The 2011/12 Gary Speed Memorial Thread

[Fry_4000]

Yes Defoe. can finally breathe easy

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Fulham 26 shots - Tottenham 8.

Fulham 11 corners - Tottenham 1

53% - 47% possession.

[Colly]

In fairness to Walker, despite hugging the ball that actually doesn't look deliberate at all.

[Lineker]

First contact his arm had with the ball he knew nothing about, he was groundbound at the time.

[Colly]

It sort of rolls over him too, nothing he can do about it. No pen.

[FLiam]

Cheers Defoe, had a fiver on 3-1.

Starting to get a little worried about Tottenham to be honest.....

[Summers]

When he locked it between his arms he knew exactly what he was doing though.

[DavidMarrio]

Fucking Spurs grrrrrr stop winning

Another frustrating week for Liverpool in where everyone around us wins yet we somehow manage to fuck it all up. 4 draws out of 6 at home is awful.

[Lineker]

Manchester United's honorary president Martin Edwards has revealed the clandestine approach the club used to secure the services of Sir Alex Ferguson in 1986.

Edwards was United's chairman 25 years ago, while Ferguson was Aberdeen boss.

He told BBC Sport: "I couldn't ring up and say, 'It's Martin Edwards, the chairman of Manchester United, can I speak to Alex Ferguson?'.

"So we decided to get [united director] Mike Edelson to put on a Scottish accent and pretend to be Gordon Strachan's agent Alan Gordon, who knew Alex well.

"So he put on a Scottish accent and the secretary put him through and Mike told Alex, 'It's not Alan Gordon, Martin Edwards wants a word with you'.

"I said we'd be interested in talking to him and that we'd meet him that evening, bonfire night in 1986. We drove up to Scotland just to make sure everthing would be OK before I made the official approach the next day to the chairman of Aberdeen.

"We needed to find out if Alex was prepared to come because the last thing we wanted to do was sack Ron [Atkinson] and then find out we were managerless."

Edwards said the United board was unanimously behind appointing Ferguson who, in a seven-year period from 1979, had guided Aberdeen to three league titles in Scotland, four Scottish FA Cups, one Scottish League Cup, the Cup Winners' Cup and Uefa Super Cup.

He added: "We had already made the decision before we met him on that night - it was a unanimous decision of the board to go for Sir Alex.

"We knew the success he'd had at Aberdeen, which was a reasonably small club when he took over. He broke the dominance of Rangers and Celtic and his crowning glory was winning the Cup Winners' Cup in 1983, beating Real Madrid in the final."

It took Ferguson until 1990 to win his first silverware at Old Trafford, the FA Cup. Edwards conceded that, if the Scot was starting out at the club in today's more cut-throat world, he may have been under more pressure to sack him.

Edwards said: "We had to patient and wait three to four years for first cup but we knew how hard he was working. We thought it would only be a matter of time before he became successful.

"We were beginning to get under pressure in 1990 because things hadn't turned around. The pressure today might be even greater and I'd like to think we would be as patient but you never know."

Edwards believes there is only one area that Ferguson would like to improve on his CV - his record in the Champions League.

United have won European football's biggest domestic tournament twice under Ferguson's stewardship but Edwards said: "When he looks at his CV, the 12 titles in the Premier League is supreme, almost unsurpassable.

"[The] two Champions League in 25 years, he might think he deserves a little more than that.

"I think that's the area that he would want to improve on."

[Liam]

Sidwell's shove from behind was a definite penalty.

Apart from being a good yard outside the box?

And Walked handled it. The initial contact was accidental, but it continued, and he almost hugged it away from the players following in. Bizarre.

[Colly]

Manchester United's honorary president Martin Edwards has revealed the clandestine approach the club used to secure the services of Sir Alex Ferguson in 1986.

Edwards was United's chairman 25 years ago, while Ferguson was Aberdeen boss.

He told BBC Sport: "I couldn't ring up and say, 'It's Martin Edwards, the chairman of Manchester United, can I speak to Alex Ferguson?'.

"So we decided to get [united director] Mike Edelson to put on a Scottish accent and pretend to be Gordon Strachan's agent Alan Gordon, who knew Alex well.

"So he put on a Scottish accent and the secretary put him through and Mike told Alex, 'It's not Alan Gordon, Martin Edwards wants a word with you'.

"I said we'd be interested in talking to him and that we'd meet him that evening, bonfire night in 1986. We drove up to Scotland just to make sure everthing would be OK before I made the official approach the next day to the chairman of Aberdeen.

"We needed to find out if Alex was prepared to come because the last thing we wanted to do was sack Ron [Atkinson] and then find out we were managerless."

Edwards said the United board was unanimously behind appointing Ferguson who, in a seven-year period from 1979, had guided Aberdeen to three league titles in Scotland, four Scottish FA Cups, one Scottish League Cup, the Cup Winners' Cup and Uefa Super Cup.

He added: "We had already made the decision before we met him on that night - it was a unanimous decision of the board to go for Sir Alex.

"We knew the success he'd had at Aberdeen, which was a reasonably small club when he took over. He broke the dominance of Rangers and Celtic and his crowning glory was winning the Cup Winners' Cup in 1983, beating Real Madrid in the final."

It took Ferguson until 1990 to win his first silverware at Old Trafford, the FA Cup. Edwards conceded that, if the Scot was starting out at the club in today's more cut-throat world, he may have been under more pressure to sack him.

Edwards said: "We had to patient and wait three to four years for first cup but we knew how hard he was working. We thought it would only be a matter of time before he became successful.

"We were beginning to get under pressure in 1990 because things hadn't turned around. The pressure today might be even greater and I'd like to think we would be as patient but you never know."

Edwards believes there is only one area that Ferguson would like to improve on his CV - his record in the Champions League.

United have won European football's biggest domestic tournament twice under Ferguson's stewardship but Edwards said: "When he looks at his CV, the 12 titles in the Premier League is supreme, almost unsurpassable.

"[The] two Champions League in 25 years, he might think he deserves a little more than that.

"I think that's the area that he would want to improve on."

Tapping up! Take all their trophies away! And erm, give them to Aberdeen?

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Sidwell's shove from behind was a definite penalty.

Apart from being a good yard outside the box?

And Walked handled it. The initial contact was accidental, but it continued, and he almost hugged it away from the players following in. Bizarre.

YES!

[IAceI]

Keiren Westwood take a bow my friend, superb double save. I doff my cap.

[Lineker]

Swansea City FC defender Steven Caulker has been issued with a fixed penalty notice for a public order offence after an incident in the city centre.

South Wales Police say a 19-year-old man was arrested on Wind Street in the early hours of Saturday morning and taken to Swansea central police station.

Caulker, who is on loan from Tottenham, was issued with a fixed penalty notice and then released.

Swansea City has been asked to comment.

England under-21 international Caulker is on a season-long loan Spurs.

He has not played for the Swans since injuring his knee in the 1-0 defeat to Arsenal in early September but has returned to light training.

Dolt. Hopefully he matures like Ledley did!

[Lineker]

Belgian teenager Andreas Hoelgebaum Pereira will sign a three-and-a-half-year deal with Manchester United on 1 January when he turns 16, he said in an interview with the Dutch daily De Telegraaf.

Elsewhere, Didi Hamann has quit Stockport. Sad times.

[DavidMarrio]

Hope we get Didi in as a coach.

Oh and:

Wigan defender Antolin Alcaraz has been charged by the Football Association with spitting at an opponent during Sunday's 3-1 defeat at Wolves.

The 29-year-old Paraguay international, who has until 1800 GMT on 8 November to respond, will be given an automatic three-game ban if he admits the charge.

Horrible when people spit. Don't see the point in it, such a vile thing to do to another person.

[Lineker]

Chelsea are set to announce a naming rights sponsor for their Stamford Bridge stadium in the new year.

This follows the club's failed attempt to buy back the land on which the ground is built, which could have facilitated a move to a new venue.

Chief executive Ron Gourlay said: "We have outgrown our stadium.

"We hope to make an announcement on naming rights in the next six to eight months. It would make a big step as we have to drive up the revenues."

Gourlay first revealed plans to sell the naming rights to the ground in 2009, stipulating that Stamford Bridge should remain in the new title and that a lease would be for between seven and 10 years.

Stamford Bridge currently holds 42,449 fans which drops to 38,000 on Champions League nights because of Uefa restrictions.

The quest to buy back the land in the Fulham Road on which Stamford Bridge is situated was rejected by shareholders in the Chelsea Pitch Owners company, who voted only 61.5% in favour of the proposal when 75% was required.

Gourlay said no decision had yet been made as to whether a new vote will be called at next month's Annual General Meeting but insisted: "We need a 60-65,000 stadium. We have the eighth biggest stadium in England and the 61st biggest in Europe.

"But when you look at the activity of stadiums planned for next few years, we will fall out of the top 75 which can only be restrictive to the football club. We have corporate hospitality that is second to none and 30,000 season ticket holders.

"In the meantime we continue on our conversations to see if there is any way at all to extend Stamford Bridge."

Makes sense. The whole world will still refer to it as Stamford Bridge anyway.

Also, the Anton Ferdinand threatening letters deal? Pathetic and vile.

[therockbox]

So Joey Barton is exchanging words with some people from The Only Way is Essex on Twitter.

All a bit sad, but worth it just for this:

Joey7Barton Joseph Barton

@

@MarkWright_ same place u get them speedo's. Ur sister still collecting footballers like panini stickers???

[Lineker]

Goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak has claimed he is being treated like a "slave" by Manchester United after a proposed loan move to Leeds was blocked.

The Poland international was keen to join the Championship club to boost his chances of selection for Euro 2012.

But according to the 29-year-old, his request was turned down by manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

In comments reported by a number of national newspapers, Kuszczak said: "I've become a slave to Manchester."

The Pole added: "I'm frustrated but I don't want to slander or criticise Ferguson. It's not my style.

"I've talked to Ferguson recently. I asked him to let me leave the club now, before the January transfer window.

"I told him I want to play and get back into the national team, because Euro 2012 [which Poland will co-host with Ukraine] is just around the corner - but it seems he doesn't care.

"The possibility of a two-month loan to Leeds United came up two weeks later. The club blocked it.

"It was a glimmer of hope for me. It would have reminded the Poland manager about me - but I didn't get the club's approval.

"I have respect for Ferguson because, for me, he's a great manager, but I hope he will let me go in January."

"I don't want to criticize the club, but I will anyway."

>_<. He'll be off in January.

[The Future]

I don't get why he isn't being allowed to leave, we are keen on giving chances to Lindegaard and Amos seems to be getting the Carling Cup games and supposedly Doncaster and Sheffield wanted him on loan as well and if he doesn't want to stay here why not just let him go?