FCUM

Sir Bobby didn't win the title, did he? So aye, Paisley. Aye, yer right He only got Ipswich to 2nd place, for some reason I always think of him having won the league with them

Being realistic though I can't see you getting Heinze, I was more interested if anybody would fancy Silvestre who would be available for a couple of years.

Bearing in mind that to most football supporters, Fergie, Wenger & Mourinho (whilst being great managers) are all obnoxious twats When was the last time a nice guy won the title? Daglish? Nar, he was an obnoxious twat too Wilko.... Nar.... Do we have to go all the way back to Paisley and Sir Bobby

I think you suffered from the major flaw in Keegan's make-up, his ability to stick around. Another few years under Keegan might well have cemented you in the same bracket. Purely a personal point of view that I know many on here disagree with but... I had a lot of respect for Sir John Hall and can't help feeling things would have panned out better if he'd stayed at the helm longer.

Both are very similar in their gift of 'concentration' though Do you reckon Heinze's not quite the player he was (before he got injured) or do you just think he's struggling for form a bit? Two noticable things about Heinze. 1) He doesn't seem able to jump off the ground. Although aerial ability might not be a pre-requisite for a full back you still want them to be able to defend set pieces in the air. I'm not really sure if this is a legacy of the injury or if he was as bad before but I didn't notice it. 2) He takes a position too far in front of the guy he's marking, usually about 10 yards in front giving them ample time to pick a pass. He seems shit scared to get close, obviously worried he'll get done for pace. Again, possibly a legacy of the injury.

Both are very similar in their gift of 'concentration' though

Ouch, you'll get flamed for that Plethora of left backs at Man Utd if they do get him. Evra, Heinze, Silvestre, Bale Anybody fancy Mickey Silvestre? Titus MK 2

Couldn't agree more. Arsenal were a 'fashionable' club before Wenger but he's transformed them from a boring and ageing team into an exciting and largely young one on relatively limited resources. I'm not sure Mourhino could have done that, Gemmill. Really? Is that why Chris Sutton turned them down to sign for Blackburn and Sheringham chose FSpurs over them? They never used to sell out even as well, I remember they used to give us the whole Clock End, first few seasons in the Premiership. Do you seriously think Bergkamp came to Arsenal for anything other money, he certainly didn't come to be coached by Rioch and Houston that's for certain. I was thinking more in George Graham's reign not Rioch's short tenure. They did win 6 major trophies during 8 years. Although I accept (and agree) your point on their crowds.

Couldn't agree more. Arsenal were a 'fashionable' club before Wenger but he's transformed them from a boring and ageing team into an exciting and largely young one on relatively limited resources. I'm not sure Mourhino could have done that, Gemmill.

Unfortunately the know nothing fuckwits are not only confined to Chelsea, Gemmill. I browsed a Man Utd forum last night to see the following thread titles Yes, they might have been in the minority but it was like reading fuckwit central : I can't wait until Giggs retires Sack The Cunt! (Fergie) Gary Neville is one fucking overated cunt saha ...the white turtle necked twat Fergie at fault AGAIN Van Der Sar is fucking shit fergie out

I still think it is a fairly level playing field (within the top 4), Gemmill. I think Arsenal are still capable of taking any of the other teams apart on their day and now have the benefit of increased gate revenues. Even if Chelsea bullet Mourhino, Abramovich will still throw money at them (arguably more so to finance a new manager). Man Utd still probably have the profile to replace Fergie with another top class manager.

What a load of shite. The Munich air crash happened in 1958. How long prior would you like to go? Let's take a decade before Munich say 1948. Manchester United average attendance in that season 54,890. Their 'global market presence' as you put it is largely down to being the dominant team in the 1990's when the TV export boom to Asia etc was at it's height. I wouldn't argue with you that they have been succesful in marketing their 'brand' (yuk) but that was 'earned' with back to back doubles and a treble when the export boom of football was at it's height. Newcastle United's average attendance in that self same season 56,283 The point I was trying to make was not to compare attendances with other clubs but to demonstrate that Man Utd's crowds pre the Munich disaster were every bit as good as (if not better) than in the aftermath. The vast majority of club's income in those days was through the gate and not through marketing hype. Ergo I don't think, as FOP was suggesting that Munich made a significant difference to the club's wealth. FOP, you say they were the only English club many in Europe or the rest of the world knew prior to Liverpool's domination. Again I would say this was about timing. Liverpool's domination started in the 1970s, prior to that Football only got any real TV exposure in the late 1960s at the same time as Man Utd were the first English side to win the European Cup and Bestie became 'El Beatle' etc. You can argue (and I wouldn't disagree) that it's not been a level playing field for some time regarding revenues but I'd still argue that their wealth (although £600 million in debt now) has still been self generated. You could say they were 'lucky' in being the dominant club in both the late 60s when football first started to get TV exposure and again in the 1990s when we saw the marketing boom to Asia etc but that 'luck' was still self generated.

In domestic football (of those I've watched) it would have to be Greaves, Law, Lineker in that order. Strange thing is though when we talk about great finishers (me included) we always concentrate on the 'shooting' finishers and forget the great headers like Wyn Davies etc.

What a load of shite. The Munich air crash happened in 1958. How long prior would you like to go? Let's take a decade before Munich say 1948. Manchester United average attendance in that season 54,890. Their 'global market presence' as you put it is largely down to being the dominant team in the 1990's when the TV export boom to Asia etc was at it's height. I wouldn't argue with you that they have been succesful in marketing their 'brand' (yuk) but that was 'earned' with back to back doubles and a treble when the export boom of football was at it's height.

Pity he didn't do the same with several North East bookmakers I know before he left the area

I was back down in Manchester on business last summer and being on my todd grabbed a quick curry in Didsbury early doors. On the next table was sat Rio and his bird. I watched the tight arsed barsteward leave a £1 coin as a tip

I see your point there but given the fact that Roeder claims that Martins was "the only striker he wanted to sign all summer" and that both he and Shepherd claim that the loan signing of Rossi was planned and NOT a 'panic signing' surely that only serves to confirm how shit our transfer planning last summer truly was? Either that or certain people at the club have been lying to us.......surely not? Not really sure it was shit planning really, Craig. With Owen & Dyer both out at the start of the season you didn't really have any cover for Martins (or Ameobi for that matter but that's a different story). If Martins had picked up a bad injury you would have really been in the shit. Seems to me that Roeder got a little 'insurance' on the cheap.

It's hardly surprising Rossi hasn't got more games. At the end of the day he's a forward but not a 'striker'. I couldn't really see Rossi and Martins playing together and seeing as you paid 10 mill for one and the other was a 4/5 month loan signing, how can anyone be surprised he hasn't played more! If Martins had picked up a long term injury or instead of signing Martins you'd signed a 'Crouch' type player then I'm sure Rossi would have got more games. Rossi has the same problem if he remains at Old Trafford, I couldn't see him and Rooney in the same team and there will only be one winner of that battle. The lad needs to get himself in the shop window so needs to think carefully about where he goes next.

aha...wondered when you would be back... I have roxio platinum and an upgrade to version 5.3.5.10 Suppose it works, but I can't stop it being part of the boot up procedure, also I can't recover data on data CD's I copied before, it stored them in a "versions" format which I can't access any more, I am wondering if it is something to do with the udf installer - and something is interfering with windows media player. I can live with these probs but would fix them if possible. If it's only a small update file, then you could actually send it to me - I'm on broadband - ???? Why did you switch to nero ? It's probably a good programme but I think roxio is far more user friendly 16734[/snapback] The upgrade I have is 5.3.5.10 so it's the same one you already have. I installed the platinum version and ran the upgrade over the top and never had any problems (apart from the equivalent to incd which I don't think was supported in XP). I changed to Nero because I started to get problems with 'buffer underun' in Roxio, it was bloody infuriating, the CD burn would get almost to the end then crash!!! Nero's got something in the programme to stop that happening and I've never had a CD or DVD fail to burn properly since I got Nero a couple of years ago. I think the interface is just a case of what you are used to, I prefer Nero now as I'm used to it. If you want Nero 6 then download it from the website and I'll PM you a serial key to unlock it if you need one.

Leazes, If your Roxio is version 5 you will need an update from their website. I've switched to Nero but had Roxio CD creator platinum V 5.0 and needed to download an upgrade from Roxio when I went to XP. If you have a problem getting the update let me know, I still have the upgrade file floating about and can stick it on a CD for you.

Not me mate, I've given up on the franchise. My ST has gone back and been replaced by one for FCUM. It's strictly non league football for me this season and it's brilliant, I'm enjoying every minute of it even though we've now gone through 270 minutes of football without scoring Ah well, tomorrow night at Flixton 'all we are singing, is give us a goal' I never thought I'd be taking holidays to watch non league friendlies but I'm hooked

My 'sources' tell me that Owen has said he'll only move to a club playing Champions League football. It would appear that Arse or Chelski are not interested and Liverpool supposedly not wanting him back I think that paves the way for Man Utd to sign him. I reckon Saha will stay and RVN will be the one to move on. It's rumoured he wants to try his luck in Spain or Italy and is not happy at OT. Fergie will need to keep players happy who are not playing every week, he'll do that with Saha but not RVN. Expect Guissepe Rossi to make the breakthrough at OT this season. Potentially he's better than either Owen or RVN. He's already played for the Italian U21 team and looks an awesome prospect. My guess is RVN will move on leaving Owen, Rooney, Rossi & Saha as the 4 strikers although Rooney may settle into the Scholes role in time.

Topical Times Football Annual & Charlie Buchans Football Monthly Annual. I had an Auntie used to buy me both for Christmas and I couldn't wait to unwrap them. I still have em all stuck in the loft, probably worth a few quid now. . . . . . . . Oh, and Parade

FCUM Forum You might need to bookmark ours for a decade but then again we may just get lucky in the FA Cup once we are elegible

Where's Tanzo? ....... and my old mate, Leazes