Man Utd Thread:

[ross4life]

Awful result thanks to VDS 

Edit* knew it wouldn't take Norf  long to make a comment:

To be fair I am not overly confident that Chelsea will put the boot in later, but now it's level par as such!

I guess you talking about my HT report & i don't see where i was over confident? & it would have been a comfortable win if VDS didn't decide to play like Almunia today

[Boycey]

You can't legislate for the two goals that the Baggies got today but the hugely disappointing thing was that there was still 35 minutes left and in that time United never looked like scoring and fair play to Brom they didn't retreat into their shell and if anything could have gone on to win the game.

[ross4life]

Yep were poor that last 35mins

Last season United only drew 4 games all season while this season 5 draws in 8 games & not able to hold onto a 2 goal lead

Very frustrating 

[The Real Laoislad]

Only gaelic football and hurling allowed Boycey, everything else means you are not a true Irish man

Just cleaning my 7 iron then getting the missus to iron my plus fours for tomorrow morning 

I find Coca Cola is great for cleaning the irons

[cookstownblue]

Yep were poor that last 35mins

Last season United only drew 4 games all season while this season 5 draws in 8 games & not able to hold onto a 2 goal lead

Very frustrating

Think United has lost that fear factor of late. Throwing away leads is now become accustom to the Reds. A lot of silly points dropped this year all ready. Gives City good chance to extend their lead.

[Rocky Mc Guigan]

Another shocking display by a United team more and more resembling the side of the mid 80's.

[snoopdog]

What is the big attraction to supporting an English team? i never quite understood it. Back home in the local the barstool republicans would be chanting up the RA and booing the English international team yet are 100% devoted to Man U and Liverpool. Even worse is that the day tripper Irish fans are despised at Old Trafford and Anfield.

If you don't understand it don't let it bother you.

Why do you lot even live in Ireland if your that into English culture why dont you just move over there? Nothing worse then west Brits pretending to be other wise.

Great Article here about the barstoolers

http://www.football-corner.org/2010/04/18/irish-people-supporting-english-teams/


Ask 100 Irish people what football team they support and chances are, 99 of them will say they support an English team. Ask those 99 people who they want to win the World Cup this summer and chances are, 98 of them will say something along the lines of : "I just hope England don't fuckin' win it."
It is one thing I have never understood as someone who goes to watch his favourite team, Bohs, play every Friday night. Why barstoolers, as they are more commonly known, "support" an English team week in week out, yet when it comes to the English national team, all they want to do is see them fail.
An Irish Manchester United "fan" would simply adore a player like Wayne Rooney every weekend by wearing their replica jerseys with "Rooney 10″ on the back, however when it comes to Rooney lining up in the white of England, they want to see him lose.
It is a sad fact of life that as thousands upon thousands of "football fans" in Ireland sit in the pub every Saturday afternoon to "support" their favourite team from behind a TV screen, the majority of League of Ireland clubs continue to struggle to attract more than 3,000 people to a game every Friday night.
The majority of barstoolers will blame the quality of the league as the reason why they don't bother spending €15 to go and actually watch a game of football. "Ah, I watched a game on the telly last week and it was shite" is something I hear quite a lot. These people think they know everything about the club they "support" from behind a TV screen. They refer to the likes of Liverpool as "we" and they go on talking about why Rafa has to be sacked for weeks on end.
The large majority of Irish people have absolutely no connection with the English club they "support" and yet they still refer to the English club as "we". It really does sicken me when I scroll down through FaceBook on a Saturday evening looking at my friends status updates and I'll I can see is : "Rooney, you absolute legend" or "Come on Liverpool, we have these pricks."
I have no problem with an Irish person having a favourite English team but the thing that really gets to me is the fact they simply can't be bothered getting of their arse on a Friday night to go and support our domestic league. I don't understand how they call themselves football fans when the only time they ever actually watch a game of football is on the telly.
Barstoolers will never feel what a proper football fan feels. They will go over to Old Trafford or Anfield once a season and think they are great because they travelled so far to support their club but in actual fact they are just customers.
They will never feel the heartache of a real fan when his side concede in the last minute to be knocked out of the cup. They will never feel the jubilation of a real fan as he runs onto the pitch to celebrate with his heroes after his side have just won the league.
Even as a Bohs fan, I have far more respect for a Shamrock Rovers fan than I do for a barstooler.
The League of Ireland will survive for the simple reason that some people in this country actually enjoy going to watch live football and not just sit in a bar or sit at home, pretending to be a real fan.

What an absolute crock of shite that article is

what a load of rubbish. i follow united but couldnt care less what ireland or england do at international level.
International football is a load of tripe.So is irish league and league of ireland

[snoopdog]

United have been over run in midfield every game this season. we badly need a holding player in the middle. Hargreaves isneeded now if he is ever gonna come back.

[Peter Solan the Great]

Monday Night Soccer Behind the scenes with Con Murphy
Tuesday, 10 August 2010 17:15
It's been a week of contrasts for me.

From a massive low at the Aviva Stadium last Wednesday when the Airtricity XI took on Manchester United, to the high of the Stadio Alberto Braglia in Modena the following night, when Shamrock Rovers lifted the spirits with a tremendous performance against Juventus in the Europa League.

You might be saying, 'here he goes banging on about Shamrock Rovers again' and I suppose you'd be right. But it did my heart good to see so many supporters dipping deep into their pockets to travel to Italy to support a team from Ireland, having witnessed what I can only describe as the fiasco of the previous night at the Aviva, when so many thousands of Irish people turned up to cheer an English team playing against an Irish team in Dublin.

I genuinely felt very sad walking up to the stadium from Ringsend, watching the countless kids, families and adults all decked out in the Manchester United colours. If only even a percentage of that number would come out and support their local team we'd all be in a much better place.

It was a point echoed by my guests on RTÉ Radio that night, Pete Mahon and John Devine. Two great football men, steeped in the game, and both equally frustrated that these football fans, would shun their local teams in favour of supporting a foreign team.

Having said that, Pete did admit that the Red Devils were his team from years ago, when his peers, the likes of Gerry Daly and Mick Martin were playing for them. But they came second to his involvement in the game here at home.

I thought it was telling that the Airtricity selection had the word 'Ireland' printed on the back collar of their jerseys and yet we had Irish Manchester United supporters booing them. Not all of them were booing of course, but some of them were.

That's Irish fans, booing Irish players, in an Irish venue. The mind boggles.

Others like Eamon Sweeney in the Sunday Independent have written far more eloquently than I ever will about this issue, and if you missed Eamon's article this week, I'd recommend that you look it up online.

There's no doubting the gulf in class between the United team and the Airtricity League selection. Nobody would argue that point, although in fairness to Damien Richardson, who has received some stinging criticism for his team's performance, he only had two days to work with his players prior to the match and he was also without the Shamrock Rovers players who would surely have strengthened his squad.

I would defy anyone to get a bunch of players together for the first time, and try to mould them into a cohesive unit in just 48 hours, especially when facing the might of Rooney, Owen, Berbatov and Co.

All in all, I found it a totally dispiriting night. The false atmosphere in the stadium, the 12-inch extended remix of the bloody Mexican wave (always a sign that the match is not holding the crowds interest), the colour red everywhere.

I've never been as unhappy at a match in Lansdowne Road and that includes some bad nights for Ireland at the venue down through the years.

Compare the phoney atmosphere at the Aviva to the real atmosphere at Tallaght Stadium on Sunday for the meeting of Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians where both sets of supporters contributed to a super noisy and tense atmosphere in the ground.

Or the atmosphere in Modena, where 900 drenched Rovers supporters did a great impression of Gene Kelly, by singing in the rain and making lots of noise, something that didn't go unnoticed by the Italians around me in the stadium who were quick to praise the Hoops fans for the great support they gave the team.

I'm sure Manchester United fans will say 'get over yourself' as they're perfectly entitled to do, but in their heart of hearts, I hope they think deeply about what supporting a football team is all about.

What is it?

Why do we follow one team over another? Why does somebody in China, Canada, or Cabra don the red jersey of Manchester United?

Surely it should be about a sense of community. A feeling of pride about the group of players who take the field to represent your town, city, area, whatever.

That's why I've seen grown men shed tears when their team has won a trophy, or been promoted, or been relegated. Really.

Why should somebody in Cork care if Alex Ferguson's multi-millionaires add another league trophy to the cabinet? Why not support Northampton if you are going to pick a random English team to follow?

Is it all about the success and glory that ensues when one supports Man U?

If so, what is the need in people that they feel they have to follow a successful team to get their kicks?

I know I'm probably drifting into psychoanalysis that is above my understanding, but I also know for sure that I'd rather see someone from Cork support Cork City first, and if they want the thrill of following Man United second, well and good.

By the way, some of my best friends and workmates follow English teams, much to my chagrin, and my sister is a season ticket holder at Arsenal, but in her case she lives in Highbury, so I'll forgive her that one!

We had a good debate in studio this week about the merits or otherwise of the Airtricity Man United friendly, and as Roddy said, it was more of a money making exercise for the FAI than anything else, and there's no crime in the FAI putting on a match to raise much needed funds.

But there was disagreement between Dave Barry and Tony McDonnell about whether the game was damaging to the reputation of the game here in the long run.

[ross4life]

Another shocking display by a United team more and more resembling the side of the mid 80's.

At least in the mid 80's United had leaders like Robson,Strachan & Moran! today was the most shocking result while Sunderland game was the most shocking display

P.S Peter other than trolling on a Man United thread what are trying to achieve?

[Peter Solan the Great]

The night I was embarrassed to be Irish

by Eamon Zayed
Wed, Aug 11 2010
I remember it well; I was 11 years of age. The year was 1995, it was February 15th and Ireland were playing against England at Lansdowne Road Stadium. I was down in the local indoor soccer hall in Ballinteer training with my team at the time, Broadford Rovers.

One of the parents came in shouting, "its 1-0 to Ireland, David Kelly has just scored". In that sudden instance, we all just stopped what where doing, looked at each-other and began jumping up in the air and cheering Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole. Even the parents that where there joined in with us.

However, the joy and celebrations were to be short – lived and I will never forget the disgusting scenes and violence that followed by the visiting English supporters. I am sure everyone is well aware of the incident in which I am talking about.

I know it was only a small minority of English supporters that were involved in that incident and I am sure that the violence seen that day would never be repeated if the English visited Ireland again to play a football match. Nevertheless, it is something that will always remain in my mind until history can be re-written.

That game, that night left a bitter, bitter taste in my mouth and I long for the day that Ireland get the chance to play England again at the new Aviva Stadium as there is definitely a game owed. With all that said, I would never, ever support an English team against an Irish team, in any sport.

This brings me to last Wednesday night when the new Aviva Stadium historically opened for business. The very first game to be played at the stadium, arranged by the F.A.I, saw former English Premier League Champions, Manchester United; play against an Irish Airtricity League squad selected by Damian Richardson.

I organised to go the game with my little brother who comes to all my Sporting Fingal games. I am not going to lie; I am a Manchester United supporter and an all round football fan so getting the chance to see some of the best footballers in the world play was an exciting prospect. However, even with that fact, there was only ever going to be one team I was supporting that day and that was the Irish side. Our team!!

Walking from my car in Donnybrook to the Aviva Stadium, I saw a sign of what was to come. All I saw was a sea of Manchester United jerseys and scarves, with the odd St.Pats, Bohemians or other league representative colours. It was obvious, there was only one team that people were there to see, there to support, and it was not the Irish side.

So, as the game kicked off, we took our seats. People either side of us were discussing the Manchester United squad freely; giving their opinions on the likes of Nani, Berbatov, Rooney and co and discussing how well they will get on this season. No mention was given about the Irish Airtricity side at all. One kid even asked if Robbie Keane was playing!!

The first chants I heard was that of the name "Rooney", heard throughout the stadium. As United got a firmer grip on the game, basically from the 10th minute onwards, more chanting and cheering was aimed at them. The seven goals that they scored were met by huge roars from the 50,000 people within the stadium.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing and witnessing. Irish people chanting against their own, roaring on the team from the other country, which happened to be England.

I was so embarrassed to be Irish at that point. I know and understand that most people were there just to have the chance to see Manchester United in the flesh but to cheer against their own and basically cry for more goals against the Irish side is something that I hope I never have to witness again.

It also really does put into perspective what the majority of Irish people think of our own domestic league. And then, when I got home I put on RTE to watch the highlights of the game and the comments made especially by Bill O'Herlihy. His attitude was so condescending towards the Airtricity Irish team and he basically made a mockery of our League here, on National T.V.

Another reason for attending the game was that I was interested like many Airtricity League fans in how we could compete against such a massive world footballing power like Manchester United. Obviously, we all know how the game went and the score line says it all really, 7-1, it was a no contest. The performance by our side wasn't great at all to be honest.

However, we as a league are better than that and the game was not and is not a true reflection of our league. If we put it all into context, the team never ever really stood a chance. Not only were they playing against one of the best teams in the world, but they were only put together recently and they met each other as a squad for the first time 48 hours prior to kick off.

That kind of amateur organisation and preparation was seen on the pitch on Wednesday night. If the F.A.I are serious about organising any more games like that in the future, they should do it right. They should at least announce a team like that sooner and give them more time for preparation.

Brian Shelley hit the nail on the head last week when he said after the game that his Bohemians team, and Shamrock Rovers or Sporting Fingal for that matter, would have proved a tougher opposition for Manchester United as they are a team that play week in week out for one another and hence, they know each other well and would be better organised as a team.

Back to the title of this article, last Wednesday night I was very embarrassed to be Irish. It was a sad, sad day to be both Irish and an Airtricity fan.

[snoopdog]

What is the big attraction to supporting an English team? i never quite understood it. Back home in the local the barstool republicans would be chanting up the RA and booing the English international team yet are 100% devoted to Man U and Liverpool. Even worse is that the day tripper Irish fans are despised at Old Trafford and Anfield.

If you don't understand it don't let it bother you.

Why do you lot even live in Ireland if your that into English culture why dont you just move over there? Nothing worse then west Brits pretending to be other wise.

Great Article here about the barstoolers

http://www.football-corner.org/2010/04/18/irish-people-supporting-english-teams/


Ask 100 Irish people what football team they support and chances are, 99 of them will say they support an English team. Ask those 99 people who they want to win the World Cup this summer and chances are, 98 of them will say something along the lines of : "I just hope England don't fuckin' win it."
It is one thing I have never understood as someone who goes to watch his favourite team, Bohs, play every Friday night. Why barstoolers, as they are more commonly known, "support" an English team week in week out, yet when it comes to the English national team, all they want to do is see them fail.
An Irish Manchester United "fan" would simply adore a player like Wayne Rooney every weekend by wearing their replica jerseys with "Rooney 10″ on the back, however when it comes to Rooney lining up in the white of England, they want to see him lose.
It is a sad fact of life that as thousands upon thousands of "football fans" in Ireland sit in the pub every Saturday afternoon to "support" their favourite team from behind a TV screen, the majority of League of Ireland clubs continue to struggle to attract more than 3,000 people to a game every Friday night.
The majority of barstoolers will blame the quality of the league as the reason why they don't bother spending €15 to go and actually watch a game of football. "Ah, I watched a game on the telly last week and it was shite" is something I hear quite a lot. These people think they know everything about the club they "support" from behind a TV screen. They refer to the likes of Liverpool as "we" and they go on talking about why Rafa has to be sacked for weeks on end.
The large majority of Irish people have absolutely no connection with the English club they "support" and yet they still refer to the English club as "we". It really does sicken me when I scroll down through FaceBook on a Saturday evening looking at my friends status updates and I'll I can see is : "Rooney, you absolute legend" or "Come on Liverpool, we have these pricks."
I have no problem with an Irish person having a favourite English team but the thing that really gets to me is the fact they simply can't be bothered getting of their arse on a Friday night to go and support our domestic league. I don't understand how they call themselves football fans when the only time they ever actually watch a game of football is on the telly.
Barstoolers will never feel what a proper football fan feels. They will go over to Old Trafford or Anfield once a season and think they are great because they travelled so far to support their club but in actual fact they are just customers.
They will never feel the heartache of a real fan when his side concede in the last minute to be knocked out of the cup. They will never feel the jubilation of a real fan as he runs onto the pitch to celebrate with his heroes after his side have just won the league.
Even as a Bohs fan, I have far more respect for a Shamrock Rovers fan than I do for a barstooler.
The League of Ireland will survive for the simple reason that some people in this country actually enjoy going to watch live football and not just sit in a bar or sit at home, pretending to be a real fan.

What an absolute crock of shite that article is

what a load of rubbish. i follow united but couldnt care less what ireland or england do at international level.
International football is a load of tripe.So is irish league and league of ireland

you have some neck slagging off united and liverpool fans in ireland wy dont you join your sectarian mates on the St Pauli site you clown. After all they have only started it since Foot Focus did a bit on them and some guy in a celtic jersey went on about their links.if you follow loi good for you but dont come on here and tell us who to support.

[snoopdog]

The night I was embarrassed to be Irish

by Eamon Zayed
Wed, Aug 11 2010
I remember it well; I was 11 years of age. The year was 1995, it was February 15th and Ireland were playing against England at Lansdowne Road Stadium. I was down in the local indoor soccer hall in Ballinteer training with my team at the time, Broadford Rovers.

One of the parents came in shouting, "its 1-0 to Ireland, David Kelly has just scored". In that sudden instance, we all just stopped what where doing, looked at each-other and began jumping up in the air and cheering Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole. Even the parents that where there joined in with us.

However, the joy and celebrations were to be short – lived and I will never forget the disgusting scenes and violence that followed by the visiting English supporters. I am sure everyone is well aware of the incident in which I am talking about.

I know it was only a small minority of English supporters that were involved in that incident and I am sure that the violence seen that day would never be repeated if the English visited Ireland again to play a football match. Nevertheless, it is something that will always remain in my mind until history can be re-written.

That game, that night left a bitter, bitter taste in my mouth and I long for the day that Ireland get the chance to play England again at the new Aviva Stadium as there is definitely a game owed. With all that said, I would never, ever support an English team against an Irish team, in any sport.

This brings me to last Wednesday night when the new Aviva Stadium historically opened for business. The very first game to be played at the stadium, arranged by the F.A.I, saw former English Premier League Champions, Manchester United; play against an Irish Airtricity League squad selected by Damian Richardson.

I organised to go the game with my little brother who comes to all my Sporting Fingal games. I am not going to lie; I am a Manchester United supporter and an all round football fan so getting the chance to see some of the best footballers in the world play was an exciting prospect. However, even with that fact, there was only ever going to be one team I was supporting that day and that was the Irish side. Our team!!

Walking from my car in Donnybrook to the Aviva Stadium, I saw a sign of what was to come. All I saw was a sea of Manchester United jerseys and scarves, with the odd St.Pats, Bohemians or other league representative colours. It was obvious, there was only one team that people were there to see, there to support, and it was not the Irish side.

So, as the game kicked off, we took our seats. People either side of us were discussing the Manchester United squad freely; giving their opinions on the likes of Nani, Berbatov, Rooney and co and discussing how well they will get on this season. No mention was given about the Irish Airtricity side at all. One kid even asked if Robbie Keane was playing!!

The first chants I heard was that of the name "Rooney", heard throughout the stadium. As United got a firmer grip on the game, basically from the 10th minute onwards, more chanting and cheering was aimed at them. The seven goals that they scored were met by huge roars from the 50,000 people within the stadium.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing and witnessing. Irish people chanting against their own, roaring on the team from the other country, which happened to be England.

I was so embarrassed to be Irish at that point. I know and understand that most people were there just to have the chance to see Manchester United in the flesh but to cheer against their own and basically cry for more goals against the Irish side is something that I hope I never have to witness again.

It also really does put into perspective what the majority of Irish people think of our own domestic league. And then, when I got home I put on RTE to watch the highlights of the game and the comments made especially by Bill O'Herlihy. His attitude was so condescending towards the Airtricity Irish team and he basically made a mockery of our League here, on National T.V.

Another reason for attending the game was that I was interested like many Airtricity League fans in how we could compete against such a massive world footballing power like Manchester United. Obviously, we all know how the game went and the score line says it all really, 7-1, it was a no contest. The performance by our side wasn't great at all to be honest.

However, we as a league are better than that and the game was not and is not a true reflection of our league. If we put it all into context, the team never ever really stood a chance. Not only were they playing against one of the best teams in the world, but they were only put together recently and they met each other as a squad for the first time 48 hours prior to kick off.

That kind of amateur organisation and preparation was seen on the pitch on Wednesday night. If the F.A.I are serious about organising any more games like that in the future, they should do it right. They should at least announce a team like that sooner and give them more time for preparation.

Brian Shelley hit the nail on the head last week when he said after the game that his Bohemians team, and Shamrock Rovers or Sporting Fingal for that matter, would have proved a tougher opposition for Manchester United as they are a team that play week in week out for one another and hence, they know each other well and would be better organised as a team.

Back to the title of this article, last Wednesday night I was very embarrassed to be Irish. It was a sad, sad day to be both Irish and an Airtricity fan.

embarrasing was watching russia and slovakia dance around ireland this last week. some joke of a team tha pasta muncher has put together.

[Geoff Tipps]

Another shocking display by a United team more and more resembling the side of the mid 80's.

At least in the mid 80's United had leaders like Robson,Strachan & Moran! today was the most shocking result while Sunderland game was the most shocking display

P.S Peter other than trolling on a Man United thread what are trying to achieve?

He won't be able to answer that without digging up another piece of shite article that someone else wrote. He's googling as I type no doubt 

[ross4life]

What is the big attraction to supporting an English team? i never quite understood it. Back home in the local the barstool republicans would be chanting up the RA and booing the English international team yet are 100% devoted to Man U and Liverpool. Even worse is that the day tripper Irish fans are despised at Old Trafford and Anfield.

If you don't understand it don't let it bother you.

Why do you lot even live in Ireland if your that into English culture why dont you just move over there? Nothing worse then west Brits pretending to be other wise.

I'll post a full list of my hobbies and interests up here tomorrow and maybe you would go through them and tell me what is and isn't acceptable.

Poor oul Peter sounds like he's having a bad day 

I'm sure Pete wake's up angry! he talk's/types the Queen's English then goes shopping at Tesco,Boots & probably has a Vodafone & read's the Daily star/sun etc...