What the papers said, part 1
The sort of stuff you miss out from the mag, this from RN 125 (part 1)
A year on from us asking several football reporters what they thought about United, we decided to repeat the feat to get a better understanding away from their column restrictions, of what a cross section of journalists think about all things MUFC related. Red News exclusively found out what 10 of the leading sports journalists think right now about our club. Our first part features those who are part of the Manchester ‘rat pack’ starting with Andy Hunter who started covering United matches last summer.
Andy Hunter. independent
Where do you think it went wrong - we asked the same question last year hoping for an improvement - and right for United this season?
I thought United made an impressive start and had obviously taken Fergie’s warnings about Chelsea raising the bar into their pre-season preparations, but they went into the season ill-equipped in midfield and it showed. No-one could have predicted what happened to Keane and Scholes, obviously, but for a club intent on taking Chelsea all the way and improving in the Champions League the midfield was not strong enough to begin with. I don’t think it’s a co-incidence that things started to improve once the manager came up with a settled partnership that complimented each other in the middle. Reverting to 4-4-2 was welcome too.
Fergie...do you think he will be given one more season by the new owners? How do you think it will 'end' and have you any very early predictions for next season?
The Carling Cup win helped Fergie as much as the young players who needed to realise what winning was all about, as the run of form and results since Cardiff eased the pressure on the manager and strengthened his argument about needing to give these lads time. Saying that, it’s been a long time coming and they’ll have to show it over the course of a full season to prove him right, not just at the tail-end of a campaign that has no European or FA Cup football. He’ll definitely be given more time by the Glazers, it will ‘end’ on Fergie’s terms, complaints about Chelsea’s economic advantage will be aired by the end of September and David Gill and Peter Kenyon will scrap it out over John Obi Mikel at the MEN.
United have put further limitations - with the one Friday conference with Fergie - on their relationship with the media, why do you think they did this and would you agree that relations, on the whole, between United and the media are worse than a year ago?
Relations are certainly not great, and both sides have to take a share of the blame. I think the one Friday press conference with Fergie had been coming for a while and the criticism over the Champions League exit just brought matters to a head even though that criticism was based on poor results. I don’t think the one press conference suits anyone though. Off the record conversations are no more and the manager has to be more restrained in front of the TV cameras.
Which do you think is the biggest - or the one that will have the most impact - story at United from this season?
A close call between how United get on in the Champions League (a good run is essential) and how good Fergie’s new signings prove to be, especially in midfield. As David Gill said publicly the other week, the club cannot afford to make any more mistakes.
The Glazers have been in charge for nearly a year now. First - and possibly future - impressions?
So far they’ve been extremely low key, with good reason obviously, and that has helped their first season in charge to pass without the acrimony expected. I’d expect them to become more involved and high-profile next season though, especially if the team is doing well.
Which one question if you could ask any - without fear of retribution - would you ask Sir Alex at this moment in time?
How many of the opinions voiced by Roy Keane on Play the Pundit did you secretly agree with?
stuart mathieson. men
Where do you think it went wrong - we asked the same question last year hoping for an improvement - and right for United this season?
I don't want to sound too much like a manager here but you cannot hide from the fact that key injuries early in the season didn't help. Big characters like Gary Neville (groin op), Roy Keane (broken foot), Gabriel Heinze (Cruciate knee ligaments) and Ryan Giggs (fractured cheekbone) virtually all missed September to November. Years ago you could get away with that and come back in the New Year but Chelsea were almost over the horizon by then. I don't think any other side could have survived losing four key names like that.
Of course there was also the thorny issue of United's formation. United may have thought it was a media campaign against the alleged fingerprints of Carlos Queiroz being all over the lone striker theory but it wasn't the media chanting ‘4-4-2’ at the Blackburn match. Whatever the factor it was United's inability to put together one of their famed winning or unbeaten sequences until late in the day that handicapped the challenge early on. I never got the impression they had another winning run in them quite honestly. The latest one came virtually out of the blue and showed what could have been done if they'd had the belief and tactics earlier in the season.
Although a lot of people had lumped Phil Neville's name among the so-called ‘deadwood’ that needed to be got rid of last summer you can't help but think that United's midfield problems wouldn't have been so severe if he'd still been on the payroll. If the unusual combination of Giggs and O'Shea has made such a difference surely Phil would have made an impact in the first half of the season. He'd have relished it.
Fergie...do you think he will be given one more season by the new owners? How do you think it will 'end' and have you any very early predictions for next season?
The Glazers, via their PR and through David Gill, have obviously said now they have no intention of getting rid of Fergie. Depending on when United win their next title I think he would then call it a day unless he's won the Champions League again before then. It's a race between old age and one of the big prizes and which comes first!
United have put further limitations - with the one Friday conference with Fergie - on their relationship with the media, why do you think they did this and would you agree that relations, on the whole, between United and the media are worse than a year ago?
It seems that after the ‘74-second’ Wigan press conference in December and reports that Fergie had ‘stormed’ out of that briefing (when he hadn't actually) he decided that enough was enough and in future any conferences would be on TV so everyone could see his demeanour for themselves. Unfortunately from the MEN's perspective and mine this meant an end to my one private call a week as well. 11 years of a decent working relationship was over just like that! Still haven't found out why we suffered as well. So from that respect relations are definitely worse than last year.
Which do you think is the biggest - or the one that will have the most impact - story at United from this season?
If you count the Glazer takeover as last season then the biggest story has to be going out of Europe at the group stage and humiliatingly not even making the UEFA Cup. Villarreal, Benfica and Lille was not a tough group no matter what the first two mentioned have done since. Impact-wise it can't have helped financially but it should focus United's thoughts for next term in the Champions League and hopefully the Reds will play two men up front in Europe as well. Four blanks in six matches surely tells you something.
The Glazers have been in charge for nearly a year now. First - and possibly future - impressions?
I don't wish to be flippant but as I don't have to buy a season ticket and price hikes don't impact on me I can only view them from a football perspective and that has had no effect whatsoever. Fergie has still bought the players he wanted to and they haven't interfered. From that angle there has been no change from a plc or Martin Edwards era. I just wish they'd be more available. Frustrating that they have still only done the one MUTV interview.
Which one question if you could ask any - without fear of retribution - would you ask Sir Alex at this moment in time?
Can I phone you during the week again?
daniel taylor. guardian
Where do you think it went wrong - we asked the same question last year hoping for an improvement - and 4 right for United this season?
Dropping 12 points before the end of October killed them and Fergie has to take the blame with all that 4-3-2-1 nonsense. There was a run of three games in September when they managed a total of five shots on target. Rio Ferdinand’s form didn’t help (Fulham and Middlesbrough away stand out) and the Keane thing blew a gaping hole in the season. The fans were already pissed off, moaning, harbouring grudges, because of the Glazers, poor form, etc, and it felt like open mutiny for a month or so. There was no harmony between the crowd and the team whatsoever and that probably rubbed off on the players. Where did it go right? I’m not sure it has. It’s no good coming out with all these lines about being in transition and ‘we’d have won it if it wasn’t for Chelsea etc etc . . .” Sport at the very top is meant to be about taking on and beating the best.
Fergie...do you think he will be given one more season by the new owners? How do you think it will 'end' and have you any very early predictions for next season?
There’s a nice ring to him ending after his 20th season, hopefully on a high rather than a low, but if he doesn’t win the league/EC next year then could you really blame the Glazers for deciding it was time for a change (as long as they did it in a sensitive manner)? A few months ago everyone - papers, fanzines, everyone - thought his time was up. He deserves another season after this late run but it’s a bit too simple saying United have rattled Chelsea when Ballack, Shevchenko and Cole could all end up at Stamford Bridge next season.
United have put further limitations - with the one Friday conference with Fergie - on their relationship with the media, why do you think they did this and would you agree that relations, on the whole, between United and the media are worse than a year ago?
Much worse. I was surprised RN, in a previous issue, seemed to fall for the club’s slant on the reasons for the change. It came about after the 74-second press conference in December when it was reported that Fergie had “stormed out”. Technically, he only half-stormed out. . .but 74 seconds??? Some questions are longer than that at England press conferences!
Ask any football writer and they will tell you the same. He did it because he wanted to take the focus away from the team’s bad results so he kicked up a fuss in the media and accused us of hating United. Suddenly everyone was taking about the press hating Fergie and that we were trying to get the fans to boo Fergie. Er, hello, it wasn’t us who went to 4-3-2-1, signed Liam Miller and got rid of Keane. We don’t hate Fergie. Okay, we wish he was a bit nicer. But most of us want to like him and want him to like us. Slagging us off was a classic diversion technique (post-Benfica) that too many people got sucked into.
As for the new format, it’s a nightmare because anything newsworthy is now put straight out by Sky or radio and it looks old when it appears in the papers the next day. It’s bad for the dailies and even worse for the Sundays (who Fergie has fallen out with big-time). The Friday press conferences can be dull affairs now. The television cameras are always on so he can’t go off-the-record or even lose his temper.
Which do you think is the biggest - or the one that will have the most impact - story at United from this season?
The biggest story was Keane. People point to the number of league points since he left and, true, he’s not exactly set the world on fire at Celtic but would United have lost to Benfica and waved the white flag at Liverpool (FA Cup) with a fully-fit Keane in the team? I don’t buy into the argument that the players had had enough of him either. Not when you see Rooney up at Celtic Park on Keane's freebies and the number of players who have said how much they admire/miss him (Fletcher, O’Shea, RVN etc).
The Glazers have been in charge for nearly a year now. First - and possibly future - impressions?
All a bit mysterious why there was so much uproar before they came and comparatively nothing now they’re here. They’ve not been as bad as everyone thought but it’s still early days. To be fair, they’ve not tried to jazz up the club, USA-style, too much but making the youth-team players pay for their CC final tickets was a classic and there will be more.
Which one question if you could ask any - without fear of retribution - would you ask Sir Alex at this moment in time?
What does he think of FC United’s promotion? I’m not sure he would answer so, alternatively, do Manchester City play at a) Eastville b) City of Sport or c) Maine Road?
Subscribe to Red News, the actual printed fanzine. 10 issue offer.
In the UK £2.50 inc p&p each copy
ROW £3.50 inc p&p each copy
Either send sterling cheque to Red News, P.O.Box 176, Manchester, M16 8LG made payable to Red News) or by credit card below.
UK 10 issue sub £25.00 inc p&p
Europe 10 issue sub £30.00 inc p&p
Rest Of The World 10 issue sub £35.00 inc p&p
A year on from us asking several football reporters what they thought about United, we decided to repeat the feat to get a better understanding away from their column restrictions, of what a cross section of journalists think about all things MUFC related. Red News exclusively found out what 10 of the leading sports journalists think right now about our club. Our first part features those who are part of the Manchester ‘rat pack’ starting with Andy Hunter who started covering United matches last summer.
Andy Hunter. independent
Where do you think it went wrong - we asked the same question last year hoping for an improvement - and right for United this season?
I thought United made an impressive start and had obviously taken Fergie’s warnings about Chelsea raising the bar into their pre-season preparations, but they went into the season ill-equipped in midfield and it showed. No-one could have predicted what happened to Keane and Scholes, obviously, but for a club intent on taking Chelsea all the way and improving in the Champions League the midfield was not strong enough to begin with. I don’t think it’s a co-incidence that things started to improve once the manager came up with a settled partnership that complimented each other in the middle. Reverting to 4-4-2 was welcome too.
Fergie...do you think he will be given one more season by the new owners? How do you think it will 'end' and have you any very early predictions for next season?
The Carling Cup win helped Fergie as much as the young players who needed to realise what winning was all about, as the run of form and results since Cardiff eased the pressure on the manager and strengthened his argument about needing to give these lads time. Saying that, it’s been a long time coming and they’ll have to show it over the course of a full season to prove him right, not just at the tail-end of a campaign that has no European or FA Cup football. He’ll definitely be given more time by the Glazers, it will ‘end’ on Fergie’s terms, complaints about Chelsea’s economic advantage will be aired by the end of September and David Gill and Peter Kenyon will scrap it out over John Obi Mikel at the MEN.
United have put further limitations - with the one Friday conference with Fergie - on their relationship with the media, why do you think they did this and would you agree that relations, on the whole, between United and the media are worse than a year ago?
Relations are certainly not great, and both sides have to take a share of the blame. I think the one Friday press conference with Fergie had been coming for a while and the criticism over the Champions League exit just brought matters to a head even though that criticism was based on poor results. I don’t think the one press conference suits anyone though. Off the record conversations are no more and the manager has to be more restrained in front of the TV cameras.
Which do you think is the biggest - or the one that will have the most impact - story at United from this season?
A close call between how United get on in the Champions League (a good run is essential) and how good Fergie’s new signings prove to be, especially in midfield. As David Gill said publicly the other week, the club cannot afford to make any more mistakes.
The Glazers have been in charge for nearly a year now. First - and possibly future - impressions?
So far they’ve been extremely low key, with good reason obviously, and that has helped their first season in charge to pass without the acrimony expected. I’d expect them to become more involved and high-profile next season though, especially if the team is doing well.
Which one question if you could ask any - without fear of retribution - would you ask Sir Alex at this moment in time?
How many of the opinions voiced by Roy Keane on Play the Pundit did you secretly agree with?
stuart mathieson. men
Where do you think it went wrong - we asked the same question last year hoping for an improvement - and right for United this season?
I don't want to sound too much like a manager here but you cannot hide from the fact that key injuries early in the season didn't help. Big characters like Gary Neville (groin op), Roy Keane (broken foot), Gabriel Heinze (Cruciate knee ligaments) and Ryan Giggs (fractured cheekbone) virtually all missed September to November. Years ago you could get away with that and come back in the New Year but Chelsea were almost over the horizon by then. I don't think any other side could have survived losing four key names like that.
Of course there was also the thorny issue of United's formation. United may have thought it was a media campaign against the alleged fingerprints of Carlos Queiroz being all over the lone striker theory but it wasn't the media chanting ‘4-4-2’ at the Blackburn match. Whatever the factor it was United's inability to put together one of their famed winning or unbeaten sequences until late in the day that handicapped the challenge early on. I never got the impression they had another winning run in them quite honestly. The latest one came virtually out of the blue and showed what could have been done if they'd had the belief and tactics earlier in the season.
Although a lot of people had lumped Phil Neville's name among the so-called ‘deadwood’ that needed to be got rid of last summer you can't help but think that United's midfield problems wouldn't have been so severe if he'd still been on the payroll. If the unusual combination of Giggs and O'Shea has made such a difference surely Phil would have made an impact in the first half of the season. He'd have relished it.
Fergie...do you think he will be given one more season by the new owners? How do you think it will 'end' and have you any very early predictions for next season?
The Glazers, via their PR and through David Gill, have obviously said now they have no intention of getting rid of Fergie. Depending on when United win their next title I think he would then call it a day unless he's won the Champions League again before then. It's a race between old age and one of the big prizes and which comes first!
United have put further limitations - with the one Friday conference with Fergie - on their relationship with the media, why do you think they did this and would you agree that relations, on the whole, between United and the media are worse than a year ago?
It seems that after the ‘74-second’ Wigan press conference in December and reports that Fergie had ‘stormed’ out of that briefing (when he hadn't actually) he decided that enough was enough and in future any conferences would be on TV so everyone could see his demeanour for themselves. Unfortunately from the MEN's perspective and mine this meant an end to my one private call a week as well. 11 years of a decent working relationship was over just like that! Still haven't found out why we suffered as well. So from that respect relations are definitely worse than last year.
Which do you think is the biggest - or the one that will have the most impact - story at United from this season?
If you count the Glazer takeover as last season then the biggest story has to be going out of Europe at the group stage and humiliatingly not even making the UEFA Cup. Villarreal, Benfica and Lille was not a tough group no matter what the first two mentioned have done since. Impact-wise it can't have helped financially but it should focus United's thoughts for next term in the Champions League and hopefully the Reds will play two men up front in Europe as well. Four blanks in six matches surely tells you something.
The Glazers have been in charge for nearly a year now. First - and possibly future - impressions?
I don't wish to be flippant but as I don't have to buy a season ticket and price hikes don't impact on me I can only view them from a football perspective and that has had no effect whatsoever. Fergie has still bought the players he wanted to and they haven't interfered. From that angle there has been no change from a plc or Martin Edwards era. I just wish they'd be more available. Frustrating that they have still only done the one MUTV interview.
Which one question if you could ask any - without fear of retribution - would you ask Sir Alex at this moment in time?
Can I phone you during the week again?
daniel taylor. guardian
Where do you think it went wrong - we asked the same question last year hoping for an improvement - and 4 right for United this season?
Dropping 12 points before the end of October killed them and Fergie has to take the blame with all that 4-3-2-1 nonsense. There was a run of three games in September when they managed a total of five shots on target. Rio Ferdinand’s form didn’t help (Fulham and Middlesbrough away stand out) and the Keane thing blew a gaping hole in the season. The fans were already pissed off, moaning, harbouring grudges, because of the Glazers, poor form, etc, and it felt like open mutiny for a month or so. There was no harmony between the crowd and the team whatsoever and that probably rubbed off on the players. Where did it go right? I’m not sure it has. It’s no good coming out with all these lines about being in transition and ‘we’d have won it if it wasn’t for Chelsea etc etc . . .” Sport at the very top is meant to be about taking on and beating the best.
Fergie...do you think he will be given one more season by the new owners? How do you think it will 'end' and have you any very early predictions for next season?
There’s a nice ring to him ending after his 20th season, hopefully on a high rather than a low, but if he doesn’t win the league/EC next year then could you really blame the Glazers for deciding it was time for a change (as long as they did it in a sensitive manner)? A few months ago everyone - papers, fanzines, everyone - thought his time was up. He deserves another season after this late run but it’s a bit too simple saying United have rattled Chelsea when Ballack, Shevchenko and Cole could all end up at Stamford Bridge next season.
United have put further limitations - with the one Friday conference with Fergie - on their relationship with the media, why do you think they did this and would you agree that relations, on the whole, between United and the media are worse than a year ago?
Much worse. I was surprised RN, in a previous issue, seemed to fall for the club’s slant on the reasons for the change. It came about after the 74-second press conference in December when it was reported that Fergie had “stormed out”. Technically, he only half-stormed out. . .but 74 seconds??? Some questions are longer than that at England press conferences!
Ask any football writer and they will tell you the same. He did it because he wanted to take the focus away from the team’s bad results so he kicked up a fuss in the media and accused us of hating United. Suddenly everyone was taking about the press hating Fergie and that we were trying to get the fans to boo Fergie. Er, hello, it wasn’t us who went to 4-3-2-1, signed Liam Miller and got rid of Keane. We don’t hate Fergie. Okay, we wish he was a bit nicer. But most of us want to like him and want him to like us. Slagging us off was a classic diversion technique (post-Benfica) that too many people got sucked into.
As for the new format, it’s a nightmare because anything newsworthy is now put straight out by Sky or radio and it looks old when it appears in the papers the next day. It’s bad for the dailies and even worse for the Sundays (who Fergie has fallen out with big-time). The Friday press conferences can be dull affairs now. The television cameras are always on so he can’t go off-the-record or even lose his temper.
Which do you think is the biggest - or the one that will have the most impact - story at United from this season?
The biggest story was Keane. People point to the number of league points since he left and, true, he’s not exactly set the world on fire at Celtic but would United have lost to Benfica and waved the white flag at Liverpool (FA Cup) with a fully-fit Keane in the team? I don’t buy into the argument that the players had had enough of him either. Not when you see Rooney up at Celtic Park on Keane's freebies and the number of players who have said how much they admire/miss him (Fletcher, O’Shea, RVN etc).
The Glazers have been in charge for nearly a year now. First - and possibly future - impressions?
All a bit mysterious why there was so much uproar before they came and comparatively nothing now they’re here. They’ve not been as bad as everyone thought but it’s still early days. To be fair, they’ve not tried to jazz up the club, USA-style, too much but making the youth-team players pay for their CC final tickets was a classic and there will be more.
Which one question if you could ask any - without fear of retribution - would you ask Sir Alex at this moment in time?
What does he think of FC United’s promotion? I’m not sure he would answer so, alternatively, do Manchester City play at a) Eastville b) City of Sport or c) Maine Road?
Subscribe to Red News, the actual printed fanzine. 10 issue offer.
In the UK £2.50 inc p&p each copy
ROW £3.50 inc p&p each copy
Either send sterling cheque to Red News, P.O.Box 176, Manchester, M16 8LG made payable to Red News) or by credit card below.
UK 10 issue sub £25.00 inc p&p
Europe 10 issue sub £30.00 inc p&p
Rest Of The World 10 issue sub £35.00 inc p&p
posted by RN at 07:32
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home