Robinho is set to leave Manchester City and it seems he won’t be much missed, even by the fans who idolised him just a year ago.

Yet, as a lifelong supporter of lost causes, I’m going to attempt a defence of the Brazilian as he puts his seat in the upright position and stows his tray table on the way back to Sao Paulo.

There are two sides to every story, a fact never more apparent than in the contrasting treatment of Robinho and Carlos Tevez.

Both are high-maintenance South American flair players. Both got into a contract dispute with a big club, and both ended up joining City and getting paid a massive sum of money. Both have shady advisors and both have blown hot and cold for each of their clubs.

However, the public perception of the two could hardly be more different.

Tevez’s superb goalscoring form makes him pretty much immune to criticism at the moment, but it has not always been like this.

Last season he scored just five Premier League goals in 29 games, then had the temerity to get the hump when Fergie and a certain moustachioed right-back said he wasn’t worth £25 million.

Yet Tevez has always been looked on sympathetically - primarily because of his 90-minute headless-chicken dashes that qualify him for honorary Englishman status - while Robinho is viewed with suspicion and disdain.

Here, a look at a number of real-life situations where you can compare how the media and public have reacted to each player. Read the rest of this entry »

Back in 2005, when the Glazer family’s takeover of Manchester United was marked by supporters wearing black to the Cup Final, some of the more militant fan elements spoke about how the Florida dynasty were a bunch of thieves, stealing from the Reds’ heritage. It is hard, reading the latest set of accounts to emerge from Old Trafford, to suggest such a view was wrong.

In one sense, five years of Glazerdom appears barely to have affected United. During the time of their involvement, one Champions League, three successive titles, a couple of League Cups and a world club championship have been popped into the trophy room. So why is it, then, that the club is heading for the brown stuff?

Read the rest of this entry »

It was one of the greatest shocks in recent football history, an event that proved you should never write anyone off, and that the Magic of the FA Cup^TM is still well and truly alive.

No, not Leeds’ win at Old Trafford, but the moment during Alex Ferguson’s post-match interview when it looked like he was going to be gracious in defeat.

Breaking the habit of a lifetime, Fergie paid tribute to Leeds and admitted his side were not good enough.

He said: “Leeds had far bigger appetite than us. Human beings can always surprise you but we didn’t expect that today.

“I am shocked by the performance because our preparation for the game was very good. But we never got going. The quality of the passing and whole performance was bad.”

Then reality intervened, and Fergie reverted to type, haranguing referee Chris Foy for adding ‘only’ five minutes of injury time to a second half with no major stoppages.

“The referee gave five minutes, that is an insult to the game and the players out there,” he stormed, before suggesting that refs should not be allowed to keep time.

The only realistic way he can avoid further FA action for yet another rant against a match official is if he pleads Tourette’s.

In truth, Manchester United could have had all the Fergie Time they wanted and they would not have scored.

Despite Wayne Rooney’s best efforts, Leeds simply could not be breached. United’s singular lack of goal threat was summed up by the moment when Michael Owen scuffed his shot horribly when he looked odds on to score.

It is the kind of chance he used to convert with his eyes closed, and maybe that was the problem; as the ball came, he must have screwed his eyes up tight and swung wildly with his right boot - how else to explain such a lamentable effort on goal?

Dimitar Berbatov looked ponderous, Gabriel Obertan ragged and Danny Welbeck totally out of his depth (although no more so than the dreadful Wes Brown, who committed enough fouls to get sent off five or six times).

In recent years, United could always rely on one man to bail them out when they failed to perform, but Cristiano Ronaldo is now a Real Madrid player. And isn’t it surprising the difference it makes when the best footballer in the world leaves you? Read the rest of this entry »