₦airaland Forum

ChristineC:
no I don't agree that fans are more than cheerleaders. I was agreeing with your last sentence in the post i quote.

Very minute numbers are members of the union trust or whatever they are called. Manchester United is an enterprise bought by one family with the board already in place. The shareholders are not compulsorily fans, they are more concerned with how their planted cash grow. Any fans' club can protest all they like, it wouldn't change pinch. Again I reference Arsenal; if an owner such as that bought Manchester United, sir it wouldn't matter if the whole world protests by his door. I'm not an Arsenal supporter but i can see their stocks are doing well where listed and purchase some. While the fans are hitting their heads on the wall in anguish, I'm smiling to the bank. Are stock prices steady and on the up? If yes that's all for the average investor. Football was entertainment before lucrative. It has evolved into business before anything. Players passionate to a cause like Maldini, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Francesco Totti, John Terry is sadly over. You'd have to purchase that loyalty today if any, it's move with the tide or sink. Sir Ferguson that kept shouting "no value in the market" was not foolish, the top talents were simply out of reach of the Glazer purse at the time and he had to scavenge for unsure signings who either shined like Javier Hernandez or dimmed like Bebé. As soon as revenues were up what player did he target? the best striker in the league.

Edward Woodward is making money from strategic partnership and the Glazer family is willing to reinvest in the playing staff, no club fan in such situation anywhere in the world should complain. I agreed with you that the manager should be reasonable and have a workable blueprint, yet it will not all fall in place in a single transfer window. This is where we fans should also be reasonable.

As per your last paragraph, everybody will have a different reason for wanting the same item. It's the way of the world.

We will just have to agree to disagree then. In all these I am not blaming the manager and I am not expecting miracles in 1 transfer window. However the truth is we have had about 8 transfer windows and counting since SAF left to get things right and we still seem way off from the top. Which is where the competence of Woodward in footballing and non-endorsement/business matters needs to be called to question.
And all those fat deals the club has signed will not be as fat in the future if we keep playing on Thursdays on cold, stony pitches in Russia.

ChristineC:
I agree but the various known fans' club are not voicing discontent and that is especially because they can see the club runners are backing new managers as much as they can. Many top clubs have spent boat loads of money in recent history without commensurate result but some got it right eventually. Following the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson and subsequent replacement by a mediocre manager, it's inevitable Manchester United plough this path.

So u now agree that fans are more than just cheerleaders and should have an interest in the way a club is run? We are getting somewhere as long as you now realise that the "is it your money" mentality is ignorant and misguided. Now whether you agree that the money is being spent appropriately is a matter of opinion but it is uninformed to say football fans should not concern themselves with other aspects of the club.

There is a difference between the guy who supported the Pogba deal because he felt that Pogba was really that level of player and could take us back to the top and the guy who supported the deal because he feels fans should not concern themselves with how much a player costs and how a club spends its money( after hypocritically lamenting Rooney's big salary for 2yrs)

Nihilist:
Take your L and cook indomie with it.

Oboi that's some crazy bar.

L-flavoured noodles.

Those 2 guys are crazy
I just dey refresh to read new uses for L. Hang it on your car as Learner sign, Hang it in your bedroom, use it as a pendant. One was even generous and said go and donate it to your village people.

Lana1:
Arsenal. The club with the best 'everyhing' in d world.

No wonder the guy dey misfire, Xhakabula indeed Lmao

ChristineC:
the running cost of the club is certainly not the concern of the fans because capable hands have been employed to see to it and so far the fortunes continue to rise. We are supporters, our job description is self-defined if you ask me

You said the club only seem interested in big names but your list of expected arrivals are all big names to me. There will be competition from other serious clubs (not the likes of Arsenal) and the underline is CHEESE..bake the most cheese and take away the prize. It's very simple. This is not about the board but the coaches. There is a new manager and he has had one transfer window only to acquire useful playing staff. He put forth realistic targets and landed them all. We should all be realistic in our demands because we all know this club is still trying to find proper footings.

Fans are not just cheerleaders. True fans have the right if not the obligation to ensure that their clubs are run in a sensible and sustenable manner. There are many clubs which are under fan ownership especially in continental Europe so your take on what fans should and should not do is way off.
Even in this club you have the MU Supporters Clubs which is purely the cheerleading section of the fans and is concerned mainly with chanting "20 times, 20 times" from the Stretford End and then there is the MU Supporters Trust which is made up of fans concerned with the manner in which the club is run in terms of our competitive, cultural and financial health.
I AM NOT AGAINST BIG NAMES. I am against spending boat loads of money without getting commensurate results. Esp when the money could have been spent in a more judicious and efficient manner.

[quote author=Nihilist post=54349591][/quote]. You saw what I did there, couldn't resist.

AdisaOwala:
Bro, the hypocrisy for here no be small - I gave up the day Pogba's agent was blamed for his astronomical wages.

To think the money wasted on Dabdihno coulda gotten us Kante plus Verrati



The "kamikaze" approach wey we wan dey adopt nowadays would only make us the butt of jokes in Europe if care isnt taken..

With the heavy investments that have not exactly translated into desired results in the last few years, we might need the services of a competent Sporting Director (or Director of football) for optimal planning and execution of our transfer policies.

We talked about Verrati, Kante, Modric, Kroos e.t.c but they said there was no possibility of getting them, as if we were favourites to get Adabowale before we started pricing onigbese pricing. There are some problems that are not solved by just throwing money around, we have to spend resources wisely and with a clear plan.
Falcao, Di Maria and this last off season tell me that whoever is making the decisions at the top has no idea what he is doing and if we do succeed it would be by accident rather than by design.

ChristineC:
the key word in your post is "players". Barcelona had Neymar Jr and Lionel Messi but still went after Luis Suarez to stamp a treble. Sir Ferguson had Paul Scholes and Roy Keane but still paid good money for Juan Sabastian Veron. It is dishonesty for anybody to expect Paul Pogba to be the all and all, the cost of players 'really' shouldn't concern the fans.

I followed the fee debate on Facebook and other forums (I don't remember visiting Nairaland that period), and quite a sizeable number of fans were excited with the outcome; especially after the David de Gea saga from the previous year.

I think I understand the point of view on the 'spit' analogy despite its blunt 'nastiness'. This club CANNOT return to former heights if it folds its arms and let the better talents continue to slip past them. Reference Liverpool
and Arsenal. No club will get the best players without stiff competition from other ambitious clubs (competition here means money of course). The Robert Lewandowski and Antoine Greizmann will not be bought on a platter of gold. It either stump up the cash or scram

Look at the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid at a time when he was the best player in the world. Can you imagine the set back if the manager was not a legend. Can you imagine how much worse the situation will be right now if David de Gea was lost to same Real Madrid? Pardon me but Manchester United claims to be a top enterprise, then they must act the part.

Paul Pogba had his formative years with this club, so once the opportunity for a return was opened and this club was interested; it really shouldn't matter who else stood in the way. £150m could have been paid if that was what it would've taken for the Excos to paint the "what we want we get" picture.

I like the Real Madrid blueprint in the market over the few years. They gave off this "we will take your best" / "you can go to blazes who cares" aura; my kind of guys, and it has worked massively for them. I'd rather adopt such proven option for success than go the Arsenal way.

All this would be more logical if the club bought Pogba and another quality midfielder. My major issue was it seems the club was more interested in buying marquee names rather than buying players in a systematic way to build a winning team.
I said from the onset that we needed 2 quality midfielders not just 1 marquee midfielder AND the pogba money could have done the job. The same people that were castigating Rooney here for his salary are coming back now to ask "is it your money" when it comes to Pogba. No club has infinite resources and there are funds set aside for player acquisition every year so saying the cost of a player should not concern fans is a bit naive.
It is all in the past now though but we should remember that the best way to spit in someone's face is not buying every big name they are after but to defeat them in the champions league final, ask Dayo what English clubs have done to him in the final

Danhumprey:
Lol. nice try. you wan claim say you don forget who made that statement? I still remember vividly who made that statement and how he kept bandying it around to justify Pogba's purchase. the guy hasn't been active in the last few weeks.

but no worries. make we no dig up old diets.

You be bad person. I no go let you put me for trouble. Having said that I have been happy with Pogba's play recently because I see that he is making serious effort to iron out all the irrelevant dribbles from his game. Zlatan has denied the guy close to 5 clear assists this season and he (Pogba) will only get better with time. Never worth 100m though .

In other news Sunderland and Moyes are going down like Bisola of BBN . I wonder how Ruudie and Nyabinghi are coping with THEIR TEAM rooted to the bottom like a Baobab tree

Danhumprey:
Lol. the way you keep using this line at bolded...... it's like you love throwing snide shade at someone.....



Doc, calm down.

Lol do u know I can't even remember who said it so it is not a snide remark at a particular person. But in my opinion it was the most ridiculous and misguided statement made during the Pogba negotiation period, that is why it stuck.

So do you know who said it?

ChristineC:
That will cost some fortune. About £250m for the summer shopping perhaps

If they are ready to spend 100m on a midfielder then they better be ready to shell out similar amounts on strikers and wing forwards who actually score goals.
Now is the time to spend money on players that can win us the league rather than spending money just to spit in the face of Madrid.

raumdeuter:
I think City will make top 4 but I am not sure of Spurs even though they are in good form now, But I have never trusted them.
They are 5 points away from 5th

Anyway I think Arsenal Spurs and Pool will be easier to kick around in Europe than City United or Chelsea

Agreed. Spurs are always likely to implode and it actually stems from the fans lol. But I think they will make top 4 this year with Arrsenal, Liverpool and United playing inconsistent football

chrisley024:
Even for his NT

Who cares what he does for his NT? We would be buying him to play for Man Utd not England.

Bear in mind that he is not my first choice but if we ain't getting Lewandowski, Auba then we need to get a striker that will guarantee us 20 EPL goals year in year out. I will take him ahead of Icardi, Belotti, Lacazette or any of the other sexy names that are the flavour of the month....mainly cos he is proven in this league.
This doesn't stop us from getting Griezman or whoever to man the RWF position.

raumdeuter:
Make Totenham, Liverpool and Arsenal make top 4. Those are easy teams to deal with in Europe

Chelsea, Spurs and City will make top 4
Who will join them is what we don't know

chrisley024:
Does he hibernate in Europe

The whole team has underperformed in Europe no doubt but he is a proven and consistent EPL scorer.

I said we should buy this Sugar Kane Baby

AdisaOwala:
Been occupied lately....saw the highlights though..

Jones has started again

Anyways, I see say na same old story......profligacy in front of goal and ofcourse....6th position as usual

In the interest of the club, Ibrahimovic should be our 2nd choice striker next season - we need a consistent and "unwastful" CF if we are to build on our performances this season. Unfortunately, Rashford doesn't seem to be ready (it's largely Mourihno's fault but that one na another story for another day).

On the bright side, we are only 3 points off 3rd place with 12 matches to go - 8 or 9 wins and a draw or two should be enough to secure a CL spot IMO.

Are you banking on these draw specialists to go on an 8 or 9 match winning run? Our only hope for top 4 is for Arsenal and Liverpool to collapse and drop points all over the place. We are draw specialists that snatch draws from the jaws of victory, then remember we have arguably the toughest EPL schedule of the top 6, add our Europa league sojourn to it and you will come to the conclusion that only Jehovah jireh can save us this season.
It is one thing to be a loyal fan it is another thing to be lying to oneself and building castles in the air. Our hope in the league this season is not for these boys to start winning but for Liverpool to be inconsistent and Arsenal to press the self-destruct button.

But but Zlatan must play 90mins now.
26yr old players are been rested from time to time or taken off early but a 36yr old man must play 90mins almost every match? Because his name is Dagunro abi?

Possibly Carrick, mata and Rooney out for the triple sub

See the condensed rubbish these guys are playing

This ref will look for a way to card Zlatan to compensate

raumdeuter:
Man Utd PDP is getting out of hand

Zlatan elbowed someone and a Bournemouth player got red carded

Mistaken identity. The guy looks like Ibrahimovic

With that elbow missed by the ref it will be reviewed and that is 3 games most likely .

Ibrahimovic will get a red card in this match

A40:
Leo is like 43. I don't think he has even gotten to his prime. He can surpass Day Lewis in due time. His resume is that good

For me Aviator was waaay better than Ray. He played HH to a T

It can be argued that Jamie Foxx played Ray Charles as well as DiCaprio played HH and remember the award is to the actor not the whole movie. When one takes into consideration the fact that Ray Charles died just a few months before the Oscars and therefore there was added buzz for that role you will understand why the cards were stacked in Foxx's favour.
I am a DiCaprio fan but in the grand scheme of things he has not been treated more unfairly than legends like Laurence Olivier, Al Pacino, Peter O'toole and even Richard Burton who also had multiple nominations unrewarded.
As per Di Caprio surpassing Day Lewis that is very possible and maybe even likely but you have to put some respek on DDL's name LOL

Funlordmaniac:
Haba! For sure there are going to be major additions to our strike force this summer....when rooney is most likely leaving? We won't be short up front for sure!

Griezmann is surely coming in, if not someone of a similar quality will.....jose never messes about in the transfer market and he has already said he has discussed with his targets "offline" and knows who will be joining us! Ibra must also be seen to be rewarded for a job well done sef as a stimulant to even those yet to join and those still yet to step up! It's even embarrassing that such an old man is our best player and our main goal threat! All our strikers need to slap themselves hard every morning before going to training!

Next season we need to go out and buy a prolific CF and a prolific RWF who can also create. I suspect JM will spend almost as much money next season as he did this season. For the 1st time since SAF the management seem to have absolute trust in a manager so they will back heavily with funds.
We also need a CM to share time with Pogba n Herrera as Carrick and Schweini exit. The LB is another position that is uncertain as nobody knows what is happening to Shaw but I suspect Blnd will exit at the end of the season.

Funlordmaniac:
I tire oh! Even the cavani they said used to be hindered by Ibra while at psg still scored double figures for each and every season they played together! Have his numbers even dramatically shot up now that Ibra is gone? No....just a slight improvement!

People are forgetting that even in the dressing room and amongst the fans Ibra is driving this mind of a champion mentality that has got everyone believing again! Listen to his statements or press conferences? It's like having cantona 2.0 sitting in front of the cameras! So they think his goals would get us into the champions league and the chap won't want to go and have one last shot at a competition he has _fucked up in for a while! He has said he must retire at the top with a trophy for united....the rest of the squad should help him achieve his retirement gift abeg...even the rashford and martial are loving his presence and advice more than others!

I am in support of keeping Zlatan but we have to have another world class option next season. Auba or Griezmmann or Kane etc.
Zlatan has done well this season but when the end will come for him it will be sudden so we should not assume that he will maintain this level next season. If he does let it be a bonus rather than a necessity.
As per Cavani his numbers have actually dramatically improved. His league goals per game average has doubled and in early March he has already scored 7 more goals than he ever scored in an entire Ligure 1 season.

A40:
I don't agree with this but its an opinion thing.
As for Oscar winning/ Oscar worthy that's neither here nor there. They gave McCounaghey on a year Wolf Of Wall street came out can't take the award that deeply. Shutter Island didn't even make the list and for me Aviator was as good if not better than Ray

Winning Oscar is about more than acting performance. So many things have to go for you. You have to deliver a great performance, hope that there is nobody who has missed out many times before been compensated that year, hope that there is nobody in an iconic or socially relevant role that year e.g a gay role, transgender role, domestic abuse survivor, Jewish Holocaust survivor role e.t.c. Your studio has to have an effective PR machine, if you are a man you have to hope Daniel Day Lewis is not nominated also lol.
Brando got only 2, De Niro got 2, and the one Pacino got was probably not even in his top 3 performances. Di Caprio should relax he will get more cos he is still young and his talent is real.

PietroRico:
afrodoc2

Saying Metabolic disorder is so vague as there are dozens of them. He probably has a hormonal or an enzyme problem. The likely ones are Diabetes, Cushing's or even Coeliac Dx.

ChristineC:
haha I've always known Remy Martin for "hood" style of music, I was only asking because I'm surprised she's still into music at all.

But it's OK since it's female to female diss, I'd have been more surprised if it was a bloke throwing such shades at Nicki Minaj.

... and I don't listen to worldly music

She was jailed for about half a decade for shooting someone. She never really left music but Uncle Sam needed her lol

sinizia:
It's not unpopular, it's a well known fact that Nick's deliveries are pure crap. Take away her enhancements and the fame, Nicki is a wack rapper. Being famous or having the highest selling albums or number of hits on Billboard top 10s doesn't make one a good rapper.

I nearly slapped off the tooth of a friend who told me Nicki is the best female rapper of all time. It's the same fool that rated Lil Wayne as the greatest rapper DOA back in his prime. SMH.

You should not hang out with such friends LOL.
Most of those southern rappers are wack to be honest
Meanwhile Sugar Kane is on fire. Shey make we buy this new Alan Shearer and leave all this Aubameyang matter?

ChristineC:
Remy Martin?

Yeah. It might be an unpopular position but Nikki's voice and delivery don't appeal to me PLUS her need for all the make up and gimmicks in the trade PLUS the never ending rumours that she has her lyrics written for her.