Html Match Today Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Reserves Text: Fixtures Today Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri HotNews

MUFC.SIMPLENET. COM:  DAILY NEWS
Date: Tue Aug 04 05:59:16 GMT+00:00 1998
Mail: barry@www.red11.org


Patrick Kluivert has pulled out of a move to Manchester United and will stay
with AC Milan, the Italian club said.

The Dutch World Cup star had agreed a "modest" pay increase with the
Italians after being on the verge of a move.

Milan hadd accepted a Stg£9 million bid from United but the player stalled
over the move, saying he would have preferred to go to a London club if he
left Italy.

From: Barry Leeming 
Subject: www.red11.org Survey Result: 
 Week of July 26: What is your opinion of United's new player Jesper Blomqvist?
Very good                 27  15%
Good                      60  33%
Average                   22  12%
Below average              3   2%
Don't know/wait and see   68  38%
                Total:   180 votes   Question closed 21:00 EST 26/07/98

 Barry comment:
 Looks like supporters are sceptical and not counting their chickens.
 We all know Jesper was good a year or two back aat IFK lets wait and see if
 Alex's faith can be answered.
 30% voted good well thats a good sign! (Note only 3 voted below average)

NEW SURVEY: the latest Fergie interest......
Do you want Patrick Kluivert to join Manchester United?
Vote here:  Question opened: 12:15 EST 03/08/98
http://www.red11.org/miva/survey.mv

PRE SEASON - FIRST TEAM CALENDER
July 25  Birmingham City  (A)     result: L 3-4
     27  Valerengen (A) (Oslo)    result: D 2-2
     31  Brondby (A) (Copenhagen) result: W 6-0

Aug   4  Brann Bergen (A) live on Eurosport 1900 cet
      9  Charity Shield at Wembley
     18  Eric Cantona XI (H) - Munich testimonial


This Issue:
1. Kluivert stays
2. Pete On United
3. Striking failure confronts United (Times)
4. THE JESPER BLOMQVIST INTERVIEW (365)
5. Jeppe: Don't Call Me Giggs (365)

++++++=========+++++++========+++++++++========++++++++


Check out our new REDitorial by Alex Paylor! url: http://www.red11.org/mufc/devilsadvocate/

Subject:    Kluivert stays
     
     KLUIVERT DEAL IN JEOPARDY
     
     Patrick Kluivert's proposed £9million move from AC Milan to Manchester 
     United is off, according to sources in Italy.
     
     It is believed that a meeting between officials from the Italian club 
     and the player's agent in Milan today resulted in Kluivert agreeing to 
     remain with the Serie A giants.
     
     Milan had accepted a bid from United for Kluivert but the player had 
     stalled over the move, apparently preferring a London club if he was 
     to swap Italy for England.
     
     United had hoped that the deal for Kluivert would be done in time for 
     him to make his debut in Sunday's Charity Shield clash with Arsenal.
     
     United had already missed the deadline for the Champions' League 
     qualifier against Polish champions LKS Lodz and Kluivert's personal 
     terms were the only obvious stumbling block.
     
     There could be more bad news for Ferguson with Aston Villa manager 
     John Gregory still confident of holding on to Dwight Yorke.
     
     Gregory wanted United striker Andy Cole in part exchange for the 
     £15million-rated Yorke, but described United's offer as "derisory".
     
     He added: "There has only been one formal offer from United for Dwight 
     Yorke and I have heard nothing more since.
     
     "I don't think United have conducted matters particularly well. They 
     have certainly dragged things out and Dwight must be wondering if they 
     really want him."
     
     
     
     c PA Sporting Life
Check out our new REDitorial by Alex Paylor! url: http://www.red11.org/mufc/devilsadvocate/


Date:         Mon, 3 Aug 1998 10:28:18 +0200
Reply-To: "Manchester United Football Club (soccer)"
              
Sender: "Manchester United Football Club (soccer)"
              
From: Robert Gaunt 
Subject:      Pete On United
To: MUFC@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU

GUNNER PETE
By TOM TYRRELL

PETER Schmeichel warned today that Manchester United are heading back
to the Premiership's top spot.

The Danish 'keeper has seen enough already to know the Reds can power
their way to a fifth title in 10 years and gun down champions Arsenal.

Schmeichel is convinced United are getting back to their best and that
last season's disappointment will make them more determined than ever.
``Once we get fit, and once we hit top gear, I can see us playing some
fantastic football,'' said the 34-year-old keeper.

``I can see us winning games and, hopefully, we will win enough to get
the Premiership back to Old Trafford.''

The signs were certainly there last night as Alex Ferguson's men
romped to a 6-0 win over Schmeichel's former club, Brondby, in
Copenhagen.

Schmeichel was marking the seventh anniversary of his move to Old
Trafford by returning to his roots and he is adamant Old Trafford's
next generation can hit the heights again. The addition of Jaap Stam
is a major boost but Schmeichel says the hunger is also there with the
younger players.

``Missing the title last season is going to make them all the more
determined this time,'' he added. ``We were in this situation when
Blackburn won the title. The determination we showed the following
season was phenomenal and we won the double. We have got to use not
winning the trophy as the fuel for this season.''

It was a nostalgic night for the Danish legend who was given a
rapturous welcome by both sets of supporters. Schmeichel is a folk
hero in his homeland and hinted he may well return when he hangs up
his gloves. He added: ``I can see myself coaching at one of the big
three Copenhagen teams but I have no ambition of being a coach or a
manager just for the sake of it. ``If I was to be a coach it would
have to be at a club with a chance of winning the championship, the
cup, or being in Europe. A club that is going places. I don't think I
have the patience or the ability to build teams from the ground.''


 
Check out our new REDitorial by Alex Paylor! url: http://www.red11.org/mufc/devilsadvocate/


X-Mailer: AOL 3.0 for Windows 95 sub 18
Date:         Mon, 3 Aug 1998 21:59:33 EDT
Reply-To: "Manchester United Football Club (soccer)"
              
Sender: "Manchester United Football Club (soccer)"
              
From: Cameron Corda 
Subject:      Striking failure confronts United (Times)
To: MUFC@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU

Striking failure confronts United

BY OLIVER HOLT, FOOTBALL CORRESPONDENT

A FEW days ago, they seemed close to completing a double transfer coup that
had their supporters smacking their lips in expectation and rubbing their
hands in glee. Last night, though, as one of the two men who was supposed to
form Manchester United's new dream striking partnership turned his back on a
move to Old Trafford, the club's supporters were left facing the sobering
prospect that Alex Ferguson's search for a top-class forward might be on the
brink of collapse once again.

United had hoped to announce at least one of the signings later this week in
time to parade a new capture at the FA Charity Shield at Wembley on Sunday,
when they will face Arsenal, but the first blow to their hopes came late
yesterday afternoon when they learnt that the £9 million bid that they had
made for Patrick Kluivert, the Holland striker, which had been accepted by AC
Milan, his club, counted for nought.

Having spent most of the World Cup saying how much he hated playing in Serie A
and how desperate he was to leave Italy, Kluivert announced that he was
staying at the San Siro. His club, which until now had given the impression of
wanting to do everything in its power to get rid of him, admitted it had
concluded a new deal with the man who has been a misfit since he joined from
Ajax last summer.

Ferguson had been intending to fly to Italy to negotiate with Kluivert over
his extravagant wage demands tomorrow. Instead, Sigi Lens, the Dutchman's
agent, and Ariedo Braida, the general manager of Milan, met in Amsterdam
yesterday and concluded the new agreement to keep him in Italy.

Martin Edwards, the United chairman, said last night: "The player has come
back from holiday, had talks with his club and decided to stay. We always knew
he was reluctant to leave Italy, but obviously we had hoped to get the chance
to persuade him otherwise."

As news of that reverse was sinking in, Ferguson, still on tour with his team
in Scandinavia, was facing up to the fact that the likelihood of any swift
conclusion to his quest for Dwight Yorke, the Aston Villa striker, was also
receding.

Yorke, who has been valued at £16 million by John Gregory, the Villa manager,
is thought to be keen to move to Old Trafford, but an injury to Villa's only
other recognised striker, the troubled Stan Collymore, has reinforced
Gregory's determination to hold on to the Trinidad and Tobago forward.

Gregory, who has been stubborn in his refusal to accept the inevitability of
Yorke's departure, seemed to be rubbing salt into United's wounds yesterday
when he reiterated that he was confident of holding on to Yorke. "There has
only been one formal offer from United for Dwight Yorke and I have heard
nothing more since," he said. "I don't think United have conducted matters
particularly well. They have certainly dragged things out and Dwight must be
wondering if they really want him."

Gregory, mindful of Yorke's desire to be involved with a club brimming with
ambition, also refused to dampen speculation that he was preparing a £12
million bid for Juninho, the Brazilian midfield player. He was unaware,
perhaps, that Gianni Paladini, Juninho's agent, tried to do exactly that
yesterday, saying that Villa had no chance of prising the player away from
Atlético Madrid, his club, at least not for the fee quoted. Villa would need
to pay a great deal more.

If that complicated matters in the Midlands, then United's plans seem to be on
the verge of unravelling. They have not been inactive in the transfer market
this summer and, for once, the parsimony of their board is not to blame. They
have added Jaap Stam, the imposing Holland defender, to their ranks at a cost
of £11.5 million, a record for a centre back, and added to that the
recruitment of Jesper Blomqvist, a Sweden left winger, for £4.5 million from
Parma. Moreover, Roy Keane, their inspirational captain, will be restored to
them after missing much of last season with a serious knee injury.

Yet if their situation is hardly parlous, they still need to sign a new
forward to give their championship challenge real bite, to suggest to their
supporters that they have a fighting chance of dethroning Arsenal after being
so roundly beaten in the run-in last season by Arsène Wenger and his side.
Andy Cole and Teddy Sheringham, the present first-choice forwards at Old
Trafford, are both leading strikers at Premiership level but each, in his own
way, was found wanting when the chips were down last spring.

Last summer, United failed in the chase for Gabriel Batistuta and earlier this
year the concerns of the board thwarted Ferguson's attempt to buy Marcelo
Salas, of Chile. Now, for one reason or another, Kluivert has slipped through
the net as well. Yorke is still dangling in front of them, but if they do not
act soon, United may find that Villa have reeled him back in.

Check out our new REDitorial by Alex Paylor! url: http://www.red11.org/mufc/devilsadvocate/


X-Sender: giggs@tiac.net
X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0 (32)
Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 08:25:49 -0400

Subject: THE JESPER BLOMQVIST INTERVIEW (365)

Blomqvist Interview   Features 1

THE JESPER BLOMQVIST INTERVIEW
365 Shares A Pickled Herring With Manchester United's New Swedish Winger

Alex Ferguson has been trying to sign you for years. What kept you?
"I knew that they had come in for me when I was at AC Milan, but this was
the first real chance that I had to speak to the club about a move. It is
nice to finally make it here after the faith the manager has shown in me. I
am very excited to be playing for United."

Were you worried about the prospect of taking on Ryan Giggs for a place on
the left wing?
"Of course, I was concerned about Giggs when I was having talks because he
is an exceptional player. He is going to be a hard act to follow. I was only
playing in the Fourth Division in Sweden when I was 17 and 18, whereas he
was already playing well for Manchester United in Division One. He was one
of my inspirations when I started out in professional football but now I
want to be my own inspiration.”

How do you feel about the seemingly endless comparisons between you and
Giggs?
"I am already fed up of being compared to Giggs - I want to be regarded as a
player in my own right You can often put two players together who play in
the same position and you will obviously find some similarities. I do have a
lot of my own qualities which Ryan Giggs doesn’t have, though."

Are you worried about ending up on the bench?
"You can never get guarantees from a manager that you will be picked, but
Alex Ferguson believes I could be a player for the future. There's always
competition to get into a team but at United it's good, positive
competition. When I was at AC Milan, I spent a lot of the time on the subs'
bench and not playing. If I thought I was going to be sitting on the bench
at United I would not have come here."

How bad were things for you at Milan?
"The main reason it was difficult for me was that the team wasn't playing
very well. That made it difficult for the new players who had been brought
in to settle into the team. I went to Parma and really enjoyed my time there
at the start. They changed the system of training when I was there though
and I don't think the coach really liked me."

How do Italian and English football differ?
"The football here is very different. It is more open in England whereas the
game is more defensive in Italy. The Italian league is still ahead of
England technically, but the games in England are more enjoyable to watch.
It's quite difficult for some foreign players to settle into the English
league. You have to be very fit because of the amount of games the teams
play and you don't have a mid-season break over here. The people here don't
speak a lot of Italian and you don't eat as much pizza either!"

Are you looking forward to getting in amongst it in 'the most exciting
league in the world'?
"Yes. I think in the past three or four years the Premier League has taken
many steps towards better football. But I'm moving to a different country
again, so it will take a while to get used to the English system. I speak a
little English, which will help me, and the climate is easy to get used to."

You’ll have to keep your powder dry for a while though, won't you?
"Yes, I have a foot injury and it will be another four or five weeks before
I can start training hard. I picked up the injury last year and then I
aggravated it at the end of the season. It's a big disappointment that I
can't start training now and can't play in the preliminary round of the
Champions League. I don't know when I will be able to make my debut, but I
am trying my best to get fit as soon as possible."

Have you seen much of United?
"I've been watching them since the early 1990s. They've always been a good
side in the league and have performed well in Europe. I also played against
them in Europe when I was at Gothenburg. I saw a lot of matches on Swedish
television but I didn’t see them play last season because Italian television
doesn't broadcast English football."

Have you improved as a player since those games for Gothenburg?
"That season was a very good season for me - I also played in the 1994 World
Cup. I think I've matured as a player since then and I've become a better
defensive player. In Italy, all the players are taught to defend from the
front. I learned a lot tactically in Italy."

Do you know the other Scandinavians at Old Trafford - Schmeichel, Johnsen,
Berg, Solskjaer and so on?
"I don't know the Norwegians very well, but it's nice to have some
Scandinavian players in the team because we can speak in our own language.
There is a tradition of Swedes and Norwegians not getting on, but that is
all in the past."

What about the Scandinavians at other clubs in England?
“I am looking forward to playing against all my fellow countrymen. Andreas
Andersson at Newcastle is a good friend of mine and I am also good friends
with Pontus Kaamark at Leicester. I've got to concentrate on getting fit and
making it into the team first, though."

Do you think United can succeed in Europe this season?
"From what I have seen of them, they can. They have performed well in Europe
over the past few seasons and the experience will help them to do better and
better. The experience of playing in Europe for Gothenburg certainly helped
improve my game, and I'm sure that is the same for the players at Manchester
United."
Check out our new REDitorial by Alex Paylor! url: http://www.red11.org/mufc/devilsadvocate/


X-Sender: giggs@tiac.net
X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0 (32)
Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 08:26:00 -0400

Subject:  Jeppe: Don't Call Me Giggs (365)

Monday 03 August 1998   Front Page

365 Interview EXCLUSIVE: "Don't Call Me Giggs!".

UNITED NEW BOY BLOMQVIST WANTS TO BE JUDGED ON HIS OWN MERITS

SWEDISH star Jesper Blomqvist has called for an end to the comparisons
between him and his new Manchester United teammate Ryan Giggs. The former
Parma star has not even played for the Old Trafford giants yet but is
already sick of being stuck in the same bracket as the Welsh wonder. And he
is determined not to find himself in Giggs’ shadow this season.

There were fears that the 24-year-old would actually turn down a move to
Manchester because he was concerned that he would find himself stuck on the
bench for long periods of time, in much the same way as he was during an
unhappy spell at AC Milan, while Giggs terrorised defences on the left side
of United’s midfield. Manager Alex Ferguson assured the Swedish ace that
wouldn’t be the case, and the thinking is that Giggs will play in a more
central role with Blomqvist out wide. If that’s so, the comparisons are
likely to become even more widespread, a situation bound to infuriate the
man who first made his name against United with IFK Gothenburg.

He moaned to 365: “I am already fed up of being compared to Giggs. I want to
be regarded as a player in my own right. You can often put two players
together who play in the same position and you will obviously find some
similarities. I do have a lot of my own qualities which Ryan Giggs doesn’t
have though.”

Blomqvist does admit though, that while he is confident in his own ability,
he did have doubts about how he would fit into the team pattern alongside
the Old Trafford icon. He admitted: “Of course, I was concerned about Giggs
when I was having talks because he is an exceptional player and he is going
to be a hard act to follow. I was only playing in the Fourth Division in
Sweden when I was 17 and 18, whereas he was already playing well for
Manchester United in Division One. He was one of my inspirations when I
started out in professional football but now I want to be my own
inspiration.”

It is inconceivable that Ferguson would allow a situation to develop where
his new signing becomes disheartened by constant talk about Giggs,
especially as it has taken him so long to finally land a player who first
caught his eye when he helped Gothenburg beat United in the Champions League
four years ago. And, although there will have been no promises, the United
boss is bound to have promised Blomqvist that he will play a major part in
their hunt for domestic and European silverware rather than the bit-part
performer he ended up being at Milan.

“You can never get guarantees from a manager that you will be picked, but
Alex Ferguson believes I could be a player for the future,” said Blomqvist.
“There’s always competition to get into a team but at United it’s good,
positive competition. When I was at Milan I spent a lot of time on the subs’
bench and not playing. If I thought I was going to be sitting on the bench
at United I would not have come here.”
Check out our new REDitorial by Alex Paylor! url: http://www.red11.org/mufc/devilsadvocate/


             
 
 E-mail: barry@www.red11.org  Webmasters: Barry Leeming
                                         Bill McArthur 

 Theatre Of Dreams:    Url: www.red11.org 
      
   " If ever they are playing in your town
     You must get to that football ground
     Take a lesson come to see
     Football taught by Matt Busby

     Manchester, Manchester United
     A bunch of bouncing Busby Babes
     They deserve to be knighted "

Keep The Faith -- Red Til We're Dead --  "RED sky at night UNITED delight"
        --- Manchester United for life not just for Christmas ---

To receive this Daily News by email each day
Mail us using subject line "DAILY NEWS SUBSCRIBE"
e-mail: barry@www.red11.org


Calypso available here: mp3

Manchester United FC: Theatre Of Dreams Website Click Index:
Results  News  WhosWho  Archive  Pics  Statistics
Reserves  Team  Trophy's  History  Munich  Webring