Andy Goram came to Manchester United on loan during the 2000-2001 to help us out during a time when our other goalies, Fabien Barthez and Raimond Van der Gouw, were unavailable – Barthez on duty with the French side and Van der Gouw struggling with injury.
His first game was our 4-2 win over Coventry in the league although was subbed off with an hour played with the scoreline at 2-2. Van der Gouw also replaced Goram in his second match with less than an hour played in our 2-1 defeat to Southampton. Given that we were ten points clear on the final day of the season, the result mattered little.
Goram has got an autobiography out and has revealed what his time was like at United, with details about events on the training ground as well as the conversation he had with Ferguson about signing, which started with him putting the phone down on our manager!
Shark’s eyes. Dead, devoid of emotion, glaring at me. No handshake. Welcome to Manchester United. Roy Keane-style. The man who saw himself as the heartbeat of the Reds was giving me a message. He just looked right through me as the embarrassed Steve McClaren, the United No 2, tried to introduce the new on-loan keeper to his volcanic captain. From that second I knew there was no point in me making an effort with Keane. Roy had things he stood by, things that framed his life, beliefs he clung to with a burning intensity. Well, I had mine. What he did to me on that first morning at work at the most famous football club in the world didn’t faze me. It didn’t send me scurrying into my shell. I just thought: ‘F*** it. He’s not going to stop me enjoying this.’ He was a Celtic man, I was a Rangers man. He didn’t like me. End of story. Fair enough. After all, I’d done enough to make some Celtic fans dislike me in seven years at Ibrox. There was to be no handshake. Ever.
The truth is we didn’t exchange a civil word in the three months I was at Old Trafford. From day one we had arguments on the training pitch and didn’t get on. It was serious stuff. He hated the sight of me. However, I was 36 years old. I’d landed the move of my life in the twilight of my career. Was I going to let one man’s sneering disdain for me wreck the experience? Forget it.
There were clashes between us. One day in training, we were playing a game of eight-a-side, and Keane and Luke Chadwick were up front for my team. I always prided myself on the accuracy of my kicking, on being able to pick out a player from a distance, and that day I half-volleyed a peach right onto Chadwick’s foot. The kid snatched at it and ballooned his volley over the bar. Suddenly, I was the target of a volley of abuse from Keane.
’Hey you, give me the f*****g ball,’ he screamed.
I replied: ‘What, do you get the ball just cos you’re Roy Keane? F*** off.’
The atmosphere was icy from that moment on and on the way off the field Gary Neville collared me.
’Goalie,’ he said, ‘we don’t talk to Roy like that down here. We just don’t.’
It was a telling insight for me. I respected Keane as a player, but I couldn’t have that. As far as I was concerned, the way he spoke to some of the players was bang out of order. Many of them were clearly shit-scared of him.
Goram has also retold the story of events which lead up to his loan deal with United in which he amusingly hung up the phone on Sir Alex Ferguson.
When I had three months of my contract left, they let it be known that I wouldn’t be offered another one. I was knackered. Miriam and I were together at the time and she was driving me to training one day when my phone rang. Coisty. It was 9.30am and I thought he must be coming in from a night on the batter. Ally never phones you in the morning. We blethered, and I shrugged it off and went into training.
Then at lunchtime on the way home the phone rang again. Walter Smith. He was manager of Everton at the time and warned me to keep my phone on because someone was going to ring me.
‘What is it, gaffer? You got a job for me?’ I asked. ‘Just keep your fucking phone on,’ he growled.
Now I was starting to wonder what was going on. I suspected I was about to get the piss taken out of me. Two minutes later, the phone rang again.
‘Goalie, it’s Alex Ferguson here. We’ve got Bayern Munich on Wednesday and Liverpool at the weekend. Barthez is injured and Raimond van der Gouw is struggling. I need you to come down on loan until the end of the season.’
I said: ‘Coisty, fuck off’. And put the phone down. Ally could do Sir Alex perfectly. I wasn’t falling for that old one. The phone rang again and I told Miriam to answer it this time.
’Miriam, this is Alex Ferguson, and you can tell that fat bastard he’s got ten seconds to say aye or naw.’
It really was him. I thought I was dreaming. I’d been playing football for 20 years, and there had been many great moments. But I don’t think many come close to that call from Sir Alex Ferguson.
Man Utd News 24/7
haha.what a misunderstanding for the poor goalie. As for keano great leader but i have lost a lot of respect for him since he has retired.keano took things too far at times and his managing style is absolute Rubbish.Orry but i have to say that.No wonder he is struggling at Ipswich.IMO he should never manage United.
Andy Goram is a twat!
I’ve got one thing so say..
HAHAHAHAHAHA luke chadwick
What a fucking cunt.
There’s only two Andy Goram.
Twat
He mite not be a good manager but at least he wudn’t ave let lucas and bugs bunny boss em in midfield. ps andy goram was a great keeper at rangers, saf has admitted fa charge and who do ssn get on to talk about it that dozy cunt winter wat the cuk has it got to do wiv him
@ Red Dev 99
100% agree with you on that.
I know alot of people who lost any respect they had for Sir Alex the day he employed that sectarian sympathising scumbag.
sooo???? roy keaneis a knob and he’s not gonna put up with his shit because he’s better than the manchester united team
Then he told sir alex to fuck off on the phone when a life changing chance was given, then didnt even answer the phone to him when he somehow got a second call off the greatest manager of all time
and to finish off this shit falling out of his mouth he closes with
“there had been many great moments. But I don’t think many come close to that call from Sir Alex Ferguson.”
Compaired to what his football life was 1981–1987 Oldham Athletic 1987–1991 Hibernian 1991–1998 Rangers 1998 Notts County
1998 Sheffield United 1998–2001 Motherwell WOW how fantastic then
2001 → Manchester United (loan) And then after those games it went from stronger and stronger starting with the almighty
2001 Hamilton Academical 2001–2002 Coventry City
2002 Oldham Athletic 2002–2003 Queen of the South
2003–2004 Elgin City
should of just stuck to Cricket
Spot on Willie mate. Keano would have had Lucas and Mascherano for fucking breakfast on Sunday and spat the cunts out.
Saw Goram on Red Cafe the other week and it was bizarre. He hardly played and I can barely remember it yet here he was answering questions on United from huge fans. Didn’t seem right.
I would love to have a 25 year old Roy Keane back in midfield.
hopefully we will have a fully fit fletcher back tonight
Haha, Fergie’s line to Miriam was priceless! I understand where he is coming from when it comes to Roy Keane, but the fear factor is what made him a great captain for United. We don’t have a leader like that nowdays. Look at how he influnced the 4-2 victory at Highbury before a ball was ever kicked. Sometimes he set the bar too high for the rest, but it doesn’t hurt to challenge players to get better.
The reason keane treated him like that was nothing to do with him playing for rangers its because he went around supporting terrorists and murderers the biggoted piece of scum should never been at our club in the first place.
Andy Goram = flag waving sectarian
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/goalkeeper-denies-uvf-link-1069661.html
Who the shit is Andy Goram?
andy goram is a cunt who should never have stepped foot in carrington not to mind old trafford..
silly from Sir Alex to bring that bigoted prick in..
if you have read Sir Alexs autobiography managing my life, you will see how much hassle he had from bigoted rangers scum as he was marrying a catholic..
Fergie despises rangers now after suppoirting them as a boy…
Goram is also a abuser of drugs and women..
He also sucked off a prominent member of Rangers hierarchys veiny member to extend his contract at the piggery
We need a bit of the Keano ultraviolence back in our midfield these days. Not a whole Roy worth of it, but certainly a little more steel than we have at the moment.
I remember when he wore a black armband after the LVF leader, Billy Wright was murdered in the Maze prison. He was asked why he would be remembering Wright aka King Rat, he then denied it and said he was wearing it memory of his aunt who he hardly knew and had died months previous.
Classy guy!
wow fergie is such a great manager. when approaching players he gets to the point. how dare Andy Goram say f’ off to fergie fucking cunt. anyway he was back up played 3 months and i’m damn keano did’nt make his stay pleasurable. classic line by fergie to Miriam.
Fergie is one in a billion what a brilliant manager we have. we’re so lucky to have a fierce scotsman. there’s no manager that can handle ego inflated players and that’s a FACT!!!:-)
Chadders for England!
i hate that this dirty secterian fucker was ever allowed to wear a utd shirt, total scum
Don’t even remember him.
He comes from Cork City, he’ll snap ya fuckin knee.
alot of people throwing around “bigots” and “sectarian” on this thread..well the same people have some similar views on people from liverpool just because they are from liverpool….sad hypocrites
Goram = CUNT.
Sickens me that he ever had the honour of playing at the club i love.
CUNT CUNT CUNT.
’Miriam, this is Alex Ferguson, and you can tell that fat bastard he’s got ten seconds to say aye or naw.’
Fergie is just a genious! That is hillarious!
‘Ulster’ red would you be defending one of the irish boys if they wore a black armband to commemorate the death of an IRA Volunteer? the man is pure sectarian scum. pure and simple.
there are no scouse fans groups that are directly responsible for the death of innocent people. unlike the LVF and billy rat wright.
CUNT.
you call them volunteers haha..fuck off..listen im not defending andy goram at all…but when thers hypocrites on this then it has to be said…we have a sectarian bigot that plays for united at the minute…
there is a difference between rivalry with a close city or a close rival and pure sectarianism. so really, no hypocrisy in that.
difference in calling scousers dippers and in supporting the slaughter of innocent catholics.
and who would this sectarian bigot be?
Celtic fans at Goram afer it was announced he was a schizo. “Theres only two Andy Gorams” Priceless!
people call the scousers murdering scum on this if you havnt seen it on here before…darren gibson is the player..he was born in n.irleland but chose to play for the r.o.i….so what would his reason be only that he probably was borught up to hate n.ireland
@Ulster Red
Pray tell? C’mon mate, need to know!
Evans? Gibson? Err…. tell!
Whoops, you told before i realised! Are you sure thats the reason and not because he had a more realistic chance of being picked?
you’re serious????
you’re actually serious????
because he’s from derry and chose to play for the republic that makes him a sectarian bigot?
you my friend are a tool. that is the single most retarded thing i have ever heard anyone say.
incase you dont know, people have the right to self determination. im from belfast, but i would consider myself irish. i hold an irish passport. does that make me a sectarian bigot?? you want to tell my protestant friends that?
you call yourself northern irish. even though it doesnt actually exist as a a country, only as a statelet. does that make you a sectarian bigot? because you must have been brought up to hate all things irish?
both communities have their own culture. i would hazard a guess in saying most if not all the nationalist catholic community would consider themselves irish and would choose the same route gibson did if it was a toss up.
besides that, why go through all the sectarian nonsense and shite neil lennon went through when he chose to play for the north.
i actually cant believe im even responding to that sheer ridiculousness.
sheer ignorance.
its in my blood
gibson chose a different country to the one he is from..based on that its quite clear what im saying
@ Ulster Red
Surely you more than most would know the difference between the divide in Northern Ireland and two cities in the North of England.
Who is the sectarian bigot @ United?
neil lennon never put the effort in for n.ireland..niall mguinn who plays for celtic also puts 100% in for n.ireland so it wasnt just because neill lennon played for celtic that he got abuse..which was wrong
you are totally missing the point. he believes that he is from ireland. that he is irish. that the northern irish statelet does not represent him or his culture, beliefs or values.
he has the right to declare himself irish, same way you have the right to declare yourself british……..both the international community and fifa tend to agree. im afraid it rather looks like it is you that is the sectarian bigot in all of this.
in your blood my arse. no excuse for intolerance and ignorance.
ok, technically, not british, but from the united kindom of great britain and northern ireland. but there is no northern ireland passport – that is my point there.
im not sectarian, u dont me mate..have i made any sectarian comments yet? all i said 2 begin with is that people on here arnt as nice and freindly as they make out to be
I have never heard anything so ridiculous in my life regarding Darren Gibson.
I would prefer him to have played for N.I but he has the choice of nationality due to dual nationality provisions.
To compare him to Andy Goram is absolutely shocking.
yea, i dont know you, and you certainly dont know darron gibson, so how you can make a judgement that he is a sectarian bigot is beyond me. what i did was use your own argument against you to come up with the sectarian thing for you. i simply turned the issue on its head. you said your dislike for all things irish was ‘in my blood’.
that was a big hint also.
thats where sectarianism and bigotry comes from – your ‘blood’ passed on through generations of intolerance.
and intolerance and ignorance is exactly what you displayed in your remark about gibson. that is what you said to begin with….accusing gibson of being a sectarian bigot. utter nonsense. your argument is totally flawed and only serves to strengthen the notion of your own bigotry.
moronic.
mate ther is a guy that posted earlier whi is called “in my blood” if you look back i was answering a question put to me by HIM…so fuck away off and read properly before slating me
Yes, because he’s Roy Keane He gets the ball!
fair enough, apologies for that. but the rest of the argument, the majority of it, still stands.
well mine does aswell..goram is a bigot and so is gibson..end of
@ saoruladh
There’s no need to be calling ulster red a sectarian bigot
He was expressing his opinion all be it flawed imo but nothing he has said is sectarian.
i wasnt actually saying he is, but i was using his yardstick. his methodology to turn the argument around on him, so he could maybe see the sheer ridiculousness of it.
how is he a bigot??!?!?!?!??!
you, friend, are an ignoramus.
big⋅ot [big-uht]
–noun
a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.
how does that pertain to darron gibson for believing himself to be irish?
oh my god i actually cant get over the sheer stupidity and ignorance.
actually laughable
@ulster red- think your a bit hard on gibson calling him a bigot, dont know if this is true but a mate of mine told me was because he was fucked about in the NI set up, anyway its the lads choice. If it makes him a better player with ROI team, all the better for united.
@ redrick
well put
goram clearly couldn’t tell the difference between respect and ‘shit-scared’. so he claims that players were scared to make his own lack of team ethic, respect and heart seem like bravery.
fuck him.
ulster red
the reason gibson chose to plat for the ROI is because he is catholic.
do you remember how neil lennon was treated? booed, attacked,father attacked by the windsor park boys.. why? because he was a catholic and played for celtic…
also NI are shit.. so good football decision also by Gibbo…
united is a great club, but you didn’t hear henrik larssen bleat on about it being the highlight of his life. fucking sad.
ulster red: “darren gibson is the player..he was born in n.irleland but chose to play for the r.o.i….so what would his reason be only that he probably was borught up to hate n.ireland”
your mind-reading powers are extraordinary. lucky us that we number amongst us fans like you, who can tell from a distance and with unerrirng confidence what total fucking strangers are thinking.
daelm
spot on lad.. ulster red is talking through his arse
Goram shud never have been allowed to set foot in ot, not just because he was a sectarian bigot, but he was also a shite overweight goalkeeper at that stage, we should have been given our youth team keepers a chance with the league won, when was the last time a decent keeper came through our academy and got a run in the first team?
26+6=1 that’s why gibbo plays for Ireland
If we had someone like Roy Keane in the team now, Sunday’s poor performance would not have happened.
Losers like Goram can say whatever they want about Roy, but he remains a LEGEND.
the same andy goram who has so much to say about the players and club he spent 30 seconds at, is described this way by his ex-wife miriam:
“Keeping him away from alcohol and gambling was a full-time job.”
“His manager and I had to search the pubs in Glasgow to find Andy. I had to drag him out of pubs repeatedly.”
“He would get very full of his own importance and if you didn’t want to join the party, he wasn’t interested.”
“When Andy walked out on me he…left me with a trail of debts, including VAT and Inland Revenue bills. The pub we co-owned had debts of around £50,000.”
nice.
@ keanesmagichat
re neil lennon treatment while playing for NI.
Its strange how other Catholic players who are currently playing for Norn Iron are not victim to this abuse.
I’m not denying the abuse was disgusting but Lennon didn’t give 2 shits about playing for the team even before his move to Celtic ever happened.
fk this fat arsed blue nosed cunt. never liked him before he joined, and still dont like him.. did fk all for utd, and tbh we was scraping the barrell signing this twat.. i hope keane rubbed his knob around his drinks during halftime
..hahah!!
@ shmoo
very good , keano the evil genius.
@ulster red.
This is not a site for bullshit. darron is from derry and wanted to play for the republic and thats his choice.simple as
“so what would his reason be only that he probably was brought up to hate n.ireland” . dont go down that road mate. this forum is for football
keanesmagichat
NI are shit? funny that, more passion from players to fans than any fucking country your from..and that passion gets results, we have been unlucky the past couple of campagins so to say we are shit is laughable aswell
jansdad
exactly the point i made..if darren gibson had of chose NI i would have backed him 110%…like i do with mcourt and mguinn among others..neil lennon didnt give two fucks well before he went to celtic and it showed all too clearly
@ saoruladh
forgot to mention , your username might not be very appropriate when it comes to taking the moral high ground when talking about paramiltary sympathisers.
Anyone interested just google it
jansdad
very interesting..ill not mention what it said on here but saoruladh can go and fuck himself after what i read..i know you disagree with some of my comments so im not looking anyone to back me up on this
I must admit, when i saw that fat bastard wearing a united shirt a few years back I thought Fergie had been supping too much buckfast, probably the worse Goalkeeper I’ve ever seen at OT. Let’s leave the Catholic v Protestant bollocks out of it people, Manchester United have always been a club enhanced by players from all over the world, despite religion, Best, Keane, Whiteside, Irwin, McGrath, O’Shea, Evans were and are all on the same side – MUFC
@ Ulster Red
You seem to be a good lad but on the Gibbo issue we should agree to disagree.
Like i said before would have preferred him to have played for Norn Iron but he decided upon the a ROI thats his choice/loss whatever way you see it
@ ulster red
i couldnt care about passion their shit..
when was the last time the animals were in a major competition? 1982?
their the from the same ilk as the rangers fans who destroyed manchester.. a lot of them were from northern ireland, my brother in law runs a pub in the city centre and i heard first hand what animals they are…
i assume you are referring to the dissident republican paramilitaries using the phrase saor uladh as a cover name. it is nothing more than a cover name.
have been using that phrase for nigh on ten years and only in last year have i heard it used by anyone else.
for those interested, it means free ulster. so yea, im a nationalist and believe that there should be a united ireland. lots of people do. i dont agree with the use of armed force to achieve it. neither do i realistically think it will happen, but its a hope nonetheless.
just because i have these beliefs does not then equate to me being either sectarian or bigoted. i have a love for my protestant brethern also. i just think ireland should be ireland, a view im sure the majority of the irish lads weve ever had at united most likely hold. its a common desire.
my moral high ground as you so neatly put it, remains intact, as i have neither expressed any bigoted ideals or expressed a support for an armed struggle. fact is i would oppose it. the majority of folk here have moved on.
my incredulity was aimed at ‘ulster’ red’s statement that darron gibson is a sectarian bigot for choosing to play for the republic of ireland rather than the north.
that, frankly, is a vile abhorrent and totally ridiculously unfounded statement from a narrow minded fool. that just because gibson doesnt share red’s passion for norn iron he is a bigot. surely you can all see how ludicrous this statrement was?
so yea, my pen name in now way infers any support for an armed movement. it is simply a phrase i have used and liked for over a decade. but good job on research. hope i have contextualised it for you now and you can perhaps reassess your by now no doubt horrible opinion of me.
@ keanesmagichat
Why have you decided to call a country of 1.6 million people animals or is it only the people in that country who call themselves Northern Irish.
Do you think before you use your keyboard?
Typed like a truly enlightened person
Have you taken social diversity training ?
Oh yeah 1986 World Cup in spain to be correct
@ jansdad
fair point
this argument all started as a result of a ridicoulous point raised by ulster red…
havent seen him/her on this forum before and hope i dont again…
stupid, brainless prick
@ saoruladh
I accept your point of view 100% but your username was used long before I suspect you or I were born.
Can’t believe we are discussing this on an MUFC blog, lol.
Anyway the whole point of this blog was that fat waste of space Goram talking shit and the disappointment i felt seeing him wear my teams shirt even if only briefly.
@keanesmagichat- wat animals are u are u talking about?
Gibson is a bigot? He comes from Freederry and chooses to play for ROI – it certainly doesn’t make him sectarian – he might have nationalist political views, but so do a lot of people. Coming from Glasgow with a strong affinity for the Bhoys along with United, it was disgusting the abuse Lennon got from the N.I fans.
H/e, that is beside the point – if gibson is a bigotted sectarian, then so is Zidane, Viera, Deco etc having played for France (instead of Algeria (i think) and Senegal) and Portugal instead of Brazil. Closer to home, look at McGeady: chose to play for Ireland because he has an affinity for the country, like many Glaswegians, and probably thought it would be a higher standard.
@ mancuniac
well said pal.
The problem is a subject like this can spiral so easily out of context especially with religious/political undertones.
@jandsdad- thats true, can get out of hand, should leave all that sectarian shit til the rangers and celtic mob.
redrick
your not wrong pal
all the best
@jandsdad- cheers
Whats all this bollocks on here lol!! Fuck Goram, fuck the sectarian shit and fuck the scousers!! UNITED TILL I DIE!!
And you wonder why Rangers and Celtic wont get down to the Premier, we have only had one topic about Bigotry and we are all fighting amongst ourselves for christ sake..
This is why i personally dislike both the Old Firm
M.U.F.C
I dont know why yous are all slating Ulster Red. Hes completely right and hasnt been at all sectarian. Gibson plays for the Republic (not very much) because hes catholic and was raised as Irish and not Northern Irish. These things have happened in the North whether yous want to believe it or not. Neil Lennon never had the chance to play for the Republic. That ruling only came in over Gibson. Im sure that more players would have done it down the years otherwise. Im from Dublin and KEANESMAGICHAT you are the one talking through your arse. N.I. are not shit. Before this qualification group they did better than us in the two previous qualifications and are higher in the world rankings. they had a much harder group than we did and nearly qualified. we won 4 matches from 12 lest we forget. 2 against Georgia (of which the away match was moved to a neutral ground) and 2 against Cyprus Neither of which we deserved to win. The Republic are just as shit as the North if not worse. average players who look like theyd rather not play. Why would else would Gibson rather play for the Republic. Shit Glen Whelan and Keith Andrews get their game ahead of him. Give me a break. Take your head out of your arse and smell the fucking coffee mate!!
Ulster Red- To call Gibson a bigot is ridiculous. He’s a Catholic from Derry. He has more in common with The Republic of Ireland than he has with northern ireland. Under the terms of Good Friday he’s entitled to declare with the south without fear of being called a bigot. Why would he choose a team who have historically been anti-catholic. Billy Bingham in Windsor Park in November 1993 springs to mind!
hurdy gurdy man
thank you at least somone see sense
irinblablabla
windsor park has changes a hell of alot since 1993..try watchn a match ther like i do every game and see the greatest fans in europe..and thats a uefa fact
hurdy gurdy, we were ‘slating’ ulster red because he said gobson was a sectarian bigot as a result of the choice he made. red’s point blank refusal to try and see things from another point of view, namely that of irish catholics in the north, is the very definition of bigotry. he cannot and will not see things from another side. so yes, it is a logical and sensible conclusion to say he himself is the bigot rather than gibson.
and ulster red, is that maybe the red of liverpool you’re referring to, cuz you sound an awful lot like rafa there……
free ulster
trust me im a massive united fan have been since i got into football.i cant see gibsons side because its bigotory, and im not that..unlike ur username which you have already defended..do one
how is it bigotry to want to play for the country to which you feel you belong????
look, i even posted the definition of it earlier in the board. and near enough everyone on here has been appalled at your labelling of gibson. you just cannot see it from someone elses viewpoint. THAT is the definition of bigotry. look it up. and it is not sectarian either. its having a cultural identity different to yours. one that you cant tolerate. its ridiculous. we are a divided country, but we both sides have the right to our self determination, to choose what we believe, what church we associate ourselves to, what nationality we profess ourselves to be. im from belfast, but im irish. its both a legal and a moral right.
its just not bigotry, simple as. if you cant see the distinction, then you are stupid as well as ignorant.
and yes, my name means free ulster.
but im not a bigot. i can see both sides of the story, i can understand someone elses desire to be british or northern irish. i can understand both aspects of the division. but there will be no moving on if we cant see the argument both ways.
i cannot see gibsons point of view as you call it because its wrong, and for you to post your comment in a nice educated way will only make you look the right in all this…i have now finished in this topic..i believe what i do and im entitled to that as are you
@keanesmagichat
Ur obiviously a dirty fenian bastard who hates protestants and N.Ireland, does us all a favour and fuck off
P.S. Andy Gorman and Ally McCoist are Rangers Legends
K.A.T
Couldn’t give a fuck if you call me a biggot, Up the Ulster, fuck the taigs!!!
missed this article somehow, a month late in saying, ulster red, you are a prick