A week is a very short time in the mad world of football, and just a few days ago many fans were asking questions about new £18m summer signing Anderson. The worry was that just perhaps Fergie had dropped another big transfer bollock, the spectre of Kleberson and Djemba Djemba must still haunt the United manager.
What led to the speculation was Anderson's lack of first team outings thus far. In the games prior Wigan on Saturday, the Brazilian had been barely used and when he was on duty, like on his league debut against Sunderland he just did not look the part.
In the week that followed a report in the Guardian claimed that Fergie had told his backroom team that it might be twelve months before Anderson was ready for the first team, whether or not that report was true, it was an incredulous claim, but one which only added to the debate about the Brazilian.
Coming on the back of a first-class display by Anderson against Wigan on Saturday, there's yet more speculation with the Sunday Mirror claiming that the player is unhappy and wants to return to his former club Porto on-loan because he's not been able to break into the first-team.
You do wonder if this is another case of tabloid mischief-making on one of those quiet Sunday's given that there was so few games on Saturday in the Premier League. It wouldn't be the first time that a tabloid newspaper has made something up and it certainly wont be the last.
Perhaps Fergie needs to read out the riot-act again to our 'gentlemen of the press' - don't they know the rules by now though?
The English media show no restraint in not showing restraint. But, again, there can't be smoke without a fire? Or is this smoke coming from a different fire?
ReplyDeleteThis smoke is more than likely coming from a fire which has been deliberately started by the Sunday Mirror. It was ever thus.
ReplyDeleteThe centre of midfield is an area which on paper at least should be a straightforward hole to plug. In recent times two roles have been given a label, (which we seem to do more & more in today’s game) the holding role & the playmaker.
ReplyDeleteHargreaves is obviously the holding player, sitting just in front of the back four & in a position to break up the opposition play. I hope once he regains his fitness that he becomes a stalwart for united & is also a vocal character because it is in this role that I see the captain of this young team.
Amongst all the fancy talent at OT we desperately need a meat & two veg down to earth common sense type of player. Someone who can provide a backbone for the side. Fingers crossed Hargreaves is our man.
The playmaker, probably the most difficult role to fill. Difficult because we have been spoilt by having probably the most underrated midfielder in the world, in our squad. Paul Scholes who has been a loyal servant to this club will be the most difficult to replace. If he had been 6ft 1” with blonde hair I have no doubt that the worlds media & top clubs would have been knocking on Fergies door for years. I suspect because of his unassuming nature & straightforward approach to life that has kept him just that little bit out of sight in footballing circles outside Old Trafford.
As James has pointed out we have had many attempts to unsuccessfully fill this role in the past & now it would appear we are pinning our hopes on Anderson. Well whether or not he is pining for Porto is not the issue. It is whether of not he can become a legend at OT that matters. I doubt he will be the sort of player that stands in the centre of the pitch & turns around in circles spraying the ball accurately around the pitch like Scholesy has done so successfully over the years. Indeed he appears to be able to both get stuck in & tackle (an area which our hero hasn’t always managed to do) & also explode forward with pace looking to get into the box. He appears goal hungry. Something that Carrick does not.
The bottom line is not what Anderson wants, but what we the fans need. If he fit’s the bill we will soon make him realise that Manchester is home come rain or rain. Old Trafford is where legends are born, not Porto. & which promising young footballer would dare turn their back on an opportunity like that?
Your argument is good enough, but as events have shown, United have not always been what 'the fans want', its up to the management 'up there'. So its more of a question of United decisionmakers, because if it were up to the fans, United would not be in this debt, would not be relying on strength of character so much, would not be even suffering 1-0s for so long.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the fans are the reason the club earns its cash, so it will, like all good politicians, do just enough, or try to do just enough to ensure this constant support, and in the final analysis, what can United do to take away our patronage? Looks like United decisionmakers look to exploit that to their best advantage.
The decision-makers are the Glazers' and they wont be around for too much longer me thinks. Reaason? If they are ever going to make a profit they will need to sell the club on and soon...
ReplyDeleteUnited are in serious trouble in financial terms, a recent report suggested that the club now have to meet annual interest repayments of £100m, and as I understand it, none of the massive loan capital is being paid off.
If however, no one comes and bails out the Glazer family then they and the club are in serious trouble and by definition that could be mean selling off everything from players to the training ground as happened at Leeds who had a fraction of United's current debts.
Somewhat bizarrely though, I for one have a feeling that precisely because the debts are so massive it would make little or no sense at all to send the club into meltdown by holding a fire-sale.
That said as things stand under the present regime I do predict that the club will default on its loans - it is a question of when and not if - when it happens and if the Glazers' haven't sold on the club then control will be wrestled from them.
Before that happens you do wonder how much longer the present owners will continue to support Fergie in the transfer market?
If the Glazers' does not support the manager then the team will eventually start to fail and then the 'Johnny Come Lately's' who now frequent OT in large numbers will drift away as fast they arrived...
Then and only then will the club really need its long term fans who have by and large stood by the club in bad and good times.
Just a small point re the mention of the 1-0’s which appears to be said in a negative way. It was announced at the ground on Saturday that we had just broken a 20 year record in relation the most consecutive victories without conceding a goal.
ReplyDeleteAs I have previously stated we are winning even though we are not yet firing on all four. Surely that is a testament to the quality of out team & manager. To complain about that is a luxury that only a spoilt child can afford.
In relation to the Glazers I am sure JR is correct in his suggestion however United are a sought after commodity. There are many people in the world with as much if not more spondulics than Abramovic. United is the jewel in the football crown & as such will not go short of financial admirers should it become single again. Whilst it may not be ideal to live in trepidation of the Glazers next move I do not believe that we will go down the road of liquidation. I truly believe that there are more people who love the club & want what is ultimately the best for its future than there are who would seek to make a fast buck.
The decimation of half its team in an air disaster surely was the biggest set back that the club will ever face & look how it has survived & gone on to even greater success. Maybe I am a hopeless romantic but I suspect it is romance that has brought so many great players & fans alike to the theatre of dreams.
I agree with nearly all of that Granny and I really hope you're right in that someone comes in and puts the club back onto a sound financial footing, as right now United are a ticking time bomb.
ReplyDeleteAs I alluded to in my comments above, liquidating United wouldn't make a lot of sense, because United are indeed a cash-cow - asset stripping United would bring in peanuts in the big picture.
Owning any football club can be a poisoned chalice and I have one really big problem with the Glazers', which is they couldn't afford to buy the club without huge borrowing, it was on a scale never seen before in football.
My only fear about Granny's post is that romance and the world of hard-nosed business finance do not make good bedfellows. Something is going to have to give and soon I'd say.