Chelsea to suffer Champions League snub

Man of Honour
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Gilly said:
You'd think that one of the controlling parties would be saying something. I mean, we (us members here) have been saying for years that he needs to replace Keane. He never did it (the closest he got was signing Liam Miller - and he's been on loan to a relegated Leeds side, hardly the type of player you want captaining a side thats pushing for domestic and European glory) and now Keane has gone there's simply no drive in midfield.

You have Ronaldo and Rooney in the side, who are young and IMO pretty much the best in the country at what they do. i don't think there's a player as naturally gifted as Rooney in linking the play in England, and I don't think there's anyone with feet quicker than Ronaldo - he just needs to work on his end product. You have Ruud who was benched for half a season and in Saha you have a good Prem striker who has never been good enough to do it at European level.

Simply put, its drifted away from the class they had. O'Shea and Fletcher in the middle of the park? Behave. They've a Chelsea side that IMO is the best the Prem has ever seen (on paper at least) with the additions they've made so far this year, and you've the weakest manyoo midfield for well over a decade. Thats not a great pairing.

Its going to take a lot to get it back to how it was.

Couldn't agree more. I've been saying for a while that I believe Ferguson to be over-rated, and his inability to replace his midfield only seems to bare that out. Sure, he's won a ton of trophies, but he did the majority of it on the back of a large number of youth players all coming through at once. Had those players all been at another club, I dare say that club would have been as succesful. When Ferguson has been called on to replace players and rebuild the team, he's been very hit and miss, more than any of the other top managers.

If he wants to compete with Chelsea at some point, he needs to sort out the middle of the park, and he needs to do it now.
 
Soldato
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Good posts, Gilly & Davey Pitch, I really couldn't agree more. I've always felt that Ferguson was lucky to have the youth players coming through when they did, our scouting network, the youth team coaches and management staff really helped the likes of Beckham, Scholes, Neville come through at a high level. I have no doubts that Bobby Charlton's School of Excellence had a major part in getting Beckham, I'm sure any major talent displayed at a young age, would have led to someone knocking at Ferguson's door letting him know of a player's ability and potential before any other club had a whiff.

Ferguson has and always will be hit and miss in the transfer market. It's really been brought to light in the last few years since he's been given more to spend than at any other time he's been at Old Trafford. The fact we have two managers in Ferguson and Queiroz suggests that Ferguson can no longer hack it as number 1. He's shouldered responsibility onto Queiroz because he can make him the fall guy but mainly because he is not up to the job himself. What other team could force such high profile players like RVN and Keane out during a season? I know Keane was getting on a bit, but he was still our best midfielder and still led the team as Captain. RVN is our best ever goal scorer.

I don't think the Glazers are happy with what is going on at Old Trafford these days. I hear the main reason our team doctor was shown the door because he was upbeat about Rooney's injury progress, whereas Ferguson was trying to dampen down hopes instantly because he does not want Rooney anywhere near the WC. The team doctor was in contact with England's medical staff about Rooney's progress, Ferguson didn't like being shown up as a buffoon because he told the media Rooney was never making the WC with that injury. Who knows more about injuries and recovery times, Ferguson or a qualified doctor? Ferguson of course... Bye bye doctor. I can understand Ferguson's hesitation towards letting Rooney play in the WC, but if Rooney is fit, there's only one place he wants to go. He's 20, one of the many stars of the England team, arguably the best player, it's his first WC, he's going to take any chance he has because there won't be many.

I don't buy into this "Ferguson is the man to rebuild our team, he did it before and he can do it again." The sooner we get a new manager, scouts and coaching staff the better. Because I'm sure most of them have been hand picked by Ferguson because they'll work exactly the way he wants them to. Sure we'll probably finish 2nd or 3rd in the EPL next season, which will be good because Chelsea have without doubt the strongest squad of players I've seen at club level and will be favourites. Liverpool have vastly improved and will be contenders next season. I just want the shenanigans to stop at Old Trafford, the false front put on by Ferguson and Queiroz that everyone is happy, the crap tactics, the unrest behind the scenes with both staff and players with the management. The dodgy deals between agents and players. Ferguson's cantankerous and childish behaviour towards certain people in the media. All these problems stem from one man, he runs the club as if he owns it. There will be no change at the club until the management changes.
 
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Tony Soprano said:
Ferguson's cantankerous and childish behaviour towards certain people in the media. All these problems stem from one man, he runs the club as if he owns it. There will be no change at the club until the management changes.

hm im sure when i have made these posts people have called me a pessemist, questioned my support for man utd etc., thing is fergie really does need relieving of his post.

BUT are the glazer chiefs strong enough to do it? they dont want to upset the fans and dont have a clue about football. they think the fans love fergie, wheras infact they are taking a severe dislking to his policies these days.

if we have another lame duck season, and the fans protest enough maybe they will action change. if the fans dont, then surely the glazers will want to mantain the status quo?
 
Soldato
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Mackass said:
Is that right?

Or are the Cup Winners placed at the top of the coefficients?
Good spot that.
So going off the co-efficients, Milan are the best in Europe? :confused:
How does that work out, they got knocked out in the Semi's, and came second in the league?
How are the co-efficients worked out then?
 
Soldato
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Nickg said:
hm im sure when i have made these posts people have called me a pessemist, questioned my support for man utd etc., thing is fergie really does need relieving of his post.

BUT are the glazer chiefs strong enough to do it? they dont want to upset the fans and dont have a clue about football. they think the fans love fergie, wheras infact they are taking a severe dislking to his policies these days.

if we have another lame duck season, and the fans protest enough maybe they will action change. if the fans dont, then surely the glazers will want to mantain the status quo?

I no longer have any faith in Ferguson, I support them but not Ferguson. People have said to me that I'm not a true supporter because I don't back Ferguson. lol I think this year has shown Ferguson and the way he runs things at Old Trafford to the Glazers in a different light . At the end of the day, they want to make a profit, they're business men, and that means winning trophies, doing well in Europe and playing the type of football that will do these things.

If there is another major upset during the summer of next season involving a big player or a major member of backing staff leaving or being forced to leave because of Ferguson's attitude, the Glazers will step in, I have no doubts about it. Apparently they haven't exactly warmed up to the idea of Queiroz taking over as Ferguson's successor, so obviously something is rubbing off at them at Old Trafford.

Maybe the season before last there, I would have said the Glazers thought Ferguson was the dog's, and that the fans loved him, but they were not happy with what happened over Keane last November, they are not happy over the forced departure of a highly respected member of our medical staff, our chief doctor, and they are not happy with how the whole RVN ordeal is being handled. With verbal arguements and fisticuffs between players in training, the Glazers have been painted a different picture of what is going on behind closed doors.

Every year the Glazer brothers get a little more involved, David Gill does a little less (which is good), so I expect a few changes next season. No manager has the impunity that Ferguson has, any manager behaving like Ferguson would have been shown the door by now. And like the players he's forced out, he cannot stay because of past glories, he is past it and has been for years. Any fan that thinks Ferguson is the man to change things is deluding themselves.
 
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