Entries Tagged 'Manchester United' ↓

Rio Ferdinand has denied to the FA that he did this.

Presumably it was Wes Brown. Meanwhile, it conveniently leaves Rio free to face Manchester City tonight.

Some journalism really, REALLY pisses me off. I detest sloppy journalism, I detest soft journalism, and I especially hate blatant troublemaking. Here’s an example of the latter from the pie hole of Goal.com. Continue reading →

This was always going to happen, but my god, am I glad it did. Carlos Tevez has confirmed my early suspicions by revealing that his celebrations were aimed, not at anyone in particular, but at SAF and Gary Neville, and has made things more interesting by going nuts on Argentine radio and launching an astonishing rant at his former colleagues. I enjoy rants at the best of times, but this is a really good one. Continue reading →

Sir Alex Ferguson has banned his players from using popular social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, the BBC has reported. If only our Blackberry hero had such guidance. Continue reading →

It’s not often that Republik of Mancunia, the excellent Manchester United blog, miss the point entirely. They are wholly guilty of blinkered bias, as you’d expect from any one-club blog, and lofty self-praise, as you’d expect from any football club. However, their response to last nights Carling Cup semi-final defeat strikes me as being quite bitter, very finger pointy and totally wide of the mark. The article, in a nutshell, lists various quotes by Tevez (and, indeed, Manchester City’s other striker, Emannuel Adebayor) about his former club. Fair enough, if you can allow the selective memory…

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The past few days have seen the headlines, perhaps not dominated, but certainly bothered by two tackles. Both resulted in straight reds, both came when the game was already dead and buried, but neither bore any resemblance whatsoever to the other.

It is difficult to envisage two players with less in common than Joey Barton and Darren Fletcher. But football, the most inclusive of sports, does not discriminate, and both will miss the climax to their respective seasons.

It is a tragedy on two counts. Whilst some would argue that the Newcastle man shouldn’t even be playing in the Premiership any more, it would be hard to find any mature football fan who has a bad word to say about Fletcher.

Indeed, the nature of the two tackles almost perfectly reflected the personalities of the players in question. Joey Barton, a most infuriating charachter, threw himself into his tackle in a violent, reckless manner and with no regard for the well being of Xabi Alonso, simply to satisfy his urge for revenge, or perhaps to vent some frustration.

The most frustrating thing is that nobody doubts the talent the player has. He burst onto the scene under the tutelage of Kevin Keegan, and for 18 months under Stuart Pearce he was the driving force being everything good Manchester City achieved. He often gave the impression that he was playing the opposition almost on his own, and was rewarded with an England debut against Spain.

This was just reward for apparently becoming a reformed character after the infamous Cigar incident almost exactly two years previously, yet he still found time to show his dark side by insulting England players for releasing autobiographies. A valid viewpoint perhaps, but the appropriate time and context in which to express it? Nonetheless, his honesty was hailed, and it was suggested he would become a future England regular.

Sure enough, only three months later he snapped once more, assaulting Ousmane Dabo in training. His many other crimes are well documented, so this is not the place to list them. Nor is it my point; that is merely point out that there was a time when he was far better behaved. And during that time he played for England.

Trying to find a single peice of controversy to implicate Darren Fletcher in is almost as difficult as it is to list Bartons crimes in one article. One of footballs quiet men, he is the epitome of the man who gets his head down and gets on with it. In October 2005, Fletcher was one of the victims of Roy Keanes now infamous MUTV rant, the firebrand Irishman demanding to know why Scottish people raved about him. Did Darren sulk, hit back through the media or hand in a transfer request?

No. He scored the winner at Stamford Bridge less than a month later.

That alone should speak volumes for a man who has had to deal with criticism of his ability, talent and a long injury list to get to where he is today as a mainstay of United’s European first team.

His patience has also been richly rewarded. Many players would see the likes of Keane and Scholes before them in the first team, and decide their future lay elsewhere. Many more would see the signings of Veron, Kleberson and Djemba-Djemba as attempts to replace them, and throw in the towel. And there has never been any shortage of suitors for Fletcher, a real footballers footballer. Honest and successful against the odds, just like his tackle against Arsenal.

And having bided his time, the failure of the aforementioned trio to make any long-term impact has been Fletchers biggest gain. Being made the Scotland captain has been his making, and after finally given an extended run and key role in the team, his performances in the big games this season have been epic.

Perhaps it’s unfair to compare the two situations due to their respective clubs stature. There is truth in the fact that Barton would never have been able to hit Fletchers heights had he stayed with City in the way Fletcher has by also staying put. Newcastle, however, are a big club, and Bartons impact has been anything but positive. Fletchers has rarely been anything but.

Joey Barton, the far more naturally gifted of the pair, is running out of willing guardians, time, and expended the last of his goodwill long ago. But should he take a leaf or two out of Fletchers book, he might just realise the talent that is so, so close to being criminally wasted in the most repugnant of ways.

He may as well give it a go. He as absolutely nothing left to lose.

this article is featured on www.soccerlens.com

I WANT MY HURLEY BACK YOU NORWEGIAN ARSEH...

Roy Keane was unveiled today as the new manager of Ipswich Town. I wonder how Giovanni Dos Santos feels.

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Quintuple? Really now? Anybody who was drawn in by all of the hype is now looking nervously at the last few weeks of the season. United could quite easily go from arrogantly claiming they could win them all to ending the season having won nothing if note in just a few short weeks. And it’s far more likely that you’d think…
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You know when you’re juggling a football, and you go for the big finish and screw up totally, and you have no idea how to save yourself from looking like a complete and utter dick?

Ronaldo knows how…

Squeaking past FC Porto thanks to a once in a lifetime strike isn’t the hallmark of champions.

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