FCUM

I would like to make one other comment on a similar theme. I had a 'discussion' with a mag some time ago over on the mackems forum. This guy was basically cursing the entire Hall family. Yes, Dougie might be a cock but it shouldn't cloud just what Sir John Hall achieved in dragging Newcastle United up by the scruff of it's neck. I was a personal friend of one of the original Magpie Group members and was privy to a lot of what went on in this era. The drive and determination of Sir John Hall should never be under estimated in the history of your club and I thought it sickening to see him referred to as a c*nt who milked the club dry. Yes, he ended up with a good return on his investment and IMO he bloody well deserved it. Unfortunately, history constantly shows that men who helped forge great dynasties are frequently let down by their sons. We had a similar situation at my club when Louis Edwards (gristle butcher extraodinaire) handed over to his son Martin Edwards (toilet sniffer extraodinaire) who pimped the club around to the extent that we had to witness the sickening sight of Michael f*ckin Knighton juggling balls in the centre circle before one home game as our supposed new owner when in fact he didn't have a pot to piss in Don't let the actions of the son cloud just what the father achieved.

I don't think anybody can argue with that tbh. I suspect many on here are too young to remember the desolation of the Westwood & McKeag years. Without wishing to get drawn into the current board debate, I don't think you can argue with the fact that these people ran the club with a complete lack of ambition.

Regarding the atmosphere, it was described by the ManUtd supporters I met after as 'distinctly average from both sets of supporters'. One guy summed it up as 'a typical stupid o'clock kick off atmosphere'.

aimaad, The deflection (if indeed there was one) on Scholes 2nd goal was so minute it didn't alter the course of the ball in any way, it went straight as a die through the legs of defenders. Edgar's had a massive deflection of Scholes, I was beginning to wonder if it would count as Scholes hat trick

Ah right, that explains it

?????????? But he was Man Utd's captain in that season. Of course he wanted to win the title? Is that all!

Oh fuck off please! Am I missing something with Bruce? Has he done or said something I've missed because I can never understand all these 'plastic geordie' comments he gets. I can understand people not wanting him for his managerial skills but can never understand why he gets slagged by you for his geordie roots

Can I have a pint of whatever you was drinking, aimaad, it must have been a lot stronger than mine to come out with a comment like that I enjoyed the game, fair do's to Newcastle they had a go unlike in previous encounters and it made for a good entertaining game. Very impressed with Edgar (and that's nothing to do with the goal) I thought he defended solidly and looks a good prospect. Given made some excellent stops as per usual and I thought Milner, Sibierski & Martins all had decent games. Negatives for you were Parker who seems to be going backwards and much as I like Nobby he doesn't look a full back. Ronaldo was getting the ball wide left without Nobby being within 20 yards of him at times and better control from Ronaldo could have cost you more then just the 2nd goal. For Man Utd, it's no coincidence that they are back up at the top now Scholes is back, he was a big miss last season and outstanding again today. Ronaldo had a mediocre game with his usually good close control letting him down but still looked the most threatening of the forwards. As for Rooney, he's having a diabolical season and it looks like missing the pre-season has set him back big style, he just doesn't look sharp at all. Least said about Park & Fletcher the better, neither are good enough to be even squad players. All in all a fair result I think.

Will be interesting to see if you can hold that thought and go watch FCUM on a wet Wednesday night when ManUre are playing a Champions League semi at home Not as difficult as you think mate. Would I rather be pissed with my mates, standing up and singing for 90 minutes or be sat in the morgue Old Trafford has become with some old biddy and her grandkids from Surrey telling me to mind my language and don't stand on her megastore bag As I say, I do miss the aways but not the homes. I understood the sentiment and applauded the way in which you lot handled yourself during it but personally I could never stop supporting the club fully, once the takeover went through it would have been a case of "oh well, lets just hope Im wrong" Which is exactly why forming FC has been my lifesaver, I've still got the outlet. If we hadn't got that off the ground and then I'd probably have done just as you suggest. I couldn't live without my football fix and you can't just switch allegiance elsewhere. I know it sounds like I've done just that but to me FC was born out of Man Utd and doesn't feel that way.

Erm, how can I put this Craig.................. ............ No, better not I won't 'support' the club anymore (support in my definition being taking an active participation in going to games as opposed to being a 'fan') but it doesn't stop me wanting to see them do well. You can't erase 40 years just like that. I don't miss going to Old Trafford one little bit, I'm enjoying supporting FC United far more than I can ever remember following Man Utd but being honest I do desperately miss the away games amongst the 'real' supporters. Tomorrow will be extra hard as it's always a game I looked forward to. Maybe I'm being pig headed, I could get a ticket in Man Utd end no bother and I've had plenty of offers of tickets from my Mag supporting mates but it just wouldn't feel right. As I say, I'm probably being stupid & pigheaded but I'll sit in the bar being that most despised of people...... an 'armchair' fan You could just admit you were wrong? Or do you still have a problem with the club owners? It seems much of the predicted disastrous results have failed to materialise. It's not a case of admitting I'm wrong, I don't feel I am, as I said I'm enjoying following FC United far more than I did following Man Utd. It's not that I have a problem with the owners per se (although I'd obviously prefer it not to be yank owned), when your club is listed you don't have a choice of owner. My main problem is with somebody buying the club for nowt, ie borrowing the money to buy the club and then passing that personal debt onto the club for the supporters to repay. As somebody who took an active part in the 'not for sale' campaign, I'm sticking to my guns and remaining 'not for sale'. I don't expect others to understand that but that's the way I feel.

Erm, how can I put this Craig.................. ............ No, better not I won't 'support' the club anymore (support in my definition being taking an active participation in going to games as opposed to being a 'fan') but it doesn't stop me wanting to see them do well. You can't erase 40 years just like that. I don't miss going to Old Trafford one little bit, I'm enjoying supporting FC United far more than I can ever remember following Man Utd but being honest I do desperately miss the away games amongst the 'real' supporters. Tomorrow will be extra hard as it's always a game I looked forward to. Maybe I'm being pig headed, I could get a ticket in Man Utd end no bother and I've had plenty of offers of tickets from my Mag supporting mates but it just wouldn't feel right. As I say, I'm probably being stupid & pigheaded but I'll sit in the bar being that most despised of people...... an 'armchair' fan

I see your point there but given the fact that Roeder claims that Martins was "the only striker he wanted to sign all summer" and that both he and Shepherd claim that the loan signing of Rossi was planned and NOT a 'panic signing' surely that only serves to confirm how shit our transfer planning last summer truly was? Either that or certain people at the club have been lying to us.......surely not? Not really sure it was shit planning really, Craig. With Owen & Dyer both out at the start of the season you didn't really have any cover for Martins (or Ameobi for that matter but that's a different story). If Martins had picked up a bad injury you would have really been in the shit. Seems to me that Roeder got a little 'insurance' on the cheap.

Not a big fan of the goose and being a tight arsed manc don't like the prices much in the gate......... Looks like the labour club then

Got a lot of mates coming up for New Years day so I'm on the piss in the toon before and after the match. Any decent recommendations for watching the game when they slope off to the match? Was thinking of just going in the labour club but open to suggestions? Cheers

It's hardly surprising Rossi hasn't got more games. At the end of the day he's a forward but not a 'striker'. I couldn't really see Rossi and Martins playing together and seeing as you paid 10 mill for one and the other was a 4/5 month loan signing, how can anyone be surprised he hasn't played more! If Martins had picked up a long term injury or instead of signing Martins you'd signed a 'Crouch' type player then I'm sure Rossi would have got more games. Rossi has the same problem if he remains at Old Trafford, I couldn't see him and Rooney in the same team and there will only be one winner of that battle. The lad needs to get himself in the shop window so needs to think carefully about where he goes next.

Back to the original question........... Wes Brown. At the risk of annoying my old mate Leazes again ala Nicky Butt, I'll just say this. He is (IMO) the best centre back at Old Trafford when fully fit. I'd rate him better than both Ferdinand & Vidic (although I've only seen Vidic on TV) and certainly better than Silvestre. The problem though, as has been said, is his appalling injury record. I'm a great believer in trying to keep your centre backs consistent injuries permitting so they can develop an understanding of who attacks the ball and who hangs off etc but you can never get a long enough run out of Brown to do that. Without his injury record you'd be adding at least £10 mill to that rumoured £3 mill. He is a class player. The only other thing I'd say is he's one of those defenders who much prefers to play on the right hand side of the two. He never looks quite as comfortable playing on the left hand side of the pair. The other thing is that he's known as a bit of a 'lad about town' so should fit in well

Was thinking about this earlier, because it really has got to the stage where it's very apparent that we can't move on with this bloke in charge. It's got to the stage where he needs to be given the thumbs down in the same way Ellis was. And before anyone starts, yes I KNOW we've splashed £15m this summer, but it's easy to throw money about when you have attendances like ours. Having a long-term plan is something else entirely and we haven't had one for the last decade. Any potential suitors would probably love it if we gave them a hand in chasing Freddy out. Having said that, I'm far too apathetic to get involved in any banner-making or anything like that. 189237[/snapback] Why's it easy Gemmill? Of the teams chasing Chelsea there is only the dippers that have managed to shell out big money. Man Utd have only been able to lay out 1/2 mill with gates much bigger. Arsenal have only bought Rosicky (can't remeber the fee) but recouped 5 mill from the Gallas / Cole swap deal. I don't think it's particularly easy for any club (Abramovich aside) to shell out 15 mill today.

Two ways of looking at that, Gol. Do you want stay and play EPL football with the Toon or go back and play for Man Utd reserves with the occasional outing when Rooney's injured or suspended. The lad's been kicked in the balls at OT this season. After promises from Fergie about more first team chances he's been shunted back behind the returning Ole. I reckon he'll choose first team football wherever he can get it and I don't see him edging Rooney out for a little while yet 190491[/snapback] Then our best option is to extend the loan, no? Either way, if he's as good as you claim, there is ZERO chance of him coming here permanently. 190496[/snapback] Gol, I'm not saying he's a 'great' player yet. The kid is young and inexperienced but he's as good a prospect as I've seen for a long long time. If he does mature into the player I think he will, then extending his loan period will be counter-productive for you. His value will just go up and up the more experience he gets. If you like what you see early doors then your best move would be to pull out every stop to buy him in January before you increase his value further.

Two ways of looking at that, Gol. Do you want stay and play EPL football with the Toon or go back and play for Man Utd reserves with the occasional outing when Rooney's injured or suspended. The lad's been kicked in the balls at OT this season. After promises from Fergie about more first team chances he's been shunted back behind the returning Ole. I reckon he'll choose first team football wherever he can get it and I don't see him edging Rooney out for a little while yet

You just trying to tempt me back to the darkside, Peasepud 190347[/snapback] mufc_allover? Fucking hell where've you been hiding? 190443[/snapback] TBH, thought you'd all gone over to this NO site Just popped back in to read all your thoughts on Rossi.

I can understand some of the comments on here about loaning players from Man Utd but I think you are getting an awesome prospect here. I can't understand Fergie on this one and think he's taking a massive uneccessary risk. His current strikers are Louis 'balsa wood' Saha, Wayne 'Mr Suspeneded' Rooney, Ole 'out for 2 years' Gunner & Alan ' Broken leg' Smith. The real danger here for Fergie is that Rossi is a massive success with you. It's OK saying as some on here are, that even if he does well, he just goes back to Man Utd with more experience, but life's not as simple as that. It's the players that call the shots today. Picture the scenario, Rossi has an awesome few months with you. The fans take him to their hearts and demand Fat Fred tries to buy him. The kid is made up with the adulation he's getting on Tyneside and wants to stay. Lord Ferg says 'no' your'e coming back to OT to play in the reserves and understudy Rooney! Rossi spits his dummy out, gets his agent demanding the transfer etc, he'll end up getting the move he wants, particularly with Rooney being so young. IMO this kid will be top class with a bit more experience under his belt.

You just trying to tempt me back to the darkside, Peasepud

Enlighten me with the correct facts then, KCG. How much tax gathered from smokers finds it way into NHS? How much does it cost to treat smoking related diseases? How much tax gathered from booze finds it's way to the NHS? How much does it cost to treat alcohol related diseases? I'll be happy to accept my arguments a 'tired old factually incorrect one' if you can furnish the true facts.

I think you are quite right, Steve. It's unbelievable that people who smoke and drink should expect you to treat them when they get related problems. After all it's not like they've ever contributed to the health service is it? If you are just going to go through the motions though it does seem a little a bit of a waste of your valuable time. Maybe we could compromise? You give me back every penny of the taxation from my daily packet of fags for 35 years and my booze and then I'll go and get private treatment with the money. Sounds a good deal to me? After you've repaid all us smokers & drinkers our extra taxation though don't be suprised if you don't have a job, or even a health service left.

Oi, how did you know I was a cheapskate, was it the mention of the labour club that gave the game away Thanks Cath.