Welcome back, Wazza
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Sir Alex was in rousing mood on Wednesday night as he collects his thoughts following one of the more dramatic, and disappointing, weeks in his time as United boss. Here's the transcript of his post-match press conference...
"To maintain the success at any football club is not a certainty, i.e. I always believe a four-year cycle is probably the most you can achieve in terms of success. Very few teams can create more than that four-year cycle. Last season we almost did it, we were one point short of winning the league for a record fourth time.
"We realised that to maintain that high consistency of being there challenging we had to inject youth into the club and we’ve been doing it for the last three or four years. We realised some years ago that Giggs, Scholes and Neville were never going to last forever and our policy is therefore to develop players within the club. We had a player that once said to me Rooney and Ronaldo weren’t good enough. Can you believe that? He actually said they weren’t good enough and he wasn’t prepared to wait until they were. That’s what happens, that’s the problem with potential – people don’t identify potential, they’re very poor at it. I’ve identified it all my life within young people – I know potential, I know how it can be developed and I know how to have faith in it - young people surprise you when you give them an opportunity. And that’s what this club is about. So when you see Manchester United at the moment with all these young players, you can’t see Manchester United three years ahead because you’re not thinking about that.
"We will invest in players when the time is right. This summer wasn’t the right time as far as I was concerned; there was no value for me. There was one player who we would have liked to have got but he chose another club. I don’t think he ever wanted to come to England anyway. Some players don’t wantto leave their country, it’s a fact of life, some players are happy in their own country. Some players are happy to leave and Manchester United is always a big attraction for any player. If they don’t want to leave their country then we forget about it.
"In terms of the future of Manchester United there are a lot of things in my favour – history, the respect we have from people – if I told you how many agents phone my secretary every week about players who would love to play for us - and I don’t just mean run of the mill players, I’m talking about players at almost every club in the world - it would amaze you. It’s because this club still has that fantastic romance and respect from everyone.
"Sometimes you look in a field and you see a cow and you think it’s a better cow than the one you’ve got in your own field. It’s a fact. But it never really works out that way. It’s probably the same cow which is only as good as your own cow. We have to deal with that – some players like to think that it’s a better world somewhere else, it never really works like that.
"As I said, three Premier League titles in a row is fantastic and we were within one point of a record fourth. It didn’t happen for us and we didn’t like that and we want to do something about it. We’ll be okay – I’ve got every confidence in that. We have a structure at the club which is good, we have the right staff, the right manager, the right chief executive, he’s a brilliant man. There’s nothing wrong with Manchester United, not a thing wrong with it. So we’ll carry on." -
just hope that this saga is like a "slap" or "kick up the ass" to fire up all the MU players to a record season..
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frankly man u's performance so far this season aren't convincing. without further signings i doubt they can challenge for anything.
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Originally posted by dragg:
frankly man u’s performance so far this season aren’t convincing.
without further signings i doubt they can challenge for anything.
well, sometimes, just need a spark or something to push.
further signings? seriously, who/how can MUFC buy?
accomplished players? they are expensive, demand big salaries, and may be cup tied?
developing players? raw, can't perform, need opportunites.
and really really star players, MUFC need to navigate a minefields before they can even get close. and after everything, found their cheques "bounced"..
sigh..
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man utd now draw more matches than last year already. Now not even halfway thru the season.
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Frankly speaking, when was the last time you (Man United fan) get excited over a new signing?
For me, it was Tevez. His work rate for West Ham then is for all to see and i'm excited to see how he would play with Rooney and Ronaldo.
Lets take a look at the signings since 2003:
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howard was a disaster for united. he is a good goalie, dun get me wrong, but he mades a few major blunders, esp the porto last minute goal that knocked out united and won Mourinho's first CL trophy.
2003 signings were a diaster the year after united won the BPL title, bellion, klberson, howard, Eric Djemba-Djemba, Miller? these were crap signings.
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Originally posted by Rooney9:
howard was a disaster for united. he is a good goalie, dun get me wrong, but he mades a few major blunders, esp the porto last minute goal that knocked out united and won Mourinho's first CL trophy.
2003 signings were a diaster the year after united won the BPL title, bellion, klberson, howard, Eric Djemba-Djemba, Miller? these were crap signings.
Well, my point of him being a Hit is because of the price tag. Seriously, for £2.2m, he's considered a steal. He might have a few blunders but which goalie doesnt? Van der Sar just did last weekend and United dropped 2 vital points.
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Eh, but United signed Ronaldo that year leh!
I still remember New Paper had a report on that fateful friendly between Sporting Lisbon and United where a certain young portugese winger tore United apart. And the New Paper even wrote that make no mistake, this is not the Brazilian Ronaldo but a Portugese Ronaldo.
Some Senior United players even urged Fergie mai tu liao, just sign him.
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Sir Alex Ferguson spoke to MUTV shortly after the news broke that Wayne Rooney has agreed to stay at United...
It’s amazing, this world we’re in. It’s often upside-down and it’s had another turn today. Wayne has had second thoughts, he’s realised the enormity of Manchester United and wants to stay.
Sometimes when you’re at a club you think things are better elsewhere. But once the news came out that Wayne wanted to leave, the publicity and impact that had, and the response it generated about how big Manchester United is, resonated with him quite a lot.
He apologised to me and the players this morning, and I think he’ll do that with the fans, which is important, because we’ve all been hurt by the events of the last couple of days. I always feel it’s a quality in a person to say he’s sorry. I admire that in people. He realises he’s made a mistake, and that happens, particularly with young people.
I don’t know where that [the accusation that United lacked ambition] was coming from – you have to wonder about that. Just look at Wayne's record since he’s been here. He’s won the European Cup, the Club World Cup, the League Cup, FA Cup and three league titles.
I’m really delighted he's decided to stay because in my time, no-one has ever come to me in that fashion, asking to leave. Cristiano [Ronaldo] was the perhaps the only one, but I could understand that he wanted to move on because he'd been here six years and he’s from a different culture.
The job for us now is to put this behind us, get Wayne Rooney back on the pitch and playing the way we know he can do. It’s a big day for Manchester United and it’s also a message to all our players and fans that we are the biggest club in the world, and we should never forget that.
We have to kick on. The older I get, the more I demand of myself in terms of winning things, because the criticism bites deeper. When we’re not doing well there's always a reaction in the media, so we have to guard against that. Sometimes my job is to keep us off the front and back pages, and you can only do that by winning.
Our most important issue now is Sunday's game against Stoke. We’re lagging behind Chelsea and have to start making up ground quickly. We can only do that with everyone on board, no-one jumping ship, so we can push on and see the real Manchester United.
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I won't complain that SAF has been bringing in flops that are unforgivable. Look at Real, they bought not only flops, but high profile flops. At least SAF is willing to try out unearth gems just like C.Ron and Chicharito. No doubt that the ratio is rather low but think about it how many successful signings a club are expected to make given a period of time ?
We have to admit that the times now isn't like the time where SAF is able to field a bunch of kids from the academy such as Beckham, Scholes, Giggs, etc... For a game that you didn't win this time round is considered at 2 points dropped rather than 1 point earn. The stakes are just too high for title challenging clubs to try young players with great potential.
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Sir Alex Ferguson says Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney could be sidelined for longer than an initial three weeks due to an ankle injury sustained in training.
Rooney suffered the injury following a tackle from Paul Scholes prior to United's Champions League victory over Bursaspor on October 20.
It appears his return to the first team will be delayed for the time being as he continues his recovery from the injury. Rooney has been in Dubai with his wife, Coleen, in recent days.
The news means that Rooney may miss the derby against Manchester City on November 10. Ferguson also rued the news that Michael Owen has suffered a hamstring injury, while Owen Hargreaves looks to have regressed yet again in his lengthy recuperation following knee surgery.
When asked if three weeks remained the prognosis for Rooney, Ferguson replied: "I think it may be longer. There is no recovery, it is just rest. Before he went away we did his remedial in terms of what we could do at the time. Thereafter, rest - we're quite happy with that.
"Ryan [Giggs] should start training on Monday, I think he's progressed quite well now. Michael Owen unfortunately picked up a hamstring injury in training. That's disappointing for him and he'll be out for four or five weeks.
"Wayne is still injured and resting, and Owen Hargreaves is still recovering from a long-term injury. I can't see [him playing in the next few weeks]. He was making very good progress when he first came back, but it seems to have stalled a little bit and he is back with the physios now.
"They're the only injuries we have at the moment and we have quite a strong squad at the moment. We hope it stays that way."
When Rooney suffered the injury his future was still in considerable doubt at Old Trafford, though he has since signed a new five-year contract to reaffirm his commitment to the club.
Rooney angered United fans when expressing a desire to leave the club and is yet to play for United since publicly questioning the club's ambition.
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Manchester United assistant manager Mike Phelan says Wayne Rooney has been making good progress during his time in the United States.
Rooney was sent to Nike's HQ in Beaverton for conditioning work after struggling for form and fitness in recent months.
United's medical team will assess Rooney on Monday after his return to England and, while he will not be fit to represent his country in next week's friendly against France at Wembley, Phelan suggested he could soon return to action.
"Wayne has been doing really well," Phelan told Key 103. "He has been training really hard, working morning and afternoon.
"Our people out there who are looking after him have been really pleased with his attitude and approach.
"All being well, he can have a nice easy flight back. We will see where he is at on Monday but we think he will have improved immensely."
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hope that overhyped and overpaid whore of a redneck will end up like Robbie Fowler.................
become a NOTHING after injury....................
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Wayne Rooney’s American trip was a success.
The Reds striker arrived back in the United Kingdom on Saturday after spending seven days at Nike World HQ in Portland, Oregon. Sent away with a member of United’s sports science department, Rooney underwent strenuous conditioning work to bring him back to full fitness after an ankle injury has interrupted much of the 25-year-old’s season.
After the Reds’ 2-2 draw at Villa Park, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports: “We’ve achieved what we wanted to achieve.
“Wayne’s had a good week and trained very hard. He had two days of two sessions a day and three days of three sessions a day.”
Rooney is expected to rejoin his team-mates at the Trafford Training Centre on Monday morning where he will be further assessed. If passed fit to take part in first-team football, he could appear when United host Wigan at Old Trafford on Saturday 20 November.