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Post by king nothing on Apr 17, 2020 22:50:27 GMT
Fuck right off. I want to see nothing but focus and down right anger that another team has dare set foot on the pitch. Ignore the fans until the final whistle.
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Post by Sméagol on Apr 24, 2020 11:25:12 GMT
Manchester United’s setup shines as seniors help locked-down youngsters Last Friday I had a good old-fashioned nosy at Ryan Giggs’s kitchen, close enough to check out his fancy light fittings – if only virtually. Like much of the past month, it was a surreal experience, this one conjured up by the youth development team at Manchester United. When, one Saturday morning in 2014, a man in a padded jacket slid along the touchline to hand me his number on a scrap of paper, I looked at him blankly. He said he was a scout for United and would like to get my son down to the development centre to take a closer look. I was pretty dubious – our little boy was only five. Five and a half years later he’s still pulling on the red kit once a week, effervescent with excitement on the drive to Carrington, hidden away among the flat fields and winding lanes just off the M60. In a perverse way, from a parental point of view, we’ve been lucky; he’s had all the thrills but not reached the heady heights of the academy, where a much more intense level of commitment and sacrifice is required from all members of the family. It has been a fascinating experience by proxy, watching a diverse selection of boys come and go, some fleetingly, others fast-tracked, and trying to work out why each one is special. What unites them is a complete devotion to the game and their football education. There must have been incidents with discipline but I’ve never seen one, and the silence as they train never stops being a surprise. In a way unusual for groups of young boys, there is a real seriousness about their purpose. They are told that they are here for a reason, show it. United don’t over-promise. There seems to be no desire to make the kids too professional, too soon – they just let them play. They try to do cultural things, educate; recently the under-12s curated an exhibition at Carrington on Walter Tull, one of the first black footballers and the first black British officer to lead white troops – and United’s senior squad came across from their building to be shown around by the younger boys. A few days into the lockdown, an email arrived from the academy. It was thoughtful, kind. It reminded us that parents are the biggest influence on a child and encouraged reading and a regular bedtime. It went on: “During the coming weeks we still want the boys to enjoy their childhood, explore learning for themselves, use their imagination and be creative. Some of the best learning to take place during this prolonged period of time at home will be created by the boys themselves.” It advised parents “not to force your boys to practise. Let them practise because they are in love with football”. There has been regular contact since. They’ve sent worksheets, encouraged the boys to look after their wellbeing and made a short film of all the fitness sessions that the boys designed and sent in via WhatsApp. And then there are those hour-long Friday morning Q&A sessions, each watched by nearly 200 children. The first week they were able to question Michael Carrick; the second, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, whose Scando-Manc commitment to the academy sing-songed through each answer; then Giggs; and, on Friday, comes Marcus Rashford, a local boy who grew up on free school meals, and who in the past few weeks has helped to raise £20m for FareShare, a charity aimed at relieving food poverty. The programme was drawn together from scratch in a few days by the academy head, Nick Cox, and his team. “The consensus was that we had to do something,” says Cox. “Football brings together people from all walks of life. Some boys will be enjoying time with their families, for other boys it will be very difficult; some will be struggling financially or health-wise, living in cramped conditions at the top of a block of flats. Some of these kids will normally be with us four or five times a week – it leaves a big hole in their lives.” Before arriving at Old Trafford four years ago, Cox was at Watford and Sheffield United. Both have great youth setups but United is different. It is just so huge and has, in Cox’s words, “an absolute commitment to youth which surpasses all others”. Last December the club celebrated their 4,000th consecutive game with an academy player in their match-day squad, a sequence going back 82 years. Cox has had no problem persuading big names to help him with his Friday interviews: “It is what Manchester United is about – they all understand the value of the academy.” This is just one small story about a huge club. It has nothing to do with the vats of cash swilling around at the top – though huge sums are ploughed into the academy – and everything to do with human relationships at ground level, supporting the boys and girls who are never happier than with a ball flicking, flicking, at their toes. Alongside United continuing to pay casual staff despite there being no games for them to steward, and City and United giving a joint donation to Greater Manchester food banks, it illustrates that nothing is simple; that Premier League football may be greedy and selfish, but it can also be life-enhancing and compassionate. It is quite possible, of course, that none of those boys hanging on to Giggs’s every word as he advised young wingers, and admitted that Sir Alex Ferguson could be “a scary man”, will make it as a professional footballer. But they might remember that during a very confusing time in their lives, when their freedoms disappeared and the thing they loved best was taken away, their club didn’t forget them. amp.theguardian.com/football/blog/2020/apr/24/manchester-united-setup-seniors-help-locked-down-youngsters?CMP=share_btn_tw&__twitter_impression=true
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Post by Sméagol on Apr 29, 2020 14:26:46 GMT
Brilliant news! Manchester United to try out safe standing at Old Trafford when football returns Club have been allowed to introduce a 1,500-capacity section of ‘rail seating’ by local council with MUST negotiating participants Standing officially ended when stadium became all-seater in 1994 but fans have persistently stood Manchester United have received the go ahead to trial a section of barrier seating, commonly referred to as rail seats, at Old Trafford when football resumes with supporters inside stadiums. United fans have long favoured the idea of having a choice whether they sit or stand at matches ever since Old Trafford’s last standing terrace was turned to seating in 1994. A similar section inside Celtic Park in Glasgow has been a success, boosting the atmosphere and allowing fans who want to stand to do so together. United have long been in favour of allowing their fans the option to stand at games, but legislation has prevented it. Changes have meant that the club’s local Safety Advisory Group at Trafford Council have given approval for a 1,500 capacity section in the North East quadrant corner section known by fans as “J Stand” to be used for the trial. The rail seats will be installed in an area long associated with persistent standing by supporters. It is safer if these fans stand with a barrier in front of them. As it is a trial the area needs to be of a manageable size. The Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) have been pushing for safe standing sections to be introduced to Old Trafford since the 1990s. Old Trafford’s atmosphere was badly affected when the stadium went all-seater, in tandem with sharply rising ticket prices. Those prices have now remained static for a decade, with more discounts given to younger fans. For years, the club turned a blind eye to supporter complaints as vocal fans were spread around the vast stadium. At one point in 1995, the club even paid for a brass band to try and kick start the noise level. They were completely out of touch with what fans wanted, but recent years has seen progress with United in regular communication with fans including The Red Army, an independent group who have built on the work of MUST and hugely boosted the atmosphere in the Stretford End, long the vocal heartland of United support. The new section will be at the opposite end of the Old Trafford. “We are delighted that the Club has been given the green light to proceed with a barrier seating trial at Old Trafford,” said MUST in a statement. “This area works for the club logistically and it was also preferable due to being an area where fans now stand and therefore barrier seats should enhance safety.” The area was also chosen as it does not affect the sight lines for supporters who are sitting down in any other section, meaning that they too would have to stand to see the game. It is anticipated to take around up to three months for United to convert a section from the existing seats to one with rail seats – which can be turned into conventional seats if needed. It is anticipated that existing season ticket holders will have the first option to go in the new section and if it’s a success then other sections of Old Trafford could be similarly converted into this type of seats which are popular in German football stadiums. MUST are in discussion as to who will be able to participate in the trial. No fans will be asked to leave the area. “In our opinion, to create the best chance of a successful trial it ideally needs to be populated with the same supporters every game to ensure all involved understand the trial and how to behave especially when dealing with requests from stewards,” said MUST. “They should be fans who support the objectives and understand the regulations around barrier seating.” United have indicated that if the trial is a success then they will look at expanding it to other areas of the ground in the future. MUST is encouraging fans to register their interest. amp.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3082212/manchester-united-try-out-safe-standing-old-trafford-when-football?__twitter_impression=true
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2020 18:52:26 GMT
not sure the North East stand is the best place to start but hey if it improves the atmosphere then do it. Hopefully its a success and it can be extended.
About time this shit started.
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Post by ScholesEvilTwin on Apr 30, 2020 11:40:51 GMT
Going to be NE Lower and another year before this goes ahead.
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Post by gdmm on May 3, 2020 8:01:46 GMT
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Post by Stew on May 4, 2020 12:07:05 GMT
The Athletic saying we are no longer looking for a director of football, that we are ‘eminently satisfied’ with how things are running. The ‘success’ (my inverted commas) of our recent transfers back up this belief.
Let’s not be fooled by the last month before lockdown. We were on course for one of our lowest ever points tallies, we have finished on average 5th I believe since Fergie left, we’ve spent countless money on players who were not up to scratch, we gave the corpse of Sanchez 350 a week for 4 fucking years and the football has been insomnia busting year in year out.
But we’re ‘eminently satisfied.’
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Post by Karma on May 4, 2020 13:32:47 GMT
The Athletic saying we are no longer looking for a director of football, that we are ‘eminently satisfied’ with how things are running. The ‘success’ (my inverted commas) of our recent transfers back up this belief. Let’s not be fooled by the last month before lockdown. We were on course for one of our lowest ever points tallies, we have finished on average 5th I believe since Fergie left, we’ve spent countless money on players who were not up to scratch, we gave the corpse of Sanchez 350 a week for 4 fucking years and the football has been insomnia busting year in year out. But we’re ‘eminently satisfied.’ With CL no longer guaranteed how long can they ride Fergie’s legacy ? Can’t get away with no investment in the stadium forever and I imagine Corona virus has had a marked impact on what they are now willing to spend on transfers. The only reason the fans were off their backs the last few months was because of the Bruno signing. Won’t take much to test their patience if there’s no money in the pot for more of these kinds of signings .
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2020 17:33:54 GMT
The Athletic saying we are no longer looking for a director of football, that we are ‘eminently satisfied’ with how things are running. The ‘success’ (my inverted commas) of our recent transfers back up this belief. Let’s not be fooled by the last month before lockdown. We were on course for one of our lowest ever points tallies, we have finished on average 5th I believe since Fergie left, we’ve spent countless money on players who were not up to scratch, we gave the corpse of Sanchez 350 a week for 4 fucking years and the football has been insomnia busting year in year out. But we’re ‘eminently satisfied.’ Remember when Luis Campos, previously DoF at Lille was basically throwing himself at us, through the media, in that he’d be more than willing to consider offers. And Ed & Co. still couldn’t box that off? You literally couldn’t make this shite up if you tried. Pretty much every ‘elite’ European club has one installed but nope not us. Never. Ever. In a million years. Just embarrassing.
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Post by Karma on May 4, 2020 18:55:09 GMT
The Athletic saying we are no longer looking for a director of football, that we are ‘eminently satisfied’ with how things are running. The ‘success’ (my inverted commas) of our recent transfers back up this belief. Let’s not be fooled by the last month before lockdown. We were on course for one of our lowest ever points tallies, we have finished on average 5th I believe since Fergie left, we’ve spent countless money on players who were not up to scratch, we gave the corpse of Sanchez 350 a week for 4 fucking years and the football has been insomnia busting year in year out. But we’re ‘eminently satisfied.’ Remember when Luis Campos, previously DoF at Lille was basically throwing himself at us, through the media, in that he’d be more than willing to consider offers. And Ed & Co. still couldn’t box that off? You literally couldn’t make this shite up if you tried. Pretty much every ‘elite’ European club has one installed but nope not us. Never. Ever. In a million years. Just embarrassing. The Glazers and their enablers have been winging it ever since Fergie retired. Clearly thought that the brand was too big to fail. I mean who the fuck thought Moyes was ever going to deliver? Just fuck up after fuck up. No doubt Eddy the eagle will be back briefing again when it happens again.
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2020 15:39:23 GMT
Remember when Luis Campos, previously DoF at Lille was basically throwing himself at us, through the media, in that he’d be more than willing to consider offers. And Ed & Co. still couldn’t box that off? You literally couldn’t make this shite up if you tried. Pretty much every ‘elite’ European club has one installed but nope not us. Never. Ever. In a million years. Just embarrassing. The Glazers and their enablers have been winging it ever since Fergie retired. Clearly thought that the brand was too big to fail. I mean who the fuck thought Moyes was ever going to deliver? Just fuck up after fuck up. No doubt Eddy the eagle will be back briefing again when it happens again. Very true Karma. Just mind boggling that we've not got a DoF installed, and have now dismissed the notion of ever getting one as a club, i genuinely cannot wrap my head around it. The was a very good article knocking about a while back, stating that other elite European clubs were laughing at us - that we didn't get this sorted. Must dig it out.
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Post by ScholesEvilTwin on May 9, 2020 11:48:29 GMT
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Post by ScholesEvilTwin on May 25, 2020 13:52:16 GMT
The club have informed Hearts, Bolton & Burton they do not owe their loan fees for Pereira, Hamilton and O'Hara.
Totals about 130k.
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Post by ScholesEvilTwin on Jun 5, 2020 11:12:25 GMT
Sheff Utd - Wed 24th June - 6pm - Sky
Brighton - Tue 30th June - 8:15pm - Sky
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Post by ScholesEvilTwin on Jun 8, 2020 9:37:07 GMT
UNITED'S REMAINING PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES 2019/20*
19 June - Tottenham (A) 20:15 24 June - Sheffield Utd (H) 18:00 30 June - Brighton (A) 20:15 4 July - Bournemouth (H) 8 July - Aston Villa (A) 11 July - Southampton (H) 15 July - Crystal Palace (A) 18 July - West Ham (H) 26 July - Leicester City (A)
*June kick-offs are in UK time. July match dates subject to change.
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