Here's a good article on the annual "War of Words": http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/3758916.stm Notice how Arsene keeps improving and SAF slips? I do have to give him credit, though, the 1997 comment made me laugh.
I'll bite. You were also relegated in 1974. BFD. P!ssing contests abound. That was then, this is now.
Actually, my all knowing sweaty-jock friend, Pires' remarks were extracted from the updated version of his auto-biography 'Footballeur'. So he was doing anything but stoking up the flames for the game this weekend. In fact it was the media's choice to run the stories that came out last week, so Ferguson was clearly the only one trying to create some controversy before the match itself. More extracts from Pires' book in the Guardian today.
Well, obviously HE did since they were printed in the Guradian. Do you need some help with reading comprehension, or are you terminally dimwitted? The point is that he wrote them in his book, which he obviously started sometime before the last two weeks. When the press wanted to print something from it, this was obviously the most topical excerpt to use. I can't see Robert's views on his early days in kindergaten football selling a lot of papers, can you?
Engage brain before typing. So Pires was the one who allowed them to print parts from his book. Did he specify what parts? Did he see the final article? What part did Pires play? If you want to defend Pires, then you must get the answers to these questions, so that we can figure out the role that Pires played in the comments being published.
Dude, give it up. You prove that he specified what portions of his book were to be used. More than likely it was his editor or the newspaper people and he just said sure, whatever. Even still, you're the one who needs to engage his brain before typing. Like I said in a previous post, Pires said nothing about how Arsenal was punished unfairly or Man U got off easy. He talked about how it galvanized the team. Sir Red Nose was the one ranting and raving about what a horrible scene it was and how Arsenal got off so easy.
The chain of events: Pires brings up incident saying it was key to Arsenal's season and worth it. Sir Alex responds. Arsenal fans/Wenger spit the dummy. In other words, Pires was the catalyst and the finger should be pointed at him and no-one else. If you wish to defend Pires like its_only_ray_parlour and Coach_McGuirk, then you need to provide evidence to prove your point.
You're the one that keeps going on and on about how pires did it. You prove it. Truth is that you can't, so you want us to. Innocent until proven guilty. Why are you still trying to make this big reach. If just talking about the incident can wind up SAF so much then he truly has lost it. Hell, everyone was already talking about the incident anyway. Why don't you blame a million other people too while you're at it.
The comments were from Pires. Therefore he is responsible. That is fact. If he is somehow not responsible, then provide some evidence. It's not rocket science mate...
It's not rocket science mate. You're the one who keeps saying he did it to start this crap up. You prove that. That is what I was referring to. Are you ignoring the rest of my post for your benefit? Or are you going to blame a million other people for talking about this stuff the week of the Arsenal/ Man U game.
You ********in idiot. Pires said that that game helped spark them and brought them together. Pires never said that Arsenal were punished too harshly or whatever. Sir Fergie (why the hell do I even bother to put 'Sir' before) wanted to turn it into a flame war and brought up the ugly incidents that happened. Pires wasn't looking to start some stupid battle, but I guess he should've known better knowing that SAF likes to take things to a whole 'nother level. Christ almighty.
No, I have never stated that Pires deliberately did it to start this crap. That is not the point. The point is that it was all started as a direct result of his comments. He might not have intended it, but his comments resulted in Sir Alex responding and then everything else... I'll make things easier for you lot. Pires' comments = subject brought up + response = big argument Therefore (as I correctly stated), Pires was the catalyst whether you lot like to admit that or not. I responded to this thread because you where having a go at Sir Alex. I merely pointed out that he was responding to comments made by an Arsenal player. Therefore, if you lot are so unhappy with the comments, then you should tell your players not to bring things up. If it wasn't for Pires, we would not be having this debate. otterulz, if you cannot respond in a mature manner, then don't bother at all. Read what I posted above.
Give it up Teso. Nobody buys your argument but yourself. Pires comments were very innocuous while SAF's ridiculous comments were totally over the top. It's obvious that SAF was trying to wind people up, while apparently Pires' comments only wound you up.
Everything stated above is purely your own opinion and in reality there is absoluly no evidence to support this view. Ferguson's comments make no reference to Pires or the extracts from Pires' book. So trying to palm it off as an incontravertable fact is quite simply laughable, but then that's not suprising as judging by your previous posts on these boards you seem to habitually mainitain an over-inflatuated opinion of yourself, along with your tedious abuse of the - smiley. Again, it is your claim that Ferguson would not have made these comments if your stated reason hadn't occured, the weight of historical evidence to the contrary would certainly not support that. To the extent that it would appear likely that you've had your head wedged so far up-your own ass that you'd missed Ferguson's bi-annual sniping before this fixture every season. In all likelyhood, the fact that Arsenal are the forthcoming fixture & that they are returning to Old Trafford for the first time since the melee took place last season was much more of a probable "catalyst" than your hypothesis. Ya know.
No, no, no....don't you understand? What matters is who said what FIRST. It's all about catalysts and reactive agents and such. For instance, if I said..."I like the Red Sox. I hope they win.", the warranted response to my statement would be..."The Red Sox are horrible...they're all thugs and greasy long haired hippies who should be shot and thrown in jail after they're shot." See, my comment would naturally provoke such a well-reasoned response.
What you just stated is your opinion, not a fact. Like I have said twice before, attributing SAF's comments to Pires is BIG reach. From all that I have seen there is no definite link between the two and you haven't provided one. I ask again. Are you going to blame a million other people for talking about the incident this close to the game?
I'll answer your question first. No, I am not going to blame a million other people. However, I will blame the person who brought up the incident first, was involved and is high profile figure. "Sir Alex Ferguson has accused Arsenal of 'getting away with murder' last season, agreeing with Roberto Pires' claims that the high profile skirmish with Manchester United buoyed The Gunners to the title. " - planetfootball That took me a minute to find. Funny how no-one else managed to. It shows that Sir Alex's was responding to the comments from Pires. I will state yet again, Pires was the catalyst, intentional or not. its_only_ray_parlour -
Finally, you supported your argument. Please notice I asked you for this a week ago in this thread. https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=144743&page=2&pp=15 Now I ask you to go up and read Yossarian's post. It displays pretty well how reasonable SAF's response was.
First time i've seen that transcript of Ferguson's comments. How annoying. Still, Ferguson has a history of making these types of outbursts even if as it seems the extracts from Pires' book appear to have been noted by him, in light of the forthcoming game i believe it to be unlikely, that he wouldn't have aired his opinion on last seasons events at some points, he certainly had somethings to say on the matter. However warped they may have been. Whatever he had to say to the papers, it would have still ended up as my toilet paper.
Ooh, I guess I got under you skin a little Teso. If you wanna put it that way, then yes, I guess Pires techinically did initiate the whole thing. But Pires had nothing negative to say about ManUre, only that the Battle At Old Trafford helped bring the team together. And from your post, Fergie did acknowledge that as well, but went on to say that Arsenal got away with murder. I mean, seems like he's just starting a whole new war of words. Not that any of us should be surprised, but it's getting old quick if he's trying to get the mental edge on Arsenal.