Manchester United

[SoccerPrime]

Oh yes these are all valid reasons why he shouldn't buy ManU.
🙄
Face it, its happening.

[AreliusII]

Fergie has whole package - values, drive and success




WHATEVER elements contribute to or constitute the entire package of a lifetime's achievement within a difficult world, Alex Ferguson has managed to grasp hold of the nuances and the vagaries.

Last night, in London, this son of Glasgow's Govan was suitably distinguished for his efforts within the game of football. But to even attempt to declare his life on planet earth as any kind of reflection of a game - which ultimately it is - would be futile.

These days greatness is a description overburdened by excessive celebration of the mundane. In Ferguson, the description does apply although, hopefully, he will continue to dismiss such notions.

This is an individual whose successes have been well documented; yet his true triumph is to be found in his ability to retain a 20-20 vision of his roots.

For all that he is now, and correctly, regarded as the most successful and accomplished manager in the history of British football, Ferguson's genuine worth is discovered in his consummate determination to provide support for communities from his background.

This sense of his placing within life was, once again, illustrated a few weeks back when he returned to Glasgow to fulfil the role of main speaker at a fund-raising dinner for Drumchapel Amateurs, an organisation designed and progressed by a friend, the late Douglas Smith.

Now then, those who attended last night's banquet had probably never heard of Smith or of the housing scheme that gave birth to the club Ferguson briefly played for as a teenager.

Similarly, Govan's Harmony Row would not feature in any lexicon of the world's most famous. Ferguson, however, has a very special place within his heart and his affections for this quaintly-named outfit, who provided him with his start in the game when he was but a lad.

Truly, his has been quite a life and an incredible achievement. There are many around who remain determined to slash at perceived faults and, yes, there are more than a few within the entirety of his personality.

Happily, they are overwhelmed by positives which, strangely, seem to be ignored by many within the English media who would like nothing more than to witness his and Manchester United's decline.

The driven nature of the man, which was honed in areas such as Govan and Drumchapel and subsequently furthered at troubled professional clubs like East Stirling and St Mirren, is not about to disappear.

Many have tried but failed to combat the continuous obsession with success that Ferguson embraces. A few have made powerful efforts and one or two have enjoyed a fleeting success, most notably Arsene Wenger whose Arsenal side nipped the title United had considered to be their very personal right.

This season Chelsea's Jose Mourinho is a favourite to usurp United and Ferguson, but even he concedes the totality of the domination of English football provided by Ferguson since 1986 will never be approached far less equalled.

This achievement, this currency of domination, is incredible, but the grandest delivery of Ferguson's time in the game, as a player and more especially as a manager, has been his determination to recall precisely where he came from. The roots are deep and will never be dragged from the earth of his mindset.

[AreliusII]

Ferguson wants Roy Keane to take over at Man U
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/soccer/wires/04/22/2080.ap.eu.spt.soc.man.u.keane/index.html

Ferguson says Keane would make good manager
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/soccer/wires/04/22/2080.ap.eu.spt.soc.man.u.keane.1st.ld.writethru/index.html

[Stucki]

Forget Manyoo. This year it is all about Everton. Although now that Fulham is playing McBride I admit to following them. Okay I follow all the Yanks, except Timmy HOward who is suiting up for the evil empire.

[Deuce]

Originally Posted by mrstucki

Okay I follow all the Yanks, except Timmy HOward who is suiting up for the evil empire.

That is funny cos I only loosely follow ManU cos they have Tim Howard!

I don't follow Brad Friedel cos he plays for the scrubs out in Blackburn... I want him to do well but that means Blackburn does well so I can't be having that!

[AreliusII]

Originally Posted by mrstucki

Forget Manyoo. This year it is all about Everton. Although now that Fulham is playing McBride I admit to following them. Okay I follow all the Yanks, except Timmy HOward who is suiting up for the evil empire.

That's funny. Last time I checked Everton was 9 points behind ManU.

[SoccerPrime]

Its the end of the world for ManU fans:
http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/latest_soccer_news/475472.html

Glazer takes over 57% of ManU stocks.

:D

[theholmes]

Did you catch the score from earlier in the week?...Of course you did
ManYoo 1:3 Chelsea.

And that debacle against West Brom at the weekend. United play like they dont give a damn about playing lately. And now with this whole Glazer mess on the table for real finally, I thinkyou're in for a bad time. Whether he's as bad for the club as the supporters say, I dont know, but he's not going to make them any better certainly.

If it werent for the Hex that they have over Arsenal, I'd say the FA Cup final would be a repeat of the 7-1 thrashing of Everton. But I still predict a Cupless '05 for Sir Alex and his Band of Whiners.

[Old Ska]

Hello!
Hello!
You are the Glazer Boys!


HA!


While I really do think it is funny that ManUre fans are so upset about this (since I essentially hate everything about the club) the underlying anti-American and anti-semitic tone I have detected in the European Soccer press and from European fan sites really disturbs me.

I mean, okay, we are the last great colonial empire, and our country has pulled some pretty serious crap over the last few years...but is it really THAT bad that an American is taking over a big-name club? Especially with how lousy they have been playing the last little while? Where was the outcry when Abramovic (who is more gangster than businessman) took over CHelsea? Sure, there was a little blip in the press, but nothing like this stuff with Glazer.

[DadOf8]

I thought the comments on this blog were very insightful regarding Glazer's takeover of Man U:

http://www.cantstopthebleeding.com/index.php?p=1838

Some good points he makes are:

1. Chelsea is owned by a Russian and nobody made a big deal over that.
2. Chelsea is a better club than Man U because their Russian owner is pumping money into the club.
3. Malcolm Glazer brought the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from being the laughing stock of the league into being champions.

My personal feeling is that there is a lot of anti-American sentiment in the world right now and Glazer is simply an easy target for frustrated Brits to focus their anger at. I personally think he will be good for English soccer because he will want his team to continue winning and he will be able to afford top talent. In doing so, he will keep the EPL competitive. I also hope that there will be some kind of residual benefit for MLS.