Sir Alex has turned in his retirement papers effective at the end of the season. In 27 years in charge at Old Trafford, Fergie won 13 of ManYoo's 20 league titles. I'm sure he won more trophies but it is late and I am tired. Here is an article that has all the info.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... board.html

WHAT WHAT WHAT?!?!?!?!!? </shielabroflofsky>

i heard this was only in a rumor stage earlier this afternoon right after the citeh/WBA game..... but now it's for sure? * loads up daily mail * HOLY SHITTTTTTTTTTTTT'L;ADKJF;DFNDSAFN

i'm new to football this season, so like, this doesn't carry all of the weight that this would carry for a proper footie fan, but like, holy shit.... i mean, wow.... end of an era for sure, cuz i think he dates back to like ~87 or 88 or something, right? i know he predates the premier league which is only ~92 or thereabouts, so wow..... i mean this guy is a legend through and through. look at what he did for aberdeen in the scottish league b4 coming to man U.... i remember reading some stuff an aberdeen fan wrote about SAF's time there and how it was the most glorious epoch they'll ever have cuz every year they could look forward to kicking both celtic and ranger's arses all over the pitch.

suffice to say, this guy is the phil jackson of football..... or is it that phil jackson is the SAF of basketball? i mean red auerbach predates fergie, as does lombardi, so you can say he's soccer lombardi, football auerbach, whatever... man.... sorry i'm not up to proper formatting and just going in a perpetual circle of WHOA but i'm blindsided by this... wow.... even the ABUs around the world gotta stop and tip their cap to the man, the myth, the legend that is SIR alex ferguson.... i mean this guy was so badass he properly told BBC to sod off proper horrorshow from like ~94-04 IIRC cuz they sacked his son from a gig, or reported about a sacking of his unfairly.... so this guy had the stones to say I WILL NOT TALK TO THE BBC for somewhere in between 10-15 years, and to be THE GUY in british football and say "no"to the BBC? that just doesn't happen.... imagine if phil jackson decided in the middle of the bulls dynasty that he wasn't going to talk to ESPN... that's the equivalent of what he did and, of course, got away with (save the occasional fine / stern suggestion that he talk to them)

so like.... yeah, i mean what can you say? since the premier league formed this guy has been the unequivocal standard of excellence in how the game is played in the EPL, cuz while chelsea's nicked a title here or there, arsenal has a few (although arsene/'s-methods are perhaps a bit long in the tooth, but that's another topuc for another day) and of course citeh needed some JOEY BARTON MAGIC to help them along to a "hollywood finish" to get *one* title... shit, SAF has something like ~8-10? i mean we're talking 20 years of premier football and this guy won almost half of the yearly crowns with a roster that proved time and time again it didn't need david beckham, it didn't need cristiano ronaldo, and very well might prove it doesn't need wayne rooney within the next year... un-fucking-believeable.

so like, who to replace the legend? i know the special one (mourinho) wants to "come back to a place where [he's] loved" so if that's stamford bridge like many suggest (and even go as far to call it a done deal) well then c'est la vie.... would pep make the move? i saw ian and macca discussing whether (in) moyes (we trust) would consider being an assistant manager to be the heir apparent to fergie, which means that if he'd even CONSIDER that, shit, now it's in play..... cuz let's make no mistake here, while citeh has the oil money and chelsea has the mob money and arsenal has no money (uhhh yeah anyone wanna take cazorla and/or walcott off our lands? lol. go get lewandowski you fucking dolts. time to tell the board of directors to open up the damn checkbook cuz arseneball ain't gonna play itself) --- that damn fair play thing is gonna fuck up some of the ability of citeh to go out and blow everyone out of the water, ergo the talk of starting up a 2nd NYC MLS franchise (you know, one that actually plays IN the city somewhere like queens) and blah blah blah ---- the place everyone wants to end up is united.

cuz like, their roster was good enough to clear the table by ~10+ pts this year without needing that much of an effort to do so, and hell, even tho he got stone cold for awhile van persie timed his cold spell to coincide with teh time where united got up ~12-14pts or whatever and pretty much put the league on ice... but like, you know they're gonna be players for falcao, lewandowski, and shit unless the spanish wanna step up and blow everyone out of the water i'd never rule out 100% the chance that they could make a lunge for bale if he's gonna xfer..... so you know united stars are like shark teeth and they come in rows (i mean FFS get chicharito into the game more, you know? i think all of us wanna see more kagawa cuz i was shocked he wasn't on the pitch last week) so like, yeah, the tradition the history the $$$ and of course, the talent.... i mean this team might tell wayne fk'n rooney to go fish and upgrade his role to find someone who works better with van persie, who btw has some prime years left (injury notwithstanding)

so yeah this is gonna be DRAMA to the extreme and i guarantee you the chelsea faithful out there @ stamford bridge are gonna be shitting themselves cuz mourinho was supposed to be a done deal but now with united open? shit, who isn't in play for that? i wonder if they could go make a total pimp move and get jurgen klopp from dortmund.... now THAT would shock the shit out of me and likely scare the shit out of the rest of the EPL cuz look at what he's doing with dortmund, i mean, yeah bayern got the bundesliga crown this year but like, i'll be damned if his young dortmund squad didn't just go out and flat out merc real madrid by playing brilliant athletic countering football..... i mean, shit, nobody dare play park-the-bus possession ball on them cuz they'd fucking annihilate you doing that with their waves and waves of youth. if united could get a lil younger and leander add to their overall speed, shit, combine that with the sheer amount of talent/skill the players have and with that kind of mindset? yikes.

so yeah, jurgen klopp is the one i'd <3 to see in the name of entropy.... but like, you figure the big names considering it have to be mourinho, maybe pep, moyes.... i mean pretty much whoever united wants.... cuz you know good ol 'ARRY could pull a bitch move and ditch the championship next year (cuz we all know 'ARRY ain't one to do that... pfft) and he'd prolly do well enough to get united right there in the picture for the title, let alone into the CL.....

but i digress, sorry for my ignorant psychobabble cuz again this is my first year into footie and i'm prolly speaking out of my ass subconsciously repeating intelligent-sounding-things that i've heard throughout the season hanging out in #soccer on efnet (come join us IRCers man, we can always use the company considering you have a pyrrhic vctory @ best talking it up over here) but yeah, man, can't wait to see what united does here cuz like, say what you will but they're definitely the standard of excellence in english football and, undeniably, one of the top-5 brands/teams/etc in all of europe, let alone the world.

but yeah, idk if moyes would have the sizzle of guardiola or mourinho, so imma go dark horse and say JURGEN KLOPP, COME ON DOWN, YOU'RE THE NEXT CONTESTANT ON MAKE UNITED A POWERHOUSE FOR THE NEXT 25 YEARS!!!!lol (i know it'll never happen, but it'd still be cool)

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best part about jurgen klopp? he got his teeth to match his team's kits:

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http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-di ... 52881.html

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Just chillin' like Garret Quillin.

I'm curious to see who takes Ferguson's place at ManYoo. Of course, being a Chelsea fan, I would love seeing Mourhino back at Stamford Bridge. If I have learned one thing about the British media. Never believe something is a done deal until the team announces it.
I have never been a Sir Alex Ferguson fan, but you have to give the man his due. I compare this to when John Wooden retired from UCLA.

David Moyes from Everton is the heavy favorite to replace SAF. He's not won any trophies but Fergie likes him. I hope this knocks United off their perch but I doubt it will. They've built their brand well and have money to sign top players.

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Back off, Warchild. Seriously.

trying.....hard..........to...........resist....starting ManSoo Lee thread.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

moyes hasn't ever won at the big 4/5 (united, city, chelsea, arsenal, liverpool) on the road with everton.... something like ~44 tries.... s some ppl wonder if he can "win the big one." it'll be interesting to see what happens here.... some #soccer ppl say that this for sure will be a british hire, so if that's the case, why not say fuck it and get a REAL british man up in there whose speciality is reclamation projects (tho not necessarily as big as joey barton...)



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ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY! ARRY!

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dear GOD: if i have one favor i could pull with you, oh please for the love of god give me 'ARRY at old trafford.... if even for an interim. don't put me to sleep with IN MOYES WE TRUST.... give me the man that i want, no NEED to be on hte sidelines every sat/sun when i tune in to united games.... give me my ARRY.

(naw seriously i'd love to see jurgen klopp's style with a fat-trimmed manU squad. give me kagawa and chicharito or give me death! i'd love to see chicharito end up somewhere where he can play more than 20mins/week, you know, the 20mins/week that kagawa would KILL for. those 2 would be fun in jurgen's system)

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Yea, I don't see it happening either for all the reasons you stated. They're just too much of a powerhouse now and it's going to take a serious raping from top to bottom for them to not be annual title contenders anymore.

If spending the most was the key to winning the EPL, ManU wouldn't have won it 5 of 7 years and finished 2nd the other 2. There will be a noticeable drop unless they get somebody exceptional to replace him. I don't think enough to drop out of Champions League places, but the team will be dealing with immense pressure and scrutiny if they slip at all.

According to the Daily Mail. Its Moyes. SAF and Sir Bobby Charlton have given their blessing. Wonder if Moyes had to kiss their ring like in the Godfather.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... rinho.html

Moyes prolly has to go buy a Josh Freeman jersey to wear at the signing. Or become a partial owner of the Sacramento Kings... at least we know which hotel he'll be at when he stays in vegas for some goofy barnstorming friendly during the offseason.

No doubt there's some sort of ring-kissing going on (david kaplan prolly just popped a boner somewhere and wonders why) cuz if getting SAF's blessing is one of the biggest steps to replacing him, well then, no doubt there's a lot of issues of "politics" and "loyalty" and whatever.

But i'll echo the sentiments already stated upthread by saying that ManU is a machine these days, so I reckon with this current iteration of the team Moyes will have to "know how we do things around here" and stick with the program.... if there's any sort of philosophical change in how the team goes about playing the game, i reckon it'll take a few years to implementvia reshaping the roster and having a bunch of principal players who never played for SAF to have that righteousness on their side. Moyes is gonna be in a rough situation for a few years / with-this-iteration-of-the-side cuz like, he has nothing to gain and everything to lose.... i mean the only nitpicking is that you can claim they haven't won the CL in a few years and maybe they should do better for some other silverware (FA cup, and uhhhh whats that other cup that's now named after a sponsorship... the one that nobody cares about and you essentially get B-teams/U21 squads out there..... fuck off the tip of my tongue, but you footiefreaks know which one.... it used to be the football league cup or something.... not the FA cup but the other one.... lasifjAFCNAS

SO YEAH, ahem, take it from a football novice with only just under a season of newfound patronage: moyes better have this squad fit and being one of the top 2-3 teams fighting for the EPL crown next year, alongside getting out of the CL group stages and making some solid headway in the FA cup, cuz like, unless the organ-EYE-zation is taking SAF's nod of approval as 100% sacrosanct immutable word-of-god type stuff, you figure if moyes barely gets back into the CL and then goes 1-3-2 in the group stages of the CL and gets knocked out in the quarterfinals of the FA cup, thus missing europa and putting next year's CL berth in jeopardy.... WELL SLAP MAH FRO you figure his seat will be a bit hot.... unless manU does things with a little more wisdom/patience than how they do @ stamford bridge, where winning a CL doesn't even buy you a calendar year, or so it's been proven. shomer shabbos.

# sir thinksheknowsfootball-a-lot

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Shoulda hired Sparky, not the Fire mascot, Hughes.

Good riddance.

Fuck Man U

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ManYoo guys really like soccer.

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-- source

I keep reading this as "Maynard Ferguson to retire" and I'm like he's dead

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The fans would have loved Ole Gunnar Solksjaer. I don't get the Moyes fascination. He's a Scot. Ok. I guess that is ideal at Man U since Fergie is one and so was Busby. But that's like his best qualification. He gets all these plaudits for doing well at Everton with a limited budget. He has no European pedigree. I think they made the Champions League once. Moyes' teams played donkeyball in a 4-5-1 at Everton. Very negative and always cautious on the road. I'd think he'd open his style up with better players and resources at United.

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Back off, Warchild. Seriously.

I don't get the Moyes fascination either. Especially since they have some ex-ManYoo players who are managers (someone mentioned Mark Hughes). I would have thought they world have made a harder push for Mourhino.
Be careful what you wish for I guess.

As a side note, I went to Quigley's Irish Pub in Naperville for Chelsea v Tottenham. The Shepherd's Pie was very good and I have to say that there were alot of Spurs fans there to watch the match..

Moyes will probably do the same at MU as he did at Everton, which is finish 1 or 2 spots below where the fans wanted to be.

I'm afraid for Everton now as Moyes was the only thing keeping the chairman from destroying the club.

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Git on back there.

Moyes is the choice. Signs 6 year deal. Takes over on 7/1/13

The table the week Fergie joined ManU. Note such proud names as League 2 Oxford United who beat Fergie in his first game 2-0, defunct and reborn Wimbledon, and currently Non-league Luton Town.

Wow. About half of that table are not even Premier League clubs any longer.

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1923-1927-1928-1932-1936-1937-1938-1939
1941-1943-1947-1949-1950-1951-1952-1953
1956-1958-1961-1962-1977-1978-1996-1998
1999-2000-2009
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XXI - XXV - XLII - XLVI

wasn't called that back then, either.