I know it’s probably not the right time to talk about all this considering we’re in the midst of the most exciting title race in recent memory, but with the Mourinhos and Rijkaards and Blancs of world football lining up to get on the Hot seat at Old Trafford once the master retires, here’s an outrageous thought that comes straight from the heart – Why? Because the head is certain to respond with so many valid, logical reasons against such an idea that it will never get past first base! Sad because romance has long disappeared out of the game, leaving hard headed pragmatism the one and only basis by which decisions are made…and maybe that’s the way it should remain in today’s multi-million pound football business.

What prompted this nostalgia with all its wonderful memories was the visit of  Eric ‘King’ Cantona to Old Trafford on Sunday to watch United beat Liverpool. More than any other club in English football, Manchester United has been blessed with so many legends over the years that it would simply be unfair to select just one as the greatest. There really is no need to name anyone because those football greats are ingrained into the rich history of the club.

If the most influential had to be named however, the record books will undoubtedly suggest that The King will be almost impossible to go past. Cantona proved to be the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle that manager Sir Alex Ferguson had been patiently putting together in order to win the desperately wanted League title for the first time in a quarter of a century.

Ferguson was narrowly denied by a Cantona led Leeds United in his first season in English football but when Sir Alex somehow persuaded Leeds to part with the Frenchman for a mere Read the rest of this entry »

Poor Chelsea, poor JT, poor Ancelotti. A tough week for the blues ended in a disaster last Sunday after they were held at Blackburn for a 1-1 draw in a game in which they looked really comfortable in the first-half.

Remarkably, knowing how impatient Chelsea is, Ancelotti is still the boss. They’ve lost their ability to come back from any game. This season they’ve hardly been innovative. Once they’re a down in a game, it just gets worse for them. Earlier, under Jose, when they went down, their tactics changed and quickly a way back into the game was found out by the special one. However, Mr. Ancelotti does not seem to be so innovative. Another lackluster performance in the league this week. Another show of no ability to come back after conceding. Another show of frustration by the senior players.

I agree as a Chelsea fan I’m impatient, but this is poor football. Really poor. It’s a fact, we were outclassed by Jose last week and continued the poor form in the league. Winning the Blackburn game was highly essential. Knowing as of now nothing more than a realistic draw can be expected at OT on the 3rd of April, we needed that one point edge over them. Now, to stand a good chance, we HAVE to defeat United at OT considering we’re still left to travel to Anfield and to Tottenham and considering United have comparatively easier fixtures. And of course, please do NOT count out Arsenal, who according to me stand a better chance than us.

So if Chelsea is to win the BPL, they need to be different now. What’s gone cannot come back. CL can be won next year. No point crying over it. Let’s look at what we’re left with, and it’s the Premier League. Let’s not blow it away being discouraged by the Inter defeat.

Come this way for all your Comments!

I completely feel for Wayne Bridge, I don’t think what JT did was right, however, when he is in the English shirt, you cannot boo him. He’s serving your own country, booing him would only bring down his performance which would NOT help England win the WC. And, why is Terry playing for England, because Fabio Capello wants him to. Because Capello gave him a place in the team. So why not boo him too for not sharing the same level of disgust against Terry?

Let’s accept it, he is the most fit and the best CB England has. They’ve enough wingers and central midfielders. Their two most important center backs are JT and ex-footballer Ferdinand. Well, knowing Ferdinand does not look fit enough as of now, losing JT too would be disastrous.

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There is outside Old Trafford at the moment a giant banner commemorating the stadium’s 100th birthday. Typically, it is being used for commercial advantage: buy your anniversary commemorative memorabilia in the club superstore. But nonetheless the poster might remind a few of those emerging laden with red-bagged booty how the place came to be built in the first place.

In 1902, Newton Heath FC were close to bankruptcy, their existence only maintained by some of the senior players going round Manchester pubs rattling collecting tins under the noses of fans. A local brewer called John Henry Davies stepped in and took over, wiping out the debt, changing the club’s name and, in 1910, relocating it to a premises he boasted was the finest football ground in the country. Davies built Old Trafford out of his own pocket (or rather out of the purse of his rich wife). Not a penny of debt was incurred. A proud Mancunian, his intention, he said, was to produce “a team of Manchester men to make Manchester proud.”

It was a sense of purpose that ran through the club for generations, understood by his successors. Men like Matt Busby who once took his first team after training to stand at the factory gates and watch the poor locals emerging from their shift, just to remind the players of their duty to lift the lives of those who paid their wages out of the humdrum.

Such a philosophy succeeded in developing an institution that, a century on from Davies’s vision, is easily Manchester’s most powerful international point of recognition. Its renown even seeped into the consciousness of a family in Florida who were entirely agnostic to English working class culture and Mancunian nationalism; they weren’t even interested in football.

But they knew an opportunity to make money for themselves when they spotted one. And since 2005, the Glazers have helped themselves to over £260million in fees and charges from United, money that has come directly from the pockets of the fans, who have seen season ticket prices rise exponentially. To put into perspective what the Glazers have cost United, that money could have been used instead to keep admission prices at 2005 levels and there would still have been more than £100 million to invest in the team.

Every day, one of Britain’s finest cultural institutions is being literally raped to bolster the wealth of a bunch of people with no understanding of its meaning or history or purpose. It is the same at Anfield, two great establishments, their wealth built up over decades through the dedication of their followers, suddenly in troubles due to greed.

Now at least there appears to be some stirrings of resistance at United. Read the rest of this entry »