[Jazz 16]

He layed into the players after losing to the Scousers and was publicly very criticial.
Did anyone notice at the Villareal game that Fergie didnt get up once, didnt
scream instructions from the sideline. He just sat there looking subdued
Is he still p1ssed off at the players?
Is he growing tired of it all? what with the rows with Keith Hackett and his
underperforming troups.

After '99 Roy Keane suggested that the players got complacent after they
had 'won it all' and United went into a lull for a couple of years.
Is the same thing happening now? Do the players still have the hunger?

Lots of questions here that arent necessarily my view but Im wondering what you all think.

 

[piazza]

He layed into the players after losing to the Scousers and was publicly very criticial.
Did anyone notice at the Villareal game that Fergie didnt get up once, didnt
scream instructions from the sideline. He just sat there looking subdued
Is he still p1ssed off at the players?
Is he growing tired of it all? what with the rows with Keith Hackett and his
underperforming troups.

After '99 Roy Keane suggested that the players got complacent after they
had 'won it all' and United went into a lull for a couple of years.
Is the same thing happening now? Do the players still have the hunger?

Lots of questions here that arent necessarily my view but Im wondering what you all think.

It seems that they are resting on their laurels a bit, though Keane also mentioned that after 99 they shouldn't have stood pat and should have went out and bought someone, which we just did. If we start expecting people to just roll over, we might as well just hand our trophies over.

 

[thekeanefella]

i thought it was very strange that he sat down all night, we really need him to be on the sideline getting the team going.
maybe it was him playing mind games with the players, but with the great man who knows what goes on in his head.

 

[dublin red]

i thought it was very strange that he sat down all night, we really need him to be on the sideline getting the team going.
maybe it was him playing mind games with the players, but with the great man who knows what goes on in his head.

Members we have to remember Fergie is an old man .
It's now up to Mikey Phelan to shout and get the boss's message accross . There's plenty of fire left in Fergie's belly but he just has to keep it under wraps for the right moments .
Age definitely mellows you as a person but your experience is priceless .

 

[Keanos Magic Hat]

I wouldnt be too worried by the fact that Ferguson wasnt that active on the sideline. I dont think a manager ranting on the touchline makes much of a difference at this level.

To be honest, we were very poor at the weekend but the second half tonight was very encouraging and had we managed to nick the win we would be going into the big game Sunday with optimism.

It is still early days no matter what happens this weekend and I know chelski have started well but they havent really been tested yet whereas we have been to Fratton Park and Anfield.

When we have everyone fully fit we will be a an awesome prospect.

 

[Keanos Magic Hat]

I wouldnt read too much into the fact that Fergie wasnt that active on the touchline. There was really no reason for him to be ranting on the line. I think he trusts the players and to be fair I thought we were quite good in the second half. In fact if we had managed to nick it tonight we would be going into the big game Sunday with more optimism.

It is early days yet, Chelski have started well but imo have yet to be really tested. When we have all our players back fully fit and on form we will be very hard to stop.

 

[Keanos Magic Hat]

sorry about double post, laptop playing tricks on me!!!

 

[TheManc]

He layed into the players after losing to the Scousers and was publicly very criticial.
Did anyone notice at the Villareal game that Fergie didnt get up once, didnt
scream instructions from the sideline. He just sat there looking subdued
Is he still p1ssed off at the players?
Is he growing tired of it all? what with the rows with Keith Hackett and his
underperforming troups.

After '99 Roy Keane suggested that the players got complacent after they
had 'won it all' and United went into a lull for a couple of years.
Is the same thing happening now? Do the players still have the hunger?

Lots of questions here that arent necessarily my view but Im wondering what you all think.

To be fair we went on to win back-to-back league titles after that. But in Europe I do think he was right.

I don't think Fergie is tired, I just think it was just a dead game. The fans didn't exactly help. I could hear the players talking on the pitch FFS!

I think it has to do with Carlos leaving aswell. I remember lots of times last season where Fergie would remain seated for the majority of the match wheras Phelan and particularly Quieroz would be up telling instructions to the team.

As good as Fergie is, I don't think tactics are his strong point, he's more of a 'dressing room' guy (exxageration but you get the point) where he would motivate you one way or another

 

[Dynamite]

He layed into the players after losing to the Scousers and was publicly very criticial.
Did anyone notice at the Villareal game that Fergie didnt get up once, didnt
scream instructions from the sideline. He just sat there looking subdued
Is he still p1ssed off at the players?
Is he growing tired of it all? what with the rows with Keith Hackett and his
underperforming troups.

After '99 Roy Keane suggested that the players got complacent after they
had 'won it all' and United went into a lull for a couple of years.
Is the same thing happening now? Do the players still have the hunger?

Lots of questions here that arent necessarily my view but Im wondering what you all think.

To be fair we went on to win back-to-back league titles after that. But in Europe I do think he was right.

I don't think Fergie is tired, I just think it was just a dead game. The fans didn't exactly help. I could hear the players talking on the pitch FFS!

I think it has to do with Carlos leaving aswell. I remember lots of times last season where Fergie would remain seated for the majority of the match wheras Phelan and particularly Quieroz would be up telling instructions to the team.

As good as Fergie is, I don't think tactics are his strong point, he's more of a 'dressing room' guy (exxageration but you get the point) where he would motivate you one way or another.

I can see where your coming from on all accounts, But would like to point out that our team performance was much better tonight than it was last saturday plus with ronaldo back this will surely lift the team spirit and hopefully get us back on track to winning ways, I remember last season at the start when we was struggling to score goals but things soon changed around

2007/08 Results just some off the scores

Man Utd 0 - 0 Reading
Portsmouth 1 - 1 Man Utd
Man City 1 - 0 Man utd
Man Utd 1- 0 Spurs 0

Now it took till the 6th october where we started to bang them in left/right & center

2008/09 pretty much the same this season so far regarding a quiet start & only just manged to scrape a win against portsmouth, drew with newcastle & lost to liverpool plus got beat by zenit in the uefa super cup and drawing again to villa real in the champions league

Tbh is this not a sign off fergie just being confident & relaxing for a change knowing that things will get better well thats my opinion even though it might be more far fetched than jazz 16 conclusion

 

[dublin red]

I can see where your coming from on all accounts, But would like to point out that our team performance was much better tonight than it was last saturday plus with ronaldo back this will surely lift the team spirit and hopefully get us back on track to winning ways, I remember last season at the start when we was struggling to score goals but things soon changed around

2007/08 Results just some off the scores

Man Utd 0 - 0 Reading
Portsmouth 1 - 1 Man Utd
Man City 1 - 0 Man utd
Man Utd 1- 0 Spurs 0

Now it took till the 6th october where we started to bang them in left/right & center

2008/09 pretty much the same this season so far regarding a quiet start & only just manged to scrape a win against portsmouth, drew with newcastle & lost to liverpool plus got beat by zenit in the uefa super cup and drawing again to villa real in the champions league

Tbh is this not a sign off fergie just being confident & relaxing for a change knowing that things will get better well thats my opinion even though it might be more far fetched than jazz 16 conclusion

Absolutely spot on . Come on lets keep our nerve . If we feel our performances have not been up to scratch then imagine what Fergie is saying . I would rather a kick in the arse now when we can put things right that at the end of the season when things are going to be stressful and games will be in short supply.

 

[RedForceRising]

I noticed it too and more worringly then last night was the post-match interview at Anfailed.

I have never or seldom seen Fergie so dejected. He was mumbling under his breath and really looked sad.

He'll need Mick Phelan to be his general from the sidlines, so hopefully he'll ave the confidence to that soon. Even last season, it would very often be CQ, who was the one barking instructions at the players at MP will have to take over those duties soon.

 

[yangch0000]

hunger wise, i dun think our players are as hungry as our other rivals who had not won anything last year. even our fans does not have as much hunger and desire as the other fans. i hate to admit it, but i think it is true. the team is young, and like giggs said, when you cannot see an end to your career at the moment, you would think you still have plenty of time to win so much, and thats why the players are not as hungry.

i see a decline in form for the team which won the champions league. barcelona 2006, milan 2007 and things do not look so good for us at the moment. we can of course recover from the poor start, but we will need fergie to share his winning desire with the team. at the moment, in my opinion, i think the team is a bit lost, and they will need a bit of time to find their way, and i just hope the time will not be long enough to harm our title chances.

 

[sweet fa]

until i read this post i thought it was me imagining things again but fergie did look tired and uninterested.perhaps he has a slight illness but there was definatly no fire in his belly last night , and the team always run out of steam when the great man fails to fire them up.even in the aftermatch interview he sounded fine {talked a good fight}but the sparkle in his eye and the glow on his face {normally fury at such poor form} were not there and it puzzled me , i am glad other people also noticed this so unfergielike occurence .

 

[Zense_United]

this year we are still like last year... we need to win the next match to be better than last year's stat

 

[Ritesh MU]

we need to take lead before december

 

[Boomhauer50]

we need to take lead before december

i hope we do bud but i dont think we will, this race will go all the way again this year, fergie will get out his whip soon and kick us off on a good spell of wins in a row.

 

[-zuco-]

After '99 Roy Keane suggested that the players got complacent after they
had 'won it all' and United went into a lull for a couple of years.

I wish we could have another 'lull' because we retained the premiership in the two years following 1999.

 

[Jazz 16]

I wish we could have another 'lull' because we retained the premiership in the two years following 1999.

This was already mentioned above by someone.
I meant a lull in Europe. We were pants after we won it.

 

[-zuco-]

This was already mentioned above by someone.
I meant a lull in Europe. We were pants after we won it.

Fair enough, I didn't read the whole thread.

 

[versa]

I don't see how Fergie could be interpreted as looking relaxed at all!? In fact, he looked pretty stern, grumpy and unhappy to me.

Could be the lingering effects from a painful defeat to Liverpool. Could also be his concern for the hunger of the players and everything else in a post-Double season. Think post 1999.

I wouldn't want to assume it is just another typical slow start, no worries at all. History may repeat itself but not always. If our fans can be so complacent about slow starts, so can the players!?

And we should not forget that we had a slow start last season but came out overall top amongst the Big Four in games between ourselves. Well, we just lost one of these games now when we all know this is the most important factor in the title race. Certainly no comfort to me.

Besides, how we surrendered so meekly for 80 minutes against our most bitter rival is a concern. I mean, it was a game between United and Liverpool for crying out loud. And I have to agree that Liverpool definitely wanted to win the game more than us and they do look very hungry this season, probably having an extra incentive to play their part to stop us from equalling their league title records.

Chelski and Arsenal too are looking even more determined to wrestle the crown from us. Finishing as second best to us again and again last season, and winning nothing last season respectively are good reasons enough for them.

Finally, with the addition of Berbatov, we now have to accomodate the Heavenly Four. And so far, not so good.

Can we afford a lull season or a little lull for a start? I suggest not.

And who knows if Fergie is not thinking along the same line.