However, I am not debating his skills at this moment in time. What i was advocating was that we still continue to have faith in him AND the gaffer (especially the Gaffer) that both will know best whether he makes the cut or not.

And bearing in mind Scott’s post; that we as Utd fans should believe that Foster will learn from the PAIN he’s gone through with his blunders, trusting that this will grant him the EXPERIENCE to perform better in the future when he has more BELIEF in himself =)

As Scott also puts it rather succintly – “The manager of Manchester United believes in you and your ability. Wow.” Can we not do the same?

Cheers!

On Lajajic it looks as if the whole thing has been badly mis-handled. Seeing what Mike Phelan had to say in the press conference today he came across very badly. One can see why he was regarded as an unreliable witness in the notorious FA case against Evra after the Chelsea fracas ( still a travesty of justice). Today Phelan seemed uncertain about the facts and ducking responsibility and ended up looking evasive. Knowing he was the public face of the club he should have got himself properly briefed beforehand. These are elementary PR considerations, and when someone’s heart has been potentially broken by a decision it needs far more sensitive handling and clear answers to the inevitable questions. It adds to the impression that the kid has been treated in a very cavalier fashion, which is normally not something I’d accuse United of in relation to youngsters. I feel for the guy who’ll be remembered as the Player United Rejected. I hope the way he’s been treated doesn’t come back to haunt us.

On the dreaded ‘ManU’ question, I would just add that , although I can’t stand it any more than some others here, it did start out quite innocently, before it was taken up by ‘Munich’ baiters. In the ’50s when I first started following United , there used to be ‘Stop Press’ columns , usually on the back page ,in most of the many local evening papers around the country where late breaking news items would be squeezed in at the last minute. If nothing had happened it was left blank.On Saturdays, late football scores would be slotted in there in the ‘Classified Results’ editions (Pink’Uns or Green ‘Uns, depending which city you were in). It was very common to see United abbreviated to ‘ManU’ in those columns, and there was no hostile intent, just space saving and haste. What’s shocking is to hear my wife still sometimes saying ManU all these years 30 years of me correcting her. I’ll hear her on the phone, ‘Oh he’s off to see ManU today…’ ‘It’s not ‘Man U’, I shout, ‘It’s UNITED!’ Does 32 years count for nothing??

As a parent of a young child, I would feel quite devastated if my child’s dreams are taken away from him so cruelly after being talked up for the best part of a year.

I am sure GHTT here has grand dreams for his girl Emily, as I do for my child and as do all other parents for their children. For the young ones out there I am quite sure that you all have fantastic dreams for yourselves. Think about it, how would you feel if it was just snatched away from under your nose. It’s not a very nice feeling i can assure you.

And being the kind of man Sir Alex is, so fiercely protective of his players and youngsters especially ( See his rant after the press criticised the kids after the Benfica game!), I cannot help but think there is something shady involved and that he would do something like that to a kid. I am sure that this has been done beyond his back or against his wishes.

Just a few weeks back, Sir Alex is quoted on ManUtd.com saying he is looking forward to the kids arrival, THINK for a moment here— can his development have been deteriorated so dramatically in the space of three weeks so as to cancel the deal altogether!!

I am Man united through and through and Red till I die, and will still support the club despite this mess, but I cant for the love of God accept that this step taken by the club is right.

We all felt so miserable when we lost at Anfield….Hell we feel the world is at an end after any match we lose…just think this young boy dreaming of walking out at Old trafford with 75000 people chanting his name….A lot of us had already started taking his name here on THIS BLOG……just look at some of the posts made by the people in the last month here…Now all of a sudden he is a no good mercenary/professional…

Come on—-this is not what Man Utd is about. we are much more than that. This kind of behaviour is more beffiting of Scouse scum or the “small club” from manchester…

Just my thoughts…..apologies if they are considered irrelevant/inappropriate.
Cheers!

If Fergie did not want to spend 10 million on an UNKNOWN 17 year old then why did we pose with him and do the nonsense question answer session. All of us were saying how we are looking forward to seeing him and now that he is not coming we say he is some unknown 18 year old.i am sure we(the scouts) did not do all this after seeing him for just 1 game,we must have monitored over a period of time

Whatever has happened behind closed doors i dont give a damn about that. it was a different story if we had just told partizan we have the first option rather than calling him to train,doing a q&A session and posing with the club badge.The club has not handled this issue properly. if we feel 10 million was too much then why did we agree then? you dont expect 17 year old dubbed ‘serbian kaka’ to make big progress in a year when he plays for Partizan and not united.kiko hasnt made great progress since march last year, neither has welbeck but we are ready to wait since they are young.

One question to both of you

Put yourself in his place and tell me honestly how you would have felt?

Side note – I would also like to gather all this positive vibe going around this particular thread atm to draw the attention of all Utd fans to an oft-spoken topic .. Ben Foster.

Yes, while this post was about the future of Utd’s youth players (and Foster isnt exactly young at the age of 26), the general consensus that I am able catch from all Utd fans here are that…in UTd we trust..and in Fergie we trust!

I would be the first to say that Foster hasnt exactly grabbed his chances this season to show us what he is really capable of (and oh how many chances there were..>.<). However, I would also lay the blame partially on us fans as well.

I somehow get the sinking feeling that whenever Foster steps onto the field, there is always this negative vibe that every Utd fan is just WAITING for him to make a mistake. I believe this sentiment is true not just from the fans in the stadium, but fans WORLDWIDE. And ladies and gents, this is the kind of vibe that doesnt do him any favours nor gives him the confidence that he needs to perform.

Professional footballers arent machines..they are human beings with emotions and feelings as well.

I guess what i intended to say in my rather long winded post is that..Scott in this post speaks of the relevance of Belief, Experience and Pain. All elements of which Foster has definately been exposed to the past few games. Which goes to say, they could either break him or make him into THE goalie that we all desire him to be.

The underlying question is..how can we as fans contribute to Foster's development?! Surely not by spewing the kind of negative thoughts that has been circling around the Internet (and im sure..around the stadium when he plays??).

And at the end of the day..despite Foster's BLunders (and there have been quite a few).. Fergie STILL believes in him..why cant we as well?!

ps..sincere apologies if this is off-topic. Just had to get this out of my chest. Been bugging me for quite some time now =)