Fellaini

[Relly]

Manchester United's Fellaini nearing move to China's Shandong Luneng - sources

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12:35 PM

Rob Dawson
Manchester United correspondent

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Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini is heading towards the exit as a move to the Chinese Super League edges closer, sources have told ESPN FC.
United are in discussions with Shandong Luneng as the Belgium international is expected to opt for a move away from Old Trafford.
Transfers




Shandong have sent a delegation to Manchester to tie up the deal.
The 31-year-old signed a new two-year deal in the summer but with opportunities limited since Jose Mourinho's dismissal in December, he is set to sign a three-year contract with Shandong on wages in excess of the £140,000-a-week he currently earns.
Caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said this month that Fellaini has "an X-Factor" but he has played just 31 minutes under the Norwegian.
Fellaini has been in Antwerp at the Move to Cure clinic this week in a bid to recover from a calf injury that has ruled him out of the past three games.
The proposed move to Shandong, who sit third in the Chinese Super League, will bring to an end a five-and-a-half year stay at United for Fellaini.
He arrived from Everton in a £27.5 million deal in 2013 to become David Moyes' first signing and the first arrival following Sir Alex Ferguson's decision to retire.

[Relly]

Praying for this to be true, been waiting for this moment for 5 years. Is it a coincidence that the last 3 managers rated and relied on Fellaini and we played shite football and Ole doesn't use him and our football has improved immensely? I don't think so.

I have loved the team a little less since he joined, can't wait to go back to my pre-Fellaini love of the club.

[ivandaman]

I don't care where he goes as long as he goes away..

[HuSsAiN]

He was an average player, who gave 100% to the club and did score some vital goals for us.

Thank you fella.. bye

[raycreative]

If this happens,and i believe it will what do you think will happen with the money we receive?

[Kinnell]

If this happens,and i believe it will what do you think will happen with the money we receive?

It will go into the transfer fund of course,Ray.


And if anyone believes that they will believe anything.

[ArizonaRed]

If this happens,and i believe it will what do you think will happen with the money we receive?

Have you got a second verse for this song because this one is getting very old.

Since Mourinho arrived; £350M+ in transfers, ignore or try and justify if you want but that the numbers.

[Sigmar]

If this happens,and i believe it will what do you think will happen with the money we receive?

Have you got a second verse for this song because this one is getting very old.

Since Mourinho arrived; £350M+ in transfers, ignore or try and justify if you want but that the numbers.

Ed Woodward will no doubt spend the money on a design for new shirts to sell at extortionate costs to line the Glazer pockets even more, after all they've done nothing but take money out of the club since they took over.

[raycreative]

For once you are correct Sigmar but you have to take the piss to be correct.Quite sad really

That said the Glazers pocket will very shortly be lined with vast sums yet again
The transfer window is about to close and we ain't spent a tosser
With a good wind they will get a big sum in for Fellaini as well as saving on his wages
Also they are about to tell the world they are proud to announce the Marriott Hotel Group as their official International hotel sponsors(whatever that actually means)
I know it means a big bucks deal done in dollars off to the Caymans for a sun tan whilst giving a body swerve to the funds needed to invest in TWO Centre Halves,ONE right back,ONE centre forward and possibly a winger
I am aare that Ed Woodward will announce to the 100 million United fans in China that unlimited funds will be available to the new manage.Just wait and see
And gullible fans like Arizona will convince himself that the new manager has spent 500 million on playersr

As for Arizona who believes the cold fact that Jose spent £350m + on transfers please let me explain
Jose joined in May 2016
Jose spent
£90m on Pogba-I agree
£26m on Mkhitarian-i agree
£30m on Bailly-I am suspicious of that but lets say its correct
and got Zlatan the shirt seller on a free
That's a gross spend of £146m
BUT
He got rid of 28 players thus saving a significant amount on wages
He also sold Sneiderlin for £24m and depay for £14m as well as getting the expensive crippled shirt seller Schweinstiger off the books
That leaves a net spend of £122 less a good wages saving AND he won a European trophy and gets them into the Champions league
Good work really wouldn't you say bearing in mind he had lumps like Jones,Smalling and a finished Wazza

In 2017/18 United bough
Lindelof for £30m-possibly
Matic for £40m-I agree
Lukaku for anything reported between £75 and £90m-I just don't believe it.Nor do i believe Jose bought him having sold him once before
And Sanchex-He cost nothing as he was a shirt selling swap with Miki
If you take Lukaku out of the equation he spent £60m net

He let go 10 players including Wazza,Zlatan the shirt seller and got £10m for Januzaj
He finished second in the elague and got to a cup final
Not bad again result wise

In 2018/19 he bought
Dalot for £20m-possible.It's just a small investment in this current football world for a kid plus
£47m for Fred-I don't believe it
He got £16, for blind and Carrick retired
He also made a profit on a goalkeeper
Net spend nothing if you take Fred out

So in 3 years the club under Jose spent £180m ish plus Lukaku and Fred
AND
He has cut the wages bill in half

Now what if Jose didn't buy Lukaku and Fred then who did
There is only Ed Woodward and if he did buy them over the managers head then did he tell the truth in what they cost

In America where you live nobody at the top tells the truth and those at the bottom aka "The base" believe any shit they are fed

Ignore the above if you want or try to justify it but those atre the numbers

AND we still need
TWO CENTRE HALVES,ONE RIGHT BACK AND ONE CENTRE FORWARD
Unless of course you are happy with what we have

[ArizonaRed]

For once you are correct Sigmar but you have to take the piss to be correct.Quite sad really

That said the Glazers pocket will very shortly be lined with vast sums yet again
The transfer window is about to close and we ain't spent a tosser
With a good wind they will get a big sum in for Fellaini as well as saving on his wages
Also they are about to tell the world they are proud to announce the Marriott Hotel Group as their official International hotel sponsors(whatever that actually means)
I know it means a big bucks deal done in dollars off to the Caymans for a sun tan whilst giving a body swerve to the funds needed to invest in TWO Centre Halves,ONE right back,ONE centre forward and possibly a winger
I am aare that Ed Woodward will announce to the 100 million United fans in China that unlimited funds will be available to the new manage.Just wait and see
And gullible fans like Arizona will convince himself that the new manager has spent 500 million on playersr

As for Arizona who believes the cold fact that Jose spent £350m + on transfers please let me explain
Jose joined in May 2016
Jose spent
£90m on Pogba-I agree
£26m on Mkhitarian-i agree
£30m on Bailly-I am suspicious of that but lets say its correct
and got Zlatan the shirt seller on a free
That's a gross spend of £146m
BUT
He got rid of 28 players thus saving a significant amount on wages
He also sold Sneiderlin for £24m and depay for £14m as well as getting the expensive crippled shirt seller Schweinstiger off the books
That leaves a net spend of £122 less a good wages saving AND he won a European trophy and gets them into the Champions league
Good work really wouldn't you say bearing in mind he had lumps like Jones,Smalling and a finished Wazza

In 2017/18 United bough
Lindelof for £30m-possibly
Matic for £40m-I agree
Lukaku for anything reported between £75 and £90m-I just don't believe it.Nor do i believe Jose bought him having sold him once before
And Sanchex-He cost nothing as he was a shirt selling swap with Miki
If you take Lukaku out of the equation he spent £60m net

He let go 10 players including Wazza,Zlatan the shirt seller and got £10m for Januzaj
He finished second in the elague and got to a cup final
Not bad again result wise

In 2018/19 he bought
Dalot for £20m-possible.It's just a small investment in this current football world for a kid plus
£47m for Fred-I don't believe it
He got £16, for blind and Carrick retired
He also made a profit on a goalkeeper
Net spend nothing if you take Fred out

So in 3 years the club under Jose spent £180m ish plus Lukaku and Fred
AND
He has cut the wages bill in half

Now what if Jose didn't buy Lukaku and Fred then who did
There is only Ed Woodward and if he did buy them over the managers head then did he tell the truth in what they cost

In America where you live nobody at the top tells the truth and those at the bottom aka "The base" believe any shit they are fed

Ignore the above if you want or try to justify it but those atre the numbers

AND we still need
TWO CENTRE HALVES,ONE RIGHT BACK AND ONE CENTRE FORWARD
Unless of course you are happy with what we have

We have been down this route before, but I guess you have eaten and slept since then, so we will try it one more time. Just because you do not want something doesn’t make it the new reality, it might make it YOUR reality but for rational thinking homo-sapiens we prefer documented fact rather that whatever voice in your head you listen to. I don’t have the patience to go through all of the miss-information you claim, but here a few that took very simple searches to debunk;

Schneiderlin from Southampton to United on July 13, 2015 for €35M. Sold to Everton on Jan 12, 2017 for €22.9M. https://www.transfermarkt.com/morgan-sc ... id/1671952

Depay from PSV to United to United July 1st, 2015 for €35M. Sold to Lyon on Jan 20th, 2017 for €16M. https://www.transfermarkt.com/memphis-d ... id/1680461

Fellaini from Everton to United on Sept 13th, 2013 for €32.4M. Let’s see how much profit the Glazors make on that one. https://www.transfermarkt.com/marouane- ... _id/943592

Januzaj from RSCA Youth to United on Mar 1, 2011 for €375K. Sold to Real Soliedad on July 12th, 2017 for €8.5M. Wow I’ll bet that would be cause for a party in GlazorVille. https://www.transfermarkt.com/adnan-jan ... id/1833170

You list the wage saving by getting rid of player, and they were big wages which the club willing to pay, but you neglected to add back the wages of the players brought in; Pogba, Zlatan, MickyT, Lukaku, Bailly and let’s not forget Sanchez, a £25M swap deal and the most expensive wage bill at the club. Your logic, and arithmetic, are at best faulty and at worse delusional. If you get some joy out of demonizing Woodward and the Glazers, then go for it but regurgitating the same diarrhea over and over with nothing to back it up make you little more than a Trump campaign speech writer.

[raycreative]

I am missing your point i am afraid

You tell me how much Jose has spent but then give me the players bought by LVG in Depay,Schneiderlin etc
What is your point?

You give me transfer costs spent by others and anyway when you dig deeper you find that these fees are "reported to be" rather than actual
That is what United are about these days which is smoke and mirrors
This is shown in a lot of home games when the crowd is listed as sold out
There are many many empties on certain sold out games which is all part on convincing people/the base of untruths
In the above case the point is to convince tourists and pilgrims that the only way to get a ticket is to have a Bobby Charlton for £700

You tell me whispers and rumours and present them as facts
You tell me that Sanchez was swapped for Mikki and earns a fortune.
Does he??
That is another reported as figure and anyway to get Sanchez they saved a reported fortune on Mikki
Look how Mikki has turned out at Arsenal.You never hear about him

Same comment about Shneiderlin,Depay,Januzaj and lots of others that were defended on this forum as the next word class players
Who actually bought them?
The manager or the Scouser?
We will never know
I do know there is nobody above the manager with a football brain and despite critisism,talk of a director of football etc we still only have Ed Woodward with no hint of it changing

As i keep saying if you are happy with a few wins via Ole then great news
You are lucky in as much as you can get tickets from a cousins,cousins,mate 3 times times removed when you want.I can't
I see a club that is still 6th with minimal hope of getting close to a genuine challenge for the league and that was hanging on against the likes of Brighton

[Glorio]

I will miss Fellaini tbh - he did rescue us out of a number of sticky situations but I guess he may not be content with a bench role.

Had be been available to bring on at Burnley, we may have won. The guy is actually unplayable in certain conditions, and it felt good to have that route one option if we needed it.

[ArizonaRed]

I am missing your point i am afraid

You tell me how much Jose has spent but then give me the players bought by LVG in Depay,Schneiderlin etc
What is your point?

You give me transfer costs spent by others and anyway when you dig deeper you find that these fees are "reported to be" rather than actual
That is what United are about these days which is smoke and mirrors
This is shown in a lot of home games when the crowd is listed as sold out
There are many many empties on certain sold out games which is all part on convincing people/the base of untruths
In the above case the point is to convince tourists and pilgrims that the only way to get a ticket is to have a Bobby Charlton for £700

You tell me whispers and rumours and present them as facts
You tell me that Sanchez was swapped for Mikki and earns a fortune.
Does he??
That is another reported as figure and anyway to get Sanchez they saved a reported fortune on Mikki
Look how Mikki has turned out at Arsenal.You never hear about him

Same comment about Shneiderlin,Depay,Januzaj and lots of others that were defended on this forum as the next word class players
Who actually bought them?
The manager or the Scouser?
We will never know
I do know there is nobody above the manager with a football brain and despite critisism,talk of a director of football etc we still only have Ed Woodward with no hint of it changing

As i keep saying if you are happy with a few wins via Ole then great news
You are lucky in as much as you can get tickets from a cousins,cousins,mate 3 times times removed when you want.I can't
I see a club that is still 6th with minimal hope of getting close to a genuine challenge for the league and that was hanging on against the likes of Brighton

Do you actually read your posts before hitting the submit button? I really wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t because usually, they are rubbish. Just to remind you, in your post you referenced all the money the club had made from selling those players, unless you are using a different type of arithmetic selling anything for less than you paid for it doesn’t make you a profit.

Now you are sounding like a Trump speech writer - many many empties - just what number does that represent and where are you getting it from, another of the little voices inside your head? Where are you doing this alleged digging for the true cost of transfers? Show us the sources your information, or is this privileged from one of your “in the know” friends? Company’s listed on the NYSE are required to publish extensive reports detailing how share holder money is being used. If a company listed on the exchange makes a false statement about purchasing or selling an asset, the directors are accountable and are liable for fines or even jail time.

If you want verified and audited information the SEC filings are were you should be looking. Of course, doing actual research is far too much trouble for you to go through to get the truth and besides’ it’s just so much easier to listen to the little voices inside your head that tell you everything that you want to hear.

[raycreative]

You need to calm down,have a drink and stop throwing insults about

You quote transfer fees and salaries as gospel,as if you were United's lawyer
A significant amount of the unbelievable transfer fees and salaries are reported as "reputed to be"
That means that nobody knows especially you

You blame Jose and before that it was LVG's fault and before that it was Moyes who was not up to the job
All have one thing in common as i have pointed out many times
ALL appointed by Ed Woodward

So if they all failed you there is only one person to look to surely

What is a fact is that United have had a Glazernomics transfer window yet again
By giving Fellaini a one year extension last summer they have now gone from a player walking away on a free to receiving over £10m for him
Add to that the Marriott hotels signing they are holding back on announcing until after the transfer window closes for fears of a fan backlash and you have a nice few pounds coming in
That's Glazernomics at its finest and should get Ed Woodward a nice bung from the Caymans

It may well be that you think we don't need TWO centre halves,ONE right back and ONE centre forward but you would be in a minority
It is possible there is not one of those players available but do you think they haven't been available for THREE years

The good news is that if you are happy then break another Bud out

[ArizonaRed]

You need to calm down,have a drink and stop throwing insults about

You quote transfer fees and salaries as gospel,as if you were United's lawyer
A significant amount of the unbelievable transfer fees and salaries are reported as "reputed to be"
That means that nobody knows especially you

You blame Jose and before that it was LVG's fault and before that it was Moyes who was not up to the job
All have one thing in common as i have pointed out many times
ALL appointed by Ed Woodward

So if they all failed you there is only one person to look to surely

What is a fact is that United have had a Glazernomics transfer window yet again
By giving Fellaini a one year extension last summer they have now gone from a player walking away on a free to receiving over £10m for him
Add to that the Marriott hotels signing they are holding back on announcing until after the transfer window closes for fears of a fan backlash and you have a nice few pounds coming in
That's Glazernomics at its finest and should get Ed Woodward a nice bung from the Caymans

It may well be that you think we don't need TWO centre halves,ONE right back and ONE centre forward but you would be in a minority
It is possible there is not one of those players available but do you think they haven't been available for THREE years

The good news is that if you are happy then break another Bud out

Yawn

[raycreative]

That is one of your more intelligent,well balanced and well informed posts

Well done.Keep it up

[raycreative]

Here's an interesting scenario

3 Years playing in China for Fellaini
Make himself a hero and the he can become United's ambassador to the ipad fish frying branch

[Sigmar]

I am missing your point i am afraid

You tell me how much Jose has spent but then give me the players bought by LVG in Depay,Schneiderlin etc
What is your point?

You give me transfer costs spent by others and anyway when you dig deeper you find that these fees are "reported to be" rather than actual
That is what United are about these days which is smoke and mirrors
This is shown in a lot of home games when the crowd is listed as sold out
There are many many empties on certain sold out games which is all part on convincing people/the base of untruths
In the above case the point is to convince tourists and pilgrims that the only way to get a ticket is to have a Bobby Charlton for £700

You tell me whispers and rumours and present them as facts
You tell me that Sanchez was swapped for Mikki and earns a fortune.
Does he??
That is another reported as figure and anyway to get Sanchez they saved a reported fortune on Mikki
Look how Mikki has turned out at Arsenal.You never hear about him

Same comment about Shneiderlin,Depay,Januzaj and lots of others that were defended on this forum as the next word class players
Who actually bought them?
The manager or the Scouser?
We will never know
I do know there is nobody above the manager with a football brain and despite critisism,talk of a director of football etc we still only have Ed Woodward with no hint of it changing

As i keep saying if you are happy with a few wins via Ole then great news
You are lucky in as much as you can get tickets from a cousins,cousins,mate 3 times times removed when you want.I can't
I see a club that is still 6th with minimal hope of getting close to a genuine challenge for the league and that was hanging on against the likes of Brighton

Do you actually read your posts before hitting the submit button? I really wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t because usually, they are rubbish. Just to remind you, in your post you referenced all the money the club had made from selling those players, unless you are using a different type of arithmetic selling anything for less than you paid for it doesn’t make you a profit.

Now you are sounding like a Trump speech writer - many many empties - just what number does that represent and where are you getting it from, another of the little voices inside your head? Where are you doing this alleged digging for the true cost of transfers? Show us the sources your information, or is this privileged from one of your “in the know” friends? Company’s listed on the NYSE are required to publish extensive reports detailing how share holder money is being used. If a company listed on the exchange makes a false statement about purchasing or selling an asset, the directors are accountable and are liable for fines or even jail time.

If you want verified and audited information the SEC filings are were you should be looking. Of course, doing actual research is far too much trouble for you to go through to get the truth and besides’ it’s just so much easier to listen to the little voices inside your head that tell you everything that you want to hear.

You might as well talk to the wall, math is not his strong point, or business for that matter.

[Relly]

Ray hijacked a thread... shocking.

[Sandies]

A weird one, but you can't blame Fellaini. A shocking and limited footballer yet he gave so much to United. Tried every time he was on the field. Which was a lot more of an indictment on the rest of the players than a praise for him.

There's just absolutely no way a guy like him should play that many times for United and last as long as he did, and he took us for a ride in the summer, yet you can't fault his attitude and he scored some really important goals for us during his time.

[Sigmar]

Fellaini was a passenger, it was a case of 'when' not 'if'.

When we signed him 99.9% of United supporters uttered WTF !
In the time he was here he had a handful of good games, the rest he was abysmal, Ok he scored a few crucial goals, but he also gave away a few crucial ones as well.
Wish him the best of luck in China where with his style of play he will probably spend more time suspended than playing.

[raycreative]

Fellaini was a passenger, it was a case of 'when' not 'if'.

When we signed him 99.9% of United supporters uttered WTF !
In the time he was here he had a handful of good games, the rest he was abysmal, Ok he scored a few crucial goals, but he also gave away a few crucial ones as well.
Wish him the best of luck in China where with his style of play he will probably spend more time suspended than playing.

I am aware you are talking about Fellaini but you have also just described Lukaku,Bailly,Fred and at the moment Sanchez

It's all Jose's fault

[raycreative]

Fellaini was a passenger, it was a case of 'when' not 'if'.

When we signed him 99.9% of United supporters uttered WTF !
In the time he was here he had a handful of good games, the rest he was abysmal, Ok he scored a few crucial goals, but he also gave away a few crucial ones as well.
Wish him the best of luck in China where with his style of play he will probably spend more time suspended than playing.

Whenever you make any sort of posting you make me laugh
Here you are insinuating that no United supporter ever wanted Fellaini and wanted him gone sooner than now

Please bear with me whilst i explain in words i hope you understand everything about Fellaini and Manchester United

Fellaini joined Manchester united on the last day of the summer transfer window on September 2nd 2013 for £27m
What else happened that summer?Well David Moyes was chosen by Ed Woodward(well there was nobody else was there) as our new manager.
Giggs and Scholes both retired and therefore needed replacing
8 other players including Fabio left
Who joined in this important summer transfer window?
Well nobody
This was when Ed left the Australian Tour in "urgent transfer business" and signed NOBODY

Ed Woodward attempted and failed to sign Leighton Baines for £12m which was laughed away
Ed then went back twice for Cesc Fabregas to try for a sod all £25m
He then went back for a joint bid for both Baines and Fellaini which was laughed away at £28m
Ed asked for a price for Herrara but offered significantly less than the asking price which is an insult to Bilbao(Ed eventually went back a season later and paid up for him)
He then failed to sign Coentrao and Khadeira from Madrid
Now don't forget this is the English champions failing to attract any half decent player and bidding half the going rate for any target
So who do you think is screwing up all these deals?
New manager Moyes insisting on half price bidding or money man Ed Woodward
Well it's obvious to me even if it won't be obvious to Sigmar and Arizona
So as the window draws to a close with a heavily depleted squad and not ONE signing(remember only yesterday Sigmar told us the winter window is not worth bothering with but the summer is important-What a laugh!!) we get Fellaini.
This is Fellaini of Belgium with 80 caps for Belgium(think about Lukakau now)
This player gave us a real hard time every time he played for Everton against Jones and Smalling

It was him or nobody!!!
So Moyes took him
He gave this club everything he had
He scored some important goals
No he is not "old united" class but Woodwad(remember there is nobody else) asked Fellaini.Fellaini did not ask Woodward
He got the fans fired up
He sold wigs in the megastore and when he has left he has got £10m back in the pot
Not bad eh

So go on Sigmar.I blame Moyes.I assume you do as well

[Sigmar]

Fellaini was a passenger, it was a case of 'when' not 'if'.

When we signed him 99.9% of United supporters uttered WTF !
In the time he was here he had a handful of good games, the rest he was abysmal, Ok he scored a few crucial goals, but he also gave away a few crucial ones as well.
Wish him the best of luck in China where with his style of play he will probably spend more time suspended than playing.

Whenever you make any sort of posting you make me laugh
Here you are insinuating that no United supporter ever wanted Fellaini and wanted him gone sooner than now

Please bear with me whilst i explain in words i hope you understand everything about Fellaini and Manchester United

Fellaini joined Manchester united on the last day of the summer transfer window on September 2nd 2013 for £27m
What else happened that summer?Well David Moyes was chosen by Ed Woodward(well there was nobody else was there) as our new manager.
Giggs and Scholes both retired and therefore needed replacing
8 other players including Fabio left
Who joined in this important summer transfer window?
Well nobody
This was when Ed left the Australian Tour in "urgent transfer business" and signed NOBODY

Ed Woodward attempted and failed to sign Leighton Baines for £12m which was laughed away
Ed then went back twice for Cesc Fabregas to try for a sod all £25m
He then went back for a joint bid for both Baines and Fellaini which was laughed away at £28m
Ed asked for a price for Herrara but offered significantly less than the asking price which is an insult to Bilbao(Ed eventually went back a season later and paid up for him)
He then failed to sign Coentrao and Khadeira from Madrid
Now don't forget this is the English champions failing to attract any half decent player and bidding half the going rate for any target
So who do you think is screwing up all these deals?
New manager Moyes insisting on half price bidding or money man Ed Woodward
Well it's obvious to me even if it won't be obvious to Sigmar and Arizona
So as the window draws to a close with a heavily depleted squad and not ONE signing(remember only yesterday Sigmar told us the winter window is not worth bothering with but the summer is important-What a laugh!!) we get Fellaini.
This is Fellaini of Belgium with 80 caps for Belgium(think about Lukakau now)
This player gave us a real hard time every time he played for Everton against Jones and Smalling

It was him or nobody!!!
So Moyes took him
He gave this club everything he had
He scored some important goals
No he is not "old united" class but Woodwad(remember there is nobody else) asked Fellaini.Fellaini did not ask Woodward
He got the fans fired up
He sold wigs in the megastore and when he has left he has got £10m back in the pot
Not bad eh

So go on Sigmar.I blame Moyes.I assume you do as well

Yeash you're right

Wahtever, that paint is still drying

[Relly]

A weird one, but you can't blame Fellaini. A shocking and limited footballer yet he gave so much to United. Tried every time he was on the field. Which was a lot more of an indictment on the rest of the players than a praise for him.

There's just absolutely no way a guy like him should play that many times for United and last as long as he did, and he took us for a ride in the summer, yet you can't fault his attitude and he scored some really important goals for us during his time.

I don't agree with this. Aside from having no footballing talent whatsoever, being a dirty player that actively tried to hurt fellow professionals and looking like a walking toilet brush one of the main reasons I didn't like him was because I felt like he put in a half ass effort at times and would often give up when chasing balls or tracking back to defend. I think this was improved under Mourinho, but it was common place under the previous two managers.