www.red11.org DAILY NEWS
Date: Sun Sep 27 04:38:06 GMT+00:00 1998
Mail: barry@www.red11.org
This Issue:
1. WEEKLY STATMAIL*** ISSUE 8: 26th Sept 1998
2. Neville Lifts Stam (D.Mail)
3. Lineker Chooses Keane (ET)
4. ANDY COLE - TOP OF THE POLLS
5. D-Day for letters to OFT re: BSkyB bid for MUFC
6. Red Rampage
++++++=========+++++++========+++++++++========++++++++
Daily RED Trivia Sun 27th September:
1932: Geoff Bent was born in Salford. Understudy to Full Back and skipper Roger
Bryne, he made his debut at Burnley in December 1954. Bent made only 12
appearances and was on the losing side only once, before dying in the Munich Air
Disaster in 1958.
1969: United beat West Ham United 5-2 at Old Trafford in a Division 1 game
watched by 58,579. George Best 2, Francis Burns, Bobby Charlton and Brian
Kidd scored for the Reds. Team was: Stepney, Fitzpatrick, Dunne, Burns, Ure,
Sadler, Morgan, Kidd, Charlton, Aston, Best.
********************************
Next 4 games:
Result/Fixture Index:
http://www.red11.org/mufc/fix9899z.htm
Wed 30/9 Bayern M (A) CL
Sat 3/10 Southampton (A) PL
Sat 17/10 Wimbledon (H) PL
Wed 21/10 Brondby (A) CL
UNITED Stats v Southampton are here:
http://www.red11.org/mufc/stats/vssouthampton.htm Url
http://www.red11.org/mufc/stats/vssouthampton.xls Excel File
*** TEAM RESULTS - MANCH33ESTER UNITED - AS AT 24/09/98 ***
Date Opposition Score Pos. Attend.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
15/08/98 Leicester City Home D 2-2 11 55,052
22/08/98 West Ham United Away D 0-0 11 26,039
09/09/98 Charlton Athletic Home W 4-1 9 55,147
12/09/98 Coventry City Home W 2-0 5 55,193
20/09/98 Arsenal Away L 0-3 10 38,142
24/09/98 Liverpool Home W 2-0 3 55,181
Worthington Cup
Draw for the cup
MANU V Bury to be played week commencing 26th October.
THE DRAW IN FULL Middlesbrough v Everton
Norwich City v Bolton
Derby v Arsenal
Crewe v Blackburn
Leeds v Bradford
Luton v Coventry
Tranmere v Newcastle
Birmingham v Wimbledon
Barnsley v Bournemouth
***** Man Utd v Bury *****
Charlton Athletic v Leicester
Nottingham Forest v Cambridge Utd
Liverpool v Fulham
Chelsea v Aston Villa
Northampton v Tottenham
Sunderland v Grimsby
++++++=========+++++++========+++++++++========++++++++
"Are you Against the BSkyB takeover? Please Read! Click on image!"
Subject: ***WEEKLY STATMAIL*** ISSUE 8: 26th Sept 1998
*** RESULTS AND ATTENDANCES ON 24/09/98 ***
Manchester United 2-0 Liverpool 55,181
*** RESULTS AND ATTENDANCES ON 26/09/98 ***
Aston Villa 1-0 Derby County 38,007
Charlton Athletic 1-1 Coventry City 20,043
Chelsea 2-0 Middlesbrough 34,811
Everton 0-0 Blackburn Rovers 36,404
Newcastle United 2-0 Nottingham Forest 36,760
Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Arsenal 27,949
Tottenham Hotspur 3-3 Leeds United 35,535
*** FULL LEAGUE TABLE AS AT 26/09/98 ***
Pos Team P W D L F A W D L F A GD Pts
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Aston Villa 7 4 0 0 7 1 1 2 0 1 0 7 17
2 Derby County 7 2 1 0 3 0 1 2 1 3 3 3 12
3 Newcastle United 7 2 1 1 7 4 1 1 1 6 3 6 11
4 Leeds United 7 2 1 0 4 0 0 4 0 4 4 4 11
5 Manchester United 6 3 1 0 10 3 0 1 1 0 3 4 11
6 Chelsea 6 2 2 0 5 2 1 0 1 5 5 3 11
7 Liverpool 7 1 2 0 5 3 2 0 2 7 6 3 11
8 Wimbledon 6 2 1 0 6 3 1 1 1 4 5 2 11
9 Arsenal 7 2 1 0 5 1 0 3 1 1 2 3 10
10 Sheffield Wednesday 7 2 0 2 4 2 1 0 2 4 3 3 9
11 West Ham United 6 1 1 1 5 5 1 2 0 1 0 1 9
12 Middlesbrough 7 0 3 0 3 3 2 0 2 5 5 0 9
13 Tottenham Hotspur 7 1 1 2 5 10 1 1 1 3 4 -6 8
14 Charlton Athletic 7 1 1 1 7 3 0 3 1 4 7 1 7
15 Everton 7 0 3 1 0 1 1 1 1 4 4 -1 7
16 Nottingham Forest 7 1 1 1 1 2 1 0 3 4 7 -4 7
17 Leicester City 6 1 1 1 3 2 0 1 2 2 5 -2 5
18 Blackburn Rovers 7 1 1 1 4 4 0 1 3 1 6 -5 5
19 Coventry City 7 1 1 1 3 6 0 1 3 1 6 -8 5
20 Southampton 6 0 1 2 3 5 0 0 3 0 12 -14 1
*** ATTENDANCE TABLE AS AT 26/09/98 ***
Manchester United @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 55,143
Liverpool @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 43,575
Everton @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 38,145
Arsenal @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 38,073
Newcastle United @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 36,668
Aston Villa @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 34,942
Chelsea @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 34,765
Middlesbrough @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 34,282
Tottenham Hotspur @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 31,610
Leeds United @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 31,578
Sheffield Wednesday @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 26,255
Derby County @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 26,231
West Ham United @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 25,793
Nottingham Forest @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 24,873
Blackburn Rovers @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 23,221
Coventry City @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 22,172
Leicester City @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 21,100
Charlton Athletic @@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 18,682
Wimbledon @@@@@@@@@@@@@ 17,544
Southampton @@@@@@@@@@@ 15,116
*** GENERAL STATISTICS AS AT 26/09/98 *** SEQUENCES
---------
LONGEST RUN WITHOUT HOME DEFEAT:
Current (4 games) - Aston Villa
Chelsea
Manchester United
BEST HOME ATTACK (10 goals): Manchester United
WORST AWAY ATTACK (0 goals): Manchester United + Southampton
ATTENDANCE STATISTICS
---------------------
HIGHEST ATTENDANCE (55,193):
Manchester United
HIGHEST AVERAGE ATTENDANCE (55,143):
Manchester United
*** TEAM RESULTS - MANCHESTER UNITED - AS AT 24/09/98 ***
Date Opposition Score Pos. Attend.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
15/08/98 Leicester City Home D 2-2 11 55,052
22/08/98 West Ham United Away D 0-0 11 26,039
09/09/98 Charlton Athletic Home W 4-1 9 55,147
12/09/98 Coventry City Home W 2-0 5 55,193
20/09/98 Arsenal Away L 0-3 10 38,142
24/09/98 Liverpool Home W 2-0 3 55,181
*** TEAM RESULTS SUMMARY - MANCHESTER UNITED - AS AT 24/09/98 ***
P Won Drawn Lost For Against Points
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Home 4 3 (75%) 1 (25%) 0 (0%) 10 (2.5) 3 (0.8) 10 (2.5)
Away 2 0 (0%) 1 (50%) 1 (50%) 0 (0.0) 3 (1.5) 1 (0.5)
Total 6 3 (50%) 2 (33%) 1 (17%) 10 (1.7) 6 (1.0) 11 (1.8)
Averages per game in (brackets)
League position: 3rd
Highest league position: 3rd
Lowest league position: 10th
*** TEAM STATISTICS - MANCHESTER UNITED - AS AT 24/09/98 ***
AVERAGE HOME ATTENDANCE: 55,143
HIGHEST HOME ATT: 12/09/98 - Coventry City (55,193)
LOWEST HOME ATT: 15/08/98 - Leicester City (55,052)
BEST WIN: 09/09/98 - Charlton Athletic (4-1)
HEAVIEST DEFEAT: 20/09/98 - Arsenal (0-3)
BEST HOME WIN: 09/09/98 - Charlton Athletic (4-1)
HEAVIEST AWAY DEFEAT: 20/09/98 - Arsenal (0-3)
Produced by:
E-mail: statmail@iname.com
ICQ UIN: 4358182
Homepage: http://www.graphite.demon.co.uk/
MUFC Hon. Executive CP Cheah
Webmasters: Barry Leeming & Bill McArthur
Graphics: Sam Hayward Stats: Paul Hinson
Site Design Diana Low
Webmaster Mail: barry@www.red11.org
Url: http://www.red11.org
World of Manchester United Football Club.
"Are you Against the BSkyB takeover? Please Read! Click on image!"
"Are you Against the BSkyB takeover? Please Read! Click on image!"
Subject: Lineker Chooses Keane (ET)
Keane can carry the defensive burden
By Gary Lineker
IT MAY not have been a vintage performance by Manchester United against
Liverpool last Thursday, but they certainly stopped the rot after leaking
six goals in their previous two games.
It raised the question of whether the experimental centre-back pairing of
Jaap Stam and Gary Neville - outstanding against the Merseysiders - is the
one Alex Ferguson intends using to conquer Europe, starting on Wednesday
against Bayern in Munich.
Ferguson has made no secret of his admiration for Neville senior at
centre-back, but he has always qualified it with a rider which usually goes
something like "he would be the best centre-half in the country - if he was
three inches taller". The United manager knows that while the football
played in the English league nowadays is no longer the biff, bang, wallop of
yesteryear, it remains a game where essentially big strikers who are good in
the air still prosper.
Strangely, or perhaps not so strangely, Neville's lack of height is less of
a drawback in the rarefied atmosphere of European football - or against
teams like Liverpool who tend to play it on the deck - than it is against
your average Premiership opposition. Given that it would make sense to go
with a regular pairing, home and abroad, I believe Ferguson could do worse
than play Roy Keane at centre-back alongside the Dutchman.
Keane, for me, is just about the best central defender in the country, as
comfortable in that position as he is in most positions on a football field.
Naturally, he would be a loss to United in midfield, but they coped well
enough there without him last season and it is an area where they are
particularly blessed with players. If nothing else it would ensure that the
excellent Nicky Butt got regularly into the starting line-up.
Stam had a fine game against Liverpool but it may take time for him to
adjust to the pace of the English game. I thought against Arsenal and
Barcelona he got his positioning wrong. Even so, I have been amazed how
quick people have been to write off United's £10.7 million acquisition. They
have such short memories. Gary Pallister took a while to settle, too, at Old
Trafford, as I recall, and not a few critics at the time considered him
over-priced at £2.3 million! Apart from which, partnerships, like that
between Pallister and Steve Bruce, take time to develop.
Not only is Stam big, quick and strong, but he has shown he can play a bit,
too, which, in a central defender, is a boon. Ronny Johnsen was designated
as his original partner but, in his absence, Ferguson has tried Henning Berg
and now Neville. Pairing Keane with Stam would, I think, not only provide
the new man with an experienced partner and some breathing space but it
would also enable Keane to continue his recovery from a debilitating injury
in a less physically demanding area of the team. The Irishman is clearly not
back to his best yet but he could perform the centre-back role while nursing
himself back to full match fitness.
It is of paramount importance to United, as they go into Wednesday's
Champions' League tie against Bayern Munich, that they continue to remain
solid at the back, whatever the central defensive pairing. I believe they
can come away from Munich with at least a draw. It has been unlike United to
concede so many goals this season, and even more unlike a team managed by
Alex Ferguson. He will have made it his chief priority to get that part of
the team working properly because he knows that, apart from the obvious
benefits of not conceding silly goals, there are other advantages to be had.
In any of the more successful teams in which I played the key ingredient was
always the ability to defend well. It spreads so much confidence through a
side. The best team I ever played for - Everton - were very strong as a
defensive unit. Whenever we went a goal up I knew we would win because I was
confident in the players behind me. By the same token a porous defence can
lead to disharmony. I played for a few teams with bad defences and there is
nothing more galling than to knock the ball around encouragingly for 15
minutes only to suddenly find oneself a goal down. It can lead to cliques
developing within the side, with forwards moaning at defenders and
vice-versa.
Defence apart, there has not been much wrong with United to worry Ferguson.
Dwight Yorke has settled in as well as anyone could have asked for at a big
club like United. He has shown that he is mentally, as well as physically,
up to the job. It has been said that he does not perform away from home but
it could be that Aston Villa, as a team, did not perform on their travels
either. We will know soon enough whether the criticism of Yorke is valid
since United tend to play the same at home as away.
Here again United have yet to establish the right partner for their record
buy but, with so many high-pressure matches these days, it is often
necessary to try different combinations up front and rest players. Yorke may
not be a prolific goalscorer but in a team like United, who can get goals
from almost anywhere in the side, it matters rather less. What does matter
and what United have patently lacked in Europe for a couple of seasons has
been someone who can score goals in the big games when it counts. That is
when the £12 million player must earn his corn.
"Are you Against the BSkyB takeover? Please Read! Click on image!"
Subject: ANDY COLE - TOP OF THE POLLS
ANDY COLE - TOP OF THE POLLS
Andy Cole has emerged as the popular choice among Manchester United fans to
partner Dwight Yorke up front.
In a poll for Teletext, viewers overwhelmingly thought Cole would be the
ideal man to play alongside £12.6million striker Yorke.
Cole polled 48% of the votes.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was second with 31%
Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs both received 8%
Teddy Sheringham 5%.
FOOTNOTE from 365 today!
MAIL GET GOOD PICTURE SHOCK
The Mail were also the only paper to come up with
the picture of Paul Ince showing two fingers to the
Old Trafford crowd. A popular pastime this - he'll
probably bump into Mark Bosnich when he gets
hauled up by the beak. Indeed, if ever the FA's
short of a bit of cash, it could get photographers to
look for reactions rather than goals, and they'd still
turn a tidy profit.
"Are you Against the BSkyB takeover? Please Read! Click on image!"
Subject: D-Day for letters to OFT re: BSkyB bid for MUFC
Comments: To: imusa@listbot.com
Today is D-Day for sending letters to the OFT to guarantee there arrival by
the deadline on Monday. If you're outside the UK you'll need to fax your
message. (Tell them to stock up on fax paper too!) I'm not sure whether
they're accepting messages at their email address but I suppose it won't
hurt to cc: it to enquiries@oft.gov.uk
You can send a free internet email fax -see end of this message for details.
Office of Fair Trading
15-25 Bream's Buildings
London
EC4A 1PR
Telephone +44 (0)171 211 8000 (switchboard)
0345 22 44 99 (public enquiries)
Fax +44 (0)171 211 8590
E-mail: enquiries@oft.gov.uk
Please make your submission as personal as possible but feel free to use the
following as a guideline if you're groping for inspiration. It's not
definitive - just some of the things I thought of that might appeal to the
OFT - not all my arguments against the bid in general.
Submissions to the OFT should concentrate on competition in the football and
broadcasting industries
[1] BSkyB already have monopoly coverage of live premiership football due
to their exclusive contract. Therefore viewers have no choice over which
broadcaster to watch. The inflation in BSkyB subscription fees is indicative
of a monopoly position. In a free market no company could increase prices
like this without losing market share to competitors.
[2] If BSkyB take over Manchester United they will be sitting on both sides
of the table when it comes to negotiating the live Premiership broadcasting
rights. This cannot encourage competition in an already anti-competitive
market – more likely it will result in the reverse.
[3] If the bid proceeds there will not be a level playing field for all
broadcasters to bid for live coverage of Manchester United games if they
play in the UEFA or European Cup Winner’s Cup. Currently MUFC is free to
negotiate with any broadcaster for the rights if involved in these
competitions. Further loss of competition will result in an even poorer deal
for consumers.
[4] In the event of a successful bid MUFC would no longer be free to
negotiate with all other broadcasters for rights to the most lucrative ( and
exploitative) market of all. The forthcoming “Pay Per View” broadcasting of
matches. Further loss of competition will result in an even poorer deal for
consumers
[5] The current broadcasting contract allocation method of highest bid wins
exclusive rights to broadcast is anti-competitive in practice. Other
broadcasters (than BSkyB) such as BBC and ITV are unable to compete as their
franchise agreements prevent them recouping the bid outlay through viewer
subscriptions. The monopoly thus created has produced a poor deal for
consumers. The solution is to disallow exclusive deals so that consumers
can make their choice on the basis of quality and price of the product. Real
competition would result in a better deal for consumers.
[6] The connection between BSkyB and other News International businesses has
long been a cause for concern. The other media outlets in the News
International
group have promoted BSkyB in “News Stories” at the expense of competitors.
The initial coverage of this takeover bid is a prime example with
newspapers such as The Sun predicting a golden future for Manchester United
and it’s fans. This is in stark contrast to coverage in non- News
International owned
media.
[7] Football clubs are a special case. A defining historical feature of a
football supporter is loyalty to his chosen club. Therefore he is different
from an ordinary consumer who can shop at a different supermarket if he so
wishes. Consumers (fans) must therefore be protected from exploitation in
this effective monopoly environment. A powerful indication of the existence
of this monopoly is the astronomical inflation in ticket prices. I challenge
anyone to name an established free market where such levels of price
inflation (relative to overall inflation in the economy) could occur without
loss of market share and customers complaining about pricing.
[8] BSkyB already effectively controls too much sport – football, rugby
league, rugby union, cricket . … This is anti-competitive and results in
less choice and a bad deal for the consumer.
[9] Sky sports Managing Director, Vic Wakeling, has been reported as saying
"What we don't want to happen in English Football is perhaps what's happened
in Scottish Football. To take one example where Rangers won 9 titles in a
row."
This statement illustrates the kind of conflicts of interest thrown up by
this bid. In other words BSkyB could be relied upon to be 100% committed to
MUFC football success - as long as they don't get TOO successful as this
would be damaging for BSkyB's ratings. So can the company (BSkyB) be relied
upon not to interfere in the football business for the sake of their
broadcasting business. I think not.
Please send your submission NOW - a lot of people have been working hard to
get information out to as many as possible and it'll take you a matter of
minutes (alright maybe half an hour if you do it properly!).
Internet Fax/Email Gateway
We do want as many submissions as possible but the OFT are not the enemy (we
hope they're the saviours!)so don't abuse this.
I haven't got the details to hand but I think the web page is
www.tpc.int ?
and the format of the email address will be
remote-printer.OFT@44171 211 8590.iddd.tpc.int
if I've got this wrong please correct me asap.
"Are you Against the BSkyB takeover? Please Read! Click on image!"
Subject: Red Rampage
Hello fellow Reds,
Red Rampage is searching for articles for our next issue. If you have
strong feelings about Manchester United and/or football, we're interested
in your opinion. We also welcome good food-recipes in our "Red Recipes"
coloumn and jokes to our joke section.Beneath are some other points that we
would like you to write about:
¤ A Manchester United Quiz, we're looking for questions with answers
¤ A Q & A with the fans, we're looking for volunteers to be asked questions
a) My favourite Player/Team/Manager, and why. Write a short article (half a
page or less) explaining in a positive and professional fashion Who and
Why.
b) My all-time-best-favourite Man United Memory.
c) My worst Man United Memory. We have all got them, and they just will not
go away. So why not share them with everyone and get them off your chest.
d) My favourite Football Joke. Clean ones please, as this is intended to be
a family area.
e) Reds Recipe of the week/month. Come on all ye culinary Reds, lets hear
all about your favourite dish.
f) A "Did you know ....." article. Any small snippet of interesting
information, but please, not pages and pages full of ancient statistics.
g) Match Report. Imagine you are Alan Hanson or Trevor Brooking and write a
report on a United match that you have had the privilege to attend. We are
looking for budding young (and old)would-be journalists to write impartial
reports on matches that many millions of Reds fans will not have the chance
to see live. We do not want pages of boring drivel about how you and Uncle
Fred and Aunt Flo got lost on the M25 on the way to O.T. We want the cold
hard facts about a fast flowing United game.
h) Place an ad in our "Date a Red" column, and find the partner of your
dreams. No, we do not know if any of the other Spice Girls (besides Posh
Spice) are United supporters, but there must be lots of Red girls and guys
out there wishing to meet up with each other.
i) Why I am a red. Yeah, Why are you a red? Tell us.
j) Your thoughts on a RED-issue. e.g: The latest player move, the latest
player-links, the wage system in Manchester United or anything else you
want to share with other United fans.
k) RED-links of the month. Have you seen a great RED WWW-page that you
think that everybody should have the chance to see? Write us about it,
adding the link and a short review of it.
Red Rampage
c/o Tore Salte
"Are you Against the BSkyB takeover? Please Read! Click on image!"
Pic Link today is http://www.red11.org/mufc/imusa.htm