Manchester United News

[Father Ted]

Duff's agent is baffled at United's snub:
http://www.rte.ie/sport/2003/0722/soccer/devlin.html

[Lancashire Lad]

please try this link

http://www.football365.com/All_News/News_Features/story_75361.shtml


I know its nothing to do with United but I thought it was amusing and decided to share.

[cachundo]

This article talks about United's long-term view on marketing in the U.S.

In other news, Giggsy visits Ground Zero. Peter Kenyon will ring the bell at the NYSE.

United rouse city that never sleeps (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,27-761183,00.html) United, with an estimated 53 million supporters worldwide, have always been at the vanguard of such ventures, leaving Liverpool and others to fight over the remaining scraps in the Far East market, but this is their boldest move yet. The 16-day tour of the United States has been nearly three years in the making, stemming from the £303 million contract that they agreed with Nike in September 2000.

[CG]

http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/030804/21/e5ksy.html



Barthez to play against Sporting on Wednesday but Fergie is now retracting on what he earlier said in that Barthez would definitely start the Charity Shield.



"Fabien will play in Portugal. He needs a game and he may possibly play in the Community Shield next Sunday, but that is something we need to address when the time comes," said the United boss.

[cachundo]

Here's an article about SAF & his run-ins with American media.

Testy Ferguson ready to let team do talking (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,27-766349,00.html) OVER the past 16 days, Sir Alex Ferguson has had his first taste of the American way and, while reluctant to offend any of his new friends in the United States, he has quietly concluded that they can keep it. Daily press conferences and open training sessions are anathema to the 61-year-old Glaswegian, who has undertaken these duties with something approaching dread.

The sale of David Beckham, a calculated but highly sensitive act, was always going to be off limits — “ahm no gettin’ intae that,” he utters with a glare — but other inquiries, on the future of Juan Sebastián Verón and the failure to sign Ronaldinho, who was due to line up against Manchester United for Barcelona in the early hours of this morning, have also riled Ferguson. With television cameras in front of him, he has had to bite his tongue, rather than act on instinct and call his inquisitors “f****** idiots”. I would have loved for SAF utter "f***ing idiot" to the media. ;)

[The Loon]

Originally posted by cachundo
Here's an article about SAF & his run-ins with American media.

Testy Ferguson ready to let team do talking (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,27-766349,00.html) I would have loved for SAF utter "f***ing idiot" to the media. ;)

already done. well, kind of.

In case you missed it, last year (around October?) , I believe it was at a PLC shareholder meeting. SAF was answering questions from the media, and share holders. To set the "climate", We were not placed well in the table, and our injuries were mounting. Things were not exactly going our way at the time.

In the middle of everything, one "fan" stood up, (I imagine he'd been shooting his mouth off to his pub buddies previously), and asked SAF what the hell he thought he was doing, and effectively told SAF that he was rubbish manager and had lost the plot. I imagine the "fan" felt that he was pretty "brave" standing up to Fergie.

I bet that feeling did not last very long though...

SAF was having none of it and told the heckler that he was a "******************ing idiot". The "fan" was then escorted out.

It was beautiful.

[cachundo]

Thanks! Great story.

I suppose once United have a solid footing in the US, SAF can tell the American media the first thing that comes to his mind. ;)

[Motterman]

http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/030805/21/e5neg.html


City sign massive sponsorship deal

Manchester City have signed a multi-million pound three-year deal with Britain's biggest travel firm Thomas Cook.
From 1 August City's new home, The City of Manchester Stadium, and its training facility at Carrington will bear Thomas Cook branding.

A shirt sponsorship deal with begin at the start of the 2004/5 season and Thomas Cook will also become the club's official travel partner.

"I am delighted at the prospect of Manchester City Football Club working in such close partnership with Thomas Cook,'' said City managing director Alistair Mackintosh.

Many fans will feel that this huge deal reflects the fact that City are now a massive club in the Premiership.

You couldn't make it up! http://pages.prodigy.net/indianahawkeye/newpage12/1.gif

[haven]

Originally posted by Motterman
http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/030805/21/e5neg.html



You couldn't make it up! http://pages.prodigy.net/indianahawkeye/newpage12/1.gif

Don't tell me the emphasis was in the original ;).

[cachundo]

Djemba-Djemba article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/3128259.stm) Sir Alex Ferguson will hand Eric Djemba-Djemba his debut in Wednesday's friendly against Sporting Lisbon in a rapidly changing Manchester United midfield.

With Juan Sebastian Veron set to join Chelsea on Wednesday and David Beckham now at Real Madrid, United are now lacking a creative influence in that area.

And while Djemba-Djemba will prove a dynamic addition alongside Roy Keane, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes, the Cameroon international is not in the Veron mould.

[cachundo]

United's star quality under scrutiny (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,27-771621,00.html) WITH David Beckham all but airbrushed from their history and Juan Sebastián Verón finally written off as an unreliable luxury, it is time tomorrow for the new Manchester United to stand up. Sir Alex Ferguson has declared that it will be an improvement on the old model, a sobering thought for Arsenal et al, but it remains to be seen whether the sale of his most creative midfield players will be seen as yet another masterstroke or as a rare blemish on his managerial curriculum vitae.

Suddenly, Ferguson is eager to point out at every opportunity that his team played their best football last season without Beckham and Verón, since transferred to Real Madrid and Chelsea respectively for almost £40 million in total, and he is correct to do so. It is debatable, though, whether his two-in, two-out policy — Eric Djemba Djemba and Kleberson are the arrivals — has left United with a midfield capable of winning the European Cup again.

After a series of impressive performances during their tour of the United States, tomorrow’s FA Community Shield against Arsenal brings the first chance for a British audience to gauge the quality of the new-look United. Ferguson has never viewed such fixtures as anything more than glorified fitness exercises before a new season, but, fairly or not, the Millennium Stadium encounter will be seen as the first indicator of the club’s prospects post-Beckham.

[Mac_Howard]

I'm afraid I tend to agree. Here's another comment along the same lines:

"To sell one outstanding passer because you do not like his hairstyle, his lifestyle or his wifestyle is perverse enough. To let another go while claiming that the squad was overburdened with midfield players anyway strains belief."

[johno]

Originally posted by machoward
I'm afraid I tend to agree. Here's another comment along the same lines:

"To sell one outstanding passer because you do not like his hairstyle, his lifestyle or his wifestyle is perverse enough. To let another go while claiming that the squad was overburdened with midfield players anyway strains belief."

Makes alot of sense, Becks was damn good, while i can accept his transfer I never dreamed that there would not be a truly great midfielder to take his place, even worse, that Veron would follow him in the same season and still no star, and the comment about a crowded middle is rubbish indeed, dont sign Kleb and Dj Dj, if it costs you Veron, also, if we were strapped for space Butt should have gone, we now have Kleb and Dj Dj who play the same holding midfield possition as he does... I hope SAF and the PLC know what they are doing...

[johno]

I thought some of you may not have seen this, 21 Jimmy Davis is no longer with us....
http://www.planetfootball.com/article.asp?id=158320&cpid=8&title=United+starlet+killed+in+car+crash

[Lancashire Lad]

Rodney Marsh says

http://msn.skysports.com/skysports/article/0,,7-1099703,00.html

[Lancashire Lad]

News of the World have an interview with Keith Harris who arranged Chelsea take over. Harris said there is fresh interest in United. £650m figure quoted.

[The Loon]

Manchester United shares rise on takeover talk
LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) - Shares in Manchester United (LSE: MNU.L - news) , the world's most popular soccer club, surged on Monday on reports of bid interest for the English champions, a week after rival Chelsea was bought by a Russian billionaire.

Manchester United shares were up 9.7 percent at 159 pence in early afternoon trade, close to a 12-month high. The stock was the second biggest gainer in the FTSE 250 index .

Former Football League chairman Keith Harris is considering bidding for the club, although any bid is unlikely to come this year, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Saturday.

The Express newspaper also reported on Monday that another unnamed Russian multi-billionaire was examining a bid -- hot on the heels of last week's takeover of Chelsea by Russian businessman Roman Abramovich.

But soccer analyst Vinay Bedi of London brokerage Brewin Dolphin said any bid would be complicated by the club's complex cross shareholdings and the fact that the British government blocked a bid for the club by satellite broadcaster BSkyB (LSE: BSY.L - news - msgs) in 1999 on competition grounds.

"Manchester United has long been a bid target, but any takeover may be some time away," said Bedi.

A Manchester United spokesman could not be reached for comment.

[Danks81]

What's the word on the hierarchy of Man Utd's top 4 goalkeepers?

[cachundo]

Ferguson seeks youthful elixir (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,27-777126,00.html) SIR ALEX FERGUSON and his “golden generation” of home-grown young players famously defied the convention about winning nothing with kids, but it is to insure against the ageing of that same group of players that the Manchester United manager has shattered the British transfer record this week for a teenager, Cristiano Ronaldo, whom he unveiled yesterday as the brightest in a new galaxy of stars at Old Trafford.

As soon as he decided that age was no barrier to success in his job, shelving plans to retire at the age of 60 and vowing to continue as United manager “indefinitely”, Ferguson recognised that his biggest challenge was to rejuvenate a squad whose greatest asset, the esprit de corps that stemmed from their graduation through the ranks, was rapidly emerging as the greatest threat to the club’s continued success.

[Motterman]

Chief executive Peter Kenyon has hinted he is ready to enter talks with Sir Alex Ferguson about extending his Manchester United reign further.

*And the rest of the EPL cried out in pain...* :D