Roy Keane’s Sunderland have travelled down to London today to take on Tottenham Hostpur at White Hart Lane. United target, Dimitar Berbatov, is missing from the starting line-up, just like he was on Spurs’ opening day defeat to Middlesbrough. However, today he is missing from the 18-man squad all together.
This probably bodes well for Manchester United, with the player clearly pissing off the club on a whole new level after being photographed signing a United shirt, but the situation is just turning nasty now.
After the petty verbal sparring between Daniel Levy and Sir Alex Ferguson, things have taken a turn for the worse turn now, with possibly only a dodgy donation like Liverpool offered up being enough to smooth things out.
Juande Ramos has left Berbatov out, despite claiming the player was an “excellent pro” just a couple of days ago, explaining the reasons why on the club’s website.
“I have not selected him as I do not think that he is focused enough and I do not feel that he will be good for the dressing room and the team effort,” said Ramos. “It doesn’t matter how good a player is, if he is not in the right frame of mind, then he will not perform well. The only thing I concern myself with is picking the best team to try and win the game. I shall talk to the player tomorrow, he is our player and we shall work with him at training.”
Now whilst I am keen to see us sign a new striker, this situation does not sit right with me at all, and I suppose that is because of what we endured with Cristiano Ronaldo over the summer. Whilst we haven’t bombared the press with statements about Berbatov, like Real Madrid did with Ronaldo, clearly Berbatov is intent on joining United as Ronaldo was on going to Spain.
When Ronaldo was told his move to Madrid wouldn’t be approved, he responded positively.
“Sir Alex listened to me, I listened to him and we established that the best for both sides would be for me to continue at Old Trafford,” he said. “So, I can confirm that I’ll be playing for Manchester United next season. And before there are any rumours and speculation about me staying against my will, I want to make one thing clear: whoever says or writes anything to that effect is lying. I’ll be playing at Manchester United with my heart and soul. I will fight and honour the shirt with the same desire and dedication as I always have.”
The same cannot be said of Berbatov though, who is obviously throwing a tantrum that his desired move is being granted. Whilst I can totally understand a player who wants to test himself in the Champions League when at his peak, his behaviour is totally undesirable, and despite what Ramos wants to say to the press, unprofessional.
However, Spurs’ nerve will really be tested here. Will they hold out for their evaluation of the player, even if it meants it won’t be met and they’re stuck with a player the manager currently believes he can’t even include? Or will they sell him on for a fee closer to United’s estimation, which will still see them make a massive profit on the money they forked out two years ago?
Only time will tell, but the sooner this messy situation is resolved, the better.
I don’t think Ramos is the kind of manager that takes any shit from players. What is going on will no doubt have angered him. Both Berbatov and possibly the board could have sorted this out a long time ago.
Spurs have not ruled out the possibility of Berba leaving and had they have done earlier then this whole thing would have been played down a little more. Instead, Berb is sulking. Levy is a drama queen and the Sun are living off the shit that is being scraped off of this whole ’saga’s shoes.
Maybe it does bode well for us, maybe there’s some talks going on that aren’t being made public due to the alleged rule breaking that Fergie / Levy were getting dragged into. Maybe Ramos and Spurs will just teach Berbatov a lesson.
Though, like I mentioned before, I cannot see Spurs sitting on a £25 million player who will not put in the performances that he is payed for.
Not good news for us unless thay lower their asking price to £20M and drop this ludicrous complaint of tapping up against us, and do both of those things tout suite. Any other senario will be a minus for us. There is no way that we should pay any kind of ‘donation’ to any charity on Levy’s behalf. We have not made any illegal approach, merely registered and interest in a player and then kept quiet about it. If spurs had wanted to nail our interest in the player they should have said that he was not for sale at any price, instead of trying to coin it in. F*** ‘em
“Whilst we haven’t bombared the press with statements about Berbatov, like Real Madrid did with Ronaldo,”
YES YOU HAVE
FACT
WHERE DO YOU THINK THE ENDLESS DAILY STORIES ABOUT BERBATOV TO UTD COME FROM YOU MORON
Show me links to the United manager/players mentioning Bebatov’s name.
Here’s just a sample of Real Madrid doing it to Ronaldo: http://therepublikofmancunia.com/real-madrid-passive-spectators-i-beg-to-differ/
So moron, back up your statements with facts, or fuck off
PS. Kieran Richardson and Djibril Cisse? Spurs really are shite lol.
Scott the Red… who needs evidence.
You know the score.
Its the same reason we didn’t get the two penalties at your Megastore last season.
Danchev is in your clubs pocket.
You know the score.
Exactly like Ronaldo.
There you go, another loss!!!! We need Berba !!!! Sack Juande the idiot !!!
Who needs evidence? Yes, it’s far better to rant on aimlessly with nothing to support our arguments other than the crazy thoughts spiralling through our minds, isn’t it?
Like I’ve just shown, it isn’t exactly like Ronaldo at all.
Typical Idiotic Spurs fans believing shit that is written in a two bob newspaper. Sir Alex Ferguson was clearly heard saying the following on Sky Sports News: ‘We have made a bid for a PLAYER that will enhance our squad’. There was no mention of Berbatovs name in that sentence – FACT. Get your facts straight before piping up, and not believing what you read in newspapers, or alternatively just fuck off and post shit on your own two bob site. On the issue of Ronaldo, we have made it crystal clear that he is not for sale at any price, whereas your four eyes cunt of a chairman is throwing in a specific fee that will need to be met in order for them to sell Berbatov to us, contrary to his protestations, so how the fucking hell is that the same situation as Ronaldo’s??
Ok, so your belief is that when a club ‘legitamises’ it’s interest in a player via the medium of ‘the media’ then it suddenly becomes ‘the truth’. Ok.
I am not being anti-utd in what I am saying. Far from it. If anything I am merely commenting ubiquitously on the state of the game and its unassailable top 4 !?!?!
If you want the ‘media’ proof of how your club is regarding Berbatov then look at the now deleted posts of a Norweigan fan site who once gave audio of SAF on the situation.
I am sure you aware.
Like I said I am not being anti Utd, it’s just hard to ignore the fact that money is the root of all….well success on the pitch.
All the best,
Michael Carrick.
Sorry that last post should of read,
All the best,
Idiot (BSc, MA)
utd should have wrapped this up weeks ago. spurs have apparently been ignoring utds calls for the past two weeks so it hasnt moved forward at all for a while now.
levy’s a greedy mo fo though, £30m is far too much for berbatov, and unfortunately for them, if berbatov leaves they wont have time to bring in a top class replacement. arshavin, kanoute, fabiano, pavlyachenko….none of them even come close to berbatovs quality. i think thats why spurs are so reluctant to sell.
with regards to utd tapping him up, its bollocks. the papers make stuff up everyday because the transfer market has been a lot quieter than expected. they need something to sell their papers now ronaldo to madrid has gone away….
The best news today – even better than seeing Fulham slip by the Arse – was another disgraceful loss by the Spurs. First, they get totally stuffed by ‘boro, now Sunderland hand them their heads in their home opener.
More to the point, their so-called bargaining position is now squat. Berbatov has clearly thrown his toys out of the pram and they have already sold his mate, Robbie Keane, to cover the cost of buying Dos Santos and Modric. But they don’t have replacements for their two first-choice strikers who combined for – ? – fifty goals last year. Maybe they’ll get Arshavin and Huntelaar; maybe they won’t. But if they decide to keep Berbatov they’ll have a cancer in the dressing room and a sluggard on the pitch. And, that cancerous sluggard could buy himself out of his contract at the end of the season.
Does a bag with no bottom sound like a reasonable facsimile of Spurs’ bargaining position. SAF, who has never identified his “target”, must be laughing all the way to the bank as he watches the demand-price drop precipitously in the next week or ten days.
Furthermore, after Monday UTD have no EPL game until the middle of September, so the perceived “urgency” to bring in another striker is hardly pressing since Ronaldo will probably be back by then – and he won’t have had to waste time and energy playing for Portugal in the upcoming qualifiers.
The situation is obviously hurting Tottenham so I think they will sell. I just hope it’s to us.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_4037336,00.html
This news by Poyet sounds a lot better, it looks like they’re resigned to letting him leave(for us i hope)
Michael Carrick, find out the true facts mate before you come onto a United blog with false info. Because just like you, the writer on the scandinavian fan site you mentioned admitted to putting their own take on the article put up on rthe site. He said, that he had not played the tape back through, and therefore put the name of Berbatov in the article ASSUMING that was the player Fergie had put in a bid for. Although when he did check the tape back, Fergie had not mentioned any names. The audio tape is both with United and the FA. This is one of the reasons the FA says that Spurs do not have PROOF of UNited wrongdoing. Your lot have no proof – so live with it!
Looks like player power is truly alive… I predict Berbatov will get his way, just like Robinho and Barry will… Guess Ronaldo was too much of a chicken to go through with his move
scott
u truely are an inspiration
to us new generation fans
a manc till i die
Not sure Berbatov would play much football at United – I simply don’t think he has the pace and mobility over the other United options. I’d go as far to say he’d get pretty pissed off by the business end of season and would become a negative influence. The arrogant Bulgarian would expect to be a regular starter.
Ferguson has talked about Rooney playing as a front line striker this season so I guess United are going to resort to 4-4-2 if they want to give mileage to both Tevez and Berbatov. This suggests that Fergie is looking to cut the reliance on Ronaldo possibly because without his free roaming role he is not going to be worth the £65m (or whatever) that he has promised Ronaldo can go for next summer. Real Madrid will lose their appetite for that outlay if the Portugese diver fails to hit the same high notes as last season, which seems doubtful if nailed onto right wing.
Hi Craig Mc Said,
http://theshelf.blogspot.com/2008/08/tap-up-fergie.html
Enjoy the video.
Facts, Facts, Facts.
Like I said and it seems you have ignored, we all know who stopped Berbatov playing on Saturday. Are you really that naive?
Anyway he is an amazing player, best first touch I have ever seen so enjoy him up their at the Megastore or whatever your Vacuous silent hole of a ground is called.
While you are there Poyet is a great Number 2, he is rightfully yours.
All the best
Michael Carrick.