Arsenal have spunked money up the wall, willy nilly. Edu is out of his depth.
The best bit of business we could have done was get rid of Xhaka. Failed.

Tickets will be cheaper in the championship next season right?!

I thought our transfer dealing was mad – West Ham desperately want to sign Lingard but he’s back at OT to sit on the bench for a season then go on a free – but Arsenals are absolutely insane!

binners
Full Member
*sigh*

How many times do we have to go over this? Yet again it would appear. It’s not about ‘absolute’ amounts.

The problem isn’t the amount of money being thrown around (they’re making plenty as United is a huge money-generating machine, but they’re still sucking hundreds of millions out of the club for themselves), it’s the totally incomprehensible manner in which it’s being spent.

With Klopp at Liverpool there’s a philosophy and direction and players are obviously bought in to fit into a system. The manager is calling the shots

Sound more like solskaer needs to grow a pair of balls then.

Really? At the end of the day he’s an employee who can be sacked on a whim. Well it was exactly the same for Maureen, LVG and Moyes beforehand

Any United manager is in the same boat. It’s been Ed Woodward calling the shots. The Glazers representative on earth. And his priorities have always been business incomes, not trophies

well aye, he could walk.

Well Ed Woodward is apparently leaving at the end of 2021 so I guess we will see eh.

He’s meant to be gone already

He’s still there

And what makes you think a change of personal as CEO will change anything? He’ll just be replaced by one of the same ilk. The ethos will be exactly the same

The Mike Ashley school of football club ownership

Well not many big moves for transfer deadline day – aside from United signing some old bloke up front, like they do each year.

Saul Niguez to Chelsea albeit on loan was a bit odd,  given how many players they have. Maybe it was pre-emptive, to stop him going to United or Liverpool, who were linked earlier in the summer?

And PSG turning down £150m for Mbappe despite knowing he’ll leave on a free next summer shows how much cash they have!

It does make you wonder how on earth PSG are getting around the FFP rules

The best lawyers and brown envelopes I should think.

binners, what’s it liked to be spanked by young boys ? 😉

It does make you wonder how on earth PSG are getting around the FFP rules

Wasn’t FFP suspended during the pandemic? Not sure if it is supposed to have returned but Man City proved it’s basically meaningless anyway.

binners, what’s it liked to be spanked by young boys ?

What’s it like to park the bus at the Wankdorf but still lose?

Wasn’t FFP suspended during the pandemic? Not sure if it is supposed to have returned but Man City proved it’s basically meaningless anyway.

As a man city fan FFP did impact the club and did curtail the spending – we paid a fine and had a reduced squad imposed in 2015 relating to expenditure going back to 2010. But that was not enough for some elements within UEFA and they tried to reopen the issue, those subsequent efforts to go after the club again were implemented with a biased methodology and used techniques that would not stand up in court. City stood their ground and it went all the was to CAS and City won – all of it relating to spending almost 10 years prior by the time it went to CAS. In the interim period City have been fully FFP compliant. Note the main accusation is that the sponsorship deals are not sufficiently independent and of fair value – a claim that was found to have no evidence by CAS.

In latter years the Italian clubs were caught up in it and obviously it was never meant to hinder the old guard so it got watered down a fair bit. Covid has thrown another spanner in the works and its been watered down again and is under review as obviously most clubs are making massive losses.

– a claim that was found to have no evidence by CAS.

I think you have a highly selective memory of what happened. IIRC they mainly got away with it on a technicality because some of the breaches were too long ago.

Also:

Manchester City have lost a ruling by the court of appeal, which confirms that the Premier League is continuing to investigate the champions for alleged breaches of financial fair play, with one of the judges stating part of the club’s argument was “entirely fanciful”.

City’s legal team did not want it reported that it was challenging the jurisdiction of Premier League arbitrators to investigate the case and that it was also fighting a request to disclose documents and information to the panel.

That’s from July this year.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jul/20/court-ruling-shows-premier-league-still-investigating-manchester-city-over-ffp

I think you have a highly selective memory of what happened. IIRC they mainly got away with it on a technicality because some of the breaches were too long ago.

As above – they didn’t get away with it. They paid a fine and had a squad restriction imposed in 2015 relating to accounts going back to 2011 when FFP was pretty new. It was the 2nd attempt to punish City that was timed out but not only was it timed out it was found to have no evidence. Or the evidence that was presented was from hacked and manipulated emails.

It was claimed by City that the UEFA adjudicatory committee “wrongly assumed that the criminally obtained documents are genuine”, when they said it was obvious that at least some of the documents have been “edited to achieve a particular presentation”.

They also made the claim, accepted by CAS, that some of the financial “arrangements” discussed in the email had never come to fruition.

City said the leaked emails were “confusing snapshots, taken out of context, of matters that simply did not happen in the way that has been portrayed.”

The panel agreed that the CFCB adjudicatory committee had failed to reach the standard of proof required, and that the fairness of the market values of the sponsorship agreements was never questioned.

So it’s been to CAS and they found in city’s favour. A spectacular failure for UEFA, they were timed out by their own rules and in any event had zero evidence that would stand up in court but most of the press coverage was along the lines of your post above not withstand the CAS decision. The PL are trying the same issue – its PR more than any legally valid arguments.

They got off on a technicality, come off it. You’ve really drunk the Abu Dhabi Koolaid haven’t you.

binners, what’s it liked to be spanked by young boys ?

I watched the second half though my fingers. Absolutely awful

I eagerly await them turning up at OT and find out if they’re any better than us at parking the bus for 90 minutes

Thankfully I missed the Man U game; Ole seems great at building a squad and picking a team but his in-game management is bonkers bad.

In this case there wasn’t much he could do about a red card (although most fans thought Dalot was a better pick than AWB for this game) and stupid back pass (from a player who should clearly have been sold to help fund a decent CM) but it’s not the first game where his subs have had little impact and players have seemed confused about what they should be doing.

I genuinely looked for our fixture in the Europa league and then promptly remembered we’re not in Europe. The joys of being an Arsenal fan. I’m glad I’m just a football fan and do like watching many other games!

Ole seems great at building a squad and picking a team but his in-game management is bonkers bad.

The substitutions did seem completely inexplicable

Seems to confirm what lots of us have been saying. Ole has done a good job but he doesn’t have the tactical nous to win titles. Putting a team of skilled, motivated players out and waiting for them to do something is always going to get found out at some point.

The joys of being an Arsenal fan

As a long term City supporter, I can report you’ve got a long way to fall before you can experience true ‘joy’. Try watching your side lose to Wycombe Wanderers on a wet Wednesday night in the old third division…

On the bright side, this season might be the one that allows you a taste of the full experience…:)

Try watching your side lose to Wycombe Wanderers on a wet Wednesday night in the old third division…

One of my best mates is a Citeh fan. By the time you’d reached that point we’d actually stopped taking the piss out of him on humanitarian grounds for fear of the depression that had engulfed him.

At the end of one particularly dismal match he threw his season ticket onto the pitch in disgust. A bloke went and picked it up, handed it back to him and said ‘if I have to endure this shit every week, then so do you!’ 🤣

At the end of one particularly dismal match he threw his season ticket onto the pitch in disgust. A bloke went and picked it up, handed it back to him and said ‘if I have to endure this shit every week, then so do you!’

Brilliant!

I know many Citeh fans who stuck by the team in the early-mid 90s when things went pear-shaped. Much respect for that. Less to the Citeh hanger-on fans who’ve appeared since they’ve been successful, conveniently ignoring the fairly emphatic human rights concerns associated with the club owners.

Mind you, the same could be levelled at Man U fans ignoring the allegations against Ronaldo.

I’m very glass-half-empty today! 🤣

I know many Citeh fans who stuck by the team in the early-mid 90s when things went pear-shaped. Much respect for that.

My mate Mikey died far too young of Cancer. He was a season ticket holder who endured all the dross and the relegations, but he never got to see the glory years.

How Citeh is that?

However, last year his sister got in touch with me with a commission for their dads birthday.

So I had to sit and draw a portrait of Sergio Aguaro’s goal celebration, complete with quote of the famous Martin Tyler commentary

Manchester City are still alive here.

Balotelli….

Agueroooooooo.

I swear you’ll never see anything like this ever again. So watch it, drink it in.

I bet he was looking down and laughing his tits off.

RIP Mikey

I know many Citeh fans who stuck by the team in the early-mid 90s when things went pear-shaped. Much respect for that. Less to the Citeh hanger-on fans who’ve appeared since they’ve been successful, conveniently ignoring the fairly emphatic human rights concerns associated with the club owners.

Yeah, still remember stomping off to my tent in the Lakes to sulk when we shipped a 2-0 lead to Gillingham in the last 10 minutes of the playoff final in 99. Luckily my mate was kind enough to come and get me when we equalised in stoppage time.

The Nicky Weaver/Shaun Goater/Dickov era is still probably the one I remember with most fondness. I almost feel a bit embarrassed to say I’m a City fan now, because most people will just think you’re a glory hunter.

Yeah, still remember stomping off to my tent in the Lakes to sulk when we shipped a 2-0 lead to Gillingham in the last 10 minutes of the playoff final in 99. Luckily my mate was kind enough to come and get me when we equalised in stoppage time.

The Nicky Weaver/Shaun Goater/Dickov era is still probably the one I remember with most fondness. I almost feel a bit embarrassed to say I’m a City fan now, because most people will just think you’re a glory hunter.

I was there at the 99 play off final. Weirdly many city fans still look to those times as the best ever. The 90’s and Maine road – modern football is devoid of anything like it.

Do you remember the protection racket the kids in the area would run if you parked up in any street within walking distance of Maine road “50p to watch your car mr” you had to pay if you wanted to drive back home after the natch.

And now Pep has to beg fans to actually turn up and watch. 😛

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/sep/16/manchester-city-fans-pull-up-pep-guardiola-for-comments-on-home-attendance

Same scheme going on around Anfield back in the day MSP.

I know someone who did cough up a quid for the car watching service and still had their stereo nicked. She saw the lad who’d been “watching” it and got her money back!

PSA for anyone else nostalgic for Maine Road: “The Keeper” (film about Bert Trautmann) is on iPlayer at the moment.

Do you remember the protection racket the kids in the area would run if you parked up in any street within walking distance of Maine road “50p to watch your car mr” you had to pay if you wanted to drive back home after the natch

*old joke mode*

A bloke parks outside Maine Road and a group of kids walk up to him and say “a quid to watch your car, mister?”

“It’s ok, I’ve left my Alsatian in the car”

“Can it put out fires”?

IGMC 😃

Well that was all very Spursy

Hate to say it, but Chelski look awesome

We did our usual. God only knows how we’re keeping this unbeaten away run up, the amount of first half goals we ship?

What is the deal with Man U starting so badly? Ole just sends em out and it takes a while for them to formulate a plan on the field?

Hate to say it, but Chelski look awesome

Liverpool have exactly the same points/GD as Chelsea so I guess you think Liverpool look awesome too. 🙂

At the end of one particularly dismal match he threw his season ticket onto the pitch in disgust. A bloke went and picked it up, handed it back to him and said ‘if I have to endure this shit every week, then so do you!’

Quality.

I also heard a variation, a couple of Newcastle fans so disgusted with the way the team were playing at the end of a dismal game went round the back of the stand and nailed their season tickets to it and then went off to the pub to drown their sorrows.

Half an hour later they’re having second thoughts and go back to the stand only to find some ****’s have stolen the nails.

What is the deal with Man U starting so badly? Ole just sends em out and it takes a while for them to formulate a plan on the field?

The general consensus is that the coaching staff aren’t very good, and just setup the team in a very basic way hoping one of the many world class players up front does something special before the considerably less than world class midfield and Lindelof give the opposition much of a lookin on Utd’s goal.

The reason Utd are doing ok despite not playing very well is because of Varane, who replaced Lindelof and who is clearly Utd’s best signing in terms of player capability & needs of the team.

The other reason IMO is the forward line are very static- not much movement unless they’re running towards the oppo goal. So Pogba has a very tricky job finding one of them and ends up giving the ball away. A lot. Which invites pressure on McFred and, well, see above!

Pretty fair assessment.

Theres also the Ole/Kevin Keegan philosophy of relentlessly pressing, leaving yourself wide open to the fast counter through the less than world class midfield, leaving the back line hopelessly exposed. Which was exactly what happened on Sunday. Again.

Theres also the Ole/Kevin Keegan philosophy of relentlessly pressing,

I seem to remember a lot of moaning about how the lack of ‘attacking flair’ under Mourinho was a disgrace to the flamboyant traditions of the club. We don’t want to grind out 1-0s, we don’t even mind losing, as long as we have the Utd style, they said.

Now you have a team that spends big on dynamic attacking midfield players, throws the kitchen sink at the opposition, and occasionally **** it up and loses, and ‘Ole Out’ is trending on Twitter…

The ‘Ole out’ lot are idiots with short memories. I don’t know what it is they expect? You’ve not hear any moaning from me, anyway. And I don’t hear any of my United supporting mates moaning either (apart from possibly last week, which was an absolute shitshow).

I don’t know how we’ve managed it, conceding so many early goals, but we’ve been on this ridiculous run of unbeaten away games. 29 on the bounce. Bruno hasn’t lost a league away game since he arrived. There isn’t a club out there who wouldn’t want that record

So Ole’s doing something right. Namely playing aggressive attacking football. Let’s be honest… even if you’re an ABU, its great to watch after the turgid Jose years. Not least because we always do it the hard way and have to battle back from going behind.

We just need to defend better, from the midfield back, when we inevitably get hit on the break (which we invite teams to do). Varan will make a big difference there. We won’t keep many clean sheets this season, but as long as we keep scoring…

*Kevin Keegan mode*

..I’D LOVE IT! 😉

Incidentally… talking of Kev… have you watched ‘Fever Pitch: The Rise of the Premier League’ on iplayer? If not, its well worth a viewing

Wouldn’t say United press that hard, or high up the pitch, compared to say Liverpool or Man City. And it will be less with Ronaldo too. If anything I think they prefer to sit in more and hit teams on the break.
<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>
Reckon as mentioned above their success is more due to the number of top class forward players they have rather than any managerial tactical masterplan. </span>

I don’t know what it is they expect?

Serious challenge for titles? Tactical awareness? Comprehensible substitutions?

They are mostly quite entertaining to watch (apart from against Young Boys) I’ll give you that.