George was Best. Philippe Auclair writes for Red News on George Best

(this article first appeared in the fanzine, Red News 162)

Philippe Auclair is the author of the excellent new book on Eric, Cantona: The Rebel Who Would Be King (published by Macmillan and available for just £8.99 on the RN site Amazon links). Writing exclusively here for Red News, he talks of his relationship with George Best and being the last journalist to interview him.



This was the sort of assignment you dream of when you become a football journalist. In the last days of the summer of 2005, the magazine I write for, France Football, was about to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its Ballon d’Or award, known as the European Footballer of the Year trophy in England. My enviable task was to get in touch with living former British recipients, who’d be invited to a gala evening on the Champs-Elysées in early December. These were - in order of appearance on this roll of honour -: the mighty triumvirate of Denis Law (1964), Bobby Charlton (1968) and George Best (1968), plus Kevin Keegan and Michael Owen. As we’d always enjoyed a very warm relationship with United, which was rekindled when this arch-Francophile, Alex Ferguson, took over in 1986, it was easy to make sure that Dennis and Sir Bobby would attend the ceremony, which was beamed live on national French television. But what about Georgie?
We all knew how frail he was. He attended very few games, and when he did, it was mostly at Fratton Park, where his friend Milan Mandaric loved to have him by his side in the Directors’ box. When his health allowed him to do so, he’d still appear on Sky Television (though very infrequently of late), making a great deal more sense than most other pundits, if I can say so.
I’d also been told that Best, whose financial difficulties were a secret to no-one, might be reluctant to grant us the lengthy interview we required unless he was paid a substantial sum, a common practice in England, an absolute no-no in France. We needn’t have worried. Over a three-four week period, I exchanged several emails with his long-standing friend and agent Phil Hughes: money was never mentioned once. We’d meet at Phil’s office, in Fulham, 15 minutes down the road from where I lived. I’ll re-phrase this: I was to meet the footballer whose picture was stuck above my bed when I was at my state boarding school, a bleak, brutal place where relief came every afternoon, just before evening study, when we could kick a football on a concrete pitch. You’ll have guessed who I fantasised being then.
Almost forty years later, accompanied by a photographer (you must have seen these last shots of Best, wrapped in a leather jacket, standing against a brick wall, gaunt, haunted, but still smiling that wondrous smile), I knocked on Georgie’s door. No answer. Phil finally opened the door – George had been delayed. What’s more, he had another appointment later on that day. ‘How much time can he spend with us?’ – ‘Half-an-hour, probably’. I froze. By the time the photographs had been taken, I’d be lucky if I could put half-a-dozen questions to the greatest genius British football has ever produced.
George, having phoned twice to apologise for his lateness, eventually emerged from a cab, looking much more sprightly than I’d feared. I hadn’t come empty-handed. In a bag, a replica of the famous blue shirt he’d worn at Wembley in 1968 (which is now framed and hung on our ‘Wall of Fame’ in Paris, signed by the great man, next to autographed memorabilia of Pelé, Yachine, Di Stefano, Cruyff, Beckenbauer – what a team...); a copy of a CD that had been produced by my friend Jim Phelan of Exotica Records, ‘The Best Album’, to which I’d contributed a song (I daren’t tell George what the title was – ‘When Georgie Died’ – it referred to his retirement, of course, but it hits hard, very hard when I play it today); and, in a large white envelope, the formal invitation to our celebratory dinner.
The shoot seemed to last forever. I kept looking at my watch. 10, 15, 20 minutes...When on earth would we sit down? But we did, finally. Phil brewed some tea, and, for the umpteenth time in his life, the angel of Manchester United retold his stories of heaven and hell. Re-reading the interview, I realise that there was little in there that he hadn’t told before; how could it not be the case? For thirty years, George Best’s life had been lived on a wire strung between a legendary past and an uncertain tomorrow. He earned this life by talking about himself, with Jimmy Greaves, with anyone who’d give him a bit of cash. Somehow, however, the stories still sounded fresh, unrehearsed. There’d be unexpected asides, as when he told me that, of all the players he could see on a field at the time, only one of them made him dream – Thierry Henry. He felt a kinship with him, just like he’d felt a kinship with Eric Cantona. Beautiful footballers both, and, crucially, entertainers.
The eyes sparkled. How he loved the game of football, and how he loved Manchester United. There was his charm, too – so many people have spoken about the extraordinary attraction he could exert on both sexes. In that office, a couple of months away from death, he was still a magnetic presence; he was also a keen listener, jumping in mid-sentence, always willing to find a common ground from where to speak to, not at someone – a someone who happened to be me, lucky me.
No mention was made of the next appointment. They’d wait. But as the minutes passed, tiredness started to creep in. His answers became shorter, more perfunctory. I finally woke up and realised I wasn’t talking to my hero, but to a very ill man. I rushed through the questions I’d prepared. I wanted to get out of that small, dimly-lit room. In my haste, I forgot to pass on to him the France Football invitation. I was to be his chaperone. A suite had been booked for him in one of Paris’s best hotels. I’d pick him up, travel with him on Eurostar, first class, of course. His table would be...something else. Denis Law and his daughter Diana, Sir Bobby Charlton and his wife. Eusebio. Luis Figo. Giancinto Facchetti. And two starstruck journalists, Jean-Michel Brochen and myself.
One week later, I heard the news.
George had been rushed to the Cromwell Hospital, just down the road. Television crews were crowding the reception area. Well-wishers were congregating, of which I was one, reporter and fan, desperately anxious to be given some hope that he’d pull through, again. It was an atrocious agony, lived in public, with pictures stolen on mobile phones, garish headlines, you name it – awful, awful. Denis Law fighting back the tears in a car park – we all remember that.
Then, one day, a phone call from a friend at talksport radio. ‘We’ve been told George’s died, mate’. I phoned my paper. ‘Best won’t be with us next week’, I told my editor. ‘His body just broke in a 1,000 pieces’. Then I began to cry uncontrollably, like thousands of others. It was stupid – I didn’t know him – he wasn’t a friend of mine – he was just a footballer I loved. But, of course, he wasn’t ‘just’ a footballer. The important word was ‘loved’. Very few people are given the gift of being loved. He’d been a right bastard at times, I knew that. But he was loved, truly, despite his many faults. And what is there to do but cry when you lose someone you love? When Princess Diana’s car crashed in Paris, the grief that engulfed millions, it seems, had something deeply disturbing about it; what the mourners were mourning was a fantasy, an upper-class woman whose life they’d intersected in gossip columns and little else. Not George Best. A footballer is a giver, and very few gave more than he did. We grieved for someone who’d spent his footballing life offering us the kind of presents you never get at Christmas.
Last week, moving offices, rummaging through boxes containing the flotsam and jetsam of a journalist’s life, I found the envelope I was meant to give to George Best. My heart stopped.
We presented the Ballon d’Or to Ronaldinho that night. But the evening was George Best’s. My then editor, Gérard Ernaud, walked on the stage and said that ‘someone who should be here tonight isn’t. We’ll remember him now, as we will remember him always’. A hush fell into the room. A screen scrolled down and, for two minutes, we watched Best being Best.
All of us, the superstars, the hacks, the hangers-on, turned our eyes towards him. God, how beautiful he was. He should be here tonight. I’m thinking of that moment again, and, honestly, I hate it. Then I think of my favourite poem, Philip Larkin’s ‘An Arundel Tomb’, of which the last line is, famously, ‘What will survive of us is love’. If our ‘almost-instinct is almost true’, George Best will be with us for a very long time to come.

thanks to Philippe Auclair for writing such a moving, emotional and personal piece. His book Cantona: The Rebel Who Would Be King is available from the RN website via the Amazon links.

A Red Perspective on our goalie situation

RN contributor Mojo writes each month for the mag and here he looks at the goalie situation, which we have reproduced here to entice you into giving the mag a go...!

http://www.rednews.co.uk/subscription.php

And next……auditions now available to be United’s number one.

As our goalkeeper, Massimo Taibi, knelt down to field a soft long range effort from Southampton’s Matthew le Tissier, all eyes in the crowd moved upfield in anticipation of another united attack starting. However, a sudden intake of breath from sections behind the goal brought our focus back towards the hapless Italian. I held my head in my hands in total disbelief as I watched the ball’s slow, agonising yet unstoppable trickle towards then over our goal line. Massimo stared at his studs and picked off some turf as he looked to blame the pitch. The game ended drawn while we should have won. All talk in the media was about our blundering liability between the posts. This was a mistake too far and one that had to break any remaining confidence in him as a realistic successor to the great Dane. A week later he did not impress while helping Chelsea score five. The warning signs had been evident during Taibi’s victorious debut at Anfield. Good impressions created by decent one on one saves in front of the kop had to be reigned in by a calamitous attempt to gather a cross which gifted the opposition a goal.

Confidence and self belief are key essentials for any player, but even more so for goalkeepers. They can not hide like an outfield player and any error is magnified by its often instant impact. Ben Foster has suffered from a series of errors this year that started pre season when he made a similar mistake to the one that gifted City their first goal. As one mistake has followed another such errors no longer look like one off accidents, but instead are just the norm.

Some goalkeepers have so much self belief to go alongside their ability that they will always bounce back from any dip in form. Peter Schmeichel’s future was never in doubt. He suffered from a 5 goal demolition at Newcastle which included a lob by Albert for the fifth, and 6 conceded at Southampton. Even a poor kick to gift Barnsley an FA cup lead at Old Trafford never dented his confidence. We always knew that he would soon be making match winning star shaped leaps of bravery as opposition forwards looked on in puzzlement as he defied them.

Some great keepers do lose the plot though. Fabien Barthez had a mixed career at United. Although he won medals and made great saves that proved crucial, he also became error prone. He did come back from famous mistakes such as his salute while Di Cannio played on or his gifts to a laughing Henry that turned a hard fought draw into an embarrassing defeat at Highbury. But his invincibility was gone. I felt he was liable to make a key mistake and the fact that Fergie replaced him with an average Roy Carroll shows confidence in him was lost.

If Van der Sar makes a welcome return from injury it will help to remove the spotlight from the now doubted Ben Foster. Foster needs to summon great mental strength and show a spark of self belief. He has played well in the past – derby away, spurs at Wembley, Arse at home in the second half– but now it all comes down to self belief. Can he recover from his poor decision making? His discomfort in games this year has been alarming and must effect not only our confidence as a cross comes over but also that of his fellow defenders. I have the gift of hindsight now but I want to see our goalkeeper bulldoze anybody in his way. He should have put Tevez and the ball out of play with one kick instead of attempting to play football in such a dangerous area. Equally, I wanted him to put Kenwyne Jones on his arse while punching the ball clear. So can Foster learn from his experience and use it to come back stronger? Will he show the character of Les Sealey or the calamity of Jim Leighton?

Foster either has the mental strength to fight back or doesn’t. He needs extreme confidence which he has not yet displayed in abundance - and inside the club they must already know the answer to this. Was it a good idea for Ferguson to say he would be England’s no 1 for the next 10 years if he does have brittle belief? Foster has not helped his cause to be the long term answer when Edwin retires. I hope that we do not have to go through another shaky transition looking for the successor with false pretenders such as Mark Bosnich or Tim Howard.

Mojo

An exclusive Q&A with United author Tim Webber author of United Nations

Tim Webber is the author of the excellent and enjoyable United Nations: Around the Manchester United World in 80 Games.

Travelling around the world with his girlfriend Clare, he not only follows United games from afar across 11 time-zones, but in the process creates a unique travelogue around his experiences in each country as he witnesses United's global appeal and how the people around it interact with MUFC. Challenging, comical, at times heartfelt; trying to watch United wherever you are in the world can be a challenging experience.

Here Tim gives http://www.rednews.co.uk an exclusive Q&A



So Tim, you travelled the world, and watched United on your way, how did you cope?!

It certainly wasn't a normal season, and obviously missing the games live wasn't great - but it's hard to complain about seven months travelling without sounding a bit ungrateful to say the least! No, the trip was great, the football watching was different but certainly enlightening from a fan perspective, allowing me to see first hand how much is real and how much spin the club likes to put on the situation. Obviously most of what we see co-incides with the tours when it's not surprising that rafts of people turn out to see these 'global stars', it was interesting to see what it was like without the media machine in full swing. Although, ultimately it only served to put Clare (my girlfriend who I travelled with) off football even more than she had been already. So perhaps that question's more for her!

What gave you the inspiration to write the book?

I'd been doing a few United-specific freelance pieces for a couple of Asian websites, and their readers would send questions in and the answers were published the following week. Every single time I was basically answering the same questions, "How's Park doing?", "Why didn't Park play against so and so?", "Is Park leaving because he's not always in the starting XI?" I knew that there was an element of this perspective in the Asian fanbase particularly, but didn't expect it to be some all consuming. I just felt it was such a weird take to have on the team, and while it may have created some of the support in the first place it was just strange that it remained their only preoccupation. I thought it'd be a great spin on the raft of football books that see a given person go to Eastern Europe or Africa and compare their local football with ours, to actually go and see how these thousands of fans, that we're told exist, interact with United, compared to how we do at home. It's definitely a book that from a Premier League perspective could only be written about United. Plus, on top of that, it meant I had an excuse to go and watch United games no matter where we were or what time it was without Clare complaining too much (it worked to a degree!)

How hard was it missing the actual games and how did then watching them from afar feel?

It was harder to start with because each time I felt that I was missing out, plus the fact that it was often pretty difficult to find places to watch the games. Especially while we were in Asia, the time-difference etc just made the whole thing pretty knackering. I think that made it seem worse to an extent, the fact that it was never really all that simple. We moved through 14 countries in total in just seven months so there were only a few times where we were in one place for more than a match, all meaning that every match day we not only had to go and watch a 2.45am kick-off or such like, but had to find a new bar in a new place to watch the thing. Which for the book was great because in a lot of cases this made the journey all the more interesting, because it took us to places we wouldn't normally have considered, and met people that we wouldn't have met in normal circumstances and learnt a lot more about the countries we were in. But, there were plenty of times when I just thought "Fuck, I wish I was at home and could just go to ground." In terms of actually missing out on the games there was just a constant fear that I was going to miss something amazing, so that sense of missing out was much bigger ahead of the bigger matches. Even though I only missed out on seven months, I already felt there was a sense of detachment, because you can't live and breath the club as you normally would, you just don't absorb the level of information that you normally do without noticing. The games did provide my most frequent contact home though as that's when I'd be texting my brother (who I sit next to at OT) all the time, although obviously sending text messages at the ground is never the easiest thing to do!

What would you say was the most bizarre location you saw a game at?

There were a few 'interesting ones'. Watching the semi-final second leg of the league cup against Derby on a TV outside in pitch black on a Kenyan campsite on my own with the bone-shattering noises of hippos yawning in the background was pretty unsettling. I kept a tight grip on my torch although I'm not sure what I thought it would do. But I think the one that illustrated the country we were in the best was when we watching the Manc derby in an Indian family home (in the south of India) and were shown ridiculous hospitality by everyone there. We'd asked this guy who was running the place we were staying where was best to watch the football, as we were in this tiny place with no bars or anything, and he'd tried to sort us a TV but couldn't get one so just invited us to his house. We expected it'd just be us and him, but he had his whole extended family there, and they'd all been sitting around watching something else but just changed their whole evening to accommodate us, and then threw their support behind United to match. Watching a whole family of kids dive into a huddle when Rooney scored was pretty funny. But it just gave such a sense of their family life, people coming and going constantly, it's something that we wouldn't have ever got near if we'd just been there as normal tourists.

United's global appeal, marketing myth or reality?

Well it's a myth I think to the educated eye, there's not huge crowds gathering to watch their every game, there's not a noticeable swell of support across Asia as they'd have you believe. But what I think there is, is a belief that it's reality. There's a cynicism in the UK (as there should be) about the club's press releases, but abroad people seem to swallow them, that's why there's not a great opposition to the ownership, because the club say the finances are fine. So, it's a bit smoke and mirrors but there are signs that it's working financially for the club but only because they seem to have shifted tactics. I don't think they're there to scoop up the man off the street and make him a United fan. They are there to create a level of hysteria, and then use that positive publicity to generate commercial deals. There's evidence of that in places like Thailand, where the club's deal with Smirnoff sees huge billboards with Rooney and Ferdinand advertising vodka, there are ads for the United credit card. It's this sense of the familiar and a sense of presence that they are trying to create and that's why they've got to the point where they can sign the £10 mill deal with Airtel in Saudi Arabia just for the use of player images - there's enough recognition of the 'United brand' that it's not merely about the football for the club in Asia. The sponsorship deals with Budweiser for instance are being used by Bud rather than United in places like Vietnam to create football tournaments with the winners coming to OT, so it's about using the club's name in a mutually backslapping way. But the significance is that it's all in Asia, in East Africa there's huge interest in Premier League football in general (and probably more Arsenal than United to be honest), there are more club shirts than in England, there are small bars in every village with adverts for the next Premier League game. Even a Masai tribe, by the Masai Mara game park had a post office-cum-bar that showed English football. It's there that United and the rest of the league (the big clubs at least) have appeal but of course there's no real money out there compared to the emerging economies, so that's why Asia is the battle ground.

Which country do you most fondly recall now you are back?

Probably Japan I think from purely a travelling perspective - from a United one it was the worst timezone. We were only there for a short time and because we were travelling rather than on holiday we just didn't have enough money to make it really accessible. But Tokyo would be top of the places that I'd like to go back to. The people are so unbelievably friendly as well, it was just brilliant.

And what United related memory from the travels do you remember the best?

There were a few. Watching the derby as mentioned above (in India) was one. Meeting up with a large group for the away game against Inter in Cape Town was enjoyable and gave me a new spin on the social angle of watching the games - it was a much more familiar English style environment - and perhaps that was part of it too. Watching us hammer Chelsea in Delhi was also a good one, it was like watching a football match with the crowd from Gladiators, and as such I'd been expecting to hate it, and was in a bit of a mood 'cos I was missing the game for real, but actually really enjoyed it and the atmosphere. I think the main thing it allowed was putting us in contact with locals that we wouldn't have interacted with otherwise, for instance we watched the World Club Cup final with a United fan who'd narrowly avoided being shot in the Mumbai terror attacks the previous month and it was so interesting to speak to him and have him take us up the road past one of the attack sites, and him pointing out where the attackers had come from and where he'd run to - that sort of thing just wouldn't have happened without us having a mutual appreciation of United.

thanks to Tim for his time. Red News recommends this unique book.

World Exclusive Sir Alex Ferguson interview transcript - shown in the VIP Forum a week ago

the sort of stuff you see in the RN VIP Forums - this exclusive transcript of an interview Sir Alex Ferguson did with an American radio station was in the VIP Forum last week, we show it to the free site lurkers now so they get a taste of all the delights the VIP Forums offer (you can sign up at http://www.rednews.co.uk/vip.php).

Transcribed by Tom Clare of Red News



from http://www.rednews.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=72001

Last week, as most of you on this forum know, Fergie was over this side of the pond, taking a break in New York during the international break. Once again he did an interview with Charlie Stillitano from Sirius Radio. I love listening to these interviews because he comes over in a far different mood than he ever is when facing the English press. I've done a transcript of the complete interview for you all... enjoy it.

C.S. “Good Evening Sir Alex and welcome to the show. How are you doing today?”
SAF. “I’m doing well Charlie”
C.S. “What are you doing here in New York?
SAF. “Well, it’s international break of course and a lot of my players are away and it’s a good opportunity for my wife and I to get a little break and I can’t think of a better place than New York.”
CS. “That’s nice, but where’s your favourite place to eat in New York? Lets start there”
SAF. “Well, there’s quite a few I must say, I mean I have been in some fantastic restaurants in the last week, it’s hard to separate them all. I must say what really impresses me is the buzz in the restaurants, everyone is talking there’s a lively atmosphere, and I really do love it.”
CS. “But I was trying to get you to say that my house is the best place that you’ve eaten at in New York.”
SAF. “Well you did say restaurant!”
CS. “Who’s the best cook you know in New York then?”
SAF. “Oh! Without a doubt you are”
CS. “Oh! There you go then.”
SAF. “I’m still waiting on your recipe for Lasagne.”
CS. “Well, I’ll tell you this, you’ll have it with you at the end of this weekend. I’ll make the Lasagne and I’ll leave a little recipe in a scroll signed up for you there.”
SAF. “You told me that last year!”
CS. “Yeah I know …. But I lied last year. This year I’m going to be honest with you! Actually it’s really difficult to give you the family secrets, but I promise you, this weekend you’ll go home with the family secrets”
SAF. “Great.”
CS. “All right, let’s talk a little bit about the squad this year. Erm, you know you lost Cristiano Ronaldo, probably the best player in the world, certainly if not the best, one of the two best in the world right? Er, he was a good goalscorer for you. How do you replace somebody like that?
SAF. “Well Ronaldo, is always on the face of it, must be a big, big loss. His 26 goals last season were instrumental in all our successes. Erm, you know maybe the thing that maybe people are overlooking is the fact that we have so many young players in the squad who are growing up and improving all the time, and you take the case of the two da Silva brothers. Fantastic young players, and Anderson, Nani, Welbeck, Macheda, Gibson, Evans, they’re all young boys, all under 21, you know, and when you get young players with great ability, you see the improvement and so in the summer, we felt that this was a squad that will only get better.”
CS. “Let me ask you this Sir Alex, some would argue, your success, and I’d be one of these people, that you have the ability to recreate a team, to rebuild a team, and a) is that true? And b) how often how often do you feel that you have to do that to stay on top of the world in football and be competitive with the biggest clubs?
SAF. “Well obviously the length of time I’ve been at United it means I’ve had to make change, and managing change is not an easy thing to do – particularly when the expectations are so high. But your judgment, and assessment of situations, and when its time to change, are important. There are some things that are forced upon you, for instance a player’s age, you know, like, when he gets to a certain age and he gets to the point when he’s no longer the player that he was. And it happens to all of us, it happens to all the players, and it’s an unfortunate thing, and it’s a sad thing for me as a coach when seeing some great players coming to the end of their careers, and you have to have a backup for when that day comes along. That’s why the importance of young players in our club is a pre-requisite.”
CS. “ Yes, but it takes a lot of courage Sir Alex I would think, because I’m sure that there are some players like Giggs, and Scholes and you’re more or less telling them that they can keep going and they can keep going. But there are some players who probably don’t want to leave, and I don’t want you to name anybody like, but it must be difficult when you have a guy who’s been loyal for you, and has done well for you, and still feels that he can go on at that top level but can’t.”
SAF. “Yes, and I think that I would agree with you and I think it’s a hard part of doing the job. It’s not a matter of being ruthless, it’s a matter about what my job is to do. My job is to keep Manchester United at the top. But of course at certain times over the years, players have moved on simply because for that particular reason. To maintain the success rate of the club, to keep it at the top, and therefore evolving teams are a vital part of that.”
CS. “The young kids that you have, is there any one, I mean, you see Anderson I have watched him develop over the last few years and it seems like now he’s at the centre of the holding midfielder role. He seems to have really taken a step forward this year. Something Giorgio and I have talked a lot about and this kid really now seems to be hitting his stride.
SAF. “Well we all think that because we have great expectations of Anderson, we think that as you say the age of Paul Scholes for instance, to get a replacement it would be very, very difficult, but we think in Anderson we have a potential world class player. He’s a marvelous personality, he’s got great courage, he loves playing, he loves traihening, he’s got a great, great chance of becoming a top player.”
CS. “But how about this Macheda kid, because any guy, you know, that was with Lazio family, Giorgio rates highly?”
SAF. “Yes, well I’ve got to be careful when I talk about Italian players you know. The thing about Macheda of course is that he had a great first season. He was only 17 when he made his debut, and scored that winning goal against Aston Villa. That projected him into a different kind of profile. Most people hadn’t even heard of the boy. So now we’re having to deal with the improvement of the lad, and he’s got strong, and he’s got bigger, he’s an outstanding finisher, we’re trying to improve parts of his game which will be important for his development as a top player.”
CS. “You know, I saw him last year, you were kind enough to invite me to the celebration party, only we didn’t celebrate, you know the night you lost to Barcelona. But I saw him there and he had two young Roman girls with him, that were both Roma fans, and I think your comment to me when he walked away was; “When I was 17 I had 3 girls!”
SAF. “Ha, Ha, ha, it’s wishful thinking! I did say that to him actually and he was quite impressed.”
CS”. “No, but he’s a talented player but I want to talk about the da Silva brothers, Macheda, Anderson, Nani, these young players that are coming up, you talk about Welbeck, I mean is it your scouting system Sir Alex, that is most important to you, is the interaction between you and your head scouts? I know your brother Martin is the guy that you obviously trust, and what better person to have than your brother to trust, so is that what it is, the scouting system’s the best one.”
SAF. “I think that the most important thing is that my scouts bring me the material to work on. They bring you the raw material most of the time, if it’s a young player like the da Silva brothers that come and join us, we knew all about them when they were just 14 years of age. We got them when they were 17 eventually, and at 18 they were able to get a work permit. You know we looked back to when they were 14 and these two were outstanding examples of the kind and type of player that we need. But that’s only part of the story. I must say, our coaching, the youth coaches, the reserve team coaches, the first team coaches, are all absolutely first class coaches, and I think that when we get the material that we can work with, all these guys can certainly produce.”
CS. “And you said that you met these guys when they were 14 years old, err your scouts identified them, and what is it, you have a scouting outfit in Brazil that sees the players then follows them throughout the years?”
SAF. “Yes, we have a tremendous scout out in Brazil and he’s now got a tremendous lad assisting him, a young lad, and they scour the country obviously. We think that Brazil is probably one of the best areas in which to scout for players. They have got an inherent ability to play all the time, to train all the time, an ethuisism all the time. We see this in the young Brazilians that we have. It’s a fantastic thing to see. When you go to Rio de Janeiro for instance, you go down to the Copacabana Beach, and they’re playing there at what - two in the morning. All sorts of ages, all sorts of size games, you get 20 a side, 5 a side, they just love playing football. And I think when your scout gets the right type of player from Brazil you get the real good one.”
CS. “My problem was that when I went to Rio, and went on the Copacabana, I looked around, I didn’t see any soccer players, I don’t know, I was distracted by some other things going on there, you know.”
SAF. “I think you were in the Mardi Gras!”
CS. “yeah, I might have been in the Mardi Gras, you’re right. Let me ask you, how has it been for you, life without someone like Cristiano for the club? I mean, has it taken pressure off you as a manger or has it created more pressure for you?”
SAF. “ I don’t think it matters which way in the case of Cristiano because he was quite a low key person really. Yes, he had a great confidence in himself, he was a very good lad, the players liked him, I liked him, all my staff liked him, and it’s not as though the loss has been insurmountable. I think we all expected him to leave at one point and I did to. I remember saying to Carlos two years back that we were doing well to keep him so long, because you know, 6 years for a young lad that’s come from Madeira, and then from Sporting Lisbon as a kid, and then staying 6 years at your club is good going, and I think that we just say well done Cristiano and good luck in your career.”
CS. “You mention a guy like Cristiano from Madeira, you know you get a lot of Portugese kids, and the Spanish kids and they obviously dream of playing for Real Madrid, or Barcelona. You get the odd exception like the guy Torres, he grew up with Athletico Madrid, but for the most part the guys are always trying to play for the big two clubs over there. But I would think that you have a great advantage with the kids from Northern Europe and England particularly, because of the great support that United has every year.”
SAF. “Yes, there’s also a cultural likeness too, for instance the Scandinavians have always found it very easy to adapt to the English game and the culture and they all speak perfect English. That’s always been a plus point for us. Obviously we would like to have English players, we must have a good quota of English players coming through the system, because when you look at the likes of Giggs, Neville, and Scholes, they’re the heartbeat of our club. These are the guys that have laid down the template for all future players, not just at the performance level, but also with their loyalty. The length of time that they have served with us and it’s refreshing in this day and age that you can get young men who have committed themselves to the club for such a long time.”
CS. “ Yes, you were talking the other day abut the goalkeeper Buffon from Juventus, and you were saying how much you admired the fact that when they went down to the Second Division, that he stuck with the club. I would think that’s a quality, do you look for that in a young player when you get him as a young guy or does it just evolve, how does that work?
SAF. “I think it evolves, I think that it evolves in certain ways, if they’re local boys it’s much easier of course like Giggs, Scholes, and Neville, but when you get players who join the club like Darren Fletcher from Scotland, and John O’Shea from Ireland, and they’re now the integral type of player that I’m talking about, the Scholes, Nevilles, and Giggs. And they like those before them have become in their way the heartbeat of the new Manchester United, when Scholesy, Giggsy and them have all gone. Loyalty is something that grows in people. You have got the inner course on how you deal with players, of how you treat them, and the type of family club that Manchester United have, it’s much easier for us to do that.”
CS. Sir Alex is here with us, he’s here on holiday with us during the international break. How worried are you every time these teams play? I saw that Cristiano Ronaldo has picked up an injury, and Torres limped off the other day. As a manager of one of the biggest clubs in the world, everyone of your players is an international, how much does that weigh on you or is it just part of the game that you expect?”
SAF. “Well it is part of the game, unfortunately you can’t do anything about it. You know it’s always a grey area between coaches of the league teams of the Premier Division and the English manager or the Swedish manager or the Italian manager, all the international managers have their jobs to do, and we support that. Particularly when it comes to the issues of competitive games, i.e. the European Championships or the World Cup – it’s very important that these players play for their countries. Friendly games are a different matter, I don’t think that anyone agrees with them, if you’re a football coach, a league coach, whereas international managers have a situation that they find themselves in, I think that some of them actually could do without the friendly games themselves, but the FA’s, the Football Associations from every country warn them that sometimes it’s a nice day for them, a nice trip for them, a sunny day, and in some cases it creates good revenue for them. So you can understand it, but I’ve got to the stage where many, many years ago when I first came to United I used to worry about the players all going away, and I remember one case when we were playing Arsenal in the 5th or 6th round of the Cup at the old Highbury stadium, and Bryan Robson got injured in the international game on the Wednesday before, and missed the cup-tie and we lost 2-1. And I would have thought that if Bryan Robson had been there we’d have been okay. I no longer worry about it, I accept it as part of the international scene. I no longer focus on every match that is going on because there are so many players all over the world so I no longer get myself in a twist about it.”
CS. “You’re looking over at England right now, Scotland suffered through a tougher campaign, a very difficult campaign this time around. England I think that this is the best they have ever done, and Ireland is still battling a big match against Italy this coming weekend, and their second place is secured so they’ll be in the play-offs, these are, you know, I want to go to Cappello for a second, a lot of your players play for these teams, I mean, how does it affect the player, for example a player like Rooney, let’s stick with him for a second, how does the international games affect him?”
SAF. “Well it’s not just Wayne, it’s all the players who play at international level. You want them to play in the important international games, it’s important to them and I want them to play. It’s the friendly matches that are the problem, especially when they turn up in March and April. It’s a coaches nightmare especially if you are in the middle of a European campaign and going for Cups and titles. You have all these fixtures and you have the intrusion of a friendly international game in some unknown country, you know, so that is a definite thorn in everyone’s flesh.”
CS. “Right, well let me ask you this question here with the friendly matches, are there any coaches that come to you and say; “hey, listen Sir Alex, I really need to test my players. I would think that a country like the US for example is a country where they don’t often get their players together, you know, they’re scattered all over the world and some of them are not playing at a high level at all, I would think a manager needs to come to you and say; “hey look I really need to have these guys together.” Do you have a little more sympathy for them when something like this happens, or do you say a friendly is a friendly, we shouldn’t be having this?”
SAF. “Well it depends on what time of the year it is. If they come to me in March my answer would be; “Are you joking?” It depends on the circumstance – for instance there are occasions when I’m hoping a player gets picked. For psychological reasons, to give the player a boost, he’s maybe been overlooked. For instance, Michale Carrick at the moment has not been a regular in the England team, and he’s a very, very, good player. But what with Lampard, and Gerrard, players of that calibre in front of him, or should I say competing with him, then sometimes I’m very hopeful that he’ll get picked and show his true self, and that sometimes happens. You have at times a good strong feeling that this could be good for your player.”
CS. “I would think a kid like Fletcher who has really seemed to blossom under you, and the Scottish manager, and he really seems to have hit his stride, especially in the last campaign that they had.”
SAF. “Yes, I think that he is a developing player who’s matured later. When Darren was 16 he was out of the game for about 18 months with an ankle problem. So when you miss those early years, as a professional, it takes a lot of determination to get yourself back on track. Slowly, but slowly, he did that, and now he’s one of our top players.”
CS. “Which manager did you grow up admiring?”
SAF. “I grew up as a kid and Rangers had a great manager, Scott Symon. I actually played for him when I went to rangers, he signed me, he was a fantastic man. Jock Stein though was the man, he was a genius, he was a marvelous manager.”
CS. “And did you model yourself on Jock Stein?”
SAF. “No, but I think I’ll always remember when I was his coach with Scotland. It was for about a year and a half. I used love those Saturday nights with him. We’d meet on the Saturday right after the game in Glasgow at the McDonald Hotel. Jock though wasn’t a drinker, and he wasn’t a sleeper. We’d have pots of tea every 45 minutes, and I’d be listening to him about his great deeds at Celtic, and I’d be saying to him; “I’ve got to take training in the morning”; and bear in mind this was about 4 in the morning! He’d say; “Och, ye’ll get a sleep in the afternoon!” The old masseur was a wonderful old man, Jimmy Steele, and Jock would say; “Steeley, another pot of tea.” You’d be there gone half past five, then stagger to your bed and I’d be having to take training at 10 o’clock! It was great though, it was great.”
CS. “How about your contemporaries? Is there any one you look at and say; “He’s an excellent manager”?
SAF. “Oh we’ve some excellent managers. You’ve mentioned Fabio Cappello, but Arsene Wenger, the work he’s done at Arsenal has been outstanding. I love Ancelotti, I think he’s a good man, he’s done great work, there’s some great managers in our country. Jose Mourihno when he came to Chelsea, he opened everybody’s eyes, especially with his instant success. Of course he’s now at Inter Milan.
CS. “Well Sir Alex, I don’t want to keep you much longer, but you’ve been just outstanding. However, I must ask you just one last question. Would you ever coach a national team?”
SAF. “Not now. I’m 67 – I’m trying to get a rest!”
CS. “You look better than me for God’s sake….”
SAF. “And you’re 75!
CS. “I’m 24 but I’ve been smoking since I was 12. You’re looking at this book here. Footaller’s Football… you signed a copy for us…the Manchester United version. There’s another club’s in red but I won’t mention that book. But you mention here that there’s an all Scottish team that was playing in the English league?”
SAF. “Yeah, Accrington Stanley in 1955, fielded a team of eleven Scotsmen. That was when we were Kings of the Empire then.”
CS. “Well thank you Sir Alex, thank you for your time and good luck to you for the rest of the year and I hope that you do great in the Champions League, the Premier League, and all the other competitions.
SAF. “It’s been my pleasure and pass my regards on to Giorgio. Well done Charlie.”

RN162 now out

Read Lou Macari every month as he joins Red News as our new mag columnist, order a sub here...

In Issue 162 of Red News... Eric Cantona face mask!

Out October 17th 2009. Every page in colour. Eric Cantona face mask. Michael Knighton, the 1989/90 Season, Besiktas Away, Lou Macari on Foster and Nani, Mojo, LR on wanting Leeds as opponents, Gossip, Matthew Hatton exclusive interview, Pete Shaw hits out at barracking, Loyal through and through - Webby, Dutch Reds on supporting United, and author Philippe Auclair on his last interview with George Best. and much much more.

Finalist for Print Fanzine of the Year 2009.
Shortlisted for Fanzine of the Year 2008 2009.
Henry Winter in Daily Telegraph. June 2009. "Red News is (an) influential fanzine"

Get this latest issue of RedNews today. Doing so gets you a great read and helps us with the costs of running this wonderful site.

Red News reviews the film Looking for Eric out on DVD on Monday

(this review first appeared in the summer mag, Red News 159)

I'm always slightly scared when I see Eric Cantona with grey hair, looking old. It was even worse a few years back when he ballooned in weight into a Jan Molby lookalike, I suppose my fear a sign of my own unwelcome mortality, and, on a slightly more absurd level, it just not fair that King Eric was to age just like everyone else; like you and I, like us mortals.

As he says in the film, albeit the trailer clip not lengthened to show he's actually taking the piss out of himself in the whole scene, “I am not a man — I am CANTONA.” That comes after the film's hero, of sorts, a Little Eric who conjures up Big Eric, tells him: “Sometimes I forget that you’re just a man.” I think we all did for a time.

What with the way we elevated him, however great a footballer, onto this surreal plain, where grown straight men would have offered their wives, or in some cases themselves, as thanks for changing the course and destiny of United's history. The catalyst sort of explains it, but he changed a title challenging side into a winning one, and his Je ne sais quoi, and the success two generations of Utd fans had not witnessed until his coming, meant we didn't just sing about him being a Jesus figure on the terraces, but sort of believed it too.

I still maintain he's the greatest player, certainly the greatest individual, fitting into a team, that I've ever seen, and because so much has happened since he left, though of course you don't forget his contribution, and the highest moments, like placing the ball perfectly around Ian Rush's nose to secure the 1996 Double, you do sort of forget to place the dot to dots of all he did whilst at Utd; and though clips of the goals don't punctuate the film, I can't help but get goosebumps when they are shown. I have seen more gifted players, but none as special as he.

I think I'd have recommended the film if it had just shown Eric having a dump, but it's top class entertainment; funny, moving and sort of, as Ken Loach said he wanted as he spoke at one of the Q&A promotions of the film that I attended, manages to poke fun at the art of celebrity, and hero worship for the likes of Cantona but also maintain, without over patronising it, the reverence that United fans, and Manchester felt towards the wayward son it welcomed in late 1992. Eric says he took to the film because it was about solidarity and camaraderie; United, ‘innit.

The crowd at this advance showing was a right bunch of all sorts. From United fans who had got wind of it to bag prized tickets, some fella from India who just got up to ask a question at the end and instead said he and his country simply loved Cantona, to luvvies; an eclectic mix who obviously had taken to Eric not in the way we did, but understood and lauded his genius in a different way. And nobody seemed to disagree with his twatting of Matthew Simmonds when that was mentioned.

Staring back at myself, this character who loved Eric unconditionally whilst his life fell apart and was put back together around United, and its Number 7, it sort of did the job Loach wanted; not making you feel uncomfortable about how much we celebrated him (but the French flags in abundance at one game they showed unlike any hero worship we've had since), but also recognising he was different, he was adored in a different way to anyone since (but not, as with King Denis, before), and though we may enjoy the football as much, with the likes of Ronaldo's contributions, we haven't enjoyed an individual as much. Maybe we never will. The last of the Kings.

In the promotion of the film, Eric (and Loach and company) were asked pretty much the same standard questions each and every time (similarities between Loach and Fergie a dead cert). It was nice that he still had very nice things to say about Manchester, and his time there, and also how much Utd fans still singing about him meant, but I got the feeling, as he powers ahead with the progress of his movie production company with brother Joel, that he's trying to put a bit of distance between then and now, and though not close the door on it completely, make it clear that this is a new chapter and that one ended long ago, for him at least.

I don't feel betrayed. I could go all feminine and say like a tart, “We'll always have 1992-1997”, but it was always going to play out like this. He wasn't like any other footballer, he wasn't going to stand still, certainly not opening a pub, or reminisce each weekend on sky or mutv. He wanted to be great at something else (just not the trumpet, if his playing in the film is anything to go by, though that in itself a homage to his ridiculous ban, the scriptwriter Paul Lafferty being told Eric took it up during his ban and saying: “I just loved this notion, of this genius footballer on the one hand, sitting in his flat by himself, all fingers and thumbs, touching this fucking trumpet!”).

Which is probably why Eric said to Jonathon Ross, and others on that promotion circuit, that the sardines statement was “nothing”, just meant to provoke an outcry from the 'mirror' he had placed in front of the media with the comment. But I don't fall for that. Maybe I'm like a spurned lover, clinging onto the last cherished piece of the relationship, but I do feel he knew exactly what he meant (it makes perfect sense to me, still), but his poking fun at the nothingness of the statement now serves two purposes; putting it to bed at long last so he won't get asked what he meant time and time again, and helping to poke fun at himself as he does in the film itself. His last scene in LFE is a wave back at a United fan as if he is visually closing the chapter in film and life, to move on, so that we can too. But though he's putting some distance between he and his disciples (alright then, stalkers) to concentrate on his new career, typically Eric, he’s still doing it in the nicest way possible.

I'll always have Eric, and though he's grey, and at times fat (aren't we all), I'd gladly switch on parts of this film every day to give me the buzz of back then, my Eric is just like the poster in the film, young, cocky, having just done the business for United. The film gets it right in identifying the craze we had for him. I mean, as regular RN readers will know, I once bagged his underpants and shorts at a beach football tournament and don't think it's entirely odd in any shape or form to still own them. Cherish them, even. I plan to get married in the y-fronts, to bring me luck. If it were any other player I'd think it was nuts behaviour.

For Eric, that level of idolising seems strangely reassuringly right. Ronaldo, though it's a great debate to have, was probably more gifted, and achieved more (though of course Eric set the train in motion), he never had, or never would have had, that utter kinship that Eric had with his fans at Old Trafford. Where we could forgive each other of anything.
He's moved on, and so have we, but though he talked during the pr blitz that he may return to OT as a boss - “I don't know how many years will go by before that happens but on the Manchester United bench my name is already written down”, I just get the feeling that he and we know that will never happen. In a way I suppose I wouldn't want any possible managerial failure to diminish the memories.

The casting is excellent, there's only a couple of scenes that don't work (that pub argument scene seems strangely at odds with itself), and though it's good seeing a couple of well known Reds as extras, the sight of a 20 foot Boylie head on a fans' bus is slightly disconcerting. There's some belting one liners in what is a great script from someone who ‘gets’ us - “I'm fucking up to here with your philosophy. I'm still getting over the sardines one, for chrissakes.” - but it is to Eric once again where we gaze.

Ken Loach said: “What we do as a collective, matters more than what we do as individuals... it's an anti-Thatcherite film” and whilst that's for you to judge, that spirit between mates, of sharing together, as we do at United, watching Eric or whoever, or as they do in the film, with Utd as a backdrop to post office workers helping each other in their lives, is defining and worth reflecting on. His last performance here in a United shirt is once again a great one. It doesn't take the piss, too much, of the way we cherished him, perhaps though we’ll admit it was to extreme levels, but it does sort of describe why we did it. And then it's over, and it's his farewell as King Eric of Manchester United, and with a wave he's gone. So Au Revoir Cantona. It wasn't just fun, it was the best time of our lives.

And I'd still have your children.

Exclusive interview between Patrice Evra and Red News

This is the sort of stuff you'll miss if you don't ever buy the fanzine.

This interview first appeared in the pages of RN158, out last May.

You can bag yourself every copy of the fanzine packed with interviews, news, gossip and laughs at http://www.rednews.co.uk/subscription.php

RN: How do you rate your form this season?
PE: It was very good in the beginning and I think when I got the four match ban and my injury, it was a little bit low. I don't think I played very well in the two games against Liverpool and Fulham as well but now I am back in my good form. Good form for this team but it was very painful for me to get that 4 match ban, it was very difficult to forget that because it was an injustice and I think this is just the bad thing from this season I've had.
RN: How long did it take to recover from what was a complete injustice?
PE: Yeah, it takes long because everything I think you think about that, as well they showed a lot of things in France, a few people think I was a fighter, and I'm not like this. I only like to play football. After as well when you see they have more things more important and some players don't get the ban and me, the stadium was empty, I didn't hurt nobody, I didn't punch anybody and I got a 4 match ban. As well when Ferguson say it's the worst decision he has got when he has been manager of this club, he show you how the decision it was hard to accept to me.
RN: Much has been written about your arrival and your debut, how do you look back at that city game?
PE: After the city game I feel very good because I say to a lot of people for me it was an important game for myself for Man Utd because it was very difficult. I got the welcome to England when I lost 3-1 against Man City, I got a lot of kicks in this game and I learned a lot about that game. I remember when I was in the summer and I said ‘Pat, now you need to show to everybody; to your teammates, to the fans, to the staff, you are the player of Man Utd’ and I learn well because I go in the gym. I've never been in the gym before when I was in France. I started just to working out with myself and it helped me a lot. I was thinking maybe it was very easy to play for Man Utd because I was from Monaco, I play the Final of the Champions League, I was in the international team. I think Manchester was more easy than what I think. That game just says to me: ‘Pat, if you want to be a player for Manchester United, you need to work out with yourself’, that's it.
RN: When do you think you settled into life at United and actually felt ‘I am a United player?’
PE: When we started pre-season in South Africa. I remember it was a good tournament and I was feeling very good because in the summer as well I didn't play the World Cup with my national team, so I was very angry as well with myself and when you start the pre-season I wanted to carry on, to look forward. I played that tournament very well and I remember Mick Phelan told me: ‘Pat, now you are the Man Utd player’. He told me that and I was feeling it as well and I see the Boss and everybody was happy with what I can do and I remember I played the first game straight away, 2nd game as well and Gabby was there, he was not injured anymore and I played a lot of games.
RN: Before you came to United there were a few clubs vying for your signature, what swung it to come here?
PE: Just the feeling. I remember just the feeling. It was Inter, Liverpool. I said to my agent: ‘I want to go to Man Utd’. Because it was four years I was playing for Monaco, I think for me it was the time to leave Monaco and when a big club like Man Utd want you, you go straight away! As well I speak with Ferguson, I had a lot of motivation because he was wanting me a lot and it was very important for me, as was Carlos Queiroz.
RN: Is it true your Dad was a Diplomat?!
PE: Nah! My Dad was working in the Embassy, he was not a diplomat. People write these things but he was just working in the Embassy - with a lot of people there!
RN: You left France for Italy for your first footballing opportunity, why was there a better chance to succeed there, why did you think you had to make that move?
PE: I think I had to make that move to Italy because it was an easy thing because when I was young I got a good education with my Dad and my Mum but in my quarter it was not easy, it was a difficult quarter and I do some things in some French clubs like Paris SG, Toulouse, Rennes, but everytime I do some tests to play, but everytime they say ‘we give you the answer in Christmas’ or ‘we give you the answer in...’ but they never give the answer, never say ‘yes or no’, and it was difficult for me. When I get the opportunity to go to Italy, I go straight away because it was good for me to be alone, to think only about football. And it was an easy decision for me.
RN: How bad was it being on your own in Italy?
PE: Yeah, this was what was hard. Because I was 17, I didn't speak Italian, I was alone. My Mum and my brother came later, my wife after as well, it was very hard because it was not a good city. It was Marsala, but the people were unbelievable, they were very lovely with me. After the game when the referee whistled the end of the game, I was at home and I was crying because I was alone, I had nothing to do and I just enjoyed it when I was on the pitch and it was a very difficult moment for me but it helped me a lot because now I'm the man and I think it was very important for me because I didn't go to the Academy, or something like it, I go to the club, to the street and play straight away in Italy, and this made me grow up very quick and this is why my mentality is so strong now.
RN: You started off as a striker, when did you get moved back to defence?
PE: It was very funny because I was only playing striker as well when I was in Italy and as well when I played in France, I'm back and I play for Nice and I was left-midfield. And I remember one of my friends said: “Maybe one day you play defender!”. But I say: ‘No chance, I never play defender because I like to do skill, I like to dribble and everything’ and when I play for Nice, it was the third game, the left back got an injury. The manager who was Sandro Salvioni, an Italian guy he say: ‘Pat, you need to finish the game at left back’. ‘Me? Left-back?’. There was 15 minutes left and we were winning 2-1 and I played the last 15 minutes very well, we win and two days later after in training, he gave the team but he put me at the back. And I say: ‘Why? Why you put me at the back?’. He said: ‘You don't want to play?!’ Big character, that manager. Laughs. I say: ‘No, I'm ok! Relax, I play! But I'm not a defender’. ‘I know you're not a defender but you play there or you didn't play’. So ok, I play and I was very angry. I play the next game, we win again, I played very well, people are happy. I play next game, every game and I finish the season, the best left-back in the 2nd Division in the Championship. And I was angry. I was so angry with myself. I said: ‘I don't want to play’. I was not happy to play.
I was playing, because I was playing but I was not happy to play as a defender. I moved to Monaco, I think maybe I'm back to play midfield, and they buy me to play left-back as well. I speak with him (Monaco manager) and he say: ‘You know why you are good in this position?’. ‘I don't know...’. ‘Because you don't want to play there, this is why you are good!’. I say: ‘Ok, no problem’. And I try to play, and I play left-back and in my first season I win as well the best left-back in the Premier League in the French League and I win the best young player as well in that league. And the year after, we played in the Champions League, I play left-back, and I start to like the role for me to be honest. Maybe three years you see to like the role! But I was liking but I always prefer to attack, to attack, to attack, and the day really when I like to play left-back, it was when I play for Man Utd in my 2nd year, after my six months. I was happy to give a good tackle, I had the desire to defend more than attack. I was very happy. And I think it's there that day that I started to feel that I wanted to play left-back.
RN: Does Ronaldo on the left with you affect your attacking mentality?
PE: No. I've got to do more jobs in the back because Ronnie plays a lot forward, but I just use it sometimes only because some defenders mark him and I can go inside or outside because sometimes I don't give the ball to Ronnie and just go and the defender doesn't follow me or Ronnie goes inside and I go in the back and the defender follows me and Ronnie can go inside to shoot or something like this. Nah, it's very easy, it doesn't change. I just say maybe I need to be more focussed in the back because Ronnie can do the job as well alone.
RN: When you were growing up in football, did you encounter a great deal of racism, certainly in the lower leagues in Italy from the opposition crowds?
PE: Yeah, it was difficult because I was the only black (player) in the whole Division. It was not easy. It was so ignorant as well. I remember, I see one guy with his kid and the kid was saying: ‘Look, look, the colour’. The Dad was saying ‘it's ok, it's ok.’ The Dad I remember he say ‘Can I have the picture with you but for my Son?’. I say ‘Ok, no problem’. And the reason, it was not because I was a player, because the kid had never seen a black guy, you know it was very funny. But it's true, when I play against other teams when they do the boo, like the monkey (chants), it make me strong. It was difficult to accept that in the debut but after that the more I got the boos the more I was playing well, now I be strong for some act like this. So I say, it was the best moment of my career when I was playing in Italy because the people were lovely, it was only sometimes (from) the opposite team, they do that.
RN: It's been said you learnt up on United's history when you first arrived, how did you go about doing that, did you sit yourself down with DVDs and books?
PE: Yeah, because you see as well I think this is a definite before being a player for Man Utd because when I came in my first 6 months I was just playing and I was not interested a lot about the story of the club and I started to watch the DVDs, to read some books and I was feeling more that I was a player for Man Utd and I think when Man Utd sign some player they need to show the story because it was very important for me and now I've got a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of respect for this shirt. It's very important to know the story, what's happened, why when you play there, why when you see somebody in the club you say ‘Hello’ and you check then and you don't know who it is, ‘who is that guy?’. And now I know, and it's very important because it help me a lot and I give more than my 100% for that club. Definitely the story of Man Utd is very important because a lot of clubs don't have the story like Man Utd and I think this is why Man Utd stay in the top.
RN: Is it true you visited church after you signed to say thank you for the move?
PE: Not thank you to the move. I generally go to the Church. I don't like to speak about the religion because it is a private matter but I go when I get time to visit Church. Before I go every Thursday because when I was playing in France, the Thursday afternoon I was free. As well when I was in Italy, I was going to the Church. Now I can go anywhere, I can go the Monday, the Tuesday, etc, it doesn't matter. In France the training is in the afternoon, and I like to sleep in the morning, and I didn't go. Here I've got more time to go to the Church. No, I just say thanks to God, that I'm well, my family is well, don't have a lot of injury and just to keep my feet on the ground and don't try to be somebody I'm not, only because I play football. Every day (I'm thankful). When I finish my career I can say thanks to God, to get the privilege to play for Man Utd because how many big players never played for Man Utd and when you know you are part of this history it is just unbelievable. Everyday it is just a dream, it just look like a dream and you just need to fight with yourself if you want to continue to live the dream.
RN: You haven't got a fans' song, have you thought of anything you'd like to be sung?
PE: No. They gave me a CD of the fan (RN: Boylie?). I think it was this one. Nice songs as well. And I play sometimes in my car, honestly, and some people come in my house and I put the cd on and they laughed because it is very funny songs. Yeah they can sing that in the stadium I think I'd be happy because it's very good when people sing your name like this in the game. And it's true, I've been here 3 years, say to the fans, they need to start to sing my name please! (laughs).
RN: We also hear you and Rooney are the practical jokers in the side, what's the best prank you've pulled?
PE: My best practical joke... hmmm... When Ji Sung Park goes to take some food and I put some salt in his glass of Coke. He went ‘blaaaargggh!’, like he was going to vomit! I do stuff like this sometimes!
RN: You, Park and Carlos Tevez are very good friends, there's this video of Ji Sung's birthday?
PE: Laughs. You've seen that! It was unbelievable because Ji didn't know that, it was a surprise for him and they showed that in Korea and Ji say the Koreans are crazy about this video because we are so crazy. We just bring the cake and have some joke with Ji, it was very good but I can say Ji and Carlito, we are very close. It is strange, no? But I can say thanks for Man Utd to have a good Korean friend, and an Argentinian friend. I think If I don't play here, I never have some opportunity like this and it's so nice because you have three different cultures and you can understand each together and it's very funny because every day, every day, we have a good joke, every day is funny, every day you try to make Ji and Carlito happy, but after is all the team. I like to joke with every player, this is my nature, I like to do a lot of jokes.
RN: Do you feel that it is a family club?
PE: Yeah, definitely. I say when I arrive and I say I see, this club is not only the big club but the big family because everybody works together, you don't have the star. You can speak about Ronaldo, about Rooney, everybody you want but the star is the team and the manager's first thing, the first priority is the team is the star. And when you see (elsewhere) nobody is agreeing with that I think you can get problems with that club. And this is why I say this club is a family. The people working here as well, Kath at Carrington at the reception, the staff, everybody want to play their best so you know when you see Baz (players liaison) you can ask him anything, you can call him anytime and he say everytime he's free. When you have problem with your car or the jacuzzi or with the light, everytime he is there. Clearly he give the 100% of his best. In the gym, when you need some programme, all the time they are there, all the time they are ready for you. When you see the people like this work with their heart, you want to make them happy and to just win every game.
RN: Would you like this place to be your home for as long as Giggsy?
PE: The legend. Giggy's a legend. You never know what can happen in the football. I just say in the present I'm happy and I don't like to speak about the future because you never know what can happen. I can say something and after it's different in the long term. But I just like to speak about the present. And in the present Patrice Evra is very happy at Man Utd.
RN: How have you settled in Manchester itself?
PE: It was not easy, this was not easy. I remember the papers kill me because when I was in France I do the conference with the national team and they asked me how I feel, I say it's difficult, the weather it was no good but now, after when I'm back I remember I have seen in the paper ‘Evra, the food is no good, the weather is shit’, and everything like this but I didn't say that, I was just comparing about Monaco, from one place for Monaco for four years, and for my family, and I come to Manchester and I can't lie, it's a massive difference. I just want to explain that, people kill me but now it's ok! My stomach is strong, I can eat everything, I can eat fish and chips. When the weather is raining, I'm happy because my family is happy and I'm happy to play for Man Utd. And I've got my house, I buy a house, and I'm happy.
RN: You were on the mutv cookery programme, which was also very funny, is it true you do eat fast food before a game?
PE: Laughs. No, I was joking! No chance! Food is very important for the athlete, I just say for something funny for the tv. I didn't go like Maradona or something like this because for the muscles it's not the best way.
RN: You seem to get on very well with the manager, as most players do, is he more of a father figure than a Boss?
PE: Yeah, I'd say definitely. I think the priority of Ferguson is to protect the player from the press, outside, he care about everything. When you are not well, he just comes to speak with you, ‘why you are not well?’, ‘do you need something?’, ‘do you need a rest?’, ‘have you got a problem with your family?’, for me he's like the Grandfather. Before every game he say just: ‘Good luck son’, ‘enjoy your game son’, speaks to everybody, calls everybody ‘son’ and he's got a lot of protection (for you). When he speak with you, sometimes he can be angry, sometimes he can be happy, but this is Ferguson, you need to accept that but I definitely believe he wants the best for Man Utd and he protects a lot of his own player.
RN: Did you see the competition with Heinze as two people vying for one position overall or that we're part of the squad, this is what happens? Did you feel one of you would win?
PE: I just believed in my potential. I remember as well when my debut was not the best of Evra, but I just believe in my quality, and I say it was unbelievable, first to see three left-backs, because I never see in the world, three left-backs of this quality in one team and it was not easy but I was very proud because I fight every day with myself and I know if I don't play one game in the top of my level I can go on the bench or in the stand, this is why I was keeping going, to working out with myself. And now as well if I don't have challenge I need to work out because now if I play a normal game, people will say ‘Pat played a bad game because last year and two years ago, Evra just play in the top’. I think my quality is to be regular, and when I play one game not well, people no understand because my quality is to be regular every game. And when I play normal maybe the people now think Evra, I don't play well.
RN: Is that your target for the next phase of your United career, to play at that (high) level, all the time?
PE: To stay. For me football is like a pyramid. You need to stay in the top. I can't say when you play for Man Utd it's easy to win the title because that club and that story win every time, but it's more easy to defend. To keep your trophy like the league this year, and like the Champions League, this is the big challenge. And this is why I think Man Utd is a different club because you need to prove to everybody you can stay in the top because in football it is easy to go to 90%, but to 100%, the 10% (difference), that is very difficult and after the programme you need to stay to that 100%, because if you back to 90%, you don't have your place to play in Man Utd.
RN: What's the highlight of your United career so far from your perspective and also that of the team?
PE: I say the Manchester City game, after my first game, because it was my debut and I was knowing nothing about English football, it was very difficult for me that day. I say that day and the Moscow Final, this is both things I think are my highlights to play for Man Utd.
RN: You say you didn't know a great deal about English football, playing in Europe and looking on at English football, what is the perception of English football?
PE: Speed, brutality, intensity, challenge; being one against one a lot in England. It's so different. It's the best football in the world. If you look, every season now you see 3 English teams in the Champions League, this is just the reality. I was very happy when Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool were still there because it just shows all the powerful is in English football and I think when I go with the national team, when I speak, a lot of players ask me the question: ‘Who is this?’. And I say guys, it is just a privilege to play in England.
RN: Italy and Spain can be a little disparaging of England because though we've still got 3 teams in the CL Semi Finals, they say it's money, throw money at it... we're still seen as the outsiders...
PE: I tell you the difference. You can say the money but the stadiums. I think this is the big difference. Because when you see in France, the stadiums they are old now, in Italy, the stadiums are old, in Spain as well. As well the security, because in England you can see a grandfather, with the son, with the little son, the family can go in the stadium, but a lot of places you can't go to watch the game easy in some places in France, you can't go with your family, or you need to move 10 minutes before the game because you don't know what the fans can do. But in England it is unbelievable, the security, because they got the problems with the hooligans some years ago and now they got the best security.
In France you've got the barriers because some fans can throw some things, in England I think this is the big difference, the stadium and the people. When they come in the game, the fans I think, for English people to watch the game, they look like, it's the same like to go in the Church, it's the religion, the football is the religion and when I see the fans here, sometimes the fans can wait two hours after the training, it's raining outside, and they wait for just a signature. You need to stop because you need to respect that. And they have a lot of respect for you when you are with your family they don't come to stare, or can I also have some time. They come but they just say ‘please, I know, sorry, you are with your family’ and you just sign. But in France or in Spain or in Italy it is not like this, the fan, they just try to touch you. It doesn't matter if you are with your family, they don't care. If you are in a restaurant they can come and just turn up at the table. I have a lot of examples. Or they give you the phone, sometimes to speak with their grandmum or the Mum. It's funny but it's like this. The English fan is unbelievable. When the English team play you see how many people outside with the shirts, only the shirt of the national team. I don't see a lot of people in France with the shirt with the national team because it's different, it's not the culture. In England, it's the culture.
RN: One final question, there's a very famous video of you on youtube shouting something about Frank Lampard, what's that all about?
PE: Let me tell you about this thing. A lot of people killing me for this! No, it was a funny video. I do a funny video before the Semi Final against Chelsea with Monaco and I was just shouting not a nice thing, but just to make a joke. After as well when I closed the window I say: ‘Oh my God, now I'm in the danger’, because I was trying to say something that the players for Chelsea were downstairs and they come in my room to kill me, or to punch me but it was only the joke. It's funny you know because how you see? I play in England, I play for Manchester and this video was 4 years ago. It's not six years ago, it's very strange but it was only a joke but now people with the internet they put everything on.
RN: Thank you very much.
PE: A pleasure, thank you.
Interview, John Shaw. Transcript, BC. thanks to Di Law for arranging, copyright Red News 2009. (credit RN, when stealing you pesky hacks!)

The State of the Game and Nostalgia by Tom Clare

I suppose that since I first began watching the game of football, the world, and the game has moved on, time has flown by, but everything still seems to appear to me as though it was only yesterday. Has what has happened during that period always been for the better, and for the good and benefit of the fans, the local communities, the players or the Clubs? For me, be it personally, professionally, and even socially, it has been one hell of a roller coaster of a ride. There is so much that I can look back on. Memories that bring to me a feeling of warmth as I remember all the good times; especially where football is concerned. Playing the game at a decent level for many years, sometimes in different countries; following Manchester United; meeting so many people who I am proud to call friends; and all through this game which captured my heart at such an early and young age. There has also been some sad and dark times along the route, and I tend to try and put them to the back pocket of my memory, although as most of you know, one of those sad times will never go away.

I suppose that the older one gets the more nostalgic one seems to appear. Nostalgia can be a good, and a bad thing. Some would even say that it is dangerous. However, many is the time that old farts like myself are accused of living in the past; of looking at those good-old-bad-old-days through rose tinted glasses. I suppose that in a lot of cases that accusation could be construed as being more than truthful. However, speaking for myself, I hope that this is not the case. My explanation to those kind of accusations is that I can only relate to what I have actually seen, and tell it without any embellishment. So where is all this leading me to?

Well, something has been happening to me for well over a year now, in fact for a good few years if I am really honest. It is something that I never ever expected would happen to me. But it is there and I can not deny it any more. Put very simply, and I say this with a great sadness, but it has certainly come to the point where I am no longer enjoying watching the English game at the very top level. That doesn’t mean to say that I don’t love my club any more, even if today, it is nothing like the club that I began to support all those long, long years ago. There is no denying that I still really do enjoy my trips over the Pond to Manchester. The thrill of walking down the Warwick Road (it will always be Warwick Road to me) on a United home match day, and of entering the fabulous stadium that Old Trafford has become, still fills me with awe as it did when I was such a young boy. I also feel a huge amount of pride in what I see, but in truth, that is due more to the history of the Club and how I have seen it evolve. What stands there today has come at a price. As I have said many times before, the love of Manchester United will go with me to the grave or wherever it may be that my remains end up!

So why is it that I have found that this has happened to me? As I said, it is not something that has been an over night thing. Maybe it is an age thing, I just don’t know. But these days, the Premiership does not fill me with the same joy, the same happiness, the same overwhelming appeal that the game of football at its top level in England once did. Simply and purely, I am finding that these days, I can take it or leave it. There were times in my life when I would have walked over broken glass to watch a game of football. It didn’t matter one iota to me which teams were playing, or where. The game devoured me, and I loved it, and embraced it totally.

If I was to sit down and think about it, and if I had been more observant, the first warning sign began to flash in 1979 when Louis Edwards and his cohorts came up with their first rights issue, multiplying their own number of shares and dividends in Manchester United by 209 times. This began the trickle that became the ocean of money which has since steadily flowed outwards from the Club. It was the time when the stone first began to roll and slowly gather the moss - or should I say the money! Before then, football had been relatively protected by the checks and balances put in place years before and safeguarded by both the Football Association and the Football League.

Over the last 30 years, the game has sold its soul. The greed and avarice began in those 80’s years when the “new kids on the block” arrived, people like Edwards, David Dein, Noel White, etc. But the juggernaut began to roll on that dark day in 1991 when the FA got into bed with the Premiership and the formation of new Premier League was announced. Premier League? May I dare to say that it is just Premier for an elite few – those that have the financial clout. For the rest, it is more of a matter of survival and being able to dine off the scraps left by those clubs that sit at the top table. When Alan Sugar cast his casting vote regarding the television rights back in 1991 it opened the door to a new breed of people entering the game. There were already a number of parasites at the top table of the game (Manchester United’s Board included) who were only interested in one thing – making money. The well being of their clubs and of the game itself didn’t even come in to it with them, even though they had a moral duty to protect it. No, for them, avarice and greed became the name of the day, and it is still there today. Unfortunately, those vices have spread like an army of ants feasting upon a ravaged carcass, and just like those ants, the parasites have fed off it relentlessly ever since.

You look at the people who flooded into the game from the moment that the Sky money came pouring in. People who before 1992 would not have touched football with a barge pole. Alan Sugar, Irving Scholar (who found the way of circumnavigating the FA’s rules on individuals making money out of football clubs), Peter Johnson, Dave Richards (who is now the unelected President of the Premier League, and who virtually bankrupted Sheffield Wednesday), John Hall, Danny Fizman, Jack Walker, Ken Bates, Doug Ellis, etc etc. If you look at their initial investments in the clubs which they purported to represent, and then look at the amounts of money that they eventually walked away with, money that was lost to both the clubs and the game, it is nothing more than obscene.

In years gone by, the controlling interests in football clubs was held by the local butchers, bakers and candlestick makers, and some of them were without doubt, contancrous old bastards, and hard to deal with. But the one thing that you could never say about them is that they didn’t love their clubs. People like Bob Lord at Burnley, Albert Alexander at Manchester City, John Moores at Everton, Lord Westwood at Newcastle, and even our own Harold Hardman at Manchester United, and there are many more to numerous to mention who were just like them. Many were in it for the prestiege, the glamour etc but the majority were in because they loved the game and their clubs and few, if any, benefited financially at a cost to those clubs. In a large number of cases they dipped into their own pockets whenever the need arose.

When football arrived on the scene in the late 19th century, its roots became deep seated in the local communities, and there was a clear identification, and affiliation, between those clubs, their players, and their followers. On the sporting, and pass time front, football became a way of life, an institution, and Saturday afternoons in the autumn, winter, and spring months, became that way of life, as did cricket in the summer months. The Football Association and Football League were the watchmen, putting in place checks and balances to make sure that the powers that be who were running the football clubs, could not take advantage, nor could they gain financially from them. Those two organizations were not perfect by any means, bureaucracy has its faults, but it is true to say that on the whole, their systems and rules did work, and they allowed the game to evolve, and for more than a century it worked without too much rancour.

There was a flow of the game’s income to all the clubs throughout the four divisions of the Football League. The game thrived at both the non-league, and amateur levels, and its main arteries were clear of any major obstructions. Yes, there were rumblings of discontent from players about wages and their terms of contract. But have players ever been satisfied with their lot? When I look back to those days in the 1950’s when I first started to watch the game, and reading a lot of today’s historical accounts of that period, players are referred to frequently as slaves. But is that the truth? My own experiences and recollections of that time tell me different. I would agree that the situation regarding freedom of contract had to come, that was inevitable. But where pay was concerned I do not believe that footballers, especially those at the very top of their trade in the First Division, were hard done by. Yes, there was a cap on wages back then – 20 pounds maximum with bonuses of 2 pounds for a win and 1 pound for a draw. Not many players at that time were on the maximum wage, but when you consider that in the mid-fifties, the average take-home pay for a male worker was some 6 pounds per week, it puts it in perspective. Most First Division players had contracts that paid 13 – 17/18 pounds per week during the playing season, and 12-15 pounds per week during the summer months when they did not play! My brother at that time was a miner at Bradford Colliery in Manchester, and even with overtime, working 12 hour shifts underground, he struggled to make anywhere near what a footballer made. You also have to take into account that the cost of living index at that time was also relatively low. A large number of the top players also supplemented their income by having their names put to ghost written newspaper articles, advertising products etc. Slaves? In my old eyes they were far from it in reality.

Those times are now often referred to as ‘the good old, bad old days”, and whenever old farts like myself nostalgically look back upon them, as I said, we are often accused of looking at those times through “rose tinted” glasses. But do we? I am reminded so often when this subject arises of the poor stadia, piss sodden terraces and bad toilet facilities, bad food etc. I will always dispute this, especially when I am in conversation with somebody who was not around at that time, and whose knowledge is based on what they have read, and hearsay. By today’s standards, yes, those stadiums look archaic and run down. But for their time, they weren’t – they were a product of their time, just as stadia are today. Old Trafford, Maine Road, Goodison, St. James Park, Roker Park, Ayersome Park, Hillsborough, Villa Park, The Hawthorns, Molyneux, Highbury, Stamford Bridge, White Hart Lane, could hardly be described in those days as poor. Because they were football stadia, they tend to get labeled as such which in my opinion is unfair. If you look at the cinemas and theatres during those old times, and look at those same things today, again you will find much the same difference and comparison. Piss sodden? The toilet facilities in those theatres and cinemas were much the same back then, mainly because they were inadequate in number for the enormous number of people that used them. I can recall times at those same theatres and cinemas, wading through the piss wet floors after standing in line to use the urinals. My local cinema which seated some 750 people had two urinals and 1 wc to facilitate it’s male customers. You never ever read or hear of these entertainment centres being mentioned in the same way that old football stadia are.

Attendances at games could be enormous back then, but for the most part it was safe. Why? Because fans behaved themselves. Yes I know that there were disasters like Burnden, and Ibrox, but they were caused by congestion more than anything. There was certainly more patience and tolerance back then, and more self discipline. I find it amazing when I recall those games that I attended as first a young boy, then as an adolescent, that despite the huge attendances at a lot of those matches, it only required a minimal police presence to overlook those games. The fans from opposing clubs mixed freely together on the terraces and there was never the hint of any trouble. They had come to watch a football match, nothing more, nothing less. Win or lose, there was never any kind of trouble between the two sets of fans at a game, quite the opposite in fact, and there was a lot of friendships that ensued from attending football matches that lasted for years and years.

The game was affordable for the working man and lower income families. This was even the case up and until the close of the 1991/92 season. You could still get a seat at Old Trafford during that season for the princely sum of a fiver, but the juniors could still get in for 90 pence, whilst standing could cost you between three pounds fifty and four pounds fifty. Groups of mates were able to stand together in the various terraced sections of the stadium. They used to get to the ground early and an atmosphere would gradually build towards kick off time. Nothing like the sanitized state that we see at the majority of today’s games.

The game itself was a joy to behold. For the most part it was played in the right spirit with no quarter asked or given. The skill level was exceptionally high and I do have to smile when I so often hear those days referred to as “black and white” football. I hear that today’s players are exceptionally fitter, faster, and more skilful than their old contemporaries of yesteryear. My old eyes can only relate what I saw and what I see today – and I find that statement to be untrue. I know that comparison of different eras is dangerous, but I would give an arm and a leg to see today’s full backs take on the likes of Mathews, Finney, Berry and Pegg, Medwin and Jones, Hancocks and Mullen, and many more of their ilk whose dribbling skills were a joy to see, but who also had so much end product. I look at the artistry I saw in the halfback pairings like Colman and Edwards, Blanchflower and Mackay, Barnes and Paul, Slater and Flowers, and so on. There was so many of them. Just as there were centre forwards; Tommy Taylor, Don Revie, Jackie Milburn, Trevor Ford, Dave Hickson, Bobby Smith, Roy Bentley, Nat Lofthouse, Stan Mortensen, and a whole host of others. How many of today’s goalkeeper’s were of the calibre of ‘keepers like Bert Trautmann, Harry Gregg, Ted Ditchburn, Bert Williams, Jack Kelsey, Sam Bartram, Eddie Hopkinson, Ted Burgin, Ronnie Simpson, Pat Jennings, Gordon Banks, Bill Brown, Ray Clemence, Peter Shilton? I could go on about defenders and full back pairings. Great players are great players in any era, but today, there seem to be fewer around than ever before.

When I look at the Premiership overall, I find it rotten to the core from top to bottom. It has forgotten where it originated from, and dare I say it, where it will eventually return to. From the day that it coerced the FA into accepting its proposals it has only had one thing in mind, total domination of English football, and that they have achieved this is unquestionable. We now have a situation where we have people in the corridors of power in the English game who serve both masters. They wear two hats, and that they have conflicts of interest is again with question. Since 1992, the Premiership moguls have in fact made the FA as inert as it possible could be, so much so that in this day and age, the tail now wags the dog.

The Premiership is supposed to be the best league in the world – but is it? We have seen some tremendous foreign players grace the Premiership and they have certainly contributed to the image perceived of the league today. They have been a joy to watch, but sadly, for every great foreign player that has wooed the English fans, there has been a multitude of foreign journeymen arrive in England who have been instantly forgettable. It may surprise people to learn that since August 1992, over 3500 foreign players have graced the Premiership……. How many of them can you remember and you would say with all honesty, brought something better to the English game? Since its inception, we have also seen an influx of foreign managers in the Premiership. They have all arrived amid fanfares and hype and have been welcomed as the second coming in most cases. If my memory is correct, they total in number 25. These days, the top jobs in the game seem to be handed on a plate to these fellows and our own guys rarely get a look in. If you look at what the foreign managers have accomplished since 1992, in reality, it is very little. I would dare to say that only four of them have been what you could call relatively successful.

Their legacy though is one that does irritate me. They have changed the cultures of the clubs where they have worked, and in my eyes, not for the best. Can anybody seriously believe that Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool are what you could call English clubs? The number of English or even British players plying their trade at these clubs is minimal to say the least. It’s getting exactly the same at a host of other clubs also. The foreign managers play the market that they know best… overseas, and they flood the club with foreign players. In my opinion it creates a log jam and definitely interferes with the progression of home grown kids who are trying to make it in the game.

What we have seen, particularly over the last six seasons, and are now seeing more regularly today, is the ownership of clubs changing hands for enormous amounts of money, and mostly falling into the hands of foreign “investors”. That the FA, the Premiership, and dare I say it, even the Government, stood by and watched impotently whilst two of the greatest football institutions in the game of football were purchased with vast amounts of borrowed foreign money, loans that were then dumped upon the clubs, thus leaving them in a “house of cards state”, is an abhorrence that is hard to take. These people have landed in our game for one thing only – money. They have no love, nor any real affiliation to the clubs that they have bought, and certainly do not care about the club’s histories nor their fans. Fans are treated with disdain. Again we have a situation wherby these people have changed the fan culture at a lot of clubs. It used to be that fans were the lifeblood of the clubs. Fans who would be there week in, week out, home and away, in any kinds of weather, often going to unbelieveable lengths to get to a match. These people were what I call Saturday people – loved the game loved their clubs, and were a throbbing vibrant part of the weekly match scene. Today, most of the clubs are not really interested in the every day football fan, the man/woman who eats, sleeps and breathe for their clubs. No, they have just become an irritant, a boil on the arse, a fly to be swatted. Today’s owners/CEO’s, Marketing Moguls, call them what you will, would much rather have the new type of fan who goes to a match for the “experience” and who will part with an abundance of bank notes in the Megawhores and Restaurants within the stadiums, than have a raucous, throbbing, incandescent mob of real supporters cheering on the teams. Saturday’s people unfortunately are becoming a dying breed. The game is being put beyond them financially, and for the majority of young kids today, seeing a match “live” at the very top level is an experience that fewer and fewer of them are becoming familiar with.

The Premier League has bred all kinds of monsters and has done things to the game that I never ever thought that I would see in my life time. It has allowed the rich to get richer, and the rest of English football to play on uneven ground. It has bred a fear into the English game and a fear that permeates throughout most of the clubs in the Premiership. It’s bred greed, and a complete lack of loyalty both on and off the field. It’s taken the fun out of the game with that same fear that is now so endemic in the Premiership. Players no longer play with a smile upon their faces – everything is too intense. Where are the game’s “characters” today? It’s bread a lack of respect between clubs, managers, players, and fans. Every season you now see the same nonsense – the tit-for-tat jibes, accusations, counter-accusations. It does get tedious.

Television has also taken a lot of the romance out of the game with its prying cameras. I suppose that it’s only to be expected given the enormous amounts of money that they pay for the privilege. It is tremendous that people in countries all over the world are able to see the English game “live” and that supposedly it “grows” the game. But it comes at a price. One of them is “trial by television”. Another is the enormous amount of pressure that it has put upon Referees and Linesmen (I still can’t call them Referee’s Assistants!). Every decision is minutely dissected, it doesn’t matter that the poor old Referee has a split second to make that decision. They are human, they do make mistakes – just as players do. But on the whole, I’ll guarantee that most times they do get it tight. For over a hundred years players got on with it, they accepted decisions, even if they went against their team. It was all part and parcel of the game. Today that is far from the case…. We have pundits pontificating in television commentaries who would have you think that the game was invented by them, players who question every decision a referee makes – and what an example that is to the millions of kids watching worldwide! Video eveidence is being called for more and more…. But if it was brought in….. where do you stop? It used to be that the Referee’s decision was final…. Sadly, not anymore it’s not. Who would be a referee in today’s modern game? When you sit back and analyse it, it has to be a thankless task.

Television now dominates the timing of matches. Saturday football was a way of life, but since 1992 that’s been consigned to the garbage bin. In a lot of ways television has destroyed the newspaper report. Years ago the back page of the dailys contained the “scoops”, the “exclusives. Most fans would pick up a morning or evening newspaper and go straight to the back page to see what was going on in the game or with their club. On Sunday’s and Mondays they would read the match reports, mostly eloquently written. That doesn’t really happen today. The television breaks news much faster is more quickly on the spot. So newspapers have to look for another angle… it’s why we so much sensationalism today. The match reports I see nowadays aren’t really match reports at all. Editors and Journalists are always looking for the tid-bits, the stories that they can manipulate and expand and will sell print. Law suits against newspapers are more prevalent now than they have ever been.

As a spectacle, the game has lost that sparkle for me. I see so much cheating going on, players having little respect for each other, and when I see them trying to get fellow players carded or even sent off, it abhors me. Cheats do prosper in this modern day. The heart and soul has been knocked out of the game. It is fast becoming a non contact sport (except that is in the penalty areas) and you can’t even go near a goalkeeper to challenge for a ball. The game was there to be enjoyed, but is that the fact today? It amuses me to see players running towards their fans and kissing the badge upon their shirt, supposedly in loyalty for their club. Loyalty? It’s a forgotten word in football today. Most players would sell their souls for money. That is what drives them today.

I worry about Manchester United and what the future holds for them. Should United hit a sustained period of little, or even limited success, then the impact of that is going to be quite serious, both on and off the field. Off the field, I already think that the financial situation is beginning to bite, irrespective of the mutterings that I hear from David Gill. The money that United pocketed from the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo is lying dormant in the bank apparently – yeah right – if you believe that then you will believe anything. It seems strange to me that the manager was not able to secure the signings of the players that he really wanted. In days gone by money would not have been an object… but all of a sudden, we now hear of the over 26 signing policy, and of United not paying silly money for players. I don’t believe any of that nonsense at all because if the money was there, believe me, Ferguson would have no hesitation in paying for the targets that he had identified.

I worry that there is so much money leaking out from the club, and out of football in general. Money that is lost to the game that could be used for so many different purposes. I worry that we now have an Academy that is providing a conveyer belt of young talent just for other clubs. How long before the likes of Welbeck, Macheda, Gibson etc are moved on? It does sadden me. The Premiership has bred a beast that has long forgotten what time and patience is. It no longer gives managers time to build their own teams – success is demanded now. The amount of tenure of managers have enjoyed in the Premiership over the last 10 years tells you just how volatile the turnover in manager’s job is. I worry about the ticket pricing policy at Old Trafford and the way that the infernal ACS is enforced. The fans as far as the club are concerned are no longer fans. They are customers, and the club couldn’t give a hoot whose arses fill the seats at Old Trafford as long as those seats are occupied. It hurts when I see the so small numbers of kids that are able to attend games these days – where are the new generations of supporters going to come from – television screens?

Yes, as I said at the beginning of this narrative, the appeal of English football for me is waning. I know through talking to my peers of the same age that much the same is happening to them. Guys who have supported United for more years than they can remember, share the same antipathy towards the game today, the same fears. I wonder just where this once great game of ours is heading?

by Tom Clare, author of the excellent Forever a Babe, order below

And now the amount of managers and how many each team have had vs Fergie

thanks to es for this research for Red News and its readers, you can find his stat corner in each issue of the mag at http://www.rednews.co.uk/current-issue.php

opposition - number of seasons faced and number of managers used during fergie's reign

[1] Seasons faced
[2] Number of Managers

Arsenal [1] 24 [2] 4
Everton [1] 24 [2] 11
Liverpool [1] 24 [2] 5
Tottenham Hotspur [1] 24 [2] 19
Aston Villa [1] 23 [2] 9
Chelsea [1] 23 [2] 15
Newcastle United [1] 19 [2] 17
Southampton [1] 19 [2] 15
West Ham United [1] 19 [2] 7
Manchester City [1] 17 [2] 13
Blackburn Rovers [1] 16 [2] 9
Coventry City [1] 15 [2] 8
Middlesbrough [1] 15 [2] 6
Leeds United [1] 14 [2] 6
Wimbledon [1] 14 [2] 6
Sheffield Wednesday [1] 13 [2] 8
Charlton Athletic [1] 12 [2] 5
Bolton Wanderers [1] 11 [2] 5
Derby County [1] 11 [2] 6
Nottingham Forest [1] 11 [2] 6
Norwich City [1] 10 [2] 5
Queen's Park Rangers [1] 10 [2] 5
Sunderland [1] 10 [2] 8
Fulham [1] 9 [2] 4
Leicester City [1] 9 [2] 9
Portsmouth [1] 8 [2] 8
Crystal Palace [1] 7 [2] 5
Birmingham City [1] 6 [2] 3
Luton Town [1] 6 [2] 4
Ipswich Town [1] 5 [2] 3
Sheffield United [1] 5 [2] 2
Wigan Athletic [1] 5 [2] 5
Watford [1] 4 [2] 4
West Bromwich Albion [1] 4 [2] 4
Oldham Athletic [1] 3 [2] 1
Bradford City [1] 2 [2] 4
Hull [1] 2 [2] 1
Millwall [1] 2 [2] 1
Oxford United [1] 2 [2] 1
Reading [1] 2 [2] 1
Stoke [1] 2 [2] 1
Wolverhampton Wanderers [1] 2 [2] 2
Barnsley [1] 1 [2] 1
Burnley [1] 1 [2] 1
Notts County [1] 1 [2] 1
Swindon Town [1] 1 [2] 1

opposition - just the number of managers used during fergie's reign

Number of Managers
Tottenham Hotspur 19
Newcastle United 17
Chelsea 15
Southampton 15
Manchester City 13
Everton 11
Aston Villa 9
Blackburn Rovers 9
Leicester City 9
Coventry City 8
Sheffield Wednesday 8
Sunderland 8
Portsmouth 8
West Ham United 7
Middlesbrough 6
Leeds United 6
Wimbledon 6
Derby County 6
Nottingham Forest 6
Liverpool 5
Charlton Athletic 5
Bolton Wanderers 5
Norwich City 5
Queen's Park Rangers 5
Crystal Palace 5
Wigan Athletic 5
Arsenal 4
Fulham 4
Luton Town 4
Watford 4
West Bromwich Albion 4
Bradford City 4
Birmingham City 3
Ipswich Town 3
Sheffield United 2
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2
Oldham Athletic 1
Hull 1
Millwall 1
Oxford United 1
Reading 1
Stoke 1
Barnsley 1
Burnley 1
Notts County 1
Swindon Town 1

Have a guess how many managers Fergie has faced?

In the latest issue (RN160), our resident statistician (or head nerd as we call him affectionately...!) took up the challenge for some tireless research to discover how many managers Fergie has faced in the league at United.

It was great stuff but he realised he missed a couple of short term caretaker managers out, so please find below the definitive list below, and thanks to es for doing this for Red News and its readers, plus also we have a stat corner each issue which you can find by ordering a mag at
http://www.rednews.co.uk/current-issue.php

At the end of last season Fergie was asked by a journo if he knew how many managers he'd seen off\faced in his time as manager of United. Both Fergie and the questioner said they had no idea, but thought it was “a lot”! Well being the curious types at Red News (well, alright then, anoraks) we'd thought it'd be fun to find out.

Cast your mind back to 1986, when Fergie arrived. We'd had the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster, the Soviets had just launched the Mir space station and Chernobyl had started glowing (along with several thousand Welsh sheep), Everton had just won the league and denim jackets were all the rage...yes, times were bleak. In the 17 years since Sir Matt first retired we'd had six managers ourselves. So along came Mr Ferguson. One man leading the way for the next 24 seasons, putting United back where we belong. Be thankful United had faith, some other top flight clubs have got through managers faster than the Russian secret service gets through Polonium 210.

Take Chelsea for example. In Fergie's time they've had 15 managers in the 23 years they've been in the top league. Only surpassed by Spurs who've gone through 19 managers in 24. (Spurs, along with Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton, are the only clubs to have been ever present during Fergie’s time in the top flight). Whereas the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool have got through only 4 and 5 managers respectively.

So how many managers have been in the top flight whilst Fergie has been in charge? The answer is 171. This includes managers who have been at a club, in a full time or caretaker role. It doesn't necessarily mean they led their team out to face United. It also includes the current Premiership managers in place at the start of the 2009/10 season. There's been 46 teams in the top flight while Fergie has been in charge.

In fact, when you allow for managers moving clubs (like Redknapp moving between West Ham, Southampton, Portsmouth and Spurs) and caretaker managers doing multiple stints (like David Pleat at Spurs) the total reaches 254. So there you go Sir Alex. The answer is 171 (or 254 depending on how you want to look at it). Incredible.

Manager
1 Arsene Wenger
2 George Graham
3 Harry Rednapp
4 Howard Wilkinson
5 Alan Curbishley
6 Dave Bassett
7 Gordon Strachan
8 Graeme Souness
9 Jim Smith
10 Kenny Dalglish
11 Peter Reid
12 Sam Allardyce
13 David Moyes
14 David O'Leary
15 Kevin Keegan
16 Martin O'Neill
17 Ron Atkinson
18 Brian Clough
19 Bryan Robson
20 David Pleat
21 Gerry Francis
22 Howard Kendall
23 Joe Kinnear
24 Joe Royle
25 Steve Bruce
26 Steve Coppell
27 Gerrard Houllier
28 Glen Hoddle
29 Rafa Benitez
30 Terry Venables
31 Trevor Francis
32 Bobby Robson
33 Brian Little
34 Claudio Ranieri
35 Gary Megson
36 Graham Taylor
37 John Gregory
38 John Lyall
39 Lennie Lawrence
40 Mark Hughes
41 Nicholl
42 Ray Harford
43 Steve McLaren
44 Stringer
45 Arthur Cox
46 Bobby Gould
47 Chris Coleman
48 Dave Jones
49 Paul Jewell
50 Roy Evans
51 Roy Hodgson
52 Walter Smith
53 Alan Ball
54 Branfoot
55 Colin Harvey
56 Colin Todd
57 Danny Wilson
58 Don Howe
59 Gareth Southgate
60 George Burley
61 Glenn Roader
62 John Sillet
63 Jose Mourinho
64 Martin Jol
65 Mick McCarthy
66 Micky Adams
67 Mike Walker
68 Ray Wilkins
69 Ruud Gullit
70 Stuart pearce
71 Alan Pardrew
72 Alex McLeish
73 Billy Bonds
74 Bobby Campbell
75 Brian Horton
76 Bruce Rioch
77 Chris Houghton
78 Chris Hutchings
79 Eddie Gray
80 Frank Clark
81 Gianluca Vialli
82 Hart
83 Iain Dowie
84 Ian Porterfield
85 Jean Tigana
86 Jim Ryan
87 Jimmy Gabriel
88 John Docherty
89 John Hollins
90 Maurice Evans
91 Neil Warnock
92 Peter Shreeves
93 Phil Brown
94 Phil Neal
95 Terry Butcher
96 Tony Book
97 Tony Pulis
98 Willie McFall
99 Zola
100 Aidy Boothroyd
101 Alan Shearer
102 Alan Smith
103 Ardillas
104 Avram Grant
105 Billy McNeill
106 Brian Kidd
107 Brown
108 Bryan Hamilton
109 Carlo Ancelloti
110 Clive Allen
111 Dave Watson
112 David Webb
113 Deehan
114 Denis Smith
115 Denis Wise
116 Doug Livermoore
117 Egil olsen
118 Eriksson
119 Frank Burrows
120 Garry Parker
121 George Curtis
122 Graham Rix
123 Gross
124 Guus Hiddink
125 Jim Jefferies
126 Jimmy Frizzell
127 Joe Kinneer
128 John Gorman
129 John Moore
130 Jordan
131 Josef Venglos
132 Kevin Ball
133 Kevin MacDonald
134 Lawrie Sanchez
135 Lombardo
136 Mark McGhee
137 Mel Machin
138 Merrington
139 Owen Coyle
140 Paul Goddard
141 Paul Ince
142 Perrin
143 Peter Eustace
144 Peter Taylor
145 Peter Withe
146 Phil Scolari
147 Ramos
148 Ray Clemence
149 Ricky Sbragia
150 Roberto Martinez
151 Roy Keane
152 Roy McFarland
153 Sammy Lee
154 Santini
155 Steve Perryman
156 Stewart Houston
157 Stuart McCall
158 Sturrock
159 Tony Adams
160 Tony Mowbray
161 Wigley
162 Worthington
163 Zajec
164 Tony Parke
165 eric black
166 Billy Davies
167 Les Reed
168 Terry McDermott
169 Steve Clarke
170 John Carver
171 Nigel Pearson

My Sentimental Journey.

My Sentimental Journey.

I gazed out of the train window and said to myself am I really going to Munich after all these years. Did I really want to go? What did I expect to find. Could I cope? Bobby and Matt (my dear friend) would not be there, why have I been drawn? Fifty years I have thought of a name, Munich, it was embedded on my brain and was there nearly every day at some stage. I was going, yes me, to Munich.

I stepped off the train and I was there , 51 years after the accident that took over, to some extent, my life. How did I now feel? I do not know, only now I was in Munich. Everybody was rushing around doing their normal work, was this wrong I thought, and then I had to pull myself together and say yes of course they must, how were they to know that I was here to say hello-goodbye to a memorial.

My good friend travelling with me, John Speight got along with his map reading etc. And had time to brush up on his German. I could only speak English but so what, I was there and that is what mattered. After a restless night we made our way to the memorials, my thoughts started again, how would I feel. What did I expect. Was this really the goodbye. I had said all this to Sir Matt and the Babe’s years ago. Bobby was still with me thank god, no disrespect to anyone else but I idolise the man Sir Bobby Charlton and always will until that dreaded day which will come to us all. After John decided on the best route we headed for the, I do not know what, a sight I did not want to see, but had to, my mind was a little blurred now. We had perhaps a mile to go of walking through a lovely suburb of Munich; that name again.

John said there it is, I could see nothing for a while until I spotted the stone memorial built so beautifully in 2004. We went past and onto the original, John spotted it first and then there it was, in front of me, 50 years on. No tears, no real feeling, just a glance, then time for a photo or two to remember - not that they would ever be needed. A few cars passed by with some quizzical looks. “So what”, I said to myself. I was here to remember the Babes. After 5 minutes we made our way to the new memorial, similar to the one that is proudly built into the wall at the Babe’s home at Old Trafford. This was different again, in the distance I looked over at some Greenland and wondered whether the accident took place there, I did not dwell as it was very near. I did not want to know the exact spot, that would have been too much.

Flowers were in front of the memorial, I said a hushed thank you to whom had placed them as I placed my United shirt on top of them. John followed with his scarf. Were we spoiling the look of the newly named road Manchester Platz. I did not think so; it was my way of telling the Babes they would not be forgotten. After what only seemed a few seconds we left with our photos intact. I looked back and thought to myself , i will never come back, but how pleased and proud I was to have finally said my final goodbye to those that gave so much.

I was also proud to think that Munich would look after the memorials; after all they had done so now for 50 years. Now back at the hotel I felt relief, I had been, and me and my good friend John were already discussing our team for the Villa game. Manchester United will never die.

Bill Layton, Peterborough

A Red Perspective on the Charity Shield 2009

A Red Perspective on the Charity Shield 2009
WE’RE THE FAMOUS MAN UNITED AND WE’RE OFF TO WEMBLEY!

Seamus is nothing if not professional so when he got a call from his other editor asking him to take on a tricky assignment, deep behind enemy lines, it was without hesitation that he seized the opportunity.
- “What is it Ed?”, Seamus eagerly inquired.
- “I want you to cover the Charity I mean Community Shield match down in that there London”, said the Ed.
- “Of course I’ll do it boss”, replied Seamus.
-“There’s just one thing though, Seamus……….it means you missing the ‘Mixed Bowls Pair’s Competition BBQ Shindig Hoedown Showdown’ at the Heights’ Barrfield Club!”
The Ed. sensed Seamus’ hesitation but, in a transparent appeal to his vanity, secured our hero’s services with this plea:
- “Seamus you’re my best man, I wouldn’t ask any one else to do it, your fellow Reds need you!”
And so it was that Seamus caught the first train out of Piccadilly, on Sunday the 9th of August, destination not Bangor, Maine, but Wembley Stadium.

Now the first time I went to Wembley it was in 1990, to see the Stones in the “Steel Wheelchairs” tour, and as a music venue it wasn’t great. However, that was more than made up for by the munificence of Mick, Keef, Ron, Bill and Charlie. I then didn’t go back until 1997 and that was for a Charity Shield match against Chelsea. Growing up in the late 1970’s/early 1980’s I firmly believed the ‘Wonderful Wembley’ myth so each time I went, in later years, I was appalled to see what to my eyes was a crumbling edifice, a decrepit mausoleum, symbolic perhaps of the Empire it was named after. Coupled with horrendous queues for extortionate food and drink as well as overcrowded and often literally overflowing toilets, the ‘Wembley Experience’ was rarely a pleasant one. However the new ‘National Stadium’ has been with us for a couple of years now and whilst gushing testimonials, about the venue itself, have been thin on the ground so have any negative comments either. Most griping has been reserved for the soulless swathes of corporates who usually miss the opening minutes of the second half because they’re quaffing shampoo and stuffing mushroom vol au vents down their scrag ends. As this was not a criticism of Wembley itself I got out of the Tube at Wembley Park with a keen sense of anticipation, not only about the first game of a new season (after a horrendously long close season), but also for what will the new Wembley be really like?

The view from the top of Wembley Park down Wembley Way was glorious; fans of all ages, some in red, some in blue eagerly making their way to the season’s traditional curtain raiser. I must confess even a cynical old goat like me felt a sense of nostalgic frisson. For a split second that view alone brought me back to FA Cup Final Grandstand. Anyway, kick-off was fast approaching and shanks’ mare was going to need a good gallop if I was going to get there in time to greet our red shirted heroes on to the pitch and, after a quick stop at Bobby Moore’s statue, I was in. What a transformation. A seamless automatic gate entry, toilets everywhere, hundreds of kiosks characterised by orderly queues and organised staff (are you watching Manchester?). It truly was a breath of fresh air with the exception of the fish and chip stall whose waft was, according to one of my companions, reminiscent of “a room full of rum women”. The pitch was immaculate, the seats had plenty of leg room and with a magnificent 80,000 seat panorama all around, it’s a stadium to match Camp Nou, San Siro and the Willows.
With excellent seats secured right beside the 4th estates’ box, a moving tribute and applause to Sir Bobby Robson observed, and the painful dirge that is “God save the Queen” over, finally United and Chelsea kicked off the 2009/10 season.
The talk all around me was about “Valencia and Owen” and “who’d be in nets”? The only people mentioning our erstwhile number 7 were the tabloids. Us United fans have moved on and are palpably looking forward to another season.

The game itself was a credible 2-2 draw with United and particularly Nani shining in the first half. Chelsea really came back in to it in the second half, though how much of that was due to Foster’s jitteriness and the ref’s inconsistency is open to debate for greater football brains than mine. But for me it was heartening that Wayne Rooney never tired, never gave up and scored with his only real chance of the game. I’ve no doubt he’ll be expected to do that a lot more this season and it was to good to see that he stayed calm, kept plugging away and got his reward against top class opposition. For me the penalty shoot out was immaterial as was the destination of the shield. The 90 minutes of action gave me a hint of how we’ll go this season, particularly with our new boys Valencia and Owen, and I have to say that I was encouraged by what I saw. I’m not saying that we’ll conquer all before us, Chelsea and Liverpool could well win the title. Arsenal, Villa, Everton and City will all have a huge, or should I say massive, say but we’ve as good a chance of winning it this season, as we did last, and that my fellow Reds is all you can ask for.

Oz.

A Red Perspective

Summer business and new season hope

As at mid-July Fergie declared ‘our business is done’ which surprised me. Maybe he was just winding us all up, perhaps not.

I know we’re spoilt, seriously challenging for, or winning the title, most seasons since 1992, but that’s where we want to stay. Maybe a lean year, or two, wouldn’t be totally bad. Winning the title again in 2006/07, after a gap, improved temporarily OT’s sometimes complacent atmosphere. It meant that bit more again. But, having spent my school years watching the Scousers go out of sight, and then my adult years watching them reeled in, it’s more important than ever to keep that top perch. They were close to us last season – too close. Now we have 18 and that’s a fact. For 19, do we need more ambition than this summer has shown?

Losing our top scorer of the last 3 seasons and that man from Argentina leaves us relying on Rooney, Berbatov and young potential in Welbeck and Macheda, plus a 29 year old ex-Scouse star, who has inherited the famous number 7 shirt. Oh – and a 20 year old Bordeaux winger who looks worryingly like Mikael (hope he’s better than Bellion), plus Valencia, who looks to have good potential. It’s a gamble, but then Fergie and we have been here before. Doubt him at your peril – just ask Alan Hansen.

Although I’m sad to see him go, shame on Tevez. I hope he gets what he deserves at Citteh - eventually a League Cup runners up medal. Unless he scores on every appearance, how will he stay first choice ahead of at least five dozen strikers? Just wish he would cut out the smokescreens. Ronaldo went to Real because he had always dreamt of playing there, plus the extra money. He gave us 6 years, £70 million profit and an average 30 goals over each of last three seasons. Tevez went to Citteh just for money. Pure and simple, end of story. I enjoyed his short contribution, but he’s hardly in the Ruud or, dare I say, Torres class. If he needs regular first team football he’s gone to the right place then!

Back to money I suppose - £80M from Real, plus major wages saved on Tevez and Ronaldo (doubt Owen and Valencia will equal half their wages), plus up to £10M for Fraizer Campbell and other fringe players. A spend of around £20M for Valencia and Obertan. Net transfer income of £70M means United, unlike their major rivals, are suddenly a selling club – sorry, franchise. Bizarrely, I believe £70M is about one year’s debt interest, or almost one year’s profit. If the Glazer debt didn’t exist, which of course it didn’t before they created it, then £70M plus £70M profit would mean United would have almost as much to spend as Real! Biggest club in the world? That’s a bit hollow at the moment. In reality we now appear to have to wait and see who Real, Citteh, Chelsea and Barca buy, then pick up on what is left.

If Rooney, or Berbatov, or Owen get a bad injury we have real problems. It smacks of complacency, especially when we scored so few goals last season and reminds me of 2003. We were complacent then in the face of the Chelski threat, plus Arsenal’s challenge and were left floundering around for 3 seasons. We have gone from 4 strikers plus kids, to 2 strikers, a gamble on a 29 year old ‘free’ transfer, plus kids. In the event of injuries/suspensions, yet again we will have a bench without experienced reserve striking threat. I think that is both a dangerous and an unnecessary gamble.

Perhaps Fergie is bluffing and a further striker, or midfielder, will be signed. Perhaps Owen will score over 20 goals with the quality service from those around him. Perhaps Macheda and Welbeck will step up. They will need to do so to replace what we have lost. However, I doubt Barca and the rest will be losing too much sleep over our latest apparent challenge. Midfield is another area that needed addressing and so far we seem to be just hoping Hargreaves will get fit again, or that Darron Gibson comes through.
Having said all that, I suppose it could just as easily be another Fergie master stroke. Owen is the sort of out and out finisher we have been missing since Ruud and Ole.

If United were in seriously for Benzema (although I doubt it, as he only ever seemed to want to join Real), then Fergie felt we needed someone else of that potential. Signing Owen on a free should be an extra insurance policy, not the main policy. We need to spot the next Torres, which may mean trying one or two long shots before we strike gold. Berg of Sweden’s U21 team and his recent goal scoring exploits might have been worth a punt. Northern Europeans are worth going for, as they are less likely to hanker after dream moves to Spain. Perhaps the arrival of Diouf from Molde might be such a worthwhile gamble, although I was worried when I first heard we were signing ‘Diouf’, as I sit very near the pitch!
I just think we are missing an important opportunity to strengthen more fully, although I accept we shouldn’t just spend for the sake of it, or try and compete directly with the obscene money Citteh’s Arabs can supply.

Incidentally, what real relevance does a Citteh supporter now have? Exactly how do they help achieve any success their owners might now buy for them? It will be an even more hollow achievement than that of Chelski.

Fans of most other clubs have principally funded the whole operation or, now in our case, the debt. As supporters we contribute. Our contribution matters. A club’s success, or lack of it, has usually been gradual, based on financial reality, on home-grown players, plus carefully purchased players and also accounting for costly mistakes. Put another way, you have to have sort of ‘earned’ the success and the position to build on that success. The playing field amongst major clubs was sort of level, not totally tilted in favour of one obscenely rich owner. Chelski was a major distortion, but even that had limits. Mistakes at Citteh already appear to be irrelevant. Just as well, as they do excel in that field. It’s much more difficult to accept when Arsenal win the title, or perish the very thought, those crafty, tricky Scousers, because you’d feel you could have done better.

If Citteh just suddenly buy it, so what? If you can just buy who you like, for whatever amount it takes to persuade them to join, what’s the achievement? Maybe they will even cock up their new found massive financial supremacy. If they do, it will be hilarious. If they start winning everything – well-aahh, as Sven would say, it will be sort of invalid really. Deep down they will know that’s a fact, a real fact as opposed to the ramblings of the fat Spanish waiter. Anyway, enough of the Citteh flim flam.

At least United have some cash in reserve should it start going wrong, or perhaps not as the debt interest really bites! The Glazer’s spokesman recently said we had ‘£60M net from the Ronaldo sale to spend’. Strange statement, as it implied we didn’t have any other significant transfer budget to begin with? I suspect they will use the Ronaldo money to disguise yet another summer of less than impressive net spend.

I have always believed the day the Glazer’s took over the club was a very bad day. The success since then has little to do with their ownership. It has been Fergie’s management skill that has continued the success, along with much, much more of the fans money, almost success happening in spite of the Glazer effect. The Glazers have contributed nothing, other than ensuring we fans ‘efficiently’ service a debt mountain they stupidly created, along with agreeing to punitive interest rates. Great business acumen. Ticket prices increasing yet again this summer, when others either freeze or cut them, says it all. If United’s success stalls due to the handicap they saddled us with, then the Glazers and United will be seriously damaged. Them, I don’t care about, United I do.

Roll on the new season. Maybe it will be yet another surprise and we will change formation and start scoring more freely. Maybe Nani will set the league alight – maybe not. Either way, I’ll miss Tevez, but especially miss CR despite the histrionics. However, we have lost key players before and continued with success, so hopefully Fergie has gambled well again. Just hope he reduces those odds with another signing, or two.

Pete Burton

Moscow 2008 – Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Merseyside, have a look, we’re in Moscow, are you f*ck, with a nick nack paddy wack give a dog a bone, we’re bringing number three home.

So heard in Hard Rock café on the day of the game. Without doubt 2007/8 will go down in the annals of history as one of United’s greatest ever and the fact that it took us one of each closer to the old enemy made it even sweeter. Every time I see a picture of Fergie, Ronny, Edwin etc with old big ears I grin from ear to ear. There really isn’t a more beautiful trophy in World Football than the European Cup, both in appearance and in terms of the mystique and glamour that surrounds it. And there isn’t a greater sight in World Football than United lifting said trophy. And I’ve been fortunate to witness this twice in my lifetime. Oh to be a Red.

It nearly wasn’t so though. Has there ever been such a difficult final (or even Euro Away) to get to? Has there ever been so much agonising over to go or not to go? And have United ever failed to shift 21,000 tickets for a Cup Final before, let alone a European Cup Final? The morning after the night before and the Euphoria of beating Barcelona in one of Old Trafford’s best atmosphere’s in years was beginning to give way to the harsh realisation that Moscow was going to cost the bones of a grand, no matter how you did it. Typical United, spend nine years missing out on the likes of Glasgow and Paris before taking us to bloody Russia!

It was immediately decided there was no way we were paying £950 for a club day trip and even a £750 day trip with the independents was baulked at. That left us with two options. Send the tickets back (which I’m not ashamed to say we seriously considered and unfortunately, two of our party did) or a marathon journey that Steve Martin and John Candy would be proud of. A friend had suggested flights from Stansted to Riga for only £100 a week before the Barcelona game. Unfortunately we didn’t have the balls (or confidence in United) to take a chance and so found ourselves paying £369 for the same flights a week later, out Tuesday morning and back Friday night. Feeling smug, we reasoned we’d saved £400 and were getting a four day holiday with two Cities for the price of one…

Next challenge was securing train tickets from Riga-Moscow, easier said than done when none of the sites actually sell them, they merely take an ‘enquiry’ and get back to you at their leisure! Needless to say I was fearing the worst at this point and began looking at other options, hire car, bus, yak ride…Eventually I received an e-mail from a Russian gentleman named Peter, and against my better judgement replied with my credit card details and all three of our names, DOBs and passport numbers. In fairness to good old Pete, the tickets arrived via DHL the following day. Although looking at them they could’ve been anything!!!

And so it was that after another couple of weeks, stressing over visas (would we, wouldn’t we), trying to find accommodation and trying to explain to partners that there would be no summer holiday this year, we finally left Manchester at midnight on Monday to begin our 36 hour trek to Moscow. The drive down to Stansted was fairly uneventful, save for loads of Truckers flashing at us, with their headlights I hasten to add, due to the United scarf we had out of each window. Reds are here and all that. Before long we were having the obligatory 4am pint in the airport and waiting to board our flight. At this point I was straining my neck trying to clock who was who, but it soon became apparent, even on their ‘manner’ that Reds were going to be outnumbering Blues from this point on in the trip. Obviously all the Hoorah Henrys have more money than us and were forking out for Chelsea’s alleged £1300 day trips…

A pleasant day was spent in Riga, drinking in the sunshine and admiring the local talent. A text was quickly despatched to a Scouse friend at work, informing him of my whereabouts and politely enquiring how his day was going. In a rare display of bone fide Scouse wit, he replied that he had just tipped off the Latvian Special Branch of the kilo of hashish he’d stashed in my bag “so hurry up and finish that beer lar”. Not wanting to take any chances where a Mickey was concerned we heeded his advice and headed off to the train station. At this point, more worries as to whether our cabin would be occupied by some retired Head-hunter, or worse still, a hairy arsed Russian with a penchant for Young English boys began to kick in. We needn’t have worried as the train, like Stansted and the flight before it must’ve been 80% Reds. A merry time was had by all until we reached the Russian border, when it was squeaky bum time once again! A word of advice here; if you ever cross the Russian border in the middle of the night, don’t take a picture. And worse still, don’t walk away and sit back down on your bed, playing dumb when they start shouting at you. It makes them angry. Very angry!

Still, once that scare was survived, a much needed nights sleep was had and as if by magic we woke up in a grey and rainy Moscow. The next challenge was negotiating the Underground for the first time. With a map in English. When all the station names are actually in Russian. We tried this first of all by following a group of Reds who looked like they knew what they were doing, but soon confessed that they didn’t and got off to try and walk to Red Square. This left us knowing neither what station we got on at, nor what station we were now at. The Russians were friendly enough but few of them spoke any English. One saw the scarves we were now wearing and insisted on taking us to the stadium, even though it was only 9 o clock in the morning. We eventually managed to decline and find the right station for our digs.

On arrival at the hostel, which had charged us two nights, even though we were only ever staying one, we found that it had been overbooked and the owner had f*cked off to Spain (presumably on our money), leaving one of his staff to sort the mess out. As a result, we found ourselves sharing the Kitchen floor with three other Reds from Blackburn! A quick shower and change and we met up with some mates who’d arrived the day before for a bite to eat on Old Arbat. It wasn’t long before the Russian media were moving in for interviews and asking us to “Sing songs” and “Why we were not clashing with Chelsea fans?” We tried to explain that we respected their country (and certainly their police force/army) and that we weren’t that bothered about Chelsea, but the woman was having none of it and spent about ten minutes trying to insight us into violence. We’re all pacifists, so no cigar!

After that a quick drink in Hard Rock turned into all day when the heavens opened and our walk to Red Sq was put on the back burner. My plans to stay relatively sober were also scuppered when Big Phil (Tony Soprano) bought two bottles of vodka and me and Robbo just couldn’t say no! Long before ‘Viva John Terry’ took hold in the early hours of Thursday numerous new verses to ‘Viva Ronaldo’ were already being aired:

Viva Louis Saha
Running down the wing
There goes his hamstring
Viva Louis Saha

Viva Silvestre
Sitting on the bench
Looking rather French
Viva Silvestre

Viva Wayne Rooney
He’s a f*cking Scouse
And he’ll rob your house
Viva Wayne Rooney

And of course the O’Shea one, which I personally think is out of order.

The journey to the ground was a bit of a blur, due to the excessive amount of vodka (cheers Phil!) but I soon sobered up on arrival when I couldn’t find my ticket. Title run ins? Pah. Russian border police? A doddle. Spending 36 hours and the best part of a grand travelling to Moscow to momentarily loose your brief? Forget squeaky bum , try soiled trousers. By the time I found it in my coat pocket, I was pretty much stone cold sober, which was good because I do actually remember the game. You’ve all seen it so I won’t go into too much detail. We bossed the first. They bossed the second. Extra time came and went and so to the dreaded penalties. Every time a United player stepped up I was convinced he was going to miss. Every time a Chelsea player stepped up I was convinced he would score. Credit to United though, Ronny aside, every penalty was impeccable and the practice obviously paid off along with a huge amount of bottle. Even so, as Terry stepped up, I like everyone else though it was good night Vienna and the unthinkable defeat. He missed. We celebrated. And then realised it was back to Square one. Finally Edwin saves and the place goes ballistic. Absolute bedlam. Hairs on the back of my neck are standing up just writing about it. Champions of Europe once again. Worth every penny and every hour spent just to be there for that moment. F*cking Yes! We were then kept back for an hour to allow Chelsea to disperse, which in the circumstances was probably a wise decision and we didn’t see any at all after the game. In fairness to our hosts, the whole thing had been very well organised and the Stadium was spot on.

After the game we dodged the Spartak fans out on Old Arbat and headed back to the Hard Rock for a victory party that began slumped in a chair drinking Coke but finished at 7 am and a numerous beers later as everyone got a second wind, largely thanks to the Indonesian gentlemen (anyone remember the Apollo rally?) who led us through a few United classics. Let’s go Oriental indeed. Viva John Terry and the new Owen Hargreaves songs were definitely the songs of the night though. And so it was we crawled onto our Kitchen floor in the daylight. Just like nine years ago in Catalonia, tired but happy, with a warm glow that will last all summer. Manchester United FC. Champions of Europe.

The next day we had a wander up to Red Square to do the sight seeing and it has to be said that although I won’t be rushing back to Moscow the main sites are up there with anywhere in the world. Unfortunately for a History buff like myself, both Lenin’s tomb and the Kremlin itself are closed on a Thursday afternoon but we managed to have a gander round St Basil’s Cathedral (the Hansel & Gretel one), which is much more impressive outside than in. After purchasing the standard issue Russian Hats and dolls we headed back to the station for the long journey home, which would have been a hell of a lot longer had John Terry kept his footing. Thank god, he slipped.

Ben Galvin

Thanks to Karl & the other Ben for a brilliant trip.

Memories of Rome trips...

From Aberdeen to Rome

This was not the happy ending to the season we had all envisaged and hoped for but at the end of the day we were well beaten on the night by a better team. We could discuss forever what happened on the night but simply for whatever reason we did not turn up. Hopefully next season we will come back better and wiser for the experience. Anyway enough about the game, I would prefer in this instance to concentrate on the positives of the trip.

A group of us regular travellers decided to take a gamble on a cheap flight a while before the final to ensure that we were not ripped off once we qualified. As it did last year this gamble paid off and we had 2 nights in Rome from Manchester in a decent hotel for well under £300.

It was early start as we had to fly via Paris but we were in the centre of Rome for mid afternoon on a glorious sunny day and spirits were high. As we had passed the Coliseum in the taxi from the airport I told the lads that was the sightseeing done for the trip!!

We had a few leisurely beers in the afternoon, first by the Termini station area then by the Spanish Steps (which are just a load of old steps for anyone interested in the sights of Rome!). The mood was good, natives seemed friendly enough and there was no sign of any Barca fans.

After a quick shower and brush up, we met up in a restaurant bar near our hotel which was a stones throw from Termini station. After being fed and watered in there it was off to Campo Fiori the area of bars where the Foreign office keep telling us not to go due to fear of violent attacks from the Ultras. This was to be a honeypot for a lot of Reds as there was little chance of the Ultras turning up with so many lads in town. It is a really good area of bars and we would have seen the night out there until the bars were closed at 11 ish by the old bill. This was not before Mr Burgess gave his rendition of Viva Ronaldo using a megaphone which was actually switched off at the time—see youtube for the hilarious results!

Having been to Rome on the Utd’s 3 previous visits we had a few ideas for a late drink and we were soon topping up in a small bar round the back of Via National and when this this closed we headed to a bar that served us until 6am although by that time the owner was gettng a little tired of our singing and the antics of a certain greek red who kept trying to sing whilst dancing on a table full of drinks then would promptly fall asleep again. One of the lads fell asleep outside a bar and woke up and his shirt had been stolen off his back—there is no truth in the rumour that Malcolm Glazer was seen in the area at the time. When you wake up after a night like that you really wish that there would be a blanket alcohol ban across the whole city!

Matchday

By midday a large group of us had plotted up in a bar restaurant near our hotel thanks to a hospitable owner who could see nothing but euro signs in his eyes as he could not cope with our thirst for alcohol. Big Jim reported that a new bed had just been delivered to our hotel in replacement of the one he had managed to break during the night—say no more! The word going round was that tickets would cost upwards of £800 on the black market and that was if you could actually find someone with a spare to sell! In the whole time I was in Rome I wasn’t offered a single ticket at any price which was amazing considering the amount of people I had seen or heard from. There were rumours of fakes and also I heard some sad stories of at least 4 reds I knew being pick pocketed for their wallets and tickets. In those situations you cannot help but feel but sorry for the people involved.

We spent most of the afternoon in this haven of good Italian grub with wine and beer flowing. We then decided to visit a bar near the Vatican (the Popes house as referred to by one of our crew!!). This bar we had visited on each of our previous visits to Rome and the head barman was named by us Mr Millwall as he had told us on each previous visit his love for Millwall FC. He was a knowledgable guy and we knew he would serve us beer! Four of us took the 15 minute taxi ride and it eneded up taking an hour as the driver thought we were off to the ground—dickhead! We were stuck in the worst traffic I'd ever seen!

Anyway after a couple of beers with Mr Millwall we walked along the road up to the Olympic stadium. All seemed rather calm in the area—however there were no directional signs saying which way to go so we wasted 25 minutes walking round the ground to the right turnstiles. We were there early but still there was a worrying queue which didn’t move too quickly. By the time I was 3 from the turnstiles they were all locked and the police and stewards didn’t know what was happening. Slight panic set in behind us and I was worried that I wasn’t going to get in at 1 stage. However after a few minutes one of the turnstiles opened again and they just scanned everyone through it using what appeared to be a master ticket, so after all that effort to get one I didn’t actually use my ticket. Obviously this was a jibbers paradise as many got in without tickets or tickets that had been passed back. The result of which you could see in the Utd end as all gangways were full and more than one to a seat. I was just glad to get in to be honest. Earlier on the stewards were actually checking passports which would have been fun at the time I got there.

The teams came out to an amazing sight of ‘For Sir Matt’ and hats off to the people involved in that. We started like a house on fire and the rest is history. The fans did there best considering we didn’t have a lot to shout about and it was all over without us giving it our best shot.

I left before the presentations and walked towards the Vatican before getting a taxi back to termini and a bar again near our hotel. The mood was strange as no one seemed that gutted as we had been well beaten. As you can imagine there was plenty of heated debate about what had happened but we reflected that we were still league champions and champions of the world so let's not forget what a great season it had been.

We ended up pissed up again until 6am before sloping off for some much needed sleep not before being accosted again for the second night running by some very dubious ladies of the night charging a mere 20 euros for a service! Unfortunately when I woke up at 10am we had still lost the night before. A quiet journey home again via Paris and another long season was over which started 46 weeks earlier at a cold and windy Aberdeen.

Welsh Phil

As soon as Ronaldo scored the free kick at the Emirates to seal our trip to Rome I should have been on looking for flights, but as it was I left it to half-time (kept thinking what if Arsenal get one back) meaning Big Jim and I were facing an interesting trip for our first European Cup final - tickets already secured thanks to Jim. Belfast-London-Bologna-Rome. We set off from George Best Airport (hoping this was a good omen) Tuesday night flying to Stansted stopping the night at a hotel near the airport as the flight to Bologna was at 07.10 on Wednesday morning. Say what you like about Ryanair but credit them that flights 9 times out of 10 are on time and we arrived in the heat of Bologna just before 10am local time jumping on the bus to Bologna Centrale train station for the 11.39 Eurostar to Rome. After 15 min delay we were off relaxed in the thought that we were on our way to Rome with time to spare. Plenty of Reds on the train as well and they managed to drink the train dry as many had been on it since Milan.

We arrived in Rome Termini just before 3 making our way down to the Metro to take us to the San Giovani stop near the B&B I had managed to secure. It felt great looking round seeing loads of United making their way around mixing easily with the Barca fans who were already singing heartily with no hint of malice what so ever. Then it all started to unravel. Firstly it took us a good 30-40 mins to find our B&B when it should have only taken 10. We knocked on the door to be greeted with blank looks from the male cleaner/receptionist who informed us in broken English that there was no reservation and basically that he didn’t really care either. Now I am not the most patient of people at the best of times but it took all my will power not to thump this idiot and his blasé attitude. Was this an omen for the rest of the day – “we are bound to lose now” I kept mumbling as if anything that happens to me can even remotely affect a football match involving United. Anyway we managed to bump into the lady who runs the B&B downstairs and although she had no rooms herself thankfully got us a room in a hotel she previously worked in near the Vatican.

An hour later bags dumped in room, shorts and sunglasses donned, ticket secured in wallet (with all the scare stories about Rome pickpockets the wallet was stowed safely in zip pocket of my shorts) and some devoured pizza later, we started looking at trying to get a beer to set us on our way. Ha no chance! We stumbled upon loads of Reds and Barca fans enjoying the sun with a beer in a bar in the middle of Via Crescenzio just off the Vatican. As soon as we tried to order a few the manager grumpily informed us “no more beer Police stop it”. To his right some plain clothes coppers were making sure that was it and he had to shut up shop. Cue more “we are going to lose” grumbles from me much to the amusement of Big Jim. It was now about 3 hours to kick off and with the queues for “32” bus to the stadium growing longer by the second, we gave up the beer search rather meekly and joined the line of both sets of fans. 40 mins later we finally got crammed onto a bus that made rush hour in Beijing look a breeze as the bus took another 20 mins to get to the stadium and felt like the inside of a hair dryer at full blast. So much for a well organised event and easy transport to the Stadio Olimpico.

At last yes we were there arriving at the Champions League Final thousands of United and Barca fans milling around looking for the stadium. When I say looking this is an understatement! No signage what so ever directing fans to the gate they would be entering the stadium at, just the local coppers/stewards telling us United fans right Barca left. Thing was our seats were in the “neutral section” and we had absolutely no idea where we going again due to the lack of signage. Now I must be mistaken in my thought that UEFA had insisted that all stadia used for European football should be clearly signposted with North, South, etc stands to allow fans ease of access/entry to games. Well not in Rome and we were not the only ones clueless as to where we were going as we had stories all night of people lost in the chaos. Eventually after being directed (sort of) by “stewards” (I use the term loosely as they did bugger all) and what felt like a 2 mile walk, we finally found the entrance for Tribuna Monte Mario. After 1 crush with all the Barca fans and 2 checks of the tickets later (so much for scanning them like we all had been warned about) we were directly outside the stadium facing another hike up to our section.

We were now after all the organised chaos in our seats in the “neutral section” (£181 each to be exact) which was easily 80% United anyway. I had to hike it back down to get a programme (am I right in finding only one stall for this part of the stadium?) over the red carpet section where I bumped into Gary Neville in his official suit looking desperately for some VIP entrance. Couldn’t catch him for a pic or autograph as he was off like a shot. He greeted all Reds who said hello with a thumbs up. Back in seat anticipation building I had to pinch myself to realise that I was living out my childhood dream of seeing and being there with United at a European Cup Final. I have watched United for 30 years through good times and bad reaching this stage to watch it was something I had never imagined would happen for me. Teddy Sheringham then ambled past us up the steps to the TV gantry with a confident grin.

Have to say the opening ceremony was quite tastefully done for once and then kick off arrived. We all know how the game panned out for United, only for the first 9 minutes did we see how we really can play. We can all debate about how we missed Fletcher/Hargreaves, formations, team didn’t turn up, etc. Fact is we lost and deserved to do so as Barca were by far the better team on the night, though I am still convinced on our day we would take them as we would never play so poorly again. I am still gutted but getting over it slowly as I know we will be back in the near future at this stage.

I left at the final whistle partly as I was so crestfallen and partly to beat the rush. Not that I dislike Barca (in fact quite the opposite having a soft spot for them since Hughes was there in the 80s) but I really didn’t want to suffer seeing them lift the cup. All in all a good trip (apart from the obvious result) and we got some wonderful sightseeing and €6 beers done on Thursday before making the same trip home. Roll on August and the first home game of the season back to my seat in the East Stand – Come on United!!

BelfastRedDevil

AFC Flyde 1 MUFC 2 Match Report

Thanks to Red News forumite Thornton Red for this match report


Billed as The Champions v The Champions, AFC having won the Vodkat Premier Division title last season, anticipation in the area for the visit of Manchester United, whoever wore the shirts, had been high for weeks and the club even managed to arrange for a marquee to be set up outside the local pub, The Birley Arms, to provide hospitality for 120 guests.

Rain had poured down during the previous night and all day on the Fylde Coast. So much so that as kick-off time approached there was a serious doubt as to whether the game would still go ahead. However, with the club having invested in the laying of a new pitch and drainage system in the close season at an outlay approaching £30,000 the game went ahead in front of a record crowd at Kellamergh Park of 1,390.

AFC fielded one player who used to be on United’s books in Michael Barnes and another, Matt Walwyn, who is the son of Keith Walwyn formerly of Blackpool.

The game was well contested with both teams giving their all in diabolical conditions, United hitting the post early on. AFC were as inspired as you might expect playing a United XI but after the first ten minutes the class of United youth, who, by the way, wore the new kit for the first time, became evident as their opponents struggled to gain possession of the ball.

In those first ten minutes Tom Heaton was as busy as he was going to get in the match, making the first of only five touches he would get of the ball during the first 45 minutes, as AFC built a lovely move only for Pete Sommerfield’s shot to miss the target. Heaton’s first touch therefore was picking the ball up for a goalkick! Five minutes later there was some strong defending required from United’s back line to keep AFC at bay as their early confidence soared.

On 25 minutes United were forced into making their first substitution of the night as James Chester limped off after being on the wrong end of a strong challenge. He was replaced by Oliver Gill who made an immediate impact with a well timed interception to put paid to another early attack from AFC.

Two minutes later United produced a lovely sweeping move which ended with Febien Brandy shooting just over the bar from outside the penalty area. On 39 minutes though, United took the lead. Moving out of defence, Corry Evans played the ball out to Magnus Eikram on the right wing, he moved the ball onto Cameron Stewart who made a typical fast paced and mazy run down the right flank evading all challenges sweetly before playing a nice one-two with Brandy then putting in a superbly accurate cross which Tom Cleverley smartly tucked away from ten yards out.

During the first half AFC’s tannoy announcer had been making regular pronouncements from the police that cars parked on the surrounding roads were, a) going to be issued with parking tickets and, b) some of the worst offenders were going to be removed by the police. During the half time interval he announced the winner of three prize tickets; 1st prize a signed United shirt. 2nd prize a signed AFC shirt. 3rd prize was to be payment of all parking fines!

The second half began with United making two more changes to the starting line up; Oliver Norwood came on for Evans and Ron Robert Zieler replaced Heaton in goal. Zieler must have already been shattered as United’s goalkeeping coach had put him through an exhausting exercise routine before the game and again at half time.

Fifteen minutes into the second half Zieler was called upon to make his first contribution to the night when making a fine save at the feet of an AFC Fylde substitute, Paul Fildes. Two minutes later Stewart was replaced by Josh King and then, after 75 minutes another sweeping United move resulted in a corner.

Ollie Norwood had played a long ball over the defence for Brandy and his ball into the area for Ajose resulted in the striker getting in a shot on the turn that was unknowingly deflected off the post for a corner by an AFC defender. Cleverley took the corner and the resultant goal was somewhat reminiscent of Paul Scholes as the ball reached the feet of Sam Hewson who drove a bullet like shot, first time, high into the AFC goal.

Three minutes later Hewson again made the keeper work well as he had to make a fantastic save to keep out another shot from the United midfielder.

With about ten minutes to go the game was rudely interrupted when a streaker ran onto the pitch and bared his nether regions. He was politely asked to leave the scene by the tannoy guy and as he realised that security were now on the pitch and closing in he made a break for freedom. Running Ed Moses like towards the advertising hoardings surrounding the pitch he attempted to hurdle them but as the ground now resembled a cows field he couldn’t make it and smashed into them chest high.

He did manage to regain his feet and escape his would be captors and, in pouring rain and a very cold wind, he then ran around the pitch in just his boxers as a Keystone Cops type chase took place. He was caught eventually and marched out of the ground in want looked to be a very strong hold by two guards. One wonders if he will now be banned from every ground in the country for his bravado.

Back to the football then and in the 82nd minute AFC finally got what the majority of the crowd had really come for – a goal, as Michael Clark scored a consolation goal direct from a corner with the assistance of the afore-mentioned wind which completely deceived Zieler.

This gave the home side some extra impetus and as they threw everything at United looking for an unlikely equaliser it only required a superb last ditch tackle by Joe Dudgeon on Fildes to keep them out in the final frenetic moments.

Interviewed afterwards Ole Gunner Solskjaer said: “Fylde gave us a good game. We worked hard throughout and towards the end l have to say l wasn’t so sure that we were going to win the game or not. “Fylde had some decent players and they worked hard, but it was our first game and l was just glad we won in the end.”

Of all the players Ole Gunner chose to play though special mention has to be made or Ritchie De Laet who didn’t put a foot wrong all night. He read the game well and made many important challenges breaking up some good attacks from the reds opponents. Craig Cathcart’s presence on the pitch also impressed the locals. Strong, athletic and composed both on and off the ball he had a big impact on the game too and dwarfed AFC’s strikers.

Finally, on a personal level, it was good to see Sam Hewson back in a United shirt. He scored one great goal and could have had another and one can only hope that his loan spell at Hereford wasn’t wasted and he makes the most of another opportunity with the reds.

AFC Fylde: Summerfield, Lawlor, Shaw, Doughty, Hennessy, Horsfall, Penswick, Palmer, Barnes, Walwyn, Downey. Subs: Worrell, Jackson, Moffatt, Mahoney, Porter, Nay, Fildes, Clark, Railston, Allen.

Malaysia Match Report from RN Reader Rosso

United arrived in Kuala Lumpur for the first leg of their 2009 Asia Tour. This is United's 4th visit to Malaysia (that I know of). The last time was in 2001 when they beat another Malaysian select 6-0. Prior to that, a United team in 1995, sans Cantona, Kanchelskis, Hughes and Ince arrived with a group of then unknown young players such as Beckham, the Neville brothers, Butt and Scholes played the countries most successful team, Selangor FC twice, beating them 4-1 and 2-0.

To be honest, although the Asian tours are always a good opportunity (and for most, the only opportunity) for United supporters in Asia to see the boys play, I'm always wary of them. Being someone who frequently travels between the UK and Malaysia, I know how tiring these trips half way across the world can be, and the jet lag certainly doesn't help. Add in the tight schedule and the promotional work the players have to do, I can't imagine how this can be good pre-season preparation.

Anyways, this time around, the United team arrived to a huge fan fare on Friday, 17th July 2009. With the arrival time being kept secret, the United fans camped at the airport since early morning, hoping to catch a glimpse of the players. After touching down, the United players certainly wasted no time in heading straight to promotional events. The team headed to a lunch reception and autograph signing sessions (for a selected few) at the Mandarin Oriental. After that, I think Rio, Gibson, Nani and Fletcher were at some promotional 5 aside game and Scholesy was at some other charity event. Again, this worries me a little as I dont know how much rest the players actually got after such a long trip. However, you probably get good sleep on the plane if you're flying first class.

On the day of arrival, United had an open public training session at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, watched by 30,000 supporters, which lasted about an hour. Having promised my first born to someone I know who works in AIG, I managed to obtain both tickets for the training session and match. I attended a similiar public training session when United were last here in 2001. Back then, it was obvious who was the most natural footballer in the squad. During the keep-the-ball sessions, the volleying practices, long and short passing, it was obvious at all these come most naturally to Paul Scholes. In the current training session, that hasn't changed. Scholsey is still by far the most techically gifted footballer in the team! It's worrying that he's one of the older players and will probably be playing in his last season with United.

On match day itself, I attented the AIG Pre-match luncheon (came with my match tickets) at the Palace of the Golden Horses. Nothing noteworthy about it except that it was obvious those tickets was reserved for high paying AIG premium holders who are not necessarily United supporters, or football fans for that matter! (''Who wears No.3 for United? Errr..Gary Neville?''.''Who was United's manager before Sir Alex? Err..Matt Busby? ''.'' Err..you mean they have an AWAY jersey ??''). Was hoping to catch somebody from United at the luncheon but sadly none was there. Headed straight for the stadium from the hotel.

The stadium itself is easily the biggest I've ever been to, with a 100,000 capacity. Getting into it however, was an absolute nightmare. 100,000 football fans trying to get into the stadium via 4 main gates, you can imagine the crowd and the queues. The beating afternoon sun doesn't help as well! The stadium is rarely filled so I guess the officials don't have much experience with dealing with such a large crowd. Getting into OT during matchday is so ridiculously simple by comparison.

There was a carnival like atmosphere around the stadium pre-match, with stalls selling food and football memoribilias set up especially just for the event. A sporting event this size is rare in Kuala Lumpur and for most of the United supporters there, especially the younger ones, it would be the first time they see their heroes up close for real. In the stadium itself, you'd be forgiven to think that United were the home team. The majority was wearing United jerseys and only a rare few Malaysian kits were seen! Even the loudest cheer during warm up was reserved for the United players. For most, if not all the supporters in the stadium, the United players were easily recognised compared to the home team, whom very few other that most hard-core Malaysian football fans would know of. Strangely, Van Der Sar appeared for the warm up wearing the long sleeved jersey and long pants, despite the temperature in the stadium almost touching 34 degrees C! Played the match in long sleeves as well!

The game started at 1730 local time. United started VDS in goal, with a rather predictable back four. Rio and Evans at center-back, JOS at right back and Evra on the left. Scholes and Anderson started in midfield with Nani at left wing and Gibson on the right. Rooney started the match up front (long may it continue!), partnering Berbatov. United scored early on with a real goal poachers effort, tapping in after the Malaysian goal keeper parried Berbatov's effort. Then Rooney turned creator, laying off a pass for Nani to slot in a second. After that, United took their foot off the pedal and the match became sort of a practice session for the players. However, it was obvious that this is United's first proper match of the pre-season and there were signs of rustiness. The passing was, in my opinion, wasteful. Although there were some spectacular 40-50 yard crossfield passes, they were giving the ball away far too often, with Nani and Scholes being the chief culprits. Nani showed the typical dribbling and quick feet that we've come to known, but his decision making and final balls still left a lot to be desired. I seriously wonder if he's the right man to lessen the blow of Ronaldo's departure. Gibson too had a lot of space on the right wing but wasted too many crosses, but he's not playing his natural position. The Malaysians then managed to pull a goal back through their No.17, M. Amri Yahya. Evra failed to deal with a simple long ball up front when he mistimed his jump, allowing Yayha to receive the ball, and seeing VDS off his line,lobbed the United keeper from 30 yards. Half time came shortly and the fans were beginning to clamour for....Michael Owen. One thing I noticed among the local United supporters is that there are loads of Owen No.7 shirts around. Even when the names of the players were announced, Owen, along with Rooney and Giggs, got the loudest cheer. While there are still a lot of rivalry between United and Liverpool supporters over here in Asia, the hatred for them is probably not as intense as it is in the UK, and Owen is still very high regarded over here (like ummm....Richard Clayderman and Vanessa Mae)

The second half started with Foster coming on for VDS, and his first significant contribution was a howler allowing the Malaysians to get a shock equaliser. Failing to control a simple back pass, he allowed Yayha to score his second goal of the match. The equaliser however, failed to inject a sense of urgency to the United players. The practice match mood prevailed and we saw a host of substitutions, with Tosic (he's tiny!), Fabio, Macheda (he's very tall!) , Brown, Owen and eventually Giggs, to a standing ovation, coming on. With the match locked at 2-2 with 10 minutes to go, United decided to turn on the screw and went of the winner. They were rewarded when Owen manage to slot home the winner with 6 minutes ago. Ruud Van Nilsterooy scored on his first appearance in the red shirt against Malaysia the last time they were over here and here's to hoping that Owen will score as many as Ruud did.

The match finished 3-2 to United and overall it was a good workout for the lads. They werent at their sharpest but this is to be expected, being their first match of the pre-season.! Will look forward to the rematch on Monday. Am moving to Australia for good by the time the new season starts and will surely miss going to OT to see them play. Anyway, heading to the KL Twin Towers to see if I can catch a glimpse of any United players doing a bit of shopping!

With regards from Kuala Lumpur, Rosso

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hor of new United book 'From Salford to Tucson and Back Again...'

by Bob Carter, author of the new book (details below), From Salford to Tucson and Back Again: The Globetrotting Memoirs of a Manchester United Fan

It was less than a week ahead of two momentous events in the history of our beloved club. The following Wednesday the reds would be facing Barcelona, attempting to become the first club to successfully defend the Champions League. The day before, the 26th May was equally important. The 26th May 2009 was the 100th anniversary of the birth-date of one of the greatest people ever to grace the game of football, the peerless Sir Matt Busby.

I had just taken my second glass of champagne and wandered through the museum at Old Trafford. I was amongst friends, several hundred friends who had joined the Manchester United Supporters Trust to celebrate the birthday of Sir Matt. As we settled into our seats in the Manchester Suite, the call for dinner was made and a piper led the guests of honour through the room. I looked in awe at Sir Bobby Charlton, Wilf McGuinness, Alex Stepney, David Sadler, Albert Scanlon and Sandy Busby as they made their way to the top table. As we sat through the speeches, vivid pictures of Sir Matt appeared above the table at the front of the room and a tear or two filled my eyes. In my 49 years on this earth I have cried many times and apart from the obvious times of joy and sadness around my family, almost every other tear has been shed for United. Pictures of the great Busby Babes hush the crowd for a moment and I reflect. I was born in January 1960, less than two years after the disaster at Munich. The legends who lost their lives that day should have been the first team I supported. I should have watched Tommy Taylor and Duncan Edwards in their prime, but like millions of others, I was robbed of that privilege by the cruelest ever twist of fate.

Most of the Busby Babes had graduated through the ranks, starting with the youth team. Matt decided that although they were incredibly young, he could not leave them out of the first team. The average age of the team that won the championship in 1956 was just 22. The following year, they won it again with a teenager called Bobby Charlton now a full member of the team. The Busby Babes had eleven stars but the two stand outs were Duncan Edwards and Tommy Taylor, possibly the best two players in the world at that time. Tommy was signed from Barnsley and scored an amazing 131 goals in just 191 games. Duncan is still revered by those lucky enough to see him play as the greatest player of all time. The then manager of England, Walter Winterbottom believed that England would have won the 1958 World Cup if the Munich tragedy hadn’t happened. Taylor, Edwards and the others were that good.

In 1958, United were going after their third title in a row and at the beginning of February went to Arsenal, winning 5-4 in what has since been described as the greatest game ever. Of course, it was completely overshadowed by what happened just a few days later. Having triumphantly knocked out Red Star Belgrade on their way to the European Cup semi final; disaster struck. After refueling at Munich airport, the plane crashed at just after 3 o’clock on February 6th. Twenty one people died, including seven players, David Pegg, Liam Whelan, Eddie Colman, Roger Byrne, Geoff Bent, Tommy Taylor and Mark Jones. Fifteen days later, the great Duncan Edwards joined them in heaven, dying from his wounds. The Busby Babes were cut down before they’d even reached their prime. I still cry when I watch the Pathé News report of the day.

My personal history with United has seen many highs and unfortunately more than a few lows. Whatever the reason that you support your team; there is no doubt that the history of Manchester United is one without rival. We have suffered more tragedy than any other club and thankfully, we have had more triumph than most. Our history is one of the main reasons why we are supported by millions throughout the world. The other reason, no matter what the circumstance, Manchester United will always play the game the right way. From Busby’s magnificent Babes through to the current team, United have been unrivalled in their passion for open, attractive and entertaining football. For fan or foe, the Manchester United story is one of highs and lows, of excitement, adventure and legends.

Manchester United is the biggest football club in the world. In fact, they are by far the biggest sports franchise in the world. This has major advantages, like the ability to sell merchandise all over the world, but it also has disadvantages like losing its identity as a local team. I personally will take the wealth, as long as it continues to be invested in the team, but there is an air of sadness when half the accents at Old Trafford don’t speak properly.
As the 2008/2009 season closed down we were all able to celebrate again as an eighteenth premier league title was safely tucked away. Unfortunately, we were not good enough to beat Barcelona on 27th May but it didn’t stop tens of thousands of reds flooding the city centre and having a party in the only way we know how, the Manchester United way. Ronaldo has now gone, and so has Tevez. We will miss them but their loss is nothing compared to other events in our history and I’m very excited about the next season under the guidance of the only man who could ever be compared to Sir Matt, the most successful manager in the history of English football, Sir Alex Ferguson. Let’s all keep the red flag flying high, I have, ‘From Salford to Tucson and Back Again.



details of the book... From Salford to Tucson and Back Again: The Globetrotting Memoirs of a Manchester United Fan

As a supporter of Manchester United, Robert Carter has seen it all. He has witnessed the highs, the lows, the false dawns; and more recently, the unprecedented success of his beloved team. He has watched the DVD’s, read the autobiographies and studied the history, but something was missing. What if a passionate supporter shared his or her experiences of following the club through thick and thin? Now that was a book that Carter wanted to read but couldn’t find. The only solution was to write it himself.

‘From Salford to Tucson and Back Again’ is the result of almost fifty years of supporting the Red Devils. It takes us from a bygone age of terracing and camaraderie to the faceless experience of the modern football stadium. Born in Davyhulme near Manchester, Carter spent his early years in Swinton, near Salford. He has lived and travelled all over the world, including 10 years in Tucson, Arizona, before settling back into his native Manchester in January 2008. Wherever his travels took him, Manchester United was always close to his heart. Read about a close encounter with the police in Bangkok, about how United's results affected his own playing style and about the devotion of following the red devils through thick and thin. On a famous day in May 1999, while United were winning the treble, this devotion almost cost him his life.

“If you're a sports fan, you should read this book. If you are a football fan, you really should read this book. If you are a Manchester United fan, you absolutely MUST read this book. It will take you back to your fondest memories of the world’s greatest game played by the world's greatest team, and remind you why you fell in love with the Reds.”
- Nick Towle, Chair, Independent Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST)

A Red Perspective on Ronaldo's departure

VIVA RONALDO! SHOULD HE HAVE STAYED OR WAS IT RIGHT FOR HIM GO?

This has been a question that has been troubling many United fans since, finally, United accepted Real’s offer to buy our talented winger.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that, a thoroughly weary, Gary Neville trudged off a pitch in Lisbon during a pre-season friendly. It was back in 2003, United had just played Sporting Club de Portugal and our ever reliable right back had just been given a right run around by a, precocious, 18 year old Maderian, by the name of Cristiano.

“Blimey boss, you’d better sign him quick”, was the message being delivered to the gaffer, by the Neville’s, Rio and Scholesy. This endorsement, from senior United professionals, who’d endured a torrid 90 minutes, from the Portuguese Niño, was enough to persuade Sir Alex that the boy was something special and needed to be a Manchester United player. As usual Ferguson, and the club, charmed the lad and he was soon on his way to the ‘People’s Republic of Mancunia’.

One can only speculate what an 18 year old Maderian, who’d never ventured further than Lisbon, thought of Manchester but I think it would be safe to say that the words “shock” and “culture” must have featured quite highly. On the flip side Cristiano was obviously aware that he’d signed for one of the greatest clubs in the world with a state of the art training complex at Carrington, one of Europe’s largest stadiums and a worldwide fan base, second to none.

And so it was to the beginning of the 2003-04 season that Ronaldo made his debut for his new club. Coming on as a substitute against Bolton Wanderers, that 25 minute appearance was enough to convince even the most sceptical of United fans that Fergie had unearthed another gem. Alas I didn’t attend the game, instead I found myself ‘enduring’ a stag weekend in County Clare, but was able to enjoy the match in a pub and I have to say that I thought it was a mesmerising performance.

I too was buoyed up for the future, the only blot being my friend’s observation that Ronaldo’s blonde streaks “looked like tampon strings”. Apart from this initial heinous crime, against fashion, the boy that replaced Beckham would soon be lauded as the player who made Beckham look shite and later England.

It’s safe to say that in his first 2 seasons at United, Ronaldo promised more than he delivered. There was no doubting the talent, or the ability, it was the decision making that was often flawed, coupled with over elaboration (think of the endless step-overs) which led many Reds to decrying him as a “show pony” and many opposition fans as “Bambi”.

On the plus side he provided a healthy return of goals, as you’d expect, for a two footed winger who could play on either wing. In addition, he also provided an ample amount of assists, which was encouraging for a young inexperienced player, with a poor command of English.

By his 3rd season however, Cristiano had matured physically and mentally, the gym work at Carrington had bulked up his 6’1” frame to cope with the physical demands of the English game and its psychopathic defenders. Also The Boss and Carlos had finally instilled some intelligence in to his play so that now Ronaldo would occasionally find Scholes in the box with a square ball instead of always taking on the defender and shooting at an acute angle. This added maturity and more discerning use of his talent resulted in Ronaldo becoming United’s most influential player and second leading goal scorer in that season.

Things were to look up even further the following season when, freed of the animosity simmering between himself and Ruud Van Nistelrooy, (who was sold to Real Madrid) a Ronaldo inspired United lifted the Premier League title for the first time since 2003 and were one match away from another domestic double.

It was at this point that our chums in Madrid decided that if we’d sell them Becks, Ruud and Heinze why not our current number 7. Sir Alex, very firmly, put them in their place and told them to forget it. The seasons of effort, put in to nurturing Ronaldo’s talent were starting to bear fruit and he wasn’t going to hand that over to El Generalissimo’s team.

To be fair to Ronaldo he had always publicly said that he’d like a move to Spain, but it always, to us, seemed a distant prospect, a nice retirement home for when he gets to his 30’s. Undaunted and seemingly un-distracted by the courtship of his beloved Real, Ronaldo took season 07-08 by storm scoring over 40 goals in all competitions and racking up European and League winners medals, along with a host of personal gongs and accolades. Alas instead of basking in the glow, of what was truly a glorious season for all United fans, we had to endure the unedifying spectacle of our star winger/forward metaphorically getting in to bed with someone else. To add insult to injury he was not even remotely sorry about it and was virtually saying that if he had another opportunity to get back in to bed, with that person, he’d do it again!

That long hot summer, especially during Euro 2008, was torturous for United fans as we watched Cristiano, free from Fergie’s radar, openly court Real Madrid. It’s testament to Sir Alex’s powers of persuasion that he finally got his audience with Ronaldo and managed to secure his services for one more season.

And I think that’s the rub of it. One of the more curious aspects of the Ronaldo affair was the role of the boy’s mother. It seems that she told him to go back to Manchester and repay the faith shown in him by The Boss. I think Ronaldo did that, in the sense that he was here, at United, and he did what his Madre said, but I also think that Fergie was cute enough to know that he’d only get him for one more season and that this has been it. Cristiano wants to play for Real Madrid and Sir Alex has basically said, “give me one more season and then you can go”. It’s a win-win for everybody: Ronaldo has done what his Mum has told him, Real have seemingly not broken any rules and Fergie is letting a player go on his, the manager’s terms. At this point I’ll not mention the influence of the Glazer family, on the whole saga, as they only have a small debt to service, but let’s just say that they and their bank masters saw 80 million Dollar signs.

Am I sorry to see him go?

Of course, he’s one of the best in the world, but he’s been largely disappointing this season, by the standards he’s set in the previous two seasons, and his attitude on the pitch has been appalling. Certainly from what I’ve seen, as a home attending Red, is that most United fans have had enough of his antics and petulance and we’re embarrassed by it. And don’t get me started on the European Cup Final! The bottom line is; if he doesn’t want to play for Manchester United then we don’t want him here!

P.S. Fergie, hope you get a chance to spend some of that £80 million!

Oz.