Congratulations Manchester United: 18th league victory

[Slava]

Looking forward to the start of the league on August 16th. Wayne Rooney is slated to miss the opener after picking up a virus on the Nigeria tour and so will Didier Drogba after failing to recover from a knee operation.

Tottenham still looking to shell out 60 mil pounds more to bring in Arshavin, Villa and a couple of other defenders.

United are to play a preseason game against Juve on wednesday!

Rafael and fabio Silva, the highly rated 17 year old Brazilian twins made their debut for United yesterday against Peterborough and both looked exceptionally good. Especially Fabio looked amazing and they could start making an impact as soon as this season for the first team.

Berbatov still looking to seal his dream move and Liverpool are playing a preseason game today.

Ronaldo is scheduled to return to Manchester at the end of the week to get evaluated on his progress after knee surgery.

Shaun Wrtight Philips looking to make a move to get more first team football and finally Eduardo sets a possinle return date.

Interesting times!

[BlackMamba]

i will be keeping an even more close eye because of vela in arsenal, giovanni in tottenham and castillo with manchester city.

i think giovanni has the better chance of being a more important piece for his team. he knows juande ramos from his years as a barecelona youth player so i bet he will see a lot of minutes.

vela will have a more difficult time with adebayor and RVP ahead of him, but he could be a good substitute, i hope he gets around 6-8 goals in the season.

and nery castillo should stay away from injuries so he can show what he's capable and earns the coach's trust.

[Andris]

Ronaldo will stay in Manchester, or he might be traded to Green Bay for Favre.....

[El Turco]

lol, that would save lot of headaches for all kinds of football fans around the world.

[Slava]

Manchester United vs Juventus ended 0-0 today. Rafael Silva again impresses along with Tevez who seens to be feeling himself more at homw in United's offense with every single minute he plays. Gets me confident in believing that we will still be the best team without bringing in another forward.

If only a miracle could get Louis Saha stay healthy for an entire season, we'll be the team to beat in any competition.

[Slava]

United win the community shield on penalties, 3-1 against Portsmouth. Was a pretty entertaining game and good to watch the team back in the groove without missing anything in terms of fitness, sharpness and link up play. Carlos Tevez was very deservedly the man of the match and Van Der Sar has become an expert for penalties.

We really do need a striker to convert on all the missed opportunities we had today. Berbatov seems very unlikely now at this point. I wouldn't mind if the Henry rumor has any legs either. Any good CF would be a great asset as of now.

[H12BULLS]

I guess I'll post this here. It's from some Man City forum and a guy who apparently works at the club. Seems like it's a big mess over there.

I'm sorry to say this, as a life long fan and - for the last few (for me at least) unforgettable months - employee, MCFC as we know it is finished. Here are the FACTS, for those who really want to know. Thaksin is, as of midlnight 10th August, 2008, an international fugitive.

He now has to be found guilty of corruption in Thailand in his absense, offering no defence. Extradition requests will surely follow. The PL will then have to find him short of the fit and proper ownership rules (and believe me, the pressure for that from fellow 'members' has been growing since June).

Thaksin is trying to palm off City onto whoever will now take it, an insolvent mess of a business, completely incapable of sustaining itself. The truth is that the only interested party (until recently) - Wardle - is not now able to bail City out now , he cant come close on his own and no partners have been found. The wage bioll and committments due on the last 2 years' transfers have spiralled out of control.

The Corluka affair is the last straw - I personally worked on the deal and can assure anyone interested that he has already been transferred to Spurs. Spurs have this evening started legal action, and he will be barred from playing for City following an injunction in the courts tomorrow.

Personally I expect Hughes to then resign on principal (he has no choice now, he is on record as saying that he will have final say on all transfers). Many wont believe any of this, but a few will.

I am very close to this situation (readers will never know who I am or how close - a few would know my name but it isnt appropriate to for me to come 'out') - trust me, I am close enough to know what has happeneded in the last fortnight, I am pissed off with it (as a fan, and as someone who has worked hard for the club durinig the ast 18 months or so) and it must be said, a little drunk.

I am posting this message on a few sites - apologies for those that keep reading it, but I want City fans to know what is happening. The sad truth is we are finished, and that as a result, the PL will be facing its biggest challenge since inception within 2 weeks of now.

[Slava]

Wow. I had a feeling ever since Thaksin's takeover that it was going to end up in a mess but this has gone entirely out of proportion and the integrity of the premier league will be put into question for allowing that acquisition, knowing very well what Thaksin was facing in his homeland. England has given asylum to many cast offs but if he does turn out to be tagged as an international criminal, there's no other choice but to sever all ties between him and the club.

I'm a United fan and grew up despising anything City related but their fan club has to be the most unlucky one, having to face one embarassment after another since all the trophy less seasons to managerial changes to the whole Joey Barton saga and now the biggest of them all, this. There was renewed hope when Thaksin promised transfer funds as well as Sven Ericksson's appointment but boy are they going down the drain now! I hope somebody comes forward to takeover and meet the asking price though, their fans atleast deserve the existence of the club to cheer for, even against all odds.

[treiz]

Man, that's screwed up, I really like City coming up this year as well, they have a very nice spine to build upon as well. Hart-Richards-Johnson-Sturridge, and they're all English. I hope this situation can be dealt with ASAP and nothing terrible happens to City.

Anyway, c'mon ya Blues. It's all you now Scolari!

[Slava]

Looks like Mark Hughes is staying anyway. If Thaksin doesn't put in the money, City might be forced to sell a lot of their top assets to make up for it. The firesale could be on any moment within this week.

[treiz]

Hughes is staying but I heard Michael Johnson could be on his way out after some contract dispute. Kasper Schmeichel has also said that he wants to leave. Bad times to be a City fan.

[GS Warriors 1]

Here are the results from Saturday and Sunday, Portsmouth/Manchester United play tomorrow:

Liverpool 2, Middlesbrough 1
Carragher 85', Gerrard 90'
Mido 70'

Newcastle 1, Bolton 0
Owen 71'

Tottenham 1, Sunderland 2
Jenas 73'
Richardson 54', Cisse 82'

Blackburn 1, Hull City 1
Roberts 38'
Garcia 40'

WBA 1, Everton 2
Bednar 89'
Osman 65', Yakubu 76'

Stoke City 3, Aston Villa 2
Lawrence 30', Fuller 81', Sidibe 90'
Carew 65', Laursen 83'

Fulham 1, Arsenal 0
Hangeland 21'

Sunday:

Wigan 0, Chelsea 1
Deco 4'

Manchester City 3, West Ham 0
Sturridge 65', Elano 70', 76'

[Slava]

Citeh finally win a game and Deco seems more like an excellent signing already at Chelsea. Tottenham still look clueless on the pitch and looks like the sooner they let Berba leave the better its going to be for the overall well being of the squad up there.

[H12BULLS]

Tottenham is complete crap. Every time they get within 25 meters of goal they start punting balls into the box. Just horrible to watch. Modrić and Dos Santos are basically the only ones that can create anything by stringing a few passes together. To make it even worse, Ramos for some reason plays Modrić as the last man in midfield which gives him no chance to go forward and create anything.

[damo[23]]

United win the community shield on penalties, 3-1 against Portsmouth. Was a pretty entertaining game and good to watch the team back in the groove without missing anything in terms of fitness, sharpness and link up play. Carlos Tevez was very deservedly the man of the match and Van Der Sar has become an expert for penalties.

We really do need a striker to convert on all the missed opportunities we had today. Berbatov seems very unlikely now at this point. I wouldn't mind if the Henry rumor has any legs either. Any good CF would be a great asset as of now.

I was at the game; unfortunatly my brother had a mix up with the tickets, and, if you were to try and describe the "Heart of the Portsmouth Fans", I was 2 seats to the left of that. Didnt make for the best experience.

[BlackMamba]

good to know giovanni's performance is good to the team.

give him and vela in arsenal time and they will amaze you.

[Slava]

United win the community shield on penalties, 3-1 against Portsmouth. Was a pretty entertaining game and good to watch the team back in the groove without missing anything in terms of fitness, sharpness and link up play. Carlos Tevez was very deservedly the man of the match and Van Der Sar has become an expert for penalties.

We really do need a striker to convert on all the missed opportunities we had today. Berbatov seems very unlikely now at this point. I wouldn't mind if the Henry rumor has any legs either. Any good CF would be a great asset as of now.

I was at the game; unfortunatly my brother had a mix up with the tickets, and, if you were to try and describe the "Heart of the Portsmouth Fans", I was 2 seats to the left of that. Didnt make for the best experience.

I have seen better penalty performances from high school teams though. That was almost comical.

[Geddy]

Shaun Wright-Phillips is going to City. Good move IMO because he was just rotting away on the bench in Chelsea.

[El Turco]

EPL is Chelsea's to lose. Ronalda wont come close to last season s performance for ManU and she figures to be major distraction. you can always count out Liverpool domestically and Arsenal doesnt have the depth to be successful in the long run.

[damo[23]]

EPL is Chelsea's to lose. Ronalda wont come close to last season s performance for ManU and she figures to be major distraction. you can always count out Liverpool domestically and Arsenal doesnt have the depth to be successful in the long run.

No its not. Chelsea have made 1 improvment in Deco and lost a huge player in Makalele. Its going to be extremely close between Utd and Chelsea yet again, Scolari will keep it that way. Ronadlo wont need to have that performance again, we still have a great squad around that.

Liverpool is not going to make a challenge, they've once again only signed players that will just about keep them above the rest of the average pack, but not let them catch up to the top.

Arsenal spot on, complete lack of depth AGAIN and also a lack of experience.

It'll prob come down to the wire unless Chelsea or Utd slip up or have major injuries.