The Kraken

I think you'll find a lot of people were actually there, son. In an 8k+ crowd its inevitable, you see. Just because you may not like the reviews it doesn't make them inaccurate.

Agreed; I thought he looked dangerous every time he got the ball and looked like he could beat his man or do something with it. To be fair I thought Lallana was pretty good first half, quieter in the second before he inevitably gave way.

Lowe sued him (and won) for about £250K. He's had a hard-on for Saints bashing since then, the beardy fat c*nt.

I don't think Ramirez's performance yesterday can be put down to a lack of fitness. Perhaps a lack of sharpness, though. He did some good things but was let down by making far too many basic errors. Poor control and playing wayward passes (passes that should have been pretty simple for anyone in the team, let alone one who supposedly has a touch of genius in his locker); he was quite obviously some distance off the levels of the other players. Getting mugged off by the RS player who then burst past him to set up the third goal kind of summed his whole performance up from yesterday; just never really at it. Puncheon on the other hand was most impressive when he came on.

I think the real question is: "Why has Garrett listed Anderson as United's third CM in the first place?" Anderson only started 9 league games last term, and came on as sub in another 8. That's less than half the league games; he's hardly their de facto "third" CM.

And this is another good point. Its all well and good trying to compare Carrick, Cleverley and Anderson to Schneiderlin, Cork and Wanyama. But that leaves out a lot of players who have played CM for those clubs, so they have to be taken into account. Phil Jones started 13 league games and a number of CL games, many at CM; his performances against some of the top sides in England and Europe earned him an England cap or two at CM. Giggs played in 22 league games for United. On the flip side, JWP played in 16 league games for us, Steve Davis played in 32 games over the course of the season. So as close as people might want to believe it is between the originally listed 3 CMs of each club, when you look at the position in its entirety the answer becomes a lot clearer.

That was it. And I believe he said it after our promotion season from the Championship, when we averaged around 26,000! That was evidence we had more match going fans than Everton! Brilliant stuff.

I think Adrian likes to throw the accusations around when the thread doesn't comply with his own little world view.

Or perhaps some threads go the way you don't like it with others having an alternative viewpoint to yours? As usual, when someone expresses an opinion that doesn't run parallel with your own thoughts on the matter you bring out your snide, condescending witterings and put it down to trolling rather than actually accept that there may be an alternative point of view.

Fairly sure he was specifically referring to matchgoing fans. Can't be arsed to dig it up but it was pretty humorous at the time.

Except for the OP?

I don't think he'll start. In Hodgson's interview on the BBC he stressed his need to have Rickie included to fulfil a requirement for four forwards, which for some reason resonated with me that RL will just be used for backup. I hope he gets a decent outing but I'd be amazed if he started.

Kind of reminds me of MLG who fairly recently convinced himself that we have a bigger fanbase than Everton despite never in our history having had an average attendance higher than theirs.

Uh oh. Moved to the graveyard.

Would you have sent MLT out to Oxford or Swindon when he was struggling to get games under Chris Nichol? I'm not much of a fan of the Harry Redknapp approach of sending our best talent out for games. I prefer the one we've adopted over many years of predominantly not getting other clubs to do our work for us for our best upcoming players. That's just me, though. I appreciate others think differently.

Why? He figured in 19 games for us last season; 16 in the league including 4 starts. And he's still 18 years old. He doesn't look out of place in this league. So what's the best for him? Keep doing what he's doing? Or play in a lower league for a different team? At 18, I'd much rather keep him if he's still going to feature. If he'd played in 4 or 5 games then fair enough, but this lad was deemed good enough for over 40% of our games last term.

I think I went to all 4 of those

I wouldn't. I'd say most Saints fans (particularly most on here) are more opinionated towards saying their own players are better than they actually are. Also, a bunch of neutrals who support neither Saints nor United have definitely got the most unbiased and unblinkered view of the abilities of both (albeit Carrick may get more TV time, because he is a key player in a better side). I know its unpopular at times to say that our players aren't all utterly amazing, but there we go, I can live with that. Schneiderlin is a very, very good player. Carrick is better IMO.

Wes, what are you even trying to prove a point about? I never said United having good players (the particular point being that their players were and are predominantly better than ours) was THE reason they got massive media exposure. I said it was ONE reason (and it continues to be a very good one). And there are various others; I think we all know this.

To be honest I don't see them finishing that low; Spurs will in all likelihood lose Bale and that'll be a massive blow for them. And Arsenal have so far entirely missed the boat ensuring that they're as far away from the top 3 as they were at the start of the window. United will still be very good; but they'll have to be exceptional to compete with Man City and Chelsea, and without the Fergie factor, like you, I simply don't see it. But even a dip to 3rd is a significant fall from grace. Moyes just seems like a poor fit, to me.

As I see it, the best they will do this season is third. Man city have an extremely capable manager and have spent pretty well in strengthening an already very strong squad. IMO they'll duke it out with Chelsea who, again, have a very strong squad. I thought United punched above their weight last season, and if RvP suffers a dip in form or injury then a slip down the table could be on the cards (particularly if Rooney goes or is completely disenchanted).

This is becoming a bit daft, Wes; but I'm sure even you can agree that Man Utd's media exposure is due in very large part to the fact that they have consistently had (and continue to have) some of the best players in the league, leading to the fact that they've hardly ever finished outside the top 2 (and never outside the top 3) in the 20+ years since football started with the inception of the Premier League. In fact, reading that back, I'm amazed this point is even a discussion.

Colin; you got what Jimmy meant, I clearly didn't, questioned it, and Jimmy admitted it wasn't that clear in the first place. I thought that's what forums were for; sharing and challenging other opinions, perhaps even reversing your own opinion if the argument is strong enough? Never mind.

A line from my Hull supporting mate about it: "It’s all a load of commercial tosh – take me back to the championship!"