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Booooooooooring
I am so BORED of this s**te between Alex Ferguson and Rafa Benitez! These are two grown men for crying out loud! Do they think that we are sitting back and admiring two geniuses at work? This mind games nonsense has got to stop.
Ever since Keegan's rant all those years ago, people have given way too much credit to the notion of mind games. Can someone point out any other instance where mind games have ever worked!?
And for Ferguson to accuse Rafa of arrogance and contempt is nothing short of a disgrace. Pot, Kettle, Black.
Here's hoping Hiddink manages to sneak up behind the both of them and nab the title (never thought I would hear myself say that) - a genuinely classy manager.
Tom Fitzgerald
...Leave it to Sir Alex to dominate the news with his self-importance before a weekend of important matches. As a United fan I am usually happy to see Fergie verbally spar with Keegan, Wenger, and Jose but this season things have just become tedious. Many managers deflect attention from their players when the times are tough but baiting the press (and a manager that showed you up just a month ago) over Fat Sam Allardyce? Why waste the oxygen? As Liverpool deservedly get their panties in a twist over a reserve keepers 'antics' during the Hillsborough service, Fergie is just indulging his ego. Just because you have the platform to say something doesn't mean you need to spout off on something that barely matters.
If United were cruising to a victory over a floundering team (which rarely, rarely happens this season) before a Champions League semi-final, Fergie would pull off Rooney, one of our ancient midfielders, and whichever 2nd-choice defender was playing with knock. Pot-kettle-black. Please Alex, right the ship of Manchester United before you start caring about what managers with sh*t facial hair do during their matches.
Jonathan (Yes, the girl I have at home is damn pretty) Roscoe MUFC, USA
He's Threatened
Last year when Liverpool never looked like winning the league Ferguson couldn't believe that Rafa's job may be under threat as he was doing a great job.
Now when they have a chance of winning the league Rafa is 'arrogant' & shows 'contempt to other managers'
Amazing isn't it??
Gussy
...Ferguson so called master of mind games appears to getting a bit riled. In my opinion there was nothing arrogant about Rafa crossing his arms after our second goal against Blackburn, if anything it was modest given the BS Fat Sam has come out with during pretty much every game against Rafa over the last few years. Fat Sam is being petulant and trying to deflect attention away from how badly he is doing at Blackburn. Also would Fergie have really said anything had Man Utd they not beaten Porto. He is clearly feeling the heat from a free scoring Liverpool team who are currently (despite loss to Chelsea in CL) are playing rather well and trying to goad Rafa to say something before the Arsenal game but he just sounds like a twunt!
Obviously we have a big game on Tuesday night but let's not forget Arsenal will be quite tired coming quickly after a Sat late afternoon Kick off against Chelsea, up to the North West and to play us who have had a weeks rest. I still feel it will go to the last game of the season a potentially goal difference which we are ahead by 5 at the moment.
Ash, London
What Rafa Was Really Doing
Free kick is about to be taken. Rafa as usual is pacing up and down shouting instructions. He is frantically trying to get a message to the free taker. Free taker ignores Rafa and swings in the ball. Torres does what Torres does when given good delivery. Free taker looks behind him as if to say "What was that Rafa?" Rafa swings his arms in front of him and gives the rye smile routine as if to say never mind.
Fergie and Fat Sam. Two paranoid Muppets if you ask me.
Frank LFC>
PS: Didn't UTd piss of to Asia to sell shirts as opposed to playing in the FA cup a few years back? Now that is contempt of the whole football league.
Softening Them Up
Interesting to see the comments coming out of Old Trafford today:
Rooney publicly declares his love of Everton and his good wishes for them, despite his antics playing against Everton in previous games, something which he has not apologised for.
Then Ferguson derides Rafa, calling his dealings with other Premier League managers wholly disrespectful (this coming from the manager who refused to give a press conference until his team won and has had countless pops at Arsene, Rafa, Mourinho, etc), then he made reference to the famous quote in which Rafa called Everton a small club (on which note, I believe Rafa was using the word "small" in the context of the match, Everton are a smaller club than Liverpool, their fan's attitude in Liverpool matches and their teams tactics in the derby matches spring to mind).
Anyone think United are trying to soften Everton up, being "all lovey-dovey" as my Mother would say, before handing them out a big juicy spanking?
Reuben Jenkins
What's Sam Go To Do With It?
If that gesture humiliated Fat Sam, how must he have felt when the rest of the goals went in?
Chris{surprised SAF has joined in}, Chesterfield
...Just a quick note- I can kind of understand Fergie reacting to Rafa, cos it's part of the whole 'mind games' bonanza that the press love (and you can guarantee it was in response to some hack asking him what he thought of Rafa's comment about Everton being a small club) but Sam? What sort of a rent-a- quote fool is so bothered by the fact that another manager waves his hands? He says that he had to relook at them to make sure they were offensive! What a plank!
Another example of a manager trying to shift attention away from his own tactical idiocy and onto an irrelevance.
Dan
...I can understand Fergie sticking up for one of his own in defending Fat Sam, using it as an excuse to have a pop at Benitez, but what is Fat Sam on about. Isnt he the one who said Rafa is whiny and always complaining?? If he was keen on picking a fight before the game then he shouldn't complain when he 'doesn't get respect' after getting well and truly beaten!!!
Zubair Umar MUFC
...Okay, I just re-watched the apparently horrendously offensive gestures made by Rafa Benitez on Saturday (as I didn't notice anything untoward while watching it at the time, and later on Match of the Day), and really, I can't believe Allardyce is taking offence to this. In my mind, a man who came to Anfield playing a technically limited CENTER HALF as a lone striker, and leaving a proven goalscorer at European level on the bench in the process, really should have greater things to worry about (his embarrassingly inadequate tactical attitude, for one) than looking for the most insignificant excuse with which to have a go at a manager who has repeatedly outclassed him season after season. Quite frankly, it's a pathetic act from a man who has proven himself to be a petulent cretin of the highest order time after time.
The man shamelessly putting himself forward for the England job before proving the FA right (for once) by bottling - big-time - at Newcastle. He refused to talk to the BBC because they decided to broadcast a constructive and important piece of investigative journalism - am I the only one who sees this as a childish act of the highest order? And by the way, what happened to his case against them that he made such a big-deal of making a point of? Oh.... I believe it never happened. Funny that. All in all, Sam Allardyce is a juvenile and self-involved man too busy trying to start arguments against fellow (and far greater) managers, than he is with addressing his own (rather severe) limitations as a Premier League football manager.
Grow up Fat Man.
Alex Hess, (Justice for the 96) LFC
'Why I Want Barca To Win The Champions League'
There has been a lot of crowing about three English teams getting to the Champions League semi-finals and fair enough when it comes from supporters of the three teams in question. What I don't get is when others join in.
How exactly does it benefit, say, Bolton or Fulham or Sunderland if this happens? Answer: it doesn't. It actually means the Sky Four get even richer relative to your club and get that bit closer to nicking your best players from you and winning the allegiance of the wannabe fans who should be supporting their local team but aren't.
The huge collective wealth of the Premiership is the reason behind this, of course. You can argue that this has improved the general quality of the league, though it is disputable.
What is certainly not disputable, however, that a league is a zero sum game in which one team wins, three get relegated and the rest fill in the gaps. And the outcome of the English league has become desperately boring and predictable in the past 15 years.
It is not good for the game that clubs of the size of Aston Villa, Everton, Tottenham and Newcastle (oh all right, not Newcastle, but you get my drift) now aspire to nothing higher than maybe nicking fourth place next season and maybe kicking on from there. And this is the direct result of the Champions League.
Being an embittered Tottenham supporter and - how scary is this? - barely a year younger than that singer off of Britian's Got Talent, yes I have a particular perspective here. I hate Arsenal and Chelsea as the local rivals, Liverpool as the all-conquering dark force of my childhood in the 70s and 80s and ManYoo - well you know why. They would be my most loathed teams in any case.
However, the general point still stands. Their perpetual, self-reinforcing dominance is achieved essentially by being in the right place when the Champions League gravy train took off. The Champions League is killing the joy of the game and English clubs dominating it is not good for anyone but the clubs in question.
I'd rather have the old European Cup back but in the meantime, we should hope Barcelona stuff the lot of them.
Andrew (but I wouldn't have minded Villa winning the UEFA cup though) Warmington
Playing The Percentages
Don't mean to pour scorn on Dave Brooker's mail from this morning but unless you are going to have the same size of squad surely the percentage doesn't really mean anything.
For example, looking through the Chelsea reserves squad, any of whom could be in the first team squad any week, and some of which have been on the bench, 10 of the 20 are English. 1 is Welsh.
Therefore, if you make Chelsea's squad 37 like Man Utd's, you could then have 15 English players in it, only 1 less than Man Utd and giving them 40%, taking them from one of the worst to one of the best.
If you add all 20 players to the 26 in the 'first team' squad you would get 33%.
Chelsea chooses to take competitions seriously so don't play their kids.
Arsenal do play their kids and still end up with the worst percentage. That's far more telling.
Andy Bull
Perfectly Acceptable Behaviour
So much wrong with Robert Shorey's mail this morning. First, he talks about pinching another team's manager, as if one phone call could tempt the famously loyal and decent Zola away from his current position to the Holy Gates of Stamford Bridge. Having just construed this Real-ishly arrogant "Good manager, we'll take him"-strategy, he keeps a straight face and says that he can't for the life of him figure out why Chelsea are the most hated club in England. According to Bob, the only dislikeable characters at the Bridge are Messrs. Drogba and Cole; from which we can only conclude that the following are all perfectly acceptable forms of behaviour in the mind of the Chelsea fan:
- Parking in handicapped bays and constantly badgering referees (Terry)
- Performing regular experimental knee surgery using only the studs of one's boot (Essien)
- Being a petulant badge kisser who phoned in his performances when his country needed him most (Lampard)
- Pulling down 100k a week and still keeping the facial expression of a man in a Smart car with someone on a strict diet of burritos and boiled eggs (Anelka)
- Getting your former boss, the man who made you, fired by conspiring against him with two other d*ckheads who also consider themselves above trivial stuff like "training" and "effort" (Deco)
Yeah, sounds about right, let's all adopt Chelsea as our second team. Actually, maybe not.
Joe DeHaas, Bristol
PS Did like Mr. Shorey's suggestion at the end, though I'd include Chelsea, Arsenal and Conor Byrne in the banned stuff list.
Rumbled, Our Kid
By the way, you gave Conor Bryne 2 bites this morning- his first guise of "Byrner" from "Baile Atha cliath"...that's Dublin in English lads.
From an Englishman with Irish roots and time spent living there, all I can say is bravo sir.
Even if you sound like a bit of a know-all tr*t from everything you have ever written
James O'Flaherty, still a reluctant Spurs fan but an even more reluctant know-all
Big Love For Conor
Conor Byrne.
Just reading between the lines there...Are you single, perchance?
Bloody hell.
Macka, London
...Please please ban Conor Byrne from the mailbox, he blatantly didn't take on any of the criticism about his ill-informed arguments and has just re-worded them. Put simply anyone who thinks that the English clubs financially out muscle the rest of europe is lazy at best, because as pointed out yesterday (here is the link for you Conor http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/manchester-united-income-soars-in-football-rich-list-1606927.html) England only has 1 of the top 4 clubs in Europe in terms of income. Madrid, Man Yoo, Barca and Bayern (in that order) make up Europe's big 4 which pretty much undermines the whole basis of his argument. If this doesn't quite make it simple enough for you let me know and I will draw you a picture.
Dan (at least run a poll to see if the people want him band) Grice
Willies
Having read your story title this morning "F365's Guide to massive semi's", I looked forward to the mailbox having loads of purile and obvious knob gags! Imagine my disgust to find a complete absence of Knob gags from both the mailbox and Mediawatch. I formally request you rehire which ever ruffian you used to have to point these double entendres out.
Your's in love and peace
Christian (the 25yr old kid) Wigan
Living In The Past
Dear Nick Smith
The 1950's just called...they want their fanbase back.
(try not to cry so much though; men were men back then)
Marky B. MUFC
Improving The Game
I read with interest Phillip Ward's suggestions for improving the beautiful game. We often have a similar "what football really needs" debate.
Our current top suggestion is a Bovril based energy drink. Presumably this would be called Bovrade.
Nick B, Aberdeen
...A rule change I'd really like to see is no substiutions for any reason whatsoever in the final 3 mins + injury time. The blatent time wasting of bringing a player in at 91, 92+ minutes just to waste time (refs rarely add on the 30s per sub they're supposed to) is a real annoyance of mine.
Thomas (other things are more inportant than this, I do realise) Blick
...Some superb ideas by Phillip Ward
May I add one.
On field disputes to be settled Ice Hockey style thereby ensuring that fans will get 21 (27 if all substitutes used) chances to see Ronaldo or Drogba get knocked the f*ck out for being such a pair of intolerable twunts!
As an amusing extension to that rule, it could also apply to managers and referees as a separate group to the players ensuring that Howard Webb becomes the most respected referee in the land and Mike Riley also receives a weekly beating. Would probably keep the fat Spanish waiter in his dugout as well for fear of being mauled by Steve Bruce or Mark Hughes, bonus!
Robert Shorey
...It's Friday and Philip Ward knows it. Loved his mail this am and to continue "ways to improve the game" ideas:-
1. Introduce a "Strictly Come Ice X Factor Got Talent" panel of 1 ex pro, 1 ex manager and 1 pundit to award marks out of 10 style scoring for every goal scored. The benefits of such judgement not only make PFA player of the year awards a tad easier for attacking players but would also highlight just how stupid the FFL style celebrations are after the latest "in off three defenders effort from 25 yards".
2. A joker card. Can be played at any point after 60 minutes. The manager holding up his oversized "Rooney with a red nose" picture is then allowed to choose an opposing player who must place his head on a broom and run around 20 times - we've all played it when drunk - before play resumes. Imagine Ronaldo's step over performed without the ball and your half way there.
3. If all square after 90 mins, introduce "explodaball". Essentially a "bomb" ball that must cross the goal line within a set period of time, say five minutes. Much like the movie "Speed" the ball must constantly be moving. Also if it goes out of play the team kicking it out take a man off with no sub. Basically score or lose a leg. Imagine the potential dilemma for keepers.
There's more, but the Frog and Gerkins now open and a Friday jest won't stop this thirst.
Good day to you all.
Eugene "Lush Wannabe" Murray
...Re: Phillip Wards suggestions.
Can't argue with any of them or the rationale behind them, they are all eminently sensible. They should all be adopted, but perhaps trialled in the Carling Cup next season.
Can I suggest one further amendment though. Each team is issued with a remote controlled car with a hypodermic needle containing an immobility drug. When a player hits the deck 'injured', the opposing team is able to drive it into the player. If he is genuinely injured there are no problems as he wouldn't be able to move properly anyway. All others will have to leap to their feet pretty sharpish or face a period of 20 minutes physically unable to move..Anyone leaping to their feet is automatically booked for simulation.
To prevent abuse the needle can be no higher than 3 inches off the ground and not sharp enough to pierce boot leather. Like Phillip Ward I also see no possible reason this could do anything other than improve the football experience.
Neill Halliday
Not Tommy
In Response to Martin in Sidney who was responding to Sean AFC Austrailia, and FFS F365 mailbox compiler, the pundit in question is former 70s Newcastle player Ray (the greatest pundit in the world) Hudson! Not 150 year old Irish Tommy Smyth!. The specific quote Sean AFC referenced that included Robinho, Nadal and Tom Cruise is one of Ray Hudson's classics! But what do I know? I only wrote a detailed email about Ray including some of his classics which if the mailbox compiler (and I usually like him/her) did some basic Google, Wiki and Youtube research would have seen included the specific reference of Sean AFC Austrailia.
It's Friday so I'm going to include a sampling of Ray Hudson classics again ( if you get a chance Youtube him, because his Northeast England mixed with Northeast U.S. accent makes the lines that much more memorable (mailbox compiler feel free to edit if list is to long).
- "He's like a Jedi knight. No, better than that, a Templar knight." -following a Lionel Messi goal against Venezuela in a World Cup 2010 qualifier.
- "Ronaldinho there, the buck toothed Brazilian, trickier than a squirrel on a telephone wire."
- "The pale-faced executioner...he's an illuminous illumination!" - Talking about Andres Iniesta
- "Without penetration, it's just masturbation, and right now, we're playing with ourselves." - England World Cup 2006
- "Just like a Turkish bellydancer on a surfboard, Ronaldinho skipping through the tulips" - December 2006, Barcelona v Real Sociedad
- "As electrifying as a hair dryer thrown into a hot tub, my friend. Absolutely breathtaking! He puts the Haitian Voodoo rattle on this one. When he finishes -- oh! Like Betamax, they do not make them like him anymore!" -- November 2006, Barcelona versus Villareal, after Ronaldinho scored a spectacular overhead kick
- "He needs to be on his tippy-toes, like a midget at a urinal."
The Vikings are out; lock up the women and children, because Sweden mean business." World Cup 2006
- "The England fans were singing 'God Save the Queen,' and I was shouting, 'God save the rest of us if that's what we're going to have to watch throughout this tournament.' " World Cup 2006
- "It'll be real interesting when me and dog are watching the game tonight, and we're looking, and I'll kick him a couple of times. The dog is going to get a couple of kicks because of the chances that I believe we missed." - England World Cup 2006
- "He's like a tyrannosaurus rex with hemorrhoids" talking about Italy's Gattuso
- "He's always lively, fizzier than an Alka-Seltzer in a Newcastle Brown Ale" talking about Lionel Messi (Sep 26 '07) in a game between Barcelona and Zaragoza.
- "He's slipperier than an eel covered in Vaseline"
- "I got a physical arousal from watching Bojan there."
Stewart, Miami
