Angry Fans
LIAM, I feel the need to mention Ryan Giggs. He was praised, rightly, for his man of the match performance in central midfield against Chelsea but he's generally taken for granted at united and consequently ranked as a second rate United legend behind Cantona and Keane. How many players could have adjusted their game after the loss of the electric pace he once had? Now he has to use his wits and he's a much better team player. He's slotted effortlessly into central midfield or even in at left back a couple of times. He's a bit dull and uncontroversial to the media and in his book (which I struggled through) so he never grabs the headlines. He's become the appearance record holder, despite his old hamstring problems, and spent almost 20 years in the first team of the most successful club in England. Cantona, wonderful though he was, had 5 years at united, missed a good spell for violent conduct, and was visibly losing form when he decided to call it a day. Keane went a similar route. This may sound like sacrilege but Giggsy's career is what Best would have had if he'd been born 30 years later and was a bit dull.
One of the best players of this or any other generation JJ. Good call.
JUST how stupid was it of Richard Dunne to get himself sent off by kicking a player right under the nose of the referee?
A dunceâs cap for the Dunster plus a free supply of Franco Baresi DVDs so that he can see how it was done by a master.
I ENJOYED the Milan banners pleading with Kaka to stay at the San Siro, particularly the one that said: âI belong to money.â Never a truer word said if this ludicrous transfer goes through.
SO we could be seeing Kaka doing his âvertical runningâ alongside Vincent Kompany and Stephen Ireland. What next, re-sign Joe Barton and team him up with Messi?
ITâS INTERESTING that Mark Hughes is warning that âitâs now or neverâ to sign Kaka. The Brazilian has said that he would prefer to play for Real Madrid, Chelsea or Manchester United. Could it be that this summer will see the biggest spending merry-go-round of all time with Ronaldo heading for Real Madrid and United, replenished with that cash, signing Kaka? That makes real sense in business terms, and might explain why City are trying to push this deal through so quickly. By the end of the season the football landscape will have changed again, and City still wonât be in the Champions League.
Thereâs only one reason why Kaka would go to Manchester City, and thatâs clearly because of the money. I would be surprised to see this deal go any further, particularly as Milan are now within shouting distance of Inter at the top of La Liga. This summer, with Milan needing to rebuild, and at least an evens chance that Hughes will no longer be at City will be very different however. I quite like the idea of Joey Barton being Lionel Messiâs minder.
SO Merseyside police warned that fans could be arrested for âcriminal chantingâ at the Merseyside derby. No prizes for guessing which player they thought might be on the end of that. Perhaps Everton fans were planning to do a compilation of Phil Collins numbers.
Red card for overdoing the Phil Collins jokes, Lim. Anyway, itâs Coldplay, something which never happens when Red meets Blue on Merseyside.
WHY IS it that when Lampard scores in the 93rd minute that he is ârescuingâ Chelsea; but when Berbatov scores in the 91st minute he âclinches itâ for United?
Donât you know, Den boy, itâs part of the international media conspiracy to do down the Blues. Better say no more or we will be hearing from Roman and his learned friends. Talking of which . . .
WHATâS this big rumour about a âmajor announcementâ when Chelsea declare their financial results?
Could be anything coming out of the Kremlin couldnât it Stephen? They might have acquired a site for a new ground, or it could be some sort of super-duper financial instrument changing the way the debts of the club are structured, perhaps by changing his loan into equity. There you go . . . with one bound they are free.
EVERYONEâS talking about Manchester Cityâs spending, but Harry Redknapp is just as bad. Palacios is a decent player, but a ÂŁ14m midfielder? I donât think so. Stewart Downing a âŹ15m winger? Kenwyne Jones a âŹ12m striker? Have they got more money than sense at White Hart Lane?
Money has never seemed to be a problem down the Seven Sisters Road, but this is a club with a ÂŁ16.5m striker who misses chances that Harry says his wife could have scored. So the future doesnât look too bright for Darren Bent. Expect Spurs to spend big both in this transfer window and in the summer. Thatâs what Harryâs there for, isnât it?
I SEE Joey Barton was up to his old tricks again at the weekend. Why doesnât he just give up football if it annoys him so much?
Yellow card for you Pat. If that had been John Terry doing the same thing to a left back who had jogged idly back and not tracked his forward properly everyone would be praising his powers of leadership. And at least Barton was doing it on behalf of the team this time, and not himself.
I DONâT see that Benitez has any cause for complaint. He was allowed to buy Keane; the board stumped up serious money for Torres, Ryan Babel, Benayoun, Skrtel. They didnât get Gareth Barry, but if they had then Alonso, whoâs been one of our best this season, would have gone. Benitez has made plenty of dodgy signings.
Neither ArsĂšne Wenger nor Alex Ferguson have complete freedom to sign whoever they want. Liverpool might worry, however, that the Real Madrid managerial vacancy, now without the encumbrance of RamĂłn CalderĂłn, will be available again soon.
LIAM, whatâs your view on the news that club doctors of Gremio in Brazil are prescribing players Viagra ahead of games at high altitude because they say it improves âblood oxygenisation.â Are the Irish team missing a trick here?
Ah, itâs a shame that Liamâs away because this is exactly the type of question he likes. Gremio was, of course, the former team of both Scolari and Ronaldinho. What I liked was the quote from the doctor which said that there would be âno unseemly consequences.â
PHIL Dowd didnât send Paul Konchesky off for denying Carlton Cole a goalscoring opportunity at Upton Park on Sunday when he was inside the penalty area. A few months ago Mark Halsey sent off John Terry for a foul in the centre circle. Canât both be right can they?
Yellow card for reopening old wounds Anthony. Fact of the matter is that Phil Dowd was right (Cole was heading away from the goal at the time) and Halsey was wrong (the card was rescinded, and he was ârestedâ from the following weekendâs Premier League campaign.
