Red Rants

Or should we say his lack of comment? His economy of phrasing ought to get tongues wagging. When quizzed about speculation regarding Vidic leaving OT, he said, “I can’t clarify it at all.” Journalists pressed further and asked if he was going to play at United this season and he replied, “I believe so.” By...
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I think it’s best to stick my head out and say it—with the barely lingering hope of jinxing it and being proved wrong—that we aren’t going to sign anyone. We can only go by evidence. And save for the signings we made in the close season, it’s unlikely we are going...
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All of a sudden United have found themselves making—would you believe it—headline news in the transfer market. And what’s more, we have actually put in a bid—reported at around £29m—for Wesley Sneijder. Inter president, Massimo Moratti, has confirmed this. Moratti has also moved to say that he intends to keep Sneijder at the club...
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Alex Ferguson was apparently “interested” in David Villa. Of course, Villa has since moved on to Barca, and most keen observers of the game would know he was unlikely to ever leave Spain. How convenient! He then goes on to make another outrageous remark—well not so outrageous, if you think about it. “We’ve looked at...
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How did it come to this? From a group that was labelled by one national newspaper as ‘easy’, England have contrived to leave their World Cup progress down to the final match – a must-win 90 minutes against opponents who will go through to the last 16 should they pick up a lone point...
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So yesterday some journalist — for the 43406th time — asked Lionel Messi who his favourite footballers were. And Messi listed out familiar names — among them, to our interest, was Wayne Rooney. “At the moment, there are maybe Ronaldo, Rooney, Xavi and one or two more – but I can’t think of one that...
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United kick off their new season by welcoming Newcastle United back to the Premiership at Old Trafford. Oh, and the Premiership also opens with Liverpool v Arsenal and Spurs v Man City. We’re also going to be having back-to-back clashes with Arsenal and Chelsea twice — in December and late April/early May. The title run-in...
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… well, blame the Sun for that. I was contacted by the Sun a couple of days ago in some sweep stake thing, and they have drawn me to represent North Korea. I’ll support N Korea so that you don’t have to. Here’s the video:Incidentally, our friends at RoM have been handed Brazil. He...
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The cynical among us have come to accept this. The optimistic claim this is a smokescreen. Either which way you look at it, at the moment there is no transfer activity to report. There’s little one can update the blog with, other than “Nothing new to report on the transfer front.” Of course, if one...
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Well the only thing of significance that’s happened, for what it’s worth, is the approval of Javier Hernandez’s work permit. Chicharito also scored Mexico’s only goal in their 2-1 defeat to Holland. On the transfer front, all has been quiet save for the transfers of Smalling and Hernandez during last season. It must be said,...
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Odds correct at time of writing. For latest Betfair prices, see redrants.com/bet. In our third of four group-stage betting guides, betfair hone in on groups E and F. Group E Holland are the fourth best team in the world according to FIFA’s rankings but, at 13.5 (12/1), Betfair punters only rate them fifth favourites to triumph in...
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You said a few things today. Let me quote them for you, and then respond. “The fans are obviously passionate about the club but sometimes they need to focus on supporting the club a bit more than getting carried away with the technicalities of who’s in charge. On the green and gold campaign: “Yes, it’s a...
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Odds correct at time of writing. For latest Betfair prices, see redrants.com/bet. In our second World Cup preview, Betfair examine groups C and D… Group C England are 7.6 (13/2) third favourites to win the World Cup this summer, but the highs of a perfect qualification campaign have been replaced by injury worries for manager Fabio Capello. Wayne...
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It’s certain now that Ben Foster will move on to Birmingham. The fee is mooted to be about £6m. The official site has also confirmed this. Foster’s sale confirms what a lot of people thought: the manager had lost faith in the ‘keeper. I’d wish him the best, and I think he will emerge better...
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“If we hit a bad spell, it would not be the right time to go. I would not want to put the new manager into a situation where he was taking over a bad team. I want to leave United in a good, healthy position. In 2002, I made the decision on a whim.” Those...
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Odds correct at time of writing. For latest Betfair prices, see redrants.com/bet. In their first World Cup betting preview, Betfair look at the group-stage prospects for Ji-sung Park, Patrice Evra and Javier Hernandez… Group A Patrice Evra’s France may not be the force they once were but they still boast talented players such as Franck Ribery, Yoann...
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As Manchester United’s hopes for a record beating 19th league title fizzled out at Old Trafford on Sunday, smoke from the dying embers of the season could be seen around the ground by many fans. At least that is how the romanticised version of events may be interpreted. Instead what we saw was the...
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Here we go, it’s crunch time in the Premier League as Manchester United face Stoke City at Old Trafford on the final day of the season. Once last chance to clinch a record breaking 19th League title and 4th in a row, but two teams stand in the way… Chelsea and Stoke. The Blues lie...
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It’s a shame Liverpool couldn’t do the job last weekend, but United still have a job to do on Sunday and Stoke, unlike the Scousers, aren’t going to lie down and let the champions walk all over them. Heading into the final weekend of the season, Chelsea are 1.12 (1/8) to win the Premier League,...
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By the time Manchester United’s visit to Sunderland comes around, the Red Devils will know the task in hand as Liverpool will already have beaten Chelsea – fingers crossed. The Stadium of Light will prove to be a tough fixture, the talk of Liverpool ‘rolling over’ and Sunderland boss Steve Bruce giving his former club...
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