Question for Premier League fans:

[Zoomerang96]

Anyone know when Owen's due back for the barcodes, ladbrokes are offering odds of 100/1 for him to finish top prem. scorer, could be worth a little flutter.

um, maybe in march?

yeah... i'm not sure that's enough to win the scoring title...

 

[jimmmm]

As late as that, wouldn't fancy it if it was 1000/1 then.

 

[Zoomerang96]

nope, me neither.

really, i'd be surprised if he played one game this season at all.

 

[jimmmm]

The tremendously named Randy Lerner is being linked with a takeover.



Doug Ellis's future as Aston Villa chairman appeared increasingly uncertain last night when Randy Lerner, the owner of the Cleveland Browns American Football club, was strongly linked with a takeover for the Premiership club. Lerner, who is worth around US$1.2bn (£648m), is understood to be preparing a deal that could end Ellis's 24-year reign at Villa Park.

Hope he doesn't do to Villa what another yank is doing to UTD>

 

[Zoomerang96]

ruud's gone.

to be made official tommorow night in spain.



stupid SAF. then you go and spend that money on michael carrick.

i know they wanted midfielders, but ugh... couldn't they have pillaged someone from serie a??

 

[jimmmm]

The Independent – which broke United’s initial interest in Carrick – reports:

Their first strike in the summer transfer market has been a long time coming but Manchester United have finally sealed the deal for Michael Carrick - albeit it at a high price. The Tottenham midfielder could cost them as much as £18m, while Real Madrid claimed last night that they had completed the deal for United's striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.

The Carrick transfer was concluded in the small hours of yesterday morning and the 25-year-old was understood to be in Manchester yesterday with the likelihood he will be announced as a United player today. Around 6.30pm, Madrid announced on their website that Van Nistelrooy had signed a three-year deal at the club, following the acrimonious year-long breakdown in his relationship with United's manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.

The announcement from Madrid came just one day after Ferguson had mocked the Spanish club's "two bob" improvement in their offer, although it is understood that Van Nistelrooy is set to leave for around £11m. It is some irony that the fee for a player who scored 150 goals for United in five years will not be enough to cover the cost of Carrick.

United last night stated that Van Nistelrooy had been given permission to travel to Madrid for a medical, but that a a deal had not been finalised.

While it is not clear what conditions Carrick will have to fulfil at United for Tottenham to receive payments up to £18m - they are likely to be dependent on United's success in the Premiership and Champions' League - he has certainly not come cheap. Sources at Tottenham have indicated that, had United held out, they may have been prepared to accept as little as £12m towards the end of August.

£18m for Carrick - £11m for Ruud, what the fuck is that all about then?

 

[Zoomerang96]

it makes absolutely no sense at all. none.

what am i missing about carrick? i've never been that amazed with him, though i suppose he had a decent enough year last year.

i don't like seeing tottenham selling players though, they should consider themselves a top-level team already.

...but for 18 million pounds, i guess anything can be sold. didn't shevy get sold for something like 31? and RVN got 11??

there's so much here that doesnt make sense to me.

 

[jimmmm]

Bulls*** alert.

The Observer:

Manchester United fans have finally accepted the Glazers, according to Bryan Glazer, the club's non-executive director and son of the controversial owner Malcolm. 'I think they have [accepted us]. I think they've seen that we haven't turned the place upside down,' Glazer told Tampa sports radio station WDAE in a rare interview. 'There aren't cheerleaders on the sidelines.'

There's none so blind as those who won't see!

He's right about one thing though, they've certainly turned United upside down, from one of the richest clubs in the world , to one of, if not the poorest.

 

[Zoomerang96]

at least we have o'shea heading into the season.





....

....

and smith as a "new" striker. he'll replace RVN without a problem.

 

[Zoomerang96]

i'm surprised and disappointed we don't have more epl fans in this thread.

you better carry the load, 7imm!

 

[jimmmm]

The fairweather "fans" will no doubt be posting their thoughts in their droves in the coming weeks as the season draws near.

 

[Zoomerang96]

what's their excuse. i live in the prairies in canada, hardly an EPL hotbed.

 

[the rockin edge]

i wonder if you have less fans then here in iowa, i've never met one here...

i'm surprised and disappointed we don't have more epl fans in this thread.

you better carry the load, 7imm!

lol

i've been taking a bit of a break from football..between the world cup ending and the epl season starting.

i saw carrick play for spurs quite a few times last year, thought he was a good. but i don't see how he is worth the 18m pounds. i hope he proves me wrong.

it's a shame ruud left...hopefully rossi will make an impact this year up front.

The fairweather "fans" will no doubt be posting their thoughts in their droves in the coming weeks as the season draws near.

what makes someone a "fairweather fan" then?

 

[Zoomerang96]

someone who only claps when they see beckham take off his shirt, i guess?

 

[the rockin edge]

someone who only claps when they see beckham take off his shirt, i guess?

you mean women?

 

[jimmmm]

what makes someone a "fairweather fan" then? [/B][/QUOTE]

Those whose interest begins & ends with sky's coverage, or MOTD, & those who hang on every word uttered by so called "expert" pundits, & lastly, those who supposedly "support" a team, but wouldn't have a fucking clue how to find their clubs ground!

 

[jimmmm]

Just seen this on RED ISH. website, a clip from the grauniad, its pretty horrifying reading for UTD. fans, but unfortunately, to me most of it is right on the nail, read on...

Is Fergie on his way out?

So says Rob Smyth in the Guardian:

It was John Cleese, in Clockwise, who said: "I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand." Manchester United fans would beg to differ. Usually, the best thing about pre-season is the hope: reality's incisors have yet to pierce the gums of optimism, and fans can live off the balmy, often barmy belief that this is their year.

For supporters of most of the other 91 English clubs, that's the mood right now. For United fans? Forget it. After three seasons of papering over the cracks, it seems most United fans are awaiting the moment that the fault lines tracing a veiny path across Old Trafford are exposed.

Almost everything about the club reeks of disarray. Owned by the Glazers, who push buttons from a remote hideaway like Dr Evil; run by a manager who shreds his legacy at every turn; almost exclusively represented by the inadequate (Darren Fletcher), the odious (Rio Ferdinand) or a loathsome fusion of the two (Kieran Richardson); unable to close a deal for West Brom's reserve keeper, never mind the new Roy Keane. The signing of Michael Carrick, a Pirlo when a Gattuso was needed, is a band aid for a bullet wound, and a ludicrously expensive one at that.

If anything, it's a surprise that United have bought anyone at all. This summer, they have been like a pathetic drunk lumbering across a dancefloor at 1.45am, trying to get off with everything that moves. No matter how many people they move in for - and if reports are to be believed, United have made offers for dozens of players - nobody wants to go near them. And the one person who surely would, Damien Duff, was allowed to slip into the arms of Newcastle for less than United paid for Patrice Evra. You couldn't make it up. You don't have to.

Just as the glory years of 1992 to 2001 will only fully be appreciated in 20 years' time, so will Ferguson's subsequent negligence. It is particularly bewildering that a man who once exerted such an unyielding grip on every single aspect of the club that he had to be virtually coerced into delegating has let things slip to this extent. Take the Cristiano Ronaldo situation: Ferguson said recently that he had not even spoken to Ronaldo since the World Cup, a staggering dereliction of duty that is in total contrast to the us-against-the-world protection that he gave to David Beckham - and for which, for a time, he was so thrillingly rewarded - in 1998.

Once upon a time Ferguson could play 'who blinks first' with fate and win every time, his iron will shaping his destiny exactly as he wanted. Now he is reduced to uttering garbage like "it's like having a new signing" of Paul Scholes, Ole Solskjaer, Gabriel Heinze and Alan Smith, the irrational if-I-say-it-enough-it-might-happen gibberish you'd associate with a serial loser like Kevin Keegan. These days, the man they call The Hairdryer is full of nothing but hot air.

Ferguson's squad, once so taut, is a baggy mess of has-beens, never-will-bes and Liam Miller.

It is an increasingly inescapable conclusion that, unwittingly or otherwise, Ferguson is winding down, a prizefighter who no longer has the stomach or the wit for an admittedly enormous challenge which, once upon a time, he would have fervently inhaled. Like he did with Liverpool. Ferguson's almost maniacal yearning to "knock Liverpool off their fucking perch" was arguably the single most important factor in United's 1990s renaissance.

It makes it all the more vicious an irony that, 10 years later, he should knock United off the perch he had made for them through increasingly rank mismanagement.

Indeed, it must irk him beyond belief that United are making exactly the same mistakes that Liverpool did: lack of pheromones in the transfer market; laughable, fall-back signings at suspicious and ridiculous prices; deluded ramblings ("we are as good as Chelsea, no question") - and, worst of all, a dressing-room that has spiralled completely out of control. Liverpool's Spice Boys were bad, but they have nothing on Merk Berks like Ferdinand, Richardson and Wes Brown.

Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham have all made shrewd, cheap signings and are on an upward trajectory. United are going the other way: they are hugely dependent on Ferdinand and Rooney, but no amount of Carling Cup medals is going to sate their ambition. Then there is the Glazer factor, the full, inevitable horror of which is only just beginning to emerge. United fans think this season is going to be bad. It hasn't even started.

 

[the rockin edge]

Those whose interest begins & ends with sky's coverage, or MOTD, & those who hang on every word uttered by so called "expert" pundits, & lastly, those who supposedly "support" a team, but wouldn't have a fucking clue how to find their clubs ground!

well i don't get any games on tv here, so i download most + MOTD, surely there's nothing wrong with watching that??

i follow club news pretty closely. and i've been to Old Trafford twice.

so i hope you aren't calling me a "fairweather fan".

i always thought "fairweather fans" were people who stopped caring about the club when they weren't winning...

 

[jimmmm]

Not calling anyone in particular Rockin Edge, if the cap fits and all that.Hope you enjoyed your visits to OT.

 

[the rockin edge]

i did. great place, really hope i can go to a game there one day.

 

[Zoomerang96]

Just seen this on RED ISH. website, a clip from the grauniad, its pretty horrifying reading for UTD. fans, but unfortunately, to me most of it is right on the nail, read on...

Is Fergie on his way out?

So says Rob Smyth in the Guardian:

It was John Cleese, in Clockwise, who said: "I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand." Manchester United fans would beg to differ. Usually, the best thing about pre-season is the hope: reality's incisors have yet to pierce the gums of optimism, and fans can live off the balmy, often barmy belief that this is their year.

For supporters of most of the other 91 English clubs, that's the mood right now. For United fans? Forget it. After three seasons of papering over the cracks, it seems most United fans are awaiting the moment that the fault lines tracing a veiny path across Old Trafford are exposed.

Almost everything about the club reeks of disarray. Owned by the Glazers, who push buttons from a remote hideaway like Dr Evil; run by a manager who shreds his legacy at every turn; almost exclusively represented by the inadequate (Darren Fletcher), the odious (Rio Ferdinand) or a loathsome fusion of the two (Kieran Richardson); unable to close a deal for West Brom's reserve keeper, never mind the new Roy Keane. The signing of Michael Carrick, a Pirlo when a Gattuso was needed, is a band aid for a bullet wound, and a ludicrously expensive one at that.

If anything, it's a surprise that United have bought anyone at all. This summer, they have been like a pathetic drunk lumbering across a dancefloor at 1.45am, trying to get off with everything that moves. No matter how many people they move in for - and if reports are to be believed, United have made offers for dozens of players - nobody wants to go near them. And the one person who surely would, Damien Duff, was allowed to slip into the arms of Newcastle for less than United paid for Patrice Evra. You couldn't make it up. You don't have to.

Just as the glory years of 1992 to 2001 will only fully be appreciated in 20 years' time, so will Ferguson's subsequent negligence. It is particularly bewildering that a man who once exerted such an unyielding grip on every single aspect of the club that he had to be virtually coerced into delegating has let things slip to this extent. Take the Cristiano Ronaldo situation: Ferguson said recently that he had not even spoken to Ronaldo since the World Cup, a staggering dereliction of duty that is in total contrast to the us-against-the-world protection that he gave to David Beckham - and for which, for a time, he was so thrillingly rewarded - in 1998.

Once upon a time Ferguson could play 'who blinks first' with fate and win every time, his iron will shaping his destiny exactly as he wanted. Now he is reduced to uttering garbage like "it's like having a new signing" of Paul Scholes, Ole Solskjaer, Gabriel Heinze and Alan Smith, the irrational if-I-say-it-enough-it-might-happen gibberish you'd associate with a serial loser like Kevin Keegan. These days, the man they call The Hairdryer is full of nothing but hot air.

Ferguson's squad, once so taut, is a baggy mess of has-beens, never-will-bes and Liam Miller.

It is an increasingly inescapable conclusion that, unwittingly or otherwise, Ferguson is winding down, a prizefighter who no longer has the stomach or the wit for an admittedly enormous challenge which, once upon a time, he would have fervently inhaled. Like he did with Liverpool. Ferguson's almost maniacal yearning to "knock Liverpool off their fucking perch" was arguably the single most important factor in United's 1990s renaissance.

It makes it all the more vicious an irony that, 10 years later, he should knock United off the perch he had made for them through increasingly rank mismanagement.

Indeed, it must irk him beyond belief that United are making exactly the same mistakes that Liverpool did: lack of pheromones in the transfer market; laughable, fall-back signings at suspicious and ridiculous prices; deluded ramblings ("we are as good as Chelsea, no question") - and, worst of all, a dressing-room that has spiralled completely out of control. Liverpool's Spice Boys were bad, but they have nothing on Merk Berks like Ferdinand, Richardson and Wes Brown.

Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham have all made shrewd, cheap signings and are on an upward trajectory. United are going the other way: they are hugely dependent on Ferdinand and Rooney, but no amount of Carling Cup medals is going to sate their ambition. Then there is the Glazer factor, the full, inevitable horror of which is only just beginning to emerge. United fans think this season is going to be bad. It hasn't even started.

couldn't agree more with the article.

though to be fair, fergie's comment on scholes in particular is true. scholes is a terrific player who was absent lots of last season, and to have him back is kind of like a new signing in a way.

 

[UberBeaver]

Now that things are underway, how's the reaction to C. Ronaldo?

 

[jimmmm]

Predictable, United fans are cheering his every move, away fans jeering. But United have only been to charlton, & watford so far, the real acid test will be when United visit merseydive, & places like west ham, & chelski, bolton & citeh will probably be quite hostile as well, if they can stop singing songs about Munich long enough!