Manchester United Thread

Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

Then whats Glazer doing talking about it?
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

what do you mean? He was asked by the NFL to explain Man Utds venture with Las vegas casino.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

Sorry. I posted before reading yours.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

lumlum said:
Oh noes! More dabpts.
:lol:

He'll definately stay cuz its not like his contract runs out this season.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

Retiring Chief Cout Mick Brown on manutd.com
Thursday, May 26, 2005

You must have clocked up a few air miles, what's the life of a scout like?
"And road miles! It's ok when everything's going well, but when people ask me what it's like I always ask them 'when your flight's delayed when you're going on your holidays, how do you feel?' You feel like a bag of rags. If you think of that happening to you three or four times a week sometimes, and over an 11 month period, it's not all a bed of roses. You fly to Paris and then your connection's cancelled to Germany, so you might have to hire a car to get there. It's just another form of pressure. I'm not complaining, it's just not as easy as some people think."

How has the scouting set-up changed in your time at Old Trafford?
"There's always been a scouting situation in place, but it's ongoing - it's evolving all the time. We've added people to it across Europe who can give us information, both at Academy and professional level. We scout now at under-14's, 15's, 16's tournaments and we have people on the ground at those so we know who the players are. There's an awful lot of work to be done."
Have you come across many characters like Sir Alex?
"I came out of an era where there were a lot of characters. The beauty of it was that they weren't all the same. You've got your Malcolm Allisons, for instance, your Shanklys, your Fagans and people like that. So you've got your flamboyant ones and your dictatorial ones if you will. Some of the coaches I've been very, very proud to coach with. I coached in an era when Don Howe was coach of Arsenal and England and you could pit your wits against people like that every week. Top class people. But have there been any like Alec? No, he's a one-off as all the others were."

What's he like to work with?
"I've had nothing but pleasurable experiences with him. From day one, he's let me get on with the job. I don't bother him unless I have to. I'll go knocking on his door but I'll get an answer within 30 seconds sometimes, then I'll go out of the door and maybe not speak to him for a while. If he comes and wants information then he'll expect it, and hopefully we provide it for him. Generally speaking, he needs people about him who can do their job when he's not there. So I would hope that that's been the situation. If it hasn't, he hasn't bothered to tell me!"

Does it make you proud when your recommendations become successful?
"Yes, it's a very worrying thing when you're spending somebody else's money. It's not something that I find easy. If I'm recommending somebody I'm like 'if that was my money would I be paying it?' I know in football sometimes you have to pay above the going rate for the player, and that's particularly so with Manchester United. Given that, it's not something you do easily."

How does the pressure of playing for United affect players?
"At Manchester United you're always going to get stick, no matter who you are and where you are. The one thing that goes with the territory is stick. You'll get some people who can handle all this, and some people who melt. It affects their performance and they just can't perform once they cross that white line. There have been many, many examples of that in the past."

Does that affect the way you look at targets?
"Yes, very much so. When you've looked at how good a player is and decided if he fits the profile you want, you then start the other side - what sort of character are we looking at here. Will he be able to handle everything and what sort of baggage comes with him."

Do you have any regrets over missed targets?
"I put as much time in on Ronaldinho as I did on Gabriel Heinze. The outcome of it was that he was the one player we thought could affect Manchester United more than any other. He was the icing on the cake that we needed at that particular time. Having made those recommendations, other members of staff went out and saw him and concurred with that opinion. There was a number of cases like that at the time where you got the feeling that, no matter what we did, we weren't going to buy him."

Who can eventually replace Roy Keane?
"I think Steven Gerrard is a classic example of the type of person and the type of player you would like. But when you come back down to the odds on you being able to get him they're stacked against you. But never say never, because people said that about Rio Ferdinand. People said that about Alan Smith. I think gradually those doors are being battered down. So I wouldn't say it's not possible. It's very, very difficult. And the thing is, Roy Keane is Roy Keane. There is no other Roy Keane. Forget it. If you're going out looking for another Roy Keane, you ain't going to find one. They are getting less and less, those top-quality players. There have been one or two, but whether the club can go into that market at the moment I don't know, that's debatable. But we're in a period where we might have lost a couple of players because we couldn't enter that market. That's the way the world is."

Is that down to signing Wayne Rooney?
"Yes, but I don't think anybody's complaining about that now. He's top quality material."


How good can he become?
"Frightening, really. I think his fitness levels since he's been here and his desire have been absolutely fantastic. He's ending up with the man of the match award, and you don't know whether he's won it as your best striker, your best right-sided midfielder or your best right-back half the time! What he did against Arsenal was staggering, and he was still running Cole at the end of the game. There's not too many people who do that. He's a fantastic talent and with any sort of luck he's only going to get better. He's so strong with it too. He's a wonderful asset for Manchester United and, of course, England."

Who is the best player you've seen in your time here?
"Robson and Keane were my kind of player, but the most skilful player I ever had anything to do with was Arnold Muhren. He was a bit like Veron. He was slim, you thought you'd blow him over but you never saw anyone get the ball off him. He could run them round the ball, and he could thread a needle with his left foot. He had a wonderful dry sense of humour. And the wonderful thing about Arnold was that he had a magnificent career at Ipswich Town, came to Manchester United and then when he left here he went back to Holland, got into the Dutch national team and then captained them at 38 years of age. That's the best testimonial I could pay anyone."

Just how good was Veron?
"As a technician, he could do some things in training that I've never seen other players do. He could hit long distance balls, that were under him, with the outside of his foot and they would fade into the path of somebody that was 40 or 50 yards away. I don't know how he saw the passes, let alone delivered them. But there were others. David Beckham, people like that at that time were a joy to watch in training. Paul Scholes could play in a five-a-side with a blindfold on, he just knows where everything is. If he played centre-half he might struggle heading the ball but he would football his way out of trouble. He is what I'd call a proper footballer."
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

Vannizzlefashizzal said:
Paul Scholes could play in a five-a-side with a blindfold on, he just knows where everything is. If he played centre-half he might struggle heading the ball but he would football his way out of trouble. He is what I'd call a proper footballer."
Couldnt have said it better.

About the Gerrard thing, IMO although Gerrard is a great player, he probably wont be as good for us as he is for Liverpool. The thing about Gerrard is that Liverpool is his life and when he's out on that pitch, it's almost like he's playing for his life. And you cant have performances like that from Stevie G if he played for any other team especially a Liverpool rival.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

RuneEdge said:
Couldnt have said it better.

About the Gerrard thing, IMO although Gerrard is a great player, he probably wont be as good for us as he is for Liverpool. The thing about Gerrard is that Liverpool is his life and when he's out on that pitch, it's almost like he's playing for his life. And you cant have performances like that from Stevie G if he played for any other team especially a Liverpool rival.

Gotta agree. I've always thought that Gerrard was making a big mistake of contemplating a move to Chelsea. When it comes to the scruff of the neck, I don't think his heart will be fully with Chelsea. IMHO when he's playing without passion, he is actually very ordinary.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

Gerrard isnt very good when he isnt playing at his best.
IMO, there are only two types of performances that Gerrard gives.
A great one or an average one. He doesnt have one in between.
And as great as he is, he aint a Roy Keane.

IMO, Vieira is replacable and so is Gerrard after seeing good performances from the likes of Carragher, and Hammann, so Pool dont HAVE to have Stevie G playing all the time.
But we need Keano to not only play on the pitch but the help develop our younger players into the stars they can potentially be. Roy is almost like a Player/Manager.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

RuneEdge said:
Gerrard isnt very good when he isnt playing at his best.
IMO, there are only two types of performances that Gerrard gives.
A great one or an average one. He doesnt have one in between.

Thats why he aint gonna be the next England captain Rio or Terry will!
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

Wasnt Keano just as committed to Nottingham Forest before he moved to Man U and look at the player he turned into, a move for Gerrard could bring the same!
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

BIG Transfer news folks.
Roy Carroll has just been released on a FREE transfer.
So has our other keeper Ricardo. This means that we only have Tim Howard left.
I'm sure our scouts have found a new keeper cuz we wouldnt have released Carroll and Ricardo if we dont have a new keeper ready to take over.

Also, 6 of our youth players have also been released. I can only assume that this is because we're expecting so young signings like John Obi Mikel (Yes. We're still fighting our case).

So thats 8 players out. Let the spending begin!
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

So a keeper will be definatly bought now, Im quite suprised Carrolls gone to be honest.I thought he would have been given a new contract
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

Yeah. Me too. He wasnt that bad if you ignore his blunders.
But Carroll moving on is probably best him. Maybe to another club where the expections and the pressure isnt so high.

But I wonder who we'll sign instead. I hope Sir Alex is still interested in Casillas.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

Last I heard Casillas talks with Madrid have hit a wall. I still think he'll end up with Madrid though.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

I really wanna see Casillas at MUFC. :D would be great to have a keeper like him, i recon it would put us will up there but our debt will take us down :(
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

BUY SHAY GIVEN!

Soz for caps but this guy is one of the most under rated keepers in the league and with Newcastle going backwards who knows?

Also Jenas we need a young CM(British) so whos better?
 
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Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

Shay Given would be a great buy, but I heard that there's no way Newcastle would let go of him. But who knows, after their dissapointing season they might do it.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

hardly going to get rid of the debts, but let's get rid of the useful piece of crap that is Louis Saha, he is one of the worst players I have seen in a red shirt, maybe worse than Forlan was (at United). mind you I don't think many clubs would want him, 12+ million for a sack of crapm that runs away from the ball and blasts it over the bar when he has a shot!
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

matherto said:
hardly going to get rid of the debts, but let's get rid of the useful piece of crap that is Louis Saha, he is one of the worst players I have seen in a red shirt, maybe worse than Forlan was (at United). mind you I don't think many clubs would want him, 12+ million for a sack of crapm that runs away from the ball and blasts it over the bar when he has a shot!
Thats just really unfair cuz Saha hasnt had that many games to play so we cant judge him. But when we first signed him, he was on fire.
It would be worth trading him for another striker but saying he's useless (if thats what you really meant) is wrong.
Next season will finally be his season to show us what he's made of so until then, I'm not gonna judge him. I could still picture him as one of those players that can get us atleast 20 goals per season.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

I've seen him play on at least ten occassions at OT, and the only thing he does is run around aimlessly behind the defenders, if he's in front of them he can't half jump but if his head touches the ball, it doesn't go to a United player, when he came, he did well for Fulham but apart from scoring against them, he didn't do much, also the only reason we baught him is because no player we wanted was eligible for the Champions League.we payed way over the odds for him.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

OK. You have a fair point. I also remember people saying that he was bought cuz he was eligible for the CL.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

You should have bought Defoe instead but in hindsight saying that is easy!
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

I think Owen would be the perfect one for us. If we sell Saha and get Owen then we'd have 4 very different strikers, each with their owns strengths that could be used in different situations depending on how we'd like to play.
If we want 4-4-2 with 2 out and out strikers, then we use Ruud and Owen.
If we need someone to play behind the striker, we use Rooney and Owen/Ruud.
If we want to keep it tight then we use Smith and Rooney.
If for example we need some wingers because of injuries, we could use Rooney and Owen on the wings with Ruud up front in a 4-3-3 plus we could have Smith in inside right of midfield so we have all 4 on the pitch.

The possibilities are endless.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

Owen would be leaving Real because he cant play enough, I doubt he'd go to United to be another number 3 striker.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

True but if Owen produces on the pitch, I'm sure he could be first choice at Man Utd. Unlike Madrid where they have "rules" that say Raul must always be in the team.

But IMO, Man Utd arent going to sign another striker for atleast another year or maybe 2. Cuz its the last thing they need to worry about.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

To be honest I dont see Fergie ever dropping one of his current strikers unless injured. Ruud for him seems to be like our Shevchenko, hes just one thats not dropped, and Rooney is always getting better, so I cant really see space for Owen to fit in since Saha and Smith already dont get much playing time.

If united were to sign someone, I'd suggest a GK, an established defender, and a solid midfielder.
 
Re: Manchester United Supporters Thread - Rio to Barca??

We desperately need someone like Gattuso. Someone aggressive.
 
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