Wigan

[Redray]

Steve Bruce:

 

'Unfortunately, it looks like we've been in limbo for weeks. It has been very, very difficult to lift the players.

 

'We got to the magical 41 points with eight games to go."

 

 

Disgraceful.

[growler]

you sound shocked. Did anyone really expect Bruce to do anything other? Everton bend over because they hate us, but not sure why Wigan do.

[Redray]

Did anyone really expect Bruce to do anything other?

Well I did. They always have made it hard for them there previously. Not on this occasion it seems.

[Billy Dane]

3 easy points for the taking for anyone playing Wigan, since they achieved safety this season. Similar outlook and approach as used by teams managed by Curbishley at the end of a season.

[growler]

bad luck for us that west brom have a glimmer of hope.

[growler]

also, haven't the scum agreed a 23million pound deal for one of their players? coincidently before the game? also a little over priced, one might say.

[Tommy Cockles]

Wasn't this game originally re-scheduled to be before the Mancs last game with Hull?

 

Has it been brought forward recently?

[Rory Fitzgerald]

41pts with 8 games to go = a shot at europe you knob (fat) head !!!

[Stevie H]

41pts with 8 games to go = a shot at europe you knob (fat) head !!!

they don't want to be in europe though. they get more money from a 9th place finish in the league than they would from a schlep all over europe in the huge group stages of the new europe league (vomit). what's the incentive to smaller clubs to finish higher when it will negatively impact on their league performance and position the following season?

[Rory Fitzgerald]

I understand you Stevie but since when has ambition gone from football ?

[NWR]

you sound shocked. Did anyone really expect Bruce to do anything other? Everton bend over because they hate us, but not sure why Wigan do.

 

 

Why on earth do you follow and watch football? If you really do believe the s**** you write (Not you personally) you would turn to a less corrupt game to follow like Bowles.

 

Of course these teams bend over for United. If they play attacking football then United will slaughter them. If they play ten men behind the ball then unlike Liverpool in a lot of games this season we can break through them at least once.

 

Surely claiming these teams bend over for us every week, every game does not make you feel any better about the fact United are top? It must wear thin in the end after all these years?

 

Yes, these teams bend over, but for United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Does that not tell you something? It tells me these three teams are far ahead and better than the rest of them.

[Jarg Armani]

can we keep personal insults out of the football forums please.

[Redray]

Bruce ready to make it a special night for hero Ferguson

By henry winter

Wednesday May 13 2009

 

 

An exquisite green playing surface and a red-carpet welcome await Alex Ferguson at the JJB Stadium tonight.

 

It will be handshakes, back-slaps and glasses of good claret all round. It will also be another Premier League hurdle, another test that Manchester United should pass with flying honours, so taking them to the brink of the title. And Wigan Athletic's main men will be delighted.

 

Their charismatic chairman, Dave Whelan, is such an ardent admirer of Ferguson, whose picture adorns his walls, that he actually cannot make up his mind who he wants to win.

 

"It is a shame if we lose and a shame if we beat United,'' Whelan said. "Alex is the maestro, probably the finest manager the world has ever seen. Alex and Bobby Charlton, who I served in the army with, are the heart and soul of football.''

 

United's indebtedness apart, Whelan so respects the champions that he would be delighted if his manager, Steve Bruce, succeeded Ferguson at Old Trafford one day.

 

Bruce would relish following his old mentor, the manager he hails as "the No 1 of all time''. Tonight's match really threatens to become a love-in.

 

All at Anfield will be tuning in nervously, hoping against hope for an upset. An honest, hard-working Wigan side will try to disrupt United's famed rhythm, but it is difficult not to see the champions moving within a point of equalling Liverpool's record of 18 titles.

 

Coasting

 

Since guaranteeing Premier League safety, Wigan have taken the foot off the accelerator, coasting towards the summer recess.

 

"We have been on easy street for a few weeks now,'' admitted Bruce. "It will be difficult because United are the best team in the world.''

 

If victory should come the way of United, some advice for Cristiano Ronaldo also awaits, some good counsel from Bruce, who argued cogently that life after United will always be a step down.

 

"Absolutely,'' Bruce said. "Once you leave Old Trafford you find it very, very, very difficult whether you are a kid, a reserve-team player or even somebody who has been there 10 years. There have not been many who have gone on (to better things).''

 

Although Ronaldo's tantrum at being replaced against City on Sunday has intensified speculation about his future, Bruce believes Ferguson will take his star's fit of pique in his stride.

 

"He won't bother a jot about it,'' Bruce said. "If he feels he has to have a word he will handle it in private. It was nothing. The kid was desperate to stay on and that's refreshing. I've had a few who don't want to be on the pitch in the first place.''

 

Early in his managerial career, Bruce would phone Ferguson for advice but now he just sits back and marvels at his old manager's longevity. "I don't think he has any intention of quitting at all. He will be looking at that team and thinking, 'why should I?' and rightly so. He seems to thrive on the pressure rather than fear it.

 

"He has still got the hunger and that look -- you know, the one that makes you go, 'Uh oh' (nervously). He enjoys victory for half a day and then he's back at work and goes again. With this team he will want to finish above Liverpool in terms of championships and more European Cups (United have three to Liverpool's five).

 

"What United have now, from when I first went there 20 years ago, is vast experience of winning the title. They are just used to handling the pressure. When the big games have come along in the last six weeks, the nitty gritty games, they have produced.''

 

Bruce and his coaching staff are noted for setting Wigan up well to combat opposing threats, detailing who should mark whom, but they ran into a problem yesterday.

 

"We were trying a few things in training and we just had to stop because he (Ferguson) could make six or seven changes,'' Bruce said. "Their squad is that good it doesn't affect them. I was at their game at Middlesbrough when all my staff were laughing. He made seven changes bringing in Giggs, Scholes and Berbatov and the list goes on.

 

"You notice he doesn't rotate the back players too much -- he never gave me and Pally (Gary Pallister) a rest! In terms of depth, this squad is just mind-blowing. What he (Ferguson) has been a master at is putting a new team together. He's probably sitting there with all his young stars thinking, 'how far can this lot go?'''

 

Bruce's circumstances are markedly different, the manager admitting that he will have to "break up'' this Wigan side to pay the bills, despite a new shirt sponsorship deal with the online gaming company 188BET. It was "inevitable'', he sighed, that Antonio Valencia would leave. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, even United have been mooted as potential destinations for the exciting midfielder.

 

Whelan could certainly see Bruce back at Old Trafford. "When Alex does decide to hang up his boots, and hopefully it won't be for another three or four years because we will have lost a great manager and a great ambassador, Steve has got to be in the running to take over,'' Wigan's chairman said. "I hate to even talk about losing Steve because he has been a wonderful manager for us but if the opportunity comes along to manage United then the whole world would jump at that. United want certain qualities and Steve has every single quality.''

 

Bruce smiled. "That's flattering but there's people with larger and better CVs than me who want the job,'' said Bruce, suddenly turning his attention to how he can stop Ferguson's smooth-passing team on Wigan's pristine pitch. "We need to get tractors on it quick,'' he concluded.

 

But nothing looks like halting the Ferguson juggernaut.

[DanielS]

Only one question remains about tonight's match - will Whelan bow or curtsy when presented to Ferguson?

[Redray]

Only one question remains about tonight's match - will Whelan bow or curtsy when presented to Ferguson?

 

He will try to do both and end up doing a belly flop.

[Knox_Harrington]

The last lot who went this far were Fulham.

[DanielS]

The last lot who went this far were Fulham.

 

That was for the FA Cup game - which they lost. There was nowhere near as much forelock tugging going on before the league match.

[owenthomas]

Whelan's a little Englunder c***.. he pisses me off and he's hit a new low with these comments the c***..

 

"It is a shame if we lose and a shame if we beat United,'' Whelan said.. imagine Rafa, Wenger or Hiddink saying something along those lines if we/they were playing Wigan in a game that could see them relegated!

 

thinking about it, even better - imagine Colin w*****'s reaction!

[Stevie H]

Only one question remains about tonight's match - will Whelan bow or curtsy when presented to Ferguson?

bend over and drop his pants by the sounds of it.

[Knox_Harrington]

That was for the FA Cup game - which they lost. There was nowhere near as much forelock tugging going on before the league match.

There was. There was loads of "we have no chance" stuff.

[matlfc]

Am i right in thinking wigan have yet to beat a top four side since being in the premiership?

[Walrus]

It's a sorry state of affairs when you're relying on Wigan to keep your title challenge on. I will be f***ing fuming at final whistle tonight, I just know it.

[Des]

Bowles.

 

Stan?

[DanielS]

There was. There was loads of "we have no chance" stuff.

 

You stick to your Agenda and we'll stick to our Conspiracy, thank you very much. No room for sense round here.

[Des]

Even if the unbelievable does happen and Wigan beat them, we are then relying on Arsenal and Hull.