Ferguson's Contemptuous Gesture....

[StevieH]

there is actually still an FA law in place which requires managers to select their strongest available team but squad sizes and rotation have rendered it redundant really.

i don't really give a crap about 'disrespecting the cup', the FA themselves have been doing that for years. might be a bit miffed though if i was a dad who had paid a lot of money to take his lad to london for the day to see ronaldo et al play at wembley only to find the youth team on show. but it's ferguson's call at the end of the day, he gambled, it didn't pay off. this stuff about disrespect and contempt is a load of guff.

[farangconnection]

Look lads, Fergies done such a wonderful job for United that his every desicion is right. No-body can say anything bad about him. If he was to select five cows, five sheep and a nanny goat for the next match, half the red tinted glasses brigade would say " Great move Fergie"

[bkkjames]

Look lads, Fergies done such a wonderful job for United that his every desicion is right. No-body can say anything bad about him. If he was to select five cows, five sheep and a nanny goat for the next match, half the red tinted glasses brigade would say " Great move Fergie"

I guess that's where we differ FC, for 20 years SAF has for the most part been doing the right thing and I think his record speaks for himself.

Perhaps if a few other clubs (owners, supporters) would let their managers 'get on with it' and stop 2nd guessing every move, then perhaps, just perhaps they would have something close to his record.

About your red tinted glasses comment, I already said I was surprised CR was not on the bench at least, if not starting, but in anycase, I think you will ask any supporter or fan , do they want Fergie (not the blonde one) to stay on for another 20 years, and almost to a man they would say yes.

We support 'the boss'.

[mrtoad]

there is actually still an FA law in place which requires managers to select their strongest available team but squad sizes and rotation have rendered it redundant really.

i don't really give a crap about 'disrespecting the cup', the FA themselves have been doing that for years. might be a bit miffed though if i was a dad who had paid a lot of money to take his lad to london for the day to see ronaldo et al play at wembley only to find the youth team on show. but it's ferguson's call at the end of the day, he gambled, it didn't pay off. this stuff about disrespect and contempt is a load of guff.

Well, it has given the the usual MUBs something to shake their dick at, but in the end you are right. It is Fergusons decision to pick what team he chooses, and in the end United didn't play to badly, and they probably should have sneaked a win in normal time. If that had been the case, none o fthis BS would have been floating around.

I was more miffed that they are playing semi finals at Wembley, bloody nonsense really, and purely commercial reasons for doing it.

[farangconnection]

Look lads, Fergies done such a wonderful job for United that his every desicion is right. No-body can say anything bad about him. If he was to select five cows, five sheep and a nanny goat for the next match, half the red tinted glasses brigade would say " Great move Fergie"

I guess that's where we differ FC, for 20 years SAF has for the most part been doing the right thing and I think his record speaks for himself.

Perhaps if a few other clubs (owners, supporters) would let their managers 'get on with it' and stop 2nd guessing every move, then perhaps, just perhaps they would have something close to his record.

About your red tinted glasses comment, I already said I was surprised CR was not on the bench at least, if not starting, but in anycase, I think you will ask any supporter or fan , do they want Fergie (not the blonde one) to stay on for another 20 years, and almost to a man they would say yes.

We support 'the boss'.

Why do we differ? That's exactly what I said, albeit in a slightly different way.

[StevieH]

I was more miffed that they are playing semi finals at Wembley, bloody nonsense really, and purely commercial reasons for doing it.

couldn't agree more with that. the FA fuc_ked up the building of the new wembley so now have to pay for it somehow, which means semi-finals there even though both teams are based in the north-west of the country, regular concerts there which make the pitch worse and more pointless international friendlies.

making everton and united fans travel to london for a semi-final is disgraceful.

[mrtoad]

I was more miffed that they are playing semi finals at Wembley, bloody nonsense really, and purely commercial reasons for doing it.

couldn't agree more with that. the FA fuc_ked up the building of the new wembley so now have to pay for it somehow, which means semi-finals there even though both teams are based in the north-west of the country, regular concerts there which make the pitch worse and more pointless international friendlies.

making everton and united fans travel to london for a semi-final is disgraceful.

Yep, it's joke. This Wembley final nonsense started in 1993 if I remember rightly when Spuds and Arsenal met in the semi final. Unfortunaltey, what should be an end of season finale by ending up at Wembley is ruined by having the semis played there now. The stupid thing is, that we have some excellent venues around the country that could be used for the Semi Finals, such as Villa Park, St James Park, Stadium of Light, Eastlands, Anfield. hel_l, why not play the semis at Twickenham and Millenium Staduim. In the end we know the reasons, and thats because as you rightly said the Wembley building was a total FA <deleted> up.

[rixalex]

I was more miffed that they are playing semi finals at Wembley, bloody nonsense really, and purely commercial reasons for doing it.

couldn't agree more with that. the FA fuc_ked up the building of the new wembley so now have to pay for it somehow, which means semi-finals there even though both teams are based in the north-west of the country, regular concerts there which make the pitch worse and more pointless international friendlies.

making everton and united fans travel to london for a semi-final is disgraceful.

Thirded.

A thread on this issue would have had made more sense IMHO.

The Final has now lost some of the aura it should have had - the occasion has been devalued.

I feel sorry, especially for the Toffees who don't get to cup finals often - much as i did when West Ham had to play their final in Cardiff.

It's a shame for fans who wait decades for success - still, i'm sure they'll enjoy the day.

[cloudbusting]

jaysus that rott seems like a bit of a toolbox

what clear cut penalty decision did everton have?

[StevieH]

Thirded.

A thread on this issue would have had made more sense IMHO.

The Final has now lost some of the aura it should have had - the occasion has been devalued.

I feel sorry, especially for the Toffees who don't get to cup finals often - much as i did when West Ham had to play their final in Cardiff.

It's a shame for fans who wait decades for success - still, i'm sure they'll enjoy the day.

cardiff is a great stadium and cost 125m to build. the stade de france in paris cost 200m GBP. new wembley, somehow, cost between 750m and 800m.

[StevieH]

jaysus that rott seems like a bit of a toolbox

what clear cut penalty decision did everton have?

rafael on pienaar. didn't have the ball, didn't play the ball. was a peno.

[bkkjames]

yep, and add to that say 60,000 fans having to travel to london to see the semi-final, utter scandal that is.

anyone who asks why the FA Cup has lost its shine over the years, need only look at the FA itself.

[cloudbusting]

jaysus that rott seems like a bit of a toolbox

what clear cut penalty decision did everton have?

rafael on pienaar. didn't have the ball, didn't play the ball. was a peno.

the time he slightly leant into him when the ball was in the air?

you're joking?

that's called good defending

[mrtoad]

Thirded.

A thread on this issue would have had made more sense IMHO.

The Final has now lost some of the aura it should have had - the occasion has been devalued.

I feel sorry, especially for the Toffees who don't get to cup finals often - much as i did when West Ham had to play their final in Cardiff.

It's a shame for fans who wait decades for success - still, i'm sure they'll enjoy the day.

cardiff is a great stadium and cost 125m to build. the stade de france in paris cost 200m GBP. new wembley, somehow, cost between 750m and 800m.

Maybe Thaksin was advising the FA, because for me Wembley is nothing special to cost 3.5 times as much as Stade De France or 6 times as much as Cardiff.

[rott]

jaysus that rott seems like a bit of a toolbox

Er, watch yourself eh lad,

Mind you an awful lot of people seem to agree with you although that expression is a new one on me.

Did I mention that Everton are in the Cup Final? And do you realise they've taken out 3 of the top 5 on the way?

Oh Oh St. Domingo

[highchol]

One smart cookie is that Sir Alex.......look at it this way, what better way to rub raffas nose in it...united 2 in the bag already, premiership nailed on...champions league still on, and icing on the cake, everton win the FA cup.

who will have nothing shiny to look at in the northwest? ( sorry city but apart from yourselves no one else expects )

Fergussons contemptuous gesture.....for LIVERPOOL.

[cloudbusting]

Let's see if Moyes plays his full strength team tonight?

Any unforced changes from Sundays team (apart from Jo coming in) will clearly be a contemptuous gesture towards the EPL and a disrespect to the fans who follow the team.

[rixalex]

Last night to me proved two things which go some way to vindicating Ferguson's FA Cup team selection.

One is that Everton are a solid side that could have even got a result from our best eleven. To suggest that it was a given that had ManU's first team been on the pitch the result would have been different is i think to under-estimate Moyes's side and the strength and resilience therein.

Two is that not playing our first eleven in the FA Cup gave the team a bit of needed freshness last night. Sadly some of the finishing wasn't quite what it should have been, but the build up play was at time fantastic and suggests the team might be finding some form and ready to give someone a good spanking sooner or later.

[cloudbusting]

Spot on, sure if you look at our meetings with Everton this saeason it tells you that fielding our first team wasn't going to lead to automatic progression.