dtaylor
10 November 2010 1:01PM
OK, will get going early, thanks to Burton Road bakery for the sandwiches, and Band of Horses for the music . . as Hayley McQueen put it on Twitter last night, please keep it clean
And apologies in advance for unanswered questions. I have the two-finger typing style and it's not the quickest . . .
Danny Hello, some questions - 1) Did the GMP try to move this game at all? You rarely see any derby anywhere kick-off much past brunch anymore due to the, ahem, 'difficulties' they cause, but I have to say I'm delighted as the two Carling Cup semi-finals last season were both crackling atmospheres and made for great games. 2) To your knowledge does Mancini have a pre-determined points target like Mark Hughes and the famous 70 point minimum he was on course for when they gave him the bullet? Ergo, if Mancini loses tonight should he be looking nervously over his shoulder, or was it different with Hughes as he was never appointed by the Abu Dhabi Group? 3) Rooney - what the hell is going on? A week on holiday then a week in Nike town, has he been sent to Oregon to be out of the way of this fixture, given the whole saga of his contract a few weeks ago? After pulling him out of the firing line at Everton in September it sends out worrying signals about his mental state. Thanks, and enjoy the match
1) The police are appalled it's a midweek match, especially after the trouble at the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final last season. I spoke to some of the GMP football specialists in Turkey on the Bursaspor trip and they do contact the Prem League at the start of the season to ask for, say, no derbies on bank holidays but it seems they can't stop them happening on midweek matches.
2) They say there is no points target, but I'm sure they will have. I didn't buy into the Mancini-facing-sack stories pre-WBA. They hadn't dropped out of top four and there were mitigating circumstances around the Arsenal defeat. Some of the media can be very two-faced sometimes when you think of the praise that was unleashed when they beat Chelsea. That said, they were poor against Wolves and Poznan so they did need a good performance at WBA. I think ADUG appreciate it is going to need a little time, but the popular image seems to be that he is always one bad result away from the sack.
3) I find it all very weird and, probably like you, think there's a lot more to it. If he needs fitness work . . surely United have highly-paid fitness instructors and a first-class facility at Carrington. I can't profess to know what exactly is going on, but it seems strange to say the least. Which other footballer goes on holiday for a week when they are injured and then comes back to be sent away again on a boot camp?
dtaylor
10 November 2010 1:07PM
That last question was for byebyebadman by the way. teething problems
Mayorbatman My question is (if you can say without risking a Carrington ban), have you ever experienced the Fergie 'hair-dryer'? If so what were the circumstances.
Never had it on a one-to-one basis but witnessed it many, many times in a group situation, and it is something to behold. He once threw his arm at all the tapes off his desk (I think, in the famous Rooney v Tal Ben Haim rant) and smashed one against the wall (the press officer's), batteries flying everywhere etc
Also remember one journalist asking "Will you be going to the World Cup this year?" and he took offence: "Do I ask you if you're still going to those fucking gay clubs?"
But since he changed the format of his press conferences he never properly loses his temper now - not with television cameras there
dtaylor
10 November 2010 1:12PM
Bevctid Danny: With all the astronomical wages etc, do you think city's players will every shake off their 'mercenary' tags and be able to identify with the club, and become club idols in the style of giggs, scholes etc at Utd?
It's different when they have been signed for big money, rather than growing up as local lads and coming through the academy etc, but there aren't many Giggs, Scholes in fairness
The first team that wins a trophy for City - those players will be revered for a long time, but I can't see Tevez, for example, being at the club until he is in his 30s and it looks like most of the academy graduates have been (or will be) moved on.
dtaylor
10 November 2010 1:18PM
callumth 10 November 2010 1:04PM Do you honestly believe that United are in decline? From what it seems, if half of their under-23 players develop as expected, then they'll only need to make one or two big signings for the best part of a decade.
I do, yes. A slow gradual decline, maybe, but a decline nonetheless. The odd thing is that I can still see them winning the league, so it is a complicated issue . . but look at the money situation, the fact so many key players are close to retirement (Fergie too, we presume) and some of the players who are supposed to be coming through. I think the Da Silva twins will be great with some more defensive coaching but I'm not hearing people at Carrington enthusing about the rest of them (Bebe, Obertan, Gibson (22) etc etc. Fergie sticks up for them, and rightly so, but they will need some major signings eventually and then we come back to the club's financial issues all over again
dtaylor
10 November 2010 1:24PM
BlueMoonRising Hello Daniel Which of the two teams would you class as the underdog for today's fixture?
If it is true about this virus - and I've learned the key with Fergie is to take nothing at face value - then I'd say City were the marginal favourites. Thought they looked really good at WBA whereas, to quote a United-supporting mate, Wolves 'served up a miracle to lose to us' .
Can see it going either way though (he says, unimpressively)
dtaylor
10 November 2010 1:30PM
mikeowen sweatercows has just made me spill coffee on the laptop, how cliched. (Although obviously with a choice between Tevez and Rooney, the answer is always self-reliance). Daniel, do you think the unprecedentedly large number of press articles quoting members of the United camp (Neville, Scholes, the socialist lord himself) slagging off City prior to this match mean they're worried? In the early days of $ky Football the disparity between the two teams was so great that City were seen as amusing rather than threatening, but it appears that now there's a prospect of parity on the pitch (and, for United, relative poverty off it)Sir Alex and co don't like it up 'em?
There's definitely more provocation coming from United than there is City. None of the City players have been doing the 'we're coming to get you' stuff whereas there have been all sorts of put-downs the other way. Fergie keeps banging on about this Welcome to Manchester poster but all he is doing is letting City know it has worked . . and it's a bit hypocritical anyway when United have their '34 Years' banner at Old Trafford.
For what it's worth, Mancini yesterday went to great efforts not to say anything inflammatory or provocative ahead of the game, whereas Fergie was, well, Fergie. Not that I mind - I like a bit of needle before these games, with and without journalist hat on
dtaylor
10 November 2010 1:31PM
Bigme Mr taylor, good afternoon to you. Who would win in a fight nemanja vidic or vincent company?
Vidic
dtaylor
10 November 2010 1:37PM
Can I ask a question?
Not trying to be controversial (promise) but what do you make of Malcolm Allison's funeral taking place without the club's chief executive, his second in command, the manager, the captain or any of the players there?
a few of the journalists were discussing this yesterday and felt that if this had happened with Man United it would have been written about and 'an issue' . . which, I know, doesn't tally with the impression some City fans have of a media campaign against their club
dtaylor
10 November 2010 1:39PM
ZOMG I'm sorry, childish or not, but... "Do I ask you if you're still going to those fucking gay clubs?" That is fucking hilarious! Daniel: How did the surrounding press pack react to Fergie's 'question?'
mostly by sniggering and being grateful that it is someone else . . it's a very classroom-like atmosphere sometimes
dtaylor
10 November 2010 1:43PM
thisgunforhire Daniel, really enjoyed 'This Is the One' - great read. Of the current Manchester press pack, which journalist would you say is least intimidated by Fergie. My guess is Ian Ladyman of Her Majesty's Mail. He seems pretty tough (unlike Simon Stone of the Press Association, who seems to regularly wet himself).
Neil Custis from the Sun stands up to him sometimes. Ladyman is a very good operator and I can remember him out-arguing Fergie once.
dtaylor
10 November 2010 1:47PM
happygoth dtaylor Who made the decision to sign Balotelli, and how much influence does Mancini have over City's scouting network in general?
He's very much a Mancini buy, and if anyone is going to tame him (for want of a better word) it's probably going to be Mancini. There are others, though, where Mancini is merely consulted rather than making the suggestion himself. I'm thinking James Milner, specifically, who was brought in by Brian Marwood.
Some managers would have a problem with this, but not heard anything to suggest Mancini has
dtaylor
10 November 2010 1:50PM
bornblue Should Ferguson be forced to speak on air to the BBC?
But how do you force someone? especially when that person is Ferguson, probably the most stubborn man on the planet?
They're still talking behind the scenes. Scudamore has been on to Gill in the last few weeks and the LMA have got involved too. I wouldn't be surprised if the boycott is lifted sometime soon but, as it stands, Fergie is digging in his heels for an apology
Until then, the fines are going to be stacking up, though for some reason the Prem League refuse to say how much the fines will be (I'm told they will be higher than people think)
dtaylor
10 November 2010 1:52PM
yohanams what do you think about hernandez's glaring dive last match? seems nobody talked about it. or maybe he didn't dive, did he?
I was surprised more than anything because from what I'd seen before then one of the good things about him was that he didn't seem to have that side to him
You're right, he has got away with it in terms of media coverage. It happens like that sometimes.
dtaylor
10 November 2010 2:00PM
Uncle3en Hi Daniel On the topic of decline and major signings needed to replace, and now the dust has settled, do you entertain the idea that the recent Rooney contract negotiations and all of its oddities and conflicting noises was actually orchestrated Fergie & Rooney v Glazers rather than simply Rooney v Fergie or just Rooney v £? Fanciful very possibly, but having followed the man (and Rooney's United career), thoughts?
I think 'fanciful' is the right word . . why would Rooney want to make himself so unpopular?
I think it was about three things, in order
1) £
2) him not getting on with Fergie
3) a genuine sense that United are being left behind in transfer market etc
but mostly money - Man City's money
dtaylor
10 November 2010 2:02PM
ZOMG So Brian Marwood, Nike's former head of football marketing, fought tooth and nail to bring in England 'star' James Milner for an amount of money no-one else would go anywhere near. I'm sure I'm over-reaching but...what boots does Milner wear again?
the same as Rooney, funnily enough
dtaylor
10 November 2010 2:10PM
MarkTG @redcollar Daniel, re the Rooney situation. Do you think he has already peaked? IMO, he's on a downward path now, a bit like Owen. While that's certainly posible, i think it's way too early to come to that conclusion, especially given as it's hard to say how much is physical issues and how much mental. I'd also say even if it is the case, Owen would always be a more severe case given how much of his game was based on his raw pace.
It's certainly a possibility though. Rooney at 18 (I'm thinking Euro 2004) terrified opponents. He had rough edges, of course, but he used to get the ball and just steam past defenders. Did you see him come on as a sub for Everton at Old Trafford that time? He just got the ball, ran past about three challenges and nearly scored. He's a much different player now, probably more rounded but definitely not as scary for opponents.
As for this run of bad form, it goes back seven months now. Yes, there have been fitness issues, but it's more than just a mini-slump, or a blip - it's a full-blown slump.
Feels strange that we should be having this debate about the reigning footballer of the year . .
dtaylor
10 November 2010 2:25PM
ICharlie Daniel, to return to your earlier point that Rooney wasn't getting on with Fergie. You actually believe that to be the case and not just a tactic to engineer an exit or a bigger contract. I assume you heard most of this through his agent and not Rooney himself so I guess it must be hard to say definitively
Their relationship was definitely strained over all the prostitute stories etc. That breakdown was originally cited as the main reason why Rooney wanted to go, which might just have been part of what was essentially a messy PR war . . but it was generally accepted at Old Trafford (despite what Fergie said in his press conf) that there had been a big fall-out.
To be fair to Fergie, he was entitled to be angry. That's what was so distasteful - Rooney portraying himself as the victim after bringing so much bad publicity on himself and the club
Everyone assumes with Fergie that if you cross him you will be shown the door - but it only applies in general to players he feels are no longer going to be great use to him. For eg, he turned a blind eye to some of Bryan Robson's drinking, Keane used to get in all sorts of trouble etc etc but Fergie let him off because he knew what a great player he was.
dtaylor
10 November 2010 2:26PM
MookieB 7 months. 3 of which were pre season.
You must have missed that tournament in the summer . .
dtaylor
10 November 2010 2:12PM
BlueMoonRising @dttaylor re: Malcolm Allison's Funeral I had no idea that the current manager or chief executive had bothered to turn up to the funeral itself (I know that Brian Kidd went of the current hierarchy) The entire squad should have been in attendance plus manager, chief executive and bloody tea lady!
this is what I thought too . . you might not like me saying it, but that would never have happened with United
You might but sensationalising things somewhat Daniel (that's not like you!). Do we know that Big Mal's family wanted the squad and suits there? The funeral cortege passed through the ground on the day, the club organised a pre-match memorial outisde the ground as well as moments silence inside.
They also made this video tribute to the great man (link: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.mcfc.co.uk/Video/Features/Malcolm-Allison-A-Tribute" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.mcfc.co.uk/Video/Features/Ma ... -A-Tribute</a>).
I thought they did a wonderful job myself.
dtaylor
10 November 2010 2:34PM
DB88 dtaylor Re. Malcom Allison's funeral - is there any genuine reason why the people you mentioned didn't go? Was it simply they didn't believe it warranted their attendance (which is surely incredibly offensive and disrespectful)? Also, from what you've said about Ferguson, he sounds like a bit of a... what are your general thoughts on him, as a person?
Garry Cook was on holiday, in fairness.
As for Fergie, he can be appalling, hypocritical, provocative and downright nasty, but it's an education following him and I find him fascinating. Someone else asked me this question for a web interview and I said he would be the first person I would invite to a fantasy dinner party XI. He wouldn't reply, of course :)
OK . . my fingers are hurting, so I'm going to leave it there. Apologies again for all unanswered questions. I simply can't type quickly enough.
Prediction for tonight: MCFC 0 MUFC 1 (Bebe 97 mins)
And you were all right, I don't know which United players are out of the game with this bug. I will try to find out and tweet team news later. Cheers.
