The Europe Forum

On that note, I see it going 2-2 at Old Trafford. Meeelan will be up 2-1 late and will get burned on a counter attack trying to get a winner.

Silvio Cannelloni

Not a bad shout. But I gotta go Milan - been burned too many times with those guys over the years. I know it's United at home and all that Beckham jizz will get overplayed, but those bastards find a way somehow. Did I tell you how much I hate Milan and Silvio Cannelloni?

As much as anything, I'm just trying to stir up some shit with the Milan contingent here. Say anything bad about their beloved Rossoneri and they roll around on the ground like they've been picked off by Barry Pepper in "Saving Private Ryan."

As much as anything, I'm just trying to stir up some shit with the Milan contingent here. Say anything bad about their beloved Rossoneri and they roll around on the ground like they've been picked off by Barry Pepper in "Saving Private Ryan."

You know I'm from England, right? Don't exactly hate the Devils but even the BBC wonks have resorted to calling them "LFC Light" since the supporters groups have gone Green and Gold.

Ehh, the BBC criticizing United supporters isn't a surprise, considering Fergie's boycott of all things involving the Beeb. As for the Green and Gold campaign, I support what they're trying to do, but it's one thing to buy a football club, it's quite another to run it properly. While I'm not keen on the Glazers, the club have seen a phenomenal trophy haul during their time in owning the club. Sir Alex has never been told "No" when it comes to the transfer market. While ticket prices at OT have increased, show me one sports team anywhere where they've not raised tickets in the last five years.

I'm not minimizing anything except for the simple reason that there are space constraints in this format. Does Sir Alex have a longer leash than other managers in the EPL? He made the "fit as butcher's dogs" comment and got a two game suspension. If I had a dollar for every time a manager said something less than flattering about referees, I could pay for those 50 million uninsured Americans. Yet Ferguson points out how a match referee has all the quickness of Kurt Cobain on a heroin binge and he's brought the game in disrepute? Huh? No manager in the league has a bigger target on his back than Ferguson. No one. Wenger, for all the stick he gets if Arsenal lose close match, also gets the happy ending treatment more often than not from the press for managing a team that "plays the right way." The bias you mention against managers whose names end in vowels? I won't deny the jingoistic nature of a segment of the media, but the intelligent members of the British press who cover football aren't the ones banging the drum of nationalistic bullshit pride. You don't hear about them because logic doesn't make for great headlines. Managers get run by chairman and boards, not newspapers. Lastly, there are coaches in every sport in every country who get a pass from the media. Coach K, Bill Parcells, Bill Cowher, Jeff Fisher, Joe Torre, Doc Rivers, Pete Carroll, Mike Holmgren, George Karl and Phil Jackson, to name ten. Fergie isn't the only one in England who gets a pass, he's just the most high profile. And you know what? The cranky old socialist bastard has earned it. All he's done is win. I'm not saying he's right all the time- believe me, he's not and you know as well as anyone how critical I've been of Fergie's squad selection at times this season. So it goes.Regarding ticket prices and what has gone on at Liverpool and United, it sucks for the fans. As usual, the fans are the ones who pay through the nose. It's not right at all. I'm not English and I have no personal lifelong connection to Old Trafford and United. My allegiance goes back 15, 16 years. That doesn't change how I feel about the success the club has experienced. It's been mixed because winning trophies is fantastic but the uncertainty over the future is troubling. I would love to see the club owned by people who love the club and love the fans. In a related story, I remember being ecstatic when Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, bought the SuperSonics. We know how that ended. If my vision of the business side of sport borders on indifference, look at it this way, English United fans with lifelong connections to the club and Old Trafford- Your team can't move to a podunk, inbred hillbilly city with nothing but steers and queers because the twelve year old stadium is considered an antique. So, you have that going for you, which is good.