Post by Scott on Dec 1, 2008 21:28:07 GMT
Well things are starting to get back to normal again. Qualification in the Round of 16 sealed, a much more respectable place in the league, as well as a derby day performance and result to be proud of. It's taken us a while to reassert ourselves after winning the Premiership and European Cup last season, but we seem to be heading in the right direction again.
After the bluenoses feeling they had the bragging rights last season, beating us home and away, it was nice to completely outplay them in their own back yard. Of course, this is what happened last season as well, but then we were on the wrong side of a 1-0 scoreline. This season we dominated them even when a player down and left with all three points. Result!
Check out the festive items at the Republik of Mancunia shop...
Now let us begin:
Member of the Month
Johnboy14 is this month's winner, who joined the forum almost two years ago to the day! So congrats and keep up the good work!
Interview
With Stewart1971.
Where are you from: Dublin
Who is your biggest inspiration: In Dublin there was a famous woman called Deidre O'Connell. She ran a small theatre for about 40 years(I run an independent theatre company) She fought like a tiger against all odds and kept the place open despite all kinds of set backs. She was a great inspiration
What would you like to be better at: Fundraising!
What is your all time favourite film? The Godfather part 2
Favourite Quote? "That's our Hitler!" from Zero Mostel in The Producers
If you won the lottery, how would you spend it? I'd buy a small theatre for my company and then bring the family to the day of the dead in Mexico, then on to Argentina.
One job in the world, what would it be? I love my current job, there is just shag all money in it! So a better paid version of this would do nicely.
Your dream girl/boy? I live with her mate! Seriously, my missus is gorgeous. But if she ever gets sense and leaves me then Michelle Monaghan form Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.
What’s your biggest ambition in life? Win a "Best Production" award in the Irish Theatre awards.
What’s your greatest ever achievement? My little boy, Billy aged 4.
What’s your biggest regret? I lived in America in the 90's and I should have stayed there longer
Where do you see yourself in 10 years time? Here, slightly fatter and with less hair I imagine!
Who do you hate most: City/Liverpool/Leeds/Arsenal/Other: Liverpool, hands down. In Dublin it's either Utd, Liverpool and to a lesser extent Arsenal. I started supporting Utd in the 70's when those bastards were winning everything and they haven't fucking stopped talking since then. God forbid they should win the league this season. Even typing that sentence brings me back to a school playground surrounded by the fuckers.
How did you celebrate our title and cup win? Anytime We're about to win a league or get to a cup final I go over to my Dad's to watch it. We first started this in 1991 and it's gone pretty well so far. He's also banned from watching Utd games in most pubs in the area so we don't have much choice really! So there and then I'll meet my mates later on in town. And get drunk.
What's the best game you've ever been to? The FA cup final in 99. Maybe wasn't a brilliant game of football because we battered Newcastle but the sense of impending greatness emanated from the team and seeped into the stands for me that day. I was raging I couldn't go to Barcelona because I knew they'd win. Being there at Wembley and feeling that was amazing.
What's your favourite ever United goal? Ole's winner against Bayern. Enough said.
Which player from the past do you rate the most? Bobby Charlton. We almost seem to take Bobby for granted these days. A compilation of his Utd goals has some of the greatest strikes you'll ever see. He scored one against the filth at Anfield that was like a heat seeking missile.
Which player are you most excited about this season? Berbatov. Yes he's em, economical in his tracking back but the guy is a sensational football player. In March and April we'll be talking about his winner against the Scousers in the League and him getting us to another Champions League final
Who's your favourite member on the forum? I admire Tatty's sense of realism/misanthropy!
Anything else you want to tell us? I think I've rambled on enough. Thanks for having me!
RoM Article - Norwich blood, Manchester heart.
Written by Vidic > Superman
November 4th 2003, a date that might not mean a great deal to most of you but a date that means almost everything to me. Growing up I’d always enjoyed playing football in the garden and at school but I never supported a team, unlike the majority of boys in my year. Most of the boys that I knew supported one of the two local teams, Norwich City or Ipswich Town but despite being born in Norwich and having lots of family there I never really got into supporting Norwich.
A couple of months earlier going into year seven at middle school I made a new group of friends, one of which was a Liverpool fan. He encouraged me to get into football and he showed me the attractions of the beautiful game. Being a Liverpool fan it would have been easy for me to follow his lead and support the Dippers but we decided that it was best if I didn’t support the same team. I had no idea who I was going to support, nor did I have any idea of who were the best teams which is why I always laugh when I’m labelled a ‘glory-hunter’ by people.
It was the typical Tuesday night back then, little homework to do and nowhere to go so I decided to flick on the TV (in the days where we only had four channels), I quickly came to a football match, Manchester United V Rangers and decided I might as well watch. Almost immediately I saw Diego Forlan (yes, that’s right) score a cracking volley with his right foot, I was hooked, this was the team for me I thought with their attacking football and goals like that, impossible to resist. I was no expert on football as I’ve mentioned but I knew that was a very good goal.
Since that day I’ve had highs and lows following United, beating Arsenal in the 2004 FA Cup Semi-final, the 2-0 win over Arsenal in October 2004, winning the league two years running and most recently the Champions League success against Chelsea being a few of the many highs. Lows including: losing to Arsenal in the 2005 FA Cup Final, losing to Porto in the 2004 Champions League, watching Chelsea win the league twice, watching Arsenal win the league and losing to Citeh and Liverpool have been the lowest points. It’s never dull supporting United is it ‘eh?
I know this is now going to sound like an acceptance speech for an Oscar, Brit or Grammy award for which I apologise but I have people I’d like to thank. First of all I’d like to thank my mate Robert for encouraging me into football, I’m so glad he did, and stupid as this may sound I’d like to thank Diego Forlan for scoring that goal, chances are I wouldn’t be writing this if he’d missed it. Lastly I just want to thank the people of this great forum for welcoming me to the United , since joining I’ve learnt so much more about this club, I’ve had a place to share my thoughts on the club & I’ve made some great friends.
I’m a Norwich boy with a Manchester heart.
Match of the Month
With derby day falling after the deadline, this month’s write up is by IronManTamsarian.
Villarreal v United 25th November 2008
I think ‘Match of the Month’ is pushing it a bit for this one, ‘Match that is freshest in my memory as Scott’s deadline looms’ would be more appropriate.
The previous matches between us didn’t fill anyone with much hope for this game and given that a draw would be good enough for both teams to qualify, a goalless draw was always a strong possibility. However there was the chance to see Giuseppe Rossi in action to look forward to, and also the opportunity to remind ourselves how annoying Robert Pires is.
Bearing our almost certain qualification in mind, and the forthcoming game against our massive neighbours, it was a still a reasonably strong team that took to the field and it was a bit of a surprise in particular to see Ronaldo would be playing, in hindsight SAF may have been regretting that decision as Villarreal players took it in turns to kick him around the pitch.
You could sense that the Spaniards had been instructed to get at Ronny as early as the 7th minute when Ibagaza pretended to give him a friendly pat whilst slyly sticking his fingernails in his neck in a move reminiscent of ‘professional scumbag’ Dennis Wise. This set the tone for a series of bad tackles and you could sense that Ronny was getting frustrated and his game was starting to suffer. However he still provided the moment of the match with a rocket of a shot from a clever Rooney lay-off that the Villarreal keeper did well to tip onto the bar.
Whilst not anywhere near reaching the levels we are capable of, we seemed to be the only team interested in winning the match and their keeper was kept considerably busier than the Pole In Goal at the other end, who only made one comfortable save that I can recall. This was down to a combination of the lack of threat provided by the Villarreal forwards, with Rossi looking like the occasion got to him a bit, and a comfortable performance from our back four. Jonny Evans barely put a foot wrong all night and his performance was a real positive to come from the match, with Nemanja’s absence not proving to be much of an issue on the night.
Eventually one of the Villarreal hatchet-men was bound to go too far and Capdevila rightly saw red after a bad tackle that got worse every time you saw it, catching Ronny studs-up above the knee. Unbelievably Clive Tyldesley on the ITV commentary was ‘disappointed’ that Ronaldo had rolled over twice in agony after the tackle, prompting thoughts of how Clive might react if someone stuck their studs into him (if anyone ever sees that fat fool please feel free to try it and let me know)
On the minus side Rooney went a seventh game without scoring (almost certainly prompted by my decision to put him in my Fantasy League team), Tevez only got four minutes time on the pitch and is starting to look a bit more desperate every time he plays, and I am now convinced that I will never see an Anderson goal.
On the plus side…a point, qualification with a game to spare and no significant injuries…
Player of the Month
Written by Scott
Wherever possible, I try to keep faith in Sir Alex Ferguson's decisions and I try to keep faith in our players. Sometimes, rarely, the manager will make a decision that backfires, but generally, he proves us wrong. Sometimes, United pay the wages of complete arseholes. They can be lost causes (like Richardson) or turn themselves around and become 'a United player' (like Ferdinand).
Darren Fletcher is a player I couldn't abide by a few years ago and Ferguson's insistence on playing him made me doubt the mentality of our manager. So Fletcher is Scottish, big fucking deal, he's not the 'next David Beckham' like we'd be promised, in fact, he's nothing like as good as Beckham. The sooner he's shipped off to Everton or Sunderland the better.
Didn't matter how much the fans complained, Fergie kept faith in him, much to my frustration. He'd do something worthwhile every now and again, score against Chelsea or have a good game against Liverpool, but the fella just isn't fucking good enough!
Last season he took a backseat to the likes of Hargreaves, Carrick, Scholes, and even Anderson at times. The player who Ferguson had invested so much time in was finally losing his place in the team. But as the season progressed, Fletcher was relied upon more and more, and he was actually doing a job. The highlight of his season came in the 4-0 thrashing of Arsenal in the Cup, where he bossed a midfield containing Fabregas, Gilberto and Flamini.
This season he has picked up from where he left off, improving with every game. He has found a new composure and confidence which means he no longer needs to play along someone with the ability of Paul Scholes to get through 90 minutes and look good.
With a few weeks in to the season he was our top scorer, showing his ability to push forward as well as tracking back and playing a holding role efficiently.
Whilst in the past I struggled to remember the last time we played well, I know can't recall the last time he played badly. He turns up for us week in week out and is turning out to be a half decent player... and another occasion where Ferguson has proved us wrong.
Just think, Fletcher is only 24-years-old, meaning if he continues to improve at the rate he has been doing, I can't even imagine what kindof player we might have on our hands in a few years time. Not all players can emerge as World class talents when they're teenagers, like Rooney and Ronaldo, which makes me think I, along with many others, had written off Fletcher far too prematurely. Credit to him!
Special mention to Patrice Evra and Michael Carrick who I think have also been outstanding this month.
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I hope you enjoyed the twenty seventh edition of The Paper. Any comments about it please leave in the comments thread on this board
Editor: Scott
