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Alex Ferguson at the MUFC End of Season Player of the Year do - full quotes here for RN readers
"I think the Premier League should look into that because no team should be finishing after the other team, but it happened and it's unfortunate. We all thought we'd done it, then the Sunderland fans all started cheering and I knew they'd scored again."
"Obviously we knew QPR were in front, and I said to Mike Phelan a couple of times, 1) if QPR were leading I worried if city would equalise because I think they'd get a big impetus from that. I worried about that, and that happened, exactly happened. One or two other things I worried about QPR but I think everyone expected city to win, they made it difficult for themselves, QPR performed very well until they found out they'd qualified - they were safe - and I think as Mark Hughes says, they quit, you know, so that was disappointing. It's hard to digest because we played so well at Sunderland - their goalkeepers has made 4/5 fantastic saves, we've hit the post twice, hit the bar, missed a couple of good chances - we could have scored 8! When it comes to goal difference we've only ourselves to blame, because we've missed a lot of chances… this club always misses chances. We're very, how would you put it, charitable to our opponents."
"I think we've disappointed in that respect (having an 8 point lead). I'm not going to have any recriminations with my players because they are a solid bunch of lads, they are honest, they've tried their best,ok they have made mistakes but there is a lot of young players who are making mistakes and we invest in that, that's what we're good at, we're not like other clubs who can spend fortunes on how would you put it, on proven goods. We invest in players who will be with the club for a long time, who will create the character of a club, who will create excitement for our fans, and we have many players like that. And we're good at that and we're going to continue that way."
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Q. Do you want to stick to bringing young players through rather than spending lots of money?
"Yeah, I think we're good at it. If you are good at something, don't mend it. That's an old saying. But we have thoughts about maturity also in the team, obviously this will definitely be Ryan Giggs' and Paul Scholes' last season - I'm sure of that. I'm not so sure about Ryan, he defies age! But Paul probably his last year and Rio is 34, after that, we've no issues with the age, no issues at all, so yes we want to add to the squad, that's in process at the moment."
Q. You have your targets in mind then?
"Yes we have set our stall on certain players and we want to make sure the evolution continues at United because that's all I ever talk about; evolution of a new team because I've been at the club 25 years, I have to maintain a certain standard, that keeps us there all the time. We don't always win it but we're always there, which is great credit to how we view things and great credit to our medical staff, my coaching staff; Rene and Mick, fantastic, the job done by Eric Steele, all the medical staff, the physios, the sports science, they have put a lot into it. They have put a lot into our club so there's nothing materially wrong with us. I know the critics… it's interesting that one paper today said - well, I didn't read it, I was told - that we will have to spend millions to improve the team, and we had 89 points! Laughs
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Q. Would it be more satisfying not to spend those millions and to win the league and get that trophy back next season?
"I think the nature of the league, we know that city are going to spend fortunes, pay stupid money, pay silly salaries and all that. We know that happens. We can't do anything about that - we look at what we can do, attracting players here for the right reasons, also obviously beneficially financially too, we are not remiss in that aspect of it. We do what we do well and we're going to stay that way."
"Paul Scholes (staying on) has been done. He's staying. I am delighted. He knew he had made a mistake, when I spoke to him a bit early possible (last year), the attraction of 25 games I said to him at the time, will give him a real quality, but he now realises that next season if he plays 25-30 games will be real quality and we know he'll play very well. We've had him since he was a kid, we know how to use him."
"This summer is an absolute nightmare to be honest with you. It's not the kind of prospect for a manager, of any club, we have 10 players possibly away in the Euros, England under 19s have got a tournament, they want 5 of our players, the Olympics obviously want to call up some of our players for that. And I have a couple of players who are now having operations, Chicharito really needs a rest, try to manage that aspect of it with Mexico, who obviously have two very important games, the qualifications. So we have got a lot of real busy timing in the summer, trying to orchestrate the planning of our pre-season tour to South Africa and China and be ready for the new season."
Q. How confident are you for that new season?
"When you've got that support, that stadium, history of our club, you've always got to be optimistic, it's a fantastic set-up, it's a wonderful club. The only disappointment is we've let supporters down, they will be terribly disappointed, they will feel the same as we feel, everyone has felt that way in the last day, we've all suffered that way, but you know that we are wonderful at coming back. We are absolutely brilliant at it; that's probably the most exciting part."
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"I think the Premier League should look into that because no team should be finishing after the other team, but it happened and it's unfortunate. We all thought we'd done it, then the Sunderland fans all started cheering and I knew they'd scored again."
"Obviously we knew QPR were in front, and I said to Mike Phelan a couple of times, 1) if QPR were leading I worried if city would equalise because I think they'd get a big impetus from that. I worried about that, and that happened, exactly happened. One or two other things I worried about QPR but I think everyone expected city to win, they made it difficult for themselves, QPR performed very well until they found out they'd qualified - they were safe - and I think as Mark Hughes says, they quit, you know, so that was disappointing. It's hard to digest because we played so well at Sunderland - their goalkeepers has made 4/5 fantastic saves, we've hit the post twice, hit the bar, missed a couple of good chances - we could have scored 8! When it comes to goal difference we've only ourselves to blame, because we've missed a lot of chances… this club always misses chances. We're very, how would you put it, charitable to our opponents."
"I think we've disappointed in that respect (having an 8 point lead). I'm not going to have any recriminations with my players because they are a solid bunch of lads, they are honest, they've tried their best,ok they have made mistakes but there is a lot of young players who are making mistakes and we invest in that, that's what we're good at, we're not like other clubs who can spend fortunes on how would you put it, on proven goods. We invest in players who will be with the club for a long time, who will create the character of a club, who will create excitement for our fans, and we have many players like that. And we're good at that and we're going to continue that way."
http://www.rednews.co.uk/subscription.php
http://www.rednews.co.uk/shop/index.php
http://www.rednews.co.uk/current-issue.php
http://www.rednews.co.uk/vip.php
http://www.rednews.co.uk/support-red-news.php
http://www.rednews.co.uk/amazon.php
Q. Do you want to stick to bringing young players through rather than spending lots of money?
"Yeah, I think we're good at it. If you are good at something, don't mend it. That's an old saying. But we have thoughts about maturity also in the team, obviously this will definitely be Ryan Giggs' and Paul Scholes' last season - I'm sure of that. I'm not so sure about Ryan, he defies age! But Paul probably his last year and Rio is 34, after that, we've no issues with the age, no issues at all, so yes we want to add to the squad, that's in process at the moment."
Q. You have your targets in mind then?
"Yes we have set our stall on certain players and we want to make sure the evolution continues at United because that's all I ever talk about; evolution of a new team because I've been at the club 25 years, I have to maintain a certain standard, that keeps us there all the time. We don't always win it but we're always there, which is great credit to how we view things and great credit to our medical staff, my coaching staff; Rene and Mick, fantastic, the job done by Eric Steele, all the medical staff, the physios, the sports science, they have put a lot into it. They have put a lot into our club so there's nothing materially wrong with us. I know the critics… it's interesting that one paper today said - well, I didn't read it, I was told - that we will have to spend millions to improve the team, and we had 89 points! Laughs
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Q. Would it be more satisfying not to spend those millions and to win the league and get that trophy back next season?
"I think the nature of the league, we know that city are going to spend fortunes, pay stupid money, pay silly salaries and all that. We know that happens. We can't do anything about that - we look at what we can do, attracting players here for the right reasons, also obviously beneficially financially too, we are not remiss in that aspect of it. We do what we do well and we're going to stay that way."
"Paul Scholes (staying on) has been done. He's staying. I am delighted. He knew he had made a mistake, when I spoke to him a bit early possible (last year), the attraction of 25 games I said to him at the time, will give him a real quality, but he now realises that next season if he plays 25-30 games will be real quality and we know he'll play very well. We've had him since he was a kid, we know how to use him."
"This summer is an absolute nightmare to be honest with you. It's not the kind of prospect for a manager, of any club, we have 10 players possibly away in the Euros, England under 19s have got a tournament, they want 5 of our players, the Olympics obviously want to call up some of our players for that. And I have a couple of players who are now having operations, Chicharito really needs a rest, try to manage that aspect of it with Mexico, who obviously have two very important games, the qualifications. So we have got a lot of real busy timing in the summer, trying to orchestrate the planning of our pre-season tour to South Africa and China and be ready for the new season."
Q. How confident are you for that new season?
"When you've got that support, that stadium, history of our club, you've always got to be optimistic, it's a fantastic set-up, it's a wonderful club. The only disappointment is we've let supporters down, they will be terribly disappointed, they will feel the same as we feel, everyone has felt that way in the last day, we've all suffered that way, but you know that we are wonderful at coming back. We are absolutely brilliant at it; that's probably the most exciting part."
http://www.rednews.co.uk/subscription.php
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http://www.rednews.co.uk/current-issue.php
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