HEY SMACKIE!!!

[Yank]

Originally posted by brennser:
  funny
 
  http://spaces.msn.com/members/ManchesterBuccaneers/

Now that is funny!  I can't wait for the jpeg of someone in a Man B football kit with an NFL type helmet.

[Frank Gallagher]

Hilarious...
 
 They're going to ruin the beautiful game for you all, not just Manchester United.
 
 You have been warned...there'll be timeouts, cheerleaders and some knob yelling "peanuts, lovely peanuts" in your ear the whole game.

[Yank]

Originally posted by O'Mankie:
  Hilarious...
 
 They're going to ruin the beautiful game for you all, not just Manchester United.
 
 You have been warned...there'll be timeouts, cheerleaders and some knob yelling "peanuts, lovely peanuts" in your ear the whole game.

I think they should figure out some way to incorporate television time-outs too.  Forty five minutes is too long a stretch without an advert.  Just think how much more Bud could be sold with all the additional promotion.  I'm always looking out for Man B's best interest.

[Yank]

Read it and weep!    
 
 
 Reds set for European boost
 Thu 09 Jun, 4:36 PM
 
 Uefa are expected to give Liverpool a place in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League.
 
 The 14 men who make up Uefa's executive committee will vote on the matter during a telehone conference and although there is a block of members who believe the rules should not be changed, president Lennart Johansson is likely to succeed in persuading the majority to agree that the champions should be allowed to defend their crown.
 
 The title-holders are usually guaranteed an automatic place in the group stage but that scenario is highly unlikely and, indeed, Liverpool themselves would be content with a place in the final qualifying round.
 
 The Reds' failure to qualify through their Premiership finish has allowed Turkish champions Fenerbahce to take up the automatic group spot.
 
 Fenerbahce staying in the group stages also brings Uefa's senior vice-president Senes Erzik, who is from Turkey, on board the campaign to allow Liverpool to become a fifth English side in Europe's elite club competition.
 
 There have been suggestions a minnow from Andorra or San Marino would have to be bumped out of the earlier rounds but clubs from these countries only take part in the Uefa Cup anyway.
 
 Uefa sources say under the most likely scenario the Slovakian champions - their league is not yet over - would play an extra qualifying round and be compensated by the country being given an extra Uefa Cup place.
 
 A source close to Uefa said: "The executive committee is fairly evenly split but the fact the president has said he favours Liverpool's inclusion should prove decisive.
 
 "The situation with Fenerbahce is very important. If they get an automatic place in the group phase that means a guaranteed £5.5m for them, so Senes Erzik will only support a qualifying round place for Liverpool."
 
 The Football Association, who have been campaigning on Liverpool's behalf, have made it clear that they do not expect automatic qualification for the club.
 
 There is another headache for Uefa in how they split up the TV money if five English sides do qualify - their formulas only cover up to four from the same country.
 
 Liverpool would not object if given a place in the final qualifying round but they would not be happy if told they had to play in the first or second qualifiers - prinicpally because that would clash with their pre-season tour of Japan.
 
 Should the unthinkable - as far as Rafael Benitez's side are concerned at any rate - occur and Uefa rule against Liverpool completely then the Reds will not take the decision lying down.
 
 It has been suggested that they would then consider whether to pull out of the European Super Cup against Uefa Cup winners CSKA Moscow in
 
 Uefa's glittering curtain-raiser in August.
 
 They might also threaten to withdraw in protest from Fifa's rejigged World Club Championship in Yokohama, Japan, in December.

[vansmack]

Congratulations.  You did so poorly in league that UEFA had to make special rules for you to defned your cup.  So I read it, but who's weaping?

[Yank]

Originally posted by vansmack:
  Congratulations.  You did so poorly in league that UEFA had to make special rules for you to defned your cup.  So I read it, but who's weaping?

The Red half of Manchester and all it's ex-pats!  I wouldn't say they made new rules, they may just do the same thing for England that they do for just about every other country in the Uefa.

[Yank]

Hey Mankie, are you sure you don't want to be supporting Manchester City?  
 
 Glazer to up United ticket prices to boost profit - report
 Fri 10 Jun, 4:17 AM
 
 LONDON (Reuters) - The new owner of Manchester United plans to triple operating profit under a five-year plan which would see ticket prices rise sharply, the Times newspaper reported on Friday.
 
 U.S. investor Malcolm Glazer, who gained control of the English club last month after a two-year fight, hopes to boost annual profits to 114.3 million pounds by 2010, the paper said.
 
 
 The Times said Glazer could further anger supporters who opposed his takeover by raising ticket prices by up to 54 percent within five years.
 
 The report, citing previously unseen documents, said the club hopes to raise total revenues by 52 percent to 245.6 million pounds by 2010.
 
 However, the proposals have yet to be finalised and could still be changed, The Times quoted an unnamed source close to Glazer as saying.
 
 If the plans are adopted, United fans would pay an average of 46 pounds to watch a game in 2010, the Times reported.
 
 No one at the club could be reached for comment.
 
 Glazer plans to delist United from the London Stock Exchange as early as June 22 as part of his 790 million pound takeover, his bankers said in May.
 
 Glazer's takeover has angered many United fans who fear he will hike ticket prices and cut back on player investment to pay back the hefty loans he used to buy the club.
 
 The Times report said the club's manager, Alex Ferguson, will have a 25 million pound net annual budget to buy new players over the next five years, compared to an average spend per season of 19.4 million pounds since 1998.
 
 The newspaper said the documents gave details of the interest repayments the club faces on part of the debt.
 
 The report said Glazer must pay an annual rate of 20 percent on 210 million pounds of the debt and 14 percent on a further 65 million pounds.
 
 The documents make no mention of any plans to sell the club's Old Trafford stadium and lease it back.

[Frank Gallagher]

No! I like to watch my team play in Europe!!!    
 
 Man City face Uefa disappointment  
   
 
 Manchester City are unlikely to be given a place in the Uefa Cup if Liverpool are allowed into the Champions League.
 City, who finished eighth in the Premiership, had been lobbying to take the place vacated by Liverpool if they were allowed to defend their trophy.
 
 But BBC Radio Five Live understands City are likely to be disappointed.
 
 City missed out to Middlesbrough on the when Robbie Fowler missed a last-minute penalty on the season's final day.
 
 
 This goes a long way to helping the old manc/scouse hate-fest!

[Frank Gallagher]

54% over the next five years....sure it's a bummer, but in reality, with the other big-guns and Liverscum no doubt increasing their prices over the next years, they'll probably still be below, or at least on par with the rest of the big teams of England, and Liverscum.
 
 I don't have the figures exactly but I do know United tickets are currently way below the other main teams, and Liverscum.....
 
 
 I'll be disapointed if they change the rules to let scum defend the cup even though they weren't good enough to qualify. Unless I'm mistaken, Brasil are still going through qualification for the world cup even though they're reigning champions........no?

[Frank Gallagher]

Sorry, three posts in a row, but most of you are still tucked up in bed...
 
 
 My case in point on ticket prices...
 
 The big squeeze
 Big-money signings like Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney could be a thing of the past at Old Trafford. Secret documents revealed last night show transfer spending will be squeezed to £25million a season under Malcolm Glazer�??s new regime. The new owner will also release an additional £25m, spread over the next five years. But, with the Rooney deal costing United a potential £30m and defender Rio £29.1m, it is clear Red Devils boss Alex Ferguson will not be able to buy a team of superstars. The spending cap will be imposed as Glazer pays off the £374m in loans he used to buy his current 76.2 per cent share in the club. Fans will also be shocked by ticket price rises of 54 per cent within five years. The price of an average United ticket �?? expected to be £29.90 this year �?? will jump to £33.40 next year, £38.70 in 2007, £41 in 2008 and £43.40 in 2009. United fans will be expected to pay an average of £46 per ticket for home games in 2010 �?? just below the current cost of a ticket for Chelsea home games. But American tycoon Glazer will also bump up the prices for �??Premier�?� games, such as Champions League quarter-finals and semis by 25 per cent �?? from next year. Tickets for group games will be 12.5 per cent more expensive.
 Neil Custis, The Sun
 
 Basically, in five years time, United tickets will still be below the current price of a chelski ticket.
 
 Transfer spending at £25m is more than Fergie has been getting, which has been an average of £19.1m, and with the extra £25m over the next 5 years on top of his annual budget, that's an average of £30m per year for 5 years.....not too shabby if you ask me. He could buy the whole of Liverscum, including the slum of a stadium every year with that kind of budget.....but why would he waste his money?
 
 Like I said, I'm not jumping up and down over the fact we're now owned by a doodle, but it's not all doom and gloom like some fear.

[Yank]

Sorry to disappoint you Mankie.....  
 
 
 Liverpool Given Champions Chance
 Fri 10 Jun, 1:09 PM
 
 
 Liverpool will be allowed to defend their Champions League crown next season.
 
 UEFA's 14-man executive committee today decided to make a special case to allow the Reds into the first qualifying round of the competition next season.
 
 It means Liverpool will have to play six matches in order to qualify for the group phase and it could interfere with their pre-season tour of Japan.
 
 Liverpool, who failed to finish in a qualifying place in the Barclays Premiership, will become the fifth English side in the competition.
 
 UEFA have also taken steps to ensure that the same scenario never occurs again by changing the rules so that in the future the titleholders will always qualify for the competition the following season.
 
 If the Liverpool situation occurs again and the European champions fail to finish in a qualifying place in their domestic competition however they will come in at the expense of the fourth-placed side.
 
 The rules will also apply for countries who only get three or two Champions League spots, but there will be a special exemption in the unlikely event of a country with one Champions League spot winning the competition but failing to win their own domestic league.
 
 
 UEFA have confirmed that despite Liverpool's admission to the Champions League Manchester City will not be given a UEFA Cup place next season.
 
 More news from SportingLife.com

[Frank Gallagher]

So....should a miracle happen twice, which is highly unlikely, Liverpool will be unworthy champions seeing as they should never have been in the bloody competition in the first place. I can live with that.
 
 I'd laugh my dick off if they failed to get through the qualifying rounds....now that would be poetic justice.
 
 I can guarantee you that if it was Man Utd whinging and moaning like spoiled brats, they would never have changed the rules.

[Yank]

Wait a minute, I need to get my violin.......... OK Mankie, can you repeat that again?  Tissues anyone?

[Frank Gallagher]

Originally posted by Mr Dodgy Slapper:
  Wait a minute, I need to get my violin.......... OK Mankie, can you repeat that again?  Tissues anyone?

Well they do say the truth hurts.

[Yank]

Originally posted by O'Mankie:
   

Originally posted by Mr Dodgy Slapper:
  Wait a minute, I need to get my violin.......... OK Mankie, can you repeat that again?  Tissues anyone?

Well they do say the truth hurts. [/b]

Gutted, indeed....but I'm over it!