Corky Cat: Unfortunately this year I think the old partnership of Roman Abramovic & Jose Mourinho will take out this seasons comp. Chelsea have hung around the top 3 for the last 10 years (bar 11/12) and now have a manager who is respected by the players, knows the EPL and has stayed true to his word about not selling any of the main squad from last season.
The new Premier League season is just over 2 weeks away and with a new season comes new talking points, teams, managers, and players. Every season we are blessed with seeing some fresh young faces come in and announce themselves to British football. Some last the test of time and grow into quality players, while some are end up being mediocre stop starters. Here are a few players to keep an eye out for who aren’t big stars in the shape of the Ronaldo’s or the Rooney’s but can be just as important to their clubs season.
Nathan Redmond
Now he’s not a big name, not yet. Redmond recently signed for Norwich from Birmingham City and has been linked with Premiership teams for the last two years. The winger is an England u21 International and has blistering pace as well as a few tricks up his sleeve. He was part of the dreadful England team at the Euro u21 but he definitely has more to offer. He can play on either wing but is often used on the left so he can cut in on his right foot where he packs quite a shot. Canaries boss Hughton worked with Redmond at Birmingham and was the first to give him a consistent run in the team so it’s no surprise the youngster chose Norwich as his destination once it was made clear that Brum has to sort their wage bill out. Norwich play good expansive football as well and it’s a further sign on the manager wanting to improve attacking potency so it looks to be a great move for all concerned – Redmond could very well flourish this season.
Wilfried Bony
The biggest reason for looking out for this fella is the fee that Swansea paid for him – 12m. It’s a huge fee for a club like Swansea and for a player who isn’t a big name player. However now he’s in the Premier League that could well change. The 24-year-old Ivorian has a great goal scoring record especially at previous club Vitesse where he netted 46 goals in 65 appearances. From various clips he’s a very powerful striker and a great finisher. He can score with either foot or his head and reminds me most of former Pompey and Everton striker Yakubu. He has great positional sense and awareness to link up with teammates so I get the impression he will be perfect for Swansea’s style of play. Michu has been considered by many the buy of the season last season with a price tag of only 2m but he did struggle for goals in the second half of the season and Laudrup has been astute in making sure Swansea don’t rest on their laurels and splash the cash on Bony. Michu can be played behind the striker and is just as useful creating goals as well as scoring them so I think the Michu/Bony partnership will prove to be very fruitful for the impressive Welsh club. He may take time to settle but with the system Swansea play I think he’ll prove a great investment from Swansea so credit to the club.
Jozy Altidore
This isn’t the first time the American has graced the Premier League as he had a spell at Hull City under Phil Brown a few season back where he didn’t set the world alight but still showed elements of quality. He’s big, athletic, fast, and a decent finisher in the air and on the ground. At the age of only 23 Altidore already has 60 caps for USA and has played in 5 different countries – mostly on loan. He was at Villareal for 3 years but only appeared for them 9 times due to him being shipped out on loan for every year he was with them so his only long term spell at a club is where Sunderland signed him from – AZ Alkmaar. He has a fantastic goal scoring record in the Dutch league with 38 in 67 games and that shows how useful he can be when he is settled. I think he is going to be a successful addition to Di Canio’s Sunderland team. He’s perfectly fitted to English football being big, strong, quick, good in the air, and already having Premier League experience. It’s a shrewd signing by Di Canio and I think it’s going to pay off.
George Boyd
It’s a surprise one but very intriguing player to keep tabs on. Now this fella is by no means a fresh faced starlet but nor is he a dinosaur. He comes from humble footballing backgrounds having played a large amount of his career in the lower leagues and has been rewarded doing it the hard way by making his first appearance in the top flight at 27 with Hull City. At Peterborough United he is known as ‘the White Pele’ due to him being flash, tricky, and capable of brilliance – a fan favorite. However he has only been making real progress in the last year with Championship teams taking a punt on him such as Nottingham Forest and then Hull City on loan. He proved he can be just as exciting and dangerous at a higher level and has done enough to convince Steve Bruce to sign him permanently as Hull take their place in this season Premier League season- lucky boy. He can play in the hole behind the striker, in midfield, or as a full-fledged striker but either way he has the ability to get people off their seats and is very unpredictable. He has one cap for Scotland but he should expect a few more if he is able to feature enough for Hull this coming season.
Gary Hooper
Another Norwich signing which shows just how hard Hughton’s been working this summer to improve his squad and let’s face it, it’s needed having just survived last season. Hooper has been attracting interest from Premier League teams for a few years now and it seems clubs have been hesitant to take a punt on the England hopeful. He has been playing for Celtic in recent seasons and has a decent goal scoring record winning many fans in Glasgow. This has had led to many calling for Hooper to be given a chance in the England set-up but it seems that the SPL isn't seen as a high enough quality of competition for a player to prove his credentials and rightly so. This makes it a huge chance for Hooper to show what he can do and maybe earn himself a last minute ticket to the World Cup – if England qualifies that is. He’s a sharp player with great pace and deadly in the box – Norwich will be relying on him for goals this season and if he continues the form of recent season he will do just that and may well give Hodgson something to ponder come June next year, yet again, if England qualify that is.
It may seem awhile off, a whole year in fact but the preparations and excitement starts now for next year’s World Cup in Brazil. For managers and respective football associations the preparations should have begun a long time ago of course, but although players have got a whole season for their club to worry about, they need to keep an eye on June/July 2014. It’s the biggest stage, every players dream, the most proud moment of anyone’s life if they are fortunate to play in a FIFA World Cup. If you were to ask a player whether they would prefer to start or be fit for every game this season or prefer to be at the World Cup, they would choose the historic tournament every time. That is one of the biggest questions for players at the moment, transfer window is open and they need to make sure they are playing for a team that will give them game time as well as a team that they will perform well in so they are selected for their countries squad. That is something they have reasonable control over but they don’t have much control over injury.
Preventing injury sounds ridiculous as players should give their all for their club every week and it shouldn’t put a player in two minds whether to jump into a tackle or to bust a gut to get to a ball. How many times has your heart been in your mouth when your national team’s star player doesn’t get up straight away a few months before a tournament? Its nerve-racking stuff and for players in the Premiership it seems they are more at risk. At the last World Cup the likes of Drogba, Ballack, Torres, Ferdinand, Essien, Mikel, and Bosingwa were all ruled out due to injury for their countries and all played that season in the EPL. That is also excluding players who began the tournament injured or weren’t fully fit. We know that the English football season is hectic; there is no winter break like they have in the rest of Europe. In fact the fixture schedule is more intense over the winter period with 3 games a week across the Christmas and New Year period. The premier league have made it very clear that they no plans to introduce a winter break as the schedule is too tight and fair enough, most top leagues have 18 teams whereas the EPL has 20. Add European football the FA cup and a League cup and you have a monster amount of games. The key may well be pre-season, if they start that well and get their fitness off to a stable start without stretching themselves it may do them the world of good come the end of the season.
TV doesn’t help much either as games are moved to generate more viewers resulting in fewer days before games with big teams regularly playing weekend and mid-week. This takes a massive toll on the players and who must feel fatigued as early as the New Year let alone having a major tournament to play once the season is finished. Basically club football in England doesn’t give a shit about national teams and only care about the dough and you can’t help but wonder that this may be the reason England do so badly at tournaments and always have 1 or 2 big players injured for World Cups. It’s a guaranteed occurrence in fact I may put a bet on which players get injured.
As said before another factor that will be moistening the brow of players at the moment is playing time and form. Most players will base their transfer decisions on whether they will be first choice for their current or future club. Does Rooney risk staying at United with doubts over whether he’ll start regularly? Does Lukaku go out on loan to secure his starting position in the Belgian line-up? National managers will always prefer the players that play regularly for their clubs as they are the players they regularly see and who are fit and on form. It’s a good thing for smaller clubs as top players fell insecure about their place in a top team and drop to mid-table clubs for first team action in the form of loans. Don’t be surprised to see some big names at small clubs come September 1st.
The World Cup is a year away and even though they are not talking about it, players are definitely thinking about it. If they get their pre-season right then they have a better chance of staying fit and impressing their club managers enough to get them some quality first-team football. However some may have to be shipped out on loan to give them a chance at playing in world’s biggest sporting event. Not all will make it and some may get lucky by replacing someone else who was unlucky to get injured for the tournament but either way I’ll be biting nails with every England player that goes down this season. Maybe I’m over-reacting too early; they got to get there first.
It’s the words lingering in most fans brain box at the moment with the world’s biggest clubs content with meandering between speculation and website chitter chatter. That is of course unless clubs have done deals and are being uncharacteristically patient with announcing transfers to the press but even if that was worth the effort, football clubs aren’t that smart – by no means. We have a few big situations in this current market such as the Suarez saga which is getting right on my tits as well as the Rooney circus and a few other niggling rumours that I’m sure is also giving you itchy chesticles.
Clubs have begun their tours, travelling around the world to places like America, Asia, Australia and Central Europe to raise their global profiles, and despite the main commercial intentions this time is also for players to gel and get ready for the coming season – so it would be good to have you r full squad there wouldn’t it? Fair enough players are rested for playing for their respective nations such as those participating in the unnecessary Confederations Cup. However, is it worth taking a player half way across the world when it’s quite obvious they’ll be flying back prematurely to discuss a move? Or leaving it to buy your main target until after the Pre-season tour so they have less time to gel? Seems risky, especially with the amount of money that’s being thrown about these days, banking on players to gel fast and perform. This is the case with and Rooney. Rooney joined Man Utd on tour in Thailand and after 2 days has been sent back ‘treatment’ on a hamstring injury. It’s quite a coincidence that such a thing should occur and puts doubt over his future at the club but at the same time, Moyes is encouraged by his meeting with Rooney and have even been too each other’s houses. How about you stop pissing about having brunch and all that bollocks and sort out what you’re up to? How hard is it? I personally think Rooney will stay as he hasn’t really got anywhere else to go. United have come out and said they are not going to offer Rooney a new deal which I never thought was the question at hand here anyway, it makes it sound like this whole ridiculous situation is just Rooney employing the same tactic as he did in 2010to get a pay rise, which would be outrageous.
Talking of Man Utd it seems that they paid too much attention to Rooney that they have missed out on their reportedly biggest target in the shape of Thiago of Barcelona. They desperately need some quality in midfield with Scholes retiring, Fletcher expected to be out of action, and Anderson struggling to find consistency. Thiago has been touted as the man they really wanted to be the future heartbeat of the United machine – but well done he’s joined tin-ass Guardiola at Bayern. Now it could be the case that they were never interested and that it was all paper talk but it’s been so widely reported that it was if he had already signed and was even going to be announced as a United player at Moyes first press conference. I don’t know what’s happened here but I think Thiago has made a mistake as I can’t see him getting the game time at Bayern that he has craved at Barca but in saying that, it makes me doubt United were ever in for him. So who is going to be Moyes big signing in the middle of the park? Fellaini has been linked as well as Fabregas, it’s a crucial buy for Moyes and it has slipped under the radar due to the Rooney saga. Looks like another frustrating wait.
Now there is the Suarez thing. It’s quite obvious Suarez is a bit of a scumbag, I’m not saying that he’s wrong for wanting to move because he has been getting a lot of hassle from the press and no doubt feels isolated and very disliked, but for I think Luis should realise he has bitten a man and racially abused another as well as showing his petulant side on more than one occasion. He brings it on himself. Liverpool are desperate to keep hold of him because he is an outstanding player but he has said he is determined to leave. Liverpool need to accept it and the best they can do is get as much money as possible and make sure that he doesn’t go to another English club. If he went to Arsenal, Liverpool fans would be furious and rightly so. For a team that’s rebuilding and should be in the top 4, selling your best player to the competition is out of the question. That’s the least of their worries though, how do you replace him? Liverpool are currently buying young and cheap but they’ll need to splash some big cash to replace Suarez and could even use him a swap deal. If I was Liverpool I’d resign myself to losing him, sell him to Real Madrid, and try to get either Higuain or Benzema in exchange.
Everything remains quiet on the transfer front with clubs keeping their cards firmly against their chest. With the rate its going it looks as though big deals will be happening right through to deadline day on September 1st. However it only takes one big deal to go through and then the wheel will start to spin for example Mario Gomez arrives at Fiorentina, leading to Jovetic being targeted by Man City because they sold Tevez to Juventus. I’m more interested in what Arsenal and Man Utd do in the market as I feel they have the more important decisions to make but blimey they’re taking their time doing it. I wouldn’t hold your breath but the sigh of relief is just around the corner for you big club supporters – well you’d hope so.
It’s quite fair to say that Newcastle are losing their identity and rapidly. Since Mike Ashley took over the club in 2007, he has shown
his idiocy, incompetence, and total lack of respect to Newcastle United.
Newcastle is a massive club, the Toon army are a loyal and proud group of
supporters. Well they used to be. After saga on top of saga in Ashley’s reign
this week it is going through another comical episode – in the shape of Joe
Kinnear with the Irishman being appointed Director of Football.
Kinnear was in temporary charge of Newcastle in 2008 but had
to leave prematurely due to heart problems. Within the first week of taking over,
after the sacking of Keegan, the press were on his back and Kinnear responded
with one of the most listened to press conferences of all time when he called
out the press with a tirade of abuse, calling one reporter a c@nt. He got some
decent results but still couldn’t steer them from relegation which was
confirmed later that season after Shearer took over. Now the Director of
Football position doesn’t really have a place in England in fact it often leads
to the manager being sacked and the DOF taking over. In England the manager is
seen as the most important position at the club and every decision has to go
through him so a DOF is somewhat of an insult or a chairmen’s attempt to force
out the manager. For all we know that could be Ashley’s intention as he can’t
sack Pardew. If he sacked Pardew he would have to pay out the rest of his 8
year contract. I think Mr Ashley offering an 8 year deal is the root of this
problem that he seems somehow capable of making worse. So basically in one
appointment Ashley has disrespected his manager, made him uncertain over his
future, and pissed off his own fans.
After Kinnear’s abusive rant a few years ago and his
all-round old-fashioned blunt personality has led to the press wanting to stick
the knives in. The English press is an enemy you don’t want and he doesn’t seem
to have cottoned onto that yet. The press have pounced and Kinnear has again
showed his stupidity by playing up to it with outbursts and rants that he has
lived to regret such as being more intelligent than Toon fans. Shearer has come
out and said this decision has made Newcastle a laughing stock and he’s right.
Kinnear responded by calling Shearer a clueless coach and he’s right too.
It’s the latest of a series of comical errors at Newcastle
and I feel sorry for the fans who are being treated like mugs here. Since 2007
they have seen managers like Hughton being sacked for no reason, appointment of
absolute has-beens like Keegan and Shearer, the famous St James’s Park having
its name changed for some ghastly commercial brand name, a team with more
French then English, and a wet blanket of a manager who looks more like a pen
salesman – let alone the idiot who owns the place. To top it off the club bar’s
name has changed from Shearer’s – all-time top goal scorer to something else
pretty ghastly. Actually that last one I find the funniest - I’m looking forward to the encore.
With a hectic finish to the season its time to use this valuable time to buy and sell players. Since the seasons end and in fact even before its climax there has been plenty of speculation and who is going where. The whirlwind of new manager appointments has added fuel to the already blazing fire. There are plenty of question marks and talking points with several players on the move and it's always a crucial part of how a club's season will shape up next time round. Clubs like Spurs, Arsenal, and the Manchester Clubs look like they are going to have some big decisions to make over the next few months - as well as spending large amounts of money.
Firstly lets look at Spurs. The biggest thing for Spurs and one of the biggest stories of the transfer market is the situation of Bale. He's world class, a ridiculously good player and like Gary Neville said "Without Bale, Spurs wouldn't be in the top 8." How far they can go depends on whether he stays or not because he is irreplaceable. Real Madrid have stated interested in the flying Welshman and are even considering spending around 80m for him - which seems excessive but it will definitely seal his signature. Spurs WILL lose him eventually - they are not big enough to keep him. They should not reject such an offer as I'm sure Villas-Boas would like 80m to spend on his squad for next season. This is a typical domino-like effect in the transfer market which could result in another (and probably the biggest move) this summer...
Man United are hoping that the potential switch of Bale to Madrid could be exactly what they need to speed up their quest to bring back Ronaldo. Man Utd are hoping that Madrid will be more tempted on letting Ronaldo go if they secure the services of Bale. Ronaldo has been linked with the move back for awhile but the retirment of Sir Alex may have changed things. Utd are willing to spend 65m on Ronaldo with Nike apparently willing to help with the fee meaning Ronaldo will don a Nike shirt. its 50/50 and most of it at the moment seems like speculation but if it comes off it will be 2 of the biggest moves in recent history.
The other massive story is the Rooney saga. I cant see him leaving Utd. He'd be stupid to leave, where do you go after Man Utd? Madrid? I don't think they are interested plus he can barely speak English at time let alone another language so I cant see him going abroad. He's been disappointing for 2 seasons now and he needs to sort his head out. Its all down to Moyes now and whether he can be the man to give Rooney his belief, confidence, and clarity back. He's outstanding and the fact that Sir Alex hasn't flicked him like he had done with the Beckhams, Stams, Van Nistelrooys, and Keanes shows how highly the Scot thinks of Wazza. By September 1st I'm confident Rooney will still be a Man Utd player.
For awhile now we have heard that Arsenal have plenty of money to spend with their board announcing they are able to compete for Rooney's signature. This is a big season for Wenger and we seem to be saying that every season and it will continue to be that way until they win something. They need to push on now, they have got their stadium, they got stabilized themselves after the stadium cost and are looking economically the strongest club in England behind Man Utd - so now the time is to spend some well-earned money on big players. It's not like Arsenal are far away from a title challenge, all they need is 20 goal a season striker - which they have money to buy, and some depth. They need to feel the void left by Song and Diaby as well as an experienced keeper. Wenger is a smart man and I don't think Arsenal fans will be waiting too much longer for silverware at the Emirates.
Man City, with their new manager most likely being Pellegrini, may well have a few players going through both exit and entry doors this summer. Barry is linked with Tottenham while Tevez's future is up in the air. Outstanding youngster Isco is linked to be the next purchase after Jesus Navas and Fernandinho both joined during the week and this could mean the end of their City careers for the likes of Sinclair, Nasri and even Dzeko. City were embarrassing last term but they need to be weary of changing a team too much too quickly. They were poor in the transfer market last season and that can be looked at as the main reason they missed out on silverware so there is no surprise in them acting swiftly this time - even before the manager has officially been announced. Time will tell if he is a successful appointment and how fans will warm to him after many being angered by the sacking of Mancini.
The next season in the Premier League is going to be one of the most intriguing in it's history with so many teams good enough for the title and top 4. The quality and size of the squads will be crucial and all the respective managers - whether newly appointed or not - will know their decisions on the market could be the difference between success and failure. There are a lot of questions to be answered and plenty of deals to haggle over in the next few months, how long will it take for the first domino to fall?
I hate Barcelona Football Club. I hate their players. I hate their style and their tactics. I hate their fans. And I hate all of those ‘experts’ who try to validate their own knowledge of the game by comparing every other team to the glowing example of modern football that is Le Catalans.
I’m not “jealous”. Don’t go throwing your petty, immature insults at me: Hear me out. I respect the success that Barcelona has had and continues to have. They are the best team in the world at the moment. I know this and you know this. The problem is that they know it too. They’ve won 3 league titles, 2 domestic cups and 2 European titles in 4 years with their high pressing, slow building tiki taka style of play. They’ve become the self- appointed world leaders of this revolutionary brand of total football. Like the rulers of some cult. Every second grassroots club team tries to emulate them and it’s ruining football. The reason Barcelona can pull this off is because they have two brilliant midfield visionaries and arguably the best finisher in the game. Unlike so many cheap imitators (read: Arsenal), Barcelona are actually capable of keeping the ball for 60-70 minutes a game and this is the foundation of their success. Each time they lose the ball, they press like crazy to win it back, which they can afford to do because it’s the only 20 minutes of effort they have to give each game. They get the opposition into a strangle hold, forcing them back deep into their own half, and then, instead of tightening their grip around the jugular and fatally cutting off the airflow with a few quick goals, they keep them in that submissive position for so long that they eventually die of boredom. Pass the ball around for 20 minutes, then capitalise on the first mistake with a highlight reel through ball to Messi for the opener. Repeat 3-4 times and go home. It’s a bully tactic. It’s the footballing equivalent of stealing the fat kid’s hat and holding it ever so slightly out of his reach.
It’s still a great strategy, the perfect one for this team, but it is impossible to replicate. Thus Swansea will never win a European Cup. Sadly, tiki taka has been adopted as the epitome of sporting flair and beauty, though it’s a benchmark that only Barcelona can reach. Cue an innumerable amount of bandwagon fans and self-righteousness and pretention. The bandwagon jumpers cannot be helped. As a Manchester United fan, I’ve known more than a few of them (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!). It’s the holier-than-thou attitude of the club that I hate. The way that Barcelona expects to win every game not because of their superior ability but because it is their God-given right as the purveyors of The Beautiful Game. To beat them would be sacrilege (Let us now cast stones at the heretics of AC Milan). Maybe people have said the same thing about Man United, but I’ve always felt that Sir Alex kept them grounded. The arrogance of Barcelona extends beyond the field, too. Like the Fabregas transfer, where Arsenal were publically harassed into selling their captain so that he could pick the splinters out of his behind on the Barcelona bench. Or the pompous UNICEF jersey-sponsorship deal (real charity needs no such publicity), where Barca donated a certain amount of proceeds to the charity because, after all, they are the most generous, sympathetic and altruistic force in football since Jesus played goalie for Jerusalem. Of course, this deal has since been replaced with new sponsorship from the nation of Qatar. Yes, Barcelona is now being funded by oil money. I don’t think that it’s a stretch to call this team the Bono of world football. There’s a word for people and clubs like these. And it rhymes with oil tankers.
Now, I could try and taint the legacy and achievements of Barcelona Football Club by bemoaning the absolute lack of depth in La Liga, how nobody tackles in Spain, hence Master Messi has hardly been injured in his entire career, and Barcelona can comfortably pass the ball around without worrying about any vigilante reproach. I could make a valid argument that Lionel Messi is well inferior to a certain C. Ronaldo. I could go into great detail about their shaky defence, so often spared due to the mere scraps of possession that opposition teams are left with after Barcelona finish passing and backheeling and running sideways and patting each other on the back. But I won’t. Because I am bigger than that. These people make me sick.
- Wildcard
Cheers Gaffer
The Don is stepping down. Father is quitting work for his garden. The Gaffer is taking a back seat.
When Man United got knocked out of the Champions League earlier this season at the second round stage by Real Madrid, it seemed to be a bigger deal than usual. There seemed to be a deeper sadness and heartbreak in the Man United camp – Sir Alex Ferguson more than anyone. He refused to give a post-match interview, didn’t speak to the media for days – something very strange giving the rash sending off of Nani in the crucial second leg. Man United staff claimed that Sir Alex was too upset to speak, and now we know why. Sir Alex, THE gaffer, THE boss, THE legend, THE genius has finally after 26 ridiculously successful years at the United helm has retired. He wanted to go out with a bang, he wanted that 3rd Champions League title but I’m sure he’ll get over it when he looks back at his managerial career.It’s a strange feeling, and this is coming from someone who has no affiliation with Man United in any way I’m just a football fan, but he’s Britain’s footballing father he’s been around my whole life and that whole time he has been the top dog. He’s had a career that even the most ambitious people couldn’t dream up – he’s had a managerial career like an EA Sports FIFA manager mode. When he took over Man U were a mid-table team struggling to be a big force in England’s top flight and he has turned them into the biggest football brand in the world and England’s most successful club. 13 Premier league titles, 5 FA cups, 4 League cups, 10 Community Shields, and 2 Champions League trophies – all this and he still wasn’t happy as he has claimed many times that the club have not been good enough in Europe and that his biggest regret is that he hasn’t won more Champions League titles. He is the epitome of glory, ambition, and desire for success. Whoever attempts to fill his shoes has got a monster of a task even with them being able to call on Sir Alex advice. For many Sir Alex has been a father figure as well as a teacher of football. Players like Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, Ronaldo, the Neville brothers, Hernandez, Nicky Butt, and so on have been with Sir Alex from young ages and have grown into men and world-class footballers under his stewardship – this is a man who is more than a football manager.
David Moyes is the man chosen to take Manchester United into the post-Fergie era and I think he’s the only man for the job. Mourinho and Klopp were considered but this job is a long term job. Such managers will win silverware and then leave – this goes against what has made the club so successful over the years – the continuity of Sir Alex. Moyes is a fantastic manager who is committed, loyal, and intelligent enough to take on the job and build a new long term success. I predict he will struggle at first and I can’t see him winning the league at the first time of asking but he will be a success. However their can never be another Sir Alex, no one will ever have that much success at one club let alone just stay with a club for that long. Club owners these days are too hasty; sacking managers left, right, and centre for success but this is only a short term solution.
For many people around about my age of 21, we don’t know anything else except Sir Alex. He’s been ubiquitous for over 2 decades in which he has immortalised himself with glory. As far as I’m concerned he IS Man Utd and even though that’s only one club it’s like English football will never be the same again. We’ve seen the last of such long term success. From his famous hair-dryer rants at football stars, to his no nonsense attitude with the media, his battering of chewing gum, and tapping his watch to death Sir Alex is a man football will find impossible to forget. Sir Alex Ferguson take a bow, we salute you.
