04/23/24
September 08, 2003
Man Utd on the decline? Becks to Real. Then the Southampton loss just a week ago, leaving them trailing unbeaten Arsenal. Scholes out for a month, new buy Kleberson crocked with a dislocated shoulder, overpriced defender Ferdinand battling a kidney infection. Now, CEO Kenyon is off to Chelski. What's next, Ferguson and Keane to Man City?
posted by worldcup2002 to soccer at 12:29 PM - 25 comments
Are you kidding... I feel sorry for whoever is playing Man U this weekend...
posted by StarFucker at 12:49 PM on September 08, 2003
Wonder why they waited until after spending GBP100M to bring in Kenyon; after all, aren't things pretty much set for this season except for perhaps some fine tuning in the January transfer window? Still, has to be a huge emotional event all around the EPL. But what about LFC? What does this mean for us?
posted by billsaysthis at 12:55 PM on September 08, 2003
SF: Man U v Charlton, Sat.
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:56 PM on September 08, 2003
bill: LFC is reduced to figuring out whether they should share a stadium with Everton.
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:59 PM on September 08, 2003
Charlton, that'll really be a toughie, eh? Who's got Ruud and Forlan on their fantasy squads?
posted by billsaysthis at 01:04 PM on September 08, 2003
Ruud, Giggsie, Solskjaer, Forlan, Keane...even little Ronaldo. They are all going to score.
posted by StarFucker at 01:20 PM on September 08, 2003
just a bit of a wobble that might be forgotten in a few months if they are doing as well as they have been when they've been winning. but maybe it is a wobble that causes them to plummet from their heights. time will tell.
posted by gspm at 01:33 PM on September 08, 2003
Plummet, yeah losing the CEO but keeping your star players, having young up and comers feeding in, and having your All-World coach under contract for nearly three more seasons, so the plummeting will be starting, uh, tomorrow. Right?
posted by billsaysthis at 06:55 PM on September 08, 2003
Not until I get rid of all the Man U players in my fantasy team.
posted by worldcup2002 at 09:06 PM on September 08, 2003
Nothing can stop the march of the Imperial Lord Ferg! Nothing! Resistance is futile!
posted by BigCalm at 02:55 AM on September 09, 2003
Though it would be nice if it did mark the start of a decline of the Red Scum, that's pretty wishful thinking. They still have an excellent squad and huge financial resources should they be required. Charlton are no mugs though. I don't think Saturday's game will be the cakewalk that some seem to think.
posted by squealy at 04:42 AM on September 09, 2003
No matter how much you hate Manchester United (and there are plenty of sad cases who hate them more than they love their own team): the idea that a Harlem Globetrotter team, wholly bought on a whim, by a Russian businessman nobody knows anything about, is preferable to a team built from local talent (Butt, Scholes, Neville Bros, etc are all local lads) who have also formed the backbone of the England team for almost a decade is laughable. Already Chelsea (or yawn, Chelski) have claimed all the newspaper space that's not devoted to Beckham. If they do turn out to be challengers the London media will ensure that the rest of the country is heartily sick of 'The Glamour Boys from The Kings Road' by the end of the season. For those of us who like football to have a bit of soul - ABC is the new acronym.
posted by niceness at 07:52 AM on September 09, 2003
ABC?! Meanwhile, Riise gets a black eye from John Carew...
posted by StarFucker at 08:24 AM on September 09, 2003
Anybody But Chelsea? Just a guess. Or maybe it is Charlton. Or Celtic. Or Canada. (and, niceness, that being your first comment, welcome)
posted by gspm at 09:43 AM on September 09, 2003
I, for one, welcome the niceness overlords! The new acronym is LFC. (Check out the chin on that scouser!) Yeeeeeeah!
posted by worldcup2002 at 09:48 AM on September 09, 2003
ABC probably means Anybody But Chelsea As much as I dislike Man-U, I can't agree with the idea that after one loss they are suddenly fighting relegation. The few times I have seen the side play this season they have looked amazing. I see no evidence that they are on the decline.
posted by scully at 09:49 AM on September 09, 2003
I'm no United fan but I'm also no Anyone But United - when on song they're the best team in England to watch and compared to many teams they have not just bought success (other than Van Nistelrooy their big-name buys have generally been average), a good portion of their squad is home grown. I don't believe United's arrogance will come close to what we will see from Chelsea should they start to win things, though at least they're more likely to start liking their own team rather than hating others. Talking to Chelsea fans you would think they had already won the league and Champions League, etc, etc... (Hallo gspm by the way, nice to be here).
posted by niceness at 10:16 AM on September 09, 2003
Well I'll have to wait to see if Chelsea fans turn out to be as arrogant as some of Man Utd's fans that I've experienced. One particular thing that annoys me about these muppets is that the worst offenders in the arrogance stakes seem to be the "fans" who have no connection whatsoever with Manchester. they have not just bought success (other than Van Nistelrooy their big-name buys have generally been average), Hmmm, well there's a difference between not trying to buy success and buying flops. Just because Man U have a track record of spending huge wads of cash on players who don't turn out to be that influential is hardly the same as not trying to buy success. It reveals more about their manager's incompetence in judging players IMHO. Also arguments about them bringing through players from the acadamy scheme don't hold much water either, when you consider that they can attract any promising youngster in the country to their academy to the detriment of other teams. David Beckham would be a good example. I'm not arguing in favour of Chelsea against Man U, and I'm perfectly happy to add ABC to my existing ABU prejudice should the need arise. Hopefully their expensively assembled squad will fail horribly and I won't need to.
posted by squealy at 01:18 PM on September 09, 2003
It's probably fair to say that ManUre have not bought success in the way that Chelsea appear to be trying to, or that Blackburn (briefly) did ... But they have also been guilty of spending vast wads of cash on a few star players - Veron, Ferdinand to name a few ... But (oh pleeeeze god) this is another crack in the evil empire and if the rift between Fergie and Magnier gets out of hand then this could be the end of ManUre's recent hegemony ... It happened to Liverpool ... I just hope that Chelsea and ManUre spend enough time fighting each other to allow Arsenal to win another double!
posted by dickdotcom at 03:57 PM on September 09, 2003
I'm just pleased to see that there is literally a new sheriff in town, and am fervently hoping that KK will be able to sustain a City dynasty.
posted by avogadro at 11:11 PM on September 09, 2003
Arsenal is going to win diddly...
posted by StarFucker at 11:34 AM on September 10, 2003
Avogradro: Aren't you amazed that the Man City fan website poll on which team made the better buys over the Summer is running overwhelmingly in City's favor? SF: I bet Arsenal could pick up Bo Diddley cheap but I'm not sure where he'd best fit on the field. I see him as pretty solid in center defense because he could bash heads pretty well with that big square guitar of his. Strikers ain't getting goal so easy with Bo around!
posted by billsaysthis at 12:50 PM on September 10, 2003
Aren't you amazed that the Man City fan website poll on which team made the better buys over the Summer is running overwhelmingly in City's favor? It's quite daffy indeed. I think it's mainly folks who are amazed that City is making significant additions at all.
posted by avogadro at 01:48 PM on September 10, 2003
apparently Chelsea asked the Imperial Lord Ferg if he would like the Chelsea job. He said no. bbc report
posted by BigCalm at 02:04 PM on September 10, 2003
Oh, sweet, sweet schadenfreude.