Wes Brown

Does anyone else think he actually has had a fall out with Ferie?

I can understand Rafael being given the nod against Aalborg as that is the type of game it is "safe" to play and up and coming player but, against Celtic in the "battle of britain", I would've expected him to play - only to see Johnny Evans get the nod over him. He has only started one game - vs Blackburn - since the Liverpool game?

Maybe I am just reading too much into it and Fergie see's Evans as a better centre-half than Wes. With right back now being seen as Wes's best position.

Shame as I love the lad.

what seems strange to me is the lack of media coverage. usually with something like this (england regular loses his spot for no clear reason) you'd get a load of stories about fall-outs - especially with it being united and fergie. remember the %@#$&!s about beckham and fergie, keane and various players, ronnie and ruud... normally the press love this kind of stuff, but there's a very strange silence on the whole issue. to me the only reason for it is that the press know what the reason is but have been asked to keep quiet. it's not that unusual where something personal is involved, for example. the press rely on access and if they are asked specifically not to report something, and there's a good reason (a granny at death's door, that sort of thing) then they usually play the game.

the other thing is, wes has been through a £#%&! of lot recently, family-wise, if i remember right. it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that he has asked for some time to get himself together.

whatever the reason, there's no indication that he's pissed off about anything or angling for a move as far as i can see. no agents making noises in the press, no leaked 'club x is weighing up a bid for out of favour brown' type stories etc.

I think fergie has clearly been impressed by the lad. You could gauge when he said Rafael can do things which wes or neville can't.

also fergie has always been a fan of neville and his crossing which clearly wes is very poor at.

Originally Posted by borsuk

what seems strange to me is the lack of media coverage. usually with something like this (england regular loses his spot for no clear reason) you'd get a load of stories about fall-outs - especially with it being united and fergie. remember the %@#$&!s about beckham and fergie, keane and various players, ronnie and ruud... normally the press love this kind of stuff, but there's a very strange silence on the whole issue. to me the only reason for it is that the press know what the reason is but have been asked to keep quiet. it's not that unusual where something personal is involved, for example. the press rely on access and if they are asked specifically not to report something, and there's a good reason (a granny at death's door, that sort of thing) then they usually play the game.

the other thing is, wes has been through a £#%&! of lot recently, family-wise, if i remember right. it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that he has asked for some time to get himself together.

whatever the reason, there's no indication that he's pissed off about anything or angling for a move as far as i can see. no agents making noises in the press, no leaked 'club x is weighing up a bid for out of favour brown' type stories etc.

Good post.

Originally Posted by Zorg

Good post.

that post looks to me like he is trying to convince himself that nothing is wrong with wes and wes will be the first choice right back very soon...

Originally Posted by keano's love

also fergie has always been a fan of neville and his crossing which clearly wes is very poor at.

Neville's poor at it too now

Originally Posted by hopkins

Neville's poor at it too now

nope... he is just a bit rusty. but against celtic you could already see his runs, far better than wes can manage.

Nope. It's got nothing to do with rustiness for me. We may get a season from those ageing legs but that'll be about it.

Borsuk's the most sensible post on here. My only concern is rather than having a settled defence he'll rotate RB for much of the season. I'd prefer to keep the back four as it is unless there's enforced changes like Tuesday night and most probably tomorrow (Rio missing through injury).

Originally Posted by keano's love

nope... he is just a bit rusty. but against celtic you could already see his runs, far better than wes can manage.

s'pose you'll just have to wait for hindsight on this one as well, eh.

Originally Posted by keano's love

that post looks to me like he is trying to convince himself that nothing is wrong with wes and wes will be the first choice right back very soon...

No, not really.

I really don't understand the people who slate Wes and say that he isn't a quality full back.

He was one of our best players last season but it seems, no matter what he does, some people give insist on giving him a raw deal.

Originally Posted by koppas

I really don't understand the people who slate Wes and say that he isn't a quality full back.

He was one of our best players last season but it seems, no matter what he does, some people give insist on giving him a raw deal.

"inspite of wes" instead of "because of wes"

Originally Posted by koppas

I really don't understand the people who slate Wes and say that he isn't a quality full back.

He was one of our best players last season but it seems, no matter what he does, some people give insist on giving him a raw deal.

Part of a very good defence. He is a very good player too. Revisionist nonesense to suggest otherwise. He can feel a touch hard done by although you won't hear anything coming from him. Also, if he was dropped as a result of the Anfield defeat, then Fergie needs to stay off the vino as he punished the wrong player.

Originally Posted by keano's love

"despite of wes instead" of "inspite of wes"

What the £#%&! are you going on about?

Originally Posted by koppas

What the £#%&! are you going on about?

changed it now...

It could well be a combination of most of the things mentioned on this thread. While it seems like Wes has fallen out of favour, let me just put an alternative view.

Perhaps Fergie has never really been truly convinced of Wes at right back but last season he didn't really have much option. Rafael hadn't really emerged and Gary Nev only came back at the crucial end of the season, and you just can't afford to ease back a rusty player into such crucial games.

Come this season and Fergie's now got three quite different options. I can understand his reasoning when he puts Rafael in against opposition likely to sit back for most of the game, like West Brom and Aalborg. But he's not ready for the bigger games just yet, you need experience.

It seems as if Wes has had a lot go on behind the scenes and it wouldn't be a surprise if it contributed to a few missed appearances, like Chelsea away. But there could be other simple factors here too.

A lot of people, including me, were surprised that Wes didn't play on Tuesday night. But it only struck me on Wednesday just how young the team that played Celtic was. Only VDS, Vidic, O'Shea and Vidic were over 24. If you've settled on the attacking line up, you'd want a bit of experience in defence and with Rio missing, you'd also want a shouter, someone to help organise things. VDS would play his part, Vidic would but that's about it. Wes isn't particularly noted for that. Ergo, you'd probably favour Neville. Given it was Celtic, it's probably a risk you could feel you could take.

Like Whalers, I won't be surprised to see the RB position rotated throughout the year and I'm not a great fan of rotation in the defence either. Given that we're at Everton tomorrow I can't see Rafael playing. It may be asking too much to start with G Nev for two games in four days. It'll be a tough game tomorrow and I'd prefer Wes to be playing from the start. If G Nev starts again tomorrow, perhaps it will signal something bigger behind the scenes.

I think it's a squad game and we have three right backs and Wes has played more games than Neville and Rafael.

Originally Posted by SilverSurfer

It could well be a combination of most of the things mentioned on this thread. While it seems like Wes has fallen out of favour, let me just put an alternative view.

Perhaps Fergie has never really been truly convinced of Wes at right back but last season he didn't really have much option. Rafael hadn't really emerged and Gary Nev only came back at the crucial end of the season, and you just can't afford to ease back a rusty player into such crucial games.

Come this season and Fergie's now got three quite different options. I can understand his reasoning when he puts Rafael in against opposition likely to sit back for most of the game, like West Brom and Aalborg. But he's not ready for the bigger games just yet, you need experience.

It seems as if Wes has had a lot go on behind the scenes and it wouldn't be a surprise if it contributed to a few missed appearances, like Chelsea away. But there could be other simple factors here too.

A lot of people, including me, were surprised that Wes didn't play on Tuesday night. But it only struck me on Wednesday just how young the team that played Celtic was. Only VDS, Vidic, O'Shea and Vidic were over 24. If you've settled on the attacking line up, you'd want a bit of experience in defence and with Rio missing, you'd also want a shouter, someone to help organise things. VDS would play his part, Vidic would but that's about it. Wes isn't particularly noted for that. Ergo, you'd probably favour Neville. Given it was Celtic, it's probably a risk you could feel you could take.

Like Whalers, I won't be surprised to see the RB position rotated throughout the year and I'm not a great fan of rotation in the defence either. Given that we're at Everton tomorrow I can't see Rafael playing. It may be asking too much to start with G Nev for two games in four days. It'll be a tough game tomorrow and I'd prefer Wes to be playing from the start. If G Nev starts again tomorrow, perhaps it will signal something bigger behind the scenes.

Great post.

There's been no fall out

Originally Posted by The Return of JC

I think it's a squad game and we have three right backs and Wes has played more games than Neville and Rafael.

exactly. Wes and Fergie were laughing and joking in the press conference.

There is NO fall out, just horses for courses imo