Mirror Football is reporting that Fulham are very close to wrapping up a permanent deal for on-loan forward Eidur Gudjohnsen. The 32 year old joined Fulham on loan from fellow Premier League side Stoke City in January. But he would be free to join Fulham on a free transfer in the summer because his Stoke contract will run out.
Gudjohnsen has yet to score a Premier League goal for Fulham – but his promotion to the starting line-up has coincided with a good run of form for the team; Fulham have won seven points from their last three games.
Mark Hughes said on the transfer “we’re trying to make that happen. I’ve been really pleased with what Eidur’s brought to us and I know that he’s enjoying his time here. Eidur would like to stay, I’m sure, and we would reciprocate that as well. We’re hopeful it’ll get done quite soon.”
Gudjohnsen has enjoyed much of his playing career at the highest level that has included spells with various English sides. The most significant of those spells were at Bolton and then Chelsea – but Gudjohnsen also spent four years at Barcelona – where he became the first Icelandic player to win the Champions League in 2009. Gudjohnsen has always been a very important player for Iceland and has scored 24 goals in 63 games at international level.
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Several things struck me during Manchester City’s 0-2 Europa League Group A win in Austria last night. Having spent the day messing around on my Twitter page making up facts about Austria (did you know, for example, that, due to an oddity in the country’s one-way system, every road in Austria is uphill? Or that Austria actually gets no rainfall, but that all of their precipitation is controlled by the government?) and the pope (he was the original choice to play Indianna Jones, but he turned the role down, y’know), I was in quite a jovial mood at kick off, despite having watched a frustrating City performance recently, at home against Blackburn.
A lot of City fans I know, after that Blackburn game, were none too happy with the tactics employed by Sam Allardyce in their visit to Eastlands – wasting time, long balls, sitting behind the ball, etc. – but that’s a viewpoint I can’t really subscribe to. Too often I heard the phrase “that’s not football” or “it’s anti-football” when the game was being discussed post-match, but when it comes down to it, I wouldn’t have expected Blackburn to go to a side that is aiming for a top four finish, not to play to their strengths and, instead, to try to beat them with possession football. It wasn’t as if City didn’t create chances – the worrying part of the game was the stat of 20 attempts on goal, but only one scored.
City didn’t play especially badly against Blackburn, they just failed to break their opposition down. Too often, the opportunity for a quick break was declined for a series of short passes in midfield or the opportunity for a first time pass was declined in favour of several touches. And that allowed Blackburn to get back behind the ball and regain their shape.
There were plenty of shots on goal from the home side, but it was frustrating to see them being largely, with one or two exceptions, of course, comfortable saves for Robinson or off target to begin with. It was doubly frustrating when it took so much work to get into a shooting position.
But then roll forward five days. What struck me in the game last night, albeit against different opposition with a different style of play, was that the Manchester City that turned up in Austria, as a weakened side, too, mark you, didn’t look the same Manchester City that passed and passed and passed the ball in front of Blackburn the weekend previous. There were penetrating runs, successful through balls, dangerous attacks, one-touch football, and two good goals to finish it all off.
The biggest reason I can see for this improvement was that David Silva was given his chance to start. From the kick off, he was involved in virtually everything positive that City did until he was substituted five minutes from time. His vision and work rate were as good as ever, but his ability to execute the right pass at the right time looked second to none.
For someone his size, he didn’t look too put off by a tough tackle here or there. He’s not the bulkiest of players, which does aid his agility, but he isn’t afraid to get stuck in, too. He showed flashes of this in his substitute appearance against Blackburn – in my personal opinion, he should have been introduced to the game much earlier than he was – and, last night, it helped him run the game.
It summed his entire night up when he broke his neck to support Tevez, who was battling his way into the Salzburg box, to end up with a shooting chance (though he did decide to cut back onto his left foot and consequently gave the goalkeeper time to adjust). Tevez, traditionally, isn’t the most selfless of players and will normally take a shot on if he can, so Silva bust a gut knowing he mightn’t have even gotten the chance to shoot. But he did and he should have scored.
Keeping our feet on the ground, for a moment, though, we should remember that Red Bull Salzburg aren’t Arsenal or Chelsea or Manchester United. But, equally, they’re not a poor side; last season, they won every one of their Europa League group stage games and were also the Austrian Bundesliga winners. Ok, so it’s not the English Premier League, but it’s hardly the Northwest Counties League, either.
The second thing that struck me was my parents’ ability to fall asleep at the drop of a hat. Not just a problem when hat shopping, but also a completely strange sight when, only seconds after the half time whistle had been blown, I was able to look across and see them snoozing away on the sofa, despite having been in full conversation with them virtually right up until the whistle.
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Gareth Barry’s return to the starting line-up and subsequent influence on the match was the third thing that struck me. Looking back to the Blackburn match, with Milner and Yaya Touré struggling to find form and Vieira as the third, deeper, central midfielder, there was little service to Tevez (and later, Jo). And it was no coincidence that it was Barry’s introduction that made the home side more threatening.
I was genuinely quite worried for Barry at the start of the season, especially after he struggled, like most of the other England players, in the World Cup (though he was battling back from injury). With the midfield talent that Roberto Mancini brought in to City, Barry was one of the favourites among several fans to be starting more games on the bench than on the pitch, condemned to proving his worth in European or League Cup matches.
However, the man himself had no such thoughts of being a bit-part player. He’s been nothing short of outstanding so far this season and last night was just another example. It’s the hard work he does that goes unnoticed. He links the defence with the attack with simple passing and, in the case of creating one of Jo’s opportunities yesterday, superb vision and through ball execution.
He’s not a Nigel de Jong, who will break up play and protect the back four, while offering very little going forward – anyone who saw his miss (read: backpass) in City’s 1-2 victory at Fulham last season can testify for that: if the ball breaks free for a first time shot eight yards from goal, it’s not Nigel de Jong you want it to fall to.
It’s a popular misconception, especially amongst television pundits who don’t get to see matches in their entirety (yet are expected to comment on them perfectly), that when City start with Nigel de Jong and Gareth Barry that they are starting with two defensive midfielders. And it’s usually followed by a criticism, especially if City are at home.
While it may be true that de Jong won’t give the side much on the attack, the same cannot be said of Barry. He is the player responsible for finding Yaya Touré in advanced positions or moving the ball wide to Milner or chipping it in to Johnson or making the late drive into the box.
In fact, here’s me calling for Silva to join the starting eleven, but I can’t for the life of me decide who I would drop – personally, I’d like to see Nigel de Jong start, Gareth Barry start, Yaya Touré start, James Milner start, Adam Johnson start and David Silva start. Though, I’m not on the same contract as Roberto Mancini, so I’ll probably be left with that selection headache on Football Manager only.
I also wondered, during last night’s match, whether the captain’s armband was having something of a negative effect on the new club captain, Carlos Tevez. When it was announced that he would be club captain for the season, I could certainly see the reasons why – if your captain is chasing everything and working hard, it’s leading by example and, in theory at least, the rest of the team should be inspired by his efforts. But I also found it a somewhat strange decision, certainly with there being other, perhaps more natural, candidates in the squad. Personally, I had been expecting the armband to be wrapped around Vincent Kompany’s arm this season.
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It would be fair to say that Tevez hasn’t yet recaptured his form from last season – he’s started this season like a BBC Three sitcom: trying hard to do its job, but struggling and being taken off before the series is over. Then again, he was very involved in the World Cup (granted, any game that Tevez plays in he generally is very involved with) and he did start last season slowly, as he recovered from injury. And, while he doesn’t strike me as somebody who lets pressure get to him, I have wondered more than once this season if it is an extra burden he would play better without.
After all, it seems to have worked for Kolo Touré. Though, I suppose seven games into the season, one of which Tevez didn’t feature in and one of which he scored twice in, is a bit too early to judge. And certainly taking the captaincy off someone who’s only just been given it isn’t going to help his confidence.
Now, all that being said, City travel to Wigan this weekend. While not somewhere you would expect a team that has had great investment over the last couple of seasons to struggle, City have never actually won at the DW Stadium in the Premier League (three losses and two draws). I expect it will be a game in a similar ilk to that of the visit of Blackburn to Eastlands, so it’s going to need City to move the ball around as quickly and lethally as they did last night.
Five points from four Premier League games isn’t a great start and I think, like myself, every other City fan was expecting better. But it’s not panic stations, yet. And a victory at Wigan would be a nice kick-start to City’s season and could be the boost the side needs. City are due that kick-start. Especially after having kick-started so many other teams’ seasons over the years.
You may love him or loathe him, but you would be hard-pressed to find a better chairman than Daniel Levy in the Premier League at present. Sir Alan Sugar once described the Spurs chief as the toughest negotiator he had ever faced; so you can understand why he has been so successful in getting a lot of success in transfer deals over the years.
I was listening to TalkSport this week and an interesting comment was made about Tottenham and their transfer dealings. They were talking about how they couldn’t understand why Spurs were holding out for big money for players like Giovani Dos Santos and Roman Pavlyuchenko, given that their value has hardly increased in value, based on their performances on the pitch. Similar murmurings were made in the summer over Niko Kranjcar and David Bentley; who seemingly were priced out of moves this summer. I’m a big believer, certainly in the case of Dos Santos, Pav and Bentley that we should cut our losses and move on, but clearly Levy is intent to get his money back, despite their poor performances and subsequent drop in value. Some would say he was proved right by holding out, given the success in getting the club’s money back for Darren Bent, but surely we can’t expect to achieve such a result every time.
The reason for my concerns is that it is clear from the outset that Tottenham need to sell before they can buy. Ever since the purse strings were opened up when Redknapp first took the reins of the football club, largely down to ensure our Premier League survival, we have been rather prudent in the market and seemingly operating on a tight budget. Why it is certainly understandable, given the millions that Damien Comolli squandered during his time at the football club, I do wonder whether Daniel Levy is in need of another pair of hands in our transfer dealings in order to ensure that business is conducted more efficiently. I’m not saying the club should perhaps go out and look for another Sporting Director to take control, but certainly someone who can help take a part of the recruitment burden away from the Chairman, who on top of player recruitment has to deal with other issues such as securing a new stadium following the failed Olympic bid. Having to negotiate to sell and then having to negotiate to buy players in such a short space of time in my mind is too much for one man in my opinion; especially when the stakes are even higher on the football pitch.
I know it may seem somewhat premature, given we still have a few days before the window shuts, but can anyone see any significant deals in the pipeline? Had we shipped out the deadwood sooner from the squad, would we be in a better position to secure deals? I think so.
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The Scottish Premier League title race is still too close to call after leaders Rangers drew 0-0 at home to second-placed Celtic.Celtic missed a chance to overhaul their fierce rivals when Greek striker Georgios Samaras had a penalty saved with eight minutes remaining at Ibrox Stadium.
Sunday’s draw leaves defending champions Rangers top by one point with four matches left.
Celtic, meanwhile, have five games still to come, leaving Neil Lennon’s team slim favourites to collect their first league championship since 2008.
The match was played against a backdrop of mounting sectarian tension after a parcel bomb was sent to Celtic manager Neil Lennon.
But despite the usual deafening atmosphere inside Ibrox, the match appeared to pass without incident in the stands.
The same cannot be said on the pitch, where a full-blooded encounter never appeared likely to end in a goalless draw.
Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor had to keep out shots from Daniel Majstorovic, Charlie Mulgrew and Emilio Izaguirre.
And the Scotland international confirmed his status as the hero of the day for the home team when he pushed clear the 82nd-minute spot-kick of Samaras after substitute Anthony Stokes was fouled inside the box.
Rangers might also have broken the deadlock with chances to Kyle Lafferty, Maurice Edu and Steven Naismith.
Stokes was booked for diving late on by referee Craig Thompson after an unconvincing attempt to claim a second penalty for the visitors.
But with neither side able to claim the decisive goal, a stalemate leaves everything to play for over the closing weeks of the campaign.
Reports suggest Arsenal are close to agreeing a deal with Sevilla for their France international Sebastien Squillaci.
Spanish publication Marca reports that Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has indentified the centre-back as the man to help bolster his defensive options at the Emirates Stadium.
The 30-year-old has spent eight years playing top-flight football in his homeland with the likes of Monaco and Lyon.
It is believed that Squillaci asked to be removed from Sevilla's Champions League squad roster this week so that he will be able to represent the Gunners in European football's premier competition.
Sevilla director Ramon Rodriguez confirmed: "The player asked us not to play in this game due to an important offer from a team, although for the moment, we consider the bid to be inadequate and Squillaci remains a Sevilla player."
Squillaci is valued in the region of £8million but looks set to join Laurent Koscielny, Thomas Vermaelen and Johan Djourou as Wenger's central defensive options.
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Wenger has lost Philippe Senderos, William Gallas, Mikael Silvestre and Sol Campbell since the end of last season.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Chelsea target Eduardo Vargas has snubbed the Premier League side to sign for Napoli, and will join up with his new club in January.
The Universidad de Chile attacker has caught the eye of a number of big European teams after spectacular performances for his club, and he has also broken into the Chile national side.
Andre Villas Boas had been rumoured to be preparing a bid for the South American, but the 22-year-old has confirmed that he will move to Naples in the new year.
“Yes I will be joining Napoli, a large team in Italy,” the forward confirmed to Radio Cooperativa.
“I’m sure I’ll do very well there. I already know Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi.
“I am very happy that everything was tied up quickly, and for me to play in Italy is a dream come true,” he stated.
Vargas will move to the Serie A side for a fee of €13.6 million (£11.5million) and will now be eligible for Napoli’s Champions League campaign, in which they take on Chelsea in the last 16.
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Barcelona remain eight points clear in La Liga after coming from a goal down to beat bottom side Almeria 3-1 on Saturday.Visitors Almeria took a surprise lead in the 50th minute after a goalless first half at the Camp Nou.
Diminutive Argentine forward Pablo Piatti found space on the right flank and was able to set up Miguel Angel Corona, with the attacking midfielder beating Barca reserve goalkeeper Jose Pinto to make it 1-0.
But the lead lasted just three minutes before Almeria goalkeeper Diego Alves brought down David Villa in the box.
Lionel Messi converted the resulting penalty to draw Barca level.
Argentina forward Messi was again involved as Barca took the lead just over 10 minutes later.
His corner found the head of Thiago Alcantara and the teenage midfielder beat Alves to put the home side 2-1 up.
It was Messi who completed the scoring, benefiting from centre-back Marcelo Silva’s error to make it 3-1 in added time.
Earlier, Real Madrid came away from their trip to Estadio San Mames with all three points following a 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.
Real took the lead 14 minutes into the match when Athletic goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz brought down Argentina midfielder Angel di Maria inside the penalty area and Kaka converted the penalty.
The visitors were 2-0 up in the 54th minute, with Brazil international Kaka again scoring from the spot after Xabier Castillo brought down di Maria in the box.
Cristiano Ronaldo came off the bench to add a third in the 70th minute.
With both of the top two winning, second-placed Real stay eight points back from league leaders Barca.
They teams are set to meet at the Santiago Bernabeu next Saturday.
In the late kick-off, Sevilla twice came from behind to draw 2-2 away to Mallorca.
First Alvaro Negredo equalised from the penalty spot after Akihiro Ienaga gave hosts Mallorca the lead at Estadio Son Moix.
Jonathan De Guzman restored Mallorca’s lead four minutes before the break, but Ivan Rakitic levelled again for the visitors on 67 minutes.
The draw leaves Sevilla fifth on 46 points, with Mallorca seven points back in ninth place.
When Martin O’Neill resigned as manager of Aston Villa a number of names were linked with the job, Sven Goran Eriksson, Martin Jol, Bob Bradley, one who would certainly not have crossed many minds was that of Diego Maradona. In recent days though, the Argentinian has been heavily linked with the managers job at Villa Park. His agent Walter Soriano has been voicing this interest, the Sunday Mercury has quoted Soriano as stating;
“I think Diego would be very open to the idea of coming to England and managing Aston Villa.” He also said “If the owner Randy Lerner wants to make him a serious offer, I am sure he would get a very positive response.”
Maradona of course is still a huge outsider, this morning you could get 50/1 on him becoming the next Villa manager, with Kevin MacDonald the current favourite. There may be one or two backing Maradona at such odds and if it were to happen, it would be one of the most sensational managerial appointments in years. Maradona of course, is still a man who inpires mixed emotions in England. What is not in doubt is that he is a fascinating individual, and he was one of the most entertaining performers at the World Cup in South Africa.
The Sunday Mercury also quotes agent Walter Soriano as stating, “He is very attracted to English football and the way of life in your country and I know he will be very willing to move there. He loves the English countryside and your respect for privacy so he would be very happy there.”
Maradona would light up the Premier League if he was there, but questions might exist over how his team would perform. At the World Cup, Maradona seemed to have a fairly naïve grasp of tactics. Argentina played all out attacking football and made much of the early running in the tournament, but when they faced Germany they were dismantled as the lethal Teutonic counter-attacks cut through them with ease. Villa fans might be concerned that Maradona’s attacking style might not be hugely effective in the Premier League, but Villa have been one of the more adventurous sides in the league in recent years, and have the personnel to suit an attacking mindset. If Maradona did want to have a serious run in charge of Villa, it might be advisable for him to have an experienced Premier League assistant to help him with tactics and the defensive side of the game. Maradona himself despite his diminutive stature would be a towering presence in the dressing room, and would be a hugely inspirational figure for the players.
It is easy for someone who does not support Aston Villa to revel in the possible appointment of Diego Maradona. He would provide entertainment for the whole league but it is questionable whether one would want him at their own club. There would be plus points, Villa Park would certainly not be dull and Maradona might also be able to attract some good Argentinian players to the club, but there are also major drawbacks. Maradona’s managerial ability is still in question, and he plays an almost kamikaze style of football, for a club who have serious aspirations to improve it may not be the shrewdest move by Randy Lerner. It would be great to see Maradona in the Premiership one day, but he might have to hone his management style and gain greater experience before he can be a successful manager in England.
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Liverpool defender Jose Enrique has admitted that having to play two games in 48 hours is unfair, but that it will not be used as an excuse should his team get eliminated from the Carling Cup by Chelsea.
The Anfield outfit travel to Stamford Bridge in the quarter finals of the knockout competition on Tuesday, a mere two days after facing Manchester City in the league.
Kenny Dalglish has been vocal in his displeasure at the scheduling nightmare, and the Spanish full back has agreed with his club boss.
“If the manager decides I have to play, I play,” the ex-Newcastle left back told the club’s official website.
“The Premier League and Football League didn’t make a good decision.
“We played on Sunday and have to play in another 48 hours, whereas Chelsea played on Saturday. This is not normal. It just happens in England,” he stated.
Despite the taxing build up of fixtures, Enrique stated that the Merseysiders will not use it as an excuse should they be beaten on Tuesday.
“It is no good for us because we play against Chelsea away and it is hard to win, and normally when you play 48 hours after a game you are more tired.
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“But there will be no excuses. We can still win there and will try to get that win,” he admitted.
This season almost any player who’s put in a decent performance has been linked with Manchester United.
The list of players deemed ‘destined’ to come to Old Trafford in the Summer is so long, that if it were true United could fill a 25 man squad two times over.
Just looking at the goalkeepers being linked with United gives us some idea of how whenever a football writer is short of copy, making up a move to the Theatre of Dreams seems the easiest thing to do.
Goalkeepers linked with a move to United have been – deep breath now- Manuel Neuer, Pepe Reina, David De Gea, Gianluigi Buffon, Igor Akinfeev, Maarten Stekelenburg, Diego Lopez, Hugo Lloris and John Burridge – okay I made that last one up.
If Sir Alex Ferguson was planning to try out a new revolutionary tactic of having eight goalkeepers as some form of defensive unit, then that assortment of stoppers would be perfect, but he aint so they’re not.
It’s obvious United could do with another keeper as with Van Der Sar’s imminent retirement and Anders Lindegaard’s relative inexperience, surely Ferguson will be looking for a new number one.
Defensively United are arguably the strongest they’ve been in in recent memory – with Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, John O’Shea, Wes Brown, Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling, Patrice Evra, Rafael and Fabio Da Silva giving Sir Alex plenty of quality options. The frustration at the lack of games Ferdinand has managed has been offset slightly by how well Smalling’s done since he arrived at the club.
When it comes to strikers, Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Chicharito are a formidable trio with Danny Welbeck and Kiko Macheda also available if Ferguson’s needs them, spending millions on a striker would be a pretty pointless endeavour.
It’s in the midfield department that the smart money’s on Ferguson spending and spending big.
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Luka Modric, Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam, Jack Rodwell, Gareth Bale, Wesley Sneijder, Beram Kayal, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Eden Hazard, Bastien Schweinsteiger, Ashley Young, Jeremy Menez and Marek Hamsik are just some of the names that it’s been claimed will be wearing the red of United next season.
While I’ve advocated the signing of Charlie Adam, as a dead ball specialist and someone with the ability to spread the play, I’m not sure that United really need to start throwing money around.
There are three reasons I’m beginning to think United may not need to ‘splash the cash’ quite as much as some would suggest. The three reasons are simple: Ravel Morrison, Paul Pogba and Tom Cleverley.
In that trio of United have three players who have made anyone that’s seen them bristle with excitement. Morrison’s recent brace against Liverpool in the FA Youth Cup has made him one of the most talked about players at the club, while Pogba is not far behind.
Both have excelled for the academy this season, Pogba who turned 18 this week – belated happy birthday son – has been compared to Patrick Vieira in the past, not just because of his physical appearance either.
Pogba can be a driving force deep from midfield and has a shot on him that Anderson can only dream of and the former Le Harve player has been attracting a lot of attention from the national media of late as certain newspapers realise he could break through to the first team sooner rather than later.
Morrison’s star is shining so bright that the club were even prepared to give him a chance following his recent court appearance, make no mistake about it, if it wasn’t for his talent, he’d have been jettisoned long ago.
Tom Cleverley has been one of Wigan’s best players this season, putting in stellar performances in a team that’s spent the last seven months battling relegation. As he did at Watford Cleverley’s shown himself to be a useful attacking midfielder that’s not afraid to mix it up a bit and get stuck in. I’ve made no secret of the fact I’m a big Cleverley fan and firmly believe he could do a job at Old Trafford next season.
Many Wigan fans, like Watford ones before them, rave about Cleverley and believe if they’ve any chance of survival he’s going to be a big part of it.
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Of course anyone will tell you playing for Wigan, or United’s academy or reserves is a lot different to playing in front of 70 odd thousand fans every week, but the same argument could have been used for any player to come through the ranks.
It’s been a while since anyone’s made the step up from the youth to the first team, but it’s also been a while since players of the caliber of Pogba Morrison and Cleverley were coming through United’s ranks.
With Michael Carrick recently signing a new long-term contract, it’s obvious that despite what many fans wish, he won’t be going anywhere soon. Neither it seems will Darren Fletcher who’s also poised to sign a new deal according to many reports.
While Fletcher has struggled at times this season, he’s still a class act on his day and hopefully once he gets himself fit, he’ll be able to put in the barnstorming performances he was fast becoming well known for.
Carrick’s one of the less revered players at the club, but while he may not be everyone’s cup of tea he has won a hat-trick of titles and a Champion’s League, so he can’t be the disaster some claim he is.
Darron Gibson’s a player that makes Carrick seem revered such is the level of disdain most Reds hold him in. I know most disagree but I’m still convinced Gibson may have a future at Old Trafford, particularly if his passing continues to improve.
Then there’s Rooney. I know I earlier labelled him a striker but as his recent performances have shown he can play practically as a midfielder and I for one think that’s where is future may lie.
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The point I’m making is do United really need to go out and spend £40, £50 or even £100 million on a host of players.
Given the choice of Henderson or Carrick I’d actually prefer the latter, ditto if you gave me the choice between Rodwell and Pogba. You can argue with some justification that Rodwell’s more proven but I’m not sure his ascendancy is as great as every one assumes. Last season, for me, was a more impressive one for the midfielder than this one has been and I genuinely think Pogba’s punching well below his weight playing for United’s academy or the reserves for that matter.
Some people claim that United need to spend big to show City, Chelsea and the rest of the pretenders that we’ve still got the financial clout to compete and are not totally crippled by the Glazer’s debt.
Well I’m sorry but that’s as ridiculous as it is dangerous. Spending money just to show you’ve got it is like going for a quick pint in Alderley Edge when you live in Stretford. Whether United have money or not is beside the point, I genuinely don’t think we need to buy more than maybe one midfielder and a goalkeeper.
Even if we just bought a ‘keeper I wouldn’t be that disappointed, I remember in 1995 when Mark Hughes, Andrei Kanchelskis and Paul Ince left for “greener pastures” after United had just experienced our first trophy-less season in six years.
Everyone predicted we’d fall behind mega-spending Blackburn and Newcastle but a few youngsters came through the ranks to poor dandelion and burdock on that particular chip barm.
Giving Cleverley, Pogba, Morrison and some would argue even Carrick, Gibson and Fletcher the job of looking after United’s midfield may be something of a gamble, but for me it’s less of gamble than spending £80 million on players who may or may not be good enough for Old Trafford.
Read more of Justin’s articles at the excellent Red Flag Flying High