STR: You joined United when you were a kid. How confident were you of making it for the first team then?

LM: I was never confident I was ever good enough to play in United’s first team.

STR: Who were the best players in your age group?

LM: Probably Gary Walsh and a player called Dennis Cronin.

STR: How much did you have to do with Ferguson when you were in the youth team?

LM: Sir Alex always took a lot of time to watch and be involved with youth team.

STR: How many times a week do people want to reminisce with you about your FA Cup final goal? Does it ever get irritating?

LM: Most weeks somebody asks me about FA cup goal, it will never get boring.

STR: What are your other favourite memories from your time at United?

LM: Making my debut against QPR was a great memory but I have loads of great memories.

STR: Who was the biggest joker at the club then?

LM: Probably Paul Ince.

STR: How did you feel at United in your last full season when you weren’t playing much but United ended the 26 year wait for the title?

LM: I’v always been a United fan so winning league was pretty special for me because I played a small part of that success.

STR: Do you still get to see United much?

LM: I work at Old Trafford on matchdays now so I’m at every home game.

STR: What is your favourite United moment since you left the club?

LM: It has to be winning treble. The way the season ended priceless.

STR: How do you rate our chances this season?

LM: We haven’t really played well since first month but are still only 2 points behind. Stronger in new year. We’ve got quite a lot of injuries but it will be close come May. Sir Alex doesn’t get it wrong very often.

STR: What are you up to these days?

LM: I am working for a training company in Chester working with teenagers. Also matchday hospitality, MUTV and a lot of travelling, playing games with ex-players team.

STR: Cheers Lee.

—–
Follow Lee Martin on Twitter.

Scott The Red: How did the book get you in to trouble with Fergie?

Daniel Taylor: You tell me! He has never read it. He asked his press officer to read it on his behalf and the press officer delivered him a report which basically says ‘no problems whatsoever.’ But I guess Fergie’s Fergie isn’t he? He banned me anyway and, once that happens, you try changing his mind.

Either way, it’s not the big deal people think. I’d rather be in, obviously. But all it really means is that I just have to watch the Friday press conferences on MUTV. It doesn’t apply to Champions League or post-match. It’s purely the Friday thing. I don’t understand it properly, but he’s clearly got a bee in his bonnet about it. I emailed the club to say the book was being re-released for his anniversary and when they got round to telling him he went potty apparently. It’s all a bit strange.

STR: Do you reckon you’ll ever be allowed back into his press conference?

DT: It’s been four years now, so I doubt it. The press office think it’s absurd but they would never dare challenge him. They asked me to write to him at one point and when I handed them the letter it was three months before they passed it on. They just don’t want to tackle him.

But listen, Fergie banned MUTV once because one of their presenters said he preferred 4-4-2 to 4-5-1. He banned Sky for asking too many questions and let them back only on condition their reporter didn’t sit on the front row. The man doesn’t operate by normal rules and, yes, it can be exasperating from this side and not what you imagined it would be like when you started in journalism. But this is the monster/genius and it’s still an enjoyable ride. Maybe one day Ferguson might realise he actually gets great press, the weekend just gone being a prime example. But the good still outweighs the bad when you’re covering United and you don’t lose sight of that.

STR: How much stick do you get from rival fans about writing a book on Fergie?

DT: Only a couple of weirdo City fans who seemed to think it meant I was his secret lovechild or something. I couldn’t quite understand the correlation because you’d hardly say Patrick Barclay, Ollie Holt or Michael Crick were close to Ferguson. But Twitter’s full of strange people, isn’t it? I’d quite like to do a City book, to be honest, but the problem is there’s been such a large turnover in personnel over there historically nobody ever sticks around long enough. With Ferguson, there’s 25 years of great material. There’s a story to be done about the City takeover and the rise of the club but I believe someone’s got there before me anyway. And Manchester, the patch, is just too busy anyway these days.

STR: What advice would you give to a journo attending his first Fergie press conference?

DT: It’s always quite amusing seeing a newbie trying to get ‘in’ with him. You can shake his hand, introduce yourself, wear your best suit, the lot – he will just look straight through you and, to be honest, if you’re under the age of 50, he really doesn’t want to know. It’s a trust thing. He’s suspicious of faces he doesn’t know, especially if they have a southern accent (“another one from London coming up here to make his fucking name”). The best thing a new journalist can do is sit there quietly and learn what is, and what is not, accepted. Because the ‘rules’ are complex and if you don’t know them you won’t last long.

STR: On to the manager. What do you think his greatest achievement has been?

DT: The thing that always impresses me the most is just his sheer endurance, the way he defies age. People think he’s old-school and, in a sense, he is because they don’t make them in that mould any more. But then you look at the way he has always moved with the times, the way he has beaten the system and is still maybe three or four years off retiring, and you can’t really find anyone comparable. The bloke’s 70 next month and you can forget sometimes that he had a pacemaker fitted a few years ago. He’s in one of the most gruelling jobs in football, with all the stresses it must bring and, let’s be honest, he likes a glass of wine with his dinner. Yet he seems immune to fatigue. I know how knackered I can feel coming back from tours halfway across the world, or flying straight back after European nights, but the man is pretty much always first in at Carrington, usually before sunrise. A bowl of porridge, maybe half an hour in the gym then into his day’s work. That’s a rare form of energy.

STR: What do you think his lowest moments have been?

DT: He’d probably say it was those moments in late-89 and early-90 when it looked like he might be sacked and the fans were turning on him. That quote stands out from that time, when he was talking about finding it hard to look people in the eye in case it was a United supporter, simply because he felt he was letting everyone down so badly. I was speaking to Pete Molyneux the other day, the supporter who held up the ‘Ta ra Fergie’ banner and it feels faintly ludicrous now thinking back to that time – crowds just over 30,000, a struggling team, Liverpool cleaning up and the beginnings of a proper mutiny against Ferguson.

Since I’ve been covering the club (1998 onwards) the start of the 2005-06 season was probably the most traumatic. There was the Roy Keane thing, ‘Play the Pundit,’ the fall-out, Keane being booted out, that night in Paris when the fans were turning on the players. The team went out of the Champions League at the group stage, not even qualifying for the Europa League (probably a blessing in disguise) The football was pretty dour, the fans were blaming Queiroz (remember Ferguson having to defend him in the programme and the chants of “four-four-two” at the Blackburn game?), people were falling out left, right and centre and it all felt very aggro.

Looking back, it can feel like another end-of-the-empire balls-up from the media. But there was a legitimate question to be asked about where it left Ferguson at that point. The Glazers had only just moved in, so nobody really knew what their intentions were and how patient they would be. Hugh McIlvanney, who was close to Ferguson at the time, was suggesting Ferguson should manouvre his own departure before he is “despatched by remote control.” Fortunately, the only thing you could say about the Glazers is that they kept their nerve and supported him. But Bobby Robson went public at the time and admitted Ferguson had confided to him that he was thinking of packing it all in. Which tells you two things: a) Bobby Robson wasn’t the best person to confide in b) maybe, just maybe, Ferguson is vulnerable to the same insecurities as every one else.

STR: Who have been his best and worst signings?

DT: I’d say Solskjaer was the best when you think he cost so little and the service he gave in return. You could argue a case for Schmeichel, Irwin, Cantona and a few others but Solskjaer would be my pick. Plus he didn’t do too badly with Ronaldo, with a nice £68m profit.

As for the worst, can you look any further than Bebe? He came, he saw and he crossed the ball into the opposite stand, eh? I doubt we’ll ever get to the bottom of that one, to be honest. I used to think it was a Panorama documentary in the making. But someone pretty high at the club has since told me they were willing to take the hit just to keep Jorge Mendes sweet, as they knew he would be useful down the line (Mendes not Bebe). Either way, it’s a pretty unsatisfactory story.

Runners-up spot: I’ll always retain a soft spot for Dong Fangzhou. Long live Dong! I went to Antwerp to interview him once. He didn’t speak a word of English, I didn’t speak Chinese and we sat in a traffic jam on the Antwerp ring road in his Nissan listening to acid house. Good days.

STR: How important was Ferguson’s role in convincing Rooney to stay at United last October?

DT: Crucial, and I’d probably say this was the most impressive I’ve seen Ferguson in his press conferences. He dealt with it brilliantly, to be honest. I just think it’s a shame that, by and large, he opts for deliberate blandness in his press conferences. I’m sure he would tell you he has his reasons. But when he lifts the mask and offers his true feelings, there aren’t many more captivating people in sport. And he nailed it, didn’t he?

It was a combination of great speech-making, strategy and maybe a bit of acting, too. There was never one moment when you lost sight of the fact he was top dog, but he also applied just the right amount of pressure on Rooney to make him change his mind. Rooney’s camp made blunder after blunder and, in the end, I think he lost his nerve. Yes, he got his pay rise, but I don’t go with the theory that it was all a stunt to get more money. City definitely thought they had got him through the Marwood-Stretford connection. “The perfect signing – strengthen yourself, weaken your opponent” – that’s how they put it.

STR: What do you make of Ferguson ending his feud with the BBC?

DT: We probably won’t know what actually happened until Ferguson brings out another book and, even then, it will be heavily weighted in his favour. We knew they were talking but it still came as a surprise, especially as the BBC are adamant there was no apology. It’s not as if Ferguson needed the BBC particularly, so I really couldn’t be sure about his motives. They reckon it’s a lot to do with the BBC moving to Salford but that doesn’t quite stack up to me. Why would he particularly care where they are based? Either way, it was unexpected. Not sure about you, but Match of the Day without Mike Phelan and his plaster feels a strange place.

STR: What importance do you think the recent derby will play in the title race this season?

DT: It was a big thing for City’s mindset, I reckon. They beat United in the FA Cup semi-final. Then they won the final and got rid of all the “35 years” stuff. I just think they know they can win things now and don’t have the inferiority complex of before. The killer time for them will be next spring because, if they’re still at the top, they haven’t been in that position before and it’s bound to get edgy. Will their fans start getting jumpy? And, if so, will it transmit to the players? But right now you have to say they’ve been more than impressive and probably favourites. It could be a strange season at Old Trafford if you can’t close the gap. It’s all very new to everyone and I reckon there’d be some fairly grumpy matches.

————
Buy This Is The One from £4 on Amazon

JS: @SteveForbesCEO (editor-in-chief of business magazine Forbes) recently asserted that “print journos used to look down on digital hacks as “trailer park. Only hacks to survive are those who properly embrace web.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?

MO: The Internet is obviously the future in terms of people accessing their media, but there will still be a market for print newspapers, albeit much reduced in comparison to how it stands today. There was a train of thought a couple of years ago which suggested that journalists who embrace the Internet and exploit it properly could become valuable “brands” for their employers.

Basically, if a journalist builds on online following, either through Twitter or simple online content, advertisers are more likely to spend money to have their product alongside a specific journalist’s content. I can see the logic in that. I’m not sure we are there yet, but I can definitely see journalists who ignore the Internet being left behind in the future.

JS: How do you respond to @Joey7Barton tweeted remark that “Newspapers will be a thing of the past in 10yrs, yesterday’s stories today, social media is the future. I know it, u know it, they know it…”?

MO: Joey underestimates the ability of media organisations to move with the times. Turn on the radio in the morning and what dominates the headlines and the agenda? The back and front pages of that day’s newspapers.

Stories might break on Twitter, but people still want to read about it in the context of a newspaper.

JS: I recently speculated that “The luxury of savouring a live game seems like a rare commodity for the modern-day digitally-minded reporter, especially following the recent decision rendered by football’s governing bodies to permit limitless usage of social media during matches at which a reporter is present on a working capacity.” Is this true to a certain extent?

MO: Yes, but it’s not a new phenomenon. At night games, most papers want copy on the final whistle for the early editions, so you spend much of the second-half writing anyway. I don’t think many football reporters have ever had the luxury of “savouring” a live game, but then we’re not there to do. The enjoyment is for the fans who pay their money to watch it. We’re there to report on what happened.

JS: MUFC has 16 million fans on its official Facebook fanpage. Do you feel that the club would benefit from also creating an official Twitter account? What reasons could you offer for its reluctance to embrace Twitter thus far?

MO: I don’t know United’s stance on this, but Twitter is still forming an identity. In the last 12 months, it has gone from being a valuable source of information and interaction to an arena for people to post bogus rumours and abuse each other. United might be best off out of it!

What does Fergie think?

JS: Does the Telegraph contractually oblige you to be on Twitter? Or rather do they strongly encourage it?

MO: We’re encouraged to participate, but there are no set requirements as to how often. For instance, we’re not told to tweet updates during games, thankfully. Most fans will know what it is going on anyway, without 10 different journos tweeting inane updates about corners and throw-ins. If a goal is scored, again, there are 101 different outlets tweeting about it, so it just looks ridiculous if everybody does it.

JS: What percentage of tweets that you receive is unadulterated/unconsidered negative criticism? Is your policy to overlook such vitriol? Have you ever considered jettisoning the micro-blogging site or do the pros outweigh the cons? Do you empathise with players such as @dgibbo28 who abandoned the site due to an inordinate amount of abuse?

MO: Probably 80 per cent of tweets I get are abusive, smart arse or belittling. It doesn’t bother me. I actually enjoy the banter and the odd sarcastic tweet back, but there are some tweeters who live in a strange little world of obsession and paranoia and you can’t get anywhere with them. Not that I particularly want to.

I have thought about closing my account a couple of times, but that’s because Twitter is becoming boring and predictable and a stage for self-publicists, many of them are footballers tweeting about anything but football. You know who I’m talking about… I don’t have sympathy for the players who are abused, though. I can take it, so I’m sure they can.

JS: How many tweets do you receive on a typical day? What percentage of tweets are you physically able to respond to? My partner is livid at the amount of time I dedicate to tweeting yet my frequency of tweets posted/received must pale into insignificance compared with you. So do people close to you grow frustrated that you’re forever tweeting?

MO: I can get 50-100 some days, so can’t reply to all. Some send me blogs to retweet, but as I don’t have time to read most of them, I can’t retweet them because I’d rather know what I was endorsing before I tweet it to my followers.

Twitter is quite invasive on personal time and space, I have to admit. Maybe I should have a word with Blackberry about that annoying flashing red light that goes off whenever somebody tweets me!

JS: Have you ever become embroiled in a Twitter dispute with any high-profile luminaries (footballers etc.)? Was this played out publicly?

MO: No. I can’t think of anything worse than a public debate, good or bad, with a footballer or celebrity. Totally pointless.

I do find it quite funny, however, that lots of the players who tweet don’t follow the journalists who cover their club. It’s a classic “them and us” thing and kind of defeats the object of social networking.

JS: Are you concerned at all with the phenomenon of players bypassing the media and connecting with fans directly via social networks such as Twitter? Will this eventually render the role of certain media members redundant?

MO: Not really. If the player has a new boot to promote or a new book, he’ll sit down with the papers and do a big interview to talk about it, which tells you a lot about the true power, or otherwise, of Twitter.

JS: Which players’ tweets do you particularly enjoy on Twitter? Rooney, Rio, Phil Neville, Owen, Savage, Barton?

MO: The only ones who are worth following are those who tell you stuff that you want to know. I don’t want to know about what they’re watching on TV or having for breakfast or how their latest magazine/radio show is doing.

If player X had an injury and explained what it was or if he explained why he had been dropped/rested etc., then it would be worthwhile, but most keep all that stuff close to their chest, so we’re not really getting the real person.

To be fair to Wayne Rooney, he often says why he isn’t playing or if he is injured, so credit to him for that.

JS: BBC’s quote that Barton “has reinvented himself on Twitter as a philosophical sportsman to rival Eric Cantona in his heyday”? Are Barton’s philosophical ponderings plausible? How do you react to Barton’s antagonism?

MO: He was worth following when he was having a public row with Newcastle, but I stopped following him once he started his transformation into Stephen Fry…

JS: Do you understand Rio’s usage of Hip-Hop pater within his tweets? If Fergie were to issue an impromptu blanket ban on social networks for playing staff, would Rio choose MUFC or Twitter?

MO: Rio knows his audience, so I don’t have a problem with how he interacts with it. He doesn’t tweet about United very often, though, so I don’t see how the club could have a problem with what he does.

JS: Rio suggested that he might send a request to the FA to have @rioferdy5 on the back of his shirt. Is Rio a social-networking visionary or fantasist?

MO: I just think he’s having a laugh with that one, but why not? Would @rioferdy5 on his shirt be any different to Chicharito on Javier Hernandez’s?

JS: Do you find Michael Owen’s betting tips useful? Have any of them ever paid dividends for you? Do you admire Owen’s willingness to candidly engage with your journalistic peers/counterparts on footballing matters?

MO: I don’t follow Owen’s betting tips, but some of his tweets are fascinating in terms of his lifestyle. Recent revelations about never having had tea or coffee, or that he hasn’t been to the cinema in over a decade were a window on his soul—a strange one, nonetheless!

JS: Your honest opinion of Piers Morgan’s appropriation of Twitter, essentially antagonising professional footballers—droll tweeter or troll tweeter?

MO: Don’t follow him, so can’t answer that one.

JS: Do you receive a lot of abuse from those opposing fans that perceive you to be a closet staunch fan of a particular club, thereby demonstrating bias? Are debates on your allegiances just the nature of your job?

MO: I get loads of it. One day earlier this season, I was called a rag, bitter blue, Scouser and a Leeds fan within the space of an hour. Quite an achievement that!

Again, this gets back to the paranoia of Twitter. Lots of fans think that you are either with them or against them, but it’s all harmless enough.

JS: Anyone else within (or outside of) football you suggest that we should be following?

MO: There’s a great Twitter feed of Mark Twain quotes and pronouncements. I think it’s called @TheMarkTwain. They usually say something that cuts through all the Twitter bullshit and brings perspective to a lot of things.

JS: Does Twitter have genuine longevity as a social network? Do you believe that in a decade’s time you’ll still be utilising the medium?

MO: I think Twitter will crash and burn within the next 18 months. The lunatics are in danger of taking over the asylum and that will just lead to the sane and sensible casting it adrift.

JS: OK Mark, well many thanks for taking the time to answer the questions, and I look forward to Part 2 of this interview in which we will discuss your role as the Northern football correspondent for highbrow broadsheet the Telegraph.

MO: No worries at all, cheers.

Follow Mark Ogden on Twitter @MOgdenTelegraph
Follow Jonathan on Twitter @jonathanshrager

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Jonathan’s interview with Henry Winter on the same topic is in this month’s United We Stand

Scott the Red: So, are Chelsea “old and slow“?

Chelsea Den: Ask Torres! Obviously, we have two or three in the squad who are a little older and slower than they may once have been, that’s not exactly earth shattering news though is it? I can’t necessarily see AVB letting the side suffer as a result of that over the course of a season though.

STR: Good ol’ Torres. He cost £50m and has scored one goal. When will he become the biggest flop of all time?

CD: He is already isn’t he? Certainly most outside of Chelsea seem to think so anyway. From a Chelsea point of view, we’re probably in two minds. On the one hand, if you looked at his game the other night for example, he gave us both assists and looked impressive. On the other hand, he isn’t actually scoring. How much longer will we keep the faith? I’ll give him a week…

STR: Abramovich is pouring money in to the club on players like this because he wants to win the Champions League. Will he ever get it?

CD: What am I, a bloody fortune teller? If you’re asking will we win it with the squad we’ve got this season, then no we won’t. One day in the future though? Ask Mystic Meg.

STR: Do you wonder if Chelsea’s time has come and gone? Given the football United and City have been playing this season, as well as the potential for their squads to improve, do you see Chelsea competing again any time soon?

CD: Fuck me, write us off completely why don’t you? I think AVB has paid some attention to the future with his signings this summer and our senior players, whether the club admit it or not, won’t be ever-presents for much longer. So as much as you’d like to think otherwise, there’s potential for our squad to improve in the future as well, so there’s no reason we won’t be competing.

STR: You’ve had plenty of players coming in. What about those leaving? Has it been disappointing seeing Chelsea fan Joe Cole go from strength to strength since leaving?

CD: Yeh devastating. I mean, in spite of his love and devotion to Chelsea, we had to understand him leaving us – he was realising his dream signing for the biggest club in the world. Where did he end up by the way?

STR: In the end, a club that could offer him Champions League football. What do you think of the Chelsea fan boycott of Champions League games?

CD: It looked like it was City fans doing that to be honest. Seriously though, it’s up to them really – not that I think the club will respond to it. We were told if we wanted players like Torres, the supporters would have to pay. Probably doesn’t feel like much of a trade-off right now though I guess. To be honest, I stopped going regularly soon after Roman’s arrival anyway – it all got a bit ‘touristy’ for me – so it would be hypocritical of me to criticise.

STR: Ok. Anyway. More about us. What did you think when watching United stuff Arsenal 8-2?

CD: You actually think I sat and watched it? No, even worse, I was sat in a United fan’s house at the time and had to listen to the gloating every time a goal went in. If I remember rightly, what I said to my dad, a Chelsea man obviously, at the time was ‘Fuck me, we have to play them soon’.

STR: Feeling the fear eh? Which United player will you be most fearful of on Sunday?

CD: I wish it was a case of just picking one out, any of them could cause us problems the way they’re playing though. If I was pushed to name just one, it’d probably be Rooney but I’m hoping someone pins him down and shaves his hair off before the game.

STR: And your predictions?

CD: You know me better than to expect a score. I think it’s safe to predict you’ll be a smug bastard and I’ll want to rip your head off though.

STR: I hope you’re right! Cheers.

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Read STR’s interview with The Chelsea Blog

Scott the Red: Last season you finished miles behind Porto. Are you confident you can catch them up this season?

Éter: Sure. If I wasn’t confident I wouldn’t even bother to watch the matches.

STR: You’ve sold on some important players recently. Who are Benfica’s most dangerous players now?

E: Cardozo is not very fast, but his left foot is deadly. Aimar is the maestro and can make impossible passes. Witsel has arrived this season but is already showing a lot of quality. Nolito has a bit of the famous Barça’s “tiki-taka” and has scored a lot of goals already. Luisão is very dangerous with corners.

STR: How highly do you rate Luiz and Ramires who left you for Chelsea?

E: When comparing both players, I think that I miss David Luiz more from an emotional point of view, and Ramires more from a practical one. Luiz had a very strong bond with the fans and, of course, he’s also a great player, with tremendous skill for a centre-back, which allows him to advance up the field and open holes in the opposition’s midfield. Few centre-backs in the world can do that. But he’s still very young and with a lot to learn, sometimes he loses the ball in stupid places.

Ramires is utterly irreplaceable and one of the reasons to Benfica’s poor performance last season. In a couple of seconds he’s stealing a ball near his own area, passing it to a team mate and when you watch again he’s in the other area to score. He’s an amazing player with superhuman lungs.

STR: Which United players would you most like at Benfica?

E: Rooney is the most obvious answer. But also Evra, Vidic, Anderson, Nani and Chicharito.

STR: How far do you realistically think Benfica can go in the Champions League this season?

E: I’m counting on reaching the next phase. And with luck in the draw, perhaps reach the quarter-finals.

STR: How do you predict tonight will finish?

E: 2-2.

STR: Cheers. Enjoy the game!

Scott the Red: Were you happy with your team’s performance last season?

David Johnston: I think in the first two seasons in the top flight the target has to be survival. Wolves came very close to not achieving that last season but they did achieve it and that’s all that matters.

STR: You escaped the drop by one point. Were you confident you were going to manage it?

DJ: It was all going so well at the end of March and then Doyle was the last player we needed to get injured and we lost by 3 goals to Newcastle, Everton and Stoke in April and it looked very gloomy. Wins against Albion and Sunderland meant we were confident going into the last game but to go 3 down by half time at home to Blackburn was a nightmare. The second half was a blur as Wolves fought back and trying to keep track on scores elsewhere. When Wigan and Birmingham both scored with ten minutes left it looked all over. But Hunt’s goal in the 87th minute meant a memorable end that nobody in Wolverhampton with a weak heart wants to repeat.

STR: Who were your most important players?

DJ: For most of the season the most important players were Kevin Doyle and Matt Jarvis. Doyle got injured in March and Jarvis lost form around the same time. O’Hara and Fletcher became the most important players in the last couple of months along with Stephen Hunt and Wayne Hennessey.

STR: How have Wolves done in the transfer market this summer?

DJ: Very pleased with the signings of O’Hara and Roger Johnson. De Vries gives us keeper back up now Hahnemann has been released. We need to bring in a left back and maybe another centre back.

STR: What are your aspirations for this season?

DJ: It will be disappointing if we are struggling to avoid relegation for a third successive year. But I don’t think we will be. Johnson is a good addition, O’Hara only played the last third of last season, and because of injury Fletcher and Hunt only played a third of the games also. So I think we have enough now to progress towards halfway.

STR: How do you rate McCarthy’s ability to take the club forward?

DJ: He isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but what manager is? When he joined the club we were in a real mess and looked capable of going down to League 1. But he stabilised things and finished 6th and 7th in his first two years. Then in the third year won the Championship by 7 points and scored 90 goals. Survival achieved in the next two seasons so he has achieved all that was asked of him so far and I think we will make further progress next season.

STR: Where do you think you will finish this season?

DJ: 12th to 14th. Definitely above Albion!

STR: Wow. Optimistic. Which player do you think will most important in helping you achieve this?

DJ: Hennessey, Hunt, Johnson, Jarvis and Fletcher are all important players for Wolves now but Kevin Doyle is the standout player.

STR: Which two current United players would you most want at your club?

DJ: Wolves’ Achilles heel is the defence so for the positions we need to strengthen I would like Vidic and Evra. But wouldn’t say no to Rooney.

STR: Who will finish in the top 4? Who will go down?

DJ: Top 4 will be Man United, Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea. Relegated teams will be three from QPR, Swansea, Norwich, Wigan and Blackburn. I will take Swansea, Norwich and Blackburn to drop.

STR: Anything else?

DJ: There are positive vibes around Wolves at the moment. The stadium is being developed as are the training facilities and the team is building into one good enough to hold its own in the Premier League. Whether Wolves can get back to being one of the country’s top clubs is open to question in the modern game of the rich clubs getting richer. But there are plans to take the stadium up to a 50,000 capacity in time and if we can get a team to justify that then the good times will be back.

Scott the Red: Were you happy with your team’s performance last season?

Alan: After six (yes six, count them) full seasons in the Premier League we would have ideally progressed from perennial relegation battlers to… well, I don’t know but something else all the same. The reality of the situation is that we don’t have the financial wherewithal nor the infrastructure to be anything but right now.
Things are improving on the infrastructure front, with the club looking to a long term plan for the first time in a good while, but I suppose your question is about our performance on the pitch and things weren’t always as encouraging in that respect last season, but it wasn’t all doom and gloom.

Pundits have reduced the whole of Wigan Athletic’s 2010/11 season into four games, the first two and the last two, the disastrous start and the dramatic finish. Such laziness hides a fairly steady improvement, particularly over the second half of the season. There’s no denying that we were left with plenty of room for improvement but, at the same time there’s a fair bit to write home about, not least the additional year’s top flight experience gained by our young squad. Or, in short, sort of.

STR: You mention the six years Wigan have had in the top division. Do you think you deserve more credit for managing to stay in the league for so long?

A: The question is a no brainer really we’ve been in the Premier League for more than a third of it’s existence and even without the usual “for a club of their size” and “with their resources” riders, that’s a real achievement. Of course we deserve credit and to see pundits who still have us as a banker to go down is a real testament to the worth of the profession. But the truth is, I like it that way. I’d rather be bucking the trend than failing to meet expectations. It’s just a pity that many of our fans buy into all that crap and would rather whinge about lack of progress than turn it into something positive. It would be great if we could all get behind the idea that none of these people like us being around and that proving them wrong is the real joy in staying in the top flight. Building the sort of siege mentality that we saw at the proper Wimbledon back in the eighties could be a real boost for the club on top of all of the good things we’ve got already.

STR: Who were your most important players in helping you avoid relegation?

A: Charles N’Zogbia caught the eye & stole the headlines and rightly so. His direct running and willingness to have a blast played a massive part in our run in. His departure leaves a massive hole in our team and a question over who got the better deal out of you & Villa over Young & N’Zogbia. It strikes me that the Frenchman is at least as good as Antonio Valencia and ten times less odious than Young.
However, the key to our side over the last 18 months has probably been James McCarthy. He spent 2009/10 showing up some supposedly more senior pros and the club and last season glueing the side together. We had to manage without him for three months last season and at best it was a struggle. His return to the side brought fluency and direction and took pressure of some players who’d been struggling to impose themselves on games, setting us up for survival. For such a young lad, his football intelligence and willingness to take responsibility are astounding. His reaction to getting clobbered by Rooney at our place last season is a good measure of the man and, to my mind, he is a certainty to not only play for, but to captain a top side in the future. He’s also very level headed and seems comfortable at Latics, so hopefully that won’t be for a few years yet.

STR: How has your team done in the transfer market this summer?

A: In short, they haven’t. The last of the deadwood of previous managers has been cleared away with Jason Koumas and Daniel de Ridder reaching the end of their contracts, Uncle Dave has done one for the fans by bringing in local hero Ali al Habsi for between £3-4m and N’Zogbia has left for between £9-10m. All that means we’ve got space on the wage bill for players but not much in terms of a transfer budget.
There are clear gaps in the squad now and it’s clear that things are going to be left late, with a probable reliance on loan deals, that tactic served us well last year with al Habsi and Cleverley being two of our better players but it does very little to calm the nerves of our fans who are clamouring for a striker and a replacement for N’Zogbia, regardless of the financial realities.

STR: What are your aspirations for this season?

A: I know that fans of other clubs despair at this, but, as always, our starting (and perhaps our finishing) point is survival. That can’t be enough though and there’s increasing talk around the club of stepping up a level which I guess puts us at the equally glamorous “getting forty points early enough in the season to have a serious tilt at a cup and/or top half finish”. My personal aspiration would be to see the push for stability across the club to continue. There’s talk of our top performers being offered new contracts, something which is as rare as hen’s teeth around here and would be a real step forward for me. Yes, there are gaps in the squad, but keeping players around for more than that first ‘stepping stone’ stage is our only real way of building a squad with real Premier League experience, which more often than not can make a massive difference in the lower reaches of the table.

STR: Wigan fans always seem to speak highly of Martinez. Do you still rate his ability to take the club forward?

A: I’ve never wavered. As i’ve said above, there’s more than one kind of progress and Bobby ticks all the boxes on the page headed ‘Turning Wigan Athletic into a proper club again’. There are still plenty of debates about his merits as a coach or tactician, but these are generally just aesthetic, either that or I’ll-founded.
I did a piece in our club’s fanzine summer special that covered just how I think Bobby performed last season maybe your readers would like to read for theirselves. (It’s a free download and avaiable from here – http://www.thisnorthernsoul.co.uk/downloads/view.download/5/5).

STR: Where do you think you will finish this season?

A: Higher than the average prediction of all the national media pundits’ predictions which I think currently has us finishing 21st. I don’t like making actual predictions about Latics’ but as it’s you, I’ll say 14th.

STR: Which player do you think will most important in helping you achieve this?

A: Overall our tactics make it a team effort, but you don’t want to hear that so, more specifically, our midfield will be key and I’m hoping for an early confidence boost to see them really go and stamp some authority on later games. Individually, all eyes will be on Victor Moses. It’s looking increasingly likely that he’s been anointed to take the mantle held by N’Zogbia and Valencia before him (and Garry Teale before him, but that’s a different story). Moses is a bundle of raw energy and talent and could end up a real talent if the responsibilty doesn’t get to him first. Pre-season indications are positive but trips to Nigeria (he chose them over England in what appeared to be a bit of an U21 spat last season) for internationals may be too much strain for a lad who’s still only 20.

STR: Which two current United players would you most want at your club? Why?

A: I think I said Ferdinand and Vidic last year and I think I’ll stick with the latter this time around. He’s the sort of centre-back that every team needs with goals to match. Of course he’d find staying on the pitch a lot more difficult at Latics though. For the other slot, I think it’s as simple as having Tom Cleverley back. He’s a good player, with the right attitude and, most importantly he knows the club, tactics and his new team-mates already, we’ll probably end up with a replacement who’ll need two months bedding in and time isn’t a luxury that we can really afford at the moment.

STR: Who will finish in the top 4? Who will go down?

A: Both Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Liverpool will finish in the top slots and I reckon you men will take the title again. Arsenal miss out because it looks like they’ll lose key players late in the summer, which from experience is hard to recover from.

STR: Anything else?

A: Just two requests, first for a brew, I’m dry after all that. Second, would it be possible to have something different from our regulation four/five goal drubbings this year? I wouldn’t go as far as a point, but it would be nice. I might even stop going on about Rooney’s elbow.

STR: No promises, mate. Cheers. Good luck for the season.

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Scott the Red: Were you happy with your team’s performance last season?

Chris Carra: Yes, Swansea had their bad periods and dips in form, but overall delivered an exciting, fluid footballing experience, with promotion as their deserved reward!

STR: Did you believe that Swansea would become the first Welsh side to play in the Premier League?

CC: A few years ago, probably not, especially when Cardiff kept pushing for promotion. However, last season Swansea looked much stronger and I felt it would happen.

STR: Do you see your club as representing Wales?

CC: To an extent, yes, but I’m sure our neighbours up the M4 would have objections to that!

STR: You’ll have to excuse my ignorance. I don’t know an awful lot about your squad. Who were your most important players last season?

CC: All the players are as important as each other in my eyes, so it’s hard to pick one. Stand out men last season, though, were Scott Sinclair, who added much needed goals, Nathan Dyer created havoc on the wings and Stephen Dobbie, who created so many opportunists.

STR: How has your team done in the transfer market this summer?

CC: We started off quite slowly, though eventually captured everything we need. Another goalkeeper and defender before the season starts would be ideal.

STR: What are your aspirations for this season?

CC: I think avoiding relegation would be the main priority, something all fans would love to see. Anything else would be a bonus.

STR: How do you rate your manager’s ability to take the club forward?

CC: Very highly. Brendan Rodgers is the right man for Swansea and, with time, can keep us in the Premier League and eventually get us into Europe!

STR: Where do you think you will finish this season?

CC: I honestly think we’ll end the season in 15th-17th.

STR: Which player do you think will most important in helping you avoid relegation?

CC: If Scott Sinclair repeats last season, he will be vital in keeping the club up. We also have Danny Graham now, who will need to score for fun if we are to compete against the big boys.

STR: Which two current United players would you most want at your club?

CC: Hernandez is very bright and would easily fit into Swansea’s style! I guess Wayne Rooney too, just for the star name and the goal scoring ability!

STR: Who will finish in the top 4? Who will go down?

CC: I see the top four (in no particular order) being: Man United, Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool. Going down would probably be Wigan, Blackburn and Norwich.

STR: Anything else you want to tell us?

CC: Swansea shouldn’t be written off as making up the numbers next season – they won’t win the Premier League, but will surprise some of the bigger teams I’m sure!

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Scott the Red: Were you happy with your Spurs’ performance last season?

Spooky: Yes and no. Last season all the top tier teams seemed to struggle with consistency. Not matter seemed to really ‘want it’. It was like everyone was playing with barefooted in setting concrete. Taking away all the despondency the Spurs faithful had for our misfiring forwards and Harry’s sometimes questionable tactics, we were only a couple of home wins away from finishing fourth again. Okay, so arguable all the top five clubs can argue they should have/could have been six points better off but Spurs more or less gave it away. We got beaten by ourselves and that’s the most frustrating thing.

STR: If some were lacking the hunger, which players were your most important?

S: No massive shocker here: Luka, Rafa and Bale are the obvious candidates. But I’d add Dawson and Benoit Assou-Ekotto in there too. We have a very very good midfield and a defence that is oozes confidence (okay, not so much when Gomes is going mental between the sticks). Luka made us tick, Rafa galvanised us and Bale pulsated down the flank. Take any on of these players away and we lose something important to the swagger of the side.

STR: Modric is still a Spurs player. I can’t believe it? Other than keeping him, so far, how have Spurs done in the transfer market this summer?

S: What transfer window? There’s a transfer window? Oh yeah. I guess at the time of writing we’ve down very little business where we need to be doing it. Signed a couple of young lads. One of the Ivory Coast Baby Drogba’s and an ex-keepy uppy Barca yoof sensation. Also got us a 56 year old American goalkeeper. That’s it. But to be serious for a second, I expect us to sign a top drawer forward and then the expected domino effect will kick in and players will be shifted on (the deadwood) and perhaps we’ll have time to also sign a CB and perhaps cover for the RW. We’ve got a good squad. We need to improve it to remain competitive.

STR: After sending the country in to a frenzy at times this season, why do you think Bale hasn’t been linked with any move away from the club this summer?

S: Contract. And perhaps he knows that he’s a young lad that needs to prove he can progress and develop and do it all again. Don’t expect anything other than a crazy summer next year when a number of clubs will come knocking. Home and abroad.

STR: Particularly after his performances in the Champions League. What are your aspirations for this season? Getting back in to Europe?

S: I’d like us to win the FA Cup. It’s been so long now it hurts. But top four, to be in there challenging for top four I think has to be just as important if not more simply to fight against any possibility of another monopoly being created. I think the fact we are back at underdog status is probably a good thing because that’s when Harry works his magic best.

STR: How do you rate Redknapp’s ability to take the club forward?

S: I don’t. He’ll be off after this season. Harry has done a great job, he’s done something so many others have failed at so for all his misgivings and annoyances you can’t be too critical. I know many Spurs fans are suggesting he’s lucky. Well if a 4th spot and 5th spot finish is down to luck then go Levy go out and find us another lucky gaffer. Redknapp is all about the self-preservation and his own agenda(s) but it’s helped us. Perhaps he has already ‘moved on’ inside his head (England) but I think his ego wont allow him to fail this season. Imagine the hype he would create for himself if he took us back into the CL? Simply put, this club has to be in a state of stability when passed onto then next coach. CL would mean we might not lose any of our top players. Anything below top four means the next manager will have a lot of money to spend on new players.

STR: Why do you think Harry Redknapp gets away with talking about other clubs’ players on a weekly basis?

S: Because the media love him, innit. When ‘arry does it its cause he wants the world to know about all the top top lads out there and how triffic they all are. The whole issue of tapping up is such a minefield to work through. I think some clubs (Chelsea this summer) go about their business (allegedly) in a far more clandestine way – through agents etc. When managers talk about other clubs players it can be quite ambiguous. A few do it and get away with it. Harry does wind me up when he feels its necessary to provide running commentary on our summer transfer window. You wonder whether he just does it and it has no true effect on anything we are working on – which is why the chairman never shuts him down.

STR: Where do you think you will finish this season?

S: 4th. Why not? Got to believe. Got to wear your heart on your sleeves because otherwise, what’s the point? Where’s the glory with being defeatist? It’s not like we (Spurs) are deluding ourselves. This is not the mid-90s or early 2000s. We can get in amongst it. Everyone appears to be in a state of flux so it’s vital you don’t lose your edge. For us, we need to be more ruthless. One defeat at home all of last season. Turn half those draws into wins and we’ll be laughing.

STR: I genuinely hope you do. Which player do you think will most important in helping you achieve this?

S: Luka, Luka, Luka, Luka, Luka. Up yours Chelsea. This little man has to push on from last season form wise and I have complete faith he will do just that. He’ll accept the fact he signed a gentleman’s agreement with pen and he’ll have to prove to us and everyone else out there he’s worth his valuation. I’m sure he will. Best deep-lying playmaker in the country. Imperative.

STR: How do you rate your chances of holding on to Modric? If he was to leave, where would be your preferred destination?

S: He won’t be sold. Not a chance. Levy has stated what he has stated unequivocally. This is not a ‘Berbatov’ scenario. Modric signed a six year contract. If he did leave I would hope it’s for a team abroad. Not comfortable with seeing him play for anyone in England. If we fail to finish top 4 – then it all goes to shit. And sadly he’ll end up at Chelsea. He’s settled in London. Wont move up north. Then again, he was settled at Spurs until this summer so you never know. Would prefer him at United than at Chelsea but would hate for him to join either side.

STR: I was sure we were going to land him this summer. Turns out he would rather be a rent boy, even if you did let him leave. Gutted. Anyway, which two current United players would you most want at your club?

S: Vidic because we need a top class centre-back. Tricky for the second choice. Mainly because I’d like to, want to say Berbatov. Go one then, I’d take Dimi too. £15M for the pair do?

STR: Who will finish in the top 4? Who will go down?

S: United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs. Down? Norwich, Wigan and Newcastle.

STR: Anything else you want to tell us?

S: I really do hope we dick you this season. You lot are the only hoodoo left to break. Although would equally love to take six points off City.

STR: Stick to just taking points off the blues for us eh? Cheers mate. All the best for the season.

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Scott the Red: Were you happy with Sunderland’s performance last season?

Colin Randall: Pleased until the drubbing at St James’ Park, ecstatic after Stamford Bridge, despondent during the slump, moderately satisfied with 10th finish.

STR: Who was your most important player?

CR: Phil Bardsley. Unwanted by Steve Bruce, but won him over with powerhouse performances on either flank, plus a handful of cracking goals

STR: Good ol’ Phil. I’m glad he’s doing so well for himself. What about other United academy lads, O’Shea and Brown? You happy with them? How have they looked in pre-season?

CR: O’Shea picked up an injury in Germany. I was very happy with both signings, even more so when you told me Brown was more highly rated by United fans than O’Shea since it was the capture of the latter that had really enthused me

STR: They’ll both be much missed by United fans. United players aside, how has Sunderland done in the transfer market this summer?

CR: OK. Sad to see Henderson go, happy without being unduly excited with the purchases but we still need creativity on the left and a proven striker.

STR: What are your aspirations for this season?

CR: We seriously need to improve on both consistency and the final finish. Top six may still be beyond us, but eighth shouldn’t be.

STR: How do you rate Bruce’s ability to achieve this?

CR: The time has come for him to show us he has that ability. I like him and remain supportive on balance. He had dreadful luck with injuries last season, but this is now his squad and must start producing.

STR: Where do you think you will finish this season?

CR: I think we will improve on 10th but not by much.

STR: Which player do you think will most important in helping you achieve this?

CR: Gyan up front, O’Shea at the back

STR: Given Sunderland’s usual transfer policy, if you could have your pick of any United players, who would you take?

I see no point in trotting off names we could never attract, so give us Welbeck back permanently
plus Park.

STR: You’re the first to say Park. Nice choice. Finally, who will finish in the top 4? Who will go down?

CR: Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal. Swansea, Wolves and Norwich.

STR: Anything else you want to get off your chest?

CR: I just hope that as well as Sunderland doing better than last season, we see some remnants of the proper spirit of football, ie less diving, play-acting, attempts to get opponents booked or sent off. But I am not holding my breath.

STR: We can dream! Cheers mate, all the best for the season. I’ll be looking out for your results.

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