el diablo:

- Matt:

He took some risk on Fletcher's illness

And it was bad enough doing that once. This time last season SAF would have known the facts about Fletchers illness (Fletch didn't announce it publicly until mid season, but he'd had the condition for years so SAF will have known). He would have been advised that there was a big risk that Fletch's illness would flare up, and he took a gamble which didn't pay off. Doing that once is bad, but twice would be ridiculous. He should know by now that Anderson's muscles are made of glass. And that Park and Giggs are not good enough to play in midfield. So unless he is planning on keeping Pogba and giving him and and Powell 20 games each, there is no valid excuse for not trying to sign another midfielder. Even a young one who's relatively unknown like Elm would help provide cover if Carrick or Cleverley get injured.

It seems we agree on everything. And although I would like to see Pogba stay and get involved with Powell (FA-CUP, CC, "easy" BPL games) , we all know they won't be rushed as they're still too young and inexperienced and we certainly won't rely on them for major trophies.

No matter how you look at it, I think it's obvious we need at least one cm. Not only are teams aware of our weaknesses, as we saw last year, but our football has turned ugly, and uninteresting, not to say boring at times, whereas I was having more pleasure watching the likes of Swansea/Spurs move the ball around and show some of the big teams what football was like.

In fact, I find it terribly frustrating to have so many quality players and lacking that one or two pieces to make everything tick. If it was down to me, I would sell Ando, tell Giggs and Scholes that they won't be as involved, unless we need to (injuries), sell Pogba if he doesn't extend by tomorrow morning, and get two cm's with a good injury record, talent and willingness to become first-choice material at United. We're not even talking about splashing big. That can be done smartly, but at some stage, we need to move on, and I see no reason why SAF hasn't. We have one consistent cm for Christ's sake, ONE, two if you count our last-year saviour Paul Scholes.

Thank god for that. Panic averted.

Boss: More deals possible

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed there could be more signings during the transfer window as the club continues to work behind the scenes in that area.

The United boss suggested in an exclusive interview with MUTV that Shinji Kagawa and Nick Powell may not be the only arrivals this summer if his plans bear fruit. Despite intense media speculation, the Reds will continue to conduct any negotiations in private and it often proves to be a lengthy business.

When asked if he is hoping to make further additions, he replied: "Yes, there's a possibility. We’re working on one or two things but there’s nothing really to tell you to be honest.

"We always try to get our work done at the end of the season – we spent a good deal of time sorting the deal with Shinji and we’d agreed a deal with Nick Powell before the play-offs which was a good move by us because the boy had an outstanding final at Wembley.

"When you don’t get deals done immediately and you’re negotiating with a club over a long period, then you can’t expect to just snap your fingers and get it done."

xSTONEYx187x:

Everyone jumping the gun, wait the for the bloody interview. Oh, look at that, he has said he's looking at 1 or 2 more players but can't confirm anything yet.

Exactly..

- Matt:

He took some risk on Fletcher's illness

And it was bad enough doing that once. This time last season SAF would have known the facts about Fletchers illness (Fletch didn't announce it publicly until mid season, but he'd had the condition for years so SAF will have known). He would have been advised that there was a big risk that Fletch's illness would flare up, and he took a gamble which didn't pay off. Doing that once is bad, but twice would be ridiculous. He should know by now that Anderson's muscles are made of glass. And that Park and Giggs are not good enough to play in midfield. So unless he is planning on keeping Pogba and giving him and and Powell 20 games each, there is no valid excuse for not trying to sign another midfielder. Even a young one who's relatively unknown like Elm would help provide cover if Carrick or Cleverley get injured.

Everyone jumping the gun, wait the for the bloody interview. Oh, look at that, he has said he's looking at 1 or 2 more players but can't confirm anything yet.

- Matt:

el diablo:

It would be fine if he actually gave youth a chance.

You summed it all up imo. But I honestly think last year was a mistake by SAF. He took some risk on Fletcher's illness, while throwing Cleverley and Ando into the middle of things when knowing their injury record. And remember: at that stage he couldn't know Scholes would come back. So I see it as a big mistake from the coaching staff, because we needed a new cm last year. Basically, we had only Giggs and Carrick as proven consistent cm when we started the campaign.

And as you said so perfectly, his excuse of wanting to trust the young lads was another poor excuse, because he went as far as playing Park or Rafael ahead of Pogba, Morrison (who despite his attitude had some very good displays when given the chance), or other true cm.

It was not a lie as such, but clearly he underestimated/overestimated some players. He has to to get his man/men in cm, and he knows it. I couldn't believe we would start another season without reinforcement in that department, and would only see it as a major, costly mistake.

"No value for money" is getting ridiculous, and I would change it into "no scouting for money": Cabaye, Guarin, Modric, Witsel, Sahin, Khedira, Montolivo, Tiote, Ramires, Inler, Moutinho are a few examples of cm players who are/were value for money the last time they were bought and who are all quality in their position/role. Obviously we would never get all of them of course, but the no-value for money is a lie, and a poor one.

Some good points. I would imagine SAF wants to keep his hunt to a low profile so that fees to do not go through the roof and to keep other clubs away from his targets

mullytheremix:

garp01us:

either allot of you are young or you have no business sense at all. There is no value in the market, just look at what Spurs reportedly want for Modric, $40 million is insane for a player o doesn't light up i'm either the scoring or assist numbers. Look at some deals that have been done this summer and the fees and wages paid. The same mugs on here crying about not spending $35+ million every week on players would be the same ones crying this season when ticket, merchandising, and concessions went through the roof. I think what gets me the most is some of you just dismiss the season we had last year.

I dont really agree with this, look at Newcastle as a prime example Cabaye and Tiote cost a combined fee of slightly more then we paid for Bebe? Demba ba he cost nothing or next to nothing and the Cisse lad wasnt a bad buy at £7million either and we all know Newcastle refuse to pay big wages, there is plenty of value in the market in terms of transfer fee's and wages and the argument doesnt stack up considering we were supposedly in for Hazard

It is a real skill to identify players with potential that are good value. I would also say with the players you mentioned there, Newcastle were taking a great risk in buying them. Perhaps this is a risk that Utd, where the expectations are undoubtedly greater, cannot really afford to take.

el diablo:

It would be fine if he actually gave youth a chance.

You summed it all up imo. But I honestly think last year was a mistake by SAF. He took some risk on Fletcher's illness, while throwing Cleverley and Ando into the middle of things when knowing their injury record. And remember: at that stage he couldn't know Scholes would come back. So I see it as a big mistake from the coaching staff, because we needed a new cm last year. Basically, we had only Giggs and Carrick as proven consistent cm when we started the campaign.

And as you said so perfectly, his excuse of wanting to trust the young lads was another poor excuse, because he went as far as playing Park or Rafael ahead of Pogba, Morrison (who despite his attitude had some very good displays when given the chance), or other true cm.

It was not a lie as such, but clearly he underestimated/overestimated some players. He has to to get his man/men in cm, and he knows it. I couldn't believe we would start another season without reinforcement in that department, and would only see it as a major, costly mistake.

"No value for money" is getting ridiculous, and I would change it into "no scouting for money": Cabaye, Guarin, Modric, Witsel, Sahin, Khedira, Montolivo, Tiote, Ramires, Inler, Moutinho are a few examples of cm players who are/were value for money the last time they were bought and who are all quality in their position/role. Obviously we would never get all of them of course, but the no-value for money is a lie, and a poor one.

garp01us:

either allot of you are young or you have no business sense at all. There is no value in the market, just look at what Spurs reportedly want for Modric, $40 million is insane for a player o doesn't light up i'm either the scoring or assist numbers. Look at some deals that have been done this summer and the fees and wages paid. The same mugs on here crying about not spending $35+ million every week on players would be the same ones crying this season when ticket, merchandising, and concessions went through the roof. I think what gets me the most is some of you just dismiss the season we had last year.

I dont really agree with this, look at Newcastle as a prime example Cabaye and Tiote cost a combined fee of slightly more then we paid for Bebe? Demba ba he cost nothing or next to nothing and the Cisse lad wasnt a bad buy at £7million either and we all know Newcastle refuse to pay big wages, there is plenty of value in the market in terms of transfer fee's and wages and the argument doesnt stack up considering we were supposedly in for Hazard

Taz153:

GIGGS 11 & RUNNING:

Taz153:

thomas21:

djb95:

thomas21:

He is frustrated, as bids for Modric, and Moutinho have broke down........Spurs are looking for Crazy money for Modric, and Moutinho's price has went up, by 10-12 Million since the Euro's...... Naturally he is going to say, there is no value in the market.......Same as, every year now.....

We haven't bid for Moutinho, yet.

Yes we have, 25Million is what the papers said, was turned down......

Not everything that are said in the media are correct. 90% is false. Now its up to you , whether you'll waste your time believing these reports or stay calm & believe in SAF.

nice to quote U R right again, mate :-) / does any1 know whether there DEF IS a press conf or the mentioned interview with SAf today? ... I am at the film fest so not many chances on net overhere I am afraid but would look for some if I knew there will be smthg said today, thanks for now

We'll know if theres a press conference or not , by 2 PM.

thanks for your response, I´ll check it later

GIGGS 11 & RUNNING:

Taz153:

thomas21:

djb95:

thomas21:

He is frustrated, as bids for Modric, and Moutinho have broke down........Spurs are looking for Crazy money for Modric, and Moutinho's price has went up, by 10-12 Million since the Euro's...... Naturally he is going to say, there is no value in the market.......Same as, every year now.....

We haven't bid for Moutinho, yet.

Yes we have, 25Million is what the papers said, was turned down......

Not everything that are said in the media are correct. 90% is false. Now its up to you , whether you'll waste your time believing these reports or stay calm & believe in SAF.

nice to quote U R right again, mate :-) / does any1 know whether there DEF IS a press conf or the mentioned interview with SAf today? ... I am at the film fest so not many chances on net overhere I am afraid but would look for some if I knew there will be smthg said today, thanks for now

We'll know if theres a press conference or not , by 2 PM.

I'll be disappointed but wont be surprised if we dont sign a CM this summer.

Taz153:

thomas21:

djb95:

thomas21:

He is frustrated, as bids for Modric, and Moutinho have broke down........Spurs are looking for Crazy money for Modric, and Moutinho's price has went up, by 10-12 Million since the Euro's...... Naturally he is going to say, there is no value in the market.......Same as, every year now.....

We haven't bid for Moutinho, yet.

Yes we have, 25Million is what the papers said, was turned down......

Not everything that are said in the media are correct. 90% is false. Now its up to you , whether you'll waste your time believing these reports or stay calm & believe in SAF.

nice to quote U R right again, mate :-) / does any1 know whether there DEF IS a press conf or the mentioned interview with SAf today? ... I am at the film fest so not many chances on net overhere I am afraid but would look for some if I knew there will be smthg said today, thanks for now

ha, well thats fine. just dont expect to be competing in europe against the likes of barcelona and madrid. Its also clear that even city have a better first 11 than us these days. fergie has to get with the times, you are not going to get "value in the market" for top world class footballers. the production line on youth talent at old trafford doesnt seem to be producing much either. its fairly clear that we rely on wayne rooney too much. what if he gets injured for the season on day 1? we would have absolutly no world class attacking talent. If you look at our competition, such as city, barca, madrid, etc they have several world class players. thats the difference at the moment.