United Fanzine Takes The Blame

[NickHSpurs]

Manchester United's Scandinavian supporters' branch claims they were to blame for the recent quotes attributed to Sir Alex Ferguson talking about Dimitar Berbatov.

The group, who run a popular website in Norway, published quotes from Ferguson which are in turn believed to have been carried by some leading British newspapers.

Although the interview from Ferguson about Berbatov was claimed as an exclusive by one newspaper, the webmaster for the supporters' club feels they are to blame after misquoting the United boss.

"A feather has become 35 hens here. It might seem like we are to blame for what has happened," admitted the branch's webmaster Steinar Madsen to Aftonposten.

"We are to the blame in the sense how the interview was presented. Ferguson didn't mention the name Berbatov when he was interviewed by us.

"I would call it a misunderstanding. It was tricky conditions for the interview.

"As journalists, you have probably experienced this yourself, how it is to listen to the tape afterwards.

"That can cause problems and Ferguson's accent is not too easy to understand to start with.

"Ferguson confirmed that United had tabled an offer.

"We assumed it was Berbatov he was talking about. We might have taken it too far."

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11675_3852477,00.html

:bs:

 

[Kendall]

Perfectly plausable

Mountain made out of a molehill here anyway. I remember when Jol mentioned Downing as someone we'd bid for & also Ramos talked about Eto'o just a month or so ago.

 

[Michey]

Manchester United's Scandinavian supporters' branch claims they were to blame for the recent quotes attributed to Sir Alex Ferguson talking about Dimitar Berbatov.

Plain bull

 

[Dibby]

[marquee]Breaking News: Sir Alex Ferguson awards fansite with 200 free season tickets for services to Manchester United FC[/marquee]

 

[NickHSpurs]

Perfectly plausable

Mountain made out of a molehill here anyway. I remember when Jol mentioned Downing as someone we'd bid for & also Ramos talked about Eto'o just a month or so ago.

They are an official club magazine of United and I'm sure they would have been well versed in what not to print prior to this. It's an easy get out for them. I wonder if the tape will be presented as evidence, no mention of that!

 

[Houdini]

I looked at this from all angles, it still looks like contrived bollocks, (and not the ones you get on a French menu)..........love the post D-B :up:.

 

[NickHSpurs]

Also, why did Fergie neglect to mention this in his press conference. What he said was we were basing our argument over quotes from The Sun.

Why not, "The comments from The Sun were taken from an interview I did over here with a magazine and I was misquoted".

 

[PLTuck]

Well that's that cleared up then. Now how about the rest of the years worth of (alleged) evidence?

 

[joey55]

Also, why did Fergie neglect to mention this in his press conference. What he said was we were basing our argument over quotes from The Sun.

Why not, "The comments from The Sun were taken from an interview I did over here with a magazine and I was misquoted".

Why was it withdrawn from the site in the first place, long before we released our statement?

Why did we not announce the initial complaint about Liverpool?

If we made the complaint it to hold negotiating power, then why did we hand in the dossier?

Isn't it convinient the Norwegian site only retracted the comments after we handed in our dossier?

How does mentioning in a public statement that our 2 players want to leave help us?

This whole thing stinks of bullshit from both parties.

 

[Khilari]

even if SAF did say he was after Berbs by name - nothing will come of it.

i say we use this opportunity to make serious cash out of a star who will not be worth anywhere near as much next season or the one after seeing as he wants out.

 

[Jimmypearce7]

How convenient

How convenient for United.

Their lawyers get in touch with the Norwegian fan club.

"You guys have really landed us in it."

They feel a little nervous, maybe their status and relationship with Man U will suffer. "What can we do to help?"

"Well it would help if you remembered that SAF did not mention Berbatov"

"Now you mention it, I don't think he did"

I think we should stop all this now by refusing to sell Berbatov to Man U and suffering the consequences of that to achieve a bigger goal- stopping Man U going after whatever Spurs player they fancy by whatever means.

 

[Yiddosmithy]

Also, why did Fergie neglect to mention this in his press conference. What he said was we were basing our argument over quotes from The Sun.

Why not, "The comments from The Sun were taken from an interview I did over here with a magazine and I was misquoted".

That is actually What he said again he was misquoted though.

Why doesnt Fergie sue the Sun then if this 'misquote' could get him in trouble?

 

[hepta]

Why was it withdrawn from the site in the first place, long before we released our statement?

Why did we not announce the initial complaint about Liverpool?

If we made the complaint it to hold negotiating power, then why did we hand in the dossier?

Isn't it convinient the Norwegian site only retracted the comments after we handed in our dossier?

How does mentioning in a public statement that our 2 players want to leave help us?

This whole thing stinks of bullshit from both parties.

I personally think this statement might be more to do with how Man U were handling negotiations with us. Ordinarily we, the reluctant sellers, would be in a good position to negotiate a high fee. I reckon that Man Utd were probably messing us around with low bids and delaying the whole thing because they knew DB was desperate to join them. Also all the ongoing press speculation was unsettling us and not Man U. Levy took exception to this blatant arrogance and is trying to force the situation.

I would even go as far as to say that had Man U come in with a reasonable offer sooner then this statement would most likely not have been released.

 

[joey55]

I personally think this statement might be more to do with how Man U were handling negotiations with us. Ordinarily we, the reluctant sellers, would be in a good position to negotiate a high fee. I reckon that Man Utd were probably messing us around with low bids and delaying the whole thing because they knew DB was desperate to join them. Also all the ongoing press speculation was unsettling us and not Man U. Levy took exception to this blatant arrogance and is trying to force the situation.

I would even go as far as to say that had Man U come in with a reasonable offer sooner then this statement would most likely not have been released.

Clubs always start with low bids. Utd have dealt with Levy before (Carrick) and know he's not going to accept a bid he doesn't consider high enough. We are no different to Blackburn (Bentley) or Villa (Barry). We can still say "no" until we recieve an offer we want to accept. Where is the incentive for Utd to act any quicker now, than before the statement? There was the suggestion amongst some fans that Levy was going to use the threat to up the price, but now are dossier has been submitted, that threat has gone. It doesn't change Utd's situation at all.

 

[joey55]

How convenient for United.

Their lawyers get in touch with the Norwegian fan club.

"You guys have really landed us in it."

They feel a little nervous, maybe their status and relationship with Man U will suffer. "What can we do to help?"

"Well it would help if you remembered that SAF did not mention Berbatov"

"Now you mention it, I don't think he did"

I think we should stop all this now by refusing to sell Berbatov to Man U and suffering the consequences of that to achieve a bigger goal- stopping Man U going after whatever Spurs player they fancy by whatever means.

Don't you think it's a bit convinient for Spurs as well? It would seem that whatever evidence we had in our dossier, we didn't feel it was enough to act until these quotes from Ferguson appeared. They were the deal clincher if you like. Yet they appeared on a Manchester Utd Supporters website. Now, don't you think it's odd that Levy and co didn't think straight away that this evidence is totally useless to us, because the webite (being a United site) will just say they made up the quotes? Isn't it just common sense? O posted this a couple of days ago:

"It is so easy for Utd to deny and for us to complain. Utd can just say Ferguson was misquoted and the Manchester Utd supporters group will support this."
http://www.spurscommunity.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=33524&page=13

If I thought it, then Levy and Spurs lawyers must have known these quotes would be denied. It would be total madness to think anything else. Yet he made a big deal about them in his statement. The whole thing stinks of bullshit.

 

[hepta]

Clubs always start with low bids. Utd have dealt with Levy before (Carrick) and know he's not going to accept a bid he doesn't consider high enough. We are no different to Blackburn (Bentley) or Villa (Barry). We can still say "no" until we recieve an offer we want to accept. Where is the incentive for Utd to act any quicker now, than before the statement? There was the suggestion amongst some fans that Levy was going to use the threat to up the price, but now are dossier has been submitted, that threat has gone. It doesn't change Utd's situation at all.

I was referring to the statement regarding both of our players wishing to leave. Levy could have released a near identical response condemning Man U and Liverpool and not mention how the players felt.

 

[Spurs_Q8]

I can't agree with you Joey55 ..
for sure this site would like to take the blame rather than their club.

1- this norwegian site claimed that they understand he is talking about Berbatov, so let's

"We have made Tottenham an offer on Berbatov and we have good expectations that this deal will go through,"
"Berbatov has been impressive for a long time and he would be a great addition to our attack."
"I think time will work for us more than against us," Ferguson said. "We will not stress this situation. We are hoping to have a constructive conversation with Tottenham in the near future."

so try to replace these 'bold' things, then there are no story or interview at all ..

2- They claimed 'mis-understanding' .. ok, but does Ferguson said the same words 100% to this norwegian site which appeared in other sites about he wants only one players ? This needs same questions by this norwegian site, so why on the earth they make this interview .. they can take the same stories from other sites. I'm sure the questions about Berba and Ferguson answered what he think about Berba situation.

3- Why No quick 'Deny' by Ferguson for these quotes before Levy Statement ( looks he was happy to unsettle Berba more ! ) and why this site waited 3-4 days to reveal their story ... After 24 hours from 'Spurs dossier of evidence' stories yesterday.

4- Ferguson history with likes Andy Cole, Stam, Saha etc ... will never help him against Levy this time. He deserve what was said by Levy. The Man is unfair.

 

[joey55]

I can't agree with you Joey55 ..
for sure this site would like to take the blame rather than their club.

1- this norwegian site claimed that they understand he is talking about Berbatov, so let's


so try to replace these 'bold' things, then there are no story or interview at all ..

2- They claimed 'mis-understanding' .. ok, but does Ferguson said the same words 100% to this norwegian site which appeared in other sites about he wants only one players ? This needs same questions by this norwegian site, so why on the earth they make this interview .. they can take the same stories from other sites. I'm sure the questions about Berba and Ferguson answered what he think about Berba situation.

3- Why No quick 'Deny' by Ferguson for these quotes before Levy Statement ( looks he was happy to unsettle Berba more ! ) and why this site waited 3-4 days to reveal their story ... After 24 hours from 'Spurs dossier of evidence' stories yesterday.

4- Ferguson history with likes Andy Cole, Stam, Saha etc ... will never help him against Levy this time. He deserve what was said by Levy. The Man is unfair.

I think you've misunderstood what i'm saying. Whether Ferguson said these things or not is almost irrelevant to the point I'm making. I'm saying that before responding as he did in the statement on the club website, Levy would have had the comments sourced. I posted the other day that way before Levy's statement, the validity of those quotes was being questioned on Utd forums and it was known they came from the Norwegian website. we employ media, PR and legal people so would have certainly checked out the quotes before making such a strong response. With this in mind, surely any legal, PR, media people or just plain common sense would tell Levy that the quotes are effectively worthless, simply because they come form a Utd source and therefore can easily be denied (as they now have been). So, given this, why has Levy focused so much on these quotes?

 

[Spurs_Q8]

I think you've misunderstood what i'm saying. Whether Ferguson said these things or not is almost irrelevant to the point I'm making. I'm saying that before responding as he did in the statement on the club website, Levy would have had the comments sourced. I posted the other day that way before Levy's statement, the validity of those quotes was being questioned on Utd forums and it was known they came from the Norwegian website. we employ media, PR and legal people so would have certainly checked out the quotes before making such a strong response. With this in mind, surely any legal, PR, media people or just plain common sense would tell Levy that the quotes are effectively worthless, simply because they come form a Utd source and therefore can easily be denied (as they now have been). So, given this, why has Levy focused so much on these quotes?

yes i remember you talked about norwegian site some days ago, before all of these news today.

for my i don't know why Levy focused on them, but it might be he thinks this time is enough while it went public. Levy looks very confident when he said these words, and talked about last summer, he also said that they talked to the player and their agents which mean there evidence for these claims.

He focused on Man Utd and 110% he knows a lot, although Benitez were clear and Liverpool officials didn't say anything about it.

I hope Levy will win it.

 

[SpurSince57]

If anyone believes that this is the sole basis of our complaint, they're barking. Whether Beetroot-face mentioned Berbatov or not, if we were going to the FA with that as our sole evidence the response would be :rofl: repeated several hundred times. Ditto with Liverpool.

But it's fun seeing the journo involved saying it was noisy and he might have misheard what Beetroot-face said. Yes, and I'm the Queen of the May.