http://www.utdforum.com/forum utdforum : manchester united forum for top reds en Sat, 19 May 2012 13:40:57 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.utdforum.com/forum/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.utdforum.com/forum http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182440&goto=newpost Sat, 19 May 2012 13:40:01 GMT Image:...
• Press F5 or auto-refresh for the lastest updates
• Email evan.fanning.casual@guardian.co.uk
• Tweet Evan, if that's your thing

Good afternoon. How are those nerves? Blackpool v West Ham United. Ian Holloway v Sam Allardyce. They say form goes out the window in a cup final but for the Championship play-off final it is logic that is told to do a runner. But what else can you really expect from a game that is measured not so much in terms of glory or achievement, but in value?

The monetisation of the Championship play-off final is an unstoppable modern football clap-trap and whether this match is worth £10m, £20m, £30m or £100m to the eventual winners is not of concern – at least not today on the pitch or in stands. All that matters is that all the work put in over the last nine months does not turn out to be wasted.

"Where no hope is left, is left no fear," wrote Milton, and while he probably had more existential matters in mind that a play-off final, there are few more tortured souls as West Ham fans and so his theory raises interesting questions about a game of this magnitude. Many pundits will say that the team which sheds its fear and relaxes will be most likely to prevail but perhaps, as Milton suggests, a little fear is a good thing for it brings with it hope and possibility - the emotion that can cause a player to find that extra yard needed at that crucial moment. On the other hand Michael Chabon wrote about 'lives ruined again and again by hope'. It's hard to know where to turn

So who will emerge blinking into the bright light cast from the Premier League gold? Will West Hams pragmatism triumph over Blackpool's, eh, slightly less pragmatic approach? The bookies seem to think so and have Sam Allardyce's side down as odds-on favourites. They've taken six points off Ian Holloway's side in their two league fixtures this season scoring eight goals in the process - a 4-0 win at Upton Park in October followed by a 4-1 victory at Bloomfield Roan in February. Recently, both sides have been in pretty impressive form with West Ham unbeaten in eight (six wins, two draws) and Blackpool unbeaten in nine (five wins, four draws). In short, it's impossible to call. The Championship play-off final wouldn't have it any other way.

The teams have been named and there is one big piece of breaking team-news – the Blackpool striker Gary Taylor-Fletcher is out and so 109-year-old Kevin Phillips plays but presumably will not last the 90 minutes, West Ham are as expected.

Blackpool: Gilks; Baptiste, Evatt, Eardley, Crainey; Ferguson, Martinez; Ince, Dobbie, M.Phillips; K.Phillips.
Subs: Southern, Sylvestre, Cathcart, Dicko, Bednar

West Ham: Green; Demel, Reid, Tomkins, Taylor; Noble, Nolan, O'Neil; Collison, Cole, Vaz Te.
Subs: Henderson, Faubert, McCartney, Lansbury, Maynard

Referee/Scapegoat: Howard Webb

• Championship 2011-12
• Blackpool
• West Ham United
• Championship

Evan Fanning

guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds






More... ]]> Football Auto-Threads fred tissue http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182440 http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182439&goto=newpost Sat, 19 May 2012 13:01:30 GMT 3pm

I think I'm up for Blackpool in this. The Guvnor's son plays for them. ]]> Football bored http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182439 http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182438&goto=newpost Sat, 19 May 2012 13:00:03 GMT Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has turned down the chance to take charge of Aston Villa. The former Manchester United striker held... Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has turned down the chance to take charge of Aston Villa. The former Manchester United striker held talks with Villa after Alex McLeish was sacked.

More... ]]> Football Auto-Threads fred tissue http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182438 http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182437&goto=newpost Sat, 19 May 2012 13:00:03 GMT Image:...
• Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says he will 'stand by' present club Molde
• Solskjaer interviewed about Aston Villa post on Friday

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer appears to have ruled himself out of the running for the manager's job at Aston Villa.

The former Manchester United forward said today he intends to "stand by" the remaining two years on his contract at current club Molde, having been flown to Birmingham for a four-hour meeting with Villa that also included his agent Jim Solbakken.

The Norwegian faced the media this morning to clarify his position at Molde.

"I have not had any offers," Solskjaer told a press conference. "I'm not looking for another job.

"In football, and in life in general, things turn up that you have to make decisions about. I have a contract for two more years and I'll stand by that."

Solskjaer returned to Norway last night to learn that Molde's billionaire backer Kjell Inge Rokke had pulled the plug on his company's 20-year support, which included building the club a new stadium in the late 1990s, as a result of the Villa talks.

And the Molde coach attempted to clarify what had happened, as well as play down his meeting with Villa.

"We strive for personal development and players who do well get requests all the time," Solskjaer said.

"I don't feel that I have lost anyone's confidence. I had a good chat with Molde this morning where we agreed that we should look forward. We have some challenges we need to tackle."

• Aston Villa
• Premier League

guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds






More... ]]> Football Auto-Threads fred tissue http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182437 http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182436&goto=newpost Sat, 19 May 2012 13:00:03 GMT Manchester City's*ecstatic forwards didn’t have far to run to celebrate their second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth goals at Old Trafford last season.

More... ]]> Football Auto-Threads fred tissue http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182436 http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182435&goto=newpost Sat, 19 May 2012 12:00:02 GMT Manchester City officials called in police after a teenage fan made off with the title-winning ball in the club’s Premier League triumph. The ball went missing in the melee that followed striker Sergio Aguero’s last-ditch winner.

More... ]]> Football Auto-Threads fred tissue http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182435 http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182434&goto=newpost Sat, 19 May 2012 10:40:05 GMT Striker Danny Welbeck is grateful for the part Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney has played in his ascent to... Striker Danny Welbeck is grateful for the part Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney has played in his ascent to England's Euro 2012 squad.

More... ]]> Football Auto-Threads fred tissue http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182434 http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182433&goto=newpost Sat, 19 May 2012 10:40:05 GMT Roy Keane has warned Manchester City to write off Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United at their peril. More...... Roy Keane has warned Manchester City to write off Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United at their peril.

More... ]]> Football Auto-Threads fred tissue http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182433 http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182432&goto=newpost Sat, 19 May 2012 09:40:16 GMT presume there's no league today?

nb 1,30 sun central 9/2
nb 2,00 hawaafez 9/2
nb 2,30 bertiewhittle 13/2, the confessor 6/1
nb 3,05 rewarded 8/1
nb 4,50 sash of honour 9/4
nb 5,20 lollina paulina 14/1, ew ]]> Gamblers Anonymous Gypsum Fantastic http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182432 http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182431&goto=newpost Sat, 19 May 2012 09:20:18 GMT Image:...
If the era of Spanish clubs' profligacy draws to a close, Barça and Real will struggle to find decent competition at home

It's human nature to see a morality play in the jumble of daily events: as the Spanish economy is tumbling from one crisis to the next, Barça and Real Madrid are beaten in the Champions League. Today's final in the competition will be held by their more austere north European competitors. Never mind that the Spanish giants were just unlucky (but for a few inches in the trajectory of Messi's penalty and the clumsy concession of a penalty by Real in the 27th minute, there would be four Spanish teams contesting the two Uefa finals).



The state of the national economy does influence football, but not in the short run. When it comes to national teams, there may seem to be little effect even over relatively long periods of time: Brazil and Argentina have been as successful when their economies have been struggling as when their economies are growing, and Spanish teams have dominated international football for the past five years despite the nation's economic troubles. But the two economic facts about long-term football success are that national teams from richer countries tend to win more often, as do football clubs with more money to spend on players. You don't need a PhD see why: rich countries have the resources to develop their talent, while rich clubs can buy the best players. International football has been dominated by developed countries (Brazil's huge population has compensated for the lack of resources), but in the longer term economic convergence (the tendency for poorer nations to catch up) should make more national teams competitive.



Club football is more susceptible to the national economic climate in the medium term. This year may represent the high watermark for the Spanish clubs for reasons that are connected to austerity. Most Spanish clubs have been running deficits ever since they were last bailed out by the government in 1991. These are now reaching unmanageable proportions, and according to Angel Barajas, an accounting professor who studies the financial reports of Spanish clubs, only five clubs in La Liga have "clean" accounts. Using standard ratio tests, most clubs border on bankruptcy.





A few weeks ago, the Spanish government announced a plan for settling football club tax debts and immediately generated a complaint to the European commission concerning illegal state aids. Real Madrid narrowly escaped sanction back in 2004 when the city government was involved in the sale of its training ground, enabling the club to write off debt and fund the salaries of the galácticos. But now that Uefa and the commission have reached agreement about the need to enforce economic regulation through the financial fair play initiative, it would be bizarre if Spanish clubs were allowed to maintain their profligate ways at the expense of taxpayers' and the fans of foreign teams.



Barça and Real are probably not affected by this directly, since they have the largest incomes in world football. The problem is that they already dominate their domestic competition by such a large margin (Barça finished nine points behind Real, but 30 points ahead of the team in third place), that if the rest of the teams fielded teams that reflected their economic resources there would be almost no point in playing. If they want to compete in Europe for silverware and globally for fans, they need some realistic competition at home. To do this they will need to share some of their wealth with the other teams in La Liga, but this will end up making them look more like the big clubs in Germany and England.



English teams have prospered in Europe over the last decade thanks to the immense value of their broadcasting rights. After a difficult decade there is an economic resurgence in German club football. Bayern Munich v Chelsea might be the shape of things to come.



• Follow Comment is free on Twitter @commentisfree

• Chelsea
• Bayern Munich
• Champions League 2011-12
• Champions League

Stefan Szymanski

guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds






More... ]]> Football Auto-Threads fred tissue http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182431 http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182430&goto=newpost Sat, 19 May 2012 08:24:51 GMT 15.30 15.30 ]]> Gambling Sloppy http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182430 http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182429&goto=newpost Sat, 19 May 2012 04:32:34 GMT http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/englan...er-united-park


go on then, what's stopping you? ]]> Football borsuk http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182429 http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182428&goto=newpost Sat, 19 May 2012 00:40:00 GMT Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane were used to battles on the football pitch – but now they have entered into a war of words about the Manchester rivalry.

More... ]]> Football Auto-Threads fred tissue http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182428 http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182427&goto=newpost Sat, 19 May 2012 00:40:00 GMT Mark Hughes will be writing regular columns for Sportsmail. In the first of his dispatches, he talks about his German... Mark Hughes will be writing regular columns for Sportsmail. In the first of his dispatches, he talks about his German adventure, the menace of Didier Drogba and Joey Barton's fate.

More... ]]> Football Auto-Threads fred tissue http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182427 http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182426&goto=newpost Sat, 19 May 2012 00:40:00 GMT The private jet which took Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on a day-trip to Birmingham to meet Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner may not... The private jet which took Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on a day-trip to Birmingham to meet Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner may not have experienced any turbulence en route from Norway.

More... ]]> Football Auto-Threads fred tissue http://www.utdforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182426