It is now time to switch to a new Money AM football blog as the world cup is now over and we all look to the future.....World cup 2010 is over, Bravo Espana, and Forlan, once again and bring on the new season !.....I never expected the last thread to be such a success...thanks all.... so this new one might go on for years without the need to edit the title...we shall see...

Where's he hiding then ? -):

My brother lives near there , nice place but there were a load of gypo's round about too at one time wonder if they were involved ?

TJosé Mourinho is said to have felt 'betrayed' by Sir Alex Ferguson after missing out on the Manchester United job. Photograph: Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images
José Mourinho is said to have broken down in tears at the news that David Moyes had been given the Manchester United job. The allegation is contained in a book by the respected Spanish journalist Diego Torres, who writes for El País.

In the book, Prepare to Lose: the Mourinho Era, Torres says the appointment "provoked an earthquake" and that Mourinho felt let down by Sir Alex Ferguson, who had recommended Moyes to the United board.

"Mourinho ... thought that Ferguson was, besides his ally, also his friend and godfather. He was convinced that they were tied by a relationship of genuine trust. He thought that his fabulous collection of titles constituted an 'endorsement' unreachable to any other contenders. When he knew that Ferguson had chosen Moyes, the Everton coach, he was struck by a terrible disbelief. Moyes hadn't won absolutely anything!"

Torres said that Mourinho was on the phone constantly to his sports agency Gestifute. "Mourinho wouldn't stop calling them. His 'interlocutors' had heard him sob loudly and they were spreading the word. The most feared man in the company was crushed."

The book, whose account has been denied by Mourinho's adviser, goes on to describe the Portuguese spending a sleepless night in a hotel in Madrid, "the most unfortunate hours of Mourinho's phase as Real Madrid coach. He endured them between dozing and waking, glued to his mobile phone in search of clarifications, on the night of the 7th and the morning of the 8th of May, tucked into the Sheraton Mirasierra hotel." Moyes's appointment was made official on 9 May.

Mourinho, according to the book, was sure that Ferguson would call with an explanation but he heard nothing. He recalled reading comments from the United director Sir Bobby Charlton pouring scorn on the idea of him getting the job.

"He was tormented by the memory of an interview of Sir Bobby Charlton in the Guardian in December. His judgments gave him a big uncertainty. 'A United coach wouldn't do what he did to Tito Vilanova', stated Charlton, evoking the finger in the eye, when asked if he saw Mourinho as a successor for Ferguson. In regards to the admiration that Ferguson professed towards him, the veteran footballer implied that it was a fable: 'He doesn't like him that much'.

"In the morning he called Mendes so that he urgently got in touch with United. Until the end he wanted his agent to pressure the English club as an attempt to block any operation. It was an act of desperation. They both knew that Mendes had put Mourinho in the market a year earlier."

The book says that "Mendes had already been told in the autumn of 2012 that Ferguson's first option was Pep Guardiola. He had been explained the reasons. In Gestifute, the message from a United executive rumbled like a drum: 'The problem is that when things don't work for Mou, he doesn't do club politics. He does José politics.'"

Mourinho, the book says, "felt betrayed by Ferguson and feared that someone might stop taking him seriously. For years the propaganda machine acting at his services had divulged the idea of a friendship that now was revealed as a fantasy image. To give coherence to the facts in the public light, Gestifute's advisers recommended he should say that he already knew because Ferguson had called him to inform him.

"On the 9th of May someone from Gestifute got in touch with Record newspaper to say that Ferguson offered his crown to Mourinho four months ago but that he refused it because his wife preferred to live in London, and that was why he ended up choosing Chelsea. At the same time Mourinho offered an interview to Sky in which he declared that Ferguson kept him in the loop about his decisions but that he never made him the offer because he knew perfectly well that he wanted to coach Chelsea. The contradictions were not planned."

Mourinho went on to take up the offer of a second term at Chelsea from the owner, Roman Abramovich. When he took up the job in June he claimed to have known of Ferguson's plans to stand down but said he was always intent on returning to Stamford Bridge.

"I knew that Ferguson was retiring many months ago," he said. "I would have turned down every job in the world – the Manchester United job, every one – for Chelsea."

Mourinho's adviser Eladio Parames has denied the book's account. "This story does not have any sense," he is quoted by the Portuguese newspaper O Jogo. "It is completely false. It has no head or tail."

Chelsea declined to comment.ruth or Fantasy?

I wonder if dithering dave wishes he was still at EFC. Personally glad he isn't, his career choice :O)

Best thing for you lot was him leaving imo then taking Fallini with him instead of Baines.

He'll be gone by end of season imo but on the down side I don't rate who you brought in but I guess it was all you cheapskates could afford :)

27th September 2013

Qatar World Cup And Man City Owners In Shambles After Slave Labour Revelations
By Christopher Arnfield -




Qatar World Cup in doubt as revelations about migrant worker deaths are exposed.

Hot on the heels of the farcical suggestions that the World Cup should somehow be magicked away to the winter months after FIFA have suddenly realized that it is too hot in the summer in Qatar, we now hear further revelations about the deaths and slave labour conditions of migrant workers in Qatar working on the World Cup, as well as earlier revelations about similar conditions in Abu Dhabi, ruled by the owners of Manchester City.

Of course, we now know that these revelations are true, so how does this sit with the World Cup organizing committee and the Premier League`s `fit and proper person` rules?


In the case of the 2022 World Cup, this is so mired in controversy now that it is imperative upon FIFA that they rescind the award of the World Cup to Qatar. Should they fail to do so will seriously harm FIFA`s standing and could even invite legal action against them from other associations. The shame of it is that hundreds of migrant Nepalese workers are being forced to work for no pay in dreadful conditions with the result that hundreds are dying every month. This would not have been tolerated 100 years ago, let alone in the 21st Century. How can a civilized world accept this stain on humanity? Well it cannot.

The World Cup must now be moved to another country and the nearest loser in the so-called bidding was Australia, so why don`t they give it to them?


Well the reason is simple. It will mean yet again that Sepp Blatter, man of many faux pas will have to admit that he was wrong to insists that they won the bidding; a bidding process that looks bent from any angle you look at it!
In the case of the Manchester City owners, they were also found to have treated migrant workers like slaves on dreadful conditions and poor or no pay. You may wonder how that can be allowed in the 21st century, but it seems that the West will bend over backwards or any other way to accommodate the Emirs of the UAE even if it means turning a blind eye to human rights abuses that were rightly shunned in South Africa.
How could the owner of Manchester City be deemed a fit and proper person , when his rule over this tiny Emirate makes him responsible for these abuses?

Yet again, the Premier League are blinkered when it comes to applying the rule where rich owners are concerned., with Richard Scudamore showing that petro-dollars mean more that the lives of slaves being worked to death in the Sheik`s backyard.

It looks distinctly hypocritical for the English football authorities to criticize Qatar when they are happy to allow a different Emir to get away with the exact same crimes.

LOL another nail driven in. Well done Baggies.

CC,

To be fair to David Moyes, he's spent 11 years trying to get Everton above Man U in the league and he's finally succeeded. Credit where credit's due and all that!

LOL Hils, spot on. Strange decision by the 'Special One' to put Lukaku out on loan don't you think? Not that we are complaining :O). Chelsea look a better team with Mata in the side.

Not really a strange decision imo, CC. The boy has a lot of RAW talent, but he's not the finished product and he needs a lot of game time to develop. Do you think he's gonna get that at Chelsea, behind Torres and Eto'o?

But..... I don't think Eto'o is there to displace Torres. If that were the case, he'd have been given a contract for longer than just one year. I think he's there to help Torres, to fuel his hunger, and to get Torres playing the way that Mourinho wants him to play.

See what your saying re-Lukaku, Moyes put Barklay out on loan last season with obvious results so far this season.

Cardiff City above Man U ... well would you Adam and Eve it !

Happy days :-)

Did Moyes think about the defence on Saturday or did he just roll dice? Jones can defend but offers little re attacking on the wing, Ferdinand is in poor form, and Buttner shouldn't be near a Manchester United shirt. Brought it upon himself.

If dithering davie is saying he doesn't know his players properly yet, then your right KidA. Why sack or replace previous coaching staff who would obviously at least guide him over first couple of months?

Alt last a bit of sense spoken about United by Chris.

Yep he should have kept the established coaching team.

Having watched UTD 4 times out of last 5, I can say with full confidence Ferdinand isnt in poor form but is indeed SHOT. Hes not just lost his pace but also his reflexes.

Same thing happend to Gary Neville a few years back and hed retired within 2 games.

I wouldnt rule UTD out yet I reckon its going to be a one off season where any 1 of 5 could win the premier.

Chris,

Smooth transition doesn't seem to be in; did Woodward shadow Gill to learn how to deal with transfers?

Scouting reports on Manchester United when at Everton, the actual matches v them, watching a few other games involving them over the last two seasons, training, and picking up when a player is going through a bad patch should've been enough for last Saturday.

Edit - goldfinger - Ferdinand; yeah, I'm trying to be optimistic with the form thing. Gary Neville; wasn't that also WBA?

Cheers,
KidA

Think it was yep KidA.

Think they have to once and for all sort Jones out and get him paired with Vidic then I genuinely beleive we will start to see better results with Evra restored to left back.

Come Jan they will have to buy them 2 cental midfielders we have needed not just last season but for the last 6 seasons.

If you look at the UTD squad its all wingers or so called wingers.

cheers GF.

Moyes has got to sort it before January, if he doesn't no matter how big your football club no player is going to sign if you are mid table. Rooney will be off pronto.

Well hel be off at the end of the season. But yep I agree chris not only that but sponsors will dry up aswel.

Still think we will come good but need 3 signings in January.

Being discussed on Talk Sport now.

Shitty period for stocks at the moment.