The Official Manchester United Thread

[Benicio del Toney]

Anything Walker has done I've seen Clyne do.

Only plus Walker has is the few Premier League games he has over Clyne at this point, which isn't very much.

[anelka]

Walker was better than him when he was at Sheff Utd

Walker was more impressive than him last season when he was on loan at QPR, I bet Warnock (who has worked with both) would say Walker is better

[Benicio del Toney]

Warnock said Clyne would play for a top 4 club soon...

/

Walker was impressive but Clyne was equally so, won CPFC Player of the year + the youngest player to EVER play in every single league game of a campaign.

[Guest M12]

Toney you don't even watch 90 mins of most united games. Bar facts and figures from the media and motd. how much have you actually seen both players play 90 mins.

/

IMO walker is suspect defensively but v good going forward. And I haven't seen enough of clyne to make a realistic judgement. He does look goo though.

[Benicio del Toney]

I don't watch Man Utd much anymore cos they generally bore me and I don't like certain things going on at the club.

I enjoy watching lower leagues more than I do Premiership, I saw a lot of Walker last year at QPR, Clyne I have been watching for a while, I was at the Crystal Palace Player of the year awards last year.

[anelka]

Walker was impressive but Clyne was equally so, won CPFC Player of the year + the youngest player to EVER play in every single league game of a campaign.

Walker was in the UEFA Euro U-21 2011 Team of the Tournament lol levels

[Colin Turnover]

Ravel Morrison is the teenager Manchester United struggle to control

Midfielder has a muddled life and Sir Alex Ferguson has decided it is time to wash his hands of him

Daniel Taylor

The Observer, Sat 21 Jan 2012 23.00 GMT

The last time I saw Ravel Morrison he was in the dock at Salford magistrates' court, fiddling with his tie and waiting to hear whether he was going to be locked up. An argument with his girlfriend had got out of hand, her phone had been smashed and he had ended up back in court a few months after being told the next time he was in trouble he would be going to Strangeways.

Nobody from Manchester United was with him that day and it struck me as strange given the way the club usually operates. Sir Alex Ferguson might ordinarily have been expected to make an appearance, or at least send in a character reference. But Morrison was alone, bar his solicitor. He was already on a referral order after pleading guilty to witness intimidation and the district judge had told him she would personally see to it that he went down if he re-offended. Instead, Morrison walked free, and straight back into the muddled life that has now brought us to the point, with jarring inevitability, when Ferguson has decided enough is enough and it is time to wash his hands of him.

At United they will tell you that, goodness knows, they have tried everything. Or, at least, until the past few weeks when the secretary, John Alexander, rang his agent to tell him he should look for another club. By that point, one of the coaches had simply stopped talking to Morrison. His mother went to pick him up from training one day and was told, in the bluntest terms, that her son was a waste of time and not worth the hassle.

Things have turned nasty and someone is spinning the truth, given that Ferguson said it was about money and the "unrealistic" demands of a player who has not yet turned 19. Morrison says he has never been offered a contract or asked for a pay rise, defending himself on Twitter where he announced during last season's player of the year dinner that the event was "sh*t".

His first-team career at United amounts to three Carling Cup substitute appearances and it is terribly sad when behind the scenes they talk of him being as naturally gifted as Paul Scholes. Barcelona have asked about him. Chelsea and Arsenal have thought long and hard about whether they can get him under control. Their verdict is they probably cannot, which leaves Newcastle United, Roma and Paris St Germain among the potential buyers. It might be the best piece of business they ever do, or maybe their worst nightmare. With Morrison, it is better not to take anything for granted.

On the football pitch, he plays with finesse and confidence. In court, he was described as vulnerable and fragile. The picture that emerged was of someone who acts compulsively and does not think of the consequences. The referral order was imposed after he tried to intimidate the 15-year-old victim of a street robbery out of giving evidence. Morrison never seemed to understand the seriousness of sending threatening messages, then being part of the mob that chased the robbery victim and threw a brick through his window. The boy did. He was so traumatised his family put their house up for sale.

The people closest to Morrison say some of his misdemeanours, such as once giving a first-team player's boots to a friend, are simply to please others. Items often go missing from dressing-rooms and in Sir Matt Busby's time they used marked money to trap the player responsible. These days Twitter hears everything, true and false. Now we have the sideshow of Morrison tweeting Rio Ferdinand to ask for back-up after rumours about him stealing his watch. Ferdinand confirmed it was untrue. This is Manchester United meets Grange Hill.

The best advice Ferdinand could offer Morrison would be to delete his account. Except Morrison does not like being told what to do. He is not seduced by United in the way most teenage boys would be. He has grown bored of being with the reserves, listening to the shouts from the first-team players on the next field. Lesser players have moved up, which he has found hard to take. Ferguson told him he would be, too – but only if he managed three months without skipping a session. Morrison does not work that way. His life at United has become a story of no-shows, stand-up rows and other disciplinary matters. Outside the club, 999 has been called more than once. "Write what you want about him," said one member of training-ground staff, expletives removed.

What United would rather not come out is that, in court, the district judge questioned whether the club were giving him the right care. Her view was that they might not be. Equally, if it is true this is not about money it reflects badly on Ferguson, to say the least, that he should say otherwise. Morrison, who is willing to move abroad, says he has "never asked for money and never rejected anything". Whatever the truth, there are no winners in this story.

This could be a £40m footballer in a few years, if only life were so simple. Instead you just hope that there never comes a day when he is that bloke in the pub telling anyone who cares to listen it should have been him.

[Lenny]

Considering how much of a privileged position he is in how can he not just graft and get his head down?

[Kompressor]

The fragility of the human mind.

And the fact that it's not always as easy as that for everyone.

Everyone has social pressures, family background and issues, and personal mental flaws that may lead to them making the decision they do. Regardless of potential or prospects.

A lot of the time no matter how much you tell someone they will only really know and realise once it's too late. Hopefully the penny has or will drop soon.

[Benicio del Toney]

He should be in the first team fold by now, no excuses.

Any young person talented at anything will always feel frustrated if they feel they are past their current level of education.

Owen and Rooney got brought in young so why has he not?

[FANTA]

word from a reliable ITK

SAF doesn't rate Pogba, hence the stalling on the contract

SAF is the only reason Rav is still at the club, people above want him gone, liability etc

[Guest Portuguese]

word from a reliable ITK

SAF doesn't rate Pogba, hence the stalling on the contract

SAF is the only reason Rav is still at the club, people above want him gone, liability etc

I agree with Sir Alex on both situations

[Haze-e]

Wel f*ck*ng beck

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[Mame Biram Diouf]

Surprise surprise

A lot of condemning of Ravel and but no quotes?

Accusations from a year or two ago about stuff we did as youngsters and probably much worse?

Probably a PR stunt to get his name out there more so when he players he has a buzz around him and sells more shirts and a ''bad boy'' image popular to the next generation

[FANTA]

BTW Rav was spotted at Newcastle today or yesterday, deal is supposedly done

fee in the region of £4M

you gotta laugh really, we've resorted to bringing players back from retirement and losing our brightest prospects to Newcastle, you couldn't make it up lol

[Mame Biram Diouf]

If we lose Morrison and Pogba a year after letting Eikrem go because we had too much young talent then I will be speechless

Hoping when Berbatov, Owen, Macheda and Diouf leave this summer Will Keane either moves to a high championship team, premiership team or we give him some minutes next year.

Hopefully Cole, Petrucci, W.Keane, Fryers, King, J.Barmby and Cofie don't get thrown out the club aswell

Still wish we sold Rooney when we had the chance

[CrillzCity]

Wellbeck is a quality player has a good touch, pace, strength and looks a good finisher so far but has to do it for a whole season with Rooney playing just slightly behind him they look a good partnership. Phil Jones should be first choice holding Midfielder can play there and win the ball and can keep the ball and also drop into centre defence or right back if needed but also looks good driving forward and dribbling past players his permanant position should be defensive midfielder partnering Cleverly in the Centre of Midfield.

Nani has been exceptional since 2009 has the most assists this season and scores some crazy goals but always looks at his best on the right and can make more crosses from there he should play on the right with Valencia as right back who looks comfortable there and will also get forward over lapping every opportunity putting in crosses with Nani and Young as left winger. First choice centre back partnership should be Vidic and Smalling when Vidic comes back.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------De Gea--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Valencia-----------------------------------------Smalling---------------------------Vidic-------------------------------------------------------------Evra

Nani----------------------------------------------Jones---------------------------Cleverly-----------------------------------------------------------Young

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Rooney--------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------Welbeck----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[The King]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a8SqZZYn7U&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[The King]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izGs3l3yw1c&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[The King]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3BTfiliPI8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[Benicio del Toney]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a8SqZZYn7U

Oi f*ckOFF!

[Martin King Louie Jr]

Petrucci is sick you know, unlucky for you that he is injury prone.

[Mame Biram Diouf]

C/S if it wasn't for his knee troubles would be seeing the bench

[Mame Biram Diouf]

On-loan defender Scott Wootton has left Peterborough and returned to parent club Manchester United.

Wootton joined Posh in the summer, and had been due to spend the whole season at London Road.

But that deal has now been cut short after the 20-year-old decided he was not playing enough games.

"It is a joint decision," Peterborough manager Darren Fergusontold the club's official website.

He added: "I had a chat with Scott and he felt he wasn't really playing enough games, so I was happy to let him go back to Old Trafford,".

Wootton made 14 appearances during his spell at the Championship club.

Manchester United's Norwegian striker Joshua King has joined Hull City on loan until 30 June.

The 20-year-old had his stint at Borussia Monchengladbach terminated in order to find another club where he can show off his speed and shooting prowess.

King joins the growing list of players with United connections at the KC Stadium, including another loanee in the shape of winger Robbie Brady, and will look to help fire Nick Barmby's Tigers to promotion.

"'Joshua's going out on loan again as he struggled to make an impact out there in Germany and that's the way it can be sometimes," explained Reserves coach Warren Joyce to ManUtd.com. "You can still learn from bad experiences."

Barmby has hailed the signing as an "exciting one" for his side after King watched the weekend victory against Peterborough from the stands. "Players can make a name for themselves here and use the loan as a platform," he told the

Hull Daily Mail

. "We're delighted to get Josh in."

John Cofie's loan move to Royal Antwerp has been rubber-stamped with the striker joining the Belgian outfit until 30 June.

The former Burnley youngster has found it difficult to get starts at Reserves level this term but made an impressive cameo when coming off the bench in the defeat at Sunderland in December, setting up two goals.

The temporary switch will enable Cofie to obtain some regular experience and it is a move that should benefit all parties.

"It's a fantastic opportunity for him," Reserves boss Warren Joyce told ManUtd.com. "It's another country and a place where you look at the players who have been there - Jonny Evans, Fraizer Campbell, Darron Gibson, Danny Simpson, Lee Martin, Craig Cathcart, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, John O'Shea, Ryan Shawcross - all players who have played in the Premier League.

"I know from first-hand knowledge that he'll get a lot of experiences over there that he can't get here."

Cofie told Royal Antwerp's official TV service: "So far so good. I'm getting to know the guys and speaking to a few people. I'm enjoying it already and hopefully I can carry it on.

"I know about the club because my manager in England, Warren Joyce, used to manage here so he told me about it. I also spoke to Fraizer Campbell, Darron Gibson and Jonny Evans as they came here so I wanted to come and see what it's about. They told me about the place, what it's like and how passionate the fans are.

Mame Biram Diouf is attracting interest from Ligue 1 side Brest, according to the Manchester United striker.

The 24-year-old wants to play on a regular basis, but has this season made just three appearances and all of his outings have come in the Carling Cup.

Diouf has therefore been linked with a move away from Old Trafford and Sir Alex Ferguson in December confirmed the forward could be sent out on loan.

United's Premier League rivals, Wigan, and Bundesliga club Hannover are also said to be interested, but Diouf also claims mid-table Brest are among his suitors.

"I have many contacts, but nothing is done yet," he told Sky Sports.

"Brest can be interested, but I have a contract with Manchester United until 2013."

Leicester City have landed promising midfielder Danny Drinkwater from Manchester United for an undisclosed fee, subject to Football League approval.

The 21-year-old playmaker becomes Nigel Pearson's first signing during his second spell in charge of the Foxes, agreeing terms on a contract until June 2015.

Queens Park Rangers have signed striker Federico Macheda on loan until the end of the season from Manchester United.

Manchester United midfielder Darron Gibson has joined Everton on a four-and-a-half-year dea

l.

Norwich also confirmed that the Belgian defender Ritchie de Laet has returned to Manchester United after his season-long loan deal was cancelled. The 23-year-old has been hampered by a back injury.

Lambert said: "Ritchie has gone back to Manchester United. We thank Sir Alex Ferguson for loaning him to us and wish Ritchie well for the future and hope he goes on to have a successful career at Manchester United."

Scunthorpe's on-loan pair Oliver Norwood and Sam Johnstone have returned to parent club Manchester United.

Midfielder Norwood, 20, joined Scunthorpe on loan in September and has made a total of 17 appearances, scoring one goal.

Goalkeeper Johnstone, 18, arrived at Glanford Park a fortnight after Norwood and has featured 13 times in all competitions despite dislocating his finger during that time.

Michael Keane turned down a move to Antwerp

Ryan Tunnicliffe to be offered a new three year deal apparently

Bebe should be back soon from injury at Besitktas

And Brady is still at Hull where he is apparently doing well, really like him tbh reminds me of a certain someone but don't want to get too carried away

Matt James is still injured as far as I know, had bare potential ashame he seems to be injury prone, but a lot of our youngsters do for some reason, coincidence or not?

Thats our January over and done with tbh