Still Following the Trawler

Citeh: "They are a small club with a small mentality. All they can talk about is Manchester United, that’s all they’ve ever done and they can’t get away from it". "They think taking Tevez away from United is a triumph. It is poor stuff. I thought he would go to City a long time ago. Now I don’t have to deal with certain players who are miserable because they are not playing. I have good professionals here". "What’s Mark Hughes got, 10 strikers? So if he picks a squad to go to Chelsea he has to leave seven behind, or five at least". The truth about Adebayor: "At the last minute, from what I can gather, I know Adebayor or his agent phoned us after he agreed a deal with City and then the same to Chelsea . You ask why he is going to Manchester City and it can only be for one reason. He was desperate to get to Chelsea and he was desperate to get to us. I am not saying they are different to any of those players but when someone offers you ...

Since the beginning of the Premier League – you know, that same competition we’ve won 11 times in the 17 years it’s been around? – we have spent £411 million (including the £20-odd million worth of signings we’ve made this summer) and Liverpool, considering how substantially less they’ve achieved than us in that time, have spent about £400 million. But, far more interestingly, considering we're apparently supposed to be the Premiership's no.1 capitalist money machine, rather than a football club, who continually buy success (especially since 2006 and the Glazer's), is the truly satisfying fact that, despite fat-boy Manuel’s deluded nature and clear inability to do maths, Liverpool have spent a fair bit more than us over the past 5 years. The intersting stats read: Manchester United (from 2004 - 2009): Spent: £190m Recouped: £156m Net Loss (Spent - Amount Recouped): £34m Average Loss per Season: £6.8m Liverpool (2004 - 2009) : Spent: £231m Recouped: £120m Net Loss: £111m Av...

After all the 'what-a-dick-Ronaldo-is-for-leaving' hype surrounding this summer, it appears that it's United's favourite South American son - with that utterly die-hard attitude that won us all over - who has turned out to be the absolute twat; making the petulant, stroppy lady-boy's departure seem rather genuine and gracious in comparison. The reasons as to why a player would leave your club - especially a club at the top - are always concerning, regardless of how much you loved or loathed the player. It is always something fan’s and, undoubtedly, the world's media question, as why would anyone want to leave a club like United? Well, for Ronaldo, his dream was always Madrid. As a boy, and a complete mummy’s boy at that, he (and his mum) wanted Madrid almost as much as Keegan would ‘lov it’ if he beat us; however, unlike Kev, he eventually got his request. His open desire to leave and the constant flirting with Madrid between the summers of '08 and '09 ...

So Benzema's Spain bound trip no longer takes no.1 priority for me and bloggers alike. I was all lined to wax-bloggical (oh thats right, made-up word time!) about my shock and complete confusion as to how/why/when those thieving, cock-blocking sons of bitches managed to jack our move for Benzema; raising such logical concerns as: How Madrid’s OTT spending is immature and stupidly immoral (I‘m definitely NOT jealous that they are compiling probably the greatest team in history...this isn't fucking CM '09!!), How there was barely ever a Benzema/Real link until we started hottening up our pursuit - something that arose pretty much the exact moment the (then) 19-year-old slotted Rio and Vidic inside his pocket as he turned and embarrassed the fuck out of the 2 best defenders in the world back in April ‘08, And finally, my most worrying issue regarding Madrid’s ‘hyper-kid-in-sweetshop-whose-suddenly-been-given-way-too-much-pocketmoney-and-naturally-shows-off-by-getting-all-the-b...

After the  disappointing  revelation that Carlos Tevez rejected a new 5-year contract, I now challenge any United fan - especially those of an overly confident nature - to say: a) We're better off without Ronaldo and, now, Tevez; b) We'll still comfortably be at the top of the league come next season; c) With the £80 million we'll get from Ron we'll buy at least one world class player to replace him; d) All of the above. We're obviously not in an irreversible, crucial situation (yet), but this is not good news. We appear to be struggling to replace Ronaldo, as either no one is willing to sell or Madrid are clearly not letting United have a sniff by getting there first, so the last thing we needed was for a second key player to leave us in as many weeks. In my previous blog I mentioned the possible signing of Benzema, especially if Tevez were to leave, however the problem is Lyon's hesitation to sell him before the 2010 World Cup (presumably because they feel the...

So Real have stepped up their chase for Ribery? If this is the case, and we are left without a chance of replacing Ron with this ludicrously gifted player (especially as Monsieur Zidane is sticking his nose in as Perez's 'right hand man' - whatever that means - and convincing his compatriot that the Bernabeu is the place to be), then who will we get? Opinions much appreciated please as, I don't know about you, but it's starting to look a bit scary... 1. Valencia (£15-17 million). Age: 23 ; Position: winger ; Club: Wigan . Someone we've been heavily linked with and, unlike Munich with Ribery, the interest we have shown has been matched by Wigan's intent to cash-in. Talent and pace are undeniable, however his goal-scoring ability (with only 6 in 48 games) completely unrivals Ronaldo's. A mate of mine interestingly told me though, that while Ronaldo made about 8-10 successful tackles over the Premiership season, Antonio made over 100 challenges; showing his...

After a turbulent week, actually, a month of fairly uncertain times and moderate devastation for our club (I‘m mainly referring to the Champions League final, NOT Ronaldo), my excitement towards the cinematic event of my lifetime was eagerly anticipated and more than welcomed. As a fan, one-time supporter and eternal admirer of the footballer/genius Eric Cantona, the concept of a film with the great man as its subject was always going to be an excruciatingly inspiring moment for me. So much so, that as much I have anticipated the release of Looking for Eric , I have desperately avoided finding out anything about the film so as to keep every moment of the ‘Pos Premier’ as fresh and appealing as possible. To top it off, it is directed by Ken Loach; the most authentic and socially real British filmmaker of his generation who’s films I generally like a great deal (wasn‘t too sure about Sweet Sixteen ). I gave-in to the trailer (I couldn’t help it!), but even still, my understanding of what...