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The Ultimate FOOTBALL Thread (04/05)


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Well even if you give us a favour now it probably won't do mch good.

 

We were pretty rubbish.

Again.

I hope there's a clearout of some of the useless people in there. (Bye bye Kleberson, Bellion, etc wave.gif )

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Yes I just saw that.

Oh well.

FA Cup of nothing, and CL qualifiers it is then.

Did you watch the Liverpool game?

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Yes, cheers shiny ball.

 

Cilla still says Surprise Surprise. Not sure if she sings it any more though.

 

I like this one "Drogba and Kezman must have struck even a spendthrift like Abramovich as poor value." Drogba, he really gets on me tits that one.

 

What doesn't get on me tits is the passion that can be one show at Anfield. It is truly brilliant when its on form.

 

"It will be a long time before anyone in an all-seat stadium in England betters last Tuesday's show of support, so noisy and emotional it is still a hot subject on internet football chatrooms all over Europe. Benítez had 20 friends over for the match and they could talk of nothing else afterwards."

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Our boys are gonna clap The Football Club Formerly Known as Chelsea onto the pitch tonight before the game. shifty.gif

 

There's nothing really to play for but pride. If we win they'll say it was a nothing match. If we lose they'll say that we've slipped even further behind them.

 

Got to win, whatever.

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You are right scouser, fair comment.

 

Here's hoping for a new keeper (pleeeeease) and some new wonder midfield bloke over summer. Otherwise, next season may well bring more frustration.

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What was Ferguson playing at with his two penalties comment? Is he losing it, or just misjudging his mindgames (again)? Do you lot reckon that he needs to go before Man U get back on track again, or have they really just been unlucky this season?

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I don't know the repeat schedule, but WATCH the Arsenal destruction of Everton football fans. Arsenal were awesome and the score should have been more than 7-0. eek.gif

 

I wonder who is the more confident going into the FA Cup final.

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Possession:

Arsenal 81%

Everton 19%

 

A new record, surely?

 

"The scoreline is still flattering Everton!!"

The match commentator at 7-0 lol.gif

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What a great game (for Arsenal fans). I was there. I witnessed it. It was a complete mauling.

 

Having qualified for the CL (well the quals anyway), Everton probably relaxed up a bit too much but it sure was a display from Arsenal.

 

With Man Yoo the way they are rach/giggsy, it should be 4-0 to us in the final. \:D

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This certainly is monster of a thread! wow

respect1.gif

I notice that Rach appears to be the only lass in here, and so far the first Englishwoman I have known that cared at all about the game.

Are there many ladies in England as fervant about the game as the lads? or are they are rare breed?

 

football.gif

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^^ basically a rare breed.

 

BTW I found out that the David Ginola thing was actually a fake 'mockumentary' (he wants to be an actor) - it certainly had me fooled. It'll be on BBC2 at some point no doubt so keep your eye out for it all you ingerland-folke.

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Just read this post though on my fave United forum:

 

Let's stop flipping out, get it out of your system now. NO we didn't want Glazer, but it was a real possiblity and now fact that he would win. ranting about the "death of our club" is useless at this point.

 

I don't like Glazer, but you might as well get used to the idea and decide what is most important to you. venting at Glazer or supporting Man United.

 

Glazer has not "killed" United. what will kill United is boycotting of matches and merchandise now that the deal is done or at least close to it.

 

We should bite our tongue, hold our nose and continue to support the club as we have always done. That is the only way that success can come from this.

 

For all our distaste, Glazer did not achieve his position in life by being stupid. He would not be making a run at the club if he didn't see the financial and prestige potential. People do not leverage a company to the tune of 300M pounds if there is not money to be made long haul.

 

Those of you freaking out about the monetary issue should get over it as most of you don't understand high finance anyway so what do you know? Glazer is a hell of a lot smarter than all of us when it comes to financing acquisitions and if he didn't see a goldmine he certainly wouldn't be here screwing with us would he?

 

Most of the "loyal" support looks down on "gloryhunters" and other brigades of less quality supporter, so what do we care if he raises shirt prices by 6 pounds? Real fans don't wear them anyway do they? That's a 15 million pound increase annually for starters.

 

I am against the selling of naming rights to Old Trafford *however* if he choses to do so, are you going to stop loving the club? Stop cheering the reds? That's even more plastic than the prawn sandwich brigade.

 

The only difference that naming rights make are when it's shown on telly etc. if he sold the rights to Vodaphone for 100 million pounds, are you actually going to call it "Vodaphone Stadium At Old Trafford". Would any of you say "Ta...I'm off to Vodafone Stadium?" course you wouldn't, you'd say "I'm off to OT"

 

Naming rights are silly and in many cases here stateside, all the fans who have a far less prized tradition than M.U. still refer to the renamed stadiums by their old names anyway. It's not be ideal, but getting 100 million pounds in the kitty to help pay off the debt immediately and help fund transfers is something I could live with, considering I will never call the place "Vodafone Stadium" anyway...if those ****ers want to give us 100 million pounds let em...and everyone will still call it O.T.

 

As for TV/PPV money outlook, they are endless along with merchandising. The casino idea will get a long look from Glazer and if he is half as greedy as you think, rest assured there will be a ton of money from that venture.

 

Those of you freaking out about the debt should relax. No billionaire takes on that much debt if it is not serviceable. this isn't a regular company which can be broken up and sold off for profit like other Leveraged Buyouts made to capitalize on being more valuable "dead than alive"

 

The product is football. Our particular product, MUFC, is the most valuable in the world, and Glazer is smart enough to recognize that.

 

He may indeed raise ticket prices. the current board has raised them and would have continued to raise them so is there a difference? Since alot of the costs will be imposed on the Prawn sandwich brigade, that shouldn't be too much of a bother, and you can rest assured that the price of those corporate luxury boxes will be jacked up much much higher...corporate boxes are an absolute boon to a sporting organziation.

 

The fact is even if you dislike Glazer, he is a businessman and his first obligation will be to making money for himself to continue the success, not to pacify the shareholders as our current board's duty has been.

 

Those of you upset by this have every right to feel that way, as I do as well, but things are not always as bad as they seem. Change hurts and is very difficult to adjust to.

 

Many of you have mentioned Glazer's association with his Tampa Bay club. there were problems, but what everyone fails to mention is that he turned a perrennial loser into a champion after taking over. many of you point to their current plight and there is a reason for that. First of all, American football has a salary cap. Manchester United and the premier league and all of football does not.

 

Glazer will have no constraint on the finances to put a product of an already winning organization on an even higher level. Glazer may not be Abramovich in terms of wealth but I guarantee you, we will not be bitching about not having cash available as we've been this season.

 

Glazer tripled his Tampa Bay team's net worth in about 6 years. that was with a salary cap, and a very limited fan base of perhaps about 2 million at most and that was basically only in west florida of the U.S., with a team that did not have a large merchandise base or recongnizable brand. now he has a fanbase of 75 million GLOBALLY to work with, a massive merchandise machine in place, arguably the most GLOBALLY RECOGNIZABLE sporting brand in the world. I have no doubts he can do better with that base then the current board, and since many of us constantly complain about our gloryhunting element of fans, what do we care if Glazer bilks a bunch of gloryhunters in China and Asia and North America to put more money into the coffers?

 

Glazer is not our best friend, but neither is he our worst enemy. If we play our cards right and offer him our clear support of OUR CLUB which is in his hands, once this concludes, many of you will be pleasantly(grudgingly) surprised even while disliking him.

 

Disliking the owner of a sports franchise is one of the most common things around. Very few are truly loved by the fans.

 

The New York Yankees are baseball's equivalent of Manchester United AND Liverpool combined in terms of history.

 

Our owner is a man named George Steinbrenner. He is a megalomaniac, a pain in the ass, obnoxious, self-centered, name every loathsome quality and he is it, and has an insane desire to fire public salvos at anything he dislikes about the team, it's players and anything in general (at least Glazer is quiet and private)

 

The one thing about Steinbrenner is that he absolutely HATES to lose. he wants to win every single year and will spend any ammount on players and will do anything to win. at the end of the day that is the only thing that matters to me.

 

When He bought the Yankees in the early 70s, they were the greatest, most dominant, most historical team in American sports. winners of 22 championships and appearances in 33 total championships in just under 50 years.

 

The team was down on it's luck and hadn't won a championship in over 12 years, it was poorly run by corporate owners with no vision and he bought the team for a pittance. today the Yankees are second in value only to Manchester United globally in a sport that is played by a much smaller than global football fanbase. He has also won six championships since. though he has been a colorfull maniac the whole way

 

How did he do it? Take a revered franchise with a dedicated following. market it correctly and take advantage of all commercial avenues to maximise profit potential. Get the best players, play in a league/sport with no salary cap restrictions...

 

have access to the largest fan base in area, reputation and size to market and merchandise to and in recent years, start a flagship TV network dedicated soley to and owned by his club, a veritable cash cow for advertising, marketing, promotion, not to mention cable fees.

 

ring any bells? remarkably similar to Manchester United no?

 

 

I know many of you are hurt, upset, confused, angry and you have a right to be. all I'm saying is that it is a reality we likely can't change.

 

For all his flaws, stupidity is not one of Glazer's. TBH at least he cares about the club's potential alot more than Coolmore, even if it's for his own selfish purposes. he has put his money where his mouth is, and if we want our club to get back to the status we deserve, when this becomes fact we must support Manchester United, that means biting our tongue and accepting if not neccessarily liking Glazer.

 

Is he really any different than our ridiculous board? At least he has vision and will exist to satisfy the demands of his ego and pocketbook, not the stock exchange.

 

United didn't die in Munich, didn't die when Sir Matt left or when Cantona retired. the club was bigger than Beckham when he was sold and it will be bigger than Fergie when he eventually hangs it up. it won't die while Glazer is here or after he eventually dies. "Nobody is bigger than Manchester United". that includes Malcolm Glazer.

 

The board didn't like his plan because of debt, (fair enough, but debt is common and certainly when serviceable) they also didn't like it because it meant the end of them.

 

they think the plan is too "agressive". Perhaps, but better agressive than meek. The board always erred on the side of prudence, because their first obligation was to the CITY not to winning. Does anybody think that a greedy son of a bitch like Glazer would have accepted the pittance we got for Beckham? The most marketable player in the world? I don't think so. Madrid had braced themselves for what they thought Beckham would cost and were shocked when it was so low.

 

Where we are now in football terms, aggression, to catch Chelsea and Arsenal, to put ourselves on top again is the only acceptable solution. we needed radical and brave solutions. well this would certainly qualify as that even if it's unwanted, but several years down the line we may feel very differently.

 

It's always darkest before the dawn.

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Feel for you rach. This Glazer guy is an altogether different kind of dude from what Chelsea have benefitted from. It will be interesting to see what happens. It may be all emotional and all now, but best to wait and actually see what happens.... you never know it may end up being a good thing. (Scraping the barrel here!)

 

(Easy for me to say, I'm sure glad it's not my club.....)

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 Quote:
Originally posted by BagOfCrisps:
Everton probably relaxed up a bit too much but it sure was a display from Arsenal.
Gracious in victory, I see. I think its more a reflection of the Premiership to be honest. Outside the top three, it's another world. Fourth is closer to the bottom than the top. In my own case ManYoo beating third-placed Newcastle 6-2 at our place still sticks in the memory. They knocked in four in about ten minutes before half time.

What Arsenal need is to find another Peter Cech. I think he's one of Claudio's, not Jose's, so maybe they could get him onto their case.

BTW, I've not seen the Ginola thing. The only football documentaries I've seen are the one about Bobby Robson and the one about Graham Taylor as England manager. Both were great, but the second was especially funny, classic tragicomedy.
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As for Glazer, I don't know what his intentions are he did pretty well with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He got the best young coach, a double of "Chuckie" from the "Elm Street" films, and the team went from nowhere to the championship. His record there is pretty good.

 

The present ManYoo administration passed up on the chance to buy Ronaldinho when he went to Barca and messed up in the running for Arjen Robben. They got Rooney, but it looks like their hand was forced in that one. If they don't replace their players with comparable ones, they'll go the same way as Liverpool in the 90s.

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