StarBoard: I'm wondering whether we actually deserve to win this title, judging from our signings to our team o ven Fergie's tactics and selection over the course of this season.
Fergie shouldn't be celebrating judging from his treatment of Dimitar Berbatov.

if we beat villa tomorrow, things would look more tantalizing.
city are running out of matches to close down the gap and i am sure united
won't lose at the etihad stadium.

coogar:

if we beat villa tomorrow, things would look more tantalizing.
city are running out of matches to close down the gap and i am sure united
won't lose at the etihad stadium.

After last Wednesday, I'm not so sure we can beat Villa,poor as they are:relegation-threatened with injuries and all.
We were supposed to be coasting vs Wigan.We turned in a horror display.Why then should we expect a better result from a team higher up the table than Wigan?
As for the Etihad game, I'm not so sure of not losing that one.
We just don't know which United team will show up.Our jeckyl-and-Hyde performances this season can't make me beat my chest in confidence and say we'll not lose before that game.We also have Everton to play before that game.

its left to the players to decide if they want d title or not.cos the display against wigan was so lacking in spirit n fight.they should view every match as a final and be ready to battle cos no one will hand them d title on a platter.

afrodoc: its left to the players to decide if they want d title or not.cos the display against wigan was so lacking in spirit n fight.they should view every match as a final and be ready to battle cos no one will hand them d title on a platter.

No I don't think its that simple.
Alex Ferguson has been showing signs of decline for about 3 seasons, hence these displays.
I'm shocked someone like him allowed us to start this campaign with a midfield shorn of personnel.Case in point:Anderson personally should leave because he's not been consistent since his first season.We are still waiting for him to come good like Ronaldo despite being bought for more.
It's awkward to think its just down to the players.Fergie might be Britain's GOAT, but I'm pretty sure it's time to think it's time to look for an alternative to him.Otherwise the fiasco of a decade ago (where his decision to retire destabilized the team) looks like repeating itself in the future.Aside from that,motivating his squad seems to be a challenge, given our limp displays of late(scraping victories vs 10 men and escaping late decisions after labouring to win).

as for me i'll prefer SAF to coach united until is maker calls him coz i doubt any other coach can be at the top of the league table wit dis crop of player rooney and valencia excluded.If we eva do replace him david moyes will b d way to go

Decline or not, I would be happy for SAF to stay in charge till he could no longer possibly carry on. Back in 2004 I was looking forward to possibly moving to another manager, in 2007 I would happily have seen SAF move upstairs and let Quieroz or someone else who had worked with him take charge, but as of now I don't favor any attempt at change. Say what you will about his supposed decline e.t.c what SAF has achieved in the last 6 years is marvelous when you consider the circumstances we have had. Just take a look at this table of net spending from 2006-2011 by EPL clubs.



SAF was never a big spender who needed to blow money for results e.g Jose, but even so the man has clearly been working with some serious financial constraints since the Glazer's takeover (no matter how much himself and David Gill deny any financial constraints). What make these figures more interesting, is that despite the fact that the Glazers are vastly increasing revenues every season, they are not re-investing any tangible portion of that back in to the club. Meanwhile even though there are now big spenders in City, Chelsea even Spurs as well as other teams not afraid of big investment, SAF has still managed to keep United not just competitive but even dominate (at least domestically) with not as much resources as he has usually been accustomed to.

I fear any attempt at bringing a new manager, before the Glazers have stabilized the precarious financial circumstances they thrust upon United arising from their severely leveraged takeover, will put the club in serious danger of falling away like Liverpool did in early 90's. Will a new manager be able to keep United competitive without being able to be a top 2 or even top 3 spender? Will the Glazer's with their limited knowledge off football be able to make one of the toughest and crucial managerial appointment in football? I know SAF and Sir Bobby will have a say, but the decision will ultimately be the Glazers. Will enough resources be there to allow any new appointee shape the team the way he would want. Also with the Glazers financial risks, any significant drop off in United performances could have serious consequences.

Now is not the time for this. Unless we are going to promote someone from within, and neither Phelan or Muelensteen are anywhere near ready. We need to keep SAF at the helm of affairs as long as possible and then maybe develop a transition plan (bring an assistant who could take charge in time).

Harsh to say that about Jose considering his prior success with Porto. I know its not about Jose but I always felt that was completely wrong to say he depends on blowing huge amounts considering what has happened after he left those clubs despite the fact they still spend.

Also an arbitrary line in the sand of 2006 is a little unfair on other clubs when we have broken the transfer record in england so many times in the past 20 years and with 3 ~£30M signings in our current squad. So naturally those clubs needed to spend far more in a short time to catch up.

Its very tough to think of a replacement right now. I cant really think of anyone but Im not convinced by Moyes as good as he is but at the highest level? Not sure. If Jose is a real option I'll accept him on a short term to take the pressure of whoever will be the real long term successor.

montelik thank u bros.
pple tink its easy to bring continued success like fergie does? fergie is actually overachieving with dis squad and if u tink there is another manager more suited to d long grind of d EPL u must b kidding.
i remember fans were up in arms in d lean years of 04,05 askin for fergie's retirement.how did he hit back? multiple EPL titles,a UCL title n multiple UCL finals.all in d face of city n chelsea throwing money after money at players.
there wasnt anything wrong abt d wigan line up,d difference was d players attitude.and starboard u cant say dt fergie has suddenly lost d ability to motivate after doing so for almost 4 decades,all cos of 1 match.let fans not over react pls,d EPL is still there to b won

Looked a foul but there was no need for Young to go down like that. Terrible dive.

hmmmm.scholes is down

cheating bastardzz!!

mykali: cheating bastardzz!!

When were u released from the psychiatric home?

We need to up the tempo in the 2nd half, goal difference can't be ignored. That slow cumbersome stuff we were playing in last 15 minutes of the 1st half needs to stop. Villa have a suspect defense and unlike most of our recent opponents, they aren't parking the bus.

agreed.valencia and rafael will hav joy all day down dt ryt.nani should come in for young on d left ind 2nd half for similar effect down dt side

And for the complainers, unless you are drunk on paraga. That was a clean, 100% pk, whether you feel Young made a meal of it.

montelik: We need to up the tempo in the 2nd half, goal difference can't be ignored. That slow cumbersome stuff we were playing in last 15 minutes of the 1st half needs to stop. Villa have a suspect defense and unlike most of our recent opponents, they aren't parking the bus.

danny welbeck is the reason we are not 4 goals up already.
his finishing needs to be retaught. he gets into those nice positions to score but
his composure fails him.

Okay that's it, Welbeck is testing my last nerve. How can you do difficult part with a beautiful 1st touch and control, then blow a pass even my granny could have completed to put Rooney throught. Take him off, but bring on Berba not Chica.

rooney is having another terrible day at d office.if fergie benches him in d next match now people will b complaining.

^^ quite true. Problem is Chica isn't in better form and one doesn't know if Berba still remembers how to play football.

and guy scores again.oya fergie remove him lets see berba

Well Rooney scored twice despite been poor for most of the match.

ok cameo by nani n cleverly.i love cleverly's neat passing,but he has to improve on his finishing

Can't complain. Would have liked more goals but 3 points is paramount. It all comes down to Everton away in my opinion. We win that and its over regardless the result at Etihad.

montelik: Can't complain. Would have liked more goals but 3 points is paramount. It all comes down to Everton away in my opinion. We win that and its over regardless the result at Etihad.

Everton match is at OT.

trust everton n david moyes to be ready for us.attitude n hunger must great in dt match cos everton will try n make things difficult for us

So Ashley Young dives again. He is now on a hatrick isn't he? Tbh I was neither shocked nor surprised.

i hope the terrible performance is not glossed over by those two goals?

montelik: ^^ quite true. Problem is Chica isn't in better form and one doesn't know if Berba still remembers how to play football.

ol boy if berbatov catch you my hand no dey o

I was actually happy to see Berba come on.

chic2pimp: So Ashley Young dives again. He is now on a hatrick isn't he? Tbh I was neither shocked nor surprised.

[img]http://www.abload.de/img/untitled-1h0jan.gif[/img]

so young dived or your eyes were deceiving you?
there was contact, the contact impeded the progress of ashley young and yes he made the most of it, but who wouldn't.

against wigan, welbeck was held back - the tool decided to carry on. referee did not give a penalty which might still
cost man utd the title at the end.

defender stuck a leg out. he was too slow to put it back, he caught ashley's foot. ashley went down.
stonewall penalty!

coogar:

[img]http://www.abload.de/img/untitled-1h0jan.gif[/img]

so young dived or your eyes were deceiving you?
there was contact, the contact impeded the progress of ashley young and yes he made the most of it, but who wouldn't.

against wigan, welbeck was held back - the tool decided to carry on. referee did not give a penalty which might still
cost man utd the title at the end.

defender stuck a leg out. he was too slow to put it back, he caught ashley's foot. ashley went down.
stonewall penalty!

Are you kidding me? Take a good look at the image you posted again and tell me how that is not a dive?. The contact was minimal to say the least but you'll think he had been shot with the way he went down. Also the way he stretched his left leg was nothing short of a joke. Stonewall penalty?.... More like Cheat.

Atleast Danny had more of a case.

chic2pimp:

Are you kidding me? Take a good look at the image you posted again and tell me how that is not a dive?. The contact was minimal to say the least but you'll think he had been shot with the way he went down. Also the way he stretched his left leg was nothing short of a joke. Stonewall penalty?.... More like Cheat.

Atleast Danny had more of a case.

that's the thing. you are taking a look at the image posted but was that the pace at which football is played.
of course, the real play was 5 times faster than that. a player turning with pace impeded would definitely fall.
how many times have we seen goalies trying to take a shot n falling on their arses - were they diving too?
the pace at which football is played these days makes it difficult for players to stand on their feet.

look at the foot of the defender. he brought it out, there was contact.
the law did not say contact had to cause fracture. if the contact impedes the progress of the attacker
then its a foul. a foul in the box is a penalty. the point is - whether ashley young dived or not, it's
a penalty. if he didn't dive, the referee would not give the decision.