Times are a Changing

Developing youth and supplementing with quality signings is the way forward and is what we are doing.

Only problem is is when the youth you're trying to develop fecks off to another club before their potential is realised.
 
I truelly hope this isn't so, and that both SAF and the club will surprise us with top level marquee summer signings we all crave, and next year we are back to playing the kind of football we so love.

i read that as "waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh mammy mammy the bad computer wont let me sign the players i want waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh"

dry your eyes, then ask yourself when have United really ever indulged in so-called Marquee players before?
 
i read that as "waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh mammy mammy the bad computer wont let me sign the players i want waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh"

dry your eyes, then ask yourself when have United really ever indulged in so-called Marquee players before?

Agree we have never dropped 50/60 million for Zidane's or Figo's of this world, though we have generally been up there when bidding for the 2nd tear of top players. It is my fear that we are no longer in for these other worldclass players, and not my FM Manager stat c*nt.
Plus as they say, i pays for my ticket and hence can bitch at what i was served up last season.
 
Agree we have never dropped 50/60 million for Zidane's or Figo's of this world, though we have generally been up there when bidding for the 2nd tear of top players. It is my fear that we are no longer in for these other worldclass players, and not my FM Manager stat c*nt.
Plus as they say, i pays for my ticket and hence can bitch at what i was served up last season.

Well then stop paying for the goddamn ticket. You are more of a glory hunter than the people "locals" supposedly complain about. Get a grip.
 
Well then stop paying for the goddamn ticket. You are more of a glory hunter than the people "locals" supposedly complain about. Get a grip.

Ah ok lad, so me and my mates who follow the team all over europe and attend as many games as we can fit in each season, should just sit there and fecking clap irrespective of how team plays or how club operates. Get the feeling i am taking flack from a f*cker who's wife brought him a stadium tour for his birthday, and who splashed out on a replica t-shirt.
When you hear about how much the company makes, and no you contribute to that figure and then hear about how we are watching the pennies to pay off some little midget families debt. Yes we get pissed, and sadly we ain't lemmings like you mate. But yes wil be there next season, and will hope for an active summer!
 
Its the way of things - it sickened me to hear Hazard say Chelsea were the better project - I suppose he's not going to say they offered me more money

I just hope that FFP is properly implemented and the real big spenders have to play on a level playing field

We can still buy big names - we just need to conduct our business discreetly

Some agents though will leak interest from us to get other sides involved

Makes you realise why we work closely with guys like mendes

I agree with that - presumably Fergie identifies his targets and looks to go about doing deals as quickly and as quietly as possible.

The OP above highlights a good point for me, and identifies a major issue. I dont want to see ate club engage in major rebuilding summer after summer, nor spend massive sums on every flavour of the month player - but for me, right now is a critical a time as ever in United's recent history.

Kagawa looks like a good start, hopefully the club can bring in further reinforcements this summer to ensure they remain competitive.
 
Developing youth and supplementing with quality signings is the way forward and is what we are doing.

Only problem is is when the youth you're trying to develop fecks off to another club before their potential is realised.

As in Pogba presumably - although the club did pinch him from a club further down the pyramid.

Strange situation - highlights to me the problem of agents in the game, although why he didn't get more of a look in last season is perplexing considering he was considered so highly.
 
apologies if english isnt your first language but does anyone else find that sloppy writing weakens the validity of the content?

the united style is different to the chelseas and the cities. We bring players in who have the right mentality as well as ability.

Says the guy who doesn't as a rule start sentences with a capital letter, doesn't capitalise club names or countries, and seems to think there are more than one Chelsea FC whilst including Bristol City, Coventry City and Birmingham City etc. in a conversation about marquee signings?
 
I have been reading posters threads and comments over the last few years and it looks like we are all pretty much coming to the same conclusion, even the die-hards are having their heads turned. A few years ago we all heard this rumour, we saw a few snippets in the press, heard a few comments on the radio though in our hearts dismissed the story as folly........and then suddenly we realise Manchester United had fullfilled all our football wet dreams and signed a certain Argentinian player all of europe coveted. It all had the best of summers and waited for "juan sebastian veron" to pull on the red jersey and take us to the promised land. Now i know this example of signing a top player is not the best example of a sucess story, which in my opinion was down to SAF not knowing where to play veron in a midfield containing keane, scholes etc. Though i do believe at this time SAF and the fans thought we had arrived on the top table regards being able to bring in the top players in the world, no longer would we always be priced out of the market.
What we now get is SAF saying there is no value in the market while europes top clubs go and spend millions to strengthen our side, we now get SAF comoing out a saying competing on a show string against our neighbours is what brings out the the best in united, we now get told if we get lucky we might be able to afford a top central midfilder and a few 2nd string players to bolster our squad, we now get told we are playing the long game and youth is our philosophy (now having empathy for arsenal fans)and we now get our ageing players returning to add strength and skill to our midfield.
Some people say last season was so exciting, and the climax to the seaon not to be found in any other league in europe. I for one did not really enjoy last seaon and of the 12 odd games i attend i only got truelly entertained twice in the manner i have come to expect my united team. We have SAF saying all the right things, though fear he has become a little bit corporate and is merely making best of a shite situation my owners who only looks to rape the club.Now they say football is a game of ebbs and flows, maybe we are now to realise such times are upon us and reminisce about yester year like our fathers.
I truelly hope this isn't so, and that both SAF and the club will surprise us with top level marquee summer signings we all crave, and next year we are back to playing the kind of football we so love.

In the past 5 years we've won 3 EPL's, 1 CL, made the final a further 2x and spent far more than the Arse. Your post just doesn't make any sense :wenger:
 
Ah ok lad, so me and my mates who follow the team all over europe and attend as many games as we can fit in each season, should just sit there and fecking clap irrespective of how team plays or how club operates. Get the feeling i am taking flack from a f*cker who's wife brought him a stadium tour for his birthday, and who splashed out on a replica t-shirt.
When you hear about how much the company makes, and no you contribute to that figure and then hear about how we are watching the pennies to pay off some little midget families debt. Yes we get pissed, and sadly we ain't lemmings like you mate. But yes wil be there next season, and will hope for an active summer!

Brilliant reply. No, I don't think you should sit and clap irrespective of how the team plays. However, being depressed at a team that finished second on goal difference AND played some great football smacks of you being spoiled. I won't drop to your level and resort to curses, but you sound like a 10 year old who started supporting the team in the 90s, and is pissed we didn't win a trophy last season. Poor boy, go sit and cry in the corner, or go support Chelsea. I don't care where you went to support the team - if a season like last makes you whine that much, I doubt you will be around much longer once SAF retires. Good riddance too. I hate the Glazers as well, but I support the club. If you can reply without resorting to insults do so. Otherwise won't bother, as I won't even read it.
 
Ah ok lad, so me and my mates who follow the team all over europe and attend as many games as we can fit in each season, should just sit there and fecking clap irrespective of how team plays or how club operates. Get the feeling i am taking flack from a f*cker who's wife brought him a stadium tour for his birthday, and who splashed out on a replica t-shirt.
When you hear about how much the company makes, and no you contribute to that figure and then hear about how we are watching the pennies to pay off some little midget families debt. Yes we get pissed, and sadly we ain't lemmings like you mate. But yes wil be there next season, and will hope for an active summer!

Show us your ticket

Somehow I can't believe you follow United all over Europe while having that attitude kind of attitude.

Gosh, Lucky you're supporting United, if you support Liverpool you could be havign prozac now
 
You can't always get what you want as the supporter of a Football Club , if we are second best in the transfer market at the moment, then so be it, nowt we can do about it, just have to support the guys we have and move on.
 
Agree we have never dropped 50/60 million for Zidane's or Figo's of this world, though we have generally been up there when bidding for the 2nd tear of top players. It is my fear that we are no longer in for these other worldclass players, and not my FM Manager stat c*nt.
Plus as they say, i pays for my ticket and hence can bitch at what i was served up last season.

theres a difference between bitching (when appropriate) and coming across as a spoilt tw*t regardless of whether you have a ticket or not
 
TBH i don't care if the player we sing is much coveted, has great reputation etc. Give me Hernandezes over Hazards every time.
Agreed, i would rather us look at someone like Iker Munia from Athletico Bilbao than pay stupid amounts for Modric at Spurs.
 
Developing youth and supplementing with quality signings is the way forward and is what we are doing.

Only problem is is when the youth you're trying to develop fecks off to another club before their potential is realised.

The other problem is the signings are not the ones Fergie wants most. e.g. Nasri, Benzema, Ozil, Sanchez, Hazard... Any of which would have been superstars here.

Our recent record of securing transfer targets has been shockingly bad. I doubt anyone in top tier football has been rejected as many times in a row for big targets as us.
 
It makes you wonder if we would have signed players like Keane, Rio or Rooney in the current climate

to compare hazard with those 3 is a little silly.

If fergie identifies a player who will walk into our side and improve it greatly. Then if they are the right age and of the right temproment then the fee is irrelevant.

We wont pay £35m for a 30 odd year old and i am happy about that. I much rather see us bring in the likes of nani, ronaldo, anderson, kagawa, evra , vidic, de gea, jones, smalling, hernandez in the teens/early mid twenties and develop them.

Anyway.......hazard looked average on saturday. if we'd signed him for £35m i would definatley have been underwelmed with that performance (the first time ive see him)
 
Brilliant reply. No, I don't think you should sit and clap irrespective of how the team plays. However, being depressed at a team that finished second on goal difference AND played some great football smacks of you being spoiled. I won't drop to your level and resort to curses, but you sound like a 10 year old who started supporting the team in the 90s, and is pissed we didn't win a trophy last season. Poor boy, go sit and cry in the corner, or go support Chelsea. I don't care where you went to support the team - if a season like last makes you whine that much, I doubt you will be around much longer once SAF retires. Good riddance too. I hate the Glazers as well, but I support the club. If you can reply without resorting to insults do so. Otherwise won't bother, as I won't even read it.

You're the one who started with the glory hunting insult.
 
Ah ok lad, so me and my mates who follow the team all over europe and attend as many games as we can fit in each season, should just sit there and fecking clap irrespective of how team plays or how club operates. Get the feeling i am taking flack from a f*cker who's wife brought him a stadium tour for his birthday, and who splashed out on a replica t-shirt.
When you hear about how much the company makes, and no you contribute to that figure and then hear about how we are watching the pennies to pay off some little midget families debt. Yes we get pissed, and sadly we ain't lemmings like you mate. But yes wil be there next season, and will hope for an active summer!

But we apparently played all this 'great football'. :lol: me arse. Sporadic at best...and no before any smart arse feels they need to wade in. I don't expect to play fantastic football game in game out...

Folk seem to band about these nob jockey phrases like 'Glory Hunter' when folk choose to rant about the money we do have being spunked away to a bunch of cnuts who have only their own interests as heart. Laughable how it ends up being directed at someone who spends their coin following their club everywhere. Fair fecks to you R2D...Crack on son.

Your last paragragh is the kicker for me. I'm not concerned about losing out on the odd big signing...but you're spot on. It makes you want to be sick when you see the money wasted by a debt that this club should have never had to take on. These issues just highlight it.
 
I have been reading posters threads and comments over the last few years and it looks like we are all pretty much coming to the same conclusion, even the die-hards are having their heads turned. A few years ago we all heard this rumour, we saw a few snippets in the press, heard a few comments on the radio though in our hearts dismissed the story as folly........and then suddenly we realise Manchester United had fullfilled all our football wet dreams and signed a certain Argentinian player all of europe coveted. It all had the best of summers and waited for "juan sebastian veron" to pull on the red jersey and take us to the promised land. Now i know this example of signing a top player is not the best example of a sucess story, which in my opinion was down to SAF not knowing where to play veron in a midfield containing keane, scholes etc. Though i do believe at this time SAF and the fans thought we had arrived on the top table regards being able to bring in the top players in the world, no longer would we always be priced out of the market.
What we now get is SAF saying there is no value in the market while europes top clubs go and spend millions to strengthen our side, we now get SAF comoing out a saying competing on a show string against our neighbours is what brings out the the best in united, we now get told if we get lucky we might be able to afford a top central midfilder and a few 2nd string players to bolster our squad, we now get told we are playing the long game and youth is our philosophy (now having empathy for arsenal fans)and we now get our ageing players returning to add strength and skill to our midfield.
Some people say last season was so exciting, and the climax to the seaon not to be found in any other league in europe. I for one did not really enjoy last seaon and of the 12 odd games i attend i only got truelly entertained twice in the manner i have come to expect my united team. We have SAF saying all the right things, though fear he has become a little bit corporate and is merely making best of a shite situation my owners who only looks to rape the club.Now they say football is a game of ebbs and flows, maybe we are now to realise such times are upon us and reminisce about yester year like our fathers.
I truelly hope this isn't so, and that both SAF and the club will surprise us with top level marquee summer signings we all crave, and next year we are back to playing the kind of football we so love.

:wenger:

In all of Fergie's years he hasn't been one to go out and spend large. He covets the surprise signing over the Hollywood one. Veron bombed, Rio has done well, Berbatov failed only because he was benched after his best ever season, Keano of course was legendary. But the main reason we don't go out buying every transfer period is those type of truly special players are extraordinary rare. Most players get over-valued after a good YouTube compilation or one season or a tournament. We need more consistency, less flair in a player.

Fergie doesn't have time to deal with egos and if you're talking playing over forty million pounds, you're talking ego. Fergie would much rather work with the Fletchers and Parks and Giggs' than the Tevez' and Torres' and the like.

Yes, we have broken the bank a number of times to get players, but the lads on here moaning about the end of the world really don't see the bigger picture which is that Fergie has never been in a Mancini or Jose-type manager. He's a Wenger-type manager: Buy youth, find gems. He's better at it than Wenger, thankfully, but the two are identical in styles.

Sure, being City at the moment or Chelsea in the past would have been great. But we don't need to covet that because while they are imploded and aged and struggled, we were winning with a solid team. We are a family that stick around, not a bunch of escorts who get shipped out after a season of use and abuse.

I'm very optimistic. Kagawa is in and make no mistake about his deceiving price, he's worth far more than that. We're a team with a few holes left to fill - back up LB, DM, and a striker - but the reason we don't go out buying ten players in a FM-style transfer period is because we actually have a club filled with good players who stick around.

I'm proud we don't need to spend to win. We develop and nurture and discover. I'd take a Hernandez surprise over an expensive flop or primadonna any season.

The only worry I have is that this is Fergie's team and there isn't a manager alive who can do what Fergie does with the players we have. Fergie has a style and a type of player that most don't. The big worry isn't Corporate Fergie, it's Retired Fergie.
 
:wenger:

In all of Fergie's years he hasn't been one to go out and spend large. He covets the surprise signing over the Hollywood one. Veron bombed, Rio has done well, Berbatov failed only because he was benched after his best ever season.

Fergie doesn't have time to deal with egos and if you're talking playing over forty million pounds, you're talking ego. Fergie would much rather work with the Fletchers and Parks and Giggs' than the Tevez' and Torres' and the like.

Yes, we have broken the bank a number of times to get players, but the lads on here moaning about the end of the world really don't see the bigger picture which is that Fergie has never been in a Mancini or Jose-type manager. He's a Wenger-type manager: Buy youth, find gems. He's better at it than Wenger, thankfully, but the two are identical in styles.

Sure, being City at the moment or Chelsea in the past would have been great. But we don't need to covet that because while they are imploded and aged and struggled, we were winning with a solid team. We are a family that stick around, not a bunch of escorts who get shipped out after a season of use and abuse.

I'm very optimistic. Kagawa is in and make no mistake about his deceiving price, he's worth far more than that. We're a team with a few holes left to fill - back up LB, DM, and a striker - but the reason we don't go out buying ten players in a FM-style transfer period is because we actually have a club filled with good players who stick around.

I'm proud we don't need to spend to win. We develop and nurture and discover. I'd take a Hernandez surprise over an expensive flop or primadonna any season.

The only worry I have is that this is Fergie's team and there isn't a manager alive who can do what Fergie does with the players we have. Fergie has a style and a type of player that most don't. The big worry isn't Corporate Fergie, it's Retired Fergie.

I agree for the most part. I think the fact that now City have joined the big boys financially it just gets peoples backs up more. Also. as has been said, United was more or less the place for young talent to come. Now we're in a line of clubs kids want to play for in this country.

As I have said, the ownership/debt has angered many who fear we might get left behind. Rightly so in my opinion it's only Fergie that is keeping us there. Thank feck he feels it right to stay.

We've also neglected to sign a player in a position we've desperately needed for years...not without success mind. I just feel we need that little bit more in that area.

People aren't moaning as much as they're worried in my opinion.
 
The other problem is the signings are not the ones Fergie wants most. e.g. Nasri, Benzema, Ozil, Sanchez, Hazard... Any of which would have been superstars here.

Our recent record of securing transfer targets has been shockingly bad. I doubt anyone in top tier football has been rejected as many times in a row for big targets as us.

We're never going to get those targets if the 2 clubs in spain and the 2 oil clubs here are involved so we have to be more realistic and I dont think we're doing a bad job really.
 
:wenger:

In all of Fergie's years he hasn't been one to go out and spend large. He covets the surprise signing over the Hollywood one. Veron bombed, Rio has done well, Berbatov failed only because he was benched after his best ever season, Keano of course was legendary. But the main reason we don't go out buying every transfer period is those type of truly special players are extraordinary rare. Most players get over-valued after a good YouTube compilation or one season or a tournament. We need more consistency, less flair in a player.

Fergie doesn't have time to deal with egos and if you're talking playing over forty million pounds, you're talking ego. Fergie would much rather work with the Fletchers and Parks and Giggs' than the Tevez' and Torres' and the like.

Yes, we have broken the bank a number of times to get players, but the lads on here moaning about the end of the world really don't see the bigger picture which is that Fergie has never been in a Mancini or Jose-type manager. He's a Wenger-type manager: Buy youth, find gems. He's better at it than Wenger, thankfully, but the two are identical in styles.

Sure, being City at the moment or Chelsea in the past would have been great. But we don't need to covet that because while they are imploded and aged and struggled, we were winning with a solid team. We are a family that stick around, not a bunch of escorts who get shipped out after a season of use and abuse.

I'm very optimistic. Kagawa is in and make no mistake about his deceiving price, he's worth far more than that. We're a team with a few holes left to fill - back up LB, DM, and a striker - but the reason we don't go out buying ten players in a FM-style transfer period is because we actually have a club filled with good players who stick around.

I'm proud we don't need to spend to win. We develop and nurture and discover. I'd take a Hernandez surprise over an expensive flop or primadonna any season.

The only worry I have is that this is Fergie's team and there isn't a manager alive who can do what Fergie does with the players we have. Fergie has a style and a type of player that most don't. The big worry isn't Corporate Fergie, it's Retired Fergie.

Brilliant post! Couldn't have summed up my own feelings better myself. Kudos.
 
How is Kagawa a bad signing? Why is his signing the supposed beginning of United's downfall? We just signed a 23-year-old attacking midfielder who played a significant role in Borussia Dortmund's Bundesliga championship, scoring 17 goals and recording 13 assists in all competitions last season (better numbers than both Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery), and only cost us an estimated up-front fee of around £12M. It's no big secret that we've been trying to get a player in this mold for a while now (Juan Mata, David Silva, Samir Nasri) and we've finally got him and at a very reasonable price. Why the gloom and doom?

Why do we need to spend Chelsea and City-like hundreds of millions when over the past 5 years we've won the Champions League once, the Prem 3 times, and the League Cup twice? We're criticized (and obviously some of our fans have bought into some of this criticism) for not spending multi-gazzillion pounds on players - but why the feck do we need to spend obscene amounts of money when we're already winning shit with the players that we already have?!?! feckin' City spent money that would have bankrupted some small countries and we literally took them to the last kick of the season for them to win the title.

Sure we've missed out on a few great players over the past few years (Ballack, Obi-Mikel, Torres, Mata, Sanchez, Nasri to name a few) but we can't buy everyone. And even though we missed out on some of those players - WE STILL WON SILVERWARE! (feck off Ballack and Mikel!) We'll surely miss out on more - and so will our competition. Find the rare gem, build from the youth ranks, and if you have to spend - find value where and when you can. Besides Berbatov, that's pretty much been the way Fergie has operated since the Veron debacle.
 
United fans have been complaining about a lack of marquee signings since I started reading Redcafe back in 2001 or 2002.

At least no one wants Alex Ferguson's head like they used to which incidentally is why I picked my username when I joined in 2004.

I suggest the OP keep paying attention for a few more years and draw a different conclusion.
 
We’ve won the prem 4 times out of last 6 seasons, and were a whisker away from 5, we’ve been in the champions league final 3 times in the last 5 seasons……. what the feck? what do you want, to win everything every year?

Are you forgetting the year we let go Kanchelskis, Ince and Hughes and replaced them with no-names - players who we later learned lived and breathed United, this is the kind of player I want at United not a mercenary like Tevez

SAF refuses to pander to prima-donnas, Hazard was acting like a twat prior to his commitment to Chelsea, acting like he was the prodigal son, I for one am glad we didn’t get him, didn’t like how he was handling himself at all.

It appears to me, Fergie wants players who want to play for United, not how much money they’ll get paid or contractual agreements he’ll be held to for signing them, which is what it appears happened in the case of Hazard and probably others before him

I don’t believe its just about the money, there are so many players now who feel they can hold a club to ransom, SAF does not buy into that notion from what I can make out. If this means we appear to lose out on some players because of their nonsense, then so be it, they can feck right off, I’ll take the likes of Hernandez all day long, those who feel it an honor to play for us
 
I don't really give much of a bollocks about the big money and the huge egos.

I do give a feck about getting the right players in the right positions...and we've been screaming out for a central midfielder for some years now.
 
I don't really give much of a bollocks about the big money and the huge egos.

I do give a feck about getting the right players in the right positions...and we've been screaming out for a central midfielder for some years now.

All well and good, many of us agree but it's fergies decision.

Many of us are just having a go at the OP because his post came across as that of a spoiled twat, feck all to do with tickets etc so not sure why he tried to play that card
 
All well and good, many of us agree but it's fergies decision.

Many of us are just having a go at the OP because his post came across as that of a spoiled twat, feck all to do with tickets etc so not sure why he tried to play that card

Of course. He's got more of them right than I have so it does feel strange complaining...but as I said I think folk are on edge at the thought of being left behind by City. That mixed with two of our top young prospects leaving has led folk to question whether United is quite the same draw it once was I suppose.

People look at what happened to Liverpool and how their empire fell to bits and are wary of ours doing similar I would think. I'm more worried about what happens after Fergie to be honest.
 
The other problem is the signings are not the ones Fergie wants most. e.g. Nasri, Benzema, Ozil, Sanchez, Hazard... Any of which would have been superstars here.

Our recent record of securing transfer targets has been shockingly bad. I doubt anyone in top tier football has been rejected as many times in a row for big targets as us.

Can you name all those big targets that have rejected us?