Football Focus

[matthew123]

Nearly everybody..

[ratty]

1-1 Pompey - West Ham

We are looking even more dooooooomed! Lucky I do not give a toss! :D :D :D

[Jah Lush]

Two-nil. Get in.

[SimonM]

But I see Portsmouth's buying embargo has now been lifted? If they can persuade anyone to join them...

[????]

Mmm. bottom 3 staying as they are anyone? Not that we're clear at all but I feel we've a bit of momentum and some winnable games approaching.

Also, Rafa - how loyal to him are all our Liverpool fans feeling now..or will they be when he up sticks to the old Lady

[Mick Mac]

Yes. Interesting to see how rafa repays the fans loyalty. But italian football would be suited to his cautious style. They like draws over there. Good luck to him if he goes, liverpool can look forward again.

[matthew123]

I'm sure he'll be a different man at his next Club - but one thing is for sure money or no money one shot on target against wolves last night is just plain wrong!

[ratty]

Bottom 3 depends on whether we get bought this week and spend a few bob on players...

[jimmy two times]

On the subject of Tevez and his response to Gary Neville, it's worth noting that Man Utd did actually offer the asking price for him and were prepared to make him one of their highest paid players. He and his handlers didn't seem happy with this. He chased the green in the end by signing for City. Therefore he can't really play the ousted hero who had Untied in his heart. Neville was asked about Tevez and he simply stated that Ferguson was not prepared to pay over the oddds for any player. Fair comment if you ask me.

[david_carnell]

Except that Neville routinely, even as captain, refuses to answer questions about the Glazer's and United's finances on the grounds that it is a financial issue and players should not comment on that (wrongly imo). Yet he feels happy to comment on the financial aspects of ex-player's transfer dealings.

Double standards.

[jimmy two times]

He was asked a direct question about Tevez and gave what I thought was a quite diplomatic yet honest answer. He did not mention precise figures. I'm not sure he knows the precise ins and outs of the Glazer's finances and he's right not to discuss it. His comments regarding Tevez were about a player and that player's value. In a nutshell he said he wasn't worth the money being asked for him. Fair comment and not really a comment on the club's finances, more an observation on the value of a player.

[david_carnell]

I doubt whether he knows the precise ins and outs of the Tevez deal either tbh but he felt comfortable answering questions about it.

And knowledge of United's finances isn't hard to come by. Just read David Conn in the Guardian for fantastic investigative reporting on the gradual destruction of a club. Or listen to the tens of thousands of United fans voicing their disgust at every home game.

Neville is coming to the end of a long and successful career. As captain and smoeone who has spent their whole career at one club he should grow a pair and speak up at a glaring wrong.

Then again he could just pocket another 60k for a week's work and keep schtum.

[jimmy two times]

He's currently under contract so it would not be in his interests to risk being sacked for speaking out against the Glazers. I don't think this indicates that he has no balls, just that he is sensible. It will be interesting to see what he has to say about it when he finally leaves Old Trafford, just as it will be with Fergie

[matthew123]

Gary Neville is a moron - but is long enough in the tooth to know how the media pick up on quotes given by players.

United only offered the asking price because other teams wanted him during summer, e.g. City, Liverpool - until that point United only offered a reduced price (on what had originally been agreed at start of loan). Tevez probably saw United's attempt at getting him on the cheap as an insult and lack of respect. Maybe he used this an excuse because unlike other United players he backed Ronaldo's right to quit Old Trafford in summer 2008 which I read as an indication that he was thinking of a similar move once his loan expired 12 months later (summer '09)

[jimmy two times]

Tevez took it as an insult that United we're trying to get him on the cheap ! Since when does it concern a player how much he is valued at? Surely his only concern is what he is getting paid. If Tevez had some loyalty to a club who would have received the transfer fee then fair enough, it's going back into the game. But where exactly did his transfer fee go? To his handlers that's where. A bunch of fat cat businessmen. There is something immoral about that and I'm sure Fergie, being the socialist he is, begrudged giving some consortium all that money so readily particularly when the game would not benefit from it.

[matthew123]

Ferguson a socialist - hahaha!

There was more to it than the price. It was sitting on the bench. It was Ferguson talking about Tevez not being worth that amount - i.e. you are not as good as Berbatov and Rooney. None of this good for the psyche of a player. If Tevez had the loyalty you call for he'd probably have stayed at West Ham.

[jimmy two times]

Yes he is. He was born and brought up i the Gorbels to a father who worked in the Shipyards. He may earn money now, but his values remain the same. I think you are being very disrespectful to him. He is a knight of the realm and a great man. I'm not a Man Utd fan but I can recognize this. Team selection is his choice and he does it well. Tevez saw a lot of action for United. The football world is littered with players who are self serving. A succesful manager cannot afford to be. He must do what is right for the team, not the individual.

[matthew123]

>> He is a knight of the realm and a great man.

By god you've been brainwashed!

[jimmy two times]

Brainwashed? Sorry am I not correct in thinking he is a knight of the realm? Is this not a statement of fact?

[Sandperson]

I also think that you have to take into account the downtourn in global finances. The deal for Tevez was agreed (supposedly) before the global recession kicked in and I think you would find any large institution re-evaluating commitments made before the bottom fell out of the world financial markets. It's certainly something that other big businesses have done and so why not a football club? It's pretty short sighted of Tevez and his representatives not to take this into account and think of his long term future at a great club.

I'm sure we'll beat them tonight, but even if we don't Tevez won't go on to achieve as much as Gary Neville has in his career. Tevez should respect him and his past glories.

[titch juicy]

matthew123 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> >> He is a knight of the realm and a great man.

>

> By god you've been brainwashed!

brainwashed? why do you say that?

[jimmy two times]

Plus anyone who refuses to speak to that muppet Alan Green is a great man in my books.

[Sandperson]

Bloomin Scouser! (Alan Green I mean.) ;-)

[Narnia]

Are you trying to fill someone else's boots here Matthew? A comment like that deserves some reasoning behind it. Other than that it's no different to liking or disliking a character in a soap opera. Have you met Gary Neville?

I don't believe Tevez is all that good. As United had him on loan for 2 years at ?3.5M p.a. ,my understanding is that they felt that should have been taken into account when the asking price was ?32M i.e. they would pay ?25M

Mind you I don't believe Rooney is all that good either!

[jimmy two times]

and probably a supporter of the UDF