Posts Tagged ‘manchester united’

Who Will Succeed Alex Ferguson?

Sunday, April 4th, 2010

Who will be the next manager of Man United when Sir Alex Ferguson finally decides to step down? It will be a very hard decision to make, that is without a doubt. At the moment many see Martin O’Neill as the favourite to take over from Sir Alex however I have a hunch for a person who thus far has not even been mentioned for the position.

I am not personally involved with professional football; I work within the leaflet printing, composite doors and DVD authoring sectors; I am however a massive football fan.

No one can argue that Sir Alex Ferguson has performed supremely well since becoming the manager of what many consider to be the best football team in the world, Manchester United. It will be very hard for whoever takes over from Sir Alex to fill his shoes as they say.

There are numerous foreign managers who, as usual, will be in contention for the role. I would hope that an English manager could be appointed and have a strong feeling that the son of Sir Alex, Darren Ferguson, could have a great chance. Yes I know what your thinking, that I am a little crazy, but lets look at the facts. Both Sir Alex and Darren were not the best of players but did reach a fairly high standard, Darren is likely to have learnt a lot from his father, Darren is doing supremely well with Preston, the team he currently manages.

It has to be stated that at the current time Darren would have odds of around 1000-1 to be the next manager but how short would those odds fall if he were to lead Preston to promotion to the Premier League? What would also happen if Sir Alex Ferguson recommended his son for the role? Take it from me in a couple years time Darren Ferguson could well be the favourite to take over from his father at Manchester United.

I am not a United supporter, I actually support my local team Birmingham City. Ferguson junior being appointed as the next Manchester manager would certainly be a massive football story.

My vote would be that Darren Ferguson takes over as manager with Paul Ince as his assistant, what a management team that could be!

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

Player Haters – The Rivalry Of Liverpool and Man U

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

There’s been a healthy rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool FC for over 100 years…but is that a good thing or a bad thing.

Everyone has heard of at least one famous sporting rivalry in history.There was Muhammad Ali going toe-to-toe with Joe Frazier in the boxing ring, Martina Navratilova facing off with Chris Evert on the tennis court and Nick Faldo going head to head with Greg Norman on the golf course.There’s still a healthy rivalry in cricket between India and Pakistan.Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov have even made competitive chess seem exciting with their ongoing rivalry through the years.

But can any of these admittedly classic face-offs hold a candle to the colossal confrontation that occurs whenever the Red Devils of Manchester United clash with the Liverpool Reds?  In what has to be the greatest rivalry in football, if not all sports, there is a way to look at things analytically to determine why it exists, and why it continues:

1. The Northwest Derby – Matchups between the two clubs are often referred to using this moniker.The cities of Manchester and Liverpool have been in competition since industrial times, and that sense of being rivals has permeated into the football world.

2. “The Greatest English Football Club” – Manchester United and Liverpool both lay claim to the title of The Greatest English Football Club.  A similar number of trophies have been won by each club, and they are also the two most successful English teams in European competition.

3. Fans and Money – The two clubs are widely-supported throughout the world and boast some of the most devoted fans in any sport.Also, they are two of the biggest-earning clubs in the world.

4.  Player Haters – As with a lot of football clubs, the fans can be downright hostile to each other sometimes.  With Liverpool and Man U, though, the hostility spills over to the players too occasionally.  United striker Wayne Rooney has publicly stated how he grew up hating Liverpool.  Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard meanwhile once told a television crew how, although he regularly exchanges shirts with opposing players, he will never have a Manchester United shirt in his house.

5. Transfers? What are Transfers? – There have been no direct transfers of players between the two clubs since 1964; the few who have played for both sides have always played for a different city’s club in between. As recently as 2007, United left-back Gabriel Heinze expressed a desire to move to Liverpool, and a bid was made, but Man U rejected the bid and stated that Heinze would only join a foreign club if he chose to leave – all due to the age old rivalry.

It’s inspiring, in a way, how these two football clubs can be so passionate about the rivalry between them.  I suppose some people don’t understand and think the whole thing is just silly.  So, who’s the best team in football?It’s as clear as day, really.  Everyone knows it’s Spurs.

*****************************************

Save a bundle when you book your Manchester Airport parking or Liverpool Airport parking in advance.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

Buying Manchester United Football Tickets Online: Safe?

Monday, December 28th, 2009

When Purchasing for Manchester United football tickets online you should aware of how they operate because there will be some who are just scamming innocent Man United fans. Should you want genuine Manchester United Football tickets, then you need to find a business selling them online that is tried and trusted. It’s always a good idea to search for customer reviews before you purchase from a particular vendor. Not only do you have to worry about an illegitimate site taking your money, you also do not want to purchase from a vendor who has a reputation for being slow on delivery. When reading a customer review on a ticket vendor, it is important to make sure it is a legitimate review and not just clever advertising. If you see a hyperlink at the bottom of the review, that can help determine whether it is true or paid for.

When you read a review of a product, if it has a link to the product, then you are probably reading a review which has been paid for. With today’s email spam blockers becoming more powerful, advertisers rethink their ways of getting their product out there and they have turned to reviews which are favorable to get their product in the public eye. Reviews which do not contain links are more likely to be genuine. Although tickets available on eBay are cheaper, buying from a website which specializes only in tickets is always a better idea. Often times tickets purchased on eBay don’t arrive on time and sometimes the seller doesn’t even mail them so you never receive them. While you can assume that the majority of people who sell on eBay are above board, it’s still in your best interest to read feedback about them so get a sense of how they operate.

Before you type in ANY purchasing information is the another way to avoid being scammed is to make sure the checkout page is encrypted. This is something that is extremely important, even though few people consider it during their checkout. So how do you tell if a web page is encrypted or not? At the beginning of a website address you will usually see “HTTP”. HTTP will change to “HTTPS”, if a web page is encrypted. It is always a good idea to make sure the page is encrypted because even if a company is completely honest but does not use encryption, it does not show a lot of respect for the customers’ personal information. If you are interested in a ticket vendor, they have good reviews, and their check out page is encrypted, then you can be pretty certain that the vendor is safe to purchase from.

It is probably a good idea to follow these suggestions to avoid being scammed.  It is also a good idea to follow your instincts. If something about a vendor does not seem quite right, do not purchase anything from them. If something doesn’t sit right with you, then there is most likely something wrong with it. When it comes to avoiding a scam artist, a little scrutiny goes a long way. Now it just comes down to a matter of finding the best price! Keep the information contained within this article in mind and you will be able to make your next purchase with confidence.

The next time you buy sports tickets, buy from your online concierge for global sporting events.. PremiumTicketHub.com.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

Manchester United To Buy Slovakian Star Midfielder

Monday, December 28th, 2009

According to reports, Manchester United have lined up a £25m summer transfer bid for Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik.

The form of veteran former England midfielder Paul Scholes, plus the fact that Ryan Giggs is not getting any younger has convinced Sir Alex Ferguson of the need to bring in a top notch quality replacement to bolster what is perceived by some critics to be United’s biggest weakness, midfield.

Manchester is not alone in regards to Hamsik, both Chelsea and rivals Liverpool have shown interest in the star midfielder. Starting his career with Slovan Bratislava the Slovakian international quickly proved his ability and was bought by Brescia. He shone in Italy with Brescia scoring a hugely impressive ten goals from midfield and it wasn’t too long before Napoli paid over 5.5m Euros to take the player to the Sao Paolo.

Since 2007, the goal scoring efforts of Hamsik have made him one of the best in Serie A. Many strikers would be proud to boast a similar strikerate as Hamsik with 25 goals from 81 games. The Slovakian midfielder has quickly been named the best midfielder in Serie A by experts throughout Italy after his two goals against Juventus.

Hamsik’s performances have been equally impressive for his national side, Slovakia. He has been the driving force behind the countries qualification for the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa and he is being touted as being one of the major stars to emerge from the tournament in the summer.

Despite interest in the player from Manchester United and Chelsea in recent weeks, Napoli have refused to sanction any idea that the player will be sold. This has been reiterated in recent weeks by sporting director Riccardo Bigon who stated:

“Manchester United are after Hamsik? If we rejected the rumours regarding a friend like [Carlo] Ancelotti and his Chelsea, it is obvious we also reject these rumours.”

comments from Napoli chairman seem to support the claim that Hamsik is not on the market.

“Many clubs have requested Hamsik, it’s true, but he will stay with us for the long-term”

Whether this stance will soften in the summer, when United hope to make their move, remains to be seen. Napoli are not a particularly wealthy club and despite the chairman’s insistence that Hamsik is not for sale, it remains to be seen that if a firm offer was on the table that matched their valuation, whether they would be tempted into selling.

Chelsea’s desperation to buy players may push any deals between the two clubs away. Roman Abramovich has purportedly given manager Carlo Ancelotti the green light to make a £25m move for the player so they might beat Manchester United to the punch

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

The Red Army and The Field of Dreams

Friday, November 13th, 2009

Home games Manchester United tickets allows one the chance to see one of the most popular and dynamic football clubs in Europe play live, but also enables to ticket buyer to experience the unique atmosphere that permeates Old Trafford, also named the Field of Dreams, and to witness the excitement that is the Red Army.

  Apart from 8 years after it was bombed out during WWII, Manchester United tickets for home games at Old Trafford have been bought by fans since 1910.

The name Field of Dreams was bestowed upon the stadium by Bobby Charlton, one of the Club’s best known players.  

Best known for his midfield attacks Sir Robert “Bobby” Charlton also had a deadly long-range shot which helped him win the World Cup and get names the European Footballer of the Year in 1966.

Able to seat over 76,000 Manchester United ticket buying supporters, Old Trafford is the second-largest football stadiums in England and it is one of the two stadia in England to have been given a  “UEFA elite stadium” five-star rating by UEFA.

Old Trafford has hosted many FA Cup semi-final matches as a neutral venue and a few “English national football team” England international fixtures.

It has also played host during the  “1966 FIFA World Cup”  and  “UEFA Euro 1996″ and the  “2003 UEFA Champions League Final”.

The Old Trafford playing field is surrounded by stands, officially known as the North, East, South and West Stands.

Three out of the four stands have at least two tiers, except the South stand which has just a single tier.

The lower tier of each stand is split into Lower and Upper sections, the Lower sections having been converted from standing room only terraces in the early 1990s.

The most well-known stand at Old Trafford is the West Stand, more famously, known as the  Stretford End.

The Stretford End stand was designed to hold 20,000 fans,  it was the last stand to be covered and also the last remaining all-terraced stand at the ground before the early 1990s ushered in seating only rules.

  Stretford End is where Manchester United’s most die-hard supporters, known as The Red Army have their seats.

Most of the noise and atmosphere at Old Trafford comes from this stand, and once the roar from the fans there was measured as louder than that of a jumbo jet lifting off.

Unless you’ve been subscribing to your season Manchester United ticket for many years  it is impossible to get a seat in the Stretford End, even for the most die-hard fan.

Manchester United’s fan club, usually called the Red Army was once the largest and most infamous group of followers British football has ever seen.

When the Red Army followed Manchester United to an away game, the town would fall into chaos: large numbers of fhe Red Army would travel en-mass by train, coach, car or even by foot if necessary, doing whatever it took to get to the game.  

During the mid-seventies when Manchester United had been relegated from the top flight of English football and played in the  “Football League Second Division” Second Division for one season, the Red Army caused such chaos at games around the country when visiting stadiums where they would often outnumber the home fans, that it led to the introduction of segregation and fencing between of home and away fans at football grounds throughout England.

The Red Army is now nothing like it was in the 1970’s & 80’s.

This Manchester United supporters club, now has a fan base of over 300 million fans across the world.

The vast numbers of Manchester United fans, all of whom would like to visit the Field of Dreams, both to see the game and to experience the atmosphere there, result in it almost always being difficult to buy Manchester United Tickets.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace