at West Brom next Sunday. Now, though, Rooney doesn’t know what the summer holds, with Ferguson’s departure a further twist in the tale.


...................

DM_7

What did United actually say on the Rooney matter then?

All I read was a spokesperson said - Wayne Rooney is not for sale

I can see Rooney going to SAF and asking about his future, I can see SAF not giving a straight answer.

But I don't see United leaking news of the discussion, it would make no sense at all.

I would see an agent or representative looking after a client release the news and make out Rooney didn't want details of the discussion in the public or want to leave - especially after how badly his last attempt to question his position went.

Pj!

Will be interesting to see what Fergie does tomorrow regarding Rooney. I'd say he'll put it all to bed.

Rooney does have his issues and I have my doubts about how good he will be in his 30's. I just don't think the longevity is there. Personally I think it would be a good time to sell him if the big offers are out there. But I also have no doubts about his talents. He was one of the most talented players to play under Fergie and nobody has scored more goals for the great man. It can't be ignored that should he stay on he'd pass Bobby Charlton's record and become United's top scorer of all time.

Irish94

Rio Ferdinand ‏@rioferdy5
Scholes retiring at the end of the season...1 of the best I played alongside also the most naturally gifted player too. #SatNav

Really nice complement by Rio.

Also,

Evil Kagawa ‏@evilkagawa
Fergson say Anderson cost more than team of Wigan!
Team laugh, Fergson laugh, Kagawa laugh......Think he forget he one who buy fat BASTARD.

Gotta love it.

Pj!

Gary Neville on Fergie:

It is impossible to identify what made Fergie such a gigantic force, but my memories of him provide a few clues

It was a Saturday morning game for the youth team at the old Cliff training ground. I was lucky. I was in a side that had Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Nicky Butt, who had scored a hat-trick, and at half-time we were 3-0 up against Chester.
We were all 16 or 17 so we must have felt pretty pleased with ourselves. That was until we got to the dressing room. Sir Alex Ferguson was there. The room went quiet. It was not a surprise for him to come to watch, but on this occasion he had decided he wanted to take the half-time team talk. And he set about us.
There was something he had seen, maybe a slackness or an over-confidence, that he wanted to address. And he let us know about it. We would have been terrified even if he had not been the manager. He had an aura, as did his assistant, Archie Knox. You would hear those deep Scottish accents and they would walk into a room and everything would go quiet immediately.

It has been a momentous week with Sir Alex announcing his intention to retire at the end of the season, and though we all knew it had to come, it is still hard to process. It is impossible to identify exactly what has made him unique in football, such a gigantic force. There are many complex reasons why he is as successful as he is.
But a few memories do come back from the years I spent playing under him that perhaps provide some clues. and that team talk at the Cliff is one. It tells you so much about Sir Alex; about his work ethic for one thing. Both he and his assistants would work every single minute God sent with every single footballer at that club. It was not just youth team games he would come to watch. When we were 14-years-old he would even come down to watch us train as schoolboys on a Thursday night.

Back then we trained in a gym - the coldest gym I have known, more like a freezer - and sometimes Archie would take the session. You wouldn't ever hear of it now, the manager coming to watch kids training and his assistant coaching them. Archie would stand in the hall and you would pass the ball at him with a sidefoot. And he would say: 'Take that ball back, son! Drive that pass.' It also demonstrates Sir Alex's passion for developing the talent of young people, the fact that he has always seen it as a duty to bring through home-grown players.
And then there is his attitude, his absolute determination to reach the highest standards. Even though we were 3-0 up, he had seen something in that game that he wanted to correct and it mattered deeply to him. He wanted to mould us into what he wanted in terms of attitude, spirit, flair, skill, mentality and being a winner. And, yes, there was an element of fear about his presence, though people who think that he ruled by fear or was constantly intimidating people do not know him.
But in those days, when we were kids, there was fear. Or you could call it respect for someone who was in charge of our football destinies, appropriate deference to an elder. Because fear hampers you but he never inhibited us, never bullied us. He was teaching us to be better. And we believed in him and would have hung on every word he said.

Later, as a group of us progressed to the first team, he would keep teaching us about what it meant to be a team. He was always impressing on us that we should look after our own. It was the upbringing he had in Glasgow, that sense that you all work bloody hard together but that you stick together through that.
So I can remember a couple of occasions when individual players had got into trouble and he was angrier with the team rather than the individuals concerned. His reasoning was: 'why did you let your team-mate get into trouble? Why weren't you there to protect him? You're all responsible for not looking after him. You make sure he doesn't get into trouble.'

He very rarely fines footballers because he does not believe in it as a means of discipline. But often when he did, it would be the whole squad who were fined because he believed we had failed to meet those standards of collective responsibility. On one occasion when Roy Keane had been wrongly arrested - he was subsequently freed after a night in the cells and no charges were ever brought - the manager was furious and tore into us.
'Why didn't you ring me?' he said. 'Why didn't you tell me this was happening? You've all gone home and got into your beds and left one of your team-mates on his own! Why didn't any of you think to tell me?'
A few years later, when I was captain and a similar incident had taken place, I questioned him in a team meeting as to whether he should fine the whole squad. It was a situation where I thought the senior players, including myself, should bear the responsibility rather than the younger ones. He pulled me aside afterwards and said: 'Never question me again in front of the players.' His belief was that if one falls, we all suffer. He wanted to instil that into his players, to drive into them the sense of solidarity he so values.
But the idea he is somebody who is continually abrasive is absolutely incorrect. He is a very relaxed individual, somebody who until a few years ago would join in warm-up drills, where two players try to get the ball back from eight players who are passing it around.
He could talk to his players on all manner of different subjects, far beyond football, and the myth he is someone always looking for confrontation is absolutely wrong. Training had to be hard, it had to be 100 per cent. But it was a relaxed environment, with fun and enjoyment because for him it was important the players were not inhibited. Everything was about expressing yourself and taking risks.
He has never been a conservative coach. His mantra is that you had to take risks to win football matches. He wants his players to have freedom to take players on and beat people and believe wholeheartedly in the Manchester United way.
Manchester United cannot play a 4-5-1, deep in their own box, getting behind the ball. Manchester united have to attack. He embraced that. He would never turn around and say: 'You're 1-0 up so now shut up shop.' He was always giving out positive messages. 'Go and get a second goal and kill the game.' And when you had the second goal it was: 'Think about the goal difference. Get that third goal.'

When you try to identify Sir Alex's greatest achievements it becomes an impossible task. As soon as you decide on one, you come up with another that surpasses it.
Some have spoken this week about his ability to keep building winning teams in the last decade in the face of new challenges from Chelsea and then Manchester City. As a United fan, winning that first Premier League title in 1993 to remove that burden from the club, the team and the fans, would have to rank as his greatest accomplishment.
You cannot call yourself one of the best clubs in the world if you can't win the championship in your country for 26 years. He had made Manchester United great again. The floodgates opened from there. It re-energised the club and the way players and fans felt about themselves.
But from my player's perspective, winning the Treble, an unprecedented achievement, with seven players who had come through the youth ranks as the core of the squad, was his moment of personal utopia. That is when you sense he must have felt: 'That's why I was in that gym on a Thursday night watching a 15-year-old David Beckham and Paul Scholes passing a football. Because I knew 10 years later they'd be lifting the European Cup. That's what I came down from Aberdeen to do.'

Somehow, Sir Alex managed to be an arch-traditionalist while also being a pioneer. As captain, I would sometimes ask him before the longer flights whether we could travel in tracksuits. He would say: 'You'll wear your club blazer, son. You're walking through an airport, representing Manchester United. Once you're on the plane, you can put your tracksuit on. But at the other end you put your blazer back on.'
The uniform really meant something. It was the values from my grandparents' generation. But he was ahead of the times in so much he did. If you go back 20 years, coaches would say: 'You never change your back four.' He did. Or they might have said: 'Four forwards? How would you keep them all happy?' He did.
No one ever played seven kids in the League Cup before he did. Or had two players for every position in a squad of 24. His management of older players was the first of its kind here. About seven years ago, AC Milan had Serginho, Paolo Maldini, Cafu and Alessandro Costacurta, all in their mid to late thirties. Sir Alex gave us a presentation with sports scientists about how players could play on until 38.
He trusted people in areas that were not his expertise. But they knew the principles and standards the club set. He had the self-assurance to delegate where necessary.

He helped us grow up fast

Sir Alex does not like his young players having agents. I am sure cynics would say it was so he could reduce their wages. But it was not that. He wanted his players to mature, to take charge of their own affairs, to become masters of their destiny rather than always looking for someone else to take responsibility. He would want to speak to his footballers face to face, to say: 'I know you. I've brought you through the ranks.'
Sometimes, of course, they did need some help with negotiations, so I would go in to argue their case for what they wanted. Normally he would complain: 'Neville, you're having me over here.' But eventually he would give the player what he was asking for. Because he knew if he turned me down it would support the idea that players needed an agent to represent them in situations like that.
And it was in those meetings that you would witness the paternal side of him. There was a young player who was worried to death as to whether he would be taken on next year, a big moment in a young player's career. So I went in with him and the bad news was that he was being let go.

But in the next breath he would say: 'I'll make sure you have a football club.' Within 10 minutes, he would have made a few phone calls to contacts in clubs and that young man was fixed up with a deal somewhere else.
Before he could even begin to feel sorry for himself, his next move had been sorted. Once, at a hotel in Reading before an away game, the manager sat at a table with some of the senior players and wrote down every player in the country who had been through Manchester United's youth team but were playing at other clubs.
The list was huge, up to 60 players. He wanted to add it up in his own mind. It was massively important to him that he brought young players through to the first team but it was also massively important to him that players who did not make it at United made careers in football.
Once you were a Manchester United player under him, you were always a Manchester United player, even if you left the club.

Giving Moyes the job proves our system CAN work

I have talked many times this season about the madness of football, about the reduction of British coaches, about pathways being blocked, about the rush to follow fashions or make quick, seemingly easy changes.
So I had a surge of pride and optimism this week when the club I supported and grew up with, a club who are one of the biggest two or three in the world, the Premier League champions, a club that could have their pick of managers, appointed David Moyes. It seemed like a return to sanity.
What that means is that all those people on coaching courses that I have attended for the past seven years, people from Cheltenham to Chelsea, from Southampton to Southport, have been given an enormous incentive.

David Moyes had 24 games for Celtic before playing for Cambridge, Bristol City, Shrewsbury, Dunfermline, Hamilton and Preston. But it doesn't matter where you've played football. If you are a properly trained British coach who works hard and serves an apprenticeship - as he did at Preston - and then moves on to do such an impressive job at a club like Everton, then you can still be given one of the biggest jobs in world football.

That tells me the system can work. It is not an issue that he has not won a trophy. His body of work is credible over a long period. And if a club of Manchester United's stature go for that kind of appointment, it sends a message. He reaffirms their values of stability and continuity.
From my brother, I know he is incredibly hard-working and will immerse himself in the club. He has done the hard graft of watching hundreds of thousands of matches, getting in at six and getting back at midnight. He is out of the same industrious and determined Glaswegian mould as Sir Alex.
It will take time to understand how everything works at United and the scale of it. Everyone from outside is taken aback. Losing is almost like a funeral, everything is bigger. Many players struggle initially as they come to terms with the magnitude of the club. And there are challenges. There is a big difference in handling 24 very motivated and talented players, rather than a smaller core squad like Everton.
But there will be no complications with David Moyes. He will bring it back to the basics: a bag of balls, a set of cones, a piece of grass and some human beings. He will coach and manage players to put his own imprint on the club. The message sent out with the appointment and the six-year contract is that United will give him time to meet the challenges and enough space to make his own impression.

Fergie's Euro record

Some people complain that Sir Alex won the Champions League only twice in 26 years. But only a mug would compare the old European Cup to the Champions League.
Teams won the European Cup three or four years on the bounce. No team have defended the Champions League.

Pro. F

That Evil Kagawa account has me in stitches

Paully D

Footage of the alleged Rooney vs Jones fight:

barry194

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

Who remembers this classic moment!

larchielads

me

larchielads

oh and so does my friend......fondly

larchielads

help me out people!!!!!!!! 10,000 posts :P

Kerrydude1981

John O Shea = Legend

But not a patch on Denis "Beers" Irwin

onemorechance

barry194 wrote: »

...
Who remembers this classic moment!

EVERYONE!

Gotta follow it up with this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seejAiq6V7A

The pass from Scholes, he knew what he was going to do even before Saha knew he was going to pass to Scholes!

People complain about United not filling the midfield gap; the position has been retired in honour of Paul Scholes.

Winston Payne

Black away jersey = WIN.

Professional Griefer

Sir Alex may lift the trophy tomorrow.

onemorechance

Professional Griefer wrote: »

Sir Alex may lift the trophy tomorrow.

I'd say he'll teary eyed if the lads make him raise it first; so will everyone else!

onemorechance

Excellent blog from David James, nice guy too; "David James has donated his fee for this column to charity".

I think it gives some of the best observations into the phenomenal success that SAF has achieved at Manchester United.

Whilst his era did coincide perfectly with the Sky cash, besides the onfield success, he also essentially created the Most Valuable Sport Team in the world (although it's Madrid this year! :pac: ).

Maybe the only thing that deserves criticism during the era of SAF is how the board weren't able to keep up with the success brough about by SAF and let the club become a bit of cash-cow for Americans who didn't have all that much cash! :pac:

Even this didn't change things much; United have only TWICE failed to win the league in the last 7 seasons.

Silence speaks volumes on how Sir Alex Ferguson ran Manchester United

Unforthcoming as a person but uncompromising with his club, Sir Alex Ferguson created a footballing culture like no other


Sir Alex Ferguson created a unique atmosphere during his time as manager of Manchester United.
Photograph: Matthew Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images

Who is Sir Alex Ferguson? Despite the reams of newsprint and hours of TV and radio broadcasts dedicated to the Manchester United manager's retirement, none of it has given me any deeper insight into the personality of the man. We hear over and again the jaw-dropping statistics about the trophies won, and the cliches – the hairdryer, the horses, one of the greatest managers of all time – but who can tell us anything really personal about Ferguson? If there is anyone out there, they are keeping quiet.

...

If there is a code of silence, Ferguson's players are bound to it. Despite being friends with Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney, among others, I have never – ever – heard them say anything about Ferguson. All those hours of sitting around at England camps or on bus rides, and not once did any United players ever reveal anything to me about their team-mates, their dressing room or their manager. In an industry renowned for its gossip I find that extraordinary.

...

At England camps United players kept themselves apart. They had a competitive ethos so extreme it was unlike anything we had ever come across. While a simple training drill of piggy-in-the-middle was usually understood as an exercise in which you worked together against the man in the middle, for United players it was an opportunity to catch each other out. I had never seen it played that way before. To talk about one individual player being competitive is unremarkable, but to apply the same label to generation after generation of players from one specific club is unheard of.

...

Posted by
David James
Saturday 11 May 2013 22.00 BST
The Observer (Guardian)

dahat

Blatter wrote: »

The Mirror putting a very different slant on recent Rooney stories.

This seems to be a better fit to the stories,Rooney will know what happened to others before him and just tried to jump the gun i reckon.In a way you can't blame him for asking about where he fits in the team going forward.

Alpha Dog 1

Lads what a monunentus day in the history of Manchester United football club.

Last home game of the season is always an important fixture especially when we are lifting the premier league trophy.

Not only is it the last home game for club legends like Fergie and Scholes, but for most of the back room staff, some players and David Gill.

Whatever you are doing at 3.30 today if you can't be in OT make sure you are in front of a TV, popcorn and a few beers with the TV set to record. We may never see another day like today.

IvySlayer

Anyone else wake up with a heavy heart?

hufpc8w3adnk65

IvySlayer wrote: »

Anyone else wake up with a heavy heart?

Ya me!im thinking of getting a fergie tribute on my united jersey like fergie number 1 or something...has any one any ideas?

Lord TSC

IvySlayer wrote: »

Anyone else wake up with a heavy heart?

Yes and no.

Today should be about celebration. He's not dead. We've won the title, with ease tbh, so let's give him a send off to remember. It's a party, not a wake.

Let's celebrate a great man today.:D

tallaghtmick

Im gonna be like a feckin baby today