Without going into detail with what has already been said, how do we think the “Rooney Scandal” will or might affect his United career?
Fergie clearly knows he has a huge part to play in United’s future, but is he untouchable? Will there be any repercussions to all this? (more…)
Ottmar Hitzfeld turned down the chance to succeed Alex Ferguson at Manchester United because his English was not good enough - that’s Hitzfeld’s English, not Fergie’s!
The Switzerland boss was top of United’s wanted list after Ferguson announced at the start of the 2001-02 season he would retire as boss at the end of that campaign.
At the time, Hitzfeld had just led Bayern Munich to Champions League glory - four years after winning the same trophy with Borussia Dortmund.
He was also Bayern boss when United beat them in the 1999 final.
It was no surprise then that Peter Kenyon, the former chief executive at Old Trafford, sounded him out about taking over at United.
But German-speaking Hitzfeld declined as he felt his inability to speak the local lingo would hamper his chances of being successful.
That’s in stark contrast to the man he faces tomorrow, England coach Fabio Capello.
The Italian took over the Three Lions in January 2008 knowing he would have great difficulty communicating with the players because he could not speak a word of English.
Hitzfeld is currently preparing his Switzerland side to take on England in a Euro 2012 qualifier here in Basel.
He recalled: “I don’t want to go into too many details because it was between myself and Manchester United.
“But I decided to stay in Germany because when I am coaching I prefer to use my mother tongue.
“I didn’t think I would be able to do myself justice if I had to speak to players in English.
“I would not be able to get my emotions and feelings across, and that is important as a coach.”
Even now, Capello’s English is still on a scale somewhere between the Allo, Allo airmen and Manuel from Fawlty Towers.
The FA will again have an interpreter in the dressing room here to translate their £6million-a-year coach’s pre-match and half-time talks.
There will be no such farce in the Swiss camp.
Hitzfeld, 61, said: “My players speak a variety of languages, including Italian, French and English.
“But I coach in German - it is better that way for me and the team. All the players understand it. If a special expression is required one of my coaches might throw in a bit of Italian or French.”
Capello is supposed to have had more English lessons than Grange Hill but his inability to master it is widely touted as a reason for the World Cup failure.
Hitzfeld admitted: “As long as you win matches, language is no problem.
“But when the results are insufficient, the difficulties begin.
“At this time a coach needs to go into more detail with his instructions. And if you can’t speak the same language, that’s where the problems can lie.”
But Hitzfeld backs England to do their talking on the pitch. He admitted: “It will be a difficult game for us.” (more…)
Barcelona and Spain defender Gerard Pique sheds light on his relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson, who he spent four formative years with at Manchester United.
Gerard Pique says the difficult decision to leave Manchester United for his native Barcelona in 2008 was made even harder because of his attachment to his Âsecond father Sir Alex Ferguson.
The Spain international defender quit Old Trafford as he started to make the breakthrough but has since gone on to lift the game’s major honours with club and country within two years of his departure.
Speaking to Graham Hunter exclusively for STV Sports Centre, the highly-regarded 23-year-old  who got his hands on the World Cup trophy this summer a season on from winning the Champions League  says the influence of the Scottish manager on his early career went a long way towards his achievements.
Spending four seasons in Manchester from the age of 17, Pique revealed Sir Alex immediately took him under his wing upon his arrival from Barcelona’s youth system. Then, faced with the difficult task of telling his manager he wanted to return to Spain, he recalls the emotional response from a character better known for his ruthless nature.
ÂWhen I arrived there I was 17 and it was really hard for me to leave my family here, to change club, to change all my friends, said Pique. ÂFor me, Sir Alex Ferguson was like a second father.
ÂHe helped in all the ways, not only in football terms but also how to find a house and all my relations out of football. I think that, for me, he was a really helpful person. For me, Alex Ferguson will always be a second father.
ÂI remember when I went to his room to say that I wanted to leave because Barcelona was coming for me. It was my town, it was my club when I was young and I wanted to come back. He didn’t want me to leave and said I had a future at the club and he expected a lot from me.
ÂBut I wanted to leave and he wrote me a letter saying that it was really difficult and really hard for him to let me go to Barcelona.Â
Pique’s years at Manchester United saw him train every day with Paul Scholes, a player who he regards as one of the finest midfielders in the game. There is only one player who is on a level par with the evergreen star though according to Pique, his current club and international team-mate Xavi, who holds a mutual respect for his English counterpart.
ÂI think they are two of the best players I have ever seen, Pique said. ÂWith the ball they are fantastic. I remember one day I was talking with Xavi and he said, for him, Paul Scholes was one of the best players he had ever seen.
ÂI think the two like each other because they like the same football and it’s really beautiful. (more…)
I am in Dublin from Tuesday to Friday on business and was wondering if any Reds were about to catch up for a pint.
I was thinking Wednesday or Thursday night….
Let me know and I will PM my contact details so we can hook up.
Cheers (more…)
—Quote (Originally by Saintmichael of Owen)—
“It was great to be back playing in a red shirt again, Id like to thank Jamie and the fans for showing me support even the ones who booed me. It was a privilege to play for Liverpool football club and this place is and forever will be in my heart and soul, and I hope the fans never forget that. Do I have regrets maybe! If I’d not joined Real who knows what might of happened?
I’ve been wrongly quoted in some interviews after I joined United, and I just like to set the record straight once and for all, Liverpool is the biggest club in Britain but we have to put our hands up and say that United are a huge club too”
—End Quote—
Now try and defend the fucking scouse prick…
If its that much in your heart and soul, then fuck off back there… (more…)
Wayne Rooney cheats on pregnant wife Coleen with £1k-a-night prostitute - mirror.co.uk (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/09/04/wayne-rooney-cheats-on-pregnant-wife-coleen-with-1k-a-night-prostitute-115875-22537906/)
Wayne Rooney paid for secret hotel sex sessions with a £1,000-a-night prostitute while his wife Coleen was pregnant with their son,
the Sunday Mirror can sensationally reveal.
The £100,000-a-week Manchester United and England icon slept with brunette Jennifer Thompson, 21, seven times over four months.
And, astonishingly, he even flaunted her on a string of dates to VIP haunts in Manchester, including bars, clubs and the cityÂs 235 Casino.
Last night a humiliated Rooney was confessing his disgrace to childhood sweetheart Coleen, who took him back in 2004 after the Sunday Mirror twice exposed him for cheating on her with prostitutes.
Rooney now expects betrayed Coleen to throw him out of their £5million mansion in Cheshire and begin moves for an explosive divorce. He told a pal yesterday: ÂMy life is in ruins IÂve been so stupid. Coleen wonÂt forgive me this time. She will leave me.Â
Read more: Wayne Rooney cheats on pregnant wife - mirror.co.uk (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/09/04/wayne-rooney-cheats-on-pregnant-wife-coleen-with-1k-a-night-prostitute-115875-22537906/#ixzz0ybTKd3IJ) (more…)
TEAMtalk | Football | Premier League | Manchester United News - Carra blames Souness for Reds woes (http://www.teamtalk.com/manchester-united/6357049/Carra-blames-Souness-for-Reds-woes)
Amazing (more…)
In the history of the beautiful game, as well as there have been many great players, there have also been some controversial ones, but one man can stand toe-to-toe with all comers. A man that even stands above them (and by some margin). That man of which I’m talking about is, of course, Diego Armando Maradona. EL Diego.
Image: http://www.champress.net/UserFiles/Image/2009/04/diego-maradona-370×270.jpg
Diego’s story began when playing for his home town team Estrella Roja in the town of Villa Fiorito, when he was spotted by a top talent scout and soon became the stalwart of Los Cebollitas (or “the little onions”, for those of us with little Spanish knowledge). Then, playing for the youth team of Buenos Aires based side Argentinos Juniors, as a 12 year old ball boy, he was already dazzling the crowds by showing his wizardry on the ball.
Image: http://media.eresmas.com/biblioteca/img/sfamerica/espmarado2.jpg
Maradona made his debut for Argentinos Juniors ten days before his sixteenth birthday and was a real stalwart of the side, with a highly impressive tally of 115 goals in 167 games in 5 years from his role as a support striker. It was during this time that Sheffield United had a bid of £180,000 rejected for the young attacker. Later Diego sealed a move to Boca Juniors midway through the 1981 season.
Image: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_13Rhbwn4Fds/Smy9DJ_pBCI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/wkrXVwvIdtk/s320/maradona+and+boca+juniors.JPG
In the 1981 season, which was Diego’s first at Boca, he won his first league title. He played the full season in 1982 and in this time scored a whopping 28 goals in 40 games before leaving Argentina for Europe, where he joined Barcelona for a world record £5,000,000 price tag. However, before the move was sealed, there was a small matter of a World Cup for Diego to contend with.
Image: http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/oct2008/8/3/48C1B5C2-DFAD-E387-E40E0510DAB59C30.jpg
At the 1982 World Cup Argentina were the defending champions and were set-up against Belgium, El Salvador and Hungary in the opening round of fixtures. Although in the opening game Argentina were on the losing side against the Belgians, they still progressed with relative ease, looking very convincing against both Hungarian and El Salvadorian sides, with Diego scoring two against the Hungarians. Argentina’s second round, however, was far from convincing, with them suffering defeat to both Brazil and eventual champions Italy. In this tournament Diego remained on the field for all but 5 minutes, and even this time was enforced as he was sent off for serious foul play against the Brazilian side.
Image: http://www.maradona10.nl/gallery2/albums/H1RTF4JBGWOC04K4G408O4K8O4OG0OK/maradona_barcelona.jpg
Maradona’s time in Catalunya was far from smooth, with Diego suffering a career threatening broken leg at the hands of Athletic Bilbao’s Andoni Goikoetxea. When tied in with the fact that in this short time Diego suffered from Hepatitis and frequent feuds with teammates, directors, and most notably club President Josep Lluis Nunez, Diego was forced to request a transfer from the Nou Camp. In spite of this, he still picked up the Copa Del Rey and Spanish Super Cup in his time at the Catalan Club.
Image: http://www.gossipitaliano.it/wp-content/uploads/maradona.jpg
Following Diego’s disputes at Barcelona, he commanded another World Record transfer fee, this time of £6,900,000 in his move to resurgent Serie A side Napoli. Soon after joining the Naples club, Diego became a fan favourite, leading the club to their only ever Serie A title’s in 1987, followed by two seasons placed 2nd before Napoli earned the Scudetto again, and Diego himself finished the 1988 season as top scorer in the league. In 1989, Napoli won the Eufa Cup, the Coppa Italia in 1987 and the Italian Super Cup in 1990. During this time, however, he was most noted for his international exploits.
Image: http://ifotbol.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Diego-Maradona.jpg
In the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Diego took it upon himself as national team captain to help Argentina win back the Jules Rimet trophy, and whilst in the Central American country he played every minute of every game Argentina participated in. This tournament & Diego combined to give the fans one of the most recognisable displays in football history in the Quarter Final against Sir Bobby Robson’s England. The game wasn’t for the majority an overly impressive performance by Diego. Nonetheless, in one 3-minute spell Diego took the game by the scruff of the neck and scored two completely different goals. Firstly, the infamous “hand of god” goal, followed almost directly from kick off by Maradona picking up the ball in his own half before taking on 5 England players and rounding England goalkeeper Peter Shilton, slotting the ball into the gaping net. This goal was later voted as the goal of the century. Nevertheless, it is sometimes overshadowed by the complaints over the questionable nature of the goal minutes earlier, of which Maradona proclaimed the ball went in with “a little of the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of god”. Replays later showed that this meant that the ball went in from the hand of Maradona.
Image: http://photos.codlib.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/2.jpg
In the following Semi final against Belgium, Maradona again scored a brace, the second goal, again, coming from a virtuoso dribble past many men to put Argentina in the final, in which the South Americans had to face the West Germans, who were adamant not to allow Diego to dictate the game as he had done in previous rounds, and so they double marked him. But even this was not enough to stop Maradona, who played the ball through to Jorge Barruchaga for the winner. Such was this feat that outside the Azteca Stadium a statue was built of Diego scoring “the goal of the century”.
Image: http://www.alltechn.com/wp-content/images/2009/06/Diego-Maradona2.jpg
Back in Naples there were many off-the-pitch problems, Cocaine use being the most noted with Diego often missing practices and even games as a result of ?stress”. However, there were other controversies including an alleged illegitimate son, as well as rumoured acquaintances with the Camorra. In 1991, Diego was found guilty of Cocaine use and given a 15 month ban from football, which caused much disgrace and his release from the Italian side, for whom he had notched 81 goals in 188 games.
Image: http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/photos/000/267/735/1990_display_image.jpg?1277219998
In the 1990 World Cup Argentina were much less dominant than 4 years previous, as was Diego himself. Argentina were quite lucky that year, as they barely qualified from the first round in 3rd position. On they went to face Brazil in the second round in a game that finished 1-0 after Diego played a pass to Claudio Caniggia, who proceeded to put the ball in the back of the net. Next came the quarter finals in which Argentina faced Yugoslavia. After the game had finished 0-0, a penalty shootout was required to separate the sides, but the Argentine captain hit a very poor penalty, which was stopped by the Yugoslavian keeper Tomislav Ivkovic. Argentina still moved on in the tournament though. In the Semi-final against the host nation Italy, the game, again, went to penalties. The brave Maradona hit his penalty into the exact same spot as his penalty-kick against the Yugoslavians. This time the ball hit the back off the net. In the final against the West Germans Diego was reasonably quiet and Argentina lost the game 1-0.
Image: http://www.blogdosmanos.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/sevilla-maradona.jpg
After Diego returned from his cocaine induced ban he returned to La Liga to pull on the shirt of Sevilla. However, due to the ban he had just served, Diego was incredibly rusty and his performances weren’t quite up to his usual exceptional standards, with him only getting 5 goals in his 26 games at the club, and was allowed to leave the La Liga outfit to return to Argentina.
Image: http://www.vivadiego.com/nob6.jpg
Whilst at Newell’s Old Boys, Diego was still showing signs of problems brought on by his age and 15 month absence from the game, but he was still seen as being worthy of his place in the Argentinian squad for the upcoming World Cup in the United States of America.
Image: http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/oct2008/8/6/48C1BC57-9B90-ABEC-095BA833CB5A77EC.jpg
In the 1994 World Cup Diego started as though there had been no issues in the previous years, mainly evidenced by his fantastic dribble and goal in the opening game against Greece. Nevertheless, many people became suspicious of Maradona when he sprinted over to and screamed at the camera, his eye’s visually bulging out of the sockets. This suspicion was only heightened when it became clear that Diego’s personal fitness coach in the build up to the tournament was no other than convicted drug abusing sprinter Ben Johnson. Following the second group game Maradona was seen to be dragged off the pitch by a female FIFA official, it soon became apparent that he had been found to be full of the performance-enhancing drug Ephedrine.
Image: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/11/11/article-1084708-0050FAA400000258-656_468×293.jpg
Following the World Cup Maradona moved back to Boca Juniors to finish his career. Although he didn’t win any more competitions, he had a reasonably successfully swansong, with 7 goals in 30 games in his 2 years at the club, before leaving to go into management.
Image: http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/liverpoolecho/mar2010/6/4/image-10-for-legend-diego-maradona-watches-liverpool-fc-beat-lille-at-anfield-gallery-131893530.jpg
Maradona took on two clubs alongside his Argentinos Juniors midfield partner Carlos Fren, taking over Mandiyu and Racing. However, both were unsuccessful, leading to Diego’s retirement. That would be the end of it. Or would it?
Many questions were soon asked about Diego’s private life, including his ongoing cocaine addiction and weight gain, to the point were he was both in drug rehab before having his stomach stapled to aide in his weight-loss following a heart attack in 2004. It recently became apparent that Diego had paid no taxes during his time at Napoli and now owes 37,000,000? of unpaid taxes, of which he has paid back 42,000?, two watches and a pair of earrings.
Image: http://cdn.faniq.com/images/blog/7bb720984b0690b5f30a8f7e9dded10b.jpg
In October 2008 Maradona was chosen to take control of the Argentinian national team, a job in which Diego showed early signs of not being up to it, most notably when the national side succumbed to their worst defeat in their illustrious history, by losing 6-1 to Bolivia, leaving Argentina needing 2 wins in the remaining 2 games (or a combination of results) to reach the World Cup of South Africa. The feat was managed due in no small part to Martin Palermo’s 93rd minute winner against Perú, which made Diego run down the touchline and belly flopping in the torrential rain, a moment that could warm the heart of any football fan. This was followed days later by a 1-0 victory over Uruguay, meaning that Argentina had qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Image: http://www.bagsynotin.net/wp-content/uploads/diego.gif (http://www.bagsynotin.net/wp-content/uploads/diego.gif)
Whilst in South Africa, Argentina were very effective as an attacking force. However, they struggled with the defensive side of their game. It was clear that all of the players were highly motivated to perform for their combined hero, but their defensive nievity really showed up in the quarter finals in a match against the highly impressive counter-attacking German side, who defeated Diego’s men quite convincingly, 4-0. After this, Diego and the AFA president Julio Grondona had many disputes, leading to Maradona’s sacking (or as a matter of fact, a lack of contract-extension) from the international job. Although, for those who enjoy entertaining press conferences, Diego is in the hunt for a new job, so there is hope for his return to the game as a club manager.
Image: http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/images/photos/000/996/594/102606538_crop_340×234.jpg?1280237184
(more…)
—Quote—
*Manchester United supporters are being urged to mark the Premier League clash against Liverpool at Old Trafford later this month with an Âold shirt protest against the clubÂs owners, the Glazer family*
Despite the Glazers insistence that they have no plans to sell United in the wake of sustained opposition to their ownership last season and increased interest rates on a portion of the clubÂs £716.5 million debt, supporters remain determined to maintain the profile of their campaign.
The green-and-gold campaign, symbolised by the wearing of scarves in the colours of Newton Heath, UnitedÂs forerunners, proved a hugely successful and visible image of anti-Glazer sentiment among the clubÂs supporters.
But a proposed boycott of season tickets proved less successful, with United chief executive David Gill revealing this week that the club sold 51,800 season tickets this summer, a drop of only 2,200 on 12 months ago.
Fans groups are now planning a protest that involves supporters wearing United shirts that pre-date the Glazers 2005 takeover
Manchester United fans prepare ‘old shirt’ protest against Glazer family - Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/7979313/Manchester-United-fans-prepare-old-shirt-protest-against-Glazer-family.html)
—End Quote—
Image: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9RQP4ki3A30/StVpSojpvGI/AAAAAAAAMXE/msaUrGnUFsk/s320/73963536.jpg
Probably not old enough but still :drool: (more…)
I have 2x spares for Everton away, face value and United end. PM me if you want them, first come first served. (more…)