Man Utd Thread:

[norabeag]

There isnt really anything wrong with old trafford atmosphere. It is raised for the big games like tonight or Madrid. United fans almost expect to win against the smaller tripe like west ham southampton liverpool etc so they sit and wait in expectation like any big club. I have been to many a big game at old trafford and never experienced anything like it.

+1 Snoopdog. But to say you have never experienced anything like it come on. You never been to To Anfield for one of those Tommy Murphy / Europa league thingamy they aspire to every year

[snoopdog]

There isnt really anything wrong with old trafford atmosphere. It is raised for the big games like tonight or Madrid. United fans almost expect to win against the smaller tripe like west ham southampton liverpool etc so they sit and wait in expectation like any big club. I have been to many a big game at old trafford and never experienced anything like it.

+1 Snoopdog. But to say you have never experienced anything like it come on. You never been to To Anfield for one of those Tommy Murphy / Europa league thingamy they aspire to every year

sorry your right, how could anything be better than the self proclaimed bestest knowlegable  fans in the world with their bedspreads on flag poles singing  celtic songs, anfailed wins hands down

[Jonah]

Christ almighty some of you are embarrassing.
Why are you so obsessed with Liverpool?

[From the Bunker]

League is over! Has been for months. Sky and News papers will try to put a spin on it. But it's over. United are average but they are a more stable club than Chelski and Citeh. Stability wins you leagues consistently.

[BennyCake]

United lack any sort of creativity. Get the chequebook out and sign Gareth Bale or bring back Ronaldo. I had high hopes for Valencia but he's had a poor season. Get Young and Nani out to feck. Both are useless.

[deiseach]

There isnt really anything wrong with old trafford atmosphere. It is raised for the big games like tonight or Madrid. United fans almost expect to win against the smaller tripe like west ham southampton liverpool etc so they sit and wait in expectation like any big club. I have been to many a big game at old trafford and never experienced anything like it.

+1 Snoopdog. But to say you have never experienced anything like it come on. You never been to To Anfield for one of those Tommy Murphy / Europa league thingamy they aspire to every year

sorry your right, how could anything be better than the self proclaimed bestest knowlegable  fans in the world with their bedspreads on flag poles singing  celtic songs, anfailed wins hands down

[trueblue1234]

There isnt really anything wrong with old trafford atmosphere. It is raised for the big games like tonight or Madrid. United fans almost expect to win against the smaller tripe like west ham southampton liverpool etc so they sit and wait in expectation like any big club. I have been to many a big game at old trafford and never experienced anything like it.

+1 Snoopdog. But to say you have never experienced anything like it come on. You never been to To Anfield for one of those Tommy Murphy / Europa league thingamy they aspire to every year

sorry your right, how could anything be better than the self proclaimed bestest knowlegable  fans in the world with their bedspreads on flag poles singing  celtic songs, anfailed wins hands down

[rodney trotter]

I suppose this will be Fergie's final few games at Utd, since he will be leaving in the summer according to one poster
He was more worked up this season because of the way they lost the league last season, pretty obvious.

[magpie seanie]

Bit of an over reaction (as always) to last night. City may just have deserved to edge it last night but United are 12 points clear so it's not time for doom and gloom! The last couple of weeks haven't been great but I expect United will dust themselves down and clinch the title comfortably. That makes it a good year by any standard.

Yes the team/squad needs additions but it's in good enough nick with the likes of Jones, Smalling, Kagawa, Cleverley, Welbeck, Hernandez all so young. Still feel Rafael is not the answer at right back (gave away an amount of ball last night) and Evra needs replacing (not sure if Buttner will be good enough, jury is out) because even though he has been a bit better this season his powers are on the wane. RVP is just out of form but once he gets his next goal he'll rattle a few more in. Rooney lacked game time and was just a shade off the pace.

Anyway - Stoke up next. Hernandez normally scores against them in the Brittania.

[ranch]

Anyway - Stoke up next. Hernandez normally scores against them in the Brittania.

He's played them there twice and scored 2 goals in one of them games, in last years game he was off after 20 minutes injured if I remember correctly.

[stew]

United lack any sort of creativity. Get the chequebook out and sign Gareth Bale or bring back Ronaldo. I had high hopes for Valencia but he's had a poor season. Get Young and Nani out to feck. Both are useless.

l agree with young but nano is a good player, opportunities will not buy either player because I do not think the tanks will allow it!

[stew]

Fergie................................ Just when you thought he had no redeeming features!
Football's Thatcher years
Posted by John Brewin
RECOMMEND522TWEET29EMAIL

GettyImages
Margaret Thatcher inspects the Leppings Lane end of Hillsborough after the disaster in 1989.
It's Christmas time and Sir Alex Ferguson is enjoying himself in the MUTV quiz. It's his turn to provide clues for his teammates. He reaches for the next card and then his face drops. The smile has gone. "The worst leader this country has ever had," he spits.

His teammates, fitness trainer Tony Strudwick and club doctor Tony Gill, answer instantly. "Margaret Thatcher," they say in unison. Ferguson has never hidden his contempt for the late prime minister.

"Do not compare me to that woman!" Ferguson once blasted an ill-advised and unfortunate hack. Nowadays he is accused of being something of a champagne socialist, but Ferguson is from a background that will never forgive or forget Thatcher and Thatcherism. The one-time apprentice toolmaker from Glasgow has never absolved Thatcher of blame for her leading role in allowing the shipyards of his home city to become barren, unused wastelands. She also repeatedly attacked the game he continues to love.

The greatest managers of British football -- Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Don Revie, Brian Clough, Sir Matt Busby and Ferguson himself -- all came from the regional communities that felt the harshest winds of the Thatcherite hurricane. None of them betrayed their roots. She was no friend of football and much of its working-class heartlands. In turn, football was no friend of hers. There will be no minutes of silence for her this weekend.

That Thatcher was a divisive figure has become a quick cliché. Division is in the nature of politics itself, but to divide and rule was her modus operandi, except when it came to those she wanted to crush completely. Football was on her hit list, some way behind the IRA, trade unions and militant socialists in local government but a target nonetheless. Supporters could count themselves as part of the "enemy within" she sought to smash forever.

Hooliganism dated back to the late 1960s, but it got worse under Thatcher and became a particular irritant to her. The year of 1985 was a high point for Thatcherism, the dark days of her early reign had been ridden out and a new type of prosperity was on its way. A timeline of football-related unrest and disaster was upsetting the applecart. A full-scale riot at an FA Cup quarterfinal between Luton and Millwall in March shocked the nation. Thatcher was especially angry that police were attacked at Kenilworth Road.

The Bradford fire on May 11 had little to do with hooliganism but was further grist to the mill for an establishment that wanted to kill off football's affront to law and order. May 29 brought the Heysel disaster at the European Cup final, where 39 Juventus fans were killed when a charge of Liverpool fans caused those fleeing to force a wall in a dilapidated stadium to collapse. Two days later, Thatcher urged the Football Association to withdraw English teams from European competition, a move compounded by UEFA imposing an "indefinite" ban that would last until 1990.

[snoopdog]

Another 3 points closer. United are on auto pilot since Madrid though. Roll on West ham Wednesday night.

[EC Unique]

Utd are just strolling over the line. Great to see RVP score and his celebration was class.

[NAG1]

So what's the verdict on the ins and out this summer?

Rooney poised to sign a contract extension, Nani looks like he has been placed in the shop window recently. Any thoughts?