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MUFC.SIMPLENET. COM:  DAILY NEWS
Date: Thu Aug 13 07:34:11 GMT+00:00 1998
Mail: barry@www.red11.org

Daily RED Trivia  13th August:

1921: Ronnie Burke born in Dormanstown, Yorkshire. A useful forward, Burke
      made his United debut against Sunderland in October 1946, and notched 9 in
      13 appearances in his first season. Between 1946-49 he made 34 appearances
      and scored 22 goals before moving to Huddersfield Town.

1977: United share the Charity Shield with Liverpool after a 0-0 draw at Wembley
      watched by 82,000. Team was: Stepney, Nicholl, Houston, McIlroy, B.Greenhoff,
      Buchan, Coppell, J.Greenhoff (McCreery), Pearson, Macari, Hill. 

PRE SEASON - FIRST TEAM RESULTS
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)         result: W 4-0
      9  Arsenal (N)              result: L 0-3
     12  H Widzew Lodz CL         result: W 2-0

Coming Matches Index: http://www.red11.org/mufc/fix9899z.htm
Sat 15/8 H Leicester PL 
Tue 18/8 H Eric Cantona XI (H) - Munich testimonial
Sat 22/8 A West Ham PL

This Issue:
1. LKS LODZ Report: COLE GIVES UNITED BREATHING SPACE
2. ET Report: Giggs in sparkling mood as United win breathing space
3. Ben Thornley
4. Fergie Still Hoping For Yorke (PA)
5. Edwards Speaks Out on Salas (D.Mail)
6. Friction At United? (D.Mail)

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


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Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 09:03:21 +0200 (CEST)

Subject:  LKS LODZ Report: COLE GIVES UNITED BREATHING SPACE

But Giggs Steals The Show With Classic Display (Football 365)
MAN UTD 2 v LKS LODZ 0
Giggs 16 Cole 81 

PERHAPS Manchester United do not need Dwight Yorke after all. Twenty 
four hours after Aston Villa rejected United's second bid of £10m for 
Yorke, Andy Cole, the man who Villa wanted as part of a swap deal, 
rediscovered his goal-scoring touch at Old Trafford to take Alex 
Ferguson's men a giant step towards qualifying for the Champions' 
League.

Ryan Giggs netted the first goal - and what a magnificent effort it 
was - against the Polish champions to give United a comfortable 
advantage going into the second leg in Poland in a fortnight. In 
truth, the sides were poles apart, and United deserved to win by a 
larger margin, such was their domination. But they could not turn 
their possession or free-kicks into goals, until Cole's late second 
which calmed Red nerves.

After relinquishing the Charity Shield to Arsenal with a supine 
performance on Sunday, United showed they meant business now the 
gloves are off. They had Lodz on the ropes straight away, and the 
Poles found themselves pinned down in their own half, with Giggs, who 
missed last season's European exit against Monaco with a hamstring 
injury, United's main creative force. He epitomised United's pace and 
movement which pulled the Poles to pieces and drew sighs of relief and 
admiration from the Old Trafford crowd.

This opening spell was United back to their best. In the eighth 
minute, Giggs was denied by Boguslaw Wyparlo after being played in by 
Cole, with Rafal Pawlak tidying up the rebound before Paul Scholes 
could pounce. Giggs was then just inches away with an effort which 
whizzed past the post after 15 minutes, but he fine-tuned his sights 
and a minute later he was on target to give United the lead.

The impressive Roy Keane found Scholes who fed Giggs with a cushioned 
header, and the Welshman left Witold Bendkowski on his backside with a 
wonderful piece of control, bringing the ball down from behind him, 
keeping the rhythm and pace of his run going, skipping past another 
defender before slotting home a sublime goal with the outside of his 
left foot into the far corner of the net.

This was the Giggs that the privileged few who saw him as a 
15-year-old, then called Ryan Wilson, captaining England Schoolboys, 
drooled about. What Glenn Hoddle would have given to have the Salford 
lad wearing the Three Lions in France this summer, working his socks 
off but adding the unpredictable movement and accurate passing England 
cried out for. The way he glided across Old Trafford highlighted the 
beauty of the finest left-sided sportsmen. Why do they look better 
than righties? It was David Gower cutting at the wide ball, John 
McEnroe slicing down the line.

Giggs almost turned provider four minutes later when he fed Cole, but 
the striker's shot was pushed away by Wyparlo. United pressed forward 
in search of a second, and the much-maligned Jaap Stam was denied a 
goal on his meaningful United debut when Bendkowski cleared his header 
off the line after 32 minutes. Nicky Butt felt his run on goal had 
been blocked by Bendkowski, but Bulgarian referee Atanas Ouzounov 
waved play on.

Beckham went close to a second when he bent a free-kick from 20 yards 
out into the side netting. Keane was running the match from midfield 
in his first competitive game after nearly 11 months out through 
injury. Many of the Lodz players had shaved their heads before the 
match, but there was no mistaking who the real hard man was out on the 
pitch, although the Irishman got booked for one of those challenges 
that he really cannot afford to repeat regularly.

United seemed content to go in just one goal ahead at half-time, but 
in stoppage time Scholes volleyed narrowly wide from Keane's centre 
and Dzidoslaw Zuberek gave United a wake-up call four minutes into the 
second half when he ran two-thirds of the pitch to force a save from 
Peter Schmeichel at his near post.

Normal service was soon resumed, and Cole saw a chip from outside the 
area dip just the wrong side of the crossbar. He went close again 
after 53 minutes when he received Denis Irwin's ball with his back to 
goal before spinning round, only for Myparlo to block his shot with 
his legs.

But as so often with Cole, he proved he can be brilliant one minute 
and awful the next when he completely missed Giggs' left-wing cross, 
but his moment was approaching. Ten minutes from time, he stretched to 
head home Irwin's left-wing cross, the Irish full-back superbly fed by 
the vision of Giggs. Cole was relieved, but the hero was Giggs.

Despite being United's finest player in the Champions League of late 
and their most feared, his status in Europe is nowhere near what it 
would be if he were Italian, Spanish, German or English. Born in 
Cardiff, but Lancashire through and through, Glenn Hoddle must be 
wishing he still had a Ryan Wilson to chose for Sweden next month.
Check out our new REDitorial by Alex Paylor! url: http://www.red11.org/mufc/devilsadvocate/


Date:         Thu, 13 Aug 1998 14:38:04 +0800
Subject: ET Report: Giggs in sparkling mood as United win breathing space

Giggs in sparkling mood as United win breathing space
By Henry Winter

Man Utd (1) 2 LKS Lodz (0) 0

ATTACKING relentlessly down a variety of avenues, Manchester United could
still manage only two goals against modest European opposition at Old
Trafford. The lack of a cutting edge was only marginally disguised by goals
from Ryan Giggs, early, and Andy Cole late on.


Andy Cole rises to score Man United's second goal
 The Polish champions packed their defence but, given United's overwhelming
possession, the hosts should really have scored more, although they look
well-placed to reach next month's round-robin stage.

Having had their pride piqued by Arsenal in the Charity Shield, United had
started last night in determined fashion, setting the tempo throughout the
first half. Even taking into account the modest threat posed by the Poles,
Giggs was outstanding, darting and dribbling in from his left-flank station.
This was Giggs and United at their best: quick and incisive, breaking from
midfield to the opposition's box in a blur of movement.

Giggs's running and cunning continually troubled Lodz and it was little
surprise when he recorded United's goal after 15 minutes. Stretched by the
lung-breaking industry of Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Roy Keane, Lodz
inevitably ceded space for such fast movers as Giggs to exploit.

The Welshman's goal stemmed from the clever thinking of Neville and Scholes,
who combined to find Giggs near the penalty spot. Giggs's cushioning touch
created the opening, the ball immediately and unerringly placed low to
Bugoslaw Wyparlo's left. Old Trafford revelled in the moment.

The first half remained largely a procession, red waves flowing towards the
Poles' goal. The pattern was simple. Jaap Stam, now excellent, would win the
ball in the air or on the ground and transfer play to Keane, who often
dropped deep. Stam also showed a nice touch in possession, bringing the ball
out and twice finding Giggs to unleash counter-attacks. After Sunday's
chastening introduction to the English game, Stam looked far more an
expensive international here.

Giggs delighted in the balls consistently played into him. Even before his
strike, the United midfielder was to the fore, almost fashioning a chance
for the lively Scholes and then himself threading the ball just wide. To Old
Trafford's relish, Giggs was in the mood, killing the ball's momentum with a
velvet touch before accelerating forward, often leaving bemused Poles in his
wake.

If Giggs and Stam were catching the eye, so was Beckham. Stirringly received
by a near-capacity home crowd, Beckham responded with a thoroughly involved
performance, chasing and creating with relentless gusto. His awareness of
his team-mates' positioning shone throughout as did his ability to convey
the ball to them.

With Beckham and Giggs pulling the strings and Keane providing a muscular
buffer in midfield, United deserved more from the first half. Stam,
responding impressively to a loose ball in Lodz's box, lifted in a shot
which cleared the goalkeeper but not Grzegorz Krysiak, who headed clear.

United then appealed - in vain - for a penalty when Nicky Butt was
body-checked by Witold Bendowski. As the half drew to a conclusion, Beckham
confirmed his verve with a swerving free-kick, which sent a shiver through
the side-netting.

Lodz had offered little in the first half, barring Rafak Niznik's radar-less
free-kick and a run from Tomasz Cebula, but almost equalised just after the
break when Dzidoslaw Zuberek eluded Stam and shot into Peter Schmeichel's
hands.

Normal service was soon resumed but United were still lacking a finishing
touch. Beckham and Giggs kept supplying hard and low crosses into the box
but to no avail. Cole kept hinting at an opening, shooting over and then,
following a superb turn, being denied by Wyparlo. Set up by another
thrilling Giggs break, Cole narrowly failed to make contact.

In an attempt to vary their free-kick routine, normally involving Beckham,
Stam struck one low and hard but it flew wide. Amid all the missed
opportunities, there was further evidence of Scholes's exceptional skill,
the England international weaving passed three Poles only for the moment to
be lost. It seemed typical of United's night.

United's pressure finally brought a deserved second. Again Giggs was
involved, ushering Denis Irwin down the left. The full-back's cross dropped
perfectly for Cole, who headed home from eight yards to make qualification
to the Champions' League proper a far easier proposition.
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Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 09:03:25 +0200 (CEST)
From: barrylee@post3.tele.dk (Barry Leeming)

Subject: Ben Thornley

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN have won their tussle with Manchester United over 
the transfer fee for winger Ben Thornley. United boss Alex Ferguson 
had wanted £500,000 but a transfer tribunal - which had twice been 
postponed at the request of the Premiership club - ruled that 
Huddersfield should pay £175,000 up front, with £25,000 for every 25 
games he plays. The maximum Town will pay is £275,000, and United will 
also receive 20% of any sell-on fee.

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


Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 18:38:45 +0200 (CEST)
X-Sender: wpa01977@mail.web4you.dk (Unverified)
X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Version 1.4.3
To: barrylee@post3.tele.dk
From: barrylee@post3.tele.dk (Barry Leeming)
Subject: Fergie Still Hoping For Yorke (PA)

FERGIE HANGS ON TO YORKE HOPE
By David Anderson, PA Sport

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson refuses to give up hope of signing
Dwight Yorke from Aston Villa.

Yorke looks likely to remain at Villa Park after United chief executive
Martin Edwards admitted the two clubs were "poles apart" on agreeing a fee.

United have made one unsuccessful bid of £8million, while Villa maintain
they want £16million for the Trinidad and Tobago star.

Ferguson claims Villa's asking price is "crazy", but feels the deal is not
entirely dead. He believes the 26-year-old wants to come to Old Trafford.

"I was hoping to get Dwight Yorke here and I must admit that was really
important to us," he said. "However, I am not giving up hope on the deal.

"Villa have made it impossible to do business so far because of their
valuation. The £16million price tag is crazy, they are pricing the player
out of the move he wanted.

"It's unfortunate for the lad because he would have been a terrific player
here, but I won't give up hope."

United, though, are adamant they will not be held to ransom and they will
only offer what they feel the player is worth - and that is not £16million.

United director and solicitor Maurice Watkins claimed the gulf between what
they are offering and what Villa want is still large.

"The situation is that there is still a gap between the valuations of both
parties," he said. "One has to have a view on these matters, and the fact
remains that there is a big difference in the two clubs' valuations of the
player.

"So it appears that this is one transfer which has gone by the wayside."

Villa boss John Gregory would only be prepared to do business if Andy Cole
were offered as part of a player-plus-cash deal, but United do not want to
lose the former Newcastle striker.

The likely collapse of United's attempts to sign Yorke is the second rebuff
the club has suffered in six days.

Last week Patrick Kluivert rejected a move to Old Trafford, after United had
agreed a fee of £9million with AC Milan for the Dutch international striker.


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


Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 08:15:00 -0400

Subject: Edwards Speaks Out on Salas (D.Mail)

Fergie's ditched the Salas deal, says United chairman

Wednesday, August 12, 1998

Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards last night revealed that Alex
Ferguson decided to abort the £9million signing of Chile striker Marcello
Salas - not the Old Trafford money men.

Edwards, tired of suggestions that the purse strings of United's plc board
are strangling their attempts to sign a major striker, chose the eve of his
club's latest assault on the Champions League to condemn his critics and
insist it was the manager who made the final decision on Salas, now
recognised as one of the world's most exciting talents.

He said: 'Can I just tell you, I am sick to death of Salas, absolutely sick
to death.

'We were given a price on Salas, I think it was $13m - £8m or £9m - no
problem at all. His salary, when we were talking to him, was no problem at
all. Salas was not my decision and not the board's decision. Salas was Alex
Ferguson's decision.

'Brian Kidd went to see him and said he was a reasonably good striker. Alex
went to see him and we said to Alex: "Look, is Salas going to play or Cole?"
And Alex withdrew on Salas. Not the Manchester United board. Nothing else.

'I am sick to death of reading that United could not afford Salas. He was
within our pay scale and we could have had him.'

Edwards' outburst is bound to embarrass Ferguson, who has combed the world
in search of an accomplished, high-profile goalscorer in his continuing
attempts to secure European success.

Alan Shearer, Gabriel Batistuta, Patrick Kluivert and Salas have all been
targeted by Ferguson. But while Edwards conceded that United's salary-scale
restrictions may have deterred at least two of those players, he refused to
take responsibility for the decision not to pursue the Chilean, who earlier
this year electrified Wembley with two goals and has now signed for Lazio
from Argentinian side River Plate.

Ironically, United are now embroiled in yet another striker saga. While
Aston Villa continue to hold out for £15m cash or a part-exchange involving
Andy Cole for Dwight Yorke, Edwards has insisted that his club will not pay
what they consider to be an inflated price for the Trinidad and Tobago
striker. This time, however, it is not the Old Trafford club's salary scale
that threatens the deal but the asking price.

Edwards believes that the £12m United may still be prepared to pay for
Yorke, as well as the £15m they have invested this summer in Jaap Stam and
Jesper Blomqvist, proves that they remain prepared to pay huge sums for
players, providing they believe they are getting value for money.

In an effort to rid himself and his boardroom colleagues of any suggestion
that they lack financial adventure, he declared: 'When you talk about the
plc being men in suits, it is a load of bloody c***. We wear suits because
everybody else comes to work in suits. We are all United supporters.

'Yet, all you read about is men in suits. We are men in suits acting
responsibly. We want success as much as anyone. Yet I have to live with the
constant frustration of being linked with big names and I think the
criticism is unfair.

'Kluivert would not have come within our pay scale. But no matter who the
star is, even if it is Ronaldo, if they can't conform to what we pay in
salaries, we walk away. Even for Ronaldo, I don't think we would break our
pay structure. Those financial lines have been good enough for Blomqvist,
for Stam and for Teddy Sheringham.

'We are the biggest payers in the Premiership in terms of our total wage
bill. But we will not mortgage this club for individual players and we are
not prepared to bust this club for short-term gain. Maybe the Newcastle
players will accept a situation where Shearer may be paid twice as much as
them. But at United all the players are big stars and that is how it will
stay.'
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Date:         Wed, 12 Aug 1998 12:42:27 +0800

Subject:      Friction At United? (D.Mail)

The first signs of friction at United
By Ken Lawrence

Wednesday, August 12, 1998

It's almost midnight on November 6, 1986, and Alex Ferguson has just changed
his life forever by agreeing to become the new manager of Manchester United.

Ferguson is sitting in the foyer of the Holiday Inn, Aberdeen, with country
and western music playing in the background, yet there's no acknowledgement
of Tammy Wynette this night.

Tonight, there's a symphony playing inside Ferguson's head. The former
apprentice from the Clydeside shipyards is ablaze with pride, having just
riveted the last bolt into the career move that will soon give him the
spending power of a shipping magnate. As he reflects on the power and glory
of it all, he mutters: 'This is it. It's like discovering El Dorado.'

He was not wrong. Chairman Martin Edwards, having been convinced by Bobby
Charlton that the irascible but eloquent Scotsman was the man to reconstruct
the fortunes of United, made it his business to ensure that Ferguson could
do the business.

Money was never an object - other than, of course, the club's salary
scales - and Ferguson spent million upon million in refurbishment. From
Brian McClair through Roy Keane and Eric Cantona to the world record
£10.5million paid this summer for defender Jaap Stam, Edwards has indulged
his manager's every fiscal whim and received extraordinary payback in terms
of domestic and European success.

Edwards has also become exceedingly wealthy since Ferguson brought home the
1990 FA Cup and followed that with the Cup-winners Cup, four Premiership
titles, a double Double, a League Cup and a total of three FA Cup triumphs.

Yet, Ferguson's eldorado does not today shimmer as it did. Last season there
was no trophy, last Sunday there was embarrassment against the new
champions, Arsenal. And last night Edwards gave the indication that he and
his first mate are no longer as one on the Old Trafford bridge.

The chairman's statement on Marcello Salas torpedoed the suggestion that he
and his board were responsible for United not pursuing the Chile striker and
pointed the finger instead straight at Ferguson. That decision, he insisted,
was down to the manager.

Since May this year alone, Edwards' personal fortune in United has
reportedly grown by some £15m to raise his stake in the country's wealthiest
club to around £60m.

The club itself has become gargantuan. Such is their astonishing drawing
power that United estimate they have four million supporters within these
islands and a further 12 million worldwide. MUTV, launched this week, has
become the world's first football pay channel concentrating solely on one
team.

Another of Ferguson's dreams, a £14.3m training complex at Carrington just
off the M60, is about to be constructed, the club having already built a
huge indoor training arena at their current day-to-day headquarters at The
Cliff.

Ferguson, then, was right. He had found his eldorado, his place of plenty.
And with Edwards, it always appeared that he had the staunch ally who would
forever ensure that he stayed there.

Remember that it was the chairman who weathered months of stormy demands to
bring supporters Ferguson's head as the Scotsman, having discovered the
enormity of the job, took almost too much time on his refit.

United, while not exactly a sinking ship, had problems from the depths of
the machine room to the stars who happily sailed along for years without
reaching their championship port. But for Edwards, Ferguson would have been
thrown to the sharks before the FA Cup run eight years ago which became his
lifeline. In this latest development the chairman, no doubt, was not trying
to imply that Ferguson had made a mistake by not going ahead with a deal for
Salas which would have fitted snugly below the club's pay ceiling.

But with United still chasing a glamour striker- and having failed to lure
the likes of Shearer, Batistuta or Kluivert - he decided that he had had
enough of taking the blame for missing out on a player who has subsequently
left River Plate for Serie A club Lazio.

Nor was Edwards suggesting that United would have been a more successful
club with Salas, especially as there has never been any suggestion that the
chairman or any other board member has ever exerted influence on Ferguson's
transfer market judgment. Yet, the fact that he threw the ball at Ferguson's
feet indicates that there may be friction between the pair, that their
marriage may be one of convenience and not made in heaven.

So far, any squabbling there may have been has been done with the curtains
tightly closed. But once a couple start disagreeing in public there is
always the danger that it could end in tears. And, indeed, there has
sometimes been the hint that for all of Ferguson's visionary progress, he
might not be appreciated quite so much indoors as he is in public.

Ferguson, for instance, is not the best-paid manager in Britain. Indeed,
earlier in the Nineties he became seriously upset at the board's failure to
offer him a substantial new deal. It is always assumed that when he retires,
there will be a place on the board for him. As yet, that prospect has not
been advanced, publicly at least.

There have been other rumblings within Old Trafford. Although No. 2 Brian
Kidd again insisted recently he had no intention of relinquishing his
position, Everton believed they had a realistic chance of making him their
manager. It is also understood he has been contacted by another English
club. Ferguson continually shrugs off suggestions that he will move over in
two years while it appears that he has yet to be given a guarantee that
another contract will be waiting for him then.

Now, with United preparing to avoid the Champions League banana skin
presented by supposed no-hopers Lodz this evening, Ferguson finds himself -
no doubt to his astonishment - at the centre of a controversial debate over
a player who might have added an extra dimension to his team.

The public's excitement over Salas was phenomenal after he played so
brilliantly for Chile at Wembley in one of England's World Cup warm-ups.

Of course, Edwards' outburst may represent nothing more than a lovers' tiff.
But every United watcher is looking on in fascination to see what happens to
what has been the best partnership in British football.

Twelve years is a long time. Perhaps the strains of trying to translate
United's recent domestic domination into Continental control, together with
the stress of running the world's most popular club, are beginning to create
cracks in the facade of his eldorado.
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