so Arsenes on for a return favour from SAF then.

[East Upper for Supper]

Waiting for the usual vermin like half****halfbrain to reply. Or not.

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

[East Upper for Supper]

[Bergkamp's Brain]

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

Wenger & Ferguson. Please explain.

[East Upper for Supper]

Seems a hot topic on here. Personally couldn't care less because we aren't anywhere near them anyway regardless of rvp going or not.

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

[Monty91]

[Curly]

[Ashberto]

and thus secure us CL football that way. ;-)

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

Are we looking to buy a player from them?

[Mack]

[East Upper for Supper]

[East Upper for Supper]

[Brentwood]

You're entitled to ignore the order and live there for a year, but then they'll come along with the bulldozers and flatten it, leaving you homeless

Nobody wanted to sell him, especially Wenger, but we're a business

[Lar d'Arse]

They have now played tottnumb, Liverpool and Everton twice.

[East Upper for Supper]

[Monty91]

frustrating because we're "so close" to challenging.

[East Upper for Supper]

[Ashberto]

Screw that then. Wenger out etc.

[Monty91]

indicative of mismanagement, however "close" you are. This seems incredibly harsh.

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

No matter what your general views on the management of the club are.

[East Upper for Supper]

[Monty91]

A lot of failing, mismanaged teams around.

[East Upper for Supper]

[Monty91]

a manager only building a team that is "so close" to challenging?

[East Upper for Supper]

[Monty91]

, it would certainly play a key role in his defense.

[East Upper for Supper]

[Steve-OH]

yawn.

[Monty91]

on ****e like Giroud, Podolski and Cazorla, but even if we had spent our money more wisely, we'd still be competing with, amongst others, a club that has spent a £1 billion pounds.

When you are competing with that level of wealth, surely it is a mitigating factor?

[Monty91]

[East Upper for Supper]

[East Upper for Supper]

[Monty91]

Man Utd fans are, at best, ambivalent about. Of course, some of these players could still come good, but not all of them have or will. Just like ours.

Imagine if Wenger paid £18 million for a goalkeeper who has been criticised as much as De Gea has been? Or £10 million for Chris Smalling? Ashley Young (£17m) has not convinced.. Nani (£13m) looks like he may be shipped out. Berbatov scored plenty of goals but never convinced Ferguson and they ended up getting rid of him at a £26 million loss.

The difference is that they can take these gambles AND pay £24-£30 million for established world class players like Van Persie and Berbatov with no sell-on value.

[East Upper for Supper]

They are part of a winning set up.
Nani and young have both been match winners on their day and contributed to Uniteds success.
Also these so called failures are always marketable unlike ours.

[Brentwood]

[Monty91]

"The difference is that they can take these gambles AND pay £24-£30 million for established world class players like Van Persie and Berbatov with no sell-on value."

[Ashberto]

as they can just keep on going for ever, taking a punt on new expensive players that may or may not work out because it doesn't matter if they don't.

[East Upper for Supper]

Contributed big time and ended up with silverware. They are good players and won't find it hard to get other clubs. Though they might be sold at a loss in terms of transfer fee they sure made up with the prize money through being title or cup winners.

[Brentwood]

Almost every player Wenger signs is unproven in the Premier League, and takes time to adapt. Most of Fergie's signings are players who have already proved themselves and consequently cost a bomb (RvP, Young, Berbatov, Carrick, Valencia, Rio, Rooney...)

[East Upper for Supper]

Deemed a gamble. All have proved tremendous buys.

[Monty91]

Even if it's true (though currently unproven) that we don't spend all the money at our disposal, it seems improbable that we could get anywhere near their levels of spending.

[Monty91]

[East Upper for Supper]

Winner. Tremendous buys.

[East Upper for Supper]

In terms of wages and initial funding that is.

[Monty91]

as many gambles as them. Anywhere NEAR....

This is a vague estimate looking briefly at their signings, but it's approaching £200 million since Berbatov signed in 08/09, BEFORE wages.

And this includes players such as Berb and RvP with no sell on value. That's £55 million right there, before wages, and NOTHING back for them.

[East Upper for Supper]

Million here on there rather than ensure better quality.

[Monty91]

Do you think Cahill would have come to us as 4th choice?

[East Upper for Supper]

And tv for that matter.

[Monty91]

You said he wouldn't buy Cahill because he didn't want to spend the money, yet he bought both Koseilny and Vermaelen for approx £3 million more each. Can you explain?

[East Upper for Supper]

Wasting 3m more on Kos? waster.

[Monty91]

clubs. Doesnt' make sense, sorry...

[Monty91]

as you previously claimed but in light of new evidence seem to be back tracking on, what do you think they are based on?

[East Upper for Supper]

I always said the resource was there but just wasted in several areas such as Santos and now as you point out spending several millions more on Kos rather than Cahill.

[East Upper for Supper]

[Monty91]

but have the wealth to compensate through buying ready made established players like Van Persie and Berbatov and also the best young players in the world like Rooney for huge fees and giant wages.

Do you REALLY think we should be able to compete with this, even by spending more?

Your argument seems to be even the players that don't quite cut it at united contribute to their success. This is a fair point, but who do you think gives them the extra quality needed to win trophies - is it these mediocre talents, or is it the rooneys and van persies?

[East Upper for Supper]

Investment, we didn't/ don't have because the Manager has failed to address.

A team of cesc nasri and Rvp should have won something but the squad depth was lacking.

United depth of squad has been the difference.

[Monty91]

£17 million for phil jones and ashley young, £30 million for Berbatov, £17 million for Owen Hargreacve, £15 million for Anderson....

That kind of squad depth, you mean?

[East Upper for Supper]

Also do you think 7m buys quality like Santos these days? Or just clog the squad up with unremovable deadwood because its penny pinching/bad judgement whatever excuse you want to give Wenger. I think Uniteds investment has paid off in terms of success. A supplement of quality to the likes of cesc nasri and Rvp or even an adequate replacement which would have meant Jack not being played until knack erred may well have helped us to better things.

[Monty91]

As we know, £30 million doesn't go that far if you factor in wages.

[East Upper for Supper]

Perhaps a better quality keeper than Almunia at the time in question
?

[Monty91]

the club's finances at that time. That was still very soon after moving to the Emirates and at a time when the anticipated profit from the Highbury redevelopments hit the skids. Even if you are convinced now that we are not spending as much as we could, I'm not sure you can say with the same certainty that we weren't at that time.

Secondly, I think its fanciful to claim that two additional undetermined (or do you have names?) squad players would have been the difference between us winning and losing the league at that time. You can use £17 million of that up on Owen Hargreaves.

[East Upper for Supper]

However acceptance would mean that the board were lying that funds would be made available if the manager wanted them and that Wenger happily went with it.
Now I'm happy if
funds weren't available and would back Wenger to the hilt if true but as you say there is absolutely nothing that proves either way. You point to the stadium debt but at the same time it was always said transfer funds were always ring fenced and the boards insistence they were available to Wenger if he wanted them.

[redgunamo]