Manchester United Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread - 2013/14 Mod warning post #718

Headshot

Giggsy11 wrote: »

Meh, Chelsea signed Hazard when they had no manager and ManCity signed lot of stars with Mancini in charge.

Liverpool signed Suarez with Dalglish in charge.

The difference is Chelsea can throw money at players, utd dont do that. (Thank god)

Those Liverpool players werent on that level that they are now for utd to be really interested.

I personally think having a manager like Moyes doesnt help but the club as a whole with its stability and history, its a very appetising prospect to players.

Will I Amnt

Barcelona haven't appointed a manager with any record to speak of in years. Never seems to hinder their transfer dealings.
The club name is more of a draw than the manager.

jambofc

Giggsy11 wrote: »

Meh, Chelsea signed Hazard when they had no manager and ManCity signed lot of stars with Mancini in charge.

Also AVB signed Mata and few more very good players for Spurs.

Liverpool signed Suarez with Dalglish in charge.

Hazard ok
but AVB,Mancini and Daglish have all won trophys in there managerial career

jambofc

Will I Amnt wrote: »

Barcelona haven't appointed a manager with any record to speak of in years. Never seems to hinder their transfer dealings.
The club name is more of a draw than the manager.

yes but thats Barca and im asking about us.

Giggsy11

jambofc wrote: »

Hazard ok
but AVB,Mancini and Daglish have all won trophys in there managerial career

Will I Amnt wrote: »

Barcelona haven't appointed a manager with any record to speak of in years. Never seems to hinder their transfer dealings.
The club name is more of a draw than the manager.

Exactly. Also Pep signed so many players when he was promoted from B team.

Who was Madrid's manager when they signed Kaka, Ronaldo, Benzema? For sure he was not among the best but still huge stars like Ronaldo and Kaka signed for Madrid.

Also Allegri signed Ibra and IIRC he didn't win anything.

Edit: Conte signed Pirlo and Vidal and he didn't win anything before.

Your Airbag

Giggsy11 wrote: »

Exactly. Also Pep signed so many players when he was promoted from B team.

Who was Madrid's manager when they signed Kaka, Ronaldo, Benzema? For sure he was not among the best but still huge stars like Ronaldo and Kaka signed for Madrid.

Also Allegri signed Ibra and IIRC he didn't win anything.

Exactly. If the club name is strong enough players will come and UTD is right up there.

Will I Amnt

jambofc wrote: »

yes but thats Barca and im asking about us.

Manchester United is as big a name in football as Barcelona.
Players want to play for big clubs. If Steve Staunton had been Madrid manager at the time, Ronaldo most likely still would have signed for Madrid.

Mitch Connor

Will I Amnt wrote: »

Manchester United is as big a name in football as Barcelona.
Players want to play for big clubs. If Steve Staunton had been Madrid manager at the time, Ronaldo most likely still would have signed for Madrid.

There are other, significant issues though.

1. United have not, in general, offered the wages/agents 'fees' that other clubs are more willing to agree to.
2. United success has been built on Fergie. At Chelsea/Madrid/City and even Barcelona the perception would be, imo, that the manager is not as important to their success as the money is, or the players they already have. they change managers so often that you can't consider any one manager to be all that influencial. United won because of our manager, City won in spite of theirs (imo).
3. Manchester is a northern england city, that suffers from rainy skies and muggy days. Madrid/Barcelona have wonderful weather and are considered beautiful cities. Chelsea are in London, with its night life. City offer a crap load of wages.

United signed RVP because we had Fergie in charge, imo. Not because we are Man United. I really do think it could have been a very different outcome if it was Moyes trying to sign RVP.

The United name certainly counts for something when competing for transfers with most sides - but if we are competing with Real, Barca, Chelsea - even City, PSG and Monaco (where money comes into it a lot, imo) we were already on the back foot when Fergie was in charge - that is a bigger issue now with Moyes.

I'm not saying we can't sign a world class player with Moyes in charge - as I have said I think we had a real shot at bringing Fabregas in this summer but didn't want to spend the fee required. I think we were closer than a lot would think on the possibility of bringing Ronaldo 'home'.

(I'm not bringing up Fabregas/Ronaldo to have a pop at moyes, and I'm not going to get into a discussion on what Fabregas said publicly vs what I am told happened away from the press conferences over the summer - I bring them up to point out I do think United can still aim for, and sign, the best if we really want to. I just think having Moyes in charge vs having Fergie or Mourinho in charge makes it a little more difficult).

Your Airbag

Mitch Connor wrote: »

I'm not saying we can't sign a world class player with Moyes in charge - as I have said I think we had a real shot at bringing Fabregas in this summer but didn't want to spend the fee required.

Oh dear. You can repeat that all you want, but it won't make it true.

Cesc did not want to leave Barca and Barca didn't want him to leave as they both have said so we backed off. The other version of events is purely in your head.

Mitch Connor

Your Airbag wrote: »

Oh dear. You can repeat that all you want, but it won't make it true.

Cesc did want to leave Barca and Barca didn't want him to leave as they both have said so we backed off. The other version of events is purely in your head.

Would you ever bugger off?

You can see from my post I am not getting into a discussion on that point.

The discussion is whether people think United can sign world class players with Moyes in charge.

My personal opinion is we can, though it is more difficult than before, and I base that on my personal opinion (based on what I have been told by journalists) that we had a real shot at Fabregas and Ronaldo.

If you are going to snipe at me every time I mention this, and even when I specifically point out the context in which I am mentioning it, just put me on your ignore list - cause I really can't be arsed getting into it again with you and I am sure no one else wants to see it.

Your Airbag

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Would you ever bugger off?

You can see from my post I am not getting into a discussion on that point.

The discussion is whether people think United can sign world class players with Moyes in charge.

My personal opinion is we can, though it is more difficult than before, and I base that on my personal opinion (based on what I have been told by journalists) that we had a real shot at Fabregas and Ronaldo.

If you are going to snipe at me every time I mention this, and even when I specifically point out the context in which I am mentioning it, just put me on your ignore list - cause I really can't be arsed getting into it again with you and I am sure no one else wants to see it.

No I wont because its a lie, you have no source for this and you use this lie to makes Moyes and Woodward out to be fools. I would hate for someone to wander into the thread and think your "version" of events was the opinion of UTD fans because you are in the minority.

Your excuse for this is context of making another point? That still doesn't excuse the fact you are trying to push a made up story that we would not pay the fee for Cesc.

Why don't you quit with the story or supply a source for your info of us not wanting to pay the fee for Cesc? How much was the fee Barca wanted btw?

bullvine

With the exception of RVP, when have United ever bought World Class players?

jambofc

i really dont think that we can be compared to european teams in signing world class players,it is Manchester after all.and we have a manager that im sure a lot of world class players had to google to find out who he was.

Mitch Connor

bullvine wrote: »

With the exception of RVP, when have United ever bought World Class players?

Veron.

At the time we bought him the best in the world title could be legitimately argued between him and Zidane.

kryogen

Your Airbag wrote: »

Cesc did not want to leave Barca and Barca didn't want him to leave as they both have said so we backed off. The other version of events is purely in your head.

Oh dear. You can repeat that all you want, but it won't make it true.



The truth is usually somewhere in the middle, I do think Barca would have let him go for a large enough bid. I do believe that unless he was told he was going to be a more central figure this coming season he would have been open to the move.

I don't think he would have pushed for it though and once the bids we were lodging were laugh worthy that pretty much ended that

sReq | uTeK

bullvine wrote: »

With the exception of RVP, when have United ever bought World Class players?

RVN / Veron / Rooney / Ferdinand

kryogen

bullvine wrote: »

With the exception of RVP, when have United ever bought World Class players?

Berbatov (may be taking a small liberty I know)
Veron
Bebe

In truth it has never been our way since Fergie liked to develop players, besides any financial issue with it

bullvine

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Veron.

At the time we bought him the best in the world title could be legitimately argued between him and Zidane.

yeah but that's two players in 13 years, United don't buy World Class players in general. That's why the whole attracting players is a bit of a moot point.

kryogen

sReq | uTeK wrote: »

RVN / Veron / Rooney / Ferdinand

Were RVN, Rooney and Ferdinand world class when they arrived?

I don't think so, RVN was a goal scoring machine, but he was still untested outside Holland, the land where Dirk Kuyt was a goal scoring machine!

Rooney was a teenager at the time and had all the potential to be world class but I don't think he was when he arrived

Ferdinand, again he came to the club quite young and for a big fee, for the price we were getting someone with already excellent ability and the potential to be world class, which he went on to be but again, I don't think he was when he came

bullvine

Rooney, RVN and Rio were all bought for massive fees but weren't World Class when they were bought.

Hargreaves maybe was?

Mitch Connor

sReq | uTeK wrote: »

RVN / Veron / Rooney / Ferdinand

Was RVN world class when we bought him? I'd have thought a level or so below it.

Same with Rooney, a fantastic young talent but not a world class player at the time.

Ferdinand, again, not sure. Feel he lacked the consistency at that stage (and for another couple of years) to be truly world class. A world class performer at his best, but was so prone to mistakes.

kryogen

bullvine wrote: »

yeah but that's two players in 13 years, United don't buy World Class players in general. That's why the whole attracting players is a bit of a moot point.

That was Fergies style though, and of course financial constraints must have played a part, but it was always Fergies way to buy players young if he could and develop them his own way

Fergie is gone now.

bucketybuck

Your Airbag wrote: »

Cesc did not want to leave Barca and Barca didn't want him to leave as they both have said so we backed off.

This is a lie, you have no source for this and you use this lie to make Moyes and Woodwards transfer dealings look better than they were.

Will I Amnt

Mitch Connor wrote: »

There are other, significant issues though.

1. United have not, in general, offered the wages/agents 'fees' that other clubs are more willing to agree to.
2. United success has been built on Fergie. At Chelsea/Madrid/City and even Barcelona the perception would be, imo, that the manager is not as important to their success as the money is, or the players they already have. they change managers so often that you can't consider any one manager to be all that influencial. United won because of our manager, City won in spite of theirs (imo).
3. Manchester is a northern england city, that suffers from rainy skies and muggy days. Madrid/Barcelona have wonderful weather and are considered beautiful cities. Chelsea are in London, with its night life. City offer a crap load of wages.

United signed RVP because we had Fergie in charge, imo. Not because we are Man United. I really do think it could have been a very different outcome if it was Moyes trying to sign RVP.

The United name certainly counts for something when competing for transfers with most sides - but if we are competing with Real, Barca, Chelsea - even City, PSG and Monaco (where money comes into it a lot, imo) we were already on the back foot when Fergie was in charge - that is a bigger issue now with Moyes.

I'm not saying we can't sign a world class player with Moyes in charge - as I have said I think we had a real shot at bringing Fabregas in this summer but didn't want to spend the fee required. I think we were closer than a lot would think on the possibility of bringing Ronaldo 'home'.

(I'm not bringing up Fabregas/Ronaldo to have a pop at moyes, and I'm not going to get into a discussion on what Fabregas said publicly vs what I am told happened away from the press conferences over the summer - I bring them up to point out I do think United can still aim for, and sign, the best if we really want to. I just think having Moyes in charge vs having Fergie or Mourinho in charge makes it a little more difficult).

Points 1 and 3 are sort of irrelevant to the question asked, they are factors for any United manager.
I can see where you're coming from with point 2 but it has its counter-arguments.
Fergie has given the club it's standing in football but it is there now no matter who is in charge.

Giggsy11

Question should be changed to established players rather than world class as each have to their own versions.

For example, some people don't consider Rooney as world class but some do.

So have we signed established players with almost no potential to improve?

Veron, Berbatov, VDS, Young, RVP to name few in the last 10 years.

Your Airbag

kryogen wrote: »

Oh dear. You can repeat that all you want, but it won't make it true.



The truth is usually somewhere in the middle, I do think Barca would have let him go for a large enough bid. I do believe that unless he was told he was going to be a more central figure this coming season he would have been open to the move.

I don't think he would have pushed for it though and once the bids we were lodging were laugh worthy that pretty much ended that

No he just didn't want to leave.

Cesc's own words

'I would not have moved for double the money. Nor triple. No.

'I've paid out of my pocket to play for Barca. I earned more at Arsenal. There are dreams and this was mine since I was a child.

'The truth is United made official offers and it became known in public.

'I know there are other places where they give you more money. But at no time did I think of leaving

More

It’s true that they had offers and they told me about them but the only thing in my head was staying at Barcelona.

sReq | uTeK

kryogen wrote: »

Were RVN, Rooney and Ferdinand world class when they arrived?

I don't think so, RVN was a goal scoring machine, but he was still untested outside Holland, the land where Dirk Kuyt was a goal scoring machine!

Rooney was a teenager at the time and had all the potential to be world class but I don't think he was when he arrived

Ferdinand, again he came to the club quite young and for a big fee, for the price we were getting someone with already excellent ability and the potential to be world class, which he went on to be but again, I don't think he was when he came

I get what you're saying but they all went onto be world class, when we bought a world class player in Veron while he did okay for us he never reached the heights he achieved for Lazio.

Your Airbag

bucketybuck wrote: »

This is a lie, you have no source for this and you use this lie to make Moyes and Woodwards transfer dealings look better than they were.

Lol. I have supplies the source many times, where as the UTD made balls of the deal brigade have never supplied one.

Cesc and Barca are the source. Who is yours? The voices in Mitchs head.

sReq | uTeK

I would like to point out however that if Veron was signed today in his prime he would be the IDEAL player we would need, sadly he was bought 15 years too early

Mitch Connor

bullvine wrote: »

yeah but that's two players in 13 years, United don't buy World Class players in general. That's why the whole attracting players is a bit of a moot point.

I think that ignores the changing of the PL.

When United bought top players in years gone by, there were very few actual world class players in the PL. The players we were competing against were, in general, top players.

Chelsea and City have a far higher quality of player now than Liverpool/Newcastle would have had back in the day. The arsenal invincibles would, imo, be the closest in terms of overall quality to the sides we compete against now.

United have not, in general, attracted world class players but we have not, in general, needed to.

Also, we had a better quality of squad previously imo. Treble season I would say Keane, Scholes, Giggs, Beckham, Stam, Irwin, Schmeichel were as good as could be got in their positions - Cole, Yorke, Butt, Neville etc great players as well. When adding to those players we didn't need world class players. We don't have that level of quality now - we need to add players of their quality, imo.

kryogen

Your Airbag wrote: »

No he just didn't want to leave.

Cesc's own words



More

All of these comments were made when the deal was dead so they kind of lose some of their meaning, what else would you actually expect him to say?

"I would have left yeah, but since the clubs did not reach agreement coupled with being given more assurances about my role in the team I have decided I am happy enough to stay for another season at least"???

United lodged an official bid, if Cesc had no interest in moving why not release a statement straight away saying he had no interest?

United lodged a second official bid, again nothing from the player himself? And we are supposed to believe that United would publicly make these bids, announce them to the world, if they thought they had no chance whatsoever, if they had not received any sort of encouragement from the other side?

Its naïve at best tbh

kryogen

sReq | uTeK wrote: »

I get what you're saying but they all went onto be world class, when we bought a world class player in Veron while he did okay for us he never reached the heights he achieved for Lazio.

Isnt that what the lad asked though, who did we sign that was world class? Not that went on to be world class

Veron would be such an asset to us right now

bullvine

Do we really know though, the majority of these stories are bull, we just need to hope that they've learned from the summer madness and not let it happen again. Put it down to being new in the job etc.

I'm not Woodwards biggest fan but I do think his reason for going public with the bid for Fab was a viable reason, in saying that, the bid amounts were shockingly low, I think if they had offered 40m, Barca probably would have taken it.

sReq | uTeK

kryogen wrote: »

Isnt that what the lad asked though, who did we sign that was world class? Not that went on to be world class

Veron would be such an asset to us right now

Yup Veron now would destroy the english league, he was 15 years ahead of how football was played in england back then.

Mitch Connor

Will I Amnt wrote: »

Points 1 and 3 are sort of irrelevant to the question asked, they are factors for any United manager.
I can see where you're coming from with point 2 but it has its counter-arguments.
Fergie has given the club it's standing in football but it is there now no matter who is in charge.

But my point is the perception is (i believe) that United have been successful, particularly in recent years, because of Ferguson. Without him it creates a question mark over the club. Moyes doesn't reduce that question mark as much as having Guardiola or Mourinho would have. Maybe neither would have worked out, maybe Moyes well (fingers crossed) but imo United aren't as attractive a proposition with Moyes in charge as we were with Fergie, or would have been with Pep/Mourinho.

That overall points ties into the three other points - the fergie factor made up for, in some cases, the money/manchester factors, the players came to play for him. Moyes, now, doesn't have that aura. Hopefully in 20 years time after great success he will do.

bullvine

Mitch Connor wrote: »

I think that ignores the changing of the PL.

When United bought top players in years gone by, there were very few actual world class players in the PL. The players we were competing against were, in general, top players.

Chelsea and City have a far higher quality of player now than Liverpool/Newcastle would have had back in the day. The arsenal invincibles would, imo, be the closest in terms of overall quality to the sides we compete against now.

United have not, in general, attracted world class players but we have not, in general, needed to.

Also, we had a better quality of squad previously imo. Treble season I would say Keane, Scholes, Giggs, Beckham, Stam, Irwin, Schmeichel were as good as could be got in their positions - Cole, Yorke, Butt, Neville etc great players as well. When adding to those players we didn't need world class players. We don't have that level of quality now - we need to add players of their quality, imo.

I agree with this! However, United still managed to conquer Europe and win league titles by building teams from little known talent no so long ago.

homerjay2005

kryogen wrote: »

Fergie said a lot of things in his book

if VDS was signed in 99 as opposed to 6 years later, i have no doubt he would be ranked as our best goal keeper of all time.

his career was only 2/3's that of Schmeichels, so the dane made a more lasting impression. as a result, i think VDS is horribly underrated by alot of United fans, including alot on here.

i think there is f*ck all between them, VDS was a truely world class keeper for us. Schmeichels legacy was tarnished a bit for me when he signed for City also, he didnt need to do that, he should have just retired, but thats just my opinion, im sure lots will disagree and have no problem with him playing for them.

bullvine

What VDS best game for United?

homerjay2005

bullvine wrote: »

What VDS best game for United?

the 2-0 win against Arsenal in the Fa Cup stands out...he was sensational that day.

keeping a clean sheet for what was it, 13 consecutive games would rank as his best individual achievement.

kryogen

homerjay2005 wrote: »

if VDS was signed in 99 as opposed to 6 years later, i have no doubt he would be ranked as our best goal keeper of all time.

his career was only 2/3's that of Schmeichels, so the dane made a more lasting impression. as a result, i think VDS is horribly underrated by alot of United fans, including alot on here.

i think there is f*ck all between them, VDS was a truely world class keeper for us. Schmeichels legacy was tarnished a bit for me when he signed for City also, he didnt need to do that, he should have just retired, but thats just my opinion, im sure lots will disagree and have no problem with him playing for them.

I don't under rate VDS and like you I would have them very close, but the Big Dane had everything and that little bit extra to put him over the top. No sleight on VDS whatsoever

keane2097

Stuff players say is not a reliable source of information about stuff players want.

sReq | uTeK

Is RVP out for the weekend ?

Your Airbag

kryogen wrote: »

All of these comments were made when the deal was dead so they kind of lose some of their meaning, what else would you actually expect him to say?

"I would have left yeah, but since the clubs did not reach agreement coupled with being given more assurances about my role in the team I have decided I am happy enough to stay for another season at least"???

United lodged an official bid, if Cesc had no interest in moving why not release a statement straight away saying he had no interest?

United lodged a second official bid, again nothing from the player himself? And we are supposed to believe that United would publicly make these bids, announce them to the world, if they thought they had no chance whatsoever, if they had not received any sort of encouragement from the other side?

Its naïve at best tbh

Ah right, that clears it up so and is pretty handy. Know we can't take the man in questions comments about it

Some player have no problem telling the truth and blasting other players and clubs, see Ibra and Keane, I don't think Cesc is the kind to spoof either

Maybe Cesc only spoke about it afterwards because he was on holiday when the news broke and wasn't checking the dailys and when he did hear of it he
wanted to let the dust settle on the whole thing before he spoke and was so relaxed about it all and he wasn't going anywhere after speaking with his agent and club when he first heard of the news through friends whilst he was on holiday

btw, thats exactly what happened

"I heard about it when I was in Ibiza with friends. A friend read it in the paper and told me, then I read it."

When asked if he called Barcelona to ask what the situation was, he replied: "No, no, no. When I heard, I contacted Darren [Dein, his agent] and he confirmed that it had come out officially.

"He said: 'Yes, it's true.' He said: 'What do you want to do?' I didn't know anything about it [until then]. If a club comes in for you and you tell your representative that you want to go, then you go.

"I spoke to [Josep Maria] Bartomeu, the vice-president, and he told me: 'You're not going anywhere; we have complete confidence in you.' Then I spoke to the president.

"I was very relaxed about the whole thing because that's what they transmitted to me. It's true that they had offers, and they told me that, but the only thing in my head was staying at Barcelona."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/10406402/Cesc-Fabregas-insists-he-never-considered-leaving-Barcelona-for-Manchester-United-last-summer.html

But considering we can't take his word for it we'll assume he is lying, maybe Woody had a gun to his head during that interview

keane2097

Your Airbag wrote: »

Ah right, that clears it up so and is pretty handy. Know we can't take the man in questions comments about it

Some player have no problem telling the truth and blasting other players and clubs, see Ibra and Keane, I don't think Cesc is the kind to spoof either

Maybe Cesc only spoke about it afterwards because he was on holiday when the news broke and wasn't checking the dailys and when he did hear of it he
wanted to let the dust settle on the whole thing before he spoke and was so relaxed about it all and he wasn't going anywhere after speaking with his agent and club when he first heard of the news through friends whilst he was on holiday

btw, that exactly what happened



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/10406402/Cesc-Fabregas-insists-he-never-considered-leaving-Barcelona-for-Manchester-United-last-summer.html

But considering we can't take his word for it we'll assume he is lying, maybe Woody had a gun to his head during that interview

I find it hard to believe that the fact that you can't take someone in that situation speaking to a journalist at their word is amazing to you.

Backstreet Moyes

Would be quite happy with Lallana in January for a decent fee. He has been one of the best performers in the league this season. I know he is 25 and won't have much improving to do. But he will improve for playing with better players for sure and could be a good signing. Getting in players like Lallana, Dembele etc while not world class would be good business once we get rid of some deadwood. Getting Young and Anderson off the books and getting Lallana and Dembele in would be a big improvement. Easier said then done can't see anybody matching Young's wages. These players would not bridge the gap in Europe but would make a big difference for the league this season.

onemorechance

keane2097 wrote: »

I find it hard to believe that the fact that you can't take someone in that situation speaking to a journalist at their word is amazing to you.

Fabregas is lying! Your Airbag is lying!

Your Airbag

keane2097 wrote: »

I find it hard to believe that the fact that you can't take someone in that situation speaking to a journalist at their word is amazing to you.

I find it equally amazing that people ignore numerous account from player and clubs, numerous sources and numerous interviews Cesc has given since that first telegraph interview on the subject where he repeatedly stated he only wantd to stay at Barca and he would not have moved for double the money.

Its amazing with all these sources which were posted all summer long and thereafter that people are willing to take the word of Mitch and Homerjay who went into a strop all summer and started slating Woodard and Moyes before any facts emerged and have been pushing there version of events backed up by no sources despite being continously asked for them.

Its amazing that this version they are trying to make true (Moyes and woodward being incompitent or cheap, unwilling to pay the fee etc) by saying it over and over again has actually worked to an extent where they have poeple willing to argue there side with no facts being ever supplied bar "me mate told me". They have pushed this story so much that some people are actually believing it despite not having one solid source.

Not to worry though, they like to think they speak on behalf of the majority but they are in the minority.

Mitchs latest was that we were unwilling to pay the fee for Cesc. When asked what fee did Barca ask of us he didn't reply. Thats because he made it up or maybe he is freinds with Edward Snowden and working for the NSA.

keane2097

Your Airbag wrote: »

I find it equally amazing that people ignore numerous account from player and clubs, numerous sources and numerous interviews Cesc has given since that first telegraph interview on the subject where he repeatedly stated he only wantd to stay at Barca and he would not have moved for double the money.

Its amazing with all these sources which were posted all summer long and thereafter that people are willing to take the word of Mitch and Homerjay who went into a strop all summer and started slating Woodard and Moyes before any facts emerged and have been pushing there version of events backed up by no sources despite being continously asked for them.

Its amazing that this version they are trying to make true (Moyes and woodward being incompitent or cheap, unwilling to pay the fee etc) by saying it over and over again has actually worked to an extent where they have poeple willing to argue there side with no facts being ever supplied bar "me mate told me". They have pushed this story so much that some people are actually believing it despite not having one solid source.

Not to worry though, they like to think they speak on behalf of the majority but they are in the minority.

Mitchs latest was that we were unwilling to pay the fee for Cesc. When asked what fee did Barca ask of us he didn't reply. Thats because he made it up or maybe he is freinds with Edward Snowden and working for the NSA.

I don't believe them either. There's no dichotomy here between believing what Cesc said about a delicate situation and believing what randomers on a forum contend about the same situation.

It's pretty obvious that Cesc could be lying and pretty obvious that Miguel Delaney or whoever could be wrong about why the deal fell through.

You are all entrenched in an argument where you've just picked a side you believe and think the other side is stupid for buying the obvious lies they've put their faith in.

You're probably all wrong.

KombuchaMshroom

homerjay2005 wrote: »

the 2-0 win against Arsenal in the Fa Cup stands out...he was sensational that day.

keeping a clean sheet for what was it, 13 consecutive games would rank as his best individual achievement.

What year was that? I can't place it in my head? It wasn't the match where we started with 7 defenders was it?

For me I remember the Fulham game towards the end of the 06/07 season really standing out. At 1-1 Van der sar made some huge saves to keep us in it before Ronaldo scored the late winner.

IvySlayer

0-0 vs Sunderland at the Stadium of Light he was amazing in too

Saving 3 penalties in a row vs Chelsea in the Shield too