Posted on July 22nd, 2009 by David
Gerrard yesterday appeared in court over accusations that he had beaten up 34 year old Marcus McGee at the Lounge Inn in Southport, Merseyside around New Years.
The dispute broke out between Gerrard and McGee when Gerrard wanted to take over control of the club CD Player. McGee refused and a fight ensued.
I’m personally disappointed in the situation because I have tickets to see Liverpool face the Thai national team in Bangkok tonight. Gerrard did not make the trip due to his court case.
To be honest looking at the CCTV footage I can’t believe that Gerrard is pleading not guilty and self defense… I would hardly consider punching someone who has just been knocked down by your friends elbow “self defense”. Especially seeing as all of his friends who were involved in the beating have already pleaded guilty.
It seems like it would have been better to quietly plead guilt; probably pay a fine and do some community service, than to make a public media circus out of it with a trial. Everyone makes mistakes and that could be forgiven, but no one respects someone who does something wrong and then tries to worm their way out of it.
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Posted on July 21st, 2009 by David
 Of course pre-season friendly results have to be taken with a pinch of salt, and cannot really be used as a tool to predict how a team will perform when it starts to matter.
Christiano Ronaldo made his debut for Real Madrid last night, in a friendly against Irish side, Shamrock Rovers.
The Dublin team were able to shut the £80million winger out and he was substituted at half time; it took a later goal from new signing Karim Benzema goal to seal a win for the Spanish giants.
Meanwhile Michael Owen was banging in his second goal just 14 minutes into his second appearance. At the moment the free signing versus £80million sale is looking like a smart piece of business.
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Posted on July 19th, 2009 by David
 I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Mark Hughes seems to be determined to do himself in by the kind of players he is signing.
Sure Adebayor is a top quality striker, capable of playing at the top level of football. But he also has a trait which seems to be a theme throughout the newly assembled Manchester City team; his temperament.
Every team usually has one or two players who tend to sulk or throw a tantrum when things are not going there way; when they are not scoring, not winning, or sitting on the bench. In a normal team the rest of the players will come together to set this person straight.
When you load the team full of sulkers, such as Tevez, Adebayor, Robinho, Elano, just to mention some of the more prolific sulkers, you are asking for trouble. Most teams don’t even have 1 player who sulks on the level of these guys.
There are a couple of dangers here, firstly if City do not start winning and continue to win these players will all be banding together looking for someone to point a finger at…which will be Mark Hughes. Secondly, even if they are winning, some of these big ego players are going to have to be sitting on the bench, which is also going to cause problems when every player they have signed is demanding first team football.
One could say it’s just sour grapes that I’m writing this; being a United supporter, and City have made all kind of signings. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. I’d like to see City succeed (obvious not beyond United), but in the same realm, and I’d love to see Hughes succeed, I think he has the potential to be a great manager, and he was of course a great player for United, but I can see things blowing up in their face with some of the moves they are making.
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Posted on July 16th, 2009 by David
 This post is somewhat hypocritical as I also currently reside in a foreign country, and have not yet mastered the language.
Watching the press conference welcoming Tevez to Manchester City I found myself wondering why a player who has been playing in England for the last 3 years has not yet learned any English? Surely players must understand they are not being paid 100K a week just to play football; there is much more to it than that, such as meeting fans, attending press conferences, going to events, talking to press after the match etc..
Maybe I’m being too critically but I think footballers, being public figures, and so highly paid should make an effort to learn the language of the country they play in. At least learn some footballing cliché and mix them together, “I’m happy to be playing for this club”, “I think things will go well”, “We played well”, “We could have played better”…
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Posted on July 15th, 2009 by David
 Aston Villa seem to be leading in the race to sign Stewart Downing from newly relegated Middlesbrough, with a £12million bid which has already been accepted by Middlesbrough. Personal terms still have to be agreed, and other buyers could potentially crash the party.
The bigger question then becomes; why are Aston Villa so interested in signing a new left midfielder when they already have one of the country’s best in Ashley Young. I can’t imagine that either Downing or Young would consider playing second fiddle. Which leads me to believe Ashley Young could well be on his way out to bigger and better things, as there is no way I can see Martin O’Neill signing a replacement for Ashley Young, probably Villa’s best player, and then sitting Young on the bench.
Hopefully Sir Alex Ferguson was bluffing about the Manchester United’s transfers being completed, and has a secret deal to bring in Ashley Young; he is in my opinion a fantastic player.
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Posted on July 13th, 2009 by David
 In a somewhat surprising move Sir Alex Ferguson has handed Michael Owen, ex-United winger, Christiano Ronaldo’s prized Number 7 jersey. And more shockingly declared that he will not be buying any more players this summer.
Like many people I was fully expecting Owen to be a bit part player, probably 4th choice striker used as a backup in case of injuries. Obviously the manager has other ideas, and Owen has received a massive vote of confidence by receiving this shirt, and having the transfer doors closed behind him.
This will also give some of the young player, such as Macheda, Wellbeck and Gibson a chance to shine. It’s time to stand and be counted for many United players, but Ferguson believes they are ready.
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Posted on July 12th, 2009 by David
 Although I’m a Manchester United fan, even I wouldn’t wish Samuel Eto’o onto Manchester City. Mark Huges has dodged a major bullet this week as the negotiations for Eto’o broke down. However he seems determined to commit managerial suicide by signing overindulged prima donnas to the club.
City had agreed to sign Eto’o from Barcelona for £25million. Barca seemed all too happy to see the back of Eto’o, who has only 1 year left on his contract, and has had a series of disciplinary problems, and falling outs with previous managers.
City were also willing to make Eto’o the highest paid footballer in the world at a whopping £250K per week! But the deal broke down, one might think because Eto’o loves his current club and doesn’t want to move; WRONG…it was because, unbelievably, he wanted even more money. Not only did he want to be the highest paid footballer, but also wanted a cut of the £25million transfer fee.
Don’t get me wrong, Eto’o is a very good player, and he can definitely stick away the goals, but his ego and greed are out of the control.
It would take a “big” manager to handle Samuel Eto’o; a manager who has the unconditional backing of the fans and board, and if push came to shove it would be player to get the axe before the manager. There are very few such managers around, and sadly Mark Huges is not one of them. He still basically on probabation at city; if he does not deliver this year he will surely get the boot. The last thing he needs his a disgrutalled “superstar” stabbing him in the back at every chance, and disrupting the changing room.
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Posted on July 6th, 2009 by David
 At the end of last season Tevez had become a fan favorite due to his tireless work rate. And many fans also felt sympathetic towards his inability to break into the regular starting 11, and the lack of contract being offered by Manchester United.
However Tevez seems to be burning his Old Trafford bridges as fast as possible.
I don’t think many United fans would have begrudged him looking for work elsewhere in order to cement some guaranteed first team football, and possibly a wage increased. Even if meant signing for local rivals Manchester City.
It seems that every week since the end of the season Carlos has come out with a new, and increasingly more obnoxious, set of comments. Starting out with digs at Ferguson Champions League Final tactics.
Tevez was then officially offered a new 5 year contract at Old Trafford, which would make him one of the highest paid players at the club, but he turned this down saying the offer had come too late, and had made him feel unwelcome. Up to this point he still have a great deal of fan respect and appreciation.
His most recent comments have surely vanquished a significant amount of that respect; saying that Manchester United would have won the Champions League Final if he had started the match. And saying that he was “kicked out” of Manchester United, when in fact he was offered a good contract and turned it down of his own free will.
Tevez seems to believe that he has managed to earned more fan support in his 2 years at Old Trafford than Alex Ferguson has earned in his 20 years. He is going to be in for a rude awakening when he realizes that the fan backing has quickly evaporated as he has tried to turn the fan against their beloved manager.
It appears that everyone else, except Tevez himself, can see that his money hungry agent and “owner”, Kia Joorabchian, is nothing but a bad influence. Hopefully he can be detached from the young Argentine before he over inflates his head, and destroys his career.
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Posted on July 6th, 2009 by David
 On Friday the news broke that Owen has signed a 2 year contract with the Red Devils, prompting widespread debate as to whether Owen can still perform, whether Sir Alex has lost his marbles, or if it’s a brilliant masterstroke by the old Scot.
I believe Ferguson has played the situation perfectly, and picked up a great signing. He shrewdly kept under wraps any interest that he had in the 29 year old England striker. With only the likes of Hull and Stoke taking an interest in Michael, and his contract at Newcastle already expired, Owen must have been starting to get a little nervous as to just where his career might be headed.
Then along comes Sir Alex and offers Owen the chance to be great again, at a highly discounted wage compared to his old 110K a week deal with NUFC. He knocked his salary down by more than 50% to 50K a week, but when the choices are Manchester United, Stoke or Hull…it’s fairly obvious where any ambitious player would go.
Many people are saying that it is a “gamble” by Ferguson, but I don’t see it as such at all. Manchester United can easily afford 50K a week salary even if Owen were to get injured tomorrow and never set a foot on the pitch, United would hardly miss the 50K. And to get a player of his caliber for FREE, is fantastic. It could only be considered a gamble if Ferguson doesn’t sign any other strikers this summer and uses Owen as a direct replaced for Tevez; which remains to be seen.
I think Owen will easily bang in 15-20 goals this season even he starts most games on the bench; behind Rooney and Berbatov in the peaking order.
One must not forget that it takes a certain kind of player to play for United, one who is willing to put the team first, sit on the bench if needed, act professionally on and off the field. Owen has all of these traits, and while he may not be as skillful as departing winger, Christiano Ronaldo, he will be a far better roll model for the United youngsters.
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